The corner of Yu Ding Zhenren's eye twitched.
The black-and-red Demonic Qi around Nezha surged along the currents of resentment and karma.
Li Jing was still kneeling on the clouds.
The warning of another's downfall lay right before his eyes.
Yu Ding Zhenren immediately turned to Yang Jian.
"Young friend Yang Jian, there is no enmity between us."
"I even helped you break the outer Array Core of Peach Mountain."
Yang Jian nodded.
"That is why I did not strike immediately."
Dark-gold flames slowly appeared in his palm.
The aura of the Hell Furnace spread from within him.
The flames did not leap at Yu Ding, yet they already made the Jade Purity Immortal Light protecting Yu Ding Zhenren waver.
Yang Jian's voice was low.
"The Heavenly Court used its decree to oppress me."
"You used your sect's rules to refuse me."
"But since my master has spoken, this karmic debt must be settled today."
Yu Ding Zhenren's expression darkened.
"You intend to seize it by force?"
Yang Jian did not deny it.
"I only wish to borrow it for a look."
"If you agree, this matter ends here."
"If you refuse, I can only take it myself."
As his words fell,
the Hell Furnace spun with a thunderous roar.
The dark-gold divine flames did not burn his flesh, but pressed directly against the laws surrounding Yu Ding Zhenren.
Hum!
Within Yu Ding Zhenren, the Eight-Nine Arcane Art began circulating on its own.
A Yuqing golden body manifested behind him.
The golden body had barely formed before the dark-gold divine flames coiled around it.
Yu Ding Zhenren's expression changed drastically.
These flames were actually refining the laws of his golden body!
"These flames... can actually tear apart Yuqing dao patterns!"
He hurriedly roused his immortal power.
But Yang Jian had just refined the Heavenly River Grand Formation, and the Hell Furnace had already devoured the water-element law.
With a sweep of its flames, strands of dao patterns were forcibly dragged out of the golden light protecting Yu Ding Zhenren.
Those dao patterns fell into the furnace's mouth and instantly became pure essence.
Yu Ding Zhenren let out a muffled groan.
Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
He finally understood that Yang Jian was not merely trying to frighten him.
If he delayed any longer, this furnace would refine his Eight-Nine Arcane Art out of him, bit by bit.
By then, what he surrendered would not be merely a cultivation art.
It would also be his own cultivation attainments.
"Stop!"
Yu Ding Zhenren cried sharply.
"I will hand it over!"
The dark-gold divine flames stopped three inches from his brow.
Yang Jian raised his eyes.
"The complete method."
Yu Ding Zhenren's heart bled.
But he no longer had a choice.
Haotian was about to lead the campaign in person, and Daoist Randeng might also enter the fray.
If Yang Jian and Nezha trapped him here at Peach Mountain until he died, he would not even have a chance to return to Kunlun and report.
He raised a hand and touched his brow.
Jade Purity Immortal Light gathered little by little.
A moment later, a golden Mystic Slip emerged from his brow.
Eight Yuqing patterns intersected across the Mystic Slip, while a ninth flickered in and out of sight.
It recorded the cultivation methods of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, from the introductory stage to great mastery, as well as some insights Yu Ding Zhenren had gained over his years of cultivation.
To condense this Mystic Slip, he had severed a strand of his Yuqing Dao resonance.
Once word of this debt reached Kunlun, it would certainly not be brushed aside.
Pale-faced, Yu Ding Zhenren sent the Mystic Slip before Yang Jian.
"The Eight-Nine Arcane Art is here."
"Young friend Yang Jian, I hope you remember that what I have handed over today is not merely a cultivation art."
"It is also a karmic debt."
Yang Jian took the Mystic Slip.
His divine sense swept over it.
Countless profound characters poured into his sea of consciousness.
Transformations of the flesh.
Evading disasters and tribulations.
An indestructible golden body.
Rebirth from a drop of blood.
This arcane art was entirely different from the domineering Divine Elephant Suppressing Prison Force.
The Divine Elephant Suppressing Prison Force suppressed all arts through sheer strength.
The Eight-Nine Arcane Art, however, emphasized transformation, seamless harmony, evading tribulations, and protecting the body.
A keen gleam flashed in Yang Jian's eyes.
Master was right.
This art really was useful to him.
He put away the Mystic Slip and looked at Yu Ding Zhenren.
"You helped me find the Array Core earlier. I will remember that kindness."
"The karmic debt of borrowing your art today ends here."
"You may leave."
Upon hearing those words, Yu Ding Zhenren finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He did not dare linger.
With a sweep of Jade Purity Immortal Light, he became a streak of escaping light and headed straight for Kunlun Mountain.
This time, Yang Jian did not stop him.
Watching Yu Ding Zhenren's disheveled figure recede into the distance, Nezha clicked his tongue.
"Senior brother, you're just letting him go?"
Yang Jian lowered his head to look at the golden Mystic Slip in his hand.
"He helped me once."
"I took his cultivation art, but I also spared his life."
Nezha smiled.
"All right, you have the final say."
He turned toward the Thirty-Three Heavens.
In the distance, the emperor's might grew increasingly oppressive.
The Heavenly Emperor's War Banner had already torn through the clouds.
Haotian's Imperial Chariot was descending.
Demonic flames flickered in Nezha's eyes.
"But that big one up in the sky has never helped us."
Yang Jian tightened his grip on the Mystic Slip.
Sixty divine elephant particles thundered in unison.
"Once I comprehend this art,"
"I will call Haotian to account for his crimes."
At the same time,
inside the Ruined Temple at Guanjiangkou,
Gu Changqing sat cross-legged deep within the divine statue, and the system panel before him suddenly lit up.
[Ding! Your disciple "Yang Jian" has been detected successfully comprehending the inheritance imprint of the "Eight-Nine Arcane Art"!] [Yang Jian's originally destined master-disciple karma with the Chan Sect has deviated further!] [Ten-thousandfold critical hit return triggered!] [Congratulations, host! You have obtained: one million years of pure cultivation!] [Congratulations, host! You have obtained: "Eight-Nine Arcane Art · Origin Dao Principles"!] [Congratulations, host! You have obtained: a moderate amount of Orthodox Xuanmen fortune!] [System notice: the "Eight-Nine Arcane Art" and the "Divine Elephant Suppressing Prison Force" both belong to the fleshly body proving the Dao system. Fusion derivation is possible. The outcome of the derivation is unknown!]
Looking at the system notice, Gu Changqing's lips curved slightly upward.
"Fuse them."
As his voice fell,
deep within the divine statue, two body-refining Dao principles
collided with a thunderous crash.
One was weighty and domineering, as though it would suppress all the heavens.
The other was profound and ever-changing, flowing with boundless vitality.
Outside the Ruined Temple, the sound of the wind abruptly ceased.
Within the Divine Realm, all the incense vow power surged backward at once.