Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 530 The Mystery of Dao Embryo Transformation is Hidden, the Kui Niu Roars to Protect Its Master (Seeking Rewards and Subscriptions!)

At the foot of a sacred mountain near the Tongxuan Dharma Realm Heaven and Earth Dao Palace, tens of thousands of pregnant women with excellent aptitude have been selected in recent years.

These pregnant women were all selected by outer disciples of the Heaven and Earth Dao Palace under orders. They carried spiritual mirrors and traveled throughout the surrounding mortal kingdoms and spiritual villages, spending years carefully choosing them.

First and foremost, one must have a simple background, a clean family history, and no major karmic entanglements, like a rough gem yet to be polished. Secondly, while one's innate talent doesn't necessarily require a divine seed, one must still have a well-proportioned physique, no congenital ailments, and a beautiful appearance, so as to nurture a pure bloodline that resonates with the cultivator's primordial spirit.

Most importantly, pregnancy must be strictly controlled within three months. Ordinary women carry a child for ten months and give birth in one day.

However, the tribulation of a cultivator is no small matter. The primordial embryo is not even three months old in the womb, and the pure true spirit has not yet been drawn from the depths of heaven and earth, remaining in a state of chaos and ignorance.

If this limit is exceeded, the infant gradually takes on a physical form and begins to develop self-awareness. Then, the true spirit becomes entangled and mixed with the will of the acquired spirit, like mud and sand mixed into a clear spring. The turbid becomes turbid, and the cultivator who wants to cross the "mystery in the womb" to wash away the karma of the past life and regain the path of the present life will find it more than ten times more difficult. If one is not careful, all previous efforts will be wasted. At best, the spirit will be damaged, and at worst, the soul will be destroyed.

Furthermore, if the fetus is less than three months old, it lacks a true spirit and is merely a dwelling in the Taoist concept. Once it reaches three months, the true spirit is born and then the fetus is erased. In the view of Taoist practitioners, this is a sin of "deceiving Heaven," which will make the tribulations one faces in the future much more severe.

"There was once a Blood Infant Child who, although originally a rogue cultivator from a heterodox sect, was inclined toward the righteous path. He possessed remarkable comprehension and talent, and thus attained the Nascent Soul Dao Fruit."

However, he was cursed by a calamity and was ambushed and killed by his enemies. His physical body was completely destroyed by the Xuan Yin Divine Qi, and only his nascent soul, wrapped with a trace of true spirit, escaped for thousands of miles.

His nascent soul was ultimately weak, and he was severely injured and being hunted down. After barely escaping his enemies, his mental and magical power were exhausted to the extreme, and his fate was at its lowest point. In haste, he possessed a full-term fetus. Originally, with his magical cultivation, he might not have been unable to resolve the situation, but his village was suddenly ravaged by war and slaughtered. His mother was covered in blood, her internal organs exposed, yet she still used her broken body as a shield to desperately protect the swaddling clothes. After the iron hooves had gone far away, only the cold moon shone on the desolate village, and corpses piled up like hills.

Centuries later, this person reappeared in the mortal world, not only having regained all his magical powers but also having advanced further, but his personality had also changed drastically, and he had fallen into the demonic path…

This person is a typical example of recklessly possessing and seizing bodies; younger cultivators must be wary of the lessons learned from this.

Inside the Heaven and Earth Palace, there were only three people in the room. Lu Cheng was explaining the key points of the tribulation to Yun Yuzhen and Yun Ling'er.

Even the naturally lively Yun Ling'er was focused and dared not be negligent in the slightest, as it concerned her life and death.

Lu Cheng's two wives, Xiao Yuhong and Xiao Yuxue, were determined to sever their ties with the past and prove the Great Dao anew with new faces and new understanding. Therefore, they resolutely gave up their memories of past lives and chose the most risky but also the most thorough path of reincarnation.

Although Yun Yuzhen and Yun Ling'er had a foundation in the Dao, they ultimately lacked the courage and determination to take such a desperate gamble. So they chose the relatively safe traditional method—the same method that most Nascent Soul cultivators undergo after their lifespan ends.

