Chapter 576: Demonic Heart Provokes Anger, Enlightenment of the Five Methods

He already had a clear plan for his cultivation path in the Deity Transformation stage.

The ascension of Dharma Intent to Dharma Domain was already a major challenge. However, if he could search thoroughly for treasures across the entire realm, he was sure to find items that could aid his enlightenment. For this, he needed Jin Manlou and Wanbaolou to provide information on the world's rare treasures.

He would then go claim them one by one.

Secondly, the issue of increasing his Demonic Essence in the Deity Transformation stage, which could have been resolved through a steady progression, had become an insurmountable chasm due to time constraints.

Although less than sixty years had passed since his breakthrough to the Deity Transformation stage, his cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching the mid-Deity Transformation stage. Nevertheless, accumulating spiritual power was ultimately a slow, arduous process.

With the help of his "placement bar," his Heavenly Demon Myriad Transformations granted him partial true spirit aptitude. He also cultivated a fifth-tier demonic cultivation technique known as the "Ice Luan Transforming into Phoenix Scripture."

The Myriad Transformation Ice Phoenix cultivated extreme cold demonic essence, and after reverting to his original form, he could seamlessly convert this increased demonic essence into Frozen Demonic Essence without any loss.

Such a powerful technique could save him countless hours.

Even though later stages of Deity Transformation cultivation required increasingly vast amounts of accumulated Demonic Essence, this method could still save him several centuries.

Given two centuries, the Demonic Essence problem would resolve itself.

This method was even faster than relying on grand human path elixirs. It's worth noting that even in his Myriad Transformation Ice Phoenix form, the ascetic cultivator in his "placement bar" remained Wang Yu himself.

It wasn't "Ice Phoenix Wang Yu." The Heavenly Demon Myriad Transformations couldn't trick this cheat, which was truly frustrating.

However, as the saying goes, Dao Integration mighty cultivators were about to descend.

Like a guillotine poised to fall at any moment, how could he wait two hundred years? He wished he could immediately cultivate a perfected body and find a way to break through to the Void Refinement stage.

At that point, everything would be vastly different.

—Alas, how difficult, how bitter!

The joy of his recent breakthrough was immediately dispelled by the immense pressure looming over him. Reviewing all his methods, Wang Yu found the source of his extraordinary combat power lay in three areas.

First, his simultaneous cultivation of both Dharma and Body inherently made him superior.

Second, his foundation was profound; his cultivation, forged through arduous effort, was exceptionally solid. He had also consumed countless rare treasures and practiced various wondrous techniques, repeatedly breaking his limits, making him undoubtedly invincible among those of the same stage.

Thirdly, his divine abilities were invincible, and his capacity for deriving techniques was unparalleled. The divine abilities and secret techniques he mastered often reached the pinnacle, far surpassing those of his peers, complemented by endless, constantly emerging variations.

This combination allowed him to achieve unprecedented accomplishments.

In other words, even in the Deity Transformation stage, he could fight across multiple realms, exhibiting formidable, heaven-defying prowess. Now that he had broken through to the mid-Deity Transformation stage, he felt his raw strength had surged once more.

If given the chance to fight Celestial Mother Su again, he was confident he could crush her.

His combat power now directly approached the peak of the Deity Transformation stage, only slightly weaker than the two ultimate peak cultivators, Refining Heaven and Grand Void.

Unfortunately, in the current Ice Prison Realm, those who weren't dead had fled.

Besides Xie Xiean, he couldn't even find a third Deity Transformation cultivator. It was clear the battle at the Grand Void Sword Sect's mountain gate had left endless lingering effects, making even finding an assistant difficult.

Among the remaining cultivators, quite a few possessed the potential to break through to Deity Transformation, but it was uncertain how many would ultimately succeed.

His five-year secluded cultivation period concluded.

Furthermore, with the Yama Emperor's Sword in hand, the endless Yin Corpse Qi contained within it could naturally aid him in deducing and cultivating Corpse Demon secret techniques, so he didn't need to remain confined to one place.

Upon emerging from seclusion, Wang Yu had refined both the Emperor's Sword and the Grand Harmony Blood Cauldron with new precious materials. The former, infused with Void Gold, advanced further, reaching the peak fifth-tier.

It became another killing weapon in Wang Yu's hands, second only to the Sun-Piercing Demonic Bow.

The latter was upgraded to low-grade fifth-tier, gaining spiritual sentience after fusing with the Myriad Spirits Bloodstone. He also added other precious materials, causing a new precious furnace to be reborn in the center of the blood cauldron.

Suspended within the cauldron, it had no legs or ears, resembling a mysterious iron sphere.

