In the early morning, the sounds of insects chirping and birds singing echoed through the mountains and forests.
Some headed to Prison Valley to mine Demon Qi Stones, some to Grinding Stone Workshop to grind them, while others tended to the newly sprouted Golden Yuan Valley in the Spiritual Field. Inside Qingqiu Mountain, the Hundred Illusion Sect was slowly waking up. Even the pervasive mist that cloaked the surroundings seemed to come alive, drifting lazily about.
The entire Qingqiu Mountain resembled a rounded basin. Near the cliffs lay the deep, eerie Prison Valley, while the basin’s center stretched out as flatlands, reclaimed into Spiritual Fields for cultivating Golden Yuan Valley.
The Grinding Stone Workshop, on the other hand, was located at the northern edge of the basin plains.
Chen Mu, along with two other Daoist Soldiers, followed Lu Han to a row of black-tiled houses.
The half-open doors and wooden windows revealed glimpses inside, and faint humming sounds emanated from each room.
“Brother Lu, including these three, you’ll have a total of seventeen Daoist Soldier apprentices graduating under your guidance this year. Congratulations!” The small-eyed, round-faced Yang Fu approached, brimming with admiration and envy.
“Congratulations to us both. The Daoist Cultivation earned from this will surely include your share as well.” Lu Han responded cheerfully. “These new recruits at Grinding Stone Workshop will need extra care from you.”
“You still doubt my methods?” Yang Fu raised his chin proudly. “Rest assured, leave them to me, and by year’s end, every one of them will graduate.”
“Most of them seem fine, but there’s one you’ll need to keep an eye on.” Lu Han leaned closer to Yang Fu, pulling him aside for advice.
“See that insolent gray-clad youth over there?” Lu Han’s face twisted with disdain. “He does have talent, but he’s unbearably slippery. He often makes excuses about heading to Wanjing Cave just to skip cultivation. Completely irresponsible!”
Not far away, Chen Mu was looking around at the Grinding Stone Workshop with great interest: “…”
Am I being irresponsible?
I was refining Peach God!
Isn’t that actual cultivation, for heaven’s sake?
If not for discovering Moli Silver in the underground space to make more Peach Gods, I’d still be wasting away in Prison Valley. Why would I bother being here at Grinding Stone Workshop in the first place?
Chen Mu secretly rolled his eyes.
“Leave him to me.” From afar, Yang Fu gave Chen Mu a disdainful sidelong glance. “In my domain, even dragons have to coil!”
“Just wait and see my methods!” He snorted coldly, confidence overflowing, as he strode toward Chen Mu with great determination.
First impressions required some intimidation to suppress rebellious attitudes.
Nine ways to scare these troublemakers popped into Yang Fu’s head instantly.
Yet before he could decide on a tactic, his vision went dark and his legs gave out.
With a resounding “thud,” he knelt swiftly and uncontrollably before the three Daoist Soldier apprentices.
Lu Han: “…”
This is your method?
Kneeling to beg for their cultivation?
Your method truly is impressive, alright.
Chen Mu, like the two Daoist Soldier apprentices beside him, stared on with bewildered disbelief, struggling to suppress laughter threatening to escape.
Ah, the twists of fate.
This round-eyed fatty once cursed me as a scoundrel at the Washing Body Cave, didn’t he?
A familiar face indeed.
And to be honest, the Nightmare Victory Spell works wonders.
…
Grinding Stone Workshop and Prison Valley may seem like different tasks, but at their core, they are surprisingly similar; only the precision demanded here was greater.
In Prison Valley, the focus was on extracting Demon Qi Stones. At the Grinding Stone Workshop, the goal was to grind those stones into fine powder.
In Prison Valley, the training centered on quickly harmonizing the aura of Demon Dispel Skill within the shortest possible time to locate the unique Demon Dispel Power capable of breaking apart Demon Qi Mechanisms.
Grinding Stone Workshop required not only finding the corresponding Exotic Force but maintaining it for long periods and with sufficient intensity.
