Redemption of a Born Demon

The East King’s expression was calm.

"Let’s test his abilities first! We’ll see what gives him the right to make such arrogant claims."

Just then, Zhou Qingchen stepped forward.

The East King ignored them completely, but they weren’t about to let this opportunity slip by. With one of the Sleepers right in front of them, they were determined to witness his power for themselves.

The others also stepped out, taking their places beside Zhou Qingchen.

They were all proud, but they weren’t fools. They knew that fighting a being like the East King alone was no different from suicide.

It was no disgrace to join forces against such a figure.

"Trying to wear me down with numbers? None of you are even worthy of my notice. But since you’re so eager to die, I’ll play along. Consider it a warm-up."

The East King’s expression remained serene. He didn’t even shift his gaze, which was still fixed on Yi Beidou.

"Attack!"

Zhou Qingchen let out a low cry. A piercing Gang Wind immediately swirled into existence around her, stirred by her Life Magnetic Field. Her body turned translucent from the inside out, as if transforming into a Jade Body. As the gusts blew, her lithe form was supported only by the tip of one big toe, making her seem to float.

The Twenty-Second Layer of Celestial Spirit!!

"A little interesting. An ancient Celestial Spirit Tribulation? But your layer is too low. If you want to touch the Immortal Realm and question the Great Dao, come back and stand before me after you’ve passed the Thirty-Three Layers."

"I am the ’Immortal’ of legend."

At that moment, the East King’s gaze finally shifted, landing on Zhou Qingchen.

"Condense!!"

With another low cry from Zhou Qingchen, Qing Guang burst from her eyes. The magnetic field around her body suddenly condensed and compressed between two of her fingers, forming a three-foot-long green blade.

Its glow was completely contained, and its texture was indistinguishable from a real sword.

In an instant, the Gang Wind erupted outwards.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

The leaves and branches of the surrounding plants and trees were all sliced away, and even hard stone surfaces were scored with white marks.

The power of the Gang Wind was as sharp as a blade. Under these conditions, if an ordinary person were present, their clothes would be instantly shredded, and their skin would be flayed open.

Celestial Spirit Shocking Swan Sword!!

This sword contained all of Zhou Qingchen’s power. It was her ultimate move, one she hadn’t even used to this extent during the recent battle in Jun City.

She understood that the opponent she faced this time was different. She would only have one chance, and whether she could achieve anything depended entirely on this single strike.

ROAR!!

But before Zhou Qingchen could make her move, a beastly roar that seemed to echo from primordial times shook the Void, and a towering figure was already charging toward the East King.

Huang Tianhu.

From another direction came a figure wreathed in black mist, emanating a menacing aura.

The Demon Seed on Meng Qianyuan’s brow pulsed as he manifested the form of a Demon Buddha, charging forward alongside Huang Tianhu.

Meanwhile, although Ding Huiyuan remained where he stood, a strange phenomenon also appeared around him.

A brilliant light emerged, and faces grew from the four sides of his head—by his ears and on the back of his skull.

These three newly formed faces were by turns compassionate, ferocious, or sorrowful. They held the divinity of a Buddha, the obsession of a demon, and the suffering of a human.

One body, four faces. Three of them were a Buddha, a demon, and a human.

The Buddha was divinity, the demon was Demon Nature, and the two combined were humanity.

But Ding Huiyuan did not want to be a Buddha, nor a demon, nor even a human.

Thus, those three faces were illusory. Only one was real: the free and unfettered "true self" that had cast aside human, god, and demon.

At this moment, all four faces spoke at once. They trembled violently, and blood even began to trickle from the eye sockets and nose of the "true self" face at the front.

With incredible difficulty, the four faces uttered two words, a True Word Technique like the sound of creation itself.

"See truth!!"

Ding Huiyuan, who was always so flippant and seemingly unreliable, had now used his ultimate technique. This was a rare opportunity, and he had no intention of missing it.

He was going to influence a "Demi-Immortal."

The question to "see truth" struck directly at one’s true heart.

No lie is more devastating than sincerity.

Sincerity is the ultimate killing blow.

In that instant, the East King’s expression faltered. He heard countless whispers in his ear.

"Is your path truly the correct one? If it is, why has no one been able to achieve transcendence after all these years?"

"Relying on external power is just a heterodox path. Devouring the flesh and blood of others... even if you could truly break the fifty-percent limit, would that person still be the real you?"

