My Primordial Spirit Is No Longer Pure

Meng Wuhuai, the Immortal Master of Penglai, knew all too well that this was no place to linger. If Xu Ying tracked him down, he would undoubtedly be slain! The Third Mystic Pass had been suppressed by Xu Ying and remained in the Penglai Fairy Realm. His cultivation had also been cleaved down from the Immortal King realm to the Ascension stage. In his heavily wounded state, he stood no chance against Xu Ying. "Zhou Yashu, carry your master away from here at once! An enemy of mine will arrive very soon," Meng Wuhuai urged. "If we leave too late, we will meet our doom." Hearing this, Zhou Yashu hurriedly hoisted him onto his back. "Master, where are we going?" Meng Wuhuai's eyes flickered. "To the demonic realm." He had calculated everything with cold clarity. If he returned to the myriad heavens and myriad worlds, not a single realm could shield him from Xu Ying's pursuit. What was worse, his years spent presiding over the Penglai Fairy Realm had long marked him as a traitor in the eyes of those above. Were he to return to the myriad heavens and worlds, any immortal sect that discovered his traces would surely execute him to claim credit from their superiors. As for Weixu, the Netherworld, and the Heavenly Dao world, they were out of the question—every one of them was his mortal enemy. *Though I have repeatedly crossed swords with the demonic realm, they desperately crave Penglai. As the Immortal Master of Penglai, I am of immense value to them. Defecting this time will guarantee that they value my service,* Meng Wuhuai thought to himself. *Borrowing the demonic realm's might to reclaim Penglai will be effortless then.* Carrying him on his back, Zhou Yashu flew toward the demonic realm and ventured tentatively, "The demonic realm is fraught with perils. Master, please instruct me in the Taiyin Void Sky Technique." ... Meng Wuhuai gave a low laugh. "The demonic realm is treacherous indeed; without the Taiyin Void Sky Technique, you would struggle even to survive. Ah, well, your immortal affinity has arrived, for you met me." Resting upon Zhou Yashu's back, he imparted the Taiyin Void Sky Technique word by word. The Taiyin Void Sky Technique was a method at the Immortal King level that ascended straight into the immortal path, utterly incomparable to those Qi Refinement arts that ground to a halt upon reaching the Ascension stage. Cultivating under Meng Wuhuai's guidance, Zhou Yashu found that this Taiyin Void Sky Technique surpassed the arts of his Daozhen Palace by leaps and bounds. In a brief span, his cultivation advanced by strides! Yet the Path of the Void embedded within this technique filled his heart with grief and fury. He possessed extraordinary aptitude and perception, having been the prized disciple of Daozhen Palace's Wuchenzi. He realized almost immediately that the Taiyin Void Sky Technique stemmed from the exact same lineage as the divine power that had annihilated Daozhen Palace. *He is the one who destroyed Daozhen Palace! A single ray of hazy immortal light cast down by his divine power wiped out two thousand eight hundred people of my sect! Master, sect elders, senior brothers, senior sisters, junior brothers, junior sisters—every last one perished at his hands!* Though Zhou Yashu's hatred surged to the heavens, he endured in silence, concealing his true thoughts and continuing to seek Meng Wuhuai's instruction. Meng Wuhuai was simply too powerful. Even heavily wounded, he was far beyond Zhou Yashu's reach. Zhou Yashu had to become stronger. Only then could he hope to slay him and avenge his fellow disciples. Carrying Meng Wuhuai, Zhou Yashu sprinted on toward the demonic realm. After traveling an unknown distance, Meng Wuhuai's deep voice sounded from his back: "I am the Immortal Master of Penglai. Fellow Daoist of the demonic realm, there is no need to hide." Startled, Zhou Yashu halted his steps. A demon god descended from the heavens, landing before them. A wheel of fire hovered behind the demon god's head, burning in utter silence with black flames. His body, however, was battered with injuries, and broken bone fragments jutted from his flesh—fractures that looked as though they had been forcibly snapped by bare hands. His foot was somehow injured as well, with a large portion of the forefoot missing entirely. "You are the Immortal Master of Penglai?" The demon god took a step forward, eyeing Meng Wuhuai. Out of breath, Meng Wuhuai gasped, "I am indeed the Immortal Master of Penglai. Someone usurped my authority