For what felt like a full week in the mortal world, Zhi Xuan remained inside the Head Weaver's well-maintained hut, taking no risk in immediately venturing out to meet greater danger.

  He sat cross-legged in the middle of the cold earthen floor, with Xiao Die resting on his shoulder, its pure Essence slowly filtering the lingering cold and corrosive air that remained inside the hut.

  Outside, the deadly silence of the village felt like a wet shroud, and Zhi Xuan knew that the spatial anomaly that trapped him was far from resolved.

  For seven full days, Zhi Xuan did not close his eyes. He divided the focus of his Sea of Consciousness into two highly contrasting parts: one part centered on the spinning Devil Seed, restraining it with a thin layer of Black Jade Essence, and the other part dedicated to exploration and purification.

  His first days were spent restabilizing his drained Essence. Every time he channeled Essence, he felt the Devil Seed pulse, sending whispers that urged him to use power with wild and uncontrolled intent.

  He had to fight against the temptation to overuse his Soul Fire, fearing that uncontrolled ambition would feed the Devil Seed.

  He laid out the Ancient Nirvana Puppet Technique scroll he had found. The ancient animal hide scroll radiated a rigid, dark aura of will. Cautiously, Zhi Xuan channeled his Divine Sense into the scroll.

  Instantly, his Sea of Consciousness was flooded with terrifying images—intricate diagrams on how to weave threads of will from a dead soul, how to condense mortal flesh and bone into an immortal shell, and how to store one absolute desire in the puppet's core. It was an art that transcended death; it was the art of capturing destiny.

  'This scroll is a trigger, Monkey. It promises absolute power over the lives of others. Think about it, an invincible army of Nirvana Puppets! Take it!' Ruo Xianxue whispered temptingly at the bottom of the Sea of Consciousness.

  Zhi Xuan clenched his jaw. He could feel the Devil Seed spinning faster. He spent three full days trying to decipher the Dao runes on the scroll, but he quickly hit a wall.

  "This technique is too complex, Red Stone," Zhi Xuan muttered to Ruo Xianxue. "Even though I understand the theory, it requires a cultivation foundation in a higher realm or at least when the core and materials needed to create the puppet are attained."

  Zhi Xuan snorted, deciding to distance himself from the temptation. He stored the Ancient Nirvana Puppet Scroll deep inside his Storage Pouch, closing the door on untimely ambition. He knew, when facing an internal threat, the best way to survive was to focus on purity and stability.

  After calming the Devil Seed and ignoring the forbidden scroll, Zhi Xuan turned to practical tasks. He could not rely on his Divine Sense to explore the forest due to the spatial distortion, but he could rely on his artifacts.

  He launched the purified Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron out of the hut. The Cauldron, now only the size of a jade-gold sphere, acted as an extension of Zhi Xuan's will.

  He controlled it to fly low, traversing the village filled with the corpses of withered puppets. The Cauldron acted as an Essence scanner. Having refined the thick Essence of Death, the Cauldron could now differentiate between corrupted Essence and Pure Essence. Zhi Xuan used it to comb through every corner of the village.

  Zhi Xuan's goal was simple: to search for mortal spiritual herbs or other materials, uncorrupted by the Foul Spiritual Blood, that were needed for the Blood Bone Pill and basic cultivation.

  The Cauldron flew across the now collapsing mud huts. Zhi Xuan found White Jade Powder—a pure mineral needed for the Blood Bone Pill—hidden inside a clay container in the old woman's hut. The Head Weaver might have used it for rituals or cosmetics, but the Jade remained pure.

  Near the area where the Head Weaver sharpened his axe, the Cauldron detected a low-level Storage Pouch hidden under a pile of moss. Its contents were mostly low-level Spiritual Stones, a larger mortal haul than before, a few pieces of mortal silk, and a small bottle of thick Beast Heart Oil.

  This Oil, which was one of the Blood Bone Pill ingredients, smelled rotten, but the Cauldron confirmed that its core was still pure—only the surface was corrupted.

  During his days here, he also tried to search for runes or a center that might be a formation, or anything that could get him out of this terrifying place.

