Immortal Paladin
188 True Heavenly Demon

188 True Heavenly Demon

"This isn't funny," I said aloud, glaring at the empty air... or rather, at the skull voice now hijacking my body like a second soul. Jue Bu's presence was sharp and icy in my core, feeding qi into my dantian like a parasitic stream of power. It burned and soothed all at once, like being healed by fire.

Across from me, Ru Qiu flinched as though he’d sniffed a foul wind. His lip curled. "So it’s you, Jue Bu," he hissed. “I’d recognize that twisted technique no matter what form it takes… Reversal of Heaven and Earth, is it?”

Uuh... that was a problem.

Apparently, Ru Qiu thought I was Jue Bu. And I couldn’t entirely blame him. I could feel my own body shifting, subtle at first, then unmistakable. My muscles softened. My features gentled. My skin turned unnaturally fair, radiant even. I flicked on Divine Sense and viewed myself from the third perspective. I looked... beautiful? Not handsome… beautiful. Feminine, even.

Slowly, I could feel yin qi rising from my bones.

I even grew a foot taller and looked more like an adult than a child.

"Jue Bu," I growled internally, "what the hell is this?"

His voice echoed inside me, unconcerned. “The only connection that binds us is the debt you shouldered from your disciple… and the ‘curse’ I planted on you. So the only way I can help you is by feeding the curse. Bear with it.”

I sighed and instinctively reached down to check if the ‘essentials’ were still intact. “Still here. Guess that’s something.”

Outside, Ru Qiu stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “You keep muttering to yourself… annoying as always. Forget about mercy. I’ll butcher you where you stand.”

I ignored him and focused on the presence in my head. “Why does this guy hate you so much?”

Jue Bu sounded genuinely confused. “I don’t know. Last time we fought, I turned him into his most ideal and perfect form! He should be grateful.”

“…What?”

“I gave him curves.”

That broke me. My mouth opened, then shut. Then opened again.

"..."

Thank the heavens Ru Qiu couldn’t hear our conversation. He might have imploded from the sheer absurdity. Still, his rage spoke louder than reason. There was no amusement in his eyes. Instead, there was only fury. A power began to pulse in the air, thick and unnatural. Shadows lengthened. The sun vanished behind an eclipse that wasn’t there seconds ago. I looked up. The entire sky had gone black.

That level of power didn’t belong to a Fourth Realm cultivator. Hell, it didn’t belong in this world. Unless… he really was the real thing, so much more genuine than the last Heavenly Demon I fought.

Jue Bu’s voice turned urgent. “Ready yourself. This is Ru Qiu’s Immortal Art. At his peak in the Perfect Immortal Realm, he could wield Quintessence without limit. Now, even if degraded, his technique draws nigh-infinite qi. I’ve cultivated enough inside you to reach the Will Reinforcement Realm, but make no mistake… You are weaker in both cultivation and mastery. Your only edge is your mysterious Legacy.”

“So any suggestions?” I asked mildly.

“It’s obvious,” said Jue Bu. “Escape! So that you can fight another day!”

I clenched my fists. “You misunderstand, Jue Bu. Escape?” I scoffed. “After what that bastard’s done? He’ll be lucky if I let him go.”

“Don’t be reckless! You’re weak, Da Wei! This is the False Earth… It's a prison sealed from the supernatural. If he can wield this much power here, then he’s beyond reason! He rebelled against Heaven, Earth, and everything between! You can’t win!”

My brow furrowed. “So that’s what this world is called? False Earth?”

Ru Qiu raised one palm. His index finger extended like a guillotine, and at its tip, black flame curled and twisted. It was ugly, hungry, and unnatural. Just a glance at it and I wanted to puke,

Jue Bu panicked. “You have to run—”

But I cut him off. “Don’t lose heart, Jue Bu. You said you hated this guy’s guts, didn’t you? You said you wanted to give help. If that help means running away, maybe you’re more of a pussy than I thought.”

My own palm rose. A radiant warmth surged into it, divine power condensing into a pure golden light. Not borrowed. Not stolen. Mine! My life force trickled into my palm, and slowly, I urged to power to come into existence.

Ru Qiu sneered. “Perish before my might… Hellflame Retribution.” The black flame flared, transforming into a monstrous demonic hand, skeletal and aflame, rushing forward like a judge from hell.

I smiled faintly. If he wanted drama, I could do that too. “Be reborn in my light, Heavenly Punishment.” A golden sword erupted from my palm, not made of metal, but condensed law and judgment. It howled like the will of heaven itself.

