Heroes Return

At that instant, the Guixu Sword collided with the massive longsword before it. With a deafening roar, the energy sword was cleaved in two, but it instantly reformed. At that moment, all the superpowered individuals on the floating island jumped off and collectively attacked Zero.

On the floating island, all the powerful members of the sea tribe jumped off. With their leaps, the former desert transformed into a vast expanse of desert.

Seeing this scene, the heroes from the Heroes' Association gradually left the floating fortress. Now, only Gear, who had remained silent all along, was still there. Gear, supposedly one of the world's most outstanding scientists, didn't become a hero through combat prowess.

"It seems it's time to activate the true form of this floating fortress." As soon as he finished speaking, this wheel began tinkering with the machinery in front of him.

Of course, there was another group of people who didn't go down with them; these were all members of the Magic Association. However, the others were different; although they didn't go down, they continued to cast spells from a distance.

"I am an S-class hero! The Iron Giant! Let me witness your power!" A man's height instantly expanded to tens of meters, and his body also shone with a metallic luster.

"An S-class hero who's also a musketeer! I'd like to see Zero's power too." Another man holding a strange-looking musket said to Zero with a smile.

Then, in the next second, they were slammed to the ground by Zero's punch.

"Abyss Summoning." Seeing the battlefield swarming forward, Solomon finally unleashed his magic. With the eruption of Solomon's magic, a massive black hole suddenly formed in the sky. A gigantic demonic arm stretched out from within the black hole.

But the next second, Gui Xu severed the arm, accompanied by a scream of pain mixed with terror, and the gates of the abyss slammed shut. What Lin Jie didn't know was that from that moment on, any magic related to summoning demons from the abyss permanently ceased to function. Apparently, this was because one of the strongest abyssal demons was blocked at the abyss's gate and nearly killed just as it was about to enter the human world. Humanity had become so powerful that it was impossible for any demon to still attempt to enter the human realm.

Seeing that even the most powerful Abyss Demon Summoning Spell had failed, Solomon sighed helplessly. A new spell erupted from her mouth once more. Stars twinkled in the sky, and countless beams of light converged into the magic circle Solomon had summoned. With this new burst of energy, a powerful pillar of magical light blasted towards Zero.

However, such an attack was nullified and vanished the moment the Void appeared.

On the desert, the sea general Karaka conjured a storm of countless swifts in his hand, but the next second a terrifying fist mark appeared on his face. He was sent flying backwards as if in his own backyard, seemingly unaffected by the attacks of numerous powerful figures. In fact, almost no one could fight Zero for even a single round without falling!

"Sonic used to like you so much! But why! He always told me to try to become a hero like you! But now, is this how you become a hero?" Amyra's voice appeared in Zero's ears, and the next second a burning figure was already in front of Lin Jie, and the metal roller in her hand was thrown directly at Lin Jie.

However, Lin Jie grabbed the metal rod directly.

"Hero? I stopped being one a long time ago." Zero simply responded to his words, then placed the metal rod aside. The sonic boom, which had been moving at high speed, was struck by Lin Jie in that instant and fell from the sky.

At the same time, a girl grabbed Lin Jie's shoulder. This action was completely unexpected by Lin Jie.

"Dong Xue'er?"

"I'm sorry, but even if it means death, I will stop you. You shouldn't continue as a criminal!" Dong Xue'er's firm voice rang in Lin Jie's ears: "Reverse Freezing."

As Dong Xue'er spoke, blue flames began to erupt from her body. But the next second, she was shocked to find that, for some unknown reason, all the blue flames flowed back into her body.

"I don't want anyone to die in this battle." Lin Jie turned around and grabbed Dong Xue'er. "Thank you very much, but I'm sorry, I can't watch you die from using such a dangerous move."

As soon as Lin Jie finished speaking, Dong Xue'er had already been thrown away by him.

"Senior Zero, we meet again!" Isabel's voice rang out. "I never imagined you were Zero! Is this the legendary hidden master in the court? My sister kept this from me!"

"Is it because you're stupid, sister?" Isabella's voice rang out. At that very moment, numerous crystal-like barriers appeared around Lin Jie, forming a square around Zero. As the square appeared, the space began to compress, and Zero began to shrink within it.

But the next second they saw Zero punch the crystal wall of the cube, and with a cracking sound, a strange crack appeared in the space. Then the entire space shattered.

"Sorry! You'll both fall today!" Lin Jie said, throwing two bricks at the two girls in front of him. Although a crystal wall immediately formed in front of the two girls, surprisingly, the bricks passed through the crystal wall, sending the two girls flying.

