082 The Convergence of Yin and Yang
The Buddha of Immeasurable Light extended his hand and caught the blow of the Immaculate Sky Demon. The Buddha light on his body trembled violently for a long time before it finally absorbed and dissipated the force. The radiance of the Buddha light poured down, instantly pinning the Immaculate Sky Demon to the ground.
The cave residence shuddered gently. The glow of the restrictive formations on the ground flickered and distorted. If not for the dense spiritual energy of Mount Zhuoguang and the integration of the mountain’s mass with the sect’s grand protective array, perhaps this demon would have broken through the earth itself...
A streak of sword-light swept by, circling the Immaculate Sky Demon several times, emitting a piercing sound of slicing metal, but it failed to slay the demon.
“How remarkably tough,” Pang Yue exclaimed in surprise.
Even with the sharpness of the Seven Slaughter Sword, he could not cut open this demon. Moreover, the demon was astoundingly heavy, like a mountain shrunk countless times over, weighing more than ten million tons!
“Excellent! Now this is worthwhile!” Pang Yue was overjoyed. He immediately performed the secret art of Seizing the Path of Heavenly Demons and refined the Immaculate Sky Demon into a demonic talisman avatar.
In that instant, he comprehended the demon’s innate divine power—devouring demonic energy.
The Immaculate Sky Demon’s body was nearly boundless within, able to swallow and contain limitless demonic energy, transforming it into a body of extreme hardness and weight.
A Dao Foundation–level Immaculate Sky Demon possessed a defensive power comparable to a magic treasure.
He wondered which was mightier: the Void Demon Serpent or the Immaculate Sky Demon.
After refining the demon, Pang Yue memorized its unique aura. Using a secret art, he specifically lured more Immaculate Sky Demons into the lower realm.
Over the next dozen days, Pang Yue refined thirty-three Immaculate Sky Demons in succession, only to reach a bottleneck beyond which he could not advance.
The transformation wrought by the thirty-three demons was obvious. The demonic energy about him surged vast as the sea; at a glance, he resembled a humanoid sky demon, his demonic will rising as a mountain, majestic and unyielding.
Harnessing the essence of the demons, Pang Yue summoned Jin Yuesong and engaged in dual cultivation with her for three days and nights, finally breaking through.
Thus, Pang Yue at last reached the seventh stage of Dao Foundation, stepping into the late Dao Foundation realm.
Even with Jin Yuesong’s formidable demon-kin constitution, she was nearly overwhelmed by the intensity of their union over those three days.
The Celestial Phoenix Essence Cultivation and the Yin-Yang Profound Return to Truth Art fused perfectly; the union of yin and yang finally parted the clouds to reveal the true vista.
After his breakthrough, Pang Yue was in no hurry to leave seclusion.
He pressed on, refining all the accumulations of years and the “resources” obtained from seizing the paths of the heavenly demons.
His cultivation rose steadily from the initial seventh stage of Dao Foundation to its peak, and at last he broke through to the eighth stage...
And then—to the pinnacle of the eighth stage!
Only Jin Yuesong faintly sensed that Pang Yue perhaps simply did not wish to let her go too soon, and so, under the pretext of consolidating his cultivation, he kept her in dual cultivation for many years.
During this period, Qin Shuyi and Luo Qingyuan also entered the secluded chamber many times to study esoteric arts together.
The romantic delights and myriad joys in between defied description in words.
...
Within the silken canopied chamber, a delicate fragrance of rare beasts lingered.
In the elegant and sumptuous bedchamber, warmth and tranquillity prevailed.
Pang Yue slowly awoke from slumber, reaching out to find a smooth, tender warmth at his fingertips.
He turned his head and saw the beauty in his arms still sleeping like a springtime begonia.
A faint fragrance drifted in the air.
Jin Yuesong’s delicate body was weak, still dazed and half-awake. She quickly seized Pang Yue’s wrist, murmuring coquettishly,
“You… always want to bully me the moment you wake, you scoundrel!”
Pang Yue's heart stirred, overflowing with tenderness, and he could not help but hold her tightly, whispering, “Thinking of you leaving me so soon, I just can’t help wanting you a few more times…”
Smack!
Jin Yuesong gave him a playful slap.
“You deserve a beating!”
Her sweet, languid voice carried a lazy charm. The third princess of the Scarlet-Blooded Golden Dragon clan bit her red lip, her expression both weary and enchantingly fierce.
“Are you counting like a puppy? So many times and still not enough!”
“When you take my body, you’re so fierce… as if you’re afraid no one knows you’ve trained in body cultivation arts.”
Pang Yue sighed deeply. “I still can’t bear to let you go…”
Jin Yuesong fell silent a moment, then softly replied, “But I must return eventually… If you miss me, you can come to the outer sea and find me.”
Pang Yue considered, then said, “Let me send you back with a demonic talisman avatar.”
Jin Yuesong nodded gently and agreed.
In this moment, silence spoke more than words.
...
Ice Demon Hall.
Within the cave of Hall Master Ye Bing.
Pang Yue set down a delicate teacup, saying to the dignified woman across from him, “This is truly fine tea!”
Ye Bing gave a faint smile. “Nephew Pang, your seclusion has kept me waiting for years.”
“Forgive me, Hall Master—it was unavoidable,” Pang Yue replied lazily.
Ye Bing glanced at him, saying, “Let’s not waste words… Tell me, when you were in the Absolute Sky Icy Domain, how much of the Nine Nether Demon Sect’s legacy did you obtain?”
“Seventy percent,” Pang Yue replied with a grin.
