Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag

Three days slipped by in the blink of an eye. Inside the meditation chamber of the outer monastery, Wang Ping sat cross-legged with his hands forming a seal. The Six Desires Primordial Fiend sat upright behind him, its breathing resounding around the rafters like rolling wind and thunder. As the amalgamation of the six desire beasts, the Six Desires Primordial Fiend possessed six divine traits. One of them was Breathing, inherited from the Swallowing Whale, one of the desire beasts. As the name implied, it inhaled and exhaled spiritual qi, which it then fed back into Wang Ping as its master. The Six Desires Primordial Fiend could mimic the effect of a waste spiritual root precisely because of this divine trait. Unfortunately, its efficiency was limited, falling far short of a true spiritual root. As spiritual qi was drawn in and circulated, the anomaly on Wang Ping’s body grew more pronounced. His skin shifted from its initial faint yellow into a jade-like sprout yellow. Bathed in the sunlight, it even gave the illusion of being forged from gold, and beneath the golden flesh, his meridians grew distinct. This phenomenon lasted for roughly an hour. Only when Wang Ping ceased drawing in spiritual qi did the transformation gradually subside. He lightly stretched his limbs, and his entire skeleton popped and crackled like bursting beans. *Ding-ling-ling!* The silver summoning bell chimed once more. Not daring to delay, Wang Ping immediately rose to his feet and strode toward the inner cloister, anticipation rising on his face. *The immortal sect...* Until now, his understanding of the immortal sect had been confined to this single Daoist monastery where Daoist Nun You resided. He had never seen what a true immortal sect looked like. And then there was the power of cultivators. All along, he had harbored a lingering doubt about whether the lineage of the immortal sect truly surpassed Dashun's martial arts to such an extreme degree. This journey would offer the perfect chance to verify it. Aside from that, there was the Five Thieves Heaven-Stealing Myriad Transformations Divine Talisman Daoist Nun You had mentioned. *A technique of the immortal sect... If it managed to spread so widely, its grade can't be low, or predatory cultivators wouldn't be targeting it.* *From the sound of it, it might just share quite an affinity with me!* Stepping into the painted inner cloister, Wang Ping soon spotted Daoist Nun You standing beneath the tree. She lifted her gaze to meet his, her expression exceptionally gentle. "You're here?" "Greetings, my lady." Wang Ping bowed, though inwardly his vigilance spiked. After all, Daoist Nun You had previously promised him a "pleasant surprise." *Care to translate what the hell a "surprise" means to you?* In the next instant, Daoist Nun You reached into her sleeve and produced a long rod. Wrapped in twin gleams of pitch-black and radiant gold, the hues swirled together in a blended mass. "For you." With a casual flick of her wrist, Daoist Nun You tossed the rod straight into Wang Ping's arms. Light flared outward as the black and gold separated like the rising of clear ether and the sinking of turbid dregs. The brilliant golden radiance rose like clear ether, unfurling against the wind to become a banner etched with countless seal script talismans that Wang Ping could not decipher. Meanwhile, the raven-black glow sank like turbid vapor, sinking into the rod in Wang Ping's hands. Amidst the shifting light, faint wails of ghosts and howls of wolves could be heard. "This is the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag," Daoist Nun You smiled. "Within it dwell six hundred and sixty-six fiends, matching your cultivation method perfectly. It is a protective artifact I refined specially for you over these past few days." *This is the damn surprise?* Looking at the black-gold treasure banner in his grasp, Wang Ping felt his heart thumping. Could he have misunderstood this immortal sect disciple? Was Daoist Nun You actually a decent person? Though his instincts warned him that something was off... Still... what if? *In any case, the cooldown for the Fiend from Beyond is finished. I've already secured my safety net for this trip to the immortal sect, so whatever else I gain is pure profit.* With that thought, Wang Ping relaxed. "Come, let us go to my room." Daoist Nun You's seductive voice sounded again. Even though they stood some distance apart, it seemed as if she were whispering directly into his ear, sending an involuntary shiver through him. "You haven't seen a Dharmic artifact before, have you?" "I will teach you how to refine it." Wang Ping went quiet for a beat before smoothly playing along. "Thank you for your generous favor, my lady." Following Daoist Nun You, Wang Ping soon arrived at a meditation chamber within the inner cloister. The moment he pushed the door open, a dense thicket of esoteric seal scripts covering the entire room came into view. Yet Wang Ping's gaze did not linger on the scripts. Instead, his eyes fixed squarely on a jade slip resting in the center of the chamber. At first glance, there was nothing extraordinary about it, but it drew his vision like a black hole, pulling his consciousness toward it against his will... "Wake up!" A voice like rolling thunder snapped Wang Ping back to his senses. Only then did he realize that without noticing, he had taken three steps toward the jade slip. Cold sweat instantly drenched his back. "This