and seized Penglai. I wish to see your demonic realm's Little Heavenly Venerable." The demon god sneered. "Why should I take you to see the Little Heavenly Venerable? Wouldn't it be better if I slaughtered you and brought your head to him? With your head, I could secure boundless merit." Meng Wuhuai chuckled. "Bringing me to see the Little Heavenly Venerable can deliver the Penglai Fairy Realm into your hands, along with the whereabouts of the other Penglai immortals. Those immortals are currently hunting your demonic realm's experts. Once you know their locations, you can easily counterattack and butcher them all. How does that merit compare to taking my head?" The demon god studied him intently, then raised a hand and made a lifting gesture. Zhou Yashu and Meng Wuhuai were hoisted into the air against their will. Stepping onto a black cloud, the demon god cleaved through the sky and sped away. *** Across Xu Ying's wounds, flesh and blood continually dissolved into the void, only for new flesh and blood to sprout forth, sustaining his life. Fairy Gushe and the others were in the same state. Their bodies were riddled with injuries, and even their Primordial Spirits had been wounded by the Taiyin Void Sky Cauldron; their physical forms and Primordial Spirits were constantly dissolving toward nothingness. Yet the vibrant vitality and soul power pouring from behind Xu Ying nourished their bodies and Primordial Spirits, sustaining their lives so that they did not fade into nonexistence. Behind Xu Ying, four Nuo ancestor cave-heavens continued to rotate. It was precisely their operation that kept the group from succumbing to their mortal wounds. Xu Ying staggered to his feet. Gushe, Yan Yu, and the others lay scattered across the ground, still deep in unconsciousness. He sat down cross-legged beneath the tree, circulating the Taiyi Inborn Technique to channel Inborn Qi, first gathering up his disordered internal energy. As the Taiyi Inborn Technique circulated, his fractured divine consciousness began to knit back together. His divine consciousness was used to visualize the various Dao manifestations in his Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground. Figures such as Buzhou Mountain and the Sun-Refining Furnace were all visualized daily through divine consciousness, allowing them to unleash extraordinary might in combat. The entire Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground was an immortal domain constructed from these various Dao manifestations, condensing a Nuo Immortal's vitality, strength, divine consciousness, yin and yang, soul, and vital qi. Yet Xu Ying lacked the two Nuo ancestor cave-heavens of the Yellow Court and the Jade Pool, leaving him significantly deficient in divine consciousness and vital qi. *If only I could recover the Yellow Court cave-heaven and step into the realm of the five immortals, my Hidden Scenery latent transformation ground would not have been shattered by an Immortal King's divine power.* Xu Ying still felt a lingering chill whenever he recalled the Taiyin Void Sky Cauldron. Even with ample time to prepare, an Immortal King's strike was not something he could withstand alone; it had taken the concerted efforts of the eight immortals, including Gushe and Yan Yu, to barely hold it off. As the Taiyi Inborn Technique coursed through him, a sudden intuition struck Xu Ying. Within his Twelve-Storyed Mansions, his Golden Core stirred restlessly. *My Golden Core has matured. It is about to be forged into a Primordial Spirit.* The moment the thought crossed his mind, ten thousand beams of golden radiance burst through his battered physical body. Pierced by the divine power of the Taiyin Void Sky Cauldron, his body was riddled with gaping holes of all sizes. Now, that wondrous divine light shone through those ruptures like torches in the night, illuminating the sky and piercing through the gloom! A torrent of divine might akin to that of a primordial heavenly god surged forth from the Twelve-Storyed Mansions, harmonizing with the Heavenly Dao Xu Ying cultivated. Instantly, the vital qi of heaven and earth surged frenziedly, congregating and swirling in the sky to form a massive vortex spanning hundreds of li. A vast wave of divine might descended from the vortex, pouring into Xu Ying's Baihui acupoint. The Realm of Xiyi within him was also riddled with holes. The divine power plunged straight through it into the Twelve-Storyed Mansions, flooding into that single Golden Core. *Something is wrong...