Chapter 9: Overcoming Heart Demons

Shu Feng slowly opened his eyes. He can see a ray of light that escapes between the gap of tree leaves directly hitting his face. It was like the nature was bathing him a warm welcome.

Shu Feng slowly stands up from his laying position, you could see traces of relief from his normal black eyes.

'Huh, I can finally move on about the matter of killing my own race.'

.....

Even though it looks like he slept peacefully yesterday, it is quite the opposite.

Shu Feng saw himself floating around in an endless darkness, he wondered around only to find a faint light shinning far away from him.

He tried to reach that light with his hands, but it seems like the more he approach it, the more it goes far away. No matter how many times he tried to grab the light, it simply move farther and farther.

Just as he was about to chase it again, some human wails could be heard from his back.

He turn his head to look and it was the group of people that he killed.

They slowly approach him while saying the same things over and over again.

"You killed us..."

"Hehehehe"

"You are not a human anymore"

Shu Feng looked at them with his eyes wide open, his hands were trembling from fear. He just stand still in the same spot while watching them slowly approach him.

Unbeknownst to him, he was facing right now his inner demons that has been created after he killed humans.

We know that a Heart Demon was the greatest obstacle that many cultivators face that will render them to advanced anymore.

In some worse case, they will be swallowed by their Heart Demons, loosing their rationality.

Heart Demons was created when a cultivator do something that is against their own true belief.

In short, Heart Demons was the fear that was created by doing something that we did not want to do the most.

But if someone manage to overcome their own fear, they will not be bothered by it anymore.

.....

Shu Feng mustter his own courage and move both his feet and run towards the light. But as if those Heart Demons have their own consciousness, they keep on following him.

He was afraid, really afraid of them. It was his first time killing a human. Even though his body and soul was constructed, his own belief and emotions was still the same as the past.

The light keeps on moving farther, and the wails keeps on getting closer.

He suddenly thought about the things that he had gone through from the past. On how he was abandoned in the orphanage.

How he got inflicted to a gang that keeps on chasing him until he got captured.

How they turn him into a slave and force him to do illigal things.

How they beat them up barely keeping himself alive.

How they chase him just because of a necklace and mercilessly killed him just for–

'That's right, even in my previous world they would still resort to killing just because of profits.

Then how about a world where in the strong preys on the weak.

It was all the same, to kill or be killed.'

Shu Feng showed a grin on his face while abruptly stopping and turning his head towards those voices.

"I still wanted to do a lot of things. Do you think that just the likes of you who deserve to die can stop me!"

He slowly step forward marching toward those Heart Demons. Shu Feng just walks forward and didn't know that the small faint light was slowly radiating the whole void of darkness.

Those Heart Demons cannot help but unconciously move a step backward.

But Shu Feng didn't care, he just move forward step by step while keep on talking.

"I have my own help that even though didn't have mercy towards me, he still helps me with all of his ability."

"If I let myself succumb in this forever nightmare, do you think I still deserve to reach my goals!"

Words after words keep on resounding throughtout the darkness while the light keeps on illuminating the endless darkness.

"People like you who will kill even their own family and the one you serve just for your selfish desires deserve to die!" Shu Feng shouted while the light already envelop the whole space.

'Creech'

A terrified shrieks resounding throughout the expanse of light. Those Heart Demons was swallowed by the radiating light completely vanishing without a trace.

"I still have a goal that I want to reach the most. I have UG, so realizing my dreams was just a matter of hard work and time." Shu Feng mumbled to himself while showing a sweet smile that will surely make any maiden's heart melt.

.....

With a blinding light that envelop Shu Feng, he slowly opened his eyes and inhale a full fresh air into his lungs.

*Ding*

"Heart Realm First Stage: Heart Still Like Water Achieved."

*Ding*

"Surprise Rewards trigerred. Please received the following rewards."

[Endless Chaos Heart Cultivation Technique- High Grade Immortal Rank- Upgradable

Description: Behind the endless cosmos lies the truth of serenity.

This cultivation technique was divided into five stages.]

[Chaos Will- A passive cultivation skill that let's the user automatically emmit a wave of aura that strengthens the will of your comrade and weakens the will of enemies.]

*Ding*

[Serene Space had been unlocked

Description: A space within a cultivators Heart that can only be unlocked when they entered the first stage of heart cultivation. It is a fragile space that is an epitome of serenity. Can be used by the cultivator to calm one's mind.]

.....

Shu Feng slowly stands up and pat his cloths away. He searched for a nearby lake into his map and decided to take a morning bath first.

Shu Feng was standing in a lake while bathing under the warm morning rays of the sun.

He was observing the sky up above, he was watching as the clouds move through the wind. He slowly landed his eyes into the water in front of him.

