Demon Cage

That day, the sky was clear and bright.

A few newly-bloomed lotuses on Bright Lake swayed gently in the morning breeze. The vast, tranquil waters shimmered with delicate ripples, and when touched by the rising sun, mirrored golden scales upon the surface, reflecting the azure sky and drifting clouds. The light played serenely, painting a scene of exquisite beauty.

Pang Yue sat cross-legged upon a lotus leaf. Around him, countless runes of ice and thunder emerged from the void, slowly taking shape. For the past eighteen years, he had never once set aside the cultivation of his Ice Soul Thunder Seal.

Now, he had reached the nineteenth level of this divine art, on the verge of stepping into the twentieth. To cultivate this twentieth layer alone required no fewer than a million runes! Only thanks to his current spiritual strength and soul power, coupled with the profound insights derived from the Primal Infinity Tablet, was he barely able to wield the might of this technique.

If he wished to progress further, he would have to wait until he advanced to the late Dao Foundation stage. As for the true extent of this divine art’s power at present, even he could not estimate it.

The gentle light of dawn washed over his face, filling his heart with peace and tranquility.

Unfettered by the material world, undeluded in heart.
Neither clinging to the past nor fearing the future.
With unwavering focus and pure intent, he held steadfast to the center.
Eighteen years of arduous cultivation in the Celestial Frozen Domain had finally allowed him to fully assimilate centuries of experience from the Demonic Illusion Realm!

Indeed, as the saying goes: The path is long and arduous, yet each step brings one closer; persevere without ceasing, and the future holds promise.

A streak of firelight flashed across the horizon, pausing above Bright Lake before descending from the sky, halting before Pang Yue.

These past days, Luo Qingyuan had busied herself everywhere, leveraging her family connections. At last, she had met with the elder of the Wind Demon Hall and, bearing a handwritten letter from the Chief of the Hall of Justice, succeeded in borrowing the Celestial Demon Cage.

She saw Pang Yue’s air of leisure—enjoying the breeze and sunlight, perfectly at ease—and could not help but chide, "You certainly seem in good spirits, appreciating the scenery here so contentedly."

Yet, even as she spoke, she broke into a soft, delighted laugh, and from her storage pouch, she produced an object, saying with a smile, "Guess what this is?"

In her delicate, fair palm appeared a small, exquisite bamboo cage, three inches square, lustrous green with a simple, elegant design. Inside, a wisp of black smoke flowed and curled.

"So this is the Celestial Demon Cage?" Pang Yue looked at the bamboo cage with curiosity.

Luo Qingyuan’s smile bloomed like a flower as she waited for praise. "How do you plan to thank me for this, Brother Pang?"

Before her words had faded, a pair of strong hands encircled her supple waist.

Her slender, graceful legs straddled Pang Yue’s lap, revealing the elegant curves of her waist and hips.

Pang Yue gazed at her tender, inviting lips and leaned down to meet them.

"Mmm..." Luo Qingyuan feigned annoyance, raising her fist and lightly tapping his shoulder.

...

Within the Celestial Demon Cage lay a realm of utter darkness.

Tens of thousands of celestial demons roamed and battled here, their demonic intent permeating every inch of space.

Two figures materialized amidst the darkness.

A bridge of white bone stretched out, and the pair stood upon it, surveying their surroundings.

"Elder Liu ventures beyond the domain every decade to capture a new batch of celestial demons for this place," Luo Qingyuan explained. "Within, the demons constantly fight, devouring and evolving one another, which sometimes gives rise to variants with special abilities."

"Now, all thirty thousand demons here are yours."

Her eyes sparkled, her beauty further enhanced by Pang Yue’s recent affection.

Feeling out with his spiritual sense, Pang Yue drove the bridge of white bone through the void, arriving before a cluster of celestial demons.

These demons resembled grotesque fish, swimming through the air, exuding layers of violet mist interwoven with strange lightning. Spotting the two, they surged forward en masse.

