Stranger Danger

Chapter 585: Heavenly Demon of Freedom

Of course, that didn’t diminish the gift’s value by much. According to Joy Bodhisattva, she had obtained a total of six nine-hundred-year-old Moon Lotus Seeds from the Age King Strange Realm. She had used one to manifest her Yin God and enter the Spirit Master stage, and three to manifest her Primordial Spirit and forge the bridge connecting her inner world and the outside world while entering the Trueman stage. Now, she only had two left.

When Joy Bodhisattva saw that he was at a critical moment of manifesting his Yin God, she did not hesitate to give him her last two nine-hundred-year-old Moon Lotus Seeds.

To be honest, Ye Qing was extremely touched by the gesture, so much so that he nearly offered her his hand in marriage on the spot. Luckily, his rationality and integrity kicked in just in time to prevent him from losing his virginity.

After obtaining the two nine-hundred-year-old Moon Lotus Seeds, Ye Qing yearned to convert them into his strength as soon as possible. As soon as he left Blissful Mountain, he sought out a safe, uninhabited place to refine the Moon Lotus Seeds and create his Yin God. In the end, he arrived at Peach Blossom Mountain.

Of course, the Temple of Divination was technically safer than Peach Blossom Mountain. It wasn’t like he couldn’t wait until he returned to the temple either. However, the “Paranirmitava?avartin Heavenly Demon Sutra” was no ordinary martial art, and every time he cultivated it would generate all sorts of strange phenomena. He still remembered how he had unintentionally spurred dozens of jianghu warriors to slaughter each other to the death while he was cultivating, and he imagined that manifesting a Yin God and entering the next major stage in his cultivation would only trigger an even more potent phenomenon.

That was why he needed to find an uninhabited place to undergo his breakthrough, and Peach Blossom Mountain was an excellent choice. There were no human settlements or lives within a five-kilometer radius of Peach Blossom Mountain because of the Human-faced Peach Blossoms. The Hatred-class Strangers were no danger to him, but they were incredibly dangerous for an ordinary human or your average jianghu warrior. He believed that the mountain was secluded enough that no one would notice the oddities of his cultivation, and even if they did, they would not dare to brave the dangers of Peach Blossom Mountain. This guaranteed his own safety and peace as well.

He was wrong though. He ultimately underestimated the time it took for him to manifest a Yin God and the commotion it caused.

The Yin God he was creating was officially called the “Paranirmitava?avartin Heavenly Demon”. In more secular terms, it was called the Heavenly Demon of Freedom.

To manifest the Heavenly Demon of Freedom, he must undergo three stages. The first stage was called “Forging Heaven”. In ancient times, there existed an unparalleled Heavenly Demon who ruled over the Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven. He was the Paranirmitava?avartin Heavenly Demon. The Paranirmitava?avartin Heavenly Demon loathed the living, so he departed the Three Realms and lived in the Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven. This was why the first step to creating his Yin God was to forge a Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven inside his headspace.

Normally speaking, the first step to creating a Yin God was to construct their image, but the “Paranirmitava?avartin Heavenly Demon Sutra” was not your ordinary martial art.

Of course, the real Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven Ye Qing was constructing wasn’t the real thing. Legend says that the true Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven was infinitely vast and deep, and residing within it were countless Heart Demons and desires of mankind. Anyone who took a look at it would succumb instantly. Obviously, Ye Qing did not possess the strength to construct a Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven that was even remotely close to it. The so-called Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven he was constructing was just a pocket world bearing some resemblance to the real thing with his demonic lotus as the foundation.

It took a tremendous amount of demonic thought and spiritual power to complete this stage. Despite having begun making preparations several months ago, he wasn’t able to fully construct his Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven. Even the massive quantities of gold dragon-serpent runes and natural treasures he expended amounted to just a drop in the bucket of need.

That was why the first thing he did upon ascending Peach Blossom Mountain was to consume the Moon Lotus Seed. He was certain that the vast power contained within it would be enough to complete the Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven.

And it did, albeit barely. The nine-hundred-year-old Moon Lotus Seed that could transform an early-stage Spirit Purifier into a Spirit Master in an instant contained just enough for him to construct his Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven. Not only that, this stage alone took him nearly two weeks to complete.

