Immortal Sword Master

Chapter 538: Chapter 533: Guardian Lineage, a Secret of Birth

Atop the mysterious altar lay a blood-drenched heart. It was obviously not human—it was so enormous it could have filled an entire room.

Blood flowed over its surface, still bright red and brimming with vitality, despite the untold years that had passed.

THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...

What was most shocking was that it was beating—THUMP THUMP THUMP—its rhythm deep and powerful, like the pounding of a war drum.

’The exact same aura!’

Ning Jiang murmured. He sensed a familiar aura from the heart, and the image of a strange, demonic eyeball immediately surfaced in his mind.

The eyeball from the ancient well in the Demon Beast Mountain Range of Cyan Cloud Country!

That’s right. The aura of this heart was identical to the eyeball’s.

’They’re from the same body!’

Ning Jiang knew this had to involve an earth-shattering secret. Who had sealed the eyeball and this heart in these places?

The well had been covered in a dense web of Sealing Runes.

And here, on this altar, he saw the same kind of runes—complex, mysterious, and shimmering with a faint light.

”Boy, who are you? You’re not of the Demon Race, yet you can devour Demonic Qi. How is that possible?” a voice echoed from the Demon Heart.

”Asking who I am?” Ning Jiang began slowly, his words stunning. ”What are you? You’re not of the Demon Race, yet you can control this Ghostly Array!”

Had Lady Black Scorpion and her group heard this, they would have found it utterly unbelievable.

”What did you say? I’m not of the Demon Race?!”

The Demon Heart’s voice rose in pitch.

”Others might not be able to see it, but you can’t fool me. You may be able to control this Demonic Qi, but you are fundamentally not of any clan of the Demon Race. I can identify a true member of the Demon Race from a single drop of blood or a sliver of bone!”

Ning Jiang spoke with confidence. This was no empty boast. A hundred thousand years ago, he had fought across the realms and battled countless members of the Demon Race: Blood Demons, Bone Demons, Dog Demons, Flower Demons, Dream Demons, Celestial Demons...

He knew every single race of the Demon Race like the back of his hand.

It was no exaggeration to say that in the entire world, no one understood the Demon Race better than he did.

Yet the heart before him was not only not of the Demon Race, Ning Jiang could even sense that it was a creature from the Great Thousand Realms!

’But how could a creature from the Great Thousand Realms control Demonic Qi?’

At these words, the Demon Heart fell silent.

A dead silence fell over the chamber.

”What’s wrong? Did I strike a nerve?” Ning Jiang asked coolly.

”Who exactly are you?” the Demon Heart asked again.

It seemed like a foolish question. Outwardly, Ning Jiang was just an ordinary junior. What was the point in asking who he was?

But the Demon Heart knew that anyone who could expose its secret so easily couldn’t possibly be a mere junior.

Ning Jiang had to be hiding an earth-shattering secret of his own!

”Do you really think I’d tell you?” Ning Jiang retorted.

”Very well, then. I’ll just have to find out for myself!”

The Demon Heart’s voice turned icy. As it finished speaking, THUD! The entire heart shuddered violently, releasing a thunderous boom.

At the sound, Ning Jiang’s own heart gave a sudden jolt.

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP...

With every beat of the Demon Heart, Ning Jiang’s own heart began to pound in perfect, uncontrollable sync.

’Trying to control my body?’

Ning Jiang’s brow twitched. He realized that with each beat synchronized to the Demon Heart, he lost a fraction of control over his own body. Gradually, his movements became sluggish, and even his Spiritual Wisdom was being affected; he felt himself drifting toward unconsciousness.

Ning Jiang knew that if his Spiritual Wisdom was compromised, all of his secrets would be laid bare before the Demon Heart.

”Divinity Sealing Tower—suppress!”

At this critical moment, the Divinity Sealing Tower in Ning Jiang’s mind flared with power, a vast force bearing down.

”Oh? A Primordial Spirit Treasure? A pity its power is insufficient. Come now, abandon your resistance. Become my loyal Demon Servant!” This time, the Demon Heart’s voice resonated from within Ning Jiang’s own chest.

”Hmph. A heart that was sealed away by another dares to dream of controlling me?”

Ning Jiang remained exceptionally calm. In the instant the Divinity Sealing Tower flared, he seized a fleeting moment of control over his body.

And in that moment, he took something out.

THUD.

A heavy sound rang out, making the very ground tremble, as a black stone stele appeared before him.

It was the Eternal Stele!

The instant the stele appeared, the Demon Heart’s control over Ning Jiang dissolved completely.

”How is that possible? How do you have this item?!” the Demon Heart cried out in disbelief.

’Just as I thought.’

Ning Jiang’s eyes narrowed. Just like the eyeball from Cyan Cloud Country, this Demon Heart recognized the stone stele. The eyeball’s reaction upon seeing it had been one of utter shock, identical to the Demon Heart’s now.

The eyeball had called it the Eternal Stele, a thing of misfortune.

”What is the origin of this stele?” Ning Jiang asked, voicing the question that had puzzled him back then.

He had pressed the eyeball for details at the time, but it had refused to say more, as if the subject was taboo.

”To possess this... it means you’re of the Guardian Lineage. You’re from the Meng Family!”

The Demon Heart spat out this shocking revelation.

Hearing this, Ning Jiang’s pupils contracted. The name Ning Jiang had been given to him by Ning Changfeng, who had found him by the Qingjiang River. It was not this body’s original name.

Later, beneath the Qingjiang River, he had learned that his true name was Meng Daoyi!

Meng was his true family name!

”The Meng Family... the Guardian Lineage?”

Ning Jiang’s eyes narrowed. He never expected to find a clue about his origins here, of all places.

”What is the Guardian Lineage? And how much do you know about the Meng Family?” Ning Jiang pressed for answers.

”Hahahahaha! I don’t know what’s happened in the years I’ve been sealed, but I understand now. Your Meng Family must have run into some major trouble. Otherwise, how could a descendant like you be so ignorant!” the Demon Heart cackled.

”Are you going to tell me, or not?” Ning Jiang’s eyes narrowed.

”And what if I don’t? What can you do about it?” the Demon Heart said coldly.

Ning Jiang said no more, but his gaze turned glacial. He hoisted the Eternal Stele onto his shoulder and strode toward the Demon Heart.

”Boy, what do you think you’re doing?”

”Let’s see what’s tougher—you or this Eternal Stele!”

As he spoke, Ning Jiang stepped onto the altar, raised the Eternal Stele, and slammed it down hard onto the Demon Heart.

SMACK!

With a sickening thud, the Demon Heart let out a pained shriek.

”You’re courting death!”

A tyrannical Power surged from the Demon Heart, but before it could fully erupt, the Eternal Stele slammed down again.

”AAAGH!”

The Demon Heart shrieked in agony.

”Are you going to talk or not?” Ning Jiang’s voice was utterly dominant as he raised the Eternal Stele to strike a third time.