As long as cultivation resources are prepared and disciples are arranged to protect the path, it often only takes a few hundred years to restore the power of the cultivator to its peak and gain another two thousand years of lifespan.

"Your life is your own, so don't be indifferent or afraid of trouble. It goes without saying that you should burn incense and pray, bathe and change clothes beforehand. I want you to go to Samsara Peak first and see those women in person. Sensing which one you are connected with and which one you feel disgusted by. At this time, the most important thing is to be keenly aware of the situation at the first moment."

Lu Cheng was cautious, but the matter of Nascent Soul Transformation is actually quite common in all realms, and the success rate is extremely high.

Otherwise, the lifespan of a Nascent Soul cultivator wouldn't be assumed to be four thousand years. A great cultivator who has cultivated for a thousand years might have a certain chance of failing to possess a nascent soul that has been in existence for less than three months, but that chance is extremely low.

Several months later, on the lotus platform of the Reincarnation Peak Palace, two graceful and hazy figures sat quietly in meditation. They were the nascent souls of Yun Yuzhen and Yun Ling'er before their tribulation. They had now burned away their physical bodies and transferred all their magical power into their nascent souls, thus entering a mysterious state of embryonic breathing, with spiritual light flowing through them, fragile yet resilient.

Inside the entire Taoist palace, besides the two of them, only Lu Cheng, a Taoist priest dressed in an elegant Taoist robe, stood before the lotus platform.

His entire being seemed to merge with the heavens and earth, his aura as deep as the sea and as vast as the night. His expression was calm, devoid of joy or sorrow. As the appointed time arrived, he placed a hand seal before him:

"Yin and Yang divide in order, the Five Elements revolve. The profound protect the Dao, and innate wisdom endures forever." Lu Cheng chanted the mantra, each word causing the void to tremble. He slowly raised his hands, his ten fingers forming intricate Daoist hand seals like butterflies flitting among flowers.

boom!
Outside the Heaven and Earth Palace, endless spiritual energy was drawn in by an invisible force, transforming into visible rivers of spiritual energy that traversed the void and continuously flowed into the two women's bodies.

Yun Yuzhen and Yun Ling'er's internal magical power had already reached its limit, but at this moment, Lu Cheng used immense magical power, following a certain ethereal energy channel, to enhance the two of them, yet it did not clash with their own magical power at all.

Beneath the lotus platform, the five elements of immortal energy—water, fire, earth, metal, and wood—suddenly intensified, forming an ever-renewing five-element wheel that gently enveloped the soul light of Yun Yuzhen and Yun Ling'er.

Nourished by the five-colored immortal light, their soul light became increasingly solid and crystalline, and within it seemed to flicker and appear fragments of their past lives, their laughter and smiles.

Lu Cheng took a deep breath, his magical power surging around him. Behind him, twenty-four blurry yet terrifyingly powerful ancient god and demon phantoms appeared, which were the enhancements he received from refining the blood of ancient true spirits!
If one truly cultivates to the point of perfect harmony between oneself and one's cultivation, such an illusion should cease to exist, but even so, it is already terrifying enough.

"go with!"

With a shout, the five dragons of immortal energy of the five elements roared to the sky, spewing out the original energy of the five elements from their mouths and injecting it into the two balls of spiritual light of the deceased, which had been tempered to be like the purest glass, so that they completely condensed into a seven-colored light bead the size of a grain of rice, but containing infinite vitality.

With a flick of his fingers, the Taoist priest sent two subtle yet incredibly resilient strands of Xuan Tian magic power into invisible threads, guiding the two "seeds of innate wisdom" along the mysterious causal pull, and through the chaotic passage leading to tens of thousands of pure embryonic primordial beings at the foot of Mount Ling, they silently descended to the mortal realm!

Having reached this point, all that's left is to wait.

...

In contrast to Yun Yuzhen and Yun Ling'er, who used their supreme magical power to directly intervene in reincarnation in Lucheng and protect Su Hui's reincarnation.

The complete reincarnation of the sisters Xiao Yuhong and Xiao Yuxue is even more in line with the impermanence of the natural order. The sisters approached the Fire Spirit couple and made arrangements over several hundred years.