The second stage of the process was named “Birthing Demon”. It was the stage where he birthed his Yin God using the desires, obsessions, and heart demons of mankind such as the Five Poisons, Six Desires, Seven Emotions, Eight Fears, Nine Terrors and more.

Once again, this stage took a lot of time and effort. Only a sufficiently vast and potent demonic thought could nurture a Heavenly Demon of Freedom successfully.

Luckily for him, he still had another Moon Lotus Seed. After consuming the object, he converted pure spiritual power into demonic through the demonic lotus and successfully birthed his Yin God.

Again, this stage took him another two or so weeks to complete.

The third and final stage of the process was called “Gain Freedom”. To put it simply, Ye Qing must assume control of his own Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven and become its master.

This stage was simpler compared to the previous stages. After all, the Heavenly Demon of Freedom was born from the Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven. In essence, the Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven was its birthright, which was why it took Ye Qing little effort to succeed.

But just because the process was simple did not mean it was risk free, however. If anything, the last stage was the riskiest stage of them all. It was because he must face a deadly tribulation right after he took control of the Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven. Only then could he truly become its master and be acknowledged by the Heavenly Way.

Defeat would see him dead, and victory, life.

In fact, Ye Qing had no idea that he would face a tribulation. He instinctively realized it was only after he controlled the Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven.

He was a little miffed, to be honest. All the stories he heard told him that the heavens would bless him, and myriad creatures would celebrate his success if he was an outstanding warrior cultivating a powerful martial art. Hell, even that madman Chu Wangsun got to enjoy such a treatment, so why was he treated to a tribulation instead?

It was probably because of two reasons. One, the “Paranirmitava?avartin Heavenly Demon Sutra” was too powerful. Second, it was a heretical, blasphemous martial art that was incompatible with the world itself.

It was a demonic martial art. Of course it was going to defy the heavens and all that nonsense.

As this was his first time facing down a tribulation, he would be lying if he said he was calm. After all, a tribulation was often described as powerful, terrifying, and destructive. Countless champions and legends had perished to all sorts of tribulations while attempting to shed their mortality and enter the Sage stage. It was why even a Grandmaster was terrified of tribulations like a mouse would before a cat, much less a puny Spirit Purifier like him.

Of course his tribulation could not hope to measure up to a Sage’s tribulation, but that didn’t mean he could face it with a calm heart.

As the virgins liked to say, it was their first time after all.

Most importantly, the tribulation had appeared without any warning whatsoever. It appeared the second after he used his Yin God to take control of his Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven, the cheating bastard.

Thankfully, the Heavenly Demon of Freedom he spent countless resources, time and effort to create proved to be extraordinary. First, his demonic thought—a.k.a his spiritual power—was several times greater and stronger than before. Right now, he dare says that his spirit was as strong as a late-stage Spirit Master, if not stronger.

Second, he could now sense one’s emotions with a heart, disrupt one’s heartstrings with a thought, and manifest myriad mortal tribulations with a will.

The Paranirmitava?avartin Heavenly Demon was a Heavenly Demon like no other. He loathed the mortals who left the boundaries of the Three Realms and enjoyed causing all sorts of troubles for warriors. A master at manipulating one’s senses and exploiting one’s mental weaknesses, he could toy with anyone in all sorts of methods without leaving behind no traces whatsoever. He could be whispering poison into one’s ears right now, and they would never know even after they were six feet under.

Ye Qing’s Yin God was made in the image of the Paranirmitava?avartin Heavenly Demon, so of course it inherited a semblance of his powers as well. Invisible, everchanging and untraceable, it could exploit a victim’s mental weakness to disrupt the mind, toy with the heart, seduce the soul, and extinguish the will.

In one thought, he could inflict pain and sorrow upon all living things. Such was one they called the Paranirmitava?avartin Heavenly Demon.

Finally, Ye Qing learned a Magia known as the Boundless Heart Demon Tribulation.

He did not rush to leave the mountain though. He would stay there for a couple more days to fully familiarize himself with his new Yin God. It was only then that he finally took his leave.