Chapter 683: The Gestating Divine Body, Farewell to Yun Mo (Combined)

In the bamboo pavilion, Li Yuan sat cross-legged, three exquisite seeds of divine arts floating before him, while two broken magic treasures lay on the ground.

But he did not rush to inspect his gains; instead, he closed his eyes and focused, reviewing everything he had seen and heard over the past ten days, before opening them again.

"A tremendous harvest!"

Li Yuan exhaled slowly and began inspecting his gains.

Due to contamination by the Youjing 's aura, the inner spells or divine arts of the seeds could not be discerned from appearance alone, but the better the seed's quality, the more likely it contained a complete spell or divine art.

"The spells cultivated by fifth-rank cultivators—even if not full-grade prohibitions—would still be of high tier. My senior brothers were truly generous…"

Silently thanking his senior brothers, Li Yuan's gaze fell upon the two broken treasures, his eyes shimmering with reflected light.

For three fifth-rank cultivators to have Lianshouchushou, and for Qi Yun to still have broken through to sever it, the fifth-rank Guidi was no ordinary Guidi —its internal spiritual treasures included many fine specimens.

Though he avoided the best few items, the two broken treasures he chose were meticulously selected, the two most suited to him.

【Dispersing Flame Heart-Monkey Sword (Tier 10)】

【……Forged from the "Burning Heart Monkey Spirit Form," a spiritual manifestation assembled from a cultivator's essence, spirit, and vitality, infused with a thousand varieties of fierce flame essences, yet discarded as a masterpiece due to the cultivator's overly violent will…】

【……Broken upon forging, further corroded by the Youjing 's aura, its spiritual essence entirely lost, divine patterns nearly vanished…】

【Control Condition: One strand of mid-grade magic power】

【Control Effect:】

【Tier 11: True Form of the Red Emperor's Burning Heart Monkey】

【Tier 10: Form of the Heart-Monkey, Form of Dispersing Flame】

It was a broken sword, dull and unremarkable, lacking any divine aura—even barely qualifying as a magic treasure, for it held not a single divine prohibition.

"The Red Emperor's Burning Heart Monkey… one of the Nine True Forms in the Southern Pole Red Emperor's Fire Phoenix Scripture…"

Li Yuan picked up the broken sword; even with just this fragment, his gains from this journey were already immense, and the information within the sword drew his attention.

"Forging a treasure from a cultivator's spirit form… Miefa Mountain—seems to be one of the Three Mountains and Four Seas of the Weitian Dao Sect…"

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly.

Cultivators absorb celestial spiritual energy and refine divine patterns into prohibitions—these are top-tier materials—but this is not orthodox treasure forging; its extreme ferocity has been banned by many sects and domains.

As for Miefa Mountain, he had some recollection—he'd read of it in an ancient traveler's journal: one of the Three Mountains and Four Seas of the Weitian Dao Sect, famed for its "forging."

"Tiangong Shen Chi… Only a master treasure-forging expert would bear such a title—and even then, only within the Weitian Dao Sect."

Li Yuan noted the name, studied the sword's information in full, then stored it away.

"Come to think of it, are the True Form diagrams of the Wuji Scripture so widely circulated?"

As this thought crossed his mind, Li Yuan turned to the other fragment of magic treasure—more precisely, another broken treasure from an alternate dimension.

【Crouching Dragon of the Yellow Springs (Tier 11)】

【…Originating from an alternate dimension, a treasure of the Xuanhuang Great Realm, painted on a fragment of a Xuanhuang World Tree leaf using a single drop of "Yellow Spring Water" and the blood of a " Mingjiao "…】

【…Damaged by unknown causes, its spiritual essence entirely lost, only faint divine traces remain…】

【Control Condition: One strand of Wood-element magic power】

【Control Effect:】

【Tier 11: Purification by Yellow Spring Water】

【Tier 10: Form of the Mingjiao 】

A treasure from the Xuanhuang Great Realm, forged from a Xuanhuang World Tree leaf.

The moment Li Yuan glimpsed this treasure, his heart leapt; upon closer inspection, he found the Xuanhuang leaf had lost all divine aura—but he was not overly disappointed.

Because Yellow Spring Water was still a precious substance.

