"With a demon spirit controlling the Five Elements Crown and the Five Elements Divine Restriction, how have you held out until now?" Zhu Wudao questioned again.
He thought to himself that it was no wonder the Demon Son's transmitted thoughts were intermittent, blurred, and confused in many places, and his responses came so sluggishly. It seemed an ordeal just to project a single thought, clearly showing his dire straits.
It turned out he had brought disaster upon himself and was currently locked in struggle against the demon spirit of the Five Elements Crown.
Once a spirit treasure birthed an artifact spirit, it underwent a qualitative transformation.
This was reflected no less in the seal upon Dishou Mountain.
With a master guiding the seal, it could unite the might of the Five Elements Crown and the Five Elements Divine Restriction to unleash its supreme suppressive power, allowing the demon spirit to take advantage of the situation and devour the Demon Son.
Meanwhile, having been sealed for so long, the Demon Son was already an arrow at the end of its flight.
As one waxed while the other waned, the fact that the Demon Son still possessed the strength to resist left Zhu Wudao secretly amazed.
"Since the demon spirit is not a true artifact spirit, discrepancies remain between it and its core vessel. Moreover, because my corruption of it was interrupted, its true nature is defective. It is thus bound by restrictions, inevitably suffering friction when manipulating the Five Elements Crown. Extended to the Five Elements Divine Restriction, the same applies. Because it cannot achieve flawless control, I have gained a moment to catch my breath."
The Demon Son's reply was still disjointed, but it did not hinder comprehension.
Ever since making contact with the Demon Son, their communication had always been like this. Zhu Wudao had grown accustomed to piecing together the fragments himself to grasp the underlying truth.
No wonder the Demon Son called the demon spirit a freakish monstrosity.
The demon spirit's gestation drew half from the spirit treasure's innate spirituality and half from the Demon Son's demonic nature. It was not a pure artifact spirit, yet it had somehow developed spiritual awareness.
Thinking of this, Zhu Wudao felt it increasingly bizarre. He had never imagined an artifact spirit could turn around and devour its master.
With the Five Elements Crown's spirituality tainted... could the Demon Son be considered half its master?
Regarding this, the Demon Son was surprisingly nonchalant. "All things have spirits, and all desire transcendence. Unless continually refined and nurtured at one's side in unbroken intimacy, who would willingly endure bondage and servitude? What is so strange about an artifact spirit devouring its master? Moreover, across layers of seals, merely corrupting the spirit treasure's spirituality was arduous enough; I lacked the power to impose further restrictions upon it..."
"Then where is the demon spirit now?" Zhu Wudao asked vigilantly, looking around. Recalling the Demon Son's previous actions, he had a faint inkling.
"Failing to suppress me, it sought another path. Born of tainted spiritual awareness, its demonic nature is deeply rooted, making its actions no different from ours. Having departed its true form, it likely intends to devour a few cultivators before returning to consume me and complete its true nature."
"So it was the one stirring up trouble!"
Zhu Wudao came to a realization. No wonder Su Zinan and the others had yet to catch up.
He finally understood the deep design behind the Demon Son's actions.
When they first made contact, the Demon Son had merely transmitted a simple thought bidding him shatter the jade pavilion, not daring to say another word.
This move was intended, first, to disrupt the Five Elements Divine Restriction.
Of course, compared to the seal as a whole, such a tremor was far from enough to let the Demon Son escape; Zhu Wudao still needed to bring the divine idol up the mountain.
This led to the second objective: letting the others inside to attract the demon spirit and confound its judgment. Only then would the demon spirit not be alerted, allowing Zhu Wudao to act unhindered.
Doing so had both pros and cons. Zhu Wudao had been teleported to the entrance hall, running straight into two Daoist masters and getting pursued. Fortunately, through his clever politicking and alliances, things had gone smoothly enough.
Only after the demon spirit was lured away did the Demon Son dare to communicate with him freely.
Earlier, Zhu Wudao had activated the wind array to provide cover for the demon spirit's actions. Seizing the opportunity while the demon spirit was distracted, the Demon Son transmitted power through the divine idol to cloak Zhu Wudao's aura, pulling off an audacious deception.