Prison Valley was about honing technique, while the Grinding Stone Workshop trained technique and endurance simultaneously.
After all, no matter how sharp the blade is, without adequate strength, dissecting demon beasts remains time-consuming and strenuous.
After only a few attempts, Chen Mu realized the Triple Yin Slaying Demon Technique remained highly effective.
It functioned almost like an automatic mechanism, adjusting itself swiftly upon contact with Demon Qi Mechanisms and transforming into specific Demon Dispel Power designed to counter them.
As long as Chen Mu provided enough mana, its output remained reliable and steady.
With the Triple Yin Slaying Demon Technique essentially cheating for him, Chen Mu could swiftly complete his training at the Grinding Stone Workshop.
“Alas, it’s not quite time yet.” Wandering the underground cavern, Chen Mu shook his head and sighed inwardly.
After more than ten days, all twenty-six Moli Silver Peach Trees had been hollowed for their peach wood cores. His number of Peach Gods had grown to ninety-nine.
“Is this as far as it goes? I wonder if these Peach Gods can withstand the Five Thunders Bombarding.” Chen Mu, unwilling to accept fate, once more inspected the Peach Forest.
After a lengthy search, he paused by the sealed gourd’s edge.
“The Demon Essence is no longer overflowing. Perhaps the Outer Heaven Demon inside the sealing prohibition is dead?”
Chen Mu furrowed his brows.
“The progress of my cultivation at Grinding Stone Workshop will have to slow down.”
“If there are no more Exotic Peach Trees regenerating underground and I can’t refine enough Peach Gods, then I’ll have to wait for the next Thousand Mechanisms Sect Conscription Order.”
Though disappointed, he accepted the reality calmly.
After all, before discovering the underground cavern, he’d already resigned himself to missing this year’s conscription order.
Using the Truthful Listening Technique to survey the entire subterranean void once more, Chen Mu found nothing unusual and could only sigh, shake his head, and leave the depths behind.
…
The dark, expansive Gourd Cave Heaven.
Coiled into a massive pile, Nine-Headed Beast’s crimson-scaled body lay motionless as three of its heads loosely drooped atop its bulk.
After a long pause, one of its eyes finally fluttered open, and its three pupils rotated, casting a helpless glance at the cave heaven’s zenith.
“Finally, that monster is gone…” It let out a heavy sigh.
The three fearsomely fanged faces, vicious and menacing, now brimmed with frustration and bewilderment.
Even after having eleven streams of Primordial Qi absorbed, nothing unusual had occurred?
This was still a person?
This was absolutely not a person!
“Probably some kind of Outer Heaven Demon disguised in human skin.” Nine-Headed Beast’s heart sank with regret.
Back when this person first appeared outside Gourd Cave Heaven, I should never have given him Primordial Qi!
“But thankfully, it’s finally over now.”
“With all the peach cores of the Moli Silver Peach Trees extracted, they won’t regenerate anytime soon. This guy will essentially stop coming here.” As its mind settled, it began to relax.
Just as it thought this, Nine-Headed Beast instinctively glanced up at the ceiling crack.
Then… it locked eyes with a giant eye, filling the entirety of the fissure.
That massive eyeball was brimming with ill intent!
Nine-Headed Beast: “…”
Wait, weren’t you supposed to be gone?
Why are you sneaking back to spy on me through my window?!
Its entire body trembled violently, its scales clattering chaotically—it nearly leapt into the air from pure shock.
“That Demon Essence—does it come from you?” Chen Mu chuckled maliciously, full of certainty.
With Moli Silver exhausted, Demon Essence remained plentiful.
Since he’d come all the way underground, he wasn’t about to leave empty-handed.
He grinned, his pearly white teeth glinting with chilling sharpness.
“Little thing, you’ve got some tricks, huh? Managing to spot me through the ninety-nine Inheriting Heaven Dharma Prohibition gaps surrounding Gourd Cave Heaven.” Nine-Headed Beast sneered, rolling its eyes in irritation.
