The spiritual energy and demonic qi in the Eastern Ruins of the Secret Realm on the eastern side of Purple Radiance Mountain were extremely viscous. At first, Xie Linlang felt nothing unusual, but as he delved deeper, he suddenly noticed strands of black-and-white mingled liquid occasionally flowing through the air.
The liquid treated the air as if it were an ocean, wandering and flowing freely like fish swimming or intertwining together.
It appeared harmless, but upon contact with anything carrying spiritual energy or demonic qi, it would swiftly integrate and completely devour the object, converting it into pure demonic qi or spiritual energy.
Xie Linlang did his best to control the Hollow Sword, relying on the Mysterious Black Lotus’s sensitivity to demonic qi and the embroidered ball made from Bamboo Heart Jade Soul to purify the increasingly eerie black-and-white liquid fish around them, barely managing to press forward.
The surrounding ruins of buildings showed large-scale fractures, as if slapped by a giant hand. Beneath the collapsed structures, amid the rubble, stood numerous stumps about thirty centimeters tall.
Moreover, the light sources around them flickered and dimmed more and more, as if some invisible presence was absorbing the light, making visibility poorer.
If not for Xie Linlang observing his surroundings with his divine soul, he would have long since crashed headfirst into the black-and-white liquid fish and been devoured by them.
At the same time, sounds like mournful winds or the dying struggles of some creature echoed intermittently, growing louder.
Xie Linlang hesitated, preparing to stop nearby and find a place rich in demonic qi to cultivate in seclusion.
However, it was only at this moment that Xie Linlang realized something shocking.
At some point, the Yellow Jade Gourd housing him—no, the Nine Revolutions Return to Truth Pill he had refined from the Black-Red Jade Pendant—had lost control!
The pill seemed attracted by something, dragging his divine soul along as it continued trying to plunge deeper into the ruins.
Xie Linlang was horrified. He continuously released his divine soul power, attempting to halt the Hollow Sword’s advance.
But it was too late. Now, it was no longer the Hollow Sword carrying the Yellow Jade Gourd forward; the Yellow Jade Gourd was dragging the Hollow Sword and the Storage Bag ahead.
Xie Linlang smiled bitterly. He knew things wouldn’t go so smoothly.
Heaven had made him Shen He’s Portable Grandpa for three months, and he had planned to ditch him right away—probably karma was catching up.
In the past, Xie Linlang might have just given up.
After all, ever since Pei Ji’s fall, Xie Linlang had adopted a live-and-let-live attitude, inadvertently aligning with the natural way of Dao, his cultivation advancing steadily. Even falling to heavenly tribulation hadn’t bothered him much.
But now, Xie Linlang hadn’t yet figured out Shen He’s situation, owed him an immense debt of gratitude, and had uncovered a suspicious clue about Pei Ji’s death from years ago. How could he accept dying here?
“Was this heaven’s will as sharp as a blade?”
It had given him a lifeline when he was ready to give up, only to coldly thrust him toward death when he regained his drive.
Xie Linlang took a deep breath and decided to simply begin his resurrection right there!
“When heaven and earth first opened, all things were in chaos. Spirits were born, and demons followed.”
Legends told that in ancient times when heaven and earth first formed, the pure and turbid qi had not yet separated, leaving everything in primal chaos. Living beings emerged from this chaos.
Due to differing stances, for survival, preference, continuation, and other reasons, wars and killings arose, birthing the seven emotions and six desires, love and hatred, unattainable longings, and other dark, profound thoughts.
The ancient demon gods thus merged with heaven and earth, becoming the essence of heavenly demonic qi, their minds ever-changing and unfathomable.
“You are favored by tribulation’s fortune, a spirit of unpredictable creation.”
Any cultivator—be they orthodox cultivator, demonic cultivator, or even demon cultivator—had to overcome countless obstacles to achieve the Great Dao. Tribulations and fortune were challenges every cultivator faced.
Fortune aside, heavenly tribulations birthed a special class of beings: heavenly demons.
Heavenly demons forced cultivators to confront the limits of their inner and outer selves, maintaining heaven and earth’s balance through their existence, purging redundancies—beings that were both righteous and evil.
“Thus achieving clarity within and without, harmony of yin and yang, fusion of immortal and demon, return of all things to one.”
When a cultivator passed the trials of heavenly tribulation and heavenly demons, they achieved inner and outer clarity, harmonized yin and yang, pure and turbid, fused spiritual power and demonic qi, returning to primal chaotic power, attaining the immortal path.
This was the opening of the Treasure Tree Scripture Xie Linlang had inherited from his bloodline.
In essence, it was the ancestors warning their descendants: Our technique may seem strange, but it is absolutely orthodox to heaven and earth. By summoning heavenly demons, one proactively faces cultivator tribulations, testing body, mind, and strength to break through barriers and walk the broad path to immortality.
As for what descendants did after gaining heavenly demon power—any wicked or regrettable deeds—that was their personal choice. Heaven’s tribulation would settle accounts in the end.
