Mu Zhanting declared confidently, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon. When I return, I’ll help you elope secretly.” He added with a boastful grin, “There’s no need to concern yourselves about me. Without Mu Zhanting, the literary world would be in eternal darkness. I’ll be fine.”
A true man should achieve great deeds in his lifetime. Nan Yan had always thought her brother was reckless, but she never expected him to plant his flag so boldly and then dash off so quickly.
As Nan Yan hesitated to speak, Yin Ya suddenly remembered his responsibility as an older brother. Without hesitation, he said, “You go first. I’ll hold him back.”
Nan Yan doubted Yin Ya could stop Mu Zhanting. After all, who in the world had a more determined spirit for the Way than her brother? She couldn’t think of anyone else.
However, before she could voice her thoughts, Yin Ya swept her away with his tail. She could only seize the moment and fly towards Xumiyan.
Meanwhile, Mu Zhanting had already engaged in battle. The moment he saw the Confucian figure in his vision, he slammed his palm to the ground. Instantly, the sky filled with fiery clouds, and flames rained down like a natural disaster.
Striking first was Mu Zhanting’s usual tactic. Yet, as this initial probing attack fell, the Confucian figure remained unperturbed. Clad in a green robe with flowing sleeves, he approached as if taking a stroll, covering a hundred zhang with each step. In the blink of an eye, he was within a hundred paces of Mu Zhanting.
The Confucian figure glanced in the direction Nan Yan had left and said, “I dislike engaging with juniors. Step aside.”
Flames began to flicker around Mu Zhanting’s body, forming patterns like dragon scales. Simultaneously, the projection of the Mountains, Rivers, and Seas Crown appeared above his head. This crown could instantly elevate one to the Nascent Divinity realm, but the Dragon Lord had insisted Mu Zhanting absorb enough primordial spiritual energy first, sealing away nine levels of spiritual power.
Now, as the seal broke, Mu Zhanting instantly reached the Nascent Divinity realm.
Fearlessly, he retorted, “What a coincidence. I enjoy challenging my elders.”
“You’ve lost your chance for survival,” the Confucian figure replied. He raised the hand behind his back, wielding a bamboo brush. With one horizontal stroke, a trail of ink appeared in midair, then gushed forth like a vast ocean.
Mu Zhanting immediately rose, but soon felt a resistance around him. Looking down, he saw the ink ocean transforming into a scroll, automatically sketching his figure stroke by stroke.
He felt a mysterious pulling force as if his entire being was about to be sucked into the scroll.
This technique… Nan Yan had encountered it in the Dao Sheng Tian. Once painted, a person would be drawn into his painting realm. With even a moment of mental instability, even the mightiest of immortals would be trapped and brainwashed.
This spell transcended the understanding of ordinary Five Elements techniques, touching upon the realm of cause and effect. The Confucian figure didn’t think these newly ascended Nascent Divinity juniors could resist. After casting the spell, he prepared to bypass this area and continue pursuing Nan Yan.
Unexpectedly, just as he turned, the Confucian figure raised an eyebrow and looked back to see the forming ink suddenly engulfed in a sea of flames.
“Boil the sea!” Mu Zhanting shouted. Half of his body had been drawn into the painting, but he decisively counterattacked. Concentrating the Panya Celestial Fire in one spot, he ignited the entire scroll. As the scroll burned to ashes, he broke free from the spell’s constraints.
“Oh?” The Confucian figure reassessed him, quickly recognizing the origin of the flames. “The source of Huitie, the Great Sun Fire Essence.”
Huitie could slay immortals and gods. Born from the Great Sun Fire Essence, its power, though not as potent as Huitie itself, could still incinerate all things.
“What a pity,” the Confucian figure said impassively, observing the wall of fire behind him that prevented pursuit. “Among Five Elements Fire cultivators, you must be a once-in-a-millennium talent. But facing me is unwise.”
