“To listen to this one tune is enough.”

Zhuang Chengqian spoke softly in the endless darkness.

“I have no more time to spend with you.”

For a fleeting moment, his voice was incredibly gentle.

But the moment he withdrew his gaze, he was decisive beyond compare.

As his gaze retracted, the singing figure vanished, along with the weeping willows and the light.

“This world… is interesting.”

Zhuang Chengqian said blandly, his voice now devoid of emotion.

From beginning to end, he had not been ensnared, indulging himself in the test of the heart only for a moment of tenderness!

And now, he took a single step.

The boundless darkness began to recede, seemingly in fear of his might.

Heaven and earth were bright, the wilderness vast.

The female voice from within the mirrored world did not reappear.

Because Zhuang Chengqian had not truly overcome the trial of the heart.

But he had shattered it!

Inside the Tongtian Palace.

The Changxiangsi Sword Spirit slashed at the Underworld Candle, whose light flickered eerily. The two chased and fled, soaring up and down within the ancient and lofty palace.

The Underworld Candle did not retaliate, but the Sword Spirit seemed unable to completely extinguish it either.

In a certain instant, Jiang Wang’s soul essence returned to the Tongtian Palace. He grasped the Sword Spirit and, with a decisive “Old General’s Sunset,” struck directly at the Underworld Candle!

He had seized the initiative with the help of the Rouge Mirror, precisely to shatter Zhuang Chengqian’s protective treasure and establish his advantage.

Having passed the trial of the heart, Jiang Wang’s soul was stronger than ever before.

With the sword in hand, he possessed an aura of being able to cut through anything. Aided by the power of the Tongtian Palace, he forcibly suppressed the candle.

The agile Underworld Candle was momentarily cornered, unable to escape.

And the longsword arrived!

Just then, the candlelight flickered, and a hand reached out, directly gripping the Sword Spirit.

Zhuang Chengqian had also returned!

The trial of the heart had utterly failed to stop him. Unlike Jiang Wang’s accidental success, he had seen through the trial from the start. The reason he had seemed lost was simply because he did not want to wake up so soon.

Knowing it was a dream, he was willing to indulge in it.

Faced with Zhuang Chengqian’s sudden hand, Jiang Wang decisively retracted his sword and retreated.

Since Zhuang Chengqian had returned in time, destroying the Underworld Candle was impossible.

While passing the trial of the heart had indeed strengthened Jiang Wang’s soul, closing the distance between him and Zhuang Chengqian, Jiang Wang still did not believe he could be Zhuang Chengqian’s match.

If the plan failed, he would abandon it decisively.

Now was not the time to fight to the death. There were still opportunities!

What he needed to do was stall for time and continue to seek variables.

But Zhuang Chengqian, of course, refused to delay any longer. He directly manifested his true form, descended from the sky, and struck down with his palm, as if the firmament were collapsing.

Faced with this terrifying palm, Jiang Wang almost had the illusion that the Tongtian Palace itself was collapsing. As if in the next moment, he would be crushed into dust.

There was no avoiding, no yielding.

Therefore, Jiang Wang moved forward, Jiang Wang wielded his sword.

He would not avoid, nor yield, but face death head-on!

At that very moment, a shocking event occurred.

Jiang Wang’s physical body was beside the glazed coffin.

Within the glazed coffin, the chains suddenly snapped, and the golden talismans turned to dust.

The demonized Song Wanxi leaped up, her eyes, filled with madness, staring directly at Jiang Wang.

“Zhuang!”

She let out a garbled but hate-filled roar.

On those jade-like hands, her nails grew explosively!

A claw struck out!

The entire glazed coffin could not withstand this power and shattered into countless fragments.

Even the stone platform began to crumble, unable to bear the pressure.

Before she even got close, Jiang Wang’s body felt intense pain, as if it were about to be torn apart.

As if death were imminent!

Caught off guard by this sudden change, Jiang Wang and Zhuang Chengqian, who had been fighting to the death in the Tongtian Palace, separated with tacit understanding.

They only had this one body. Once the physical body was destroyed, all would be for naught.

Jiang Wang immediately took control of the physical body, retreating madly.

But he could not retreat at all!

A variable had indeed appeared, but it was not the one he had been waiting for.

Song Wanxi’s claw had locked down all his escape routes, sealing his intent and momentum.

