Chapter 161: Heart Demon Wu Xian

In a daze, faint whispers echoed beside his ears.

It was a sound impossible to describe in words.

Like a roar, a wail, a cry, a scream… all intertwined, leaving only throbbing headache and unbearable agitation.

Wu Xian, just recovered from the state of 【Forgetting】, had barely regained his senses when these voices surrounded him, as if his soul were being eroded and seized by something indescribable—compared to this, the pain inflicted earlier by the 【Annihilation】 force was trivial.

Was he about to be possessed by the 【Forgetter】?

No, this wasn't its aura—it felt strangely familiar yet alien…

In his confusion, a flash of insight struck Wu Xian's mind; he suddenly understood the source of these whispers and the indescribable entity.

According to the setting of Origin Infinity, once a Lunhuizhe reaches the fourth stage, though their power undergoes a revolutionary leap, they also face immense risk—the so-called heart demon.

Undoubtedly, anyone who has read xianxia novels is familiar with the term "heart demon"; in fact, it is a threshold every cultivation system must cross.

But unlike cultivation systems that require years of practice, the hallmark of gene lock advancement lies in its speed.

Those who unlock the gene lock need no prolonged refinement or special mental discipline; as long as their innate talent is sufficient and they harbor a fierce desire for survival or a powerful obsession, they can gain immense power in a short time.

Yet precisely because of this, those who reach the fourth stage via gene lock often suffer severe psychological flaws.

At first it's manageable, but prolonged activation of the fourth-stage gene lock inevitably generates a powerful, violent consciousness.

If uncontrolled, it turns them into a mindless monster of destruction; suppressing this violent consciousness, however, gives rise to the heart demon—only by resolving it can they reach mid-fourth stage and awaken their inner light.

Otherwise, the Lunhuizhe will die in madness or become a soulless corpse.

And right now, Wu Xian faced his own heart demon.

The suddenness stemmed from the 【Forgetter】's use of 【Forgetting】 power, which stripped him of all memories in a short time.

At that moment, Wu Xian had been under direct sunlight; his steel body unconsciously absorbed stellar energy, causing his newly unlocked fourth-stage gene lock to operate at full power, triggering the birth of the violent consciousness.

Then, due to the 【Forgetting】 power, the violent consciousness was invisibly suppressed, allowing the heart demon to emerge and forcing him to confront this trial most fourth-stage beginners cannot pass.

"What the hell is going on?!"

After understanding the key points, Wu Xian felt speechless; he looked around and saw this place resembled the mysterious space—pure white, likely a projection of his own mind.

At that moment, he felt a sharp surge of killing intent from behind.

He turned and saw a black figure standing opposite—identical in face and build, as if cloned from him.

But below the neck, the figure was pitch black, as if clad in a tight black suit, radiating a mad, chaotic aura that made Wu Xian feel uneasy.

"Ji ji ji ji… Hello, my original self."

The figure's lips curled into a mocking smile: "First meeting, nothing to offer you—how about I give you my warmth?"

With that, twin beams of blazing red light shot from his eyes—the Kryptonian's most common energy attack: heat vision.

Wu Xian dodged sideways, feeling the searing heat, guessing this mental realm could simulate real-world abilities.

So he spared the Feihua, clenched his fist, accelerated, and slammed his fist straight at the man—clearly the embodied heart demon—hoping to crush him and temporarily escape this mental illusion.

As for utterly defeating the heart demon and advancing directly to mid-fourth stage…

Better wash up and sleep. Not only had he just entered the fourth stage and barely understood its abilities, but rushing advancement would bring endless troubles.

Even if he truly had the will and ability, the heart demon across from him wouldn't cooperate—it would almost certainly play hide-and-seek, dragging out the final battle for a year or more.

BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOMING————!!

Fierce battle raged with terrifying force, shaking the air into continuous expansions that exploded into white clouds.

Their immense speed, strength, and explosive power rendered their movements invisible; every limb collision generated devastating shockwaves.

In the real world, this would have already created a scene of apocalyptic destruction.

Yet in this pure white mental realm, the void remained utterly stable, not even a noticeable tremor felt.

Soon, realizing their physical strength was evenly matched, Wu Xian finally abandoned close combat and switched to energy attacks.

Besides Kryptonian heat vision and freeze breath, he unleashed elemental word-spells from the Dragon World and all of Black Horse's magical techniques—but each was met head-on and neutralized by the heart demon using identical moves.

ZZZZZZ————x2

Four beams of heat vision collided midair, coalescing into a massive red sphere that, unable to contain the energy, erupted into a mushroom cloud.

Blazing fire exploded across ten thousand meters, staining the pure white space red—then vanished instantly, revealing the two floating figures locked in standoff.

"Ji ji ji! Stop struggling. Whatever you know, I know. Whatever you don't know… I don't either. But every attack we unleash drains your mental energy. When you're drained enough, your soul will be weak—and that's when I'll take over."

Heart Demon Wu Xian spoke with full confidence.

"Hah! Mental energy? I've got plenty. Want to bet I can outlast you for a whole year?"

Wu Xian sneered back, yet knew the heart demon wasn't bluffing.

This was a battle of mental consciousness—neither had a physical body, and since the heart demon was his own, every physical strike and energy attack drained his own mental power.

He'd already freeloaded, and now wanted to turn the tables… utterly shameless!

Thinking this, Wu Xian gritted his teeth—but then, as if struck by an idea, he cautiously asked the heart demon: "By the way, do you know what classical wuxia is?"

"Hm?"

Heart Demon Wu Xian frowned, puzzled: "Are you talking about Uncle Huang? Why bring this up out of nowhere? Are you testing whether I inherited all your memories?"

Good. So he truly didn't know… Then I won't bother with martial virtue!

Wu Xian took a deep breath, looked up at the pure, spotless sky above, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Guangzhi… damn it! Wu Xian, save me!!"

(End of Chapter)