At the very cusp of crisis, those four Divine-Demons suddenly withdrew, sinking from his Tianling point deep inside his body.

Feng Zikang shuddered internally, a sliver of clarity returning to his mind.

The Grand Dao of the School of Soldiers suddenly surged through his consciousness once more!

“To conquer all that cannot be conquered—why should the heavens, the stars, the cycle of life and death be obstacles? I seek only that under a single blade, the cosmos shall invert!”

“The heavens and earth are vast, free for me to roam; the power of life and death rests solely in my hand.”

Two disparate Dao Hearts swirled within him, beginning a wondrous fusion.

To traverse the cosmos and hold dominion over life and death naturally required sufficient strength. Only when nothing was left unconquerable—when even celestial beings and divine spirits could be felled with one strike—could true freedom be achieved.

His rage gradually subsided, and the burning desire for vengeance slowly receded.

At this moment, he was no match for those entities.

But one day, he would crush every single one of his enemies beneath his heel!

With the Demon Dao Heart now clarified, a bizarre luminescence emanated from the Demon Seed in his Dantian. This was the sign of the Demon Heart solidifying. The four Demon Gods began to slowly revolve around the Seed, effectively taking root within him.

“Hahahaha!”

Feng Zikang laughed heartily. Absorbing those four fragments into his body had proven to be a massive gain.

Firstly, the illusion created by the remnants of the Demon Gods had tempered his Demon Heart. Reviewing the battle of the gods and demons, and then reflecting on the pain of his re-entry into the mortal world, he finally grasped the true essence of the word ‘Demon.’

It was not that slaughter defined a demon; the demon’s desires sprang from one’s own appetites.

The heavier the desire, the heavier the demonic nature. To follow one’s desires without restraint—that was the demon.

Therefore, anyone could become a demon; with a single moment of indulgence, the Demon Heart flourishes.

Love is a demon; hatred is a demon; obsession is a demon.

The seven emotions and six desires of humanity are the roots of the demonic.

Masters Yuanyuan and True Man Qinyang—their intent to destroy the body possessed by the Celestial Demon might not have been wrong. But Feng Zikang had been killed by them, and the resentment in his heart could not simply vanish. Only by killing them for revenge could the true heart of the demon be satisfied.

Just like Miao Yuchun, Xiao Gao, and Liang Si’an—if he wished to kill them, he killed them.

Without the slightest hesitation, acting solely according to his own heart.

“Exhilarating!”

With the Demon Heart thus transparent, the path of cultivation as a demon would henceforth be smooth, with no more bottlenecks.

Beyond this, the integration of the four Divine-Demons brought even greater benefits.

The Four Symbols Divine-Demon Formation!

Now, these four fragments revolved around the Demon Seed, ready for Feng Zikang to deploy them at any moment to form the Four Symbols Divine-Demon Formation. This formation was profoundly mysterious and immensely powerful. More critically, it was upgradeable; upon acquiring more fragments to complete it, the formation’s power would continually ascend.

Every time he acquired a pair of Divine-Demons, the formation’s power would double.

“If I acquire a hundred fragments… wouldn’t this formation possess the divine ability to shatter the heavens and destroy the earth?”

If he truly possessed over a hundred fragments of the Divine-Demons, relying on this formation, he would have the confidence to defeat masters of the Spirit Transformation stage!

“Hmph, it seems the path to supreme power isn't as arduous as I thought!”

Feng Zikang smiled faintly, only then feeling a profound weakness wash over him, likely due to the immense stamina expended in the Divine-Demon illusion. After regulating his breath for a moment, and seeing that the Hundred Poisons Fairy had completely dissolved into dust without a trace, he turned and headed down the mountain.

He thankfully remembered to retrieve the two young boys and girls waiting on the platform at the First Gorge.

The children were covered in filth, their faces pale. Seeing him arrive, their faces flooded with relief, yet they were too weak to even cry out.

