Zhang Fei grabbed Ru Xue’s shoulders. "Xue’er, I’ve never said this before, but our relationship has left some things in my heart, and it often makes me feel guilty toward you."

"Hmm?" Ru Xue looked at Zhang Fei in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

Zhang Fei immediately told her, "You are my first woman, and you have sacrificed so much for me, starting from divorcing Xu Xuan to allowing Xu Ling’er to be my wife. You never even complained, even though I had so many women by my side, but I often felt that I never treated you as one. I’m not saying that this lotus is worth your sacrifice for me, and I only wanted to give it to you as a gift so you know how I feel about you."

"Sigh." Ru Xue sighed heavily. "I don’t understand why you feel that way, but you should know that I am happy with you. At first, I was in a dilemma about our relationship because I was Xu Xuan’s wife at that time, but I never felt that way again after I divorced him, and my heart has long belonged to you. I never thought about sacrifice or anything like that because I decided to be with you on my own, even though I knew that you would have many women in the future. As for Ling’er, I’ve known for a long time that she loves you, and I don’t want her to be disappointed, so I asked you to take her as your wife. Therefore, you don’t need to keep such thoughts in your mind and heart, especially since I’m truly happy now."

"But—"

"No buts, okay?" Ru Xue stopped him. "I’m happy, and I’ll never regret my decision, so you should put all those thoughts out of your mind."

Zhang Fei stared at her for a while before nodding. "Alright, I’ll put those thoughts aside. By the way, I’ve decided to give this lotus to you, and you can use it to increase your soul power now. As for Lin’er and the others, I’ll definitely look for other items that can help them increase their soul power."

"Just use the lotus for you, Big Sis Xue." Ling Long and the others nodded in agreement with Zhang Lin.

After all, Zhang Fei had never treated them differently, and he always tried to treat them fairly, so they didn’t mind if Ru Xue used the Nine-Petal Phantom Soul Lotus.

Ru Xue nodded to them before sitting cross-legged on her spot, and she began to absorb the Nine-Petal Phantom Soul Lotus. However, Zhang Fei forbade her from absorbing it all at once because the soul power within it was too abundant; instead, he asked her to absorb it slowly and gradually.

Zhang Fei himself immediately sat a little far from them and took out the materials for his demon rank to break through to the Seven Supreme Demon Ranks. The Abyssal Demon Heart, the Infernal Blood Core, the Demon Essence Drop, the Demon Soul Elixir, and the Demon Ritual Sigil.

"Let me explain it to you first, brother-in-law." Nalan Wangzi walked before Zhang Fei and took the Demon Essence Drop. "You can’t use them all at once, and you must start with this essence drop, as it is the first key to surpass the mortal limitation. It will flow to your body through your cultivation veins and fuse with your cultivation core, and it will also purify and condense your demon qi into its purest form, which we call the true demon Qi. During the process, your cultivation veins will expand, opening the path for your ascension."

"Then?"

Nalan Wangzi returned the Demon Essence Drop to him. "After your body fully absorbs the essence drop, you can use the soul elixir. It will expand and baptize your demon soul to perfection. Then, you can use the blood core; it will melt and flow through your bloodstream. At first, you will feel your blood boil and become hot, and it will also temper your flesh and bones."

"I see." Zhang Fei nodded in understanding. "What is the fourth item I should use?"

"This one." Nalan Wangzi pointed at the Abyssal Demon Heart. "After you complete the previous three processes, you can use this demon heart, but it will replace your original heart. Unlike our Qi stored in our dantian and cultivation core, your demon heart will function as the core to accommodate your true demon qi."

"Wait a minute, Big Sis." Nalan Yushu suddenly spoke. "You don’t know about this matter yet, but my husband’s heart is no longer a human heart."

"Huh?" Nalan Wangzi turned to her little sister in shock. "Is that true? Is his heart really no longer a human heart? Then, what is his heart now?"

