Upon the manifestation of the heart demon, the situation was instantly overturned.

For Jiang Wang, his greatest advantage lay within the Tongtian Palace itself. As the true root source of this body, with his life soul attached, his Tongtian Palace was inherently dominated by him. Jiang Yan possessed no intrinsic right to contend with Jiang Wang for its control. It was only by first inducing the heart demon, and then leveraging this heart demon – which shared the same origin as Jiang Wang – to invade and control the Dao Meridian true spirit, that Jiang Yan was able to stand as an equal within the Tongtian Palace.

Now, with Jiang Wang’s self-inflicted wound to nourish the heart demon, granting it nascent intelligence, Jiang Yan’s dominion over the Tongtian Palace was instantly stripped away. At this moment, Jiang Wang was the undisputed master of the Tongtian Palace, while the heart demon, having firmly occupied the Dao Meridian true spirit, also gained half of the palace’s authority. Only Jiang Yan had become an undeniable outsider.

This Tongtian Palace, as a natural consequence, would exert suppression upon him. And this suppression exerted by the Tongtian Palace upon outsiders had always been Jiang Wang’s crucial reliance in his struggle against Jiang Yan. In the scheme previously unveiled, Jiang Yan’s initial move was to strip this very reliance, to deprive Jiang Wang of his advantage. But now, by relying on his composure, tenacity, and decisiveness, Jiang Wang had regained this reliance!

After this protracted battle of wits and courage with Jiang Yan, only at this moment did a sliver of victory appear within sight. The nine great star rivers rotated, half of their power lent to Jiang Wang, the other half channeled towards the black-clothed heart demon. Within this miniature world constructed by the Tongtian Palace, Jiang Yan faced foes on all sides!

At that time, Jiang Wang stood suspended at the apex of the Tongtian Palace dome, the Dim Candle hovered in mid-air, while the black-eyed star python coiled upon the ground. The black-clothed heart demon leaped forth from the body of the black-eyed star python. The three entities stood divided across the upper, middle, and lower positions.

The black-clothed heart demon consistently maintained control over the black-eyed star python, preventing the Dao Meridian true spirit from finding another master. This clearly indicated a profound understanding of his own foundational roots. From this, it was evident that his nascent intelligence, though newly born, already possessed a rather deep comprehension of combat and the world itself. If detached from Jiang Wang’s existence, he could even be considered a formidable being. Given sufficient time to grow, he could potentially absorb everything of Jiang Wang. This was also the most terrifying aspect of a heart demon.

The black-clothed heart demon’s sword struck upwards from below, fierce and utterly relentless. The single sword strike was deeply dark, its light also pitch black, seemingly annihilating all light. As if lifting the night itself, overturning the entire expanse of darkness to enshroud the sky. One strike of a tragic and heroic old general in the twilight of his life, rendered by demonic qi into the gathering dusk, the heavens and earth sinking into darkness.

The power of this sword was rapidly amplified under the support of the Tongtian Palace, while the dim light of the Dim Candle further contracted and weakened under the palace’s suppression. The black-clothed heart demon, his intelligence newly born, drew his sword instantly. Jiang Wang, likewise without hesitation, delivered a sword strike of an old general in the twilight of his life, from above downwards, like a setting sun falling, tragically without return.

The heart demon is one of the most feared existences for all cultivators; it is one’s own weakness, a flaw in the Dao path, and often a cultivator’s lifelong enemy. But for the steadfast Jiang Wang, the heart demon was not truly terrifying, nor did it possess much room to manifest. It was only under Jiang Yan’s secret manipulation that it was able to breach a gap and take form. Even though today his intelligence was born, transforming into the most difficult state to handle, Jiang Wang still possessed the confidence to resolve it in a solitary confrontation. Because he had journeyed thus far, his heart examined without guilt. As early as in the ruins of the Withered Glory Courtyard, he had already, under some mysterious influence, undergone an interrogation of his Dao heart. His Dao heart was firm. Without guilt, therefore without fear.

It was Jiang Yan who made him wary, an existence he dared not sleep at night because of. The first time he detected Jiang Yan’s existence was due to Jiang Yan’s attempts to influence his thoughts, to control his decisions. From the beginning, Jiang Wang had never believed Jiang Yan! His cultivation continuously deepened, continuously grew stronger, yet he could never fathom Jiang Yan’s true depth. It seemed Jiang Yan was also perpetually undergoing rapid growth, always maintaining a suppression over his divine soul. This was particularly frightening! Because Jiang Wang had cultivated tirelessly up to this point, believing he had exhausted all effort, wasting not a single moment, incapable of advancing any faster. Yet Jiang Yan could always maintain a lead. If one day his cultivation slightly slowed, would he be instantly devoured by Jiang Yan? This fear and terror born of the unknown made him dare not have a single moment of peace! Without slaying Jiang Yan, he could not sleep peacefully.

