The inner sea was sparsely foggy, and the Demon Sealing Mountain was visible at a glance. It stood like a pillar of heaven supporting the cosmos, reaching from the clouds above to the deep sea below. Even from a distance, one couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.
“Is this the Demon Sealing Mountain established by the Vermilion Emperor and the Dao Sovereign when they vanquished the demons?” asked Nan Yan.
The three were enveloped in a faint, clear light, with phantom strings shimmering around them as they flew. This was a qin barrier, achievable only at the pinnacle of qin mastery. It could shield them from the spiritual pressure of distant Divine Transformation cultivators and block the overwhelming aura of combined Dao and demon energy from the mountain.
“This mountain has stood for a thousand years, suppressing myriad demons of the demon realm beneath it. The sea demons who see this mountain avoid it if they can,” Yin Ya said, his eyes filled with nostalgia.
Nan Yan inquired, “Is this where you were born, Second Brother?”
Yin Ya nodded slightly and explained, “What you see as an expanse of the sea conceals a demon realm below, situated on the back of a great demon called ‘Sumeru Turtle’. This turtle is as large as a third of Chen State, and its back is pinned to the seafloor by this Demon Sealing Mountain. It’s said that if the mountain collapses, the Sumeru Turtle will awaken and surface, carrying the entire demon realm on its back.”
Nan Yan looked around, marveling at the thought that this vast sea was merely the back of a giant turtle. “When I first left Fan State, I thought the whale ships were the largest demon beasts in the world. It seems there’s always something beyond our imagination. If that day truly comes when myriad demons emerge from the sea, it’s hard to fathom the calamity it would bring.”
Yin Ya smirked. Having wandered the human world for years, he didn’t harbor much hatred for humans. However, he still planned to descend into the Great Array of Demon Sealing once he reached the supreme realm, subjugated the myriad demons, and rebuilt the demon realm by claiming a State’s worth of land. But that was a matter for the distant future.
After flying around the Demon Sealing Mountain for half a cup of tea’s time, Nan Yan noticed that despite the cliffs being overgrown with trees, there were faint reliefs and murals visible between the branches and leaves.
Soon, her gaze was drawn to a moss-covered relief. On a relatively flat rock face, a majestic man with an impressive beard was carved. He stood with his feet in flames, holding a whip in his right hand as if dragging something.
Following the direction of the whip, Nan Yan saw a woman of otherworldly beauty at its end. She wore feathered robes with her hair loose, but her pointy ears revealed her as a demon. Her eyes glared at the man with hatred.
In the next relief not far away, the demon woman had changed into human attire, adorned with ornate hairpins and jewelry. The majestic man was leading her up to a high platform in a palace.
“This depicts the scene when the demon realm offered their princess to sue for peace,” Yin Ya explained. “The Demon Sealing Mountain is sentient and has recorded the events of that time. Later, after the demon empress married the Vermilion Emperor, humans repeatedly broke their promises, adding more seals to the Great Array of Demon Sealing. Unable to save her people, the demon empress left behind a daughter before dying of grief… Come to think of it, you bear some resemblance to the demon empress.”
Nan Yan finally learned about her heritage, realizing with surprise, “So I have demon blood in me.”
Yin Ya stroked his chin, recalling, “No wonder I felt a sense of kinship when I saw that little chubby kid on the street back then. There was a reason after all.”
As the two marveled at this revelation, Ji Yang suddenly asked, “Why has this mural been destroyed?”
“Where?”
Yin Ya flew over slowly and indeed saw a mural that had been destroyed by sword energy, making it impossible to discern its original appearance. “Eh? Shouldn’t this be the famous ‘Breaking Through Void and Ascending’ mural? Why was it destroyed?”
“What’s that?” Nan Yan asked.
“It depicts the event when Southern Fragrant Master’s generation reached Divine Transformation. Led by the Dao Sovereign Sui Han Zi from Zi State, who had overcome the Five Decays of Celestial Beings, they gathered the strongest powers in the realm to break through the void together. Strange, I remember when I was four or five, looking up from under the sea, my clansmen pointed it out to me.”
The simultaneous ascension of legendary figures like the Dao Sovereign, the Vermilion Emperor, and the Old Dragon Lord must have been an incredibly magnificent sight.
Nan Yan regretted not being able to witness the legacy of her ancestors. She noticed Ji Yang looking thoughtfully at the destroyed relief, seeming to want to say something but unsure how to begin.
