Chapter 709: Snatching Food from the Tiger's Mouth, Suppressing the Imprisoned Blood Phoenix (Combined Chapter)

"Holy shit?!"

Within the Soldier-Bearing Space, Li Yuan, who had been preparing to receive Ying Mo Shen's return, suddenly shrank his pupils.

After Fan Jing had obliterated Ying Mo Shen, even though demonic shadows still lingered at the end of the passage, he had nearly given up on scheming for the Blood Phoenix.

But he never expected…

"That fishing line is—?!"

Li Yuan's mind and spirit both reeled. Relying on the surviving demonic shadows, he clearly saw the color draining from Fan Jing's face, and the thin line hooked into his brow!

There's still an expert?!

"Misty Waves Fishing Elder?!"

When Fan Jing's furious roar exploded outward, Li Yuan, who had been focusing intently, finally saw the angler manifested beyond the void.

"This old fellow actually wants to fish for Fan Jing?"

Li Yuan felt his scalp go numb, as if a thunderbolt had exploded in his mind.

That Blood Phoenix was actually this old fellow's bait?

"No wonder I clearly never made contact with this old fellow, yet I kept hearing listening-sounds related to him…"

"When did he cast his bait?"

Li Yuan's thoughts spun like lightning. Amid the surging of shock, bewilderment, terror… and all manner of emotions, enlightenment welled up.

"The Blood Phoenix volunteered to be the bait!"

In that instant, Li Yuan seemed to hear the Blood Phoenix's cry once more.

In a daze, he seemed to see the scene of the Blood Phoenix's fall—Fan Jing raising his fist to pierce through 'his' chest and belly, 'he' bewildered, shocked, filled with utmost grief and rage.

And in the very last instant, 'he' had seen through Fan Jing's purpose in befriending him, and at the same time, 'he' had chanted the name 'Misty Waves Fishing Elder,' volunteering to be the bait!

"That fucking works too?!"

Li Yuan felt only horror.

He naturally knew that cultivators of extremely high realm could have their Dao touched by the chanting of their name, but he never imagined it could be played this way.

The Blood Phoenix volunteered as bait, and that Misty Waves Fishing Elder truly answered.

Because that Blood Phoenix had once been a fish that had swallowed the old angler's bait and then slipped off the hook!

"Too ruthless!"

Li Yuan clicked his tongue.

He had originally thought the Blood Phoenix merely left an obsession out of unwillingness, but never expected it was actually to avenge itself.

"The cultivators outside the mountain are all too ruthless… wait, if that's the case…"

Beyond his shock, Li Yuan stopped the thought of receiving Ying Mo Shen back, flipped himself up onto the Human Tribulation Platform, and without the slightest hesitation seized the Human Tribulation Rod.

At this moment, Li Yuan had extremely strong confidence that this rod would not come up empty!

Because, although Ying Mo Shen was dead, his demonic shadows had not been utterly extinguished. The two demonic shadows he had previously sent to tail Wang Shan Xuan Dao were still hidden within his shadow.

He had dispatched a great many similar demonic shadows, the vast majority reduced to dust, yet a small portion still lived!

And as long as even one of these demonic shadows survived, Ying Mo Shen could directly revive from within it. This had originally been a contingency he left behind, and he hadn't thought it would be of any use.

But now, the Misty Waves Fishing Elder had reminded him.

How could his demonic shadows not count as bait?

Not only bait, but also an anchor!

"Perhaps this is the correct way to use the Human Tribulation Platform…"

Li Yuan fiercely cast down a rod of heavenly tribulation, his intense will thrown along that 'thin line' into the boundless darkness:

"Misty Waves Fishing Elder?"

"You fish him away, but that bait—lend it to me!"

……

"Misty Waves Fishing Elder?!"

Before the Blood Phoenix's cry had finished echoing, it was drowned out by Fan Jing's roar of utmost fury.

"Hum~"

In that instant, the void blazed bright.

