The blue phoenix got into big trouble and finally received Jing-jing’s forgiveness after lots of groveling and coaxing.
But Jing Yue wasn’t really angry with him at all, just trying to find some relief in the somber reality.
He patted the blue phoenix on the head and asked, “Is this it?”
The blue phoenix, “That's right, Ji-ji worked very hard to find it!”
It turned out that when they left Megasun City that day, Qin Yanzhi and Jing Yue split up to set up the auxiliary formations, while the blue phoenix was assigned a difficult task—to go to Central Region to find a suitable place to set up the eye of the formation.
“There are nine spiritual veins here, but they are not connected. Ji-ji was almost tricked!” The blue phoenix smiled slyly. “But I’m smart and powerful. In the past few months, Ji-ji has already connected these nine veins. Hollow Mountain is the place where the spirit veins gather, and the top of the mountain is the closest to the sun, so this is it!”
Jing Yue imagined the miserable sight of the blue phoenix digging alone, and couldn't help laughing.
The blue phoenix sensed his thoughts and said anxiously, “Ji-ji didn't dig it. Ji-ji ordered the spirit beasts to dig it. As long as Ji-ji gives the order, they dare not refuse!”
After finishing speaking, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Jing Yue smugly.
Jing Yue couldn't help but tap his upturned nose, and the blue phoenix immediately went crossed-eye.
Qin Yanzhi didn't want to appreciate the scene of the ‘doting father and filial son’ performance and said, “A-Jing, time is running out. Let's start now.”
Without any suspicions, Jing Yue took out the merit stone heart.
The Multiworld Star Formation corresponded to the stars in the sky and used the power of the stars to hide their movements. The one that corresponded to the eye of the formation was the lord of all stars—the sun star.
Jing Yue simply had to use his spiritual energy to stimulate the energy of the merit stone heart so that it could connect with the sun star, and thus activate the whole formation. But it was extremely difficult to do so, because to achieve the goal required continuous accumulation of energy, and the spiritual energy must not be interrupted during the process or all the previous efforts would be in vain.
If this failed halfway, the merit stone would be rendered useless, and this was the only merit stone they had. This meant Jing Yue only had one chance in terms of time or conditions.
In fact, in terms of spiritual energy, Qin Yanzhi, who was already a Tribulation Passage cultivator, had more abundant spiritual energy reserves than Jing Yue. But it was their first contact with the formation, and they were worried about accidents, while Jing Yue was connected spiritually with the blue phoenix. If the blue phoenix sensed a problem, he could let Jing Yue know as soon as possible and make adjustments in time.
Therefore, the person in charge of this formation was Jing Yue.
Based on the blue phoenix’s instructions, Jing Yue placed the merit stone in the selected position, sat cross-legged on the ground, and sliced the palm of his hand with one finger.
Blood gushed out, and the blue phoenix called Jing-jing’s name in distress. Qin Yanzhi frowned slightly, but Jing Yue was very indifferent.
He sprinkled his blood around the merit stone heart, and put his injured hand on the merit stone, letting the stone get close to him and be familiar with him.
When he sensed the slight heat from the stone, he withdrew his hand and began to chant the incantation given to him by the blue phoenix.
The night passed in this fashion, and the stone did not change in any way.
On the second day, the stone remained motionless.
The third day.
The fourth day.
On the seventeenth day, although the stone was the same as before, some people turned up on Hollow Mountain.
“Who dares to break in…” The blue phoenix was about to attack aggressively but found out that it was an acquaintance. “It’s you, Lil Leaf! Hmph! And Xiao Hei!”
Yi Ye greeted him with a smile, and Cheng Nian hurriedly saluted him with cupped hands. “Hello, Senior Lan, Qin-laozu.”
The blue phoenix was taken aback. He hadn't had much contact with Cheng Nian since he took on his human form. Hearing this address now, he was really happy and immediately smiled brightly. “Okay, all rise… No, Xiao Hei, come here quickly. I have a soft futon here.”
Cheng Nian was at a loss for what to do about this, but Yi Ye went with the flow.
The blue phoenix keenly sensed that Yi Ye didn’t stand on ceremony at all, and said with raised eyebrows, “What are you doing here instead of standing guard in Evernorth?”
But Qin Yanzhi smiled. “Evernorth only needs a Tribulation Passage cultivator to stand guard. If Liu Feng-laozu is there, Yi Ye-laozu can certainly come here.”