No wonder the Demon Son had urged him on so impatiently. The demon spirit was still unaware of their connection; once discovered, if it returned to its core vessel and severed that link, all their efforts would likely be wasted.
"Heh... are those old monsters people to be trifled with?"
Learning the demon spirit's origin and abilities from the Demon Son, and knowing that the Five Elements Crown was locked in a stalemate with the Demon Son while the demon spirit had merely projected its spirit outward, Zhu Wudao could not help but chuckle. He clearly did not think much of the demon spirit's chances, even if it could control the Five Elements Divine Restriction to some extent.
Those lured up the mountain now were each vicious, cunning, and deeply secretive; there were several whom even he could not see through.
Though endowed with a demonic nature, the demon spirit had been trapped within the mountain since its birth and was innocent of worldly affairs. In his eyes, it had cruelty in spades but lacked cunning; describing it as naive would hardly be an exaggeration.
To harbor crooked intentions against those figures was just asking to break its own teeth first.
Only when the weaker cultivators entered the mountain would the demon spirit have the opportunity to feast on spirits on a grand scale. Fortunately, the Cloud Dragons outside the mountain gates had collapsed, blocking the rest outside so they had yet to arrive. Otherwise, today's affair would truly have been difficult to conclude.
Amid his thoughts, Zhu Wudao suddenly remembered another matter and asked worriedly, "Aren't you afraid the demon spirit might willingly acknowledge a master?"
The demon spirit was in a peculiar state, possessing discord with its core vessel, but having a master would change everything. So long as the demon spirit cooperated, even with the simplest Treasure-Commanding Incantation, a master could harmonize the demon spirit and the Five Elements Crown, smoothing over the cracks and unleashing the crown's true might.
Later, with the master's assistance, proceeding step by step, the demon spirit would sooner or later attain complete accord with the Five Elements Crown, passing the hurdle of spirit shaping to become a true artifact spirit.
In the gestation of an artifact spirit, the most difficult part was the process of going from nothing to something.
From a magic treasure birthing spirituality to that spirituality nurturing an artifact spirit, each step was as arduous as crossing a celestial chasm. Ninety-nine percent of magic treasures and spirit treasures were stuck at this barrier.
For countless millennia across Zhongzhou, countless Deity Transformation cultivators had ascended, yet even among their most cherished natal magic treasures, none had ever been heard to birth a true artifact spirit.
The Demon Son sneered coldly. "I told you just now, yet you have already forgotten. The demon spirit was born from the Five Elements Crown's spirituality. Back when it was an ordinary spirit treasure, it changed masters countless times, controlled and manipulated time and again via Treasure-Commanding Incantations. That brand is carved deep into its heart, indelible. It is impossible for it to acknowledge a master!"
Zhu Wudao did not understand the thoughts of an artifact spirit and could hardly empathize, but hearing the Demon Son's brimming confidence, he assumed it must be true.
He wanted to ask more, but the divine idol continually transmitted impatient thoughts, urging him to hasten.
Sensing that the Demon Son was growing increasingly irritable, with a temper like dry tinder, Zhu Wudao tactfully shut his mouth and dared not inquire further.
Within Dishou Mountain, completely unbeknownst to the others, a shadow perfectly concealed within the fiend-winds flitted rapidly, heading straight for the summit.
Even the sky-filling fiend-winds could not mask the wondrous sights across Dishou Mountain.
Every few paces, Zhu Wudao beheld an entirely distinct vista. An immortal's paradisiacal sanctuary could be no greater than this. Had the situation not been so dire, he would have loved to take his time admiring it.
After speeding forward for who knew how far, a canopy of azure clouds suddenly appeared ahead.
Zhu Wudao's figure paused involuntarily. From what he knew, the Wordless Jade Wall was right here!
Beneath the azure clouds lay a valley. Not very deep, it was sealed by a cloud-like restriction, yet one could still sense the spiritual energy surging inside like tidal waves, brimming with preternatural beauty.
Here, the spiritual energy had almost condensed into substance; it was hard to say whether the azure clouds were a restriction, an anomaly manifested by the spiritual energy, or both.
