“Wind-Thunder Wing…”

How many years had it been since an Innate Dao Seal was born?

Fudao Shanren’s voice carried a dreamlike, mystical quality.

Six hundred years ago, there were quite a few powerful cultivators who possessed Innate Dao Seals, but now they had all become hidden old monsters of Shijiu Zhou, rarely showing themselves.

One great war had changed everything.

Now this Dao Seal had taken shape in his hands, undoubtedly giving him the feeling of personally breaking some taboo.

His gaze fell on this completely formed Dao Seal, filled with indescribable emotion.

Jian Chou stood behind him.

The golden light filling the stone cave had receded, but on the pure black stone disc remained that jade-like Dao Seal.

Nine dao pieces, like chess pieces, connected by lines drawn from the dripping bone marrow, formed a wing-shaped Dao Seal.

This was the Innate Dao Seal of ancient Dijiang.

Fudao Shanren didn’t move, and Jian Chou didn’t speak.

After a long time, Fudao Shanren extended his hand, blue flames emerging from his fingertips as he grabbed at the Dao Seal, actually extracting the golden Dao Seal from the stone disc through the air!

In an instant, the Dao Seal was grasped in his palm through the void.

Turning around, Fudao Shanren glanced at his palm, then looked back at Jian Chou.

“Dijiang’s Innate Dao Seal has emerged. You little girl truly has good fortune. Come here.”

Jian Chou looked at him but didn’t move.

Fudao Shanren was puzzled: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” After a pause, Jian Chou didn’t know what to say. “Just feel like Master looks somewhat different.”

Stunned, different?

Fudao Shanren used his free hand to stroke his chin, frowning in thought.

“Could it be that I’ve become more handsome again?”

Muttering to himself, Fudao Shanren’s eyes immediately lit up as he looked back at Jian Chou: “Quick, tell me, how is Master different? Do my eyes look better or my nose look better?”

“…”

A dirty face with a pair of sparkling eyes, looking at her eagerly.

Jian Chou silently stared back at him for a long moment. Under his extremely expectant gaze, she felt somewhat choked up and could only manage after a long time: “Let’s pretend the disciple never said anything.”

“You, how can you be so insincere? Didn’t you say I looked different somewhere? Come on, tell me! How many years has it been since anyone praised my handsomeness?”

Fudao Shanren suddenly became melancholy, counting on his fingers and lowering his head in dejection.

“Sigh… truly a hero in his twilight years, with no one paying attention. My market value has dropped… even little Jian Chou won’t talk to me. Back in the day, I roamed Shijiu Zhou with one chicken leg, oh no, one wooden sword, undefeated throughout Shijiu Zhou, and now I’ve fallen to such a state—”

One sigh after another.

Fudao Shanren’s voice became increasingly mournful.

Jian Chou felt her scalp tingle. Seeing that Fudao Shanren was about to start reminiscing about his glorious past, she knew that if she didn’t interrupt now, there would be no chance to interrupt later.

“Master, how should the Dao Seal be handled?”

“Eh?”

Fudao Shanren, whose eyes were full of memories, was stunned.

His gaze shifted and fell on the Dao Seal before him, and he quickly slapped his forehead: “Look at my memory, I almost forgot the important matter!”

Seeing that he was no longer rambling, Jian Chou finally breathed a sigh of relief and couldn’t help but smile.

Fudao Shanren wasn’t one to lose sight of priorities. He still beckoned to her: “Better to choose today than wait for another day. This Innate Dao Seal is different from other ordinary Dao Seals. Ordinary Dao Seals are cultivation methods that anyone can practice, but Innate Dao Seals are innate skills. Once a Dao Seal is derived, it can only be applied to one person, and it’s not certain that they can cultivate it. So Innate Dao Seals are extremely precious – you’ve struck it rich. Damn, you even encountered such good fortune with Dijiang Guyu!”

His words carried deep emotion.

Hearing this, Jian Chou understood the special nature of this Innate Dao Seal.

In other words, after she possessed this Wind-Thunder Wing Dao Seal, no second person in the entire cultivation world would have the same Dao Seal, unless someone else used something from Dijiang to derive the same seal.

