Chapter 413: Words as Law, Killing All Hopes

"What do you mean?"

Jin Miaoshan shrugged.

"This divine ability is best used as a support. The stronger the target, the stronger the backlash. Similarly, it can also be used on oneself. Consider this: What would happen if the old monkey said, 'I am a revered Soul Transformation expert'?"

Wang Yu's pupils constricted.

"Die from the backlash?"

"Exactly. One reason is that the old monkey's physical body is too weak to withstand it. Another is that his mastery of the 'Words Become Law' realm isn't sufficient to achieve it. You'll understand once you see how he uses it."

Their attention returned to the battlefield.

After the Demonic Relic of Light was seized, Jiuxie was pushed to the brink. However, as a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, he possessed more than one trump card.

Demonic patterns, very familiar to Wang Yu, spread across Jiuxie's body, causing his flesh to mutate and producing the alluring sounds of countless Heavenly Demon evil thoughts.

Rustling sounds, like arthropods scuttling in the dark, or eerie whispers from the abyss, covered an area of three hundred miles.

The Demonic Embryo Body!

He was certain that Jiuxie was activating the Demonic Embryo Body's ability: Myriad Transformations of the Heavenly Demon!

Having cultivated for longer, Jiuxie naturally mastered this ability. Despite the considerable distance, Wang Yu felt a long-absent hunger stir within him.

Mutual devouring was the destiny of those who cultivated the Demonic Embryo Profound Origin Secret Incantation. Jiuxie Jianjun's Demonic Embryo Body was not as complete as his, having not yet undergone the process of acquired traits reversing innate.

It was likely that the Heavenly Demon evil thoughts he absorbed weren't pure enough, nor in sufficient quantity. When it came to cultivating high-difficulty secret arts, no one could compare to Wang Yu.

This was talent.

Moreover, the Demonic Embryo secret art had been forcefully enhanced by the Placement Bar, elevating it by an entire rank. In this regard, Wang Yu held the advantage.

However, this didn't mean the opponent wasn't formidable. In terms of development, Jiuxie clearly had the upper hand.

At this moment, the characteristics of the Demonic Embryo's Myriad Transformations of the Heavenly Demon manifested. His flesh visibly mutated towards that of a demonic beast, both strengthening his physical weaknesses and rapidly healing his injuries.

Under this initial transformation, it was still unclear what kind of demonic beast bloodline power was at play.

True Word King coughed, his gaze as calm as an ancient well.

"You're not wearing any clothes."

In an instant, Jiuxie's clothes tore into shreds, revealing him as a naked demon. He instinctively covered his groin, then casually let go.

Patriarch Jin Xi's eyes widened, and her aura became razor-sharp.

The Shadow Mastiff King, however, burst into laughter.

"Old monkey, you shameless scoundrel."

Though a curse, it was mostly playful teasing.

At the same time, his figure had already leapt behind Jiuxie, kicking out with his leg. The old monkey cooperated at just the right moment.

"This kick will break through everything."

The demonic beast bloodline brought by Myriad Transformations of the Heavenly Demon rapidly healed him. His Sacred Evil Sword propelled him forward, his target clearly True Word King.

Patriarch Jin Xi flicked her whisk, which transformed into countless golden threads that firmly bound Jiuxie. She then slammed Jiuxie left and right into the ground like swatting a fly, making the already shattered earth even more desolate.

It was clear that Jiuxie was resisting with all his might.

However, the sheer strength of the three late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators was overwhelming. Their rapid yet continuous assault made it impossible for him to injure any of them; he was toyed with like a puppet.

Furthermore, apart from the Shadow Mastiff King who had used his profound intent, the others hadn't gotten serious yet. Their innate divine abilities, life-bound artifacts... none had been used.

"Old monkey, let's finish this quickly and go back. Stop playing around."

The Mastiff King interjected, speaking to True Word King.

He then abruptly revealed his true form.

