95: Chapter 95 Great Revenge Achieved, Inner Demons Appear

Their expressions changed drastically, and both simultaneously activated their protective Divine Abilities.

Xiao Yuan spat out a mouthful of blood essence onto the red flame sword; the flames on the sword surged violently, transforming into a curtain of fire that enveloped him.

Bai Yue held her jade flute horizontally before her, and a cyan light screen surged from the flute, firmly protecting her.

The Late Twilight Sword Qi descended.

The curtain of fire shattered like paper, and the red flame sword fell from Xiao Yuan's hand, hitting the ground with a "clang."

The cyan light screen followed suit, cracking inch by inch, and the jade flute slipped from Bai Yue's hand, rolling onto the stone steps.

Bai Yue's body stiffened in place, the light in her pupils gradually fading.

A wisp of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth as her body slowly toppled over, landing heavily on the stone steps, devoid of any further sign of life.

Xiao Yuan knelt on the ground; the red flame sword had slipped from his hand, and his protective light screen had shattered. There were no wounds on his body, yet his aura was withering at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The power of the Late Twilight Sword Qi was eroding his vitality.

His hair began to turn gray, and his skin began to sag, as if he had aged hundreds of years in an instant.

"You..."

Xiao Yuan raised his head, staring fixedly at Lu Jinghan, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He could not understand when he had provoked this scourge.

He could not understand why someone he did not know would harbor such deep murderous intent toward him.

He could not understand why Heaven would treat him this way.

Since childhood, he had been a branch member of the Xiao Family, ignored and unvalued; he had to fight for every Cultivation Technique, resource, and Medicinal Pill himself.

He thought he had finally found an Opportunity, that he could finally return to the Central Plains and fight for what should have been his.

But all of this had been cut short here.

Xiao Yuan's body slowly collapsed, landing heavily on the stone steps.

Lu Jinghan sheathed his sword and looked at the two corpses with a calm expression.

However, a faint black Qi lingered around his body.

The black Qi coiled around him, moving in and out of his body, exuding a cold and eerie aura.

After Xiao Yuan and Bai Yue died, the black Qi did not dissipate; instead, it grew even denser.

Lu Jinghan sensed something was wrong and frowned slightly.

"Senior Brother!"

Qin Muchuan's voice came from behind, carrying a hint of worry.

"What... is that black Qi on your body?"

Su Fuguang also hurried forward, his gaze landing on the wisps of black Qi on Lu Jinghan, his expression grave.

Lu Jinghan looked down at his hand; a faint wisp of black Qi lingered at his fingertips, carrying an uncomfortable chill.

He tried to use his spiritual power to disperse it, but the black Qi was like a persistent maggot in the bone, remaining unmoved.

The strange sensation of the black Qi clinging to him was more eerie than any injury he had ever sustained.

Lu Jinghan immediately sat cross-legged, closed his eyes slightly, and sank his consciousness into his body.

His spiritual power flowed smoothly, and his Meridians and Dantian were completely undamaged, but that cold, chilling feeling was real, as if countless tiny ice needles were pricking deep into his flesh.

In his Sea of Consciousness, spiritual light surged like a tide.

At this moment, the sky above this Sea of Consciousness, which should have been as clear as a mirror, was shrouded in a mass of ink-black fog.

The black Qi was so thick it was almost solid, constantly churning and writhing, exuding a cold and eerie aura.

Within the black Qi, something was vaguely gestating and growing, like a sleeping Vicious Beast ready to break out of its cocoon at any moment.

Lu Jinghan's consciousness stared at the mass of black Qi, his brow furrowed.

He knew what this was—a Heart Demon.

In his previous life, he had also encountered a Heart Demon during his Undergoing Tribulation.

It was one of the most dangerous tribulations on a Cultivator's path; invisible obsessions would transform into a Heart Demon, taking root and sprouting in the Sea of Consciousness. Once it erupted, the result would be the complete loss of cultivation at best, and total destruction of the Divine Soul at worst.

