Chapter 290

The Demon Chapter King passed the Triple Link City's innermost question…… he actually…… Wu Tie shook his head.

The Demon Chapter King and Triple Link City have already merged into one, yet he actually didn't immediately grasp the true meaning of Triple Link City's existence; Wu Tie also felt quite bewildered.

Wind and rain, time has been too long, too long…… who knows how many storms and tribulations Triple Link City has endured in the past? Grey Master shook his head: "Perhaps even Triple Link City itself has forgotten the true meaning of its own existence; what can you make the Demon Chapter King do?"

If it weren't for the First Great Peacock King's opening heaven impression, I fortunately obtained a fragment of memory about Triple Link City…… Grey Master self-mockingly said: "Perhaps it's because I like reading?"

Glancing sideways at Wu Tie, Grey Master laughed: "You came out much earlier than I did, but you seem to have no idea what Triple Link City is actually for."

Wu Tie gave a dry laugh.

The First Great Peacock King let him observe the full panorama of the opening heaven impression, helped him break through the final ninefold shackles, allowing his cultivation to advance greatly and condense a Life Pool…… as for other things, hehe.

"He also sizes people up like picking dishes." Wu Tie, feeling a bit embarrassed, rubbed his hands.

"Hmm, who are these two?" Although Grey Master's appearance had changed considerably, his every move remained the same as before, carrying the leisurely and magnanimous air unique to scholars.

He noticed Zhu Ri and Zhu Yue.

After all, a donkey and a round, bald-headed woman—this combination inevitably draws attention.

"Disciple of the Great Samsara Temple, Zhu Ri, and this poor monk's junior sister, Zhu Yue." Zhu Ri lifted his hoof: "We follow the abbot's order, go out wandering, seeking fellow Buddhists."

"Seeking fellow Buddhists." Grey Master nodded firmly: "This is good. Though I didn't obtain great magical power from the First Great Peacock King, I did learn some things about those past events…… Buddhism, good, good, good."

Grey Master laughed brightly, very happy.

Then his pitch-black eyes, devoid of any reflection, glanced at Wu Tie and the others, narrowing: "It looks like your condition is off. Seems like some external evil has invaded?"

Wu Tie stared at Grey Master in astonishment: "You can tell we're off? Master, your cultivation is far inferior to ours."

Grey Master laughed while shaking his head: "I have no cultivation to speak of, but a clear pond turning black—what cultivation does that require? No cultivation needed; just having eyes, you can see it."

Wu Tie had nothing to say.

The anomalies within their bodies are far more complex than a clear pond turning black; heaven knows how Grey Master managed to notice.

However, Wu Tie absolutely trusts Grey Master.

So he recounted in detail how he and his companions encountered You Qing and others, and how You Qing used the Ice Spirit clan's divine artifact to forcibly impose a shackle inside their bodies.

"Is that so?" Grey Master pondered, then suddenly laughed: "What a great opportunity—why not take advantage and give him a lesson? This brat named You Qing really thinks too highly of himself; they've completely forgotten that killing doesn't necessarily require a blade."

"Huh?" Wu Tie frowned at Grey Master.

He always felt Grey Master's condition today was a bit strange.

But soon he fell into thought. Killing without a blade? What does Grey Master mean? Hmm, yes, it seems indeed possible.

Countless thoughts kept surging in his mind.

In the vast Life Pool, strands of light containing the profound mysteries of heaven and earth danced wildly; countless ingenious ideas, countless unorthodox heretical techniques' corresponding means surged into his mind.

Old Iron blinked his eyes at Wu Tie.

He only knows brute force fighting; divine abilities and secret arts, he completely doesn't understand.

"My strength may not be enough; perhaps I cannot counter them?" Wu Tie stared fixedly at Grey Master.

With Triple Link City's immense power as your backing, you can regard yourself as a great cultivator above the Embryonic Storage realm. Grey Master seriously looked at Wu Tie: "How about it, any ideas?"

Grey Master laughed brightly: "I know nothing about divine abilities and arts, but I suggest you employ the most vicious, shameless, far-reaching secret technique you can think of."

The destructive power must be great, yet silent and unnoticeable. Best to attack others' souls, directly exterminating soul and spirit, causing soul and spirit to scatter. Even better, it should be able to follow bloodlines to strike all relatives of an entire clan.

Grey Master said calmly: "Against enemies, you must go all out; if you can exterminate a clan, absolutely do not leave roots."

Old Iron shivered with a chill, stepped closer, carefully examined Grey Master, then vigorously sniffed him.

