Dao Ye is going to ascend

Chapter 684 The Shadow Demon is Forged on the Strange Battlefield, and the Daoist Master's Thoughts Turn to the Blood Phoenix (Part Two)

The Netherworld is the surface of the Ruins of Return. According to the division of the Weitian Dao Sect, this is the first level of the Ruins of Return. After the death of cultivators below the level of gods, the Dharma Realm and the Divine Realm often fall into this place and turn into a strange land.

Furthermore, due to the different spells and fundamental laws practiced by cultivators, all sorts of bizarre monsters have emerged, with strange beasts and strange soldiers being the most common.

Demons are among the rarest of these types. They are often deeply obsessed and have absorbed excessive amounts of incense offerings. Although they possess some intelligence, they are also obsessive and insane.

"Although the demons retain some memories of their past lives, they are actually creatures born from the Void. Killing them with ordinary methods will only cause them to revive from the Void. Even if you destroy the Void along with the Void, they may still be reborn from the Void..."

In a faint, shadowy shadow, Li Yuan slowly walked towards the nine-story Cloud Tower, his mind filled with various pieces of information about the demons, pondering how to deal with Yunye Mountain.

Behind him, wisps of demonic shadows lurked in the shadows, which were actually the various black cloud soldiers he had devoured in this strange place.

This is a demonic shadow. When released into the outside world, it can help him devour all things and resist damage. When refined into the body of the shadow demon, it can strengthen his body and nourish his shadow magic power.

Li Yuan devoured everything in his path, growing the Black Cloud Divine Pattern to the limit that a second-realm Shadow Demon could control. After refining eighty-one Shadow Magic powers, he began to refine this demonic shadow.

Now, countless strands linger around it, drifting outwards.

"If it weren't for the limitations of my realm, the Shadow Demon Body would already be at the third realm by now."

Below the ship, Li Yuan paused to watch the battle between Yunye Mountain and the strange cave, while also sensing the eighty-one streams of magical power cultivated within the Shadow Demon's body.

The shadow magic power was chaotic and disordered, without a complete divine restriction, and the subordinate's magic power was of low grade, but this was because he had only devoured some demons and black cloud soldiers so far.

As more divine runes are refined, the power of shadow magic will continuously increase until it reaches the strength of his own magical power, which is the upper limit.

"boom!"

In an instant, a deafening roar echoed from a thousand miles away, and a large number of strange beasts and black cloud soldiers rained down. A ferocious black dragon, nearly a thousand feet long, burst out of the cave, leaping and dancing wildly, its roar violent.

It was a bizarre beast that was close to the fourth realm!

The moment this beast appeared, Yunye Mountain was on high alert, frantically unleashing its magic to relentlessly exploit the power of the nine-story ship, even drawing upon the second and third realm Black Cloud Dao soldiers guarding the nine-story Xialou.

"The opportunity has come!"

With a thought, Li Yuan stepped out of the shadows, clad in blood-patterned black armor, almost indistinguishable from the second-realm Black Cloud Dao soldiers guarding the ship.

"go with!"

At the same time, the thousands of demonic shadows he had created suddenly scattered, exiting their illusory state and transforming into blood-stained demonic shadows that pounced on the Black Cloud Dao Soldiers in the strange land.

"laugh!"

Thick black smoke billowed into the sky.

In an instant, tens of thousands of Black Cloud Dao Soldiers were devoured by the demonic shadows, which then transformed into even more demonic shadows that pounced on the surrounding Black Cloud Dao Soldiers.

With such a commotion, Yunye Mountain naturally noticed it.

"what?"

On the ship, Yunyeshan was filled with shock and anger.

Those dark figures, blending into the black mist of the eerie land, managed to deceive him. Now, once they erupted, they instantly swept across the entire eerie land, startling him.

"Is someone secretly watching me?"

Yunye Mountain's eyelids twitched wildly. He hurriedly mobilized the Black Cloud Dao Soldiers to protect himself and suppress the turmoil in the strange land. But at this moment, a dragon's roar resounded in the distance, and the black dragon at the peak of the third realm roared and charged in.

