Chapter 86 Part 2

But this Chengzhou Remnant had suffered extermination by the demon race and, amid endless ages of torment, had sworn an oath: if he ever escaped to see the light of day, he would restore Chengzhou’s glory and once more annihilate all demon race.

To that end, he planned to recreate the process by which Chengzhou had been founded, using a similar ritual to resonate with heaven-and-earth spiritual power, thereby claiming Chengzhou’s merits and reconstructing his merit golden body.

“He agreed to come to Jiuxia Mountain with Xiao Hong to help kill Shen Wei Zhenren precisely because Jiuxia Mountain was the Dao lineage founded by the ancient Great Xia Remnants.”

The Kunwu Spirit explained in detail. “As long as he destroyed Jiuxia Mountain’s Dao lineage, he would, in practical terms, recreate what his ancestors had done once more, and thus…”

Pei Jiye suddenly understood everything.

As a Boxia Cultivator, Pei Jiye knew full well that the Great Xia Cauldron—a sacrificial ritual vessel of Great Xia—lay within the mountain’s belly. Both he and Shen Wei Zhenren had the qualification to manipulate it.

That Chengzhou Remnant had possessed Shen Wei Zhenren’s body and taken the Great Xia Remnants’ blood used for sacrifices within the Great Xia Cauldron.

Without the sacrificial object, the Great Xia Cauldron could no longer suppress the surging Earth Core Fire beneath the mountain. Moreover, with the Kunwu Spirit—who could manipulate the Mountain-Protecting Grand Formation—sabotaging the Protective Formation from within, the entirety of Jiuxia Mountain was instantly engulfed by volcanic waters. Lava flowed endlessly, thick black smoke billowed into the sky, as if the end of the world had come.

“I know you want to find Linlang Dao Lord. Do you know where I sent him?”

The Kunwu Spirit grinned at the ashen-faced Pei Jiye. “I sent him near the Great Xia Cauldron. I want to see if he’ll offer himself as a sacrifice for all of Jiuxia Mountain.”

“After all, after reincarnating and recultivating, he seems to have become part of the demon race.”

Bang—

The Dark Green Long Sword pierced straight through the Black Myna. It was Pei Jiye striking in fury.

He could disregard the Kunwu Spirit’s schemes against him, but he could not tolerate words suggesting Xie Linlang might die.

The myna, crushed once more into minced meat, clacked its beak: “Pei Ji, if I’m not mistaken, you’re part of the demon race now too, aren’t you? Then go—go replace him.”

The myna’s hard beak uttered the most vicious words.

“If you love him, die in his place! Once you’re dead, I’ll be Pei Ji!”

With those words, the illusory fog before them vanished with a boom.

At that very moment, Pei Jiye also located the Kunwu Spirit’s core—not that ridiculous string of Pei Face Skins, but a porcelain-white Pill Bottle.

The bottle had a long neck, narrow mouth, and plump belly. Though an utterly ordinary white porcelain vessel, it flowed with a dreamy, moist luster that left all who beheld it entranced.

…It was the bottle Xie Linlang had once used to store heavenly demon residues.

Pei Jiye let out a shrill cry. Black-purple demonic qi erupted from his entire body like thunder, tearing through space and fog. In the instant he was flung away, he fiercely pierced the White Long-Necked Bottle.

Crack.

Blood trickled from the shattered neck of the bottle, and the Kunwu Spirit wailed in agony.

It spat resentfully: “You actually found it, but it doesn’t matter. Go face the tribulation of your destined fate!”

The next second, all the mist vanished instantly. The Mustard Seed Realm contracted and disappeared within Jiuxia Mountain.

As Pei Jiye steadied himself, he instinctively dodged to the side.

A massive leg like a pillar flashed past him.

Pei Jiye’s heart jolted. He quickly pulled back his view and discovered a towering giant had appeared atop Jiuxia Mountain.

The giant’s foot was viciously stomping down, with Wei Jingying coughing up blood in a sorry plight beneath it. The Five-Colored Altar shattered into fragments, and Wei Jingying was about to be flattened into a pancake.

Pei Jiye shot forth like a sharp arrow, snatching Wei Jingying out in a whoosh.

Hearing Wei Jingying’s accusations at that moment, Pei Jiye irritably said: “Fine, since you think everything is my scheme, handle it yourself.”

Pei Jiye ignored the heavenly tribulations continually crashing down from above and had no patience for Wei Jingying’s prattling.

He had saved Wei Jingying partly to do it casually and disgust him, and partly because…

“Wei-lang.”

A somewhat cloyingly sweet voice appeared abruptly, followed by a robust yet beautiful Yao Huang Peony manifesting in midair.

As it spun continuously, the Yao Huang flower bloomed, and a woman in a yellow skirt appeared with a smiling gaze between Pei Jiye and Wei Jingying.

Wei Jingying’s expression changed drastically. He immediately propped himself up and tried to flee.

The woman in the yellow skirt watched with a smile as Wei Jingying fled in a sorry plight, tumbling with every step. She turned to Pei Jiye and said: “Thank you, Palace Lord. If he had died just like that, I’d never get past this heart demon hurdle in my lifetime.”

Pei Jiye said coldly: “I have other matters. This is yours to handle.”

The woman in the yellow skirt said softly: “Rest assured, I’ve done my best to save the disciples. I even ran into Wei Shimei and got a rough idea of the situation here. After catching up with Wei-lang, I’ll go find Jin Ling.”

Pei Jiye left immediately upon hearing this.

Thick dark clouds still thundered heavenly tribulations downward. The giant cultivator of the Chengzhou Remnant Bloodline flew into a rage. He grabbed a mountaintop with a backhand and hurled it skyward like venting fury.

“Damned heavens! What right do you have to strike me?!”

Pei Jiye hunched low, hiding beneath the giant cultivator. Amid the ruins filled with shattered stones and debris, he darted back and forth until he finally found the entrance to Jiuxia Mountain’s belly.

Though lava still surged endlessly, the area around the giant cultivator was suppressed by Chengzhou merits, so the lava erupted from cracks at the mountain’s base. The mountaintop’s lava had even cooled into stone.

Pei Jiye hurriedly slipped into the mountain’s belly while the Chengzhou Remnant cultivator hadn’t noticed the trickery.