NOVEL WEB Ch. 128
Chapter 128: The Heavenly Demon Clan
Gu Fan slowly landed back on the ground, doubt and confusion filling his heart.
Just as he was about to pass through to the Apocalypse, the strength of the Holy Son suddenly weakened drastically.
At the same time, every aspect was significantly different from the beginning.
This was truly strange. A generation's Holy Son should not experience such large fluctuations in power.
Could it be that he was already seriously injured, and Gu Fan had merely triggered an old wound?
While Gu Fan was still in doubt, his divine sense swept over a shadow once more, and then he reached out with a large hand.
The next moment, a struggling black phantom was caught in Gu Fan's grasp.
"Ah! Let go of me, you damned lowly creature!"
Gu Fan snorted coldly, and the pressure in his hand steadily increased.
"Ah! Stop! You've angered me!"
"I'll kill you! You foolish lowly being!"
"I was wrong! Stop! If you keep going, I'll be crushed! I beg you..."
Seeing the figure becoming incomparably weak, Gu Fan reckoned that if he kept exerting pressure, he might truly crush it to death.
With that, he stared straight at the phantom in his hand, a cold smile forming at the corner of his lips.
"I’ll give you only one chance. I ask, you answer. Lie once, and I’ll turn you to ashes."
"Alright, alright! Ask away, I'll tell you everything I know! Just spare me, I beg you!"
Gu Fan nodded in satisfaction.
"What exactly was that thing fighting me just now?"
"My lord, that was actually me fighting you just now. But your divine might is overwhelming—I was subdued by you!"
Hearing this, Gu Fan looked strange as he sized up the struggling black phantom in his palm.
"It's not that I look down on you, but with your current strength, you could really fight me like that just now?"
The phantom twisted incessantly, his tone filled with humility.
"My lord, you may not know this, but I come from the Heavenly Demon Clan of the Void Sacred Realm. Our clan fights very differently from ordinary cultivators."
"Oh? How is it different?"
"Our Heavenly Demon Clan emphasizes 'form born of the heart' in battle—this is the Heavenly Demon Grand Art."
"Our primary method of combat involves using the enemy's inner demons. We can draw out the opponent’s greatest current fears or adversaries from their heart."
"The stronger the image we create in the enemy’s heart, the more powerful our true strength becomes. But similarly, if the opponent overcomes their fear, and no longer fears the figure we manifest, our power plummets drastically."
After hearing this, Gu Fan finally understood. The Holy Son he had just killed was actually a manifestation of this Heavenly Demon.
"That makes sense. If the Holy Son could be killed by me like that, it would’ve been a joke."
After murmuring to himself, he continued asking, "According to you, the stronger my enemy, the stronger you become?"
"Not exactly. My strength cannot exceed your understanding. Simply put, if you do not comprehend how terrifying a supreme expert is, then I am limited within your perception."
"Moreover, we ourselves are also bound by our cultivation realm. If the difference in cultivation is too great, our manifestations can fail."
So that was the case. It seemed that Gu Fan had decided to flee to the Apocalypse World at the time, which had reduced his fear of the Holy Son. That was why the manifested ‘Holy Son’ had weakened.
Thus, he had managed to kill it in return.
At that moment, having finished explaining, the phantom once again pleaded:
"My lord, please spare me. I swear never to appear here again. I’ll return immediately and vanish from this world for good!"
Gu Fan pondered briefly, but then, ignoring the phantom’s pleas, he opened his mouth and swallowed it whole!
Moments later, he opened his eyes with a hint of delight.
This special form of the Heavenly Demon Clan seemed to be even more effective to devour than Living Souls. It looked like he would need to hunt more of the Heavenly Demon Clan in the future.
However, this matter served as quite a wake-up call for him.
No wonder most of the Ten Peaks Disciples of the Brahma God Sect harbored blind admiration toward the Holy Son.
Some even believed that everything the Holy Son said and did was absolutely correct, and that his strength made him the undisputed number one among the younger generation.
In his eyes, such a mindset was a major obstacle in the path of cultivation!
But now, looking at himself, he had only stayed in the Brahma God Sect for a short while, yet had already been influenced this much!
Within the Brahma God Sect, from Elder Wu Di in the beginning, to the clan elders afterward, and finally the Ten Peaks Disciples—
All of them heaped praise upon the Holy Son’s strength, even hailing him as the strongest of the young generation.
Subtly, and without realizing, Gu Fan had developed deep fear toward him in his heart.
If it continued like this, he might really have collapsed under such pressure.
But Gu Fan was fortunate. Just before his invincible belief had completely crumbled, he had come to this realization through the Heavenly Demon.
"The Holy Son is indeed powerful, but just like I said—he was merely born a few years earlier than me. If it were a competition between peers, I might not lose to him!"
Thinking of this, Gu Fan suddenly felt a tremor throughout his body, as though an invisible shackle had silently shattered.
He suddenly felt incredibly light and relaxed.
Yes, this was exactly how he had felt before coming to the Upper Realm!
But after arriving in the Upper Realm, he had instinctively hidden this feeling, restraining his natural development.
It was as if he had worn a shackle, one that was finally undone.
Gu Fan let out a long breath, and even his gaze turned sharper.
"The Holy Son is nothing more than a target. Surpassing him is only a matter of time."
With that, Gu Fan’s figure shot skyward, darting swiftly into the distance.
At the same time, deep within the Rift—
Six people had gathered atop a small hill.
They were currently surrounded by creatures that resembled Yakshas.
"Senior Brother Qu! What do we do now? These ten Blood Yakshas are close to the late stage of the True Yang Realm. I fear the six of us won’t be able to handle them!"
"Hold on a bit longer. I’ve already contacted other sect members. As long as anyone passes within a hundred li of us, they’ll sense it and come to our aid!"
A hundred li radius.
It sounded large.
But in this Rift, it was merely a corner.
One had to hope that a sect member was in that exact corner, and strong enough to save them—and that they came fast enough.
Otherwise, they'd all be dead before help arrived.
The ten Blood Yakshas encircling the six were all wearing relaxed expressions, sneering as they looked at them.
"Human cultivators again. Not bad, not bad. This time, we’ll be getting a good amount of blood and flesh."
"Haha, you lot can take the meat. I’m more interested in their weapons. If they’ve got any, I’m choosing first!"
"I want their cultivators’ root bones. Soaking those in liquor makes for a fantastic tonic!"
The ten Blood Yakshas chatted idly among themselves about how they’d divide up the spoils afterward, completely dismissing the six as any threat!
Just then, the youngest girl among the six frowned and said:
"Senior brothers and sisters, these beasts are utterly arrogant. Even if we of the Pure Radiance God Sect die here, we must make them pay a heavy price!"
"Fuck! Little junior sister’s right. I can’t stand these disgusting creatures mocking us like this. If only our senior brother were here, these beasts wouldn’t dare act so arrogantly!"
To the other four, the two’s words did sound admirable. But as the senior brothers who had come to the Rift before, they understood all too well how terrifying these things were.
Especially for female cultivators—if captured, death would be the least of their concerns!
And unfortunately, among them, there happened to be a youngest junior sister.