Chapter 1125: Treasure Urn

Although She wasn't particularly powerful, after so many years of cultivation, he possessed enough discernment to recognize the treasure descending from the sky. Overwhelmed by terror, he urgently cried out, "Esteemed cultivators, is there some misunderstanding? I have cultivated here for many years and have never done anything to offend anyone..."

Though he pleaded for mercy, his actions betrayed no hesitation. His body swiftly flipped, his brown robes flaring open, as he instantly transformed into a mountain-sized brown-feathered She-goose. Beneath its plumes were a pair of sharp talons, and its pupils were vertically slit, exuding a fierce and cruel predatory aura.

This creature, with its noble lineage, caused the earth to quake and mountains to sway with its transformation. It revealed a blood-red belly and positioned its two feet beneath the Heaven Gate, attempting to lift it upwards.

Yet, the man in black armor stood unmoving atop the Heaven Gate, like Mount Taishi itself. No matter what powerful abilities the creature unleashed, it could not budge the Heaven Gate even an inch.

And as that brilliant divine ability descended, the painting in the man's hand also lit up, shining brightly!

"Boom!" Beneath the mighty pass, countless treacherous peaks erupted, composed of white stone sharp as swords. Various manifestations of "Bright Yang" power appeared, bells and drums chimed in unison, and a winding river flowed down through the peaks, completely locking the divine ability in place from all directions!

The She-goose's face visibly paled. "This is bad... My life is in danger!"

He had no time to think further. A faint incantation echoed in his ears, and everything around him visibly distorted. Blindingly bright flames surged forward, about to engulf his dharma body.

Although the She-goose possessed the "Turning Northward" technique, which was miraculously effective at evading fire, this divine ability also had a critical flaw.

The "Turning Northward" technique relied on constant motion. Once suppressed and sealed, losing its connection to heaven and earth, it became utterly defenseless against fire!

A bone-chilling dread consumed him. His massive form instantly shrank, transforming back into his human shape. With a flick of his sleeve, a walnut-sized treasured pearl dropped out. It spun and glowed, emitting rays of green light that formed a barrier against the flames.

"Upright Wood," drawing its essence from metal, was the wood-element power least susceptible to fire. Yet, what confronted him was the infamous "Uniting Fire"! The green light immediately withered in the roaring inferno, dissolving into wisps of ceaselessly swirling black smoke.

Horrified, the demon cried out, "Two immortals, have I offended you in some way? Or is some villain manipulating you?"

But there was no reply from outside. The flames merely flickered, and to his astonishment, a golden ray suddenly shot forth!

It was a dazzling halberd with a crescent-shaped blade!

The She-goose waved his sleeve, summoning a bronze basin. He heard a shattering sound, as another halberd shadow, enveloped in thick bronze light, struck the green barrier.

"Crack!"

His treasured pearl was merely a spiritual embryo, already decaying at a terrifying rate before the Uniting Fire. How could it possibly withstand such a blow? It shattered into fragments, and the ferocious flames immediately surged toward him.

Seized by terror, he opened his massive mouth, revealing countless sharp teeth. Within, blood flowed like rivers, white bones piled into towers, gloomy spirits swirled, and countless wails echoed!

The great demon performed a gesture and blew, unleashing a guttural "Aow!"

A piercing shriek, like clashing metal and thunder, instantly resounded through heaven and earth. Rolling yin energy surged forth, finally causing the infinitely bright Heaven Gate to waver slightly. Li Zhouwei at last looked directly at him, nodding as he said:

"Thousands of years of cultivation were not in vain!"

Li Ximing, controlling his own divine ability, also saw clearly and nodded subtly in agreement.

Had this yin shriek not been suppressed by both the divine ability and the spiritual treasure, its power would have been quite formidable. At the very least, it would have forced Li Ximing to halt his actions and fully defend himself; if caught off guard, he might even have been injured!