Feng Zikang gave them a few sips of water. Upon inquiry, he learned they had awakened long ago and had been waiting for three days with no one coming. Tied tightly, terrified, and starving, they had spent their days wishing the demon would eat them quickly to end their suffering.

Seeing Feng Zikang return instead brought a surge of joy so intense their bodies went limp.

Feng Zikang roared with laughter, summoned his Heart Fire, and burned them away completely. He then administered two common pills before tossing the boy and girl onto the Cloud Chariot and heading back to Hanshan Dong.

“Great Immortal Feng is back! Great Immortal Feng is back!”

Upon hearing that the monster was slain and that Feng Zikang had brought back the two children, the local tribesmen rejoiced. The parents of the two children wept tears of joy, treating Feng Zikang as a living Bodhisattva who had saved them from misery.

“A living Bodhisattva!”

“We must erect a longevity tablet for Great Immortal Feng and offer sacrifices daily!”

“He is the great savior of our Dong!”

“I heard there are heroes among Immortals who specialize in aiding the weak and punishing the unjust, drawing their swords against inequality—they are called Xianxia! Our Great Benefactor Feng must be a Xianxia, not some bald-headed Bodhisattva!”

“Exactly! Xianxia! A Xianxia!”

The tribesmen kept their word. They indeed erected a longevity tablet for Feng Zikang in the settlement, on which was crudely inscribed: “The Tablet of Longevity for the Great Benefactor, the Xianxia, Feng Zikang.”

This tablet enjoyed incense offerings for a thousand years, eventually becoming revered as a Heavenly God among the tribesmen—a fate the Feng Zikang who had slain their leader, Wudutuya, that day could never have foreseen.

He could only offer a wry smile now; unintentionally, the great demon had once again been mistaken for a great benefactor—a truly speechless affair.

With matters concluded here, he took Miss Wu and returned to Lizhou.

Miss Wu was utterly captivated by his heroic deeds. As she navigated the Cloud Chariot, she frequently turned back to speak with him, her eyes sparkling, revealing a rare look of adoration.

Even her own father, who was invincible in battle, had never earned such admiration from this proud, high-spirited girl since childhood!

“Martial Uncle, was that White Bone Demon truly fierce? Tell me again how you vanquished it…”

Regarding the journey into the mountain to slay the demon, Feng Zikang had spun a casual tale for the tribesmen: there was a white bone spirit in the mountains, with whom he fought for three hundred rounds before finally destroying it. The tribesmen were greatly stirred, and Miss Wu was equally mesmerized.

The usually calm and composed girl felt her heart flutter uncontrollably.

Feng Zikang kept his eyes half-lidded, busy deciphering the Dao laws and divine powers, having no time for idle chatter. He merely offered vague hums and grunts, which only served to deepen the maiden’s longing, yet she dared not press him further.

They arrived at Lizhou City two days later. They descended from the Cloud Chariot right before the gates of the Governor's Manor.

“Miss Wu, you are home!”

“Oh…”

In a momentary daze, Miss Wu felt a strange sense of loss at the thought of parting.

“Martial Uncle, please come in for a cup of tea. Though Father hasn't returned, my mother will certainly be eternally grateful for your service…”

“No need!”

Feng Zikang shook his head. “I have no interest in the mundane mortal world. I must take my leave now; we likely shall not meet again. Please extend my regards to Kedi and Governor Wu.”

The gulf between Immortal and mortal was wider than heaven and earth.

He was returning to Mount Longhu to focus his efforts on advancing to the Foundation Establishment and condensing the Golden Elixir, a process that would take decades. Time would pass in a flash, like a white colt glimpsed through a crack in a door. How many of these mortals would still be alive by then?

Since fate decreed no shared path, why seek a meeting?

Feng Zikang waved casually, mounted his Cloud Chariot, and floated away.

Miss Wu stamped her foot fiercely, biting back tears, her expression hardening with resolve: “What do you mean, we shall never meet again? I, Wu Mei, refuse to believe it!”

“One day, I will see you again!”