Ghost Fire in the Wind

By the time True Person Suyuan's avatar recovered from its stiff sluggishness, it was already too late.

It had been drawn into Chen Ming's White Bone Demon Pot, fallen into the Blood Bead within, and was continuously having its Spiritual Energy extracted.

Yet it was, after all, the avatar of a Spirit Condensation Realm Cultivator. It struggled relentlessly, shaking the White Bone Demon Pot until it trembled wildly.

Chen Ming activated his mana and Recited Incantation. The Five-Colored Radiance behind him swept forth and suppressed the White Bone Demon Pot.

They remained locked in a stalemate for three full days before True Person Suyuan's avatar was completely refined by the White Bone Demon Pot, becoming a Worms that emitted purple light within the demon pot's Blood Bead.

"Good Worms, good Worms! Against Spirit Condensation Realm Cultivators, these Worms will be a great help!"

Chen Ming withdrew the Five-Colored Radiance and said as he held the White Bone Demon Pot in his hand.

The Blue Lotus Monk also reined in his Supernatural Ability and said, "Eh, Fellow Daoist, your Supernatural Ability has advanced at a tremendous pace. Its power has grown again!"

"It was all thanks to the Divine Monk lending a hand in secret. Otherwise, how could refining True Person Suyuan's avatar have been so easy?" Chen Ming said.

Who would have thought that, whether he was pretending or it was the result of his Supernatural Ability, the Blue Lotus Monk would wear a baffled expression as he said, "What does it have to do with me? I merely recited a passage of scripture."

"Are you referring to True Person Suyuan of the Divine Firmament Sect?"

"I have never seen any True Person Suyuan. Could it be that people from the Divine Firmament Sect came here? How did I fail to see them?"

The Blue Lotus Monk spoke with a perfectly serious face, without the slightest trace of falsehood.

Chen Ming clicked his tongue inwardly. What Blue Lotus Divine Monk? He is plainly a demonic monk. How exactly did he cultivate his Buddhist Dharma...

"By the way, did you not invite me here to witness Old Crow entering the temple to become a god? Why is there no sign of Old Crow?" the Blue Lotus Monk asked in confusion.

Chen Ming was startled, and he somewhat understood why the Blue Lotus Monk, despite his Spirit Condensation Realm cultivation, had so easily fallen prey to Immortal Aunt Yuan Zhen's Supernatural Ability and had his memories obscured.

It turned out that the Blue Lotus Monk's own Supernatural Ability, which blinded one's senses, inherently caused memories to fade. The more it was used, the greater its effect.

"That Old Crow..."

Before Chen Ming could finish, a wind suddenly rose within the temple.

The wind blew with a whoosh, growing ever stronger until it began to howl.

At last, a sharp caw suddenly rang out from within the gale.

Immediately afterward, ghostly green soul-fire ignited in the wind, and a small raven flew out from the wind and flames.

The raven opened its beak and inhaled, swallowing both wind and fire into its belly. Its body then swelled dramatically, taking the form of a Youth with black hair, black eyes, and black robes.

Yet the Youth's features brimmed with killing intent. He held a White Bone Staff in his hand, and ghostly green soul-fire burned upon it. At a glance, he was clearly no benevolent sort.

"Wuhun Fellow Daoist?"

Chen Ming swept out with his Spiritual Sense and called to him.

The Youth said in a hoarse voice, "It is I. My path is now clear; my former dust has passed!"

"Good! Wuhun Fellow Daoist has undergone nirvanic rebirth amid wind and fire and comprehended his own path. Congratulations! Spirit Condensation lies within reach in the future!"

Chen Ming saw it clearly. After this trial of life and death, Wuhun's temperament had changed. He was no longer the cowardly, trouble-fearing Ghost Cultivator he had once been.

The reborn Wuhun was steeped in killing intent from head to toe, and even his appearance had become that of a Youth.

"Many thanks to Fellow Daoist for saving me!" Wuhun said, bowing to Chen Ming.

Chen Ming accepted Wuhun's salute and said, "This time, we have truly offended the Divine Firmament Sect to the bitter end. What are Wuhun Fellow Daoist's plans from here on?"

He asked because although Wuhun had been reborn through nirvana and his strength had increased greatly, his cultivation was still only at the Contemplation Realm. If a Spirit Condensation Realm Cultivator from the Divine Firmament Sect came looking, Wuhun would still find it hard to withstand them.