Ying Shan Xuan Long, Feng Huang'er, Feng Feng Wu Ding, and even Wang Shan Xuan Dao and his companion in the Blood Phoenix's shadow—all saw the wondrous sight manifested beyond the void.

At the shore of boundless Wang Yang, an old angler held his rod and fished, and the fishing line he had cast appeared at Fan Jing's brow in a manner they could not comprehend!

"How is this possible?!"

Ling Ji the monk, seeing this scene, could hardly believe his own eyes.

What kind of person was Fan Jing?

He was a true disciple of the previous generation of Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan Temple, a world-shaking prodigy who had achieved the Dao over a thousand years ago!

Favored by Bodhisattvas, he had even paid audience to the various 'Buddhas'—a true disciple of Tai Huang Tian!

"This…"

Ling Ji the monk was shocked and horrified.

Ying Shan Xuan Long and the others were even more dumbstruck.

They had seen with their own eyes Fan Jing's heaven-like entrance, his grandeur almost no less than that of the gods of Tian Shi Yuan.

What kind of person would dare to plot against him?

"Heh~"

In the void, the shadow of the Venomous Dragon did not seem surprised. He cast a slightly regretful glance at the Blood Phoenix undergoing its metamorphosis, and pulled Ying Shan Xuan Long and the others gracefully back into the distance.

Signaling that he had no intention of disturbing the old angler's fishing.

Among those present, only He knew what kind of person that old man was.

That was nine ji past, when the Weeping Heaven Dao Sect opened up the Opening Gui Xu — a peerless murderous fiend who had fought his way out of the Mysterious-Yellow Great World. Back then, bolstered by that one Mysterious-Yellow World Tree, he had even slain a Dao Lord!

"Boom!"

Slower in words than in deed.

The Blood Phoenix's cry, Fan Jing's roar, and the Poison Dragon's retreat all happened in less than a single instant.

"Vajra Subdues Demons!"

Behind Fan Jing, Jin Guang surged like a tide, myriad wondrous sights interweaving, transforming into an ancient temple that gathered ten thousand rays of Buddhist light and incense offerings.

Within the temple, the clay statue opened its eyes, the Vajra glared in wrath, and uttered a world-shaking sound.

"Rumble~"

In that instant, throughout the various realms, one Fan Jing Vajra Temple after another trembled violently, the clay statues enshrined within seeming as though they would walk out from the divine altars.

Drawing countless believers to cry out in shock and terror.

Meanwhile, cultivators with broader knowledge one after another opened their Tongshi Spheres, asking where exactly a divine battle had broken out.

Shen Qi Jing, also called Ying Dao Jing.

When a cultivator reaches this realm, their Dao can radiate across the myriad heaven realms; only within the realms their Dao radiates to can temples be erected to receive the incense offerings of those realms.

If their temple trembles, it means the enshrined deity is locked in a life-and-death struggle, to the point of having to mobilize their Dao Accumulation.

"Boom!"

In the void, golden light surged like a waterfall.

Behind Fan Jing's head, eight wheels of Merit Light Rings trembled in unison, and one ancient temple after another manifested in their wake.

The Merit Light Ring, also called the "Dao Ring" — only when one's Dao illuminates an entire realm does one ring appear. Fan Jing had cultivated eight rings, meaning his Dao had already radiated to eight great realms.

Therefore, when he struck with full force, Tian Shi Yuan, Ziwei Yuan, Taiwei Yuan, Bei Dou Fa Jie, Dashan Xuan Fa Jie… within them, the eight great realms and myriad stars all trembled for it.

"Subdue the demon!"

"Subdue the demon!"

Fan Jing seized the fine thread at his brow; behind him, eight great Vajras that had walked out from the ancient temples were like eight great suns, burning themselves away, lending him their power with the most resolute stance, striving to break free from the fishing line.

When Dao Accumulation burns, one's Dao perishes!

When the eight wheels of Merit Light Ring fully disperse, the god falls and the Dao is extinguished!

"The little Monk is quite decisive!"

The Poison Dragon, watching the battle from the void, could not help but send a word of praise through divine sense.