  On the seventh day, Zhi Xuan had gathered all the necessary ingredients for the Blood Bone Pill, except one: Sun Falling Leaf, which should thrive under direct sunlight, not under an eternal mist.

  "I must get out of here quickly. The pill cannot be made with incomplete ingredients." Zhi Xuan pondered for a moment, then rose to make a decision. He decided to take the risk and force his way out.

  "Xiao Die, get into my robe pocket."

  Zhi Xuan's steps were calm and measured, but within them was a cold determination—a cultivator tired of distorted space. Xiao Die let out a brief rainbow hum, obediently entering the pocket of his red silk robe.

  Zhi Xuan opened the hut door. The faint moonlight filtered by the eternal mist filled his eyes. He realized something: outside, the puppet corpses that had been lying down had completely decayed. They had become a layer of ash and dry bark, and the foul smell of spiritual blood was gone, replaced by the cold, deadly smell of earth.

  "The mist was not just restraining, but also decaying time outside the norm," Zhi Xuan muttered. Seven days inside the hut felt like months for the village landscape.

  Zhi Xuan waved his hand, and the ancient stone cauldron that originally belonged to the Head Weaver now floated out of his storage pouch. The cauldron was large and felt heavy, but it also had a use he had not yet fully investigated.

  "Be useful, or I will not take you out of here." Zhi Xuan scratched his finger, dripping his blood onto the cauldron. Immediately, the cauldron whizzed and vibrated. It hovered with heavy pressure pressing down on the ground.

  Zhi Xuan, without hesitation, walked with the hovering Cauldron onto the street of the Mist Chaser Village, tilting his head up. Then, with a strong stance, Zhi Xuan threw the Cauldron, or rather, not. He treated himself like a catapult, and the cauldron was the stone.

  "Up!" Zhi Xuan roared, his muscles tensing as he lifted the cauldron high. With tremendous momentum, he hurled the cauldron up into the sky, right through the mist covering the moon.

  WHUUMM!

  The ancient Stone Cauldron, which had absorbed the Essence of Death for years, shot upwards with terrifying speed, driven by Zhi Xuan's pure physical strength supported by a controlled amount of Black Jade Essence. The Cauldron spun, becoming a deadly heavy projectile, targeting the sky of Mist Chaser Village—not the moon, but the spatial network holding them.

  BAM! CLANG!

  The Cauldron hit something. Not the mist, not the moon, but the invisible layer enveloping the entire village. The sound of the clang did not sound like stone colliding with vapor, but like the cracking of an invisible giant glass.

  Zhi Xuan gritted his teeth, he looked up and held the spinning cauldron hitting the layer. He centralized his consciousness, and immediately the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron shot out with a loud whiz.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  The Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron shot out with the speed of thunder, radiating a serene jade-gold light—a sharp contrast to the ancient Essence of Death stored in the Stone Cauldron. Zhi Xuan, now acting as the driver, pushed the two artifacts with the combined strength of his will.

  "Divine Cauldron! Help It!" Zhi Xuan roared.

  The jade-gold bead hit the spinning Stone Cauldron in the air. The collision was not a physical impact, but an injection of Supreme Purity into a vessel loaded with the Power of Death.

  WHIIIRL!

  The ancient Stone Cauldron, which had only been a dead projectile, suddenly came alive. The thick Essence of Death inside it reacted explosively to the Divine Cauldron's Purity. Pure and foul energy collided, creating a vortex of destabilization far more powerful than Zhi Xuan's own Essence could generate.

  The invisible layer enveloping the Mist Chaser Village—the spatial network woven by the Head Weaver—could not withstand the shock of this highly contradictory energy.

  CRACK! CRACK!

  The sound of cracking echoed from the sky, not just the cracking of glass, but like a layer of very thick jade stone being crushed by a giant hammer. Silver waves swept across the mist and echoed with the surroundings.

  Zhi Xuan continued to hold the two cauldrons, his eyes sparkling with dark purple flame. With one last punch, he roared and forced the two cauldrons to push each other.

  "OPEN FOR ME!!"

  The silver waves sweeping the sky touched the ground around Zhi Xuan, creating ripples that felt like a mild earthquake. The invisible layer above their heads now cracked and shattered like an eggshell.