He dip his finger into the water, it cause a small ripple that immidiately vanish turning the water into it's tranquil state.

'Heart Still Like Water. Water cannot be destroyed, nor disturbed. Complexity of things, water takes form. No matter how callous the road is, fill it with water and it will show you a straight, plain and stable path.

No matter how strong the disturbance is, it will still return to it's former serene state.' Shu Feng thought of the things that he discovered about his Heart Cultivation.

'Status'

*Ding*

[NAME: Shu Feng

AGE: 17

TITLE: [Beast's Nightmare]

BLOODLINE: Wood Ancient- 7%

Human- 93%

RACE: Human

CHARISMA: 120- 180

SP: 4 503

HEALTH POINTS: 2 000/2 000

CHAOS ENERGY: 1 300/1 300

STAMINA: 500/500

STRENGTH: 340

SPEED: 330

MIND: 210- 250

CONSTITUTION: 280

SOUL POWER: 51

CULTIVATION: Third Stage Foundation Building

Realm

SOUL: First Stage Soul Perception

HEART: First Stage Heart Still Like Water

CULTIVATION TECHNIQUE: Chaos Conversion

Cultivation Technique

BODY CULTIVATION : None

SOUL CULTIVATION: Divine Soul of Chaos

Cultivation Technique

HEART CULTIVATION: Endless Chaos Heart

Cultivation Technique

SKILLS: Active: [Basic Chaos Burst]

Passive: [Chaos Will]

ABILITY: [Analyze] [Soul Search]

There are now two new added features into his status, the Heart feature wherein it tells his Heart Realm. And the Heart Cultivation feature that shows his cultivation technique.

There is not much of a change exept for his charisma and mind. They move up into a shocking numbers. Much more for his mind, he didn't think that entering the first stage of heart realm would drastically affect his mind.

He wants to try out his new skill, but since he was still far away from his destination, he set it aside first. Right now his focus was on his new Cultivation Technique, the Endless Chaos Heart Cultivation Technique.

It was actually divided into five stages, but he can only access for now the first three stages, he didn't mind though because he knows that his strength is still insufficient.

The First Stage, Chaos Calming Chant.

The Second Stage, Unbending Chaos Will.

The Third Stage, Chaos Heart Origin.

Heart Cultivation Realm was totally divided into seven stages but only the first five was known. They are respectively,

Heart Still Like Water being the first level,

Heart Still Like Breeze,

Heart Still Like Flame,

Heart Still Like Stone, and

Heart Still Like Tree being the fifth level.

The last two stages was currently unknown in this world. Even though they exist, no one has ever reached it. So they thought that the limit was the fifth stage.

.....

The first stage will help the cultivator advance to the first level of heart realm to the second level. The Second Stage will aide the cultivator from the third level to the fourth level. And the Third Stage of Cultivation Technique will help him to achieve the fifth stage, Heart Still Like Tree.

The First Stage, Chaos Calming Chant. It was used to turn his disturbed heart back to calmness. He tried to chant the first stage.

"The water was formed,

Plain and straight,

Undisturbed and Still,

Ease my Heart,

Through my mind,

And Calmness can be find."

And with a strange warm breeze that entered his body, something was like a drip of water could be heard inside his heart. It was faint that can only be felt by a deep observation and awareness. It was only a sudden drip and immidiately vanishes without a trace, completely turning everything back to normal.

He tried to cultivate the Second Stage but there is no response.

"Why can't I cultivate the Second Stage, Unbending Chaos Will?" Shu Feng ask.

"It is because your realm is too low to cultivate it, you need to atleast advanced to the Emperor Realm and find a rare opportunity to cultivate it."

UG told him the reason.

"How can I find those oppurtunities?"

"Opportunities are bestowned by the Heavens by those who deserved it. Heart Cultivation Realm is different than the other three. It solely relies on very rare opportunities to make an advancement. Just like your dream yesterday, you manage to overcome your own Heart Demons and achieved the First Level of Heart Cultivation Realm.

Even if you manage to enter the Emperor Realm, it is still not enough to make an improvement. Even some Immortals cannot advance in the Second Stage of Heart Realm." UG told him the details of all his doubts.

"Then what will happen if I find those opportunities but I am not yet at the Emperos Realm?"

"You can simply make use of that opportunity and let your comprehension in your Heart Realm become deeper, and when the time that you advanced to the Emperor Realm, your Heart Realm would naturally follow suit."

After the long inquiring, Shu Feng finally stop and continued his blissful morning. He laid his body on the rock beside him and slowly observe everything that is happening in the water lake. He was thinking that maybe if he manage to comprehend some things from it, he could deepen his comprehension about the Heart Still Like Water.