"Countless ages of forbearance, a Longevity like that of a corpse, waiting for a legend that might not even exist, pursuing the so-called mystery of the Severed Communication... is it really worth it? If the Severed Communication were truly the Great Dao, why was it sealed away?"

"..."

Every voice contained a heart-piercing question, striking at the deepest weaknesses of the soul.

Before, even if Ding Huiyuan had unleashed this question to "see truth," it wouldn’t have been this effective. His knowledge of the Sleepers was too limited, and stealing a fragment of a Sleeper’s consciousness was far too difficult for him.

But the information Dr. Beretta had sent not long ago gave them a much deeper understanding of the Sleepers, which in turn made Ding Huiyuan’s question that much sharper and more incisive.

At that moment, even the East King’s expression grew vacant. He seemed lost and forlorn, his focus scattered.

’It worked!!’

A sharp glint flashed in the eyes of Huang Tianhu and Meng Qianyuan.

Palm of Honghuang!!

Covering the Firmament!!

The attacks of the two men descended upon the East King.

Both of them specialized in direct combat, their paths defined by brute strength.

SWISH!!

At the same time, Zhou Qingchen tapped her foot lightly.

WHOOSH!!

The Gang Wind howled. It was as if she were swept up by it, or perhaps riding it, as she instantly crossed the distance and appeared before the East King in the blink of an eye, even faster than Huang Tianhu and Meng Qianyuan.

The jade-like Celestial Spirit Shocking Swan Sword instantly pierced the East King’s brow, and her fingers, capable of piercing heavy armor, jabbed into the same spot.

BOOM! BOOM!!

Huang Tianhu and Meng Qianyuan’s attacks landed right after, causing a terrifying explosion at the scene.

’Did it work?!’

In the Special Security Bureau conference room, Wang Chen and the others couldn’t help but stare intently at the scene. Some of them clenched their hands subconsciously, crushing the solid wood armrests of their chairs into powder.

They had all clearly seen the East King’s head being pierced, followed by him taking such a terrifying attack head-on.

The combined attack of the four had produced an unexpected result.

’Some of those fighters are our peers, but after being tempered in the great battle in the Mediterranean Region and clashing directly with an Ancient One, their strength seems to have improved dramatically. In contrast, it feels as if we’ve stagnated.’

However, the dust and smoke from the attack had not yet settled.

PTAH!!

Ding Huiyuan, who had cast the True Word Technique, suddenly coughed up a large mouthful of blood. The three faces formed of light instantly shattered, and his body trembled, nearly collapsing to the ground.

As the dust settled, revealing the scene, Zhou Qingchen and the other two were frozen in their attack stances, staring at the East King with looks of utter disbelief.

"A strike against the heart... I see I’ve underestimated you. There are indeed capable people in the mortal world. But how could you possibly know how unshakeable my will is to seek Longevity?"

The light-condensed Celestial Spirit Shocking Swan Sword was still stuck in the East King’s forehead. Had any other Saint Realm expert been in this situation, their entire cerebral magnetic field would have long since been shredded by the Sword Qi, leaving them in a vegetative state. Yet the East King was completely unharmed.

To be more precise, none of the attacks—not from Zhou Qingchen, Huang Tianhu, or Meng Qianyuan—had left a single visible mark on his body.

How could such an outcome not shock everyone present?

The next moment, BOOM!!

The East King’s body suddenly shuddered. With a powerful shake, he stomped his foot, and an unbelievably terrifying power erupted from within him.

CRACK!!

Zhou Qingchen was sent flying backward as if struck by a ship. Her two fingers, which had been pressed against the East King’s brow, were bent out of shape by the concussive force, her bones damaged. At the same time, a sweet taste rose in her throat as blood surged up.

And Meng Qianyuan, despite his Innate Divine Strength, was also unable to withstand the impact and was blasted backward like a cannonball.

Only Huang Tianhu managed to resist with his terrifying physical power. The Primordial Map around his body unfurled abruptly, and he was only forced back three explosive steps.

He was, after all, someone who could contend directly with Yi Beidou.

"Not bad. Allow me to show you what is called an Immortal Body, and what is Daluo’s Power!"

The East King chuckled lightly. With a tap of his foot, his body drifted in front of Huang Tianhu, and he sent out a palm strike that seemed effortless and mundane.

But the moment his palm descended...

BOOM!!

The air caved in. Ripples of Qi rolled outwards, and even the video feed the distant observers were watching shook so violently they could almost feel the tremor.

Huang Tianhu was sent flying backward at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.