Wet viviparity

Chapter 771 Refining the Embryo, Invisible Fire
For decades, the old master has lived far from the world. Even though he lives on the same peak as the Fire Rat, they rarely see each other.

The arrival of the Master at this Rat Abode seems to carry a hint of unusualness. The Fire Rat Clan belongs to Rat Four's faction, so naturally they must inform Rat Four of this news so that Rat Four can be prepared and come to see the Master first.

In recent years, Guhe Prefecture has been well-governed, with favorable weather and abundant harvests, which is no exaggeration.

While the collective efforts of everyone at Heguan cannot be overlooked, the greatest credit goes to the powerful official who deterred the wicked.

Fifty years ago, when that decree was issued, the land was parched and countless people died of drought. Afterwards, the story of calculating treasures from afar and fighting and killing immortal elders are still fresh in the memories of many people.

These are all digressions. Nowadays, He Guan is filled with factions, with many masters leading the way, while new talents are emerging and gradually gaining fame. Everyone is eager to be by Master Lingxu's side as soon as possible to gain his favor.

Even if cultivators live carefree lives, as long as they are involved in relationships and worldly affairs, there will be closeness and distance between them; this is an unchangeable aspect of human nature.

Every member and disciple in Crane Temple understands one principle: if they cannot make Master Lingxu see and remember them more, they will lose the opportunity to rise to the upper class.

Master Lingxu hasn't seen an outsider for forty or fifty years now. Even Yuancong like Shu Si and Wen Daoyu occasionally feel anxious, hoping to see Master Lingxu soon and learn about the major decisions that He Guan will make in the future.

Inside the house, Old Rat led the way, and on the way they passed a cloth shop, which Ji Ming took a special trip to see.

The four great rats went to great lengths to migrate the Fire Rat clan from the Southern Wilderness, all for the sake of the Fire Rat clan's specialty—Fire Rat Cloth, also known as Fire-Washed Cloth.

This spiritual cloth has become the pillar product of He Guan, without exception, and is now sold far and wide, both domestically and internationally, with demand exceeding supply.

Inside the workshop, fire rats darted about like lightning, their claws lightly twirling crimson silk threads.

Some sat atop hot stones, breathing out thin flames as they spun silk, the smoke curling and mingling with the scorching air. The woven cloth, laid out on the warm stones, was as thin as a cicada's wing yet could not be burned by fire, its reddish light flowing like condensed rosy clouds.

With Ji Ming present, the fire rats worked diligently, displaying their best spirits, though their small eyes would occasionally dart towards Ji Ming.

"good!"

Ji Ming gave a single word of praise and nodded in satisfaction.

The old man explained, "There are six cloth workshops in Guhe Prefecture. This one only produces the finest fire-resistant cloth. At the same time, the children are also learning the clothing-making methods of the 'True Maiden Palace,' striving to maximize the value of the fire-resistant cloth."

Upon hearing about the clothing-making method of the True Maiden Palace, Ji Ming knew that it was the work of the Green Flower Fairy.

Lü Hua was thoughtful; even after returning to the Palace of the True Maiden of the Milky Way, she did not forget her former benefactor. Of course, she was also thinking of her lover, her eldest disciple Ding Ruyi.

Since the refinement of the treasure at the Magnetic Peak, Ji Ming has consciously downplayed his presence and rarely interfered in the development of He Guan. So now, everything looks new and exciting.

Deep inside the house, after passing through numerous guard posts, Ji Ming entered a stone chamber.

There was only one oil lamp here, filled with oil. There was no flame on the wick, but it made the whole room very bright, so bright that even Ji Ming's shadow could not be seen.

Ji Ming stretched out a palm and covered the oil lamp, feeling the heat of the invisible demon-refining true fire on the wick, and felt very satisfied.

This invisible demon-refining true fire is not a secret technique and cannot be used directly. It can only be nurtured and strengthened by a fire seed. When it is used, a little true fire is drawn from this fire seed. Otherwise, the fire seed must be refined again.

Furthermore, the lamps and oil used to maintain the true fire have remarkable origins.

This lamp oil is called Bright Serpent Lamp Oil, which is made using the secret recipe of the Strange Lamp Flower Granny.

This lamp was specially crafted by Tianteng Mountain and is already considered a treasure. It cost 60,000 talisman coins and 800 merits.

The talisman money is alright. Nowadays, He Guan has a lot of Taoist properties of all sizes. Over the past few decades, the accumulated talisman money has reached hundreds of thousands. If it weren't for Ji Ming's series of strategies that incurred huge expenses, accumulating a million talisman money would not have been a problem.

Only through this unseen virtue, over several decades, Ji Ming has accumulated a mere ten thousand unseen virtues.

Unlike talismanic coins, which can be entirely managed by the temple and obtained through the collective benefit of many, yin virtue belongs to the mysteries of heaven and earth and is linked to one's own good deeds.

Among the members of He Guan, Ji Ming was not the one with the most virtuous deeds; the one with the most was Shu Si.

