Immortal Paladin

188 True Heavenly Demon

"This isn't funny," I said aloud, glaring at the empty air.

Or rather, at the skull voice hijacking my body like a second soul.

Jue Bu's presence sat cold and sharp within me, feeding qi into my dantian through the agreement that bound us. The power burned and soothed at once, like being healed by fire.

Across from me, Ru Qiu flinched as though he'd caught the scent of something rotten. 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? Disappointing that it took them so long to throw you down here."

That was a problem.

Apparently, Ru Qiu thought I was Jue Bu. I couldn't entirely blame him.

"This asshole needs some pegging," snarled Jue Bu, though only I could hear him. "Hah~! Let's do this, Da Wei!"

"Hey, I didn't agree to anything, yet."

My body began to change in a rush of forbidden energy, muscles softening into sleek, seductive curves while my features sharpened into delicate, breathtaking beauty. My skin glowed with an unnatural, porcelain fairness that seemed to invite the caress of moonlight itself, radiating an almost sinful allure.

I quickly activated Divine Sense and watched from a third-person perspective as my frame stretched upward nearly a foot, hips widening invitingly, waist narrowing into a graceful hourglass, and a full, feminine chest swelling beneath my loosening robes. Yin qi surged from my bones like heated silk, wrapping my newly voluptuous form in a hazy, provocative aura that made me look every inch a ravishing young woman rather than a boy.

"Damn you, you perverted skull!" I cursed internally at Jue Bu, the ancient lecher still parasitizing my soul. "Giving me power is one thing, but turning me into a damn beauty with tits and hips? What kind of twisted boost is this?!"

Despite the mortifying shift, a confident smirk tugged at my softer, fuller lips as I flexed my fingers and stood taller, the feminine grace only heightening the dangerous charm radiating from me.

"Jue Bu," I growled internally, "you know, I'm going to kill you for this."

Admittedly, the power now granted to me was enough to get me out of this situation.

His voice echoed through my mind, utterly unconcerned.

"The only thing tying us together is the debt you inherited from your disciple and the curse I planted on you," Jue Bu said. "Right now, that curse is basically the rope keeping us from drifting apart. If I want to help, I have to keep feeding it qi."

I frowned. "And the side effects?"

"Minor."

"My body is turning into a beautiful woman."

"Minor."

"I'm getting taller."

"An improvement."

"My voice is changing."

"Debatable."

I nearly choked. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

Jue Bu scoffed. "If I wanted to do it on purpose, you'd already be asking why every man within ten miles suddenly felt compelled to write poetry about your eyes."

"You're a terrible person."

"I've been told that before. Also, I'm more undead than person."

I rubbed my forehead. "Can you at least stop making it worse?"

"No. Endure it."

For once, the amusement left his voice.

"The curse is straining to hold us together. Every bit of power I send risks destabilizing the connection further. If it breaks, I won't be the only one paying the price."

His tone turned cold and serious.

"So stop whining about your appearance and focus on surviving. If we fail here, neither of us will live long enough for it to matter."

"FUCK YOU!" I flipped him the birds, but that only ended up aggravating Ru Qiu.

"Is this amusing to you?" Ru Qiu stared at me as though I'd gone insane, his expression slowly becoming darker by the second. "You keep muttering to yourself," he snarled. "Always talking to ghosts, always hiding behind that smug little smile. Even now, after everything, you still act as though the world is some grand joke meant for your amusement."

His eyes burned with naked hatred.

"Forget mercy. I abandoned that notion long ago. Every time I see your face, I remember what you did to me. The humiliation. The mockery. The way you treated my suffering like entertainment." His voice trembled with fury. "I should have torn your throat out the moment we first met."

A cruel smile spread across his face.

"But perhaps this is better. I've imagined your death for a very long time, Jue Bu. I've imagined breaking every bone in your body, hearing you beg, watching that arrogant expression finally crack." He pointed at me with a shaking finger. "So stand there and keep muttering to yourself. Keep pretending you're untouchable. In a few moments, I'll carve you apart and scatter what's left of you across this cursed world."

His killing intent surged.

"Forget any mercy," he repeated, his voice dripping with venom. "I'll butcher you where you stand."

I ignored him.

"Why does this guy hate you so much?" I asked Jue Bu.

Jue Bu sounded genuinely baffled. "I don't know. Last time we fought, I transformed him into his ideal form. He should be grateful."

"...What?"

"I gave him curves."

That broke me. My mouth opened, closed, and then opened again.

"..."

Thank the heavens Ru Qiu couldn't hear any of this. Unfortunately, his rage was real enough. The air thickened with power. Shadows stretched across the earth. The sun disappeared behind an eclipse that hadn't existed moments before.

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 genuine article, far more terrifying than the last Heavenly Demon I'd fought.

