A more obvious example is the newly manifested great demon Xiangliu. Records say that Xiangliu has a snake's body and nine heads, devours countless people, and turns every place it goes into a swamp.
Yangzhou is located on the coast of the East China Sea, and its territory is full of lakes and marshes. The shape of Xiangliu is carved on the body of the cauldron, which means that this monster Xiangliu once plagued Yangzhou.
After Xiangliu comes Huashe, a creature with a human face and a jackal's body, possessing wings on its back. It moves like a snake, coiling and writhing. Legend has it that its voice sounds like a baby crying loudly, or like a woman scolding. Huashe rarely speaks, but when it does, it summons a devastating flood.
There are also Kui Niu, Mermaids, Zhen Birds, Heng Gong Fish, Giant Turtles...
Jiang Liu's eyes suddenly lit up. From the ripples beneath the cauldron, half a fish's body emerged, its mouth wide open, seemingly summoning a massive flood to engulf the land. It was indeed the form of the demon Gun, a large fish resembling a whale, but covered in scales and filled with sharp teeth.
"Truly, Heaven is on my side! Today is the day you are destined for great calamity, and your death is imminent!"
Seeing that the Yu Cauldron had fallen into Jiang Liu's hands, how could the demon Gun give up? It had been scheming for over a thousand years, and now it was going to relinquish this treasure. It opened its blood-red maw and lunged at Jiang Liu, with wind and rain following behind, and towering waves crashing against the ground.
"court death!"
Jiang Liu gritted his teeth and roared. The small cauldron in his hand flashed with light, and an illusion of an ancient map of Yangzhou appeared on his fist!
With the power of an entire province upon him, Jiang Liu suddenly felt as heavy as a mountain, standing firmly on the earth, as if rooted to the ground, merging with the mountains and rivers. The earth's dragon energy flowed into his body, causing him to let out a low roar. And from his fist, ripple-like halos of power rapidly spread outwards, as if resonating with the mountains and earth.
Immediately afterwards, the ripples of power began to materialize, and not only that, a faint rumbling sound also came from the depths of the earth.
The Yu Ding had accumulated considerable merit by suppressing the demon Gun, and now that it had merged with the fragments of the Yangzhou Ding from the Journey to the West world, all of this merit naturally fell into Jiang Liu's hands.
Seeing the overwhelming power emanating from Jiang Liu, the demon Gun instantly transformed into his demon form, a terrifying fish tens of feet long, which opened its huge mouth and devoured him.
The river was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot in front of this giant fish; it was about to be crushed to death.
Before the attack arrived, the wind and rain came first, and huge waves swept in. The river stood rooted to the ground, unmoved by the wind and rain, and then threw a punch at the demonic fish.
A simple straight punch, the fist trembles slightly, the force is the Bengquan technique in Chinese martial arts, which is exactly the "Zhen" technique.
The fist is simple, but the power contained within it is extraordinary, possessing immense force that seems to shake the entire world.
"boom!"
A punch slammed into the demon's fish head, and a terrifying force instantly pierced through it.
The giant fish demon's form. The most direct feeling was that the surrounding wind and rain suddenly stopped, and the towering waves that had been stirred up retreated at a speed even faster than when they came.
"Click...click..."
The demon Gun's body emitted a series of cracking sounds, and its two fish eyes, the size of human heads, burst open, spitting out three zhang high of foul blood that shot straight to the heavens.
The demon's body, several dozen feet long, hovered in mid-air, causing the entire world to freeze for three seconds before crashing into the lake.
The defense, which required powerful artifacts like the Purple Jade and the Azure Rope to break through, was blasted to smithereens by Jiang Liu's single punch. While the outside was still concealed by the sturdy fish scales, the inside—internal organs and flesh—had been reduced to a bloody pulp.
This is actually quite normal. When faced with super-strong armor, ordinary sharp weapons cannot penetrate it, but if heavy weapons are used, death is the only outcome.
The physical body is crucial for cultivators, as it is the key to achieving immortality. If it is destroyed, the only way to embark on the path to immortality is through reincarnation. However, if one cultivates a primordial spirit, one can seize another's body and be reborn. Although this does not guarantee an immortal position, it ensures immortality and preserves all magical power.
