Chapter 2966 - A Kick Shatters an Ancient Dream

Meanwhile, the heart devil appeared in the ancient battlefield, stretched languidly, and casually scanned his surroundings.

A swath of sharp, sword-like golden flames shot toward him, leaving him riddled with holes, but the heart devil just laughed and instantly returned to normal. All of his wounds vanished.

As a heart devil, he had no need to fear such things.

He stretched out his hand, closing his fingers like claws. A bundle of golden flames appeared in his palm.

“These really are the Laws of Lifelessness, undying and inextinguishable, neither arising nor non-existent. This is a Dao of Destruction born of the Laws of Destiny.” The heart devil rubbed his fingers together, and the golden flames scattered like rain and dissipated.

The Grand Dao of Lifelessness was strong, but it wasn’t taboo.

However, the Grand Dao of Lifelessness here was different. It had become the Will of the Heavens of this ancient battlefield. That meant that everything here was in an “undying and inextinguishable” state.

Such methods were far beyond Heavenly Monarchs. Even Heavenly Sovereigns had little hope of success!

“That kid is only in the Silent Realm, yet he thought he could grasp this place’s secrets. It’s a miracle that he lived to tell the tale,” murmured the heart devil. Suddenly, he laughed approvingly. “He really is my reincarnation! He goes where others dare not venture, and does what others cannot!”

With that, he put his hands behind his back and sauntered off.

Along the way, countless golden flames whooshed toward him, cutting into him like sharp swords. However, all of his cuts knit back together in the blink of an eye, unable to affect him in the slightest.

Meanwhile, the countless corpses strewn across the ground “came to life” and charged at the heart devil in a massive swarm.

The heart devil gasped in an exaggerated display of terror. “Fuck! You’re bullying me because I’m a heart devil, aren’t you? I gotta get out of here!”

Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, he blurred into a beam of light and shot deeper into the battlefield.

When the corpses lost their target, they just stood there like wooden statues.

But within moments, two blood-red streaks of Buddhist light shot forth like twin dragons and charged at the heart devil.

Boom!

The heart devil exploded into pieces, only to recondense elsewhere. He said irritably, “You’re already dead, so why are you so stubborn? Do you really think I can’t kill you?”

The golden remains of a Buddhist monk hovered in the distance, blazing with appalling blood-red Buddhist flames. This was the same dead monk who Su Yi had defeated earlier, the one he suspected had been a Buddhist Heavenly Sovereign!

The monk attacked, heedless of the heart devil’s words, but his strike hit nothing but air.

A moment later, the heart devil appeared in front of the monk, his hands condensing into a seal. He then pressed down on the monk’s skull.

Boom!

It was as if the golden Buddhist remains had been cleansed in lightning. All of that blood-red Buddhist radiance dissipated.

The monk’s remains froze in place, like a clay statue.

The heart devil peered at him, then sighed. “Yet another pitiful figure who lost his life in the Source of the River of Destiny.”

He removed his hand from the monk’s skull, then waved his arm. The monk’s bones clattered to the ground.

The heart devil now understood what kind of place this was. It was just that not even he could have anticipated that Su Yi would find a treasure connected to the Source of the River of Destiny so soon.

These secrets were far too ancient and mysterious. It was to the point that even many of the old-timers of the Far Shore of Destiny knew nothing about it!

“What dogshit Cauldron of Fate? Seems to me that someone played a nasty trick on the Malevolent Sword Venerate. He thought he got his hands on a supreme treasure, but he actually picked up a latent disaster.” The heart devil shook his head. He couldn’t help but grumble, “He’s my second incarnation’s heart devil! How could he be so stupid? He and Su Yi are as far apart as heaven and earth!”

Suddenly, inky tribulation light surged forth, blanketing heaven and earth. It was surging right toward him.

Upon closer inspection, there was a Daoist corpse at the heart of the tribulation light. His topknot had come undone, and his hair hung loose and disheveled. His body was withered, and it emanated dense death qi. Every last inch of his skin was rotting.

But when he drew near, it was as if an eternal night had descended over heaven and earth. Black light coursed like a raging current.

This was an existence not one whit weaker than the monk. This, too, was once a Heavenly Sovereign!

“Another one, huh? How could finding the Source of the River of Destiny and mastering the power of Destiny Chaos be so easy?” The heart devil shook his head, but he wasn’t making fun of the two dead experts. On the contrary, his voice was full of indescribable melancholy.

This was what it meant to pursue the Grand Dao. Everyone, no matter their cultivation, had their obsessions and desires. That was true even among those who’d broken the shackles of destiny. They might have been “free and at ease,” but they had obsessions too, didn’t they?

What could have been better than life as the Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City? Without obsession, how could Su Yi’s first incarnation have decided to cast all that aside and enter the cycle of reincarnation in search of greater heights?

But the Big Boss’s heart devil knew that there was no limit to the Dao. No matter how high you went, you’d find the footsteps of others who’d gotten there first.

As he pondered, the heart devil turned to leave, then vanished in the blink of an eye.

Both the Daoist and the Buddhist monk had died a long, long time ago. They were now just corpses animated by the Laws of Lifelessness. The two of them had been confined here. So long as the battlefield remained, neither would ever truly vanish.

What really interested the heart devil was who had used the Laws of Space to refine this incomparably ancient battlefield into a seal and place it in that jade cauldron?

Whoever it was, this was no simple feat. They’d clearly spared no expense, either.

The heart devil soon came to a halt. The ancient well had finally come into view.

