Demon Cultivator with Celestial Book

Chapter 360: Chapter 255: Shattering the Void, Initial Completion of the Martial Fire

Yao Yun threw a punch, reducing more than half of the Great General’s manor to ruins. Billowing dust and smoke scattered in all directions, and the shockwave, like a raging tide, forced the surrounding guards and household retainers to retreat repeatedly.

Sangji stood amidst the dust and smoke, his robes whipping in the wind, yet not a speck of dust touched him. He ignored the clamor around him and directly bowed low before Yao Yun, the woman who had just killed the Liyang Dynasty’s Grand General of the North.

This action left Yao Yun stunned, but she recovered in an instant.

’The monk from the Great Snowy Mountain is kneeling to the god from beyond the heavens, not to me.’

"I beseech the Upper God to grant me an Opportunity for ascension!" Sangji’s forehead was pressed firmly to the ground, his voice resolute and powerful.

But within Yao Yun’s spiritual perception, the latent Qi Mechanism inside Sangji’s body grew increasingly tumultuous, like a ten-thousand-fathom peak erupting from the earth—a terrifying presence.

BOOM!

The Great General’s manor trembled again. The ground abruptly collapsed, the effect spreading over a hundred zhang and dispersing all the thick, curtain-like dust and smoke.

Sangji, still prostrate on the ground, raised his head. His eyes, as azure as a highland lake, held the vicissitudes of time.

As that Qi Mechanism fully awakened, in an instant, the heavens themselves transformed!

Clouds and qi from the eight directions converged, like a thousand spiritual serpents coiling around Sangji’s body.

Immediately after, dark clouds gathered and lightning rolled within them, as if brewing a terrifying storm.

"The Twelfth Transformation of the Mortal Realm, a Grandmaster of Spirit Refinement!" Yao Yun’s eyes narrowed, her expression changing slightly.

The total number of Grandmasters of Spirit Refinement in the world could be counted on one’s fingers.

Most of them were hidden away in famous mountains and great rivers, or in deep forests and vast marshes, where they could perceive the will of heaven, comprehend profound techniques, and evade lightning tribulations.

The Twelfth Transformation of the Mortal Realm was, after all, the pinnacle of the mortal Martial Dao. At this level, Qi and Spirit Unite, flawless and complete. Their every move was in harmony with heaven and earth, approaching the might of gods and demons.

If such figures didn’t use the power of the landscape or a feng shui grand array to conceal their Qi Mechanism, they would easily attract a fatal rain of lightning and fire—a heavenly tribulation.

Therefore, the Grandmasters of Spirit Refinement who remained in the world were like divine dragons in the clouds—glimpsed but never fully seen, a rare sight for ordinary people.

Yao Yun activated her movement technique and landed on the ground. She took a slight step to the side, avoiding Sangji’s kowtow.

"An Opportunity for ascension... A Grandmaster of the Twelfth Transformation seeking to become an Immortal, and you’re from the Great Snowy Mountain. You must be the Red Sun Dharma King."

Even for a Grandmaster of Spirit Refinement who could blot out the sky with a single hand, obtaining an audience with an Upper God was no simple matter.

To the living beings of the world, a Grandmaster of the Twelfth Transformation was comparable to a god or demon. Receiving even a word or two of their guidance could be a chance to leap the dragon gate and completely change one’s fate.

But Grandmasters of Spirit Refinement were not omnipotent. They were still trapped by the gate of life and death, yearning to ascend and become Immortals.

After all, time is a blade that treats all with equal impartiality.

After several hundred years, even a Grandmaster of the Twelfth Transformation, whose achievements rivaled creation itself, would turn to a handful of dust.

Sangji, whose aura had completely transformed, placed his palms together. His tone was steady, as if he were a completely different person.

"Upper God, you who have broken through the world barrier, surely you have not come merely to resolve a matter of karma."

"The Liyang Dynasty controls the lands within the pass, and the Great Snowy Mountain holds sway over the world. Upper God, you need only give the word, and the people of this world will toil on your behalf. You need not trouble yourself in the slightest."

Yao Yun was startled. ’The Great Snowy Mountain’s Red Sun Dharma King... has he come to pledge his allegiance?’

Although astonished, she did not dare to answer.

"I beg the Upper God to show mercy and grant me an Opportunity for ascension, that I may witness the scenery of the higher realms."

Sangji’s voice suddenly grew hoarse, like that of a decaying old man.

As the Qi Mechanism the Red Sun Dharma King had left in his body fully erupted, his own qi and blood were rapidly consumed. In just a moment, he went from a strong young man to a withered elder.

It was as if decades had passed in the blink of an eye.

But no matter how earnestly Sangji pleaded, the space between heaven and earth remained empty and silent, without the slightest response.

