Witch Wind

Chapter 388 Refining the Heavenly Dao (Part 1)

The air was filled with screams of agony.

The winged man plummeted wildly.

On the ground, tens of thousands of four-armed demonic apes opened their huge mouths and frantically swallowed the flesh and blood that fell directly into their mouths from the sky.

One after another, the winged souls cried out and fell down, but these demonic apes ignored the souls—they only liked flesh and blood, and they didn't care about such things as souls.

The three-inch-tall Heavenly Spirit Banner stood silently in the center of the city. Countless divine souls fell from the sky, only to be swept away by wisps of yin wind. Inside the Heavenly Spirit Banner, billions of giant yakshas roared and howled in unison, eagerly opening their maws to devour everything in sight.

Flesh and blood, eat it.

The soul, devoured.

Bird feathers… Hmm, Xing Tianli pondered. These feathers were of very good quality. If they were collected and their Dao essence extracted, they could be used to make some very good treasures. Even if they were used to make arrow feathers, they would be excellent materials.

An extremely powerful aura slowly rose from the three dragon boats.

Accompanied by a deep, rumbling sound like a heartbeat, three black magical lights, each over ten thousand feet in diameter, slowly rose from the dragon boat—they were three winged beings, each over a hundred feet tall, whose wings had turned pure black.

Their aura was like the sea and the abyss, deep and terrifying.

Their eyes, which had turned from the light green of normal winged people, became pure black, with a faint layer of blood-red light emanating from them. Beneath their originally fair skin, writhing black runes appeared and disappeared, like countless black worms crawling inside their bodies, eerie and disgusting.

They breathed heavily, their hearts pounding faster and faster as they slowly rose above the city, looking down at the four-armed demonic apes.

The four-armed demonic apes shut their mouths, watching the three orbs of demonic light with extreme vigilance.

The powerful instincts stemming from their bloodline instilled a sense of fear in these demonic apes—these three individuals were far beyond the Great Luo Realm; they were likely Quasi-Saints, or even possibly Half-Saints.

These winged beings originally practiced quick-fix, heretical cultivation techniques. Over the years, they had devoured the essence and blood of countless body cultivators from the Nine Provinces. All of this was enough to forcibly push the highest-ranking of the three winged beings to an unbelievable level.

"You deserve to die." From the center of the demonic light, the winged man gasped for breath, muttering, "How dare you kill Eighth Brother... cough, cough cough, he, he is..."

Blood spurted from the mouth of the Nightmare Cloud Emperor.

The blood plasma was pitch black, with thin streams of blood rapidly rolling and writhing, as if countless tiny parasites were hiding inside.

Xing Tianli, standing in the distance, laughed—these three guys have mutated their blood to such an extent that their evil and heretical cultivation techniques haven't even learned the slightest bit of proper methods for 'controlling inner demons' or 'refining demons to protect the path'.

It should be understood that legitimate demonic cultivators of the Nine Provinces, no matter how wicked or foolish, will always prepare a certain amount of means to resist external demons when cultivating demonic techniques. This might be a Taoist purification scripture, a Buddhist demon-subduing mantra, or a powerful spiritual weapon or immortal artifact.

Of course, the best outcome would be for them to obtain a relic of a highly virtuous monk...

Uh, Xing Tianli's eyes widened - before, the armies of the two great dynasties were rushing to the Wanfo Leiyin Temple that jumped out of the void. Could it be that they were going to fight for the relics that the high monks might have left behind?
These three fools are no longer able to suppress the inner demons that are sprouting within them. In turn, these inner demons have attracted even more terrifying heavenly demons that are constantly eroding their flesh and souls. They want to use the relics left by the eminent monks of Wanfo Leiyin Temple to resist the demons and purify themselves.
"Karma!" Xing Tianli almost burst out laughing.

If these guys honestly act as protectors of Wanfo Leiyin Temple, given the compassion of those senior monks, when their cultivation reaches a certain level and their skills are sufficiently refined, and when inner demons arise and attract external demons to attack, the senior monks will either bestow upon them techniques to subdue demons, or Buddhist treasures to subdue demons, or even personally protect these fools and refine their demons—it's quite possible!
They betrayed Wanfo Leiyin Temple, slaughtering all the young monks, senior monks, and old monks.

