But after a second thought, Chen Ming quickly let it go.
All he sought through cultivation was freedom and ease, with his thoughts clear and unimpeded.
He had taken an interest in Qin Yuyan because of the steadfastness in his heart and the affection he felt for those around him.
Since he began cultivating through refining demons, Chen Ming had never trusted anyone the way Qin Yuyan did.
Nor had anyone ever trusted him completely. It was truly a rare experience.
As for the future, Chen Ming no longer considered whether Qin Yuyan could hold on to this nature of his.
So what if he couldn't?
People, cultivators, demons, ghosts, and monsters—all were bound to change.
As long as he himself was strong enough, any injustice in the world would be set right once it came before him!
Chen Ming came back to himself and said, "Very well. I'll pass on a cultivation method to you!"
Qin Yuyan was overjoyed. He bowed again and said, "Greetings, Master!"
"I'm only passing on a cultivation method, not taking you as my disciple. Whatever you achieve in the future, or whatever towering calamity you bring down upon yourself, will be up to your own fate!"
Chen Ming accepted his bow. A point of red light flew from his hand and landed between Qin Yuyan's brows.
Within that red light was a Magic Art called the Blazing Fire Scripture.
The scripture was an experiment Chen Ming had devised based on his own memories and the fire path he had cultivated.
According to the Blazing Fire Scripture, one could cultivate nine kinds of strange flame. If the nine flames were united into a single World Purifying Glazed Sky Burning Fire, one could reach the Spirit Condensation Realm.
Whether Qin Yuyan could cultivate it, however, was up to him.
Qin Yuyan had received a cultivation method from Chen Ming, but had not been accepted as his disciple. He felt a little disappointed, but was even more grateful.
"Thank you, True Person, for imparting this method. I, Qin Yuyan, will remember your great kindness forever. If you ever have need of me, I'll gladly give my life in your service!" Qin Yuyan said resolutely.
"Go on, then!"
Chen Ming gave him a long look. If this young man survived, he would surely be of great use in the future.
Then Chen Ming sent out a wisp of smoke. It curled around Qin Yuyan and carried him off, drifting thousands of miles beyond Vast Mountain.
Chen Ming did this because he sensed a tremendous presence rushing toward the Vast Mountain Range.
With Qin Yuyan gone, he could fight without holding back.
Before long, the sky above Vast Mountain suddenly darkened, and the ground shook with the thunderous sound of heavy footsteps.
"Were you the one who destroyed my banner?"
The enormous Bone Dragon and the White Bone Demon Soldiers behind it blotted out the sky. Standing atop the Bone Dragon's head, White Bone Superior shouted coldly.
"With no Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator guarding Vast Mountain, you, a mere Contemplation Realm cultivator, dared to destroy my banner?"
Sensing Chen Ming's strength, White Bone Superior found his aura mysterious and far beyond the Contemplation Realm, but he had not truly stepped into the Spirit Condensation Realm.
White Bone Superior immediately relaxed. "Looks like Myriad Laws Sect really has withdrawn. Vast Mountain must be mine!"
As he thought this, White Bone Superior did not slow his movements.
The Bone Dragon beneath his feet opened its mouth and spat out countless pale Bone Spikes, which shot toward Chen Ming.
This attack carried the power of a Spirit Condensation Realm Supernatural Ability. How could a Contemplation Realm cultivator withstand it?
White Bone Superior was focused on seizing Vast Mountain and had not taken Chen Ming seriously at all.
Chen Ming did not dodge, but recited an incantation. Five-Colored Radiance appeared behind him, flowing without end.
It ground all the countless Bone Spikes to dust.
"Just as expected of a Spirit Condensation Realm Supernatural Ability. It's truly powerful!"
Though Chen Ming had blocked the countless Bone Spikes with his Supernatural Ability, he had expended a great deal of magic power.
The impact of the Bone Spikes had also left his body somewhat damaged.
"Oh?"
"You actually managed to block my Supernatural Ability. Not bad!"