“Demon Essence?”
“Ha! You’re ignorant.”
“That’s my Primordial Qi, carrying the foundation of my true spirit.”
“I don’t know what method you used to momentarily capture it, but surely the chaotic thoughts popping into your head aren’t pleasant!” Nine-Headed Beast glanced upward, its face glowing with a schadenfreude smile.
“And this is just the beginning. Over time, the spiritual sense within the Primordial Qi will gradually erode and assimilate you.”
“Eventually, you will become one with me!”
“Hahaha!”
What?
The Demon Essence contains spiritual senses?
No one told me that!
Clinging to the stone gourd’s edge, Chen Mu was instantly startled, and began frantically checking the Gray Wall insights.
After a while, he finally unearthed a minor note in the Gray Wall’s feedback.
“The Heavenly Demon Armor is recorded in the Thousand Mountains Sutra. This comment—it must be a note from the Thousand Mountains Sutra’s author.” Chen Mu mulled over it and carefully read the note’s contents.
“The Heavenly Demon Armor can assimilate and consume a demon’s primordial essence, specifically obtaining its innate protective Qi mechanism. However, this process damages the primordial essence’s bloodline Dao charm, rendering it incapable of fully assimilating or taming the demon’s Divine Skills and talents—a major flaw…” A failed secret technique?!”
Chen Mu: “…”
Really? Such big talk?
These “failed secret techniques”… I would like ten more, please!
Inside Gourd Cave Heaven, observing the giant eye above seemingly lost in thought, Nine-Headed Beast instantly perked up its heads.
“Want more Primordial Qi?”
“Fine.”
“But daring to take it? That’s another matter!” Its eighteen pupils glimmered with sheer hostility.
This… there’s really a free handout?
“How about giving me one more—just to test?” Chen Mu beamed.
Nine-Headed Beast: “…”
You seriously dare ask?!
I’ve tried scaring you thoroughly, yet you’re still undeterred?
“Come now—don’t give up. Maybe one more dose of Primordial Qi and I won’t withstand the erosion, turning into your avatar instantly.”
“Then you get a chance to escape the seal. Don’t miss this opportunity!” Chen Mu’s eyes shone with overt encouragement.
“Now that you say so, it almost makes sense—wait, absolutely not! There’s no logic to that!” Nine-Headed Beast fiercely countered.
By now, it realized clearly this conniving scoundrel just wanted to swindle its Primordial Qi.
This guy must be some kind of Outer Heaven Demon disguised in human skin.
Otherwise, how could he resist the erosion of the Primordial Qi?
“Dream on, old man! You’ll never fool me into parting with my Primordial Qi!”
Nine-Headed Beast snorted coldly, curling its body up tighter, shutting its eyes to ignore the incessant temptations echoing from the crack above.
After all, with the ninety-nine Inheriting Heaven Dharma Prohibitions blocking the inside from the outside, this Outer Heaven Demon couldn’t enter, nor could it leave.
What was there to fear?!
Just as it was about to block out the noise and sleep soundly.
Clang!
A metallic noise abruptly rang out right atop its sharp spine.
A sudden burst of sharp pain surged directly into its brain.
With a piercing howl, Nine-Headed Beast jerked its body upright to find itself bombarded by a downpour of verdant Qi Blades. They descended like torrential rain, covering every inch of its scales.
Knives from the heavens?
Knives specifically targeting us Outer Heaven Demons?
Even back in my demon homeland, we didn’t experience such nightmarish weather!
In an instant, its entire protective Qi mechanism was penetrated by the dark green Qi Blades, and overwhelming pain rippled throughout its body.
Clenching its teeth against the agony, Nine-Headed Beast glared fiercely at the fissure above, locking onto the mischievous smile glowing from those eyes outside. Hatred burned in its gaze.
Using mere pain to force my submission?
Dream on!
Even in death, I refuse to yield!
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