【Yellow Spring Water Purification: The accumulated killing and yin corruption of the Xuanhuang Realm over eons coalesced into the Yellow Spring Ming River—its waters dissolve all postnatal creations…】

【…One who emerges from the Yellow Spring Water may undergo a transformation of innate endowment…】

This broken diagram possessed the ability to augment innate endowment, and within the Yellow Spring Water's description, he saw the words "postnatal."

"The information is fragmented, but it likely relates to reversing the prenatal? One who walks out of water that dissolves all postnatal creations must be a primordial Dao body."

"Pity—the original had only one drop of Yellow Spring Water; now, it likely has no effect at all…"

"Xuanhuang World Tree, Yellow Spring Ming River water… No wonder Elder Yuan and Elder Gu couldn't stop talking about the Xuanhuang Great Realm—there are truly so many fine things!"

Li Yuan picked up the broken diagram and examined it.

It could no longer be called "broken"—to any observer, it resembled a ragged cloth, utterly devoid of divine aura.

"If it enhances innate endowment, it's still a valuable item."

Li Yuan activated his intent, immediately storing the fragment within his Weapon Domain space and activating control over it.

In a daze, Li Yuan seemed to hear the sound of water, but it vanished in an instant.

For a fleeting moment, Li Yuan seemed to hear the sound of water—but it vanished instantly.

Immediately, he felt a piercing pain from outside inward, as if flames were burning him, intent on melting him.

"This is the Yellow Spring Purification?"

Li Yuan didn't even frown; to him, this was merely a slight pain—he was almost disappointed, for greater pain meant greater effect.

"Or perhaps it's because my innate endowment is already excellent?"

Guessing internally, Li Yuan replaced his Dun Tian Boat, Xuan Gan Qi Gourd, Qing You Little Thunder Dragon, and several other Xuan weapons with the new ones.

With all these palm controls bolstering his body, Li Yuan immediately sensed a transformation in his innate endowment, yet after careful perception, he still shook his head.

With all the control enhancements applied, Li Yuan immediately sensed his innate endowment transforming—but after careful perception, he still shook his head.

"There's improvement, but still no sign of a primordial Dao body… Perhaps because I haven't yet gestated my divine body?"

Letting his thoughts wander, aided by the magic treasures' enhancements, Li Yuan focused inward, scanning his body from outside to inside, inch by inch.

He truly cared about the divine body that other divine and demonic endowments could gestate—but he himself could not. He had tried inner observation many times before, with no results.

But this time, with intense focus, he sensed something different.

Li Yuan focused his mind intensely, delving deep into every limb and bone; faintly, he saw dim, elusive light points at the very depths of his body.

Li Yuan concentrated deeply, penetrating every limb and bone, and faintly, deep within his body, he saw dim, flickering light points.

Initially only one or two, but as he probed deeper, they ignited like stars—soon, he felt he was gazing at a starry sea.

Li Yuan gazed at this "star sea," where the light points in his perception appeared as black and white, sometimes colliding, sometimes interweaving.

Li Yuan stared at this "starry sea"; the light points, in his perception, appeared as black and white, sometimes colliding, sometimes interweaving.

Faintly, he seemed to see an embryo, encircled by the two colors, barely discernible.

In the instant he glimpsed the embryo, Li Yuan's mind was filled with sudden clarity.

Compared to other divine and demonic endowments, he was not unique—his greatest difference was that his endowment had transformed into divine-demonic tier in merely three or four years, and his body had yet to gestate.

"What kind of body will it be? Sacred Body? Divine Body? Or Law Body?"

With anticipation, Li Yuan withdrew from inner observation; though he had not yet reached the threshold of a primordial Dao body, knowing his body was still gestating lifted his spirits immensely.

"The Scripture Hall records mention many divine bodies that can gestate from divine-demonic endowments—the most supreme being the 'Enlightenment Sacred Body,' 'Myriad Methods Sacred Body,' 'Yin-Yang Sacred Body'…"

"Too bad the gestation of a body cannot be influenced—if it could, I'd have gone for an Enlightenment Sacred Body… Two colors—could it be the Yin-Yang Sacred Body?"

"The Yin-Yang Sacred Body combines the extremes of yin and yang, equivalent to the 'Supreme Sun' and 'Supreme Moon' divine bodies—among the top-tier bodies…"

Li Yuan emptied his mind, waited until his emotions settled, then picked up the three seeds of divine arts and pressed them one by one into his third eye.

Complete seeds of divine arts cannot be crushed and used—they must be gestated within the spiritual realm.

"Thud!"

