Immortal Sword Master

Chapter 541: Chapter 536: Wang Yunfei’s Past

This sword strike was called Sword Decides Life and Death.

Compared to the previous three forms—Sword Shocking Nine Heavens, Sword Breaks the Sky, and Sword Suppressing Sun and Moon—the power of this strike represented a quantum leap.

When this sword was unleashed, it was as if Yama wielded the Judge’s Pen, deciding fates in the Book of Life and Death. Nothing in existence could escape Yama’s judgment.

Compared to Liu Yama’s Saber Technique, this sword strike was undoubtedly more terrifying, more extreme.

However, a strike this tyrannical was not so easily executed. Ning Jiang should have only been able to use it after reaching the Earth Martial Realm Late Stage. Forcibly unleashing such a technique at the Earth Martial Realm Early Stage caused a massive backlash to his body.

First, the Spiritual Qi within his Dantian was completely depleted by this one strike.

More seriously, his physical body could not withstand the strike’s tyrannical power. Cracks began to appear all over his skin, and every cell in his flesh and blood began to die.

Even his bones began to emit a sound like popping beans—CRACKLE, POP—as they threatened to shatter.

”Ning Jiang, you...?!”

Gu Huaying’s pupils contracted violently. Before her eyes, Ning Jiang’s flesh and blood were actually dissipating bit by bit, like a rain of light.

”It was still too much for me to use this strike with my current Cultivation.”

Ning Jiang gave a bitter smile. He had expected to pay a price for this strike, but he had never imagined it would be so devastating.

One had to understand that his current physical body was the Nine Tribulations Celestial Thunder Body at Perfection, supposedly indestructible. Yet, it was beginning to crumble under the backlash of this single strike, which showed just how terrifying the technique truly was.

His body had now lost all vitality, like a rotting, dead tree on the verge of collapsing into dust.

Immediately, he took out a white jade-like lotus root. It was the Life Lotus he had obtained earlier.

Before his body could completely break down, he quickly ate the Life Lotus. Instantly, a vast surge of Life Essence Qi erupted from within him, coursing through his meridians and flooding into every inch of his flesh and blood.

This Life Essence Qi was so dense that it seeped out of Ning Jiang’s body, forming a roiling white mist that enveloped him completely.

Under the influence of this rich vitality, his body, which had been on the brink of destruction, slowly began to regain its life force.

This process continued for half an hour.

Half an hour later, he had absorbed every last bit of the Life Lotus’s energy, and his body was fully restored.

”It’s a good thing you had the Life Lotus. You were in real danger this time.” Seeing that Ning Jiang was all right, Gu Huaying breathed a sigh of relief.

Once the physical body collapses, leaving only the Primordial Spirit behind, the situation becomes extremely perilous.

A Primordial Spirit without a physical body is like a rootless duckweed; its combat strength will be drastically reduced.

”It’s a shame about Liu Yama. He was a decent Blade Master.” Ning Jiang glanced at Liu Yama’s corpse and shook his head slightly.

With Liu Yama’s temperament, given enough time, he most likely would have become a King. Instead, he fell here because of the Demon Heart.

”By killing him, you were setting him free,” Gu Huaying said. ”For someone like Liu Yama, becoming a Demon Servant would have been an insult. By killing him, you preserved his dignity as a member of the Human Race.”

”What other tricks do you have?” Ning Jiang asked, looking at the Demon Heart.

”Junior, you continue to surprise me. It seems I underestimated you!” the Demon Heart said, then snorted coldly. ”However, with your current Cultivation, you’re not qualified to learn any more of my secrets!”

Hearing this, Ning Jiang’s eyes narrowed.

He could sense an unshakeable conviction in the Demon Heart’s tone.

And this conviction made him understand that the Demon Heart would not tell him anything, no matter what.

This Demon Heart had been dismembered and sealed here, yet it still hadn’t died. An expert of this caliber would never divulge its secrets just because of his threats.

And indeed, Ning Jiang’s current methods were insufficient to destroy the Demon Heart.

”Brat, if you truly wish to know about the Guardian Lineage and the secrets of the Eternal Stele, it’s not impossible. Help me break the seal, become my subordinate, and I can tell you everything.”

The Demon Heart’s voice was tempting. ”I promise you, I won’t turn you into a Demon Servant. I will devote all my resources to cultivating you, even helping you step into the Celestial King Realm.”

This statement made Gu Huaying’s expression change.

’This Demon Heart claims it can help someone reach the Celestial King Realm... Just how terrifying is it?’

”I know your will is strong and that you won’t yield to threats. But do you really think you can sway mine?” Ning Jiang shook his head and said flatly, ”You think you’re immortal, that I can’t do anything to you, and so you act with impunity. But is there anything in this world that truly cannot be killed? Eternal life is just a delusion. I will come see you again. At that time, you’ll talk whether you want to or not!”

With that, Ning Jiang turned and left without a backward glance.

”Hilarious. I’d like to see when that day will ever come,” the Demon Heart’s voice echoed with disdain.

Ning Jiang’s aptitude was indeed not bad; even it had to praise the sword strike that killed Liu Yama. But in its long life, it had seen far too many prodigies. It had seen not only Innate King’s Bodies, but even Innate Saint’s Bodies.

And its hands were stained with the blood of a Sacred Body!

”Ning Jiang, what exactly is this Demon Heart?” Gu Huaying couldn’t help but ask. She guessed that Ning Jiang must know something.

”To be precise, it’s not from the Demon Race. It’s a creature from the Great Thousand Realms, but with a very special constitution.” Ning Jiang stopped there, not elaborating further.

As a former Legendary Venerable, his insight allowed him to see some aspects of the Demon Heart’s nature...

He walked over to Wang Yunfei’s side.

With the Ghostly Array gone, Wang Yunfei’s demonization had been successfully halted. However, the situation was not optimistic. He was struggling to maintain a single shred of sanity in his eyes.

If that shred of sanity were to disappear, he would still fall under the Demon Heart’s control.

”Senior, what exactly happened here?”

While Wang Yunfei was still lucid, Gu Huaying hurriedly asked.

”Back then, I was bewitched and deceived by it...” Wang Yunfei said with a bitter smile and began to recount what had happened.

According to him, he had accidentally discovered this sealed land back then and found the Demon Heart here. At the time, the Demon Heart deceived him, claiming it could help him break through to the King Realm.

At that time, Wang Yunfei’s Cultivation was only at the Heaven-Reaching Realm, so naturally, he couldn’t discern the Demon Heart’s origins. In the end, unable to resist the temptation of reaching the Celestial Martial Realm, he cultivated a Cultivation Technique the Demon Heart taught him.

At first, Wang Yunfei didn’t notice any problems with the Cultivation Technique. He only felt it was an Unparalleled Skill, incomparably profound. And with this technique, he did indeed step into the Celestial Martial Realm.

But as soon as he stepped into the Celestial Martial Realm, problems arose.

His physical body began to undergo demonization!

Only then did he finally understand that it had all been a conspiracy by the Demon Heart. From start to finish, he had been nothing more than its pawn!

To avoid being controlled by the Demon Heart, he plunged a Treasure Sword into his own skull. This act managed to halt the demonization.

However, over these countless years, his consciousness would flicker in and out. During the periods when his will vanished, the Demon Heart would control his body, capturing large numbers of Martial Artists in an attempt to use a sacrificial ritual to break the seal on this place.