Inside the medicinal garden.
When the spirit fruit was plucked, the green vine promptly withered away.
The Lingxi Immortal Fruit was a natural treasure birthed by heaven and earth, with only a single chance to mature in its lifetime. Once plucked, it would dissolve back into heaven and earth. Even if someone blessed with immense fortune were to discover a spiritual root here in the future, it would no longer be the same plant.
Daoist Hegao and Su Zinan looked toward Mo Xingdao in unison.
The puppet returned.
Mo Xingdao did not have time to examine the immortal fruit closely; he placed it into a jade box, stored it away, and hurriedly inspected the puppet's condition.
The puppet's chest had almost been pierced clean through by the thunder chains. Wisps of purple lightning could be seen snaking through the wound, but Mo Xingdao had moved the puppet's core elsewhere in time, leaving its foundation undamaged.
Yet the thunder power clung like maggots on bone, continuing to wreak havoc and undermining the puppet's strength.
Sensing the gazes fixed upon him, Mo Xingdao felt a chill in his heart. Pressed for time, he wrapped his hand in profound qi, secretly forming a profound seal, and thrust his hand directly into the puppet's wound to purge the purple lightning.
Crackles of thunder sounded incessantly.
However, all the noise was drowned out by the shattering of the Wordless Jade Wall, and everyone's eyes were drawn to the phantom walking out from the mountain valley.
Dao traces, Dao charm.
What cultivator could resist an opportunity like this?
Dishou Mountain fell dead silent, until startled awake by Daoist Zilei's laughter.
Yet the expressions that followed were not the joy of hearing the Dao. Instead, all wore deep reluctance and even agony, scratching their cheeks and ears in sheer frustration, wishing they could drag the vanished phantom back out and have him trace the stroke thousands of times over!
Unsatisfied was not enough to describe how they felt.
It was like searching painstakingly for years, finally catching a glimpse of the great Dao's threshold. The door stood half-open, yet separated by an invisible barrier that barred entry, allowing only a fleeting glance at the scenery beyond.
Yet before they could look clearly...
Boom!
The door slammed shut!
Everyone was left breathless.
Except for Daoist Zilei.
He had been merely half a step from Deity Transformation. Consuming the Lingxi Immortal Fruit, receiving heavenly secrets, and observing the Dao charm at the same time, he experienced a sudden enlightenment, clearing all confusion and finally grasping the profound mysteries.
Daoist Hegao looked up in mixed delight and shock. He was delighted that his sect leader Senior Brother was finally breaking through, but shocked that his Senior Brother had consumed the Lingxi Immortal Fruit directly and forced a breakthrough without entering secluded cultivation. It was far too hasty, entirely outside their plans.
Fortunately, he had succeeded.
The Deity Transformation Heavenly Tribulation had only just begun, yet it already exhibited a terrifying pressure that set hearts pounding.
Faced with heavenly tribulation, no cultivator dared let down their guard.
Daoist Hegao wore a solemn expression. He worried somewhat for his Senior Brother, but not overly so.
The safest course, without question, would have been to undergo the tribulation at Bajing Abbey. The sect's grand formation, centered around the Bajing Palace Lantern, aided tribulation crossing once activated.
However, Daoist Zilei was universally acknowledged as the greatest lightning cultivator of Bajing Abbey since its founding patriarch. Proud as Hegao was, he held nothing but genuine reverence for his Senior Brother.
A profound cultivation that outshone the past and dazzled the present.
His natal magic treasure was also a Bajing Palace Lantern, which could likewise assist during the tribulation.
Ask yourself: if Senior Brother were to fail his tribulation, how many in this world could succeed?
Daoist Hegao glanced across the mountain. Surely no fool would be blind enough to interfere with his Senior Brother's tribulation. He divided a portion of his mind to keep watch over Daoist Zilei, ready to protect his dharma at any moment.
At the same time, the crane shadows abruptly merged into one, hurtling straight for Mo Xingdao, piercing clouds and parting the baleful air with the momentum of rushing thunder.
Crane Traversing the Nine Heavens!
Su Zinan had moved even faster than him.
The situation shifted with staggering speed. One moment Su Zinan and Mo Xingdao had been allied, and the next Mo Xingdao was the target of all hostility.
The Lingxi Immortal Fruit was not so easily kept!