It was just as Su Yi had told him: it looked like a well, but in truth the ground had split open to create a giant abyss.

Here, there was no longer any trace of the dense clusters of golden flames or the endless corpses strewn across the ground. All was desolate and empty on all sides, and nothing grew here, not even an inch of grass. Not even the wind blew.

The only thing out of place was a thin, glistening, skeletal hand extending from the well. It desperately clutched the well’s sides.

When the heart devil arrived, he didn’t even have time to get a good look before heaven and earth shook and a shocking beam of murky light shot out of the well’s depths.

It was like turbid river water, strange, mysterious, and full of mysterious death qi.

When the gray light shot forth, it transformed into a Guillotine and cleaved at the heart devil!

“The Guillotine of Heaven’s Will, huh? You actually managed to master this divine ability? It seems your mastery of the Laws of Lifelessness has reached heaven-defying heights!” said the heart devil, clucking his tongue with amazement.

He just stood there, neither dodging nor fighting back, but when the blade cleaved into his body, it was as if it had hit nothing at all. It couldn’t damage the heart devil in the slightest.

“It’s a pity, but although the Laws of Lifelessness are among the Laws of Destiny, they aren’t taboo, and they ultimately mean little to me,” said the heart devil. “It seems something’s gone wrong with your vital source, too. Your Guillotine of Heaven’s Will barely even itches. You’d struggle to kill even a Heavenly Sovereign, let alone me.”

His voice was full of the utmost disregard.

Kaboom!

The existence in the well seemed provoked. It attacked with the Guillotine of Heaven’s Will like mad, trying its utmost to destroy the heart devil.

But all of its attempts ended in failure.

The heart devil couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s not good to lose your temper, you know.”

He took a step forward and arrived at the rim of the well, directly in front of the skeletal hand.

“Keep it up, and I won’t be polite any longer," said the heart devil.

A hoarse voice suddenly emanated from the well’s interior. “You came here uninvited, yet you’re this domineering. Don’t you think that’s over the line?”

The heart devil laughed, then planted a foot on the skeletal hand and pressed down.

An agonized cry rang out. “Hurry up and get your foot off me! Stop! Stop!”

The heart devil’s foot remained firmly in place. His eyes narrowed into slits. “What’s that you said? I couldn’t hear you.”

Agonized pleading emanated from inside the well. “Fellow Daoist, please, forgive me! This lofty one... Err, this humble one spoke out of turn and offended you. Please, forgive me!”

“Oh?” said the heart devil. “So, you have manners after all. And here I thought you had a spine.”

As he spoke, he kept his foot planted on the skeletal hand. Inwardly, he was actually rather surprised. The owner of this hand obviously isn’t simple. Otherwise, his hand would have shattered by now!

“Please, forgive me, Fellow Daoist. No matter why you’re here, I’m willing to answer all of your questions!” That hoarse voice cried out from the well’s depths. “ Are you after the Eternal Throne? The Laws of Lifelessness? The Compass of Fate? Whatever you want, I can give it to you! Just please, don’t crush my hand any longer!”

The heart devil said, “You’ve actually got quite a lot to offer, huh?”

The hoarse voice fell briefly silent, then said, “All of these lie deep in the Sea of Fate. I cannot give them to you, but I can tell you how to find them!”

The heart devil rolled his eyes. “Then your promises aren’t worth a fart! Alright, I’ll ask, and you answer. If you can satisfy me, I’ll spare you just this once, but if you can’t... Hah!”

He pressed down with his foot, triggering an incomparably agonized wail from the well’s depths.

When the heart devil heard it, he grinned, an exultant look on his face.

After a brief pause, the hoarse voice cried out, starting and stopping as if every word was a struggle, “Please, ask! I’ll tell you everything I know!”

The heart devil paused, then shook his head with waning interest. “Forget it. I’m not the least bit interested in who you are or what you’re after.”

The existence hidden in the well practically went mad. You’ve been crushing my hand all day, but now, you can’t even be bothered to ask questions? Are you just messing with me!? If you aren’t interested, then move your foot already!

The heart devil continued, as if to himself, “But even though I’m not interested, if you make it out of the well, you might well cause trouble.”

“W-what are you going to do?” The being in the well obviously realized that this didn’t bode well.

The heart devil took two steps back, then dashed up and kicked the hand as if it were a rubber ball. “Get out of here!”

The skeletal hand lost its grip on the side of the well.

An incomparably furious roar emanated from the well’s depths. “You son-of-a-bitch bastard! When I break free, I’ll cut you into ten thousand pieces! I’ll grind your bones to dust and scatter them to the wind! I’ll leave you longing to die, yet unable to do so!”

The heart devil put his hands behind his back, threw back his head, and laughed as he walked off. That pitiful worm trapped in the well must hate me to death. After all, that single kick likely erased countless years of effort.

Of course, the heart devil didn’t really care. That pitiful worm wouldn’t be leaving the well anytime soon, and that was enough for him. He’d accomplished his goal.

When the heart devil left the ancient battlefield, the being in the well was still cursing him like mad, utterly enraged, bitter, and full of loathing.

No one knew it, but he’d been slowly crawling out of that well since the Primordial Era. Every inch of progress had come at an enormous price. Problems had even arisen with his vital source energies!

He’d finally extended one hand out of the well. All he’d needed was an opportunity to break free.

But now... a single kick had dashed his hopes!

Countless years of effort had all gone to waste. Who could bear such a thing?