Struggle of Wills

Facing Lin Daoxuan's pretentious words, Gu Qingfeng only felt a faint aura of pretentiousness blowing against his face.

This feeling... he was definitely a protagonist.

Perhaps, if he hadn't intervened, Lin Daoxuan's life would have been a novel about a reincarnated powerhouse acting as a behind-the-scenes mastermind.

Cultivating over ten lifetimes, laying out plans across the eons, and nurturing countless Immortal Kings and Immortal Lords. History books would be filled with his legends, and major forbidden zones would all be part of his grand design.

What a pity. Lin Daoxuan's legendary life hadn't even begun, yet it was going to end here today.

"Jie jie jie... This Emperor was just worrying about where to go to devour you, but to think you actually delivered yourself to my door. Interesting, truly interesting." Gu Qingfeng's eyes gleamed with a scarlet demonic light, showing a rare hint of excitement.

Nowadays, his threshold for excitement was getting higher and higher. Ordinary Immortal Lords could hardly pique his interest. Only the likes of Immortal Lord Qijue and Lin Daoxuan, the cream of the crop among Immortal Lords, could make him take a second look.

Lin Daoxuan's face remained calm as he said with utmost pretentiousness, "I hope you can last a bit longer."

As soon as his voice fell, a dazzling sword light violently erupted from Lin Daoxuan's body. It was a sword light that seemed to sever the cosmic starry sky, incomparably brilliant.

In the next moment, he transformed into an immortal sword, ignoring the distance of space and time, and pierced directly into Gu Qingfeng's body.

Gu Qingfeng did not feel any pain. He only felt as if a sword had drilled into his divine soul, an indestructible sword.

He was currently in the form of a divine soul, yet the immortal sword Lin Daoxuan had transformed into pierced straight into it, intending to defeat Gu Qingfeng from the inside.

This was also normal, because the current Lin Daoxuan was not a divine soul at all, but rather the core of a divine soul: the will.

A divine soul could not hide within the illusory destiny; only an equally illusory will could do so.

Therefore, the battle between the two at this moment was not a so-called battle of divine souls, but a battle of wills.

The divine soul was a person's soul, but the will was a person's core, formed by the combination of their thoughts, memories, emotions, and so on.

It could be said that what truly determined who you were was the will, not the divine soul.

In the end, the divine soul was merely a type of spiritual energy, but the will was not energy.

Lin Daoxuan's goal was very simple: to use the power of his own will to crush Gu Qingfeng's will, thereby taking over his divine soul and physical body. Relying on this powerful body and monstrous destiny, coupled with his own experience of cultivating over ten lifetimes, he would reach the supreme pinnacle in one fell swoop!

A battle of wills did not compare whose strength was greater or whose mana was higher. It was a pure contest of willpower, which could be understood as a person's level of firmness, determination, willpower, and Dao Heart.

In terms of willpower, Lin Daoxuan believed he was second to none. He had reincarnated and cultivated for ten lifetimes, experiencing countless hardships and obstacles. Tempered like true gold in fire, the firmness of his Dao Heart was comparable to divine iron.

However, when Lin Daoxuan thoroughly broke into Gu Qingfeng's consciousness space, he was stunned.

Because inside, it was pitch black, covered everywhere by demonic light. Upon arriving here, he only felt a sense of suffocation enveloping him, as if he had fallen into the abyss of ultimate evil.

After being dazed for a moment, Lin Daoxuan regained his calm, not panicking at all.

The color of a consciousness space determined a person's spiritual core. Being as pitch-black as ink only meant that Gu Qingfeng was extremely evil and had not a single shred of kindness in his heart; it did not mean that his will was strong.

Nevertheless, Lin Daoxuan secretly raised his guard. After all, it was his first time seeing someone whose evil was so pure.

He had seen many consciousness spaces. Most were a hazy gray, representing a mix of good and evil. Some great philanthropists had white spaces, but even they couldn't achieve pure white, because as long as one was human, they would have evil thoughts, it was just a matter of having more or less.

Evil people mostly had black spaces, which would also be mixed with some gray and white.

But Gu Qingfeng's completely black space was a first for him.

What was this? A colorful black?

Why call it a colorful black? Because Lin Daoxuan simply could not describe this darkness. It looked pitch-black all over, but it seemed to contain billions of different shades of black.

Moreover, there seemed to be something squirming within this darkness.

Lin Daoxuan didn't overthink it. No matter how bizarre the consciousness space was, now was not the time to investigate. The most urgent task was the battle of wills, to defeat Gu Qingfeng and take over his nest.

"Gu Qingfeng, come out. The consciousness space is only so big; you cannot hide. In today's battle of wills, it is destined that only one of us can survive. Come out and fight me fair and square," Lin Daoxuan said indifferently.

"Jie jie jie..." A terrifying, sinister laugh echoed in the boundless darkness.

"Hide? You flatter yourself too much, don't you? This Emperor is clearly hunting!"

Swish!

Lin Daoxuan only felt the darkness behind him surging like a tide, as if some giant behemoth had swept past.

"Playing tricks!"

Lin Daoxuan snorted coldly. He didn't believe Gu Qingfeng's nonsense about hunting. In his eyes, it was obvious that Gu Qingfeng was scared and didn't dare to engage in a fair and square battle of wills.

He sneered in his heart, because if that was the case, his chances of winning had already reached ninety percent!

A battle of wills was all about whose willpower was stronger. Now that Gu Qingfeng was showing cowardice before the battle even started, he had already lost in terms of will. All Lin Daoxuan needed to do was find his consciousness body and crush it in one fell swoop.

"I thought that since you could snatch my destiny, you would be a person of consequence. I didn't expect you to not even dare to fight me head-on. Heh, it makes sense. In front of me, the Ten-Lifetime Immortal Lord Lin Daoxuan, there truly aren't many people who can muster the courage to fight." Lin Daoxuan attempted to use words to provoke Gu Qingfeng.

Who would have thought that Gu Qingfeng's wild laughter would only grow more unbridled: "Jie jie jie... You think you've definitely won? Indeed, in terms of will, this Emperor has only lived one lifetime, so it is truly hard to compare with your ten lifetimes. However... this Emperor has never fought alone!"

Gu Qingfeng was telling the truth. His strong suit had never been willpower. After all, he hadn't suffered through many hardships, and suffering was an excellent way to temper one's willpower.

However, he had only slightly improved his willpower when he was once scammed out of two copper coins.

Not fighting alone?

Lin Daoxuan frowned slightly, feeling that Gu Qingfeng had gone mad and started speaking gibberish. The consciousness space could only house one's own will. How could he not be alone? Could there be other people present?

He was losing patience, because outside, Immortal Lord Qijue and the others were almost unable to hold on. After all, they were relying on their mana to forcibly sustain the power of karma.

Not wanting any unexpected complications, Lin Daoxuan attacked directly. A dazzling immortal sword suddenly materialized in the hand of his consciousness body. It was none other than the Heaven's Heart Dao Sword from before.

Of course, the real Heaven's Heart Dao Sword could not enter the consciousness space, or rather, no physical matter could enter the consciousness space.

This Heaven's Heart Dao Sword was merely mimicked by Lin Daoxuan using his will. In the world of consciousness, as long as one had imagination, it was not strange to create anything.