Achieving physical sainthood starting from Hunyuan Gong

Chapter 115 One Day as a Grandmaster, Ten Days to Destroy a Nation

Longzhou today is a place that sends chills down your spine.

Dried heads hung on the city walls—this was the fate of the rebels.

Except for a very small number of humans who were classified as savages, the rest could only survive in human communities.

To this day, all the powerful figures from the Nine Cauldrons Palace who came to rescue us have been killed, indicating that humanity has no chance left.

In the mountains, the Ziyang Sect members, who were classified as savages, survived in despair. In recent days, they had lost too many relatives and companions, but the most terrifying thing was that the despair in the distance seemed to have no end.

In the foreseeable future, they will all have to survive under the iron heel of demons.

That kind of life was too terrifying.

Where exactly did Song Shen go?

The white-robed celestial swordsman disappeared without a trace from that day onwards.

"It's been half a month, perhaps—he has already escaped to who-knows-where."

The Wind and Thunder Sword Sect now only has one arm left, thin as a skeleton, its former fighting spirit like extinguished ashes.

His gaze was fixed on the disciples before him; now, of the once vast Ziyang Sect, only these disciples remained.

The most outstanding disciple.

"Junior Sister Cao, are you still waiting for that guy to return?"

One of the disciples said somewhat jokingly.

To be honest, Song Shen also bears some responsibility for the Ziyang Sect's current predicament.

The once-dominant sect in Longzhou has now become prey for hunters in the wilderness. Their dramatic fall from grace has filled them with resentment.

There is only one exception.

Cao Yu gazed into the distance, seemingly lost in thought.

For some reason, I always feel that person is still alive.

The Wind and Thunder Sword Sect remained silent for a long time, like a withered tree, before suddenly saying, "If there is any hope for my Dragon Province, it probably lies with this young man."

Seven days have passed since the darkest days for the human race of Longzhou.

Where is our savior?

This magnificent royal court rose from the ground.

This vast empire is about to begin on this ancient land and spread to the boundless distance.

Wherever the sun and moon shine, and wherever the three rivers flow, there is no land left that is not the king's.

Now it is slowly taking shape in his palm.

Even the great achievements that the powerful saints and emperors of the ancient times could not reach are now prostrate at his feet.

A blue phoenix flew over the ancient forest and landed on this royal court that rose from the ground.

"Canglian, is our empire already jubilant?"

The Azure Phoenix folded its wings and prostrated itself, saying, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has already sent a messenger to report that everything in the country is in order, all the cities are performing their duties without any disturbances. The human enclosure has also been repaired, and the new season's blood food quota is being tallied, with a more abundant amount than last year. The food supply is unimpeded, and the two new watchtowers built by the Demon Court have been completed. The craftsmen have presented a map of the territory, and the Crown Prince has been enshrined in the palace, awaiting Your Majesty's return."

The Golden-Winged Roc King stood atop the highest point of the royal court, his back to the Azure Phoenix, his sky-reaching wings slowly folding. He didn't turn around, his gaze fixed on the vast imperial territory, his voice not loud, yet carrying a heavy, oppressive aura: "What else did the Crown Prince say?"

Cang Luan's voice lowered slightly: "The Crown Prince said that the demon generals of the southern cities also sent people to present gifts to congratulate the King on his advancement to half-saint. However—one of the envoys was three days late and was detained and questioned by the Crown Prince, and has not yet been released."

The Golden-Winged Roc King's lips twitched slightly, as if he were smiling, or perhaps savoring something: "That child is still too cautious in his actions. The demon generals of the South are all old subordinates; why detain them? Let them go."

"Yes."

Cangluan did not speak again, but remained lying in place, holding her breath and waiting for the king's instructions.

He knew the Crown Prince's letter mentioned other things, but those matters didn't need to be known to the King yet. There seemed to have been brief disturbances in one or two places in the southern social circles. However, the Crown Prince quickly suppressed them, preventing them from spreading.

Those trivial matters aren't worth bothering Wang Xing with. He just needs to wait until Wang realizes it himself, or until the day he can no longer hide it.

But that day shouldn't be too far off.

The wind blew from the south, carrying the scent of distant lands. The king should be able to smell it soon, after all, he is a half-saint, the lord of the Holy Feather Divine Court, and the founder of this empire's path to immortality.

