Starting from the Tiger Demon Yaksha, the demon immortality

Chapter 207 206 Revisiting the Dragon Boat
The forging of the Wind and Fire Wheels did not take too long.

Firstly, Taiyi originally prepared this magical treasure for his son, so he was willing to spend a lot of money, and the Wind and Fire Wheel itself was made of excellent materials.

The Wind and Fire Wheels were already of exceptional quality among top-grade magical treasures, practically on par with divine weapons.

Forging a divine weapon from scratch, not counting the time spent preparing materials, takes at least six months to a year.

However, simply upgrading a superior-grade magic treasure and adding refined gold would only take ten days.

Over the course of ten days, the situation in Songzhou City became increasingly tense.

Bai Xiangshan began to dispatch city guards to implement a scorched-earth policy and evacuate the people.

And news about the rebels was increasing day by day.

Especially regarding Qin Fengquan, the vanguard general under Huang Chao, his cruel deeds are frequently mentioned by the common people.

This man was originally a military officer in a regional military command. Taking advantage of the chaos, he seized Caizhou and declared himself governor.

However, his good fortune did not last long. After Huang Chao started his rebellion, he led his troops to fight back, but was defeated and surrendered to Huang Chao.

It is said in the streets that "when the bandits are short of food, they eat people to store food, and when the soldiers go out, they follow the salt corpses."

The army was short of food, so this man went around capturing civilians, initially using them as laborers and auxiliary soldiers. When they were no longer needed, he killed them, pickled them, and used them as rations.

Its infamous reputation is so great that it can stop a child from crying at night.

Li Cunxiao made a special trip back to the escort agency for this reason; now, he was clearly a prominent figure.

It's not that Zhang Lishi was unpopular, but rather that the messages he uttered from his position at Tiangu Temple were believable.

While the bodyguards and porters found solace, Zhang Lishi and the Cui brothers could not find peace of mind.

Today's Songzhou City is just like a replay of the Chuqiu County of the past.

Even though Li Cunxiao had two grandmasters protecting him, ensuring everyone's safety, it had only been half a year since they had managed to establish themselves again.

If Chuqiu is in turmoil, he can still run to Songzhou; if Songzhou is in turmoil, where can he run to?

Is there still a place in this world where people can live a peaceful life?
Li Cunxiao left the escort agency with a heart full of worries and returned to Pingdingshan.

Fortunately, he didn't have much time to think it over.

"Disciple, come here."

In Taiyi Zhenren's hand, two beams of light, one green and one red, chased each other.

The old Taoist priest's eyes showed some weariness, but more so satisfaction and self-satisfaction.

Sensing the restlessness of the magical artifacts in his disciple's hand after he entered, he casually tossed one aside. The Wind God and the Vermilion Bird immediately flapped their wings and cried out, and in an instant, they danced around Li Cunxiao.

"This is the divine weapon?"

Perhaps because it has been re-refined, it no longer has that intense, flesh-and-blood connection it used to have.

However, because his essence and blood were added during the refining process, Li Cunxiao was still able to sense some of the situation of the Wind and Fire Wheels.

Pure.

Compared to the ferocious demonic artifacts of the past, the biggest difference of the divine weapon is that it is as formless and colorless as a clear spring, which perfectly matches the human spirit.

Refining magical treasures requires painstaking subjugation, and one wrong move could result in a backlash, but divine weapons are different.

Not only will it not harm the martial artist, but it can also grow alongside the martial artist, and even become completely integrated with the martial artist, becoming a part of the martial artist's body and spirit.

"Do you remember the method I taught you to refine divine weapons?"

Taiyi spoke up to remind him, and upon hearing this, Li Cunxiao's internal energy immediately became active.

The crimson flame-like true energy naturally overflowed, transforming into two lava-like arms under the armpits.

With arms raised and fingers spread, the white-feathered, black-striped Wind God and the red-gold Vermilion Bird gracefully arrived, landing in his hands formed with true energy.

A large amount of true energy began to flow out, and the true energy rivers in the twelve meridians surged into the dantian, and then rushed into the transformed arms.

For a moment, Li Cunxiao felt as if two floodgates had opened on both sides of his body, and his true energy was flowing out continuously at such a fast rate that he even felt weak and unable to keep up with the flow.

But that wasn't enough. Li Cunxiao stretched out his two fleshy arms, palms facing each other, and slashed hard.

Fresh blood, carrying a faint fragrance, flowed out like a stream of water, striking the Wind and Fire Wheels.

woohoo~
Boom boom boom~
The two wheels of wind and fire emitted sounds of wind and fire respectively, and rotated spontaneously as if they were alive, absorbing blood. Golden patterns appeared on the wheels that resembled wind and fire rings.

