The Red Spirit Worm drove the Spirit Devouring Jar after the Golden Light Divine Lord. Quite some time had passed since it left.
The Red Spirit Worm had been created through a Secret Method Chen Ming refined, and their minds were connected. If anything happened, Chen Ming would sense it.
"The Golden Light Divine Lord is a Divine Path cultivator. His very foundation lies in his Divine Soul, and the Red Spirit Worm specializes in attacking Divine Souls. The Golden Light Divine Lord shouldn't be able to resist!"
"But it's been so long, and it still hasn't returned. Could it be trapped in the Golden Light Divine Lord's Divine Domain Dojo?"
At that thought, Chen Ming summoned a wisp of Azure Wood Life and Death Gas and split it in two, turning it into a pair of green talismans. He placed one in Song Yu's hand and the other in Wang Xiu's, then instructed them, "Take these talismans and keep watch over the head. If she wakes and the yin energy starts surging again, stick a talisman on it!"
"Yes, Temple Master!"
Song Yu and Wang Xiu accepted their orders, took the talismans, and carried the head away to keep watch over it.
Then Chen Ming turned his Magic Art, and the Poisonous Smoke became a faint mist once more, concealing the temple.
After a moment's thought, Chen Ming changed his Magic Art again. Mist spread out, hiding the Mountain Climbing Stone Steps that led to the mountaintop.
Once he had done all this, Chen Ming paused and sat cross-legged atop the Spirit Tree.
"Guard me while I cultivate," Chen Ming said calmly.
At his words, the Spirit Tree swayed without a breeze, its branches stretching and stirring. Chen Ming's figure vanished from atop it.
This was the Spirit Tree's illusion. Chen Ming remained seated atop it, but his figure and aura were concealed.
Chen Ming's Divine Soul sat upon the Lotus Platform in his Sea of Consciousness. He silently chanted an incantation, reaching through the vast void to connect with the Red Spirit Worm.
Under the incantation's influence, the Creation Lotus Platform shone brightly, protecting Chen Ming's Spiritual Sense as it traveled through the void.
The Golden Light Divine Lord's Divine Domain Dojo was not far from Cuiping Mountain. Following his connection with the Red Spirit Worm, Chen Ming's Spiritual Sense soon found it.
In an ordinary temple, a pinpoint of golden light was hidden in the left eye of a statue.
That pinpoint of golden light was the location of the Golden Light Divine Lord's Divine Domain Dojo.
It looked like no more than a pinpoint of light, but within it, nothing was too large or too small. Everything took shape according to the Golden Light Divine Lord's thoughts. As long as the incense offerings were sufficient, even his thoughts could become reality.
Legend had it that a Great Cultivator of the Divine Path could even transform his Divine Domain Dojo into a real territory.
But the Golden Light Divine Lord was nowhere near capable of such power.
Trapping Chen Ming's Spirit Devouring Jar and Red Spirit Worm in his Divine Domain Dojo had already taken considerable effort and cost him a great deal of incense offerings.
"Who knows what demonic methods Xuan Mingzi used to refine this Magic Tool? It's unbelievably hard to destroy!"
The Golden Light Divine Lord dared not slacken. He urged the Incense and Fire Qi to form various Supernatural Abilities and struck the Spirit Devouring Jar with them.
But his Supernatural Abilities were all formed from Incense and Fire Qi. Any other Magic Tool would have been destroyed long ago.
The Red Spirit Worm inside the Spirit Devouring Jar, however, could return things to their origin. And Incense and Fire Qi were born from thoughts in human souls; they were only different in how pure they were.
If the Red Spirit Worm could devour Divine Souls, then devouring Incense and Fire Thoughts was even easier.
The Supernatural Abilities formed from the Golden Light Divine Lord's Incense and Fire Qi fell into the jar and were immediately turned back into Incense and Fire Qi by the Red Spirit Worm, which devoured them.
The Golden Light Divine Lord wasn't a fool. Seeing that his incense-born Supernatural Abilities were useless, he used his magical power to pin the Spirit Devouring Jar in his Divine Domain Dojo, preventing it from escaping.
"This Magic Tool fears neither incense nor Supernatural Abilities. It's a rare treasure. Once the female cultivator of the Chayi Sect kills Xuan Mingzi, I'll find a way to refine this Magic Tool. That would be a fine prize!"
