CHAPTER 858: HEART

In the wind and snow, the tiny flying sword radiating golden light dragged through the air, leaving behind an incomparably brilliant trail of gold.

Ahead of that golden light, a shadow kept retreating.

Two deep marks were carved into the snow, stretching far into the distance, until they finally stopped before a snow-covered hill.

The wind and snow blew away the dark mist surrounding the shadow, revealing the true form of the tall figure within.

It was precisely the Demon Emperor.

He held the small flying sword in one hand, fresh blood pouring freely, though half of the sword had already pierced deep into his body.

But now, the golden light was dimming; clearly an arrow at the end of its flight.

After all, it was not a true, peerless sword immortal standing before him unleashing such sword art. If this attack alone could have slain him, it would indeed have been too absurd to believe.

Still, this strike had truly wounded him greatly, and that alone was already remarkable.

The Demon Emperor slowly pulled the tiny flying sword from his chest and held it in his palm, studying it closely. To his eyes, those faint, lingering strands of sword qi were something special. It was not merely sword qi, but infused with countless traces of the so-called Dao. It was the refined spirit of a sword immortal, his very path.

Yet the Demon Emperor was destined not to discern it clearly. Partly because of the limits of his own realm, and partly because, when the Divine Daughter unleashed the strike, she had deliberately erased the imprint left upon it, so that he could not grasp its secrets.

Moments later, the golden light completely faded away, and the sword qi dissipated into heaven and earth, leaving no trace behind.

The Demon Emperor opened his palm and glanced at the wound there. The lingering sword qi gradually vanished, no longer clinging to the injury. He said nothing, only watching as the flesh of his palm regenerated, the wound slowly closing until no mark remained.

But while the wound on his palm healed easily, the sword wound across his chest would not heal so quickly.

That sword strike had indeed been formidable. It not only wounded the Demon Emperor but also sounded a warning within him: even if the Great Liang Emperor had vanished, this world surely did not hold him as the only existence to reach beyond Nepenthe.

In those places still shrouded in mystery, there might well exist other powerful cultivators, ones not necessarily weaker than himself.

So-called “being invincible under heaven” might well be nothing more than a joke.

The Demon Emperor gave a self-deprecating smile. The path of the Great Dao was so long, and he had once believed that he alone had reached this height. Yet now, he realized he was merely a frog at the bottom of a well, seeing only the small circle of sky above.

But now, upon reflection, he realized that he was like a frog at the bottom of a well. What he had seen was nothing more than a tiny circle of sky above.

For him to still be so arrogant, it was wrong, no matter how one looked at it.

Shaking his head, the Demon Emperor turned around and saw Autumn not far away.

At the most perilous moment earlier, though he had ignored the other great demons, he had still ensured that Autumn was pulled away from Yixian Tide.

He could already tell that his daughter was gravely injured. Had he not intervened earlier, she would surely have died there.

“How are you?”

The Demon Emperor walked forward a few steps, came to Autumn’s side, and looked at his daughter’s pale face. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.

At that moment, a surge of the purest demonic qi flowed into Autumn’s body, stabilizing her physical form and healing her wounds.

“You’ve been too hasty in your cultivation. Even after gaining a fortuitous encounter, you shouldn’t have gone down such a risky path. This loss wasn’t to him, it was losing to yourself.”

The Demon Emperor spoke indifferently. “But it’s no great matter. As long as you’re still alive, the path of the Great Dao is long. You can always try again.”

The Demon Emperor had great confidence in Autumn. In his view, her defeat at Chen Chao’s hands had been due only to impatience, not because she was truly inferior.

Before Autumn could respond, the Demon Emperor continued, “But you must understand, there are many things in this world that offer second chances. Yet when it comes to life and death, every extra chance is a stroke of fortune. Never gamble on having another chance next time.”

For many years, he had only ever guided his daughter in cultivation. Beyond that, how to conduct herself, how to act, he had seldom said a word.

He had always believed one truth: words and reasonings were of little value. What truly mattered was what one did in practice.

Retracting his palm, the Demon Emperor’s face was somewhat pale as well. Compared to Autumn, his injuries were not as severe, but they were real nonetheless.

“Thank you, Royal Father...”

Just a few simple words. Whatever came after, whether swallowed by the wind and snow or never spoken, was unclear.

The Demon Emperor glanced at her and asked directly, “That woman, had you met her before?”

The woman’s sudden appearance today seemed unreasonable, yet it must have been Chen Chao’s doing. And among the demon race, the one who had dealt most with Chen Chao was none other than this daughter before him.

Autumn nodded. “When I went to Great Liang and fought Chen Chao to the death, I later accidentally entered a place. That woman was there. She didn’t seem like someone of this era. She should be an ancient cultivator who survived from antiquity.”

Pausing for a bit, Autumn continued, “After entering that place, for some reason, that woman treated Chen Chao differently. What fortune he obtained there, I cannot say. But after leaving that place, I could no longer find the entrance again."

