Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Netherworld Dharma Body

Somewhere in the middle of the valley stood a nine-story Treasure Pagoda, forged entirely from Profound Gold.

The pagoda stood firm in the valley, unyielding even against the daily onslaught of floodwaters.

This was the very place where the Yinluo Sect had sealed the Nightmare Demon—the Demon Suppression Pagoda!

While Fang Cheng was out collecting Nightmare Grass, Wen Qianqian and the other independent practitioner Array Masters were inside this pagoda.

The pagoda was quite peculiar. Upon entering, one would find nine stories stretching upward and another nine stories descending downward!

The top and bottom were perfectly symmetrical.

Within the nine subterranean levels, each floor housed a Sealing Array. These arrays served as the core for nine hollow, spherical restrictive fields.

It was as if nine nested spheres of restrictive energy encased the Nightmare Demon, sealing it completely within.

The Demon Suppression Pagoda was like a wedge driven into the nine layers of seals. If the pagoda were to be removed, the seal would naturally break.

However, the pagoda had been jointly established by the nine Peak Masters of the Yinluo Sect. It was impregnable, and an ordinary Life Talisman Master could not hope to move it in the slightest.

Wen Qianqian, her father, and the other Loose Cultivators had been assigned by Feng Jiuzhang to various floors of the Demon Suppression Pagoda to diligently repair the Array Patterns and restrictions within.

These Array Patterns and restrictions had all been damaged by the sealed Nightmare Demon’s assaults, causing cracks to appear. This allowed Demon Fog to leak into the outside world, giving rise to rare Magic Grass like Nightmare Grass.

At this moment, inside the grand hall on the ninth subterranean level of the Demon Suppression Pagoda, an incredibly dense Demonic Qi was seeping out in wisps from the cracks between the stone floor tiles.

In the center of the hall, a towering, burly man sat cross-legged and motionless. He was bare-chested, his skin covered in black patches. His muscles, bulging and dense to their absolute limit, resembled compressed Profound Iron Immortal Gold, gleaming with a hard, cold metallic luster.

He had coarse features, and his cold, stern eyes held a ferocious, terrifying light. A sinister, ghostly visage flickered faintly behind his back, exuding an astonishing demonic aura.

This was none other than Gao Chong, the one in charge of this sect mission!

His background was extraordinary. Although he was only a True Disciple, even Feng Jiuzhang, an Inner Sect Elder, had to treat him with a degree of courtesy.

Originally, the reward for this mission should have been Feng Jiuzhang’s for the taking.

But Gao Chong had swooped in at the last moment and snatched the opportunity. Not only that, but Feng Jiuzhang now had to personally manage the mission for him...

Across the hall floor, Demonic Qi, as thick and viscous as ink, bubbled up and continuously seeped into his flesh, marrow, and blood. Under the effect of a Secret Technique, it was causing an indescribable transformation in his physical body.

The Netherworld Dharma Body!

This technique was also one of the nine ultimate arts of the Yinluo Sect.

Wisps of cold energy emerged from Gao Chong’s body. Although he was burly and imposing, sitting there like a massive stone statue, he gave off an ethereal, almost illusory sensation.

As if he were a phantom, without a physical form.

CLANG...

Gao Chong lifted a hand, and with a simple flick of his five fingers, he produced a sharp clanging sound, like metal striking metal.

The sound was crisp, yet it held the grim undertone of clashing weapons.

His eyes glinted, and a chilling longsword materialized out of thin air. It arced through the sky, transforming into a streak of cold light as it slashed down toward his forehead.

CLINK...

The sword fell and collided with his flesh, yet it failed to break the skin, merely striking off a shower of sparks.

Gao Chong raised his hand again and clenched his fingers. The air for several yards around him seemed to be instantly sucked away.

He threw a seemingly light punch, yet it felt as if a mountain were toppling over. The entire grand hall began to tremble.

At that moment, it was as if the one sitting in the room was not a man, but a terrifying beast whose every stomp could shake the very earth.

He withdrew his fist, and the strange phenomenon vanished.

"The Dharma Body is complete!"

A smile touched Gao Chong’s lips.

He had finally mastered the Netherworld Dharma Body by harnessing the pure Demonic Qi of this place!