Both techniques collided in a thunderous roar. Flame met light. Demon met god. The ground beneath us cracked. The sky above shattered. The world trembled under the clash of divine and demonic, and I stood firm, unmoving, eyes locked on the man I swore to kill.

“Motherfucker, what are you doing!?” Jue Bu’s voice screeched in my skull, jagged with panic. “You’re going to kill us! Our essence is leaking through… ah! AH! AHH!”

“Oh, don’t be such a drama queen,” I muttered aloud. But he wasn’t exactly wrong. I could feel it too, the strain, the pull, and the ripping seam between soul and vessel. My essence, his essence, and the unstable bridge of qi between us… It was all torn at the seams. Still, something in me urged forward, goaded by instinct and fury.

I had an idea. Dangerous, reckless, and perfect. I tried casting an Ultimate Skill through raw life force. Most wouldn’t even dare in my situation. I wasn’t most.

Surprisingly, it worked.

A rush of warmth surged through me as Exalted Renewal began to cast. Golden light poured from my core. It was so overwhelming that it felt like my cells were being scoured and rewritten.

Jue Bu wailed, “Do you have a death wish!? What’s happening!? What’s happening!? My cultivation is deteriorating like rotting cabbage!”

My muscles grew, hardening with every breath. My skin tightened, then stretched, veins bulging and glowing faintly beneath it. My armor groaned, then tore off as I flexed, more of a reflex than a pose. The chestplate cracked in three, my pauldrons snapped off like paper, and my tunic exploded into rags. What was left of me was bare muscle and light… It was familiar, powerful, and primal. I’d returned to the physique I’d possessed in my last life, every contour remembered by spirit more than flesh.

It wouldn’t last. I knew that. I was burning life like oil in a broken furnace.

“You… are not Jue Bu,” Ru Qiu finally realized, his voice slack with dawning comprehension. His gaze lingered on the resurrected soldiers between us, men he’d killed, now stumbling upright, slick with gore but very much alive.

During the clash of Heavenly Punishment and Hellflame Retribution, while all eyes were skyward, I’d been spamming Divine Word: Raise like an addict chasing a high. Corpses convulsed, blood pulled itself back into veins, bones snapped into place, and breath returned to lungs long empty. It was grotesque. It was beautiful!

While my paladin skills used to run on mana, I’d reworked their framework. Now, they drew from qi. It was cruder, rawer, but it worked.

“Such powerful healing techniques,” Ru Qiu muttered, eyes narrowing. “Are you… The Divine Physician? That’s peculiar. I never heard of the esteemed healer being a master of slaughter.”

Internally, I asked, “Jue Bu, how long do I have before you completely disintegrate from cultivation collapse?”

“You ungrateful son of a—” he began, then gave up. “A minute! You’ve got a minute! Kill him in a minute, and I swear I won’t permanently turn you into a girl!”

I took that as permission.

I raised my voice, pouring divine qi into every word. “112th Bronze Squadron!” My voice thundered like a holy drum. “Arm yourselves! Strengthen your courage! Steel your resolve! You’ve been given a second chance at life… see this through, and you shall survive!”

To enforce my words, I activated Lion’s Roar followed by Lion’s Courage, sending righteous fervor surging through their hearts. I watched their eyes sharpen as scattered weapons were hastily snatched from the ground… broken blades, dented shields, snapped halberds… anything they could wield.

Ru Qiu laughed with a madman’s arrogance. “Do you really think the might of insects matters? They’ll die like they did before!”

“Oh, but they won’t,” I said, conjuring Holy Sanctuary and anchoring it into the ground like a divine beacon. A warm dome of light enveloped the soldiers. I layered it with Holy Aura, then stacked War Aura, Life Aura, and Zeal Aura… the latter three were new, learned from a certain old man from another world who never shut up about synergy stacking.

Ru Qiu sneered. “Pathetic, relying on mortals—”

I didn’t let him finish. I cast Bless and Blessed Weapon back to back, rapid-fire, marking each of my revived comrades with just a glance. Their blades shimmered. Their eyes lit with resolve. Their souls blazed anew.

Ru Qiu’s mouth closed with a click. His sneer faltered.

That shut him up good.

"Let me reintroduce myself to this world," I said, voice thundering across the battlefield, "my dear inferior."

Ru Qiu's brows twitched. He didn’t like that.

"My name is Da Wei," I declared, letting each syllable carve into memory, "Great Guard, Defeater of Hell’s Gate, Slayer of the Abyss! Impress this upon your soul so you do not make the same mistake again… for I am the God of War!"

“ANTI-BEHEMOTH FORMATION!” screamed Ding Shan, his voice ragged but fierce.

“WAR!” Yuen Fu bellowed.

