Eternal Torment

"Gu Qingfeng! You insignificant ant, come out now!"

"Aren’t you the one who dared this venerable one to come find you? Well, now I’m here!"

The roars of the three Heart Demon Lords shook the heavens and earth, leaving all living beings utterly bewildered.

They had initially believed Gu Qingfeng was a traitor to humanity, having long since defected to the demonic forces and deliberately luring the Heart Demon Lords into the mortal realm.

But who could have guessed it was nothing like that?

Judging by the Heart Demon Lords’ words, it seemed Gu Qingfeng had somehow provoked them, angering them so much that they descended to seek vengeance.

Were these Heart Demon Lords really that petty?

Separated by countless miles, never having met face to face, merely communicating through demonic scrolls—yet they could be driven to such fury?

And just like that, the label of "petty" was quietly stamped onto the Heart Demon Lords.

If only they knew what the mortals were thinking, they would surely curse in outrage.

Petty?!

You insignificant ants have no idea just how infuriating Gu Qingfeng truly is!

In the depths of the Primordial Forbidden Land, Gu Qingfeng heard the furious bellows of the Heart Demon Lords and immediately broke into a wild grin.

"Kekeke... My dear family has arrived!"

Beside him, the little corpse spirit gave him a strange look. "Master, are you sure they’re your family and not your sworn enemies?"

"Shh, don’t speak nonsense. My family might be a bit rough around the edges, but they’re good people at heart. Now, return to the Palm World. I have some catching up to do with my long-lost kin."

The little corpse spirit nodded and vanished into the Palm World.

......

"Three esteemed Heart Demon Lords, did you go through all this trouble descending into the mortal realm not for the sake of the Cangming Realm, but because of some personal grudge against Gu Qingfeng?"

Old Ghost’s lips twitched in irritation.

He despised this loss of control. He had spent endless eons meticulously planning everything, only for one bizarre incident after another to occur ever since crossing paths with Gu Qingfeng.

The three Heart Demon Lords turned their cold gazes toward Old Ghost. "What business is it of yours why we’ve come? From the sound of it, you seem to know Gu Qingfeng. Tell us his whereabouts, and we might grant you a swift death."

Old Ghost nearly cursed aloud. He had thought the Heart Demon Lords were allies, but instead, they were three fools who couldn’t distinguish priorities.

The constant burning of his lifespan only fueled his growing fury.

"Very well, if you three join forces with me to slay this realm’s Heavenly Dao, I’ll tell you where Gu Qingfeng is," Old Ghost said darkly.

The Heart Demon Lords sneered. "Join forces with you? A mere ant like you isn’t worthy."

"Hmph, if your true forms had descended, you wouldn’t need my help. But as far as I know, your real bodies can’t leave the Demon Realm, can they?"

The three Heart Demon Lords’ expressions darkened—Old Ghost had spoken the truth.

Old Ghost pressed on. "Let me be clear: Gu Qingfeng is under the protection of the Heavenly Dao. Only by working together to destroy it can we find him. And let’s not forget, Gu Qingfeng is no pushover. Once the Heavenly Dao is gone, I can assist you in dealing with him."

The Heart Demon Lords hesitated, about to respond—

When suddenly!

A raucous, unrestrained laugh erupted from the distant horizon.

"Kekeke... If it isn’t the Heart Demon Trio, the three fools I played like dogs last time! What’s this? Did you come all this way just to thank me in person?"

"GU QINGFENG!!!"

The moment they heard that infuriatingly familiar voice, the Heart Demon Trio erupted in rage. Any thought of cooperating with Old Ghost vanished as they unleashed their full power, surging toward Gu Qingfeng’s location.

Endless black waters cascaded from the sky, converging into a monstrous waterfall that swept toward the Primordial Forbidden Land with unstoppable force.

BOOM—!

The vast black tide ravaged heaven and earth, twisting space and shattering mountains and rivers in its wake. The sheer destructive power sent countless creatures into panic.

With a single strike, the Primordial Forbidden Land—a place that had stood since ancient times—was completely erased from existence.

Amid the shattered void, a defiant figure bound by countless chains was revealed.

Bathed in boundless demonic radiance, his eyes gleamed with wickedness, a savage grin stretching across his face—the very image of a terrifying demon lord sealed away for millennia.

"Gu Qingfeng! We’ve found you at last!"

The Heart Demon Trio finally laid eyes on the one they had longed for.

Their excitement was indescribable.

They had each sacrificed millions of years of cultivation—combined, over ten million years—painstakingly forging a path between realms and traversing endless distances to reach the Cangming Realm.

All for this very moment!

"Weren’t you so arrogant back then? Weren’t you so full of yourself? Today, you’ll pay the price!"

"This venerable one swore to capture you and drag you back to the Demon Realm—"

"—to torment me for eternity?" Gu Qingfeng cut in.

The Heart Demon Lords froze, the memories of their past humiliation flooding back. Instantly, their fury blazed so intensely it threatened to burst from their very bodies.

"AAAAAH!!! DIE!!!"

The black waters surged once more, forming a colossal hand that reached down to crush Gu Qingfeng.

CLANG! CLANG!

The Heavenly Dao chains, sensing the threat, writhed like serpents lunging at prey, stretching endlessly to intercept the demonic hand.

In an instant, the chains ensnared the massive hand, which fought back violently, snapping several links. But the chains regenerated just as quickly, locking the two forces in a stalemate.

Gu Qingfeng frowned. This wouldn’t do—his dear family needed encouragement.

"Kekeke... You three useless fools, here I stand right before you, and what can you do? Just like last time, you’ll slink away in defeat, too cowardly to even respond to my demonic scrolls!"

BOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted from the black hole-like sky.

Space itself twisted and warped as three figures struggled to force their way into the Cangming Realm from the abyssal darkness.

Shrouded in mist-like demonic light, their forms were indistinct yet horrifying.

Then, with a furious roar, the Heart Demon Trio truly emerged—or rather, squeezed their way out.

Step by step, their figures grew larger as they fully entered the Cangming Realm.

Their arrival unleashed an apocalyptic aura so terrifying that the very laws of the realm trembled, and countless living beings were plunged into despair.

"GU! QING! FENG!"

The three Heart Demon Lords bellowed, their power shaking the entire Cangming Realm, as if the world itself sensed their murderous intent.

Black, ominous energy coiled around them, and with every movement, demonic whispers spread, dragging all who heard into endless darkness.

This was the first time Gu Qingfeng had ever seen the true forms of the Heart Demon Lords.

In the past, his cultivation had been too weak, and he could only perceive them as indescribable horrors. But now, he saw them clearly.

The Heart Demon Lord took the shape of a towering, nine-headed giant, its nine pairs of eyes slicing through the void, annihilating space itself with their oppressive might.

The Demon Lord of Longevity was equally towering and majestic, though a head shorter than the Heart Demon Lord. It had a human head, a tiger's body, a turtle's shell, wings sprouting from its back, and long horns—its overwhelming aura dominating all in its presence.

The Demon Lord of Oaths was the shortest, yet still stood hundreds of thousands of feet tall, resembling a gigantic, writhing maggot. Its worm-like head bore no eyes, only a massive maw, while countless compound eyes—hundreds of millions of them—covered its underbelly in a dense, horrifying pattern.