The heart demon and Jiang Wang, though silent, cooperated tacitly. The fighting talent shared between them allowed their swords to near the Dao. One from below upwards, one from above downwards. One like the black night rolling back, one like the setting sun falling straight down. One side was dark, one side was light. The two sides merged. And the boundary between light and dark was that single Dim Candle, emitting a faint glow, fixed in mid-air. Jiang Yan was silent, the candlelight still, as if only awaiting extinction, with no other outcome to choose.

The black-clothed heart demon arrived first, the darkness almost swallowing the candlelight. But then, above the Dim Candle, that hand of azure smoke holding the candle-light sword suddenly loosened its grip. The candle-light sword left the hand and fell, dissipating in mid-air, returning once more into the Dim Candle. Loosening a sword in battle, for a swordsman, was almost equivalent to giving up the struggle. However, Jiang Wang’s heart secretly grew alert, raising his guard. Because from any angle, Jiang Yan did not resemble the type to surrender easily. Loosening the sword was more like… abandoning a disguise!

Thus, right before his eyes, he saw that hand of azure smoke on the Dim Candle, its five fingers opening like a lotus flower. This palm seemed to cover the heavens and earth, absorbing all things. One flip of the palm! It had already grasped the black smoke sword in the hand of the black-clothed heart demon. The black-clothed heart demon’s sword momentum abruptly halted. As Jiang Wang’s heart demon, he also inherited Jiang Wang’s fighting talent. In the face of this suddenly displayed massive disparity, he directly abandoned his sword and formed a seal. A sea of divine soul flowers, based on the black divine soul flame flower, instantly spread out. The black-clothed heart demon retreated backward while simultaneously raising his sword momentum, preparing to counterattack.

That hand of azure smoke on the Dim Candle directly shattered the black smoke sword rendered by demonic qi, then struck out with a single slap. The sea of black divine soul flowers, concentrated with the heart demon’s power, was directly shaken and scattered. This single slap followed some mysterious trajectory, breaking through the spatial concept of distance, and grasped the black-clothed heart demon by the neck! It scattered all of his subsequent resistance.

“Roar!”

The black-clothed heart demon’s eyes instantly ignited with a blood color, roaring madly. The power of the heart demon gathered within his body, and blood smoke began to rise. This was already burning his origin, entering a state of desperate combat. Fierce, decisive, and valiant. The evil feeling emitted by that blood smoke made even Jiang Wang feel apprehensive. But then, he saw that hand of azure smoke belonging to Jiang Yan suddenly clench tightly!

The entire black-clothed heart demon exploded! The roar abruptly ceased. The black smoke and blood smoke all dissipated! And at this moment, Jiang Wang’s sword had not even had time to fall!

All of this happened so suddenly. Jiang Yan’s single outburst completely crushed everything like withered grass and rotten wood. Like a boulder rolling over ants; the ants might put up the most intense resistance of their lives, but the boulder is unaware. Easily rolling over them.

Jiang Wang had cleaved out the heart demon nurtured from his divine soul origin, a heart demon that had already developed intelligence, a terrifying heart demon that any cultivator must carefully contend with. Unexpectedly, it was extinguished with a single slap! What kind of immense gap was this, what kind of terrifying disparity? The black-clothed heart demon had already reacted extremely quickly. Jiang Wang questioned himself; if their positions were reversed, even if he could do slightly better than the heart demon, it would be extremely limited. That is to say, if his sword had been slightly faster, and this slap had been aimed at him, it was very possible that he would have been instantly crushed to death – he himself!

Jiang Yan’s true power was actually this overbearing. Even under the suppression of the Tongtian Palace, he still possessed the power to sweep away the heart demon. This was too despairing! Jiang Wang, with great courage and determination, endowed with natural spirit and light, had self-inflicted injury to induce the heart demon to assist, on the verge of performing a desperate reversal. Yet Jiang Yan suddenly tore off his disguise, displaying terrifying strength, and extinguished the nascent intelligent heart demon with a flip of his palm.

Just like that faint wisp of dawn light on the horizon, seemingly about to pierce the long night, yet it was erased by a terrifying large hand! After that, only eternal night and endless despair remained!