Ephemeral creature…
The most evil great demon born of heaven and earth?
Others might be completely bewildered by these words, but Jian Chou knew clearly—or rather, no one in the entire extreme region would understand better than her.
This ephemeral creature referred to Fu Chaosheng.
He had disguised himself as Lihan of the Ghost King clan, infiltrating the Tripod Contest, and was currently on the same team as her. Only after entering the eighteen levels of hell had they lost contact with him.
Though she had left him a message, she didn’t know where he was now.
Jian Chou slightly furrowed her brow, gazing at the Nine-Headed Bird totem before her, pondering: “…What does senior mean?”
“This demon possesses the cosmic eyes, able to see in all directions above and below, through past and present.”
“My remnant soul’s power is damaged, and I can no longer block him for long. Moreover, he has my old friend Kun Peng accompanying him, so I’m afraid he’ll find his way here soon.”
“Demonic evil by nature, brutal and bloodthirsty.”
“He defies heaven itself, gaining immortality through the ephemeral body that lives and dies with dawn and dusk, benefiting from the absence of reincarnation. If he learns that we will restore reincarnation, the consequences would be unthinkable.”
“Young Friend Jian Chou is currently the only person who can deliver messages to Yashan. Though you two are acquainted, demonic evil nature is unpredictable. Since he dares defy heaven, striking you down would be commonplace for him.”
“Therefore, please remember this, Young Friend—”
“This message must never reveal the slightest hint for this demon to discover.”
The Nine-Headed Bird’s voice was very solemn and slow, as if this matter was so important that even it dared not be careless.
After all, Fu Chaosheng was a great demon born of heaven and earth.
Even if his cultivation would wax and wane due to the law of living and dying with dawn and dusk, killing the female cultivator before him would truly be as easy as lifting a hand.
Jian Chou could hear its concern.
But the more she could hear it, the more she felt a strange subtlety, and for a moment didn’t respond.
Calculating carefully, her encounters with Fu Chaosheng could be counted on one hand. Even the few times they had met seemed very hurried.
But regarding this “most evil great demon born of heaven and earth,” she actually didn’t have too bad an impression.
In fact, she could always sense that goodwill.
Because she not only knew this demon but had personally witnessed his enlightenment from an ephemeral creature, transforming into what was called a “great demon.”
“At sunrise, I am born; at sunset, I die.”
“Hearing the Dao leads to death—why should this be?”
“If the ‘Dao’ won’t let me live past one day, I will make the sunrise never set and the sunset never rise; let there be no dawn or dusk in the world, no day or night; make time never flow, all eternity as one day…”
Such soul-stirring words.
When she first stepped onto the path of cultivation, they were branded into her heart.
To this day, Jian Chou couldn’t distinguish whether she had inadvertently caused Fu Chaosheng to “hear the Dao,” or if Fu Chaosheng had caused her to “hear the Dao.”
After that brief glimpse at the Great Dream Reef in the Western Sea, he had sent a thunder message to Guihe Well, calling her an “old friend” and asking after her well-being.
At that time, she didn’t know what this word “old” truly represented.
Not until after the small gathering at Left Three Thousand, floating on the river, fishing and cooking soup.
Only then did she understand that ephemeral creatures live and die with dawn and dusk, one day being a lifetime. To her, speaking and meeting with him for just a few sentences was merely a chance encounter with a passing stranger; but to him, they had known each other for a long time, a good half of his life.
Therefore, he could rightfully use the word “old.”
This was a very wonderful kind of fate that she still couldn’t explain clearly to this day.
But what she could sense was the other party’s goodwill.
Born of heaven and earth, defying heaven itself—did that make one the most evil great demon?
She truly didn’t know.
But if one said that Fu Chaosheng, upon learning of the Nine-Headed Bird’s request for her to deliver messages to Yashan, would kill her to sever the connection between Shijiu Zhou and the Nine-Headed Bird and prevent the restoration of reincarnation, she actually didn’t believe it.
She was never someone who believed every rumor she heard.
On the contrary, though she appeared easygoing and seemed easy to get along with, she wasn’t someone who easily changed her perceptions and thoughts, much less someone who could be swayed by others at will.
Moreover…
She believed in repaying grievances on the spot, and unless absolutely necessary, generally wouldn’t let them carry over to the next day. Yet the Nine-Headed Bird wanted her master to set aside “the internal grudges of Shijiu Zhou” and first attack the extreme region.
