Harvest

A sharp hiss broke the silence as the keen edge of a sword sliced through the fleshy cocoon, and out tumbled a slender, alabaster form. Ran Yunxin was utterly unclothed, lost in unconsciousness, motionless as a statue. It seemed she had shielded herself with a secret art, for her vital essence and spiritual power were preserved even better than Pang Yue’s. Yet, her spirit had suffered under the influence of the Samsara Demons, making it impossible for her to awaken quickly.

Pang Yue drew out a long robe and wrapped it around the graceful, alluring figure, then gathered her into his arms. With a single slash of his sword, he cleaved open the demon’s fleshy wall and darted away, carrying her with him.

At once, the swarm of Samsara Demons sensed the disturbance and halted, sending forth streams of strange divine consciousness, all converging upon Pang Yue.

He snorted coldly, merging body and sword into one. He transformed into a wraithlike streak of formless sword light, flashing through the void like lightning. The forceful, savage intent fused with the blade’s brilliance, piercing through demon after demon faster than a thunderbolt, leaving a rain of mangled corpses in the air.

After centuries within the demonic illusion, Pang Yue’s spirit had undergone some mysterious transformation; now, he was immune to the Samsara Demons’ influence and cut them down with terrifying speed.

In no time, the void was littered with the remains of the fallen demons. Stripped of their bizarre reincarnation arts, the Samsara Demons were hardly remarkable in terms of attack or defense.

Gathering more than thirty demon relics, Pang Yue drew a deep breath, took out the Talisman of the Demon-Devouring Hall, and prepared to depart—when a clear, melodic voice rang out.

“Junior brother, please wait.”

Pang Yue turned and saw a beautiful woman approaching, radiant with noble grace and clad in resplendent robes, riding upon a divine dragon wreathed in flame. Pang Yue’s spiritual sense swept over her and, hearing her words, he paused. The woman was unmistakably at the peak of the Dao Foundation stage.

Appearing here in the Demon-Devouring Hall and wielding fire magic, she was almost certainly a true disciple of the Flame Demon Hall.

“How may I assist you, senior sister?” he asked.

Her bright eyes sparkled as she looked him up and down, a smile blossoming on her lips. “Such skill, junior brother. I have hunted these Samsara Demons for days, yet you slew them all in a single stroke.”

She was protected by a precious violet-gold leaf, a gift from a powerful Jindan master, and thus feared no ordinary Samsara Demon, which had allowed her to pursue them this far.

“If you leave now, these demons will revive within a few years and menace the outer realms once more,” she advised, gesturing with her hand. Eight flaming dragons surged forth, reducing the demon corpses to ash.

Then she produced a bottle of pills and tossed it to Pang Yue. “These are Spirit-Cleansing Pills. They may help your companion awaken quickly.”

“Thank you, senior sister,” Pang Yue nodded.

She smiled again and said, “My name is Luo Qingya. Judging by your aura, you must also hail from the Flame Demon Hall. Should you find the time, you are welcome as a guest on my Purple Bamboo Island.”

Luo Qingya’s overt friendliness left Pang Yue somewhat perplexed. Having only just emerged from the demonic illusion, his mind was unsettled, and he gave it little thought.

In truth, within the Demon Talisman Sect’s five great halls, every true disciple cultivated a circle of inner disciples much like the relationship between Ning Daozhen and Zhuang Buxiu. Each true disciple had their own faction and influence; Luo Qingya had clearly taken note of Pang Yue’s strength and sought to draw him into her circle.

“I will certainly trouble you for your hospitality another day, senior sister. For now, I am feeling rather unwell and must take my leave.”

With that, Pang Yue excused himself. Without waiting for Luo Qingya’s reply, he activated the talisman, departing the outer realms with Ran Yunxin.

Luo Qingya chuckled softly, her eyes glimmering with thoughtfulness as she watched the direction in which Pang Yue vanished.

…

Bright Lake Island, within a secluded manor.