But he had never seen a Heart Demon take form during the Nascent Soul Stage, nor had he ever seen one appear in the form of this black Qi.

"No wonder that black Qi cannot be dispersed," Lu Jinghan thought to himself.

He took a deep breath, concentrated his mind, and the Time-Space Derivation Sutra within him roared to life.

Since the Heart Demon had formed, he would cut it down.

Vast power of time and space surged into his Sea of Consciousness, rushing toward the mass of black Qi.

The moment the two forces collided, Lu Jinghan's body shuddered violently, and his face suddenly turned pale.

The black Qi churned violently, as if provoked, transforming into countless tiny tentacles that spread in all directions.

The power of time and space grappled with those black Qi tentacles, the two distinct forces clashing wildly within his Sea of Consciousness.

Inside the Sea of Consciousness, the black Qi churned, and a voice drifted from deep within it.

The voice was exactly like his own, yet it carried a cold and mocking tone.

"Lu Jinghan, do you think that by killing Xiao Yuan and Bai Yue, you can let go of the hatred from your previous life?"

The black Qi condensed, forming a blurry figure with a face identical to Lu Jinghan's, yet a cold smile hung on its lips.

"You cannot let it go. In your previous life, you were betrayed by your most trusted friends and died at their hands. This hatred is already carved deep into your Divine Soul; it cannot be erased just by killing two people."

"Your Dao was not pure from the very beginning."

The figure formed by the black Qi walked toward Lu Jinghan step by step. With every step it took, the black Qi grew denser, and the power of time and space was suppressed a little more.

"If you cannot let go of your hatred, you cannot cut down the Heart Demon. If you cannot cut down the Heart Demon, your path of Dao ends here."

Lu Jinghan sat cross-legged on the ground, his aura already very weak.

Qin Muchuan and Su Fuguang stood guard by his side, watching as Senior Brother's aura fluctuated between stable and chaotic, their expressions uncertain.

They did not know what was happening inside Lu Jinghan's body, but they could feel that he was currently in an extremely dangerous situation.

"Xiao Guang," Qin Muchuan said in a low voice, his gaze fixed intently on Lu Jinghan.

"Will Senior Brother... be alright?"

Su Fuguang shook his head, his expression grave. "I don't know, but Senior Brother has always been steady; he shouldn't do anything he isn't sure of."

Afterward, they stood guard beside Lu Jinghan, fearing that some accident might occur.

Seven days later, outside the Ancient Cave Abode.

Elder Yin Buer and the other two had already discovered this Immortal Cave and knew that the aura of the heart-cleansing bamboo was right beneath their feet, but that layer of invisible barrier kept them isolated outside, unable to advance a single step.

"Brother Yin."

Zhuge Yun walked over from the other side of the hillside, his folding fan already put away, his expression graver than it had been seven days ago.

"The Restriction at the cave entrance has weakened quite a bit over these past few days. If we wait another three to five days, we should be able to break through it."

Elder Yin Buer's gaze fell in the direction of the cave entrance; he had investigated that layer of Restriction countless times, and the methods used to set up the Formation were extremely brilliant.

It was at least an Earth Rank Formation. If not for the passage of time eroding the power of the Restriction, with the three of them's cultivation, they wouldn't even be able to shake it in the slightest.

"Wait another three days," Elder Yin Buer said in a deep voice.

"If it still cannot be broken after three days, we will forcefully attack it."

Li Tianxiong walked to the side of the cave entrance and raised his hand to touch the invisible barrier; a faint fluctuation of spiritual power came from his palm.

"That kid named Lu Jinghan went inside and hasn't come out," Li Tianxiong said in a muffled voice. "Could he have already died inside?"

"Whether he lives or dies is not important," Elder Yin Buer said in a flat tone. "As long as the heart-cleansing bamboo is inside, that is enough."