At the entrance of Canglao Village, the Village Chief, Mr. Ma, the Deaf, and the Blind watched in astonishment as the neighboring village held this grand ceremony. Their hearts couldn't help but surge with excitement. Who could have imagined that the notorious Demon Sect, the largest sect in the demonic path, would welcome their future Sect Master in this remote and impoverished village? A young Sect Master who had not yet reached the age of twelve?
They bore witness to this event, feeling as if they were witnessing a legendary tale. Even the bright sunlight seemed to take on a surreal quality.
Granny Si suddenly burst into tears, choked with emotion. "He will leave us..."
"This is a good thing, Granny."
The Medicine Master gently smiled. "Young birds will eventually grow up. They have to fly out and experience the broader world, confront storms and leave their homes to witness the dangers of the outside world. We can't keep him by our side as disabled elders for his entire life."
The Blind remained calm and serene. "A legend begins from the moment he takes his first step out of the village."
The Dumb wore a smile on his face and gestured a few times. The Deaf laughed and said, "You're right. Mu'er's future will certainly be more colorful and fulfilling than ours."
Along the Yong River, on the riverbank.
Magnificent and luxurious ships arrived, docking by the riverbank. Many villagers of Tianmo gradually left the village. Some flew directly into the air, while others boarded the ships. Some transformed into strange beasts and disappeared into the mountains, while others turned into flames and vanished. There were also those who slipped away in the water.
Each of them possessed unique abilities, dazzling Qin Mu's eyes. Although he had surpassed them in the realm of Ling Fetus, he did not possess their peculiar methods.
"Farewell, Young Sect Master!" a woman waved at him and then fell backward into the river, transforming into a splash of water flowing downstream.
Qin Mu waved back at them. He didn't know if they were good or bad people, but he knew that he had become their Young Sect Master. When he walked out of the Great Ruins, would he meet them again?
"For forty years, my Holy Sect has infiltrated the Great Ruins in search of the whereabouts of the Sect Master's wife. Today, we have finally achieved our goal. Brother Daoist, Lady Sect Master, you should know that for forty years, our Holy Sect has been stagnant, lacking the presence of the Sect Master to stabilize the situation. Without a backbone, our Holy Sect is now on the brink of collapse."
The Young Grandmaster also stood up to bid farewell and said to the Village Chief and Granny Si, "Choosing a Young Sect Master for now is only a temporary measure to stabilize people's hearts, but it won't last long. The Country Master Yan Kang has been coveting our Holy Sect, wanting to subdue us and make us serve him. While I'm alive, I can delay him for a few more years. Therefore, after the Young Sect Master comes of age, he must leave the Great Ruins and officially become the Sect Master of our Holy Sect."
The Village Chief looked at Granny Si, and she nodded, saying, "Grandmaster, rest assured. I killed one Sect Master of the Holy Sect, and I will certainly provide you with another. When he reaches adulthood, he will go to the Holy Sect and take full control, just as you wish!"
The Young Grandmaster called the Elder Enforcer, performed a salute to everyone, and turned to walk towards the Yong River. The old and the young, dressed in plain clothes and straw shoes, walking with a cane, drifted away.
The Blind held his bamboo staff with both hands and sang loudly, his melodious voice echoing back and forth along the banks of the Yong River.
"A straw hat, a bamboo cape, a flat-bottomed boat, a fishing line and a tiny hook; a song sung loud, a cup of wine, a person fishing alone in the autumn river! Grandmaster of the Demon Sect, we are already old. I don't know if we'll have another chance to meet. Farewell!"
In the middle of the river, the Young Grandmaster paused, turned around, and waved to everyone. "Goodbye, everyone! Haha!"
He sang loudly, "Eight hundred old men retire with worries, content with their fulfilled ambitions in this life; after death, they triumphantly soar to the sky, clouds flying high, water flowing freely!"
