Great Immortal Yang Mei was a hollow willow tree from the primordial world that had taken human form. His innate ability was incredibly powerful: simply put, he could collect any magical treasure in the world. No matter how powerful a treasure was, it could not escape. His ability worked a hundred times better than Grand Supreme Elder Lao's Diamond Bangle.
Great Immortal Yang Mei revealed his true form: a great willow tree swaying in midair. It glimmered with starlight, and its branches curled gently, moving without any wind. All kinds of profound laws flowed around it.
The willow tree swayed, releasing a strange pull that affected only magical treasures. With ease, it plucked away the defensive treasure Xuanhuang had been so proud of.
Pangu and Xuanhuang looked at each other, unable to believe what they were seeing. Xuanhuang repeatedly cast seals, but to no avail. A turn of starlight from the willow branches blocked every seal.
Dao Lord Lu Ya bowed. "Brother, you've saved me again. I saw something was wrong with you just now. What happened?"
Great Immortal Yang Mei said calmly, "That damned lion came to cause trouble again. It even used the power of a curse."
Dao Lord Lu Ya was shocked. "Doesn't it lack a physical body? Could it be..."
Great Immortal Yang Mei said, "There's no need to worry. It hasn't found its companion treasure, nor has it recovered its body. I don't know where it pieced together that remnant corpse. Its curse isn't very powerful, either." Though he said this, he still felt a little shaken and could not help recalling the first time he had encountered the Nine-Headed Savage Lion.
In the early days of the Chaos World, Great Immortal Yang Mei had been searching for a chance to become a Saint when he came upon Dao Lord Lu Ya battling the Nine-Headed Savage Lion. Though Dao Lord Lu Ya was said to be the fastest in the world, he was completely suppressed by a savage lion that could not take human form. A White Jade Bone Bell hung above the lion's head. Its toll was melodious, yet held boundless soul power. Fortunately, the lion was ignorant and had no way to refine the treasure. It only knew how to ring the bell to confuse its enemies and sap their energy.
Even Great Immortal Yang Mei had been dazed by the bell. He hurriedly used his "Universe in a Sleeve" to collect the White Jade Bone Bell from above the lion's head.
Seeing its treasure taken and its soul ability prove ineffective, the Nine-Headed Savage Lion immediately wanted to retreat, instinctively trying to flee.
Dao Lord Lu Ya said weakly, "Fellow Daoist, you mustn't let it escape. Once this beast masters the Soul Law, it will spell disaster for all the living beings of the primordial world."
Great Immortal Yang Mei considered this for a moment, then nodded to himself. He cast countless seals to bind the Nine-Headed Savage Lion, then put it into the Chaos Bead.
The Nine-Headed Savage Lion struggled against the Chaos Bead's pull, backing away as it whimpered.
"Why aren't you afraid of my soul ability? Wuwu." A voice transmitted through Spiritual Sense into Great Immortal Yang Mei's mind.
Great Immortal Yang Mei chuckled. "Don't you know that the spirit resides in the heart? My true form is a hollow willow tree. Without a heart, I have no soul. Without a soul, how could your ability affect mine?"
"Why did you capture me? Eating people isn't my fault. The strong prey on the weak—that's the law of this world."
Great Immortal Yang Mei paused, murmuring, "The survival of the fittest. The strong prey on the weak. There's no right or wrong in that." He said to the Nine-Headed Savage Lion, "And I haven't done anything wrong, either."
The Nine-Headed Savage Lion was still sealed inside the Chaos Bead, leaving only an unwilling roar to drift through the Chaos.
Who knew how many millions of years had passed? The Nine-Headed Savage Lion had once again nearly been crushed to pieces by Great Immortal Yang Mei. Why was fate so unfair to him?
He had thought he could use the power of a curse to kill Great Immortal Yang Mei and finally be free of all those years of imprisonment. He hadn't expected to nearly be killed by him again. He was unwilling to accept it.
This world belonged to him. His body had been refined by Great Immortal Yang Mei. How could he get revenge? He was unwilling to accept it!
He had no idea where Great Immortal Yang Mei had hidden his White Jade Bone Bell.
He had searched for tens of thousands of years, but still couldn't find it.
Alas, he had come to this canyon again, and seen this ancient hall once more.
Wait. The most unusual place in this world was this ancient hall. Without it, he could never have cultivated a ghost body. Without it, he would have been blasted to pieces by the World-Ending Divine Lightning of the Myriad Stars Grinding Mill long ago.
There was something strange about this ancient hall.
The Nine-Headed Savage Lion grew in size with the wind, spat Ghost Fire, and began refining the ancient hall.
"Wuwu, hahaha! I should have figured it out long ago. I should have figured it out!"
"Wuwu, how could I be so stupid? I didn't even realize the treasure was right beside me."
"Old Yang Mei, aren't you so powerful? Turns out you didn't dare refine my White Jade Bone Bell for yourself, either. Without the Soul Law, you can't control it. You'd only become its puppet."
"I've sensed Dao Lord Lu Ya's presence. I can't beat you, Yang Mei, but I can still take down Lu Ya. Hahaha, just you wait!"
The Nine-Headed Savage Lion formed hand seals. The White Jade Bone Bell swayed, glowing with a pale white light. Grim faces appeared on its surface: Evil Ghosts spewing flames, Yakshas flying through the sky, and skeletons holding their own heads. Their forms were all different.
Phantoms filled the sky, forming a ritual platform three zhang high and a hundred zhang across. The outer arrangement followed the Nine Palaces, while the inner one was laid out in the Eight Trigrams.
