Chapter 203: Heart Demon

“The Heaven Demon Sect’s leader was possessed?”

“Yes, it’s said that the Sky Demon was struck down and destroyed by a great power from our Tianyuan Star ten thousand years ago. Everyone thought it was dead, but somehow the Heaven Demon Sect’s leader found it. Later, no one knows what happened, but the sect leader ended up being possessed just like that.”

“Well, now that the Sky Demon has emerged, I’m afraid the entire Tianyuan Star is about to become unstable.”

The messenger sighed with regret. As the two walked and talked, they arrived at the area where the shuttles were parked.

“Interesting. If you’re all so afraid of demons, why was the Heaven Demon Sect allowed to remain?”

“The higher-ups probably thought the Heaven Demon Sect’s leader was just using the Sky Demon’s name to swindle people. Who knew he was actually raising a real Sky Demon?”

“All these years, no one dared to touch the Heaven Demon Sect because a powerful figure was shielding them. Well, now that’s over—that powerful figure will likely be purged as well.”

Jiang Yan listened as he walked, feeling that the situation on Tianyuan Star was far too complicated.

“By the way, where is the Sky Demon now?”

“Its whereabouts are unknown, probably because its strength hasn’t fully recovered yet.”

“I see.”

“Mr. Jiang, I’ll take my leave now.”

“Mm.”

Jiang Yan walked up to his shuttle. After a familiar identity verification process, the hatch automatically opened.

The interior space wasn’t particularly large, roughly comparable to a small car in volume—far inferior to something like Lightning Studio’s Stellar-Class Battleship.

Lying inside the shuttle, Jiang Yan didn’t feel too cramped.

Even though the shuttle looked rather shabby, it had all the essential functions. At the very least, the autopilot feature allowed Jiang Yan to simply lie back and relax.

“What should I do now?”

Jiang Yan remembered that he still had unfinished business with the Heaven Demon Sect. But before he could do anything, the sect leader had already died.

Now, the remnants of the Heaven Demon Sect were being hunted down across Tianyuan Star and likely wouldn’t last much longer.

“Forget it, I’ll just call Old Zhang and ask.”

As soon as the video call connected, Jiang Yan saw Zhang Qianyue’s worried expression.

“Hello, Director Zhang.”

“Kid, not bad at all—you actually took first place in some Prodigy Competition.”

Jiang Yan chuckled lightly. “So the Director watches live streams too.”

A scoff came from the other side. “Just happened to come across it.”

“By the way, Old Zhang, have things started to heat up over there?”

At these words, Zhang Qianyue’s expression turned grave. He said solemnly, “Tianyuan Star is very dangerous right now. A powerful figure is about to reshuffle the deck. It’s likely that all the Anti-Sect Faction forces will be rooted out, and the powers behind them won’t escape either.”

“In short, you should leave Tianyuan Star in that broken shuttle of yours first.”

Zhang Qianyue rubbed his temples, his expression filled with exhaustion.

As an outsider, Jiang Yan didn’t share as many worries. He asked, “Old Zhang, what about you? Aren’t you leaving?”

“Me? Hahaha…” Zhang Qianyue laughed loudly. “I have more important things to do.”

Jiang Yan mercilessly taunted him. “Old Zhang, going to be cannon fodder?”

Anger flashed across Zhang Qianyue’s face. “You disrespectful brat! Don’t you know how to respect your elders and care for the young?”

“Ah, I’m not going to argue with a little punk like you. I’m hanging up now.”

Beep—

The video call ended there.

Jiang Yan lay calmly in the cabin, lost in thought.

Tianyuan Star, District 【0】—Heart Origin City.

Zhang Qianyue hung up the phone, and all the expressions that had accumulated on his face vanished without a trace, replaced by endless exhaustion and weariness.

“I wish I could just leave everything behind and leave Tianyuan Star like this~”

He walked despondently, with not a single glimmer of light ahead.