However, this possibility was extremely low at present.

As for fortune and opportunity…

Jian Chou thought of Xie Buchen.

This wasn’t originally her fortune or opportunity.

She had heard this was something Kunwu’s Xie Buchen needed to cultivate a Dao Seal, meaning she had taken it from Xie Buchen.

He had once taken her life and the life of her unborn child. What did it matter if she took one opportunity?

For a moment, Jian Chou smiled and stepped forward: “According to Master’s words, the disciple has turned misfortune into blessing.”

Turned misfortune into a blessing?

Hearing this, Fudao Shanren looked at her. Seeing her face with a light smile and no trace of bitterness when saying this, he immediately rolled his eyes: “Show off! Hurry up and stand properly. Where’s your battle disc?”

Jian Chou called forth her battle disc as instructed.

The late Foundation Establishment battle disc was already over sixteen feet across, appearing enormous when it first appeared.

Seeing this, Fudao Shanren felt his molars ache, beating his chest and stamping his feet: “Heaven is unfair, heaven is unfair! The waves behind push the waves ahead, and this genius front wave is going to be crushed on the beach…”

What was all this nonsense?

Jian Chou didn’t dare respond, afraid that if Fudao Shanren became unhappy, he’d spray her with insults. She could only put on an extremely sincere expression, cough, and inquire: “Um, Master, how should I learn this Dao Seal?”

“Oh… that’s simple.”

Fudao Shanren snapped back to attention and chuckled.

On the battle disc, all the Kunxian lines lit up, like dividing the night sky into small blocks with intersecting lines from four directions, or like countless crisscrossing veins extending from the earth, drawing a complex scroll.

At the Tianyuan position, within a one-foot radius area, it seemed like a jade bowl was placed there. Spiritual energy was as thick as substance, transforming into crystalline liquid contained in this Tianyuan “jade bowl.”

Spiritual energy was continuously absorbed onto the entire battle disc, converging toward the center along each Kunxian line, slowly flowing into the Tianyuan.

The liquid-like spiritual energy in the jade bowl slowly increased at an imperceptible rate.

Jian Chou’s battle disc already had some Dao Seals – various techniques she had practiced, like Red Dust Illusion-Breaking Finger, Heaven-Flipping Seal, Space-Splitting Axe, and others.

Fudao Shanren now stood on Jian Chou’s battle disc, holding that Dao Seal in his void grasp, carefully examining Jian Chou’s battle disc.

“Battle discs have a natural affinity for Dao Seals. In a moment, I’ll slowly lower the Dao Seal into your battle disc. You just need to embrace the primordial and guard the unity, feeling with your heart to let it fall in the appropriate position. Your soul and spirit are incomplete, and this thing once condensed a strand of Dijiang’s remnant soul, so you must be especially careful.”

Speaking thus, Fudao Shanren seemed somewhat worried.

He raised his head and looked at Jian Chou for a long time.

After thinking for a moment, his left index finger extended, and a deep purple jade needle appeared between his fingers.

“I remember you said you encountered Gu Qingmei’s bell sound attack in the Killing Red Small Realm and had an unstable soul and spirit. This was Master’s oversight – I didn’t expect you to leave the mountain gates by chance and coincidence, so I didn’t have time to prepare some protective items for you. This is a Soul-Stabilizing Nail that can stabilize a person’s soul and spirit safely within the body while providing protection.”

The Soul-Stabilizing Nail was only a finger’s length, surrounded by faint lustrous purple light.

Hearing Fudao Shanren’s words, Jian Chou looked at his fingers.

Fudao Shanren said, “Originally, there were very few of these things in Shijiu Zhou, and they weren’t meant for use on ordinary cultivators. They’re only used as a precaution when battling certain troublesome entities. However, at this moment, they’re just right for you. You’re missing four parts soul and three parts spirit. If you encounter attacks like Gu Qingmei’s that target cultivators’ minds, you’ll be at a disadvantage. You’ll need to put more thought into protecting your mind in the future.”

After speaking, he directly pressed the Soul-Stabilizing Nail toward Jian Chou’s forehead!

