New concept of the mysterious way to ascend to immortality

Chapter 254 Reversing the Heavenly Gang, Shadow Riding the Holy Light!

After dismissing the two siblings on whom he had placed high hopes, Yuan Zhu returned alone to his private room in the 'Second Floor. Inner World'. Switching to his Tiger Demon form, he continued to passively absorb 'Shadow Essence' to enhance the Tiger Demon's raw power. (Increasing all basic stats)

Feel the blue and health bars of the [Boss Template] being permanently increased at a slight rate.

He couldn't help but exclaim in a whirlwind of emotions, "Snake! Do you think that if my strength continues to increase like this, I'll be rejected and forced to ascend when I return to the mortal world? I'm still young, I haven't experienced the wonderful life of a spirit yet, I haven't had time to be arrogant and domineering, and I still have a younger brother to support. I don't want to ascend like this!"

He vaguely recalled his last return to Running. Because the [Inner Universe] contained too many 'Changgui (demonic insects)', the [Tiger Demon] itself was polluted beyond the standard.

Upon returning to Running, I immediately felt a strong sense of collapse and tug-of-war. It was as if I might fall into the "shadow" at any moment, plummeting from this world into another, never to return.

Now, his [Tiger Demon Form (Abnormal Spiritual Root)] is even stronger than before. His already formidable skills have been further enhanced by the rapid growth of [Shadow Dream Hole + Law Domain]. He already possesses some of the flair of the original [Mountain Lord] from the 'Immortal Dao Universe'.

No. To be more precise, the original 'Cultivation World: Mountain Tiger Demon' was far weaker than my 'Shadow Tiger Demon' at the same stage and level!
Not to mention that the [Boss Template] is formed by merging the two 'abnormal spiritual roots' of 'Tiger Demon' and 'Snake Demon', and has innately comprehended two ultimate mysteries, making it more profound than the Tiger Demon.

Even though he only inherited the [Tiger Demon Spirit Root], after the localization of the spirit by the '(Shadow) Pollution Modification', all his talents have been 'mutated and enhanced' in a crazy way.

The Shadow Tiger Demon's various supernatural abilities are far more unscrupulous than those of the Mountain Lord Tiger Demon in the cultivation world.

Snake Tail, always ready to help his boss, replied, "No matter how strong the [Tiger Demon] is, what does it have to do with your 'human form', boss? As long as you keep your [Boss Template] locked and don't show it to others, and don't easily switch forms, your [Holy Light Cultivation] is far from reaching the 'Ascension' standard, so there's no need to worry!"

"Moreover, you have now created a private [Anti-Law]. If you feel that the [Tiger Demon]'s weight (pollution) is excessive and there is a risk of 'ascension', then you can transfer the excess 'fat' to the [Anti-Law] for storage. Let the [Anti-Law] share the pressure and resist ascension."

The biggest flaw exposed by the [Anti-Law System] is that despite possessing a massive amount of [Pollution Power (Capital Pool)] wealth, it cannot directly use this 'its own power' to strengthen itself. It can only use it indirectly through others (lower-level entities) in the form of contracts, investments, loans, leases, etc.

However, the advantages are also obvious: the special form of existence of the [Counter-Law] is like the [Law], suspended outside the individual. Therefore, the [Counter-Law Ruler] itself does not have a high-energy reaction and there is no need to worry about the [Ascension] issue.

In Snake's view, once the Tiger Demon's cultivation level exceeds the standard and he is forced to ascend, he can absorb this 'pollution' through the 'Anti-Law', reduce his weight, and continue to stay in the real world.

Then, Snake added, "I have another idea! After you return to Running this time, use the [Insect Pillar] to open up the [Mountain Lord's Domain]. From then on, you will no longer be living under someone else's roof in the [Disease Garden.Rental House]. With a new home, we can naturally resist and offset the [Ascension Impulse]."

When the Tiger Demon strolled around the Garden of Disease, it never felt any suppression or rejection from the mortal world, and could freely stretch and release its power. Similarly, once the Shadow Domain is constructed, it can also be used to house the Tiger Demon in its prime.

Yuan Zhu asked doubtfully, "Could it be that even the [Shadow Domain] will fall into the mortal world and be forced to 'ascend from its home'?"

Back on Earth, the highest level of ascension is never about becoming an immortal alone, but rather about bringing along one's entire family and even one's relatives and friends – a concept that has even become a proverb.

Those who are weaker can, after achieving mastery, ride horses with their wives to shatter the void. The stronger ones can even have their cats and dogs ascend to immortality with them. The most extraordinary can uproot their entire mansion and, along with their concubines, maids, and even the loquat tree in their courtyard, go to the immortal realm to enjoy a life of luxury.

Considering the culture of our ancestral home, which profoundly influenced ancient civilizations and left behind a wealth of ancient texts, this cultural heritage was reinterpreted and manifested in modern times (400 years ago) as a conceptual anchor for many sources of pollution.

