CHAPTER 696: 574 SHAOYANG GOD MONARCH

On that day at Jiuhua Mountain, a bloody battle ensued, where many fell under the Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword, the majority being from the Emei Sect.

Of course, there were also those from both the Wutai and Emei Sects who perished while dueling each other with swords and spells.

Those whose physical bodies were destroyed but whose divine souls were still intact either reincarnated or sought suitable bodies to inhabit and revive.

For those whose souls had scattered, the two sects still tried summoning the souls, putting forth all their efforts to gather the remnants and returning them in order to solidify the spirit and aid in their rebirth.

However, both sides had many Flying Sword Magical Treasures capable of slaughtering a person’s divine soul, and the Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword could not only shatter one’s soul but also absorb the remnants into the sword, merging them into Chi You’s Dharma Body.

Later, the Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword encountered the Xuanyuan Nine Swords, and it was forced to expel many of the consumed souls, which then scattered even more when Suiren’s Drill broke the sword.

Nowadays, anyone who could find and save the remnants of souls had already done so; what remained was far too fragmented and weak, on the verge of completely dissipating into the universe.

Shi Feiyang’s spellcasting this time was also done with all his might and with precision.

On the Dharma Platform within his Yellow Mountain cave dwelling, he engraved the name of Sun Nan, the White Knight from the Emei Sect, into a piece of Green Jade, placed two broken swords in front, and reflected the Heavenly Treasure Mirror above them, using his utmost strength to extract the remnants of the demonic curse and fragments of the soul trapped within the Demon Sword.

Shi Zhu set up the Circulation Formation at Jiuhua Mountain, searching exhaustively for thousands of miles around, forcibly collecting any fragment related to Sun Nan, whether it was a mere wisp or a solitary thought, and bringing them all back.

Only after a hundred days of spellcasting did the master and disciple conclude their work and finally managed to recover a third of Sun Nan’s shattered soul, two out of three souls, and one out of the seven spirits.

After death, the soul leaves the body to become a ghost, while the spirit follows the body into decay; if the body does not decay, a spirit without a soul becomes a corpse.

Shi Feiyang found a newly deceased person whose Eight Characters Match Sun Nan’s and was quite young—a tender youth of twenty-eight years old—and he gathered the seven spirits to replenish Sun Nan’s as much as possible.

He then proceeded to draw spiritual energy from the heavens and earth, channeling it into the Nine Suspicions Tripod, harmonizing yin and yang, matching the Kan and Li trigrams, transferring Sun Nan’s soul and spirits into it to nurture them, obtaining the numbers of Circulation, undergoing the transformations of heaven and earth, as if being reborn from nothingness.

Being born only to die again, dying only to be reborn again, after nine times in total, the Three Souls and Seven Spirits were finally complete.

Shi Feiyang then found another newly deceased young man whose Eight Characters Matched, and he infused Sun Nan’s soul and spirits into him.

This young man from Fujian had died from a poisonous snake bite on the mountain; after Shi Feiyang expelled the infused soul and neutralized the snake venom, he fed him an Immortal Pill to foster the transformation of his sinews and strengthen his bones.

Following this procedure, when the young man opened his eyes, he had taken on the core of Sun Nan’s being.

Sun Nan awoke in the mountains with no memory, becoming dull and slow to respond, speaking and moving a half-beat slower than everyone else.

In secret, Shi Feiyang cast spells to lead him all the way back to his home, even engineering opportunities for him to pick up a handful of Dragon Coins on the way.

His family members, upon seeing him, brought him back, noticing he had been bitten by a snake and was a bit silly and slow-witted, suffering from amnesia as well, so they hurriedly sought doctors and Taoists for help.

The doctors were one thing, but among the Taoists they called upon, a few were truly skilled, including a Sword Immortal from the Qingcheng Sect in Fuzhou City.

Under normal circumstances, they would definitely have noticed that the soul had been replaced, but this was Shi Feiyang’s handiwork; only Jiang Shu from the entire Qingcheng Sect could perceive it, and these disciples who had only entered the sect a few years ago naturally could not tell, merely diagnosing the situation as fright-induced palpitations compounded by poison, in need of careful treatment.

Thus Sun Nan settled into life with this family, and over the course of half a year, he gradually adapted to his new life, his movements no longer delayed, his behavior indistinguishable from that of an ordinary person.

