Chapter 896: The Great Path of Desire

In the deep, cold valley where the bitter wind howls, within a stone cave shrouded by blood‑red runes, Yan Buji sits cross‑legged at the center of the altar. The Swallow Desire Pot hovers three feet above his head, its patterns writhing like living things, continuously inhaling and exhaling scarlet mist.

"The Martial Dao's fortune has been fully refined; now this Law of Fortune has become one of my Dao Foundation."

Yan Buji slowly opened his eyes, and the runes on his bronze arm suddenly flashed with dazzling blood‑red light. Deep within his pupils, countless golden threads could be faintly seen interlacing into a net—these are the Law of Fortune formed from the Martial Dao's refined fortune. At this moment, the power of these laws is passing through the Swallow Desire Pot's transformation, gradually merging into his essence.

"Buzz!"

The void trembled, and seven illusory chains suddenly manifested around Yan Buji, each chain etched with ancient Dao patterns. This is the "Dao Principle Manifestation" unique to cultivators in the Refining Void stage, indicating he has reached the threshold of the Heaven‑and‑Earth laws. Yet unlike other cultivators, his chains are entwined with strands of scarlet mist—the materialized manifestation of desire.

"I entered the Dao with my essence, and now the Law of Fortune has been added to me..." Yan Buji sneered suddenly, "But these are ultimately only techniques, not the Dao."

He reached out to touch one of the chains, which instantly twisted and transformed into a hissing blood snake. The change caused his pupils to contract sharply; since he began practicing the Essence Method, he has devoured countless heavenly materials and plundered many cultivators' origins, yet he has never truly contemplated where he is ultimately heading.

"What is truly my Dao?"

Cosmic Way, Way of the Universe, Five Elements, Fortune, Martial Dao......

These great Dao laws are, to Yan Buji, merely useful tools, merely means to fulfill his ambition, merely the process of his ascent to the pinnacle.

Time within the stone cave seemed to solidify. Yan Buji kept his hand supporting the blood snake, while his consciousness sank into the river of memories.

He saw himself as a child, orphaned by both parents, hiding in the grass and fighting wild dogs for scraps to survive;

He saw countless killings committed in the ruthless pursuit of a single cultivation opportunity;

He also saw his first time......

"So that's it." The blood snake suddenly spoke, its voice unmistakably Yan Buji's own: "Your greatest desire has never been power itself."

Power is the tool that fulfills his desire for domination! He once said that the wise seek to contain power, or rather…

He is greedily yearning to satisfy his desire with absolute power!

The runes on his bronze arm flickered wildly, and Yan Buji's breathing grew increasingly heavy.

"What I want is for all things to bow beneath my feet, to dominate the pinnacle above all beings!"

"Boom!"

The strands of fortune hanging from the Swallow Desire Pot suddenly ignited, and countless twisted faces emerged within the blood‑red flames.

The Swallow Desire Pot quivered violently, and what spewed from its mouth was no longer mist but a viscous, solid‑like scarlet liquid. These liquids intertwined in the air to form a phantom of a celestial avenue, and along its sides knelt countless illusory human silhouettes, all bowing and worshipping toward Yan Buji's direction!

Yan Buji's pupils contracted; from these phantoms he sensed the thoughts once harbored by the cultivators he had devoured.

Greed, fury, lust, jealousy......

Living beings inevitably radiate spirit, bringing myriad differences. Yet what remains unchanged is.....

"Once a living being attains wisdom, it inevitably moves toward a better direction. To live well, to travel far, to soar high..... the paths to achieve those goals differ; no one praises you for self‑restraint, nor despises you for unbridled greed. Success and failure have always been judged by results, naturally....."

Yan Buji pondered, using his past, experiences, and everything he had witnessed as a foundational theory; his mind raced, gradually clarifying the connections.

"No one cares about your past; they only care about your present and future."

Yan Buji smiled faintly: "Living beings are divided into Disorder and Order, but wisdom is not possessed by everyone. The key to becoming a wise being lies not in lifespan, nor in power. Need is the driving force behind a being's growth, and I....."

He realized: "By releasing desire, all things in the world, all wise beings, move forward driven by desire!"

In an instant!

The original Law of Fortune power stored within the Swallow Desire Pot was completely severed, replaced by the devoured cultivators' desire thoughts exploding fully under Yan Buji's current insight!

From the pot's mouth poured a torrent of desire thoughts like a reversed Milky Way, yet Yan Buji sat there calmly, untouched.

Crack!

Yan Buji's bronze arm suddenly shattered, revealing newly formed flesh beneath. This flesh was not ordinary in color, but ruby‑like and translucent, with liquid desire essence coursing inside.

A flash of insight!

Yan Buji suddenly trembled all over; his original essence violently quaked at this moment, devouring the Desire Law he had just comprehended!

At this moment, Yan Buji's original essence bore the Desire Law he had grasped!

"Let desire be the guide, fortune the foundation, forging my supreme Dao path!"

He suddenly spread his arms wide, and the Swallow Desire Pot above his head exploded with a roar. Yet the fragments did not scatter; instead they transformed into three hundred sixty blood‑red stars that revolved around him. Within each star was sealed an extreme desire: greed, fury, lust, jealousy...... These negative emotions that should corrupt the Dao Heart now became the purest Dao Principle nourishment.

Outside the stone cave, thunderclouds suddenly gathered, and blood‑red lightning split the sky, as if the Heavenly Dao sensed the calamity that follows the birth of a defying law. Yet Yan Buji was unperturbed, laughing; his newly formed arm thrust directly into his own chest, extracting a pulsating golden heart veined with blood‑like patterns.

"Martial Dao's fortune is the bone, all beings' desire is the blood." He raised the heart high, "Today I finally understand, my Dao should be...."

"Utilize everything, Extreme Desire Path!"

The golden heart burst with dazzling light, and those vascular patterns detached from its surface, weaving in the air into a scarlet Dao chapter. Yan Buji's cultivation began to surge wildly, the early Refining Void bottleneck shattered with a roar, propelling him straight into the mid‑stage of Refining Void!

Lightning split the heart, yet Yan Buji sustained no injury; from the very beginning when he used the Essence Method to absorb Law Fragments, to now his own insight, centering on the Desire Law, he has established his own Extreme Desire Path!

Pursue ultimate desire, forge ahead!

At this moment, as his original essence continued to tremble, Yan Buji suddenly grasped an even deeper level!

It seemed the earlier calamity was not unleashed because Yan Buji had suddenly understood the great Dao, but rather his own cultivation's refinement, past accumulation, and essence's transformation, at this moment culminating in a sudden surge, allowing his original essence to both bear the laws and, exploiting the uniqueness of the Essence Method, perceive the primordial laws of this realm!

"Wisdom Law?!"

Yan Buji was startled, and concepts about the primordial laws of Heaven and Earth floated into his mind!

The Wisdom Law is divided into: Knowledge, Memory, Desire, and Spirituality!

Yan Buji approached via the Desire Law, bearing the Extreme Desire Path, and inadvertently pilfered a portion of the source power of the Wisdom Law!