As if three large stones had simultaneously fallen into water.

Li Yuan stood upon an ocean, gazing down at the churning depths below; the divine pattern seed gifted by Fafa Daoist was still being digested, faintly revealing a corner.

Compared to that seed, his three divine art seeds dissolved far faster—in mere moments, they too revealed corners.

"At most three or four days to dissolve one."

Li Yuan calculated with his fingers; two of the divine art seeds immediately sank into the ocean, while he focused all effort on the last one: "One would take at most one day."

The meat was in the pot—he wouldn't rush.

He surveyed his spiritual realm: Xuanteng Island had expanded another ring in these past ten days; the Xuanteng Tree had grown nearly thirty zhang taller, its leaves lush and green.

Beneath the tree, the Nightmare Nine-Headed Snake's molt had shrunk further, while the white tiger had grown rounder still, having fully digested the killing energy it had absorbed.

Now it paced beneath the tree, as if patrolling its territory.

"Time to practice and cultivate."

Having not cultivated demonic energy for over ten days, Li Yuan's hands itched; he exited the spiritual realm, flickered once, and appeared at the Qi-Collecting Platform.

The two small gourds were harvesting Nine Smoke Divine Patterns; upon seeing him, they bounced joyfully.

"Guard me!"

Hearing this, the two gourds rushed over happily, joining the twelve increasingly massive White Bone Demon servants to guard Li Yuan.

"Huuu!"

"Haaa!"

Li Yuan closed his eyes and entered meditation, gently pushing his magic power; soon, fine threads of celestial spiritual energy enveloped the Qi-Collecting Platform.

Before long, a monstrous monkey demon with protruding fangs and a ferocious visage burst from the void—but before it could approach, two gourd sword-qi severed it into two pieces.

As the number of demonic cultivations increased, the gourd weapon soldiers not only gained more combat experience, but their sword-qi now carried a growing aura of ferocity and immense power.

As for Li Yuan, he was now utterly unmoved.

Still, he held a Tongshi Ball, ready to summon the Spirit Pivot Child if needed—though now, his mastery of demonic cultivation was second nature.

Even as he cultivated and subdued demons, he still had spare awareness to sense his Shadow Demon body.

……

Ooo~~

In a deep, dark stillness, Li Yuan's divided spirit walked within the Shadow Demon body, the Yunxiang Ding cradled in his palm the only light in this place.

Even walking through the Youjing with the Shadow Demon body still consumed incense, though far less than his own body. "I've walked for over a dozen days without reaching the end—could this corridor connect to some strange land within the Youjing covered by the Eight Temples?"

Li Yuan speculated this in his heart, and he believed it highly likely.

When the Corridor to the Youjing opened, he was still on Dayun Star; since then, he hadn't used it for twenty years. This stirred something in him—he wondered if the distance weren't too great, perhaps he could return to Dayun to see his old friends.

"Huh? Wind?"

After another half-day's walk, Li Yuan's heart stirred—he sensed the incense flickering, as if the corridor had reached its end.

He shoved the Yunxiang Ding into his body with a backward motion. The Shadow Demon body could shift between real and illusory, naturally possessing storage ability. He weighed his current available methods, then slowly advanced toward the end.

"Though my Shadow Demon body has reached the Second Realm, it possesses only one strand of magic power and no spells at all—I hope to encounter a few not-too-fierce Guishou first…"

Soon, Li Yuan felt as if he had pierced an invisible barrier; the surrounding qi instantly shifted violently—but not into the darkness he expected. This place was blindingly bright!

"What is this?"

Li Yuan snapped his head up—and saw a sky like fire, drenched in terrifying crimson light, illuminating a chaotic, ruined wasteland.

BOOM!

BOOM!

Almost the moment he stepped out of the corridor, a series of thunderous explosive blasts erupted one after another, rolling shockwaves lifting vast clouds of dust and sand.

Li Yuan twisted his body, slipping instantly into a patch of shadow.

He turned toward the sound—and, bathed in the crimson glow, saw a scene of "demons dancing in chaos": tens of thousands of Guishou roaring and slaughtering each other.

The black mist swirling around him was thick, and farther off, he could faintly make out more Guishou, Guibing, even other Guidi!

A single glance revealed at least dozens, perhaps hundreds of Guidi jumbled together, sparking violent battles everywhere.

"This Guidi … feels familiar."

