Outside Vast Mountain, Fairy Caiyi had been keeping an eye on the activity within the range.
At first, she had sensed things quite clearly. But when White Bone Superior and Chen Ming began fighting, their auras clashed and disrupted her Spiritual Sense, making it hard for her to see what was happening.
She heard only a succession of deafening booms and saw flashes of lightning and demonic energy. Then White Bone Superior's aura vanished.
Next, she saw Chen Ming's Emperor's Omen Body fly out, unleashing water and lightning as it purged the White Bone Dao.
That level of strength left even Fairy Caiyi deeply shaken.
"Good thing I didn't rashly descend into the mountains. The Myriad Laws Sect really did leave something up its sleeve!"
"That Supernatural Ability just now was powerful enough to rival only a Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator who had inherited the true teachings of Biyun Heavenly Palace!"
"His methods aren't from the Myriad Laws Sect, but the power of that Supernatural Ability was no fake. He must be a trump card the Myriad Laws Sect left here."
"The Myriad Laws Sect withdrew from the Sea Domain in plain sight, but who knows how many measures it left in secret? If I tell Biyun Immortal Palace about this man and help them pull out a thorn planted by the Myriad Laws Sect, that'll be a great contribution!"
Fairy Caiyi reached her conclusion and didn't linger.
Riding her Colorful Feather Luan Bird, she didn't return to Chayi Sect. Instead, she headed for Biyun Immortal Palace.
She had left early. If she had waited a little longer, the Mountain God Yellow Scroll and the Omen Body would have vanished completely.
Then Fairy Caiyi would have sensed that Chen Ming was the one who had destroyed the Seven-Colored Clothes under her command.
As soon as Fairy Caiyi left, the many concealed gazes and Spiritual Senses outside Vast Mountain gradually vanished as well, no longer watching the place.
The death of White Bone Superior had made the Spirit Condensation Realm cultivators near Vast Mountain wary. They couldn't afford to offend Biyun Immortal Palace, and they couldn't afford to offend the Myriad Laws Sect either.
So they simply acted as if nothing had happened, as though the commotion had never taken place.
Chen Ming's figure paused, then disappeared from the mountains and appeared atop the peak.
Qing Ling and Hong Ling rose when they saw Chen Ming. "True Person, the spiritual energy in the mountain has recovered, and the Spring Eye is flowing normally again!"
Chen Ming nodded. "Good. This is where the spiritual energy of Vast Mountain gathers at its source, and it's highly beneficial to cultivation.
"From now on, let this Grotto-Heaven Dojo take the form of an ancient tree, rooted above the Spring Eye. You two will guard this place and cultivate diligently!"
With that, Chen Ming stepped into the Grotto-Heaven Dojo within the Towering Ancient Tree and sat down cross-legged.
He placed the Blood Bead and the White Bone before him. Five kinds of qi circulated in his hands as he began to refine a treasure.
Under Chen Ming's urging, radiance of five colors—green, yellow, red, black, and white—turned into Five Elements Fire.
As the White Bone was refined and shaped by the Five Elements Fire, it transformed according to Chen Ming's thoughts into a White Bone Demon Pot.
"Go!"
Chen Ming cried out. The Blood Bead beside him released a crimson glow!
Within the bloodlight, the scene of a hundred thousand and eight thousand insects endlessly cycling through life and death appeared.
At Chen Ming's command, the Blood Bead and the vision it had released fell into the White Bone Demon Pot.
Red veins instantly spread across the pot, and a terrifying aura poured from it.
The White Bone Demon Pot had been forged from the essence of a Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator. The Blood Bead contained the Secret Method of the Hundred Thousand Eight Thousand Insects, which had been transformed by the light of the Creation Lotus Platform.
When the two combined, they formed an extraordinary treasure, its aura linked to Chen Ming's.
The Blood Bead was elevated at once. As the insects within it cycled ceaselessly through life and death, wisps of karma emerged and merged into the poisonous smoke it exhaled.
With karma added to it, even a Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator who came into contact with the smoke might find it hard to escape!
"The White Bone is the pot, the Blood Bead is the demon. With the White Bone Demon Pot in hand, I have a treasure to protect my path!"