Suddenly, he was overwhelmed and the situation, which had been improving, was reversed!

"Two strange places, one bright and one dark, could it be that besides me, there is another strange demon here?"

Yunye Mountain's mind raced. In his shock and anger, he also sensed a great crisis. If he fell into the hands of another demon, it would be worse than death.

Immediately, he made a decision and directly recalled all the Dao soldiers, abandoning the strange land ravaged by the black shadow, and choosing to guard the Nine-Story Cloud Tower.

"We must first break through that treacherous cave; only then can we subdue the lurking demons!"

With his mind made up, Yunyeshan stood up, and the black mist around him churned and turned into plumes of smoke that shot into the sky, intertwining to form a huge banner that was a thousand feet tall.

hum~
The banners fluttered in the air, and a dazzling black light instantly enveloped the entire Cloud Demon Realm.

"what?"

Li Yuan's heart stirred slightly.

Under the black light, all the Black Cloud Soldiers underwent tremendous changes, their bodies becoming stronger and more robust, and the patterns on their black armor becoming clearer.

Before long, the Black Cloud Dao Soldiers on and off the ship all advanced, from the first realm to the second realm, and from the second realm to the third realm, while the aura of Yunye Mountain instantly plummeted to the bottom.

"Roar!"

Banners fluttered in the wind, and the aura of the Black Cloud Dao soldiers surged. In just a few breaths, they had strangely suppressed the cave. The black dragon of the third realm roared repeatedly, but it was about to be submerged.

"As expected, he had a backup plan."

Li Yuan was not surprised. After all, he was a cultivator at the fifth realm in his previous life, so some of his methods were perfectly reasonable.

With a thought, he blended into the ranks of the Black Cloud Soldiers, subtly changing his position and gradually approaching the weakened Yunye Mountain. Meanwhile, outside the ship, the thousands of rampaging black shadows also surged with excitement.

With a deafening roar, thousands of dark shadows crisscrossed and transformed into a torrent, shooting towards the ship.

"kill!"

Yunye Mountain roared with its head raised, and dozens of figures stepped out from the ship.

Those were towering, menacing-looking soldiers, several meters tall, their black armor covered in barbs, and carrying heavy shields.

With a low growl, they formed ranks, using their large shields to meet the surging torrent of demonic shadows.

Boom!

With a loud bang, the Cloud Demon Realm trembled violently.

The dozens of Black Cloud Soldiers arrayed in formation retreated in unison, and the torrent of demonic shadows was shattered by a single blow, returning to a sky full of demonic shadows, though visibly much thinner.

"It's not the real Shadow Demon after all."

Li Yuan was not surprised.

The demonic shadow he created using the Black Cloud Dao Soldier was of very poor quality. A true demonic shadow is similar to a shadow demon body; it can not only gather and disperse without form, but also cultivate magical power.

"Although it's not a true demonic shadow, it's enough for now."

With a single thought, the faint demonic shadows scattered and fell into the strange land, where they spiraled and devoured a large number of black cloud soldiers.

They immediately rushed towards the nine-story tower again, this time scattering in all directions!

"court death!"

Yunye Mountain's eyelids twitched wildly. Seeing that demonic figures had actually stormed into the ship, he could no longer restrain himself. While suppressing the strange cave, he suddenly raised one hand.

call!
All that could be heard was a fierce wind howling, and the banners fluttering in the wind.

The billowing black mist gathered and transformed into a giant handprint spanning tens of acres, which slammed down on the place where the demonic shadows gathered, turning even the patches of black cloud soldiers into dust.

When the Black Cloud Daoist soldiers perish, they transform into black mist that surges toward the Nine-Story Cloud Tower. It only takes a few breaths for the mist to coalesce into a complete form, and Yunye Mountain doesn't care about accidentally injuring them.

But before he could clap a few times, his expression changed.

Although the Black Cloud Dao Soldier he smashed turned into black mist, it was actually devoured by those demonic shadows. Then, it also turned into demonic shadows and pounced on the other Black Cloud Dao Soldiers.