* Xu Ying sensed an ominous shift. His current location was not within the normal domain of the Heavenly Dao, but an area where the Heavenly Dao and the Demonic Dao mingled. The same held true for the vital qi of heaven and earth. His breakthrough required a colossal amount of worldly vital qi for the Golden Core to hatch into a Primordial Spirit. However, the vital qi drawn in by his breakthrough also contained the qi of the Demonic Dao. Now, this demonic qi converted into divine might and surged straight into his Golden Core. Xu Ying wanted to stop it, but with scarcely any cultivation left, he was powerless to resist. Just then, like a primordial egg shattering amidst the Primordial Chaos or a stone monkey leaping forth to shake heaven and earth, his Golden Core broke open. All the vital qi, soul, divine consciousness, yin and yang, heart power, and vitality within fused into a unified whole, refining the six secrets to return to Taiyi, condensing into a single Primordial Spirit. The moment this Primordial Spirit emerged, the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth in the Yuanchu Great World stirred alongside it. Singular runes materialized in the sky—runes of the Heavenly Dao, looming faintly within the thunderclouds. The runes multiplied, yet Xu Ying immediately sensed that they were not purely Heavenly Dao runes; other forces were mixed within. *It's the Demonic Dao!* Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. The Great Dao of Heaven and Earth surged, crashing down in tandem with divine might straight into the crown of his head, plunging into the Twelve-Storyed Mansions and assimilating into his Primordial Spirit. *I have finally formed my Primordial Spirit!* Xu Ying could hardly contain his wild joy, but right on its heels came an inescapable panic. *My Primordial Spirit is no longer pure.* His Primordial Spirit had been tainted by the Demonic Dao. Whether this boded well or ill, he had no idea. Before long, Xu Ying mobilized his residual divine consciousness to sense the Heavenly Dao within the Penglai Fairy Realm. Soon, his Heavenly Dao avatar manifested inside the realm. Through the avatar's vision, Xu Ying surveyed Penglai. Seeing that the Third Mystic Pass still stood upon the main peak, he finally let out a sigh of relief. *It seems the Immortal Master's injuries were grave enough that he didn't dare turn back for the Third Mystic Pass. He didn't know I had passed out and assumed I still had strength to spare.* Staggering to his feet, Xu Ying tended to Gushe, Yan Yu, and the others. Moments later, they stirred and regained consciousness, each struggling to suppress their wounds. Leaning against the Seven-Colored Divine Tree, Xu Ying spoke in a raspy voice, "Everyone, the Immortal Master has been driven off by me." Uncertain whether to believe him, the group looked over in shock. Gushe blurted out, "You mean we don't have to flee?" Xu Ying gave a slight nod. Yan Yu asked with a trembling voice, "Patriarch Xu, does that mean we founders of Penglai Pavilion can move to a larger immortal mountain?" Xu Ying coughed lightly. "I think the Immortal Master's policy of exchanging merits for larger immortal mountains was actually quite reasonable." Xiang Hao, the Third Pavilion Master, gloated, "Patriarch Xu means that the founders of our Penglai Pavilion are too lazy." "I mean all seven of you in Penglai Pavilion are lazy," Xu Ying said with a grin. The seven bristled with indignation. Jinlan, being a female pavilion master, had no beard to blow, so she could only glare. Xu Ying smiled and added, "There is one more thing: I have formed my Primordial Spirit." Unable to hide his pride, he manifested his Primordial Spirit the moment he spoke. The crowd widened their eyes in anticipation. Ten thousand beams of divine light burst from the crown of Xu Ying's head, soaring straight into the sky as resonant Dao sounds rumbled—a truly magnificent display! From his fontanelle, a Dao platform emerged. Serving as the foundation of the Great Dao, it possessed six facets carved with three thousand Heavenly Dao runes. The Twelve-Storyed Mansions then grew forth from the platform, standing nearly a hundred zhang tall and shimmering with dazzling gold. Shielding their eyes against the piercing brilliance, the onlookers saw the doors to the first story swing open. Out stepped a three-inch-tall miniature figure—Xu Ying's Primordial Spirit. "..." Everyone exchanged bewildered glances. "Young Master Xu's Primordial Spirit is... quite distinctive," Patriarch Yan Yu offered politely after a moment's