The choice these two made was to integrate their true selves into the cycle of reincarnation, allowing them to naturally grow, blossom, and bear fruit once again from the mortal realm.

Therefore, a strong protective force is needed to ensure that its true nature is not lost in the womb and that it is not taken advantage of during the reincarnation process.

Lu Cheng had calculated this matter using the Heavenly Demon Algorithm. If he forcibly joined in, it would be like a flying stone falling from the sky onto the chessboard. Although it could protect the Xiao sisters, their cultivation paths would inevitably be greatly hindered.

The path of cultivation is a cultivator's second life, and sometimes even more important than life itself.

Therefore, this matter was handled by several close associates of Lu Cheng, led by the Fire Spirit couple who controlled the Great Reincarnation Disc, followed by the Kui Niu Demon King, and the two demons, the Heavenly Fire Child.

Among them, the Kui Niu Demon King and the Heavenly Fire Child were originally demons suppressed in the Demon Refining Pagoda, the natal magic weapon of the Xiao sisters.

The Xiao sisters created the Demon Refining Heart Sutra and the Divine Incantation for Demon Control. For hundreds and thousands of years, they have successfully converted the Kui Niu Demon King and the Heavenly Fire Child into their own protectors, who are loyal and obedient to their commands.

Decades later, millions of miles away from the Heavenly Palace, in a mortal kingdom, there was a place called "Qinghe County" with clear skies and bright sunshine.

This place has excellent feng shui, surrounded by green mountains and winding through the city, and is home to many long-lived and healthy people. Within this county, in the scholarly Lin family and the martial arts family Han family, two women, both nearly three months pregnant, simultaneously exhibited unusual symptoms.

Madam Lin dreamt that a snow-white white fox rushed into her arms, and when she woke up, her mind was clear and peaceful; Madam Han often felt the fragrance of pure snow lotus lingering around her mouth and nose when she took a nap in the courtyard.

Ordinary people like these do not understand the mystery behind it and simply take it as an auspicious omen.

It was indeed an auspicious sign. The immortal world has had legends of reincarnated immortals since ancient times, so they would not believe that an immortal from beyond the heavens killed their child.

This is because almost every family that has a legend of being a reincarnated immortal has become wealthy and prosperous, lasting for ten generations.

If you have a son or a daughter, they might be spendthrifts or troublemakers; but if you have a reincarnated immortal, both parents and the entire family will benefit immensely.

One night, the moon was hidden and the stars were few, and a thick, stagnant atmosphere permeated the world.

Above Qinghe County, on a level invisible to mortals, a cold, eerie, and foul-smelling dark red bloodline spread silently like a spider web. It did not directly invade the city, but wandered around the perimeter like invisible venomous snakes, trying to probe, spy on, and locate the two residences that contained the seeds of Nascent Soul True Nature.

'I'm really lucky! I'm just sitting at home and wealth comes from nowhere!' Two beams of divine light swept down on my head.

Hahaha, it seems there are two female immortals. If these two are willing to cultivate together with me, I will only take their money, not their lives. These two are reincarnating and need to find a husband to protect them and sustain their lives.

Amidst the dark clouds in the sky, blood-red light crisscrossed.

This Blood Spirit Demon Lord can be considered one of the most outstanding demonic cultivators in the Tongxuan Realm in recent centuries. There is a Blood Scripture in this realm that is widely circulated. It is said that Lu Laomo of the Heavenly Demon Palace obtained this scripture in his early years and made great progress in his cultivation, which led to his later path in the Dao.

This Blood Spirit Demon Lord was originally a disciple of a demonic sect. In his early years, he accidentally obtained a few pages of the Blood Scripture. After cultivating it, he became addicted and devoted himself to collecting fragments and incomplete manuscripts from various places. He also had some luck and managed to obtain a few more pages over the past hundred years. He actually cultivated a certain level of understanding and then destroyed his own sect, plundered all the spiritual treasures, and went into seclusion to cultivate. Now he is a demonic figure at the Nascent Soul stage.