Jue Bu's tone turned grave.

"Ready yourself. This is Ru Qiu's Immortal Art. At his peak in the Perfect Immortal Realm, he wielded Quintessence without limit. Even now, his technique draws upon nearly infinite qi. I've cultivated enough within you to push you into the Will Reinforcement Realm, but make no mistake that you are inferior in both cultivation and mastery. Your only advantage is that mysterious Legacy."

"So any suggestions?" I asked.

"It's obvious," Jue Bu snapped. "Run! Live to fight another day!"

I clenched my fists.

"You misunderstand, Jue Bu." I scoffed. "Run? 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, a prison sealed from the supernatural. If he can wield this much power here, 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 a hand. His extended finger resembled a guillotine blade. At its tip, black flame coiled and writhed. It was ugly, hungry, and wrong. One look at it made me want to vomit.

Jue Bu panicked. "You have to run—"

I cut him off. "So easy to change decisions. I didn't think you were that fickle. Don't lose heart, Jue Bu. You said you hated this guy's guts. You wanted to help. If your idea of help is running away, maybe you're more of a pussy than I thought. But don't worry. I'm man enough for the both of us. With this little power you are giving me, I should be able to put him in his place."

My own hand rose. Radiant warmth surged into my palm as divine power condensed into pure golden light. Life force trickled from my body into the growing brilliance as I forced the power into existence.

Ru Qiu sneered.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Perish before my might... Hellflame Retribution."

The black flame erupted into a monstrous skeletal hand, wreathed in demonic fire. It rushed toward me like a judge descending 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, forged from condensed law and judgment. It howled like the will of heaven itself.

The two techniques collided with a thunderous roar that shook heaven and earth, flame meeting holy light in a cataclysmic fury as demon clashed against god. The ground fractured violently beneath our feet while the sky itself splintered overhead, the world trembling under the overwhelming clash of divine and demonic power. Yet through it all I remained unmoving, rooted like an unyielding mountain, my gaze locked with cold, unwavering intensity upon the man I had sworn to kill.

"Motherfucker, what are you doing!?" Jue Bu screeched inside my skull. "You're going to kill us! Our essences are leaking through—AH! AH! AHH!"

"Oh, don't be such a drama queen," I muttered.

Unfortunately, he wasn't entirely wrong.

I felt the strain too from the tearing seam between soul and vessel. My essence, his essence, and the unstable bridge of qi connecting us were coming apart.

Still, a dangerous, reckless, and utterly perfect idea had already taken root in my mind. With nothing but raw life force as fuel, I began casting the Ultimate Skill, pouring every ounce of my burning vitality into it. To my surprise, it worked. A surge of profound warmth flooded through me as Exalted Renewal took hold, golden light erupting from my core with such intensity that it felt as though every cell in my body was being violently torn apart and reborn stronger than before.

Jue Bu wailed like a dying ghost trapped in a latrine, his ancient voice echoing miserably inside my skull.

“Bastard! You suicidal maniac! Do you have a death wish or did your brain finally rot away completely?! What in the eighteen hells is happening?! My precious cultivation is rotting away like spoiled cabbage left out in the summer sun—turning black, stinking, and falling apart piece by piece! Aaaargh! Shit! SHIIIIIT! You’re doing it again, you reckless meat puppet! Burning your life force like some brainless candle in a typhoon! For the love of Buddha, the Dao, and my poor shriveled ancestors—PLEASE STOP IT BEFORE I TURN INTO A COMPLETE VEGETABLE INSIDE YOUR WORTHLESS SOUL!”

He let out another sob, full of anger. “I was supposed to be an eternal underworld sovereign, not some parasitic battery getting drained dry by a battle-maniac fool! My yin essence… my hard-earned death qi… all of it! Wasted on your heroic last stand! Just end me already, you walking disaster!”

My muscles swelled and hardened with explosive power, veins glowing like molten gold beneath my tightening skin as the armor groaned in protest before violently tearing apart. The chestplate shattered into fragments, pauldrons snapped free, and my tunic exploded into fluttering rags, leaving me clad only in rippling muscle and radiant light. It was familiar, powerful, and primal. It was a body straight from my previous life, every sculpted contour remembered deep within my soul.

For the first time since arriving in this world, I truly possessed that godlike physique once more. Yet I knew it wouldn’t last; I was burning life force like oil in a raging furnace.

"You... are not Jue Bu," said Ru Qiu.

His gaze drifted across the battlefield to the soldiers standing between us—the dead soldiers, now stirring with unnatural life. While the heavens had roared with the cataclysmic clash of Heavenly Punishment and Hellflame Retribution, drawing every eye upward in awe and terror, I had been quietly spamming Divine Word: Raise like a gambling addict on the hottest streak of his life.