The reason why the Green-Robed Ancestor was so difficult to kill was that he cultivated a second primordial spirit using the "Mysterious Female Pearl," which even the Three Immortals and Two Elders could not defeat.
To kill the enemy, first destroy their physical body, then their primordial spirit. If the primordial spirit escapes, it will return sooner or later as a scourge, seeking revenge.
Even a powerful figure like the Divine Nun Utan, one of the most formidable figures in the Shu Mountain world, would need to surround the demon Gun with nine Heavenly Dragon Subduing Demon Swords and refine it for 108 days before she could destroy its primordial spirit.
Jiang Liu destroyed the demon Gun's physical body with a single punch, but his primordial spirit was helpless. Unless, like the Green-Robed Ancestor, the primordial spirit was imprisoned and attacked continuously with the "power of an entire province," it would be impossible to shatter the primordial spirit into pieces.
In an instant, a large, transparent fish burst out from the demon's body, roared at the river, and tried to escape.
Even if the primordial spirit tries to escape, the Nine Heavenly Dragon Subduing Demon Sword Formation suspended in mid-air above the lake cannot stop it.
Just then, the small cauldron in Jiang Liu's hand trembled, and a huge suction force was emitted from the mouth of the cauldron. The demon Gun's primordial spirit was immediately imprisoned by an invisible airflow and fell towards the Nine Cauldrons.
In the blink of an eye, it was swallowed up by the small cauldron.
The large fish statue on the cauldron seemed to flash with an unusual light, then vanished in an instant. The small cauldron stood quietly in the palm of the hand, motionless.
"Phew! Everything is built on the foundation of merit! No wonder everyone wants to vanquish demons and monsters to gain merit..."
Jiang Liu flipped his hand, and the small cauldron disappeared without a trace.
He clenched his fist and looked at the sword-wielding girl, then summoned the "Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Ruler." Nine golden flowers protected his body, so even if the nine Heavenly Dragon Subduing Demon Swords attacked simultaneously, he would still have the power to counterattack.
"No, it should be eight swords now. Divine Nun Utan, since I've already offended the entire Emei sect, one more of you won't make a difference!"
Jiang Liu's eyes were icy as he thought to himself.
Having a lot of lice doesn't make you itch!
From the moment he arrived at Mount Shu, he first took the body of the Immortal Zhi, offending Qi Lingyun and Qi Jinchan; then he seized the Heavenly Book Jade Box, and the strange beggar Ling Hun, who plotted against the Green Snail, would never let him go; at Heavenly Silkworm Ridge, he injured the Laughing Monk, took the Invisible Sword, and offended the ascetic monk of the Three Immortals of the East Sea to the death; then he took the Ten Thousand Year Warm Jade and the Xun Palace Ice Silkworm, and had already become a mortal enemy of Emei.
Jiang Liu doesn't care if he offends the goddess You Tan again; at worst, he'll just have to run away again!
Chapter 105 Explanation of the White Sun Diagram
Just then, the young girl stood in mid-air on her sword, eight immortal swords behind her gleaming, seemingly ready to strike. Whether they were friend or foe was still unknown, so she naturally had to be extremely cautious. The small cauldron's attack had just destroyed one of the Heavenly Dragon Demon-Subduing Swords, breaking the sword formation and making her hesitant to attack rashly. She had also killed the demon Gun with a single punch; she couldn't say she could defeat this person with just eight flying swords.
Looking down at the river on the opposite bank, he asked in a stern voice, "Who exactly are you?"
Jiang Liu coldly stared at the eight flying swords and said, "Jiang Liu, a rogue cultivator from overseas, has come to exterminate demons!"
"Exterminate the demon!" The purple-clad woman's lips twitched. This merit was something that the Divine Nun You Tan had planned long ago. Who in the world didn't know that he had actually snatched food from the tiger's mouth and dared to steal the merit and magic treasure that should have belonged to her?
Seeing her hesitation, Jiang Liu knew that his punch had intimidated her, so she dared not act rashly. He rolled his eyes and laughed loudly, "It is the responsibility of righteous people like us to slay demons and eliminate evil. You don't need to thank me. If I hadn't intervened, this demon Gun would have escaped, and thousands of acres of fertile land and countless people below the mountain would have suffered a catastrophic disaster. This is a meritorious deed for both of us!"