In the stillness of a secret chamber, Pang Yue sat cross-legged upon a jade bed, calming his mind and examining himself.

His cultivation, spiritual power, magical artifacts, and elixirs—all were vastly diminished compared to what he had possessed in the demonic illusion. Yet for all that, he had returned to true reality.

He pondered the subtle differences between the illusion and this world. According to Patriarch Wuhua, the world he had visited in the Puppet Realm truly existed, too! The Samsara Demons lacked the power to create such a world; they had merely used their reincarnation arts to send his spirit to another time and space.

Now that he reflected upon it, Pang Yue could sense the distinction: his spirit was far more attuned to this body than to that other self. In the Puppet Realm, there had always been a faint barrier between soul and flesh—a difference so subtle it could not be detected without prior knowledge.

With lingering fear, Pang Yue began to tally the gains and losses from his expedition to the Demon-Devouring Hall.

The loss was clear: he had nearly perished in the outer void, his soul exiled to the demonic illusion, doomed never to escape.

But he had gained far more.

First, he retained all the memories from the demonic illusion. Whether during his reign over the Abyssal Region or in the campaigns across the heavens, he had collected a vast trove of cultivation techniques. Most were of the Jindan level—priceless beyond measure in the Eastern Sea cultivation world.

The “Ghostly White Bone Canon,” “Profound Yin Water Command,” “Blood Demon Scripture,” “Sixfold Heaven and Earth Demon Sword Scripture,” “Divine Thunder Art of Shenxiao,” “Mahā Subjugation Art,” “Radiance of Parting Grief,” “Primordial Demon Codex,” “Supreme Purity Treasure Record”—in all, ninety-three Jindan-level inheritances were now inscribed within his spirit.

He had also acquired a single Nascent Soul-level inheritance: Patriarch Wuhua’s “Ninefold Divine Puppet.” This was the ultimate art of puppetry. When his spirit had transcended, a spark of enlightenment had completed the technique, making it a full-fledged Nascent Soul Dao.

The sect’s foundational technique, “Arcane Codex of Primal Chaos Demon Talismans,” was likewise a Nascent Soul Dao. In terms of esoteric arts, Pang Yue’s current reserves were in no way inferior to those of the Demon Talisman Sect itself. Any one of the Jindan inheritances he possessed could support an entire cultivation clan. The “Ninefold Divine Puppet” could even give rise to a sect as mighty as the Demon Talisman Sect. This was his first and greatest harvest.

The second gain was the more than a thousand demon relics he had acquired from slaying demons in the outer void. These could be exchanged for merit or used to refine his own spiritual power.

His third gain was the immeasurable Radiant Buddha Puppet, which he had deduced in the illusion using the innate Wuji Tablet, the Ninefold Divine Puppet, and the Universal Salvation Art. He had managed to refine this puppet to the Nascent Soul level. Such a feat would be nearly impossible to replicate in the Eastern Sea world; only in that unique environment of absent Nascent Souls and peerless puppetry could he have realized its full potential.

The fourth gain was the methods to forge a series of magical artifacts, including the Book of Parting Grief and the White Bone Relic. These treasures had accompanied him for years, and he was intimately familiar with their inner workings. With the Wuji Tablet in hand, Pang Yue was confident he could recreate the Book of Parting Grief anew.

The fifth gain lay in the realm of spirit. Within the demonic illusion, he had advanced in a single bound from the Dao Foundation to the peak of Jindan. His comprehension of the Dao and the heavens far surpassed that of ordinary Dao Foundation cultivators. In other words, his spirit had achieved the Jindan level.

This brought three benefits: First, his spiritual sense was greatly enhanced, far exceeding his peers. Second, his insight and ability to comprehend new arts had improved, so that he could master techniques with half the effort. Third, his perception of the Dao now soared above others, granting him the power to transform the ordinary into the miraculous, whether in swordplay or spellcraft.

The very same sword techniques and spells he had wielded upon first entering the Demon-Devouring Hall were now ten times as formidable.