"Even if I fail to condense the Emperor's Omen Body, as long as I have the White Bone Demon Pot, I'll be far stronger than White Bone Superior was in the Spirit Condensation Realm!"
In truth, achieving this through such methods also counted as reaching the Spirit Condensation Realm. Many cultivators of the Heretical Path chose this way.
But when they refined a Spirit Condensation Realm magic treasure this way and entrusted themselves to it, their entire cultivation rested on that treasure. Their fortunes rose and fell together with it.
And advancing any further was exceedingly difficult.
Chen Ming, however, wasn't making the White Bone Demon Pot his foundation. He was using it to protect his path, borrowing its power to attain the strength of the Spirit Condensation Realm.
If the White Bone Demon Pot were damaged, it wouldn't affect Chen Ming himself.
His true foundation of cultivation still lay in the Five Qi Spirit Condensation Method, through which he would attain the Great Dao.
Chen Ming held the White Bone Demon Pot in his palm. His aura had reached the Spirit Condensation Realm, and no one could tell what his true strength was.
Chen Ming rose to his feet, then suddenly furrowed his brow.
"This White Bone Demon Pot is too conspicuous. Anyone can see it's a magic treasure refined from a demon. I'll have to disguise it!"
With a thought, the White Bone Demon Pot turned smooth and lustrous as jade. The red veins on its body writhed and transformed into mysterious lotus patterns.
Then wisps of faint smoke curled around the pot, making it look like a magic treasure belonging to an immortal.
"That's more like it!"
Five-Colored Radiance manifested behind Chen Ming, concealing the traces of the Karma Poison Smoke as well.
With this appearance, he was unmistakably a Daoist True Person!
Who would suspect that once Chen Ming struck, the scene would be so demonic? It was the perfect disguise for deceiving his enemies!
Having refined the White Bone Demon Pot and Karma Poison Smoke, Chen Ming now had confidence.
Some old scores were long overdue for settling.
With a thought, two hazy souls flew out from deep within the Grotto-Heaven Dojo.
They were Song Yu and Wang Xiu. Back on Cuiping Mountain, Seven-Colored Clothes of Chayi Sect had shattered their bodies, leaving them with only their souls.
Their souls had been nurtured in the Grotto-Heaven Dojo all this time. But their injuries had been too severe. They had only just taken human form, and their memories had yet to return.
"You two were destined to suffer a calamity when Ling Yangzi died. You met me and escaped it for a time, but in the end, you still died.
"Fortunately, your souls didn't disperse. You served as my disciples, and now your fortunes should turn. I'll give you both a chance at good fortune!"
Chen Ming reversed the Karma Poison Smoke and sent it toward their souls.
Though Song Yu and Wang Xiu were still hazy and confused, they remained in awe of Chen Ming.
They knew he wouldn't harm them, so they let the Karma Poison Smoke fall over them.
The Karma Poison Smoke didn't injure their souls. Instead, it extracted the karma clinging to them.
Then it spiraled back behind Chen Ming and concealed itself.
Song Yu and Wang Xiu's souls immediately grew clear, becoming crystalline and pure.
If a Divine Path cultivator or a Ghost Cultivator had seen them, they would have been green with envy. Such souls were excellent material for producing pure Incense and Fire, as well as a powerful tonic for Ghost Cultivators seeking to improve their cultivation.
Chen Ming made a series of calculations with his fingers, then left the Grotto-Heaven Dojo.
He once again instructed the two attendants to recite scriptures and guard the Grotto-Heaven, while he concealed his aura and cultivation before leaving the Vast Mountain Range.
When he appeared again, Chen Ming had reached the territory where Cuiping Mountain once stood.
Cuiping Mountain was now flat ground, joined to the town that had once lain at its foot. Villages and people had sprung up there.
"You two have deep ties to this place. If fate wills it, you may still set foot on the path of cultivation!"
Chen Ming released the souls of Song Yu and Wang Xiu. With a gentle breath, he sent each of them into a different household in the village.
The wives in both households were already pregnant and nearing their time to give birth.
Once he had settled the souls, Chen Ming left.
Chen Ming didn't know that, not long after he left, the villagers gathered together.
The village head addressed them all. "After many days of discussion, we've finally settled on a name for our village. From now on, it'll be called Grass Temple Village..."
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