Journey to the West: A clone sacrifices to the heavens, possessing boundless magical power.

Fan Yuan, as a newly emerging cultural prodigy, was spared those bloody and rough jobs and was specially responsible for setting up plates and serving wine in the hall.

The black bear spirit sat at the head of the table, holding a wine cup, his face flushed as he stared at the brocade cassock hanging in the center.

"You charcoal-faced bastard! Get out here, you old Sun!"

A loud shout, like a thunderclap from the heavens, instantly pierced through the thick mountain and resounded in the Black Wind Cave's main hall.

The wine glass in the black bear spirit's hand was crushed to pieces with a crack.

"Who dares to act so recklessly in front of my cave!" The black bear spirit was furious. He suddenly stood up, his demonic aura soaring into the sky.

From outside the cave came the panicked cries of a little demon: "Your Majesty! Disaster has struck! A hairy-faced, thunder-mouthed monk has come, wielding an iron rod, and smashed the mountain gate to pieces! He specifically asked Your Majesty to return his cassock!"

"It's that bastard from yesterday again, he actually came knocking on our door!" With that, he reached out and a long black-tasseled spear fell into his hand, and strode out of the cave.

"Men! Grab your weapons! Follow the king out and kill that monk!"

The pig demon, brandishing a spiked club and howling, led a horde of smaller demons from the cave, surging towards the cave entrance like a tidal wave.

The entire Black Wind Cave instantly descended into chaos.

All the monsters were rushing forward, but one gray figure was silently retreating along the wall.

Fan Yuan watched the group of excited little demons rushing towards Sun Wukong, oblivious to their own mortality, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his lips.

"Go, all of you go."

This was the perfect moment he had been waiting for.

With the Black Bear Demon leading the charge and the lesser demons cheering him on, the Black Wind Cave, especially the back cave, was now practically defenseless.

Fan Yuan stopped pretending, his figure flashed like lightning, and he instantly broke away from the group, turning around and disappearing into the passageway leading to the back cave.

The alchemy chamber! Fortune favors the bold!

The wolf demon's clone disappeared into the shadows deep within the passageway, while outside the cave, the deafening roar of the golden cudgel colliding with the black-tasseled spear resounded.

Behind Black Wind Cave, in the alchemy room.

The heavy stone door was pushed open a crack, and a gray figure flashed in like a ghost before closing the door behind him.

Fan Yuan's wolf demon clone leaned against the stone door, holding his breath and listening to the faint sounds of battle shouts and the clanging of metal coming from outside the cave.

After confirming that no one was following him, he quickly turned around, his gaze sweeping intently over the private forbidden area belonging to the Black Bear Spirit.

A wave of heat hit me, mixed with an intense, almost overwhelming aroma of herbs and a burnt smell.

In the center of the alchemy room, the bronze Bagua furnace was roaring and running, with eight vents spewing out blue demonic flames. Inside the furnace, it seemed that pills were taking shape, making gurgling sounds. Each vibration caused the surrounding spiritual energy to become disordered.

"My darling!"

A glint of greed flashed in Fan Yuan's eyes, but he quickly restrained himself.

A faint layer of blood-red light could be seen around the Eight Trigrams Furnace. It was a restriction set up by the Black Bear Spirit. If he were to touch it rashly with his meager cultivation at the early stage of Qi Refining, he would be burned to ashes in an instant!

The main furnace cannot be touched, but the other things...

Fan Yuan's gaze quickly shifted to the surroundings of the alchemy room.

On a row of stone shelves against the wall, there were all sorts of bottles and jars, as well as some half-processed spiritual materials. In the corner, there were also several huge wooden barrels filled with dark residue.

Time was of the essence. Although Sun Wukong was powerful, the Black Bear Spirit was no pushover either, so they had to race against time.

Fan Yuan controlled the wolf demon clone, which nimbly darted to the stone shelf.

