My experience of grinding in another world

Chapter 787 Demonic Aura
The sky was hazy, the sun was shining brightly, and the sky was clear and blue.

A cloud, about five or six miles in size, drifted slowly across the sky.

A strong wind blows, and the white clouds ripple around, yet remain firmly gathered.

Piercing through the fog, a vast space suddenly opened up inside.

A large apricot-yellow flag fluttered in the air, with wisps of white mist flying out from within the flag and dispersing into the surrounding clouds.

Below the banner, tents and wooden houses of various colors are densely distributed.

In a secluded corner, a jade conch shell, as tall as two people, is hidden among many tents.

Chen Mu lay on a rocking chair at the entrance of the snail shell shop, gazing absently at the large flag in the sky through the open doorway.

"A white cloud, as flat as the ground, can not only carry tens of thousands of people, but also fly away quickly."

"What a trick!"

That large banner is called the Five Directions Banner, a magical artifact crafted by the Yellow Springs Sect. The enormous cloud formation beneath its feet is one of the banner's wondrous uses.

Even though he had been on this cloud for more than ten days, he still couldn't help but marvel at it.

"I wonder where Yuan Zhen, Tang Zhimu, and the others have gone. Are they also traveling somewhere on the Five Banners?"

After leaving the coast of Yizhou and arriving at Militian, everyone was assigned to different places as soon as they settled down.

Yuan Zhen, Tang Zhimu, and other disciples of the Yellow Spring Sect had already made arrangements, and Chen Mu and other Daoist soldiers also had their own destinations.

"I can only wish them all the best on their journeys."

He had been cultivating for nearly thirty years, traveling to many places. Although his time at Jiufeng Mountain also ended badly, he found his relationships with the people there quite pleasant.

Now that they are separated, Chen Mu can't help but feel a pang of sadness.

After a moment, he shook his head to dispel distracting thoughts and began to contemplate his own cultivation.

Having been in the Mystic Heaven for more than ten days, he had not yet encountered any conflicts, but it was only a matter of time before he could. Naturally, he hoped that his cultivation level would increase.

"Unfortunately, we don't have enough vital energy."

Chen Mu looked at the five flags in mid-air again.

The banner is mysterious; besides carrying everyone into flight, it can also spew out large amounts of earth spiritual energy. It's like a mobile dojo, allowing tens of thousands of soldiers on the cloud platform to recover their magical power.

It can only support the restoration of mana.

Chen Mu wanted to use this to condense spiritual treasure talismans, but neither the quantity nor the quality was quite sufficient.

He flipped his hand and took out the Divine Dispatch Token, sending in a wisp of magical power. After a long while, there was still no movement around him.

"Thinking you can use the Hundred Desires Heaven's Divine Command to command the Star Lord of the Mysterious Heaven is wishful thinking."

Chen Mu shook his head helplessly.

Leaving Yizhou brought temporary peace. However, the Divine Decree lost its effect due to the change of heaven and earth, forcing the Yellow Spring Gourd's cultivation to come to a halt.

"I don't know if choosing to leave Yizhou was the right or wrong decision."

Just as he was pondering this, a chubby middle-aged man appeared at the doorway.

"This must be the Azure Jade Immortal Abode of the Thousand Machines Sect! What a treasure!" He glanced at the enormous space vaguely visible inside the snail shell, his face full of envy.

"My name is Wen Tong, the commander of the Xin Battalion next door. How shall I address you, fellow Daoist?" The plump middle-aged Wen Tong asked with a smile and cupped his hands.

Chen Mu's ears twitched slightly.

The Divine Listening Technique had already detected the rhythm of the opponent's energy.

His stable and powerful demeanor clearly indicates that he is a Foundation Establishment Qi Refining cultivator.

"I am Chen Mu, greetings to Fellow Daoist Wen." Chen Mu dared not be negligent and stood up to greet him with clasped hands.

"Commander Chen, don't be nervous. Our Xin and Ren battalions are neighbors. I just came over to say hello and get to know you," Wen Tong said with a smile, waving his hand.

"Is Fellow Daoist Chen a Qi Refiner?" he then asked.

How does this guy know?
"Friend Wen has good eyesight." Chen Mu raised an eyebrow.

“My eyesight isn’t that good.” Wen Tong shook his head: “I just know that if you were following the path of the Heavenly Demon Reincarnation, then you and your Ren-character battalion wouldn’t have been assigned to this edge of the place.”

What else can be said about this?

Chen Mu was puzzled.

"Our flag lord, Jiang Daojun of Jiangmen, is a Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Dao cultivator who has mastered the true form of a Heavenly Demon."