A faint, pure luminescence radiated from the depths of the valley, where a precipice stood smooth as a mirror, resembling jade. Over a hundred feet tall and nearly square, it bore not a single inscription—precisely the Wordless Jade Wall.
Its interior was limpid, its mirror-like surface rippling with cool, gentle watery waves, reflecting all the beauty of the valley.
Before the Wordless Jade Wall sat several prayer mats woven from spirit grass that calmed the mind and settled the spirit. Left untended for so long, they had lost their luster, adding a poignant touch of desolation.
Zhu Wudao took a deep look at the valley and did not linger.
Once past the Wordless Jade Wall, he was not far from the summit.
Following the Demon Son's guidance, Zhu Wudao bypassed another magnificent hall and reached the summit. Leaning over to look down, he discovered that the interior of Dishou Mountain was entirely hollow.
Light within the mountain's belly was dim. A murky grayish mist lingered unceasingly, and deeper inside, lights of other colors faintly flickered.
Without hesitation, he leapt downward into the mountain's core. Plunging into the murky grayish mist, he instantly felt a stifling oppression and subconsciously adjusted his posture.
Not far down, the light below grew distinct.
The light split into five colors, resembling the clouds outside.
Zhu Wudao's heart stirred. He understood that the power of the Five Elements Divine Restriction converged here; the Five Elements Crown had to be kept here as the heart of the seal, commanding the divine restrictions.
Correspondingly, the Demon Son was also suppressed here.
As expected, Zhu Wudao soon spotted a mass of five-colored clouds—more accurately, a barrier formed of five-colored radiant glow. However, it was far too dense to see what lay inside.
This was the manifestation of the seal's power.
It was evident that the seal's power was primarily directed inward to prevent the Demon Son from breaking free. The predecessors of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect must have believed that the Demonic Calamity was extinguished, and with the seal situated inside Dishou Mountain at the very heart of the sect, nothing could go wrong, so they had not laid down excessive external safeguards.
Within the barrier, five-colored light circulated incessantly, exceptionally sturdy. Before Zhu Wudao could even steady his footing, he felt a thought transmitted from the divine idol: "Set up the array here."
The Demon Son's thoughts sounded weary, but beneath that lay far greater excitement.
Zhu Wudao nodded slightly, glanced around, and flew to one side of the grotto. Finding a protruding boulder, he landed upon it and sat cross-legged.
He was in no rush to take out the divine idol.
Tapping his fingers repeatedly, he sent out various runes that landed on the surface of the clouds. As the runes linked together, they formed an obscure dark curtain. On the surface, it appeared to probe for weaknesses in the seal, but in truth, it was preparation for what was to come.
The divine idol was originally meant to rescue the Holy Sovereign; using it here was truly using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Serving as a conduit connecting inside and out as well as a vessel to host the Demon Son, this link made it unnecessary to breach the seal by force. By merely borrowing the power of blood sacrifice to silently widen the channel, the Demon Son's spirit could transfer and descend into the divine idol, thereby securing his escape.
If handled properly, it would completely escape the demon spirit's notice, proceeding in utter secrecy. Once the ritual progressed to a certain stage, even if the demon spirit returned, it would find it difficult to stop them.
At the same time, Zhu Wudao's mind stimulated a point of spiritual light inside the divine idol, sending out a signal.
Outside the Wuxiang Immortal Sect.
In the two prefectures of Nanman.
The chief priests participating in the blood sacrifice had long been waiting with burning impatience. Connected inside and out through the divine idols, they would sense Zhu Wudao's actions the moment he began and could initiate the final step of the ritual.
Before departing, the Lord Envoy had given an estimated timeframe, yet that agreed-upon hour had long passed without any movement.
The commotion caused by the blood sacrifice was too enormous. Even though it was restricted to mortals and low-level cultivators, their layout spanned two whole prefectures. With such a vast expanse, so many dying at once, and their deaths being so bizarre, someone was bound to uncover clues.
Had the Wuxiang Immortal Sect not emerged, its immortal abode occupying the minds of Nanman's cultivators, various sects would have already seen through the plot and tracked them down.
Even so, seventy to eighty percent of their diversionary setups had already been dismantled; exposure was only a matter of time.