Though she didn’t know what these “grudges” referred to, she actually felt quite uncomfortable hearing that previous statement.
So after remaining silent for this long while, Jian Chou pondered briefly. She neither mentioned that the cosmic eye currently held by Fu Chaosheng was borrowed from her, nor did she refute the Nine-Headed Bird’s words. She merely smiled slightly: “What you say is extremely reasonable. Though I have no grievances with this person, caution ensures ten thousand years of safety. I will certainly not inform him of this message. Please rest assured, senior.”
These words were actually watertight.
Agreeing too readily would seem too eager; only this kind of considered response, carrying a hint of difficult choice, would be more convincing.
The Nine-Headed Bird indeed showed no suspicion.
It gazed at Jian Chou, naturally also seeing the imperial purple soul pearl floating in Jian Chou’s brow center at this moment, already approaching perfection.
Only on its purple patterns, countless electric lights flashed.
The overly refined soul power and aura of intimidation were constantly exploding within that crack in the soul pearl!
The great completion of soul pearl cultivation was originally a good thing.
Only Jian Chou’s soul pearl, precisely because of her missing soul, retained a crack. In this situation, overly refined soul power would only shake the crack, placing this soul pearl on the verge of collapse!
They could wait no longer!
“Since Young Friend has considerations in her heart, my mind is at ease.”
“The Tripod Contest in the eighteen levels of hell is fraught with difficulties. The Eight Directions Yama Hall has begun paying attention to Young Friend, and the road ahead remains blocked.”
“Today, I shall use my remnant soul’s power to lend a helping hand!”
The weathered and profound voice echoed in this dark space.
Jian Chou sat cross-legged in the underground river, naturally feeling the changes on her soul pearl, which had already produced a faint sense of instability.
The moment the Nine-Headed Bird finished speaking, that snow-white totem immediately began churning like boiling water. A deep purple, nearly black ghostly light was drawn from the totem, drilling straight toward Jian Chou’s brow center!
“Buzz!”
At that instant, Jian Chou only heard the sound of great bells and chimes ringing in her mind!
This ghostly light shooting toward her was like a sharp arrow. The keen arrowhead struck the soul pearl with a “crack,” as if hitting a glazed bead!
The entire imperial purple soul pearl suddenly shattered with a “crash!”
Jian Chou was immediately greatly alarmed.
But the expected pain didn’t arrive.
That deep purple light, drilling into her brow center and shattering the soul pearl, didn’t immediately disappear. Instead, it contracted into a ball, transforming into a pool of scattered clear spring.
All the cracked soul pearl fragments were completely immersed within it.
Wonderful changes occurred instantly.
Fragment by fragment, like iron pieces thrown into molten iron, they actually melted into it!
The entire mass of deep purple, nearly black light also gradually lightened as the soul pearl fragments were absorbed, slowly transforming into the same imperial purple as the soul pearl!
At that moment, Jian Chou seemed to hear a “drip” sound.
The mass of harmonious purple light gathered in her brow center actually created countless imperial purple ripples at this instant!
Circle after circle.
Starting from her ancestral aperture, layer upon layer, gradually covering her head, face, neck, even her entire body…
At this moment, Jian Chou suddenly understood—
Jade Nirvana!
The fourth realm in extreme region cultivation!
After achieving great completion in the soul pearl realm, one must shatter the soul pearl and refine it with soul power, making it melt and flow like jade, covering the entire body and hiding within the soul and body, preparing fully for the next level of “Golden Body.”
But if even one corner of the soul and body couldn’t be covered, “Jade Nirvana” would be considered failed.
Generally speaking, the larger the soul pearl and the purer the soul power, the higher the probability of success.
But Jian Chou’s three souls and seven spirits were incomplete, with a crack in her soul pearl.
The larger the soul pearl, the larger the crack.
When impacting “Jade Nirvana,” she was naturally flawed, not to mention the layers of danger contained within—the slightest carelessness during refinement could result in soul dispersion!
Now the Nine-Headed Bird had used this deep purple light as a catalyst, shattering her soul pearl, intending to help her forcibly impact the Jade Nirvana realm, supplementing the soul pearl fragments and pure soul power she lacked due to the crack!
Jian Chou’s heart was somewhat shaken.
But the current situation no longer allowed her to think further!
The imperial purple ripples were about to cover her entire body.