At the same time, a familiar figure appeared near Lin Jie, but the next second, Lin Jie grabbed that figure.

"Has he been released?"

"Why?" The girl in the blink of an eye was already in tears when she saw Zero: "Why did you disband the Salvation Army! Why did you deny your own ideals! Why did you become a criminal!"

"Sorry, I might be completely different from what you imagine," Lin Jie said, then flung the girl into the water below. At the same time, the girl crashed into the Master of Miracles, who was casting a spell, mid-air. The Master of Miracles was also thrown into the suddenly appearing seawater below.

Countless lasers and ranged attacks shot towards Lin Jie in that instant. However, they were all blocked by Gui Xu just before they were about to hit him. The figure of Shi Kong reappeared in front of Lin Jie, but the instant Shi Kong appeared, Lin Jie had already pressed the hilt of Gui Xu's sword against the opponent's stomach.

In an instant, as this spacetime was pushed downwards, all spacetime disappeared immediately.

Using the power of the Void, he directly struck the original, the most primordial spacetime, the one before all other spacetimes. Since this primordial spacetime was injured, all possible parallel worlds arose based on this premise. Naturally, all other spacetimes were also injured and degenerated.

In fact, if Lin Jie wanted to kill the space-time continuum, he only needed the Return to the Void Sword.

Of course, no one present was shocked enough to withstand Gui Xu's sword strike.

The battle continued. In the distance, the demon watched the scene unfold while drinking. He drank for as long as the fighting went on.

The sun rose and set, rose again, and set again. And just then, the demon finally stood up: "No one can withstand a single sword strike? Who decided that?"

P.S.: My new book, "I'm No Longer a Villain," has been uploaded. I hope those interested will support it. Also, I won't abandon the prequel; you can rest assured. The prequel will officially begin serialization after the main story of "Heroes" is completed.

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As the demon finished speaking, he appeared directly in the center of the battlefield. With the demon's appearance, the battlefield fell into an eerie silence once again.

Although it was just one person's appearance, that single person's aura alone made everyone uneasy. In an instant, everyone's attention was focused on Zero and the Demon.

As the demon appeared, Lin Jie's gaze involuntarily turned to it. The two stood less than a meter apart, staring at each other.

"We meet again." The demon looked at Lin Jie and said coldly, "This time, I will challenge you again."

"Should we join forces with them?" Looking at the many powerful figures in the distance, Lin Jie couldn't help but ask.

"They are not worthy to join forces with me!" the demon said coldly to Lin Jie. "I am the demon! The only demon in this world! No one in this world is qualified to join forces with me! Even if you are stronger than me, you are not qualified to join forces with me! I will break everything in this world with my own hands. So rest assured, I will not join forces with anyone."

"..." Upon hearing the demon's words, Lin Jie fell silent. "It seems you're prepared to take another sword strike from me."

"This time, I won't just take your sword; I'll shatter it head-on! Transcendence, huh? I want to see just what transcendence truly means!" As the words fell, the demon's fist hurtled towards Zero. At the same time, Zero kicked out at the demon.

Accompanied by a gust of wind powerful enough to blast away all the powerful figures in the vicinity, the battle between Zero and Demon officially began. The two were only one meter apart, but the speed of their clash was so fast that almost no one present could see it clearly. Those who were closer were directly swept away by the turbulence generated by the powerful collision and sent flying into the distance.

The silent collisions were almost entirely accompanied by spatial tremors and distortions. The combined attacks of the two individuals reached terrifying power in a short period of time, causing space itself to warp around their combined assault.

"Is that all you've got? Draw your sword! Without that sword, you're no good!" The demon's voice rang out at that moment, and at the same time, he exuded a distinct aura and ancient black runes. The demon, without yielding, allowed Lin Jie's attack to strike him, but then his hand reached out to grab Lin Jie: "Close combat is also one of my strengths."

Before Lin Jie could react, a massive black aura had already formed in the demon's palm.

"Destroy the Heavens and Become a Demon!" With the expansion of black energy, Zero was sent flying right before everyone's eyes. Not only was he sent flying, but the entire desert almost vanished with that single blow. However, the next second, right before everyone's eyes, Zero flew back, and the desert gradually returned to its original state.

"Hmph! Is this the power of your sword?" Seeing this, the demon couldn't help but look at his own hand. Almost instantly, several sword marks appeared on the demon's hand. But they were merely sword marks; right before everyone's eyes, the demon actually grasped Zero's Void with his own hand.

