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

The noise inside the cave gradually subsided, replaced by a series of deep Buddhist chants.

A moment later, the entrance to Black Wind Cave slowly opened.

The black bear spirit emerged, but he was completely different from before.

The overwhelming demonic aura emanating from him had been completely subdued, and the wild, fierce light in his eyes had transformed into submission and piety. Wearing a monk's robe, he walked steadily to the seat of Guanyin Bodhisattva and bowed deeply.

"Disciple Black Wind pays respects to the Bodhisattva."

Guanyin Bodhisattva, with a compassionate expression, stretched out her jade hand and gently stroked his head, bestowing precepts upon him.

"You were originally a black bear spirit who ruled the mountain. You were destined to suffer this calamity. Now that you have entered my sect, you must sever your past. I bestow upon you the Dharma name of the Great Mountain Guardian God. Come with me back to Mount Putuo and become a guardian deity."

"Your disciple obeys," the mountain guardian deity replied respectfully.

"Where is that robe?" Guanyin Bodhisattva asked.

Upon hearing this, the mountain-guarding deity, the Black Bear Spirit, dared not be negligent in the slightest. He turned and entered the cave, and soon returned with the brocade cassock, respectfully handing it to Sun Wukong.

With that, the matter was settled.

A lotus platform appeared beneath Guanyin Bodhisattva's feet, and she, accompanied by her newly recruited mountain guardian deity, rode on auspicious clouds and slowly flew towards the South China Sea.

As the Bodhisattva departed, the vast Buddhist light that had enveloped Black Wind Mountain gradually dissipated. The clouds and mist cleared, and the sunlight shone down again. However, this mountain range, which had once been filled with demonic energy, was now left with only an empty demon cave and a scene of utter devastation.

In the cellar, Fan Yuan slowly exhaled a breath of stale air; his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

He witnessed firsthand how a demon king was transformed into a Buddhist protector through his every move.

With that golden headband and the incantation, the Black Bear Spirit was no longer the Black Bear Spirit. Everything about him—his past, his will, his ambition—was forcibly erased under the power of Buddhism, and he was reshaped into a loyal mountain guardian deity.

This is ten thousand times more terrifying than simply killing someone!

"Cause and effect...karma...and absolute power."

Fan Yuan gained a deeper understanding of the cruelty and terror of this world.

He became even more determined to stay out of trouble and quietly make a fortune.

In this game of chess filled with gods and Buddhas, he, an ant, could only find a glimmer of hope by being extremely cautious.

At the summit of Black Wind Mountain, the wind and clouds have dispersed.

Sun Wukong took the cassock and, after confirming it was correct, finally felt relieved. He bowed towards the South Sea to thank the Bodhisattva, then ignored the empty cave and the panicked demons all over the mountain. He recited an incantation, somersaulted back to the ruins of Guanyin Temple, and went to report back to his master.

Once the gods and Buddhas leave, the awe-inspiring power that suppressed all things recedes like the tide.

Inside and outside the Black Wind Cave, the surviving lesser demons were stunned for a moment, then erupted in earth-shattering panic.

"The King has been captured by the Bodhisattva!"

"Black Wind Mountain is finished!"

"Run! That damned stable boy isn't far!"

The trees fell and the hozens scattered.

In less than half an hour, the entire Black Wind Mountain force completely collapsed. The lesser demons packed up their belongings and scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing into the deep mountains and forests without looking back, fearing that if they were too slow, the evil star would return and kill them with his staff.

After another full hour, having confirmed that the auras of Sun Wukong and Guanyin Bodhisattva had completely disappeared into the sky, and that even the scattered demons had vanished without a trace, a slender figure slowly emerged from a hidden mountain hollow.

It was Fan Yuan.

His expression was calm as he glanced at the devastated entrance to the Black Wind Cave, but instead of entering immediately, he turned and walked towards the spot halfway up the mountain where the stench of blood was strongest.