“Who told you I’m a technique cultivator?” Mu Zhanting raised his hand, summoning the Wan Shi Ping that had been hovering in the air, ready for battle. “As long as my heart yearns for Confucianism, I am a Confucian cultivator!”
The Confucian figure, lacking true consciousness and responding only to a thread of divine will, saw the Wan Shi Ping trembling and about to attack. He casually wrote the character “永” (eternal).
The eight strokes of “永” transformed into eight ink dragons, nimbly lunging at Mu Zhanting. Simultaneously, countless poems erupted from the Wan Shi Ping, instantly turning the scene into a chaotic battlefield.
Confucian cultivation focused on the mind, and this avatar was initially calm. When the ink dragons gained the upper hand, the Confucian figure remained unsurprised. However, he soon lifted his head in confusion.
Why were the poems from the Wan Shi Ping so unfamiliar?
By this time, Yin Ya had barely arrived. His burden was lighter, as Xumiyan had just passed through, leaving some remnant demons in the area. With a wave of his banner, he commanded these demons to engage the Demonic figure, allowing him to assist Mu Zhanting in dealing with the Confucian figure.
But when he turned to look, his tail nearly shed its fur in shock.
“Did you demonize the Wan Shi Ping? Are you a devil?!”
Divine treasures like the Wan Shi Ping possessed their consciousness and couldn’t be demonized. Yet after forcibly claiming it, Mu Zhanting had recklessly infused his poetry collection into it. Now, ancient masterpieces mingled with modern verses, creating a bizarre mix:
“Ten years of life and death, unthinking yet unforgetting, brocade hats and sable coats, a thousand horsemen sweeping across the plain…”
“Spring colors fill the garden, unable to be contained, as brothers and sisters alike venture beyond the walls…”
“If the Dragon Lord of Chen State inquires, this disciple has already crossed ten thousand mountains…”
Poetry had always been diverse, but after Mu Zhanting’s “poisoning,” the Wan Shi Ping was in utter chaos. Verses were incomplete, rhymes were off, attacks missed their marks, and defenses faltered. Yet, the Wan Shi Ping’s nature was to bombard continuously with poetic blades. As the saying goes, “Wild punches can defeat even a master,” and it somehow managed to disperse the eight ink dragons.
It was terrifying.
The Confucian figure, not being truly alive and only reacting based on his opponent’s moves, showed a hint of hesitation in the face of Mu Zhanting’s chaotic poetic assault.
“Now’s our chance,” Yin Ya said, noticing the Confucian figure’s momentary weakness. He circled behind, forming a purple illusory spear in his hand, and hurled it at the figure.
“Naive,” the Confucian figure said, turning to counter with a brush stroke, only to hit empty air.
…It was an illusion!
“Your opponent is here!” Mu Zhanting, who had been waiting for this moment, brandished the Tianba Axe, imbued with the power of the Great Sun Fire Essence, and brought it down on the Confucian figure.
This strike utilized his twelfth-level cultivation, causing the void to resound. The bamboo brush in the Confucian figure’s hand cracked and split in two.
As his form dissipated, the Confucian figure murmured, “You absorbed the Dao Lord’s Great Dao spiritual energy…”
After jointly defeating the Confucian figure, they turned without hesitation towards the Demonic figure, which was surrounded by numerous demons. Worryingly, as the Confucian figure vanished, the Demonic figure’s aura seemed to strengthen. With one slash, demonic energy ravaged the area, instantly reducing the surrounding demons to white bones before turning its gaze on them.
“This doesn’t seem right. Kill one, and the remaining two grow stronger. Then…” Yin Ya frowned, unable to finish his analysis before the Demonic figure suddenly grinned oddly. Instead of engaging them, it touched its brow and vanished.
The next moment, a gray figure shot like an arrow from the distant sea toward Nan Yan, approaching Xumiyan at an incredible speed.
“Not good!”
With the Confucian and Demonic figures gone, the Dao figure that most resembled Yingzeweiyu broke free from its stone seal and pursued Nan Yan.