Since the concept of "ascension" exists, then "ascension from the ashes" is perfectly suited for the "Mountain Lord's Domain".

If one's strength grows too rapidly, will the [Law Domain] be rejected by the real world, forcing one to ascend to the upper realm?
Snake was stumped and couldn't answer: "This involves my area of ​​expertise. I don't think Meng Xiyue, Zhou Chu, or the senior student, these lowly nobodies, can answer this either. Maybe we should wait until we return to [Happy Home] and ask the captain what he thinks?"

Yuan Zhu: "That's all we can do! As for now, let's use the [Chang Gui Divine Power] to refine a bit of the evil 'Holy Light'!"

He fed the [Holy Seal] with the 'Shadow-type. Ghostly Product' for so long, nurtured the [Personal Holy Light], and provided a large amount of embers mixed with his own soul, successfully condensing the [Soul Crystal] and attempting to break through to the 2nd Seal. (The [Ghostly Product] is part of oneself, similar to fingernails and skin flakes, and contains its own soul components. Burning the Ghostly Product is burning oneself.)
However, the Holy Light has enjoyed so many benefits from the Shadow, yet it has never shown any thought of giving back? This is truly disheartening. Today, he will uphold justice and make the weak Shadow Corruption turn the tables, press the Holy Light down and rub it against him, and produce some results.

In the past, even if Yuan Zhu had wanted to use his [Tiger Demon] form to refine some 'Holy Light Contaminants', he would have been powerless to do so, because it was simply impossible.

Pure 'holy light pollution' dissipates rapidly after being released and cannot be retained. In the end, only an extremely pure 'attributeless dried corpse' remains, drained dry. It is often crushed and ground into powder for use in various industries.

Pure 'holy light energy' cannot be preserved for a long time unless it is a special crystal such as 'soul crystal', let alone refined.

Beside Yuan Zhu, besides himself, a holy cultivator, there was no other 'holy light-type physical contaminant' that could be used as a target for the [Changgui Divine Power] to refine. Unless…

He sneaked into the church and secretly kidnapped a 'holy monk'. He planned to have the snake's tail swallow him whole, refining him into a demon within its belly! But such an act was too cruel! Too evil! He dared not even think about it.

Because once this is done, putting aside whether the [Tiger Demon] can be successfully refined, and whether it will attract the pursuit of the Holy Temple, even if the perpetrator is the [Tiger Demon], the human Yuan Zhu still cannot get over this hurdle in his heart.

This would cause the idealistic "Personal Holy Light" color (quality) to plummet, and the "Holy Light" attribute to shift and decline. It would directly lead to "Defilement." This is a completely self-destructive and brain-dead act; it should not be done.

But now, everything has changed!
The power of the Great Sassy Cup allows Holy Light to combine with Pumpkin Ashes, solidifying, materializing, and sealing the energy. It forms a self-contained small space, using Magic Sealing Waves to capture contaminated targets and refine a bottle of non-dissipating, non-volatile, milky-white, thick Holy Light for long-term preservation!

After swallowing such a 'holy flask,' activating the [Changgui Divine Power] will naturally allow one to achieve some results. Snake also became excited; it was finally her turn to speak: "Lord Lao, what are your thoughts?"

Yuan Zhu: "Naturally, it will be a group-controlled experiment. First, I'll conjure up a flask, without sealing in any 'contaminants,' and directly refine it. Next, the second group will use the flask to seal in a weak demonic insect and complete the holy light refinement, transforming it into a 'thick holy cough substance,' which will then be fed to the snake demon. The third group will directly seal in a demonic insect, without refining it with holy light, and directly feed it to the snake demon. Let's see what we refine in each group?"

Snake took over the management of [Shadow Dream Hole] and began to mobilize the resources within [Law Domain]: "I will arrange the sacrifices now."

Yuan Zhu advised, "For the first experiment, there's no need to choose overly strong demonic insects. Use two low-difficulty, weak ones to speed up the [Chang Gui Refining] process."

The more powerful the 'demon insect,' the more difficult it is to seal, and the slower the refining process becomes, taking a considerable amount of time to obtain results. In contrast, the weak 'contaminants,' now in the hands of Yuan Zhu at the [Seed] level, can be grasped and refined in an instant!

Soon, Snake contacted the management of the surface-level [Pastoral Village] and then sent two stunted 'magical giant insects' that looked no bigger than large blue trash cans.

At the same time, Yuan Zhu took out the remaining 'pumpkin ash' from the [Soul Space] and infused it with [Holy Light, Soul Embers]. A dazzling white light burst from his palm, and the temperature continued to rise. However, it was suppressed inside the 'barrier' by the unfolded [Sanctuary] and did not dissipate outward.