"What kind of monster is this?!"

Yunyeshan's expression changed drastically. Just as he was about to cast another spell, he felt a chill in his heart. He suddenly slapped behind him, but only managed to shatter a piece of black cloud Dao soldiers.

Startled, he suddenly glimpsed a cloud of black mist engulfing his shadow. Instantly, he felt a sharp pain in his heart and soul, and couldn't help but roar in shock and rage:
"stop!"

"Stop! I'm willing to submit to you; we are both demons..."

"what!"

Li Yuan remained silent, only frantically channeling his magic power. The eighty-one shadow magic powers transformed into billowing black smoke, completely engulfing the terrified and enraged Yunye Mountain.

"Dao soldier, protect me..."

Yunye Mountain's eyes were practically popping out of their sockets.

The dozens of third-realm Black Cloud Dao Soldiers in front of and behind him roared angrily, looked around, and then charged towards the Black Dragon Monster a thousand miles away.

"……Do not!"

Upon witnessing this scene, Yunyeshan nearly coughed up blood, but then everything went black before his eyes, and he lost all awareness of the outside world.

The Shadow Demon devours, starting with the shadow, then the body, and finally the soul. If there is no corresponding protective spell, the soul will be devoured. Naturally, Yunye Mountain, which has fallen into the form of a demon, does not have such a spell.

Therefore, no matter how hard they struggled, they could only watch helplessly as they were swallowed up by the black mist.

"The Shadow Demon of the Second Realm devours the Strange Demon of the Third Realm."

Only after controlling the Shadow Demon's body to leave behind the divine will of Yunye Mountain did Li Yuan finally feel relieved.

Even with the help of countless demonic shadows, he was not at an advantage compared to Yunye Mountain, who possessed the Ghostly Land Ship and was already at the third realm.

Even though the cave had strangely diverted most of his energy, it was still the same.

"It still has to be a sneak attack!"

With the victory achieved, Master Li was satisfied, feeling that although he hadn't fought in many years, his skill in sneak attacks had improved.

hum~
In the next instant, Li Yuan focused his mind and introspected.

He felt all eighty-one streams of magical power within his body boiling and burning. After absorbing Yunye Mountain, the magical power was being reorganized and transformed, becoming increasingly profound at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Even if only a fraction of the essence of Yunye Mountain, which was once a fifth-realm cultivator, remains, it is still a tremendous resource for the current Shadow Demon Body.

In his perception, the Shadow Magic power had become thick and pure. Although it lacked complete divine restrictions, it already faintly possessed the aura of a mid-grade magic power.

The divine rune obtained from the Black Cloud Dao Soldier grew brighter and clearer. After absorbing most of the resources of Cloud Wilderness Mountain, it trembled slightly and transformed into a half-black, half-red armor, enveloping the Shadow Demon's body.

"Wonderful!"

As the black mist dissipated, the Cloud Wilderness Mountain, now only the size of a fist, was stuffed into the shadows. Li Yuan relaxed his muscles and bones, feeling that the armor was completely smooth and fluid, just like his own skin.

With a thought, it can transform into various weapons in the palm of one's hand. Although it has no special powers or magic, its sharpness and sturdiness are no less than those of a high-grade magic weapon.

"In terms of protective capabilities, it is not much inferior to the Kunming Ten Thousand Layer Armor with its thirty layers of magical restrictions!"

Li Yuan squinted as he felt the gifts from Yunye Mountain. In addition to the Black Cloud Divine Pattern, he also received two spells of the Gong level, both around the 36th level.

One is the 'Demonic Cloud Banner', which can be activated to transform into a sky full of black mist and black light. It can empower the Black Cloud Dao Soldiers or kill enemies.

A 'Cloud Demon Great Handprint' can transform mist into a palm that can strike across thousands of miles, demonstrating formidable power.

"Roar!"

At this moment, a mournful cry rang out from afar. After annihilating a large number of Black Cloud Dao Soldiers, the Third Realm Black Dragon finally exhausted itself and was defeated by the Black Cloud Dao Soldiers, falling to the ground.