Hearing his words, the young woman felt as if a thousand demons were racing through her heart. But considering that this man had killed the demon Gun with a single punch, she realized that even with her nine swords, she might not be a match. Moreover, seeing the protective golden flower, pure Yang in its essence, she was clearly a righteous person. So she sheathed her sword, landed on the opposite bank, and thought to herself, "So be it! The Yu Ding is not meant for me, why should I force it? The destruction of the demon Gun is already a meritorious deed, it's just a pity that one of Master's Heavenly Dragon Subduing Demon Swords was destroyed. I need to investigate this man's background thoroughly, and I'll discuss it with Master when he returns..."
Seeing her retreat, Jiang Liu took the demon core of the demon Gun. He originally wanted to peel off the fish scales, but found that ordinary sharp weapons were useless against it, so he had to give up.
What Jiang Liu didn't know was that within the red ravine that imprisoned the demon Gun, there was another net, also a treasure of King Yu. He missed it by leaving.
I left Yandang Mountain with great joy and headed to Baiyang Mountain in central Zhejiang. I searched the whole mountain, but there was no "Baiyang Diagram". I did find a few caves, but nothing came of it.
Upon seeing this, Jiang Liu realized he had come to the wrong place. There were many places in the world with the same name, and Baiyang Mountain was named after the place where the Daoist Baiyang Zhenren attained enlightenment, so it was clearly not this place in central Zhejiang.
After some time of careful inquiry, it was discovered that the place where the True Man Baiyang attained enlightenment was located on the border of Guizhou and Guangxi, one of the seventy-two grotto-heavens in the human world, and its full name was "Fengdong Mountain Baiyang Cliff Flower Rain Cave"!
This mountain is located far on the border of Guizhou and Guangxi, surrounded by mountains for thousands of miles. Except for the area around Tieyanchong and Huangshizhai on the north side of the mountain, where some ethnic groups live together, the rest is a desolate wilderness, untouched by human habitation. Although the scenery is magnificent and it was once considered a dwelling place for immortals, since ancient times it has remained undeveloped, with vast marshes and deep mountains, teeming with mountain demons, tree spirits, insects, pythons, and other strange creatures.
Furthermore, this cave has long been rumored to contain a set of acupuncture techniques by the White Sun Immortal and two boxes of medicinal herbs. Many heretics have come to search for it, but it has not been discovered to this day.
The inscription left by Master Baiyang is carved on the cliff face of Baiyang Cliff, which can be viewed and studied by anyone and has been widely circulated.
After traveling for several days, Jiang Liu arrived at the border of Guizhou and Guangxi.
The Baiyang Cliff Flower Rain Cave is now deserted, with no sign of human presence, and the entrance is covered in cobwebs.
Stepping inside, the cave was divided into three levels: front, middle, and back. The front cave was the brightest and cleanest, while the middle cave, hidden deep within the mountain, was much more spacious and brighter than the front cave. Jiang Liu noticed that the walls were covered with excavated pits, which he guessed were made by people in the past who were digging for rare treasures.
Walking to the end of the cave wall, one sees a stone tablet about two zhang high and three chi thick, without any inscription. Behind the tablet is the entrance to the back cave, only about zhang high. Upon entering, the cave is unusually dark and gloomy.
Jiang Liu naturally possessed the minor supernatural ability of night vision. He saw that the inner cave seemed to be much larger than the front and middle caves. Apart from a stone pier in the middle and many scattered stone pillars of different lengths, there was nothing else.
Upon closer inspection of the cave walls, one could see some figures painted on them, but no words were visible.
"Is this the White Sun Diagram?"
The figures on the murals are standing, sitting, leaping, and in various postures, including bears and birds. The river flows around them, and there are a total of 364 images.
"There are 365 days in a year, why is one missing?"
Jiang Liu was unaware of Baiyang Zhenren's intentions. He returned to the beginning, where there were twelve human-shaped seated statues, all sitting face forward.
The first one has both hands placed directly on his knees, one eye lowered and looking inward, and his head slightly drooping.
The second head was slightly more upright, and the posture was quite relaxed.
The following ten seated statues are all the same, with only minor variations.