"Hmph! Netherworld Bloodline? Which bug in the corner dares to mess with me... ptooey, it's the mistress's idea!" A girl in red on the high tower suddenly opened her eyes, a cluster of furious flames burning in her crimson pupils.

"It's a variant of the 'Blood-Guiding Technique'! Not some mortal evil, but a rather sophisticated and insidious one! Be careful of the shadows!" The Taoist boy beside the girl in red spoke gravely, relaying his message to the dense forest and marketplace outside the city. Before they finished speaking, the dark red lines in the sky suddenly tightened, their target pointing directly at the Lin and Han residences!

Before the bloodline even reached them, a demonic force capable of stirring the six desires and corrupting the soul surged down like a tidal wave. The mortals of the city instantly fell into a deep sleep, countless nightmares arose, and weak infant spirits cried out in anguish. This fiend attacked without any regard for whether or not it would injure anyone.

"Moo-!"

At this critical moment, a thunderous roar, seemingly from the primordial era, resounded throughout the world!
Boom! Whoosh—Rumble!

It is not a tangible sound wave, but the innate divine power of the Kui Niu that is unparalleled in the world: the Heavenly Thunder Demon-Slaying Curse. This sound ignores space, penetrates directly into the soul, and cleanses away the filth!

Its sound was deep and muffled, like billions of thunderbolts rolling down from the heavens. The massive sound wave carried the will of supreme yang and strength, to destroy evil and suppress demons, as if it were the wrath of the thunder god of the heavens, instantly sweeping across the entire Qinghe County and all evil thoughts and ideas in the sky above it.

"snort!?"

The overwhelming dark red blood lines, like ice and snow exposed to the scorching sun, made a sizzling sound, breaking, disintegrating, and evaporating inch by inch!
The formless and intangible evil thought was also pierced by the thunderous sound, utterly routed, emitting a sharp, inhuman scream, and vanishing in an instant.

The heavy, stagnant feeling that had enveloped the city receded like the tide, the night sky returned to its clear, cool state, and even the early autumn breeze carried a hint of crispness.

The Demon King of Kui Niu unleashed his Demon-Slaying Curse, shattering evil from a thousand miles away!
"What a powerful spell! Kui Niu, you're still as sharp as ever!" In the marketplace, Tianhuo Tongzi's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and in a flash, he disappeared from the spot.

Just as the Kui Niu Demon King's thunderous sound waves shattered the evil magic, the Fire Spirit couple on the tower also made their move.

The girl in red made a hand seal, and a tiny, condensed, colorless white flame leaped from her fingertips, silently merging into the void, chasing the evil thoughts stirred by the sound of the Kui Niu. This flame contained terrifying magical power to burn away all evil and ignite the soul; it was the Asura Demon Flame that the Fire Spirit Couple relied on to roam the world.

Although the Blood Spirit Demon Lord was somewhat prepared, he never expected that the protection of the two Transcendent Ones would be so powerful. Seeing that things were not going well, he immediately turned around and transformed into a blood rainbow to escape.

"Where to go!"

"You've offended the Divine Lord and you think you can leave? Stay!"

Suddenly, a ball of demonic fire burst into flames on one side of the blood rainbow.

The Heavenly Fire Child emerged from within, with three heads and six eyes wide open in anger, six arms reaching to the sky, each holding various magical treasures, their bodies wreathed in demonic flames, causing the surrounding void to scorch and distort. He was originally a gold-eating fire ant that cultivated into human form, possessing a powerful physical body and a love for fighting. At this moment, he was like a giant flaming spear, piercing through the air towards the Blood Spirit Demon Lord!
At the same time, the Huo Ling couple were of one mind and did not need to speak. The man made a hand seal to draw out the essence of the Yang Fire of the Nine Heavens, while the female cultivator used her fair hand to draw out the Yin Fire of the Earth Vein. The two streams of magic fire, one Yin and one Yang, intertwined in an instant, transforming into a "Two Elements Mysterious Fire Net" that covered the sky and the sun, encircling from all directions, trying to completely cover the blood shadow and refine it into nothingness.