"Then the incense offerings beneath Cuiping Mountain will be mine, too. Whether you're Xuan Mingzi or Ling Yangzi, if you block my path, you deserve to die!"
The Golden Light Divine Lord manifested his Dharma Body, his face shifting endlessly between joy, anger, sorrow, and delight.
But the Golden Light Divine Lord didn't notice a thing.
"His Divine Soul is being corrupted by Incense and Fire Thoughts. Once it sinks into oblivion, the incense of all living beings will burn him to death, leaving behind an empty shell!"
Chen Ming's Spiritual Sense had quietly entered the Spirit Devouring Jar. Using the Red Spirit Worm as a vessel, he watched the Golden Light Divine Lord inside his Divine Domain Dojo.
"The Golden Light Divine Lord has probably fallen victim to someone's scheme, too. Once he becomes an empty shell, won't he be just like the Spirit God the Spirit Tree in the temple will eventually form after absorbing incense offerings?"
"Someone is plotting to devour both the Golden Light Divine Lord and the Spirit Tree in the temple. Isn't this the very method Ling Yangzi tried to use to reach the Spirit Condensation Realm?"
Seeing the Golden Light Divine Lord's condition, Chen Ming began to understand what the Mastermind was after.
"This method looks simple, like a shortcut, but it can't possibly be so easy!"
"I may not follow this path, but now that I've entered the Divine Domain Dojo, how can I leave empty-handed and let the one plotting behind the scenes get their way?"
At that moment, the Golden Light Divine Lord was in a very bad state. His Divine Soul was gradually slipping into confusion, losing its clarity.
Those Incense and Fire Thoughts were chaotic and jumbled, never refined into purity. The Golden Light Divine Lord had simply refined them directly into his Dharma Body.
His expression shifted from ferocious to serene, entirely beyond his control. He had clearly been tainted by the desires within the Incense and Fire Thoughts.
Seizing his chance, Chen Ming silently chanted an incantation. The petal-shaped mark on the Red Spirit Worm's forehead began to glow faintly.
Waves of invisible force radiated from the Spirit Devouring Jar. The Golden Light Divine Lord was being battered by the desires within the Incense and Fire Thoughts and didn't notice at all.
In an instant, the Golden Light Divine Lord fell into the illusion Chen Ming and the Red Spirit Worm had constructed.
In the Golden Light Divine Lord's eyes, the Spirit Devouring Jar before him gave a sharp crack and developed a web of fractures. It also slowed its absorption of the incense.
The Golden Light Divine Lord's eyes lit up, and he laughed. "This Magic Tool has finally reached its limit!"
"I'll give it one more push and shatter it completely. Then I'll take its core and refine it anew with incense. Even if Xuan Mingzi survives, he'll never get this Magic Tool back!"
The Golden Light Divine Lord's Dharma Body suddenly swelled, and his Divine Domain Dojo expanded with it.
In the mortal world, every statue of the Golden Light Divine Lord—whether a gilded statue, a clay figure, or merely a wooden plaque bearing his divine title—began to glow with faint golden light.
In an instant, the Incense and Fire Qi they had accumulated was drawn out and carried through the vast void into the Golden Light Divine Lord's Divine Domain Dojo!
Countless wisps of Incense and Fire Qi swirled around the Golden Light Divine Lord's swelling Dharma Body, making him seem like a celestial god, his fearsome majesty unfathomable.
"Gather!"
The Golden Light Divine Lord shouted through his Dharma Body, and his entire Divine Domain Dojo trembled.
Countless wisps of incense poured into his Dharma Body and were refined in an instant.
"Not enough!"
"I never imagined I'd enter such a wondrous state today. This is the perfect moment for a breakthrough. I can't keep waiting until I've accumulated enough incense to break through!"
"The only way is to burn my boats!"
With his Divine Soul obscured by the desires in the Incense and Fire Thoughts, the Golden Light Divine Lord was unaware he stood within an illusion. He thought he had entered a wondrous state of sudden enlightenment and was on the verge of a breakthrough.
"Once I break through, my Dharma Body will become pure and unite completely with my Divine Soul, and I'll bring the Divine Domain Dojo under my control. Even if I face the Chayi Sect's leader, Fairy Caiyi of the Spirit Condensation Realm, she'll have to call me a revered god!"
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