He could now clearly sense an invisible layer of power within his flesh and marrow. With every move, he could unleash boundless strength.

Without even needing to focus his mind, his physical body could resonate with the world around him with every breath.

Every single action could command the Power of Heaven and Earth, just like a Magical Artifact forged through a thousand refinements!

Gao Chong looked at his hands with satisfaction. ’This trip was well worth it,’ he thought.

A faint Profound Light appeared on the surface of his body, and his once solid, iron-like flesh quietly became ethereal.

This was the true Divine Technique of the Netherworld Dharma Body—ordinary Magical Artifacts could hardly hope to injure it in the slightest.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother. To master the Netherworld Dharma Body in less than a sixty-year cycle is truly admirable!"

Another voice suddenly echoed through the hall.

An old man with thick, prominent eyebrows, a square face, and a purple beard had appeared silently in a corner of the hall.

It was none other than Inner Sect Elder Feng Jiuzhang. He must have sensed the change in the hall’s aura and come to investigate.

Gao Chong’s smile vanished as he said calmly, "It was all thanks to the Demonic Qi here. Otherwise, it would have taken at least another ten years of hard work."

Feng Jiuzhang said flatly, "The Sealing Array will be repaired in about ten more days. Junior Brother might as well use the time to consolidate your cultivation."

Gao Chong nodded and cupped his hands. "Then I’ll be troubling you, Senior Brother."

Feng Jiuzhang gave a slight smile, and his figure transformed into a wisp of Demonic Light, vanishing on the spot.

...

「The Xiao Family’s Secret Grounds」

Inside a Cave Mansion, isolated by layers of restrictive fields.

Patriarch Xiao, Xiao Wuyin, stared with a grave expression at an object resting on a stone platform in the center of the Cave Mansion.

It was a heart, about ten feet in size and entirely scarlet in color!

The heart seemed alive. Though it rested on the stone platform, it continued to expand and contract erratically, emitting a titanic thumping sound like the beating of a war drum.

Xiao Wuyin had a gaunt face and a tall, thin frame. He possessed the refined air of an immortal sage, and one could faintly see the handsome, distinguished features of his youth, though now his face was etched with the ravages of time.

A Life Talisman Realm Cultivator has a lifespan of three hundred years, and he had already seen more than two hundred and sixty of them pass.

When he was born, the Xiao Family had only been established for a little over forty years. Among the third generation of Xiao Family disciples, he was not the one with the most outstanding talent.

However, he was the first person in the Xiao Family after the founding ancestor to break through to the Life Talisman Realm! 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He began cultivating at the age of eight, and in the fifty-plus years before he became a Life Talisman Cultivator, the Xiao Family had no other Life Talisman Master.

His appearance was what truly allowed the Xiao Family to become an "aristocratic family."

Xiao Wuyin’s true strength lay in nurturing disciples!

In this world, some people are simply better at teaching than others.

Xiao Wuyin’s talent was his ability to transform his own comprehension into simple, vivid language, allowing him to explain Cultivation Techniques and Divine Techniques with greater clarity and inspire others.

Under his guidance, the Xiao Family produced four more Life Talisman Cultivators in just a few decades.

Six Life Talisman Masters in a single family!

Even in the Abyssal Marsh, the Xiao Family was no longer inferior to smaller aristocratic families like the Zhou Family.

It was just a pity that the family had been founded too recently and lacked a deep foundation.

The Xiao Family’s fortune reached its zenith under Xiao Wuyin’s leadership!

Until the cataclysmic event that occurred more than one hundred and sixty years ago...

In that battle, the Xiao Family’s Life Talisman Masters were all but wiped out, leaving only Xiao Wuyin!

And if not for the other family Elders and disciples who sacrificed their lives to save him, Xiao Wuyin himself might not have survived.

After that, the Xiao Family suffered a devastating blow. Not only were the Life Talisman Elders lost, but more than half of the Sensing Realm disciples perished as well.

Those who remained were all individuals with low Magical Power, unable to fight.

It was as if the entire Xiao Family had been set back overnight to the time when their ancestor first arrived in the Southern Mang Mountains.

The only one to benefit was the Yinluo Sect.

...