Chapter 236

After passing through the waterfall, Chen Luo discovered a dark and damp cave beyond.

Upon entering, Chen Luo found three people inside.

A stern woman dressed in red stood there, along with Shangren Yinwind. However, the current Shangren Yinwind looked somewhat off, his expression unnaturally stiff. When Chen Luo walked in, he turned to glance back, his wooden expression resembling a corpse’s.

Apart from these two, an emaciated old man sat at the far end of the cave. This old fellow was none other than the Demonseed Sect Leader, whom Chen Luo had previously clashed with through curses across the courtyard. Now, the Demonseed Sect Leader’s aura was weak, his hair disheveled, presenting a completely different image from the Old Demon he’d seen earlier in the courtyard - he looked utterly wretched.

“Sect Leader, it seems your tricks haven’t deceived everyone. This fellow has seen through your little game,” the red-clad woman said, glancing at Chen Luo before turning to address the emaciated old man at the far end.

“Hand over the Demonic Heart Ancestor’s legacy to me!” Shangren Yinwind said, his expression stiff.

The Demonic Heart Ancestor’s legacy?

Chen Luo’s expression shifted slightly, and his footsteps halted.

For cultivators in the demonic cultivation realm, the person who had the greatest influence was undoubtedly the Demonic Heart Ancestor. This old ancestor was like a legendary figure; many of the top cultivation techniques in the demonic cultivation realm had intricate connections to him. Even the Blackstone Ancestor, who now dominated the demonic cultivation realm, was once a defeated subordinate of the Demonic Heart Ancestor.

The Demonic Heart Ancestor left behind numerous legacies, and Chen Luo had been exposed to two of them.

The first was the Demonic Heart Art passed down by his master, Void Sage, which could be cultivated from the Qi Refining realm to the Foundation Establishment stage. The second was the ‘Blackstone Secret Technique’ he had seized from rogue cultivators Yue Qingping and others—a divine sense secret technique that could be cultivated to the peak of Foundation Establishment. When combined, these evolved into a new version of the Demonic Heart Art, allowing Chen Luo to enter tribulations as a ‘Demonic Heart’ and steal the power of Heavenly Tribulations for his own cultivation.

“Friend, this is a matter between our Inner Demon Sect and others. It concerns no outsiders,” the red-clad woman said, turning to Chen Luo.

Inner Demon Sect?

This was Chen Luo’s first encounter with the name. It seemed the Demonseed Sect Leader’s severe injury involved more than just him and Shangren Yinwind. When he thought about it, how could a Foundation Establishment peak cultivator like the Demonseed Sect Leader have only two enemies?

Cultivation advancement meant resource plundering. The strong seized everything, while the weak accumulated resentment.

This was an unchanging truth since ancient times.

“If you leave now, we’ll pretend nothing happened. You can go outside and fight your enemies with your friends, slaying demons and eliminating evil. How about that?”

“I have a grudge against him.”

Chen Luo shook his head. He didn’t trust anyone and still wanted to collect the Demonseed Sect Leader’s brain. How could he possibly leave now?

“That complicates matters.”

A hint of regret surfaced on the red-clad woman’s face. Meanwhile, Shangren Yinwind’s head swiveled. He opened his mouth and spat out a stream of black smoke.

Without wasting a single word, he had already attacked Chen Luo.

Chen Luo leaped backward. A swarm of insects flew toward him, their dense ranks devouring the black smoke in moments. Soon, the cave floor lay littered with a thick layer of insect corpses.

“Insect cultivator? This complicates things.”

Shangren Yinwind closed his mouth, his brow furrowed in silent contemplation. Insect cultivators were among the most difficult opponents to eliminate. Once engaged, their endless swarms and inexhaustible supply of disposable insects made combat seem pointless.

At that moment, Shangren Yinwind seemed to have completely forgotten Chen Luo, as if he had transformed into another person entirely.

Chen Luo remained uncertain about Shangren Yinwind’s current state, silently observing him from a distance. He stood near the waterfall’s mouth, maintaining a safe distance from the action.

“Don’t waste your energy. The sect leader is our true target,” the red-clad woman reminded her companion.

Upon hearing this, Shangren Yinwind paused his movements. The two cultivators resumed their original positions, facing the Demonseed Sect Leader inside. Two streams of energy emanated from their bodies, revealing them to be at the peak of Foundation Establishment. However, their cultivation was lacking - they had not yet formed Pseudo-Core Seeds. Had the Demonseed Sect Leader been at full strength, he could have easily suppressed both of them simultaneously.

“The Demonic Heart Ancestor’s legacy is a divine soul legacy, and there’s only one portion.”

The Demonseed Sect Leader sat leaning against the stone wall, a dark wound visible on his chest. From this wound, Chen Luo sensed the aura of the Hu Clan.

It was the power of Core Formation!

Most likely left by Graffiti Granny.

This very wound had brought the Demonseed Sect Leader to his current state. Without it, none of today’s enemies would have stood a chance against him.

“Both of you want it. Who should I give it to?”

“Sect Leader, there’s no need for these games now. Produce the legacy first. You needn’t worry about the distribution.” The red-clad woman saw through the ploy completely. This once-in-a-millennium opportunity was one she wouldn’t let slip away.

Beside her, Shangren Yinwind remained equally unaffected. Neither fell for such a simple provocation.

“Handing it over to you means death, keeping it also means death. Tell me, why should I give it to you?” The Demonseed Sect Leader scanned the crowd before his gaze settled on Chen Luo.

He recognized him.

