The Cloud Palace Treasure Mirror breaks all spells.
Wherever the mirror light reached, the black streaming light dispersed. The demonic spirit’s escape halted abruptly, losing momentum. Only faint demonic qi remained to shield it, leaving it starkly exposed under the clear sky.
Though the Profound Heart Demon could no longer speak, his spirit still transmitted a divine sense. “What is this thing!?”
In answer came a light shout. “Qingwei Yuchen, Taiyi Five Thunders, strike!”
“Boom!”
Thunder roared from the clear sky. A massive golden bolt descended the instant the mirror light withdrew, striking directly upon the Profound Heart Demon’s spiritual soul.
“Buzz buzz buzz!”
A violent spiritual fluctuation rippled outward, trembling intensely, revealing the agony endured.
The next moment, just as the demonic spirit noticed the mirror light gone and prepared to endure the pain to flee, the same mirror light appeared again, enveloping him.
Profound Heart Demon: ???
With Lu Zheng’s brief interruption buying time, Liu Zong, Lin Yi, Jinye Zen Master, and Xingfeng Zen Master broke free from the life-saving prohibition the Great Black Heaven Unintentional True Desire Demon Ancestor had left deep in the Profound Heart Demon’s sea of consciousness. They surrounded him once more.
Lu Zheng, hovering above Wei Province city with the battlefield below, promptly withdrew the mirror light of the Cloud Palace Treasure Mirror.
“Amitabha!”
Jinye Zen Master and Xingfeng Zen Master nodded to Lu Zheng in thanks.
“Good work, lad Lu!”
Liu Zong praised him, then turned back to the Profound Heart Demon, his gaze turning cold.
“Slay!”
Lin Yi commanded softly. The Pure Yang sword shot forth again, piercing straight through the demonic spirit.
“Ah!!!”
A faint scream echoed in everyone’s divine sense. Under this sword, the Profound Heart Demon’s spirit turned to ash.
Demonic qi dispersed. Soul scattered.
Yet…
Jinye Zen Master scanned around. The Great Sun Buddhist light enveloping heaven and earth showed no sign of withdrawing. Liu Zong and Lin Yi kept senses fully open, divine eyes like lightning, sweeping all directions.
Ao Qi, hovering below them, frowned. “That Profound Heart Demon does not seem fully dead!”
Yan Hongxia jumped in fright. “The spirit is destroyed. Yet the demon still lives?”
Shen Ying had fought the Black Heart Demon before and said, “Demons are hard to kill. This old fiend seems even stronger than that Black Heart one?”
Lu Zheng nodded. The jade seal had not yet received destiny light. “This Profound Heart Demon’s cultivation far exceeds the Black Heart Demon’s. Though the spirit dispersed, a wisp of core divine sense likely remains, merged into…”
“Desire?” Shen Ying asked.
“He does not yet have that ability,” Lu Zheng shook his head. “Desire is formless and intangible. It should hide in a dispersing strand of demonic qi or spiritual fluctuation. Rest assured, he is not the Unintentional True Desire Demon Ancestor. Seniors like Liu are stronger than Brother Yi. With Buddhist light filling the sky, he cannot escape.”
Ao Qi and Yan Hongxia turned their gazes to the battlefield.
“Fiend, die!”
Sure enough, Liu Zong had found it. He sneered, raised a hand, and a Shaoyang divine thunder struck a barely perceptible, scattering spiritual fluctuation.
Without demonic body or qi, how could the concealed soul of the Profound Heart Demon withstand this thunder?
“Ah!!!”
“My ancestor will avenge me. You will all die!!!”
A scream rang out. A faint divine sense fluctuation rippled once more, then vanished like a bursting bubble.
“Buzz!”
Lu Zheng felt the jade seal in his mind tremble. Another fifteen hundred strands of destiny light surged in wildly, satisfying the seal that had already feasted comfortably from the Li Lingyu matter.
“Refreshing!” Lu Zheng clenched a fist and shouted.
“Killed?” Shen Ying and the other two women turned to ask.