  Mist Chaser Village let out its last foul breath. The phenomenon that followed was a pure fading. The entire hut, the hands protruding from the ground, and the wet soil excavations trembled and began to fade.

  They did not disappear, but folded into space. The ancient trees around the village spun, and Zhi Xuan felt a nauseating dizziness. In the midst of this chaos, the contradictory energy vortex created by the two cauldrons reached its peak.

  BOOM!

  The ancient Stone Cauldron, having fulfilled its duty along with the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron, pierced out of the village sky and shot away like a fired catapult. A spatial rift tens of meters long opened in the cracked sky—a black hole that spat out pure silver light.

  Inside the rift, Zhi Xuan could see the scene that should be: the thick canopy of the Xingluo Plain Ancient Forest, enveloped in the gentle light of the morning sun. Familiar thick, cool leaves adorned his view.

  Zhi Xuan, seeing the rift, immediately pulled out his devil blood sword from his fingers. Red blood thread immediately shot out and stretched upwards, chasing the Ancient Stone Cauldron, ensnaring it. Zhi Xuan staggered upwards as the snaring pulled him up.

  The deep red blood thread, woven when he reached First Ember and strengthened, now infused by the more ferocious Devil Seed, shot out from Zhi Xuan's fingertip. The thread was not ordinary Spiritual Silk; it radiated a sharp metallic odor and a dominating will.

  The thread ensnared the shooting Ancient Stone Cauldron, which was now spinning wildly at the brink of the spatial rift, emitting passive Essence of Death. Zhi Xuan utilized the momentum, allowing the devil blood thread to pull his body upwards with brutal force. The movement was rough, not elegant, but it was the only way to escape the impending spatial collapse.

  Below him, Mist Chaser Village trembled violently. The fading mud huts now began to completely disappear, as if the village had never existed. Zhi Xuan felt the space gravity below him reverse, trying to pull him back into the new void.

  WHUUUMM!

  The Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron shot down from the cracked sky, returning to Zhi Xuan's hand. The sacred artifact, although weary, had completed its task. Zhi Xuan did not store it; he used the Cauldron as an anchor, allowing it to pull the blood-thread-bound ancient Stone Cauldron.

  "I did not come here to hunt, but I will leave this village with full hands!" Zhi Xuan roared, his voice filled with cold determination.

  With a final tug of the blood thread, Zhi Xuan shot through the open spatial rift. His vision spun momentarily from darkness to pure silver light, before finally landing on the familiar dark green color of the forest canopy.

  BAM!

  Zhi Xuan landed heavily on a thick branch of an Ancient Pine, the same branch he saw as a marker several miles away from where he should be. The ancient Stone Cauldron, still ensnared by the devil blood thread, slammed into the branch next to him with a deafening rumble.

  He felt severe dizziness and nausea. His muscles screamed with fatigue from forcing his way out of the spatial trap. He had not slept for seven days inside the village.

  Zhi Xuan released the ancient Stone Cauldron from the blood thread, and he immediately retracted his devil sword, the blood thread absorbing back into his skin. He staggered, trying to regain his balance. He inhaled the air which now felt clean and pure—forest air laden with natural Spiritual Essence.

  This air felt so refreshing, a sharp contrast to the smell of death and foul iron from the Mist Chaser Village. He looked up at the sky. The thick forest canopy was now visible above him, enveloped by the light of the morning Sun.

  The ancient Stone Cauldron he used as a projectile was now cracked. The cauldron had lost the terrifying aura of the Head Weaver; it had only become an old, large stone vulnerable to spiritual corrosion. Zhi Xuan stored it in his Storage Pouch. The cauldron would serve as a marker that he had crossed a boundary of madness that could only be overcome with cheating. He allowed the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron to hover calmly on his shoulder.

  Zhi Xuan jumped down from the tree branch, landing softly on the ground. He immediately sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, forming a cultivation mudra to absorb the natural jade essence around him.

  "Xiao Die... Help me..."