Li Yuan squinted slightly, peering through the churning darkness, and spotted a towering ship, like a giant sword plunged into the ruins.

The ship had nine decks, continuously oozing black mist; armored soldiers clad in black armor, faces ashen, surged upward along the mist, clashing fiercely with the Guishou surging from nearby.

But his gaze had already locked onto the deck—where an old man with pale skin and silver hair and armor was chanting a spell.

"Cloud Demon Old Devil!"

Li Yuan recognized the silver-armored old devil, his heart jolted—and he looked up at the blood-red sky:

"That's the Blood Phoenix!"

"No wonder so many Guidi converge here… now it makes sense…"

His thoughts shifted—and instead of fear, he felt delight. His gaze sharpened toward the clusters of Guidi.

If his true body were here, this would be the worst of badlands—he'd flee immediately. But since he'd come here in his Shadow Demon body, this place was as valuable as the Demon Realm itself!

"Huh!"

A foul wind swept toward him. He glanced once—it was a black-armored soldier with ashen skin. He didn't dodge or evade—letting it rush straight at him, then dissolving into mist.

One lunge, one embrace—and the soldier vanished, transforming into a wisp of shadow weaving in his vision.

"Black Cloud Dao Soldiers—bred by Cloud Demon Old Devil from his 'Nine-Tier Mist Tower.' Even at the bottom of the First Realm, they're easy to produce, require no food or supplies…"

"Only one divine mark: 'Black Cloud.'"

In the blink of an eye, Li Yuan understood the soldier's origin—and his black robe naturally transformed into black armor.

Not just in appearance—his qi, even his function, were identical!

"Cloud Demon Old Devil? No—a pauper. Though a Guimo, he has barely anything. Without the Nine-Tier Mist Tower, he'd have been devoured by other Guidi long ago."

Blending seamlessly into a patrol of Black Cloud Dao Soldiers, Li Yuan occasionally raised a hand, silently absorbing one after another, his attention fixed on the battlefield above.

The demonic Blood Phoenix had devoured countless Guishou and Guidi. Everywhere he looked, Guishou clashed, Guibing collided, Guidi writhed.

A complex, chaotic battlefield, unmistakably.

THUD!

Just after swallowing seven or eight Black Cloud Dao Soldiers, Li Yuan heard a muffled thump—and turned to see, and grinned.

A blood-red ox, muscles knotted, over ten feet tall, had been flung here by some unknown force.

"ROAR!"

The demon ox bellowed, even with half its body split open, it still savagely crushed the Black Cloud Dao Soldiers rushing at it.

These Black Cloud Dao Soldiers were truly useless—dozens, even hundreds charging together, all slaughtered by the half-dead demon ox. Fortunately, their numbers were vast: one wave fell, another surged forward.

"Useless. Holding terrain advantage, and still fighting so poorly—they can't even match a single bone of the White Bone Demon…"

As Li Yuan commented, he collected corpses. Shadows rose around him, swallowing each Black Cloud Dao Soldier, strengthening his own form.

The Black Cloud Dao Soldiers were extremely weak—but the Shadow Demon body didn't picky. Its shadow magic power didn't care either.

Soon, Li Yuan had forged twelve strands of Shadow Demon magic power, and the 'Cloud' divine mark had swelled dozens of times over.

Even his black cloud-patterned armor now bore faint crimson threads—its resilience and strength far exceeding ordinary Black Cloud Dao Soldiers.

Simultaneously, as he devoured more Black Cloud Dao Soldiers, he began to faintly sense fragments of information about this Guidi —and about Cloud Demon Old Devil himself.

Yun Yeshan, prodigy of the Yun Clan. After failing his Dao Tribulation, unwilling to die of old age, he attempted to merge his Law Realm into the Youjing.

Naturally, it was suicide.

Dao Tribulation wasn't just a trial—it purified the cultivator's golden essence, allowing it to merge with the Law Realm, then transform into a Law Heaven.

Even with vast amounts of incense, Yun Yeshan died without a ripple.

But because he'd fused too much incense, his Law Realm remained untouched by the Youjing 's corruption for an immeasurably long time—yet also grew increasingly weak.

When he finally awoke as a Guimo, all that remained was a perforated, ruined Guidi —worse than a Third Realm Guidi.

"Stupid, yes—but bold, too."

Li Yuan couldn't help but respect those who dared to force their Law Realm after failing a Tribulation—he himself could never do it.

"ROAR!"

