Chapter 46: The Debate of Lion, Tiger, Elk, and Deer; It Is All But a Struggle for the Dao

"Pfft—" The lotus seed collapsed. Under the backlash of the Pure Lotus Divine Ability, Fang Longye's primordial spirit suffered damage, as if a pellet had been embedded in his brow and exploded, causing blood to spill from the corners of his mouth.

His aura suddenly became chaotic, no longer as refined as before.

It felt as if his brain had been carved by knives and axes; a sensation of splitting pain lingered at his brow and would not fade.

"Hehehe—indeed, one who gains its benefits must consider its harms. I have been taught!" Fang Longye whispered to himself with a continuous, miserable chuckle, his voice carrying a calm madness.

He slowly lowered his left hand, which he had been unable to stop from covering his forehead; trickles of fresh blood flowed down his temples, streaming right between his brows.

Above his brow was a wound, shaped like an explosion mark, splitting straight into his brain—a dark, terrifying hole.

Combined with his eerie, miserable laughter and face covered in blood, it was indescribably bizarre.

The green-lotus-shaped Dao Pattern at his brow was dim and lusterless, constantly emitting power in an attempt to repair this wound, but to no avail.

The time was simply too short, and the preparations were insufficient. If he had completed the limb-reattachment stage of the "Red Bright Nine Heavens Chart," he imagined that flesh and blood regeneration would be a trivial matter.

Unable to care about much else, he swallowed a holy healing medicine he had prepared long ago.

The wound slowly healed, eventually leaving not a trace, and a wave of coolness spread from his primordial spirit at his brow, slowly recovering from the injury.

He wiped away the spots of blood on his face.

He sent a sound transmission to inform Qingshe, who was still fighting Jinshe, then reached out to summon the Green Mountain Seal, standing by in battle formation.

It was no surprise that Qingshe had not yet taken down Jinshe.

His previous plan had been to specifically pick on the soft persimmons. It is better to break one of a person's fingers than to injure all ten.

The injury the Scorpion Demon sustained at the Cold Pool was certainly not something that could be easily recovered from in these few days. He was the easiest to deal with among the three and was the breakthrough point in the struggle.

Unlike the Scorpion Demon, Jinshe had only suffered a sharp decline in strength after being sealed for ten thousand years. After breaking free, she had not sustained any major injuries; regardless, she was still a True Immortal.

That Qingshe could fight her to a draw was already beyond his expectations.

Just as he was pondering this, a moment later, the pill furnace began to emit continuous vibrations.

Seven-colored light radiated out, constantly swirling with the heavens and earth, layer upon layer, evolving into golden bells, jade drums, dharma conchs, and horns, with heavenly music sounding pleasant to the ear.

The entire horizon was rendered into seven-colored clouds.

Streaks of auspicious light and rays of immortal mist appeared.

The inexplicable might grew increasingly vast! Bang! The pill furnace exploded!

A divine figure radiating seven-colored light leaped out—looking fiercely toward Fang Longye, but he did not expect a divine ability of wind and rain to strike immediately after.

It was Fang Longye, who, the moment the figure leaped out, unleashed the divine ability he had been brewing for a long time.

For a time, the world turned cold and desolate, with formless yellow sand swirling. It pierced through forests and crossed ridges, toppling pines and plums, stirring up dust and collapsing mountain peaks. The Milky Way in the sky poured down in reverse, with wind blades and rain awls descending across the sky. It was as if soul-destroying and bone-eroding were mere trifles; the wind and rain combined to destroy mountains and rivers—

"Thief!" The Mountain Soul, having infiltrated and taken control of the Jingang Hulüwa's body, shouted loudly, his rage manifesting as golden flames blooming around his body—he had no time to dodge the strike of this Great Divine Ability.

He could only brace himself, operating the power of this body to forcibly withstand the assault of the Samadhi Divine Wind and the Nine Heavens Weak Water as they shone upon each other—

Amidst the wind and rain, the Green Mountain Seal hid within, unleashing the power of the Mount Buzhou stone to strike the Mountain Soul's current body.

Bang! The Mountain Soul's divine body was sent flying thousands of miles away by the Spirit Treasure, crushing mountain peaks as it fell.

The seven-colored light dimmed, and the Mountain Soul roared! He rose, regrouped, shook his body, and transformed into a thousand-zhang-tall giant, swinging a fist toward Fang Longye—Law of Heaven and Earth!

