The void was filled with an icy rain, like snow, shattering into crystals upon hitting the platform.
"Rest in peace."
Zuo Mingqiu watched the ground with a serene expression. Zhao Qingdong lay there, her life fading to a whisper.
Such was the demonic arts. Even upon mastery, there was the risk of self-destruction or madness from internal poison. Zhao Qingdong’s forced breakthrough of the blood cocoon had already dealt her a blow that should have killed her a hundred times over. No matter how resilient she was, survival was impossible, and no immortal pill or divine medicine could help.
"His Highness the Daozi has won!"
Below the grand dao battle platform, countless people cried out in joy. They were Zuo Mingqiu’s supporters, and they had, more than once, believed Zhao Qingdong would win. Especially after her cocoon-breaking transformation, not even Nangong Huaitian, the supreme leader of the Ten Thousand Races Alliance, could have defeated her!
Zhao Qingdong was nearly invincible.
Yet, Zuo Mingqiu had still won.
Their cheers, thunderous and cascading, drowned out all else, plunging the entire plaza into a fervor.
"Please, Old Heavenly Master, open the battle platform so we may rescue Miss Qingdong! She cannot die!"
Lan Qi Zhenren and a host of other elders, after their initial shock, suddenly remembered Zhao Qingdong teetering on the brink of death and quickly pleaded.
Hearing this, the Old Heavenly Master, treading on the rules of the grand dao, slowly floated towards the platform, landing before Zuo Mingqiu and Zhao Qingdong.
"Old Heavenly Master," Zuo Mingqiu bowed.
"Hmm," the tall old man nodded kindly at Zuo Mingqiu.
"You performed admirably."
"Her combat power at the end reached the fourth stage. It could only be broken by the most perceptive of senses, yet you used the Eight Trigrams to calculate her every move, blocking them in advance. In this alone, you are ten times superior to your fellow disciples."
Zuo Mingqiu chuckled wryly and bowed, "Old Heavenly Master, truth be told, my ability to calculate Qingdong's movements is due to a fortuitous encounter I stumbled upon today. I believe you can also discern its nature, it is called..."
"Your fortune is your own affair; I have no jurisdiction over it." The Old Heavenly Master lowered himself, propped Zhao Qingdong up, and placed his palms on her back, slowly channeling his power to heal her and dispel the dark poison.
"Zuo Mingqiu, you only need to remember this: no matter what fortune you encounter, it must not violate the Daoist sect, nor your own Dao heart. Otherwise, even the most powerful techniques are not worth cultivating. Do you understand?"
Zuo Mingqiu knew the Old Heavenly Master was referring to Zhao Qingdong's situation and immediately clasped his hands, "Disciple understands."
"Hmm."
The Old Heavenly Master nodded. A moment later, he ceased his healing. Zhao Qingdong's life force strengthened slightly, her brow furrowed, but she still hovered on the precipice of death.
The Old Heavenly Master looked at the expectant faces below and shook his head.
"She can be considered dead."
"You cannot save her."
"Nor is there any need to!" At this moment, Bi Xu Zhenren strode into the arena. He glanced at Zhao Qingdong's soiled body, his face like frost.
"A traitor who has fallen to the demonic path, she deserves to die. Why would you waste resources saving her? Are you trying to cultivate an enemy for our Daoist sect?"
Lan Qi Zhenren and the other elders turned deathly pale. They had no grounds for rebuttal.
The Blood Cocoon Technique was indeed a demonic art, and it was the first demonic technique created by a Great True Man who had fallen to the demonic path. It had once plunged the cultivation world into bloody chaos and was considered a forbidden art.
Zhao Qingdong, a prodigy of Heavenly Master Mountain, had secretly cultivated this art. She should have been stripped of her cultivation and expelled from the sect. Now, she was dying because of it, and Heavenly Master Mountain had no reason to intervene and save her.
"Sect Master Bi Xu, your words are not entirely accurate."
At this point, from the direction of the Quanzhen Sect, a white-browed Great True Man in yellow Daoist robes emerged from the crowd, speaking calmly.
All eyes turned to him. Upon seeing the yellow-robed, white-browed elder, Bi Xu Zhenren's eyebrows twitched. He bowed and said, "May I ask, Venerable Dongling, what is your esteemed opinion?"
The yellow-robed, white-browed True Man replied calmly, "The world knows that the Blood Cocoon Technique was created by Yan You Zhenren, the martial uncle of our sect's founder, after he fell into the demonic path."