Many of the benevolent policies and educational initiatives that benefited the local people, such as paving roads and building bridges, protecting forests and mountains, and controlling floods, were all done by Shu Si himself. He has accumulated tens of thousands of merits in secret, and now everyone in the state calls him the Benevolent Lord.

After taking the lamp, Ji Ming vanished and arrived at another place in Yanxu Mountain, where the evil pool was located.

For miles around, all was deathly still, with swirling, poisonous miasma rising and condensing, forming a canopy that never dissipated. It was here that I had taken the Yin Fiend and subdued the Yang Dragon from the Three Realms. The bottom of the pool was filled with poisonous mud, the color of charcoal and the texture of glue.

Countless skeletons lay buried within, half-exposed and half-hidden, some of them beasts and some of humans. The bones were all a dark green, clearly having been soaked in a deadly poison for a long time.

In the center lay hundreds of old corpses piled up, arranged in the shape of a high platform. According to Ji Ming's improved method of "setting the fire altar for the Yin Corpse", their skin was decorated with gold powder, their eyes were filled with silver beads, their bones were inlaid with glass and agate, their teeth were inlaid with water jade and tridacna, and their mouths were stuffed with red pearls.

Around the altar, hundreds of prayer flags fluttered without wind, and rings of hanging oil lamps shone brightly, piercing through the poisonous clouds above the pool. Offering flowers bloomed vibrantly.

There are two gourds on the altar. One gourd releases Xuan Yin Sha Water, and the other gourd spews out Poisonous Fire Sha Flames.

There were three demonic embryos in that jar. Under the mysterious force of the collision between extreme water and fire, they had been further tempered and their essence had been sublimated. They had gradually grown and were no longer the tender and smooth embryos they once were.

As soon as Ji Ming had a thought, the fox, the dog, and the tiger in the water and fire all stretched out their limbs.

The seven emotions and spiritual blood seal on the forehead of the three demons was bright red and dripping with light. Their eyelids trembled and slowly opened a slit, their cold gaze meeting Ji Ming's.

"Come!"

Ji Ming let out a soft cry, and the three beasts immediately transformed into poisonous evil spirits, flying down from the altar and shrinking around Ji Ming's legs.

These three demons no longer possess complete self-awareness. Their innate spiritual intelligence is mixed with Ji Ming's primordial spirit, allowing Ji Ming to control them as if they were his own limbs. This is also an important foundation for the final "human-controlled demon form" of this magic.

Holding the lamp in his hand, Ji Ming's gaze swept over the three demons, and he pointed at the fox demon, saying, "You're the one."

After saying this, the three flowers of essence, energy, and spirit appeared on his head, with a purple aura connecting them. Under Ji Ming's manipulation, these three aura-shaped flowers merged into one, absorbing the invisible demon-refining true fire above the lamp.

At this moment, the entire Three Flowers Great Cluster glowed slightly, while the area around the altar became bright.

Here, Ji Ming sat in the lotus, quietly waiting with the three-flowered cluster on his head.

In Chapter Three, the best time to refine the "transformation of embryo into talisman" is during the four Yin hours. However, Ji Ming did not wait for this time specifically, but only chose the three Yin hours, which are Yin months, Yin days, and Yin hours.

When the time arrived, the little fox demon fetus, guided by the instructions, immediately flew into the group.

"Hmm?" Ji Ming exclaimed in surprise. Despite his conscious and careful control of the invisible demon-refining fire, the demon fetus was still refined away in an instant, leaving not even a trace of ash behind.

After calming himself down a bit, he wasn't too disappointed and looked at the next little beast fetus.

He had experienced many failures in the first, second, and even last chapters, and had long been accustomed to this feeling.

Don't be fooled by the seemingly effortless success of the second primordial spirit; it was built upon countless failures.

To ensure the progress of creating the new law, Ji Ming has already invested recklessly, wasting countless materials. Even so, Ji Ming still feels that the progress is too slow.

After all, the storm outside is getting stronger and stronger, and in He Guan, it's almost to the point where even his reputation can't be suppressed.

The black dog demon fetus, covered in soft downy fur, leaped into the Three-Flower Cluster. It was burned by the True Fire, and its physical form was refined away, leaving only the purest demon soul essence and the essence of evil energy. It merged with the Seven Emotions and the Blood Restriction, slowly transforming into a demon talisman.

Ji Ming pressed on with all his might, urging the true fire to ignite the talisman.

A roar inexplicably arose from the talisman, accompanied by a wailing cry that tormented Ji Ming, making even his strong will waver. It was as if he had personally strangled an innocent young kin, and his conscience and morality were being tortured.

Guilt, fear, and a sense of insecurity surged up, but strangely, these emotions quickly subsided. This calming power came from the Stream-entry stage of enlightenment he had attained.

Within the Three Flowers Cluster, the invisible Demon-Refining True Fire flickered with formless and intangible light, causing the demonic talisman within it to gradually curl and burn into specks of ash.

In the end, all the brilliance faded away, leaving only a small clump of natal demonic talisman ash with fine, flowing blood-red runes at the center of the true fire.

"that's it!"

Ji Ming said excitedly.

(End of this chapter)