This was in fact a furnace within the cauldron, named the Immortal Ascension Furnace. The two were integrated as one. Its function was to use the Immortal Ascension Blood Runes to forcibly elevate the highest-grade precious elixir within the cauldron by one minor realm when it was nearing completion.

While it couldn't cross major elixir realms, it could add considerable medicinal efficacy to peak-grade precious elixirs, allowing them to reach a maximum of half-step sixth-tier. This represented the culmination of Wang Yu's alchemy skills and the utmost limit of what he could achieve by integrating the principles of water-fire synergy and yin-yang interdependence.

After re-refining, the Grand Harmony Blood Cauldron's original abilities were also preserved. It could absorb the profound essence of elixir rhymes by refining fifth-tier precious elixirs, thereby increasing its own grade.

This would significantly enhance the effect of the Immortal Ascension Furnace within it.

Its limit was also peak fifth-tier, which meant Wang Yu would need to continuously refine elixirs over many years to gradually improve it—a long-term goal.

Previously, the Azure Dragon Demonic Venerable had gifted him a fifth-tier alchemy technique.

Named the "Heavenly Demon Elixir Transformation True Art," it only contained profound techniques but no elixir recipes, and wasn't entirely suitable for human cultivators, so he had rarely studied it.

Now, he could gradually place it on his agenda to strengthen his alchemy realm. After all, with his Myriad Transformation talent, this technique could also unleash its maximum potential.

Most importantly, its innate quality was extremely high. If he could master it to perfection and then use the "placement bar" for deduction, he could even instantly master peak sixth-tier alchemy.

While it would immensely benefit his cultivation path, the current situation meant its importance had to be postponed; it wasn't as critical for now.

Afterwards, he officially emerged from seclusion.

Wang Yu contacted Jin Miaoshan using a communication secret treasure, asking her to transmit all information regarding rare treasures that enhanced comprehension. When it came to appraising treasures and their origins,

only Jin Manlou and Wanbaolou possessed the most comprehensive information in the world.

After entrusting this matter to Jin Miaoshan, Wang Yu continued to cultivate in Longevity City. He had originally planned a ten-year seclusion, setting a corresponding ten-year cultivation task.

As it turned out, he had achieved all his goals within five years.

Waiting for Jin Miaoshan to gather the information would take at least several days, which was a good time to check on the "fodder" Longevity Patriarch had collected for him.

Although he viewed human lives as mere livestock, he only killed evil cultivators, demonic overlords, or enemies, never purely benevolent individuals. Despite being a Demonic Venerable, he was in fact both righteous and evil.

Otherwise, the proud daughter of Thunderfire Sect would not have held him in such high regard back then.

With nothing else to do, he decided to go collect all the "fodder" for the next five years.

To his surprise,

as soon as he emerged from underground, he witnessed an astonishing scene.

The entire city, every street, was filled with ragged, bruised demonic cultivators. The resentful evil qi entwined around them pierced the clouds and soared into the sky. Even after years of living in Scarlet Kite, he had rarely seen so many heinous villains.

As soon as he appeared, without concealing his aura,

Longevity Patriarch, who was arranging the day's "fodder," quickly rushed over and immediately knelt, saluting, "Greetings, Venerable One, upon your emergence from seclusion!"

Wang Yu then spoke.

"Is Scarlet Kite now filled with this kind of scum?"

Longevity Patriarch offered a bitter smile.

"I don't know which immoral person spread the news of the Sword Sect's mountain gate battle throughout the world, revealing the hidden truth that the Deity Transformation Venerables had fled together, abandoning their ancestral legacies to seek their own paths.

"This fostered countless fanatics, some deranged, others reckless, all seeking to gain greater power in the shortest time possible, which led to demonic cultivators butchering Scarlet Kite.

"Thousands of miles are desolate; even 'nine out of ten houses empty' cannot describe the chaos and cruelty of this era. Mortals are nearly extinct, and cultivators slaughter each other, devouring people to refine evil techniques. If my Longevity City hadn't been protected by Nascent Soul cultivators, most of us would have perished."

Wang Yu didn't know who had spread this news.

The scene during the Sword Sect's decisive battle was chaotic, and countless people witnessed the entire process and were privy to the truth, so it was only a matter of time before the news spread. However, it shouldn't have spread throughout the world so immediately after the Deity Transformation cultivators had departed.

There must have been a hidden mastermind at play.

This conspiracy, without needing much thought, must have been orchestrated by the demon race. They wished for humanity to go extinct, and Wang Yu was the only person they were on good terms with.

He had also rejected their invitation to seek refuge and would sooner or later die at the hands of a Dao Integration mighty cultivator. Thus, they no longer cared about appearances. Moreover, since the news was bound to spread eventually, pushing it along only accelerated the arrival of a chaotic era.