Jian Chou only felt a purple lightning flash before her eyes, entering her ancestral aperture between her brows and disappearing. A cool sensation followed this lightning into her mind before vanishing.

Fudao Shanren removed his finger from her forehead, and Jian Chou couldn’t help but touch her forehead.

Smooth and flat, without any trace of being pierced. The Soul-Stabilizing Nail had completely disappeared.

Perhaps finding Jian Chou’s forehead-touching gesture foolish, Fudao Shanren couldn’t help but chuckle: “Look at you being silly. The Soul-Stabilizing Nail has form but no substance – you can’t touch anything! Just knowing it’s there is enough. When you encounter danger in the future, you’ll know it’s there. You’re not yet at the mind cultivation stage—”

His words suddenly stopped.

Fudao Shanren’s expression suddenly darkened.

Jian Chou still found it wondrous, hearing him suddenly stop, she couldn’t help but look up: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Rolling his eyes impatiently, Fudao Shanren muttered to himself: “Really damn slow! But this is good too…”

“…Master.”

Please keep your voice down when cursing!

“Alright, alright, I won’t scold you anymore.” Fudao Shanren quickly waved his hand, holding the Dao Seal in his void grasp as he stepped back, looking at Jian Chou. His originally lazy expression was instantly swept away, his spirit rising as he called out: “Stand ready—Dao Seal, go!”

With a hand seal, the Dao Seal originally grasped in his hand suddenly shrank, transforming into a golden jade light shooting toward the battle disc beneath Jian Chou’s feet!

Like a stream flowing into a calm lake, ripples of spiritual power immediately spread outward.

That Dao Seal re-condensed on Jian Chou’s battle disc, spreading out.

At the same time, Jian Chou’s battle disc began spinning frantically!

The battle disc spun while the Dao Seal remained still!

After only a few breaths of spinning, Jian Chou suddenly felt her mind stir and shouted: “Settle!”

Click!

The moment her words fell, the battle disc stopped spinning, and the Dao Seal immediately fell toward a blank space on the battle disc!

The Kunxian lines on the battle disc immediately aligned with those on the Dao Seal; the golden dao pieces on the Dao Seal all fell at the intersections of Kunxian lines on the battle disc, becoming dao pieces on the battle disc!

However, this Dao Seal had jade lines and golden dao pieces!

Crack!

Countless brilliant golden electrical lights immediately coiled around the Dao Seal the moment it settled on the battle disc. Though small, they carried a hair-raising power!

Jian Chou felt a mighty force sweep across her entire battle disc as this Dao Seal settled.

The other Dao Seals still existing on the battle disc seemed afraid to compete with this Dao Seal for brilliance at this moment, becoming dim.

While ordinary Dao Seals had grades from one to nine, Innate Dao Seals were simply Innate Dao Seals. Their true power could only be known in battle, with no clear grade divisions.

However, the moment this Dijiang Wind-Thunder Wing settled, Jian Chou could feel—

It transcended all other Dao Seals!

At her right shoulder blade, sudden waves of stinging pain came, as if something scalding had been branded there.

“Ah!”

A suppressed cry.

Cold sweat accompanied the burning pain, suddenly striking!

Jian Chou’s brow immediately furrowed!

She felt as if steel knives were piercing through her shoulder blade!

One, two…

Nine total!

Exactly matching the number of dao pieces in the Dijiang Wind-Thunder Wing!

Wave after wave of golden light, accompanied by intense burning pain, emanated from behind her!

Fudao Shanren had retreated to the side, not panicking at all, only watching this scene with near amazement—

Like breaking from a cocoon and being reborn.

The battle disc beneath her feet was bright as a starry sky, golden electrical light shooting from the jade-and-gold interwoven Dijiang Wind-Thunder Wing. Jian Chou stood at the very center of this battle disc, while golden light pierced through her right shoulder blade, slowly weaving together into a huge golden wing!

It was the Dijiang wing they had seen before!

Golden feathers, every strand perfectly neat. The wing woven from golden light had a transparent flowing quality, with ancient runes flickering on the wing.

The wing raised high, as if about to take flight!

Jian Chou’s pain also reached its peak at this moment.

