Ye Hao breaks the deadlock, an award-winning performance? I have never lost my true self!

"What?!"

"How is this possible?!"

Watching Ye Hao's blade slash ruthlessly toward it, the Heart Demon was terrified, its originally hideous and smug expression instantly freezing.

It instinctively wanted to dodge, to flee back into the depths of Ye Hao's heart.

However, Ye Hao's strike came too suddenly, too decisively, and far too fast!

Completely off guard, it had no time to make any reaction at all!

Boom!!!

That strike, containing all of Ye Hao's essence, energy, and spirit, and carrying an Aura that could destroy heaven and earth, landed solidly on the Heart Demon's body!

A crisp "crack" sounded, as if something invisible had been shattered.

The Heart Demon, which looked just like Ye Hao, was like a glass sculpture hit by a heavy blow; countless fine cracks began to spread rapidly across its body's surface!

"You... why would you?!"

The Heart Demon didn't care about its own body which was about to shatter; it just stared fixedly at Ye Hao in front of it, its gaze terrifyingly dark.

It couldn't understand!

Clearly, everything was going according to its script; clearly, Ye Hao had fallen to the extreme; clearly, he was only one final step away from complete ruin!

Why?

Why at this most critical moment did this kid suddenly turn the tables?!

"What?"

"Are you very surprised?"

Ye Hao withdrew his blade and quietly watched the crumbling Heart Demon before him, a faint trace of mockery curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Did you think that my strike just now should have been aimed at those people below?"

"Did you think that I had been completely controlled by you, becoming your Puppet?"

As he spoke, he slowly raised his head.

His face, which had been twisted and frenzied with greed and killing intent, had at some point become as calm as water.

Those eyes, once filled with crimson, were now clear to the bottom!

Where was there even a hint of being demonized?

"Hmm?"

Seeing Ye Hao's state, which was currently as clear as a mirror, the Heart Demon was stunned.

Then, as if it understood something, it suddenly laughed.

The smile was no longer hideous; instead, it carried a hint of playfulness and appreciation.

"Interesting..."

"Truly interesting..."

"I didn't expect that I would also have a day where I was fooled by someone."

The Heart Demon took a deep look at Ye Hao and asked with a bit of curiosity, "When did you find out?"

"It's not exactly 'finding out.'"

Ye Hao shook his head, his tone flat.

"Ever since I passed the assessment and entered the academy, I've always felt that my experiences seemed a bit discordant."

"Everything was too smooth, so smooth it felt somewhat unreal."

"How should I put it?"

"That feeling was very subtle, like being in a dream that, while vivid, was full of holes in the details."

"This made me instinctively feel that my experiences were fake, but no matter how I tested it—even with self-harm—the pain was so real that I couldn't prove it."

"Until..."

"You silently appeared from the depths of my heart..."

Ye Hao paused, his gaze becoming sharp.

"Oh? What, you could perceive me back then?"

Hearing this, the Heart Demon was greatly surprised.

It believed its lurking was seamless, and it had even been subtly influencing Ye Hao; how could it have been exposed?

This kid actually said that it itself became the flaw?

"Correct!"

Ye Hao nodded, a glint flashing in his eyes.

"From a certain moment on, there has always been a voice silently tempting me in the depths of my heart."

"It constantly stirred my various desires and magnified my dark side."

"Perhaps someone else wouldn't be able to detect such subtle changes from the depths of their Soul and would only think those were evil thoughts they generated themselves."

"But I am different!"

"I can clearly distinguish that those weren't my thoughts at all, much less my Heart Demon!"

At this point, Ye Hao's voice became incredibly firm, even carrying a sense of awe-inspiring righteousness.

"Because my original heart has never changed!"

"Although I, Ye Hao, crave power and desire to become stronger, I know even more clearly where the bottom line is and what righteousness is!"

"And a person who has never betrayed their original heart naturally cannot birth a Heart Demon that wants to slaughter their own compatriots!"

These words were truly deafening, making the Heart Demon's expression become somewhat complex.

"So..."

"Everything before—your arrogance, your fall—it was all an act?"

"The goal was to lure me out?"

"That's right."

Ye Hao admitted it frankly, without any concealment.

"Even if I was certain that none of this was real, I was still unable to break this bizarre place."

"So, in my view, only by finding the core of this illusion—which is you—and successfully destroying you could I get out of here."