Well, when their cultivation level advanced by leaps and bounds and reached a terrifyingly powerful level—after all, demonic cultivation is fast—the retribution that brings death and soul-reaping arrived!
'Thump, thump, thump,' a dull heartbeat reverberated within the three winged emperors. Xing Tianli knew perfectly well that these were not their own heartbeats, but some kind of evil demon that had invaded their bodies, using inexplicable, unpredictable, and ineffable demonic arts to gradually burn away their bloodlines, shatter their cultivation, and annihilate their foundation.

The sound that resembles a heartbeat is actually the sound of a battering ram striking the city wall.

These guys can't even suppress the strange movements caused by the external demons within their bodies... It's terrible, really terrible.

Behind Xing Tian's carp immortal soul, dozens of lotuses of the Great Dao, entirely black with viscous black sap around their edges, and from which various eerie faces and runes spewed out from the sap, swirling and flashing like fireworks, suddenly emitted a terrifying evil light.

In the March world, Xing Tianli attracted several terrifying evil spirits who then took possession of him.

Later, the curse that had plagued him for many years, transforming into boundless darkness outside his spiritual center, was also completely awakened by him.

Several evil forces, restraining each other, actually formed a strange balance within Xing Tianli's body, constantly strengthening his divine soul's source power and bringing him immense benefits.

Later, Xing Tianli's cultivation level soared. With the help of the World Mother Tree and the methods of the sages, several evil forces were completely destroyed. Everything they possessed was devoured by Xing Tianli and inherited by him. Thus, Xing Tianli mastered many, many, many extremely terrifying Great Dao Laws related to curses, mutations, distortions, and nightmares.

On its journey to this world, Xing Tianli's 'Great Dao Eye' also contained countless cursed Great Daos. These cursed Great Daos merged with the power of those evil and strange inheritances, and behind Xing Tianli's immortal soul, dozens of Great Dao Lotuses bloomed, which were terrifying just by looking at their appearance!
Although it was entirely due to my own efforts.

But these Great Dao Lotuses are too disgusting, and their power is too evil and bizarre. Xing Tianli usually doesn't even bother to look at these Great Dao Lotuses.

But now...

A faint black light emanated from Xing Tianli's body. The void around him was distorted, the laws were defiled, and everything tangible and intangible, whether perceptible or imperceptible to ordinary beings, including the Dao, the Law, and the Rules, was completely disrupted and mutated, transforming into a terrifying existence that normal beings could not comprehend at all.

Liu Xing and the others felt a sudden tightness in their chests.

They all gasped in surprise, as if they had seen a ghost, and instinctively used all their strength to get away from Xing Tianli.

At this moment, the area within ten zhang around Xing Tianli is no longer suitable for living beings—no, it's not that it's unsuitable, but that any living being that enters this ten-zhang area will instantly become distorted, directly degenerate, and irrevocably become some kind of strange thing that no one can explain or describe.

Of course, under Xing Tianli's control, this evil force will not attack Liu Jing and the others.

However, driven by their biological instincts, Liu Jing and the others dodged at full speed.

They were panting heavily, covered in sweat, their faces twitching as they looked around at the dimming light. In the distorted light and shadow, their figures had become completely blurred, and they had become Xing Tianli, no longer resembling humans...

His gaze lingered on Xing Tianli's twisted figure for a few more moments.

Sima Guang, Sima Huo, and the others all vomited—they had only glanced at Xing Tianli twice, and their memories of Xing Tianli had become completely blurred. They even doubted what exactly they had seen.
All perception is confused.

All memories have become blurred.

All emotions collapsed.

Isolated and torn apart, everyone who had taken a few serious glances at Xing Tianli felt as if every cell in their body had given birth to its own consciousness. These fragmented consciousnesses rushed into the spiritual platform and purple palace, arguing and even fighting with their own souls, trying to seize control of this physical body.