Jian Chou held her breath and concentrated, directly forming hand seals with both hands, rapidly executing hand techniques, guiding all the soul power in her body to rush toward her brow center ancestral aperture, refining that mass of purple light transformed from the soul pearl.
If the soul pearl was like iron, then Jian Chou’s soul power was undoubtedly fire.
The refined soul power, like high-temperature flames, immediately refined the impurities from the soul pearl. In the blink of an eye, that mass of purple light began to change.
The originally transparent purple color seemed to have a drop of milk added to it, gradually gaining the lustrous texture of purple jade!
Those ripples spreading outward also changed accordingly.
Circle by circle they spread out, the light changing from its original clear transparency to moist and restrained luster, losing some sharpness but gaining some concealed dignity.
Bit by bit…
The purple jade light covered more and more areas.
Jian Chou remained motionless in the underground river, but her entire body radiated dazzling light!
This layer of purple jade quality had covered her entire body, yet maintained a one-inch gap from her body, not yet adhering to her physical form.
The final step of impacting “Jade Nirvana” was to forcibly press this layer of jade quality into the body.
If it couldn’t be pressed in for too long, soul power would dissipate and the jade quality would collapse.
Naturally, cultivation would no longer exist.
It could be said that the final step was the most dangerous!
In just this brief moment of contemplation, Jian Chou already felt that the jade quality covering her surroundings showed signs of separating from her soul and body. Immediately, not daring to hesitate even half a moment, she gritted her teeth and formed hand seals with both hands!
These were two completely different hand seals.
One palm formed a seal like a Buddha’s lotus hand, while the other formed a seal like three peaks collapsing!
Back in the old house owner’s residence, she had seen the final step technique for impacting Jade Nirvana, and had quite a deep impression of these two hand seals.
So performing them now felt completely natural.
“Clap!”
Her two palms faced each other, and the two hand seals immediately collided together, seemingly creating a madly spinning vortex in her palms!
At this moment, the jade quality around her body seemed drawn by this vortex!
With a “crack” sound, this layer of jade quality rapidly moved two points closer to her soul and body!
Jian Chou continued pressing her palms toward the center. Each time she pressed them together a fraction, the outer jade quality moved a fraction closer to her soul and body. Perhaps because the Nine-Headed Bird was helping, the entire process was unexpectedly smooth.
From beginning to end, there were almost no obstacles encountered.
This was something Jian Chou had rarely experienced in all her cultivation from start to finish.
So much so that after she easily pressed her palms together and combined the two hand seals into one, she was actually somewhat stunned—that was it?
She heard a light “buzz” sound.
The jade quality around her body, at the moment it was closest to her body, actually dissipated into a cloud of smoke and completely merged into her body!
That momentary feeling was like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea!
The soul power originally used to refine the purple jade quality, mixed in this majestic light, actually returned to her body.
At this moment, the soul pearl no longer existed.
What remained was only the soul power flowing through various parts of her body, more than ten times purer than before refinement!
Even on her body’s surface, there were vaguely ancient and simple seal characters, carrying flowing light, flashing past, as if clothing her in a set of battle robes!
On her spiritual platform, it seemed as if flourishing flowers were blooming.
Indescribably wonderful.
Jian Chou opened her eyes, and in her pupils was already a trace of deep purple jade color, carrying heavy dignity and lofty nobility, instantly distinguishing her from everything around her!
Even her entire aura changed accordingly. Even sitting, she gave people a sense of towering heart-trembling…
Before Black Wind Cave, that snow-white totem’s light had already dimmed somewhat.
Her gaze happened to meet the Nine-Headed Bird’s, and she was about to inquire: “Senior—”
Unexpectedly, that totem gradually darkened. Only weathered and distant echoes reverberated in the cold and desolate cave…
“Jade Nirvana is complete, the ephemeral creature approaches.”
“Young Friend Jian Chou, do not forget my words. Today we part, but I hope to meet again when the Yin-Yang realms battle once more…”
Before Jian Chou could open her mouth to ask about the truth or falsehood of the various visions of Shijiu Zhou she had seen earlier, in just a blink of an eye, she saw that originally snow-white totem completely transform into nothingness, disappearing without a trace at the cave entrance, not even leaving the slightest afterimage!
It was as if the legendary Nine-Headed Bird had never appeared at all.
She immediately furrowed her brow tightly, but the next moment, her heart jumped—
The ephemeral creature was approaching?