The saying goes, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," and the Green-Robed Ancestor's strength was no less than that of the Poison Dragon Venerable. After transmitting a section of the Gu-refining method from the *Hundred Poisons True Scripture*, the eight demons immediately prostrated themselves in gratitude.
"Hehehe..." Jiang Liu laughed loudly, then lowered his eyes, seemingly practicing his internal energy.
The eight demons dared not disturb them, so they chased away the half-baked disciples and then left the main hall together.
Yu De was filled with gloom. His master, Venerable Poison Dragon, was plotting to seize the Potala Palace but lacked combat power. He had originally intended to introduce these eight demons to his master as an aid to offset the loss of the Red Sand during the battle with Emei. Now, the Green-Robed Ancestor had beaten him to it. Naturally, he was displeased. He clasped his hands and said, "Everyone, I won't disturb you any longer. Farewell!"
With that, he headed out of the Demon Palace, then mounted his flying sword and headed towards western Yunnan.
Seeing that he had left on his sword, the Eight Demons did not say much. Having obtained the "Hundred Poisons True Scripture" from the Green-Robed Ancestor, they were about to study it carefully. So they instructed their servants not to disturb the Ancestor's cultivation and began to practice in the secret room.
This "Hundred Poisons True Scripture" Gu Refining Chapter is the real deal, so the Eight Demons naturally wouldn't suspect anything.
Jiang Liu was left alone in the main hall, which gave him a perfect opportunity to seize the Heavenly Book Jade Box located beneath the hall.
Chapter Ninety-Three: The Heavenly Book of Guangcheng
As night deepened, Jiang Liu slowly opened his eyes.
The jade box containing the heavenly book was hidden in a secret cave beneath the seat in the center of the main hall, right under Jiang Liu's buttocks.
Jiang Liu pondered for a while, but found it difficult to break the restriction silently. If he used lightning magic to forcefully break through, it would only lead to disaster.
After much thought, there was nothing else they could do but try to get the eight demons to offer it up themselves.
After a night of cultivation, at dawn, Jiang Liu patted his bottom, stood up from his seat, and stretched his body. He saw the eight demons standing outside the main hall.
Upon seeing Jiang Liu emerge, the Great Demon Huang Su bowed and said, "Ancestor, we made some progress in our cultivation last night, and we have come today to pay our respects and express our gratitude!"
"Our ancestor is incredibly powerful. Even the humble Taoist techniques he passed down have benefited us immensely. We are willing to follow his lead!" The one who spoke was Yi Hongying, one of the Four Demons. She was a female demon with a charming appearance, but her left hand only had one thumb, with the other four fingers severed at the root, obviously cut off by a sharp weapon.
Jiang Liu chuckled and said, "You want the later cultivation techniques, don't you!"
The eight demons looked at each other, filled with fear and trepidation.
The Great Demon Huang Su stepped forward and said, “Ancestor, our master was killed in Chengdu last year by Miao Yi and Can Xia of Emei. We have an irreconcilable hatred for Emei. Ancestor, we studied some of the world's most powerful supernatural abilities last night. Our master left behind a celestial book containing some Taoist magic and supernatural powers that we cannot comprehend. Ancestor, you are a man of profound learning and will surely be able to understand it. We wish to offer it to you, Ancestor, and hope that you will impart some more knowledge to us!”
Jiang Liu glared at the eight demons, making them feel uneasy, before saying, "Since you have this intention, very well, I will teach you another supernatural power. I, your ancestor, am unparalleled in refining Gu, and no one can rival me in refining poisonous miasma... I will pass on to you the Poisonous Miasma Demon Art."
The eight demons were overjoyed and said in unison, "Ancestor, please wait a moment, we will retrieve the Heavenly Book right away!"
Pushing aside the central throne in the main hall and chanting incantations, the two demons, Xue Ping and Yi Hongying, stripped naked and stood upside down on the ground.
A man and a woman spun around nine times in a row. Suddenly, a sound came from underground, followed by a wisp of green smoke that immediately revealed a cave.
"Ancestor, the Heavenly Book shines with a precious light. Would you be willing to come inside with us to retrieve it?"
"Lead the way!"
The nine people went inside for several dozen feet and came to a stone door with talismans painted on it. Huang Su walked to the door and chanted an incantation. Sparks immediately flew from the stone door, and with a "yah," the stone door opened by itself.
Jiang Liu looked inside and saw many gold artifacts, which illuminated the entire cave with golden light. On the stone table in the center was a jade box that was about seven or eight inches long, three inches wide, and about an inch high, which was particularly eye-catching.