“Killed,” Lu Zheng nodded. “With Senior Liu’s cultivation, how could he let this minor demon escape?”
Overhearing from above, Liu Zong waved modestly. “Nonsense. Without you stalling him a moment, we might have let him slip away.”
Confirming the Profound Heart Demon’s death, Jinye Zen Master withdrew the Buddhist light. Xingfeng Zen Master retrieved his beads. The Pure Yang sword flew back into Lin Yi’s sleeve. The three descended with Liu Zong to Lu Zheng’s side.
“Many thanks, young friend Lu!” Jinye Zen Master smiled, palms pressed together.
“No trouble at all. It was my duty!” Lu Zheng replied quickly. “That was all I could do.”
At that moment, a black-clothed woman who had been hovering vigilantly above Wei Province city flew up, cupped hands, and saluted. “Anomaly Suppressor Division’s Luo Yixian greets True Person Liu, True Person Lin Yi, Zen Master Jinye, Zen Master Xingfeng, and the four fellow Daoists!”
“White Cloud Temple’s Lu Zheng greets Lord Luo.”
“Taohua’s Shen Ying greets Lord Luo.”
“Azure Dragon Ao Qi greets Lord Luo.”
“Dengyun Mountain’s Yan Hongxia greets Lord Luo.”
“White Cloud Temple?” Luo Yixian glanced curiously at Lu Zheng. She had assumed he was from Qingwei Palace, given the Qingwei Taiyi Five Thunders spell he had just cast, no ordinary feat.
But hearing White Cloud Temple, Luo Yixian smiled. A faint wisp of cloud qi suddenly appeared, coiling around her.
Lu Zheng’s eyes widened. Luo Yixian was also a White Cloud Temple disciple?
“White Cloud Temple lay disciple Luo Yixian, Ming generation,” she said with a smile.
“White Cloud Temple lay disciple Lu Zheng, Yuan generation. My master is Mingzhang. Greetings, martial uncle!” Lu Zheng bowed deeply.
“Good, good!” Luo Yixian nodded and smiled. “So you are disciple of junior brother Mingzhang.”
This was not the time for catching up. The battle had occurred in the sky east of Wei Province city. Though fluctuations and scenes were contained, the boundless golden light had been visible to the entire city.
“May I ask True Person Liu, was that demon one of the Unintentional True Desire Demon Ancestor’s disciples?” Luo Yixian inquired.
Liu Zong nodded. “A disciple of the Unintentional True Desire Demon Ancestor, the Profound Heart Demon.”
“Profound Heart Demon?” Luo Yixian was startled.
“Rest easy. He is dead,” Liu Zong nodded.
Luo Yixian nodded in understanding, transmitted to her waiting subordinates in the city, then arranged for reports to the prefecture yamen. Officials would cooperate to calm the populace.
Fortunately, this was an immortal cultivation world. Common folk had limited experience and few chances to witness transcendent battles, but they knew demons and immortals existed. Once officials announced that Buddhist and Daoist masters had subdued evils and slain the demon, some citizens seized the chance to pray, while most simply dispersed reassured.
Of course, today’s spectacle would give ordinary folk something to boast about for a lifetime.
…
Moments later, back in the Li family courtyard.
“Why was the Profound Heart Demon in Wei Province city?” Liu Zong asked.
“The old fiend still covets the Central Plains. Sending disciples to roam here is normal,” Lin Yi replied. “More than why he was in Wei Province, I wonder why he exposed himself.”
With the Profound Heart Demon’s cultivation, accidental exposure was unlikely. Even face to face, unless deliberately probed, they could not have seen through his disguise.
Jinye Zen Master looked at Lu Zheng. “Did young friend Lu discover him?”
Jinye had stood between the demon and the city, seen the hateful glare toward the Li residence, and connected it to Lu Zheng’s artefact. He strongly suspected Lu Zheng had uncovered the demon.
Lu Zheng nodded helplessly. “I just thought the man’s behaviour odd, checked curiously, and never expected to find a great demon. Without the four seniors present, my corpse would already be cold.”
