Chapter 298 - 291: The Treasure Trove of the Demon Realm

Song Ciwan inspected the Han Guang Glaze Residence on the Balance Plate.

Han Guang Glaze Residence: A defensive Marvel with the ability to change size at will, making it portable. It can shrink to the size of a mustard seed or expand into a full residence.

This Marvel can automatically absorb energy from the sun, moon, and stars. It comes equipped with the Duality Dust Array and the Earth Demon Star Array. When the arrays are active, they provide Invisibility, Spirit-Gathering, defensive, and Attack capabilities.

Its defense and Attack capabilities start at the Divinity Transformation Level and can be upgraded.

If energy consumption becomes excessive and its reserves run low, it can be rapidly replenished using Primordial Pearls or other energy sources.

When the Han Guang Glaze Residence is deployed and expanded, it cannot be moved while its arrays are active. To move it, it must be returned to its mustard-seed state.

...

Song Ciwan reviewed all the information, and a wave of immense joy washed over her.

This Han Guang Glaze Residence was far better than she had ever expected.

With this, she essentially had a secure Personal Cave Mansion! Whether she was in seclusion or just cultivating, she would no longer have to be so painstakingly cautious, constantly worrying about her aura leaking out and attracting danger.

She had been looking for a safe place to begin the Refinement of the Sun and Moon Wheel of Formless Life and Death, and now, she finally had one.

What place could be safer or more convenient than the Han Guang Glaze Residence?

Song Ciwan could barely stop herself from finding a spot on the Jian Wood, setting down the Han Guang Glaze Residence, and immediately taking out the Sun and Moon Wheel of Formless Life and Death for Refinement!

In the end, however, Song Ciwan resisted the impulse.

As wonderful as the Han Guang Glaze Residence was, the environment of the Demon Realm was not. It couldn’t absorb energy from the sun, moon, or stars here, and Song Ciwan worried that the few Primordial Pearls she carried wouldn’t be nearly enough to sustain it.

’Refining the Wheel of Formless Life and Death will have to wait.’

Besides, the Han Guang Glaze Residence itself first needed to undergo the process of Refining and Recognizing the Master.

This presented Song Ciwan with a paradox: the environment in the Demon Realm was so hostile that she couldn’t even find a place safe enough to perform the Refinement on the Han Guang Glaze Residence. And without that, all her subsequent plans were nothing but wishful thinking.

So Song Ciwan stopped dwelling on it. She took out another Spirit-Seeking Talisman. This time, after lighting it, she had a flash of inspiration and called out, "War Fortress Divine Intent Hall, fragment, go!"

’That strange, steel building from before was identified by the Heaven and Earth Scale as a "War Fortress." As the name implies, this thing must have been built for war. And if it was named a fortress... if this Marvel hadn’t been damaged, just how powerful would it have been?’

’A single fragment from who knows how many years ago, plus five thousand Primordial Pearls, got me the Han Guang Glaze Residence. What if I could collect more fragments?’

Song Ciwan decided to seize the opportunity. She believed that since she had found one fragment of the Divine Intent Hall on this Demonized Jian Wood, it was very likely she could find a second, a third, or even more.

The Spirit-Seeking Talisman burned, and Light Smoke curled upward, but the smoke just floated in mid-air, unmoving.

Song Ciwan frowned. ’The Spirit-Seeking Talisman isn’t reacting? What does that mean?’

’Does this mean my guess was wrong, and there are no more Divine Intent Hall fragments in the Demon Realm? Or is it that the Divine Intent Hall isn’t considered a living creature, so the Spirit-Seeking Talisman can’t track it?’

Song Ciwan leaned toward the latter explanation, a sense of regret welling within her.

’Looks like taking a shortcut is out of the question.’

’In that case, I might as well search for Luming Grass again!’

Song Ciwan immediately changed her intent. With a flick of her fingers, she called out anew, "Luming Grass, go!"

This time, the Light Smoke from the Spirit-Seeking Talisman immediately obeyed the command and moved.