Cold sweat poured down. She could no longer stand, suddenly kneeling on the hard ground, using her palms to support herself against the ground to barely maintain her body’s balance.

A vertical line appeared between her brows, and her ancestral aperture suddenly blazed with light!

This…

What exactly was this?

Accompanying the intense burning behind her, something seemed to intrude into her mind.

She stood in an endless great marsh, seeing exotic flowers and plants different from the ordinary.

Roars of beasts came from the distance.

The six-legged, four-winged Dijiang, still small in size, flew from afar with beating wings. The beast roars throughout the great marsh immediately becomes frantic.

“Roaaaar—”

In the sky above, the Dijiang, which looked like a giant sack, also responded.

Its first right wing suddenly raised and swept toward the marsh below. A wild wind swept up, actually lifting countless fierce beasts hidden in the dense forest, as if invisible wind blades simultaneously pierced through!

Blood and flesh flew everywhere!

Dijiang continued flying forward, still using this same wing!

The second time it rose and swept horizontally!

Crack!

Faster and fiercer than before!

Thunder sounded in the sky, and countless electrical lights flew toward the fierce beasts ahead. Countless creatures instantly became charcoal, and even a towering ancient tree exploded instantly, slowly crashing into the great marsh!

“Roaaaar—”

Dijiang let out a satisfied roar.

Throughout the great marsh, no living creature dared question its authority anymore!

Jian Chou’s gaze fell on the massive Dijiang, unable to look away for a long time.

The Dijiang, still flying forward, seemed to sense something, suddenly changing direction and flying toward where Jian Chou was!

At that moment, its roar became vicious!

Jian Chou naturally knew she had no power to resist Dijiang and immediately wanted to flee, but only then did she discover her feet felt like they were filled with lead – she couldn’t move at all!

Dijiang’s aura had locked onto her!

No escape!

Dijiang beat its four giant wings, instantly closing in on Jian Chou.

Raising its wing, it swept again.

This time, wind and thunder moved together!

A wild wind swept over, swirling around Dijiang’s wing while countless golden electrical lights emerged from the wing, filled with earth-shaking power!

“Roaaaar!”

Just as disaster was about to strike and Jian Chou had nowhere to flee, the next moment, nine wisps of ghostly white light suddenly emerged from the originally massive Dijiang’s body, flying into the heavens and earth before disappearing.

The raised giant wing stopped.

The forward-flying Dijiang also suddenly halted.

It seemed very confused, shaking its body, and the aura locking onto Jian Chou became hesitant.

At this moment, a purple light suddenly burst from Jian Chou’s forehead!

The Soul-Stabilizing Nail!

The confused Dijiang seemed to see something terrifying and shrieked in fright. With a “bang,” it “exploded” in mid-air, turning into a cloud of smoke and disappearing completely.

Jian Chou, wrapped in that purple light, suddenly felt exhausted and fell into deep darkness.

“Bang.”

The golden light dissipated, and the phantom of Dijiang’s giant wing that had appeared behind Jian Chou’s right shoulder blade finally folded inward.

Jian Chou, completely powerless and unconscious, collapsed softly to the ground.

The sixteen-to-seventeen-foot battle disc on the ground also flashed once before disappearing.

In the stone cave, Fudao Shanren watched and quickly stepped forward.

“Jian Chou, Jian Chou?”

“Bet, bet! Do you think Senior Sister can wake up this time?” That was Shen Jiu’s voice.

“Fourth Senior Brother, is that even a question? Master said Senior Sister just couldn’t handle the Dao Seal’s impact temporarily. Can’t you hope for something good for Senior Sister?” That was little fatty Jiang He’s voice, helpless yet dissatisfied…

Through the slightly open door crack came a faint red light from outside.

Was it sunrise or sunset?

When Jian Chou opened her eyes, she saw exactly this scene.

“Tsk, you heartless girl, finally willing to wake up.”

A teasing voice came from nearby.

Jian Chou was surprised, looking up to first see a firelight, then Fudao Shanren standing beside it.

Familiar furnishings – this was her small house in Yashan.

Jian Chou recognized it.

