Unicorn-Hiding Shell Mountain, Secret Refuge in Flying Earthworm Cave

"Master, Seventh Junior Brother has awakened."

A thread of daylight seeped through the cave ceiling from some unknown source. In the gloom, two points of emerald fire flickered.

"Oh? That child's wisdom light extends three inches, his spiritual faculties are clear, and faint light escapes from all three hundred and sixty joints of his body. Quite an outstanding specimen among the lesser livestock."

"In that case, teach him the true method."

"As you command."

The reply came briskly. Before its final note faded, only a winding, wet trail remained on the cave wall, as though something had just crawled across it.

In the sunless cave, Li Fuchan stared blankly at the ancient book in his hands.

A method of utmost purity, a true art of cultivation.

For someone who had transmigrated, this was an extraordinary opportunity. A method that could take an ordinary mortal onto the path of cultivation now rested in his hands. He should have been wild with joy.

Half an hour earlier, perhaps he would have been.

Unfortunately, half an hour later, he had personally watched that so-called Second Senior Brother succeed in cultivation and be joyfully escorted to their master. How joyful had he been? Li Fuchan could not say. In any case, Second Senior Brother had drooled all over the floor.

Then he had never returned.

Second Senior Brother was dead. Now it was his turn to hold up this sect.

"Junior Brother, here are Spirit Stones, pills, and a Storage Bag for your cultivation. The pouch contains changes of clothing and fasting pills. Keep them safe. In three months, I will guide you onto the Dao."

Without waiting for Li Fuchan to answer, the voice in the darkness receded.

By the dim firelight, Li Fuchan carefully examined the "Supreme Purity Method" in his hands.

The method was called the "Three Lights Purifying Tribulation Curse."

The book held that the human body was filthy and beset by the impurities of tribulation.

The first layer was called the Innate Destiny Tribulation. It arose from the mingled energies of yin and yang that clung to the body when heaven and earth first separated. Like maggots burrowing into bone, it accompanied a person from birth.

The second layer was called the Mortal Karma Tribulation. It arose from worldly bonds and grievances: the kindness of parents, the affection of siblings, the tangles of love and hate. Every thread was a binding cord.

The third layer was called the Mind-Pollution Tribulation. It arose from one's own greed, anger, delusion, and falsehood. The seven emotions and six desires churned like boiling water, forming the deepest quagmire on the path of cultivation. The Three Calamities overlapped, binding layer upon layer like three iron chains shackling the soul. They were cultivation's foremost fetter.

This method taught people how to wash away those impurities. Each layer removed would draw one of the Three Lights into the body.

Li Fuchan leafed through the entire manual. It gave no source, and its writing was archaic and obscure. Every page bore the words "cultivate immortality and become a god." Unable to sleep, he studied it for half the night before finally discerning the words hidden between the lines. The whole book said only one thing: "eat people."

How is this washing away tribulations? Isn't it just washing yourself clean and waiting to be eaten?

Despair gradually crept into Li Fuchan's eyes.

There's no justice left.

In this world, monsters eat people and even make their food wash itself clean first.

He glanced around at the only three fellow disciples remaining beside him in the darkness, his eyes flickering.

I don't even know where I am, and I have no idea what that monster's true form is. Even if I escape, there's nowhere to run... I might as well take a gamble.

With that thought, he sank his awareness inward.

Amid a sea of chaos, an image slowly emerged.

In that image, he sat cross-legged on the ground, his hands forming seals and his eyes tightly closed as he practiced the Three Lights Purifying Tribulation Curse.

Faint light flowed around his body. Three-colored radiance streamed from the crown of his head, illuminating him until he looked as translucent as glass.

This was his sole reliance in this world after his rebirth. At the same time, this image depicted a death that would inevitably come true in his future.

The ability was terrifying.

He could watch the self in that image approach death step by step, then advance that death at the crucial moment, gaining everything he possessed at the instant of death: cultivation, magical treasures, consciousness, and cultivation methods.

But the price was also enormous.

Like a usurious loan, interest piled upon interest, mounting layer by layer.

Once he took a Death Advance, his tribulations would abruptly grow heavier. Where there might originally have been only one path to death, a single advance would produce two. Another would produce four, then eight, then sixteen... spreading like layer upon layer of spiderweb until he was wrapped tight in a hopeless deathtrap.

Even without actively running a simulation, those images of death concealed in the chaos would draw calamities to him.

Unless he had reached the end of every road and river, he would never use it.

But now he stood at the edge of the cliff, with nowhere left to retreat.