With his eyes closed, Li Cunxiao could more clearly sense the joy of the two divine weapons and their resonance with his own true energy.

The crimson light of true energy flickered intermittently, like breathing, gradually merging with the sounds of wind and fire from the two wheels.

"The purpose of refining and tempering with blood and nourishing with true qi is to improve the compatibility between the divine weapon and oneself, corresponding to the harmony of essence and qi. This is the essence of refining a divine weapon."

The initial two rounds of absorption of true qi and blood were quite intense, but they subsided after a few dozen breaths.

Li Cunxiao controlled the Wind and Fire Wheels with only his two arms filled with true qi. He retracted and opened his palms, and the wounds closed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The four extraordinary meridians, in a sense, are already halfway to the true form. The physique of a martial artist is clearly approaching that of the immortals, Buddhas, demons and monsters in mythology. Naturally, a little external injury is nothing to worry about.

His speed in nurturing and refining was very fast. This had nothing to do with talent. It was purely because Taiyi added his essence and blood when he reforged it. It was basically a tailor-made divine weapon, so it was naturally easier to refine than those divine weapons left behind by predecessors that had recognized their masters.

In less than a quarter of an hour, his blood and true energy had gradually merged with the Wind and Fire Wheels. The wonder of a divine weapon lies in integrating the three treasures of a martial artist: essence, energy, and spirit. The final step, naturally, is for the spirit to unite with the divine weapon.

"Suck~"

Li Cunxiao subconsciously took a breath, and the Wind and Fire Wheels instantly transformed into a stream of wind and flames, which he swallowed through his mouth and nose before sinking into his dantian.

Within his dantian, the Flame Demon True Qi resembled a pool of crystal-clear agate water, in which sat a lotus-like body, with lotus leaves and golden lotuses atop its head. Within the lotus pod of the golden lotus were the original Nezha and five other demons.

When the Wind and Fire Wheels arrived here, they transformed once again into the Wind God and the Vermilion Bird. The two divine birds were quickly attracted by the lotus pod and landed next to the lotus root covered in emerald green.

Unconsciously, a more intimate feeling welled up in Li Cunxiao's heart, and it happened faster than he had expected.

"The threshold for refining divine weapons is indeed very high. Essence, Qi, and Spirit are all indispensable. No wonder it is said that only Xuan Guan martial artists are worthy of using divine weapons. But only in this way can one use them with ease after refining them."

"To completely refine this Wind and Fire Wheels and combine it with my three treasures, it would take at least three to five months, and possibly as long as a year."

"Of course, this is my current Huangting realm. If it were the fifth or sixth realm, it would only take a few months to reach it."

Li Cunxiao pondered this and realized that it was because the Wind and Fire Wheels were custom-made for him, and his true energy was far more abundant than that of an ordinary Yellow Court.

For an ordinary Yellow Court martial artist, let alone a divine weapon, even a low-grade magic treasure could be passed down for several generations.

"How is it?" Qi Ci had arrived at some point. Upon hearing this, Li Cunxiao carefully sensed the situation:
"The consumption of true energy is less than half of what it was before, and it is also more flexible to control."

As he spoke, a whirlwind of wind and flames swirled around him. Without needing to move his feet, amidst the firelight and the sound of the wind, Li Cunxiao moved around the cave as if equipped with a 360-degree thruster with no blind spots.

He was fast, yet his changes of direction were incredibly agile, showing no signs of being out of control or slowed down by excessive inertia.

It's no exaggeration to say that simply stimulating it like this produces an effect that almost completely surpasses the Cloud-Stepping Shoes.

My old friend, who has been with me for over a year, is probably going to be laid off.

"Alright. The old man spent a lot of effort refining weapons, and you've only just refined a divine weapon. Take your time to familiarize yourself with it."

"Without further ado, let's explore the dragon boats tonight."

With that decision made, the three of them went on to make their own preparations, which will not be discussed further here.

As dusk fell and the dark blue-black sky gradually rose, two streaks of light, one blue and one red, flew in from outside the cave. The old Taoist priest and the great monk, who had been resting with their eyes closed, opened their eyes at the same time.

"I've seen it. The Zheng family, grandfather and grandson, are in the official residence of the government office. What about the one on Magu Mountain?"

"She is also staying at an inn in the city. For the past ten days, the master and apprentice have not gone out after nightfall, so they should be safe."

"Cunxiao, how are the preparations going?"

The voice echoed in the dim space until a pair of boots outlined with silver lines reflected light.

Li Cunxiao wore a dark blue round-necked robe, his hair was wrapped in a black cloth, a dragon-sparrow sword hung from his waist belt, and a purple-flame serpent spear was strapped to his back with a leather belt. He was fully armed.

