Elsewhere, where earthquakes still raged and trees fell like brittle twigs, the battle between Lu Heng and Jiang Wuyu continued to shake the forest. Lu Heng had become something else—something monstrous. His claws tore into the ground as he ran on all fours, a distorted beast in human skin. His fangs had grown longer, his mouth stretched into a savage curve, a vicious grin known by those who feared the legend of the Golden Carnage—the feral beast his cultivation technique emulated.
Jiang Wuyu, standing firm amidst the chaos, held his massive blade with a steady grip. His black hair billowed in the gale born from their clash, his eyes locked on the creature Lu Heng had become.
They clashed again.
The sky roared as Lu Heng's claw collided with Jiang Wuyu's poisoned blade. The ground shattered beneath their feet, the sheer impact of their exchange creating craters and shockwaves. Trees were ripped from the soil, boulders split like paper, and creatures fled from the onslaught. The venomous Qi in Jiang Wuyu's blade laced the air with an eerie green haze, but Lu Heng didn't falter. The beast within him howled louder.
Jiang Wuyu's foot slid back, and he spun, sweeping his blade in an arc that released a crescent slash of dark-purple poison. Lu Heng leapt through it, his skin burning but his grin deepening. He landed atop a tree trunk mid-air, then sprang down with both arms like hammers. Jiang Wuyu raised his blade to block, but the sheer force hurled him back.
He landed on his feet, only to find Lu Heng already upon him, claws slashing, fangs snapping. Jiang Wuyu ducked, countered with a rising slice aimed at Lu Heng's exposed side. It landed. Blood sprayed, but the beast didn't care. Lu Heng roared in glee and bit into Jiang Wuyu's shoulder, the clash devolving into primal carnage.
Then—an explosion of force.
They struck each other with everything they had left. Claw against blade, poison against fury. A dome of Qi erupted outward, the very land trembling under the pressure. With a thunderous crack, both were launched backward, smashing through trees, stone, and terrain. Lu heng charged forward once more.
But was stopped when jiang wuyu spoke.
"Lu Heng... how about making a deal with me?"
Lu Heng, mid-leap, froze. Then he laughed—a guttural, monstrous sound.
"HAHAHAHAHA! You're joking, right?! After all the deals I proposed... now you want a deal? Hahahaha!"
With a twisted grin, his fangs glinting, Lu Heng growled, "I'm gonna rip your guts out and hang your corpse with them!"
He lunged.
But then—he stopped.
"There's a demonic beast under the mine," Jiang Wuyu said calmly.
Lu Heng halted mid-attack. His feral eyes narrowed, the beast pausing for the man beneath. Slowly, Lu Heng walked forward—no aggression in his steps now. He stopped only when his towering figure cast a monstrous shadow over Jiang Wuyu.
"So that's why," Lu Heng muttered. "You didn't accept my deal. You waited until I was gone. Your goal was never the mine—but what was under it."
He thought silently, "So he knew about the demonic beast. That's why he attacked the moment I left. It wasn't greed—it was purpose. But I can't let him know that I knew about it as well."
Lu Heng then sneered, "You realize this could get your entire clan wiped out if the empire hears about it. What's stopping me from reporting it? I could fetch a fine price for that, couldn't I?"
Of course, he was lying. He never intended to give the beast to the empire. He needed it—for his goal. And if he missed this chance, he might never find another.
Jiang Wuyu was unmoved. "And would they believe you? If I awaken the beast and we fight over it, wouldn't it look like we're both after it? What's stopping them from killing you too?"
He stepped closer.
"You also forgot that I'd never let you reach them. And if you think I'm proposing this deal because I can't kill you... then try your luck. I promise you—I can. I'm only offering this deal to ensure the empire never learns. So... what's it gonna be?"
Lu Heng's grin faded. "And what do I get that's more valuable than what the empire could give me? More than the satisfaction of killing you and ruining your plans?"
Jiang Wuyu said plainly, "We split the demonic beast. I only want the core. You can have the body."
Lu Heng scoffed. "You think I'm a fool? The core's worth ten times the corpse. Why would I agree to that?"
Jiang Wuyu nodded, conceding. "Then perhaps this will interest you."
He pulled something from his spatial ring—scrolls wrapped in dark silk.
"I have a way for you to enter the Far Lands... without the empire knowing. Maps, safe paths, even intelligence on the sects there. It's all real. The reason I have so many Rank 2 techniques... is because of an inheritance I found there."
Lu Heng's eyes widened slightly.
