Taisui was not honest.
Luo Chen was well aware of this.
All along the way, the other had been probing his depths to varying degrees.
Earlier, it had not mattered as much; it was still within the bounds of their oath. But now, amidst Yuecanglan, where a great demon held sway, a single slip could easily land them in deep peril. Even though Luo Chen possessed peerless abilities, Yuecanglan was simply not a battlefield suited to him.
Hence, Luo Chen had voiced a warning to keep Taisui from entertaining improper notions.
After his warning, Taisui indeed became much more well-behaved.
Along the way, he pulled no further tricks.
And Yuecanglan, seemingly teeming with dragon earthworms and fraught with danger, turned out to be the most tranquil journey of Luo Chen's travels through the Five Elements Heavens.
Up until the three crossed the boundary stele and departed the world of endless watery marshes, not a single battle occurred.
Looking back at Yuecanglan, the hearts they had held in their throats finally settled.
"Inside, there were dozens of third-rank dragon earthworms alone, and tens of thousands of first- and second-rank ones—virtually an entire dragon earthworm tribe. Who knows how that Duoyuan Longzong managed to bring an entire clan into the Land of the Fallen Demon."
Cave Master Moyun spoke slowly, lingering fear evident in his voice.
Luo Chen had already informed them about Duoyuan Longzong halfway through their trek. That was why Cave Master Moyun voiced such a lament.
Luo Chen stood outside Yuecanglan, gazing across the watery world, lost in thought.
Using the strength of an entire tribe to transform Yuecanglan.
The intention was clearly: *If the mountain will not come to me, I shall go to the mountain.*
Duoyuan Longzong wanted both to blend into Yuecanglan to perceive the remnant water laws here, and to avoid being excessively assimilated into becoming a mere part of this world.
Viewed this way, being assimilated by heaven and earth carried immense danger!
Han Zhan's prior warning to him in the Blazing Purgatory yielded a vivid contrast now.
*I was fortunate to have escaped a catastrophe.*
Feeling fortunate in his heart, Luo Chen turned around with a smile and looked upon the vast, barren plain before them.
"Is this the place where the Five Qi congeal?"
A strange expression crossed his face, his tone laced with doubt.
In his imagination, the central expanse encircled by the Five Elements Heavens should have been rich in five-element spiritual energy, the most quintessential core of the Land of the Fallen Demon.
Yet on this plain, not a blade of grass grew, and spiritual energy was virtually absent.
Only in the center did a sky-piercing tornado roar without cease.
Taisui strode past the two of them and set foot upon the earth.
He closed his eyes without a word, wholeheartedly embracing the heavens and earth as though sensing something.
Finally, he slowly opened his eyes, a solemn expression on his face.
"This is the place!"
With that, he strode forward.
Behind him, Luo Chen and Cave Master Moyun exchanged a glance.
*We aren't flying?*
They felt no flight-restricting formations, nor did they sense any danger.
Yet since Taisui acted this way, Luo Chen and Moyun had no choice but to keep their feet on the ground and follow closely behind.
Watching Taisui's heavy, sluggish steps, Luo Chen narrowed his eyes slightly.
"This place seems to place tremendous restrictions on Taisui?"
"This old man senses it as well. The closer he gets to that spiritual energy tornado, the more sluggish his movements become."
Han Zhan's voice transmission echoed softly in his sea of consciousness.
Luo Chen pursed his lips and looked around, a sudden thought springing to mind.
*This is not a place Taisui is meant to tread!*
*Of course!*
Taisui was merely one of the guardians of Mutian Plain, no different from the Treant King, the Dusk Vine Crow Ancestor, or the strange beasts and fire spirits elsewhere.
All of them had been restricted to the Five Elements Heavens by the master of this realm.
And this area had clearly separated from the Five Elements Heavens entirely; it was not a place he was meant to roam.
Though it was unknown what method Taisui had used to bring his true body to this region, the invisible suppressive force still exerted its influence.
Even though Ding Yi's body held only a remnant wisp of Taisui's consciousness!
The three figures trudged unevenly across the vast, desolate plain.
Occasionally, they would pause.
For instance, when they stopped once more.
Looking at the craters and potholes in the ground, as well as several mangled corpses and skeletons, the three turned somewhat somber.
"This region is the final stretch leading to the legacy ground. Though spiritual energy is barren here, it is not as extreme as in the Five Elements Heavens. It is relatively suitable for cultivators of different styles to fight."
"It appears many people stepped foot here and battles erupted right on the threshold."
"We..."
Hearing Taisui's words, Cave Master Moyun gave a soft chuckle.
"Arriving a year late spared us the fiercest battles. Seen that way, it isn't a bad thing."
Taisui grunted in assent, evidently agreeing.
Luo Chen, however, caught another piece of information in his words.
"Where exactly is the legacy ground?"
Taisui glanced at Luo Chen, then raised a finger, pointing toward the spiritual energy tornado.
"Right there."
...
Ten days later.