hesitation. Xu Ying laughed. "My Primordial Spirit will grow bigger." The others looked at one another in silence. Even if it could grow, this Primordial Spirit was simply too small. "A Primordial Spirit so small, yet it actually left an imprint within the Twelve-Storyed Mansions?" Fairy Gushe remarked in disbelief. Inside the first story of the Twelve-Storyed Mansions stood another Primordial Spirit of Xu Ying, though this one was merely an imprint left behind, not the actual entity. The others noticed it as well, their faces displaying shock. Xu Ying was somewhat surprised himself. He had always worried that lacking the Nuo ancestor cave-heavens of the Yellow Court and the Jade Pool would prevent his Primordial Spirit from leaving an imprint, barring him from mastering the twelve proofs of the Primordial Spirit. He had not expected to achieve the first proof under these circumstances! *It is likely because my Heavenly Dao is complete that I could leave the first proof. The next proof, however, might not come so easily,* he thought to himself. "Fellow Daoist Xu's Primordial Spirit... the color seems slightly impure," Xiang Hao whispered. The others had noticed it too. Xu Ying's Primordial Spirit held the divine power of a primordial deity, yet beneath that power lurked traces of an alien Dao. Still, believing that Xu Ying's Dao methods and divine powers far exceeded their own, they assumed there had to be a reason for it, and no one pressed the point. As they spoke, a rumbling tremor reached their ears, putting everyone on guard. Fairy Gushe rose unsteadily and said, "We are right at the border of the demonic realm's invasion, where demon gods frequently roam. I believe we should return to the fairy realm as quickly as possible." Patriarch Yan Yu shook his head. "All nine of us have exhausted our cultivation, and our Dao realms are shattered. There is no way we can survive crossing ten thousand li back to Penglai." Xu Ying promptly mobilized his Primordial Spirit. "Do not worry, everyone. My Primordial Spirit happens to be useful here." The crowd glanced at his tiny Primordial Spirit, feeling even less assured. Just then, the rumbling grew closer. Looking up, they saw a dragon's head as colossal as a mountain range slowly drifting forward, parting layers of cloud and kicking up howling gales before coming to a stop roughly a hundred zhang ahead of them. Behind the dragon's head stretched a neck dozens of li long, connected to the immense body of a black turtle that carried the Penglai Immortal Mountain—spanning hundreds of li—upon its back. Perched atop the dragon's head, Shenpo looked down at them with a smile. "I believe you would recover much faster inside the fairy realm." With a flick of her finger, a tree leaf floated down, settling before them and expanding until it was as large as a woven mat. Straining their tired bodies, the group stepped onto the leaf. It rose into the air, carrying them back into the Penglai Fairy Realm. Once inside, nourished by the immortal spiritual qi flowing from the Immortal Realm and bathed in the Immortal Realm's sunlight, their recovery speed accelerated manifold. Xu Ying directly mobilized his Heavenly Dao avatar, marshaling the entire power of Penglai to purge the foreign Dao manifestations from their Dao injuries. His own cultivation rebounded swiftly. Freeing up his hands, he deployed his avatar to treat Fairy Gushe and the others. Shenpo approached with a smile. "Young Master Xu, your friends will be arriving soon." Xu Ying's heart stirred. *Could it be Yuan Qi, Chu Xiangxiang, and the others...?* Shenpo continued, "Furthermore, you must prepare early for the change that has occurred within you." Xu Ying's heart tightened, though he feigned a smile. "Change? What change? Nothing has changed with me. I am doing splendidly!" Shenpo smiled. "I speak, of course, of the Demonic Dao that invaded your Primordial Spirit." Xu Ying's expression shifted uncertainly, and he muttered, "I will mobilize the power of the Heavenly Dao to refine away the Demonic Dao within my Primordial Spirit." Shenpo shook her head. "The Demonic Dao has already integrated, refined into Taiyi by your technique to become one unified whole. It can no longer be cleansed." A chill ran through Xu Ying's heart. Then his eyes flashed. "How do you know the technique I practice is called Taiyi?" Shenpo did not answer, merely smiling. "He who tied the bell must untie it. If Young Master Xu wishes to resolve this transformation, you must go and take a look in the demonic realm."