Chapter 1115: Subduing the Heart Demon

The speaker was none other than the Cruel One.

“Yours?” Zhang Xuan was stunned.

“Correct. This kind of altar soul-capture is an extremely vicious method that seizes the primordial spirit and soul of a master teacher to nourish one’s own primordial spirit!” the Cruel One’s voice continued.

“Nourish… you mean this guy has allied himself with… another part of you?”

Zhang Xuan frowned.

“That’s a good guess. It should be so,” the Cruel One replied.

Back then, in the great battle with Teacher Kong, he was slain, his body blasted to pieces.

However, his cultivation had already reached the level where a single drop of blood could regenerate. Even though he had turned to dust, as long as the opportunity was sufficient, he could still be reborn, just like the finger bone from before.

After his resurrection, he could not sense the other existences, each believing itself to be the true Cruel One. To restore his strength, he had to devour them one by one, gathering all the fragmented parts.

There had been no news before, but unexpectedly, this Cang Xu, who was looking for trouble, had actually allied with another part.

“Master, if I can devour this part, my strength will surely increase greatly…” The Cruel One was filled with excitement.

“Good, I’ll find a way to perform a soul search!”

Zhang Xuan nodded.

The current Cruel One had completely submitted to him; an increase in his strength would also greatly benefit Zhang Xuan.

The exchange with the Cruel One took only an instant. The surrounding heart demons surged forward at Cang Xu’s call.

Heart demon attacks differ from human ones. They do not use techniques or power but instead invade the sea of consciousness, creating all kinds of illusions that cause mental collapse and loss of inner defense.

Hum!

As the heart demons surged in, Zhang Xuan indeed felt a slight dizziness in his mind.

Cang Xu was a peak Primordial Spirit realm expert, and his heart demons were of the same level. With so many of them, even though Zhang Xuan had a firm will, it was hard to resist once they all rushed in.

“Hold on!”

Knowing that once they invaded his mind, he would surely become mentally deranged, Zhang Xuan activated the Heavenly Way功法 in his soul body and glared angrily: “You are Cang Xu’s heart demons. Why are you attacking me?”

These heart demons were all drawn from Cang Xu by the surrounding formation. Why were they coming after him?

“Hehe, he’s already become a heart demon. How could he be as delicious as you?”

“I know you want to break through to a higher level and become a more powerful master teacher. Just listen to me, and I can help you achieve your goal quickly…”

“You have flaws in your state of mind. Believe me, I can help you make up for your shortcomings…”

…

All kinds of seductive voices came from the surrounding heart demons, making one easily lose oneself.

“Nothing new…” Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Originally, when these heart demons attacked, he felt a bit dizzy. But upon hearing these seductive words—saying his cultivation technique was wrong and his state of mind had flaws—he immediately became clear-headed.

The Heavenly Way功法 was his greatest confidence and reliance… Flaws? What a joke!

The Heavenly Way功法, and you want to guide me… Who do you think you are?

As dignified heart demons, your level is too low…

“Although I don’t know how you heart demons came to be, seeing that your forms are somewhat similar to souls, do you want to continue muddling along like this, hiding in corners, never daring to appear openly? Don’t you… want to become stronger and rise above the crowd?”

Changing his tone, Zhang Xuan’s words carried a magnetic quality.

“Ah?”

The many heart demons stopped, looking at each other in bewilderment.

They were in the middle of seducing him, and now he was seducing them?

Shouldn’t you be falling into a coma, letting us take advantage? Shouldn’t you be believing us deeply, sinking into depravity unable to extricate yourself?

How… are you so clear-headed, and even telling us to become stronger?

But… what he said is actually quite tempting!

“Soul cultivation requires guarding against the five decays of soul power, and heart demons must be the same. I have a set of techniques here that I can recite for you. If you cultivate them earnestly, you may be able to avoid calamities…”

Just as they were at a loss, Zhang Xuan’s voice continued. Suddenly, it was as if flowers were falling from the sky, and the surrounding spiritual energy stirred. It seemed that if they followed the techniques he spoke, they could surpass their limits and grow stronger.

“Heart demons arise from the mind. If the mind is pure, you naturally have no place to stand. Think about it, how tragic is that! Your existence is determined by the cultivator; your fate is not in your own hands… Don’t you feel helpless? Powerless? But don’t worry! As long as you cultivate the techniques I teach, you can control your own destiny and become masters of yourselves…”

The voice continued.

The heart demons that had been hesitant before were now all excited, clenching their fists and their faces flushed.

Combined with the Teacher’s Word and Demonic Voice, the words were too seductive. Even heart demons found it hard to resist.

“Don’t hesitate, don’t waver. Believe in yourselves. You can definitely do it. You don’t have to live so hard. Come, listen to me, and you will become stronger…”

Zhang Xuan extended his hand.

Whoosh!

The many heart demons, faces full of excitement, all flew over. Zhang Xuan turned his hand over, a jade bottle appeared, and with a gentle wave, he collected them inside.

“If I put them in here, they really won’t escape?”