Three figures stood at the edge of a cliff like candles flickering in the wind.
Above roared the spiritual energy tornado; below lay a fathomless, pitch-black abyss.
Awe filled the fat cultivator's eyes as he shouted, "Right down below! My true body is trapped down there. And the legacy ground you wish to reach, Cave Master, is in there as well!"
His voice was so loud it was practically a bellow.
Hearing this, Cave Master Moyun was beside himself with excitement and prepared to step forward.
Unexpectedly, Luo Chen extended an arm to stop him.
Amidst the cave master's startled look, Luo Chen turned to Taisui.
"Now that we've reached this point, Fellow Daoist, can you not tell us the method to enter the legacy ground?"
He pointed toward the sky-piercing tornado. "Such terrifying spiritual energy backflow is something ordinary people cannot withstand. Don't tell me the passage is right inside."
Taisui snorted softly. "It is not impossible to tell you, but we must first rescue my true body! That was agreed upon long ago. Now that we are at the eleventh hour, there is no such thing as demanding payment beforehand."
Having spoken, heedless of what the two thought, he promptly sat cross-legged on the cliff edge and formed hand seals.
The next moment, across the barren plain, spiritual mushrooms flew over one by one.
And from within the abyss, green moss slowly crept out, ultimately forming a pathway.
These spiritual mushrooms and moss bore an aura identical to Taisui's, as if born from the very same source.
Taisui rose and stepped onto the moss-covered path.
"Come, gentlemen!"
Cave Master Moyun hesitated slightly, but before the temptation of the legacy ground, he ultimately followed.
Luo Chen glanced at the sky-piercing tornado, took a deep breath, and followed as well.
...
The abyss was dim and gloomy, with scarcely a glimmer of daylight.
The deeper they ventured, the more oppressive the atmosphere became, suffocating enough to stifle their breath.
This was the Fallen Demon Abyss!
The final barrier straddling the Five Elements Heavens and Mingzhao Heaven.
Taisui's true body was trapped within it.
Roughly half a day later, their steps halted before a fissure in the cliff wall.
With a mixture of dread and excitement, Taisui stepped into the fissure.
Luo Chen followed him inside.
The fissure was not large, resembling a small opening—narrow at first, admitting only a single person, but after several slow paces, a faint glimmer appeared.
Suddenly, stepping out of the narrow fissure, Luo Chen's pupils contracted sharply.
Deep within the fissure lay an enormous cavern.
Inside, a massive ball of flesh the height of a grown man lay round and pale.
At first glance, it appeared entirely translucent without the slightest impurity, looking almost like a block of ice, with the red threads resembling meridians clearly visible within.
If Luo Chen had to describe it, one word was exceedingly apt:
"Jelly!"
Surrounding the flesh ball were spiritual mushrooms—white, red, teal, and green.
"This is..."
"This is my true body!"
Taisui let out a somewhat sickly groan.
As he spoke, the flesh ball seemed to sense it and trembled faintly.
At that exact moment, formation runes slowly surfaced throughout the cavern, coalescing into hook-like shapes that snagged the flesh ball from all directions.
Not only that!
Golden light gleamed atop the flesh ball as illusory golden nails manifested one by one.
One, two, three... seven!
A full seven rust-stained illusory nails firmly pinned the flesh ball in place.
Gazing at the hooks and nails, Taisui—possessing Ding Yi's body—wore an agonized expression, unable to stop himself from crouching down and clutching his head with both hands.
"Hooking the soul, pinning the po!"
"True Monarch, how truly cruel you were!"
"I served you for years, letting you extract my vitality again and again to experiment on new spirit herbs. After your demise, I merely sought a glimpse into the legacy ground, yet you dealt me such a vicious hand!"
"I refuse to accept this! I refuse to accept it!"
These words were spoken brokenly, piercing and shrill.
They actually startled Luo Chen and Cave Master Moyun into taking several steps back.
Taisui crouched there, howling in a low voice for a moment before finally rising to his feet.
"Forgive me. I have made a fool of myself before you," he said, sounding between laughter and tears.
Ignoring their reactions, he began pacing around his true body.
As he circled, he explained, "I am one of the Three Spirits of the Hundred Crows Ghost Forest. Together with the Treant King and Dusk Vine Crow Ancestor, we were tasked with guarding Mutian Plain for life."
"Yet unlike the two of them, my true body is a taisui, renowned for being clear as hard ice, immortal, and ageless. It harbors infinite vitality, and my body even possesses the ceaseless power of wood-attribute laws."
"Because of this, Heaven Refining Demon Lord frequently took me to other parts of the Five Elements Heavens to cultivate spirit herbs, experiment on new mutant spirits, and prolong the lives of those spirits he had forcefully enlightened yet left inherently defective."
"That is why I know the various spirits and mutant beings of the Five Elements Heavens like the back of my hand."
"After the True Monarch fell, this place was left masterless. Over the course of a thousand years, cultivators of the Yuan Demon Sect came and went continuously."