Having consumed an Immortal Pill and undergone transformation and strengthening of sinews and bones, his physique grew stronger, and he grew taller by more than half a foot in less than ten months, becoming tall and handsome. His appearance also changed; with the soft features of a woman on a man, delicate and smooth facial features, thin eyebrows and lips, and peach blossom eyes, he went out to the sea to fish, and despite the wind and sun exposure, his skin remained fair and tender, contrasting with his sturdy build, large hands, and long feet, standing out amongst the group of fishermen.

Shi Feiyang had expended such great effort in order to use him to lure one of Yu Wa’s disciples, as the two had a karmic entanglement in a past life.

But man’s plans are no match for those of heaven; one day, Huo Wuhai arrived with the Shaoyang God Monarch from the West Sea to pay a visit to Shi Feiyang.

The Shaoyang God Monarch was originally cultivating in seclusion at the Lizhu Palace on Moqiu Island in the West Sea, already at the level of an Earth Immortal, and a sworn enemy of the West Pole Sect.

The West Pole Sect had six individuals with Undying Bodies, and such a state is not considered part of the Immortal arts but a separate accomplishment.

An Earth Immortal could cultivate an Undying Body, and so could Independent Immortals.

In theory, Earth Immortals can live forever and are already considered to have eternal life.

But the Undying Body takes this a step further; the Primordial Spirit approaches indestructibility—of course, only "approaches"... but the power of their Mana is undeniable.

Ordinarily, Independent Immortals who cultivated the Undying Body must endure at least one set of forty-nine tribulations, and once accomplished, they no longer fear Heavenly Tribulations. Yi Xiu is the most typical example.

The Shaoyang God Monarch could not possibly compete against the six Undying Bodies, but fortunately, Elder Cangxu from the Cosmic Six Strange was undergoing his third Heavenly Tribulation, on the brink of failure, about to vanish like smoke and clouds, when Shaoyang God Monarch happened by, almost risking his life to save him, using numerous Magical Treasures to help him successfully overcome the tribulation.

Elder Cangxu was profoundly grateful, his temperament was quirky, with few people he could truly admire, and for this reason, he had uniquely befriended the Shaoyang God Monarch, frequently visiting Moqiu Island as a guest.

With this great deity’s accession, a balance was struck with the West Pole Sect in the West Sea, and both sides refrained from conflict for several centuries.

That was until six Demon Sect Sect Hierarchs from Central Earth made their way to the Western lands, causing the West Pole Sect to rapidly gain strength, until finally, twelve beings with undying bodies attacked together, shattered the Lizhu Palace, and sank Moqiu Island.

Elder Cangxu was killed, his primordial spirit captured and refined into a Great Demon God; the Shaoyang God Monarch, however, escaped to the East.

Originally, the Shaoyang God Monarch wished to seek assistance from the Emei Sect, but there was little previous interaction between the two, and he also feared his association with an unorthodox path would be looked down upon by the orthodox Mysterious Sect, coinciding with the Emei Sect’s seclusion and the upcoming third swordfight, which led to his delayed request.

By the time the swordfight had concluded and the Emei Sect had suffered great losses, the Shaoyang God Monarch found it even more difficult to approach them.

Fortunately, over these years in Central Earth, he had made a good friend – Huo Wuhai.

The Moqiu Island where the Shaoyang God Monarch resided was originally a branch of the Earth Fire from the South Sea, underneath which lay a great volcano that led directly to the Earth Core, where not only did millennia-old magma boil, but there was also the purest Earth Extreme True Fire.

This Earth Extreme True Fire had nurtured two Bing Fire Spirit Snakes, who had already become spiritual divine objects, half Magical Treasure and half pet. The Shaoyang God Monarch had them bound to his essence energy and nurtured them at his side.

Ever since Huo Wuhai had learned the "Purple Ying Immortal Scripture" years ago, he had stayed alone in the deep mountains of Yunnan for solitary cultivation, rarely venturing out.

The cave dwelling he chose was also atop a volcano, albeit no longer active for years, with the crater collecting water and becoming a lake, where he had established his cave dwelling underwater.

Above water, below fire, it was the perfect configuration of Water and Fire in balance.

Each day at noon, he would go up to the heavens to absorb the True Sun Fire, spending the remaining time cultivating underwater.

