Chapter 543

Chapter 543: The Heart of Dao Recedes, the Demonic Heart Emerges

Si Ma Suiyun returned to the tavern, and his first words were, “Have you seen the message from the pawnshop? The Ten Thousand Gu Sect has offered a bounty for the capture of the true culprit who possesses a Yang Gu. Although the Demon Cultivators are cunning and left no clues, there are countless talented individuals in the world who can rely on Innate Techniques to trace this person’s origin.”

Li Hui slowly rose, no longer calm as a breeze under clear skies; it felt as if dark clouds loomed above. He coldly stated, “Anyone who dares to touch my belongings will be turned to dust, regardless of their background.”

“Uh?” Si Ma Suiyun felt a chill run through him, and after a long moment, he regained his composure and said, “These are the broken artifacts and fragments of spirit treasures the young master wanted the pawnshop to collect.”

“I will come back to find you later and give you a Curse Talisman for protection. Anyone who dares to harm you will be cursed to death,” Li Hui said as he waved his hand, leaving a Curse Talisman behind before dissipating into thin air.

“Are you going to chase the Demon Cultivators?” Si Ma Suiyun murmured, suddenly feeling someone grab his arm. The waiter exclaimed, “You can’t leave! That guest hasn’t paid for his drinks yet!”

“What did you say?” Si Ma Suiyun felt dizzy. The high-level demon cultivator left without settling the bill; even selling him off wouldn’t cover the cost! Was it still possible to go after him?

Of course, it was too late. Li Hui had already departed from Huangting Mountain, his eyes turning blood red, dragon horns sprouting similarly in red from his forehead, and his hair transforming into a vibrant blood-red. He looked up, surveying the world.

“These treasures emit a powerful aura. If they leave Huangting Mountain, they will surely leave traces,” Li Hui said with determination, stomping his foot. “Bai Ze, come out and set up a barrier; clear the qi!”

“Boom…” The colossal Bai Ze appeared, towering sixty-six zhang high, slowly opening its eyes. Suddenly, the world changed color, and the royal city of the Great Xia fell into shadow.

A voice called from afar, “How bold! Who dares to disturb the heavenly secrets?”

Li Hui raised his hand, striking back with a snort. “Silence!”

“Boom, boom, boom…” Figures plummeted from the skies as they hurried to this location, their bodies falling like chaff, sensing a great terror approaching.

Transformed by his demonic nature, Li Hui became exceedingly arrogant. Not to mention the ordinary practitioners at the Bosa stage, even the Myriad Forms stage cultivators—how many would survive under his Curse?

With his heart of Dao unstable, his demonic heart took precedence; this was the entanglement of shadows from the future.

“I found it!”

Bai Ze finally detected some traces, and with a step, Li Hui appeared to traverse the threshold, quickly moving from the royal city of the Great Xia to the demon lair.

“The demon lair?” He frowned as he noted the area’s devastation, filled with fissures and rifts in the earth.

Ever since the summer emperor led an expedition, the demon lair had been despised by spirits and ghosts; even demonic beings were unwilling to venture there, for the residual aura left by high-level cultivators was enough to incinerate them.

“Come out! I know the Six Paths of Jade Stone is here,” his voice echoed for thousands of miles, forceful and thunderous.

Suddenly, hundreds of Demon Cultivators appeared, and the leader laughed heartily, “Ah, so we have a fellow cultivator! Did you think you could blackmail me alone?”

A chilling aura expanded from Li Hui’s form, and with “thud, thud,” hundreds of Demon Cultivators fell to the ground, their faces turning purple as they died unexpectedly.

“You…” the leading demon cultivator felt as if his throat was being squeezed, unable to make a sound; it wasn’t long before he too took his last breath.

“Who among you is a fellow cultivator? My sect’s demonic path surpasses all others!” Li Hui leaped into the fissure in the earth, his eyes glimmering with the flickering flames of demon fire.

Along the way, he annihilated every Demon Cultivator he encountered, with their fallen forms transforming the magical items on them into scraps. Even their bones shrank, morphing into three-foot-long magic puppets, blood talismans appearing on their faces.

