“Pain… such pain!”
Half a month later, Yin Ya was gnawing on the third braised chicken Nan Yan had specially brought him when suddenly, his entire skeleton erupted in agony. Unable to maintain his human form, he transformed into a six-tailed fox, sprawling on the ground and scratching at the floor.
Frightened, Nan Yan ran to fetch the Suffering Monk. The monk examined Yin Ya’s eyelids and asked, “Have you been frequently taking him down the mountain to interact with women lately?”
Looking at the howling Yin Ya, Nan Yan admitted shamefully, “Disciple, I’m about to enter seclusion and don’t know when I’ll emerge. I thought to take him down the mountain a few more times. My efforts to guide him were insufficient. Please punish me, Master.”
The Suffering Monk cared little about her Foundation Establishment. He directly required her to skip it and aim for the False Core Formation realm, a feat that would take far more than a few days. Most cultivators, starting from Foundation Establishment to its peak and False Core Formation, needed at least fifty years.
However, the monk promised that if she succeeded in her ten-year seclusion, she’d earn the right to travel freely and journey directly to the Upper State.
Nan Yan, thinking she’d have little time left to feed Yin Ya or stroke his silky, fluffy tails, felt sad. In a moment of weakness, she had taken him down the mountain several times. Yin Ya had become careless, constantly surrounding himself with women and absorbing vast amounts of yin energy. Upon returning, he sought to further release his bloodline, planning to leave Bodhi Mountain Temple after the Foundation Establishment.
“The Nightmare Fox is a mutated demon race with the potential to shatter space. Its power is locked within its bloodline. To gain strength, it only needs to gradually release this bloodline,” the Suffering Monk sighed. “You’ve indulged him in gathering yin energy, and now he wants to release his bloodline to the Core Formation realm at once. Unfortunately, being merely a young fox in his clan, he can’t withstand this bloodline eruption. I’m afraid we’re in trouble.”
Nan Yan looked distressed. Hugging Yin Ya’s tail and stroking it, she said, “Don’t push yourself. If you really can’t bear it and pass on, I’ll set up a memorial tablet for you. This time, I’ll write your name on it. My handwriting is quite nice, you know.”
Enraged, Yin Ya swatted Nan Yan away with his tail. “Stay away from me!”
Nan Yan regretfully brushed off the white fur on her hands and asked, “What should we do then?”
“It’s difficult…” The Suffering Monk stroked the fox’s fur with a troubled expression. “Our only option is to temporarily confine him in the Bodhi Moon Cave behind the mountain. We’ll use Buddhist power to suppress his demonic blood’s turbulence. If he can merge the demonic and Buddhist forces, absorbing them as his power, he won’t need to rely on women for suppression in the future. It could be an opportunity.”
The monk then produced a purple-gold alms bowl that spun above the large fox, gradually enveloping him in streams of Buddhist sutras.
He asked Nan Yan, “Do you know what this is?”
Nan Yan guessed, “Could it be the one used by Tang Monk on his journey west to collect alms?”
The Suffering Monk corrected her, “No, this is the magical bowl Fa Hai used to subdue the Bai Snake.”
As he temporarily sealed Yin Ya in the bowl, Nan Yan remarked, “Master, you must be joking.”
The Suffering Monk replied solemnly, “Before Buddha, I speak no lies.”
Nan Yan recited, “Amitabha.” Inwardly, she thought, “Only a fool would believe that.”
Years passed. That year, seagulls migrated from the southeast of the Mortal State, their snow-white wing and tail feathers stained with dried blood.
“These scavenging gulls must have passed through the battlefields of Chen and Si States. It seems the war has intensified this year.”
The Suffering Monk had just returned from outside. He walked from the main gate of Bodhi Mountain Temple to the back, not even reaching his meditation room to rest when an explosion echoed from the Bodhi Moon Cave behind the mountain. It was followed by a wild laugh:
“Upper State, here I come!”
A purple light burst from the mountain, emitting waves of Foundation Establishment Peak, but forcefully creating the momentum of Core Formation.
The now-grown junior disciple trembled, “Great-grandmaster, he’s escaped.”
The Suffering Monk squinted for a moment before saying, “It’s fine. Young demons are all like this. Zhen Fang was considered steady. Did you paste the communication talisman where I instructed you to in his secluded cultivation area?”