Then, dense golden patterns lit up on Li Zhouwei's face. He caused the halberd to stand suspended in the sky, then propped his hands against the Heaven Gate, covering it.

The wavering Heaven Gate stabilized once more.

The She-goose's torrent of yin energy, cultivated for untold years, was as vast as a sea and boundless as a desert. Even as the "Heaven Crow Uniting Fire" and the "Worshipping Heaven Gate" continuously eroded and resisted it, the area beneath the Heaven Gate grew increasingly dark.

But that was the extent of its power.

This darkness persisted for almost half an hour before finally subsiding. The demon's voice, seemingly pleading but actually probing, returned. Li Ximing couldn't help but remark:

"The combined power of the Huaijiang Scroll and the Worshipping Heaven Gate... is truly terrifying."

Li Ximing sighed in admiration, while Li Zhouwei shook his head and replied:

"This technique is not weak, but unfortunately, the Worshipping Heaven Gate is inherently capable of suppressing malevolent spirits and dissipating resentment. If it were a different cultivation lineage, it might have been able to challenge my divine ability, even if only through persistent effort."

But amidst the surging Uniting Fire, She's eyes were already brimming with tears, and every part of his body ached. His hundreds of years of accumulated power were exhausted in an instant, even reaching the point of magical desolation. He finally gave up all pretense and cried out:

"Since you are from Jiangnan, you must be aware of my past. I am willing to offer my spiritual root to you two sirs; I only beg for my life to be spared!"

The Uniting Fire raged fiercely, showing no signs of relenting. Above him, the divine ability, bolstered by the spiritual treasure, exhibited limitless power. No matter how he struggled, it did not waver in the slightest. As wisps of bright white flames leaped onto his dharma body, the She-goose fell into utter despair:

'Bright Yang is domineering, and Uniting Fire is venomous and malicious. My end is nigh!'

How could he, the She-goose, not be aware of Bright Yang's power? The Worshipping Heaven Gate's reputation was even more formidable. If his divine ability had surpassed that of the young man above, or at least achieved a stalemate, this divine ability would have been nothing to fear. But once he was in a situation where both his divine abilities and cultivation were inferior, suppressed beneath, there was simply no hope, no one to turn to!

'If it were any other divine ability, I might still have a chance, but this technique is overpowering, and my only Female Water Talisman has already been used...'

Knowing his life was forfeit, he still cried out, "I am willing to offer all my possessions and my very life, I only ask for a wisp of my true spirit to escape!"

Inside, he was enduring excruciating pain, being consumed by the Uniting Fire. Outside, Li Ximing, controlling the heavenly light, held two fingers together before him, urging the flames, and was rather pleasantly surprised: "A spiritual root! There truly is something valuable!"

Without relaxing his guard, he observed the situation inside, seeing that the demon was indeed at its wit's end. He couldn't help but remark, "This was rather easy! I had overestimated him."

Li Zhouwei, conversely, showed no surprise. He carefully examined the spiritual treasure in his hand and replied, "It wasn't that easy. With both you, Uncle-Master, and I acting together, deploying all our spiritual treasures... a demon king from such a remote corner would naturally be easy to capture!"

"We just need to guard against him taking us down with him."

So the Uniting Fire continued to burn for another moment. Only then did Li Ximing transform into a divine light and enter the inferno.

This was only the second time She-goose had felt such despair since attaining his divine ability, mirroring his first experience beneath the pagoda of the Seven Lives Mahāsattva's Calamity. With no chance of escape whatsoever, the despair and loneliness from that distant time once again flooded his mind, causing him to tremble uncontrollably, and various scriptures even resurfaced in his ears.

"I surrender... I surrender... Just let me out!"

His various attempts at bribery seemed to have failed, but this single sentence produced a miraculous effect. The Uniting Fire on both sides dissipated simultaneously. She, with his right sleeve tattered and his body covered in ash-gray flames, knelt beneath the divine ability.