The Great Demon Huang Su picked up the jade box and presented it to Jiang Liu, saying, "Ancestor, this is the jade box containing the Heavenly Book. According to Master, this book is divided into three volumes: upper, middle, and lower, plus a supplementary volume. Apart from the supplementary volume, which can be understood by ordinary cultivators, only the upper volume has annotations in tadpole script."
My master only possessed a supplementary volume; the middle volume was acquired by the two elders of Mount Song, while the upper and lower volumes remain unknown. The middle volume obtained by the two elders of Mount Song was difficult to understand due to the lack of the upper volume; however, thanks to the guidance of the Emei sect's founder, the Long-Browed Immortal, they only managed to grasp half of it. My master was proficient only in the supplementary volume, and had already been unrivaled for half his life.
Because the Heavenly Book emitted a precious glow, it was difficult to carry, so she hid it in a stone cave beneath her throne, sealing it with talismans recorded on a secondary scroll. Without the incantation, no one else could open it. Only one night, in a moment of joy, did she teach me the method to open it. My master also said, "Don't even talk about obtaining all three Heavenly Books; just mastering this secondary scroll will allow you to transcend the mortal realm and attain sainthood, deeply comprehending the workings of creation."
Jiang Liu pointed his finger, and the enormous jade box vanished without a trace from Huang Su's hand. They were astonished; this incredible ability to contain a tiny fraction of space within a vast expanse truly shocked them.
Seeing their surprised expressions, Jiang Liu was already overjoyed. Having also obtained Huang Su's opening technique, Jiang Liu said, "Since you have such filial piety, I will pass on this Poisonous Miasma Demon Technique to you..."
"Thank you for passing on your skills, Ancestor!"
After passing on some of his poison and demonic arts to them, Jiang Liu thought to himself, "On the Dragon Boat Festival, that poor god Ling Hun will come to seize the Heavenly Book and the valley. I've already taken the Heavenly Book, and I've also passed on my demonic arts to these eight demons... Hehe, let's see what kind of expressions they'll have then!"
Jiang Liu knew he couldn't stay in the Demon Palace for long; otherwise, he'd inevitably slip up. So, the next day, he made an excuse and left Qingluo Valley. The eight demons, having obtained it, didn't suspect a thing. This was the Green Robe Ancestor's true life-bound technique, and these eight demons weren't ignorant; they naturally knew the value of this true scripture.
After leaving Qingluoyu, Jiang Liu found a secluded cave, sealed the entrance, and set up a Heavenly Thunder Array for safety.
Only then did he take out the Heavenly Book Jade Box from his storage space, chant incantations, and with a flick of his hand, the jade box opened, revealing a scroll of scripture that was neither paper nor gold, but seemed to be some kind of animal hide.
Just then, Ling Hun, the strange beggar in the capital, suddenly felt that he was about to miss an opportunity. He tried to calculate with his fingers, but the secrets of heaven were unpredictable. He walked back and forth several times, his face scrunched up like a chrysanthemum, but he still found nothing.
As soon as the secondary scroll of the celestial book was revealed, it emitted a dazzling white light, illuminating the entire cave in a snowy white glow. Jiang Liu didn't even glance at it, and simply tossed it into his storage space.
Then, Jiang Liu calmly focused on breaking through the remaining two layers of restrictions. Although he had obtained the memories of the Green-Robed Ancestor, he hadn't gained much in terms of breaking restrictions. He resorted to his old tricks, using lightning to forcefully break through.
Fortunately, his lightning magic had reached an extremely sophisticated level of control. He broke through the layers one by one, and after three to five hours, he finally opened the second layer, which contained six pills and the same jade ruler.
The jade gleamed, illuminating the entire cave.
Upon seeing this, Jiang Liu exclaimed with delight, "Guang Chengzi's Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Ruler and Soul Gathering and Body Refining Pill are indeed inside!"
He placed six Soul Gathering and Body Refining Pills into a jade bottle, thought for a moment, then poured out another one and swallowed it. He then circulated the "Mysterious Female True Understanding" to condense his primordial spirit within the Mysterious Female Pearl. After circulating the pills for nine consecutive cycles, absorbing their effects, Jiang Liu sensed that this cultivation session was actually equivalent to a month's worth of work.
He held the Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Ruler in his hand and studied it for a while, only to find that it required the Nine True Talismans of the Heavenly Book to be used. Without these talismans, even if he obtained this treasure, it would be of no use.