"Annihilate the root of the attack, thereby altering reality! Hahahaha! I finally understand the power of this sword! Today I'll see if you can annihilate me! My hand is still perfectly fine here, isn't it?" The demon's laughter echoed through the desert: "Your rules, I won't disobey! Not even when facing the most powerful transcendent being!"

As he spoke, the demon's other hand grasped the blade of the Guixu sword, and its entire body erupted with black energy.

The desert returned to its original state, indicating that Lin Jie's Guixu still exerted its power, and the demon's previous attack was essentially obliterated by the power of Guixu. However, what surprised Lin Jie was that Guixu had not completely erased the hand that used bone energy. In other words, even when facing the laws of the transcendent artifact Guixu, the demon still managed to circumvent many of them.

This is the power of a demon's absolute self-importance; he will forever live within the laws he desires, and never within the rules of others.

"Destroy the heavens, become a demon!" Despite Zero's surprise, the demon attacked once more. Black mist completely enveloped his body, and the sky was shrouded in dark clouds. The demon on the ground also charged towards Zero, and in his hand, black power erupted violently, instantly obliterating almost everything that touched it. At the very moment it approached Zero, Lin Jie finally moved. The Void of Return in his hand met the demon before him head-on.

The hands of Guixu and the demon collided, and for a moment neither side gained the upper hand.

However, in the next second, the demon's hands were neatly severed by Zero. As Zero cut off his hands, he swung the Void Sword horizontally once more. Facing this attack, the arm still bound by the Heaven and Earth Lock blocked Zero's Void Sword.

In the blink of an eye, Guixu Demon was sent flying by Zero, who in turn was propelled out of the atmosphere at supersonic speed. The onlookers on the ground wore solemn expressions; in such a battle, they didn't even have a chance to intervene.

Above the night sky, directly above the demon's head, a terrifying giant sword appeared once more before his eyes. It was a colossal divine sword that seemed to transcend the size of a planet.

"Is this your sword?! Hahahaha! Is this the power of a transcendent weapon? Today, let me witness the full power of a transcendent weapon!" Accompanied by arrogant laughter, the demon's body rapidly expanded in the night sky, eventually reaching the same size as the giant sword before it. Its hands, severed by the Void of Return, were restored to their original state.

"Destroy the heavens, become a demon!"

Just as the powerful force between the demon's hands gathered into a terrifying energy ball, and this energy ball slashed down at him, the energy in the demon's hands collided with the energy ball at the same time.

In an instant, the entire world, the entire heavens and earth, and everyone on Earth heard a roar. A roar from outer space, a roar belonging to the devil.

The enormous body shrank continuously under the pressure of the giant sword, gradually retreating towards the Earth. Little by little, slowly, the demon was compressed back to its original human size, and its hands were still holding the giant sword that had descended from the sky.

The ground beneath the demon's feet began to sink rapidly at that instant.

"A fine sword! But today, I, the Demon, will shatter this sword! And achieve true transcendence!" With a roar, the Demon's body swelled up once more. However, at that moment, he was shocked to discover that no matter how big he grew, the sword was always much larger than he had seen.

Just like the Five Finger Mountain that Sun Wukong encountered back then, no matter how hard he flew, he couldn't get out.

However, he is a demon, not Sun Wukong. Therefore, he is determined to break through this Five Finger Mountain today. From the moment he became a demon, from the moment he became an enemy of heaven and earth, he has never had the concept of admitting defeat or admitting defeat.

A massive surge of black energy erupted once more, and the demon's body began to crumble uncontrollably. Amidst this collapse, the heavens and earth were torn apart by the demon's power. An apocalyptic scene of star destruction unfolded before everyone's eyes.

However, this scene eventually dissipated, and the demon in the sky struck Guixu once more. In the blink of an eye, Guixu was sent flying backward by his punch.

The moment he was sent flying by the attack, Guixu vanished. However, at the same time, the apocalyptic scene created by the demon also disappeared. In its place was Zero's blood-red gaze and the divine sword in his hand, a sword that defied any technological analysis.

"Ha...ha..." Heavy breathing came from the demon's mouth. Looking at Zero before him, the demon smiled: "This time, I'll take your sword!"

The demon's laughter had no effect on Zero; in fact, Zero wasn't reacting at all. He was currently concentrating all his mental and physical energy on the battle. Lin Jie hadn't expected that an enemy of similar strength would appear so quickly after his last battle with the god.

