Chapter 221: The Demonic Heart Tribulation

Sensing this energy, Chen Luo’s thoughts raced as he swiftly turned and flew towards the direction of the Elder FusionSpirit.

In no time, he arrived at the foot of Blackstone Mountain.

After the Blackstone Formation was broken, the entire area had been reduced to rubble. The power of the third-order spirit meridians, once contained by the formation, now radiated unchecked. If the Blackstone Ancestor could see this, he would undoubtedly fly into a rage. However, at that moment, no one spared it a thought, including Chen Luo. As he approached the Elder FusionSpirit, he felt the Demonic Heart Art’s power surging more intensely, as if something were calling out to him.

Devour him.

When Chen Luo ventured deeper into the area, he suddenly heard a voice. Or rather, it was his interpretation of a voice; in reality, it wasn’t a sound but a will.

A will akin to water flowing downhill.

“Is this Demonic Heart Art truly a Foundation Establishment technique?”

Ever since mastering the Blackstone Secret Technique, Chen Luo found the Demonic Heart Art even more terrifying. This cultivation technique was profoundly unnatural. Now he suspected that the deceased Demonic Heart Ancestor might have been far stronger than he initially thought. Little wonder the Void Sage had fled to the seven kingdoms region, learning only half of the technique.

If someone were to fully master it, they would surely be eradicated root and branch.

As Chen Luo circulated the Demonic Heart Art, he gradually absorbed the ‘Demonic Heart Tribulation’ energy from the surrounding air. The cultivation technique’s power became increasingly eerie, almost as if it were calling out to Chen Luo to swiftly devour the Spirit Fusion Elder.

Regaining his composure, Chen Luo ingested a wisp of the Spirit Fusion Elder’s aura, then flew away from Blackstone City without looking back.

While everyone else was in a state of ecstasy, he was the only one to leave.

After departing Blackstone City, Chen Luo fled hundreds of miles in a single breath, finally landing in a desolate mountain range far from prying eyes. He planted seven formation flags on the ground, creating a simple confusion array. Chen Luo then entered the formation, casually excavated a cave in the mountain, and retreated inside, blocking the entrance with a large stone.

With these precautions in place, he sat down against the rocky wall, released his control over the Demonic Heart Art, and accessed the mummy’s memories.

The technique is viable.

The same evaluation as before put Chen Luo at ease. His focus returned to the Demonic Heart Art.

After absorbing the power of the heavenly tribulation, the Demonic Heart Art’s circulation had sped up by several times. The world he saw through his eyes had transformed; wisps of camouflaged energy now appeared in his vision, just like when he first activated the Demonic Heart Art.

Assimilating the Demonic Heart Art’s power at close range was entirely different from the remote absorption he had relied on before. The former drew upon the strength of the heavenly tribulation, while the latter extracted the residual energy from those who failed to transcend their tribulation after death.

Devour him.

As Chen Luo once again extracted the Elder FusionSpirit’s aura, he heard that voice once more. This time, he didn’t hesitate. He activated his cultivation technique with all his might, generating a layer of gray-white energy that circulated within him, forming a complete cycle. It radiated outward, using his spirit as its center.

Buzz.

Chen Luo could distinctly feel the power of the Demonic Heart Art flowing through his body. The sixty spiritual energy dragons spiraled faster, this strand of energy coursing like a gaseous stream, gliding past the dragons before finally converging on his brow. The icy sensation flashed across his forehead.

Gradually, Chen Luo sensed himself departing his body once more. With the Elder FusionSpirit’s aura guiding him, he swiftly located the source. His perception stretched out, as if traversing a tunnel—narrow and dark at first. Then, in an instant, it abruptly opened up.

When the scene became clear again, Chen Luo found himself standing in the middle of a long street.

Vendors called out their wares as they passed, some noble officials rode past in sedan chairs carried by eight men, and young scholars and maidens strolled along the road. Everything felt incredibly real.

“Have I become the Demonic Heart of the Spirit Fusion Elder’s tribulation?” Chen Luo glanced around, noting that this instance of the Demonic Heart tribulation was entirely different from before. He was no longer an external observer of the tribulation but had truly entered it, becoming the ’ permitted’ Demonic Heart within the heavenly tribulation.

It was akin to transforming from a spectator into an actor!

Chen Luo probed his own appearance and discovered a foreign face, with a form resembling that of an ordinary person here. He wore coarse linen clothing typical of the locals, and in his hands, he carried two fish—apparently caught just now and intended for sale at the market.

“My spiritual energy has vanished,” Chen Luo realized. Attempting to invoke his divine abilities, he found himself completely ordinary; not only were his divine abilities absent, but he lacked any spiritual energy altogether.

The Foundation Establishment realm’s external brain swiftly observed the surroundings and relayed information back to him. These Foundation Establishment brains, much like himself, discerned no abnormalities; the world appeared utterly normal to them.

The Core Formation stage brain, having experienced the Demonic Heart tribulation before, provided a different insight:

From the perspective of the mummy’s brain, the situation looked different. It not only identified the issue with the Demonic Heart Tribulation but also found a way out.

First things first, I need to figure out what Elder FusionSpirit’s obsession is all about.

Chen Luo, carrying two fish, headed towards the market.

