Zhuang Chengqian, with power far from sufficient in his own right, effortlessly suppressed the demonized Song Wanxi. This was an absolute disparity in realms. Approaching the same situation with a vision far surpassing Jiang Wang’s, he dissected the problem like a skilled butcher, naturally and fluidly.

With the threat resolved, Jiang Wang naturally sought to reclaim control of his physical body at the first opportunity.

“Enough!” he declared.

But within the Hall of Heaven, Zhuang Chengqian took a large step forward, pressing towards Jiang Wang. “What is enough? Where is enough?”

At this moment, the physical body was under Zhuang Chengqian’s control. Even though the Hall of Heaven was Jiang Wang’s foundation, the suppression it exerted on Zhuang Chengqian had greatly diminished.

With Zhuang Chengqian’s advance, Jiang Wang was forced to retreat several steps.

The power dynamic had shifted!

“Do not forget, you swore a Dao Oath!” Jiang Wang exclaimed in shock and anger.

“I admire everything about you, including your naivete!” Zhuang Chengqian laughed. “Dao Oaths? I have two hundred and thirty-one methods to break them. Shall I teach you?”

He never intended to honor his promise.

The so-called returning the body after repelling Song Wanxi was merely a lie, a deception to make Jiang Wang temporarily abandon his resistance.

Indeed, with only one hand, he could not have defeated Song Wanxi, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to deceive Jiang Wang.

But in that life-or-death situation, he still chose not to uphold his agreement. Instead, he tricked Jiang Wang with the shared danger to their lives.

To him, covenants were just pieces of paper, promises were just words. Only unbreakable oaths held any constraint. But in reality, for true geniuses, such oaths might not exist.

Whether Dao Oaths, Great Heart Demon Oaths, or Blood Sacrifice Contracts, all were essentially evolutions of Dao techniques. They established unbreakable bonds through Dao hearts or bloodlines. But any Dao technique could be broken.

The means to deceive the Dao heart had become far too numerous with the development of Daoist systems.

This was why the major transcendental powers of today rarely relied on pure oaths to control their disciples.

Zhuang Chengqian pressed forward step by step. Honestly, he was looking forward to seeing if Jiang Wang could bring him any surprises.

Only those who were confident in their victory, those who had sufficient self-assurance, could possess such anticipation.

And Zhuang Chengqian certainly was.

Even though he did not believe that the current Jiang Wang could accomplish anything.

He advanced step by step, Jiang Wang retreated step by step, soon to be cornered without any place to avoid.

“If you choose to retreat at the final moment, it will disappoint me greatly,” Zhuang Chengqian said with a condescending tone.

The moment those words fell within the Hall of Heaven, he heard a voice in his ear.

An aged, yet furiously enraged voice—

“Release your filthy hands!”

Killing intent surged, echoing in the subterranean demon lair.

The ‘Zhuang Chengqian’ controlling the body turned around in astonishment. “Song Hengjiang?!”

An old man incapable of concealing his rage, with a ferocious expression, was standing at the entrance of the inner cave, his fists clenched, his aura savage.

It was none other than the Lord of Eight Hundred Li Clear River!

Why had Song Hengjiang returned?

It was illogical.

Zhuang Gaoxian and Du Ruohui had already left. They had seen everything they needed to see, said everything they needed to say. He had no reason to come back.

‘Zhuang Chengqian’s’ mind raced, quickly grasping the issue.

Before Jiang Wang first entered this inner cave, he was unsteady because of unstable mind, his pace slow, he had bumped into the Blood-Veined Stone Coffin next to him. At the time, it seemed to have no effect, but now that he thought about it, that bump was significant!

“You tampered with the Blood-Veined Stone Coffin?” Zhuang Chengqian asked Jiang Wang within the Hall of Heaven.

“I merely reminded Song Hengjiang that his secret was known.”

Jiang Wang replied in a deep voice. Then, disregarding everything, he directly cast his divine soul out, leaving the Hall of Heaven. Unlike any previous brief departure, this time he took away all of his divine soul power, almost equivalent to completely abandoning this foundational ground!