The Heaven and Earth Palace is powerful, and Lord Lucheng is a divine seed that has existed for ten thousand years. The Fire Spirit couple has made up their minds to follow in his footsteps. They can hardly imagine what kind of disaster it would be if the Xiao sisters were to be harmed in their hands. Therefore, they are ruthless and fierce when they make their move.

All three are skilled in fire magic, yet each has their own unique characteristics. Thus, when these three powerful and unparalleled forces arrived together, the surrounding area within a ten-mile radius was scorched, vegetation was ignited, and soil and rocks turned into molten mud!
"Who are you people, pressing us so aggressively?!" The Blood Spirit Demon Lord roared repeatedly, his body suddenly exploding into a thick, filthy sea of ​​blood mist.

The Heavenly Fire Child plunged into the sea of ​​blood, only to be extinguished like a stone sinking into a muddy pool. His demonic flames were quickly corrupted and annihilated by the extremely evil blood energy.

The Yin-Yang Fire Net descended, attempting to refine the blood mist through a flow of Yin and Yang. However, it was struck by the resentment and anger of countless living beings contained within the blood mist, causing it to hiss and flicker. The net's meshes were even corroded bit by bit!

Upon seeing this, the Blood Spirit Demon Lord cackled, and the blood mist surged against the fire net like a swarm of locusts, forcibly tearing open a gap.

A single drop of dark red blood, the most concentrated and imbued with the aura of decay and death, was the demonic seed residing within his nascent soul. It was enveloped in overwhelming ferocity and shot out at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, hurtling straight into the sky!
His blood and nerves had been cultivated to a certain degree of refinement. When necessary, he could abandon most of his own magic power and forcefully cast spells. This escape technique was also his trump card for survival. He was so fast that he turned into a blood-red meteor in an instant and was about to merge into the twilight sky in the distance. Only the lingering sounds of the painful groans of the mortals in the city whose souls had been eroded by the previous demonic thoughts had not yet faded away.

The Heavenly Fire Child, consumed by rage, roared with three ferocious expressions, "Where do you think you're going!" He transformed into a rainbow of burning sky and relentlessly pursued the pursuer!
"Halt!" A deep, resonant moo, accompanied by a majestic thunderous sound that pierced the soul, boomed out, freezing the Heavenly Fire Child in place.

It was none other than the Kui Niu Demon King, whose escape techniques were somewhat inadequate!
His colossal body, like a mountain, appeared silently before the Heavenly Fire Child. His voice, deep and resonant like rolling thunder, spoke:

"Judging from the speed at which this demon has fled, it is already burning its life essence. It will not be easy to catch up with him in a short time. Protecting the reincarnated spirit of the mistress is of utmost importance and cannot be compromised in the slightest. This is the decree of His Majesty. If he has any accomplices hiding in the shadows and takes advantage of the opportunity to disturb the fetus, it will be an unforgivable crime! If you go to chase after him alone, the three of us will not be able to defend against any storms."

He slightly raised his horns, and dozens of thin, hair-like streaks of lightning silently spread throughout the city, precisely to the locations where the Demon Lord's Netherworld Bloodline had previously invaded. Wherever the lightning touched, it was like sweet rain and clear springs, instantly purifying and dispelling the chilling demonic thoughts planted in the hearts of those mortals, and their terrified and distorted faces instantly calmed down.

The words provoked Tianhuo Tongzi's anger. Looking at the situation in Fangfan City and the fact that Huoling and his wife had retreated into their formation and were cautiously surrounding him, he knew that what Kui Niu said was true. He could only stomp his foot hard, and the flames of his six arms subsided slightly as he suppressed his resentment.

The Huo Ling couple also withdrew their gaze, their divine senses becoming even more focused as they guarded the weak pregnancies of the two matriarchs below—the Lin family and the Han family of Qinghe County.

Meanwhile, the Blood Spirit Demon Lord, who thought he had escaped with his life, was overjoyed and even began to plan how to take revenge. This wicked and cunning man relied on his unparalleled demonic escape skills and committed countless atrocities over the past thousand years. Countless powerful figures had tried to capture him but failed. Who would have thought he would be in such a sorry state today?
I will repay this hatred and humiliation tenfold or a hundredfold if I have the chance in the future!
"But who exactly is this person, that he has four Nascent Soul cultivators joining forces to protect him right after he just underwent the tribulation, hiding in the shadows?"