For some reason, Autumn did not mention the matter of the divine medicine.

One had to know that even for the Demon Emperor, divine medicine was an immense temptation. In this world, there was not a single cultivator who did not covet it. After all, that thing was extremely useful, whether for cultivation or prolonging one’s lifespan.

If the Demon Emperor were to learn of it, what thoughts he might harbor went without saying.

Yet Autumn, as the daughter that the Demon Emperor favored most and the one most likely to become the next demon emperor, still chose not to speak of it. That alone was enough to show how complicated the relationship between this father and daughter truly was.

“Very normal. A secret realm of that level would naturally have its own profound mechanisms. With your current cultivation, it’s not surprising that you cannot see through its truth.”

The Demon Emperor continued calmly, “But the existence of such beings, it’s hard to say how many still remain in this world. In any case, it has served as a wake-up call for me.”

Autumn suddenly asked, “Royal Father...”

“We know what you wish to ask. Since the human race has such existences, naturally our race does as well. But I suppose they have long lost interest in worldly affairs. They no longer appear, devoting themselves entirely to cultivation, perhaps having already glimpsed a fragment of immortality.”

The word immortality had always been ethereal and unattainable for most beings. Yet it was reasonable, since the majority of beings could not even break past even Nepenthe. Naturally, they could only imagine what immortality might be.

Existences who had transcended Nepenthe, after standing higher than others, could indeed see more than ordinary folk.

But it was like viewing the moon through mist - faintly visible, yet never clear.

After a brief silence, Autumn asked a question that the Demon Emperor did not expect.

“Royal Emperor, the higher one climbs, does one think and feel less and less?”

Autumn often felt that she could not see through what her royal father was truly thinking. In his heart, what truly mattered to him?

Was it herself, or the demon race?

Neither seemed certain.

Perhaps it was that so-called immortality.

The Demon Emperor did not answer immediately. He looked at Autumn and spoke slowly.

“After you have seen every landscape, done all that you ever wished to do, when you stand upon a towering peak and look upon this world, We believe you will no longer trouble yourself with that question.”

The Demon Emperor cast a somewhat gentle look at Autumn. He could understand the confusion of the young, for many years ago, he too had been young. The way he saw the world then was very different from how he saw it now.

But as time passed, everything would change.

Otherwise, why would people say that the young possess the spirit of youth? Back then, they were high-spirited and fearless, dressed in fine robes and riding proud horses. Yet by middle age, they would gradually become calm, and when they recalled those days, they could only smile faintly.

When one reached old age and looked back upon everything from the past, one probably would not even be able to laugh anymore.

If even an ordinary person’s life was like this, then there was no need to mention someone like the Demon Emperor.

Autumn nodded. It was unclear whether she truly took his words to heart, but she no longer intended to continue asking questions.

The Demon Emperor took the initiative to speak, “You are to return to the Demon Realm at once. Before you have completely refined those sword qi, you are not to leave the royal city.”

Though his tone seemed calm when he spoke, his words carried a firm authority, allowing no doubt, no room for objection.

At that moment, he once again became that Demon Emperor of the demon race - overlooking the world, supreme and unmatched.

Autumn said nothing, only nodded silently.

The Demon Emperor gave her a glance but did not speak again. His figure abruptly vanished from where he stood, turning into a wisp of demonic qi that drifted northward.

This place was already not far from the Demon Realm. It was practically at its border, so there was almost no danger left.

After watching her royal father depart, Autumn turned and glanced toward the south.

Now, her mind began to replay everything that had happened before: from first meeting Chen Chao to the ambush near Yixian Tide. She quickly came to a conclusion: that woman she had never taken seriously should, in fact, have been taken seriously.

Her threat to the demon race was no less than Chen Chao’s.

The next time they met, there would be no need for hesitation - she would simply kill her.

As she thought this, Autumn suddenly recalled something. Her emotions seemed to have been stirred by that pair of man and woman.

But why was that so?

Chen Chao was merely a human martial artist whom she had sworn to kill no matter what she said, and Xie Nandu, this was even their first meeting.

How could these two possibly have affected her heart?

Autumn frowned slightly, faintly sensing that a strange seed might have taken root within her heart.

She wanted to pluck it out and cast it away from her heart’s lake, but the more she thought about it, the more irritable she became.

It felt as though she had fallen into a strange, indescribable emotion.

Those feelings arose and perished in an instant, vanishing as quickly as they came, yet also seemed endless, flowing ceaselessly like breathing, rising and falling without end.

Exhaling a turbid breath, she pressed down all those thoughts.

Autumn extended her hand and caught a snowflake, watching it melt in her palm into icy water that trickled through her fingers and dripped onto the snow.

But the instant it touched the ground, the water froze into ice.

Just like a certain someone's heart.