This time, it wasn't a spectral mastiff but the true body of a late-stage Rank 4 Demon King. The giant mastiff was over three hundred meters long, its paws wreathed in black flames.

The black flames burning on its shoulders formed cloud patterns, resembling shoulder armor and symbolizing a certain power.

An endless light of nether flames gathered into a black orb in its mouth.

This was the Mastiff King's innate divine ability, Shadow Flame Radiance. Condensing it in its mouth to fire a beam was just one manifestation, yet also its most concentrated and powerful use.

In less than half a second of charging, Patriarch Jin Xi flung Jiuxie towards it, and the old monkey spoke again.

"Within thirty zhang ahead, escape techniques are forbidden."

Boom!

This time they got serious. Inside the Shadow Flame beam, Jiuxie let out a horrific scream. No matter how astonishing his power, he could not escape the trio's encirclement.

The bloodline power gained from Myriad Transformations of the Heavenly Demon ultimately had its limits. His flesh and bones dissolved within the beam, and though flesh buds writhed, they could no longer restore him to his original state.

Three seconds later, the surging beam vanished.

Jiuxie's exploded body fell limply to the ground, his breathing and heartbeat completely gone. His grey Nascent Soul, bearing the Sacred Evil Sword, escaped. Although it appeared as an infant, its expression was incredibly ferocious, as it glared fiercely at the three, as if trying to remember them.

He desperately employed a teleportation technique. However, ripples appeared in space, but they didn't carry him three thousand li away. A purplish-gold seal in the void compressed space tightly.

If normal space was like sand, then now it was like steel. Trying to pry steel apart with the force one uses to rake sand would never succeed.

"The Space-Suppressing Seal!"

As a secret heirloom of the Tianchi Jin Clan, Jiuxie Jianjun had naturally heard of it, but he never expected it would one day be used against him.

"The demon race, the Golden Pagoda..."

The helpers Wang Yu invited were too formidable. Three against one, and they even blocked his escape route. Recalling all the pursuits he'd endured, Jiuxie let out an unwilling roar to the sky.

"—Ahhhhh! Wang Yu, you despicable, shameless wretch! If you dare, come out and face this Lord!"

Wang Yu, observing in secret, showed no intention of moving.

The price he paid to enlist the demon race's help was not small, and he also owed Jin Miaoshan a favor. To relieve the gloom in his heart, it would be disastrous if he made a mistake and was captured.

It was fine to act after everything was settled.

Jiuxie's Nascent Soul raged impotently. Seeing this, Patriarch Jin Xi conjured a golden cauldron-shaped artifact and hurled it at Jiuxie.

The old monkey spoke again.

"Lose all intellect for a moment."

The power displayed by "Words Become Law" in the old monkey's hands was utterly unreasonable. The golden cauldron instantly absorbed Jiuxie, and the Shadow Mastiff King cooperatively spat out black flames.

Amidst horrific screams, Jiuxie gradually lost his vitality.

His soul scattered, with no chance of rebirth.

Throughout the entire battle, Jiuxie had barely put up any decent resistance. Frankly, even if Wang Yu were in his shoes, he wouldn't have had many good options.

He could only rely on his physical body to endure it.

"Truly formidable."

Jin Miaoshan murmured, then stepped out from under the protection of the Golden Light Stealth technique with Wang Yu. Seeing him approach, the Shadow Mastiff King cupped his fists and said,

"Alchemist Wang, the matter here is concluded. I hope you won't forget your promise."

"Of course."

Wang Yu nodded in affirmation, his gaze turning to the old monkey.

After the battle, True Word King's aura dropped by one realm, and his face became quite pale. His frail body developed numerous cracks, like porcelain.

This was the side effect of "Words Become Law." He had already tried his best to restrain its use; if he boasted too much, he could easily destroy himself.

Even so, this divine ability had countless applications and was incredibly practical.