This black dragon was extremely ferocious; in its final desperate attack, it swallowed a dozen or so third-realm Black Cloud Dao Soldiers whole. "This is also a good thing!"

With a thought, Li Yuan used the power of the Demon Cloud Banner to traverse over a thousand miles, raised his hand and pressed down. With a loud 'boom,' a giant handprint covering several acres slammed down into the air.

The black dragon only had time to let out a mournful cry before it was crushed to death on the spot.

Then, the Shadow Demon transformed into a phantom mist, and with a swoop and a wrap, the black dragon visibly withered, and within a few breaths, it turned into dust and disappeared, becoming the resources for the Shadow Demon to grow stronger.

"This black dragon has devoured quite a few other strange beasts. Although it's not as powerful as Yunye Mountain, it's still about half as good... My shadow magic power has already reached the quality of seven-tenths of mid-grade magic power!"

Li Yuan transformed into human form and felt that his magical power was full and complete, only three-tenths inferior to that of Kunpeng.

After refining the black dragon, a dark light flickered in his eyes, and he gained several more spells. Of course, most of them were incomplete, with only one complete spell.

"The Demon Dragon Technique?"

As soon as Li Yuan had this thought, his body immediately took to the air, and the black mist beneath him surged and transformed into a thousand-foot-long black dragon, dancing and roaring wildly, stirring up waves of air.

"The Demon Dragon Technique with Ninefold Restrictions."

The gift from the Ink Dragon was far inferior to that from Yunye Mountain, containing only a single "Jue"-level spell, but the Demon Dragon Technique was naturally far stronger than the Crimson Blood Demon Ox Technique.

Not only does it increase the power of nine demonic dragons for him, but it can also catalyze the shadow of a demonic dragon with magic power. If the magic power is sufficient, it can even transform into a demonic dragon at the peak of the third realm!
"hold head high!"

Riding a dragon and soaring into the sky, with thousands of demonic shadows following behind, wherever Li Yuan went, whether it was strange beasts, black cloud soldiers or many other strange soldiers, they all merged into the black mist, becoming resources for him to refine his magic and demons.

Before long, the first second-realm demonic shadow appeared among the demonic shadows he had created, and it possessed a demonic shadow power of extremely low quality.

The Shadow Demon originates from the Shadow Demon Body; for every part of the former that is transformed, the latter becomes stronger.

"Brilliant!"

Feeling the ever-increasing power within his body, as well as the incomplete divine runes and spells, Li Yuan's eyes grew brighter, deeply feeling that this Shadow Demon Divine Art was indeed the most suitable second primordial spirit technique for him.

With the blessing of the Pure Yang Treasure Tree, the Shadow Demon Divine Skill progressed rapidly, with almost no bottlenecks before the fifth realm and no problem of demonic skills easily going out of control.

The Demon Refining Method and the Netherworld Corridor provide the resources for the Shadow Demon Body to break through quickly.

"When Changyin reached the fifth realm, he cultivated 80,000 fourth-realm demonic shadows. Wherever they passed, grass and trees turned to ash, and all living beings were annihilated. Fifth-realm cultivators in the Yuanying Realm were virtually invincible..."

With thoughts churning in his mind, Li Yuan let out a long breath, but couldn't help looking at the other strange places.

Even the core battlefield where all sorts of treacherous battles vie for supremacy.

"This place is truly a treasure!"

Suppressing the turmoil in his heart, Li Yuan rode his dragon back to the Cloud Demon's Desolate Land, dispatching demon shadows to search for all kinds of resources in this strange land, while he took out a fist-sized piece of Cloud Wild Mountain.

The demon is a creature born from the void, and with his current abilities, there is no way to completely destroy it. Leaving such a wisp of its divine soul to suppress it is the best option.

"This nine-story tower is no ordinary item. Although the first and second level Black Cloud Dao Soldiers are of little use, the third level ones are quite good. Most importantly, it is inexpensive to build."

Inside the nine-story pavilion, Li Yuan began to sort through his findings.