Indeed, this is Grey Master.

But the former Grey Master would never incite Wu Tie to exterminate a clan.

Just after making a round trip from the Triple Link Realm, how did he change so much?

"My bloodline has been activated, didn't you notice?" Grey Master chuckled at Old Iron: "So, a slight change is quite normal. My bloodline, uh……"

"From grey skin to black skin, a black-skinned wolf?" Old Iron blinked at Grey Master.

"Have you heard the phrase 'colluding in wickedness'?" Grey Master lowered his voice, speaking softly: "I am that very wolf. So, coming up with a few bad ideas—what's the big deal?"

Old Iron stared blankly, then broke into a grin showing his teeth.

"'Colluding in wickedness'? Hehe, I like that phrase. I am the wild wolf, you are the wolf, hehe, colluding in wickedness, hey." Old Iron inexplicably felt happy and fiercely flicked his tail.

Wu Tie fell into contemplation, and from the side he asked in a low voice: "Over these many years, how much power has Triple Link City accumulated?"

Grey Master chuckled softly: "Enough for you to squander; you can rest assured on that."

Wu Tie nodded: "Then let's set things up quickly…… while they think they've succeeded, while they're smug, when our guard is lowest. Strike them unawares."

Wu Tie narrowed his eyes.

This time, we must make You Qing and the Immortal Black Spider also shed a layer of skin.

Black clouds roiled across the sky, thick ink fragrance filled Triple Link City; aside from Wu Tie and a few others, everyone else fell into sleep.

This is excellent; no one will disturb Wu Tie's actions.

Resources within Triple Link City are extremely abundant; we must thank the Twelve Lineage clans for scraping the land clean, concentrating dozens of major regions' rare resources in Triple Link City, making it now very convenient for Wu Tie to draw upon them.

Using gold essence, fine jade, and various gems storing immense energy, Wu Tie erected an altar a hundred zhang square.

On the altar, using materials of the five phases, he built a small offering table.

Then Wu Tie found in Triple Link City's storehouse a kind of primal herb with the strongest vitality, the Undying Vine; he wove its stems and leaves into three straw effigies and planted them on the offering table.

Over the next few days, Wu Tie became busy.

The twelve light pillars surrounding Triple Link City are its energy core, containing tremendous power. Wu Tie tried: he threw in one portion each of all the rare materials he could find; regardless of duration, they all melted into liquid.

He used the power of the twelve light pillars to shatter all restrictions inside the ancient treasures he seized from Jin Man Cang, such as the Seven Slaughter White Bone Banner, returning them to their origin and melting them into the most primordial materials.

He also cleared out several material storehouses in Triple Link City, melted and refined those materials, then blended them into the substances derived from those ancient treasures like the Seven Slaughter White Bone Banner.

Because materials were still somewhat lacking, Wu Tie even melted down the Wind and Cloud Banner held by the shamaness, the koi carp obtained from Zhu Zixi, and other ancient treasures, transforming them into basic materials.

Finally, he melted down the Eagle God armor gifted by Osiris.

He melted down the pair of war boots gifted by Osiris.

He also relinquished more than half of his own essence blood, merging it entirely into that huge mass of metallic liquid.

In the Great Dragon Cavern, upon first encountering the elite warriors of Triple-linked City, Wu Tie discovered that Triple-linked City's forging technique was extraordinarily exquisite.

After searching among the three pyramids for a while, Wu Tie indeed found a workshop that occupied a vast area and was fully equipped.

Thus, he again used Triple-linked City's forging chamber to cast these materials into an enormous banner and seven strangely shaped long swords.

Completely blank, with no restrictions inside, the banner and seven long swords were offered by Wu Tie on the altar, drawing upon the vast power accumulated over countless years by Triple-linked City's Grand Defensive Formation, and slowly cleansing and refining it.

Washing away the furnace heat just out of the oven.

Flushing away all possible impurities, purifying the essence, and tempering to purity.

Grey Master, Lao Tie, Zhu Ri, and Zhu Yue these days were very quiet; none of them knew what Wu Tie was busy with, they just silently watched, occasionally lending him a hand.

After all, not everyone has cultivated the Primeval Classic.

Not everyone possesses the myriad strange things in Wu Tie's mind, nor has anyone fully witnessed the Impression of Opening Heaven evolved by the First-generation Great Peacock Ming King.

Wu Tie fell into a strange silent frenzy.

He remained silent, like an iceberg, yet his movements were wild and swift, each gesture like a hurricane sweeping across the plains.