The Nine-Headed Savage Lion silently recited an incantation. "Bind!" The platform shone with clear light, releasing an immense aura. A three-inch Yin Person took shape at its center, vaguely resembling Dao Lord Lu Ya.
The lion bowed deeply to the three-inch Yin Person on the platform.
"First bow: scatter the soul."
At that moment, Dao Lord Lu Ya felt dazed. His expression stiffened, and he began to fidget.
Great Immortal Yang Mei was shocked when he saw this. "Oh no!" He hurriedly formed hand seals and used Universe in a Sleeve to send Dao Lord Lu Ya into another space, blocking off the strange force.
Seeing that he had bound Dao Lord Lu Ya's three souls, the Nine-Headed Savage Lion was overjoyed. This Curse Technique really worked well: from a thousand li away, he could kill anyone he wanted. Too bad he couldn't kill that damned piece of rotten wood all at once.
"Second bow: scatter the spirit."
The second bow had no effect. Some force seemed to be blocking the curse, which lingered beside the three-inch Yin Person without dissipating.
What was going on? Why wasn't it working anymore? Oh no, that old Yang Mei had noticed. He must have used a Spatial Divine Ability to isolate Lu Ya. He hated it! Why did someone like this have to exist and oppose him at every turn?
Never mind. He would get rid of Lu Ya's three souls first.
"Third bow: end his life."
A Golden Bow and an arrow appeared out of nowhere in the sky. The bow was drawn, and the arrow shot toward the three-inch Yin Person with a whoosh!
"How dare you!" A vast sleeve swept toward the three-inch Yin Person, while Great Immortal Yang Mei cast a divine ability to devour the Golden Bow.
The ripples from the ritual platform blocked Great Immortal Yang Mei's sleeve. But the Golden Bow was knocked off course by a Spatial Rift, and the arrow grazed the three-inch Yin Person, shattering it at once.
The Nine-Headed Savage Lion said, "Hahaha, too late!" He shrank down and hid inside the White Jade Bone Bell, merging with it.
"What can you do to me now? Hehehe."
Great Immortal Yang Mei retrieved Dao Lord Lu Ya's remnant soul. One soul had completely dissipated, and another was damaged.
"Very well. The Dao Lord was right: unless you're eliminated, none of us Chaos Living Beings will ever know peace. I didn't refine the White Jade Bone Bell back then because I feared incurring too much karma. Today, I'll make sure your soul is scattered."
"Go ahead and try to refine it. Do you think you can control it? I'm the only one in this world who can. Hahaha!"
"If I can't refine it, I can destroy it. I'll imprison your soul forever in Dimensional Space and make you suffer the punishment of the Blade of Space every day."
"Go ahead and try! You're cheating! Wuwu..." The Nine-Headed Savage Lion was swallowed by a Spatial Rift. The rift tore at the White Jade Bone Bell protecting him. Its toll rang sometimes clear, sometimes melodious, as white light poured from it to resist the tearing force.
The Nine-Headed Savage Lion desperately urged his White Jade Bone Bell onward. Its rippling toll shattered the Spatial Rift trapping him.
"Cut!"
The Spatial Rift seemed to come alive, writhing rapidly. White lines containing the power to slice and disintegrate appeared in space and hurtled toward the White Jade Bone Bell.
The bell sensed the destructive force and swayed from side to side, trying both to dodge the countless fine lines and to ring out the Great Dao's laws within it.
The white lines ignored the White Jade Bone Bell's defensive ripples and struck its surface directly. Bone Powder flew everywhere. This sent the Nine-Headed Savage Lion into a frenzy. He hadn't expected Great Immortal Yang Mei to be his natural nemesis.
"Stop! I give up, all right? I give up!"
Great Immortal Yang Mei said calmly, "Too late."
The Nine-Headed Savage Lion gritted his teeth. "Then I'll fight to the death. Don't regret it!" He dispersed all his vital essence, willingly turning into the spirit of the White Jade Bone Bell. He imprinted the Great Dao into the laws inside the bell and urged them onward.
A vast aura of the Great Dao suddenly emanated from the White Jade Bone Bell, carrying the might of the Great Dao.
Great Immortal Yang Mei said calmly, "In the Chaos Space, perhaps I would fall. But in my world, even the Great Dao must follow my rules."
Great Immortal Yang Mei revealed his primordial spirit and merged with the world formed by the Chaos Bead. The world had laws, and they were his to command.
"Cut!"
The fine white lines seemed to be infused with life, turning into blades that slashed viciously at the White Jade Bone Bell. The bell's greatest power was to affect people's souls, even directly erasing the souls of those with weak wills. But that power had no effect on Great Immortal Yang Mei.
The little extra defense granted by the Great Dao's laws could not withstand the Blade of Space, which likewise drew on the power of Heaven and Earth.
"Oh, wuwu! I can't accept this! Why did I have to run into this damned nemesis?"
Under the unceasing assault of the Blade of Space, the White Jade Bone Bell inevitably shattered and was swallowed by countless spatial rifts. No one knew where the black shadow that had claimed to be immortal had dissipated to.
Great Immortal Yang Mei gazed at the devastated world, his heart aching. The power of Heaven and Earth had now been used twice, and the cracks in the Chaos Bead had multiplied. Perhaps it could not withstand a third use.
Dao Lord Lu Ya had also become a little dull, sometimes lucid, sometimes lost in Chaos. Great Immortal Yang Mei sighed toward the heavens.
Whose fault was all this? What had it all been for?
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