The blue phoenix was very angry. Even though he held contempt for Qin Yanzhi, in his opinion, as Jing-jing's Daoist partner, Qin Yanzhi should still dote on him. “How can you speak for outsiders?”
Qin Yanzhi smiled without saying a word. His eyes circled around Yi Ye and Cheng Nian, and said meaningfully, “They are not outsiders.”
Cheng Nian was overjoyed, and hurriedly responded, “Qin-laozu is my Shi…zun’s Daoist partner so we are a family.”
But Yi Ye was not so easy to fool. He couldn’t help feeling that Qin Yanzhi's tone was weird. In fact, since Qin Yanzhi returned from the Middle Ages secret realm, every time he met Qin Yanzhi, the gaze was very subtle, which was completely inconsistent with his cold and aloof demeanor. If he had to describe it… maybe it was indulgent?
How the hell did he see indulgence on Qin Yanzhi's face?
But Yi Ye didn't bother to ask questions at this time. He looked at Jing Yue's back not far away and asked, “Is Jing-laozu doing okay?”
Qin Yanzhi shook his head. “We haven’t connected to the sun star yet.”
Yi Ye pursed his lips and wanted to go over to have a look but Qin Yanzhi stopped him. “Believe in him. Your Shizun has enough spiritual energy reserves, and his control over spiritual energy is also the best. If he can't do it, who else can do it? This is a matter of undivided attention, so let's not disturb him.”
Yi Ye nodded at first, but his eyes popped wide open suddenly. “W-What Shizun?” He thought for a while and added, “Shizun told you already…”
He only thought that Jing Yue had told Qin Yanzhi his identity, but Qin Yanzhi smiled mysteriously again, so much so that Yi Ye felt chills and was at a loss.
Cheng Nian was more confused than Yi Ye. What did he hear? What were they talking about? What did Shizun say to Qin-laozu?
The blue phoenix rolled his eyes. Seeing that he had another chance to show off, he huffed and raised his chin, looking expectant as if waiting for someone to ask him.
Unfortunately, neither Yi Ye nor Cheng Nian had expectations of him and calmly ignored him.
The blue phoenix was very upset and was about to question them when he paused suddenly and turned sharply in Jing Yue's direction.
Seeing this, Qin Yanzhi asked, “What’s the matter?”
The blue phoenix, “It’s connected!”
After speaking, he hurried to Jing Yue's side, and the others quickly followed.
Jing Yue's eyes were closed tightly with beads of sweat on his forehead. The merit stone in front of him trembled slightly, and even the nearby pebbles seemed to be affected, rolling toward it, but were blocked by Jing Yue’s blood circle.
Then, the merit stone suddenly glowed with a faint golden light, very faint, almost translucent, but it did exist.
Several people stared at the merit stone intently, afraid that the golden light would suddenly go out, but at this moment, Qin Yanzhi suddenly looked up at the sky. The sky was blue and the sun was bright, with not even a trace of cloud.
But he felt a foreboding.
Qin Yanzhi's eyes darkened slightly and he turned his gaze to the merit stone again, hoping that he was overthinking it.
After another few minutes, the sky turned dark slightly, and everyone was startled. It was noon, with no thunderstorm in the forecast, so why did the weather change suddenly?
They all looked up, and saw a dark cloud appearing without warning, covering the edge of the sun. The cloud was still moving, trying to completely block the sun.
At the same time, a massive demonic energy descended from the cloud, sweeping through the surroundings in an instant!
The blue phoenix was shocked. “Oh no! The demon spawn is about to be born!”
Far away in West Shu, some people stared at the sun just like Qin Yanzhi and the others.
Han Guang could hardly contain his excitement. He was so immersed in it that he didn't notice the mocking smile on Fox Emperor Jia Lou's face, and said joyfully, “Hahaha! This day has finally arrived!”
Jia Lou, “Congratulations, Sect Leader Han. This human cultivation world will soon be yours.”
With that said, the blood lake beside them rippled with one circle, and another circle… spreading like the age rings of an ancient tree.
Han Guang was shocked and stared intently at the blood lake. A vortex formed in the center of the lake, and a purple-red stone the size of a human baby emerged and slowly floated into the air.
The next moment, the water in the blood lake turned into billions of water droplets, flew up against gravity, and also floated in midair without moving.
Crack!
With a cracking sound, fine gravel fell off the purple-red stone, and a small crack the length of a knuckle slowly appeared.
At this time, the blood drops swarmed toward the purple-red stone frantically. Once they got near, they would be sucked into the crevice of the stone, and the water level of the wide blood lake dozens of feet wide was soon reduced by half.