“The six camp leaders closest to the Five Banners are all cultivators who have been reincarnated as Heavenly Demons,” Wen Tong said meaningfully.

Is there factional infighting involved?
Chen Mu frowned.

"I have cultivated my Dao Foundation for many years. The reason I came here to sign the Dao Weapon Contract is to obtain a high-grade embryonic vessel to refine my magic weapon, hoping to advance further."

“But this requires a massive amount of cultivation. If we fight alone, it will be extremely difficult. It’s far better to cooperate and achieve a win-win situation!” Wen Tong looked at Chen Mu eagerly.

So they wanted to form an alliance.

Chen Mu suddenly realized.

Unfortunately, he was following the path of internal cultivation of spiritual treasures and had little interest in the rewards such as magical artifacts and external cultivation techniques given by the Yellow Springs Sect.

“I have already met with two other Qi Refining fellow cultivators, and they have both agreed to join forces to earn Dao merit.”

"With a contract in place, there's no fear of any dirty dealings, and safety is assured."

“Fellow Daoist Chen, look…” Wen Tong said with a hopeful expression.

"Thank you for your kind offer, fellow Daoist. I have only recently completed my Dao Foundation cultivation and my strength is still weak. I only wish to save my life and dare not covet any magical treasures or artifacts," Chen Mu said with a smile, politely declining.

He doesn't really believe in the binding force of contracts. He himself isn't afraid of the backlash from contracts, so it's hard to guarantee that there aren't others who don't care about contracts like him.

"The path to enlightenment requires courage and diligence."

"Fortune favors the bold, Fellow Daoist Chen," Wen Tong quickly advised.

Chen Mu shook his head again.

"Alright, fellow Daoist, please consider it further."

"If you ever come to your senses, come find me. I'm at the camp next door." Wen Tong shook his head in disappointment.

Seeing that Chen Mu really had no intention of joining forces, he lost interest in continuing the conversation, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then turned and left.

Chen Mu watched the other person walk away, then frowned and sat back down in the rocking chair.

When he was a Dao soldier in the Thousand Machines Sect, he could only be an insignificant butcher.

Now that he has established a solid foundation in Taoism, he starts as the leader of a battalion with over three thousand Taoist soldiers under his command.

But in this massive war led by the Dao Ancestor, even those who cultivate Qi at the Foundation stage are nothing more than slightly larger ants.

He's trying to avoid it, how could he possibly participate willingly?

"Even if we reject Wen Tong and don't take the initiative, we probably can't avoid conflict and struggle." Chen Mu sighed helplessly.

……

Xinzi Camp Center.

Inside a huge tent.

Wen Tong walked in, where a middle-aged man and woman had been waiting for some time. "How is it?" the short, stout middle-aged man asked first.

“This Fellow Daoist Chen seems to value his life a bit too much,” Wen Tong said with a shrug.

"Cherishing your life? I think it's a lack of ambition." The short, stout middle-aged man sneered in dissatisfaction, "He doesn't even know how to seize such a great opportunity, he'll probably end up like this..."

“Everyone has their own way of living, and you can’t force them,” Wen Tong waved his hand to interrupt the other person’s complaint.

"It's good for the three of us to work together. Too many people would make it difficult to coordinate and easy to overlook one thing."

"Too……"

The short, stout middle-aged man pursed his lips, finally nodded, and then began to discuss how to earn more Dao merit in the upcoming conflict.

……

a few days later.

An island floating in mid-air appeared not far in front of the cloud platform.

It was a vast landmass, tens of miles long and wide, with mountains, forests and rivers, and looked quite vibrant.

The flying island floated motionless in the air, like a nail embedded in the void.

Below, a misty fog flows, and through the gaps in the fog, one can vaguely see the boundless blue sea.

At the center of the cloud platform, directly below the five flags, stands a solemn palace called Xuanyuan Hall.

Chen Mu arrived at this place in accordance with the imperial edict.

When he entered the main hall, all nine camp leaders, including Wen Tong, had already arrived, lined up on both sides.

Under the scrutinizing gazes of the crowd, Chen Mu nodded slightly. He then greeted Wen Tong privately before standing beside him.

Not long after, a person walked out from behind the main hall.

The other party was dressed in a black outfit with gold patterns, and had sharp eyes. He was a rather imposing middle-aged man, none other than the flag lord Jiang Daojun.

He glanced at everyone and immediately said, "The flying island in front of us is not our target, but it's a good opportunity for you all to practice your skills first."

"From the character '甲' to the character '己', form the Myriad Formations and follow me to attack the flying island."