"The Cursed Demon Heart." Nalan Wangzi was even more shocked as soon as Jia Yuyan said that. "Zhang Fei got the heart a long time ago, and it almost took over his body two decades ago. Fortunately, Zhang Chen managed to help him, and he eventually took over control of the heart from its previous owner."

Nalan Wangzi returned her gaze to Zhang Fei with a frown. "The Cursed Demon Heart belonged to an ancient demon, and Long Wuzhao killed him. He wanted to destroy the heart, but it suddenly disappeared. In fact, all the demon gods, including my mother, had been trying hard to find the heart for thousands of years. They believed it would grant them greater power, so they were ambitious to obtain it, but their efforts never bore fruit.

"Haha." Zhang Fei laughed wryly before pressing his palm against his heart area. "To be honest, I never wanted this Cursed Demon Heart, but it immediately entered my body after I opened the chest. Since then, this heart has become one with me, but it always gave me a feeling of fear, which was proven true by the incident at that time. I almost lost my body because the previous owner was powerful and was helped by another creature, but I was fortunate because my grandmother came to save me; otherwise, I wouldn’t be myself anymore."

Nalan Wangzi let out a heavy sigh upon hearing that. "Since the Cursed Demon Heart is already a part of you, I don’t know what will happen if you use the Abyssal Demon Heart, but I think your current heart will absorb it and merge with it because it is much stronger. Even though you already have full control over your current heart, you will probably experience some changes after your demon rank breaks through to the Seven Supreme Demon Ranks. However, that’s just my guess, so you have to be prepared for the worst."

"Doesn’t that mean my husband will become much stronger than our mother and the other demon gods, Big Sis?"

Nalan Wangzi shook her head in response to her little sister’s question. "According to the story, the previous owner of the Cursed Demon Heart was indeed powerful, but I don’t know how strong he was. As far as I know, only Long Wuzhao knows for sure his strength, especially since he was the one who fought and killed him. However, Zhang Fei possesses many advantages that other cultivators, including the Golden Dragon Emperor, don’t possess. Therefore, I believe the heart will help him surpass them all in the future, especially after his cultivation reaches the Celestial God Realm."

"Alright, we don’t need to talk about that now." Zhang Fei then asked Nalan Wangzi. "What should I do after I absorb the Abyssal Demon Heart?"

"Are you impatient to break through and evolve again, brother-in-law?" Zhang Fei responded to Nalan Wanzi with a broad grin. "Once you’ve used the other four, you just need to activate the Demon Ritual Sigil. Once you activate it, a demon gate will open, which will connect you to the true demon laws."

"True demon laws?"

Nalan Wangzi nodded slightly. "I can’t explain it in detail, and you’ll experience it for yourself soon. After the process is complete, you will enter your evolution process, which may take quite a while. However, it’s not a big deal because the flow of time in this place is four times faster than the outside world, so you can go through the process calmly. Since you can’t wait for your demon rank to break through, you can consume the essence drop now to start the process, and I’ll be here to monitor you."

"Alright." Zhang Fei unhesitatingly consumed the Demon Essence Drop, and it quickly flowed into his body. As Nalan Wangzi had said before, he could feel it flowing into his body through his cultivation veins, rapidly flowing to his cultivation core.

A while later, Zhang Fi felt that his cultivation veins gradually expanded, and the Demon Essence Drop began to purify and condense his demon qi, which excited him. He had been waiting for this day for a long time, as his demon rank had already broken through to the Emperor Rank long ago, but he didn’t have those materials to break through.

The process lasted for three full hours, and Nalan Wangzi immediately spoke to him. "Brother-in-law, release your demon soul and use the Demon Soul Elixir on your soul."

Zhang Fei didn’t say anything and released his demon soul, and he used the Demon Soul Elixir on his soul directly according to Nalan Wangzi’s instructions. In a few minutes, his soul turned black, and his expression changed repeatedly as he felt the changes beginning to occur in his soul.

- To Be Continued -