Based on his previous experience, as long as he was not seduced by the heart demons, they would naturally dissipate. However, the Cruel One told him that he could completely take these fellows for his own use and taught him the method of collection. That was why he used the Teacher’s Word to speak so eloquently.

“Just use the altar you obtained from Red Leaf King to seal the bottle mouth, and they won’t be able to come out. When you want to use them, open the stopper, and it will surely have unexpected effects…”

The Cruel One said.

“Hmm!”

With a grab of his hand, the altar obtained from Red Leaf King appeared. With a gentle tap, a special sealing force enveloped it. The huge altar slowly shrank, landed on top of the jade bottle, and became a stopper.

As it gently settled, the heart demons inside were silent, as if they had vanished without a trace.

Having reached the Saint Domain, true qi had undergone some mysterious changes, like the ability to enlarge or shrink. Previously, this was troublesome, but now it was nothing.

Back then, Purple Sun Beast, as a sacred beast, could grow to over ten meters in size using this method.

“You, you…”

Originally thinking that with so many heart demons attacking this young man, he would soon fall into depravity and be at a loss, Cang Xu never dreamed that in the blink of an eye, all the heart demons would betray him and be subdued by the other party. He trembled all over, scared out of his wits.

“Soul search!”

Too lazy to pay attention to his terror, Zhang Xuan grabbed with his hand and performed the unique soul search technique of a巫魂师.

This method caused great harm to the soul, but since this fellow had allied with the alien race and wanted to kill him, no punishment was too severe.

Sizzle sizzle!

In an instant, the soul search was complete. Cang Xu was originally just a thought; now unable to bear it, he instantly collapsed and vanished without a trace.

“It’s in the swamp of Jibei City…”

After the soul search, he immediately knew where this fellow had learned his secret technique.

This Cang Xu was originally just a petty thief. Together with Dao Kou, they were chased everywhere. After fleeing into the swamp, thinking they would surely die, they unexpectedly obtained a inheritance in a special cave. As for who the inheritor was, they did not know.

They only knew that every so often, they had to use their primordial spirit to activate the altar, capture the souls of cultivators, and offer them to the inheritor.

These souls were best if they were from master teachers.

Over the years, countless master teachers had died at his hands. That was why, even knowing Zhang Xuan was a master teacher, he was not afraid and continued to act.

“I’ll deal with it later…”

Absorbing these memories, Zhang Xuan stopped looking. His巫魂 returned to his physical body. Opening his eyes again, he saw that the heart demons before him had all disappeared. He had also recovered from the previous illusion. Before him was still that ordinary room, the light of the night pearl dazzling and brilliant.

The scene just now felt like a dream, leaving him somewhat dazed.

Looking down, he saw the jade bottle in his palm: “It seems it wasn’t a dream. I really did subdue those heart demons…”

He twitched his mouth.

He had thought it was fake, but seeing the jade bottle and sensing the sealed contents, he realized it was all real.

“Let’s see if my state of mind has changed…”

Previously, during the Saint Sealing Tribulation, experiencing heart demons had greatly increased his state of mind scale to 23.1. This time, with so many heart demons, would the effect be even greater?

He quickly took out the test pattern stone, took a look, and twitched his mouth.

“How is this?”

His state of mind was still the same as before, only 23.1, with no change at all.

It was as if the heart demons he had just experienced had no effect.

“Master, those heart demons were not yours. Even if you could seduce them successfully, it would not help your state of mind… It’s normal that it didn’t increase!” Knowing his thoughts, the Cruel One transmitted his voice.

“Alright…”

Zhang Xuan was full of melancholy.

Why did others have so many heart demons, but he didn’t?

He didn’t even have a chance to improve his state of mind. How unfair!

Truly lonely.

Rumble!

Just as he was sighing, the wall before him shook, and a passage appeared, as if he had passed the heart demon test and triggered some mechanism.

No longer dwelling on it, Zhang Xuan stood up, took a look, and after confirming there was no danger behind the door, he slowly walked in.

It was also a sealed room, with a smooth crystal ball standing in the center.

As his hand touched it, a beam of light flashed, and a figure suddenly appeared before him.

It was an old man, his age impossible to tell, only that his beard and hair were pure white.

“Being able to come here means you have passed the previous heart demon test, your state of mind is flawless, and you are qualified to receive my inheritance…”

The old man stroked his beard: “I am the founder of the Heart Hall. This hall was created to temper the state of mind. What I am about to impart is the highest secret technique of the Heart Hall, the [琉璃练心经]!”

“琉璃练心经?”

“This mind-training technique can drastically reduce the number of heart demons. When cultivated to great perfection, the mind becomes like琉璃, flawless and pure, free from heart demon troubles. The primordial spirit becomes consolidated and rounded, and strength also increases!”

The old man smiled and looked over: “Only geniuses who can withstand the Heart Demon Array are qualified to learn it… Since you have entered, you have the aptitude. Are you interested in learning?”

“Not interested!” Zhang Xuan said.

“…” The old man.