Unexpectedly, midway through his charge, Daoist Hegao seemed to hear something. His expression changed drastically. Sighing inwardly, he unexpectedly shifted direction. With a gentle flap of his crane wings, he soared upward, flying to the mountain peak and vanishing into the mountain's depths.
***
Deity Transformation!
After the Poison King and Qin Sang's avatar called a truce, neither had moved. Watching the ever-shifting situation on the mountain, both felt overwhelmed by the spectacle.
"Deity Transformation..."
Coming to from the allure of the Dao trace, the Poison King calmed his mind and looked up at Daoist Zilei suspended amid the tribulation clouds, his expression a mix of admiration and envy.
"That old scoundrel!"
In the end, it was Daoist Zilei who took this step first.
Reflecting on how he was still scrambling for the Gu King with his future uncertain, the Poison King could only offer a bitter, self-deprecating laugh.
Qin Sang's avatar focused on something different from the Poison King. His eyes remained fixed on the tribulation clouds surrounding Daoist Zilei; the chance to observe a Deity Transformation Heavenly Tribulation was exceedingly rare, not to be missed.
On the other side.
Qin Sang's true body let out a long sigh.
He had failed to find any treasure on the Daoist nun that allowed free passage through the boundary, but unexpectedly Daoist Zilei had smashed the Wordless Jade Wall directly, completing his primary objective for this journey.
The phantom had laid the Dao charm bare before them.
Profound beyond profound, wondrous beyond words.
Everyone who saw the Dao trace could glean a fraction of understanding from it, but that was all. They could sense the lingering depth of the Dao charm, yet an invisible barrier barred them from approaching, preventing complete comprehension.
Qin Sang had racked his brains, doing everything in his power to etch the Dao trace deep into his heart, only to watch helplessly as it was "wiped away" bit by bit.
In the end, only the lingering charm remained, while the Dao trace vanished without a trace, leaving him helpless.
Qin Sang believed this was not due to an insufficiency in his own cultivation, but rather other reasons; the others surely felt much the same as he did. Back then, when the cultivators of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect contemplated the Wordless Jade Wall, they certainly would not have been so crude.
Zhu Wudao's words contained many falsehoods, concealing key information.
Of course, Qin Sang had not come away empty-handed.
Sinking into concentration, he was surprised to find that he had suddenly come to understand many things; the benefits he gained from the Dao charm exceeded his expectations.
Upon careful contemplation, the source was surprisingly the buddha bone relic!
The buddha bone relic had aided his breakthrough into the late Nascent Soul stage, and its power had not been fully depleted. Portions that Qin Sang had previously overlooked or failed to comprehend were "illuminated" by the Dao trace.
While not necessarily helpful for breaking through to Deity Transformation, it would help clear away many thorns during his cultivation in the late Nascent Soul stage.
The crimson jade pendant.
A clearer path ahead.
With titans clashing across Dishou Mountain, to have gained so much already left Qin Sang thoroughly satisfied.
He looked up at Daoist Zilei, who was on the verge of undergoing tribulation, then toward the peak of Dishou Mountain, momentarily unable to make sense of the current situation.
Something had happened on the summit; the shattering of the boundary and Daoist Zilei's sudden breakthrough were both tied to that place.
Reasonably speaking, his objective in climbing the mountain had already been accomplished. Whether Daoist Zilei succeeded in crossing his tribulation or not, the best choice was to pull back and stay clear of the vortex of the storm.
From the mountain, streaks of light could be seen racing over from the southwest; reinforcements from both factions were fast approaching.
If Daoist Zilei succeeded in breaking through, would he tolerate people like them making off with the treasures of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect?
Yet right at this moment...
Qin Sang lifted his left hand. The mark on the back of his hand had grown increasingly vivid, as if congealed from fresh blood.
This was the bone-seeking secret technique Ghost Mother had given him.
After entering the Wuxiang Immortal Sect, Qin Sang had activated the secret technique, and divine patterns had formed the mark, but there had been no reaction until now.
The remains of the Witch Clan Deity Transformation cultivator were on Dishou Mountain!
At first, it was merely a faint burning sting, the resonance blurry as if shielded by something.
As the upheavals within the mountain continued and the boundary shattered further, the sensation grew steadily clearer. It must have been sealed previously by the boundary or some sort of restriction.
Qin Sang shifted his gaze to the west—the direction indicated by the mark.
Finding the remains of a Deity Transformation cultivator meant a very high likelihood of obtaining their relics. How many people could resist such temptation?