Sima Guang almost burst into tears: "What are you doing, senior? Senior, do you perhaps know the spells of evil spirits and heretics?"

The three girls of Liujing were very clever. They themselves came from the Witch Temple. After sensing the terrifying and twisted aura that suddenly emanated from Xing Tianli, they ran far away, took out a bunch of witch medicines and drank them down, without even glancing at Xing Tianli.

They drank large gulps of old wine to calm their nerves, and said with great surprise, "How strange! He is also from our witch clan. Although he usually uses some Taoist sword techniques to fight, the witchcraft he has practiced is more extensive, more complete, and more sinister and ruthless than ours... Isn't that normal?"

Sima Guang smiled bitterly, opened his mouth, and let his tongue dangle around his lips.

Disgusting, so disgusting.

An overwhelming feeling of nausea kept coming—at this moment, he felt that his tongue was no longer a tongue, but a mixture of centipede, earthworm, and maggot, sticky and wet, hopping around in his mouth, as if it wanted to crawl into his stomach and wreak havoc.

This wicked feeling was utterly unbearable. He turned his head away, refusing to look at Xing Tianli again, but for the time being, he couldn't shake off the nausea he felt towards his own tongue. He wished he could just cut it off and throw it as far away as possible.

These weren't directly attacked by Xing Tianli's evil power; they were merely 'partners' whose bodies he accidentally brushed against with his leaked aura. Such is how things always turn out...

Xing Tianli chanted incantations in a low voice, and his ten fingers, which grew longer and longer, quietly formed an incredibly complex series of hand seals... Some of the hand seals looked like a hundred thousand braids tangled together in a mess. If his fingers hadn't seemed to have grown to tens of miles long and become sticky and extremely resilient, he would not have been able to complete these deadly hand seals at all.

Accompanied by evil incantations, each node on the sinister handprint simultaneously emitted a deep black light.

Xing Tianli's gaze was fixed on the three emperors.

Formless and traceless, silent and invisible, severing cause and effect, cutting off the secrets of heaven... an unfathomable, unpredictable, and unobservable eerie spell has quietly descended.

The balance has been broken.

The balance that the three emperors had forcibly and painstakingly maintained had been broken.

Within them, the last vestige of their consciousness was violently breached by their own inner demons. These inner demons roared, unleashing countless malevolent forces within them that caused chaos. Consequently, the external demons, stirred by their inner demons, instantly permeated their entire being.

From the physical body, to the essence and blood, and then to the bloodline.

From immortal soul to cultivation level, and then to Dao foundation.

Everything was corrupted by the Heavenly Demons... The terrifying Heavenly Demons let out a light and extremely pleasant laugh, which was heard by countless living beings throughout the Holy Cloud Continent.

The life force of the three emperors vanished.

As the demonic light dissipated, their flesh withered and died. In that instant, everything they had was taken away by the combined forces of the demons, both inside and outside the sect.

Feeding on their entire existence, three new invisible demons were born.

The newborn Heavenly Demon was conceived and born from the essence of three Quasi-Saints, or even Half-Saints. When they were born, auspicious seven-colored clouds swirled in the void, strange celestial music descended from the sky, and clear spring water gushed out from the ground. The spring water was also filled with a rich and wonderful fragrance, which made people feel refreshed and their souls seemed to fly away from their bodies.

When a celestial demon is born, a blood sacrifice is necessary.

These three newly born demons wanted to harvest all living beings and souls within a region spanning hundreds of millions of miles, to celebrate their own victory.

Xing Tian pointed his carp finger.

A beam of pure, clear Taoist divine lightning, as clear as water, gently struck the three newly born celestial demons. With a muffled thud, the three celestial demons screamed in unison, staggered in the air, and emitted pungent black smoke and a foul stench from their bodies.

Within the great city built by the four-armed demonic ape, the Heavenly Spirit Banner trembled slightly and transformed into the Six Soul Banner.

Six long banner tails curled towards the sky, their terrifying and supreme killing power aimed directly at the six invisible heavenly demons—three newly born ones, and three old guys who attacked from beyond the heavens and killed the three emperors.