Shan State, the ancient land of the sacred feathers.

In the midst of a sudden, violent storm.

Inside the Holy Feather Royal Court, Crown Prince Xiaopeng roared in fury.

"Weren't they supposed to be just a few scattered bandits? Where did this army of 100,000 come from?! Where did this army of 100,000 come from?!"

"My father wiped out the human race and invaded the lands of the Nine Provinces! He left me here to oversee the country. With my father's holy might above me and numerous powerful warriors below, how could I possibly allow these rats in the corner to make a comeback? You must be deliberately deceiving me!"

"Send a message to my father! Nothing has happened in my Holy Feather Divine Kingdom!"

"I will personally lead the army into battle!"

On this day, all the demons in the Demon Court's capital gathered here, the demonic mist surging and rolling, and their armor gleaming in the sunlight.

However, their actions were ultimately too slow.

Blood flowed like rivers, and the demonic corpses of the entire plain transformed the land into a demonic wasteland. The bodies of a hundred thousand demons lay scattered across the plain, stretching from near to far, like a torn black blanket covering the earth. Broken flags, shattered armor, and broken bone soldiers lay strewn among the corpses. Demonic blood soaked the frozen earth, still steaming, mixing with the snow to form a dark red swamp.

More and more people are emerging from the crowd.

At first, it was a few brave souls who cautiously made their way forward, stepping along the edge of the pile of corpses, clutching broken spears they had picked up from who-knows-where.

Then it was a group, then the whole city.

They stood at the edge of the pile of corpses, gazing at the endless slaughterhouse, silent for a long time. The wind blew across the plains, carrying a heavy stench of blood; some began to vomit, others knelt on the ground.

Song Shen stood in the center of the pile of corpses, sheathing his sword, his robes stained with black blood and bits of flesh.

One hundred thousand demon soldiers.

Everything was lost in a single day.

Someone approached from behind; it was Black Mountain. He stopped at the edge of the pile of corpses, gazing at the battlefield. He remained silent for a long time before finally speaking, his voice hoarse.

"God, what should we do next?"

Song Shen said, "It's very simple, just kill them all."

Are there any other demon kings?

The group was dumbfounded.

Are demon kings sold wholesale? They're being made sound like cabbages. A demon king must have cultivated for at least eight hundred years. Heaven sets thresholds for all powerful beings, and the further one progresses in cultivation, the more difficult it becomes.

Demon Lords are already extremely powerful beings, while Demon Kings are even rarer.

"If that's the case, then there's only one left: the Little Peng King in the Demon Clan's royal court."

Montenegro replied.

"Then let's go and attack the royal court."

That evening, Song Shen sat down to continue deducing his Golden Elixir Method.

[In the first year, the Golden Core has reached its Great Perfection. When you observe it internally, you can feel it trembling, like a ripe fruit about to fall to the ground. After the core shatters, it will be another world. However, you do not have a ready-made Grandmaster's cultivation technique.]

The rudimentary Hunyuan Gong of the past has evolved to such a level. This solitary journey has given you so much insight and courage. Now, there is no path to follow, only the path you must forge yourself.

[In the 280th year, the Golden Core indeed shattered. Fragments scattered throughout your dantian. Instead of rushing to rebuild it, you looked back at the path you had traveled: starting with the remnants of the Hunyuan Gong, you deduced the Hunyuan Undying Golden Body, the Innate Hunyuan True Explanation, the Six Qi Controlling the Void Twelve Heavens Explanation, and the Hunyuan Nine Revolutions Great Void Condensing Elixir True Explanation. Each technique was dismantled from nothing and then pieced back together. You had grown accustomed to days without road signs. You began piecing together the fragments, fusing them into a new outline.]

[In the 574th year, the rudimentary form of the Dharma Body was initially formed. However, it remains separated from your physical body by a gap, like the distance between a riverbed and the water's surface. You cannot simply copy any existing master's methods, because they are all prepared for ordinary physical bodies. Your Primordial Limitless Myriad Forms Immortal Body has been tempered for hundreds of years, too dense and thick, for ordinary Dharma Bodies cannot enter or integrate with it. You can only redefine the location of the Dharma Body—not outside the body, not in the dantian, but in that gap between the physical body and the dantian that has never been used before.]