On the wooden lamp stand in the room sat a small white jade bowl with a flickering flame that never went out.

Fudao Shanren’s finger passed through the flame’s heart, muttering: “This fire-gathering array is played with exceptional precision, so small yet operating flawlessly…”

“Master…”

Sitting up in bed, Jian Chou found that all the severe pain throughout her body had completely disappeared.

The suffering in the underground stone cave that day seemed like a dream.

She couldn’t help but frown.

Fudao Shanren yawned and walked over: “Good thing this time you only slept for over a day before immediately waking up. See if there’s any discomfort?”

Jian Chou instinctively channeled spiritual energy and circulated it through her body. There was no obstruction at all…

Except she vaguely felt that when spiritual energy passed through her back shoulder blade, she could sense something extra back there.

“My back…”

“It’s the Dao Seal.”

Fudao Shanren understood all of this, stroking his chin while looking at Jian Chou like some rare treasure, as if wanting to dissect her for careful study.

“Innate Dao Seals are born accompanying demon cultivators, branded on their bodies from the start, impossible to replicate. However, Dao Seals derived through the Myriad Laws Convergence Wheel are like being scrambled and rearranged, washing away the bloodline connections left by the Heavenly Dao of old, and forcibly binding them to humans still requires a place to settle. Your Wind-Thunder Wing should be Dijiang’s second wing, so it’s branded on your right shoulder blade. It won’t affect your normal cultivation – only when you use it will it manifest.”

When using it?

Jian Chou got up, stepping on the ground. Her body indeed had no discomfort. Even though she could feel the Dao Seal’s existence behind her, it didn’t affect spiritual energy circulation. When spiritual energy passed through the shoulder blade area, she felt warm and comfortable.

Frowning, Jian Chou formed hand seals and drew more heaven and earth spiritual energy toward herself!

The battle disc immediately appeared beneath her feet. The jade-and-gold Dijiang Wind-Thunder Wing still carried imposing pressure, lying in a corner of the battle disc, slowly rotating along with it.

As heaven and earth spiritual energy poured in, it immediately converged toward that Dao Seal!

At the same time, a burning sensation immediately appeared behind Jian Chou, and a ten-foot wing phantom suddenly emerged from behind her!

The exaggerated ten-foot wing flickered with ancient golden light. Though only one side, appearing somewhat incongruous, the moment it appeared, a formidable and unstoppable powerful feeling instantly filled the entire small house!

Jian Chou was about to inject more spiritual power to test this Wind-Thunder Wing’s might.

However, the moment she had this thought, the Dijiang Wind-Thunder Wing Dao Seal immediately became like a bottomless pit, violently draining all her spiritual power!

Empty and hollow, nothing left!

Moreover, this enormous suction continued expanding!

Her body suddenly weakened, severe pain throughout!

Fudao Shanren’s eyes nearly fell out watching, quickly pointing with a hand seal: “Stop!”

“Whoosh!”

The giant wing immediately disappeared from behind her.

Jian Chou nearly collapsed to the ground again, breathing heavily, covered in cold sweat!

“Little ancestor, don’t play around carelessly!” Fudao Shanren was truly infuriated by her, pulling out a chicken leg and pointing at her nose to scold: “With your current cultivation, at most you can launch one Wind-Thunder Wing attack, and you’re testing it right after waking up – testing what?! Don’t you want to live?!”

“I…”

Jian Chou couldn’t speak. She just habitually wanted to test it.

Fudao Shanren grabbed her and pulled her up, disdainfully rolling his eyes.

“Young people are just reckless. Innate Dao Seals are naturally good things, but in my era of emerging heroes, generally only Out-of-Body stage cultivators and above could use them freely. It was nearly impossible for cultivators below the Out-of-Body stage to possess Innate Dao Seals. You’re only at Foundation Establishment now – using it once can drain you completely! This thing is now an ultimate defensive measure for protecting your life. Don’t use it carelessly, or you’ll play yourself to death.”

“This scary?”

Jian Chou stood straight, finally recovering some strength. Recalling that scene just now, she couldn’t help but feel chills.

“Would Master lie to you?”

Fudao Shanren wanted to poke her to death with one finger.

