Chapter 1951 - 1951. Hunched

Divine Demon had departed with the old cultivator. Storms blew on his face as he inspected his opponent. The vitality that his figure radiated created a stark contrast with his hunched back and white beard, and the scene eventually tickled Divine Demon's curiosity.

"Before we start killing each other," Divine Demon asked while nearing the cultivator, "I have a doubt that I'm dying to solve."

The old cultivator was still a bit pissed about the previous interaction with Noah, but that sudden question from Divine Demon left him surprised. Heaven and Earth had obviously studied him since he was a potential threat, so it felt strange to see traces of mental stability in him.

"Why didn't you fix your back?" Divine Demon quickly continued and made the expert's surprise shatter.

"You are a literal god standing near the peak of the cultivation journey," Divine Demon commented while spreading his arms in disbelief. "Why would you even keep this appearance? It's even uncomfortable to drink wine like this."

The old cultivator stared at Divine Demon taking out a cup full of wine from his space-ring and trying to drink while pretending to have a hunched back. Part of the liquid fell, but he promptly stopped it with his mental energy.

"Maybe I'm doing it wrong," Divine Demon guessed before taking out another cup and handing it toward the cultivator. "Show me how you do it."

The old cultivator felt the urge to attack Divine Demon on the spot, but he held back while continuing to fly forward. He completely ignored the offer. After all, no one would ever accept drinks from an enemy.

"Being cryptic won't get you closer to Heaven and Earth," Divine Demon scoffed while emptying both cups and throwing one away. "I suppose the hunched back won't either."

The cup in his hands returned full by the time he lowered it. The old cultivator didn't miss that detail, but Heaven and Earth had already recorded it. Still, he wanted to confirm that Divine Demon didn't lose that ability after regaining that apparent mental clarity.

"Maybe it's a cultivation technique necessary for your law!" Divine Demon exclaimed as his red eyes lit up. "No, wait, it's called world for those in the ninth rank. The world of the hunched backs that takes down opponents with its sharp curves! Does it get stronger depending on the angle that you create?"

Divine Demon drank from his cup while scratching his chin. He seemed to have forgotten that a deadly battle was about to unfold. His entire focus was on trying to solve that doubt.

"It's about respecting the form that you had when you obtained divine powers," The old cultivator eventually explained. Still, he remained surprised when he sensed a flicker in Divine Demon's cultivation level.

"Don't mind it," Divine Demon sighed. "It happens sometimes. I end up clearing challenges that have stayed with me for millennia. I probably had one about hunched backs. I can't be sure. Most of my memories are still fuzzy."

The old cultivator made sure to memorize everything Divine Demon said. He even tried to find details that Heaven and Earth might have missed after they went partially dormant. Still, Divine Demon felt too hard to study. His existence never appeared clear. Inspecting him could even confuse most of the time.

"How did you even reach the step before the ninth rank?" The old cultivator asked as his curiosity became unbearable.

"I'm a demon," Divine Demon explained. "I simply pay the price to advance, be it lives, pain, or memories."

Divine Demon could appear complicated to study, but the old cultivator seemed to understand something after that answer. Heaven and Earth had often thought about Divine Demon's existence as an intricate law with boundless potential. The rulers even paid a great deal of attention to him because his world could become a crucial part of their power. Yet, that evaluation felt off now.

The old cultivator could sense an innate purity in Divine Demon's mind. The latter wasn't stupid. He actually was one of the smartest existences in the entirety of the world when it came to things that he desired. However, his core drive didn't seem to have many twists and turns. It felt extremely simple, like an urge that he couldn't stop.

"You are a special case in the world," The old cultivator declared after a while. "You could bring immense benefits to Heaven and Earth if you decided to join them on your own."

"Impossible," Divine Demon snorted. "I might consider teaching them something if they prostrate to me for one hundred thousand years, but I don't want to give them false hopes."

"I'm talking about the rulers of the world," The old cultivator repeated as a frown appeared on his face.

"You might be right," Divine Demon laughed. "One hundred thousand years is too little for them. Let's make it a million, and I'll think about it."

"Heaven and Earth!" The old cultivator shouted while pointing at the sky, "The actual rulers of the world. How should they even bow?"

"That's their problem," Divine Demon uncaringly replied. "That's my offer for now. It might be two million in a few years."

The old cultivator finally understood the issue with Divine Demon. He could only be himself. The nature of a situation didn't matter. His bottlenecks didn't matter. He was Divine Demon because that was the only shape his existence had ever allowed him to take.

"We have to kill each other then," The old cultivator sighed.

"Didn't we already decide that?" Divine Demon asked while bringing his hand back on his chin. "I didn't forget, did I?"

The old cultivator shook his head before inspecting his surroundings. His connection with Heaven and Earth made him understand his current position. He had put enough distance from the lake, and the other battlefields were far away too. That area was perfect.

The expert snapped his fingers, and the storms shattered, clearing an immense area that could hold the imminent battle. Divine Demon wore a cold smile at that scene, and he didn't hesitate to throw his cup away even if it still had some wine left.

"You won't have challenges on my end," The old cultivator announced. "We have studied you for too long to give you such a huge advantage."

"I wouldn't be a challenge if it were so easy to obtain," Divine Demon laughed as his aura spread in the environment and took control of part of the world.

"I must also admit something," The old cultivator revealed while wearing a complicated expression. "You are strong, and your law appears boundless."

"Thanks?" Divine Demon replied in a confused tone.

"Heaven and Earth have such a high consideration of you that they don't allow us to kill you," The old cultivator explained. "They have long since prepared something meant to capture your law. I'm sorry. You won't have a battle."

The old cultivator raised his hand, and the world released a humming noise. A pillar of light pierced the storms and activated one of the functions that Heaven and Earth had added to the world.

A cubical prison suddenly materialized around the two experts. Walls made of the same fabric as the sky appeared around them before they could even think about reacting. The space inside that cage also shattered and fused with the white material to leave them floating among the void.