The consequences of burning one's Dao Rings were far too severe; even at the line between life and death, not everyone could be so resolute.

Let alone burning all eight great Dao Rings in one breath.

From this, one could see how utterly decisive Fan Jing was.

"Om~"

One only heard a sound of the void creaking that set one's teeth on edge; the fishing line, visible to the naked eye, suddenly snapped taut, tugged for an instant by the force of the eight great Dao Rings burning.

But only an instant.

The Blood Phoenix spread its wings and cried out at the top of its voice:

"Lii~"

The Blood Phoenix burned out the last sliver of obsession it had left, and with a fierce, desperate charge, sent even those eight great Vajras staggering — while it itself was nearly shattered to pieces.

"Damned beast!!"

The corners of Fan Jing's eyes split open, and golden blood flew out.

The Blood Phoenix, whose Dharma Heaven had already collapsed, could not wound him by even a fraction even with a death-charge — yet under that charge, the eight great Dao Rings behind him had all been extinguished at once.

This was not the Dao Rings burning out, but being forcibly interrupted!

Under normal circumstances, he would need only a single thought for the eight great Dao Rings to burn once more — but at this moment, before his thought could even turn, he felt a tug at his brow.

An invisible yet terrifying great force yanked him up off the ground!

"Don't even think it!"

Tears of blood streamed backward from the corners of Fan Jing's eyes, and upon his brow he sketched out a swastika divine seal, spinning at extreme speed.

As it spun, his magic power, vast as Wang Yang, boiled and burned, and together with his divine sense and will, he let out a great Buddhist sound that shook the void and the heavens and earth:

"Vajra!"

Gu Gu Shentong Vajra!

This was the Natal Gu Gu Shentong formed from the convergence of myriad dharmas when Fan Jing forged his first-grade Longhu Longhu Dadan.

It was also the Gu Gu Shentong by which he upheld himself and guarded his Dao!

"Om~"

The Gu Gu Shentong rose, and Buddhist sounds reverberated.

In the void, golden light interwove like tide and sea, as though myriad warriors, Vajras, and Bodhisattvas chanted Buddhist sounds in unison:

"Vajra without fear, crushing and subduing demonic grievance!"

"Thus-unmoved, all dharmas are empty!"

"Wisdom-fire burns the firewood, illuminating and shattering ignorance!"

"Heart like a boulder, unmoved by the eight winds!"

In less than a thousandth of an instant, Fan Jing had nearly burned up all the magic power in his body, and a tremendous force, profound beyond imagination, descended in its wake.

His body, which had already been lifted off the ground, crashed down heavily once more — but his neck gave out a series of "crack crack" sounds, forcibly stretched by several tens of zhang.

Even with all his strength poured out, he could not shift that fishing line by even a fraction.

"No!"

Seeing this, terror finally surfaced within Master Fanjing's startled and furious eyes:

"I am of the Zhao Xuanyuan Temple…"

"Pfft!"

The void was silent; only the fishing line trembled lightly, and in an instant it had already lifted Master Fanjing, together with that golden-light Buddha-sea that covered who-knew-how-many myriad miles.

"…"

In a corner of You Jing, Feng Feng Wu Ding and Shan Xuan Xuanjing Daozi were terrified to the extreme, not even daring to make the slightest sound.

"Senior Brother!"

Master Lingji the monk's eyes nearly split from their sockets; he turned and vanished into the void.

"Boom!"

The instant Master Fanjing was hooked up, in the ninth layer of Opening Gui Xu, the Zhao Xuanyuan Temple shook violently, causing many Zhao Xuanyuan disciples to look up in horror.

They only saw, high above, a great Vajra Temple shaking violently, as if about to collapse and fall apart.

"This is…"

"It's Senior Brother Master Fanjing's Vajra Temple!"

"Not good, Senior Brother has met with a calamity!"

Seeing this scene, none of the many Zhao Xuanyuan disciples were not horrified.

"Where is the Master?"