"The remaining Taoist soldiers will patrol the four directions to prevent the monsters from escaping," he ordered.

"I still need a battalion commander to stay at Yuntai and take charge of the Five Banners. I wonder who would be willing to stay?"

Upon hearing this, the camp commanders all lowered their heads and remained silent.

The Five Banners are rare and precious magical artifacts, full of spiritual power, and capable of operating autonomously.

Although it's called presiding over the ceremony, it's really just providing magical power to the Five Banners. It consumes a lot of energy, but doesn't yield much in terms of spiritual merit.

They came to the Mysterious Heaven to earn Dao merit; no one wanted to do this thankless task that yielded little Dao merit.

Just as the atmosphere fell silent, Chen Mu, who was standing at the end, stepped forward and cupped his hands: "Daoist Lord, I am willing to guard the Five Banners."

All I have to do is guard the Five Banners and expend some magic power, so I don't have to confront the Mysterious Heavenly Demon head-on. Isn't this exactly the job I've been dreaming of?

Jiangmen's displeased expression immediately softened: "Then I'll leave it to Fellow Daoist Chen."

"It's my duty." Chen Mu bowed again and returned to the queue.

Wen Tong, standing beside him, looked at Chen Mu with a rather complicated expression.

This fellow Daoist truly cherishes his life.

Fortunately, this fellow Daoist cherished his life.

Otherwise, if Jiang Daojun had personally assigned personnel to remain, he might have chosen me.

……

After a while.

The group returned to their respective camps to command their soldiers.

Jiang Daojun flew into the air and cast a spell into the Five Directions Flag.

hum!
A thick, crimson beam of light suddenly shot out from within the apricot-yellow banner, trailing a long tail of flame, and hurtled straight toward the distant island.

As if in response to a stress reaction, an invisible light shield appeared above the island.

bump!
The rainbow pierced the sun and collided with the light shield. In just a few breaths, the light shield was completely shattered.

Jiang Daojun's body suddenly swelled up, and in the blink of an eye, he transformed into a huge, black serpent with wings that blotted out the sky.

The six camp leaders who cultivated the Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Path also revealed their true Heavenly Demon forms.

The Taoist soldiers under their command also underwent a dramatic change in appearance, growing sharp teeth, long hair, bone spikes, and barbs, each exuding a more ferocious aura than the last.

"All Daoist disciples, heed my command! Follow me to the Flying Island to vanquish demons and monsters!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he let out a fierce roar and rushed into the distant flying island in the blink of an eye.

Tens of thousands of Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Dao cultivators also roared and soared into the air, following closely behind.

Looking at those fanatical faces, Chen Mu's face twitched violently.

To subdue demons and monsters?

Who the hell is the real demon here?!
……

The battle lasted only a quarter of an hour before it ended.

The once emerald island was riddled with potholes and littered with the corpses of strangely shaped monsters.

After another hour of cleaning up the battlefield, the many Taoist soldiers returned to Yuntai with a sense of unfinished business.

Chen Mu remained on the cloud platform the entire time, using the Demon Sealing Spell to unify the magical power of his three thousand Dao soldiers and replenish the Five Banners' energy.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the Dao soldiers return to Yuntai one after another.

Thinking that the battle was finally over, he could go back to camp and relax.

But when the first Taoist soldier entered the cloud platform, Chen Mu realized something was wrong.

He discovered that his Dao Foundation Jade Seed had suddenly begun to tremble slightly.

Chen Mu immediately looked at the Taoist soldiers in the distance.

At this moment, a large amount of white mist was rising from the bodies of those Taoist soldiers, making a hissing sound like water droplets falling onto a red-hot iron plate.

"Is it because of the elusive celestial demonic energy?"

Chen Mu frowned.

Upon arriving at the Mystic Heaven, all the Dao soldiers were given a jade tablet.

It contains a lot of information about the Mysterious Heaven, the most important of which is demonic energy.

They permeate every corner of the Mystic Realm, forming its unique primordial energy. They are a great tonic for local monsters, but a deadly poison for outsiders.

The Five Directions Flag has the power to exorcise evil spirits. The white mist on the Taoist soldier's body at this moment is the demonic energy that has been stripped away and dispelled by the Five Directions Flag.

At this moment, Chen Mu's jade seed Dao foundation was flashing with golden light in a regular pattern, revealing an instinctive thirst for demonic energy, just like a thirsty person seeing sweet rain falling from the sky!
Could it be that the Jade Cicada Dao Foundation can absorb and refine demonic energy?

This...this isn't right!