Only when the monk from the Great Snowy Mountain’s Qi Mechanism had weakened, like a candle flickering in the wind, did a clear, bright voice drift down from the sky.

"Within five years, expel the Liyang and restore the Great Enterprise."

Sangji’s dim eyes suddenly lit up. He answered with all his might, thrilled,

"I will obey the Upper God’s command!"

The moment his voice fell, the Qi Mechanism in his body completely dissipated, and his life came to an end.

Sangji slowly sat down cross-legged, a warm smile on his face, as if he had no regrets.

...

...

Seated in his Water Mansion, Jiang Yi lowered his gaze, the corners of his lips turning up slightly.

With his incredibly condensed Divine Sense, let alone dealing with a mere Red Sun Dharma King, even among all the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer Cultivators in the Yanfu Vast Land, he was at the absolute peak, rarely meeting his match.

Being in the mortal realm of [Jukuzhou], Jiang Yi was even more in his element. He only needed to lift his gaze to deduce the cause and effect of any matter and untangle all its threads.

’He’s quite the schemer.’

Jiang Yi murmured to himself.

That Red Sun Dharma King from the Great Snowy Mountain must have been plotting for a long time, waiting specifically for an "Upper God" like him to descend.

He was lucky to have waited for me.

Normally, [Jukuzhou] was a place for the True Inheritance disciples of the Eight Sects to train, gather herbs, and search for Opportunities. It was extremely rare for Qi Cultivation Cultivators to appear there.

Tracing back further, there was the one who had formed a karmic bond with the Great Enterprise and left behind the Zhixuan Temple, as well as the other three sacred grounds of the Martial Dao.

Those were all events of the distant past.

’Since he’s so sensible, there’s no harm in granting him an Opportunity for ascension.

However, the so-called shattering of the void and becoming an Immortal in the Daylight might not be as wonderful as he imagines.’

Jiang Yi hadn’t forgotten that [Jukuzhou] was originally a place where the Ancient Demon Cultivators thrived.

Compared to the Demon Dao of today, the Ancient Demon Cultivators were truly lawless and unrestrained.

They all cultivated Blood Qi and comprehended Yin-Sha, sacrificing millions of living beings and slaughtering the populace of entire nations at a whim.

’Above the Spirit Realm, who knows what the scenery is like.’

Jiang Yi lowered his eyes in thought.

Since the Great Snowy Mountain was willing to help Yao Yun, he could rest assured and entrust this matter to the Red Sun Dharma King.

For a Grandmaster of Spirit Refinement at the Twelfth Transformation of the Mortal Realm, overthrowing the Court was as easy as flipping a palm. No amount of imperial bodyguards or elite, wolf-like armies could stop them.

’After five years, the martial fire will be ready. Next, I’ll still need the catalyst for the civil fire.’

Jiang Yi closed his eyes in contemplation. Several days later, he slowly released his Divine Sense.

Yao Yun, waiting outside, suddenly saw a brilliant Great Sun rise to the center of the sky, its magnificent power suppressing the ten directions.

"Two suns in the sky?"

Yao Yun froze on the spot.

’The Upper God’s methods are truly miraculous, almost mythological, and utterly inconceivable.’

For the next three years, the strange sight of two suns hanging in the sky often appeared in the mortal world.

During this time, numerous rumors spread like wildfire.

The most widespread rumor was that the Liyang Dynasty had seized the throne illegitimately, angering the Celestial Lord, who sent down a lightning punishment to strike the Grand General of the North, Jin Wushu, dead.

Subsequently, the Liyang Son of Heaven died suddenly without cause. The crown prince had been on the throne for less than a hundred days before he contracted a sudden fever and followed his father in death.

The court and the country were thrown into turmoil, and the people were filled with anxiety.

In the end, the Empress Dowager took charge, ruling from behind a curtain, and with the help of a council of eight princes, she barely managed to stabilize the situation.

But immediately after, an imperial princess of the Great Enterprise, who carried the Mandate of Heaven, appeared. She first subdued the rebellious White Lotus Sect in the south, then raised a Red Turban Army composed of Green Forest heroes. Her momentum was like a spark starting a prairie fire, and the flames of war spread everywhere.

In just two short years, she conquered city after city, winning battle after battle. She was an unstoppable force, eventually compelling the Liyang Empress Dowager to abandon the capital and flee.

...

...

"The martial fire is ready."

Like a stubborn stone or a piece of deadwood, his Heart Spirit silent and still, Jiang Yi finally opened his eyes.

In a single instant, the scene of Yao Yun ascending the throne in the capital, clad in dragon robes and performing rites to heaven and earth, entered his vision.

He nodded slightly and opened his palm. From the unseen world, a wisp of brilliant golden flame appeared in his hand.