The Blind praised, "Truly worthy of the title of Grandmaster of the Demon Sect. He sees life and death lightly, feeling that his life is fulfilled, and even in death, he will laugh and watch the ever-changing world from above!"
The Village Chief said calmly, "That's the grandmaster. Blind, you're not far from reaching that state of mind."
"Still poetic sentiments," the Deaf laughed. "Blind, you're just spouting incomprehensible nonsense. You don't respond to emotions or scenery. On the other hand, the grandmaster's poetry resonates with both emotions and scenery, displaying great spirit."
The Blind stammered, "You don't understand poetry, you only understand compromise!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Qin Mu also smiled as he looked at these optimistic people. Despite their disabilities to varying degrees, their spirits were incredibly strong and complete.
"My dear ones..."
Suddenly, Qin Mu felt a surging power emerging from his brow. He quickly looked inward to his Spirit Fetus Divine Treasury and couldn't help but be slightly startled. "My Spirit Fetus has awakened again!"
His Spirit Fetus had awakened three times. The first time was when his consciousness fused with it, awakening the Spirit Fetus. The second time was when he observed fire and water at the blacksmith's shop, and the Spirit Fetus fell silent before awakening for the second time.
And this time, after enduring the trials of the 360 chambers, the Spirit Fetus once again absorbed the golden light from the Divine Treasury and fell into silence.
However, this period of silence was longer than before, until now when it finally awakened!
What changes would this awakening bring?
"Awakened again?" the people's expressions were strange. Qin Mu told them about his Spirit Fetus awakening three times, and the Village Chief, Physician, and Master Ma looked very puzzled. Other people's Spirit Fetuses only needed to awaken once, so why did Qin Mu's Spirit Fetus keep playing with silence and awakening again and again?
"Do the Four Great Spirit Bodies also awaken three times?" Qin Mu asked.
The group exchanged glances and shook their heads, then all looked at the Village Chief.
The Village Chief couldn't help but feel a headache. He couldn't understand or make sense of why Qin Mu's Spirit Fetus would awaken not once, but repeatedly. Now it had awakened for the third time, which made him feel utterly bewildered.
"It's the Tyrant Body," the Village Chief coughed and directly attributed it to the Tyrant Body, something he himself didn't fully understand. He said indifferently, "You all lack knowledge. What is the technique of the Tyrant Body called? It's called the Three Elixir Technique! What does the 'three elixirs' refer to? The first awakening is the first elixir, the second awakening is the second elixir, and the third awakening is the third elixir. Now that Mu'er has awakened three times, it shows that he has made some achievements in the Three Elixir Technique. Mu'er, don't be arrogant!"
Qin Mu quickly nodded and said, "I will definitely not be arrogant."
The Physician smiled insincerely and said, "What if Mu'er awakens for the fourth time? Will it be the fourth elixir?"
The Village Chief blushed with anger and wished he could pounce on him and stab him in the ribs.
However, the Physician wasn't entirely wrong. What if this brat's Spirit Fetus truly awakened for the fourth time?
The Village Chief contemplated in his mind, how could he cover up this lie?
"Ahem, Mu'er, what differences do you notice after your Spirit Fetus has awakened three times?" the Village Chief changed the subject and asked.
Qin Mu carefully sensed his Spirit Fetus and found that there didn't seem to be any significant differences compared to before. The only change was that the golden ocean within the Spirit Fetus Divine Treasury had become much thinner.
The golden ocean had become scarce, and the golden light within it didn't automatically generate anymore. Each time the Spirit Fetus absorbed some, there would be less remaining.
Qin Mu activated his Yuan Qi, and his Spirit Fetus also responded, transforming into a coiling azure dragon, a stepping stone on a mysterious tortoise, or sprouting double wings. His Yuan Qi could now change according to his will, without the need to observe fire, water, or dragons.
Qin Mu told everyone about it, and the Village Chief and others looked at each other, puzzled by these changes.
