Chapter 27

"Truly a bold and reckless brat, daring to come to the lair of the Great King of Southern Mountain and cause trouble. Show yourself quickly, or don't blame me for being unfriendly!"

"You can't say I'm deceiving you. I was born with a spiritual nose that can detect unusual auras, or I wouldn't have found the thousand-leaf spirit ginseng, such a heavenly treasure."

"I know you are in this lair, so show yourself!"

The Great King of Southern Mountain laughed and, with a pat on his head, several black梭子-shaped beads of magic, the size of soybeans, shot out, sweeping around the lair. Using the power of the Golden Core, he probed for unusual auras, intending to find Zhu Ganglie's whereabouts.

Seeing this, Zhu Ganglie's face turned grim. "Oh no!"

The entire lair was sealed, and the Great King of Southern Mountain was using the power of the Corporeal Realm to search for him. Although he didn't know if this could detect him, he was undoubtedly trapped here.

He held his breath and moved his body lightly, evading the magical probes.

"Truly a capable one, to evade my detection. I'll show you my prowess so you don't underestimate me, you petty thief!"

The Great King of Southern Mountain roared in anger, spewing out a rolling black cloud from his mouth. This cloud was condensed from the earth's malevolent energy using a secret technique. Ordinary people would be instantly reduced to ashes upon contact, and even the souls and magic of cultivators would be tainted.

The black cloud surged and slowly spread throughout the cave.

Although this was a crude method, the lair was sealed by the Great King of Southern Mountain, and with the spreading black cloud, he feared he was truly doomed.

Thinking of this, Zhu Ganglie had to make a decision. He must fight with all his might; otherwise, if the great demon found him, he would surely become its prey.

He then entered the Tower of Sealing Gods, transforming into a tiny white jade demon, holding the Yang Yuan Ruler in one hand and the Heavenly Sword Pill in the other, charging towards the rolling black cloud sealing the cave entrance.

The Heavenly Sword Pill transformed into a ball of fire, colliding with the black cloud, causing it to waver. Then the Yang Yuan Ruler shook, and seven flames of the Doushuo Fire followed, directly shattering the black cloud.

As the black cloud was dispelled, a pitch-black whip broke through the air, striking the Tower of Sealing Gods, shattering its white glow and causing it to shake violently.

Zhu Ganglie reacted quickly, and the Heavenly Sword Pill circled around, severing the whip formed by the malevolent energy.

"Is that a sword pill? A magical artifact? A disciple of the Divine Dawn Sect?"

Seeing the golden sword pill, the Great King of Southern Mountain's face darkened, and his movements slowed. Taking advantage of this, Zhu Ganglie directly entered the brow of a small demon, concealing himself.

"Search! Search the area for hundreds of miles. I don't believe this petty thief can maintain invisibility forever."

The Great King of Southern Mountain roared, causing the entire Southern Mountain to tremble. Countless small demons panicked and began searching the surroundings.

While hiding in the brow of the small demon, Zhu Ganglie absorbed the power of the thousand-leaf spirit ginseng, slowly healing his injuries and retrieving the two talismans he had sent out.

He was deeply afraid. The expert of the Corporeal Realm was truly terrifying. His Tower of Sealing Gods already had two layers of restrictions and was refined from the bones of an unknown ancient beast. Yet, it was shattered by a single strike from the Great King of Southern Mountain's magic. If the Great King of Southern Mountain had achieved the Golden Core, he would surely be doomed.

However, the situation wasn't much better now. The Great King of Southern Mountain, Lingxu Zi, and the other two great demons were surely searching for him.

He couldn't travel now, and he was unfamiliar with the surroundings. If he ventured out rashly and encountered a more powerful demon, it would be disastrous.

He decided to refine the thousand-leaf spirit ginseng and enhance his strength.

After some thought, Zhu Ganglie decided to stay and understand the surroundings. He grabbed the small demon's soul, refining it into a summoning talisman, and its body into the Tower of Sealing Gods.

Sticking the talisman on his body, Zhu Ganglie transformed into the appearance of the small demon, calmly becoming one of the Great King of Southern Mountain's subordinates.

The small demon was a tiger that had gained intelligence and followed the Great King of Southern Mountain, becoming an ordinary demon. However, its strength was pitiful, equivalent to a common soldier.

After transforming into the tiger demon, Zhu Ganglie calmly refined the power of the thousand-leaf spirit ginseng, strengthening his soul.

The thousand-leaf spirit ginseng truly lived up to its reputation as a heavenly treasure. After half a month of absorption, his soul had doubled in size, and only ten leaves of the spirit ginseng had been consumed.

His original soul was already powerful, and after obtaining the Taiyin Cultivation Technique, his soul became even more substantial. The condensed spiritual energy was two to three times stronger than that of ordinary cultivators, surpassing any cultivator of the same level.

Otherwise, he couldn't have broken through the Great King of Southern Mountain's black cloud of malevolent energy.

However, despite the growth of his soul, Zhu Ganglie couldn't break through to the Out-of-Body Realm and reach the Manifestation Realm. He realized that this was no longer a matter of strengthening his soul.