A Vajra broke through the void astride a dragon, born with three Dharma Eyes; he lightly pressed his brow, and the Dharma Eyes pierced the void, but in an instant he let out a muffled grunt, all three eyes closing at once, blood flowing unceasingly.

"A Dao Sovereign has made a move!"

……

Whooosh~

Almost at the same moment, deep within Opening Gui Xu, inside the Taihuang Eight-Treasure Carriage, the Zhao Xuanyuan Bodhisattva—who had been pondering to which step Lord Lord Tianyu had cultivated—suddenly sensed something.

"Hum~"

The Zhao Xuanyuan Bodhisattva raised a hand and pressed down; ten thousand layers of void lit up at once, clearly illuminating Master Fanjing Vajra, who had left the ground and was nearly being dragged away:

"Yanbo Diaosou, how dare you bully my disciple?!"

The Bodhisattva's brows rose; in wrathful fury he struck out, ten thousand acres of Buddha-light already piercing through ten thousand layers of void, descending upon You Jing.

……

You Jing quaked, air-blasts rolling like thunder without end.

Watching the blood phoenix and Master Fanjing Great Vajra rising into the sky—slow in appearance yet swift in truth—every one of the You-Tan cultivators within You Jing turned ashen-faced, their legs trembling.

"Feng Feng Wu Ding!"

Yu Yu Mujiao had almost only one breath left; he forced himself to swallow a spiritual pill, and the killing intent in his gaze toward Feng Feng Wu Ding in the distance churned and roiled.

Yet explorers like him were the minority; people like Wang Shan Xuan and Duan Yang Jian Tian Yi only felt that if they could return alive this time, even if starved to death they would never set half a step into You Jing again.

Damn it, too terrifying.

Duan Yang Jian Tian Yi felt he had been scared out of at least half his lifespan; at this moment he was sprawled on the ground unable to move. "Old Wang…"

He looked toward Wang Shan Xuan, and an expression of utter terror suddenly surfaced on his face.

"You?"

Wang Shan Xuan's heart jolted; he whipped his head back, only to see two familiar demonic lights roaring out from his own shadow.

In an instant, within the horrified gazes of the two, the lights blazed as they shot skyward, arriving later yet striking first, slamming viciously into that blood phoenix.

"Huh?"

Seeing this scene, let alone Wang Shan Xuan and the other, even Fenghuang'er and the others who had noticed this place were somewhat dumbfounded, not knowing what had happened.

Instead, the Poison Dragon's divine sense seemed to sense something and raised its head.

But it saw deep within the void, golden light like a bolt of silk, in an instant spanning who-knows-how-many realms; as the invisible qi ripples churned, even You Jing seemed about to collapse and be destroyed.

"The Zhao Xuanyuan Bodhisattva!"

Seeing this scene, the Poison Dragon's divine sense once again retreated violently, watching from afar.

They only saw a crystalline palm, white as jade-stone, come sweeping through the air; its size seemed only that of an ordinary person, yet even separated by ten thousand myriad miles, people like Fenghuang'er could see it with perfect clarity.

They only felt that palm seemed to have stolen away all the light and color between heaven and earth, monopolizing everyone's gaze and perception.

"It's the Zhao Xuanyuan Bodhisattva?"

As the palm-print pierced the void, ancient and decayed laughter rang out from the emptiness:

"Bodhisattva comes in such a hurry—could it be you also want to eat fish?"

Whooosh~

As the laughter echoed through the moment, all things within You Jing froze, as if time itself had ceased to flow; only that jade-white palm was unaffected, pressing down from afar upon Master Fanjing's left shoulder.

"Slap!"

How terrifying was a clash at the Dao Sovereign level?

You Jing instantly split apart; beneath the gloomy darkness lay a deep and vast starry cosmos, and as the qi churned, one could see meteors upon meteors silently collapsing and perishing.

"The great bullying the small—deserves death!"

"Damnable!"

The rebuke descended from afar; the terrifying will cut across the eight directions, and wherever it passed, countless eerie beasts shrieked piteously—some smashing themselves against each other, others crashing headlong into their own eerie lands.