"This is a good thing," the Village Chief breathed a sigh of relief and said, "With the awakening of the Tyrant Body's Spirit Fetus three times, being able to freely switch between various attributes, you can display various techniques with ease during battles. That's the marvelous use of the Three Elixir Technique of the Tyrant Body."
Everyone nodded in agreement. The Physician was about to speak but was glared at by the Village Chief, causing him to swallow his words and silently complain, "Let's see how you can cover it up when Mu'er awakens for the fourth time!"
"As the breath flows in and out like smoke, clarity arises within the body and mind, creating a boundless pure world, akin to glass..."
Under the waterfall in Cuiyun Valley, a slightly youthful recitation echoed from the grass hut. Through the window of the grass hut, one could see a fourteen or fifteen-year-old youth holding a book in one hand, pacing and reading inside the room. A white-furred fox, Huling'er, was gazing intently at him.
The youth was Qin Mu, and the white fox was Huling'er, the great monster of Cuiyun Valley.
Not long after, Huling'er's breath gradually lengthened, and two strands of white vapor, like smoke, flowed in and out of her little fox nostrils with each inhalation and exhalation.
Huling'er's Yuan Qi became even more abundant, reaching an extremely high level of quality, with breath flowing like smoke.
Since the visit of the Heavenly Devil Sect, two years and eight months had passed. Winter had just ended, and with the revival of all things, it was still the season of chilly spring. The surface of the Yong River had not completely frozen, and broken ice floated downstream with the current.
Downstream, the river bend was often congested with ice blocks. As the ice accumulated and formed a dam, the water level would rise, leading to the outbreak of a devastating flood that would engulf the lower reaches of the river, claiming the lives of countless people and creatures.
In recent days, Granny Si, the blind fortune-teller, and others had been searching downstream for the dammed lake. As they were not in the village, Qin Mu came out to find Fox Spirit and explain scriptures to her.
Over the past two years, his stature had caught up with the blind fortune-teller's, although he was still shorter than the well-built Medicine Master.
Suddenly, a roaring sound echoed from outside the window, shaking the mountains and forests. Qin Mu closed the book and placed it on the shelf, while the White Fox Spirit also awakened by the roar. Together, they went outside to see what was happening. They witnessed a gigantic beast, over ten zhang in length, charging towards the grass hut!
The beast was covered in bone plates, thundering as it ran. It had the head of a dragon and the legs of an elephant, possessing immense strength. It was a Dragon Elephant, a hybrid born of a dragon and an elephant. However, on the back of this Dragon Elephant sat a pitch-black Demon Ape, muscular and robust, holding a twelve-ring Zen staff in its hand. They rode the Dragon Elephant, rushing menacingly towards the grass hut!
Fox Spirit jumped in front of Qin Mu, opened her mouth to inhale, and blew it forward.
A strong wind howled, rushing towards the Dragon Elephant and the Demon Ape. Fox Spirit wagged her tail, and the wind grew fiercer, whirling into a tornado, lifting both the Dragon Elephant and the Demon Ape into the air.
The Demon Ape leaped from the back of the Dragon Elephant, gripping the Zen staff in both hands, which grew larger and larger!
"Xie Qi Luo!"
The Demon Ape roared, descending from mid-air like a small mountain. It landed heavily on the ground, thrusting the Zen staff forcefully into the earth. Violent air currents erupted in all directions, shattering Fox Spirit's tornado spell.
At that moment, the Demon Ape lifted the Zen staff and leaped through the air, swinging the staff down towards Fox Spirit. With a loud bang, Qin Mu raised his hand and intercepted the blow on behalf of Fox Spirit.
However, at this very moment, Fox Spirit leaped away, opening her mouth and spitting out a gust of wind that transformed into a curved blade over ten zhang long. Six or seven curved blades flew up and down, not attacking the Demon Ape, but slashing towards Qin Mu!