… After all, with a demon cultivator beside her, it took considerable effort to suppress the killing intent of the Seven Buddhas’ Karmic Scripture.
As this relief didn’t have much to do with their mission, the three lingered only briefly before slowly flying upwards. The higher they went, the sparser the vegetation became. Soon, they saw countless cave openings appearing on the upper peak, neatly arranged like Buddhist niches. However, instead of Buddha statues, each contained the true form of a great demon.
As soon as Nan Yan extended her spiritual sense, it was violently repelled, crashing against the qin barrier surrounding her and causing it to vibrate. She was startled.
Yin Ya explained, “Each of these demon statues contains a drop of blood from a great demon. Our current cultivation level isn’t enough to probe them. When we reach the celestial fox clan’s area, be prepared for your spirit body to be scattered.”
“Second Brother,” Nan Yan said.
“What?”
“I’m a bit nervous. What if I turn out to be some chosen one and accidentally shatter the Demon Sealing Mountain with a touch? Wouldn’t I become a sinner for all ages?”
Yin Ya gave her a look of disdain. “You’re overthinking it. Do you think no other demon cultivators have tried to break in over the years? They came with at least the power of the First Celestial Decay and couldn’t even scratch the mountain despite bashing their heads against it. Even if, by some miracle, the Demon Sealing Mountain were to be destroyed, it certainly wouldn’t be because a small cultivator who hasn’t even formed a core touched it. Unless the Dao Sovereign himself descended from the immortal realm, that is.”
Nan Yan nodded, following Yin Ya to a cave entrance. This time, Yin Ya took the lead, and they entered smoothly.
… Wow, this one is beautiful, Nan Yan thought.
Unlike the other stone statues, the celestial fox clan’s demon statue was carved entirely from an unknown white jade. Its nine tails spread like a screen, lifelike in their detail. Only a crimson, blood-like mark on the fox’s head marred its perfection.
Three rows of faint lotus lamps, twelve in each row, burned beneath the statue. Despite the wind in the cave, the flames remained steady.
“Each of these Dao lamps represents a lineage,” Yin Ya explained. “Strike with all your might. If you can make even one lamp’s flame flicker, it’ll prove that the lineage you inherited can shake the great array… If we succeed, I’ll do everything in my power to help you advance after we leave.”
Nan Yan, now at a critical moment, couldn’t back down. However, sensing the eerie atmosphere, she held back slightly to prevent losing control. She tossed her prayer beads around her hand, formed the Dharma-expounding mudra, and her eyes flashed with the reversed seal of the Wisdom King.
… Her Buddhist power seemed even more fierce than when they first met.
As Nan Yan’s Buddhist power surged, Yin Ya felt uncomfortable. He said to Ji Yang, “I don’t know how you suddenly became a demon cultivator, but if you’re feeling unwell, you can wait outside.”
“It’s fine,” Ji Yang replied calmly.
Logically, a demon cultivator faced with such intense Buddhist energy should at least be weakened, if not in excruciating pain. Yet he seemed unaffected.
Nan Yan’s technique was the first chapter of the Sin-Cleansing Scripture. Unlike the Sin-Creating Scripture, it required the practitioner to have a firm definition of “sin” and the determination to cleanse the world of all evils. Her palm strike contained years of cleansed karma and realized principles.
In an instant, Buddhist light enveloped the entire demon cave, causing it to shake violently. Rocks and soil fell from above, but after the tremors subsided, the Dao lamps before the demon statue remained unmoved.
Had she failed?
After a moment of silence, Nan Yan thought she hadn’t used her full strength. But then she heard Yin Ya’s dejected voice.
“Let’s go. It seems this lineage isn’t enough to overcome the thirty-six Dao.”
Feeling ashamed, Nan Yan looked at Yin Ya and said, “… I didn’t use my full strength just now. Should I try again?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Yin Ya suddenly looked up, staring in shock behind her. Nan Yan turned around to see the three rows of Dao lamps extinguishing one by one as if swept by a fierce wind. Only the last lamp remained, its flame flickering in the wind but steadying once the gust passed.
All other Dao were extinguished, except for the lamp of the Dao Tianxin Scripture, the original lineage of Dao-born Heaven. Not only did this lamp remain lit, but it also sent out sparks to rekindle the other extinguished lamps.
The Dao of Heaven remained unextinguished, its light eternal.
“This… how is this possible?!” Yin Ya was speechless, looking at Nan Yan as if she were some kind of monster. What kind of reverse Dao did she possess that could extinguish thirty-five lineages now? If she completed her cultivation, wouldn’t she surpass even Dao-born Heaven?