Jiang Liu put it aside and began to break the lower-level restrictions. It took him three days to finally open the lower space, looking exhausted.
Inside was a scroll of celestial scripture, made entirely of jade, unlike the secondary scroll. It was covered in densely packed ancient characters. Clearly, the secondary scroll and the true celestial scripture were not written by the same person.
"These are ancient inscriptions!"
Jiang Liu stroked the Heavenly Book. He recognized the characters on it. Although this script was no longer used in the Journey to the West world, Jiang Liu, as a Qi cultivator, had read the Daoist Canon and had also dabbled in ancient inscriptions.
"It's actually a superior swordsmanship technique! Knowing the enemy's intentions before they even move allows one to preemptively seize the initiative and achieve the goal of using the sword to outmaneuver the enemy. This is Guang Chengzi's swordsmanship technique! The true talisman for wielding the Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Ruler is also included. Truly, heaven is helping me!"
Chapter Ninety-Four: The Barbarian Monk and the Wondrous Nun
After Jiang Liu refined the "Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Ruler," cultivated Guang Chengzi's superior swordsmanship "The Way of the Yi Sword," and used the "Mysterious Female Pearl" to entrust his second primordial spirit, he had already made some progress. It was already the third month of spring, but the Great Snow Mountain was still bitterly cold, without a trace of spring.
Riding his sword like a rainbow, Jiang Liu had already achieved some success in his flying sword technique. As soon as he left the cave, he tried to experience the feeling of soaring through the sky. However, the Great Snow Mountain was bitterly cold, and flying in the biting wind was extremely uncomfortable. Just as he was about to land, he suddenly noticed flames shooting into the sky from a cliff.
"Are people having a magical duel?"
There is no doubt that someone is using supernatural powers to raise a fire several meters high in the middle of ice and snow.
It landed far away on the ground, then quietly approached.
Jiang Liu had excellent eyesight. He saw a stone cave, taller than a person, halfway up the peak. In front of the cave was a flat rock that jutted out. On the rock sat a barbarian monk with a leopard's head, round eyes, a wide nose, and a broad mouth. He wore a fiery red robe, was barefoot, had a staff in front of him, held a golden alms bowl in his hand, and had a bright red gourd hanging from his waist. In front of him was an incense burner with three large incense sticks, each three feet long. He sat there upright with his hands clasped together.
Inside the cave, flames soared into the sky, illuminating the surroundings in a fiery red glow.
The barbarian monk's broken voice drifted faintly in the wind: "Zheng Bagu, hand over the Snow Soul Pearl... and I'll make sure your soul is annihilated by my Yellow Sand Demon Fire..."
Upon hearing the words "Snow Soul Pearl," Jiang Liu's memories, hidden deep within his soul, gradually became clear. He then verified them one by one with the memories of the Green Robe Ancestor, and thought to himself, "This Tibetan monk should be the wild demon who saved the Green Robe Ancestor in the original story! The Snow Soul Pearl is indeed a good treasure. It is formed from the essence of ten thousand years of accumulated snow. I heard that it can break fire magic weapons and supernatural powers. It is quite a rare treasure."
This barbarian monk is named Jacoba, nicknamed the Western Wild Demon. He is a fellow disciple of the Venerable Poison Dragon of Yunnan, but the Venerable Poison Dragon has many disciples and a powerful influence; Jacoba, on the other hand, is alone, and very few people know his background. Even the Green-Robed Ancestor doesn't know this barbarian monk's name!
Their presence here is clearly motivated by greed for the rare treasure, the "Snow Soul Pearl"!
Jiang Liu glanced at the flames and could feel their intense heat even from a distance, indicating their extraordinary power. The fire also faintly carried the scent of the yellow sands of the Western Desert, suggesting it was a strange fire sourced from the desert, which was how he cultivated his demonic fire technique.
As Jiang Liu had predicted, the flames were none other than the "Western Wild Demon's" prized supernatural power—the Yellow Sand Demon Fire.
Just as Jiang Liu was sitting on the sidelines watching the fight, preparing to reap the benefits and seize the Snow Soul Pearl, a sword light streaked across the sky from the northeast, its target clearly this place.
While sword riding is fast and extremely convenient, it is difficult to hide one's whereabouts, and enemies will detect it from afar.
The barbarian monk had obviously also noticed the sword light, and stood up, gripping his staff.