Corpses convulsed violently on the blood-soaked ground. Severed veins drank back their spilled blood in reverse rivers, shattered bones snapped into place with sickening cracks, and long-empty lungs heaved with stolen breath. It was grotesque. It was beautiful. A profane symphony of death undone.

My paladin abilities had once drawn upon mana, but after arriving in this world I had torn apart and rebuilt their very framework. Now they ran on qi. It was cruder, rougher, and far more primal. Yet undeniably effective.

"Such powerful healing techniques," Ru Qiu muttered in surprise. "Are you the Divine Physician? Curious. I never heard the esteemed healer was also a warrior. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, considering that existence at our level wouldn't have survived without shedding blood."

Internally, I asked, "Jue Bu, how long before you completely disintegrate?"

"You ungrateful son of a—" He stopped himself. "One minute! You've got one minute! Kill him in a minute, and I swear I won't permanently turn you into a girl!"

I took that as encouragement.

"112th Bronze Squadron!" I roared and my voice thundered across the battlefield. "Arm yourselves! Strengthen your courage! Steel your resolve! You've been given a second chance at life! See this battle through, and you shall survive!"

Lion's Roar and Lion's Courage erupted from me in tandem, flooding the resurrected soldiers with righteous fervor.

Their eyes sharpened.

Weapons were snatched from the ground from broken blades, dented shields, shattered halberds, and anything they could wield.

Ru Qiu laughed. "They'll die exactly as they did before, like the insects they were."

"Oh, but they won't," I said with a manic grin. "We will destroy you."

Holy Sanctuary descended upon the battlefield like a divine beacon from the heavens, anchoring itself firmly as a radiant dome of warm, golden light enveloped the soldiers in its protective embrace. I wasted no time layering Holy Aura over it, then wove in War Aura for damage boost, Life Aura for health boost, and finally Zeal Aura for speed boost.

Ru Qiu sneered. "Pathetic. Relying on mortals—"

I didn't let him finish.

I cast Bless and Blessed Weapon again and again across the battlefield, marking every revived soldier with a swift, deliberate glance. Their weapons shimmered with holy radiance, their eyes blazed with renewed fire, and their spirits reignited with fierce, unbreakable resolve. Ru Qiu’s mouth clicked shut mid-sentence, his smug sneer faltering into open disbelief. That shut him up nicely.

I tilted my chin with a disdainful smirk and declared in a voice that thundered across the battlefield like the decree of an emperor, “Allow me to reintroduce myself to this pitiful, insignificant world, my dear inferior. I am Da Wei—Great Guard of the Hollowed World, Defeater of Hell’s Gate, and Slayer of the Abyss. Burn these titles into your pathetic, quivering soul so that you never again dare to forget the insurmountable mountain that stands before you.”

I pointed my sword at him.

"For I am the God of War."

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

Improved Version:

“WAR!” Yuen Fu bellowed, his voice cracking across the battlefield like heavenly thunder.

“WAR! WAR! WAR!!!”

The chant erupted behind him, raw and domineering, swelling into a deafening war cry that shook the very air. It did not rise from a disciplined army, but from a ragged host of broken men wielding shattered weapons and scraps of battered armor. Yet they marched forward with unyielding steel in their hearts, eyes blazing with newfound purpose.

They believed with the ferocious conviction of men who had stared into the abyss and chosen to charge straight through it.

I hadn't felt power like this in ages. It was pure, reckless, and alive.

It coursed through my limbs like liquid lightning. Grinning, I activated Zealot's Stride and wove Divine Speed through it like flame through silk. The TriDivine had once been a passive ability, but like all things, it obeyed when fed enough power.

I took a single step.

And appeared directly in front of Ru Qiu.

To his credit, he reacted instantly. His fingers flashed toward his storage ring, drawing a black blade pulsing with malevolent energy.

God, I missed my Item Box.

"God of War!" one of the soldiers shouted, hurling a battered sword through the air.

I caught it mid-spin.

Ru Qiu’s blade struck like lightning before the ringing of steel had even faded from my hand, carving deep into my neck and nearly severing my head in a single vicious stroke. Shock flashed across his face as the blade halted halfway through, unable to complete its deadly arc.

Divine Flesh activated instantly, my muscles hardening into unbreakable cords of divine iron that clamped down on the trapped sword like a merciless vise. Blood spilled hot from my lips as I grinned through the gruesome wound, staring straight into his widening eyes with savage delight.

"You'll need more than that."

Thunderous Smite surged through the sword in my hand as Ru Qiu’s gaze snapped away from me and locked onto the soldier who had thrown me the weapon. Before I could react, an invisible palm strike erupted, and the man exploded into a gruesome mist of blood and gore.

Ru Qiu sneered in triumph, but the expression shattered a heartbeat later when Divine Word: Raise activated. Blood flowed backward into ruined veins, flesh knitted itself together, and the dead soldier staggered upright as though nothing had happened.