“Yes, we did. We informed him that Master Zhen Yuan emerged from seclusion half a year ago, removed her nameplate to enter the mortal world, and slay demons. This year, on August 15th, she’s to meet at Nan Shore’s Pingfeng Ferry to take the last ‘Whale Ship’ to Chen State.”
News had come from the Upper State that the war between Chen and Si States had escalated. To prevent Si State’s demonic cultivators from sneaking through the Mortal State, all ships to Chen State would be banned for ten years after August 15th. Only the annual Whale Ships, exclusively operated by the Ao clan of Chen State, would be allowed to sail.
The junior disciple added worriedly, “Master Zhen Yuan’s appearance changed drastically upon emerging from seclusion. In half a year in the mortal world, she converted over a hundred demonic cultivators, becoming a completely different person. In her last communication, she mentioned investigating a case of demonic cultivators kidnapping children to absorb their marrow for cultivation. We’re not sure if she’ll make it in time.”
The Suffering Monk chanted a Buddhist phrase and asked, “Did Zhen Yuan convert those demonic cultivators? I’ve never seen her bring any back.”
The junior disciple lowered his head and replied, “She did bring one back once. When the demonic cultivator tried to escape and injured a young disciple, Master Zhen Yuan sent him to the Western Paradise with a single palm strike.”
The disciple didn’t mention that the demonic cultivator was in the False Core Formation realm and extremely powerful. Even he couldn’t withstand Master Zhen Yuan’s palm strike. This led to the Qi Refining disciples secretly discussing at night: “First comes Zhen Yuan, then comes heaven; Seven Buddhas create karma, while she becomes a daily immortal.”
“No wonder I heard people talking about the ‘Bloody-Handed Guanyin’ everywhere during my cloud-walking journey. Such ruthless extermination indeed resembles her ancestor’s style.”
Outside Bodhi Mountain Temple, the six-tailed white fox, now over a hundred miles away, finally stopped. Feeling the spiritual energy of the mountains nourishing him, he contentedly narrowed his eyes. Soon after, he transformed into a white-robed young man.
“Damn it, locked up for so long, I’ve finally escaped.”
Yin Ya flexed his wrists, his brow relaxing as he snapped a communication talisman between his fingers. Hearing the messages left during his seclusion, he muttered, “Pingfeng Ferry? Has Chen State gone mad this year?”
The human wars meant little to him. His concern was Nan Yan’s progress with her unorthodox cultivation method. Fortunately, the Bodhi Mountain Temple monks were tight-lipped, and the Suffering Monk was protective. Outsiders would likely think Nan Yan was merely practicing a powerful demon-slaying technique.
No one would connect it to the demonic cultivation method that had appeared in the Filthy Valley years ago, which was a Buddhist technique.
With this in mind, Yin Ya summoned a walnut boat. It grew with the wind to about ten meters in size. Yin Ya boarded it and took flight, traveling two to three hundred miles towards Pingfeng Ferry in the south. His divine sense detected two approaching auras on flying swords.
They were a male and female cultivator, both at the early Foundation Establishment stage. Their unstable auras suggested they had just succeeded in establishing their foundations, and they looked exhausted.
Spotting Yin Ya’s Foundation Establishment level flying vessel from afar, they looked envious. Yin Ya, concealing his true strength, appeared to them as a fellow early Foundation Establishment cultivator. They transmitted a message:
“Fellow cultivator ahead, are you also heading to catch the Whale Ship? Could you perhaps give us, brother and sister disciples, a ride?”
The pair looked travel-worn and weary. Yin Ya initially didn’t want to bother with them, but upon noticing their robes, which seemed vaguely familiar, he said, “I don’t know the way. If you guide me, I don’t mind taking you along.”
The disciples’ faces lit up with joy. They expressed their thanks and boarded the walnut boat.
“I’m surnamed Chu, and this is my junior sister disciple Meng Ying,” the male cultivator introduced. Though young in bone age, his sallow complexion made him appear middle-aged. “A few years ago, Chen State’s carefully selected imperial son was ambushed and killed by Si State’s demonic cultivators. The Dragon Lord enraged, declared war and issued a realm-wide recruitment. Any righteous cultivator can enlist for the battle between Dao and demonic forces. Military merits earned on the battlefield can be exchanged for countless treasures. Most taking this route are doing so for this reason. Is fellow cultivator also going for this?”