At that moment, a mournful cry erupted—hundreds of Black Cloud Dao Soldiers ground the Bloodhorn Ox to death.

"Perfect."

Li Yuan flicked a finger—hundreds of demonic shadows coalesced into a dark cloud, swallowing the ox's corpse. Instantly, a crimson glow rose in his eyes.

The Crimson Blood Demon Ox Technique—now Rumen!

"So satisfying."

Feeling the Shadow Demon body gain the strength of one demon ox, Li Yuan felt utterly refreshed. The Shadow Demon Art combined with this Guidi —this pace of advancement was astonishing.

"ROAR!"

Far off, a tiger's roar exploded like thunder, stirring winds that swept thousands of Guishou and Guibing —fiercely brutal.

"At least a Fourth Realm Guishou!"

Li Yuan glanced once, unmoved. Such beasts were common in the core battlefield farther out—he'd already seen many Fifth Realm Guishou and Guibing.

"This Blood Phoenix swallows but doesn't digest—is it trying to breed monsters, or has it lost even the ability to digest since losing its master?"

Mentally scoffing, Li Yuan slipped into another patrol of Black Cloud Dao Soldiers, occasionally swallowing one, strengthening his Shadow Demon body while observing the battlefield.

Farther distances aside, even just around the Cloud Demon Guidi, dozens of other Guidi clashed violently with each other.

The one fighting the Cloud Demon Guidi was a cave-like Guidi —out poured waves of Guishou, the Bloodhorn Ox just one among them.

"Yun Yeshan is still a Guimo —even if only Third Realm, he's not to be underestimated…"

"Stealth attack is safest."

Li Yuan weighed his options. The Shadow Demon body had a massive advantage in this flickering battlefield—if he didn't strike from shadows, he'd be wasting his gift.

But he wasn't in a hurry. He merely blended among the Black Cloud Dao Soldiers, swallowing one after another, sensing the 'Black Cloud' divine mark nearing completion.

Only then did he subtly shift position, heading toward the Nine-Tier Mist Tower.

Master Li wasn't one to hold grudges—but when enemies walked right into his sight, he couldn't pretend not to see.

…

"Damned blood bird!"

High atop the Nine-Tier Mist Tower, Yun Yeshan's face was grim, yet he had no choice but to continuously chant spells to fend off the flood-like waves of Guishou.

Not just the Guishou —the Guibing slithering through the darkness also demanded caution.

"Here we go again!"

Yun Yeshan sensed something, flicked his finger—and a black, hiltless double-edged sword shot out over a mile away with a CLANG.

But after a flick, it surged back.

"A Third Realm-level Guibing!"

Yun Yeshan snorted, split his attention, seized the sword in his palm, and hurled it into the violently trembling Nine-Tier Mist Tower.

After becoming a Guimo, his life treasure had undergone a demonic transformation—it could devour anything and turn it into Black Cloud Dao Soldiers.

"Ssshh!"

Moments later, a Black Cloud Dao Soldier clad in armor and wielding a sword emerged from the mist. Without any visible motion, it appeared a thousand li away in the flood of Guishou —sword flashes rained down, felling one Guishou after another.

Seeing this, Yun Yeshan's expression eased.

"If not for being inside that blood bird's belly, this wouldn't be such a bad place. Those Guidi are strong, but lack intelligence. Given time, I'll swallow them one by one…"

"Then perhaps I can even swallow that damned blood bird!"

Staring at the furious cave Guidi far off, Yun Yeshan gritted his teeth and slammed his palm onto the Nine-Tier Mist Tower—with a thunderous BOOM.

The black mist it emitted surged tenfold, dense with black Dao Soldiers—thousands upon thousands born with every breath.

He prepared to unleash everything to crush this Guidi.

"BOOM!"

In the shadows, Li Yuan looked up.

A black mist, like a celestial river spanning thousands of li, stretched across the sky, and countless Black Cloud Dao Soldiers surged along it, charging fearlessly into the flood of Gui beasts.

In an instant of collision, tens of thousands of Black Cloud Dao Soldiers were crushed to dust, then reversed into black mist.

"That cave's Gui place is stronger, but over time, it will surely be swallowed by the Cloud Devil Gui place; with this bounty, Cloud Wild Mountain may now turn its gaze to other Gui places…"

In the shadows, Li Yuan slowly walked toward the tower-ship:

"Fortunately, I've arrived."

(End of Chapter)