[In the 1200th year, you finally transformed the rift into a position. The Dharma Form was no longer a foreign object forcibly embedded in your body, but rather formed a symbiotic boundary with your physical body as thin as a cicada's wing. It was neither a traditional Dharma Form nor a simple enhancement of the physical body, but an existence that had never existed between the two before. You didn't know what to name it, only that it belonged solely to you.]

[In the two thousand two hundred years, you open your eyes. The Dharma Form has been formed, and you call it the Primordial Myriad Phenomena Dharma Form. It does not draw strength from the outside world, nor does it compete with the physical body for space. It hovers precisely at the boundary between itself and the physical body. You stand up and feel an extra layer of reserve within your body that you have never had before. This is the fifth path you have walked yourself, and now it finally has a name.]

The Grandmaster has been achieved.

Song Shen looked at the panel:

[Essence and Dao Fruit: 4,121 years]

[Skill and Dao Fruition: 5,680 years]

"Continue to deduce the primordial myriad phenomena!"

[In the first year, you introspectively observed your Dharma form. It had merged with heaven and earth, but it was only a thin layer, like a reflection in water, easily dispersed by the wind. You knew that to cross the threshold of Grandmaster, you had to transform the Dharma form from merging to dominating—not by becoming part of heaven and earth, but by making heaven and earth an extension of yourself. This was a path no one had ever walked before, but there was no other choice.]

In the 570th year, you began to try to make your Dharma form "condense" rather than "diffuse." You selected a location in the world, like driving a nail into the void, and made the Dharma form gather, compact, and overlap again around that point. Each condensation was like weaving an extremely fine net, and then covering it with layer after layer of silk threads. You didn't know if it could hold up, you only knew that if you didn't do this, you would forever remain just a shadow.

Fourteen hundred years later, the Dharma image revealed a distinct outline, not a mere illusion, not a mirage, but a real and substantial one.

It can block out light. It floats behind you like a huge, semi-transparent curtain, sometimes swaying slightly with the wind, sometimes as still as if it were part of the mountain itself. You don't know if it has a shape; it's just there, like the underlying color of everything. You can see it, but it's hard to describe what it looks like.

[Two thousand three hundred years have passed, and the Dharma image has expanded to several miles. You stand atop the city wall, and it appears like a gray curtain suspended in the sky behind you, obscuring a layer of clouds. You try to move it forward; it advances slowly, gradually but irresistibly. You feel your "weight" increasing, not that your body is becoming heavier, but that your existence is becoming "thicker," like a stone rising from water, gradually revealing its volume in the air.]

[Three thousand two hundred years later, the Dharma image rose abruptly from the ground, like an inverted mountain peak, stretching from the ground into the depths of the clouds, visible from miles away. As you walk, it is behind you, moving forward with your steps. You don't look back at it, because you know it's there, like a moving city, requiring no further confirmation. You feel yourself transforming into something beyond human form, requiring no effort, no action; simply by standing there, it unfolds itself, enveloping everything around you.]

For 3,750 years, the Dharma form has spread out over a radius of tens of miles, obscuring the sky and the sun. You stand in the middle of the plain, sunlight falling behind you, casting a shadow across the earth like a slowly moving mountain. You try to gather the Dharma form, and it slowly shrinks, like the receding tide; you try to unfold it again, and it immediately spreads out, like a curtain blown open by the wind. You finally realize that this is no longer a Dharma form, but your way of being, walking between heaven and earth, neither hiding nor concealing, with your body as the mountain, and the Dharma form as the peak.

You have named this realm: Grandmaster.

With a flick of the wrist, all the skill and expertise were poured into the sword technique.

A moment later

【The Wind-Transforming Calamity Blade (Four Calamities)】

【Thunderous Calamity Blade (Third Calamity)】

【The Blade of Departing Fire and Transforming Calamity (Third Calamity)】

As news of the annihilation of the 100,000-strong demon army spread, the ancient Shan State finally erupted in commotion.

Those humans whose rebellious spirit had not yet been completely extinguished rose up in resistance or escaped from their prisons, and the remaining humans from all directions surged toward Cangbei City like a tidal wave.

Led by this white-robed god, they marched south in a grand procession.