Ye Bing laughed coldly. “Don’t lie to me. My Ice Demon Hall has a divine art, the Jade Heart Mirror, which can see through men’s hearts.”
Pang Yue surrendered. “All of it.”
“If the Hall Master wishes to comprehend it, I’ll trade it for something of equal value.”
Ye Bing raised her eyes, a gleam of delight flashing in them. She smiled. “What do you want?”
Pang Yue looked at Ye Bing. “What does the Hall Master have to offer?”
Ye Bing said, “I can grant you a peerless divine power.”
Pang Yue’s heart stirred, and he asked intently, “Is it the Ice Soul Divine Light recorded in the Ten Directions Frozen Demon Path?”
“Indeed!” Ye Bing nodded.
Pang Yue frowned. “Though this divine art is renowned since ancient times, it is extremely difficult to cultivate and requires thousand-millennium ice marrow as an aid. It is time-consuming and arduous, and whether one can succeed is uncertain.”
He had already studied the Ten Directions Frozen Demon Path many times and was well acquainted with the Ice Soul Divine Light.
This divine power was the pinnacle of ice arts since time immemorial!
But its cultivation was extremely demanding; only grandmasters at the Golden Core stage could attempt it, and only at the Nascent Soul realm could one truly achieve mastery.
For Pang Yue, it was still somewhat early to pursue this.
Ye Bing smiled faintly, pride evident in her bearing. “In today’s Eastern Sea cultivation world, apart from the Zhou clan of Langya Island, no one understands the ice arts better than I do.”
“I possess a method that can not only shorten the time needed to master this divine power, but also let it become your future Golden Core’s innate divine power.”
Pang Yue was taken aback, showing interest.
Indeed, as Ye Bing said, apart from the great Zhou clan of Langya Island, no one in the Eastern Sea could rival the Ice Demon Hall’s master of the Demon Talisman Sect in the ways of ice.
The Zhou clan’s ancestral legacy was not inferior to the Chaos Profound Demon Talisman Codex—it was a Nascent Soul–level inheritance named the Nine Heavens Cold Ice Art, one of the world’s topmost legacies.
“How is this method to be cultivated?” Pang Yue asked humbly.
Ye Bing smiled. “I am eighty percent certain; if I could see the full Ten Directions Frozen Demon Path, I would be ninety-nine percent sure.”
“This method requires you and Ye Xue to cultivate together. I have a piece of ten-thousand-year ice marrow here. Training this art will benefit your cultivation, not hinder it, and may allow you to reach the perfection of Dao Foundation sooner…”
She then broadly explained the method of cultivation.
As he listened, Pang Yue secretly set his Innate Infinity Tablet to deduce its details.
After a long while, he sighed. “It is indeed feasible. Hall Master, you are truly brilliant!”
With that, he produced a jade slip and handed it over. “This is the complete Ten Directions Frozen Demon Path.”
Ye Bing looked at him and said solemnly, “Ye Xue will inherit my mantle in the future. She is to be your Dao companion, but you two must not let affection bind you and destroy your path.”
Pang Yue replied, “Disciple understands. I wish the Hall Master every success in seeking the Nascent Soul Dao.”
Ye Bing’s painstaking designs in pursuing the Ten Directions Frozen Demon Path were precisely to use this legacy to break through to her own Nascent Soul path.
She sighed softly, “The Nascent Soul Dao is so difficult. In seventy thousand years of our Demon Talisman Sect’s history, only a handful have achieved it…”
“Wait a few years, and when I perfect this method, come to the Ice Demon Hall and go into seclusion with Ye Xue!”
“With this art, within ten years, Ye Xue will surely form a superior Golden Core. Your so-called true disciple competitions are mere children’s games…”
Pang Yue quietly calculated, saying, “By then, I too should be able to use this to reach Dao Foundation’s perfection and may attempt the Golden Core stage.”
Ye Bing nodded, then asked, “Will you use the Path-Seizing Heavenly Demon method to form your Core?”
“Exactly,” Pang Yue replied.
“With your talent, it’s your only path,” Ye Bing said with a gentle smile.
Pang Yue: “…”
...
Outer seas.
Demon Talisman Sect teleportation point.
A flash of light in the teleportation array, and a figure emerged with unhurried grace.
“Senior Brother Pang.”
The disciple on duty recognized him at once, standing up straight and saluting with respect.
Pang Yue nodded in return and walked out of the teleportation hall, then turned into a streak of black light and vanished into the sky.
Over the past years, Pang Yue’s legendary battle with the three great true disciples was still a frequent topic among Demon Talisman disciples.
With the spread of image jades, Pang Yue’s appearance had become known to many. Coupled with his status as a true disciple of the True Demon Hall, he commanded the respect of most disciples.
Upon reaching the outer seas and gazing at the boundless blue waves below, a streak of golden light flew from Pang Yue’s sleeve and instantly transformed into an incomparably beautiful woman.
Jin Yuesong breathed in the moist sea breeze, spread her arms, and her dress fluttered, revealing her graceful curves in their full splendor.
“Thirty thousand miles southeast from here lies the territory of the Scarlet-Blooded Golden Dragon clan,” Jin Yuesong said with a bright, happy laugh.
“This time, I too will go into seclusion to strive for the Golden Core realm.”
Pang Yue replied softly, “After all, this is only a demonic talisman avatar. The journey is long; let me see you safely home.”
Jin Yuesong nodded gently, reached out her slender hand to take Pang Yue’s, and together they merged their lights, turning into a rainbow streak that flew across the heavens.