One day, as the Shaoyang God Monarch passed by, he saw many Fire Bulls, Fire Horses, Fire Dragons, and Fire Rats running atop the water, leading him to think that the volcanic magma here might have also nurtured some spirits.

The apparitions above the water were insubstantial, which was one thing, but diving below the surface, the Shaoyang God Monarch discovered someone’s dwelling for cultivation.

At that moment, Huo Wuhai returned, initially mistaking the visitor for a thief after his unrefined Magical Treasure, leading to a duel, through which he found the other to be a Grandmaster specializing in the Fire Element Daoist Technique.

Their fight led to acquaintance, and after exchanging spells and coming to a truce, Huo Wuhai offered Fire Dates and Scorched Pears to entertain the Shaoyang God Monarch.

Huo Wuhai cultivated the Heavenly Fire-aligned True Sun Fire, which was fire from the heavens, shining in all directions – the Gua Xiang of Fire Heaven Great Possession.

The Shaoyang God Monarch cultivated Earth Extreme True Fire, an Earth Fire, burning beneath the surface, symbolizing the setting sun behind West Mountain and aptly mirroring his current plight.

As they exchanged knowledge, their rapport grew, and they became friends, often interacting in the following years.

Now both having reached a certain stage in their cultivation, the Shaoyang God Monarch had spent many years familiarizing himself with the current situation in Central Earth. Jile Perfected Li Jingxu had ascended to the Spiritual Space, and Shi Feiyang was likely to become the future leader of the Mysterious Sect. To restore the foundation of Moqiu Island and return to the West in the future, he could only seek help from Shi Feiyang, asking him to preside and mediate.

So he suggested to Huo Wuhai that they go meet the elder.

Huo Wuhai understood his motive and was willing to assist him in rebuilding the Lizhu Palace, so he took him to Yellow Mountain to see Shi Feiyang.

On the first visit, the Shaoyang God Monarch brought some specialties from Lizhu Palace as gifts.

This was the first Sect Leader Level individual who had proactively sought to pledge loyalty, and Shi Feiyang, observing that he fully comported himself as a junior, did not act with excessive pride, and was open to learning, pointed out some imbalances in his cultivation technique and even gifted him a small bottle of True Water, containing twenty-seven drops, each capable of forming a lake when dispersed.

"Your focus has been on the peripheral paths, emphasizing techniques over the Way. The Way is the root; techniques are but branches and leaves. Without a solid foundation, the most luxuriant foliage is but a rootless tree. That’s why those from the West Pole Sect, possessing the Mystics Yin True Water left by Yu the Great, restrain you. This True Water is different; it exists between the Innate and the Acquired, nurturing all things. Take it and use it to temper your own fiery energy. Although your mana will temporarily weaken, once your foundation stabilizes, you’ll be able to progress boldly and vigorously. Not only will your mana far surpass its current state, but even attaining Heavenly Immortal status and ascending to the Spiritual Space will be within your reach."

He then taught the Shaoyang God Monarch the most suitable method for Harmonizing Water and Fire, combining True Gold from the water with True Wood from the fire, which was precisely the Dual Cultivation of Life and Nature practiced by the orthodox Mysterious Sect.

The Shaoyang God Monarch was overjoyed, not expecting to receive so many benefits on his first visit.

The refinement of True Water was incredibly labor-intensive, and he had toyed with the idea of obtaining some for study, but it was scarce, unavailable even in the Mingyu Immortal Market, with the few available drops being exorbitantly priced, such that a single drop of True Water was costlier than his Flying Sword...

What was more precious were the techniques Shi Feiyang imparted, which although brief, comprising at most five hundred characters, seemed tailor-made for him, targeting the crucial aspects of his cultivation and with the aid of True Water, redirecting him towards the orthodox Mysterious Path.

These techniques would be useless in the hands of others, or teaching them to him decades earlier; they became immensely valuable when acquired at precisely this moment.

The Shaoyang God Monarch expressed his gratitude repeatedly, and Shi Feiyang, with a dismissive wave, said it was nothing, advising him to cultivate diligently for the day when the foundation of Lizhu Palace would be restored.

He calculated that with so many Demon Kings and Sect Hierarchs gathered at the West Pole Sect, they would not remain quiet and would eventually set their sights on Central Earth. A great war was inevitable, and the Shaoyang God Monarch would be a key figure.