The Quest for Immortality Chapter 2429: Heavenly Demon (2)

A myriad of sword aura fragments rained down within the Sword Tomb, coalescing around Patriarch Dugu like a downpour of blades.

"Return to the grave!"

Patriarch Dugu uttered a soft command.

An immense surge of sword intent erupted from the earth, ascending skyward like an inverted torrent, assaulting the colossal, faceless Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon let out a roar, dissolving into boundless Demonic Qi and manifesting a hundred human visages.

Each face chanted an arcane spell, channeling the Demonic Qi to unleash a Heavenly Demon Skill, targeting the sword formed from Patriarch Dugu's Divine Thought.

In an instant, the Demonic Qi descended like an ominous storm cloud, poised to consume the entire city.

Yet, Patriarch Dugu's sword aura ascended like a tempestuous rain, soaring towards the heavens.

The intertwining of Demonic Qi and sword aura painted a grandiose and breathtaking spectacle, leaving Mo Hua utterly mesmerized.

Though the Heavenly Demon exuded an overwhelming and formidable presence, it was palpable that Patriarch Dugu's Divine Thought Sword Skill possessed an even greater destructive potency.

Under the relentless assault of the Divine Thought sword and amplified by the resonance of countless fragments, the Demonic Qi began to wane, and the myriad demon faces were impaled by the sword intent, vanishing into the void.

Finally, the gargantuan Hundred-faced Heavenly Demon lingering on the horizon was single-handedly and ferociously dispatched into mere black smoke by Patriarch Dugu.

Patriarch Dugu expelled a mouthful of blood.

Mo Hua was utterly aghed.

This "Hundred-faced Heavenly Demon," by all accounts, was second only to the Evil God in might among all the beings he had witnessed.

While perhaps not matching the true form of the Evil God in raw power within "nature," the inferiority was slight.

However, its intrinsic grade was evidently far superior, a potent malevolent entity capable of reaching the fourth-grade Feather Transformation Realm.

And yet, this fourth-grade "Hundred-faced Heavenly Demon," akin to a "half-step Evil God," had been brutally vanquished by Patriarch Dugu utilizing his Divine Thought-transformed sword...

Patriarch Dugu was a Cultivator, a mortal in the truest sense of the word.

His Divine Thought had never once merged with the Dao, and his triumph over the Heavenly Demon stemmed purely from the unyielding fortitude of his mind, the sheer power of his sword aura, and his peerless mastery over the Sword Dao.

Furthermore, observing the residual energies in the vicinity, it was evident that this was far from an unprecedented occurrence.

For uncounted years, he had stood alone, steadfastly and tirelessly guarding the Sword Tomb, repelling and vanquishing these extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons time and time again, without faltering.

The toll of such a prolonged and arduous endeavor must have been immense.

Patriarch Dugu's physical form was indeed weary and not at its zenith, yet his silhouette, like an ephemeral candle flame buffeted by the wind, retained an edge as keen as a drawn Divine Sword.

The unwavering resolve of his Taoist Heart and the sheer tenacity of his will inspired profound awe and deep respect within Mo Hua, who himself walked the path of Divine Sense Proving the Dao.

The disparity in human willpower is truly as vast as an unbridgeable canyon.

Some possess such feeble willpower, they are less valuable than a single blade of grass.

While others wield wills so indomitable, they rival the gods themselves.

With the Hundred-faced Heavenly Demon annihilated by Patriarch Dugu, the Demonic Qi and Evil Qi began to recede, the celestial rift started to mend, and all perceived dangers gradually dissipated.

Patriarch Dugu retracted his sword aura, his profound exhaustion evident, appearing to have aged several years in an instant.

He drew a deep breath, then suddenly froze, turning to behold Mo Hua.

A flicker of bewilderment crossed Patriarch Dugu's features, followed by a tremor in his pupils as he inquired,

"Why are you here?"

Mo Hua, equally taken aback, replied, "The spatial rift opened, so I entered..." He then softly queried, "Weren't you the one who brought me here?"

Patriarch Dugu's expression contorted drastically, "I... impossible, I..."

But in the very next moment, his facial features dissolved, as black Evil Qi coalesced to sketch an unsettling human face, which then grinned malevolently,

"It was I, who brought you here..."

Before the words fully left its lips, Patriarch Dugu thrust out a large hand towards his own face, as if wiping away ink, expunging the Heavenly Demon visage and reverting to his original appearance.

His face was now etched with sheer terror.

"Damn it, it's a trap!"

Patriarch Dugu's countenance turned ashen, his gaze fixed on Mo Hua as he urgently implored, "Quickly! I will send you away, and you must never return."

However, just as he extended his hand to rip open the void, his face was once again engulfed by the encroaching black Qi.

Patriarch Dugu mutated back into his faceless form, emitting a chilling sneer,

"You wish to leave? You..."

His finger elongated into a sword, and he pressed it against his forehead, employing a wisp of Tai Xu Sword Intent to temporarily suppress his own demonic thoughts.

Yet, as he attempted to tear through the fabric of space, the sky rift, which had only just been sealed, abruptly tore open anew, revealing two colossal white skulls.

From these skulls, countless grim human faces materialized.

Two Hundred-faced Heavenly Demons!

Furthermore, terrifying Heavenly Demons, displaying not just ten but scores of visages, erupted from the dimensional tear, descending rapidly toward the earth.

However, their target was not Patriarch Dugu.

It was Mo Hua.

In that critical moment, Patriarch Dugu grasped the entirety of the scheme.

It was, in its entirety, a treacherous plot orchestrated by the Heavenly Demons!

Through countless years spent confronting and vanquishing Heavenly Demons, he had become subtly tainted by them, even beginning a process of assimilation with their essence.

And the Heavenly Demons, with their profound perception, had seen through his innermost thoughts.

They had masterfully exploited his deep-seated desire to pass down the Divine Thought transformed sword, alluring him into teaching Mo Hua the intricate Sword technique.

Then, capitalizing on this perceived vulnerability, they attempted to seize his Primordial Spirit, and clandestinely, during the very transmission of the sword, they planted a nascent seed of transformation into a 'Heavenly Demon' within Mo Hua's very being.

Now, that 'seed' had reached its full maturation.

Or, perhaps, with this 'seed' on the verge of departing the Taixu Gate and the Qian Learning State Boundary, the Heavenly Demons could no longer afford to wait. They were compelled to lure Mo Hua to this location, to then possess his physical form, thereby transforming him into a 'Heavenly Demon Fetus.'

Upon its completion, Mo Hua would be reborn as a tangible, flesh-and-blood Heavenly Demon walking among mortals.

Utilizing him as a vanguard, the Heavenly Demons intended to propagate the Supreme Heavenly Demon Slash Love Path across the entire world.

At that catastrophic juncture, by systematically eradicating all human emotions and natural inclinations through the ruthless Heartless Path, they aimed to induce widespread apathy and the utter dissolution of conscience, transforming humanity into mere puppets dancing to the Heavenly Demons' tune.

By consuming the infinite facets of the human heart as their sustenance, they would then be able to birth even more potent Hundred-faced Heavenly Demons, Thousand-faced Heavenly Demons, and ultimately, an unparalleled Innate Great Demon of unimaginable power.