Chapter 36: Slay the Inner Heart Demon!
No one knew exactly when it happened, but at some point, a sword appeared in An Jing’s hand.
Holding that sword, he felt as if boundless power coursed through his body. Instinctively, he wanted to step forward and use that immense might to destroy, slaughter, and obliterate all those people and things he hated, erasing them into nothingness.
How satisfying that would have been, how thoroughly it would have let him unleash his truest impulses!
Yet, right before he took that step, An Jing came to a halt.
Because he suddenly recalled the dream he had as a child—of a sun that burned the entire world to ash.
Because he suddenly realized that none of this was real, just an illusion. Even if he slew everything here, the world would remain unchanged.
Because he wanted to cut something down.
So, he cut it down!
But what he cut down was not these empty phantoms; instead, he cut—
【Slay the Inner Heart Demon!】
Without any hesitation, An Jing swung his sword and slashed—
He struck straight into that hazy black mist!
Buzz!
The crisp sword-light shattered the black mist. But it did not stop there. His blade arced outward, drawing a ring as it swept across, severing the black haze that ensnared the other eight people connected to his mind. It sliced apart that clinging darkness as easily as rotting wood!
In an instant, those eight souls regained clarity and no longer struggled amid their Inner Heart Demons!
“Not enough!”
Having severed his Inner Heart Demon, An Jing’s gaze grew incomparably lucid. He looked toward the entire Grand Rite, toward the other teams of young men and women likewise harassed by the Heavenly Demons.
What he saw left him stunned, and then heartbroken.
Unlike his own first group—where, with An Jing’s direct aid, no one died, and all escaped the Heavenly Demon’s disturbance—other groups had suffered heavy casualties despite producing a few Heaven-Ordained Fate awakeners.
During the “Know Your True Fate” phase, including Bai Qinghan, two people awakened their Heaven-Ordained Fate while five perished midway, their bodies turning rigid and their souls dispersing.
During the “Obtain Your Desire” phase, five awakened their Heaven-Ordained Fate, but seventeen died when their skulls ruptured and their organs burst.
Lastly, during the “Destroy What You Hate” phase, four people awakened their Heaven-Ordained Fate, and nine died when their blood energy surged in reverse, their entire bodies bursting with blood.
Thus, in total, eleven individuals awakened their Heaven-Ordained Fate, thirty-one had perished in homage to Imperial Heaven, and sixty-six remained alive.
Even though An Jing knew that, because of the demonic beast flesh corrupting their bodies, these people were unlikely to succeed in awakening a Heaven-Ordained Fate, he still found it hard to accept that so many faces, once so familiar from their time together, had died so easily—and so miserably.
So silently.
“Damn you, Heavenly Demons!”
Seething with rage, An Jing saw a few of his junior brothers and sisters still being dragged by pitch-black demonic energy, pulled into the depths of the darkness.
He could no longer restrain himself. With an angry shout, he drew his sword from its sheath!
That strike flowed from him seamlessly. He thrust the sword forward, channeling every bit of strength from the waist, shoulder, arm, and wrist into his grip on the hilt, guard, blade, and point!
It was an attack in which his entire body’s power ran unobstructed, flesh and spirit united, as though guided by gods!
When An Jing unleashed that thrust, the Imperial Heaven Star Fiend Grand Rite’s formation responded. The sword qi erupting from the earth veins shifted slightly; numerous rays of clear, dazzling sword light converged and transformed into a blazing sword of pure anger and killing intent.
That swordlight shot forward in a straight line, colliding with the deepest core of the black mist. With a crisp crack, it shattered that core.
Sword qi burst in all directions, annihilating the pitch-black demonic energy.
Those chains that had been dragging the souls of the boys and girls, that demonic will urging them to sink into endless delusions—all were utterly destroyed by the surging sword wind, scattered like dust.
【Strange…】
As the demonic energy dissipated, the Heavenly Demon’s voice held a note of curiosity:
【Why are you…able to command these sword intents?】
“Begone!”