"Unfortunately, your vigilance was too high."

"Previously, no matter how I showed signs of falling, you would only hide in my heart, only daring to fuel the fire from the shadows, never willing to appear."

"In order to get out, I could only beat you at your own game."

"Only by making you think I had completely fallen, making you feel that victory was within your grasp, would you relax your guard and take the initiative to jump out and enjoy the results."

"As it turns out..."

Ye Hao shrugged, a playful smile appearing on his face.

"My acting wasn't bad."

"Even you, a so-called Heart Demon, were fooled by me."

...Outside, in front of the light screen.

Listening to Ye Hao's clear and logical explanation.

The crowd, who had been feeling angry and disappointed by Ye Hao's "betrayal," were now completely dumbfounded.

"Huh?"

"So he had already noticed something was wrong from the moment he entered the illusion?"

Gu Zhiyun's mouth hung open, her face full of disbelief.

"He's clearly only at Body Tempering First Level! He doesn't even have Divine Sense yet!"

"How can he have such strong perception?"

"And... under the subtle influence of the Heavenly Demon Heart-Questioning Array, he could still maintain such clear logic and even turn the tables to trap the Heart Demon?"

"This... this is too ridiculous, right?"

"I say, is this really a maneuver a Body Tempering First Level Cultivator can pull off?"

She simply couldn't believe this was something a little rookie who had just stepped into cultivation could do!

This kind of mindset and composure was already stronger than many veteran Cultivators with deep Realms!

"It is indeed hard to understand..."

"I also thought just now that this kid was finished, that he was an ungrateful wolf."

"But I didn't expect that it was my own vision that was too narrow..."

Sikong Yang, who was nearby, also had a complex expression, his old face feeling a bit hot.

He had just finished saying that one may know a person's face but not their heart, concluding that Ye Hao was a hypocrite.

As a result, within seconds, his own face was slapped hard.

This truly surprised him, but it was also a very pleasant surprise.

"Old Grandfather..."

At this time, Lin Xiyue turned her head and looked at the always calm Sword Old, asking curiously:

"So... you found out early on?"

Everyone present, including Li Fan, had been fooled by Ye Hao's acting just now.

Only Sword Old had looked composed from start to finish, as if he had long expected it.

This made Lin Xiyue very curious, wanting to know how exactly he saw through it.

"Correct, this old man did indeed find out from the beginning."

Watching Ye Hao's performance in the illusion, Sword Old stroked his beard and smiled, his eyes full of appreciation.

"Just as this kid said himself, even after entering the illusion, his original heart never changed."

"This means that his spiritual terrace was always in a clear state and was never truly blinded by the illusion."

"And in this state, the influence of that little girl Liu Qingyu's methods on him was actually extremely limited."

At this point, Sword Old glanced at a certain corner and added meaningfully:

"Of course..."

"This was also because that little girl wasn't serious."

"She just casually set it up and didn't fully activate the Heavenly Demon Seal."

"Otherwise, no matter how firm this kid's mind was, it would be impossible for him to notice something was wrong so easily, let alone turn the tables to plot against the Heart Demon."

Hearing the first half of Sword Old's sentence, Liu Qingyu, who was hiding in the shadows, immediately wanted to jump out and argue that her methods weren't that easy to break.

But after hearing the second half, she swallowed her rebuttal and even gave a smug snort.

At least this old man has some vision!

If this demoness were to get serious, even if this kid had ten brains, it wouldn't be enough to play with!

"So that's how it is..."

"This student Ye Hao's Heart-Nature is extremely remarkable?"

Lin Guohui pondered for a moment before suddenly asking.

"More than just remarkable."

Sword Old looked at Ye Hao on the light screen and gave an extremely high evaluation.

"This level of Heart-Nature is already fully in line with the standard of a top-tier Prodigy!"

"And..."

A glint flashed in Sword Old's eyes.

"In this old man's view, there is a high probability that he has some pleasant surprises on him that you haven't discovered yet."

"In short, this kid is definitely good material."

"He's worth your Great Xia betting heavily on him!"

Hearing such a high evaluation from Sword Old, everyone felt very surprised.

One must know, Sword Old was once a Saint!

How high was his vision?

To make even him say words like "worth betting on,"

Then this Ye Hao's value was probably truly ridiculously high!