The Light Smoke drifted forward, and Song Ciwan immediately followed.

She drifted in its wake, continuously using the Xuanwu Mountain Observation Seal to fend off the swarming demonic thoughts and reciting the esoteric mantras of the Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting to preserve the purity of her Soul Spirit.

Following the Light Smoke for some time, she came across several battles between Demon Spirits and took the opportunity to absorb the Malice and Death Qi from the defeated Demons.

By now, when Song Ciwan took stock of the Malice accumulated in her Heaven and Earth Scale, she found she had 392 jin of Malice from General Spirit Level Demons and 21 jin from Pseudo-Slaughter Spirit Level Demons.

As for a true Slaughter Spirit Level Demon, Song Ciwan had not yet encountered one.

If she were to sell all this Malice at once, the lifespan she would gain would undoubtedly allow her to instantly surpass Celestial Immortals, True Immortals, and even some of the eternally-living Ancient Demon Immortals!

And the amount of Malice was still growing steadily.

To Song Ciwan, the Demon Realm wasn’t the Demon Realm, and the Demonized Jian Wood wasn’t a Demon Tree. It was simply a massive, natural treasure trove!

It was just a pity... she couldn’t stay for long.

Song Ciwan followed the Light Smoke, collecting Malice as she went, until she once again arrived at the central trunk of the Jian Wood.

The Light Smoke drifted upward, and Song Ciwan followed, continuing her ascent to the upper levels of the Jian Wood.

After ascending another five levels, Song Ciwan saw two more fleeting images on the Jian Wood’s trunk as the bellflowers chimed.

However, these two images were similar to scenes she had witnessed before. One was again of a Cultivator being cut open, their Golden Core forcibly extracted. The other showed a Cultivator escorting refugees as they fled to distant lands—

Yes, this time Song Ciwan saw it clearly. As the mortal refugees fled, the Cultivator flying behind them was truly acting as their guardian, protecting them.

Because farther behind in the image, a terrifying, dark mass of indeterminate shape, seething with a sinister black aura, was rolling forward in hot pursuit!

The Cultivator, robes fluttering, hovered in mid-air and spread her arms. Her entire body erupted in a dazzling light.

She was self-destructing!

She was self-destructing to halt the terrifying pursuer.

This scene was a continuation of the previous one. Logically, since this was the second time Song Ciwan had seen it, it shouldn’t have had the same shocking impact as the first. In truth, however, seeing the scene in its entirety delivered an even greater shock to her soul.

A Cultivator escorting mortals in their migration, versus a Cultivator self-destructing to protect mortals—the difference between the two was just too great.

The former was protection with strength to spare, while the latter was clearly self-sacrifice.

Song Ciwan asked herself, ’If I had to sacrifice myself to protect a large group of strangers, could I do it?’

’The answer is, most likely, no.’

’I don’t think I’m a wicked person. I can be kind. I’m willing to right a wrong or do a good deed when it’s convenient... but to sacrifice my own life? I honestly don’t think I could do that.’

It wasn’t just her; out of all the Cultivators she had ever met, probably very few could make such a sacrifice.

The prevailing belief in the Great Zhou World was that Cultivators should never sacrifice themselves for mortals.

On the contrary, Cultivators were lofty and aloof, beings who dwelt above the clouds. A Cultivator was like the moon in the sky, and a mortal was like the mud on the ground. Who would care about the life or death of a few ants?

Of course, the Great Zhou Court wasn’t without officials dedicated to protecting the populace, such as the former Su Yang County Magistrate, the Su Yang City God, the City God of Pinglan City, and even some of the City Patrol Department Soldiers Song Ciwan had seen.

But Song Ciwan felt that this was somehow different. Fundamentally different.

The Spirit Realm, the Demon Realm, Golden Cores, the Jian Wood... it all formed an enormous puzzle. Catching even the barest glimpse of it was enough to make one’s heart pound in terror, yet it also sparked an insatiable desire to uncover the truth.