Nan Yan studied the giant ape for a long time. It was about a hundred feet long, tightly bound by Spirit-Locking Chains, with only one eye and mouth visible, pleading for help.
“Save… me…”
Nan Yan sensed its power, likely at the Nascent Soul stage. If she hadn’t just formed her golden core, she might not have been able to stand in its presence.
Thinking Nan Yan might be reluctant, the ape quickly offered, “Free me… I’ll give you my soul blood… serve you as master!”
All living beings have three drops of essence blood, corresponding to the three souls of heaven, earth, and life. These can only be given willingly, and once given, one’s life is at the mercy of the recipient.
Beasts rarely offer their soul blood voluntarily. The ape’s ability to speak so clearly showed considerable intelligence. With a Nascent Soul stage beast as an ally, Nan Yan could become formidable.
After a moment’s hesitation, Nan Yan asked, “I escaped the Spirit-Locking Chains with help. How can you ask this of me?”
The ape replied, “I’m… a Ba Ape. You have… Celestial Fox Clan… aura. Higher beasts can use… blood essence… to release others from the Beast Sealing Array.”
Nan Yan understood immediately. The Beast Sealing Array was a contract between humans and beasts. The Spirit-Locking Chains prevented beasts from escaping the sea, and the lava punishment was just that—punishment, not execution. Trapped beasts could seek help from their kin for release.
This explained why her second brother had said he’d rescue them if they were caught.
Nan Yan extended her hand, revealing a drop of Celestial Fox blood given by Yin Ye.
“That’s… it!” The ape struggled eagerly. “I also sense… royal bloodline… in you. Willing to serve… you as master.”
Nan Yan thought, “Is this the legendary encounter every chosen one experiences?”
Despite this, Nan Yan maintained her monastic principles: “I understand your request. However, as a Buddhist, I can’t accept a living being’s soul blood. Instead, I can save you if you become a monk, abstain from meat, and avoid harming or bullying others.”
Shocked, the ape asked, “You… won’t make me your spirit beast? As a spirit beast… I could leave it in a spirit beast pouch.”
Nan Yan replied kindly, “The outside world is cruel. This ocean is your true home.”
Desperate to escape, the ape insisted, “I’m willing… to be your… spirit beast!”
“Your sincerity moves me,” Nan Yan sat cross-legged. “All beings are equal. While I can’t make you my spirit beast, I can guide you into Buddhism. How old are you?”
“Two hundred… and three,” the ape answered.
“I’m twenty-one. Not much difference. I’ll make you my honorary disciple, and we’ll be master and apprentice,” Nan Yan decided.
The ape, with its limited intelligence, tried to process their age gap, suspecting something was off. Frustrated, it asked, “What… will make you… free me?”
“No rush. Let me give you a dharma name first,” Nan Yan pondered. “In the lineage of ‘Pure True Suchness Sea,’ you’ll be in the ‘Ru’ generation after me. I’ll call you Ruyi.”
“…”
“Do you agree?” Nan Yan asked.
“Yes… I agree,” the ape reluctantly consented, afraid to refuse due to Nan Yan’s royal and Celestial Fox bloodlines.
Nan Yan nodded and chanted a Buddhist mantra. A golden lotus emerged from her fingertip and entered the ape’s body, slightly increasing its intelligence.
Using her spiritual power, Nan Yan released Yin Ye’s demon blood. It formed into threads that penetrated the Spirit-Locking Chains, soon unlocking them.
The ape quickly broke free, crashing beside Nan Yan.
After a moment of mutual staring, Nan Yan called, “Ruyi.”
The ape, though tempted to attack, sensed the purity of Nan Yan’s royal bloodline and hesitated. It bowed, “Master.”
As it spoke, perhaps due to the golden lotus, the ape felt a newfound closeness to Nan Yan.
“Good,” Nan Yan thought, pleased at converting another demon. “You’re my first disciple. I should teach you more but now’s not the time. Take these sutras. We’ll meet again when fate allows.”
The ape, now speaking more fluently, asked, “Master, do you want to leave?”
Nan Yan sighed, “I wanted to take this skeleton, but I don’t know the way out.”
The ape cleverly suggested, “Disciple has an idea.”
Nan Yan joked, “What’s your idea? Can you conjure a cloud to fly us to the Great Thunder Monastery in the West?”
The ape explained, “I can’t do that, but the Spirit-Locking Chains have specific properties. They prevent demons from flying to the surface and react to spiritual and demonic energy. Since you’re human, you’d need to use spiritual energy to leave, which would attract the chains. Why not let me swallow you temporarily? I can carry you to the surface, where you can escape on your own. I’ll carry the skeleton too.”
Nan Yan said, “Open your mouth.”
The ape obediently revealed its massive jaws, lined with child-sized fangs.
Nan Yan asked, “Ruyi, do you know the purpose of that golden lotus I gave you?”
“What is it for?” the ape inquired.
“It’s a secret technique from my master—your grandmother—called the Great Pure Dharma Lotus. It enhances your intelligence and reduces your beastly nature. But it has a special feature: each evil thought causes a petal to fall. When all twelve petals are gone…”
Delighted by the lotus’s benefits, the ape eagerly asked, “Will my intelligence revert if I lose the petals?”
Nan Yan carefully explained, “In human terms, you’d become… mentally challenged. Understand?”
The ape immediately suppressed any evil thoughts. “Disciple understands.”
Nan Yan nodded approvingly. “Good. Monkeys can be taught.”
