Chapter 2: Demon Spirit Born of Heaven

To be honest, he had never seen thunder rumble on continuously for so long. He thought to himself,

Even if it were a yao, it had to be a Great Demon; even if it were a mo, it had to be a great demon — otherwise it couldn't have endured this long beneath such terrifying tribulation lightning!

But the other ghost-foxes, spirits and monsters, mountain sprites and wild demons, lonely souls and wandering ghosts were out of luck — many were caught up in wave after wave of heavenly thunder and met unnatural deaths!

Those with cave dwellings, those protected by dharma treasures, and those with profound cultivation fared somewhat better; as for those minor yao and monsters with shallow cultivation, they probably couldn't escape this tribulation!

This thunderstorm lasted a full dozen-plus hours before gradually dissipating.

The leaves outside the window were washed by the rain until they glistened a fresh green; rainwater on the ground nearly converged into a river, sweeping away sand, dead leaves, and dark tree branches.

That oppressive pressure from the heavens gradually faded, and the scent of thunder and lightning in the air slowly dispersed.

Only at that moment did Su Yuanshan finally let out a complete sigh of relief.

"It seems this tribulation has truly been avoided. Presumably the struggle between that Great Demon — or great mo — and the heavens has reached its conclusion: either reduced to ash, or successfully transcended the tribulation and been reborn."

"And I too must make early plans for my future survival. For now, my time segments are the same as those Incense Deities, which is fine — but if I go a long stretch without incense offerings, that would be a real big problem!"

If he were in a densely populated dwelling place, perhaps he could still snatch a wisp of incense and prayer-power to cultivate with, thereby transforming his clay body into one of flesh and blood and regaining freedom.

But judging by appearances, this is an abandoned ruined temple — the thatch has grown taller than a person — truly a place rarely visited by humans. Who would come here to sacrifice to me, a City God? Unless they were sick in the head!

Although he still had the Spirit Pearl protecting his body, and this little pearl seemed able to automatically absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, converting it into spiritual power to nourish his soul — the amount was pitifully small, barely enough to meet the most basic needs. If this continued long-term, he couldn't escape the fate of his soul scattering!

Therefore, to escape his predicament, the only way was to find a method to walk out of here!

But unfortunately, I am currently a clay statue and absolutely cannot move. The immediate plan is only to refine the clay body, with the aid of the Spirit Pearl, with the aid of the Spirit-Swallowing Qi-Refining Body-Shaping Art, accumulating little by little, and with the perseverance of grinding an iron pestle into a needle, transform the clay into flesh and blood, only then can I gain freedom! However, I have not yet comprehended the Spirit-Swallowing Qi-Refining Art, so for now I can only borrow the spiritual energy within the Spirit Pearl.

Having this thought, Su Yuanshan immediately began putting it into practice without a moment's rest.

He tried to draw upon a wisp of spiritual energy from the Spirit Pearl, slowly letting it permeate the clay statue — unexpectedly, it actually had some effect!

He spent nearly three hours before fully merging that wisp of spiritual energy into his palm, and saw a faint crimson blood-light emerge, gradually gathering into a blood bead the size of a grain of rice.

Su Yuanshan finally refined out his first drop of essence blood — although the blood energy was very thin, it had after all been condensed.

His spirit gave a jolt, and he secretly thought: this method works!

But this tiny amount of essence blood was nothing more than a drop in the bucket for his entire clay body, unable to accomplish anything — yet its preciousness lay in pointing out the road ahead for him!

Considering that refining the entire body — including the five viscera and six bowels, eyes, nose, mouth, and tongue, four limbs, head, skin and hair, and so on — requires a vast quantity of qi and blood, yet the spiritual energy this Spirit Pearl absorbs each day is extremely limited; refining three to five drops of essence blood a day is already the absolute limit.

However, at this pace, to refine the entire body and thereby move freely — without eight hundred to a thousand years it would simply be impossible!

Eight hundred to a thousand years? At the thought of this, Su Yuanshan's entire face darkened. Although he was a clay statue and didn't need to consider lifespan factors, staying alone in this desolate, uninhabited place for eight hundred to a thousand years — he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't break down and go mad!

Too hard — being a normal person is too hard!

Just as Su Yuanshan was in the depths of depression, he suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from outside.

Su Yuanshan's heart gave a start.

Huh? Something actually came here? Was it a person? A yao? Or an ordinary wild beast?

The visitor seemed to be getting closer?

Huh? It actually stopped its steps before the door?

But this aura... doesn't seem like a human — it's closer to... a yao!

Yao!

To be honest, Su Yuanshan had never seen a yao in his life, and at this moment his heart was a little flustered, because he didn't understand the other's intentions. But then he thought — I'm nothing but a clay statue — and only then did he slightly relax, thinking: I'm a clay statue, what is there to fear!

Just as Su Yuanshan was lost in wild thoughts, suddenly a "knock knock" sounded at the door from outside, followed by a clear, pleasant female voice that came across as sounding somewhat timid and shy.

"Mighty Prefecture Lord... Mighty Prefecture Lord......"

Suddenly hearing that human speech calling out, added to the fact that it was the wilderness and nighttime, Su Yuanshan couldn't help his heart skip a beat. In his life he had been nothing but an ordinary wage-slave — when had he ever encountered such a bizarre thing? He couldn't help feeling his hair stand on end, even though he had no hair!

He thought: what kind of yao creature actually speaks human language?

According to the records in the Taiping Yulan,

Most sprites and monsters have a natural transverse bone in their throats that obstructs human speech, so not all spirits and monsters can open their mouths to speak. Only those old yao whose cultivation has reached the Exquisite realm, and who have refined away the transverse bone in their throats, can speak human language. Spirits and monsters of this realm are called Wise Beasts, already distinct from ordinary mountain sprites and wild monsters. And those with even higher cultivation, who obtain some kind of机缘, may even reach the Yao Core (Core Formation) realm, or even the Spirit Transformation realm, able to take on human form, becoming Yao Commander and gaining the ability to command and驱使 all yao.

Of course, this is merely legend, a mythological record — but this time, he had truly and tangibly encountered one.

To say his heart wasn't at all uneasy would be a lie!

However, what puzzled Su Yuanshan somewhat was that he could sense the yao creature outside the door was not only not powerful, but actually seemed somewhat weak.

It probably wasn't some great mo or Great Demon.

Of course, it could also be a naturally-born demonic spirit, one that simply has no transverse bone at all — such a thing is equivalent to a genius among humans, an anomaly among yao and mo — but such existences are extremely rare.

"This fellow's aura is this weak? Clearly it hasn't truly stepped onto the path of cultivation, can't even glimpse the most basic threshold of the Dao, can it? How strange. So be it — I'll see what kind of yao or mo it is!"

At One Thought of this, Su Yuanshan's eyes focused, spiritual light gathered, and through the crack in the great hall's door, he looked outside.

He saw that outside the clouds had gathered and the rain had ceased; the bright moon hung high, the night sky washed clean and divided into brightness. Beneath the moonlight, a fox was prostrate at the doorway, making a human-like bow and kowtow.

Its figure was slender, its fur all over as white as snow, spotlessly clean, and a faint spiritual light shimmered over its entire body — clearly no ordinary fox, appearing extremely extraordinary. Its mouth opened and closed from time to time, speaking human language.

Such a creature brimming with precious spiritual energy was, to other yao, simply a delicacy — a great tonic like Tang Sanzang's flesh or a Ginseng Fruit.