Chapter 977: Continue

Extreme Desire Path, I alone am supreme!

He forms hand seals, True Essence wildly circulates within, forming a vortex in his dantian that pulls in and refines all invading lustful thoughts. The black shadow emits a resentful howl, but in the end is devoured by the vortex.

When the last wisp of lustful thought is refined, Yan Buji feels the long‑standing bottleneck in his body shatter with a roar. True Essence rushes through his meridians like a breached dam; each circuit of the heavenly cycle strengthens it a bit.

Merging Dao Midstage—completed!

Yan Buji opens his eyes, two shafts of gray light shoot from his pupils, leaving deep marks on the stone wall. He feels the surging power within, a satisfied curve lifts the corner of his mouth.

The Swallow Desire Pot floats silently before him, its hue deepening; the twisted faces have vanished, replaced by flowing dark‑gold patterns—sign of the Eighth Transformation Immortal Artifact Great Completion.

"Not bad, smoother than expected." Yan Buji gently strokes the pot, "The lust of a hundred thousand cultivators not only pushed me to Merging Dao Midstage, but also fully stabilized the Swallow Desire Pot in the Eighth Transformation Realm."

He stands, stretches his muscles. The seclusion lasted an unknown length, but judging by the condensation of True Essence, at least three years have passed.

Yan Buji waves his hand to lift the cave's seal; seawater rushes in at once. He becomes a flash of gray light, bursts from the seabed, and returns to the surface sky.

The sunlight remains blinding, the sea breeze carries a salty dampness. Yan Buji draws a deep breath, his spirit spreads like tide, instantly covering a radius of a thousand li.

Within a thousand li there are only scattered tiny islands, cultivator aura weak, at most Nascent Soul stage. These "small fish and shrimp" no longer pique his interest.

"Time to look for new prey." Yan Buji murmurs, "Merging Dao Midstage is still insufficient; I must reach the Great Vehicle Stage at least to qualify to challenge those old monsters…"

At that moment, he suddenly senses a peculiar wave from the far east. The aura is strong yet hidden, surely only a Great Vehicle Stage cultivator could emit it.

Yan Buji's eyes brighten: "Interesting."

He puts away the Swallow Desire Pot, transforms into gray mist and flies east. Three years of seclusion, a hundred thousand cultivators' lust, have already pushed his cultivation to Merging Dao Midstage. And now he smells a stronger prey aura.

The gray mist sweeps over the sea surface; wherever it passes, schools of fish dart away as if sensing death's breath.

Yan Buji hovers above the sea, his gray robe rustling. He withdraws the thread of spirit reaching east, a faint sneer curls his mouth.

"Great Vehicle Stage… not yet."

He turns south, where a dozen small cultivation islands form the "Shattered Star Archipelago"; the highest there is at most a Transformation Divine Cultivator, an ideal hunting ground.

The gray mist churns, Yan Buji's figure gradually blurs. Before moving, he mutters a sealing chant, his surrounding aura drops rapidly, descending from Merging Dao Midstage all the way to late Nascent Soul stage—this is the subtle use of the Conceal Breath Technique, allowing him to perfectly disguise as a weak one.

"Prey always relax their guard around a wounded lamb."

Three days later, outside the Shattered Star Archipelago.

A spiritual boat drifts slowly on the sea, five cultivators aboard patrol cautiously. The blue‑robed elder leads, at early Transformation Divine level; the other four are Nascent Soul cultivators.

"Senior brother, I heard that the 'Gray Mist Yanluo' has recently appeared in the Dongxing Sea Region?" a young female cultivator asks anxiously.

The blue‑robed elder snorts coldly: "The slaughter of Ten Thousand Immortal Island was three years ago; that demon head has long fled. Besides, we shrimp‑like ones are beneath their notice."

Before his words finish, a faint spiritual energy fluctuation ripples on the sea ahead.

"Someone!" the blue‑robed elder instantly becomes alert.

About a hundred meters out, a gray‑robed cultivator struggles to maintain flight, his form wobbling. Sensing the approaching boat, he lifts his head, revealing a paper‑pale face—none other than the disguised Yan Buji.

"Save… save me…" he croaks weakly, then, as if exhausted, plummets straight into the sea.

"It's a Nascent Soul cultivator!" the young female cultivator exclaims.

The blue‑robed elder's eyes flash: "Rescue him first!"

As the spiritual boat draws near, two Nascent Soul cultivators leap into the water, pulling the "unconscious" Yan Buji aboard. The blue‑robed elder extends his spirit to inspect, confirming the target is indeed late Nascent Soul, with severe dantian damage.

"Give him a Return to Origin Pill." the blue‑robed elder orders, a glint of greed in his eyes—an injured Nascent Soul cultivator surely holds something valuable.

The young female cultivator reaches for the medicine, but feels her wrist tighten. Looking down, the supposedly unconscious gray‑robed man is now staring, a strange smile at his mouth.

"Thank you for the rescue." Yan Buji says softly.

In the next instant, gray mist erupts wildly from her seven apertures.

"Ah!!" a harrowing scream tears the sky.

The blue‑robed elder is horrified, about to unleash a treasure, when he sees the entire spiritual boat already shrouded in gray mist. Five misty tendrils simultaneously strike the five people's dantians.

"Gray Mist Yan King…!"

The elder's words are cut short. His eyes quickly lose their luster; his cultivation and all lustful thoughts are drained completely. In his final moments, he sees the dark‑red pot silhouette hovering over the gray‑robed man's head, and the suddenly opened eye on the pot's surface…

Half a minute later, only an empty spiritual boat drifts on the waves. Yan Buji stands on a cloud, the Swallow Desire Pot hovering before him, its dark‑gold pattern brightening a few more degrees.

"The lust of five cultivators is better than none." he slightly frowns, "Looks like I must find a bigger prey."

He puts away the Swallow Desire Pot, hides his aura again, and flies toward the depths of the Shattered Star Archipelago.

Seven days later, Yan Buji lurks in a cave on a barren island, a water mirror floating before him. The mirror shows a purple‑robed elder flying among the islands.

"Elder of the Dan Ding Sect, Merging Dao Early Stage, proficient in alchemy and fire spells…" Yan Buji mutters, danger flashing in his eyes.

This is the third Merging Dao‑stage prey he has set his sights on. The first two were lone cultivators, modest strength. But this Dan Ding Sect elder is different; as a sect cultivator, he must have a life‑saving trump card.

"However… the more cautious one is, the easier they fall into traps."

Yan Buji notes that the purple‑robed elder periodically stops to gather sea‑spirit herbs, especially paying attention to a blue flame called "Sea Heart Flame".

"So that's it." Yan Buji smiles, "Life‑Essence is waning, trying to refine a Longevity Pill?"

He mutters a sealing chant, his body gradually turning into gray mist and dissipating. Simultaneously, a hundred li away, beneath a coral reef, a wisp of gray mist rises, coalescing into a strange blue‑glowing fire seed, which is the disguised "Sea Heart Flame".

Half a day later, the purple‑robed elder indeed follows the sense to this sea area.

"Strange, the map marks no Sea Heart Flame here…" the elder mutters in doubt, but when his spirit senses the pure blue flame beneath the reef, doubt is instantly replaced by ecstatic joy.

"Purity this high! Enough to refine three furnaces of Longevity Pills!"