With no new beasts being brought in and the cave entrance closed, they explored further, finding two more early Nascent Soul stage beast remains. They gathered these together.
Nan Yan’s storage pouches were full, but she remembered the pouches she’d taken from demon cultivators in Fanzhou. Now at Core Formation, her stronger spiritual sense could easily erase the original owners’ imprints. She emptied them, revealing a small mountain of items.
Since arriving in the Upper States, Fanzhou demon cultivators’ possessions seemed less valuable. She counted about 70-80,000 spirit stones, destroyed useless low-level magical tools in the lava, and kept some low-grade materials and pills. The empty pouches were used for the two early Nascent Soul stage remains.
For the late Nascent Soul hook snake skeleton, too precious to break apart, the Ba Ape wrapped it around its neck like a scarf. Nan Yan planned to borrow a larger pouch from Mu Zhanting later.
She worried about Mu Zhanting, drawn away by the Great Sun Essence Fire. Though his life force seemed strong, his location was perilous.
Suddenly, a rumble sounded above as an exit slowly opened. Nan Yan quickly entered the ape’s mouth, surrounded herself with a Buddhist barrier, and released her blood essence.
The ape leaped towards the expanding exit. Just then, someone entered through the same opening, calling out loudly.
“Ah Yan, Qi Yang! Are you here?!”
In that split second, Nan Yan’s eyes met Yin Ye’s shocked gaze from inside the ape’s mouth.
Yin Ye: “…”
Yin Ye: “What the #%$…”
— I just struggled to get in here, and you’re leaving with a monkey?!
As the ape exited, the opening was sealed shut. Nan Yan felt Yin Ye’s overwhelming anger in that final glance.
“Sorry, Second Brother,” she thought. “I know you care for us. It’s just fate playing tricks.”
As a demon, Yin Ye couldn’t leave once touching seawater. He must have sent an avatar, which he’d have to self-destruct to return, damaging his main body’s spiritual power.
Nan Yan felt bad for her brother but soon realized they’d reached the surface.
“Master, we’re here,” the ape announced, stopping just below the surface.
“Good. Follow if you wish, or leave. Study those sutras I gave you,” Nan Yan instructed before flying out of the ape’s mouth.
As she emerged, she heard three figures approaching rapidly.
“Ha! Didn’t expect to see a Buddhist cultivator here!”
“A female cultivator? Nice. That silhouette must be a beauty.”
“Indeed a beauty. We’ll offer her to the young lord. He’ll forgive our failure!”
…Demon cultivators?
Nan Yan was surprised to encounter three demon cultivators right after surfacing. Two were at early Core Formation, one at mid-Core Formation, all aggressively approaching.
They had waited half an hour outside the vortex, with no sign of the Great Sun Essence Fire weakening. They assumed the black-clad ‘Yin’ had perished inside.
With the Frost Dust lost, they could only wait for Li Chi to release Huo Wuji and use his supreme power to retrieve the iron.
Anxious, they hoped to placate the young lord with Nan Yan. The mid-Core Formation cultivator took the lead, summoning a green-eyed purple spider that shot a venomous web at her.
Facing Core Formation demons as an equal for the first time, Nan Yan felt a strange sensation… she thought she could take on all three.
As the toxic web descended, Nan Yan stepped back, flicked her prayer beads, and produced a finger-sized white flame.
Though tiny compared to the web, the flame touched it and instantly spread to the spider’s mouthparts, engulfing it. The spider shrieked briefly before turning to ash. The white flame returned to Nan Yan’s palm, once again finger-sized.
“My Green Phantom Spider!” The mid-Core Formation cultivator cried out in anguish. “Mere early Core Formation fire dares harm my pet? I’ll refine you today!”
The two early Core Formation cultivators watched with interest. “This beauty’s core fire is impressive, but she’s just formed her core. No matter how strong, it can’t match Senior Jiang’s ‘Jade Phosphorus Demon Fire’.”
Senior Jiang boasted, “Woman, dare you match core fires with me?!”
Nan Yan glanced at her palm’s thin flame. “Demons and evil cultivators, let’s battle.”
Jiang sneered, producing a palm-sized green flame, fierce and volatile.
“Come!”
Nan Yan released her fire. The demon fire quickly engulfed the white flame. Jiang laughed triumphantly, “Ha! Your core fire is consumed. Your golden core is in danger of shattering!”
The others added, “This beauty is too inexperienced, daring to challenge the impossible. With her core fire consumed, her future cultivation is stunted. At least we won’t need to exert ourselves. Senior Jiang, you’re too harsh on such a delicate… Hm?”
Jiang’s laughter suddenly stopped. He clutched his stomach, trembling as he pointed at the demon fire in the air.
The fire began to flicker oddly, its color gradually fading. It emitted strange squeaking sounds as if something inside was devouring it. Visibly shrinking, it finally vanished completely.
The white flame, seemingly larger, contentedly returned to Nan Yan’s hand.
“How… how is this possible?” The two early Core Formation cultivators paled. Their Senior Jiang held a spot in the Sea and Mountain Forbidden Decree, his core fire renowned in Si State.
“My… golden core…”
Jiang swayed in the air, suddenly spitting blood. A boom resounded from within him, his spiritual energy dissipating as he plummeted into the sea.
Even if a core fire was consumed, the golden core should only be severely damaged at worst. Never had they seen such a situation. The two Core Formation cultivators were struck speechless, and Nan Yan stood dumbfounded.
Had she… exploded the demon cultivator’s golden core?