“Hurry, all Martial Artists of Seventh Rank and above, follow me! We’ve discovered another Heaven Demon Sect stronghold!”

Sometimes, Zhang Qianyue wondered why there were so many entanglements of interests in the world.

He followed the crowd, pursuing the fleeing Heaven Demon Remnants.

If it weren’t for those in power, the Heaven Demon Sect would have had no room to survive in the past.

Watching his comrades fall one by one, he recalled the days of purging the cultists in District 【1026】.

During that time, every one of his purge plans would inexplicably leak, allowing the cultists to escape in advance.

Just when they had finally surrounded those cruel and merciless cultists, a single call from above forced him to retreat to the police department.

Zhang Qianyue would never forget the look in that Helmsman’s eyes.

Mockery? Arrogance?

Perhaps both.

He could never forget those words:

“It’s useless. Next time, I’ll escape just the same, and I’ll walk right past you, Zhang Qianyue, in broad daylight, hahahahaha!”

Zhang Qianyue fought alongside the Martial Artists against the surrounded Heaven Demon Remnants.

They were weak, and Zhang Qianyue dispatched them almost one by one with a single palm strike, his face smeared with blood and grime.

“In the past and now, I’ve been doing the same thing.”

“But why are the results so different?”

“If this is how it is, does what I’m doing even have meaning?”

“Aren’t I the damn Chief? Why can’t I do a damn thing!”

Thud—

Zhang Qianyue pierced through the body of a Seventh Rank cultist, who shook his head before dying, refusing to answer Zhang Qianyue’s question.

Once a person loses their conviction, they are not far from death.

No one here could kill Zhang Qianyue, so he was still alive.

“That kid should have left Tianyuan Star by now.” Zhang Qianyue smiled faintly.

“It’s better that he left. He shouldn’t be here.”

Jiang Yan was different from him—he still had a brilliant future ahead.

He could kill someone like the Helmsman as he pleased, while Zhang Qianyue had struggled for decades without success.

He was unrestrained, not bound by the words of those in power, while Zhang Qianyue’s every word and action were constrained—

Just as he had spared the cultists in the past, so too was he now leading the purge.

“To kill or not to kill is his choice, while I can only be manipulated like a puppet on strings.”

“I once desperately longed to wipe out these heartless cultists. Now that I have the chance, why has the passion in my heart vanished?”

Zhang Qianyue laughed self-deprecatingly as thunder transformed into a vast ocean in his hands, countless cultists wailing under his power.

“When did I start hating these cultists?”

He thought for a moment. It was probably when he saw his parents and children turned into Demon Seeds.

His parents were killed by the Heaven Demon Sect, so he worked hard to become the Chief.

He achieved remarkable feats, outwitting and battling the cultists.

And so, his children were targeted and turned into Demon Seeds.

He became the Chief out of hatred for the Heaven Demon Sect, and because he became the Chief, he lost everything. In the end, even in this position, he could hardly change anything.

What kind of father is one who can’t even protect his own children?

And when did he start hating Tianyuan Star?

Probably now.

He carried hatred on his shoulders, driven by a sense of justice, and became the Chief of the department.

Shouldn’t all evil things be eradicated?

Why did you stop me back then?

Weren’t you the ones who wanted to consider the bigger picture?

Why are you trying to use me now?

His original intention was to become a great hero who rids the people of harm, to be a good child in his parents’ eyes, a reliable father in his children’s eyes.

His parents were gone, his children were gone, and in the end, he didn’t even get to be a hero.

The deaths of his family weren’t enough to move the Heavenly Source higher-ups, but the appearance of the Sky Demon made them all panic.

Gradually, he instead became a saber. Their saber, a saber full of notches.

…

“Zhang Qianyue, there’s another remnant of the Anti-Sect Faction in the south. Come with me to clear them out!”

“Coming.”

“By the way, why have you been so absent-minded lately?”

“Have I?”