He began to dance around the altar.

Like a gale, like a downpour, like lightning, like a thunderclap, like the primeval ancient shaman's vigor striving to catch the sun, like the primordial chaos demon god, enraged, ramming its head and toppling the heavenly pillar.

A raise of the hand, a lift of the foot, every movement—utterly natural.

The Triple-linked City spanning tens of thousands of li seemed to turn into a gigantic lung; as Wu Tie moved, the entire city contracted, expanded, then contracted again, expanded again.

The Tree of Abundant Harvest slowly rose from above Wu Tie's head.

Countless lush branches and leaves swayed and danced, emitting a clear, pleasant sound, like heavenly music, as if all the beautiful voices in heaven and earth were singing together.

Lao Tie, Zhu Ri, and Zhu Yue stood far away in midair, staring blankly at Wu Tie.

After an unknown amount of time, Lao Tie muttered, 'Although I know nothing but killing, I at least know that for any divine artifact or spirit treasure, at the very least… you have to put something into the embryo.'

'Whether it be seals, formations, talismans, or runes—or perhaps some dead souls' essence, some skeletal bloody filth… you must put something in,' Lao Tie gazed at Wu Tie, bewildered.

'Are you refining artifacts?' Zhu Ri also looked at Wu Tie's actions, somewhat bewildered.

Zhu Ri also watched Wu Tie's actions, looking a bit dazed.

Let's re-evaluate lines from 81 onward as given:

This is exactly the right feel. Wu Tie, you're amazing… the boast that Wu Zhen made is actually true!

Grey Master lowered his voice and murmured, 'He said he found a five-colored divine stone and gave it to your mother… he also found… the forbidden thing… could it be that you swallowed it whole when you were young?'

So, that's why you were so frail as a child…

It's not just because of the Nuwa bloodline, nor just because of that… the forbidden object that Wu Zhen found in the Nuwa ancestral land… what exactly is it?

However, what I saw in the Triple-linked Realm is exactly what you are doing now.

Truly, beautiful!

Wu Tie's movements grew ever more violent and powerful, each motion like a towering demon tens of thousands of li tall, wielding a massive axe and heavily chopping the heavenly pillar that reaches the blue sky.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared in the void, while multicolored light filled the sky.

Endless power surged and flowed, converging upon Wu Tie's body.

The Tree of Abundant Harvest sprouted a hundredfold of fresh branches and leaves; its immense energy was absorbed by the tree and continually poured into Wu Tie's life pool.

Wu Tie's movements suddenly stalled.

He didn't turn around, but everyone knew his words were directed at Lao Tie.

But, Lao Tie, inscribing runes, formations, seals, and talismans is merely the crudest, most inferior method of forging.

True forging is to directly infuse the Dao into the vessel.

A vessel that carries a Dao can be called a divine artifact, a spirit treasure, or, in fact, it should be named a 'Dao vessel'!

Wu Tie drew a deep breath, then his hands, flashing with strange light, reached toward his own brow.

Layers of light halo rippled from his brow, spreading outward in circles; his hands plunged into his life pool and he seized a strand of dazzling light.

'Come.' Wu Tie gave a soft shout.

This strand of light writhed and struggled violently, then pulled along forty‑eight thousand nine hundred ninety‑nine other strands of intertwined qi, forming a thick, blazing light‑dragon that erupted from Wu Tie's brow.

The light dragon swayed, and under Wu Tie's control, one end plunged into the newly forged, hundred‑zhang‑tall giant banner.

The once dull, lifeless banner shimmered with spiritual light, instantly seeming to come alive and gaining boundless spirituality.

Although this spirituality is extremely faint, its liveliness is extraordinary, giving a sense of vibrant vitality and limitless potential.

Lao Tie and Zhu Ri stared wide‑eyed, shocked by Wu Tie's primal dance.

Wu Tie accomplished all this without using any magical power.

Indeed, he used no magical power at all, and that banner has been completely transformed, utterly unlike its former embryo.

Afterward, a huge vortex appeared on the banner.

Old Tie and Zhu Ri stared wide‑eyed, shocked by Wu Tie's primitive dance.

Wu Tie performed these actions without using any magical power.

Indeed, no magical power was used, and the flag had been completely reborn, bearing no resemblance to its former embryo.

Soon after, a massive vortex appeared on the flag.

The surging primordial energy of heaven and earth continuously pours into the banner, and thread by thread, a strange spiritual light that makes one feel utterly weak and as if the soul wishes to shed its shell and fly out continuously emerges from the banner's surface.