But Wuhun said, "My path is cultivated through slaughter. I had no corporeal form to begin with. As long as the killing intent in my heart does not perish, I can be born anew and coalesce within wind and fire, my strength advancing even further instead!"

"I will remain in Golden Sun City and become the god of this temple in this ghostly soul body!"

"Whoever comes to kill me—so long as my will does not die, I will fight them to the death without end! I may not be able to defeat Spirit Condensation cultivators, but the Disciples beneath them can forget about having peaceful days!"

What Wuhun said was true, but the path of nirvana he had comprehended still had its flaws.

Although each time he died and re-formed, his killing nature would greatly increase and his strength would grow, he would lose sixty years of lifespan. Once his allotted years ran out, he would die completely.

But this was Wuhun's personal secret, and naturally he would not reveal it.

Chen Ming thought to himself, Wuhun has gone from one extreme to the other.

In the future, he would surely become a terrifying and troublesome Fiend.

However, Chen Ming held no prejudice against this. He himself was often regarded as a Fiend or Demon.

In Chen Ming's heart, whether it was the righteous path or demons and devils, the methods they cultivated were merely external means.

So long as one held to one's bottom line, what was wrong with demonic methods? Buddha and demon were separated by but a single thought!

At the side, the Blue Lotus Monk watched Chen Ming and Wuhun, the two Fiends, converse most congenially, and nodded to himself.

The Buddhist Dharma he cultivated was itself somewhat unorthodox, forming a path of its own. He rather approved of the killing path Wuhun had comprehended.

"Wuhun Fellow Daoist, since you have already made your decision, establish your foundation. The Blue Lotus Divine Monk and I shall witness the ceremony here!" Chen Ming said.

"Good!"

Wuhun answered, flying down to land atop the Divine Platform.

He Recited Incantation. The wind rose and souls settled, releasing wave after wave of profound auras that descended upon Golden Sun City.

The people in the city received the soul-calming qi carried on the wind, as though they had found a place to belong. Something stirred in their hearts, and incense and fire arose, intertwining with that mysterious aura before returning to the temple once more.

"Divine Domain Dojo, open!"

Wuhun shouted, and the mysterious aura intertwined with incense and fire condensed into a Divine Domain Dojo.

All the faith and incense and fire of Golden Sun City poured into it, to be wielded by Wuhun.

Wuhun's aura surged wildly. He refined that dense incense and fire into a Divine Dharma Body, yet it still could not conceal the razor-sharp killing intent within him.

That killing intent flowed into Golden Sun City along with the incense and fire. Influenced by it, the people of the city gained a few more traces of bloodlust between their brows.

"The path cultivated by gods has a profound influence on mortals!"

Sensing the changes in the city's aura, Chen Ming could not help but sigh. It was vastly different from the Minping Tribe, which worshipped the Auspicious Spirit God.

"Today, as I enter the temple to cultivate, two Spirit Condensation Realm seniors have come to witness the ceremony. Wuhun stands alone, with nothing to offer in return.

This is a Supernatural Ability I comprehended during my nirvana, called 'Ghost Fire in the Wind.' Let me present it to the two seniors as a token of gratitude!"

Wuhun gathered two blossoms of Ghost Fire in the Wind in his hands and offered them to Chen Ming and Blue Lotus Monk.

Those two blossoms of Ghost Fire in the Wind were far from ordinary. Within them lay the intent of Killing Path Nirvana that Wuhun had grasped in a moment of enlightenment, making them exceedingly extraordinary.

Such enlightenment was quite precious even to Spirit Condensation Realm Cultivators. Perhaps one might comprehend a new Supernatural Ability from it and advance their strength another step.

Though the possibility was exceedingly small, it was still remarkably rare.

Blue Lotus Monk sensed the properties of the Ghost Fire in the Wind, and something stirred within him. It seemed it would be of great use to him in the future!

He solemnly put it away, pressed his palms together, recited a Buddhist invocation, and said, "Many thanks, Wuhun Fellow Daoist!"

Chen Ming looked at the Ghost Fire in the Wind, and a thought struck him. Pinching his fingers, he began to calculate.

After a moment, Chen Ming handed the blossom of Ghost Fire in the Wind back to Wuhun and said, "Let this flame remain in your care for now!

When, in the future, a youth named Qin Yuyan who can accommodate this flame for cultivation comes here, Wuhun Fellow Daoist, simply give this flame to him!

But Wuhun Fellow Daoist, do not tell him that I was the one who left it behind."