Yellow Springs and You Ming

Pangu withdrew his Spiritual Sense and shook his head, then began contemplating his own Great Dao. In truth, each strand of Primordial Violet Qi contained a remnant consciousness of its original owner, but it was unknown what had concealed them. Hong Yun and Hong Hu had merely been drawn by Kun Peng's aura, and, with Hong Hu possessing the Nirvana Method, this had led to an utterly incredible event. Since it had been an accident, Pangu naturally sensed nothing.

Chaos once again fell into a temporary calm. How long it would last was anyone's guess—perhaps only a short while. There were simply too many who wanted to break the peace. Desire inevitably gave rise to ambition, especially when this was the ultimate goal every god and demon had pursued all their lives.

Yellow Springs was undoubtedly one of those most eager to break the calm. Though impatient, he had not lost his composure. He gazed at Pangu, who stood within easy reach, but hesitated to advance.

"Big Brother, Pangu is so powerful. Those two Demon Gods couldn't even fight back, and that red light that appeared out of nowhere was terrifying. We..."

After pondering for a long while, Yellow Springs made up his mind. "Brother, fortune favors the bold. Without attaining the Great Dao, we'll end up as dust in the end. Whether you dare or not is your choice. As for me, I want to take the risk."

You Ming laughed heartily. "What is there to fear? I'll follow your arrangements, Big Brother, and give it everything I've got."

Yellow Springs was also swept up in the moment. He cupped his hands and said, "Good, good! The two of us will fight him to our hearts' content."

They hurried forward, but when they saw Pangu and his companion, they were startled again and could not help feeling a little less confident. Sensing the aura of battle that still lingered, they marveled inwardly. Those two who had seemed so unfortunate were no pushovers after all.

Yellow Springs studied Pangu carefully. "Greetings, fellow Daoist. I had no wish to make an enemy of you, but Heaven's will is hard to defy."

Pangu opened his eyes, and two beams of light shot out. "You're far better than that hypocritical Kun Peng. Fight!"

The word "Fight!" seemed to ring directly beside Yellow Springs' ears. Its overwhelming battle intent unsettled his mind. You Ming was hardly faring any better.

"Good. We'll meet him with our strongest divine ability: the Nine Bends Yellow Springs Great Formation." Yellow Springs revealed his true form, a stretch of Nine Nether Yellow Springs, winding through nine bends and eighteen turns. Yellow Corpse Water swirled within it. Flesh and Blood that touched the water would be corrupted, and each drop could become an external incarnation. As long as the Corpse Water did not dry up, Yellow Springs was nearly undying.

You Ming said nothing. He transformed into a cloud of Black Mist that shrouded Yellow Springs. The black Netherworld Heavenly Book floated between them, forming the Formation Eye and radiating waves of the Light of Nirvana.

A voice rang in Pangu's mind. "Fellow Daoist, do you dare to enter the formation and fight?"

There were several ways to break a formation. One could overwhelm it by gathering several times the formation's strength and delivering a crushing blow. Or one could construct a formation at least as powerful as the opponent's and use it to break through.

The conventional method was to find the Formation Eye and unravel the formation from within.

Pangu roared, "What is there to fear?"

As soon as Pangu entered, he felt Demonic Qi surging around him. An eerie wind howled, and Black Mist spread until it blotted out the sun and moon, with the power to destroy both soul and spirit. Corpse Water combined with Demonic Qi to form one Demon God after another. In an instant, demons swarmed everywhere, blotting out the sky. Pangu swung his axe and unleashed a divine ability. The countless charging Demon Gods were annihilated beneath his blade before they could reach him.

But the Nine Bends had no straight paths. Their twisting turns embodied the wonders of creation, blending illusion and reality until neither could be distinguished. Finding the Formation Eye would not be easy. The Demon Gods appeared without end; without sufficient strength, one would eventually be worn down to death. And then there was the Light of Nirvana, which could directly damage the primordial spirit. A moment's carelessness could leave one's soul scattered. Fortunately, Pangu had cultivated the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Method, which bound his primordial spirit closely to his flesh. He could withstand the assault, but still could not afford to be careless. His primordial spirit still existed, after all; any damage to it would hinder his future cultivation. If he lost focus for even an instant and was ambushed to death, it would be a most unjust end.

The Nine Bends Yellow Springs Great Formation was one of the strongest formations under Heaven, renowned as both a wondrous and a deadly formation.

Seeing that these simple Demon Gods could not stop Pangu, Yellow Springs said, "Illusion Array: illusion and reality coexist, each giving rise to the other."

The Yellow Springs water surging over the ground gradually gathered into the form of a powerful, muscular man holding a great banner that flapped loudly. The banner swept through the air, and Corpse Water appeared from nowhere, transforming into yellow dragons that coiled upward and lunged at Pangu, baring their teeth and claws.

Pangu smiled faintly. If he could kill Cang Dui, why would he fear a dragon conjured from an illusion? He swung the Sky-Opening Axe, and the yellow dragon shattered. But it immediately reassembled and came roaring back. A second strike split it in two, producing two yellow dragons. Pangu swung again at one of them, but the force of his axe and the Axe Shadow passed right through. His heart tightened. "An illusion." He tried a divine ability on the other dragon, but the result was the same. "That one's an illusion too."

While Pangu was still thinking, the two yellow dragons rushed at him with a roar. One lowered its head and rammed him; the other lashed its tail at him. A constant sizzling sound rang out. The yellow dragons' Corpse Water could corrupt Flesh and Blood. Fortunately, Pangu had tempered his body with the Nine Revolutions Golden Body; otherwise, he would have suffered a great loss. Pangu swung the axe at the charging dragon, but the blade passed through nothing. "Still an illusion."