In a great battle, the Cloud Demon Realm and the Cave Realm suffered a crushing defeat, but his gains were enormous. In addition to three complete spells, there were countless incomplete divine rune spells.

In addition, some fragmented memories of Yunye Mountain also need to be sorted out.

"Om~"

Li Yuan closed his eyes to sense it.

Yunye Mountain's memories are fragmented and many are blurry, but the clearest ones are his three visits to the Great Fortune.

The first time, he was suppressed by the Dragon Demon Daoist; the second time, he was forced back by Pang Wenlong; the third time, he was swallowed whole by the Blood Phoenix. After that, there were his encounters on this battlefield.

"Dragon Demon Taoist..."

Li Yuan still had a deep memory of that old master, even though Pang Wenlong said he had seen the strange place he left behind after his death, he suspected that the old man was not dead.

There is no other reason than that enlightened holy body.

Back when he didn't know about the Holy Body and the Divine Body, he thought the Enlightenment Body was extremely powerful, let alone now that he knows the weight of the Enlightenment Holy Body.

That is one of the rarest sacred bodies, rare both in ancient and modern times.

"Back then, the Twenty-Three of the East was still asleep; otherwise, the Eight Directions Temple would probably have been opened long ago, for that is the Enlightened Holy Body..."

With this matter etched in his mind, Li Yuan's primary concern remained the battlefield. He meticulously examined the fragmented memories of Yunye Mountain.

A bizarre place, chaos, slaughter, terrifying flames...

Among them, he even saw the figures of many cultivators, who were obviously unlucky ones who had been swallowed by the Blood Phoenix, and he didn't know whether they were dead or not.

"Huh? That's..."

Li Yuan suddenly focused his mind, and in this corner of his memory, he glimpsed a familiar figure, shrouded in black robes, his face obscured:
"Master Thousand Eyes?"

……

"call!"

"Suck!"

In the small grotto-heaven, on the Qi-gathering platform, Li Yuan was multitasking, sensing the Shadow Demon's body while also practicing his cultivation techniques.

Amidst wisps of spiritual energy, the skeletal demon stood ready, with two small gourds perched on his shoulders.

Thanks to these fourteen third-realm Dao soldiers, Li Yuan has acquired more than thirty various demons without even lifting a finger, most of which are second-realm.

"Within the Blood Phoenix's belly, in the Cloud Demon's Deceptive Land, the Thousand-Eyed Dharma Master..."

As Li Yuan mentally reviewed his gains, even he couldn't help but be somewhat astonished.

In just one day, the Shadow Demon Body had already reached the second stage of perfection, creating thousands of demonic shadows and acquiring three additional spells with considerable power.

"If I could devour all the strange creatures on the battlefield, no, even just one-tenth of them would be enough for my Shadow Demon Body to advance to the fifth realm."

Li Yuan pondered to himself.

Even though the Shadow Demon Body is limited by its own realm and cannot break through to the third realm, the various resources it devours will not be wasted, but stored in the Shadow Demon, which can be used at any time.

Once he breaks through the third realm, his Shadow Demon Body will naturally break through to the third realm as well.

Even if he doesn't break through at this moment, the Shadow Demon Body can continuously purify its own magic power and adjust the combination of various spells by devouring all kinds of strange things.

"It's not convenient to bring the Shadow Demon Body back for the time being. If the Netherworld Corridor leads to another strange place, it would be a waste of all the resources in the Blood Phoenix's belly."

As Li Yuan was adjusting his plans for the Shadow Demon Body and was about to stop practicing his technique for the day, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Woo~"

Ripples rose in the void, and a wisp of breeze wandered in the mist-like spiritual energy of heaven and earth. It glanced at the twelve white skeletal demons in the mist, sneered, and turned into a wisp of spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

It drifted away, about to disappear into Li Yuan's body.

Neither the White Bone Demon nor the Calabash Dao Soldier were aware of this.

"Qi Demon?"

Suddenly, a slightly surprised voice rang out.

"Um?!"

