Chapter 260 The Move

Poison Enemy led Hong Yi to the entrance of the manor, but he did not enter himself; the manor was inhabited by women, and he had to avoid any impropriety.

Who says demons are uncultured and ignorant of human ways?

Poison Enemy was also fond of reading and had secretly hidden away quite a few classic texts.

These days, being a demon isn't easy; the competition is fierce.

Hong Yi hesitated for a moment before steeling herself and walking in.

At a glance, she saw the Mountain Lord standing amidst a group of young women.

"Greetings, Mountain Lord."

Hong Yi performed a curtsy.

"You have come from Lishan Mountain?"

Chen Nuo said, waving his hand, and the female demons beside him obediently retreated.

"Your discerning eyes, Mountain Lord."

Hong Yi nodded, feeling apprehensive.

Although Lishan Mountain had a great reputation, she could not use it on this trip; the Old Mother had warned her beforehand to keep a low profile.

The implication was that they still did not wish to clash directly with Kunlun.

"Bodhisattva Pilanpo was schemed against and barely escaped with her life; she is currently hiding at Lishan Mountain, right?"

Chen Nuo continued.

"..."

Hong Yi pursed her lips and did not answer.

This Ziyun Mountain was previously the cultivation site of Bodhisattva Pilanpo, so, in this sense, it naturally involved some karma with the current Mountain Lord.

There are only a limited number of blessed grotto-heavens in the world; it is possible that the two of them might have to settle things in a fight in the future.

Therefore, whether they are enemies or friends is hard to say at the moment.

So, it is better to speak and answer as little as possible.

"Did you come here this time to find Star Lord Maori?"

As Chen Nuo asked, the Danyang Chicken fluttered over, landed at his feet, and stretched its neck, begging for some food.

"... The Star Lord and I are old friends. Hearing that he had met with disaster, I trespassed on the mountain gate to investigate. I hope the Mountain Lord will understand and deal with this leniently."

Hong Yi kept her head down, looking obedient and ready to accept any punishment.

"Then you have come too late."

Chen Nuo scattered some spirit grain.

Upon hearing this, Hong Yi felt a pang of sorrow and looked somewhat despondently at the Danyang Chicken pecking at the food.

"The Star Lord has already entered the cycle of reincarnation. If he was reincarnated as a human and didn't cut in line, calculating the days, he should be able to talk by now."

"... Reincarnated? Then why does this chicken have the Star Lord's aura?"

Hong Yi was stunned, her expression frozen, and she asked blankly.

"Oh, this chicken is a unique species born from the Kunlun immortal egg within the Star Lord's physical body."

Chen Nuo glanced at her indifferently.

"So that's how it is... Fortunately... Fortunately..."

Hong Yi said with relief; having suffered such a great calamity, being able to enter reincarnation was the greatest stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

As long as she could find the Star Lord's reincarnation later, help him cultivate, break the confusion of the womb, and recover his past life, he could naturally return.

"As it happens, before the Star Lord left, he left a wisp of divine consciousness with me; I shall give it to you."

Chen Nuo took out the Star Lord's divine consciousness stored in his Glazed Sun Eye.

Hong Yi took it and probed it; it was indeed the Star Lord's divine consciousness. After communicating with it, she understood what had happened.

"Many thanks for the Mountain Lord's great kindness. Allow me to return to the mountain to report to the Old Mother, and I will come back to face the Mountain Lord's judgment."

Hong Yi performed a deep bow.

Regardless, trespassing on this mountain gate and causing a scene was a major offense; she had already prepared for the worst.

"I won't see you out."

Chen Nuo waved his hand.

He never intended to hold it against Hong Yi; he considered it settling the karma with Star Lord Maori. With this favor, now that he occupied Ziyun Mountain, no one could find fault with him.

Hong Yi put away the Star Lord's divine consciousness and left in a hurry.

She had no means to keep this rootless divine consciousness for long; if she delayed too long and it dissipated, the fault would be too great.

Poison Enemy, who had seen Hong Yi out of the mountain gate, watched her retreating figure and muttered to himself.

"As expected, the Mountain Lord favors beautiful female demons. Why couldn't I have had a daughter? If I had even one without a 'handle,' I wouldn't have separated from my old lady..."

As he was speaking, a stone zoomed over and smashed into Poison Enemy's forehead, knocking him over several times.

"Mountain Lord, I was wrong! Spare me this once!"

Poison Enemy begged for mercy while lying on the ground.

He almost forgot; all of Ziyun Mountain was within the Mountain Lord's single thought.

...

Ever since Daoist Mi obtained this Lotus Bud, he studied it day and night, not daring to delay for a single moment.

Several of his senior fellow disciples from the same period could no longer resist and consumed it, turning into flat-headed insects, known as Insect Daoists.

Although they lost their human bodies, their cultivation indeed increased greatly.

Their intelligence remained, but they had gained some vicious demonic nature and were no longer ordinary beings.

However, when they woke up the next day, a few people were missing from among the fellow disciples.

After searching for a long time, they only found a few blood-stained Daoist robes.

