Chapter 760

Chapter 760: The Great War with the Heart Demon

"Hehe, no need for concern. Would I approach you without proper skills?" Old Thousand Souls smiled. "Our Soul Split Sect possesses a secret technique called Formless Heart Demon Trial, designed to awaken enemies’ heart demons. After you’re weakened from battling them, we’ll claim the spoils."

"Hm?" Fang Lie furrowed his brows. "You intend to provoke my heart demons?"

"Precisely. Surviving the trial would double your soul power," Old Thousand Souls explained. "Your vast Qi Sea of ten thousand miles could then expand further. Well? Worth attempting? Failure brings minimal losses."

Fang Lie feigned contemplation while consulting the old bird. "Bird Bro, is this scoundrel reliable?"

"Partially credible. Little risk in trying," the old bird responded lightly. "Failure costs nothing. Success brings immense gains."

"But what if he attacks during the process?" Fang Lie worried. "He specializes in profiting from others’ conflicts. Though fearless elsewhere, I can’t match him within my consciousness sea."

"No need for concern!" The old bird asserted. "He wouldn’t dare. Should he overreach, I’ll intervene personally."

"Oh?" Fang Lie brightened. "You’d break protocol?"

"Naturally!" The old bird chuckled. "Rules bend for Mo Ancestor’s chosen. As his mortal-world supervision, I’ve discretion. You’ve reached critical juncture – Mo Sect needs its monstrous successor. I won’t watch you falter now."

"Then I’ll proceed!" Fang Lie declared to Old Thousand Souls. "Succeed, and the Spring and Autumn Cicada is yours!"

"Decisive! I appreciate that," Old Thousand Souls grinned. "When shall we begin?"

"Three days hence. Preparations are needed."

"Agreed." Old Thousand Souls departed.

The meeting had occurred through a blood clone – soulless, incapable of cultivation.

Fang Lie’s true body teleported using spatial markers. Simple enough.

Facing heart demons demanded caution. He recalled crafting Buddhist Light Wisdom Sword Pills using Śāriputra relics – supreme heart demon countermeasures.

Three days sufficed to forge three top-grade pills. Marketable if unused, given their rarity.

Old Thousand Souls returned to find Fang Lie’s fortress: The Eighth-Rank High-Grade Netherworld Ghost Fire warship disguised as pavilion atop Treasure Tower.

Boasting twenty Eighth-Rank Treasures and power rivaling Ninth-Rank Treasures, this large treasure weapon ensured security during Tribulations.

Within the warship’s secret room, Fang Lie sat before three spirit pills.

"Three top-grade Buddhist Light Wisdom Sword Pills!" Old Thousand Souls marveled. "Master alchemist rumors hold truth!"

"Naturally!" Fang Lie boasted. "Mo Ancestor mastered pills, talismans, formations, artifacts. His Pill Scripture made me thus."

"Remarkable! With these, heart demons stand no chance."

"Hopefully. Begin now?"

Old Thousand Souls seated himself. "At your readiness."

"Proceed."

"Relax your consciousness sea defenses."

Fang Lie complied.

Ghostly light shot from Old Thousand Souls’ eyes. "Formless Heart Demon, arise!"

Next, Fang Lie felt a wave of dizziness in his mind. To his shock, a shadow emerged within his once-clear consciousness sea, swiftly coalescing into a black humanoid figure—an exact replica of himself, but with a vicious face resembling a hellish Demon King!

This was Fang Lie’s heart demon, the polar opposite of his true nature.

For Righteous Cultivators, heart demons often manifest as ruthless demons—hence their name.

But for wicked demons guilty of atrocities, their heart demons take the form of virtuous beings—traits they’ve suppressed to extremes.

To preserve his true self, Fang Lie had to destroy this opposing heart demon and absorb it.

Within the consciousness sea, neither divine skills, Dao magic, nor even life-bound treasures could be used. Since both shared the same origin, treasures couldn’t distinguish master from invader. Only specialized anti-demon treasures worked, but such items were exceedingly rare—and Fang Lie possessed none.

Thus, Fang Lie and his heart demon clashed using only their divine sense.

Divine sense, power born from the soul, functioned like bodily magic.

Fang Lie had cultivated an enhancement-focused Dao magic, refining his divine sense into a single steel wire—piercing and aggressive, sacrificing broad perception for lethal precision. Unlike ordinary Cultivators’ dandelion-like divine sense, his could stab into enemies’ consciousness seas to wound souls directly.

Their Great War unfolded as two steel whips—one black, one white—lashed violently, cracking like thunder. Each collision scattered Fang Lie’s divine sense and seared his soul with knife-like agony. Yet he endured, knowing a single strike to his soul could inflict heavy injuries or complete disintegration.

Soul destruction meant Tribulation failure—his righteous self erased, replaced by the heart demon’s evil.

Though Fang Lie fought fiercely, his mirror-image foe matched his strength perfectly, prolonging the stalemate.

Fang Lie held three Buddhist Light Wisdom Sword Pills as hidden skills but refused to use them. The old bird had taught him that overcoming Heart Demon Trials through personal strength tempered the soul. Future Tribulations and cultivation breakthroughs would bring fiercer heart demons—this battle was crucial preparation.

After a day-long battle, their divine sense whips shattered into two-foot fragments. Fang Lie simply wielded his remnant like Short Swords, engaging in brutal close combat. When the heart demon struck, Fang Lie ignored the attack and lunged for its skull—a suicidal gambit.

The demon, desperate for Resurrection, faltered and defended. Seizing momentum, Fang Lie’s aura surged as he hacked relentlessly, his resolve purifying with each strike. The heart demon crumbled under the onslaught until Fang Lie’s final slash split both whip and foe.

Without the pills, Fang Lie’s fearless spirit alone had crushed the heart demon.

Victorious, Fang Lie roared at the sky and laughed: "What damned heart demon? Just a coward fearing death! Hahaha!"