Heart-Demon of the Lotus

Du Chen's Vanishing Snow Sword was pointed directly at the Bone Golem's throat. The "Fiery Core" in Sean's mouth grew hotter and hotter. The Bone Golems accompanying Sean had already "crackled" and exploded into bone fragments. Only Sean and Du Chen remained untouched by the searing heat, but the hem of Du Chen's robe was already beginning to scorch and char.

Sean calmly regarded Du Chen's longsword. He had no doubt that with a mere flick of the wrist, his skull would tumble to the ground. Yet, for a Bone Golem King who embraced death, he was utterly fearless!

His eye sockets narrowed into slits with a mirthless smile, Sean declared with gusto, "Esteemed guest, you wish to know the Fiendkind's price, to see if you yourself can match it, yes? Impossible!"

He pointed to his own skull. "My Bone Golem race lives but thirty years. Yet, I, Sean, have lived for one hundred and ninety-eight years! I am an anomaly among Bone Golems!"

Why was he bringing up lifespans? Du Chen's brow furrowed.

Sean continued, "Other Bone Golems envy my 'long' life, but only I truly know that the longer one lives, the more sorrow one accumulates!" His voice turned bitter. "One hundred and sixty years ago, my beloved wife died before my eyes. One hundred and thirty-two years ago, I buried my son with my own hands! Ninety-eight years ago, my most cherished grandson died of old age at the banquet celebrating my second marriage! And fifteen years after that... my second wife also perished by my side..."

His skeletal hands clutched, crackling audibly. "For over a century, I watched my descendants born one by one, only to bury them with my own hands. Now, I dare not take a wife, nor even look upon my great-grandchildren, for fear that when they die of old age... I would weep once more!"

Sean suddenly burst into raucous laughter. "But Philip can help me escape this agony! His Secret Technique of The Undead can resurrect my deceased kin! Do you know how I felt when I saw my son resurrected? Ha, haha! For them, I'll exchange my life for yours – it's worth it!"

Du Chen felt a surge of weariness. He scoffed, "You'd willingly let your kin become abhorrent, loathed beings – The Undead that should not exist in this world!?"

Sean snorted, "Look at me! In your human eyes, The Undead are detestable creatures. But in the eyes of us Bone Golems, what difference is there between The Undead... and us bony skeletons!?" He nodded. "Oh, there are some differences. Undead Bone Golems no longer like eating Green Gourds; they prefer human flesh and blood..."

Fearlessly, he flicked the tip of Du Chen's sword. "Well? This price from the Fiendkind, you can't possibly match it, can you? Kill me then! Though I perish, I shall become the greatest monarch in Bone Golem history! Future Bone Golems will forever remember that I, Sean, sacrificed my life to slay a demon and earn eternal life for the entire Bone Golem race!"

Du Chen snorted in disdain. "Slay *me*, this 'demon,' and you become the greatest Bone Golem monarch? Hmph! Absurd!"

Sean's eye sockets abruptly widened, the Blazing Fire intensifying. The Ninth-rank Bone Golem King was already crackling and exploding amidst the flames, yet he laughed, a frenzied, wild laugh! "Ha, haha! Francis, am I wrong? Just moments ago, among the hundred thousand Undead you and Du Chen, the Divine, annihilated, how many were my descendants, do you know!? Eliminating you, Du Chen, the Divine's most vicious minion, the natural enemy of The Undead! Then I can allow my children to live on in a better state! What a pity!"

He sighed dramatically skyward. "A pity I can only kill you, and not eliminate that most powerful devil, Du Chen, the Divine..."

Du Chen suddenly felt a wave of dizziness, and his Lotus Primordial Spirit also trembled!

Droopy-Head Bill's words echoed in his ears from when he annihilated the hundred thousand Undead: "One day, some Undead will become a great hero, a Philanthropist among The Undead, simply by slaying you!"

Good and evil were merely relative. What was good for humans was evil for The Undead. Du Chen already firmly believed this truth! Yet, as he stood engulfed in Blazing Fire... Du Chen wanted to curse to the heavens!

You want to become a hero among The Undead, the greatest monarch among Bone Golems, and you expect to achieve that by taking *my* life?! Bullshit! What kind of logic is that?!

The street-hardened ruthlessness from his previous life surged to his mind. Du Chen thrust his sword, but before its tip could cleave Sean's skull, *crack, crack*, the Bone Golem King was already consumed by the raging inferno!

Du Chen froze, his Primordial Spirit trembling once more. This time, the tremor was far more violent, nearly making Du Chen dizzy and disoriented, almost causing him to pass out!

He questioned himself inwardly: *I slay The Undead, securing great welfare for humanity. Sean kills me, becoming the greatest Bone Golem monarch, a great hero of The Undead... Damn it, who's right!? Anyway, I don't want to lose my life! In my heart, Sean is a bastard and deserves to die!*

Du Chen seemed to forget the Blazing Fire, pondering deeply but finding no answer. The Undead needed to survive, yet damn it, only when he himself was personally in peril, about to be killed, did Du Chen truly feel: *You Undead want to live? Can't you do it without damn human lives as the price!?*

Was there truly no win-win benevolent deed? If he died here, burned to ashes, at most he'd reincarnate in the next life. But what about the Vanishing Arcane Artifacts?