The demon was startled, and then felt excruciating pain all over his body, and couldn't help but scream.

"Good luck, a Qi Demon at the second realm."

Li Yuan opened his palm, and a thin stream of water swirled within, locking an invisible and intangible demon within it—it was Xuan Gang Heavy Water.

Qi Demons are relatively rare demons. Although they belong to the second realm, they are much rarer and more valuable than demons like Child Demons, Ape Demons, and Tiger Demons.

Since he began practicing the Path of Demon Refining, Li Yuan has borrowed a large number of books about demons in the Heavenly Demon Realm, including those about the Qi Demon.

"This is excellent material for forging the 'Invisible Sword'."

Li Yuan casually put the demonic energy away, then released two bursts of Kunpeng magic to reward the two small gourds, concluding his cultivation practice for the day.
Wearing the bone bracelet, I returned to the courtyard.

Inside the courtyard, Li Yi had already prepared a spiritual meal and served it to him.

After the meal, Li Yuan returned to the bamboo house. With a slight thought, he entered the Niwan Divine Realm and skillfully lit the divine furnace to refine all the demons except for the Qi Demon.

"Om~"

Before long, the divine furnace went out.

Li Yuan reached out and grabbed the refined Qi. As usual, he left the demon bone to the white bone demon, fed the blood to the Xuan Teng tree, and fed the killing Qi to the white tiger. The tiger devoured the Qi and grew in size again.

"After a few more times, the White Tiger will be ready to be used. At that time, we can condense the Nine-Headed Serpent's true form, and then the Crimson Emperor's Heart-Burning Ape..."

"Kunpeng and Jiuying belong to the Black Emperor's Netherworld Scripture, Burning Heart Ape belongs to the Red Emperor's Fire Phoenix Scripture, White Tiger belongs to the White Emperor's Qianjin Scripture, and the best spiritual forms to choose are the corresponding true forms from the Green Emperor's Longevity Scripture and the Central Extreme Yellow Emperor's Thick Earth Scripture."

"Whether or not we can obtain the Primordial Five Extremes Dao in the future, it's always good to be prepared in advance."

……

While feeding the white tiger, Li Yuan was also reflecting on his future path.

For him, there was no bottleneck in the Divine Palace Realm. He was considering refining the Nine Scenery Golden Pill with the Nine Heavens, laying the deepest foundation for refining the Dharma Heaven.

At the same time, one must also plan one's nine spiritual aspects, which are related to the 'Nine Aspects Dharma Ring' and the crucial innate divine power.

As for the equally important natal spirit treasure...

"I wonder when my master will emerge from seclusion? The Demon-Refining Immortal-Slaying Sword is naturally the best choice, if not..."

Putting aside the choice of his natal spiritual treasure, Li Yuan pondered the choice of his remaining true forms.

After all, he was only one step away from reaching the Divine Palace realm: refining the Kunpeng's magical power back to perfection.

"The nine spiritual forms must possess all five elements and five poles. The choice of the other five true forms must be made more carefully. The Azure Dragon, Fire Phoenix, and Xuanhuang Qilin are the three that must be chosen. As for the remaining two..."

As Li Yuan pondered beneath the mystical vine tree, a sudden thought struck him, and he found himself on the vast ocean.

A bright blue sphere rose from the ocean; it was a seed of divine power that had been refined.

"Mysterious Netherworld Protective Shield? A water-based protective spell, it does seem quite compatible with the Kunming Myriad Armor..."

Li Yuan didn't rush to refine it. Instead, he focused his mind on sensing this seed of divine power. Its true form was different from the Shadow Demon Body. It couldn't accept everything that came its way, but rather it had to be matched with it as much as possible.

This is a cultivation rule known to everyone in the Weitiandao Sect.

"It's not a perfect restriction, but it still has eighty-one layers of restrictions, which falls within the scope of a fifth-realm cultivator..."

As he played with the seed of divine power, Li Yuan looked at the unrefined divine pattern seed 'Suppressing Prison' in the vast ocean, and couldn't help but think of the Blood Phoenix.

(End of this chapter)