The demonic energy spilled out and turned into a hurricane, sweeping around with an ear-piercing cry.
The surrounding forests were uprooted, earth and rocks were sent flying, the blood lake dried up in an instant, and Han Guang's vision became blurry.
Not only that, he was so pressured by the demonic energy that he couldn't stand upright. Even Jia Lou who was standing next to him had to kneel on the ground, unable to lift his head at all.
Han Guang only felt that the spiritual energy in his dantian was rapidly draining, but fortunately, demonic energy constantly entered his body. Not only did he not feel weak, but he also found that his strength was better than before.
But Jia Lou couldn't take it. He was Yao, who couldn't bear the erosion of demonic energy, so he could only transform into his original form and use his strong physical body to resist.
But the demonic energy emitted by the demon spawn was too strong, and even the body of the fox couldn’t bear it. Jia Lou stared at the purple stone, uncertain whether to escape from this place first or wait a while. Suddenly, there was another crack. The cracks on the stone grew bigger, revealing a bloodred color inside.
At that moment, Jia Lou felt that he was being watched by the greatest malice in the ten universes, and all the bloodlust and sins were contained in the bloodred.
His whole body seemed to be submerged in the iciest cold water, as cold and stiff as a rock, and his mind went blank.
At this moment, the demonic energy that suppressed him suddenly lifted, and the purple stone soared into the sky!
Han Guang was prostrated on the ground, half by the pressure and half in awe. He stretched his neck and looked up at the sky. He wanted to witness the birth of the demon spawn with his own eyes, and he must not miss any second of it! The demonic Dao had been declining for tens of thousands of years, and it was time to reverse the situation!
Han Guang was so excited that he was trembling all over, almost crying, but suddenly, a figure appeared out of thin air. With a wave of the black cloak, he swept the purple stone in it!
Author’s Notes:
Jing-jing’s three disciples have reunited!
Yi Ye smiled at Cheng Nian mysteriously: I know who you are, but you don't know who I am.
Rouge smiled at Yi Ye and Cheng Nian mysteriously: I know who you guys are, but you guys don't know who I am.
Ji-ji also smiled mysteriously, but no one paid him any attention.
The blue phoenix got into big trouble and finally received Jing-jing’s forgiveness after lots of groveling and coaxing.
But Jing Yue wasn’t really angry with him at all, just trying to find some relief in the somber reality.
He patted the blue phoenix on the head and asked, “Is this it?”
The blue phoenix, “That's right, Ji-ji worked very hard to find it!”
It turned out that when they left Megasun City that day, Qin Yanzhi and Jing Yue split up to set up the auxiliary formations, while the blue phoenix was assigned a difficult task—to go to Central Region to find a suitable place to set up the eye of the formation.
“There are nine spiritual veins here, but they are not connected. Ji-ji was almost tricked!” The blue phoenix smiled slyly. “But I’m smart and powerful. In the past few months, Ji-ji has already connected these nine veins. Hollow Mountain is the place where the spirit veins gather, and the top of the mountain is the closest to the sun, so this is it!”
Jing Yue imagined the miserable sight of the blue phoenix digging alone, and couldn't help laughing.
The blue phoenix sensed his thoughts and said anxiously, “Ji-ji didn't dig it. Ji-ji ordered the spirit beasts to dig it. As long as Ji-ji gives the order, they dare not refuse!”
After finishing speaking, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Jing Yue smugly.
Jing Yue couldn't help but tap his upturned nose, and the blue phoenix immediately went crossed-eye.
Qin Yanzhi didn't want to appreciate the scene of the ‘doting father and filial son’ performance and said, “A-Jing, time is running out. Let's start now.”
Without any suspicions, Jing Yue took out the merit stone heart.
The Multiworld Star Formation corresponded to the stars in the sky and used the power of the stars to hide their movements. The one that corresponded to the eye of the formation was the lord of all stars—the sun star.
Jing Yue simply had to use his spiritual energy to stimulate the energy of the merit stone heart so that it could connect with the sun star, and thus activate the whole formation. But it was extremely difficult to do so, because to achieve the goal required continuous accumulation of energy, and the spiritual energy must not be interrupted during the process or all the previous efforts would be in vain.
If this failed halfway, the merit stone would be rendered useless, and this was the only merit stone they had. This meant Jing Yue only had one chance in terms of time or conditions.