Looking back at Qin Sang's experiences in the Wuxiang Immortal Sect, his gains had been rich indeed, but the only thing that could aid in charging at the Deity Transformation bottleneck was the Heavenly Exquisite, and he could not even use it yet.
Without a breakthrough, a tribulation-crossing array was nothing more than a castle in the air.
Qin Sang subconsciously glanced toward the medicinal garden, just in time to see Su Zinan and Mo Xingdao battling once again. Qin Sang did not fancy Su Zinan's chances; while Mo Xingdao might not be Su Zinan's match, keeping him here would be difficult in the extreme for Su Zinan.
Even with Daoist Hegao added into the mix, pinning down Mo Xingdao's true body would not stop the puppet; Mo Xingdao could easily lodge his Nascent Soul in the puppet to flee far away.
The innate divine ability of a Deity Transformation-grade refined corpse was by no means an empty boast.
'Between the Heavenly Exquisite and the Lingxi Immortal Fruit, which is more valuable? If I were to propose a trade with Mo Xingdao, would he be tempted?' The thought flashed across Qin Sang's mind.
He had not had the time to study the Heavenly Exquisite in depth, and his knowledge of the Lingxi Immortal Fruit came only from brief records in ancient texts; he would need a thorough understanding before he could weigh them.
The Lingxi Immortal Fruit needed to be consumed when striking at the Deity Transformation bottleneck. Mo Xingdao was not half a step away like Daoist Zilei and would preserve it for some time, so there was no urgent rush.
Besides, this was no place to negotiate a trade.
Qin Sang had already sensed the aura of yin fire in the sky above; Daoist Zilei had begun his tribulation.
Putting aside these thoughts, he used the mark to sense the location of the Deity Transformation remains. It did not seem very far; the remains were inside Dishou Mountain. With the boundary damaged to this extent, whatever protections surrounded the remains would surely be affected and greatly weakened.
He should be able to secure it before Daoist Zilei finished crossing the heavenly tribulation.
With that in mind, Qin Sang hesitated no longer and shot forward.
The moment his true body moved, it indeed drew the Poison King's attention.
Only his true body went into action, while his avatar remained outside—both to prevent the Poison King from ruining his plans, and to keep an eye on the exterior in case of sudden variables.
***
"Kill!"
A bone-chilling low shout laden with boundless killing intent reverberated through the hollow interior of Dishou Mountain.
It was an incantation chant.
The chant originated from Old Devil Fan, but it did not come from his mouth. Rather, it came from the countless nether lotuses floating around him, strands of incantation notes converging together.
Daoist Zilei was undergoing tribulation, leaving Old Devil Fan to fight Zhu Wudao alone.
At this moment, Old Devil Fan stood in the void atop the true body of the Myriad Phantasm Nether Lotus. He had split the Myriad Phantasm Nether Lotus into thousands of duplicates, driving his illusion demon divine abilities to their absolute limit.
Astonishingly, atop every single Myriad Phantasm Nether Lotus sat a figure cross-legged.
Among them were men and women, young children with hanging tufts of hair, and octogenarian Daoists. All were illusion demons collected by Old Devil Fan, arrayed into the Myriad Demons Formation to confront Zhu Wudao.
The illusion demons chanted scriptures in unison. The Myriad Phantasm Nether Lotuses beneath them were one tier lower than Old Devil Fan's, and all the demons faced toward him, guarding him in their center as though facing a deity.
As the incantation sounded, the figures of the illusion demons swayed violently and suddenly blurred, turning nearly transparent.
A flash of heartache crossed Old Devil Fan's eyes. It would take untold years of painstaking effort to recover from this blow, but forced by the circumstances, he dared not hold back.
Matters had progressed to this stage; the idol had gathered overwhelming momentum, making it virtually impossible to prevent the ancient demon from breaking the seal.
Old Devil Fan could only stall for time as best he could.
Now that Zhu Wudao's strength had surged, the fact that Old Devil Fan had not been routed and still possessed the power to counterattack would have left any outsider dumbfounded.
Old Devil Fan had not given up on calling out to the artifact spirit, but received no response.
He began to suspect that the seal was not solely targeted at the ancient demon, but was also suppressing the artifact spirit, and he could not help feeling fortunate that the ancient demon and artifact spirit had not joined hands.
Whoosh!
Along with the incantation, the entire interior of the mountain instantly plummeted into utter darkness.