He needed to find an opportunity to break through to the Out-of-Body Realm.

Zhu Ganglie then stopped cultivating and prepared to head to the Divine Dawn Sect. In the past half month, he had understood the surroundings.

The Southern Mountain was on the edge of the Thunder Marsh, not yet deep within it, but already extremely dangerous. The deeper one went, the more dangerous it became.

There were many Golden Core great demons and ancient fierce beasts, and even the Great King of Southern Mountain, with his Corporeal Realm cultivation, dared not venture deeper.

He couldn't rashly enter now.

So, Zhu Ganglie planned to use this time to break through to the Manifestation Realm and refine the power of the Gourd Sword Technique. This would greatly increase his chances of reaching the Divine Dawn Sect.

He didn't want to die before successfully becoming a disciple.

He also reviewed his recent gains. He had three main magical artifacts: the Heavenly Sword Pill, which had been refined to the first restriction, and the Yang Yuan Ruler, which had two layers of the Nine Heavens Seal, with good power but unable to be refined further in the short term.

Refining these two artifacts took a long time, and he needed to understand the situation and head to the Thunder Marsh, so he couldn't spend time refining them.

The Tower of Sealing Gods didn't require much effort to refine; it could grow with the essence of blood and flesh. However, it was too sacred and might cause unnecessary trouble.

The mysterious Kunlun Mirror was difficult to refine and remained as a light point hidden in his soul.

After some consideration, Zhu Ganglie decided to cultivate the Great Vajra Manifestation Demon.

He still had the corpse of the Fire Cloud Poison Scorpion, which he could refine into a Great Vajra Manifestation Demon.

He then activated the technique, refining the corpse of the Fire Cloud Poison Scorpion, which was as large as three elephants, into a giant demon, about three zhang tall, the size of a six-story building, surrounded by flames and emitting a faint golden light.

As the demon appeared, Zhu Ganglie pointed at the Tower of Sealing Gods, and six of the eight hundred battle souls collected by Dou Tai merged into the giant demon, forming a massive demon soul.

The Great Vajra Manifestation Demon relied on a powerful physical body, refining a Vajra Manifestation Demon's body.

The soul was transformed into the demon's soul, and when combined, it became a powerful, golden-iron-like giant demon.

However, it required constant nourishment with souls; otherwise, the Great Vajra Manifestation Demon would turn against the cultivator, consuming their soul.

The moment Zhu Ganglie refined the Great Vajra Manifestation Demon, a fierce and angry intent filled his mind, eroding his soul.

"Such a powerful malevolent intent, such a profound cultivation technique!"

After suppressing the fierce intent, Zhu Ganglie's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but praise it.

The Great Vajra Manifestation Demon technique was an unparalleled skill, using external demons to cultivate Buddhist techniques. The thirty-six demons represented six emotions: joy, anger, sorrow, fear, hate, and love.

Each set of six Great Vajra Manifestation Demons represented one emotion.

Although the technique seemed evil and required nourishment with the soul, it was a result of the ascetic monk's cultivation going astray.

Initially, the Great Vajra Manifestation Demon technique involved finding a powerful body, using one's soul as a guide to gradually cultivate demonic nature, then collecting souls to form a demon soul.

When the demon soul appeared, it would exert a powerful pressure on the cultivator's soul, causing the mind to be constantly enveloped by an emotion, prompting the cultivator's mind and soul to resist the Great Vajra Manifestation Demon's erosion.

This pressure was slow and subtle. After successfully refining a Great Vajra Manifestation Demon, the cultivator would gradually adapt to the demon soul's erosion, making the mind and soul more resilient.

Thus, each Great Vajra Manifestation Demon refined made the cultivator's mind and soul stronger.

When six Great Vajra Manifestation Demons were successfully refined, the cultivator's mind would become even more resilient, subduing an emotion and comprehending the first consciousness of Buddhism.

When comprehending the first consciousness of Buddhism, the cultivator could control the seventh Great Vajra Manifestation Demon.

In other words, the Great Vajra Manifestation Demon technique subdued six emotions through external demons, reaching the realm of comprehending the six consciousnesses of Buddhism.

The demonic nature in the Great Vajra Manifestation Demon forced the cultivator to constantly gain enlightenment, leading to the comprehension of Buddhist skills.

To resist the Great Vajra Manifestation Demon, the cultivator had to cultivate the mind and comprehend Buddhist teachings, strengthening the mind.

This was profoundly mysterious. The monk Liao Fan once said that Buddhist techniques required spontaneous enlightenment and could not be traced.

With the Great Vajra Manifestation Demon, although cultivation was difficult, there was a path to follow, allowing the cultivator to gain enlightenment in Buddhist consciousness.

Understanding this, Zhu Ganglie couldn't help but admire the predecessor who created the Great Vajra Manifestation Demon. Most importantly, this predecessor confined the six emotions as demon souls within a powerful body, greatly limiting the demon soul's backlash, allowing the cultivator to calmly resolve the demon soul's power and gradually gain enlightenment in the six consciousnesses of Buddhism.