"What are all these jars of things? Never mind, I'll just take them!"

He pulled out a tattered cloth bag he had prepared beforehand, and like a locust swarm, stuffed all the spiritual materials he could lift from the stone shelf that were not protected by any restrictions into the bag.

These might just be scraps that the black bear spirit casually throws away, but for Fan Yuan, a penniless cultivator from the bottom tier, they are cultivation resources that can change his fate.

After looting the stone shelves, Fan Yuan's gaze fell on the large wooden barrels in the corner.

He leaned closer and saw that the bucket was filled with dark, round spheres, emitting a pungent, burnt smell and chaotic, violent fluctuations of spiritual energy.

"This is... a discarded pill?"

A hint of joy flashed in Fan Yuan's eyes. He could clearly sense that the total amount of spiritual energy contained in these discarded pills was even greater than all the pills he had scavenged at Guanyin Temple combined.

However, this spiritual energy is extremely mixed and impure. If an ordinary demon were to swallow one, the only outcome would be severed meridians and death from body explosion.

"nice one!"

This violent waste pill is a deadly poison to others, but Fan Yuan is different. He has the [Primordial Myriad Appearances Mirror], which allows his clone to test the poison!

However, now is not the time to take it.

Fan Yuan carefully collected all the discarded pills and hid them close to his body. Afterward, he searched through the other discarded pill barrels and collected a lot of dregs.

Having done all this, Fan Yuan showed no hesitation. He controlled his wolf demon clone to silently leave the alchemy room area and arrive at the entrance of the Black Wind Cave, where he rejoined the chaotic group of lesser demons.

Outside the cave, the mountain wind was biting. He wanted to see for himself what a battle between the world's top combat forces looked like.

……

Holding a black-tasseled spear, the black bear spirit stood like an iron tower before the ruins of the mountain gate, its demonic aura surging and condensing into a visible black cloud of malevolent energy.

Opposite him, the hairy-faced, thunder-mouthed wanderer was carrying a golden iron rod on his shoulder. It looked loose, but Fan Yuan, through his clone's spiritual sense, could feel a terrifying aura of world-destroying power emanating from that thin body.

The mere pressure emanating from the confrontation between the two caused Fan Yuan's wolf demon clone, who was at the early stage of Qi Refining, to experience turbulent blood and chaotic demonic power, almost making him unable to stand steadily.

The surrounding lesser demons were all pale-faced and trembling. If it weren't for the Black Bear Spirit's demonic power suppressing them, they would probably have already scattered and fled.

"This is already like this before anything has even been done..."

Fan Yuan was horrified. He forced himself to calm down and stared intently at the two people in the center of the battlefield, trying to discern the slightest secret from their every subtle movement.

He saw Sun Wukong's breathing, long and deep, as if he were one with heaven and earth. With each breath, the spiritual energy in the surrounding space resonated subtly.

He saw the earth beneath the Black Bear Spirit's feet, and the demonic power flowing through his feet, faintly connecting with the earth's veins of the entire Black Wind Mountain, giving him an aura as heavy as a mountain and unshakeable.

"Demons merge with heaven and earth, immortals are in harmony with the laws of nature..."

A sudden realization flashed through Fan Yuan's mind: this was the true powerhouse, able to harness the power of heaven and earth for his own use with every gesture.

"Hey, you charcoal head! Are you going to fight or not? If not, give me back my cassock so I can go back and report!" Sun Wukong, growing impatient, twirled his golden cudgel in his hand and shouted.

"You arrogant stable boy! Stop being so cocky! Now that I, Old Bear, have obtained that treasure, it's my opportunity! If you have the guts, snatch it back from me!"

The black bear spirit roared and stopped talking nonsense. He stomped his foot, cracking the earth. His massive body transformed into a black lightning bolt, and his spear shot out like a poisonous dragon, aiming straight for Sun Wukong's heart!

"Well done! Hey! Take this from me, Old Sun!"