At some point, a tome had appeared before Old Devil Fan. Its pages flipped with extreme rapidity before fixing upon a certain page. A ray of nether light shot out, and the mirror talisman, already at the end of its strength, plunged into the ray as well, hurtling downward.
Within the nether light lurked a faint blood lotus.
Zhu Wudao knew its lethality, yet before he could react, the nether light struck between his brows. His body shuddered violently, blood patterns crawling across his face, and his momentum plummeted.
"What a fine Illusion Demon Soul Curse!"
A shout of praise came from above. Recognizing the voice of Daoist Hegao, Old Devil Fan snorted coldly, "Just you alone?"
"I warned the Poison King. As for the others..."
Daoist Hegao sighed.
Mo Xingdao had just acquired the Lingxi Immortal Fruit and could hardly wait to flee. A rogue cultivator unbound by sect ties, if he could attain Deity Transformation and ascend, why would he fear demonic taint?
Su Zinan was missing one of his three souls and wanted nothing more than to see the world burn.
That Fire Demon's origins were unknown, and he was suspected of being a remnant of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect; they had to remain vigilant against him, lest he prove to be another retainer of the ancient demon like Zhu Wudao and do them more harm than good.
Old Devil Fan sneered, "You're probably just afraid someone will steal the spirit treasure in the chaos!"
He had sensed the heavenly tribulation and understood Daoist Zilei's intentions. When the ancient demon first broke through the seal, it would be at its weakest. If Daoist Zilei could break through to Deity Transformation, all crises would be resolved effortlessly.
Daoist Hegao said gravely, "Senior Brother stated that after this battle, Fellow Daoist shall be credited with the greatest merit!"
It was a promise, and a pact.
Old Devil Fan laughed wildly, his spirit bold enough to move mountains and rivers.
His laughter was soon swallowed by the resurgence of demonic qi.
To their surprise, the next attack was launched by the idol itself, equivalent to the Demon Son taking action in person.
Zhu Wudao tumbled downward, the blood patterns on his face growing increasingly dense. It was hard to imagine that Old Devil Fan's curse had penetrated the Demon Son's power to strike his true body.
The momentum of the Demon Son breaking the seal could not be halted. They could only watch helplessly as the blood-red color faded from the idol, turning almost entirely pitch-black.
Demonic might surged to the heavens!
The next moment, however, they were astonished to find that when the demonic might reached its zenith, without the slightest warning, it plummeted from its peak!
Below.
Zhu Wudao sat cross-legged atop the seal, utterly motionless.
A flash of golden light swept through his body, suppressing the threads of blood from the curse.
He suddenly opened his eyes.
Ringing out at the same time was the Demon Son's furious, astounded roar. At some unknown point, a chain had appeared connected to the back of the idol's head, its other end rooted between Zhu Wudao's brows.
"How dare you!"
The enraged roar carried terrifying fury, as if intent on crushing Zhu Wudao to dust.
"You are nothing more than a demonic embryo casually cast aside by the Sacred Sovereign! Back then, you acted recklessly and defied the Sacred Order, causing the Sacred Sovereign's plans to fall apart completely. And you have the face to call yourself the Demon Son..."
Zhu Wudao sneered. With a wave of his left hand, the Spirit Calming Incense planted itself beside him, igniting without fire.
Had the Sacred Sovereign been before him, he would never have dared harbor disloyalty.
Setting a trap inside the idol to lure the target in had been an impromptu decision.
Everything he had done previously had been in preparation to assist the Sacred Sovereign in escaping, including the Spirit Calming Incense, which could help him resist an immortal restriction inside the immortal palace.
Following the Sacred Sovereign offered a boundless future!
But what was this Demon Son to him?
Rather than pledging loyalty to such an entity, why not devour it?
Supplant it, and ascend to heaven in a single step!
After entering the mountain, through numerous probes, Zhu Wudao had confirmed the Demon Son's condition and changed his plan on the fly.
Daoist Zilei and Old Devil Fan possessed means to track him; was Zhu Wudao truly caught completely off guard? He had simply chosen not to counter them, for these people were the perfect tools to help him wear down the Demon Son!
Clatter!
The chain snapped taut, dragging the idol before Zhu Wudao and pulling out a demonic phantom that roared in madness.
Zhu Wudao's expression remained indifferent.
"To forge my Dao foundation, your ten thousand years of survival in ignominy were not in vain!"
Chapter 1674