In fact, in terms of spiritual energy, Qin Yanzhi, who was already a Tribulation Passage cultivator, had more abundant spiritual energy reserves than Jing Yue. But it was their first contact with the formation, and they were worried about accidents, while Jing Yue was connected spiritually with the blue phoenix. If the blue phoenix sensed a problem, he could let Jing Yue know as soon as possible and make adjustments in time.
Therefore, the person in charge of this formation was Jing Yue.
Based on the blue phoenix’s instructions, Jing Yue placed the merit stone in the selected position, sat cross-legged on the ground, and sliced the palm of his hand with one finger.
Blood gushed out, and the blue phoenix called Jing-jing’s name in distress. Qin Yanzhi frowned slightly, but Jing Yue was very indifferent.
He sprinkled his blood around the merit stone heart, and put his injured hand on the merit stone, letting the stone get close to him and be familiar with him.
When he sensed the slight heat from the stone, he withdrew his hand and began to chant the incantation given to him by the blue phoenix.
The night passed in this fashion, and the stone did not change in any way.
On the second day, the stone remained motionless.
The third day.
The fourth day.
On the seventeenth day, although the stone was the same as before, some people turned up on Hollow Mountain.
“Who dares to break in…” The blue phoenix was about to attack aggressively but found out that it was an acquaintance. “It’s you, Lil Leaf! Hmph! And Xiao Hei!”
Yi Ye greeted him with a smile, and Cheng Nian hurriedly saluted him with cupped hands. “Hello, Senior Lan, Qin-laozu.”
The blue phoenix was taken aback. He hadn't had much contact with Cheng Nian since he took on his human form. Hearing this address now, he was really happy and immediately smiled brightly. “Okay, all rise… No, Xiao Hei, come here quickly. I have a soft futon here.”
Cheng Nian was at a loss for what to do about this, but Yi Ye went with the flow.
The blue phoenix keenly sensed that Yi Ye didn’t stand on ceremony at all, and said with raised eyebrows, “What are you doing here instead of standing guard in Evernorth?”
But Qin Yanzhi smiled. “Evernorth only needs a Tribulation Passage cultivator to stand guard. If Liu Feng-laozu is there, Yi Ye-laozu can certainly come here.”
The blue phoenix was very angry. Even though he held contempt for Qin Yanzhi, in his opinion, as Jing-jing's Daoist partner, Qin Yanzhi should still dote on him. “How can you speak for outsiders?”
Qin Yanzhi smiled without saying a word. His eyes circled around Yi Ye and Cheng Nian, and said meaningfully, “They are not outsiders.”
Cheng Nian was overjoyed, and hurriedly responded, “Qin-laozu is my Shi…zun’s Daoist partner so we are a family.”
But Yi Ye was not so easy to fool. He couldn’t help feeling that Qin Yanzhi's tone was weird. In fact, since Qin Yanzhi returned from the Middle Ages secret realm, every time he met Qin Yanzhi, the gaze was very subtle, which was completely inconsistent with his cold and aloof demeanor. If he had to describe it… maybe it was indulgent?
How the hell did he see indulgence on Qin Yanzhi's face?
But Yi Ye didn't bother to ask questions at this time. He looked at Jing Yue's back not far away and asked, “Is Jing-laozu doing okay?”
Qin Yanzhi shook his head. “We haven’t connected to the sun star yet.”
Yi Ye pursed his lips and wanted to go over to have a look but Qin Yanzhi stopped him. “Believe in him. Your Shizun has enough spiritual energy reserves, and his control over spiritual energy is also the best. If he can't do it, who else can do it? This is a matter of undivided attention, so let's not disturb him.”
Yi Ye nodded at first, but his eyes popped wide open suddenly. “W-What Shizun?” He thought for a while and added, “Shizun told you already…”
He only thought that Jing Yue had told Qin Yanzhi his identity, but Qin Yanzhi smiled mysteriously again, so much so that Yi Ye felt chills and was at a loss.
Cheng Nian was more confused than Yi Ye. What did he hear? What were they talking about? What did Shizun say to Qin-laozu?
The blue phoenix rolled his eyes. Seeing that he had another chance to show off, he huffed and raised his chin, looking expectant as if waiting for someone to ask him.
Unfortunately, neither Yi Ye nor Cheng Nian had expectations of him and calmly ignored him.
The blue phoenix was very upset and was about to question them when he paused suddenly and turned sharply in Jing Yue's direction.
Seeing this, Qin Yanzhi asked, “What’s the matter?”
