Wielding the Thunders Across Two Worlds

"Supreme stars, ever-shifting, ever-present.

Expel the wicked, bind the demonic, protect our lives, guard our bodies.

Grant us wisdom, bright and pure, and hearts and minds at peace.

May our three souls last forever, and our spirits never fail."

The Heart Purification Divine Curse of the Eight Great Taoist Spells.

Unlike the Golden Light Divine Curse, it couldn’t be used for offense or defense. Unlike the Incense Blessing Divine Curse, it couldn’t summon the ancestral masters. Unlike the Profound Essence Curse, it couldn’t heal and restore. Unlike the Earth-Securing Curse and the Purifying Heaven and Earth Curse, it couldn’t manage the flow of the world’s energies. And unlike the Mouth Purification Divine Curse and the Body Purification Divine Curse, it couldn’t directly purify the body’s True Qi.

But why, then, was it known as the foremost of the Eight Great Taoist Spells?

Because it worked directly on a living being’s most fundamental aspect—the Divine Soul!

Shattering illusions, purifying thoughts, expelling evil, slaying demons, fortifying the Divine Soul, and cleansing the spirit.

The Heart Purification Divine Curse was a purification of the Divine Soul at the most fundamental level of the Great Dao. It was upright and honorable. Its efficiency might not have been the highest, but it was certainly the most thorough, leaving absolutely no side effects.

Gu Zhao and the sixteen old Daoists sat around the stone slab according to the Eight Trigrams positions, forming a Nine Palace Eight Trigrams formation. The sound of the Heart Purification Divine Curse passed through the stone slab’s restriction and entered the earth, acting directly upon the Sea of Consciousness of the only living being beneath the slab.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t break the stone slab’s restriction. Rather, beneath the slab was a Fallen Demon, the Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits, who was clearly corrupted by Demonic Qi. If they simply broke the restriction and let him out, they might not be able to withstand him!

To them, a Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits with Ten Thousand Years of Dao Practice was not much different from a Celestial Demon True Body.

Gu Zhao gave a mental shrug.

As the Demonic Qi on the stone slab receded, the restriction also grew less stable. The dragon’s roar from beneath the slab grew higher and more resonant, and the sound of the Heart Purification Divine Curse also became clearer.

"ROAR—"

The dragon’s roar was filled with pain, and also with struggle.

Bai Fei and Li Qingshuang stood to one side of the stone slab, staring nervously at the restriction. But as they listened to the chanting of Gu Zhao and the others, they only felt their minds grow calm and peaceful, making it difficult to feel nervous at all.

The feeling was very awkward, which in turn made them feel a little embarrassed.

"What a wondrous Magic Spell," Bai Fei murmured. She could feel their chanting—the rhythm of their voices, the True Qi released in time with that rhythm, and the rising and falling fluctuations of their Divine Souls...

These myriad, subtle details, along with the all-important Taoist True Qi and Pure Yang Divine Souls, combined to form an exceptionally profound Curse Technique.

Bai Fei could feel that this exquisite Magic Spell was of great benefit to the Divine Soul. Even just being caught in the aftershocks of the spell, her own Divine Soul felt slightly fortified and purified.

Meanwhile, as the Heart Purification Divine Curse was chanted continuously, it was sent into the restriction along with everyone’s Magical Power and Divine Sense. The Demonic Qi patterns on the stone slab gradually calmed, the dragon’s roars faded, and the leaking Demonic Qi slowly diminished.

But in less than half a day, the Demonic Qi patterns flickered once more, the dragon’s roars began to rise, and the Demonic Qi suddenly grew thick again.

...

Over the following days, a cycle began, repeating roughly every twenty-four hours. The reaction from the restriction, the sound of the dragon’s roars, and the concentration of Demonic Qi would go from strong to weak, and then from weak to strong again.

A full eight days passed, with the cycle repeating endlessly.

Fortunately, Gu Zhao and the other Daoists all had profound Dao Practice and deep Magical Power. Moreover, chanting the Heart Purification Divine Curse consumed far less energy than casting the array to trap the Ink Flood Dragon, which was how they managed to hold on for so long.