Words become law, following at will!

Fenghuang'er only felt her whole body turn icy; for one instant, she even wanted to raise her hand and strangle herself!

"Boom!"

Apart from the Poison Dragon's divine sense, no one saw the Dao Sovereigns' clash—only saw the aftershocks churning, tearing off great swathes of void and shattering a stretch of meteors.

The aftershock alone was already like this; the one bearing the brunt of it, Fan Jing, didn't even let out a sound before shattering into countless fragments, leaving only a single head dragged by the fishing line into the deep darkness.

Bodhisattva Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan was utterly enraged and gave chase through the air:

"Yanbo Diaosou!"

……

Whooo—

The light and darkness before his eyes alternated.

When his perception returned once more, Fan Jing saw an old face.

It was a face covered in wrinkles, reeking of decay, like a dying cultivator who might pass into oblivion the very next instant.

Even at such close range, he could sense no unusual aura whatsoever.

At first glance, this was simply an old man in a straw raincoat, fishing by the sea—if it weren't for the fact that he himself had been fished here.

"Yanbo Diaosou!"

By this point, Fan Jing had actually calmed down: "Your target isn't me!"

"How is it not?"

Yanbo Diaosou chuckled, like an old farmer at autumn harvest, his smile kindly:

"Don't sell yourself short—you, my friend, are prime bait!"

"You—!"

Fan Jing's bloodstained pupils contracted sharply: "You want to…"

"Snap!"

Yanbo Diaosou lightly tapped his brow, freezing the divine soul that was trying to self-destruct, and plucked him off the fishhook: "Now is not your time to die…"

"You're courting death!"

Golden blood streamed from the corners of Fan Jing's eyes; he tried to activate his natal Gu Gu Shentong, but couldn't break through the old man's seal at all.

"No need to rush to die—you still have a good many years left to live!"

Casually stuffing the head into the fish basket, Yanbo Diaosou was very satisfied with this haul from his rod, but the next moment, the smile on his face froze:

"M-my bait?"

The old man rose in fury, killing intent surging skyward, collapsing half of the Wang Yang dead zone itself:

"Who stole my bait?!"

……

"Boom!"

Following the 'line,' Li Yuan witnessed a spectacle the likes of which he had never seen before!

He saw Fan Jing rise to the Dao, the eight great realms, myriad stars roaring; saw him ignite the eight great Dao rings and activate his natal Gu Gu Shentong 'Vajra.'

He saw the You Jing turned upside down, and Yanbo Diaosou fish away the great Vajra Fan Jing with a single fishing line.

He saw what seemed to be Bodhisattva Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan's palm strike through the air, piercing the You Jing, shattering vast stretches of starfields, and saw Fan Jing—reduced to a single head—still being fished away.

He saw a black-robed figure who hid even deeper than he did and fled faster—suspected to be the 'Master of the Qian Yan Fa.'

He even saw, on that very same battlefield, a 'fishing line' that had come from who knows where!

He wasn't the only angler who had set his sights on this place!

"Hoo!"

On the Ren Fa Jie platform, Li Yuan, who had suddenly come back to himself, felt his heart pound like a war drum, as if he had just endured an extremely brutal life-and-death struggle, leaving him feeling utterly exhausted in both body and mind.

"Too thrilling…"

Threading his way through the aftershocks of two Dao Lord-level clashes, even after coming back to himself, Li Yuan still felt a chill of dread.

"Good thing—I caught something!"

Li Yuan looked at the Ren Fa Jie rod.

He saw that on the fishhook hung unmistakably a phoenix bird, crimson as burning blood-fire; it had no vitality, no obsession, yet still instinctively tried to cry out and struggle.

Thanks to the demon shadow serving as an anchor, with pinpoint precision, at the very instant the two Dao Lord-level experts collided, he had fished over that blood phoenix—which had nearly shattered after striking Fan Jing!

"What a haul!"

