CHAPTER 763: 638 DIVINE DEMON HEAVENLY HEART

Zhao Changsu had a dark premonition. The poisonous oath he had taken years ago, that he would meet Jiu Panpo again and perish together with her, seemed likely to come true today!

He didn’t want to die, didn’t want his body and soul to be destroyed; he wished Jiu Panpo would quickly heed Shi Sheng’s words and immediately choose one of the two initial options.

Upon seeing him, Jiu Panpo immediately recalled how they, as traitorous lovers, once conspired to put her to death. Anger surged within her uncontrollably.

She wanted to pounce on Zhao Changsu and tear him to pieces, but knowing that once she left the Nine Palace Square right below the Secret Demon Divine Shuttle, the enemy would surely sever her connection with the Daoist and Buddhist spells, preventing her return, she instead verbally berated Zhao Changsu, listing her grievances from the past, "Our religion values vengeance, blood for blood, tooth for tooth. Now that it has come to this, you still delusionally hope to remain intact, is it not a dream? We might as well fight to the death, even if our bodies and souls are destroyed, I will drag everyone here to accompany me in death!"

Zhao Changsu was extremely infuriated: "You old wretch! Even at this juncture, you still refuse to turn back! True Master Shi, with his compassionate heart, specially brought me here to save you, pointing out two paths of survival, yet you refuse to take them and insist on choosing the path to certain death..."

As the disgruntled old couple hurled insults at each other, Shi Sheng urged Zhao Changsu, "You need to hurry up, I don’t have much time for you!"

Zhao Changsu, worried that Shi Sheng would truly kill him, became increasingly vicious in his retorts, yet his tone grew weaker and gradually turned into pleading, "I know you harbor a great resentment against me, but please direct your anger at me and do not involve so many innocents. Even if you don’t care about the people, what about the flowers and plants on Nine Ring Mountain, the birds and beasts that have depended on your care for many years, do you not have any pity for them? Hurry and let True Master Lin take away this Demon Shuttle, and then find another place to continue being the leader of the Red Body Sect."

"You cowardly, death-fearing old ghost, such a spineless wretch, you were so cruel and venomous when you harmed me in the past! To think you had such little ambition..."

Zhao Changsu wanted to scold her more, but fearing he would drive her to extremes, he continued to plead and beg, eventually becoming poignant, "Cease your actions first, and afterward you may beat or punish me as you see fit, I’m willing to enter the Eight Great Hells under your control if needed..."

His words even took Jiu Panpo by surprise. She had once slain Zhao Changsu’s lover and tortured his Primordial Spirit in Hell, showing how boundlessly cruel she was. Now, Zhao Changsu was suggesting he could go there himself.

As Shi Sheng saw the Red Lotus Demon making movements in the sky, he once again urged Zhao Changsu.

Having witnessed the power of Shi Sheng’s Heavenly Heart Double Rings, Zhao Changsu kneeled suddenly in mid-air in his desperation, crawling forward on his knees for dozens of yards until he was not far from the Nine Demons, "I know you are aggrieved; we had sworn that I would surely come to seek your help. Now I have come, has your oath been fulfilled, does your heart feel slightly reliev...

The kneeling ironically made Jiu Panpo’s heart pound: Your oath is fulfilled, but what about mine? Might today also see its fulfillment?

Seeing that Jiu Panpo still refused to turn back, and though the connection between the Heavenly Stars and the Secret Demon Divine Shuttle was largely severed by Lin Han, the remaining starlight, large as cartwheels, was being pulled lower by the Divine Shuttle, bringing a large quantity of Void Evil Fire dangerously close to the group of immortals’ heads. Shi Sheng knew he could not wait any longer, for letting it drop a further ten or more yards would make the situation uncontrollable.

Thus, he unleashed the Heavenly Heart Double Rings.

The Heavenly Heart Double Rings consisted of two rings, one Yin Ring and one Yang Ring.

First, he used the Yin Ring to ensnare Zhao Changsu, who had once sworn a venomous oath to be his loyal protector and never betray him. Amidst his desperate pleading to Jiu Panpo, the Yin Ring activated and immediately sucked him in.

Zhao Changsu fell into the Yin Ring and was forced to reveal the Divine Demon Body. His original body was already shattered, his Divine Demon physique was covered in spouting blood, and his mouth filled with sharp teeth, immensely terrifying, not only him but also the Thirty-Six Heavenly Gang Divine Demons were within.

As Zhao Changsu entered the Heavenly Heart Double Rings, he immediately felt a tightening in his chest, as if he was inside a Refining Furnace, and frantically tried to fly out, but the blue and white lights firmly suppressed and restrained him, making it impossible to break through.

He threw himself against the White Light Wall, wailing loudly to the outside, "Master! I have not betrayed you, I haven’t wronged you! You want to kill that old wretch, just go kill her, you can’t drag me into this too! Master! Shi Sheng, my little master! Please spare me... I still need to serve as your protector, to accompany you until your Ascension..."

While casting the spell, Shi Sheng shouted loudly, "What are you afraid of? I’m merely using the oath you once swore with her to kill her! Though you will also have your body and soul destroyed, the Heavenly Heart Rings will preserve your true spirit. You can take credit for this, and afterwards, whether you choose to be a demon or an immortal, it’s all up to you."

During his words, the Heavenly Heart Ring’s Yang Ring flew towards the Nine Demons, which uttered a collective howl and spat out Demonic Light. The Heavenly Heart Ring darted up and down, emitting a flashing warm light of white and red, breaking all the Demonic Light and reflecting it back, enveloping all Nine Demons.

