Chapter 151: Corner

The extraterrestrial void is boundlessly vast.

Even a magnificent realm like the Scarlet Firmament Heaven, when viewed from afar, had the pale blue light emitted by its realm membrane look no larger than a tiny speck of dust.

In the dark void, countless starlight twinkled, yet they seemed endlessly out of reach.

Deep within the void, perils lurked everywhere.

Winds of dead silence, turbulent void currents, reincarnation whirlpools, and high-tier heavenly demons were all entities capable of threatening Gold Core masters.

Coupled with the fact that cultivators could not replenish their vital energy within the void, their dharma power remained in a constant state of depletion, making it impossible for ordinary cultivators to cross the void.

Pang Yue's range of activity was kept within tens of thousands of miles from the realm membrane of the Scarlet Firmament Heaven.

Here, he gradually encountered some high-tier heavenly demons, forcing him to be extremely cautious.

For ordinary foundation-establishment and Gold Core heavenly demons, he directly used the Immeasurable Light Buddha to convert them and enhance the Buddha power of the Immeasurable Light.

If he encountered those of a slightly higher grade, such as Night Fiend who could rank in the top two hundred, he would let the Yellow Springs Heavenly Demon devour them.

Along the way, his harvests were substantial.

On this day.

The Great Dao Wilderness Pagoda stood tall upon a huge, mountain-like fragment of rock.

Viewed from afar, the wilderness pagoda looked like a fine ivory needle, so tiny it was completely inconspicuous.

The giant boulder was pale yellow throughout, with a faint glow, transparent both inside and out, floating and drifting silently in the void.

Inside the wilderness pagoda.

Pang Yue sat cross-legged on a jade bed, with a scroll before him that was as crystal-clear as glazed glass and as soft as silk.

The Book of Separation Sorrows!

He had long since found the materials for refining this treasure, but had always lacked a Separation Sorrow Heavenly Demon, leaving the work incomplete.

Meeting Jiang Li not long ago could be considered destiny's own arrangement.

The divine light of separation sorrow possessed terrifying might and infinite wondrous uses. If it could be wielded through the Book of Separation Sorrows, its power would increase by yet another notch!

Currently.

This scroll of the Book of Separation Sorrows was still only at the top-tier dharma artifact level, so Pang Yue, having nothing better to do, prepared to refine it into a true dharma treasure in one go.

A dazzling divine light, resembling spinning glazed glass, flickered in and out of view upon the Book of Separation Sorrows.

Within the divine light, countless runes flowed and flickered, emanating an aura of destruction and purity.

This light could decompose and disintegrate all things, reducing them to microscopic matter, nearly becoming invisible.

If its power could be raised to a profound level, it would likely be no less inferior to the Ice Soul Divine Light.

The Book of Separation Sorrows that Pang Yue had previously obtained in the heavenly demon illusion was as high as the fifth tier, and it was also the treasure with the greatest potential that Pang Yue had acquired so far, aside from the nine supreme spiritual treasures of his past life.

Suddenly.

His expression shifted slightly, and he put away the Book of Separation Sorrows.

"What does Ye Bing want with me..."

He muttered to himself, rising to walk out of the Great Dao Wilderness Pagoda.

Just moments ago, a fairy servant from the Ice Demon Palace had arrived at the Demon Devouring Palace, conveying Ye Bing's invitation to the demon vine avatar.

Pang Yue had no choice but to temporarily halt his cultivation and return to the sect.

He retrieved the Great Dao Wilderness Pagoda, his figure flickering as he transformed into an invisible sword light, instantly vanishing.

The sword light swept across the void, extraordinarily fast, covering a thousand miles in the blink of an eye.

In the void, large swaths of heavenly demons roamed, yet few could sense this sword light.

The journey was uneventful.

As he neared the extraterrestrial Dao field of the Demon Rune Sect, a massive behemoth suddenly drifted over from a remote area ahead, catching Pang Yue's attention.

"Let me go take a look!"

A thought stirred within him, and without any rush to return, he leisurely turned his sword light and flew toward the distance.

When he finally drew close to the behemoth, even with Pang Yue's composure, he could not help but gasp audibly.

A heavenly demon of peerless size lay horizontally within the void.

Its body resembled a mountain range, towering and majestic, stretching for tens of thousands of miles!

This heavenly demon had the head of a ram, a human body, and eight arms.