The blue phoenix, “It’s connected!”
After speaking, he hurried to Jing Yue's side, and the others quickly followed.
Jing Yue's eyes were closed tightly with beads of sweat on his forehead. The merit stone in front of him trembled slightly, and even the nearby pebbles seemed to be affected, rolling toward it, but were blocked by Jing Yue’s blood circle.
Then, the merit stone suddenly glowed with a faint golden light, very faint, almost translucent, but it did exist.
Several people stared at the merit stone intently, afraid that the golden light would suddenly go out, but at this moment, Qin Yanzhi suddenly looked up at the sky. The sky was blue and the sun was bright, with not even a trace of cloud.
But he felt a foreboding.
Qin Yanzhi's eyes darkened slightly and he turned his gaze to the merit stone again, hoping that he was overthinking it.
After another few minutes, the sky turned dark slightly, and everyone was startled. It was noon, with no thunderstorm in the forecast, so why did the weather change suddenly?
They all looked up, and saw a dark cloud appearing without warning, covering the edge of the sun. The cloud was still moving, trying to completely block the sun.
At the same time, a massive demonic energy descended from the cloud, sweeping through the surroundings in an instant!
The blue phoenix was shocked. “Oh no! The demon spawn is about to be born!”
Far away in West Shu, some people stared at the sun just like Qin Yanzhi and the others.
Han Guang could hardly contain his excitement. He was so immersed in it that he didn't notice the mocking smile on Fox Emperor Jia Lou's face, and said joyfully, “Hahaha! This day has finally arrived!”
Jia Lou, “Congratulations, Sect Leader Han. This human cultivation world will soon be yours.”
With that said, the blood lake beside them rippled with one circle, and another circle… spreading like the age rings of an ancient tree.
Han Guang was shocked and stared intently at the blood lake. A vortex formed in the center of the lake, and a purple-red stone the size of a human baby emerged and slowly floated into the air.
The next moment, the water in the blood lake turned into billions of water droplets, flew up against gravity, and also floated in midair without moving.
Crack!
With a cracking sound, fine gravel fell off the purple-red stone, and a small crack the length of a knuckle slowly appeared.
At this time, the blood drops swarmed toward the purple-red stone frantically. Once they got near, they would be sucked into the crevice of the stone, and the water level of the wide blood lake dozens of feet wide was soon reduced by half.
The demonic energy spilled out and turned into a hurricane, sweeping around with an ear-piercing cry.
The surrounding forests were uprooted, earth and rocks were sent flying, the blood lake dried up in an instant, and Han Guang's vision became blurry.
Not only that, he was so pressured by the demonic energy that he couldn't stand upright. Even Jia Lou who was standing next to him had to kneel on the ground, unable to lift his head at all.
Han Guang only felt that the spiritual energy in his dantian was rapidly draining, but fortunately, demonic energy constantly entered his body. Not only did he not feel weak, but he also found that his strength was better than before.
But Jia Lou couldn't take it. He was Yao, who couldn't bear the erosion of demonic energy, so he could only transform into his original form and use his strong physical body to resist.
But the demonic energy emitted by the demon spawn was too strong, and even the body of the fox couldn’t bear it. Jia Lou stared at the purple stone, uncertain whether to escape from this place first or wait a while. Suddenly, there was another crack. The cracks on the stone grew bigger, revealing a bloodred color inside.
At that moment, Jia Lou felt that he was being watched by the greatest malice in the ten universes, and all the bloodlust and sins were contained in the bloodred.
His whole body seemed to be submerged in the iciest cold water, as cold and stiff as a rock, and his mind went blank.
At this moment, the demonic energy that suppressed him suddenly lifted, and the purple stone soared into the sky!
Han Guang was prostrated on the ground, half by the pressure and half in awe. He stretched his neck and looked up at the sky. He wanted to witness the birth of the demon spawn with his own eyes, and he must not miss any second of it! The demonic Dao had been declining for tens of thousands of years, and it was time to reverse the situation!
Han Guang was so excited that he was trembling all over, almost crying, but suddenly, a figure appeared out of thin air. With a wave of the black cloak, he swept the purple stone in it!
Author’s Notes:
Jing-jing’s three disciples have reunited!
Yi Ye smiled at Cheng Nian mysteriously: I know who you are, but you don't know who I am.
Rouge smiled at Yi Ye and Cheng Nian mysteriously: I know who you guys are, but you guys don't know who I am.
Ji-ji also smiled mysteriously, but no one paid him any attention.