With a low shout, Pang Yue summoned a golden Buddha, three fathoms tall, which appeared out of thin air before him.

Its body shone like crystal, bathed in pure, radiant light. At once, waves of sacred chanting rose from the void.

Refuge... Refuge... Refuge... Refuge...

Swept by the Buddha’s light, the celestial demons’ demonic energy was instantly transformed into spiritual force, their bodies irresistibly drawn into the light behind the golden Buddha.

Pang Yue and Luo Qingyuan stood motionless, quietly watching as the Buddha of Infinite Light shone forth, redeeming hundreds of Dao Foundation-level demons.

In moments, a dazzling halo of light formed behind the Buddha, its presence rising swiftly, breaking through to the mid-stage Dao Foundation realm.

Luo Qingyuan’s eyes widened in awe as she gasped, "What sort of divine art is this... It’s terrifying!"

Pang Yue replied calmly, "Celestial demons possess single-minded, chaotic souls—most vulnerable to Buddhist arts, and easily converted. Were these human cultivators of equal rank, such ease would be impossible."

"The profundity of the Buddhist path is truly unfathomable," she murmured.

Pang Yue urged the Bridge of Transcendence on, heading towards another group of demons.

He had encountered these before in the outer void—the most numerous of all, the Wolf-Centipede Demons.

Now, led by a dozen consummate Dao Foundation Wolf-Centipedes, hundreds more gathered in a writhing sphere, spewing endless demonic mist as they tumbled through the void.

Pang Yue stood at the bridge’s end, his mind commanding the Buddha of Infinite Light. Forming a Buddhist seal, he struck towards the wriggling sphere with his palm.

A golden imprint, bearing irresistible might, crashed down upon the surging demon mist.

Boom!

The Wolf-Centipedes scattered, a hundred legs writhing as they slithered menacingly towards the Buddha.

The golden Buddha sat steadfast, forming seals with its hands as profound chanting echoed like thunder through the void.

From its center, light rippled outward in waves, spreading into a pure land.

Any Wolf-Centipede entering the Buddha’s light had their demonic energy swiftly refined into pure spiritual force, each one absorbed into the halo behind the Buddha.

This art of universal redemption, developed by Pang Yue in the Demonic Illusion Realm with the aid of the Primal Infinity Tablet, was not as devastating as in his previous life’s legends, but was still extraordinary.

With each demon converted, the power and speed of the Buddha’s redemption grew ever stronger.

Pang Yue only intervened to dispatch a few that neared the Buddha itself; the rest were all converted by the Infinite Light.

Having dealt with this group, the Buddha’s radiance swelled, towering like a mountain as its power surged through another barrier, reaching the late Dao Foundation stage.

If one were to crudely gauge the combat strength of the Dao Foundation realm:

An ordinary early-stage Wolf-Centipede Demon could be considered ‘one’.

Elder Xu, once an outer sect elder of the Demon Sigil Sect, would be around ‘five’.

An inner disciple like Ning Daoyu, between one hundred and one hundred fifty.

Core disciples like Hong Ren and Luo Qingyuan, up to a thousand.

As for the likes of Xu Wentian or He Miao, the elite among core disciples, their strength could scarcely be measured by numbers.

While cultivation stage contributed to this disparity, the quality of techniques and divine arts mattered even more; the difference between water and molten steel is as vast as heaven and earth, especially if that molten steel is hurled at supersonic speed...

The Infinite Light Buddha, derived from the ‘Nine God Puppet’ scripture, though a construct, was in no way inferior to the inner disciples of a major sect. With the added power of the Redeeming Art, it was comparable to a core disciple.

Within the Celestial Demon Cage, the Buddha of Infinite Light traversed the void, leaving lotus flowers in its wake, redeeming group after group of demons until its power condensed into the purest, most vast spiritual force, reaching the peak of the Dao Foundation stage.

It even emanated a sense of perfect, unobstructed intent; with further refinement, it might well break through to the Golden Core realm.