Chapter 72

Disciple Wang Jun was invited to the front hall by the steward, naturally receiving the enthusiastic hospitality of the Wang family.

Xuan Kong, however, sat on the bed, silently practicing the Laoshan technique. Faint rays of lightning emerged from his skin, enveloping the entire room in a blinding, dazzling purple light.

Suddenly, a crack of thunder sounded, and the lightning flashed brightly before dimming and disappearing.

On the bed, Xuan Kong's physical body still sat.

But a wisp of his divine soul had already left his body, relying on the power of lightning. This was the immortal technique of soul separation, far surpassing the clumsy soul separation of Mila Chan Master in the daytime.

Xuan Kong's divine soul formed hand seals, setting up the most powerful array around his physical body. Just as he was about to transform into lightning and fly away, he noticed a faint black demonic aura seeping through the indiscernible gap in the void.

This was the extraterrestrial heavenly demon that had been纠缠着自己. Xuan Kong sneered, "My divine soul hasn't even left my body, and you're already in such a hurry to come looking for me?"

He flew in front of the extraterrestrial heavenly demon, blocking the demonic aura, and coldly laughed, "What kind of demon are you, serving which demon lord, to dare to纠缠我?"

"Is it the demon lord Mara, the demon king Vinayaka, the demon king Putana, the demon king Yaksha, the demon king Kumbhanda... or the demon king Rahu, the demon king Vimajit, the demon king Bala, the demon king Raksasa..."

Xuan Kong knew quite a bit about the secrets of the three realms and一口气报出了十余个上古时便成名的魔王、阿修罗王的名字.

Before Xuan Kong finished naming them, the black aura slowly condensed into a form, cackling, "I am born from your heart, I am you, I am Xuan Kong." He slowly turned around, and indeed, his appearance was identical to Xuan Kong's.

"You..." Xuan Kong was taken aback, then sneered, "Who doesn't know that heavenly demons excel in transformation? Do you think turning into my appearance will confuse my mind?"

He raised his hand and shot a bolt of lightning at the heavenly demon.

The heavenly demon, struck by the Primordial Lightning, let out a scream and instantly dissipated into black light. Xuan Kong laughed, "With such a low level, you dare to impersonate me? Do you even know my background?" Now, the heavenly destiny is in chaos, and even if it weren't, the sages couldn't calculate Xuan Kong's origin.

The black light suddenly gathered again, transforming into a different form, tall and muscular with tattoos all over.

He laughed strangely, "What about this? You should believe me now, right?"

Xuan Kong's face immediately changed. If he weren't in a divine soul state, his face would have been pale without a trace of blood. He muttered, "This... this is my appearance from my previous life..."

The heavenly demon laughed, "If the heavenly destiny weren't in chaos, I wouldn't dare to show my true form in front of you."

Xuan Kong was greatly alarmed. The heavenly demon and he were two sides of the same coin; as long as he didn't die, the heavenly demon wouldn't be destroyed.

Although he had fortuitously inherited the Dao of the Primordial Thunder God and had overwhelming power over the heavenly demon, who knew if the heavenly demon wouldn't have a stroke of luck and surpass him? His gaze slowly calmed as he rationally thought of a way to eliminate this demon.

The heavenly demon laughed, "You want to get rid of me, don't you?"

Xuan Kong said, "I remember in my previous life, I was struck by lightning and my body turned to ashes. When I woke up, I was in this world. How did you come into being?"

The heavenly demon laughed, "I was born into this world at the same time as you. Strictly speaking, I am you and yet not you."

In this world, when beings die and cross the River of Forgetfulness to drink the Forgetfulness Soup, they wash away their karmic debts and start anew in the cycle of rebirth. However, the karmic debts that are washed away do not disappear; they are reborn with the being.

Ordinary people, who commit limited evil, cannot give birth to powerful heavenly demons.

But it's different for those who have attained immortality. Their extraordinary abilities can create karma with every action, and the heavenly demons they create become increasingly powerful. These heavenly demons, born from the person's karmic debts, naturally despise and hate their original form.

Thus, they constantly watch over their original form, seeking any opportunity to lead the gods and buddhas astray, turning them to ashes.

However, countless eons ago, when the Buddha Shakyamuni attained enlightenment, he used his wisdom sword to cut through the demons and sealed the dark abyss of the heavenly demon world, imprisoning all karmic debts there. Only Xuan Kong, with no roots in this world, could not have his karmic debts from his previous life pass through the six paths of rebirth.

Thus, the heavenly demon did not appear in the dark abyss but directly in this world.

Xuan Kong listened patiently to the heavenly demon's explanation and nodded in satisfaction, "So that's how it is!"

The heavenly demon strutted in front of Xuan Kong, smugly saying, "What do you think, Xuan Kong? Do you still plan to kill me? Although your power is greater than mine, you can't kill me. Just wait, I will eventually get you!"

Xuan Kong "hmm"ed, saying nothing, but his mind was racing.

The heavenly demon continued, "Don't pretend to be calm. Why don't you hand over your physical body to me? You've already cultivated your divine soul, so you don't need a physical body to be free and easy. If that doesn't work, you can always possess another body, which would be a good thing!"

Xuan Kong shook his head, "Not a chance. I'm not the same person I was in my previous life."

In his previous life, Xuan Kong had lived a life of hardship, poor at night and rich at dawn, never knowing if he would have food the next day. So, he would do anything that benefited him without a second thought. But in this life, after reading many Daoist texts, he understood righteousness and principles.

There are some things one must do, and some things one should not do.

For example, serving a demon. Xuan Kong didn't know if he was a child of great calamity, but he knew his body and bones were extraordinary. Cultivation for him was often twice the result with half the effort, far surpassing ordinary people.

Moreover, since the demon born from his karmic debts was willing to give up opposing him to obtain something, it must be a good thing.

"Do you think you have me cornered?" Xuan Kong waved his sleeve and laughed.

The heavenly demon's face remained unchanged, cautiously probing, "Do you have a secret to save your life?"

"No secret, but..." Xuan Kong spoke slowly, "I have the determination to destroy the demon with my body!"

"Primordial Universe, Transforming Shadows!" Xuan Kong formed hand seals and pointed at his divine soul's forehead. In an instant, his divine soul disintegrated into spiritual energy, enveloping the heavenly demon. This was an extremely risky method, almost a last resort.

The heavenly demon, surrounded by Xuan Kong's spiritual energy, immediately knew Xuan Kong's intention.

He screamed, "Xuan Kong, stop! Stop! I promise, I won't bother you again!" Xuan Kong's voice sighed, "This soul disintegration technique is my ultimate life-saving skill. It's fitting to use it on you."

The heavenly demon, intangible and invisible, could not be seen even by the naked eye. But Xuan Kong, using his divine soul's vision, could see the heavenly demon. Was the divine soul, being an illusory entity, somehow similar to the heavenly demon?

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