is..." "This is the Five Thieves Heaven-Stealing Myriad Transformations Divine Talisman." Daoist Nun You's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she said in a low voice, "Your cultivation is too low; you are not yet strong enough to resist its allure." Wang Ping obediently stepped back. Yet tempted by the allure of an immortal sect technique, he could not resist asking out of curiosity, "For this technique to be so formidable, judging by the name, could it be related to thievery?" "Do not ask so many questions." Daoist Nun You's tone was flat. "Do not be curious, and do not investigate, because the knowledge surrounding it is itself an extraordinarily terrifying poison." "The more you understand, the easier it is to fall under its sway." "Otherwise, why do you think that apostate called himself the Heaven-Stealing Thief and laid his divine abilities out in the open? It was solely to ensnare those in the know." With that, Daoist Nun You waved her hand with a trace of impatience. "Enough. Walk over there." Following the direction of her finger, Wang Ping glanced over, only to see that the seal scripts in that corner were terrifyingly dense. Anyone with eyes could tell something was wrong. "...Sigh." Wang Ping let out a soft breath. Casting aside the last shred of wishful thinking, he stopped bowing. Straightening his spine, he turned around and looked calmly at Daoist Nun You. Before him, the exquisitely beautiful nun appeared utterly frigid, her porcelain face veiled in frost. Seeing Wang Ping refuse to move—even daring to lift his head and look her in the eye—her originally sultry voice took on an imposing gravity. Each word fell like rolling thunder through the air: "What? Do you no longer desire this rare fortune?" The tender, seductive nun had donned an unfeeling, aloof veneer, making her appear all the more bewitching. Unfortunately, the more beautiful a woman was, the better she lied. "It isn't that I don't desire it, but rather that I dare not take it." Before the words had finished leaving his lips, Wang Ping moved. His physical form remained motionless, but the shadow beneath his feet suddenly stretched straight toward the Five Thieves Heaven-Stealing Myriad Transformations Divine Talisman. "...Insolent!" Before her exclamation even faded, the world swayed, and all manifestations collapsed. In Wang Ping’s vision, the meditation chamber tore apart like a ripped canvas, tumbling into ruin! The chamber that had once formed an unbroken whole shattered into countless fragments, each drifting away from the others. What had been a step apart stretched into the horizon; a space barely ten paces across suddenly transformed into a boundless world. Standing within it, Wang Ping felt as insignificant as an ant. Wang Ping was completely stunned. Normally, the shadow beneath his feet—the Six Desires Primordial Fiend—could extend just over ten meters, and with its divine traits, it could maneuver freely across a hundred-meter range. Yet what was happening right now? Just moments ago, the Five Thieves Heaven-Stealing Myriad Transformations Divine Talisman had been less than ten paces away from him. Now, in his field of view, it had dwindled to a tiny black speck. By his estimate, it was at least ten kilometers away! As time passed, the distance continued to stretch, until it finally drifted beyond the range of his spiritual sense, vanishing without a trace. "A frog at the bottom of a well knows nothing of the vastness of heaven and earth." A chilly voice drifted over faintly. Wang Ping whipped his head around, only to find Daoist Nun You standing behind him at some unknown point, slowly extending a finger toward him. He tried to dodge, yet even as he leaped backward, the space between him and Daoist Nun You did not widen in the slightest. Instead, it drew closer and closer. Rather than her pointing a finger at him, it looked more as if he were hurling himself onto her fingertip—it defied all reason! What kind of spell was this? Before Wang Ping could react, Daoist Nun You's finger landed squarely between his brows. Another bout of dizzying disorientation struck as ten thousand lights and shadows shifted. By the time he recovered his wits... Everything that had just transpired felt like an illusion. He was back inside the ten-pace meditation chamber, standing planted firmly right in the center of the countless seal scripts. "Be a good boy and stand still." Wang Ping instinctively tried to move, but he felt as if his entire body had been locked in heavy shackles. Even strength capable of shattering stone monuments could not budge them in the slightest. "This is Body Immobilization." Standing before Wang Ping, Daoist Nun You smiled softly. "The one before was Scene Shifting. Both are spells I have mastered, so do not entertain delusions of breaking free." With that, Daoist Nun You waved her hand. In the next second, over a dozen jade boxes materialized within the previously empty chamber, each radiating a magnificent, dazzling glow. "Take a look. These were all prepared for you." Daoist Nun You hummed a jaunty tune, her voice light and relaxed. "Originally, I thought I would have to cultivate you for a few years before reaping the harvest. I never expected your comprehension to be so high—you managed to refine the Six Desires Primordial Fiend in just three months, forcing me to revise my plans." "Had I been granted a few more years, I could have gathered the incense money at my leisure. But time waits for no one, so I had to take out a loan from the Heaven and Earth Pavilion first." "For the sake of these precious materials, I came close to signing away my very indenture." With every sentence she uttered, Daoist Nun You popped open another jade box. Multicolored lights and shimmering radiance flooded the chamber, casting a brilliant glare over Wang Ping's face. *So many precious materials of the immortal path!