After a moment of contemplation, Wang Yu couldn't help but ask, "Senior True Word King, can your 'Words Become Law' technique be taught to outsiders?"

The old monkey glanced at him in surprise.

"You want to learn it?"

"Of course."

"You can't learn it."

He waved his hand, seemingly finding his brief dismissal a bit perfunctory, and then began to explain earnestly.

"'Words Become Law' originates from the inheritance of Immortals from the Upper Realm. It must be cultivated in conjunction with the 'Nine-Character True Word Incantation.' Without the protection of the True Word Power cultivated by this method, the backlash alone would shatter your cultivation path. Furthermore, before cultivating this divine ability, one must remain silent for twenty years and adhere to strict precepts for twenty years, ultimately forging a 'Heavenly Edict' in one's mouth, also known as 'speaking with the Heavenly Edict, words can re-establish order.'"

So that's how it is.

Wang Yu had already condensed a Demonic Nascent Soul, establishing his cultivation foundation. Even if he were to switch cultivation methods, it would have to be within this range.

The 'Nine-Character True Word Incantation' was clearly impossible for him to cultivate. If it were merely for absorbing True Word Power, it might be manageable, but this technique was for withstanding backlash, and the Placement Bar couldn't resolve that.

Forty years of silence and adhering to precepts just to achieve initial success.

It was indeed not suitable for him.

Wang Yu felt an inevitable regret but didn't press the matter.

"Very well, thank you, Senior True Word, for clarifying. As for Jiuxie's corpse, I wonder if the three seniors would be willing to let me have it?"

According to the unspoken rules of the cultivation world, spoils of war belonged to the one who obtained them. Even mercenaries followed this: whoever killed it claimed it.

Hearing this, the Mastiff King nodded in agreement.

"You can have it, just refine a batch of pills for me."

The old monkey also nodded repeatedly.

"That's my intention as well."

The two demons then looked at Patriarch Jin Xi. The female cultivator seemed confused until Jin Miaoshan tugged at her sleeve, upon which she readily nodded in agreement.

Jiuxie's storage ring was divided equally among the three, with Wang Yu receiving no share.

He was already content with obtaining the Demonic Embryo Body and saw no need to ask for more. Once the spoils were distributed, the two demons quickly departed, returning to the Northern Shattered Mountains.

As for the pill refining agreement, they would come to him when they had a need.

After this incident, Wang Yu's true identity was undoubtedly exposed. Both parties could now communicate through the Blood-Eyed Demonic Flood Dragon as an intermediary, which was quite convenient.

Wang Yu, Jin Miaoshan, and Patriarch Jin Xi then flew south.

With the major threat resolved, it was time for Wang Yu to return to his sect.

He first needed to obtain the Nascent Soul inheritance from Cold Blood Peak. Only with it could he use the Placement Bar to deduce cultivation methods for the Soul Transformation stage.

The Soul Transformation inheritance passed down by ancient demons, according to the beast god's remnant will, was not inherently problematic. It was simply because the ancient demons' level was too high. The unconscious demonic corruption they emanated caused those who cultivated it to lose themselves. This could be resisted through one's spiritual realm; if one's Dao Heart was firm enough, resisting the corruption would not be an issue.

However... the specific realm of spiritual cultivation required was still unclear.

This gave rise to another path: creating one's own cultivation method for the Soul Transformation realm. Everything would then be fine; as long as one's talent was sufficient, one could smoothly cultivate to that realm.

The leading righteous sword sect on Lake Tai used this method. Why did they need to create their own cultivation methods if they didn't cultivate ancient demon inheritances? This was related to the origin.

The origin of cultivation methods in the Ice Prison Realm stemmed earliest from Immortals who descended from the Immortal Palace and the divine generals accompanying them. After the Ice Prison Realm's transformation was complete and the first ancient demon was sealed, the Demonic Dao came into being.

The primary purpose of transmitting these cultivation methods was to train a group of jailers. The Ice Clan, as the indigenous race of this realm, were the first to receive this inheritance.