It was originally an auxiliary divine ability created by ancient mighty figures to imitate Pangu, to model the ultimate principles of heaven and earth, and thereby realize the Great Dao.

Yet, because its power was astonishing, it was often used by the immortals and gods below for fighting and killing.

"Old thing, do you think you are the only one who can grow large?" Fang Longye sneered coldly.

He immediately shook his body and transformed into a flood dragon with golden horns and blue scales, his entire body paved with golden patterns, and amidst swirling clouds and mist, his divine might was boundless.

At first, it was only a hundred-plus zhang long, but in an instant, it transformed into a thousand-zhang dragon body. Golden and silver patterns intertwined around his body, like Yin and Yang corresponding, slowly rotating.

Wind and rain lashed, thunder roared, and five-colored light halos crisscrossed, branching out like a spider web, giving people a fear that penetrated to the heart.

Then, surrounded by clouds, rain, and thunder, amidst the overlapping halos, the massive dragon body lunged out, whiskers shaking, dragon head held high, emitting a dragon roar that resounded in all directions, shaking the earth and mountains!

Size Manipulation—the bloodline divine ability that had been on the verge of awakening as he was about to advance to Origin Immortal, stimulated by the fact that everything from his previous Golden Centipede incarnation had been absorbed as nourishment, suddenly awakened!

He took the Green Mountain Seal into his body to suppress himself. His entire body became a hundred times sturdier.

It was enough to contend with the Diamond Indestructible divine body that the Mountain Soul now occupied—he lunged forward, not clashing head-on, but circling his dragon body to skirmish around him. From time to time, he would extend his sharp claws to give him a fierce blow—the Samadhi Divine Wind and Nine Heavens Weak Water wrapping around him actually became a layer of protection.

As he swallowed clouds and spat mist, a fine drizzle with swirling five-colored halos fell, eroding the mana barrier around the Mountain Soul's body.

This was a product of Fang Longye's sudden inspiration during the fight, combining the Weak Water from "Summoning Wind and Rain" with the "Great Five Elements Extinction Needles."

It followed the wind to fall silently, moistening things without a sound—it was unavoidable.

The struggle became increasingly intense. Relying on his origins, the Mountain Soul constantly drove the earth energy and Mountain Soul to transform into mountain peaks that seemed substantial, coordinating with his own attacks to suppress him.

Scales flew, and dragon blood splattered.

Yet Fang Longye fought more bravely as the battle progressed, becoming clearer on the arts of combat, his methods gradually becoming proficient and varied, and he gained deeper insights and whimsical ideas regarding his own divine abilities and spells.

The injuries on his body instead ignited the ferocity in his bloodline. It was a nature from the ancient wild, not asking of heaven, not looking to earth, acting wantonly.

At times he transformed into the body of a flood dragon, at times into a human form; his attacks became increasingly sharp, and his methods more bizarre.

He did not know how many rounds had passed, but the two were still evenly matched.

However, Fang Longye believed that the scales of victory would ultimately tilt toward him.

After all, nearly half of the Mountain Soul's power was used to suppress the original consciousness within this body.

And he himself had a Spirit Treasure, holy healing medicine, and a Golden Finger.

What did the other have? "Kid, how about you and I call a truce?" The Mountain Soul once again forced back Fang Longye's attack and spoke—

"Hehe—" Fang Longye sneered repeatedly, making no response, his attacks becoming increasingly sharp.

I can wear you out to death, you old thing! "Kid, if I had been a cultivator, understood the application of divine abilities and the use of Spirit Treasures, and could exert this full strength of mine, how could I be bullied by you to this extent?" The Mountain Soul was full of anger.

"Old thing, if you could have transformed like an ordinary Mountain Soul and embarked on the path of cultivation, would you have coveted this Diamond Indestructible body born from the unity of the Huluwa?"

"I could tell that divine figure had major problems; you have inherited the memories of who knows how many generations of Mountain Souls, could you not see the problems here?"

"Yes, I am indeed gambling. But kid, if you don't let me know the result of this gamble, then let's just break it off. I won't suppress the consciousness in this divine body, and we'll both go down together!"

Fang Longye chuckled; given this Mountain Soul's forbearance, he did not believe he would give up so easily.