This terrified the group of Sword-Controlling Daoists who had not yet transformed into insects.

Those chosen by Hundred-Eyes as 'talent' must be intelligent and sharp; it was not hard for them to guess what had happened.

Clearly, these senior disciples who had transformed into insects could not suppress their suddenly increased demonic nature and began to devour flesh and blood.

Once they tasted human flesh, how could they suppress it again?

Consequently, if one consumed the Lotus Bud, one would become an insect demon; if one did not consume it, one would become food for the Insect Daoists.

This transformation from human to insect consumed a great deal of energy and required nourishment from flesh and blood to grow strong.

These Sword-Controlling Daoist disciples still had the qualifications to be used as Gu, but what about the rest who held whisks and staves? Weren't they just pure flesh and blood resources?

Daoist Mi had long guessed it would be like this, but when the bloody reality was ripped open and presented before his eyes, the fear and horror still made him feel suffocated.

Fortunately, he still had a chance.

Daoist Mi returned to his room, closed the door tightly, and bowed piously.

"May the Mountain Lord look down; this disciple wishes to test the method with his own body."

In the darkness, Daoist Mi could feel a wisp of divine consciousness descend.

Without any hesitation, Daoist Mi took out the Lotus Bud and swallowed it.

In an instant, he could clearly feel the Lotus Bud come alive in his stomach; that wriggling sensation brought immense fear.

But Daoist Mi had achieved some success in his cultivation and was a person of firm mind; he quickly composed himself.

The Qin Mantis hatched from the Lotus Bud began to gnaw on his internal organs, turning this flesh and blood into nourishment.

It wanted to use this human body as a cocoon to transform into a demon and emerge.

The transformation of flesh, blood, and soul here was profound and extraordinary.

It was the innate supernatural power of the Qin Mantis Immortal, but because it was a degraded version, this power also had flaws.

In just a few short seconds, Daoist Mi lost his original appearance; the stone mask he originally wore on his face suddenly shattered, revealing a flat-headed insect face.

Transforming into an insect body was only the beginning of the Shedding Method.

Beneath the insect skin, it seemed as if some living thing was wriggling, wanting to break through this skin bag.

One could only hear the sound of slight tearing.

The blood-colored membrane stretched out bit by bit.

This was the most critical step; once it failed, there was only one path: destruction.

Under Chen Nuo's divine consciousness, it was not hard to see that Daoist Mi was struggling to keep going.

After all, his strength was insufficient, and his cultivation time was too short; just transforming into an insect had consumed much of his vital energy and blood. How could he succeed in forcing a shedding?

"Oh well, I shall give you a hand."

However, Chen Nuo had long anticipated this possible situation.

He took an Essence Pill, refined it into pure essence energy, and passed it to Daoist Mi.

With the help of this essence, Daoist Mi made one final push, stretched open the flesh and skin, and revealed the appearance of a young boy.

His body was covered in mucus, and his skin was as delicate as a newborn baby's.

He looked well-behaved, but a pair of antennae had grown on his forehead, showing some abnormality, and even more inhuman were his compound eyes.

"I did it! I, the Daoist, have finally done it!!"

"Hmm?"

"This child lost his composure; I hope the Mountain Lord will forgive me."

Daoist Mi—er, the Child Daoist—shuddered, his mind instantly clearing, and he hurriedly bowed forward.

How could he call himself 'Daoist' in front of the Mountain Lord?!

His cultivation was still not enough; he couldn't control his restless mind.

"Your Shedding Method took a shortcut; it can only be considered half-successful. If this defect is not mended, I fear you will face disaster in the future."

Chen Nuo poured a bucket of cold water on him.

His Shedding Method was about finding life in death, drawing meaning from reincarnation, but Daoist Mi was clearly not doing that.

He knew he didn't have that kind of great wisdom, nor did he feel he had any great fortune; after studying it, he took a shortcut.

He used the Lotus Bud as a base, abandoned the physical body and cultivation he had worked hard for many years to build, and although he emerged with a new life, his power was completely dissipated.

This could no longer be called the Shedding Method; it should be called the Escape Method.

Although this method was far inferior to the Shedding Method, it had its merits; at least it was not difficult to succeed, and it could also extend one's life.

It was just that because his heart was fearful, having taken this path, it would be difficult to practice the Shedding Method again.

Finding life in death?

With a way out, how many people would be willing to face death?

However, Chen Nuo had also gained something from this and had achieved his goal of testing the method, so naturally, there was no need to hold it against him.

Being able to survive by stealing a life was his own ability.

"This child understands."

The Child Daoist saw that the Mountain Lord was not angry and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

However, what he didn't notice was that the insect body he had shed suddenly came alive, opening up like silk fabric, revealing the scarlet flesh and blood inside, intending to devour the Child Daoist.

What he had abandoned was not just his flesh and cultivation, but also the insect consciousness within the Lotus Bud.

The Child Daoist had escaped and gained a new life, while this Lotus Bud had become his stepping stone.

How could it not resent or hate him?

"Mountain Lord, save me!"