The Far Lands.
He had always desired access to that forbidden zone, but between the empire's control and the mid-sized sects, it had remained out of reach. The few known entrances were locked down by powerful forces. And yet... Jiang Wuyu did possess a baffling number of Rank 2 techniques. Most patriarchs had only three or four. Jiang Wuyu had far more—perhaps even a Rank 3 technique, though Lu Heng still doubted it.
"And what makes you think I'll believe you?" Lu Heng asked.
Jiang Wuyu held out the scrolls. Lu Heng snatched them and began to read—and his grin slowly returned, broader, crueler. His canines gleamed.
"This is good," Lu Heng whispered.
"I want you to swear a binding oath," he said, "that everything in these scrolls is true. Or else your dantian shatters, and you suffer a humiliating, slow death."
Jiang Wuyu nodded. "And I want you to swear that I get the demonic core. That you won't betray me or tell anyone—unless I betray you first."
Lu Heng nodded. "Fine. But I'm adding my own terms. I'm not a fool."
They both began shaping the oath—closing every loophole they could imagine.
The air grew heavy.
When the oath was made, Qi erupted in the sky. The pressure was suffocating—anyone below their cultivation rank would've collapsed from just the weight of it. Their bond was sealed. Their ambitions intertwined.
Lu Heng's eyes swept over the battlefield, where their respective forces clashed with merciless resolve, and the air reeked of blood-soaked earth. Distant Qi explosions rumbled like thunder, shaking the roots of ancient trees.
He turned to Jiang Wuyu and growled, "And what do we do about them?" He pointed toward the chaos beyond the tree line. "You know the demonic beast will be seen by them. They'll sense it the moment it roars, and when a real fight breaks out, it's inevitable that news will spread. Other sects, and most definitely the empire."
"Should we just say we came to a truce?" Lu Heng's golden fangs glinted as he spoke, his tone bitter. "You think that's believable after all this?"
Jiang Wuyu's voice was steady, but colder than steel. "No. That's not an option. I've fed them too many lies... and done too much for them to just forget everything. They believe I hate you, that I've bled for it. Anything less than a war would make them question everything."
He paused, then exhaled sharply. "But I wasn't planning to tell them the truth."
Lu Heng tilted his head. "Go on."
Jiang Wuyu's eyes gleamed with ruthless clarity. "We force them to change the battlefield."
A low growl rumbled in Lu Heng's chest.
"You and I fight," Jiang Wuyu continued, "in the mine. Deep enough that even if the heavens crack open, no one will see it. When we go in, we make it look like we're taking the battle to its final stage—life or death. Both sides will naturally retreat. No one wants to die in a collapsing mine."
"And then?" Lu Heng asked.
Jiang Wuyu's voice was crisp. "We seal the mine. Give the order so that No one follows and I'll tell them retreat back from the camp into the forest far enough for them to not hear anything. And I'll say it's todestroy the mine. You'll say you're trying to stop me."
Lu Heng nodded slowly, fangs gleaming. "And the beast?"
"We will kill it as fast as we could, we will then split it's corpse according to our deal. Then I'll fake an injury. I'll stumble out and order a retreat. My army will carry me off. You do the same."
He looked up, meeting Lu Heng's eyes. "That way, no one knows. They think they got the battle they wanted. They think we lost or won something personal. But the core and the corpse ?All ours."
But before they could do anything, their bodies froze—an oppressive wave of Qi swept over the ruined forest like a suffocating tide. It was heavy, malicious, and unmistakably demonic.
It didn't just suppress the Qi around them.
It devoured it.
Lu Heng's bestial grin twisted into a snarl, veins bulging at his temples as he instinctively dropped to all fours, growling low like the beast he had become. The blood in his veins howled in warning.
Jiang Wuyu's expression darkened into something far colder. His pupils constricted, the massive blade in his hand suddenly trembling—not from fear, but from the sheer fury that now boiled beneath his skin.
The air around them felt thick, viscous, like tar clinging to their lungs. Trees began to rot at the edges of the ruined battlefield, their bark hissing, curling inwards. Even the soldiers far away paused in confusion and fear.
That Qi... it didn't belong to any known technique.
It was raw. Unrestrained.
And worst of all—it was awakening.
Lu Heng rose to his full height, golden irises glowing fiercely. "That's not from a cultivator…"
"No," Jiang Wuyu muttered, his voice filled with venom, "That's the beast itself."
The demonic beast they had planned to kill quietly—had awakened.
And it was no longer hiding.