Jiang Tong, a scholar of Taoism, possessed exceptional knowledge. Upon seeing these methods of meditation and calming the mind, he immediately frowned and thought to himself, "What brilliant Taoist meditation methods! They are not simple, absolutely not simple!"
I sat cross-legged, striking a pose similar to the mural, calming my mind and returning to my origin. Before I knew it, I had been sitting there for most of the day.
"I understand... So that's how it is! This is the sitting posture for the Taoist Mind-Calming Mantra. It is the first of the Eight Great Mantras, and it has the effect of purifying the body and mind, eliminating distracting thoughts, and calming the mind. This mantra can bring the mortal mind into stillness, allowing one to reflect on the Taoist mind and enter a state of tranquility. It also has the effect of protecting the soul and spirit. Although it is called a mantra, it is actually not necessary. This sitting posture encompasses everything!"
Having obtained a mantra similar to a "mind-calming incantation," Jiang Liu immediately felt that his trip had been worthwhile. Looking at the remaining figures, they were all various dynamic and static states—bears stretching, birds extending, beasts stretching—each posture vivid and lifelike, but none could compare to the twelve seated figures he had seen earlier.
One is in heaven, one is on earth; one is an immortal, one is a mortal. If one cultivates the later diagrams while neglecting the twelve sitting postures, then it is like buying the box and returning the pearl, a lower level of practice.
Jiang Liu then lost interest.
Emerging from the cave at dawn, the view to the east from the cliff top was a vast expanse of mist, with low-hanging dark clouds and distant peaks. Jiang Liu, having obtained the "Mind-Calming Mantra," wanted to test its effects and began meditating in conjunction with the "Body-Purifying Mantra."
As the sun rises in the east, cleansing the body with the sun and refining the form with the moon, a great cycle of energy completes, and Jiang Liu's heart leaps with a sudden jolt.
The combination of the two divine spells did not produce the effect of one plus one equals two, but rather a multiplied increase.
"The Eight Great Divine Incantations might not be as simple as they seem! I'll collect them all when I get back and see what secrets they hold!"
Jiang Liu muttered something, poured out a "Soul Gathering and Body Refining Pill" from the jade bottle and swallowed it. Then he circulated the "Mysterious Female True Understanding" to condense his primordial spirit within the Mysterious Female Pearl. He circulated it for nine consecutive cycles before stopping and standing up.
A hazy little figure had already appeared in the Mysterious Female Pearl in his hand. Although its face was not yet clear, it already had a human form.
Another big step closer to condensing the primordial spirit!
Chapter 106 The White-Haired Dragon Girl
With the primordial spirit beginning to appear and the Great Dao already established, entering the realm of Earth Immortals who have refined Qi and transformed their spirit is only a matter of time.
"Enlightenment has been achieved!"
Looking up at the vast sky, Jiang Liu suddenly felt that the path to immortality was difficult to find and the road to immortality was rugged and bumpy. If it weren't for "the one who escaped" traveling through time and space, Jiang Liu felt that he would never have grown so fast. Perhaps he would still be struggling in Qianlong Mountain, worrying about his life.
Jiang Liu couldn't help but think of his mentor, who had spent a hundred years cultivating diligently, only to have his life end and his cultivation vanish in an instant.
"The path to immortality is so difficult to find! I don't even know where my master has been reincarnated. He saved me in my past life, and I will save him in this one. I will search the entire Tang Dynasty to find him. And that corpse demon in the White Bone Cave, I will refine you and condemn you to eternal damnation!"
...
It was already April, and the battle of magic at Ciyun Temple had just ended. The story of slaying the demon and seizing the "Heavenly Book Jade Box" at Qingluo Valley was about to begin. Both the righteous and the evil paths were mostly concentrated in the Sichuan-Tibet region.
"Unfortunately, I already took the Heavenly Book. I wonder what your expressions will be then!"
Having obtained the "Baiyang Diagram Explanation," though not a top-tier immortal technique, it still proved useful. Just as Jiang Liu was about to leave, a sword light appeared from the north at incredible speed; it was too late to escape now.
He then stood confidently on the cliff, with his hands behind his back.
As the sword flashed, a woman with a full head of silver hair and an iron staff appeared. Although her hair was white, her face did not look old. She appeared to be in her thirties and had a charming appearance. She was holding an unconscious girl in her arms.