Pangu could not help but feel alarmed. He gave a bitter smile. "What looks real is false, and what looks false is real. It's truly impossible to fathom." He had no time to lose focus. The two yellow dragons suddenly exploded, and Corpse Water poured down on him like a torrential rain. Fortunately, the Chaos Green Lotus protected him in time. But after being drenched by the yellow water, its Green Light dimmed considerably.

Seeing this, the Yellow Spring Giant shook his great banner without pause, sending one yellow dragon after another charging at Pangu. With no other choice, Pangu swung his great axe and unleashed his divine ability. "Sweep Across the Thousand Armies!" But the dragons, shifting between illusion and reality, were truly difficult to handle. Sometimes, to protect the lotus, he had to rely on his formidable body to withstand their attacks. Fortunately, his body was as hard as stone, and golden light restored the damaged areas, so he suffered no serious harm.

In this space, he dared not use the Three Forms of Sky Opening. What if he threw the Sky-Opening Axe and could not get it back? Even the three axe techniques he derived from the trajectory of power seemed to be countered. He could only rely on his body and the lotus to hold his ground.

Yellow Springs saw that this divine ability could cause Pangu some trouble, but still could not injure him. He moved his Spiritual Sense. "Maze Array: turn in endless circles and lose yourself!"

The great formation seemed to begin moving. Pangu stared, stunned, as the yellow dragons abruptly disappeared. Suddenly, he felt the world spinning, and a wave of nausea rose in his chest. His body began moving against his will. At first, he felt as though he had finally steadied himself, but as he spun along, he found large bends nested within small bends, small bends linking to large ones. He would spin out, then back in; spin back in, then out again. The more he turned, the more complicated it became, and he gradually lost his sense of direction, unable to tell east from west or north from south. The Light of Nirvana also continued to attack his primordial spirit.

That was what made this formation so terrifying. If nothing changed, he would lose himself first, then his primordial spirit. Perhaps he would become a walking corpse forever.

This was also because Pangu treasured his innate spiritual treasure. Though the yellow dragons' Corpse Water had already stained it and dulled its light, he had insisted on drawing it back into his body. Perhaps this calamity was fated to befall Pangu. The Chaos Green Lotus had also lost much of its spiritual power by then and could no longer protect him on its own. Otherwise, a single burst of its Pure Qi would have cleared his mind and dispelled all evil. Yellow Springs would have been his for the taking.

Everything was fate. Pangu, lost in confusion, was facing a life-or-death calamity.

You Ming and Yellow Springs gradually grew confident. Pangu was nothing special after all. They still had plenty of methods they had yet to use, and he was already on the verge of defeat. Suddenly, the great formation shook, and something unexpected happened.

"Big Brother, someone seems to have entered the formation."

Yellow Springs pondered for a moment, then sent a message with his Spiritual Sense. "The newcomer seems extraordinary. He entered freely without us opening the formation gate. But we can't change the formation yet. Pangu's mind has only just begun to grow hazy. Let's wait and see."

The intruder had a pagoda above his head, radiating Xuanhuang Qi. It was Xuanhuang, who had turned back after leaving. The endless waves of agitation could not reach him, and the formation—which seemed shrouded in indistinct mist—was perfectly clear to his eyes.

Xuanhuang studied the formation carefully. It followed the principles of the Book of Changes: the Supreme Ultimate gave birth to the Two Forms, the Two Forms gave birth to the Four Symbols, and the Four Symbols gave birth to the Eight Trigrams. Using three hundred and sixty-five Yellow Springs banners as markers, it linked the eight palaces of Qian, Kun, Gen, Dui, Zhen, Li, Kan, and Xun. Beyond those eight palaces was a central palace, forming a complex diagram of the Eight Trigrams and Nine Palaces. The Formation Eye was the Eight Trigrams Platform in the central palace.

You Ming said, "Big Brother, what do we do? That Daoist doesn't seem affected by the Maze Array. What now?"

Yellow Springs replied, "Keep the formation going, Brother. I'll send out an incarnation to harass him." What left Yellow Springs even more helpless was that the Demon Gods conjured from his Yellow Springs water could not get near the Daoist.

Xuanhuang quickly found Pangu. Looking at Pangu, dazed and unsteady, his heart sank. If he had not been so selfish, Pangu would not have suffered such a calamity. He activated a spell, and Xuanhuang Qi swept over Pangu. At once, Pangu came to his senses.

Pangu realized that the person who had saved him was Xuanhuang. He cupped his hands. "Thank you, fellow Daoist."

Xuanhuang returned the salute. "As long as you're unharmed, fellow Daoist!"

He continued, "I've studied this formation for some time. Its Formation Eye is the Eight Trigrams Platform in the central palace of the Nine Palaces. Just follow me."

Yellow Springs and You Ming were both shocked and troubled. They had not expected this Daoist to be so skilled in formations. He had seen through the layers of illusion at a glance and could go straight to the Formation Eye.

Yellow Springs stirred his Spiritual Sense. "Wondrous Formation: yin and yang combine, bringing forth the wonders of creation!" The formation shifted. Yellow and black Qi filled it, growing denser and gradually gathering into two Daoists, one black and one yellow. Two beams of primordial-spirit light entered them, and their auras continued to rise until they reached the late-stage pinnacle of the Primordial Saint realm. Because they were in the space the two had created, their auras came even closer to the Great Dao.