An Jing did not answer. He snarled, for a moment sensing some icy thoughts trying to invade his spirit and mind. But then the sword hilt within his spiritual sea gave a slight vibration, and its pure sword intent swept those invasive thoughts away.
While his own Inner Heart Demon could still disturb him—since it sprang from his own heart—an external Heavenly Demon could not breach the Subduing Evil Sword Spirit.
“An Jing.” After enduring the impact, the Sword Spirit spoke up. “I’m about to suppress the remnant Heavenly Demon souls within Hanging Fate Valley. I’ll need some time. You must hold off those people from Hanging Fate Manor so they don’t sense anything amiss.”
At this point, the Sword Spirit let out a mocking laugh. “Don’t worry; I’ve seen through the essence of this ritual formation. Since they dared to harness the remnant power of my Subduing Evil sword and the Heavenly Demon’s power for their own benefit, let them taste the backlash of those same Heavenly Demons!”
“No problem.”
As the dim demonic energy scattered like smoke, An Jing exhaled slowly and lowered his sword.
With the Sword Spirit’s words came a sudden influx of information regarding the ‘Imperial Heaven Star Fiend Grand Rite,’ as well as the techniques and ritual methods to manipulate the formation. “Thank you. I definitely won’t let them get what they want.”
He spoke inwardly, solidifying the searing fury in his heart into the purest baleful intent. He then used it to protect himself and the other young men and women from the Heavenly Demons’ intrusion upon their souls.
At that moment, he felt a tremor in his spirit. A sort of burning heat rose from the depths of his soul, surging outward through body and mind. Then—
—It resonated with the heavens!
Buzz!
Outside.
The colossal black mist hand looming from Hanging Fate Valley over the Grand Rite trembled. Slowly, it withdrew, its palm and fingers riven by razor-sharp wounds, sword qi rippling through them and forcing it back.
“What is going on? How could the Heavenly Demon’s Hand be pushed back?!”
Knitting his brow, the Medicine Manor Lord—who had presided over more than thirty ceremonies—had never witnessed anything so bizarre.
But very soon, he saw a phenomenon that made him abandon further thought and become overjoyed.
In the western quarter of the formation, the “Xingji” group was suddenly enveloped in brilliant starlight mixed with a scorching, baleful energy. That radiance blazed heavenward.
At the center of the ritual platform, An Jing’s brows furrowed sharply, a crimson star hovering above him like burning blood light pouring down.
Flames of red blood glowed in streams, forming a flaming wheel behind his head.
The wheel of flame revolved, revealing a totemic vision of war and punishment, swords raised, and judgments pronounced.
Scorching blood and iron permeated the air, a killing intent surging and roaring. As swords and sabers unleashed, it slashed lines of fierce, seemingly chaotic but profoundly mysterious blood markings into the space around them. The pitch-black demonic fog could not come close—any attempt was shredded from a distance, forcibly repelled.
“Incredible!”
Seeing this fierce and baleful Heaven-Ordained Fate phenomenon, the Medicine Manor Lord nearly blurted, “This is terrifying!” But very quickly, he grew wild with delight. He clutched the jade dagger in his hand so hard his knuckles went white. “Another Strange Fate! A Star Fiend Strange Fate!”
He could not have cared less about those who had died. Their only value lay in becoming Great Blood Pills afterward.
Only someone like An Jing, awakening this power they so desperately coveted, could fill him with such excitement.
“Two Strange Fates! Our Heavenly Will Divine Sect is destined for greatness!”
But after his initial surge of ecstasy, the Medicine Manor Lord realized he could not quite discern the nature of this newly awakened Fate: “But what Fate is it exactly? Red Star, Blood Fiend… it even has a hint of Taibai essence?”
“Could it be…【Red Star Guarding the Heart*】?!”
(End of Chapter)
*【荧惑守心】, literally means “Mars Guarding the Heart.” In ancient Chinese astronomy, it refers to an omen where Mars (荧惑) aligns with the Heart constellation (心宿, part of Scorpius). Such an alignment was traditionally seen as signaling political unrest or major changes, marking times of upheaval and transformation.
