Chapter 524 - 39: Taishi Demon Qi

「Several months later.」

Elder Yingya, Xia Guming, the Li Huan Demon Emperor, and the boy Fang Wu Xie emerged one after another from the mountain’s interior, arriving outside Spirit Rock Peak.

Jingyuan and Jingxuan put away their Feather Divine Soldiers, stepped forward to bow, their faces etched with questioning looks.

The shock still lingered in Elder Yingya’s eyes as he smiled. "It’s a success. Fellow Daoist Fang is still inside. You can go in and see for yourselves."

Jingyuan was overjoyed. He immediately bowed deeply and said in thanks, "Thank you, Seniors!"

Xia Guming, a complex expression on his face, stepped forward to help Jingyuan up. "There’s no need for such ceremony," he said amiably. "To have witnessed the birth of such a treasure has been of great benefit to us as well."

Jingyuan held this famous Patriarch of the Xia Family from the Mingxiao Domain in high esteem and took the opportunity to exchange some pleasantries.

Finally, Xia Guming smiled at the two brothers. "I will be heading back now. If you two have the time, you should come and be guests at my Xia Family estate."

After speaking, he turned to the Li Huan Demon Emperor and invited, "Demon Emperor, would you care to join me?"

The Li Huan Demon Emperor smiled faintly and said, "Fellow Daoist Xia, you go on ahead. This is my first time in the East Cyan Domain, so I’d like to stay for a few more days before I return."

Xia Guming had long since noticed the connection between Li Huan and Fang Cheng. He nodded at her words, bid everyone farewell, and departed.

Jingyuan and Jingxuan, filled with curiosity, entered the mountain’s interior.

The Mystic Iron Giant, originally a three-hundred-zhang-tall, oppressive figure, had now shrunk to a height of ten zhang. It stood in the center of a large Thunder Array.

Fang Cheng stood outside the array with his hands behind his back, silently watching the "Celestial Venerable of Universal Transformation."

"Father!"

The two brothers looked at Fang Cheng with smiles on their faces, unable to hide their excitement.

Fang Cheng glanced back at his two sons, a smile playing on his lips. "The three of us, father and sons, have finally finished refining this Feather Divine Soldier."

Jingyuan and Jingxuan were also filled with emotion.

The two looked at the "Celestial Venerable of Universal Transformation" and saw that the Thunder Pool on its chest was strikingly different from those on their own Tier Four Feather Divine Soldiers.

Their Feather Divine Soldiers each had a single, complete Thunder Pool on the chest.

But the one before them had a full nine smaller Thunder Pools on its chest.

The nine Thunder Pools were arranged in concentric circles: five in the outermost ring, three in the middle ring, and one at the very center.

Currently, only the Thunder Pool at the very center was flickering with a dark red thunder light; the other eight were all dim.

As the two looked closely at these nine Thunder Pools, a hair-raising sense of danger instinctively surfaced in their minds, and for an instant, their very souls showed signs of shattering.

They hastily averted their gazes, their hearts still pounding with fear. They felt as if this Feather Divine Soldier had become some kind of supreme, evil, and bizarre demonic treasure.

Jingxuan asked curiously, "Father, this Feather Divine Soldier seems different from ours."

Fang Cheng nodded. "That’s right. During the refining process, I modified it a bit. Now, it can be activated even without a Celestial Demon Relic."

"As for the profound mechanisms involved, I will pass them on to you after you break through to the Dharma Aspect realm. For now, you would not be able to handle it."

Recalling their recent experience, Jingyuan and Jingxuan were endlessly curious, but they dared not ask any more questions.

Fang Cheng continued, "For now, you only need to know one thing: for each of these nine Thunder Pools that is lit, it is equivalent to a Tribulation Realm Cultivator having passed one additional celestial tribulation."

Jingyuan and Jingxuan exchanged a look, both shocked and overjoyed.

Both of them knew the refining method for a Tier Five Feather Divine Soldier by heart. According to the original method, they could only create a Giant Divine Puppet comparable to a One-Tribulation Great Power. It would never have possessed such heaven-defying growth potential as Fang Cheng described.

Jingxuan had participated in refining the Mystic City Jade Talisman, and Jingyuan had participated in refining the body. Both had followed the standard procedure. The only change had been to the Thunder Pool!

Thinking back to the expressions on Elder Yingya, Xia Guming, and the others as they left Spirit Rock Peak, the two brothers finally understood. The shock those seniors had felt could not have been caused by an ordinary Fifth-rank Magical Artifact.

"You two should leave first," Fang Cheng said. "I need to refine it a bit more."

With complex feelings in their hearts, Jingyuan and Jingxuan also took their leave.

「After the two of them left.」

Fang Cheng sat down cross-legged on the spot and formed a hand seal, executing the Circulation Qi Collection Technique. A fissure opened in the void behind him, the gate of the Immortal Sect swinging wide. A vast and torrential flood of Spiritual Qi poured out.

「At the same time.」

From within the centermost Thunder Pool on the "Celestial Venerable of Universal Transformation’s" chest, a dull thunderclap echoed. Immediately after, countless densely packed, dark red Demon Talismans flickered to life!

A thick, dark red Demonic Qi gushed out from the Thunder Pool, spreading rapidly.

Taishi Demon Qi!

Wherever this Demonic Qi passed, it instantly dyed and transformed the Celestial Realm Spiritual Qi that Fang Cheng had summoned. The entire mountain interior was immediately filled with a viscous, dense, dark red light, emanating an indescribably bizarre aura.

When refining the Feather Divine Soldier’s Thunder Pool, Fang Cheng had, in the end, chosen to have his second Dream Spirit Incarnation—which he had refined previously—intervene. He had it inscribe a Nine Heavens Primordial Demon Yuan Array within the Thunder Pool.

That unique Dream Spirit had been forged in battles against endless demonic monsters, spending nearly every moment of its existence hovering on the brink of life and death.

This extreme pressure had led it to create the Nine Heavens Primordial Demon Yuan Array on its own while comprehending the Ancient Profound Talisman—a Grand Array that was almost aberrant and filled with a destructive nature.

This array could break down any physical matter or Spirit Body it came into contact with, degrading it into Taishi Demon Qi.

This included all things, tangible and intangible, as well as Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and even the Life Soul and Spirit.

Relying on this array, that Dream Spirit Incarnation had refined a peerless Feather Divine Soldier, devoured endless demonic monsters, and brutally carved out a path to survival during the final calamity of the World Heaven.

And now, Fang Cheng had also succeeded in refining this "mutated" Feather Divine Soldier.