It wasn't the main catastrophe.

They likely estimated Wang Yu wouldn't need to trouble them.

Little did they know.

Wang Yu was already simmering with suppressed anger, and seeing such a tragic state of humanity, his fury soared to the heavens. All past considerations and friendships were thrown aside.

It was both displaced anger and genuine rage, with an additional objective.

He also wanted to unleash his fury and vent, to relieve the pent-up frustration in his heart!

After Longevity finished speaking,

Wang Yu asked,

"How much of the population remains in Scarlet Kite now?"

"Well... centuries ago, there might have been over a billion, but now it's probably less than ten million. Most of these are mortal settlements protected by Nascent Soul cultivators. There are also countless demonic cultivators still performing evil rituals in the Taihu Lake region; I estimate that area isn't much better off either."

Less than ten million...

Even though Wang Yu was mentally prepared, he hadn't expected the situation to be this dire. This wasn't just about causing a generational gap in the cultivation world; it was about severing the human lineage entirely.

"How could the losses be so heavy?"

"Venerable One, do not forget there is an ancient demon wandering outside. Wherever the Ancient Demon of Life passes, all living beings vanish; humans, demons, and spirits alike all turn into mummified corpses, dying after their life essence is drained."

Wang Yu fell silent, remaining quiet for a long time.

He could only continuously recite the Demon Cleansing Heart Mantra and persist in resolving the demonic corruption, hoping that one day he could completely eradicate this immortal ancient demon!

Several days later,

Wang Yu received a message from Jin Miaoshan, reviewing the rare treasures of this realm. The recorded information wasn't extensive, but aside from the enlightenment-enhancing treasures taken by the Deity Transformation Venerables, there were still five kinds useful to him.

First, the Ancient Enlightenment Tea Tree in the Boundary-Breaking Mountains, a supreme treasure of the demon race. A single leaf could grant a Deity Transformation cultivator three years of enlightenment and could be used in conjunction with other secret treasures.

Second, the ruins of the ancient Buddhist White Dragon Temple, where a spiritual root named the Bodhi Tree once stood. Although it had already turned to dust, the Bodhi fruits it once bore could help people achieve sudden enlightenment, allowing them to experience a hundred cycles of reincarnation in a single night.

The seeds from the fruits, named Bodhi Beads, when carried, could also enhance the comprehension of Deity Transformation cultivators. Its effect was moderate, but its advantage lay in its longevity; simply carrying it was equivalent to a permanent enhancement.

It could also be used in conjunction with other enlightenment-enhancing treasures.

This information was provided by Wanbaolou. The Bodhi Beads were held by the sect master of the Five Absolutes Gate, a top-tier force in the Taihu Lake region, who was a peak Nascent Soul cultivator.

Third, the Yellow Sorghum Wine, a unique product of the ancient Wine God Sect. A single sip allowed one to experience the future in a dream, feeling as if a whole lifetime had genuinely passed, then suddenly returning to the moment of drinking the wine, as if restarting a life.

This matured one's disposition, greatly increased comprehension, and strengthened one's will.

Although it could only be consumed once and the experience was merely an illusion, only familiar figures would be remembered; the rest was like a fleeting dream, where one knew the experience but not the true appearance.

It was dreamlike and ethereal, like living a lifetime.

This could truly be called—a Yellow Sorghum Dream!

This information was provided by Jin Manlou. It was a treasure of the Heavenly Dream Island Master of the Chaotic Ancient East Sea, with only three *hu* remaining. This person was also a peak Nascent Soul cultivator.

Fourth, the Life-Death Mayfly Gu.

Mayflies are born in the morning and die in the evening, with a short lifespan of only one day. This Gu was even more exquisite, as it could make the afflicted constantly repeat the mayfly's short life cycle.

There was great terror between life and death. If one could see through it, their comprehension would undergo a transformative improvement; if not, they would sink into the cycle of life and death, never to awaken again.

This Gu came from the ancient Ten Thousand Insects Sect. Neither living nor dead, resembling both an insect and an artifact, it had no concept of lifespan and thus had survived to this day, serving as the Ten Thousand Insects Sect's supreme treasure.

Currently, it was located in a little-known area.

This area was named the Heavenly Burial Platform, a perilous forbidden area within the Taihu Lake Spiritual Domain. After investigating, Jin Manlou kept its existence secret, secretly dispatching powerful individuals to try and retrieve the treasure, but they had not yet succeeded.

This fifth method of enlightenment was even more extraordinary.