The Child Daoist was terrified; hadn't this tribulation come too quickly?

He had lost all his cultivation and could barely stand; how could he block the insect body's counterattack?

He could only beg Chen Nuo for help.

Chen Nuo's thought arose suddenly, and a wisp of golden light shot out from his Sun Eye, pinning the insect body to the ground.

This Great Sun Golden Light was the best at breaking evil.

Wisps of black energy hissed as they emerged from the wound.

The insect body kept wriggling and struggling, possessing a survival instinct.

"This evil thing is actually not bad; it shares the same origin as you. It can be refined into an insect garment. If you wear it and transform into an Insect Daoist, even that Hundred-Eyes won't be able to see the discrepancy."

Chen Nuo looked at the insect body and had a new idea.

"It is all up to the Mountain Lord's arrangement."

Upon hearing this, the Child Daoist bowed and said.

He had been saved by the Mountain Lord once again.

The Mountain Lord's kindness could never be repaid.

"Quite obedient."

Chen Nuo nodded, took the insect body, and used the Great Sun Golden Light to cleanse it inside and out, completely wiping away the resentment on it.

After some further refining, he obtained an insect garment magical artifact.

Previously, in order to refine the Glazed Sun Eye, Chen Nuo had learned some local artifact refining techniques.

The mortal world was not like the heavens; it was very poor.

One could not find any good naturally grown spiritual materials or immortal treasures.

Even if there were any, they were almost all claimed, used as bait by others. If your greed got the better of you, you would be reeled in.

However, human and demon materials were abundant.

Thus, some different artifact refining methods were born.

Dismantling bones to make swords, extracting souls to make sails, refining blood into pools, and so on.

There were too many tricks in the mortal world; living people wouldn't be suffocated by urine, let alone a group of demons and cultivators—each of them had very flexible ideas.

Chen Nuo was just doing as the locals did; weren't his cicada-slough treasures refined in this way?

Moreover, the items he carried on his own person were quite satisfactory to use.

Like this insect garment, it was modeled after the 'Painted Skin' refining method. There was nothing profound about it; many small demons knew this trick, draping themselves in human skin to hide their demonic aura so they could enter the secular world and steal some human food.

Some timid and careful demons, not daring to eat humans directly, simply painted a beautiful human skin for themselves, entered brothels and flower boats, and engaged in flesh trade.

Their lives were actually more comfortable than most wild demons in the mountains.

Of course, the quality of this skin garment artifact mainly depended on the person and the material.

After being refined by Chen Nuo's craft, it actually turned into a mid-to-high-grade magical artifact.

The Child Daoist put on his insect garment, transformed into a flat-headed Insect Daoist, and immediately looked delighted.

Don't look at the insect garment's strange insect-like appearance; the cultivation it brought was solid and real.

In this Yellow Flower Temple, if one didn't have cultivation to protect oneself, how could one feel safe?

"Many thanks, Mountain Lord; this child is endlessly grateful."

After adapting a little to the insect garment, the Child Daoist bowed deeply again. As the saying goes, 'too much politeness never offends the gods,' but if the politeness was lacking, what if the god decided to punish him?

Chen Nuo saw this, nodded inwardly, and spoke.

"This insect garment has other mysteries; you can explore them yourself later. I have another matter to entrust to you."

"Please speak, Mountain Lord; this child will do his utmost."

"Before long, a monkey will come to this temple to find trouble with Hundred-Eyes. I have a magical treasure here that can break that Golden Light Needle. When the time comes, you can seize the opportunity to assist him."

As he spoke, a golden needle appeared.

The Child Daoist saw this and hurriedly reached out to hold it.

For a person of great supernatural power like Chen Nuo, dealing with a Demon King like Hundred-Eyes only required making a move.

There were too many old schemers in this world; one shouldn't easily enter the field personally.

Otherwise, like the Great Sage Sun, when he first rose to power, he stirred up the four seas and caused chaos in the Heavenly Court, invincible everywhere, but after that, his monkey butt was also clearly seen by others.

He had only attained the Dao for a few hundred years; how could he compare with those great gods and immortals? They all had vast supernatural powers and heaven-reaching magic, while his accumulated foundation was far lacking.

As a result, his innate Indestructible Vajra body was broken by the combined efforts of the Eastern and Western Heavens.

Later, the Great Sage learned to hide, but who knows if it was already too late.

"By the way, Hundred-Eyes has been operating in this temple for hundreds of years and should have saved up some family assets; remember to find them."

Chen Nuo left a final instruction.

"Yes."

The Child Daoist saw that there was no reply for a long time, knowing that the Mountain Lord had withdrawn his divine consciousness and left. Only then did he stand up, carefully examine the golden needle in his hand, and then hide it away properly.

Looking at it now, it had no miraculous appearance; it looked like an ordinary object, and outsiders wouldn't be able to see anything unusual.

This treasure had an owner, so naturally, he could not refine it.

However, Chen Nuo had left the incantation; when the time came, he just needed to speak it.

The magical treasure had a spirit and would naturally move in response to the voice.