Given his current reserves of true energy, and considering the need to activate the Wind and Fire Wheels, this was already the maximum output he could handle.

Taiyi Zhenren pressed his thumb against his middle finger, flicked his finger, and a golden stream of light crashed into Li Cunxiao's body. A phantom image of a bronze mirror slowly appeared and then disappeared again.

"This divine weapon contains my true essence, which can protect you from a fatal blow if necessary, and can also instantly pull you out of the secret realm."

"Spirit and demon are two sides of yin and yang, constantly fighting each other."

"According to our guess, your master Qici and I believe that the Spirit Treasure Dragon Boat is currently unclaimed."

"Otherwise, Yang Ying's demonic energy would have definitely corrupted it, and the dragon boat wouldn't have imprisoned it like last time."

"But the dragon boat itself was forged by that tyrant Yang Ying for himself. Even if he failed to refine it due to his demonic possession, his familiarity with that secret realm must be very deep."

“If the two of us go in, we won’t be able to hide it from him. Then we’ll have to fight again, and we might even attract Yang Lingjun and Zheng Lang.”

Li Cunxiao was still somewhat puzzled, "But even if I went in, I wouldn't be able to do anything about those guards who had fallen into demonic possession."

"At most, we'll get some spiritual items, right?"

Spending more than you earn? Wasting your time?
After all, he didn't think he could make the spiritual treasure recognize him as its master. Compared to that, the remaining items, although they were also rare and precious treasures, were nothing to the two grandmasters.

"I'm not confused, of course I don't want you to master the magic treasure."

The monk and the Taoist priest chuckled, then gave them some instructions:
"Yang Ying, this tyrant, was a grandmaster before he became a demon. Now he has been trapped in the secret realm for many years and his strength is not as good as before, but he still has Yuwen Jian and Sima Fufeng."

"Although these three may appear to be on good terms but are actually at odds, they will definitely turn their knives on us once they make a move."

"If these three work together, even the two of us might not be a match for them. We'll probably have to rely on their help later."

“Lingbao is a pre-existing substance that takes form after birth.”

"In other words, even though it has been refined into a spirit treasure dragon boat, it still has a core."

Li Cunxiao subconsciously touched his chest, and could vaguely feel the presence of the Bone-Illuminating Mirror.

"So, the Bone Mirror can lead me to the core?"

“That’s right. As long as I’m exposed to the light of the Bone-Illuminating Mirror, no matter what methods Yang Ying uses, I can lock onto the core.”

After Taiyi finished speaking, he looked at Qici, and the two of them placed their hands on either side of the Vajra Staff.

In the soft golden light, the Sanskrit and talismans were unveiled layer by layer, revealing a narrow, circular shadow on the ground.

Clearly, this entrance is operated by two people to prevent accidents.

Li Cunxiao took a deep breath, tightened his grip on his swords and spears, glanced at his two masters, and then took a step forward, instantly falling from the circular shadow.

The scene before him instantly transformed from a cave into a dark void. As the feeling of weightlessness washed over him, the wind wheel released a gentle breeze that lifted him up.

The fire wheel quietly released heat, distorting the light, and the spot where it stood instantly became a mosaic-like blurry block of color, which then quickly blended into the surrounding scenery.

This is a usage he specifically developed for this purpose.

In the silence, the dragon boat grew larger and larger beneath our feet.

He didn't dare go to the fourth floor where Yang Ying was, and originally wanted to go around to the third floor.

After all, based on the pattern from the last exploration, the more precious the item, the higher its location.

But when he got close to the dragon boat, a transparent shield seemed to appear in front of him.

Although it did not prevent him from entering, a gentle yet irresistible force transported Li Cunxiao to the first floor.

'Could it be the spirit of the dragon boat?'

Li Cunxiao was surprised and somewhat helpless; this act of kindness came at a rather unfortunate time.

With the help of the wind turbine, his feet did not touch the ground, but were about a finger's width away from the floor.

Empty your mind, slow your breathing and heartbeat, and even the true energy you channel into the Wind and Fire Wheels becomes calm.

His presence instantly diminished to an extremely low level, like a black cat silently walking on the deck where humans and demons roamed.

The demons on the first level were mostly the Left Guards and Guards we encountered last time.

Some were a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) apart, some a chi (approximately 1.5 meters) apart, and some almost brushed past each other.

However, not a single demon noticed.

These zombies wander aimlessly, creating all sorts of gaps.

Soon, Li Cunxiao successfully reached the second floor.

As the mirror on his chest began to warm slightly, his eyes lit up.

There's a response.

(End of this chapter)