Chapter 78: The Po Yi

Xu Zhong was dizzy and lightheaded.

Three succubi perched on his shoulders, intent on extinguishing his Samadhi Fire. Their long tails passed through his seven orifices into his niwan, like a host of tendrils probing toward the three souls and seven spirits hidden within.

Xu Zhong sensed the intrusion, but felt no fear.

The moment the succubi entered his niwan, they realized something was amiss. Here, a dense and overwhelming demonic intent lay in absolute seal—a seal indescribable, exuding a mysterious, intangible, and ever-shifting power. Even the slightest leak of its strength would suppress them utterly.

A look of panic crossed the succubi’s faces; eyes sprouted along their tendrils, finally revealing the true nature of Xu Zhong’s niwan.

Pillars of divinity stood tall within, entwined by countless innate divine beasts—true dragons, true phoenixes, vermilion birds, and more—radiating supreme majesty as if capable of subduing all beneath heaven.

The instant the succubi entered Xu Zhong’s niwan, these beasts awoke, transforming into silvery chains. Like the tendrils of the succubi, the chains surged outward, each seizing a demon. Throughout the dense forest, these chains flashed everywhere.

Beneath the moonlight, the chains gathered, weaving a shadowy cloud of succubi.

Drawn by the chains, the cloud surged into Xu Zhong’s brow and was ultimately subdued beneath the pillars of divinity.

Countless succubi trembled in terror, clinging to the very edge of the seal—close enough to glimpse the source of that boundless demonic intent.

The Heavenly Dao Demon Aspect radiated overwhelming majesty and dominance, its presence suffused with world-shaking demonic will. To sense it was to be filled with the most extreme terror; in an instant, one’s very Dao heart would shatter. Then, the Demon Aspect would open its maw and swallow the succubi whole.

Were it not for the seal, it would devour the entire secret realm in a single bite.

Xu Zhong opened his eyes just in time to see a flock of Gu Eagles gathering toward them.

The Amethyst Gourd soared up, spitting forth the Swallowing Cloud Sword.

Trailing a long river of sword energy, the blade swept toward the oncoming Gu Eagles.

With a muffled crack, the sword energy was snapped in two by a Gu Eagle at the Master of Objects realm, scattering countless sword beams in every direction.

Xu Zhong forced himself to remain calm. Though these Gu Eagles were at the Master of Objects realm, cowardice was in their nature.

He pushed the Swallowing Cloud Sword to its utmost.

Under the moonlit night, boundless starlight cascaded down from the heavens like a torrent—a sword-energy waterfall stretching three hundred sixty li.

That waterfall surged with the inexhaustible force of Geng Metal and Xin Metal.

Li Feiyu and Yun Yong, newly awakened, were shaken to their cores at the sight.

Xu Zhong’s swordsmanship had already reached the pinnacle of his cultivation realm.

But there was no time to dwell on this. The instant they saw the Gu Eagles, they understood the danger. Without hesitation, they summoned their own treasures and unleashed their arts behind Xu Zhong.

Xu Zhong sensed a flash of spear-light and a surge of sword-intent behind him, delighting his heart. He immediately guided the sword-energy waterfall to slash straight at the Gu Eagles' heads.

The Master of Objects Gu Eagle glanced at the three, then looked around: behind it, nothing but empty space—no companions. With a mournful cry, outnumbered and outmatched, it decided to retreat.

It braced itself and endured the three sorceries, its body splitting open with three finger-long wounds that oozed blood, before it dove into the swamp and vanished.

The waning moon hung like a hook in the sky, casting its cold light over the land.

Yun Yong and Li Feiyu, having come to, roused the two still sleeping. The pair were filled with lingering dread; had it not been for Xu Zhong, they would surely have perished here.

They did not linger, choosing instead to press onward.

Suddenly, beneath the moon’s shadow, a gigantic figure descended.

Beneath it floated two masses of dark cloud, from which two heads protruded.

It was a Shangfu—three-headed, three-winged, six-legged—perhaps drawn here by Xu Zhong’s sword light.

The Shangfu let out a roar, its voice both as lofty as a crane’s and as sonorous as a bell.

It hovered high in the night sky, its flame-touched wings glowing with a searing brilliance, rippling like waves of fire. With a single flap, a fire of the stars burst forth, sweeping toward Xu Zhong and his companions.

The stellar flame whipped up layers of scorching wind, igniting the entire forest—scores of acres ablaze, a sea of crimson fire.

The Shangfu opened its maw and inhaled, drawing the stellar flame inward, encasing Xu Zhong and the others in an egg-shaped barrier, which floated toward its mouth, intent on swallowing them whole.

This beast was ferocious beyond compare—unlike the cowardly Gu Eagles, it was fully aware of both its own power and that of its foes. Cautious and ruthless, it attacked with a killing move, using the stellar flame to steal the lives of Xu Zhong’s group, intending to refine them into a medicinal elixir before consuming them.

The Shangfu’s cultivation surpassed theirs by an entire major realm, fluctuating at the Profound Reality level.

Exerting its full strength, the stellar flame blazed with overwhelming heat.