After the heart-pounding came the pleasant surprise; Li Yuan nearly laughed out loud, and when he saw the various messages fed back by the Ren Fa Jie platform, he finally couldn't hold back his laughter.

【Tribulation Object: Evil God Blood Phoenix (Fifteenth Tier)】

【…A prodigy cultivator of the Blood Phoenix clan, who perished violently on the eve of his breakthrough; his obsession was obtained by the Zhao Zhao Xuanyuan Temple cultivator 'Fan Jing'…】

【…The Blood Phoenix obsession, drawing upon endless power of life and death, underwent extreme metamorphosis within the Summon-Ghost Array's forbidden ground, condensing a single drop of 'Immortal Divine Phoenix' blood…】

【…It first lost its self and fell from the Dao, then burned away all flesh and Dao essence, no longer possessing even one ten-thousandth of its former self…】

【Immortal Divine Phoenix Blood:???】

"It actually condensed a drop of Immortal Divine Phoenix blood!"

Carefully tossing this blood phoenix onto the Dingxin Dingxin Shitai, the blood phoenix, originally as vast as stars and moons, was now only a few hundred zhang in size—one could see just how great the expenditure had been to condense that Immortal Divine Phoenix blood.

In fact, this blood phoenix's grade reached the peak of the fifteenth tier, corresponding to the Ying Dao Jing peak realm it possessed in life.

But after losing its self and falling from the Dao, it had already dropped to the peak of the Zhi Wu Jing, and because it had condensed the Divine Phoenix blood, its aura was honestly not all that strong at present.

"A pity—I can't wield it."

Li Yuan observed it with the Soldier-Controlling Register; perhaps it was because this blood phoenix simply couldn't be categorized as a 'soldier' no matter what?

"If I could refine it into a divine treasure, then naturally I could wield it; only, once refined into a divine treasure, there'd be no way to imprison it within my body."

Li Yuan naturally could not refine it into a divine treasure.

Because for him, this blood phoenix was the best choice for cultivating the Prison-Suppressing Gu Gu Shentong—none other!

"Peak of the Qi Jing!"

Just thinking about it, Li Yuan's heart surged with excitement.

Indeed, at this moment the Blood Phoenix's rank is far below what it was in life, but once imprisoned within the body, as long as the nourishment keeps up, theoretically, it can grow at an astonishing speed!

Even without its former Dao and methods, it is enough to allow him to cultivate a body rivaling the peak of the Seventh Realm!

"And that Blood of the Divine Phoenix!"

Li Yuan circled the Blood Phoenix, examining it closely.

He could clearly see within the Blood Phoenix's body a single blood pattern, pure to the extreme, radiating an ancient, desolate aura.

The Ten Ancient Fiends were not ten ferocious beasts from the Ancient Era, but the ten greatest demonic beasts that had reigned supreme across a hundred epochs, from the Ancient Age until now.

And the Undying Divine Phoenix was not only one of the Ten Ancient Fiends, but even bore the title of the Number One Fiend of the Ancient Age.

This was a colossal demonic beast that dared to challenge the Origin Divine Dynasty during its zenith, when even the Celestial Dao Sect had to avoid its sharp edge!

"With one drop of blood, there can be a second drop… and so on—effectively, I have imprisoned an entire Undying Divine Phoenix within my body!"

Li Yuan could not suppress his joy, already pondering how to nourish this Blood Phoenix.

"The Number One Fiend of the Ancient Age—this must have been an utterly ferocious being. Legends say it could devour heaven and earth, so…"

"Would the demons of the Tian Mo Fa Jie be just the right match?"

"If it's possible…"

Lost in his swirling thoughts, Li Yuan had no intention of performing Xing Gong or refining methods.

Only half a day later did he finally calm his agitated mind and restore his weary spirit.

Li Yuan did not immediately cultivate the Zhen Yu Shen Tong; instead, he entered Shen Jing:

"I must reforge the Ying Mo Shen!"

The Ying Mo Shen was unquestionably the greatest contributor of this journey!

