232: Chapter 232 Family Severance? Family Discipline in Hand!

Chu Sheng carefully bypassed the areas eroded by the two forces, his footsteps light, not daring to disturb the Devilish Qi that was still surging.

The two forces of Greed and Gluttony entwined by his side, like two invisible giant pythons.

He walked very slowly.

Yu Rumeng followed behind him, equally vigilant against the residual fragments of the Restriction.

The traps set by Greed remained lethal even after a thousand years.

The entrance to the seventh level was shrouded in a layer of gray mist.

Chu Sheng stood before the mist and probed with his Divine Sense, but his Divine Sense sank into the mist like a clay ox entering the sea.

He frowned and turned to glance at Yu Rumeng; Yu Rumeng did not speak, merely nodding.

The two stepped into the mist simultaneously.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Chu Sheng sensed that something was wrong; the aura beside him had vanished.

He was standing in the residence in Jin Xiao City.

The old locust tree in the courtyard, the stone table and stools beneath it, and a pot of tea still sitting on the table—the tea had already gone cold.

Liu Qingyan leaned on a soft couch, Li Zhiyi stood in the courtyard, Lin Wanqing sat at the entrance of the Pill Refining Room, Zhou Wantang was on the roof, Yue Jianli stood in the corner, and Qu Xiaohuan peeked out from the kitchen doorway.

Everyone was there.

They were all there, but the way they looked at him was wrong.

That look was not how one looked at a husband, not how one looked at a Dao Companion, but how one looked at a stranger—filled with alienation, coldness, and even a hint of disgust.

Liu Qingyan spoke first, her voice flat: "You are nothing but an outsider who used us."

Li Zhiyi sneered, "Do you think we actually care about you?"

Lin Wanqing kept her head lowered, never once looking up.

Zhou Wantang was the cruelest, cold and smiling: "I never liked you; I only wanted to use you to break through to the Spirit Sea."

Chu Sheng did not speak.

He knew this was an illusion, but what he hadn't expected was that his heart would actually ache.

Then, several people walked out from the shadows.

A delicate-featured youth, whose brows and eyes resembled both Liu Qingyan and him; a graceful young girl with a melon-seed face, phoenix eyes, and the corners of her mouth bearing that stubborn curve characteristic of Li Zhiyi.

Although their faces were blurred, Chu Sheng recognized them as seemingly his former children, yet they held blades in their hands, the blades still stained with undried blood.

They walked out from the shadows, drew their weapons, and said in unison: "Old thief, prepare to die!"

Chu Sheng was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

"When children are disobedient," he said, his voice not loud but steady, "naturally, they must be disciplined by family law."

He raised his hand, and the zhu xian sword unsheathed.

It did not strike toward those grim-faced children, but instead slashed upward toward the sky.

The sword light, like a ribbon of silk, tore through the residence, tore through the locust tree, and tore through the cloud-covered sky.

The illusion shattered, and the figures of his Dao Companions and children turned into black smoke. The black smoke swirled and condensed in the air, transforming into a monster.

Its form was massive like a small mountain, its face blurred with no features, save for a large mouth that spanned its entire face.

Its aura was that of the Yun Shen Realm, pressing down heavily, but its aura was slowly declining.

Chu Sheng recognized it: the Tan Lang Heart Demon, a monster refined by Greed specifically to test the Heart-Nature of intruders.

It had the combat power of the Yun Shen Realm but lacked stamina; after fighting for a while, it would weaken on its own to Palace Building, then to Sea Opening, then to Spirit Spring, until it became a useless lump of rotten meat.

Chu Sheng did not draw a second sword; he used only the single zhu xian sword, combined with his combat experience from several lifetimes.

The Tan Lang Heart Demon retreated step by step before him; every block was half a beat slow, and every counterattack lacked strength.

Chu Sheng's sword grew faster and faster, the sword light weaving into a net that enveloped the Heart Demon.

The final sword strike pierced the Heart Demon's core, the tip emerging from its back and bringing out a mass of black, purulent blood.

The Heart Demon let out a hiss, its body beginning to collapse, crashing to the ground and turning into a puddle of black sludge.

Chu Sheng sheathed his sword, took a deep breath, and looked up—

In the distance, Yu Rumeng stood amidst a sea of fire.

Her illusion was more personal, and more painful, than his.

She had returned to her childhood, that dark stone house, the moldy walls, the drafty windows.

An old member of the Demon Race reeking of alcohol, her father, had smashed her most beloved jade ruyi, the fragments scattering across the floor, his voice like thunder: "What is a Succubus cultivating for? Better to just find a Demon General and marry him!"

Her mother was scolding her, her voice even sharper and thinner than her father's, like needles piercing into her ears: "A Demon General? You're probably overestimating her! This money-losing goods, what's the use of raising you this big!"

Her younger sister was hiding in the corner, crying, her small shoulders heaving.

She grabbed her sister's hand and ran out of that cold home, the sounds of scolding, crying, and breaking things behind her fading further and further away.

The illusion tore open her wounds, forcing her to re-experience the fear of being abandoned, and then sprinkled salt upon them.

The Inheritance of Wrath rampaged within her, that crimson Devilish Qi surging from her Dantian, sweeping through her entire body and engulfing the entire illusion.

She did not break the situation with a sword; she burned everything with Wrath.

The illusion collapsed in the flames, and the Tan Lang Heart Demon was torn to shreds by the power of Wrath before it could even strike, fluttering in the sea of fire like scraps of paper.

She stood amidst the ruins, bathed in fire, her long hair billowing in the flames, her pupils reflecting the dancing firelight.

In her prime state, with Palace Building Late Stage, the addition of Wrath, and the resonance of the Heavenly Demon Body, the combat power she unleashed was not inferior to Spirit Nurturing.

Chu Sheng watched her back from a distance, the corners of his mouth curling slightly, thinking that this woman was even stronger than he had imagined.

Yu Rumeng turned her head, looking at Chu Sheng across that sea of fire that was currently extinguishing.

Her eyes were red—not from having cried, but because the embers of Wrath were still burning.

The seventh level quieted down.

The gray mist had dissipated, and the Devilish Qi of Greed and Gluttony, agitated by the two's Breakthroughs and the death of the Heart Demon, temporarily retreated into the deeper reaches.

The entrance to the eighth level was revealed—a flight of stone steps spiraling upward, with darkness at the end.

Chu Sheng did not look back, stepping toward the stone stairs.

The sound of his footsteps echoed rhythmically throughout the empty seventh level.