Du Chen's mind descended into chaos!

"One flower, one world..."

The chanting of the old monk, which had long resonated in his mind, rang out again like a booming bell and cauldron. It was still the familiar phrase Du Chen had almost forgotten, but this time, words followed: "One flower, one world. Naughty boy, encountered your Heart-Demon, haven't you? Haha, hehe!"

"Master Grape!?" Du Chen's mind cleared. "Where are you?"

"Don't bother looking. It's merely a wisp of Divine Sense left within your Primordial Spirit! Now, check your backside!"

Du Chen hastily probed with his Divine Sense. Unbeknownst to him, his Fourth Trigram Lotus had fully bloomed—presumably due to Bonis's defeat and the Papal Curia's complete victory, allowing Du Chen's intelligence to be credited, thus facilitating the full opening of the four trigrams and the great completion of half of the Lotus's divine power!

But the Arcane Artifacts were still missing!

Master Grape's voice suddenly turned ethereal and mysterious. Hearing it, *this* truly sounded like the master of the Cave of the Slanting Moon at Three-Star Mountain: "Wicked one of a hundred lifetimes, as of this very day, your sins of a hundred lives are atoned for. Your master formally accepts you into the sect, bestowing upon you the Lotus Benevolent Dharma Art and the Cosmic Lotus Pedestal. Make good use of them!" The voice ceased abruptly!

Du Chen had no time to consider what these two items were. He urgently shouted, "Old lunatic, explain yourself! And how do I retrieve the Vanishing Arcane Artifacts!? Am I supposed to find a way to perform a win-win benevolent deed!?"

Master Grape remained silent for a long time. It seemed that wisp of Divine Sense simply didn't hold the answer to that question!

Du Chen pressed on, "Good and evil are relative, but if people are hungry, they need food. Is it a good deed if I protect vegetables and let humans starve to death?"

No one answered.

Du Chen demanded a third time, "Old lunatic, what *exactly* constitutes a benevolent deed!?"

Master Grape's voice vanished completely, and the droning "One flower, one world" resumed in his mind. Master Grape hadn't given Du Chen any answer at all.

Du Chen snorted. "Heart-Demon... Am I meant to break through my Heart-Demon to recover the lost Arcane Artifacts!?"

...

A needle-like stinging pain across his body abruptly sobered Du Chen. He was still engulfed in the raging inferno!

The Bone Golems had been incinerated until not even bone fragments remained. Du Chen, relying on the power bestowed by his Heaven-Bestowed Hydro-Body and Lotus Internal Force, also felt the scorching heat of the flames. His pristine white robe was charred and aflame, yet the mask on his face, custom-made by Flaying and connected to his own skin, still managed to withstand the fiery onslaught.

The walls of this clearing within the Labyrinth of Life roiled with Blazing Fire, transforming into a true World of Blazing Fire, like the core of an alchemical furnace!

Sean was dead. Du Chen roared and thrust his sword, unleashing the Vanishing Snow Burial of Petals in a powerful strike against the labyrinth walls. Yet, the walls remained unyielding, offering Du Chen no escape!

The Fire Lotus Lantern, Water Veil Shield, and two-grade Lotus Pedestals were all in Dus's hands. At this moment, Du Chen only had a single lotus, and inside it were Steve, the tree seed, various miscellaneous items, a Green Gourd Beast... and Xue Ji!

Du Chen's eyes lit up. He abruptly summoned the lotus, leaped inside, and exclaimed, "Miss Xue Ji!" In his hand, he conjured a layer of ice around Xue Ji, helping to cool her down.

Xue Ji suddenly found herself amidst raging flames, the scenery shifting. Her Benefactor, Alex, appeared before her... Heavens, his clothes were burnt to shreds, revealing his jade-like skin, his robust chest, and... almost everything else was exposed.

Had she not known this was a matter of life and death, Xue Ji would surely have blushed crimson. She lowered her head, not daring to look at Du Chen, and asked, "Mister Alex, what's happening?"

Du Chen poured his inner strength into the lotus, making it resist the flames. He then recounted the events in the most concise language, asking, "Do you have any way for us to escape?"

Upon hearing this, Xue Ji's expression drastically changed. "Could it be the Fiery Core within the Labyrinth of Life? This is a flame that can melt gods!"

Though the lotus itself was not afraid of burning, it could not resist the transmission of heat. While it was on Du Chen's person, it was fine, but once exposed... just like when Dus fought the Dragon God that day, the lotus remained motionless in the flames, yet the Blazing Fire's high temperature scorched it a dazzling red, causing the temperature inside to suddenly skyrocket.

*Crack!* The Lotus Pedestal was like a giant oven. Some miscellaneous items inside were scorched black, and even the clothes on the unconscious Steve began to emit green smoke. Du Chen grew frantic. Though Steve was mad, Flaying's strength remained, granting him a certain resistance to flames. Even if his clothes burned away, it wouldn't be an issue; was Steve afraid of nudity?

But what about Xue Ji!?

Du Chen, while piloting the lotus, simultaneously conjured ice pillars, desperately trying to cool Xue Ji down. He thought to himself, *Whatever you do, don't let this Little Hag be burnt into a naked female corpse...*