Besides, having a cheat and not using it was different from having no cheat at all.

Fortunately, so long as those Tribulation Qi remained concealed and dormant within the chaos, he would not drop dead immediately.

Thus, without hesitation, he drove a strand of awareness into an image of death and began the simulation.

At that moment, the Li Fuchan in the image was sitting cross-legged and cultivating.

His hand seals shifted, his breathing was long and steady, and three-colored radiance slowly gathered above his head.

The first month passed. The darkness was silent, the cavern still.

The Li Fuchan in the image successfully washed away the Innate Destiny Tribulation and mastered the first layer, the Golden Light Mantra.

At the same time, an agonizing pain tore through his mind, and his memories of his previous life gradually blurred.

"Ah... who am I?"

"Oh, right. I am Li Fuchan, the seventh disciple under True Person Yu Sheng."

The fellow disciples watching him from the corner exchanged looks.

"Heh. He's gone mad too."

"Once he dies, we'll be next."

"Hmph. If it were me, I certainly wouldn't lose my mind so quickly."

"We're all livestock. What's the point of comparing ranks? Just wait."

By the second month, Li Fuchan in the image had washed away the Mortal Karma Tribulation.

Radiance flashed between his brows, and a faint, clear light sprang up around him. His flesh was as fair as jade, his joints so sharply defined they seemed almost translucent. He appeared reborn, exuding an otherworldly air that did not belong to the mortal realm.

The Bright Light Mantra was mastered...

At the same time, his memories became a complete blank.

During this period, that boy came again.

Seeing that Li Fuchan had mastered both the Golden Light and Bright Light Mantras, he clicked his tongue in wonder.

"I've never seen talent like yours among the Lower Beasts. Congratulations, Junior Brother. You're about to attain the Dao."

Li Fuchan drooled all over the floor and nodded with a foolish grin.

In the third month after the boy's departure, the transformation finally reached its last stage.

Li Fuchan washed away the Mind-Pollution Tribulation.

Greed, anger, delusion, falsehood, the seven emotions, and the six desires all melted away.

He sat upright in the center of the cavern, no longer afraid, no longer uneasy. He had even forgotten why he was sitting there and why he was practicing this method.

The Three Calamities were gone. The Treasure Light Mantra was mastered.

Golden Light, Illuminating Light, and Treasure Light surged from his sea of qi, coursing through the twelve-story tower. The Three Lights united, illuminating all ten directions.

The light burst from the crown of Li Fuchan's head like a tiny sun exploding inside the cavern, brilliantly illuminating every corner.

Everything in the cave came into clear view.

Three scrawny youths in ragged clothing huddled in a corner. Unable to open their eyes beneath that light, they raised their hands to shield their faces and looked fearfully toward the entrance.

Several lines of ancient seal script were carved into the cave wall. Under the radiance, every character stood out clearly.

"Unicorn-Hiding Shell Mountain, secret refuge in Flying Earthworm Cave."

At that moment, the figure of the boy outside the cave was finally revealed without concealment.

At the entrance stood a crimson serpent more than five feet long, its body covered in closely packed scales, each gleaming with a disgusting oily sheen.

It stood upright like a human, and atop its neck sat what was unmistakably a child's face.

That face looked straight at Li Fuchan, its eyes curved in a smile and its mouth stretched to its ears, exposing two rows of fine, sharp teeth.

Saliva ran between its teeth, dripping onto the stone floor beside its feet with a sizzling sound. It actually burned little pits into the rock.

"Good, good, good." The serpent repeated the word three times, its voice shrill as an infant's cry, filled with indescribable ecstasy and greed.

"How wonderful! A mere Lower Beast managed to draw the Three Lights into his body in such a short time. Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

Its gaze roamed over Li Fuchan's body, and it nodded in satisfaction. "A pity his mind is completely gone now. At best, he's a little smarter than a banana. If the three lights merged into concealment, he would truly be the finest of the lesser livestock."

As though something had occurred to it, it added guiltily:

"But this is good enough. Any higher, and even Master might struggle to suppress him. If he caused a commotion, I'm afraid I'd only get a few scraps."

It leaned closer, bringing a gust of rank air. "Junior Brother, come attain the Dao with me."

Li Fuchan rose with a vacant expression. "Thank you for guiding me, Senior Brother."

"You're too courteous, Junior Brother."

The snake boy led the way, glancing back from time to time.

"Junior Brother, stay close. There are plenty of turns and forks ahead. Take the wrong path, and you won't easily find your way back."

Li Fuchan followed behind and nodded, leaving a trail of drool.