It was a secret technique named "Sage's Plunder," inscribed on a Heaven's Fortune Stele in the ruins of the ancient Qilin tribal land. Anyone could comprehend it; however, while it was easy to get started, it was difficult to survive.

This was because the secret technique allowed one to contend with the Heavenly Dao, akin to walking on a ten-thousand-foot precipice with one foot in the air. If one couldn't make a breakthrough between life and death, they would be struck by a Heavenly Dao tribulation and vanish into thin air.

If one could fortunately survive, they could "plunder the Heavenly Heart."

This was like becoming one with the Heavenly Dao. Although only for a brief moment, one could comprehend the profound mysteries of countless divine abilities and cultivation techniques, truly achieving perfect mastery in an instant. The lingering aftertaste and memories after it ended could also greatly increase one's comprehension, making them an unprecedented genius.

However, this "Sage's Plunder" secret technique might allow one to unleash their potential and succeed once by sheer luck, but it would be difficult to succeed a second time. Those geniuses who had succeeded once had experienced the profound wonders of the Heavenly Heart state.

It was like the most addictive substance in the world; they simply couldn't resist attempting "Sage's Plunder" a second time, always thinking, "What if I'm special?"

Thinking, "Heaven favors and loves me..." Thus, even if they were lucky enough to survive a second attempt, they couldn't help but attempt it a third time.

With the Heavenly Heart upon them, it was like merging with the Heavenly Dao.

Countless Dao principles and origins could be seen at a glance—how alluring was that?!!!

Wang Yu surveyed the five methods of enlightenment.

The first four could all be attempted.

Only "Sage's Plunder" made him hesitant. The Heavenly Heart effect was akin to merging with the Heavenly Dao—was this truly a secret technique a mere Deity Transformation cultivator could practice?

It involved profound Dao principles, something only Dao Integration cultivators could initially touch upon and only true Immortals could fully grasp. This "Sage's Plunder" secret technique was profound and obscure, yet also a dangerous art.

He wondered where the ancient Qilin race had obtained it.

If he claimed his "placement bar" could clear all difficulties, then gaining entry to "Sage's Plunder," or even obtaining the experience of cultivating it to perfection, wouldn't be difficult; it would simply be a matter of time.

But this secret technique was extraordinary.

It involved the Heavenly Dao, and also touched upon the one weakness the "placement bar" had been powerless against for hundreds of years: comprehension!

Only by Wang Yu continuously improving himself and broadening his horizons,

and by improvements gained from learning all techniques, would the "placement bar" recognize it. So, what would happen if his "self" in the "placement bar" activated "Sage's Plunder"?

It was unknown!

Would it be plunder upon plunder? Eight layers of Heavenly Heart? Or would he be directly influenced by the Heavenly Dao, permanently merging and losing his self-identity? He didn't know, nor could he deduce it.

Such a perilous secret technique surely had hidden side effects.

Furthermore, merging with the Heavenly Dao to obtain the Heavenly Heart was inherently unreliable. The Heavenly Dao had existed since the birth of the world; compared to Wang Yu's age, it was like the difference between a grain of sand and the vastness of the universe.

Would the grain of sand control the universe, or the universe control the grain of sand?

Did he even need to think about it?

Therefore, although this method was mysterious and exquisite, Wang Yu didn't dare to look at it closely for now. However, he could make a copy and record it for his collection, for when he became an Immortal Ancestor someday.

Then studying this secret technique might prove useful.

Of the five methods of enlightenment, only the first four were temporarily useful to Wang Yu. Moreover, his "Vast Mortal World Heart Power Secret Technique" also had the effect of enhancing comprehension and gaining the merits of a hundred cycles of reincarnation.

However, cultivation was difficult. Each "mortal world reincarnation" experience was like undergoing a heart tribulation: if successful, his heart power and comprehension would increase; if he failed, it would take several years to calm his mind.

This was only because his Lapis Lazuli Mind was exceptionally profound.

Otherwise, he might not recover from the mortal world for a hundred years. Failing too often also carried the risk of damage to his mental state, which was a limitation of the Mind Dao.

It was indeed strong, but if anything unforeseen happened,

there was a possibility of his mind collapsing and instantly falling back to the mortal realm.

Of course.

Compared to its drawbacks, its benefits were endless.

Moreover, if one's mental realm was highly cultivated, it would be extremely difficult for others to disturb their Dao heart with words, unless they themselves had issues.

Even using various mind-disturbing secret techniques would be very difficult.

Don't forget, the Mind Dao's strength also lay in its very limitations. As long as one's mind and actions were as clear as a bright mirror, what fear was there of mental state collapse?

With this, Wang Yu set off once more.

He headed straight for the ancestral land of the demon race: the Northern Fractured Mountain Range!