The voice of the heart demon, Li Po, was like a magnetic force, drawing my thoughts along with it.

"How wonderful is the demonic path! Unrestrained and free from all ties."

"Your friends can also join you on the demonic path! Then, you can be together again."

"In fact, I say, now is the perfect opportunity for you to test your friends. If they are willing to join you on the demonic path, that is true companionship through life and death. Otherwise, what's the point of talking about advancing and retreating together?"

"Shut up!" This time, I shouted out loud.

Everyone around me stopped and looked at me.

At that moment, I also abruptly woke up from my conversation with the heart demon: "It's nothing! Keep walking!"

Old Liu stepped forward and said, "Master, have you encountered a heart demon?"

I nodded slightly: "Yes!"

Old Liu sighed: "Master, no one can help you with the heart demon. Any one of us here can accompany you in battle to the death, but no one can help you resist the heart demon."

"Master, we are standing by your side, no matter when or where."

"When your heart demon comes again, think more about what you really want."

"That's all I can say!"

"Master, we're waiting for you!"

As Old Liu cupped his fist in salute, I looked at him.

My gaze swept over everyone in Liangjie Tang, one by one. They were all waiting for me, waiting for me to defeat the heart demon!

Can I win?

I must win!

For the brothers in Liangjie Tang who have gone through thick and thin with me!

When I looked up again, I was already in front of the Iron Tile Temple!

The once-prosperous temple was now dilapidated, revealing desolation everywhere, and filled with resentment.

Every blade of grass, every tree, every brick, and every tile in the temple was stained with blood.

Those who charged into the Iron Tile Temple in those days may have had ulterior motives, or they may have been filled with passion.

Whether they were righteous or demonic, the blood they shed was the same crimson red, and the bones they turned into were the same ghastly white. Perhaps, lying in the Iron Tile Temple, becoming one of the wronged souls, would be my final resting place?

Wuchen gently opened the gate of the Iron Tile Temple: "Benefactor Li, please come in! You don't need to go to the left and right sides. Back then, your father's generation was the only one to enter the main hall in the middle. There, you will find what you seek!"

I stepped towards the gate, and Ye Yang followed me into the Iron Tile Temple, while everyone else stayed outside.

After the gate of the Iron Tile Temple slowly closed, Chen Shuyu anxiously asked, "Grandmaster, why didn't you tell Li Po the truth?"

"Perhaps he doesn't have a heart demon! Perhaps the one who has been bewitching him is Yi Tian Qi Zhu (Chess Master Who Plays with the Heavens)!"

When everyone looked at Old Liu, he shook his head and said, "You're wrong. Master has already developed a heart demon."

"Perhaps, Yi Tian Qi Zhu was the one who was bewitching Master at the beginning. However, after he shouted 'Shut up' on the Xianren Bridge (Bridge of Immortals), his heart demon had already taken shape."

"Fighting the heart demon is a necessary path for every half-ghost person."

"Back then, Xie Ban Gui (Half-Ghost Xie) went mad and slaughtered the martial world after being possessed by a demon. If it hadn't been for Fatty Gao Sheng's Shattered Dream Fist, which shattered his memories, he would have fallen into the demonic path."

"Wang Hun almost became a demon because of the Wang family's affairs, and personally slaughtered his own family. His heart demon flared up at Panmeng Peak. If the old Yama King hadn't arrived in time, a generation of Ghost Marshals would have died in the dream, never to wake up."

"Now it's Master's turn!"

Wang Butcher said anxiously, "Xie Ban Gui and Wang Hun both had people to help them, which means that external forces can be used to restrain the heart demon. Can't you think of a way?"

Old Liu said, "External forces can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. Xie Ban Gui and Wang Hun were able to pull through in the end because of their will."

As Old Liu spoke, he glanced at the Four Evil Monks again: "Moreover, in this place, we have no way to stop the heart demon."

"Amitabha!" Wuchen put his palms together and said, "Benefactor has discerning eyes and sees everything clearly. The Iron Tile Temple is the place where ghost and god secret arts are spread, and also the place where those who inherit the secret arts come back to be tested."

"This humble monk will not allow anyone to disturb Benefactor Li!"

As Wuchen spoke, a blurry phantom appeared in the distance, as if that person was standing in front of Old Liu and the others, yet also seemed to be standing outside of time and space.

It was as if he truly existed in this space, yet he seemed out of place with this space.

Old Liu's eyes narrowed as he slowly asked, "Are you Yi Tian Qi Zhu?"

The other party nodded and said, "That's right! This seat has come to witness the final step of the Iron Tile Temple's inheritance test."

Chen Shuyu said sharply, "What the hell are you trying to do? All these years, you've been tricking people into Taiqu Mountain, and now you want to watch Li Po fight the heart demon?"

Yi Tian Qi Zhu said, "I have already made it very clear that my purpose is to find an emperor and subdue the greedy wolf."

"Li Po can be considered to have some talent, and it won't be difficult for him to become a vanguard in the future. The emperor should have a cloud of strategists and a forest of fierce generals under his command."

"If Li Po can defeat the heart demon, regardless of whether he is the greedy wolf or not, this seat can bring him under the emperor's command!"

Yi Tian Qi Zhu looked at Old Liu and said, "You are very good! Because you are a descendant of the Divine Strategist and Ghost Calculator, this seat will give you an opportunity to serve the emperor."

"The moment you beg me is the beginning of our transaction!"