The three lights around him had not receded. He shone like a walking lantern, illuminating the darkness three feet ahead and behind him.

Light spilled down from his head. His eyes were half-open, reflecting the snake boy's writhing back, yet he registered nothing.

The Three Calamities had been washed away, and his memories were empty.

At that moment, he knew nothing and feared nothing. There was even the faintest hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

The snake boy glanced back at him again, clicked its tongue twice, and muttered to itself, "Wonderful. This light shines right through him, glowing out through the cracks between his bones. Master will be so delighted he won't be able to sleep."

It twisted and turned through the darkness, heading ever deeper.

The cave walls on either side grew narrower and wetter. The ground trembled faintly underfoot, as though they were walking along the inner walls of some enormous living creature's belly.

The stench in the air grew stronger as well, pouring thickly into their noses and burrowing straight down their throats.

At last, the snake boy stopped before an opening.

This opening was different from the others. Rather than naturally formed, it looked as though something had forcibly stretched it open.

Waves of hot air surged from within, carrying the sickly sweet smell of flesh and a foul stench, washing warmly over their faces.

The snake boy dropped its smile and straightened its attire.

Its "attire" amounted to nothing more than smoothing out a few folds on its neck.

Then it bowed respectfully into the cave, its posture utterly obsequious, its five-foot-long serpentine body nearly folding in half.

"Master."

"The Lower Beast, Li Fuchan, has cultivated the Three Lights. This disciple has brought him here to pay his respects and attain true fruition."

"He has cultivated the Three Lights? Is that true?"

Echoes rang out from within.

They reverberated through the mountain's belly, rolling back and forth with a rumble that shook loose fragments of stone from the cave walls.

"Heaven truly favors me! Heaven favors me!"

"Bring him in at once!"

The snake boy hurriedly beckoned behind it and called softly, "Junior Brother, Junior Brother, hurry. Master is calling you. Go inside quickly. We mustn't keep Master waiting."

It withdrew to one side and bowed, clearing the entrance, its eyes glittering with impatience.

Li Fuchan stepped inside without the slightest hesitation.

The moment he crossed the entrance, a warm, rank gust struck him head-on, making his robes snap and flutter.

The cave was pitch-black. Suddenly, two points of emerald fire lit up in the darkness.

One on the left, one on the right, several feet apart, they illuminated layer upon layer of scales coiled around a stone pillar.

At the same time, the three lights surrounding Li Fuchan blazed uncontrollably.

Golden Light burst from his head, Illuminating Light spread from between his brows, and Treasure Light surged from his chest and abdomen. The three radiances shone together, illuminating the entire Cave Abode.

Everything inside became perfectly clear.

An enormous, terrifying head hung low, looking down at him.

Two jagged horns rose from its forehead, and hard bony protrusions covered its face, as though it wore a savage bronze mask.

"Heh, good Lower Beast. At last, you've come. My pill is about to be completed."

With that, the hideous maw abruptly opened and snapped at the drooling Li Fuchan.

Outside the vision, Li Fuchan's eyes flew open.

"Now."

His awareness took tangible form as a giant hand and seized "Li Fuchan." The next instant, the image shattered, and all things fell into oblivion.

In reality.

Li Fuchan opened his eyes and looked at the text that appeared before him.

[Consciousness]: Ninety-one days + your little finger

[Magical treasures]: None

[Cultivation]: Outer Scenery (false)—Lower Beast

[Cultivation method]: "Three Lights Purifying Tribulation Curse"

Choosing consciousness would grant him all the memories from the death image to strengthen his mind, along with part of his body after death.

Li Fuchan had no interest in examining his own corpse up close.

He chose cultivation without hesitation.

The next instant, three lights erupted from within and around his body.

Golden Light burst from his head, Illuminating Light spread from between his brows, and Treasure Light surged from his chest and abdomen.

In an instant, his entire body was purified. He transcended the mundane, like an immortal.

The three youths huddled in the corner gaped at him in disbelief.

Because this cultivation had already been washed through his cheat, it did not immediately turn Li Fuchan into an idiot.

According to the snake boy, I'll only have a chance of facing that evil flood dragon if I merge the Three Lights into concealment.

Now that he had cultivation, there was much more he could do. After carefully exploring the wonders of the Three Lights for a while, Illuminating Light stirred between Li Fuchan's brows, and his awareness grew increasingly clear. Half a day later, Li Fuchan finally understood the marvels of those three lights, and he willed them to act.

Bright light enveloped his entire body, and he suddenly vanished.