This was a huge difference in power.

As Zhuang Chengqian had said, Song Wanxi had the potential of a true demon, but she was already on the verge of death when she became demonized. Because she was in a dying state, she failed to retain her sanity and memory, and therefore failed to become a true demon.

Although she lacked sanity, her power alone was almost overwhelming to Jiang Wang.

The claw wind rushed at his face, and he was about to be easily torn apart.

In this moment of danger, Jiang Wang’s right arm moved.

His right arm, holding Changxiangsi.

His right arm, in the previous struggle, had been occupied by Zhuang Chengqian.

And so, he tilted the sword diagonally upward.

This was just an upward tilt.

The most basic, most ordinary sword technique.

But it was also a sword that pierced through essence, a sword that reached the truth. It directly shattered the massive claw shadow, cut off the sharp, long nails, and interrupted Song Wanxi’s attack.

Song Wanxi’s claw, with its heaven-shattering, earth-crushing power, was easily deflected by a simple sword strike.

Using mere Supernatural Internal Palace cultivation, with only one right arm, he had accomplished something Jiang Wang could not have possibly achieved. This was a huge difference in realm.

In that instant, Jiang Wang actually had the thought that “only by handing over his body to Zhuang Chengqian could he escape.”

He immediately shattered this thought.

That might save his physical body, but his soul would certainly be annihilated. The result would be worse than the destruction of his physical body.

This thought must have been born from Zhuang Chengqian’s secret technique.

“If you try to use any more tricks, I’ll cooperate with her to kill myself!” In the Tongtian Palace, Jiang Wang said fiercely.

Zhuang Chengqian did not take up the challenge, only saying, “She has the power approaching a true demon. One arm is not enough.”

He knew Jiang Wang too well. Someone like Jiang Wang would only die in battle, never commit suicide.

Jiang Wang was also aware of this and did not continue to entangle, only replying coldly, “That’s your problem. I can’t give you any more.”

“Only I can stop her.”

They were negotiating within the Tongtian Palace, but the demonized Song Wanxi did not care at all and returned in an instant.

She wore magnificent palace robes, and her face was exquisitely beautiful.

But her eyes were filled with madness. The nails on one hand had been cut off, while the nails on the other hand were still like sharp knives.

At this moment, her long hair danced wildly, and demonic energy surged. Another claw struck out.

She truly seemed to lack any intelligence, acting only on instinct.

The previous claw had been a pure application of physical strength. After being deflected, she seemed to instinctively begin to use demonic energy.

The moment the demonic energy moved, the power was instantly different.

If the previous Song Wanxi was a giant rock, now she was a towering mountain!

Demonic energy, like snakes and ropes, shot out before the claw even landed.

“You must let me take control of the body immediately, or you will surely die!” Zhuang Chengqian’s voice roared in the Tongtian Palace.

Jiang Wang remained silent.

The demonic energy was near.

Zhuang Chengqian immediately offered a condition: “I swear on my Dao heart that after repelling her, I will return the body to you. We will compete again.”

Jiang Wang released control.

In just an instant, the clear-featured young man’s eyes changed.

It was a look of arrogance, majesty, and complexity.

And the demonized Song Wanxi, actually roared again——

“Zhuang!”

“Am I your deepest obsession?”

‘Zhuang Chengqian’ murmured softly, stepping forward.

“Am I the person you love the most, and therefore the person you hate the most?”

He stepped forward and swung his sword.

With one sword, he cut off the snake-like demonic energy and stepped towards Song Wanxi.

Song Wanxi’s claw, surging with demonic energy, came down on his face.

‘Zhuang Chengqian’ swung his sword, naturally breaking through the demonic energy.

“Manicuring your nails for you.”

The long, sharp nails were cut off, neatly and evenly.

He sheathed his sword and stood face to face with Song Wanxi. Two drops of blood appeared on each of his index fingers, the heart’s blood of this body. He gently touched them to Song Wanxi’s eyebrows.

His voice was gentle, and his finger lightly brushed across.

“Drawing your eyebrows for you.”

With this stroke, Song Wanxi’s eyes, filled with madness, actually closed.

For two hundred and eighteen years of demonization, her eyes had been half-open. Now, they finally closed!

And ‘Zhuang Chengqian’ gently pressed down, returning her to the broken stone platform.