The six invisible celestial demons suddenly froze, the rainbow in the sky disappeared, the strange celestial music vanished, and the clear spring on the ground dried up abruptly. Everything returned to normal, and the six celestial demons disappeared without a trace.

A faint voice whispered in Xing Tianli's ear: "We remember you... When you reach the Five Signs of Decay of Heaven and Man, we will personally descend and take you..."

Within the 'Great Dao Eye', a burst of purplish-red divine light suddenly erupted.

With a bloodcurdling scream, six twisted and grotesque figures, their bodies charred and mangled by the divine light, were enveloped in thick black smoke and soared into the sky, disappearing without a trace in an instant.

Xing Tianli sneered.

The 'Great Dao Eye' encompasses everything, even the origins of these invisible celestial demons are recorded clearly.

They dared to get so close and provoke him; they were really asking for trouble.

Even if Xing Tianli's current cultivation level is not enough to completely annihilate them, it would be easy for him to make them suffer a lot.

A frenzied atmosphere emanated from the three dragon boats.

More than a dozen or so bursts of demonic light surged forth, staring in utter terror at the remains of the three emperors, which were slowly falling from the sky.

The three emperors had everything devoured by those invisible heavenly demons. Only three thin, transparent human skins and six dim, completely lusterless wings remained, drifting lightly down from the sky to the ground like kites with broken strings.

With a long howl, these winged experts shouted "My Lord!" and rushed madly towards the three empty human skins. After a fierce fight and tearing at each other, the three strongest individuals snatched the skins and then transformed into streaks of black light, soaring into the sky.

These three lucky individuals who managed to snatch their master's human skin had barely flown dozens of miles when they eagerly shouted, "Our father was killed by evil spirits; we must carry on his last wishes..."

Xing Tianli narrowed his eyes.

These dozen or so guys were also filled with murderous aura, and faint heartbeats could be heard from their bodies. Their cultivation level had even surpassed the peak of the Great Luo realm. Even if they were not half-saints, they were still quasi-saints.

And so, the evil curse was activated once again.

A dozen or so clusters of demonic light flashed and dazzled, and a dozen people simultaneously coughed up blood, each one suffering from qi deviation, screaming and plummeting straight down from the sky like meteorites.

Xing Tianli clapped his hands and laughed.

They struggled and howled in the air, with wisps of eerie black energy constantly spewing out from their seven orifices. Their skin visibly shrunk, and their aura rapidly weakened.

Xing Tianli smiled broadly. That's right. These guys, whose cultivation surpassed that of a Great Luo Golden Immortal, must have been the most important ministers in the three great dynasties of the Winged People. The three emperors are dead, and these ministers are dead too. It is said that the three emperors had many offspring, so what will happen next?
It must be a power struggle, a fierce battle for those three supreme thrones.

That's good.

"Prefect Sima, your fellow disciples should have finished their tasks by now, right?" Xing Tianli turned around and glanced at Sima Guang.

Uh, I forgot for a moment that I was still in the state of activating evil power and casting evil curses. Xing Tianli took the initiative to look at Sima Guang. Sima Guang's body was surrounded by a bright Buddhist light, which barely resisted the evil energy that naturally flowed from his eyes. However, his clothes suddenly changed and turned into countless small wings that flew up with a "whoosh whoosh".

In an instant, Sima Guang was completely naked.

Xing Tianli hurriedly lowered his head, dispelling the hand seals on his hands and quickly converting the surging evil power within his body into normal magical power. As a result, the distorted and mutated space around him disappeared, and the unsettling and terrifying aura gradually dissipated.

Looking at the innocent-looking Sima Guang, Xing Tianli took out a Seven Treasures Kasaya of the Great Luo Realm from the silver brocade pouch, along with matching monk robes and shoes, and casually tossed it to him: "Here, wrap yourself up for now. Uh, you should really like this set of items."

Sima Guang took the set of items, was stunned for a moment, then put his hands together and softly chanted a Buddhist prayer.

He really liked it.

"Fellow Daoist, rest assured, my fellow disciples have already made their move."

(End of this chapter)