In an instant, the sword light fell, revealing a beautiful young nun. She wore a Buddhist crown, cloud-patterned shoes, and a yellow brocade monk's robe. She held a whisk in her hand. Her appearance was dignified and very beautiful.
Jiang Liu secretly observed from the shadows. The nun had a dignified appearance, which was obviously the opposite of the rude and uncouth monk in front of him.
"You wicked monk, prepare to die!"
The nun let out a sharp cry, and without a word, flicked her whisk, creating a gust of wind that swept towards the western demon. Sand and stones flew, and the wind howled, but the barbarian monk held his staff without moving an inch, only the iron rings on the staff cracking crisply in the wind.
The nun stirred up a fierce wind, but its target wasn't the barbaric monk; instead, it was the raging fire in the cave. While wind is supposed to fan the flames, the gale-force wind, mixed with swirling snowflakes, spun into the fire, extinguishing it almost instantly.
Seeing that the demonic transformation of the yellow sand had been suppressed, the barbarian monk roared and pointed the fiery red gourd at his waist at the nun, chanting incantations. A flame then shot out from the gourd and towards the nun.
The nun flicked her whisk, creating another gust of wind that barely blocked the demonic fire, but the whisk itself was also scorched by the demonic fire and turned to ashes.
"You wicked monk, you actually destroyed my magic weapon!"
"Not only will I destroy your magic treasures, but I will also abduct you back to the mountain to become my Buddha's slave!" The barbarian monk lewdly laughed loudly.
In an instant, the nun waved her hand, and several silver needles shot out.
The barbarian monk narrowed his eyes, muttered incantations, and hurriedly raised the purple-gold alms bowl. This alms bowl was called the Revolving Bowl. Once it was raised, black and white yin and yang energies would rise straight into the sky, and all things, whether human, bird, or treasure, would be sucked in and unable to escape.
Sure enough, the silver needles were sucked into the bowl and fell to the bottom.
The barbarian monk broke the young nun's supernatural powers, laughed loudly, and swung his staff at her. A fierce wind howled, as if it had the power to split mountains and shatter the earth.
"Yuqing, be careful of this barbarian monk, don't be careless!" At this moment, the flames in the cave had gradually died down, and a weary, aged female voice came out.
The young nun snorted coldly, raised her hand, and a flying sword shot out.
The barbaric monk, the Western Wild Demon, was momentarily careless. Wanting a quick victory, he didn't use his alms bowl to absorb the enemy's flying sword, but instead swung his staff wildly. Suddenly, he noticed a cold, rainbow-like golden light flying directly towards him. Only then did he remember to use his alms bowl to catch it. Just as he raised the bowl, the flying sword, incredibly powerful, seemed to be swallowed by the black and white energy of the bowl like a dragon entering the sea, but then suddenly broke free and slashed towards him.
The barbarian monk knew something was wrong, so he quickly used his protective demonic magic, Mustard Seed, to hide himself and escape to a distance of about a hundred feet. When he looked at his waist, he saw that the flaming gourd had been cleaved in two, spilling yellow sand and demonic fire all over the ground.
Knowing he was no match for the barbarian monk, he turned and fled, disappearing into the vast mountains in a single leap.
"If you're not coming out now, how long do you intend to keep watching?"
The young nun spoke sharply in the direction where Jiang Liu was hiding.
Jiang Liu then realized that he had exposed his whereabouts. He slowly walked out and laughed, "Bodhisattva, what a skillful method..."
"Sneaking around is not the right way, and it will not escape the discerning eyes of Yuqing. You will also take my sword!"
Seeing the white light shooting towards him, Jiang Liu was shocked. This sword was several times stronger than Qi Lingyun's. This nun was obviously a senior expert and could not possibly be as young as she appeared.
Jiang Liu gritted his teeth. He had originally wanted to take advantage of the situation to obtain the Snow Soul Pearl, but now it seemed that the opportunity was gone. Since he could not gain any benefit, he immediately turned and fled like the barbarian monk. At the same time, he made a hand seal and activated the "Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Ruler," which raised nine golden flowers and a purple aura to protect himself.
The sword light swirled around Jiang Liu's body, but was blocked by the Nine Golden Flowers, and could only retreat back into the hands of the beautiful young nun.
"Pure Yang Purple Qi?" The nun frowned as she looked in the direction Jiang Liu had fled. She pinched her fingers, but couldn't deduce anything, so she had to give up.
Jiang Liu didn't linger. Although he wasn't afraid of the nun, he also didn't want to fight. He avoided battles that wouldn't bring him any benefit, and headed towards Baiman Mountain.