Yin Ya and Mu Zhanting felt their scalps tingle with anxiety. They shouted in unison, “Five Ghosts Transport!”
Under normal circumstances, they would never use this ghostly technique reserved for the Prison Lord. As they cast the spell, five large ghost heads—cyan, yellow, white, red, and black—appeared around them, spewing ghostfire. The space around them compressed and expanded, instantly transporting them before Xumiyan.
The five malevolent ghosts circled them gleefully, asking, “Does the Prison Lord need anything else from us?”
“Ugh… I need you to get far away from me…” Mu Zhanting groaned.
“Stop fooling around and go save Nan Yan,” Yin Ya urged.
By this time, Nan Yan had already reached the demonic lands on Xumiyan’s back.
Xumiyan was incredibly vast, with mountains and rivers visible on its back. Countless stone trees grew densely among the hills and streams, housing the caves and settlements of various demon tribes, both large and small.
With space sealed off, Nan Yan could only continue her flight. Her Chongming bloodline instinctively reminded her of a demon secret: Xumiyan’s Infinite State wasn’t elsewhere—it was in its mouth.
To hide within this realm, one must first enter its maw.
She accelerated, but just as she spotted Xumiyan’s head, a terrifying crash echoed throughout the world. The impact lasted for over ten breaths, silencing countless demons. Nan Yan’s brow furrowed—Xumiyan had begun colliding with Yin State.
At that moment, a cold voice resonated across the demon realm on Xumiyan’s back:
“Remnants of the demon realm, surrender the Chongming heir, and you may yet live.”
Though the demons living on Xumiyan’s shell obeyed the Ancestral Spirit Royal lineage, they despised Dao Sheng Tian the most. Now that Xumiyan had struck a deal with Ying Zewei, these demons were far from compliant.
“The Chongming clan is our royal lineage. How dare you demand we hand them over?”
“Our true form is still entangled beneath the sea. A mere magical avatar dares to command us demons?”
“Humans are always deceitful. Ancestral Spirit, do you truly believe he’ll keep his word?”
A sea ape clan leader, most agitated, climbed the nearest stone tree to the Dao avatar and roared, “Ancestral Spirit! We can still fight! Give the order, and my 70,000 troops will gladly die for our realm!”
The Dao avatar hovered above the demon realm. Any demon approaching within a hundred paces turned to ash.
Xumiyan’s voice echoed from afar: “Chongming birds are our royal lineage. My Infinite State is naturally open to them. But this wasn’t in our agreement. I won’t stop you, but you must find her yourself.”
“Very well,” the Dao avatar replied. A black and a white fish flew from his hands, instantly growing to the size of giant whales, circling each other as they flew in one direction.
“Life,” he uttered.
At his word, the stone trees that had stood for countless years suddenly burst with lush, green vines, as if painting all of Xumiyan green.
Many young demons, seeing land plants for the first time, forgot the war’s brutality. Just as they joyfully grasped the flowers and leaves, the Dao avatar spoke again:
“Death.”
Nan Yan watched in horror as the verdant flora withered instantly. Simultaneously, all demons who had touched the plants aged rapidly—their bodies withering, skin drying, teeth and horns falling out. It was as if all life had been drained with that single word. In an instant, a third of the longest-lived species became old, weak, and infirm.
It was a massacre.
“I’ll say it once more. Hand her over,” the Dao avatar demanded.
“Ying Zewei!!!” Xumiyan roared but quickly realized this Dao avatar was emotionless, merely executing Ying Zewei’s orders to hunt Nan Yan. It wouldn’t react to insults.
Nan Yan initially didn’t grasp what had happened until a deathly force tried to invade her body, blocked by the Seven Buddhas’ Karmic Scripture. Only then did she see the devastation around her.
A massive figure was thrown from the stone forest, rolling to a stop before her. She recognized the emaciated demon as the ape she had encountered at the demon-sealing array.