This was the cursed cultivator who had once crossed blades with him through the void. What puzzled him was how this man had become an insect cultivator. Could it be some form of concealment technique?

“If you hand over the sect’s legacy, we can guarantee—”

Step back. Poisonous aura detected.

A message suddenly flashed in Chen Luo’s external brain. Without hesitation, he retreated from the cave.

Boom!

In the next instant, the Demonseed Sect Leader’s figure twisted unnaturally. The lingering auras in the air—especially the two strands stripped from the red-clad woman and Shangren Yinwind—were inhaled through his nostrils. With a roar, he expelled them outward.

A circular shockwave erupted within the cavern. The stone walls and moss-covered surfaces corroded into dry black ash. Where the Demonseed Sect Leader had been seated, only a shattered pebble remained.

The red-clad woman and Shangren Yinwind stood disheveled, spending considerable time purging the curses from their bodies.

“Another demon seed!! After him! Don’t let him escape!”

The two cultivators crashed into the stone wall behind them. The mountain cave that had appeared rock-solid moments ago suddenly turned into a liquid-like substance. Their bodies swiftly passed through, chasing after the disappearing Demonseed Sect Leader.

Chen Luo followed closely behind.

The stone wall felt soft and pliable, like flowing water. He activated the Demon Bone Array Sigil Art, dispersing his divine sense to track them.

I want all three of their minds!

And the Demonic Heart Ancestor’s legacy intrigues me as well.

Beyond the cave lay a tranquil valley containing a small village. The settlement had been abandoned for years, devoid of any inhabitants. When Chen Luo arrived, the red-clad woman and Shangren Yinwind were already engaged in a fierce battle with the Demonseed Sect Leader.

“I’ll hand over the Demonic Heart Ancestor’s legacy! Just spare my life!”

After another clash, the Demonseed Sect Leader slammed into a thatched hut behind him, collapsing the structure with the impact. The brief skirmish worsened his already severe injuries, fresh blood seeping from his chest.

The price of escaping from a Core Formation Ancestor’s grasp far exceeded imagination. After rising from the rubble, the Demonseed Sect Leader refrained from further attacks. Instead, he retrieved a lustrous bone scroll from his Pouch of Holding.

The moment it appeared, the expressions of the red-clad woman and Shangren Yinwind shifted. As members of the Inner Demon Sect, they could instantly discern the authenticity of such artifacts.

Since the Demonic Heart Ancestor’s demise, no one could replicate the Demonic Heart Power.

Shangren Yinwind lunged to seize the bone scroll, but the red-clad woman anticipated this move. Though slower than Yinwind, she struck first - her attack aimed not at the prize, but at the Shangren himself.

Boom!

Their clash sent both combatants reeling, forming a triangular standoff as they scattered across the clearing.

“You attack me? We agreed to claim the legacy first, then divide it.”

“True, but I want to be the one to claim it.”

“You doubt my word?”

“Heh!”

After a few more words, the negotiations completely broke down. The previously clear situation had once again turned into a standoff - this was precisely why Chen Luo had found the three of them locked in confrontation when he first arrived. The red-clad woman and Shangren Yinwind both wanted the inheritance, neither willing to yield.

The Demonseed Sect Leader remained seated, his left hand resting on the bone scroll as his spiritual energy slowly recovered.

Noticing this, the red-clad woman and Shangren Yinwind once again united, launching a combined attack toward the Demonseed Sect Leader.

But this time, a peculiar smile surfaced on the Demonseed Sect Leader’s face.

“Finally, it’s enough.”

He produced a small, pure-white stone.

The stone spun before him as he pushed his spiritual energy to its limit. The Pseudo-Core Seed within his dantian trembled.

“Demonic Heart Sea!”

The Demonseed Sect Leader tapped the white stone with his index finger. The stone plunged into the ground, sending white ripples spreading across the entire village.

In the next instant, terrifying energy erupted.

Countless wailing demonic thoughts swept outward in all directions. The red-clad woman and Shangren Yinwind, who had been leading the charge toward the Demonseed Sect Leader, saw their faces transform. Shangren Yinwind’s expression twisted with fear.

“Demonic Heart Stone?!”

The black qi erupted in an explosion, unleashing a terrifying shockwave. The red-clad woman at the forefront was struck squarely on the forehead by this force, sending a mouthful of blood spraying out. Countless Demonic Heart illusions flooded into her mind, reducing her entire being to a state of idiocy. On the other side, Shangren Yinwind fell even more directly, collapsing like a corpse onto the ground. A palm-sized rat tumbled out from within his body.

All three - two men and one corpse - had been struck by the Demonic Heart’s power, collapsing to the ground in a state of unknown survival.

After its eruption, the white stone emitted a piercing, brittle sound, akin to the shattering of porcelain. The Demonseed Sect Leader’s heart ached at the sight.

“Haha!! You actually thought you could inherit it?”

The Demonseed Sect Leader sat in place, breathing raggedly. The cost of activating the Demonic Heart Stone with his severely injured body was unimaginable. He had been exhausting himself against these two for so long, all to conserve strength. Their greed - both wanting the inheritance - had given him this opportunity.

The only thing he hadn’t anticipated was Chen Luo and his group.

For the Demonseed Sect Leader, this was an unexpected complication. At least it was now resolved! With this thought, he lifted his head to look toward the village entrance, only to freeze in shock at what he saw.

The curse cultivator who had been pursuing them stood there completely unharmed, not even a single tear in his clothes.

“That Demonic Heart Sea… quite impressive.”