This flame, extracted from the planet’s core, was of a higher grade even than Samadhi True Fire, though less versatile.

“How dare you!” Li Feiyu shouted, sword light unbroken, true dragon’s breath condensing in wave after wave. Wyrms appeared amid the endless sword light, like a rolling sea of clouds filled with dragons.

He spun his sword, and one dragon after another emerged, twisting and writhing. The five elements turned, with wood as the origin.

Wood feeding fire, earth qi of the fifth element arose—rumbling like thunder, it sought to bury the fire.

Yet Li Feiyu’s earth qi lacked purity; instead, the stellar flame refined it into crystalline prisms, trapping them within.

Through these prisms, the stellar flame’s might grew all the more terrifying.

Tang Yuan’s body roared, the stellar flames around him drawn in through his pores like delicate incense.

He used the stellar flame to temper his life force, strengthening his cultivation. His inner cauldron grew larger.

But the limits of his cauldron and body were tied to his own cultivation; soon, he reached his threshold, his flesh flushed red, and cracks began to appear inside his organs.

Not everyone could withstand the burning of the stellar flame—Xu Zhong was no exception.

In that moment, they were like rare medicines within a great alchemical furnace, their essence slowly refined by flame.

To survive, they had to break free from the encircling stellar fire.

Xu Zhong withdrew a round cauldron from his storage pouch, gripping its ear with one hand and the Swallowing Cloud Sword in the other.

He brandished the cauldron, pouring his magical power within.

In an instant, two rainbows—one azure, one violet—spiraled within, streaming out like silken ribbons to sweep up the stellar flame.

Inside, the liquid boiled furiously, steam rising as the stellar fire was compressed and hammered, ultimately condensing into a miniature star at the cauldron’s base.

Xu Zhong then hurled the Swallowing Cloud Sword forward.

From the Amethyst Gourd, an endless river of sword energy erupted, compressed into a single line, surging forth after the Swallowing Cloud, bearing immense pressure toward Shangfu.

“Six Harmonies Demon Eyes!” Shangfu’s eyes filled with black radiance, shooting out for tens of zhang, instantly crossing several li to strike at Xu Zhong.

The Six Harmonies Demon Eyes were unfathomable, creating shifting illusions that battered down like rain on banana leaves, transforming the six harmonies into a demonic domain.

In moments, the domain surged and writhed, spawning countless demon spirits who stirred up chaos, whispering to draw forth the hidden darkness in Xu Zhong and his companions’ hearts—luring them into madness, to become its demon servants and food.

Xu Zhong visualized his niwan. In a blink, countless chains dragged the demonic domain into his niwan. The Heavenly Dao Demon Aspect opened its vast maw, swallowing the domain and its demons in one gulp, then let out a satisfied burp before settling into slumber.

Shangfu, having just knocked away Xu Zhong’s Swallowing Cloud Sword and Amethyst Gourd, turned to see if they had succumbed to madness—only to be shocked at what it found.

Witnessing its demonic domain devoured, it was panic-stricken, all three mouths letting out bizarre howls as will-o’-the-wisps gathered about it, transforming into a cloud of fire shaped like a crescent blade. Lifting this blade, it slashed toward Xu Zhong.

Xu Zhong raised the cauldron in defense and once more summoned the Swallowing Cloud Sword.

This was an old tactic, and Shangfu dealt with it skillfully.

But in the next instant, a jade ruyi descended from the heavens, striking the beast atop the head.

In that moment, its soul shuddered, on the verge of collapse.

Unlike humans, beast souls were not so easily condensed, and so they lacked human cunning.

Dazed for an instant, Shangfu was promptly seized upon by Yun Yong and Li Feiyu.

The two attacked from left and right, severing two of Shangfu’s three heads.

Blood soaked the withered earth, from which fresh grass sprang anew, transforming the wasteland into a meadow.

Seizing the moment, Xu Zhong leapt up, swung the cauldron by its ear, and smashed Shangfu, sending it flying through the forest, snapping countless trees.

They pressed their advantage, ready to finish the beast.

Just then, a strange creature appeared in their line of sight—a beast shaped like a sheep, with nine tails, four ears, and eyes set on either side of its back, standing more than a hundred zhang away.

This was the legendary Boyi.

Its cultivation surpassed even the Shangfu’s, at the Master of Objects realm.

Xu Zhong and his companions were aghast.

They might have barely withstood the Profound Reality Shangfu with combined strength, but this Boyi of the Master of Objects realm was beyond their power.

In an instant, Li Feiyu and the others scattered, each fleeing with their own techniques.

Boyi approached, devouring the fallen Shangfu’s head, and then glanced at the beast, saying, “Useless.”

With that, it opened its jaws and swallowed Shangfu whole, not even giving it time to struggle before refining it entirely.

The Boyi gazed in the direction Xu Zhong and his companions had fled, sniffing the air. “The scent of a ritual vessel.”

It sensed the aura of Xu Zhong’s round cauldron, then looked into the distance. “They seem to be heading toward the palace.”

With a leap, it traversed the land in a single stride, soon arriving before a palace, where it transformed into a stone ram statue.