In their daze, Ji Yang suddenly grabbed Nan Yan’s hand and pulled her out of the demon cave without explanation.
“What’s wrong?”
“The demon statue has awakened. We need to leave.”
Nan Yan glanced back hurriedly and saw that the previously closed eyes of the celestial fox demon statue were now open. A blood-red light from between its brows enveloped Yin Ya.
“What’s that?”
“The celestial fox clan sensed the weakening of the Dao lamp seal. They’re trying to pass on the ancient demon inheritance to him before the lamps fully rekindle.”
Nan Yan looked bewildered. “What about Second Brother? Are we just leaving him?”
“It’s a good thing for him, but if the great demon of the celestial fox clan discovers human cultivators nearby during the transmission, they definitely won’t let us stay.”
“What will happen to Second Brother?” Nan Yan asked anxiously.
“Typically, he’ll return to his celestial fox form, and his cultivation will surge to the limit of his current level,” Ji Yang explained as they ran. After a few breaths, he suddenly stopped and sighed.
“Why did we stop running?”
“After returning to his demon form, he’ll temporarily lose his senses. We can’t escape anyway. He’ll likely kill us all. Let’s rest a bit.”
As Nan Yan tried to make sense of the situation, a purple light burst from behind them. A world-destroying demon fox emerged from the cave, its eyes purple-red and bloodthirsty. With the overwhelming pressure of a late Core Formation stage cultivator at its peak, it instantly appeared before them, swiping with its claws.
As her spirit body dispersed, Nan Yan shouted angrily, “You fox spirit! This nun will shave all your fur when we get out of here!”
…
“When will the spring flowers and autumn moon end? They make people pledge their lives to each other. Last night in the small tower, the east wind blew again. In the moonlight, past events are too painful to recall…”
On the shore of the lonely island, Mu Zhanting woke to find that the other three had left a note and departed without him. Afraid to leave lest something happen to their physical bodies, he was filled with melancholy and could only express his feelings through poetry.
“In youth, one knows not the taste of sorrow; a heartbroken scene cannot be painted.”
“Cutting water with a sword, the water flows more; mountain rain is coming, and wind fills the tower.”
“Ask how much sorrow one can have, how can it be just day after day?”
As he recited, Mu Zhanting lamented that his literary talent was buried by the pursuit of immortality. He sighed, thinking all the good verses had already been written by the ancients, leaving him only to mix and match their works.
Just as he finished butchering Tang and Song classics and was about to move on to the Wei and Jin masters, he spotted a blood-red shadow breaking through the distant sea surface.
Squinting, Mu Zhanting could barely make out that it was a mirage demon. Unlike the previous ones, this demon was entirely blood-red and emitted a faint demonic aura. It was aiming to rush out from the inner sea.
Noticing the demon’s face was missing, Mu Zhanting hesitated briefly before tossing out a dragon-shaped jade pendant. It created an impenetrable barrier around the three bodies, and he flew off in pursuit.
Fortunately, the blood mirage demon’s cultivation wasn’t high, and it didn’t notice his approach. It fled to an island where the corpse of a Si State demon cultivator lay—one who had taken Nan Yan’s blood dragon pill and been squeezed to death just before the array changed.
The blood-colored mirage demon quickly crawled over, its tentacles wrapping tightly around the demon cultivator’s head. The blood color seemed to have a life of its own, slowly writhing and pouring into the cultivator’s seven orifices. Moments later, the mirage demon dissolved into a puddle of black water.
Mu Zhanting watched as the demon cultivator suddenly sat up, his facial features twitching before slowly gaining expression.
“…You impudent brats! Once this old man finds you with his spirit-dividing technique, he’ll tear you to pieces!”
The newcomer was none other than Huo Wuji from Si State. Having expended 90% of his spiritual power in a desperate gamble, he used the blood demon spirit-dividing technique to control a demon cultivator’s corpse. If he could find Nan Yan and the others to snatch the Release Order, he could escape his predicament.
The blood demon spirit-dividing technique could only last half a day. After that, it would take at least a year for him to recover his primordial spirit and spiritual power.
“Tch, this low-level cultivator’s body is truly…” Huo Wuji’s face twisted in disgust, his eyes filled with venom. As he slowly stood up and was about to turn around, he noticed a figure by his feet.
The figure, seeing him stand, drew a flame-imbued long sword while asking quizzically:
“Even heaven and earth have their end, so why has the hero returned after departing?”