The rise of the human race came after the divine generals' descendants multiplied. When the ancient Immortal Dynasty was established, some of these individuals remained, while others followed the Immortals back to the Upper Realm.

The Ice Clan began to be slaughtered and purged.

The frozen earth started to recede, eventually leading to a prosperous ancient era.

Given that the Ice Prison Realm's limit was the Soul Transformation stage, and to progress further, one had to leave this prison, the upper limit of the cultivation methods taught was the Nascent Soul stage, for easier control over subordinates.

The origin of the Lake Tai sect's lineage was precisely this.

Their ancestors had produced many astonishingly talented individuals. Generation after generation continued to deduce higher realms, thus giving rise to Soul Transformation stage cultivation methods.

Even so, there were actually only three such methods: the Way of the Sword, the Way of Grand Yin, and the Way of Illusory Form, originating respectively from the Void Heaven Sword Sect of this era, and the Grand Yin Sect and Illusory Form Sacred Sect of ancient times.

It is rumored that Moon-Gazing Palace, one of the Seven Righteous Sects, also had deep ties with the Grand Yin Sect. The secret to the Void Heaven Sword Sect having multiple revered Soul Transformation experts lay here.

On the Scarlet Kite side, due to the characteristics of demonic inheritances, except for the Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect, which had managed to avoid demonic corruption, the strongest cultivators in the other dominant demonic sects were only at the half-step Soul Transformation realm and dared not break through.

They were fully aware of the hidden secrets within. Thus, the Spirit-Reversing Blood Sect's experiments using Xie Xie'an as material made sense, and this wasn't even the first time.

Seeking the Dao, finding the Dao... one's success is built upon countless bones.

This was the principle.

As long as Wang Yu returned to his sect and obtained the proper inheritance, completed his subsequent cultivation, and then deduced the next stage, he could perfectly resolve the issues of the Soul Transformation path.

He would truly deviate from the path set by the ancient demons, forging a new path within the effective framework of the Demonic Dao.

Of course, he could also return to the Frozen Demon Seal grounds and try to obtain the Frozen Demon inheritance from there. Perhaps even the Rank 6 Void Refining cultivation methods beyond Soul Transformation could be forcefully deduced.

The Placement Bar had no limits!

At least, none had been discovered yet.

During their journey south, the three quickly arrived at Yeqiong Prefecture. From here, Jin Miaoshan and Patriarch Jin Xi needed to travel east to Yunling Prefecture to manage the local Golden Pagoda's affairs.

"Brother Wang, next time we meet, Miaoshan will surely meet you as a Nascent Soul cultivator."

"Then I wish you good luck. The situation in Yunling is dangerous. If possible, please help me keep an eye on the Yellow Springs Temple's situation, especially the traces of the Ksitigarbha lineage."

Before Jin Miaoshan could reply, Patriarch Jin Xi frowned and said, "Involving ourselves in Fellow Daoist Wang's private matters this time has already broken the rules. Why must Miaoshan do such a thing again?"

It was evident that this meticulous Patriarch Jin Xi was a bit rigid in her thinking.

"Under great changes, no one can remain aloof. If Jin Miaoshan doesn't do it, other successors certainly will."

Patriarch Jin Xi fell silent, contemplating for a long while before saying, "Then let's exchange it for that pill refining opportunity, so Miaoshan won't break the Golden Pagoda's rules."

Hearing this, Wang Yu raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure?"

"Naturally."

"Very well, I hope you won't regret it."

Wang Yu gave Patriarch Jin Xi a deep look, then secretly exchanged a sound transmission with Jin Miaoshan. When they finally parted ways, the two shared a knowing wink.

He continued south back to his sect, while the two headed east to Yunling.

Suddenly, Patriarch Jin Xi asked, "What did you two just communicate via sound transmission?"

Jin Miaoshan replied with a grin.

"Nothing much, just talking about Jinlin."