Seeing Li Ximing approaching on a beam of light, he feigned a tear-stained face and no longer questioned anything. He simply said, "I am willing to serve you like an ox or a horse, sir..."

Li Ximing shook his head and replied, "When you demon-creatures attain the Dao, your spiritual essence refines back into your divine ability. How could I possibly make you my ox or horse? You are beings who have achieved divine abilities; such pretexts are unnecessary."

She, seeing that even at this point he refused to release the divine ability, wept and said:

"Esteemed cultivator, you must desire my life and all my possessions. I am willing to offer them with both hands, hoping that if this wisp of my true spirit escapes and arbitrarily possesses another demon body, losing its divine ability, my spiritual essence will naturally separate from my true spirit. Then it can be taken out and pledge allegiance to you, sir."

"This humble demon has cultivated for many years, and my cultivation is not shallow. I can surely contend with any Foundation Establishment cultivator, and perhaps even offer guidance to younger ones for my master."

Li Ximing chuckled, "That sounds good, but how could transferring one's essence to another body be so simple? However, I didn't come here necessarily to eliminate you."

As She was about to speak further, Li Ximing raised his sleeve, activated a divine ability, and remotely cast it upon the demon, commanding: "Suppress weapons, halt sharpness, no stealthy attacks!"

The world brightened.

A hazy golden light suddenly shone down, locking the demon in place. Yet, She-goose showed no hint of compliance; his eyes sharpened, and he immediately struggled to break free!

But in just a brief moment, Li Ximing revealed a shining urn in his hand.

It was the Heaven-Nurturing Urn. "Gather!"

A hazy glow gushed from the urn's mouth, rapidly expanding like a whale drawing in water, locking onto the demon on the ground. She was already at his wit's end, utterly exhausted, and further constrained by the life-binding divine ability. Unable to resist, he helplessly fell into the urn.

"Plop."

Instantly, the brilliant colors of the bronze basin faded, and the lustrous green-glowing treasured pearl dimmed. Only his empty robes, wrapped around a storage bag, drifted down, suspended in the divine light.

But as the profound "Great Sacrifice" activated, Li Ximing didn't even have time to retrieve the spiritual artifacts. He felt his divine ability and magic power rapidly draining, and his hand sank as if holding a small mountain. The captured entity was still struggling, emitting muffled sounds, and for a moment, he almost couldn't hold on.

He hurriedly sat down cross-legged, activating his divine ability, and only then managed to stabilize the spiritual treasure. The light in the sky rapidly dissipated. Li Zhouwei retrieved his spiritual artifacts and descended, seeing Li Ximing covered in sweat. He reached out to help steady the urn.

A full fifteen minutes passed as the spiritual treasure absorbed a massive amount of divine ability and magic power from both of them. It finally quieted down, having completely sealed the great demon within, yet it remained as heavy as a mountain.

'It's done! A Green Talisman!''My family's first Green Talisman, personally refined!'

Li Ximing breathed a sigh of relief, his joy overflowing onto his face as he smiled and exclaimed, "What a treasure!"

He then lowered his head to look inside. It was murky and dim, the dense rice grains that were originally there now replaced by layer upon layer of sinister, terrifying black clouds.

It was Li Ximing's first time witnessing such a human-capturing technique, especially with a being of divine ability sealed within. He was quite astonished. Then, he saw Li Zhouwei display the bronze basin in his hand.

The basin was rather thin, and its light was currently dim. The patterns on it were not prominent, with only a few faint, blue-bird-like colors swirling. However, drawing on the Li family's many years of experience battling Buddhist cultivators, both men quickly discerned traces of Buddhist practice within it.

"It seems the original Mahāsattva obtained this spiritual artifact, made modifications, and prepared to refine it, but then this demon-creature acquired it. Since the demon isn't skilled in artifact refining, it has remained untouched for a long time."