Soon, the pumpkin ash began to dissolve, like melting glass; or like hand-crafting diamonds under high temperature and pressure (the shelter).

Before long, Yuan Zhu had crafted three identical 'sealed flasks' by hand.

He walked straight up to the two giant, demonic insects that were on guard, roaring and threatening Yuan Zhu. One was a mantis with its pair of claw-like legs removed; the other was a grasshopper with its hind legs broken and ejected.

At this moment, Zhu Zi held up three flasks with one hand and made a hand seal with the other, directly releasing two 'Holy Light Barriers'. These barriers imprisoned the bodies of the two demonic insects, rendering them powerless to retaliate. They could only stand frozen in place, futilely twisting their limbs, but their torsos remained completely still.

boom! boom!
Yuan Zhu stepped forward and, without saying a word, unleashed two [Great Holy Light and Righteousness Fist] strikes at the two demonic insects.

First, wrap your fist with a 'Holy Light Barrier', then put on a layer of highly defensive and sturdy gauntlets, and finally cover your fist with 'Holy Cough Particles'.

After two punches, two fist-shaped dents appeared on the chitinous shell of the demonic insect. A large amount of [Holy Cough] penetrated the shell and seeped into the flesh, igniting the insect's flesh from within like a spark.

The next moment, Yuan Zhu switched his attack method, aimed at the first demonic insect, and released a blinding [Sealing Beam] that completely enveloped the mantis with the broken arm.

Immediately, the [Demon Sealing Wave] was activated, drawing the demonic insects within the 'Sealing Barrier' into [Flavor #2]. Then, he repeated the trick, successfully sealing the severed-legged grasshopper into [Flavor #3].

Compared to the last time he helped the two siblings seal the 'Demonized Giant Cicada', this time he directly inserted the [Sanctuary] shard before casting the 'Sealing Beam'. This halved the difficulty of the seal, doubled the sealing power, and didn't consume much energy, as if the two demonic insects had been successfully sealed.

After doing all this, he gripped Flask No. 2 in his right hand and once again enveloped it with the [Sanctuary] layer. The holy light of the [Soul Crystal] poured frantically into the [Holy Seal], stimulating the flask's limited refining ability.

At this moment, the 'flask', which was reinforced by the overlapping [Holy Seal], looked just like a test tube being heated wildly by an alcohol lamp in a laboratory, or a closed microwave oven and alchemy furnace.

Endless light and heat erupted inside the flask, and the shrunken demonic insects let out desperate screams, struggling frantically, trying to smash the flask and escape this 'holy light red lotus hell', but all their efforts were in vain.

In terms of strength, the flasks fired by Yuan Zhu are somewhat similar to the 'Rupert's Tears' formed when molten glass drips naturally into ice water under the influence of gravity.

Attacking the container barrier from the inside of the 'flask' is like the head of Rupert's Tear, a hundred times stronger than glass products of the same material, able to withstand bullets without breaking, and able to withstand the crushing force of an 8-ton hydraulic press.

Only the indestructible [Holy Flask] can seal away all kinds of corrupted monsters, preventing them from struggling to escape.

However, if the body of the Holy Flask is attacked from the outside, or if it is smashed against the ground, the delicate tadpole tail of the Rupert's Tear will shatter and shatter completely with just a light tap and a little force.

The demonic insect sealed inside the bottle struggled desperately with all its might, but it could not break the flask. Even after burning out its life force, it could not even leave a crack.

On the contrary, Yuan Zhu continuously inputted [Holy Light], pushing the power of [Sanctuary] to its limit. Soon, with the help of the 'Holy Cough Fist Imprint' injected into the demonic insect's body, it was completely ignited, burning flesh, life, and soul, transforming them into a pool of viscous and pure [Holy Cough Particles].

Due to the unique structure of the Holy Flask, this mass of Holy Cough Particles was preserved and sealed within the flask, appearing incredibly sacred. The mass of Holy Cough Particles, emitting a milky-white holy light, resembled slowly flowing slime.

The brilliant but eccentric snake exclaimed excitedly, "Wow! Look at this mesmerizing light and its absurdly beautiful appearance. How about... we call it 'Holy Light Phlegm'? It's the 'product' of the pathogen (Holy Cough Particles) after it has completely infected and tormented a patient to death with the 'Holy Cough Disease,' devouring all life and soul. Isn't the product of 'cough' just 'phlegm'?"

Yuan Zhu was speechless: "Your description is very apt and vivid, but I refuse! You're so good at naming things, so don't do it next time!"

After finishing the refining of flask number 2, Yuan Zhu did not attack the grasshopper in flask number 3. Instead, he switched back to the [Tiger Demon Stance] and fed all three flasks to the snake tail, allowing it to activate [Inner Universe] to fully refine the three flasks.

Then, like a big cat, it curled up, squinted its eyes, and began to snore (as if in meditation).

(End of this chapter)