Yin Ya shook his head, “I have other business, not necessarily heading to Chen State… Are you from a sect in the Mortal State?”
Chu replied, “Yes, we’re cultivators from the Yangyue Sect in the east. Why do you ask?”
Yin Ya pondered for a moment, then said, “Many years ago, I visited the Filthy Valley and met a cultivator named Mu Zhanting. Did he… return to your sect?”
Both Chu and Meng Ying were startled. Chu’s gaze flickered as he said, “I’ve heard of him too, but I’ve been in seclusion for a long time and don’t remember the details of sect affairs. Junior sister, do you recall?”
Meng Ying, a very pretty cultivator, lowered her eyes demurely and said, “I know about it from my time in the outer sect. A senior brother surnamed Mu once went with the sect to explore treasures in the Filthy Valley. But an unexpected change occurred, and the valley entrance closed prematurely. None of the three thousand cultivators who entered escaped, and the Filthy Valley hasn’t opened since… Our sect suffered heavy losses.”
“Oh?” Yin Ya remembered being tricked out of the Filthy Valley by the Suffering Monk and didn’t know the subsequent events. He felt a bit upset but showed no outward reaction. “Do you know why?”
“We don’t. Even Core Formation cultivators were sworn to secrecy. The senior brother surnamed Mu you mentioned probably couldn’t escape either.”
…Nan Yan would be heartbroken again.
Yin Ya felt a headache coming on, but then Meng Ying asked, “Does a fellow cultivator have a connection with that cultivator surnamed Mu?”
“No, I was also in the Filthy Valley back then. He had a treasure I was interested in, but I lost track of him, hence my question.”
Hearing this, Chu laughed, “I see. Mu Zhanting was arrogant and greedy in the inner sect, always looking for trouble. I remember he had an extremely fat sister in the outer sect, like a pig, quite an eyesore. Now that they’ve both died in the Filthy Valley, it’s heaven’s justice…”
Chu had completely forgotten that he had just claimed not to know much about Mu Zhanting. He continued to list Mu’s various misdeeds, trying to gain Yin Ya’s approval.
“Heh…”
As Yin Ya grew increasingly irritated and was considered an excuse to throw these two off the boat, a surge of demonic energy suddenly erupted from the valley ahead.
Meng Ying and Chu’s faces paled: “A late Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator!”
They looked panicked, drawing their magic swords, seemingly ready to flee rather than fight.
In the past, Yin Ya might have avoided this, but with his current cultivation at the peak of Foundation Establishment bordering on False Core Formation, he wasn’t concerned. Instead, he was interested in robbing the demonic cultivator, so he steered the boat toward the source of the demonic energy.
“Fellow cultivator, why are you heading straight for it?!” Chu exclaimed, losing color. “The Mortal State rarely has Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators. If there is one, it must be a local powerhouse. We three at early Foundation Establishment are no match!”
“But…” Yin Ya carefully sensed the demonic energy, “That demonic cultivator seems to be injured and fleeing.”
As he spoke, they saw a demonic cultivator surrounded by three black banners for protection, trailing a path of blood, frantically fleeing from the valley.
As he fled, he looked back in terror. Seeing a white light relentlessly pursuing him, he shouted, “Bloody-Handed Guanyin! Leave some leeway for future encounters. Do you intend to exterminate me completely?!”
In response, a light chime rang out from afar. Then, the birds in the mountains fell silent, and the springs suddenly stilled.
From the misty distant mountains, a holy figure emerged, wearing a plain gauze robe and a veiled hat, with prayer beads wrapped around her arm. With one step, she appeared a hundred paces away, standing in mid-air, graceful as the Water Moon Guanyin.
Then, she extended one hand, her jade-white fingertip pointing at the demonic cultivator. A Sanskrit seal appeared, flying out in the blink of an eye, breaking through the demonic cultivator’s protective shield. With a miserable scream, the demonic cultivator’s physical body exploded.
Amidst the rain of blood, the Buddhist woman’s sandalwood lips parted, speaking without emotion yet with compassion:
“A monk speaks not of killing, only of ultimate bliss.”