“It’s you…” Nan Yan rushed to its side, seeing its life force drained. Her heart ached as she looked up at the yin-yang fish circling above the Dao avatar’s head, anger flashing in her eyes.
These fish had absorbed their life force. She couldn’t fight here; another wave of life-draining would devastate the demon realm. She had to lure the avatar to the Infinite State where others wouldn’t be affected, then find a way to destroy the yin-yang fish.
“Don’t worry. When I return, I’ll restore your vitality,” she promised.
“You’re still here… That’s good,” the demon ape croaked, recognizing Nan Yan. “Chongming, will you lead us back to… the light?”
Nan Yan nodded firmly, then coldly eyed the Dao avatar before turning to rush toward Xumiyan’s gaping maw.
The Dao avatar fixed his gaze on Nan Yan. His face was identical to Ying Zewei’s, but his demeanor seemed more animated, with an aloof yet elegant air.
“But we three must be together. Why resist?” he said cryptically.
As he spoke, Nan Yan felt a tightness in her chest. The Buddhist heart bone in her ribcage suddenly resonated, forming an unbreakable connection with the Dao avatar.
“You are…?” she asked, puzzled but not slowing down. The yin-yang fish, especially the yin fish, caused rapid aging to everything they touched. Nan Yan counterattacked twice, feeling an unprecedented drain on her spiritual power.
Taiji yin and yang, endless cycle, life turns to death, indestructible Dao heart.
“You’re the Six Harmonies Dao Heart,” Nan Yan realized.
This Dao avatar, though created by Ying Zewei, behaved more like its previous master—more like Shao Cang.
“You’re clever,” the Dao avatar praised. “But I’m more interested in your heart. Pardon me.”
The yin-yang fish suddenly expanded. At that moment, Mu Zhanting arrived first, using the Five Ghosts Transport technique to appear behind Nan Yan. He unleashed a sea of fire.
“Hmm?” The yin-yang fish absorbed most of the fire’s energy but still appeared weakened, showing that the Great Sun Fire Essence remained difficult to digest.
“Tsk, this guy’s strong,” Mu Zhanting muttered. Having just battled the Confucian avatar, he immediately sensed this Dao avatar’s more bizarre and powerful strength. One misstep could be fatal.
Seeing Mu Zhanting shield Nan Yan, the Dao avatar’s attitude grew stranger. Certain that Nan Yan couldn’t enter the Infinite State from this distance, he intensified the yin-yang fish’s life and spiritual energy drain, making it difficult for Nan Yan to move.
“False siblings, is it worth risking your lives?” he asked coolly.
Wiping blood from his lips, Mu Zhanting retorted, “We’re real siblings!”
As he seemed about to counterattack, all winged demons suddenly soared skyward, circling above them—a resonance of the Chongming royal blood.
Royal bloodline resonance could double demonic power.
Mu Zhanting pushed Nan Yan forward. She felt her demonic power surge, her flight speed instantly increasing a hundredfold. Breaking through the yin-yang fish’s blockade, she plunged into Xumiyan’s mouth.
Seeing Nan Yan safely inside, Mu Zhanting gloated, “Heh, caught you off guard, didn’t we?”
The Dao avatar, surprised by this turn of events, carefully examined Mu Zhanting as Nan Yan disappeared into Xumiyan’s mouth.
“Demonic blood resonance… So that’s where Nan Rao’s life-suspending feather ended up. Interesting.”
He smirked, transforming into a stream of light and pursuing Nan Yan into Xumiyan’s mouth.
Mu Zhanting hoped Nan Yan’s luck would hold, and she wouldn’t be transported near this formidable enemy in the Infinite State.
Just as Mu Zhanting caught his breath, he heard earth-shaking laughter from Xumiyan:
“Let’s see if devouring this Six Harmonies Dao Heart and Buddhist Heart Bone truly allows me to break through and ascend!”