Li Qingshuang endured it for eight days before she finally couldn’t hold back any longer. She asked Bai Fei, "How long are they going to keep chanting?"

"Soon."

Bai Fei’s Dao Practice was far greater than Li Qingshuang’s. She could clearly sense that although the cycle had repeated eight times over eight days, each cycle was actually different.

The peak intensity of the restriction’s reaction was gradually weakening. The pain in the dragon’s roars was lessening, the struggle was growing feebler, and the concentration of Demonic Qi was also steadily decreasing.

All of this indicated that the situation was gradually improving. With the help of the Heart Purification Divine Curse, the Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits was slowly regaining his sanity and was even beginning to expel the Demonic Qi from his own body.

But as for when they would succeed, or when this quantitative change would lead to a qualitative one, not even Bai Fei knew.

Perhaps it would still be a long time. Or perhaps it would happen in the very next cycle.

Bai Fei didn’t know, and in truth, neither did Gu Zhao and the sixteen old Daoists. Strictly speaking, they were only playing a supporting role.

Based on the Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits’ current situation—being sealed by the Ink Flood Dragon—combined with what Li Qingshuang had mentioned about the Dragon King’s sudden inexplicable madness, and the Ink Flood Dragon’s previous connection to that Demon Ancestor...

Gu Zhao deduced that the Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits had likely not become a Fallen Demon willingly, but had been secretly plotted against.

Seeing the seal underground and hearing the struggling dragon roars, Gu Zhao judged that the Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits could still be saved. He decisively gathered everyone to assist by chanting the Heart Purification Divine Curse, and as it turned out, it was indeed effective.

They could, of course, sense the same changes that Bai Fei could from a distance. Knowing their efforts were effective, they continued chanting without hesitation, their motivation even greater than before.

Besides, they were also filled with curiosity.

’A dragon! A True Dragon!’

’That Ink Flood Dragon was already as imposing as a mountain. Just how majestic would this Dragon King of Ten Thousand Spirits be?’

"ROAR—"

As the ninth day arrived, the dragon’s roar reached a new height. Beyond the pain and struggle, its cry now held a trace of majesty.

At the same time, as if sensing something, the black patterns on the stone slab began to flicker wildly, and the Demonic Qi beneath the slab started to surge in waves.

This change was far more intense than any during the previous eight days of cycles.

"ROAR—"

"HUMMM—"

"Supreme stars, ever-shifting, ever-present..."

The chanting of the Heart Purification Divine Curse mixed with the Demonic Qi within the dragon’s roars, forming a new balance between the Daoist, the demonic, and the draconic.

Daoist rhyme permeated the air, Dragon’s Might overshadowed the world, and Demonic Qi blotted out the sky.

Soon, half a day passed. The dragon’s roars, which should have been fading, did not quiet down. Instead, they grew even higher and clearer, as if unwilling to proceed to the next round of their struggle.

A glint in his eyes, Gu Zhao took out the Three Pristine Ones Bell and shook it gently.

"TING-A-LING—"

The sixteen old Daoists also exerted their power in unison. Those with Magical Treasures directly deployed them for reinforcement, while those without poured all their effort into channeling their True Qi.

The Eight Trigrams Array became a single entity, amplifying the power of the Heart Purification Divine Curse and sending it through the array’s restriction, directly beneath the stone slab.

Bai Fei and Li Qingshuang naturally noticed this change and both prepared to act.

And then...

"CRACK! CRACK!"

Unable to withstand the torment, the stone slab began to shatter, and the Demonic Qi patterns on its surface started to break apart.

Just as the ninth day was coming to an end, a vast, ancient dragon roar echoed from the bottom of Mo Lake. Then, the stone slab that held the restriction in place completely shattered!

"BOOM!"

The stone slab shattered, and the Demonic Qi from beneath it surged out, only to be completely blocked by the Nine Palace Eight Trigrams Array.

Then, from within the pitch-black Demon Cave, an enormous dragon head, dozens of meters wide, suddenly appeared.

Frost-like white scales covered its sharp, angular head, which was crowned by two enormous, pure-white Dragon Horns.

Its eyes did not have slitted pupils; they were human-like, filled with wisdom and majesty, but also a deep weariness.

"Thank you!"