“WAR! WAR! WAR!” The chant rose behind them, not from an army, but from broken men bearing broken spears, chipped swords, and scraps of armor barely clinging to their bodies. But they moved with steel in their hearts. They were no longer afraid and no longer confused. They believed.

I hadn’t felt power like this in ages… pure, reckless, and alive! It coursed through my limbs like liquid lightning. I grinned as I activated Zealot’s Stride, weaving Divine Speed through it like threading flame into silk. The TriDivine had once been passive, but as with all things, if you fed it enough power, it would obey.

I blinked. One step, and I was already in front of Ru Qiu.

He moved fast. I had to give him that. His fingers flashed, and from his storage ring came a black blade, pulsing with malevolent energy. I missed my Item Box already.

“God of War!” cried one of the soldiers, throwing a battered sword through the air.

I caught it mid-spin. Ru Qiu’s sword tore into my neck before the steel even stopped ringing in my hand. Ru Qiu's eyes widened in shock. His sword bit deep, halfway through, aiming to behead me; however, it never managed to behead me completely.

I locked the sword stuck in my neck in place.

Divine Flesh activated. My muscles turned to cords of divine iron, clamping down on the blade lodged in my neck like a vice. I grinned, blood pouring from my mouth. “You’ll need more than that.”

With a shout, I channeled Thunderous Smite through the sword in my hand.

However, Ru Qiu's focus was on someone else.

The soldier who threw it to me exploded, shattered by an invisible palm strike from Ru Qiu. I could sense Ru Qiu's spite as he sneered at me. However, he quickly lost that smear as the same soldier resurrected instantly from my Divine Word: Raise, blood reknitting like yarn in reverse. Three more soldiers charged in. One stabbed from behind. Two flanked the demon.

I drove my chipped blade into Ru Qiu’s shoulder, the Thunderous Smite sliding toward his heart.

He didn’t even grunt. Instead, he twisted his sword, completing the beheading. My head arched in the air in a blur of motion and blood. I switched to Divine Sense completely, perceiving everything in third person. The two flanking soldiers exploded into ribbons, but the one behind managed to pierce Ru Qiu’s lower back with his spear before dying. With a thought, I resurrected the dead soldiers as the fight continued relentlessly.

My beheaded body moved, fingers grabbing the fallen spear from one of the dead soldiers. My body, still headless, stabbed again. It was strange being able to see everything in third person, even with me beheaded.

Ru Qiu broke composure with surprise and a sliver of fear, evident in his eyes.

My body clutched his throat with an unrelenting grip, holding fast.

More soldiers surged forth, four spears driving for his ribs and sides. Their formation was clumsy, but it didn’t matter; they believed.

High above, my detached head spun in the air. I activated Zealot’s Stride once more, just like I had when I was in the Hollowed World limbless. I knew it would work. 

I soared.

My head flew like a comet, arching down toward my body and slamming back into place with a grotesque squelch. Divine Word: Life flared to life, reattaching sinew, nerves, and spine in a flash of golden light.

Ru Qiu, caught in the press of resurrected warriors, burst into black flames in an attempt to annihilate everything around him. It would have worked, had I not fortified them with every divine buff I had. Holy Sanctuary, War Aura, Zeal Aura, Life Aura, Bless, and more. They lived, charred and broken, but alive.

He teleported, black flame spiraling around him, and reappeared at my side. His blade cleaved through one of my arms, severing it clean. He would have taken my head if I hadn't moved at the last second. He tried to vanish again, dragging my arm with him.

“DA WEI!” Yuen Fu shouted. “CATCH!”

A spear sailed through the air, glinting with divine light.

I caught it.

I poured everything into that throw. Divine Might. Divine Smite! The power of a god and the fury of a man long denied the power he was born with. The spear sang through the air like a holy arrow.

Ru Qiu vanished once more, black flames curling around his form. The spear sailed through the smoke. His eyes stared at me, filled with hate and glinting malevolently red against his dark flames.

"Next time, you will die."

And then he vanished as my spear struck and vanished along with him.

His fate was unknown, but I knew the spear connected. A silence followed. Then the pain hit. My body collapsed. I fell to my knees, gasping. Not from fear. Not even from injury.

From frustration.

My skills had rusted.

I gritted my teeth. My chest heaved. Blood trickled from the side of my mouth.

Still… in the end… it worked.

The 112th Bronze Squadron stood. They were breathing and alive!

It was a miracle.

I slumped forward. The last thing I heard before darkness claimed me was the sound of laughter… and tears! The soldiers gathered around me, their cries of victory mixing with the sound of life returning to men long considered dead.

That… that was the music of a life lived well.

And it was glorious.