If it weren't for me, which ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator would have survived?

The Crimson Demon Seed, like an extremely filthy crimson comet, was about to disappear completely into the dark, misty barrier of the distant mountains.

At the very moment when his mind was most relaxed!
There was no warning, no sound of air being torn apart, and not even the slightest leakage of magical power.

A flash of sword light.

Clear as autumn waters stretching across the sky, sparkling like the moon reflected in a cold pool, it appeared out of nowhere and quietly from the depths of the void ahead of the Blood Spirit Demon Lord's escape route.

It appeared so naturally, as if it were part of the world itself, like moonlight or a gentle breeze, that it was impossible to sense or defend against.

Stab it!

That extremely filthy and vile Blood Spirit Demon Seed, with its monstrous demonic energy, the howling of countless wronged souls, and the filthy evil energy intertwined with the resentment of heaven and earth, was like ice and snow exposed to the bright sun in the face of this pure and clean ray of light.

It melted away silently.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no shrill, desperate screams, only a sense of the inevitable return of all things to nothingness.

The next instant, not far from where the demonic seed was annihilated, the space rippled slightly like the surface of water, and a young Taoist priest with a handsome face and wearing a simple Taoist robe appeared without warning.

He stood in the void, with no sword in his hand, only his index and middle fingers together, and an invisible light slowly dissipated from the tips of his fingers.

It was Lu Cheng Daoist. His gaze first fell on the two mansions with special auras in the mortal city of Qinghe County below—the Lin family and the Han family. A trace of barely perceptible warmth and worry flashed in his eyes.

Then, his gaze swept over the Kui Niu Demon King, Tianhuo Tongzi, and Huo Ling couple, who were vigilantly guarding the void.

However, Lu Cheng did not step forward. The divination indicated that the more he intervened, the worse the impact on the Xiao sisters would be.

It was the Blood Spirit Demon Lord that Lu Cheng dared to kill with a single, invisible flying sword after he had fled tens of thousands of miles away.

"Father! You've come too. Your son-in-law is incompetent and has caused you worry."

Lu Cheng turned around and said this. Behind him, a Taoist priest with a clean and simple face, wearing a faded yellow Taoist robe, appeared. He was Huang Longzi, who had already advanced to the Nascent Soul realm.

Originally, with Huang Longzi's path of cultivation, although he had a chance to advance to the primordial spirit level, it was impossible for him to do so within the next thousand years. However, Lu Cheng studied the Taoist transformation and ascension techniques, from which Huang Longzi benefited greatly. In addition, he also consumed many spiritual pills from the upper realm, which is why he was able to cultivate his primordial spirit in his first life.

"After three months of fetal breathing to lock in the primordial spirit, the newly built hut is used to avoid karmic causes."

Blood lines peek into the heavens, defiling the path; thunderous sounds break through barriers, protecting the profound truth.

Incense burns faintly atop Samsara Peak, while karmic causes and effects are laid bare within the Pearl of Past Wisdom.

Do not lament the many tribulations on the path to immortality; cultivate stillness and tranquility to sever ties with the mortal world. After casually reciting a verse of profound cultivation, Huang Longzi waved his hand and said:
"There's no need for such formalities between us, master and disciple. It's been over a thousand years. How you've treated Yu Hong and Yu Xue, and how you've treated us old folks, is no longer worth mentioning."

Fortunately, your master's wife has been in seclusion cultivating and has not been involved in outside affairs; otherwise, she would have been filled with worry and anxiety.

After saying this, the master and disciple gazed at Qinghe Prefecture from afar, knowing that Xiao Yuhong and Xiao Yuxue would face many mortal tribulations in the future, undergoing trials and tribulations until their Dao hearts were tempered and clear, only then would they have the opportunity to continue their Dao journey.

What is the Dao Heart? It is the last support for a cultivator on the path of cultivation. Otherwise, even if one cultivates infinite magical power, after thousands of years, one's own mental strength will be exhausted and one will no longer want to live. Immortality will become a prison.

(End of this chapter)