Another "Upright Wood" spiritual embryo was of good quality, but She, with its human-like lineage and abilities, had used somewhat crude refining methods.

The robes were not valuable, but the storage bag felt heavy. Li Ximing, quite satisfied, said:

"Since he escaped from the Mahāsattva's grasp, he must have seized many spiritual items during that period of chaos. And with a spiritual root secretly cultivated for so many years, he must have accumulated a vast fortune."

"I reckon he's no poorer than the cultivators within the inner realms."

Li Zhouwei smiled, his golden eyes sweeping across the "Little Vast Empty Mountain" below. The temple inside was already empty, with no one in sight; presumably, those who could hide had hidden, and those who could flee had fled.

The array formation here was only at the Foundation Establishment level. With a flick of his finger, he shattered it, and the two descended together. They found the temple dim, with very deep corridors. Beneath them knelt a group of trembling monks and nuns, bound in shackles, who either had no cultivation or low cultivation and thus dared not escape.

Li Zhouwei scanned them, discovering that these so-called monks and nuns were actually cultivating the Purple Mansion Golden Core Dao. "She-goose didn't even dare to capture true monks," he remarked.

"It seems... he was thoroughly terrified back then!"

His golden eyes gleamed as he casually scanned them, discovering that these individuals weren't even qualified to consume "blood qi" and were surprisingly "pure" in their cultivation. He then stepped further inside, with Li Ximing following, who merely remarked:

"There are over a hundred with some cultivation, and even more mortals. We can't take them back with us. Once we leave, they will likely become sustenance for other cultivators."

Only then did Li Zhouwei say, "The Cinnabar Platform just suffered severe vitality damage. These people's cultivation is pure; even as outer disciples, they could be useful to Daoist Mian. Didn't you, Uncle-Master, still want to use spiritual artifacts to condense spirit water?"

Li Ximing nodded slightly and fell into thought. Li Zhouwei then calmly added:

"Although that miraculous item can condense on its own, we are not proficient in matters like changes in material properties. In my opinion, such tasks should still be handled by Golden Core cultivators. Why not seek his advice? These people can serve as payment."

Upon hearing this, Li Ximing immediately nodded and sighed, "That is a thoughtful consideration."

They entered the main hall and the cave dwelling, but found absolutely nothing—it was shockingly barren. Li Zhouwei swept his golden eyes around, then closed them, connecting with his Immortal Mirror. He now had a clear idea:

'The spiritual root is in an undersea cave dwelling. This "Little Vast Jade Mountain" was only recently established by She.'

Before they could say more, a fierce wind arose outside. A green light descended from the sky in the form of a falcon, transforming upon landing into a middle-aged man. His brows and eyes were stern, his forehead broad, and his complexion was slightly pale. He glanced at the two, clearly surprised, and even appeared to have doubts:

'She-goose was dealt with so quickly? But there were no strange phenomena? Did he escape?'

He then cupped his hands and said, "King Wei truly lives up to his reputation. Congratulations, fellow Daoists!"

This man was none other than Rogue Cultivator Yin Jin!

His divine ability shone brightly, and his power was clearly significant. Li Ximing offered a slight smile and a nod of acknowledgment. Yin Jin then said:

"This She-goose..."

Li Ximing casually replied, "He has been taken for alchemy. There's no need for you to trouble yourself, fellow Daoist."

These words were quite chilling, and combined with Li Ximing's casual expression and Li Zhouwei's silence, they created a peculiar deterrent effect. Rogue Cultivator Yin Jin glanced at him with some apprehension and replied:

"Since that is the case, let us divide the spoils here."

His gaze seemed quite frank, but Li Zhouwei, who had been silent for a long time, said faintly:

"Fellow Daoist, there's no need to probe. Let's first go and see the spiritual root."

Only when these words were spoken did a flicker of disappointment cross Rogue Cultivator Yin Jin's eyes, yet there was no trace of awkwardness on his face. He smiled and said, "Naturally. Please!"