Forty divine intents hovered in his mind in the Minor Change arrangement, just like the altar. They resembled forty exceptionally dazzling stars.
What was this realm? Feng Feiyun couldn’t give an answer because he had never encountered such a situation before. No creature in this world could cultivate forty divine intents either.
A human had ten, phoenixes had thirty, and true dragons had thirty-three.
“Grand achievement with nine opened meridians... The other 351 will require some time through cultivation.
“The hardest part for cultivation is getting to the door. The Spirit Realm is the first, followed by Immortal Foundation and God Base. After getting through these minor realms, one would finally become a real cultivator. Alas, there are trillions of beings, and not many could get through these barriers.
“God Base is the most difficult. Countless heroes and talents usually get stuck in this realm for dozens or even a hundred years. In the end, their talents are wasted and they would die an ordinary death like a mortal.
“The first cornerstone of cultivation is truly difficult. Ten thousand years worth of cultivation could end before it even started because of this realm.”
Feng Feiyun slowly sighed before his eyes flashed with determination. He had finally crossed this hurdle to reach the next level. The next trials before him were to open his meridians and then the Earth Tribulation. He needed to pass these trials before seizing the Heaven’s Mandate to obtain a lifespan of five hundred years. With that, he would have more time to do as he pleased!
The silver river spanned across the celestial canopy to link two different galaxies. [1. Silver river is the Milky Way, but it is too modern and western, so I’m going literal with the Chinese name.]
Two meteors came from the north and crossed the silver river, aiming straight for Mount Banda. In just a moment, they landed right outside the altar. Their majestic arrival seemed just like two devil beasts from the primordial past breaking through the fabric of time to come to this world.
“It’s them!” Feng Feiyun quickly took one step back before creating a small tornado of sand to hide himself in.
His body disappeared into the sand.
The Evil Woman also felt the two conspicuous presences. She only woke up from her cultivation without moving. Her eyes were still closed as she sat in a meditative pose.
The starlight in the sky had been bathing her as she tried to refine the spirit vessel without batting an eye.
Feng Feiyun thought to himself: ‘Three corpses to slay the dao. First, separate into three corpses only to join together once more. Their gathering now could kill the heavenly dao.’
The gales continued to send the snow flying outside of the altar on this cold night.
The snowflakes were like the fluffy feathers of a phoenix falling down onto this magnificent scenery. Their drifting nature made this lonely night even colder and more beautiful.
Xiao Nuolan used her paper umbrella right outside of the altar. Her tight, white dress painted her exquisite figure below her red winter jacket.
To her right was a floating corpse palace. All four ethereal doors were opened. There wasn’t the stench of corpse energy but rather an immortal aura. One could smell its pleasant and charming taste.
“You actually made it out of the Immeasurable Tower.” The Evil Woman was not shaken at all. A green brilliance flashed across her fair skin while her long eyebrows slightly trembled, but her eyes remained closed. She continued: “I was going to go to the Immeasurable Tower to seize your dao foundation after completing the fifth transformation. I didn’t think that you would escape by yourself.”
“The Immeasurable Tower couldn’t trap you, so it naturally couldn’t trap me. You are my Evil Corpse, it is time for you to return to the true body.” Xiao Nuolan’s appearance was initially different from the Evil Woman’s, but after some time, her looks changed to be exactly like the Evil Woman.
If they stood in the same spot, very few would be able to tell the two apart. Which was the Evil Corpse and which was the true body?
“Your dao has regressed. The Evil Corpse is the true body and the true body is the Evil Corpse. This is a world of the strong; I am stronger than you, so I am the true body.” The Evil Woman’s body exuded a chilling prestige with an evil aura. Even the high heavens would want to kneel before her.
Good people used virtue to govern; evil people used force to reign.
“Whoosh!” The Evil Woman finally opened her eyes. The black pupils looked just like two black holes. The stars in the sky were distorted and flew in the direction of her gaze, soaring closer towards the altar.
Xiao Nuolan closed the paper umbrella and pointed forward to shatter the starlight. She flew forward into the altar and landed on a stone tablet like an immortal crane on a mountain.
“Boom!” Her palm carried the force of several mountains. With a flip of her palm, the world seemed to be lifted as she unleashed a blow towards the altar as if wanting to flatten the entire mountain.
“The true body is strong to this level too!” Feng Feiyun was now hiding under another tablet and used his ring for protection. Nevertheless, he could still feel the threat of death. A stray energy ray could kill him any second.
Luckily, the altar had an unfathomable strength. It didn’t get destroyed throughout the long ages, so even though the two women had terrorizing cultivations, they still couldn’t shake the thousand stone tablets.