Beside the mountain path, the corpse of a huge gray wolf lay quietly; it was Ling Xuzi, who had been killed by Sun Wukong's staff.

Fan Yuan walked to the wolf carcass and squatted down.

Ling Xuzi was a demon who had cultivated for hundreds of years; his entire body was a treasure.

He pulled a sharp short blade from his pocket; it was a hundred-refined monk's knife that he had found in the ruins of the Guanyin Temple after the fire, and it came in handy at this moment.

His movements were practiced and calm, without the slightest hesitation or discomfort.

First, there's the fur. Nourished by demonic energy year after year, the fur of this gray wolf is exceptionally tough, impervious to water and fire, making it an excellent material for crafting low-level armor and talismans.

Fan Yuan made precise cuts, peeling off the entire wolf pelt along the specific grain, and carefully folded it.

Next came the tendons and bones. Wolf tendons are incredibly tough, and the four leg bones are the thickest, deeply infused with demonic power. They can be ground into bone needles or auxiliary materials for weapon forging. He used his ring knife with skillful force to remove the tendons and bones one by one.

Finally, there's the demon core.

Fan Yuan cut open the wolf's chest and abdomen and found that its demon core had long been shattered by the immense force of the golden cudgel, turning into a pool of blood and flesh sludge containing violent demonic power.

"What a pity."

Fan Yuan thought to himself, but there was no disappointment on his face. He had expected this long ago; no one could survive under Sun Wukong's staff.

He took out a jade bottle that he had prepared beforehand, carefully scraped the remaining trace of essence from the blood and flesh sludge into it, and sealed it away.

Although this substance is mixed, once purified, it becomes a highly nourishing substance, whether used for alchemy or to feed clones.

After dealing with all of this, Fan Yuan looked at his blood-stained hands and was surprisingly calm, which even surprised himself.

Once upon a time, he was a modern man who couldn't even bear to watch a chicken being killed. But now, as he dismembers the corpse of a monster with his own hands, all he thinks about is its value.

"Is this the state of mind on the path to immortality...?"

He chuckled self-deprecatingly and put all the materials into a storage bag. This was one of the most valuable items he had found among Ling Xuzi's relics. It was small, only about one square meter, but it was a treasure to him.

After doing all this, he turned around and strode towards the Black Wind Cave, which was now completely empty of demons.

The cave was in a mess.

Wine jars were overturned, fruit platters were overturned, and the air was filled with a mixture of the smells of wine and blood. Some ordinary knives, spears, and halberds that hadn't been taken away were still hanging on the walls, and some unrefined rough ore was scattered on the ground.

Fan Yuan kept his eyes straight ahead, showing no interest whatsoever in these mundane objects.

He went straight through the front cave and headed straight for the alchemy room in the back cave.

Pushing open the stone door, a lingering fragrance of medicinal herbs wafted out.

The bronze Bagua furnace in the center of the alchemy room had been completely extinguished and turned cold. Fan Yuan stepped forward and placed his hand on the furnace. A surge of pure fire-elemental spiritual energy flowed through his arm, invigorating him.

"A fine stove, too bad I can't take it with me."

He walked around the alchemy furnace and found that it was connected to the earth fire of the mountain and could not be moved at all.

He wasn't greedy and turned his gaze to the bottom of the furnace.

The bottom of the furnace was covered with a thick layer of ash, which was grayish-white and mixed with some sintered black hard lumps.

This is cinnabar ash.

It was the residue left by the black bear spirit's years of alchemy, a mixture of medicinal essence and earth fire energy. For the black bear spirit, this was garbage that needed to be cleaned up regularly, but for Fan Yuan, the scattered medicinal power contained in this ash was a decent harvest.

Without any disgust, he took out a large cloth bag and carefully scraped off all the ash from the bottom of the furnace, along with several spirit stones that had been used to set up the furnace array and had lost most of their spiritual energy. He filled the bag to the brim before putting it into his storage bag.