Its entire body was covered in pitch-black fur, and its head bore nine purplish-gold horns intertwined to form the shape of a crown, looking exceedingly bizarre.

This heavenly demon carried a dense aura of death as it lay horizontally in the void, drifting slowly.

Compared to its unimaginably massive body, its floating speed, though seemingly slow, exceeded a hundred miles per second!

Pang Yue employed his nameless pupil technique and was shocked to discover that the body of this heavenly demon was actually a hollow shell.

Countless heavenly demons used its body as a cave, dwelling within it like an independent demon kingdom.

It was truly a spectacle!

This unnamed heavenly demon had been dead for who knows how long, but in its lifetime, its demonic might must have been terrifying, likely reaching the Divine Soul level or even higher!

He had never expected to encounter such a demon not far from the Demon Rune Sect's extraterrestrial Dao field.

Judging by its speed of movement, it would likely disappear into the depths of the void in just a few days!

As Pang Yue watched from afar, he suddenly heard a cold voice ring out in his sea of consciousness.

"What are you standing around for in a daze? The purplish-gold horns of the heavenly demon Taihe are supreme precious materials, more than enough to refine a sixth-tier dharma treasure. Why aren't you harvesting them yet?"

Pang Yue was momentarily stunned, and then his expression turned ugly.

"Senior Yi, you can sense the outside world?"

The cold voice replied, "What is difficult about that?"

And to think I went to the trouble of setting up so many restrictions on the Mountains and Rivers Vessel...

Pang Yue's eye twitched involuntarily.

Thinking that all his actions over these past days had been under the "watch" of Yi Ling, a strange feeling of awkwardness washed over him.

Let us hope... this high-level Divine Soul expert does not have a voyeuristic streak.

Judging from the methods Yi Ling had displayed, she also seemed to follow the path of refining extraterrestrial heavenly demons, though she refined them into puppets.

That she could recognize the corpse of this heavenly demon before them did not surprise Pang Yue.

Pang Yue could not help asking, "Senior Yi, what realm was this heavenly demon in during its lifetime?"

Yi Ling replied indifferently, "At the very minimum, it was at the peak of Divine Soul, or perhaps Tianluo... But looking at it now, it seems its blood essence and demonic Qi were forcibly extracted by a supreme being, leaving behind nothing more than a hollow shell."

"The most valuable things on its body right now are those nine horns."

Pang Yue nodded and said, "If its blood essence and demonic Qi hadn't been extracted, I'm afraid just the might of its demonic corruption would have left me staring helplessly from afar without any way to approach."

Yi Ling asked with curiosity, "You've seen the remains of a high-tier heavenly demon before?"

Pang Yue gave a noncommittal response.

Back in the heavenly demon illusion, he had been led by Ancestor Wuhua to see the corpse of that Reincarnation Heavenly Demon.

Thinking back now, the realm of that heavenly demon was likely far superior to this Taihe before him!

Taihe was ten thousand miles long, and the purplish-gold horns on its head, intertwined like a crown, were also a thousand miles across!

A surging and mighty sound of water erupted from behind Pang Yue.

A dark yellow great river rushed forth.

In an instant.

The Yellow Springs Heavenly Demon flowed for a thousand miles through the void, winding and twisting among the demonic horns of the giant demon Taihe.

The great river wrapped around the nine horns like a mighty ribbon, and then pulled with ferocious force!

Crack!

A loud sound rang out.

The massive purplish-gold horns were forcibly ripped straight from Taihe's head!

Upon Taihe's head, countless heavenly demons emerged like billowing black fog.

Pang Yue quietly concealed his presence.

The Yellow Springs Heavenly Demon coiled around the horns and flew silently into the distance.

That swarm of heavenly demons hovered around the Yellow Springs Heavenly Demon, with more than thirty of them alone at the Gold Core level!

Blinding demonic light surged across the body of the Yellow Springs Heavenly Demon, and fierce demonic intent clashed silently with the auras emitted by these heavenly demons, creating endless ripples.

After lingering for a while, those heavenly demons dispersed with a roar, returning to the depths of Taihe's skull.

The Yellow Springs Heavenly Demon dragged the massive horns all the way while channeling treasure-refining secret arts, shrinking the horns smaller and smaller.

By the time it entered the extraterrestrial Dao field of the Demon Rune Sect, the mountain-sized horns had shrunk to a mere few dozen miles across.