"Those Yuan Demon Sect cultivators initially focused on exploration, but later shifted to gathering the resources here alongside their exploring."
"I knew that if things went on like this, the Land of the Fallen Demon would ultimately become the Yuan Demon Sect's backyard. Even fifth-rank mutant spirits as strong as us would become their enslaved thralls. Especially me—I would most likely repeat my past fate!"
"I did not want that."
"So, I entertained thoughts I should not have. Alone, I came to this Fallen Demon Abyss, attempting to leave this place by passing through Mingzhao Heaven..."
Luo Chen raised an eyebrow, both shocked by Taisui's past and harboring certain doubts about what he said.
For instance, leaving this secret realm through Mingzhao Heaven was surely not so simple.
Could Taisui truly have held zero designs on the legacy said to aid one in achieving Deity Transformation?
At any rate, Luo Chen did not believe it!
Taisui's narrative continued.
"Never did I imagine that the True Monarch had laid measures against us mutant-spirit servants long ago."
"Just as I was about to enter Mingzhao Heaven, the hidden measure suddenly triggered, transforming into this Soul-Hooking Po-Pinning Formation and trapping me firmly within the Fallen Demon Abyss."
"Such a formation is truly insidious beyond measure! Its energy source is none other than my own power; unless I perish completely, the formation will not dissipate for a single day."
Speaking to this point, Taisui's venomous expression abruptly shifted, tinged with a touch of smugness and relief.
"Fortunately, I gained inspiration from a Perfected Person of the Yuan Demon Sect who ventured here, and I devised a scheme to shed my skin like a cicada."
He pointed to the scattered spiritual mushrooms in the cavern and the moss-covered path they had entered through, finally gesturing toward Ding Yi's body.
"The Soul-Hooking Po-Pinning Formation draws upon my own strength as its source of power."
"As long as I continuously divide myself, relentlessly carving flesh from my body, the formation will grow weaker and weaker."
"If I can transfer the divine soul of my true body into another vessel, this formation will collapse without a fight. At that time, I will retrieve my physical body, merge the two into one, and see the light of day once more."
Reaching this point, he looked excitedly at Luo Chen and Moyun.
"Next, what you need to help me do is precisely this."
"Are you ready?"
Luo Chen and Cave Master Moyun exchanged a glance, then slowly nodded.
"At your command."
"We will cooperate with you."
Receiving their answer, Taisui clapped his hands.
"Splendid!"
...
In the dimly lit cavern, three figures grew busy.
Formation flags and formation discs were laid down one after another.
A diverse array of formations was arranged in interlocking succession.
Layering formation upon formation, they pushed the array's power to its zenith.
Furthermore, amid Cave Master Moyun's gasps of astonishment, Taisui produced several supreme-grade spiritual stones in succession and embedded them into the formations.
Their formations had all been prepared in advance, specifically tailored to counter that soul-hooking, po-pinning formation.
Luo Chen's task was by no means light either.
He needed to set up a fourth-rank formation called the "Spirit-Blocking Formation" to prevent the Heaven Refining Demon Lord's array from tracing back to Taisui's incarnation at the critical juncture of the subsequent operation.
Regarding the Spirit-Blocking Formation, Taisui gave Luo Chen a formation diagram, having him learn while setting it up.
Overall, it was a mechanical approach of following a blueprint step-by-step.
Moreover, he also had to familiarize himself somewhat with the formations Cave Master Moyun was setting up, so he could lend a hand and sustain their operation if Moyun could no longer hold out.
Under these preparations, time passed swiftly.
Yet because the abyss knew no daylight, the passage of time was practically imperceptible.
Luo Chen only vaguely recalled that roughly half a year had elapsed before everything was finally set in place.
On this day.
Luo Chen walked cautiously through the formation-laden cavern, finally arriving before Taisui's true body.
He looked back toward Taisui-Ding Yi, who sat cross-legged ten feet away, facing Taisui's true body.
Taisui asked, "Are you ready?"
Luo Chen nodded and sat down before the translucent, massive jelly-like flesh ball.
"I am ready."
"Cave Master, how about your end?" Taisui asked again.
Positioned at the entrance of the fissure, Cave Master Moyun, fully rested over three days and in high spirits, called back his reply:
"All is in place. We can activate at any moment."
Having received their confirmations, Taisui took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping slowly over the two.
"Then I leave the rest to you!"
With that, he closed his eyes, and the temporary altar beneath his feet slowly began to radiate light.
Within the cavern, multicolored beams of radiance flared brilliantly under Cave Master Moyun's control.
*Hum...*
A muffled tremor sounded as the formations activated.
In an instant, mud and rock tumbled down within the cavern, threatening collapse.
At that exact moment, strands of green moss flew upward, adhering to the rock walls.
Furthermore, spiritual mushrooms swelled abruptly, turning into pillars that propped up the cavern space.
At this point, everything stood firm, and the three men held steady. Only Taisui's true body lay in the cavern's center, trembling as its pale flesh quivered.
Chapter 680