With just Shi Sheng’s magical power and the Heavenly Treasure of the Heavenly Heart Rings, facing the current Human-Demon Union Jiu Panpo, at best they wouldn’t be harmed by her attacks. They couldn’t dream of gaining the upper hand, much less achieving victory, defeating, or even capturing her.

The key lay in the venomous oath Jiu Panpo and Zhao Changsu had sworn years ago. Their vow was made to the Lifebound Demon, and the Heavenly Heart Double Rings were particularly capable of connecting the "human heart" with the "Heavenly Heart." One Yin Ring had already captured Zhao Changsu, and the Heavenly Human Sensing bridged the Divine Demon sensing, immediately affecting Jiu Panpo.

The Demon Light emitted by the Nine Demons was shattered by the Heavenly Heart Ring, and Immortal Energy shone down. Even though the Nine Demons intended to transform and escape, the unexpected sensing left them unable to make any move. They were enveloped by the Immortal Energy and felt a powerful force pulling them toward the ring.

This shock was extraordinary. The Nine Demons turned into nine beams of Demon Light and flew erratically, attempting to flee, but they were already "soul-bound" by the Heavenly Heart Ring. Unless they could reach the Daoist state of "Destroying Human Heart and Using Heavenly Heart" or the Buddhist state of No-Life Dharma Tolerance and achieve "Heartlessness," they could not break free, and even high Mana was useless.

As the Nine Demons were about to be sucked into the Heavenly Heart Ring, Sha Shentong finally took action on the cliff!

Sha Shentong knew that Jiu Panpo also hated him. If he had come out earlier, Jiu Panpo would have seen him as an enemy and attacked indiscriminately.

So, he stayed quiet in his own kingdom, indifferent to others fighting to death or the surrounding ten-thousand-mile zone turned into a death zone by the Secret Demon Divine Shuttle.

His concern was only Jiu Panpo, and he waited until she was trapped in a dire situation before he made his move to take her away.

Now that Jiu Panpo was captured by the Heavenly Heart Ring, she was in deep trouble. If he didn’t act now, Jiu Panpo would undoubtedly be destroyed in body and soul in the Heavenly Heart Ring without any chance of salvation.

The Heavenly Heart Double Rings specialized in annihilating demons, and any Demon captured by it would leave not even a wisp of soul, unless the owner graciously cast a spell to preserve its true spirit.

Sha Shentong flew out directly from his domain, a Golden Saber flying down from the sky to intercept the Immortal Energy from the Heavenly Heart Ring.

Shi Sheng, anticipating interference, released five Sword Qi to counter the Golden Saber.

Sha Shentong’s Golden Saber was extremely fierce, clashing with the Sword Qi, it exploded into myriad colorful sparks. The Saber’s radiance spun, continuously forcing the Sword Qi back.

Shi Sheng was about to breathe out Immortal Energy to reinforce the Golden Saber, but Sha Shentong pointed again, and suddenly six Demon Banners appeared in the sky, entrapping Shi Sheng within them.

The Demon Banners swayed, spurting blood light, various Demonic Flames, Flying Needles, and black smoke furiously whirling, alongside a massive amount of devilish screams.

Shi Sheng quickly used the Detachment Bell to protect himself. In a normal duel, Sha Shentong’s Demon Formation was fierce, but it would be difficult to harm a Heavenly Immortal who had cultivated the Yang God like Shi Sheng. Shi Sheng could have easily used his Mysterious Skill to escape the area of the Demon Formation, but he knew Sha Shentong had more tricks up his sleeve, and doing so would surely allow him to rescue Jiu Panpo.

Thus, he chose to be trapped in the Demon Formation and continued his casting with the Heavenly Heart Ring to ensnare Jiu Panpo.

Sha Shentong indeed had many contingencies. He wore Golden Rings on his wrists and ankles, and now the rings on his wrists flew down, spinning like whirlwinds and shooting golden light, encircling the Yang Ring around the Heavenly Heart Ring and suddenly contracting inward, about to lock together with the Heavenly Heart Ring into a triple interlocked formation.

Shi Sheng sent a breath of Primordial Qi, the Heavenly Heart Ring and Yang Ring burst into blinding light, shattering his twin Golden Rings, but in that instant, Sha Shentong had already flown into the radiance of the Heavenly Heart Ring with the Double Ring on his ankles, each ring clasping a Demon’s neck and lifting them up, whisking two Demons away into thin air.

The fight between them lasted only a moment.

Sha Shentong turned and flew back to the cliff, the four Golden Rings reattaching to his limbs, and the Golden Saber and Demon Banner also returned.

The remaining seven Demons had entered the Yang Ring of the Heavenly Heart Ring, merging back into one Jiu Panpo.

The Double Rings stood side by side, resembling dual hanging sun and moon, one encircling Zhao Changsu and the other, Jiu Panpo.

Shi Sheng watched Sha Shentong on the cliff, thinking to himself that this scoundrel was indeed the nemesis of Jiu Panpo’s fate. He originally did not intend to completely annihilate Zhao Changsu and Jiu Panpo, only planning to utilize Zhao Changsu’s oath to capture Jiu Panpo first, then using the special properties of the Heavenly Heart Double Rings, forcefully separate the Demons attached to their bodies from their Primordial Spirits, and, once they genuinely repented, send them for Reincarnation.

Sha Shentong stealing two Demons broke Zhao Changsu’s oath, luckily his actions were not interrupted by the Demon Formation, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to capture the remaining seven Demons.