"This technique allows one to overdraft their life force, transforming it into a blood cocoon. The cultivator then absorbs the energy within the cocoon, allowing them to grow in strength limitlessly, disregarding their current realm.
"A cultivator who has absorbed their own life force also gains the ability to absorb the life force of others. They need not fear death from exhaustion, thus forming a cycle of breaking through cocoon after cocoon. The faster one wishes to progress, the more people they must kill. This is why the Blood Cocoon Technique is deemed a demonic art."
On the plaza, many Daoist disciples who were unfamiliar with the Blood Cocoon Technique nodded with grave expressions, some grinding their teeth in anger.
"The creator of this Blood Cocoon Technique was truly a scourge. Devouring one's own blood essence is one thing, but being able to devour others as well! If this fell into the hands of someone with ill intentions, how many would die unjustly in the cultivation world!"
"Many have already died," Bi Xu Zhenren said, his hands behind his back, his face solemn. "According to the ancestral records, besides Yan You Zhenren, three of his demonic disciples also mastered the Blood Cocoon Technique.
"Over seven hundred thousand cultivators and common folk died at the hands of those four. It was only through the combined efforts of all the martial arts sects and imperial forces that those four were killed, and all records of the Blood Cocoon Technique's cultivation methods were destroyed."
"Seven hundred thousand!"
This number stunned everyone. Xu Mu’s eyelids twitched. He recalled that after the Apocalypse, the Domain of the Ghastly Night became one of the eight corrupted lands. The spectral creatures brought misery to the populace, and the Great Xia exhausted most of its national strength in several campaigns to suppress them. Even then, only hundreds of thousands perished. And these four alone had killed seven hundred thousand!
The white-browed elder in yellow sighed, "Yes, seven hundred thousand. A truly horrifying number. Throughout the entire Primordial Realm, such casualties are rare."
"Indeed," Bi Xu Zhenren nodded, then asked seriously, "So what is your point?"
"Zhao Qingdong cultivated the forbidden Blood Cocoon Technique. The conclusion is obvious. Are you, as the Sect Master of Quanzhen, going to shield her?"
At this statement, the air grew tense. Even the Quanzhen Sect's own disciples and elders struggled to breathe.
The Blood Cocoon Technique had harmed an entire continent and was universally abhorred. It must never reappear. Yet, everyone knew Zhao Qingdong had a close relationship with the former Sect Master. If he insisted on protecting her, what would happen?
Would their Quanzhen Sect then oppose Heavenly Master Mountain, the entire Daoist sect, and humanity itself?
"The Blood Cocoon Technique is a forbidden demonic art, that is true, but that was in the past." Venerable Dongling Zhenren spoke calmly, waving his hand to cast an illusion. It depicted a withered Daoist figure meticulously extracting threads from a blood cocoon and absorbing them one by one.
"The person in the image is my junior brother, Daoist name Donghuo, who passed away three years ago. His true identity was a descendant of one of Yan You Zhenren's three demonic disciples."
"Donghuo spent his entire life focused on one thing: researching the Blood Cocoon Technique. The phrase he repeated most often was, 'Since the Blood Cocoon Technique was created by a Great True Man of the Daoist sect, it must adhere to Daoist principles. If it adheres to Daoist principles, on what grounds do you call it demonic?'"
Huanglong Zhenren of Sheng Yang Peak frowned and said, "But demonic is demonic, and Daoist is Daoist. Although their techniques may be similar, one's thoughts can lead to divinity or demonhood, and these cannot be confused."
Venerable Dongling Zhenren ignored him and continued,
"I told Donghuo the same thing. So, he told me he would remove the demonic aspects of the Blood Cocoon Technique and retain only the Daoist part."
"From then on, Donghuo spent his days and nights researching the Blood Cocoon Technique in the Daoist temple, but with little success."
"It wasn't until three years ago, when he broke into the Golden Tent Royal Court, that he gained insight from observing the heavenly script. He discovered a way to bypass the Blood Cocoon Technique's need to absorb life essence from others to survive and cultivate."
"However, he himself was severely injured during the royal court's pursuit. Upon returning to the mountain, he endured his injuries and, using the grand dao, created a new Blood Cocoon Technique. But before he could test its efficacy, he died."
"Because its effectiveness was unknown and the cultivation conditions were too harsh, I never mentioned this to the world. It wasn't until this lass Qingdong came to visit and accidentally found the Blood Cocoon Technique engravings left by Donghuo in a ravine. After she inquired about it and pleaded repeatedly, I then imparted this technique to her."
