In those years when I was a mortal and a demon

Six months later, in a remote, desolate town in the ancient demon realm.

A tall, burly demon man with a pair of crimson wings on his back walked down the street of the small town.

This burly man had a full head of red hair and a thick beard. His face was square, but his nose was unusually large and curved, like a hook. His androgynous eyes would occasionally dart around, as if searching for something.

Suddenly, the big man's eyes narrowed, and after pausing slightly, he turned and walked into an inconspicuous shop on the left.

The shop was deserted, with only a few demon shop assistants standing idly behind the counter.

Upon noticing the burly man approaching, the waiter lazily came to greet him.

The burly man asked a few questions in a low voice, then several tiny arcs of electricity shot out from the crimson wings on his back. The waiter's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he quickly led him towards the backyard.

When the burly man was led to a room in the backyard, four demon cultivators of different appearances were already waiting inside.

These four cultivators, three men and one woman, were all at least at the Integration Stage, with one of them even appearing to be at the late Integration Stage.

"Elder?" The burly man glanced at the person with the highest cultivation level in the room, then turned his gaze to the others, asking hesitantly.

"Lei Yunzi, why are you so late? Where is Elder Minghui?" The demon with the highest cultivation level asked with a frown.

"Elder Minghui and I stumbled upon a place where cotton silk might exist on the road. Elder Minghui insisted on searching for it. Although we eventually found the cotton silk, we were unexpectedly snatched away by two ancient demon lords, which led to our identities being exposed."

Elder Minghui was killed by the two ancient demon lords in an attempt to buy me a chance to escape. And because I hastily used the lightning array repeatedly, I strayed from my course, which is why I arrived so late,” Lei Yunzi sighed.

Upon hearing of the killing of his clansmen, the Grand Elder's face darkened, a flash of anger crossing his eyes. But his next words were even more chilling:

"Hmph! They deserved to die!"

“I repeatedly warned you not to cause any trouble, but Minghui still went his own way. He might as well be dead now, but he has likely already exposed our whereabouts!”

"We can't stay here any longer; we must leave as soon as possible!"

Upon hearing the Grand Elder's words, the other cultivators exchanged glances.

"Elder, no matter what, Elder Minghui is a high-ranking member of our Ming clan. Isn't it a bit too heartless of you to say this?" a cultivator couldn't help but ask.

The Grand Elder coldly swept his gaze across the crowd, his tone chilling as he said, "Ruthless? Do you know that this mission is no ordinary one? It concerns whether my Ming Clan can produce another Mahayana cultivator!"

Mahayana cultivator! Upon hearing these words, all the elders of the Ming Clan gasped in shock, their faces showing astonishment.

The Grand Elder continued, "Now that we've reunited, I won't hide anything anymore. Our destination is the Thunder Sea of ​​the Ancient Demon Realm. According to our ancestor's speculation, it's highly likely that a Thunder Control Pearl has already been conceived within that Thunder Sea!"

"Thunder Control Pearl!" someone exclaimed.

At the same time, everyone's attention was focused on Lei Yunzi, and they understood why he, with only the cultivation level of the late stage of Void Refinement, had also come to the Ancient Demon Realm.

"Is the Thunder Sea that the Grand Elder mentioned located on the outskirts of the legendary Bitter Spirit Island?" A Ming Clan elder asked, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

His words, however, caused the other elders to react with varying expressions.

Clearly, they knew quite a bit about Bitter Spirit Island.

"Hmph! Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. To tell you the truth, there's an ancient demon ancestor watching over us there. Even my Ming clan's ancestor is no match for him. Once we land on the island, we'll be detected immediately."

"So no one should try to take advantage of Bitter Spirit Island, otherwise Minghui will be a cautionary tale!" The Grand Elder glanced at everyone, his voice carrying a hint of warning.

Upon hearing this, all the elders' expressions turned solemn, and they dared not have any other thoughts.

Upon seeing this, the Grand Elder nodded slightly and continued, "According to the Ancestor's plan, we need to head to Illusionary Night City now. Thousands of years ago, when the Ancestor entered the Ancient Demon Realm, he had dealings with the Ning family there. We can use the Ning family's help to cross the Illusionary Howling Desert and then reach the Demon Source Sea. It is estimated that it will take at least thirty years."

And during this period, I don't want any more cases like Minghui to occur!

......

Lu Yuan arrived at Bitter Spirit Island in his twentieth year.

One day, the once cloudless blue sky was suddenly swept by a fierce wind.

Then the entire sky darkened, and large patches of dark clouds appeared, turning the sky within a hundred miles into a pitch-black hue, like the bottom of a pot.

But soon, the fierce wind suddenly subsided, and a cold current emerged from nowhere, raging through the clouds.

After a hailstorm of fist-sized blue hailstones, a torrential downpour of snowflakes followed.

In a short while, the area transformed into a world of ice and snow, crystal clear everywhere, just like a frigid glacier.

Before the heavy snow had completely stopped, a scorching hurricane swept out from the clouds.

The thick, dark clouds were instantly blown away, and rays of sunlight poured down, but the azure sky had somehow turned into a pale silver color.

Anyone who sees the sky now would probably be horrified and gasp in shock.

However, outside of Bitter Spirit Island lies the Sea of ​​Thunder, and beyond that, the Demon Source Sea, which stretches for tens of millions of miles. Naturally, such an anomaly could not be discovered on land so far away.

As for the woman in the black dress and the other demon lords near Demon Ape Peak, their vision was obscured by the dark clouds low in the sky above the Demon Source Sea, and their divine senses were also restricted, so they naturally did not notice anything at all.

Time passed slowly, but the mysterious phenomenon above Bitter Spirit Island remained unchanged.

But the next day, some black spots appeared in the sun, flickering slightly.

On the third day, the spots coalesced into a dark shadow at the center of the sun.

On the fourth day, the black mass began to deform and elongate, becoming thinner and thinner.

On the fifth day, a thin black line suddenly formed on the surface of Jinyang, which, from a distance, looked like a tightly closed golden eye.

On the sixth day, all celestial phenomena remained unchanged, except that the golden light emitted by the sun became increasingly dazzling.

Meanwhile, in the valley of Bitter Spirit Island.

The tangled vines around the pond began to twist and turn, as if they had their own consciousness, constantly writhing and rustling.

suddenly.

With a 'bang'!

A vine, resembling a fleshy tumor, suddenly burst open, releasing a large amount of dense, five-colored light. The five-colored light spread outwards like a tide, but was instantly absorbed by the nearby vines.

Immediately afterwards, vines in other areas also began to burst open one after another, and five-colored light spots scattered like stars, instantly illuminating the entire valley in a dazzling array of colors.

'Bang!' 'Bang!' 'Bang!' The sounds of explosions were incessant.

Soon, the vines could no longer keep up with the rate of bursting.

This situation continued for a day and a night, until the seventh day. The ground around the pond, covered by vines, was now revealed, and at the same time, Rikuhara appeared, sitting cross-legged nearby.

However, dozens of thick main vines still extended from his body, dancing up and down like tentacles.

At this moment, Lu Yuan's eyes twitched slightly.

At the same time, the golden eyes formed from the sun also slowly opened.

The first level of the Spirit Refining Technique is complete!