Throughout the entire process, he did not even glance at the Star-Entwining Python.

He left the Hall of Heaven to Zhuang Chengqian, which meant leaving Song Hengjiang entirely for Zhuang Chengqian to deal with. He himself retreated into his First Inner Mansion.

Facing Zhuang Chengqian’s pressure, he retreated step by step, not out of cowardice, but to buy time.

The reason his battle with Zhuang Chengqian had entered a white-hot phase from the very beginning was not due to Zhuang Chengqian’s eagerness. In fact, throughout the entire battle, he had been the one accelerating the process.

Because he was in a great hurry!

Because he knew Song Hengjiang would soon return!

To fight against the imagined Jiang Yan, he had made many preparations. Divine Soul Firefinch, Spirit Void Palace, Everlasting Yearning Sword Spirit, Rouge Mirror… Due to his insufficient cultivation, the preparations were not perfect. Therefore, he had always been very tolerant of “Jiang Yan.” Many times, he seemed to have forgotten about the unwelcome guest in the Hall of Heaven.

But in fact, he had never been tolerant or trusting of Jiang Yan, who had been trying to influence his will. He only endured because he lacked certainty of success.

On that rainy night outside of Xin’an City, when the heart demon was conceived, he realized that the decisive battle was approaching.

In his earliest plan, he was to defeat Jiang Yan in the shortest amount of time, and then flee. If these methods were ineffective, then it would mean that he was no match for “Jiang Yan” at all—then he would find an opponent for “Jiang Yan”!

Even if Jiang Yan killed him and successfully seized his body, Song Hengjiang could kill Jiang Yan.

After becoming an Inner Mansion cultivator, even if the Hall of Heaven collapsed, his divine soul could survive in the Inner Mansion.

As long as his physical body was not destroyed, there was still a chance to find a way to repair the Hall of Heaven—provided that he could regain control of his body after Song Hengjiang defeated Jiang Yan’s divine soul, before it could be destroyed, and persuade Song Hengjiang to stop.

This was undoubtedly very difficult, even to the point that the chance of success was extremely slim. But it was better than being silently crushed by Jiang Yan, an adventure of last resort.

Having a choice was always better than having no choice.

The changes within the Hall of Heaven occurred in an instant.

‘Zhuang Chengqian’ had no time to track Jiang Wang’s divine soul origin, controlling the body to release Song Wanxi and retreat from the stone platform.

Because Song Hengjiang’s fist was coming!

This Lord of Clear River pierced through space with a punch, appearing right next to the eyes-closed Song Wanxi, occupying the ‘Zhuang Chengqian’s’ previous position.

After carefully looking at Song Wanxi, seeing that she had not suffered any fatal injuries, he turned around and coldly stared at ‘Zhuang Chengqian’. “I’ll give you ten breaths to explain all of this to me.”

The person in front of him gave him a very complex feeling.

The opponent avoided his fist, admittedly because he had deliberately controlled his power, fearing that it would affect Song Wanxi, but it also demonstrated the opponent’s extremely high realm. But the intensity of this person’s aura was definitely not stronger than that of the Outer Building realm.

Clearly, his physical body was very young, the youth not because of successful cultivation, but the youth of a young age. But the vicissitudes in the depths of his eyes seemed like he had lived for a very, very long time, which was definitely not the look in a young man’s eyes!

And…for some reason, he had a strange sense of familiarity with this unfamiliar young man.

This was also why he gave the other party a chance to speak.

Of course, all of this was predicated on Song Wanxi not truly suffering any harm.

‘Zhuang Chengqian’ was very clear that he was no match for Song Hengjiang.

Song Wanxi possessed power but lacked intelligence, which was why he was able to overcome strength with weakness. Song Hengjiang was a true powerhouse, someone who had once approached the threshold of the Cave Heaven realm. He could not surpass him with just his past realm.

So without a word, he immediately pleaded for mercy: “I strayed into this place by mistake, and I have truly offended your majesty. But Lord Water Sovereign, I saved your daughter Song Qingzhi’s life!”