Even after being crushed by Fan Jing, it left behind an unextinguished demonic shadow, ultimately becoming the anchor that allowed him to lure the Blood Phoenix.

"The Ying Mo Shen Gong has tremendous potential, but there is no cultivation path above the Sixth Realm…"

Beneath the Shan Xuan Teng Tree, Li Yuan re-cultivated the Ying Mo Shen.

Watching the Ming-Mie Yuan Ying Yang Tree within the tree's shadow, he was already planning to send the Ying Mo Shen to the Yuan Ying Fa Jie next.

"Hum~"

Not long after, the Ying Mo Shen stepped out from the shadows—still clad in black Dao robes and a bronze ghost mask, just as it was when first forged.

"A First Realm body—its pre-death spells and magic power are gone…"

Li Yuan sensed the newly forged Ying Mo Shen.

The Ying Mo Shen was unique: its death would not affect the main body, and it could be re-forged with almost no loss—this was an advantage over other Er Yuan Shen Fa.

Likewise, because its connection to the main body was weak and it possessed no spiritual awareness, once destroyed, it had to be re-consecrated from scratch.

"Hum~"

Li Yuan focused his mind, and one by one, demonic shadows emerged from the shadows, merging into the Ying Mo Shen's body.

In the blink of an eye, the Ying Mo Shen had regained its eight hundred and eighty-one Ying Mo Fa magic power, and assembled a decent set of spells.

"Too bad about the Shan Xuan Yin Lei Chi and the Da Ri Shen Yuan Bian…"

Even though he had anticipated it, Li Yuan still felt a pang of pain.

Other spells and magic power meant little to him, but losing the Da Ri Shen Yuan Bian and the Shan Xuan Yin Lei Chi caused him real anguish.

"Fortunately, I've already prepared the corresponding divine patterns—re-cultivating them will only take time."

Li Yuan steadied himself; after all, the gains far outweighed the losses.

……

The next morning.

In the bamboo pavilion, Li Yuan sat cross-legged, reviewing the Zhen Yu Shen Tong's content regarding the imprisonment of ferocious beasts.

"Use the body as a prison, subdue all fiends!"

"This Shen Tong fits perfectly with the Huang Di Hou Tu Jing—once a ferocious beast is imprisoned within, it greatly aids cultivation of this great scripture."

"This body-refining Shen Tong is infinitely more perilous than incense-refined Golden Body…"

……

Li Yuan approached the cultivation of this Shen Tong with great caution.

Cultivators emphasize the unity of the Three Primordials—this is the foundation for carrying Dao and Law; if any of the Three Primordials is missing, one must inevitably Die Luo Jing Fa Jie, and death may even be unavoidable.

"Fortunately, the Blood Phoenix forged from the Undying Divine Phoenix's blood is far weaker than expected—my current physique can fully bear it!"

Li Yuan had a clear understanding of his own state.

Wan Xing Ru Xue, even before he entered the Dao, his physique had already rivaled that of a Second Realm cultivator; after being tempered by the Fa Jie Yin Divine Fire, it surpassed even Third Realm body cultivators.

And after five years of incense tempering, he was confident his physique was no more than slightly inferior to that of a Fourth Realm body cultivator.

"Hu~"

Exhaling a slow breath, Li Yuan summoned his Dao Soldiers as guardians, lit spiritual incense, swallowed a spiritual pill, then closed his eyes and entered meditation.

"Hum~"

On the gray stone platform, the Blood Phoenix trembled slightly—it was neither alive nor dead, neither a living being nor a strange beast, bearing distinct traits of a demonic entity.

"Ferocious enough."

Li Yuan was satisfied, moving it into Shen Jing—suddenly, a "Boom—" echoed as his Dantian shook violently, as if unable to bear the weight.

His magic power drained rapidly, like a dam breaking.

"Imprisoning a fiend within the body…"

As Li Yuan willed it, Wang Yang churned, and chains of Shen Tong shot through the air, dragging the bloodied, instinct-driven Phoenix toward the depths of Wang Yang.

(End of Chapter)