Bi Xu Zhenren frowned and said,
"You mean to say that what Zhao Qingdong cultivated is not the demonic Blood Cocoon Technique created by Yan You Zhenren, which requires absorbing others' life essence to survive, but rather the improved Blood Cocoon Technique by your junior brother, Donghuo."
"Then what is the difference between this Blood Cocoon Technique and the previous one?"
Venerable Dongling Zhenren shook his head.
"What the difference is, I do not know, as it has not been tested. But if this technique has indeed been successfully improved, according to my junior brother's last words, the new Blood Cocoon Technique will not require absorbing others' life essence. Instead, spirit veins or heavenly materials can be used as substitutes."
Bi Xu Zhenren's brows furrowed.
"Substituted with spirit veins or heavenly materials... If that were the case, and if the cultivator's heart is set on goodness, then it could indeed not be called demonic."
"But how can I be sure that your junior brother's improvement was successful? What if Zhao Qingdong is still cultivating the original Blood Cocoon Technique?"
"If it was unsuccessful, then you may execute Zhao Qingdong, or dispose of her as you see fit," Venerable Dongling Zhenren said calmly. "After all, she is someone from your Heavenly Master Mountain."
"But all of this hinges on saving her first. If you don't even try to save her, the truth might not be revealed until the next person who cultivates the Blood Cocoon Technique appears."
Bi Xu Zhenren fell into contemplation.
"Then let us save her."
The Old Heavenly Master seemed less conflicted. He joined two fingers together and infused a large amount of vital energy into Zhao Qingdong's body, even mixing in some of his own Dao origin.
As Zhao Qingdong absorbed it, the demonic poison within her body evaporated, and her complexion slightly improved, though she remained on the verge of death.
Seeing this, the Old Heavenly Master crouched down again and grabbed several threads of the grand dao from the air. He kneaded them and, using his Dao origin, tapped Zhao Qingdong’s body several times, infusing the grand dao and Dao origin into her, seemingly to help her reconstruct her internal organs.
After completing this, the Old Heavenly Master took out a dark yellow pill from his embrace and placed it into Zhao Qingdong's mouth. Her heartbeat then began to strengthen.
Though still very erratic, she had at least come back to life.
Having done all this, the Old Heavenly Master stood up, swaying slightly, his face appearing even more aged.
"Are you alright?" Bi Xu Zhenren supported him, his face filled with concern.
"It matters not. My lifespan is nearing its end anyway. To contribute further to the cultivation world is worthwhile."
The Old Heavenly Master looked at Zhao Qingdong lying on the ground and smiled benevolently.
A disciple of Heavenly Master Mountain could not die without understanding the truth. Whether Zhao Qingdong had truly fallen into demonic ways was still uncertain.
And if she had, the Daoist sect would have to immediately destroy the new Blood Cocoon Technique created by Donghuo, lest others mistakenly cultivate it again and cause another blood calamity. This was why he had acted so decisively to save her.
"Since that is the case, Venerable Huanglong, you are responsible for taking Zhao Qingdong back to the ancestral land and guarding her day and night."
"Upon her awakening, inform me immediately. If it is confirmed that the Blood Cocoon Technique is harmless, I will grant her freedom, and everything will proceed as normal."
"But if the Blood Cocoon Technique is still the original one..."
Bi Xu Zhenren's eyes turned cold, filled with killing intent, and he said, "Everything will be handled according to sect rules!"
Venerable Dongling Zhenren nodded.
"It is only right."
Lan Qi Zhenren and the others also breathed a sigh of relief for the moment. Fortunately, Zhao Qingdong had been temporarily saved. As long as she was alive, their future plans could continue.
The Old Heavenly Master smiled and said,
"Bi Xu, you may proceed."
Bi Xu Zhenren nodded, glanced at Zuo Mingqiu beside him, offered his congratulations, and then descended the battle platform with Zhao Qingdong.
Thus, on the towering battle platform, only the injured Zuo Mingqiu and the weak Old Heavenly Master remained.
Although Zuo Mingqiu was in poor condition, shivering from the high-altitude wind and appearing quite pathetic, no one would consider him miserable.
Because everyone knew what was about to happen next. It was the event that all Daoist followers across the world most eagerly anticipated, most closely watched, and most enviously adored.
The Heavenly Master’s Transmission of the Dao.
Also known in the martial world as the Heavenly Master’s Ordination!
…