Standing up from the stone bed, Mo Xuan felt an unprecedented lightness throughout his body. Though his Lihua Mystic Art might not be considered fully mastered, conjuring a flame or two would now come naturally to him.
What pleased him most was how potent his demon essence had become. In truth, he was now quite wealthy in spiritual power, and Mo Xuan knew this was all thanks to the ancient spiritual herbs within the pill he had consumed.
During this past month, Mo Xuan had only spent the initial period using the Lihua Mystic Art to neutralize the pill's fire energy. The rest of his time was devoted to practicing the Nine-Ranked Celestial Immortal Technique.
As its name suggested, the Nine-Ranked Celestial Immortal Technique was divided into nine ranks, with each advancement multiplying its power geometrically. Before his transformation, Mo Xuan had barely reached the peak of the first rank before hitting a wall. Now, with the aid of the pill, he had advanced to the middle stage of the second rank. At this level, among other abilities, he could easily ride clouds and mist through the air. While he couldn't quite "travel from the North Sea to Mount Cangwu in a single day," he could certainly cover thousands of miles in a day without issue.
He could now also wield the Seventy-Two Earthly Transformations with natural ease.
As for the Lihua Mystic Art, he knew better than to rush it. He dared not take another pill, as his current physical condition could no longer withstand the fire energy contained within. Mo Xuan was self-aware enough to know that cultivation couldn't be rushed—he had plenty of time, after all.
Thus, he focused entirely on refining the jade-green gourd.
The gourd had been masterless for some time, and being a non-aggressive magical treasure with a gentle nature, it didn't resist someone like Mo Xuan who practiced the Lihua Mystic Art. Despite his modest power, Mo Xuan didn't need to expend much effort to claim ownership of this treasure.
Holding the gourd, he pointed its mouth at the thirty-six thousand ink feathers that had been floating in the air for some time and said "collect." The feathers all rushed into the gourd at once. Satisfied, Mo Xuan hung the gourd at his waist and walked to the stone wall. He cut his finger and channeled his energy to splash the hot blood onto the formation inscribed on the wall. With his left palm facing the wall, he secretly circulated his mystic art and pressed firmly against the formation.
After a moment of intense heat in his palm, the formation on the wall vanished, and Mo Xuan emerged from the formation space into the stone cave where Ink Spirit King had originally resided. By now, the formation on the cave wall had also disappeared.
Mo Xuan slowly raised his left hand to see the Zhu Rong formation clearly visible on his palm before gradually fading away. He smiled with satisfaction and was about to step forward when he suddenly heard sounds of battle outside. His heart stirred, and he used the Seventy-Two Earthly Transformations to take on the appearance of the Ink Spirit King before hurrying outside.
As soon as he exited the cave, Mo Xuan was startled by the scene before him—someone had launched an attack on their territory.
The demon horde of Mount Tianyin had been forced into a group in front of the stone cave by the attackers, who were of two types: soldiers whom Mo Xuan recognized as being from the Qingliang Kingdom, and others who appeared to be half-monk, half-layman. Though fewer in number, these latter individuals were powerful and formed the main fighting force of the attackers.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you've finally emerged from seclusion!" a small demon exclaimed joyfully upon seeing Mo Xuan, rushing to his side.
Having accessed the Ink Spirit King's memories, Mo Xuan naturally recognized this as the king's personal attendant demon, originally a gray fox called Little Gray, one of the cleverer ones among the minor demons.
Putting on a stern expression, he demanded, "What's happening here?"
"Your Majesty, terrible news! The fellow disciples of that Golden Armored General you killed last month have come seeking revenge, along with the Qingliang Kingdom's army!"
"Golden Armored General!" Mo Xuan was momentarily confused before remembering—it was that legendary demon-slaying general whom Ink Spirit had devoured. Looking at the current situation, he understood completely.
Those half-monk, half-layman individuals radiated spiritual energy, clearly cultivators. Their spiritual energy signature was very similar to that of the demon-slaying general—they must have come seeking revenge.
Just as he was contemplating whether to take this opportunity to flee, a loud shout rang out: "Demon, prepare to meet your doom!"
Almost simultaneously, Mo Xuan felt a sharp sword energy rushing toward him, seemingly about to cut him down in an instant.
His heart jolted in alarm. He performed an iron bridge dodge to evade the sword strike, then rolled away to escape the sword's attack range. Only then did he clearly see his attacker's appearance.
It was a middle-aged Daoist priest wearing a straight headband and an Eight Trigrams robe, wielding an Eight-Treasure Purple Gold Sword. His swordplay was so dense it seemed to leave no gaps as he pressed his attack against Mo Xuan.
Seeing the priest's fierce swordsmanship and lacking a suitable weapon, Mo Xuan retreated into the cave after several dodges. He grabbed the Ink Spirit King's usual weapon, a crude iron spear, and engaged in battle with the priest.
The priest was clearly a formidable practitioner, his power not much weaker than Mo Xuan's current level. Moreover, his Eight-Treasure Purple Gold Sword was many times superior to Mo Xuan's crude iron spear. Mo Xuan dared not casually use the Nine-Ranked Celestial Immortal Technique, so for a time, they fought intensely with neither able to gain the upper hand.
But Mo Xuan had no intention of prolonged combat. Though he currently appeared as the Ink Spirit King, he was an impostor who cared nothing for Mount Tianyin's fate. After fighting long enough to make a show of it, he deliberately created an opening, made a feint with his spear, broke free from the priest's engagement, and emerged from the cave. His form twisted as he stirred up a demon wind and fled eastward.
Though the priest also possessed some supernatural abilities, his cloud-riding technique couldn't compare to the effectiveness of Bodhi's direct transmission. By the time he had ascended to the clouds to look around, Mo Xuan had vanished without a trace. The priest could only return to the Void Cave sullenly, raising his Eight-Treasure Purple Gold Sword to dance even more fiercely than before. Joining forces with the others, they soon slaughtered all the minor demons clean.
As for Mo Xuan, shortly after leaving Mount Tianyin, he transformed into his human form—his post-transformation appearance. He wore a dark-colored long robe with a purple sash at his waist, from which hung the jade-green gourd, clear and lustrous to the point of being adorable. His feet were clad in black cloth shoes as he rode a white auspicious cloud toward Mount Huaguo.
His attire and appearance combined to present the image of a handsome immortal from the heavens.
This was because he had cultivated the Nine-Ranked Celestial Immortal Technique to the middle stage of the second rank, and his post-transformation body naturally emitted some celestial energy that could entrance others. However, even so, he dared not be too conspicuous, so he didn't dare travel too quickly on his cloud. From Mount Tianyin to Mount Huaguo lay a great continent and two great oceans, a distance of tens of thousands of miles, and with Mo Xuan keeping his speed modest, it took him a full five days before he finally caught sight of Mount Huaguo beyond the Eastern Victory Divine Continent.