“Bang!” The corpse palace floating in the sky joined in as well. It flew inside the altar and attacked the Evil Woman. It was completely different from Feng Feiyun’s first impression since it was just as strong as Xiao Nuolan.
It ignited in flames; this was the fire of a fourth-transformation corpse that spread in a boundless manner. Images of gigantic corpses began to attack. A three hundred mile radius around Mount Banda was quaking and sank down three meters.
“Good Corpse, you are here just in time. Good, I’ll refine both of you today to complete my dao.” The Evil Woman’s body shot out endless rays. She reached forward and clouds began to gather in the sky. A huge palm print slammed down from the heavens.
This was the hand of evil with a rebellious power. One strike alone could shatter a large river.
Xiao Nuolan and the corpse palace worked together. Each used their own killing move; two waves of flooding energies swept back towards the sky and destroyed the palm print.
“Rumble!” Bolts of lightning and series of explosions chaotically rampaged from the peak for a thousand miles. This scene with thunder and fire was incredibly terrifying. It looked just like the start of the world during the primordial age.
People would think that the entire world was about to be destroyed, the collapse of the heaven and earth.
It was even more devastating inside the altar. Although the Evil Woman left the spatial runes in there for protection, they still couldn’t stop this destruction.
Feng Feiyun was hiding behind a tablet surrounded by magical runes. The six diagrams of the ring were wrapped around him, but he was still pierced by the stray energies, leaving six holes on his body.
“Boom!” The Evil Woman, with a figure as wonderful as a snake demon, finally got up. Just one step alone shattered the ridge on Mount Banda and made it fly to the sky.
This mountain was gigantic, but it couldn’t withstand a single stomp from her before being split into two. One section pierced the clouds all the way to the sky.
“What a monster!” Feng Feiyun found himself flying several thousand meters away from the ground.
The three corpses were still at war. They were far above the mountain and the altar as if they wanted to go into space. Of course, this was only a visual illusion because space itself was too far away.
The Evil Woman activated the Azure Spirit Vessel. The palm-sized bronze boat turned into a monstrous ship. Its eighteen sails and divine diagrams emerged to meet the wind.
The scene back at the yellow river emerged again; this was the true appearance of the vessel.
It’s offense left Xiao Nuolan and the corpse palace completely defeated. Her blood stained the white stone altar.
The Evil Woman had the absolute upper hand. If she willed it, she could turn her two opponents into dust in just one move.
“There it is, a chance to get the vessel back!” Feng Feiyun spat out a mouthful of blood and drew an ancient array on the ground, aiming to take back his vessel.
Xiao Nuolan and the Good Corpse were both quite formidable. The Evil Woman was only able to suppress them due to the spirit vessel. She required the vessel at this moment, and it was also the best time for Feng Feiyun to take it back.
The Dragon-Horse Diagram was floating on top of the spirit vessel like a divine cloud. This was the most crucial factor. It came from the Infinite Spirit Ring, so it had an indescribable relationship with the other six diagrams.
What Feng Feiyun needed to do now was to use the ring to forcefully recall this diagram and, at the same time, regain control of the vessel.
“Return!” The Infinite Spirit Ring soared to the sky while rapidly rotating and issuing ghastly howls. The six diagrams emerged with their majestic and ancient power like six rays of light.
The vessel was led by the diagram, so the Evil Woman lost control of it. It rushed towards the altar below.
She became alarmed and directed her cold gaze to the altar. There was a young man in a white robe standing on the pillar. The vessel could be seen in his hand before he placed it back into his dantian. This whole process was extremely smooth and fast as if it was the way it should be.
“Boom!” Her slight pause allowed for Xiao Nuolan and the corpse palace to retaliate to turn the tides of this battle.
A blinding light exploded like the trail of a star.
It pierced Feng Feiyun’s eyes and robbed his sight!
A monstrous power came from below. The gigantic mountain fell down from the sky and reconnected with the original breaking point.
Feng Feiyun’s mind faltered as he completely lost consciousness!
When he woke, one month had already passed. He was still situated at the peak of Mount Banda by the ancient altar.
“Bah, bah…” He crawled out from the thick sand while spitting it out before sitting on the ground and gasping for breath: “I’m still alive!”
“Pluff!” He didn’t have time to rest before he suddenly jumped up and staggered three steps back. In the sand next to him was a female corpse with half of her naked body completely exposed. Her slender white legs were in clear sight.
Feng Feiyun traced up her body. At the bottom was a pair of feet like a snow-lotus. Going up a bit more was her thin, soft legs. A little more was her round thighs, and a bit further up… was covered in sand. Next was her sexy neck and a familiar, picturesque face.
However, this pretty face only made him want to retreat. He heaved a sigh of relief after confirming that she wasn’t climbing out of the sand.