Moreover, before this, he had already prepared a retreat, using some collections within the storage space of his Heaven-Filling Dharma Conch to trade for a Void-Escaping Shuttle, sufficient to pierce through the spatial barrier of this Cave Heaven Small World.

If things went awry, he would immediately grease his heels and run.

As for the karma owed to Qingshe, at worst, once his cultivation achieved success, he would ferry her next-life incarnation to repay it.

Seeing that he did not fall for this, the Mountain Spirit spoke again: "That Qingshe is so beautiful, I do not believe you, this flood dragon, would not be moved. Do you guess you can protect her?"

Fang Longye chuckled coldly: "Mountain Spirit, you are truly pitifully foolish. Do you think everyone is as deeply affectionate as the Snake and Scorpion Demons? Moreover, the relationship between her and me does not even count as Dao companions."

"What about that debt of love you left behind in the inhabited lands?" Relying on the divine abilities of its body, the Mountain Spirit instantly surveyed the Small World and now knew everything Fang Longye had done in the Yuan Kingdom like the back of its hand.

"Old man, you need not waste your breath. Since stepping onto the path of cultivation, matters of love have never been my priority. Furthermore, how could that be considered a debt of love? It was merely a transaction of a moment's pleasure."

"Why must you lock horns with me? We have no deep hatred!" Seeing him remain unmoved, the Mountain Spirit roared in anger~

"I originally thought that as a Mountain Spirit, having watched the cycle of plants withering and growing, and the life and death struggles of birds and beasts, you should have long understood the principle of the weak being prey to the strong, and survival of the fittest.

In this world, how many destined opportunities and fortunes are there? You wish to transcend your own fate and risk danger to scheme for this opportunity and fortune; why would I not also be interested in the opportunity and fortune hidden behind this?"

Possessing a retreat, he was now truly deeply interested in the secrets behind this Small World.

Seeing that Fang Longye refused to reconcile or stop, the Mountain Spirit gritted its teeth and, without further words, drove its divine body to continue the battle with him.

Mountain peak after mountain peak collapsed, dense forest after dense forest was erased, leaving a scene of devastation.

The two sides fought incessantly, clashing across ten thousand miles. Even the inhabited lands were affected, with the earth shaking and mountains swaying, and floods raging.

The Mountain Spirit chuckled: "I originally saw you had a clear aura, and were even stained with a bit of Xuanhuang Merit. Yet you have committed such killing karma; are you not afraid of your Dao path being severed?"

"Who told you that excessive killing karma leads to a severed Dao path? Do those Demon cultivators not live on? It is merely suppressed by the Human Dao's fortune. As a monster, do I care about these things? Besides, this bit of killing karma is but a speck of dust~"

Fang Longye thought to himself, with the Golden Finger, as long as he kept trading and exchanging for items from other worlds, he could obtain Heaven and Earth merit. What would it matter even if he slaughtered an entire world? As time passed, under Fang Longye's entanglement and attacks, the Mountain Spirit found it increasingly difficult to suppress the original consciousness of this body.

Finally, the Mountain Spirit simply gave up and laughed miserably: "Little one, my tens of thousands of years of planning have all been destroyed by your hands."

"I only wanted freedom, wanted to escape my fate; what did I do wrong?"

Feeling the change in the aura within the divine body, Fang Longye also stopped his attacks.

He shook his body and transformed into human form, gripped the Green Mountain Seal tightly, and a small golden shuttle within his primordial spirit was also ready to be launched.

He sighed and said: "Lions and tigers hunt prey to gain fame, but who pities the poor elk? In this world, the strong always devour the weak; even if one has reason, it is in vain."

"You did nothing wrong; you were simply not strong enough, and your schemes were not deep enough."

"I did nothing wrong either; cultivation is inherently like this. To reach the peak, one must step upon piles of white bones. In such a situation, how can one care about benevolence and morality?"

"Fellow Daoist, go in peace!"

Just at this moment, a voice with a hint of a smile came: "Who pities the poor elk? In this world, the strong always devour the weak~ Interesting, too interesting! Hahaha..."

Second chapter today~ Thanks to book friend Qiu Bude 1916 for the 500 Qidian coin tip! Also, the upcoming launch announcement will explain and share thoughts on launching at 120,000 words~

(End of chapter)