“Look at you, you-you fainted once before, and right after waking up, you created such a big mess for me. What are you trying to do?”

Fainted once before…

Jian Chou suddenly remembered the strange visions she had seen in her mind and couldn’t help saying: “Master, disciple has something to ask.”

She quickly recounted everything she had seen before.

Fudao Shanren listened with wide eyes: “You’re saying that Dijiang was originally vicious and was about to sweep you with its wing, but suddenly nine lights flew out from its body, it became confused and didn’t know what to do, got scared by the Soul-Stabilizing Nail, and exploded itself?”

“Yes.”

Though it sounded incredible, what Jian Chou saw was indeed this scene.

Since the Soul-Stabilizing Nail had worked, her mental world must have been threatened.

“…I see…”

Fudao Shanren pondered for a moment, then slapped his forehead as understanding dawned.

“Laozu Luye once cooked Dijiang, scattering Dijiang’s soul and spirit. The bone jade you picked up contained one of Dijiang’s remnant souls. Since ancient times, those with three souls and seven spirits have virtuous souls and evil spirits. The Dijiang that flew toward you had completed three souls and seven spirits, influenced by the spirits to seek revenge on you. But actually, it had long lost its other two souls and seven spirits. Once evil spirits leave the body, the remaining remnant soul is naturally virtuous and wouldn’t attack you anymore. Scared by the Soul-Stabilizing Nail with no place to reside, it naturally dispersed…”

Jian Chou understood but couldn’t help falling silent. Thinking of the confused and hesitant appearance of the Dijiang in her mind, and remembering Laozu Luye’s scolding of Dijiang in the Killing Red Small Realm, she felt somewhat melancholy.

Soul’s virtue, spirit’s evil.

That remnant soul was ultimately virtuous, wasn’t it?

“Hehe, don’t think too much about it.”

Fudao Shanren might have felt the same as Jian Chou when he first learned of these things years ago, but now he had long seen through it.

“No need to think about what’s virtuous or evil. Soul and spirit are originally one body, so people have both virtue and evil, and even one person can be sometimes virtuous and sometimes evil. The reason lies only in whether the soul or the spirit dominates. Dijiang committed countless evils, devouring countless disciples of Laozu. How could Laozu spare its seven evil spirits because of its three virtuous souls? Evil must be eliminated.”

Though she didn’t fully understand, however…

Jian Chou could only say that the part she understood made quite a bit of sense.

She slowly smiled and nodded.

“Knock knock knock.”

Knocking sounds arose.

Shen Jiu and the others had been waiting outside for a long time.

“Master, has Senior Sister awakened?”

“Come in.”

Only then did Fudao Shanren remember there were several burdens outside, quickly calling out.

He casually grabbed at the ground, and several small wooden stools emerged from the ground. He sat properly on one of them, and that small wooden stool transformed into a comfortable chair with a backrest.

Fudao Shanren immediately became boneless, lazily leaning back, opening his mouth to take a big bite of a chicken leg.

“Ah, delicious…”

“Creak.”

Shen Jiu, pushing open the door, immediately saw their master’s rascal appearance and was instantly speechless.

The junior brothers entered and all bowed: “Greetings to Master and Senior Sister.”

Seeing Fudao Shanren’s dignified appearance instantly become boneless, Jian Chou didn’t know what to say and only wanted to raise her head to look into the distance—yes, she didn’t know this person.

Fudao Shanren lifted his eyelids and said casually, “All these empty formalities. If you have such filial hearts, why not make more chicken legs for Master? I’m getting full just looking at you all. Where’s the second one? Why don’t I see him again?”

Shen Jiu was quite struck by the words “empty formalities” and couldn’t speak for a moment.

Little fatty Jiang He was cleverer and quickly replied: “Well, didn’t they say Kunwu was sending that genius to the Qingfeng Nunnery hidden realm, and the sect leader also wants to send Second Senior Brother? Second Senior Brother is leaving tonight and said he’d come to bid farewell in a while.”

Hearing this, Jian Chou suddenly froze.

Hearing this, Fudao Shanren blinked as if just remembering: “If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten…”