Now an ordinary man, his first step was to find Elder FusionSpirit. Only by finding him could he discover the source of his fixation. As for whether to help him through this tribulation or to kick him while he’s down, that would depend on how things developed.

Upon reaching the market with his two fish, he was greeted immediately.

“Big Brother Zhang, you’ve caught such big fish again!”

A small beggar, familiar with Chen Luo, greeted him right away. Strangely, when Chen Luo saw him, the boy’s information popped into his mind:

Wu Xia’er, Grandma Wu’s grandson, a poor child who had to take care of himself early. He was Chen Luo’s neighbor.

“Pure luck,” Chen Luo replied with a smile, but his attention was already wandering the market, searching for Elder FusionSpirit. Unfortunately, there were too many people around, and despite searching for quite some time, he couldn’t spot him. Instead, the two large fish attracted quite a few curious onlookers.

I am a heavenly tribulation, so I must be connected to Elder FusionSpirit somehow. Otherwise, how could I prevent him from transcending it?

Chen Luo sat at his stall, pondering over the possible identity of the Elder FusionSpirit.

Having sold his fish, Chen Luo set off down the street with two copper coins in hand. He hadn’t paid much attention to buying the fish in the first place; as long as he could get through this Heavenly Tribulation, he could finally go home.

After passing the vegetable market, the streets ahead looked much cleaner. Scholars and shi students made up the crowds here, with stands selling calligraphy, paintings, and other scholarly items lining the road. Maids from wealthy families came to buy paintings while discreetly delivering love letters on behalf of their young mistresses.

The whole world seemed as meticulous as real life itself.

THUMP!

At the alley entrance, Chen Luo felled a scholar with a swift strike of his walking stick. Though he’d lost his divine abilities, the martial arts he’d learned still remained. With the aid of his external brain, his current strength could easily rack up a thousand-man kill count.

The contents of the letter unfolded before him:

It has been more than three days since we parted. Countless autumns of separation weigh heavily upon my heart.

Chen Luo pulled a piece of writing from the scholar’s pocket, revealing it to be a love letter. It even included the sender’s name and date, along with details about their secret trysts. Chen Luo’s brows furrowed at the sight of it.

Too complete. Too real.

It was as if he had truly entered a real world.

Discarding the scholar, Chen Luo attacked two more people of different backgrounds. He soon realized that each individual had their own life story, complete with detailed descriptions of their worries and personal grudges. This place felt far too genuine to be merely an illusion.

After wandering for an entire day, traveling to numerous places and attacking over a dozen people, Chen Luo found not a single clue.

Searching for someone in such a vast city was akin to fishing a needle from the ocean. What terrified him more was his discovery that this world held not just one city, but many, divided by countries!

How was he supposed to find his target?

Upon returning to Brother Zhang Er’s home, Chen Luo barely pushed open the door before hearing a woman’s voice.

“Ah, Zhang Er, you’re back?”

A woman, her hair neatly coiled, beamed with delight at his return. She swiftly took the items from his hands while chattering about neighborhood gossip.

“Mrs. Li says her son is marrying next month. She insists we must join the wedding feast then. Uncle Zhang visited earlier today; he mentioned that his nephew needs two taels of silver for books and asked if we might lend him some.”

As Chen Luo listened to these endless tales of neighborhood gossip, he failed to glean any valuable information from them.

This was his wife.

Or rather, it was his older brother Zhang Er’s wife.

Staring at this woman who was both familiar and strange, Chen Luo’s understanding of the Demonic Heart Art deepened.

From his previous perspective as an observer, he had always felt that these Transcendence Passers couldn’t even break free from basic desires, their faith insufficiently steadfast. But if one were to place themselves in such a nearly real world, with memories sealed away, this would amount to an entirely new life for the Transcendence Passer.

In such a life, they would be tasked with severing their most cherished ties.

How many people could hope to overcome this tribulation?

No wonder the Transcendence Passers’ faces paled at the mention of the Demonic Heart Art. Even he, an observer, felt chills at the thought, let alone those facing the challenge themselves.

“You’ll have to figure that out for yourself,” Chen Luo said dismissively, heading back inside his room. The woman, unsure of what she had done wrong, stood bewildered in the courtyard, suspecting her words had somehow upset him.

The room was spotlessly clean. The most valuable item inside was a copper mirror, a dowry item brought by the woman when she married into the family. Other than that, there were some old furniture pieces like tables and chairs, their paint peeling off.

On the walls hung some dried chili peppers and garlic bulbs, along with a bamboo-straw fisherman’s hat and a set of rain capes—all tools for fishing in the rain. Although the family was poor, everything was kept neat and tidy. The woman had clearly washed these items.

Chen Luo approached the cabinet and pulled open a drawer. Inside, he found a wooden hairpin. This hairpin was something Brother Zhang Er had bought for his wife many years ago for just two copper coins. However, she never felt worthy of wearing it and had kept it hidden away in this drawer, only taking it out during the Lantern Festival each year.

It’s clearly just a two-copper coin item

But even in this Tribulation of the Heart, its value is all too real.

Chen Luo pinched the wooden texture of the hairpin. The sensation his fingers received told him beyond any doubt that this was a real wooden hairpin.

From behind the entrance, the woman grew concerned as she stepped into the room. Chen Luo fell silent, drawn in by the deep reserve in her eyes.

Who, pray tell, could ever successfully navigate this Tribulation of Terror?