* Wang Ping did not doubt for a second that if any single material she had produced were fed into the Classic of Great Peace, it would suffice to add an entire new volume to the scripture! At the same time, he understood what Daoist Nun You intended to do. "You want to refine me into an artifact?" Daoist Nun You smiled and nodded. "There was no choice. Superior strongmen are simply too expensive. The more I thought about it, the more sensible it seemed to buy raw human material and refine it myself." "Ideally, purchasing raw human material meant for crafting a superior strongman would have been best. Unfortunately, the Protector Courtyard keeps strict control over that grade of material, and my connections fall short. I had to settle for second best and procure an ordinary specimen... yet you have given me quite a pleasant surprise." At that point, Daoist Nun You ran her tongue across her plump red lips. "A natural Desire Realm Deva Body, paired with such keen comprehension, yet doomed to have no hope on the Great Dao, and now meeting an untimely end here... The resentment you produce in the end is bound to be exceptionally heavy." "Combined with the precious materials I have prepared..." "You will have about a sixty percent chance of becoming a Six Desires Heavenly Demon King, master a spell in the process, and finally be refined into a superior-grade Dharmic artifact!" "Splendid, truly splendid!" As Daoist Nun You spoke, Wang Ping suddenly felt a wave of heat wash through his body. His vision gradually darkened, and a severe dizziness gripped his mind. *The vile beast was already making her move while talking!* "Don't be afraid. Dizziness is completely normal," Daoist Nun You said with a chuckle. Wang Ping exhaled a long breath. "What immortal sect? This is nothing but a demonic path." Daoist Nun You paid it no mind. "Only mediocre mortals would call this a demonic path. In the immortal sect, we generally call it efficiency." "Besides, mortals are merely tools for the likes of our immortal sect. You are simply transitioning from one type of tool to a better one, so why complain?" "At least I did not treat you as disposable consumable material. You ought to be thanking me." "Furthermore, I have allowed you to realize your value as human livestock a hundred times over. Without me, you would have spent your entire life in mediocre idleness, merely well-fed and well-clothed." "If you must blame someone, blame yourself." "After all, it wasn't as if I forced you to cultivate immortality." "..." For a moment, Wang Ping was so incensed that he almost laughed. *Rumble!* Right then, the seal scripts surrounding Wang Ping suddenly blazed with light. The glow converged into a swirling mass, igniting into soaring flames. Immediately after, the black-gold banner Wang Ping had thrown away earlier flew up of its own accord. Radiant and shimmering, it settled squarely in the center of the array, wrapping itself around Wang Ping. He felt as though his flesh were melting away, the piercing agony accompanied by the steady drain of his life force. "Ugh..." Gritting his teeth, Wang Ping formed a hand seal. The Six Desires Primordial Fiend strode out from the shadow beneath his feet, instantly absorbing all the injuries inflicted upon his body. Seeing this, Daoist Nun You nodded slightly. "Very good. The quality is indeed exceptional." With that, she scattered the entire peck of Gold-Veined Star-Fragment Sand she had mentioned into the array. Like oil poured onto a fire, Wang Ping's agony intensified instantaneously. The Six Desires Primordial Fiend let out a mournful howl. Yet in the next moment, its body shuddered violently, and its skin cracked open, sloughing off its outer form like a serpent shedding its skin. As it molted, the injuries transferred to it from Wang Ping were shed alongside the husk. Beneath the fractured shell lay pristine, undamaged flesh! Daoist Nun You's expression grew even more satisfied. "The Armor Shedding trait from the Rock Serpent—using molting to mitigate damage and restore condition. Excellent." Immediately after, Wang Ping resumed his struggle. Under his command, the Six Desires Primordial Fiend first leaped into the air, attempting to fly out of the chamber. Finding escape impossible, it threw punches to smash through the binding barrier. Next, its figure began to flicker. In the end, it even condensed an extraordinarily sharp battle-ax in its hand, which hacked repeatedly against the barrier in a flurry of cold glints, yet all to no avail. "The eagle's flight, the ape's myriad jun." "The serpent's armor shedding, the whale's breathing." "The leopard's swift stride, the flood dragon's battle-ax." Daoist Nun You rubbed her hands together in growing excitement. "Divine traits covering flight, strength, recovery, spiritual qi, speed, and weaponry—the quality is nothing short of flawless." "Could it be that this time, I will refine an upper-grade Dharmic artifact?" "If so, with an upper-grade Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag in hand, I will certainly master Soul Chasing and Spirit Seizing, and that great divine ability will be well within reach..."