Seeing that Chen Ming was only at the Contemplation Realm yet had blocked a Spirit Condensation Realm attack, White Bone Superior grew interested.
"Good, good! You'll make a fine White Bone Demon Soldier!"
As he spoke, White Bone Superior spat out a stream of pale demonic energy, intending to refine Chen Ming into a White Bone Demon Soldier and keep him at his side.
That mouthful of demonic energy was incredibly powerful.
The White Bone Dao had once been an ordinary territory. It was only after years of contamination by White Bone Superior's demonic energy that it became home to his vast horde of White Bone Demon Soldiers.
But though the White Bone Demon Soldiers looked imposing, they were nothing but cannon fodder before Chen Ming, utterly incapable of putting up a fight.
Chen Ming sent out the Blood Bead. Poisonous Smoke spread behind him, and wherever it passed, the White Bone Demon Soldiers collapsed into pieces.
If ordinary Supernatural Abilities scattered them, the White Bone Demon Soldiers could piece themselves back together in an instant, making them extremely troublesome.
But when Chen Ming's Poisonous Smoke swept past, the insects within devoured the spiritual essence in their bones. They became nothing more than ordinary bones and could never recover.
White Bone Superior's demonic energy reached Chen Ming, but Five-Colored Radiance blocked it and slowly ground it away.
"What a powerful Supernatural Ability. He's only at the Contemplation Realm, yet he can fight a Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator. Could he be a direct disciple of Myriad Laws Sect?"
"But his methods don't seem to come from the same school as Myriad Laws Sect's."
"Never mind. I've already entered Vast Mountain. Am I supposed to retreat just because a Contemplation Realm cultivator has a few powerful Supernatural Abilities? Where would that leave my pride?"
White Bone Superior thought many things over in that moment. He knew that many people outside Vast Mountain were secretly watching what happened within.
If he retreated now, he would likely become a laughingstock among the Spirit Condensation Realm cultivators.
White Bone Superior let out a shout. The Bone Dragon beneath his feet exploded and turned into Bone Fire.
He targeted the three hundred and sixty-five points of spiritual energy in Vast Mountain, splitting the Bone Fire into three hundred and sixty-five streams.
He meant to transform the mountain's spiritual energy into his own aura and turn Vast Mountain into White Bone Mountain.
Seeing this, Chen Ming knew things had gone badly. Ignoring the cost to his magic power, he sent Five-Colored Radiance soaring into the sky, settling it across the four directions and the center of Vast Mountain.
The Five-Colored Radiance occupied each direction in turn, manifesting Supernatural Abilities to keep the Bone Fire from descending.
"What a pity. Your Supernatural Ability is wondrous, but you're still one step short. You haven't entered the Spirit Condensation Realm. How could you stop me?"
White Bone Superior recited an incantation and spat out pale demonic energy.
The bones from which Chen Ming had stolen the spiritual energy were refined anew by White Bone Superior. They came back to life, turning into countless White Bone Demon Soldiers that surged forward to bury Chen Ming.
At that moment, the Spring Eye atop the mountain also sensed the upheaval within Vast Mountain.
If the mountain's spiritual energy became entangled in the Bone Fire, Vast Mountain would become a barren wasteland, and the Spring Eye would cease to exist.
The Spring Eye surged violently. The Mountain God Yellow Scroll that Chen Ming had burned earlier re-formed within it.
The Mountain God Yellow Scroll flashed and vanished from the Spring Eye. The next instant, it appeared in Chen Ming's hand.
The scroll's weight settled into his palm. Chen Ming swept it with his Spiritual Sense and said, "So you're lending me a hand!"
The Mountain God Yellow Scroll embodied the authority of Vast Mountain.
If nothing had gone wrong, once the Spring Eye atop the mountain had cultivated its spiritual nature, it could have merged with the scroll and become a Spirit God, controlling the flow of spiritual energy throughout the mountain and joining itself to Vast Mountain. It would have been a formidable being.
But now, it could only give up the Mountain God Yellow Scroll to help Chen Ming resolve the crisis before him.
Before you continue