Heart, Longevity, Oath - The Three Demons Group

The Holy Lord and the Prefect did not flee, for they knew they had been firmly locked onto—just like a heavenly tribulation, there was no escape no matter where they hid.

At this moment, all their former arrogance and pride as the leaders of the top imperial immortal sects had vanished. They pleaded desperately to Gu Qingfeng.

"Demon Lord, spare us! We’ll give you the true Imperial Scriptures now—please show mercy!"

Gu Qingfeng remained unmoved—mainly because even if he wanted to, he couldn’t do anything about it. After all, the punishment for breaking an oath wasn’t up to him.

"Liars get struck by lightning, you know. Remember to be honest in your next life—oh wait, your oath mentioned 'annihilation of body and soul,' didn’t it?

My bad, seems like you two won’t have a next life."

At this, the Holy Lord and the Prefect were utterly consumed by despair, their eyes brimming with boundless madness and resentment.

"Then die with us!" they roared, locking onto Gu Qingfeng from both sides, clearly intending to drag him down with them when the lightning struck.

Gu Qingfeng smirked. The reason he hadn’t left was precisely to get struck by lightning.

BOOM—!

With a deafening roar, a thick black bolt of lightning descended at a speed rivaling light itself, too fast for anyone to react.

In a fraction of an instant, the three were bathed in the terrifying black lightning.

"AHHH—!!"

Screams of agony echoed throughout the Heavenly Court. Everyone watched in horror as the three figures were engulfed, instinctively retreating several miles further to avoid being caught in the aftermath.

Moments later, the screams abruptly ceased.

The black lightning and the sky-obscuring dark clouds slowly dissipated, revealing a single unharmed figure—Gu Qingfeng.

Yet, his face was stormy, his rage palpable, like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

Because he hadn’t gained a single shred of power from it.

That terrifying black lightning had seemed sentient, deliberately avoiding him entirely and focusing every last volt on the Holy Lord and the Prefect, wasting none on him.

Gu Qingfeng felt targeted. He was certain—this had to be the Oath Demon Lord’s doing!

Damn it!

......

Beyond the Realm of Demonic Tribulations.

The trio of demon lords—Heart, Oath, and Longevity—paused in their efforts to forge a cross-realm passage.

Oath Demon Lord: "That brat tried to devour my power again just now. Luckily, I sensed it in time and stopped him."

Heart Demon Lord: "Good. Because of him, not a single cultivator in the Cangming Realm has fallen to demonic corruption lately. Even if I suffer heavy losses, I’d rather lose a hundred times more than let him grow stronger by feeding on us! We’re immortal anyway—what’s a little sacrifice? The important thing is to stop him at all costs!"

Longevity Demon Lord: "Fine. I’ll cut off all lifespan-trading deals in the Cangming Realm. Even though his demonic scroll is already blocked, who knows if he’ll find another?"

Thus, the three demon lords sealed off every avenue for Gu Qingfeng, leaving him completely isolated.

......

Gu Qingfeng cursed for a long while before finally calming down slightly after glancing at the two spatial rings in his hand.

He had snatched them from the Holy Lord and the Prefect while they were being struck by lightning.

After all, the men might have been scum, but the rings were innocent.

It was just a shame about those several Supreme Saint Weapons—all destroyed in the tribulation.

He then channeled his Sinful Power, flooding the rings with endless malevolent thoughts that clashed against the residual imprints inside, eroding them away.

Malevolent thoughts were something Gu Qingfeng had in endless supply—as long as living beings existed, so did corruption.

In just this short time, the entire Heavenly Court had contributed plenty.

After expending a massive amount of dark energy, the imprints shattered. Gu Qingfeng immediately inspected the rings.

The treasures and spirit stones inside were plentiful—almost one percent as much as his own family’s vault!

Clearly, these two had embezzled quite a bit during their reigns.

But Gu Qingfeng wasn’t particularly excited. At his current level, material wealth no longer interested him—he had never cared for treasures in his life.

The only thing that still captivated him was knowledge—books, scriptures.

Soon, he found what he sought in their rings—the Imperial Scriptures. Satisfied, he allowed himself a brief smile.

But when he noticed the fearful gazes of the Heavenly Court and Netherworld’s Supreme Saints fixed on him, he quickly wiped the smile off his face, replacing it with a cold glare.

"Surround them!" he ordered.

"As you command, My Lord!"

WHOOSH—!

Over a hundred Supreme Saints encircled the twenty-odd from the Heavenly Court and Netherworld.

Having witnessed the deaths of the Holy Lord and Prefect—and now knowing Gu Qingfeng’s true identity—these Supreme Saints were utterly terrified.

The name "Demon Lord" carried weight comparable to that of the Heavenly Emperor himself.

Yet, as cultivators who had reached the Supreme Saint realm, they refused to cower. Instead, they steeled themselves, weapons at the ready, prepared for battle.

No one would simply wait for death.

As Gu Qingfeng slowly approached, their minds raced, eyes flickering with suspicion and calculation.

They had already pieced together much.

At their level, they were the core of the Heavenly Court and Netherworld, privy to the secrets of the Great Contention and the joint divinations performed by the Holy Lords.

Now, they finally understood why Gu Qingfeng had appeared in those divinations when the Holy Lords sought the reason for the demonic invasion of the Cangming Realm.

Gu Qingfeng was the Demon Lord!

He must have colluded with the foreign demons, acting as a spy to pave the way for their conquest!

This horrifying realization weighed heavily on them. They were certain Gu Qingfeng would silence them—after all, exposure would ruin his plans.

Through secret transmissions, they debated:

"Fellow Daoists, who would’ve thought Gu Qingfeng was an incarnation of the foreign demons? The Holy Lord and Prefect sacrificed their lives to uncover this truth—we must spread this knowledge to the world!"

"Agreed. Even if we die, we cannot let the demons destroy the Cangming Realm!"

"But Gu Qingfeng has over a hundred Supreme Saints under his command! We stand no chance!"

"No chance or not, we must fight! Remember—this is the Heavenly Court! The Quasi-Emperors may be in slumber, but if the Court faces existential crisis, they will awaken!

The true forms of the demons cannot enter our realm. Once the Quasi-Emperors act, this demonic fiend will perish!"

Their resolve was absolute—they would rather die than surrender.

Yet, to their surprise, Gu Qingfeng didn’t kill them. Instead, he demanded their spatial rings.

He had no intention of provoking the Quasi-Emperors yet. If they awoke, even his hundred-plus Supreme Saints wouldn’t stand a chance. While he was immortal, who enjoyed being killed over and over?

He had his pride, after all.

Sure, he could flee—but being hunted by Quasi-Emperors day and night would be humiliating.

Hiding was out of the question too. After finally amassing so many subordinates, he wasn’t about to cower in obscurity. That kind of pathetic existence wasn’t his style.

As for the Quasi-Emperor, let's wait until the Chaos Body is forged first.