Even so, it was impossible to retrieve them into a storage belt.

Left with no choice, Pang Yue summoned the Immeasurable Light Buddha, storing the horns within the Immeasurable Light Realm behind the golden Buddha.

Once the purplish-gold horns entered, the twelve halos of Buddha light behind the golden Buddha trembled violently, seemingly unable to bear the immense weight.

Upon returning to the extraterrestrial Dao field, Pang Yue naturally sensed the grand array of the Demon Devouring Palace.

With a slight hand incantation, his figure flickered and vanished.

...

Deep within the Ice Demon Palace.

Inside the luxurious hall.

Pang Yue and Ye Bing sat facing each other, leisurely sipping tea.

Inhaling the subtle, refreshing fragrance of snow plums drifting from across the table, he found it crisp, pleasant, and pleasing to the eye.

Ye Bing recounted the matters regarding the overseas primeval secret realm in detail.

Today, the beautiful matron was dressed in magnificent palace attire.

Long skirts with wide sleeves, cloud shoulders, floating scarves, broad belts, apron skirts, and other ceremonial accessories were all complete.

Her deep, glossy dark hair was styled into a high tassel bun, adorned with golden hair ornaments shaped like flying luan and soaring phoenixes.

On her fair, snowy forehead, a crystal-clear, ice-blue snowflake imprint emitted a soft glow.

She possessed a slender figure, a graceful serpent-like waist, a full bosom, and rounded hips, making her curves well-defined and her charm extraordinary.

Sitting diagonally with her legs pressed together, her gold-pressed phoenix shoes beneath her skirt encased slender jade feet whose exquisite shapes were as enticing as bare skin, inviting idle fantasies.

Only after Ye Bing finished speaking did Pang Yue realize that this palace master had already passed the first of the three Gold Core tribulations and was now on the verge of facing the second—the Tribulation of Fate!

"Judging by the Palace Master's deductions, this trip should be without danger. Could that Tribulation of Fate await us within that primeval secret realm?"

Pang Yue put down his jade cup and spoke in a deep voice.

Ye Bing extended her snowy, slender hands to personally pour a cup of freshly brewed tea for Pang Yue, saying, "The Tribulation of Fate is unpredictable and hard to guard against. Whether it stems from the cultivators of Profound Mystery Island and the Taiqing Sect, I do not know either."

"Even if I were to bring several more experts along, a tribulation destined by fate ultimately cannot be avoided."

"I chose to invite only you. You need only back me up and keep an eye on the sword cultivators of the Taiqing Sect. Throughout my life traversing the world, aside from the sect masters and leaders of the major sects, there is no Gold Core cultivator I fear."

That delicate hand of hers was as white as a lotus, with slender, jade-carved wrists that possessed a faint translucency. Yet near the elbow, they were plump and rich, revealing a powdery, uniform blush beneath the full, snowy skin.

Set off against her wide, luxurious sleeves, it was exceptionally eye-catching.

"Pang will certainly not fail the Palace Master's trust."

Pang Yue smiled faintly.

Though he had only recently entered the Gold Core realm, he had not only consolidated his cultivation within the Demon Devouring Palace but had even made further progress, coming very close to the perfection of the first revolution of the Gold Core.

As for the vigor of his dharma power, it was likely comparable to someone at the third or fourth revolution of the Gold Core!

Coupled with the Primal Yang Axe, a fourth-tier dharma treasure, he had no fear of a battle even against late-stage Gold Core experts.

Ye Bing cast a lingering, brilliant gaze at him and said, "If I pass this Tribulation of Fate, I will certainly do everything in my power to push you to become the master of the Demon Rune Sect in the future."

Since ancient times, the title of Demon Rune Sect Master was no empty name; its greatest power was wielding the sect's supreme treasure, the Chaotic Demon Rune.

With this eighth-tier dharma treasure in hand, one need fear no enemy under heaven!

It provided more than enough certainty to face the heavenly tribulations among the three Gold Core tribulations!

Becoming the master of the Demon Rune Sect was a crucial step toward assaulting the Divine Soul realm.

It was only after witnessing Pang Yue's supreme-grade Gold Core that Ye Bing dared harbor even loftier expectations of him.

For the current Pang Yue possessed both the potential and the qualifications to assault that ultimate goal.

The two conversed for half a day before quietly leaving Zhuoguang Mountain and heading toward the primeval secret realm.