By the time Li Hui landed, nearly a thousand magic puppets had gathered above him, emitting sharp cries as they swarmed, their actions far more malevolent than those of authentic Demon Cultivators.

At this point, he wouldn’t even need to make a move; the magic puppets rushed forward, sending the Demon Cultivators into a panic, causing them to flee in terror.

Li Hui pressed on and discovered that the local lord had captured many Demon Cultivators to build a palace, already completing a good portion of it. Those captured were shackled and bore numerous wounds, clearly having suffered greatly.

The magic puppets cackled and charged forward, drinking demon blood until there were no remaining Slave Cultivators, and the unfinished outer palace became eerily quiet.

“So it was you, Rakshasa!” Li Hui peered through the thick palace walls, smirking coldly. “You’ve got a crafty scheme, eyeing the benefits of the treasure cabinet, also hoping to use the Six Paths of Jade Stone to build a core.”

“Li Hui, I warned you not to let me see you; if I do, you shall die,” Ji Mengxue, the Rakshasa, declared from deep within the palace. “Everyone, listen! Retrieve my treasures and take his life.”

“Yes!” Flames rose explosively within the palace as Ji Mengxue had tamed numerous Demon Cultivators and practitioners of malevolent sects. With the Bull Demon King Talisman and summoning constitution, she had sacrificed to control ten Demon Cultivators at the Myriad Forms stage, forming a small power base in the Demon Palace.

Li Hui desired the Six Paths of Jade Stone, and the Rakshasa sought it too. Their objectives aligned, leading to a clash!

Both held intentions to kill, wishing to destroy each other to deepen their demonic hearts. Thus, upon their meeting, they went all out, fiercely battling with Curse Puppets and Demon Cultivators wielding demon banners, employing bizarre techniques in their fight.

“Kill, kill, kill…”

Li Hui took steady steps toward the palace, surrounded by magic puppets shrieking incessantly. Whenever they could not curse the Demon Cultivators holding the demon banners into becoming magic puppets, they would rush forward and self-destruct, collapsing the palace entrance.

Suddenly, ten figures transformed into shadows and charged at him.

Myriad Forms stage Demon Cultivators were making their move; their might was extraordinary!

However, they never expected that the shadows emitted from their claws would be swifter than the light and shadow, pressing the Curse Talisman against their chests before they realized what was happening. They screamed madly, “No!”

When Li Hui dealt with the Undying Curse, he crafted forty-five high-quality Curse Talismans. Having given one to Si Ma Suiyun, he was now left with forty-four. Since he wore the Flower of the Other Shore robe, he no longer valued these Curse Talismans, so he used ten of them all at once.

“Bang, bang, bang…” Each Curse Talisman that cracked took the life of a Myriad Forms stage Demon Cultivator. No matter what techniques they employed to escape, they ultimately fell victim to the Curse, dying without a trace!

“Li Hui, I never imagined you would become so powerful after succumbing to your demonic side!” Ji Mengxue, the Rakshasa, waved her hand, causing her subservient Demon Cultivators to scream, madly gouging their eyes out and raising them high.

“Eh?” Li Hui exclaimed, quickly dodging. The next moment, the palace was filled with no remaining Demon Cultivators; even the magic puppets he had created had become sacrifices.

A storm howled, swirling with demonic flames and fierce winds, as the towering figure of the Rakshasa rose, her amethyst hair growing longer, dancing wildly with the flames, her tresses sharp as blades.

“An outer celestial demon?” Li Hui retreated further, trying to reclaim the Bull Demon King Talisman from the Rakshasa, but found himself obstructed at every turn.

The Rakshasa smirked, a sense of triumph in her voice, “You don’t need to try to summon it back; you can’t take this talisman from me. Under my tutelage, it will grow ever stronger, surpassing the limitations of heaven and earth.”

“In that case, hasten!” With a deep breath, Li Hui unleashed fourteen Curse Talismans at once, forming a massive wave of curse power that swept through, and his demonic heart surged, disregarding ties of kinship.