"Heaven and earth perish, stars fall, sages perish, the Great Dao collapses. Fifth Form—Heaven and Earth Return to Ruins!!" The power of the Return to Ruins Sword erupted in that instant. Amidst the stars, a terrifying sword reappeared, and this time it still pointed at the demon before him.

"Well done!!!" The black aura erupted once more. The power of the demon clashed with the Void once more.

Between heaven and earth, the image of a giant sword pierced directly through the Earth. However, what was astonishing was that when the giant sword disappeared, the Earth remained unchanged.

In the desert, everyone watched the two figures standing there. On the ground, the demon struggled to its feet from the sand.

"In the Three Realms, you are the first person I can admit my inferiority to! In this world, you are also the first person I can admire! Hahahaha! It's a pity you were born in the wrong era! If you were in my era, perhaps we could become friends and drink and laugh together!" The demon laughed heartily at Zero. On his body, a wound that had almost cleaved him in two was constantly emitting a terrifying aura of black energy, but even under this aura, the demon was visibly healing itself.

"Friends? We can be friends. Speaking of which, did you come here to take revenge on me?" Looking at the demon, Zero was somewhat curious about his purpose.

"Of course not!" the demon immediately denied. "Ever since I saw Transcendence last time, I've been wanting to come back to find you!"

"why?"

"To witness the realm of transcendence!" the demon said calmly. "Having reached our stage, the next step is naturally transcendence! And to find the opportunity to break through to transcendence! A deadly battle is inevitable!"

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"Transcendence?" Hearing his words, Lin Jie was taken aback: "That's right, it seems that many powerful cultivators ultimately pursue this. They are even willing to give up everything for transcendence."

"Hmm?" Hearing Lin Jie's tone, the demon's gaze couldn't help but turn to Lin Jie: "Don't you want to truly experience this realm? Isn't the sword in your hand the key to unlock that door for you?"

"When did I say I wanted to transcend?" Faced with the demon's question, Lin Jie shook his head: "It seems like I've misunderstood something!"

"Don't you want to transcend? You should know that's true freedom, unrestricted by any rules."

"That's not my true freedom!" Lin Jie sighed in response to the demon's words. "Living carefree every day with the person I love, doing things I'm interested in—that's the greatest freedom for me! Sorry, I don't have such grand ideals as you people. I've never thought about transcendence. Isn't this world wonderful? Aren't there many interesting things? You people never know how to discover the interesting things in this world; you just think about pointless things all day. Isn't that uncomfortable? You make yourself uncomfortable all the time, and yet you have the audacity to talk about wanting true freedom? I'm truly speechless."

"Is this your answer? I never thought you were such a short-sighted person." Hearing his words, the demon's face showed disappointment: "Everything in this world is fleeting. I never thought you would be so attached to these fleeting things and so unwilling to make progress."

"I like it, so what's it to you?" Hearing his words, Lin Jie also showed an expression: "Besides, who said that pursuing the limits of power is a grand goal, while pursuing comfort and happiness is a short-sighted goal?"

"Hahahaha! You're right! Who made that rule? Nobody ever did! Hahahaha!" Hearing Lin Jie's words, the demon suddenly laughed: "I never thought that after living my whole life, I would one day get stuck in such a dead end! You're right, different pursuits are just different paths, there's no superior or inferior. Hahahaha, that's right! Who said pursuits have to be divided into big and small?"

"So, are we still fighting? Let me tell you, there's no way I'm going to choose the path of transcendence." Hearing his words, Lin Jie's face showed a helpless expression: "You want me to give up my life, give up my family and friends, and take the path of transcendence? I'm not doing it!"

"Fight! Of course we have to fight! You won't take this path! But I want to! That kid from the Sword Hall wants to take this path too! So, we have to fight! Not just me, that kid from the Sword Hall will probably be coming for you soon!" Mo laughed as he said to Lin Jie, "Also, I want to remind you that when that kid from the Sword Hall comes again next time, you might not be his match! He's a guy a million times more terrifying than me!! Compared to him, I feel ashamed! Hahahaha! So I have to fight you before him, otherwise I might not have another chance."

"Sword Hall? Dao Qizhan?" Upon hearing his words, the image of Dao Qizhan involuntarily surfaced in Lin Jie's mind. In the future of a parallel world, Dao Qizhan suffered a fatal wound, but with a stubborn obsession, he controlled a corpse that should have died to live for seventy years until it was finally killed by him.

Dao Qizhan in this world did not suffer any fatal injuries, and Lin Jie always felt a sense of shock whenever he stood next to Dao Qizhan.