  The Verdant Titan moth flew out of the silk robe pocket, shining with a warm rainbow jade light. It flapped its wings slowly over Zhi Xuan's head, releasing a gentle wave of Pure Essence, soothing his tense meridians and muscles.

  Zhi Xuan took a deep breath. Inside his Sea of Consciousness, he focused on the Devil Seed which was now spinning more fiercely than before, reacting to the sudden use of Devil Blood. The seed whined, demanding more domination and violence.

  "Silence! Or I will uproot you from here at any cost."

  Zhi Xuan delivered the threat coldly, his voice hoarse with exhaustion, but containing the authority of a cultivator struggling to control his own destiny. The words, although just an empty threat—since uprooting the Devil Seed could destroy his Sea of Consciousness—were enough to silence the whining of the Devil Seed craving domination.

  "Huh, I feel like I'm scolding myself." Zhi Xuan chuckled softly, a bitter and accepting laugh. Knowing that the devil seed was him, the him that would tear the original soul if not controlled.

  Zhi Xuan let out a long sigh, his bitter chuckle fading. He knew the threat he hurled at the Devil Seed in his Sea of Consciousness was just an empty boast. The seed had taken root; it was an inseparable part of him, the result of the karma of his actions. Now, he had to walk a thin rope: using the Devil's power for Heaven cultivation, but keeping his Dao Heart pure.

  He immediately discarded the complicated internal thoughts. His main priority was recovering from the spiritual and physical exhaustion accumulated over seven sleepless days.

  The Black Jade Essence from the forest environment, filtered and released by Xiao Die above him, flowed into his meridians like a cold, pure waterfall. His blood circulation, which had been slow and tense, now beat with a calm rhythm.

  Half an hour passed in total silence. When Zhi Xuan opened his eyes, his sapphire eyes radiated recovered sharpness. He had controlled the Devil Seed into passivity, but he knew he could not linger in a passive state; he had to consume the Blood Bone Pill for his main purpose, to soothe the remaining Taiyin essence.

  Zhi Xuan rose, standing tall although still slightly weak. He smiled faintly as he gently touched the moth's head, then with a straight gaze forward, towards the north. He had to reach Green Cloud City to get the Sun Falling Leaf.

  Zhi Xuan stepped forward. The Xingluo Plain Ancient Forest now felt different. After passing through the Mist Chaser Village, every shadow and every leaf felt more real, as if his senses had been thoroughly washed by a mixture of death and purity.

  On his shoulder, Xiao Die let out a cheerful hum, enjoying the fresh air full of Jade Essence. Zhi Xuan's serenity returned; he had conquered the Mist Chaser Village and, for now, controlled the Devil Seed.

  He walked with controlled speed, unhurried, but also not wasting time. His goal was clear: Green Cloud City, the nearest large city where he hoped to find the Sun Falling Leaf and, more importantly, obtain detailed information about the places in the Xingluo Plain. As he moved, his calm eyes scanned his surroundings, but his mind was busy with calculations.

  "Red Stone," Zhi Xuan murmured in his Sea of Consciousness, calling Ruo Xianxue who seemed annoyed.

  'What? You just whipped me with your Dao, Monkey. I feel insulted,' Ruo Xianxue countered with a sharp, hoarse tone.

  "You are offended like a girl," Zhi Xuan scoffed, a small smile playing on his dry lips. He continued his journey, his feet lightly stepping on the mossy forest floor. "I was thinking, what if I were to look for a sect one day? Instead of wandering and almost dying repeatedly."

  'A sect?' Ruo Xianxue's laugh, dry and piercing, echoed in the Sea of Consciousness, bouncing off the Ancient Devil Monument. The laugh sounded like dust of millions of years blown by the wind. 'Those mortal sects? Monkey, you carry a Sacred Devil seed, possess a decayed Ancient Heaven bloodline, and you want to join a sect that worships jade lanterns and drinks spiritual tea?'

  Ruo Xianxue snorted in disgust. 'Sects are cages, and a cage is never suitable for a Dragon. They will suspect you; they will want the secrets of your Season Dao and your Divine Cauldron. And as soon as they smell the Devil Blood aura I just implanted in you, they will not welcome you as a disciple; they will welcome you as a living ingredient.'