Who could have imagined that just seven days ago, the people here could only tremble and eke out a living under the iron hooves of demons, and seven days later, this rabble would launch a counterattack against the demon royal court?

Along the way, these humans armed themselves in various ways, preparing to take over their land and re-establish another regime.

On the ninth day, the human army arrived outside the royal court, eyeing this seemingly invincible and powerful fortress.

The black cloud was pressing down on the city and the city was about to be destroyed, and Jiaguang opened golden scales to the sun.

A figure in white stands atop the vast sky.

Now, Song Shen can fly without any pressure, and there is nothing in the world that can frighten him.

The numerous demons within the Demon Court's capital gazed up at the white-robed figure high in the vast sky, only to see the figure grow larger and larger.

In the end, it covered the sky and the sun, without end.

The swirling winds, thunder, fire, and heavenly tribulations swirled between Song Shen's large, broad fingers and palms as he reached out and pressed down.

Prajna Vajra Palm!

The seemingly invincible fortress was reduced to dust in that instant.

The Dharma image vanished without a trace, and Song Shen's figure soared to 90,000 meters, arriving at the seaside amidst the golden trails of thunder and gale.

The vast blue sea, stretching for eight million miles, churned and swelled amidst the raging winds and torrential rain.

"Come out!"

Song Shen looked down at the ocean.

Two magnificent figures slowly rose from the churning sea.

"State your name."

Song Shen looked down at the two ancient and powerful beings.

My name is Yanzi.

My name is Xuanming.

They all bowed their heads, their attitude extremely humble.

"Human warriors, we have never shed human blood, and we hope that we will not have to fight each other."

Song Shen frowned and said, "You two have been watching from the sidelines the whole time. Are you thinking of invading this land?"

Xuanming laughed and said, "You jest. I reside in the North Sea, and Yanzi in the West Sea. For five thousand years, the ocean has been boundless, and we can roam freely there. Why should we covet this small piece of land?"

"You've even brought Xuanming from the North Sea over. It seems you're quite scared, Yanzi."

"You are a genius unparalleled in history. We are in awe, but not ashamed."

Xuanming lowered his head and said.

Yanzi then said in a deep, resonant voice, like thunder and mountains, "Since the beginning of humankind, you are a rare genius."

Song Shen keenly sensed the hidden information in this sentence and asked, "What do you mean by 'since the beginning of humankind'? You speak as if you have witnessed the entire process of human evolution."

Xuanming and Yanzi, the two ocean overlords, nodded in unison and said, "What's so difficult about that? Our lifespan is far greater than that of the demons on land. I live for eight thousand years, and Yanzi can live for seven thousand years. If we can become saints, we can live for ten thousand years. Humans have only existed for five thousand years."

Song Shen asked in astonishment, "They evolved from monkeys into humans in just five thousand years?"

Xuanming was also taken aback and said, "What do you mean by this? Apes are apes. Although the white ape clan is strong, they have nothing to do with humans."

"Then, where did humanity come from?"

The two ancient kings exchanged a glance. "Aren't humans known for their love of writing history? Isn't this event included in your history?"

Song Shen said calmly, "I'm the one asking you."

The immense pressure caused the two ocean overlords to tremble.

"Yes, our memories are indeed still intact, but as for where humans came from, we can hardly say. We only know that at some point five thousand years ago, a race called the human race suddenly appeared on the land and slaughtered demons everywhere. At first, those people were incredibly powerful. At that time, all the ancient demon emperors on the land were killed. In just a few hundred years, the land was full of humans, and they multiplied like locusts."

Following Xuanming's voice, Yanzi added, "Unfortunately, humanity seems to be growing weaker and weaker. Thousands of years ago, there were still many humans as strong as you, and even some stronger than you. But now, such strong individuals are nowhere to be seen."

"Even you demons who have lived for so long don't know this past?"

Song Shen discussed philosophy with the two kings for a long time, and finally, he let them go.

Back at the royal court, the humans had already gathered in their respective groups.

"God, please be our leader."

This is what the group requested.

"No need."

After Song Shen ascended to the capital and slew the last demon, he soared into the sky and headed towards Longzhou.

What will happen next is predictable: once this group of humans loses its powerful enemy, they will soon be turning their swords against each other.

Within ten days, the Holy Feather Divine Kingdom was destroyed!