Just as their anxiety reached a fever pitch, they finally received the signal. Overjoyed, they threw themselves to the ground, chanting praise to the Holy Sovereign with faces full of zeal and excitement.
Of course, they did not forget their duty.
The divine idols took their places!
Invisibly, the grand blood-sacrifice array—planned across generations by the Quyang Mountain lineage across the two prefectures of Nanman—finally took form!
Though separated by tens of thousands of li, every single blood-gorged idol seemed summoned at once, snapping open eerie crimson eyes in unison. A bizarre aura flowed along their gazes, converging into the idols held by the chief priests and transmitting toward Mount Taiyue!
Within his sleeve, the divine idol turned completely crimson and scorching hot, its heat even more astonishing than before. At the same time, an eerie fluctuation emanated from it, buffeting Zhu Wudao's mind.
He strained to suppress the idol's fluctuations lest the demon spirit detect them, his hands moving ever faster.
The array was nearing completion.
Zhu Wudao seemed to sense something. Frowning, he abruptly looked up, only to see a bright moon hanging above the murky grayish mist.
This was no bright moon, but an ancient mirror. Had Qin Sang been present, he would have recognized that the ancient mirror's design was identical to the treasure ship of Tianhao Tower.
"The Tianhao Ancient Mirror!"
Zhu Wudao's expression changed drastically. "You dared bring this treasure out of the sect?!"
On Dishou Mountain, only one person could possibly wield the Tianhao Ancient Mirror: Old Devil Fan!
The Tianhao Ancient Mirror was the sect-guarding treasure of Tianhao Tower.
This treasure anchored Tianhao Tower's fortune, left behind by the founding patriarch, and had rested at the center of the mountain-protecting grand array ever since the sect was established.
The sect's upper echelons all knew that no one could take this treasure outside, nor did anyone dare to try. Even with Quyang Mountain scheming for so long, they had never dared set their sights on the Tianhao Ancient Mirror.
Old Devil Fan was mad to dare steal the Tianhao Ancient Mirror.
Even if he had gone mad, Sect Master Yu would never have indulged his madness.
"Merely a mirror talisman! To refine this talisman, the sect planned for years and expended countless resources, with an abysmal success rate. Who would have thought that its debut would be used against a fellow disciple? Still, precious as the mirror talisman is, without it, how could I have learned of Junior Brother Zhu's schemes?"
After Zhu Wudao vanished, Old Devil Fan had not moved far.
He sat cross-legged on the ground, hands resting flat upon his knees. A sphere of white light floated before him, within which the shape of an ancient mirror could be seen, though it appeared ethereal rather than corporeal.
Old Devil Fan spoke without uttering a sound; instead, his voice was transmitted into the cavern through the ancient mirror.
Before Zhu Wudao could respond...
...the ancient mirror tilted slightly, casting its light upon the five-colored seal.
"So this is where that number one spirit treasure is kept? Did Junior Brother think I was ignorant of the Wordless Jade Wall's secret and tried to use a worthless bauble to make this elder brother risk his life for you?"
At this moment, Zhu Wudao could only be glad he had not yet produced the divine idol; Old Devil Fan merely assumed he was after the spirit treasure.
Quickly organizing his thoughts, Zhu Wudao pressed down on his sleeve, feigned calm, and said in a deep voice, "Even if Senior Brother forcibly seizes the spirit treasure, how will you wield it without the Treasure-Commanding Incantation? Why not listen to Junior Brother..."
Before he could finish, Old Devil Fan interrupted with a scoff, saying leisurely, "What need is there for a Treasure-Commanding Incantation? Just looking at the layout of the Five Elements Divine Restriction makes it clear this treasure is tied to the five elements; the method to command it must be sought in the five elements restrictions outside. No wonder the ancient records state that whenever the Wuxiang Immortal Sect deployed this treasure in the past, it was always accompanied by a grand array with immense fanfare!"
Zhu Wudao's face fell, and he wanted to argue further.
Old Devil Fan suddenly let out a soft exclamation of surprise, and the ancient mirror abruptly faded away.
The next instant.
The gray mist convulsed, and a rainbow bridge plunged straight into the mountain's belly!
Chapter 1669