Three more soldiers charged at once, one thrusting from behind, two flanking his sides. I drove my chipped blade deep into Ru Qiu’s shoulder, Thunderous Smite tearing viciously toward his heart. He didn’t even grunt.

Instead, he twisted his sword with ruthless precision, finishing the beheading in one clean stroke. My head spun through the air in a spray of blood, but I immediately shifted to Divine Sense, perceiving the battlefield from every angle at once.

The two flanking soldiers exploded into ribbons of flesh, while the third managed to drive his spear into Ru Qiu’s lower back before dying. Without pause, I resurrected them again. And again. And again.

My headless body refused to stop fighting, moving with eerie grace as it snatched a fallen spear from the bloodied ground and lunged forward without hesitation. Being decapitated was surprisingly manageable when perceiving the battlefield through Divine Sense in perfect third-person clarity.

Ru Qiu’s iron composure began to crack as my headless form seized him by the throat and squeezed with relentless, divine strength. More soldiers surged forward in a roaring wave, four spears thrusting savagely toward his ribs and sides in a sloppy but ferocious formation. It didn’t matter how unrefined their attack was. They believed.

High above, my detached head completed its graceful arc through the air as I activated Zealot’s Stride, just as I had done in the Hollowed World while missing limbs.

I knew it would work.

With explosive speed, my head shot forward like a comet and slammed back onto my neck with a grotesque, wet squelch. Divine Word: Life flared brilliantly, golden light instantly stitching together spine, nerves, sinew, and flesh in a seamless reunion.

At that moment, Ru Qiu erupted into roiling black flames, unleashing a hellish inferno meant to annihilate everything around him.

Ordinarily it would have succeeded, yet the soldiers endured, bolstered by every buff reinforcing their bodies and spirits. They emerged charred and battered, but defiantly alive.

Black flames spiraled wildly around Ru Qiu as he vanished, only to reappear instantly beside me. His blade flashed with lethal speed, severing one of my arms in a spray of blood. Only a last-second dodge kept my head attached. He vanished again, taking my severed arm with him into the shadows.

"DA WEI!" Yuen Fu roared. "CATCH!"

A spear sailed through the chaos of the battlefield, and I caught it mid-flight without breaking stride. Divine Might surged through my veins like a raging torrent, followed instantly by Divine Smite, the overwhelming power of a god fused with the raw, burning fury of a man who had been denied that strength for far too long.

With a roar that split the air, I hurled the spear, and it screamed forward like holy judgment incarnate.

Ru Qiu vanished once more in a swirl of black flames that swallowed his form, but the spear pierced straight through the dark smoke. For a brief, electric instant, our eyes met across the distance. His eyes glowed a venomous crimson within the shadows, brimming with seething hatred and pure, unbridled malice.

"Next time, you will die," said Ru Qiu as he finally disappeared and my spear vanished with him.

I channeled every ounce of my remaining qi into my voice, amplifying it through Qi Speech, Lion’s Roar, and the full power of my Linguist Subclass. My words erupted across the battlefield like heavenly thunder, impossible to block or escape.

“RU QIU, YOU FUCKING COCKROACH! You slimy, ball-less, motherless spawn of a diseased whore and a rotting donkey’s asshole! You dare run away after I painted the ground with your pathetic blood?! Come back here so I can shove my spear so far up your shriveled demonic cunt that your ancestors will feel it in the ends of hell! I’ll skull-fuck your soul until even Jue Bu thinks you’re too perverted to share a body with! Run while you can, you spineless cum-gargling gutter rat, because the next time I see your sorry face, I’m going to make you regret every single one of your worthless, shit-stained lives!”

I didn’t know where Ru Qiu had fled, but I knew the spear had found its mark. A heavy silence descended over the battlefield, thick and expectant, as if the world itself were holding its breath.

Then the pain crashed over me like a delayed thunderclap. My body betrayed me, collapsing under its own weight. I dropped to my knees, gasping harshly, not from fear and not from the searing wounds that covered me, but from pure, burning frustration. My skills had rusted after so long without true battle. The edge I once wielded so effortlessly had dulled.

Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth as I gritted my teeth.

In the end, it had worked.

The 112th Bronze Squadron still stood. Battered, bloodied, and breathing. They were alive against all odds. It was a miracle forged in desperation and unyielding will. I slumped forward, strength finally abandoning me as darkness crept in at the edges of my vision.

The last thing I heard before unconsciousness claimed me was raw, disbelieving, and joyful laughter. Then came the tears, mingled with triumphant cries as the soldiers gathered around me. Their voices rose in a chaotic symphony of victory and resurrection, the sound of men who had walked through death and returned.

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

And it was glorious.