Spirit Vessel

The massacre was over. Only a spear-wielder stood alone in the rain as streams of blood flowed below him.

His handsome face was pale without a trace of pink.

“If he refuses to kneel, kill him.” The Meng ancestor was covered in a faint barrier; the rain couldn’t get within one meter of him.

“You’re not qualified to kill me...” An azure light rushed out of his dantian and turned into an old boat.

He fell backward and landed on the deck. Its eighteen sails began to move and issued creaks.

The image of a dragon-horse appeared on the hull and destroyed the seal created by the Meng. In the next second, the boat was already on the horizon.

“He’s escaping!” The Meng ancestor activated the eighth-ranked spirit treasure and shot out a beam towards that direction, intending on killing Feng Feiyun.

Meanwhile, Feiyun recalled his leather armor. His body crumbled right away. The things keeping it together were his nine phoenix bones linking together.

“Boom!” Meanwhile, a beam was in pursuit. Its light was brighter than thunder.

The stone coffin automatically flew outward. The lid slid open and energy rushed out. Numerous chains formed a barrier to stop the beam.

Unfortunately, since it didn’t have a master empowering it, it lacked energy and was pushed back.

“Boom!” Feiyun was struck by the remnant shockwaves. His body became scorched; even his pupils turned black.

“What a ship, it’s out of the city limits already.” The ancestor recalled the eighth-ranked spirit treasure and landed on the ground.

He threw out a jade badge and ordered: “All members of the Meng in Season must pursue the half-demon named Feng Feiyun. Whoever brings his head will be rewarded 80,000 miles of territory.”

The badge sent out lights in all directions. The branches across Season all received this order. They sent out experts in order to look for him.

“Ancestor, what should we do with these half-demons?” The seventh supreme elder slightly bowed his head while standing behind him.

“Hmph, utterly disgraceful, just one half-demon caused so much trouble. The old geezers from the other branches will criticize and suppress our branch using this. I must return and ask Grandfather to come out and formulate the right strategy. You all take care of this mess. Try hard to end it here, don’t let the half-demons rebel again.”

With that, the ancestor traveled across a spiritual path and disappeared from sight. His destination was an ancestral ground of the Meng.

Meanwhile, Supreme has flown out of the city in pursuit of the azure vessel.

***

Feiyun’s injuries were increasingly serious from the relentless pursuits. Even his phoenix bones cracked.

“Faster, faster!” He crossed through a peak while losing blood along the way.

Behind him were the cries of several dozen pursuers consisting of both older experts and young geniuses.

After a tough battle, he managed to kill six of them and fled again.

“He won’t be able to escape, this area is completely contained. We’ll find him soon enough.”

Feiyun continued crossing through the perilous landscape, from mountain to plain. He eventually ended in front of a great river. Its flow was violent with bubbles rising up in the air.

Even a boulder would be crushed by this current before sinking to the bottom.

“Haha, that’s the grave of a Heaven’s Emergence devil, no one can cross that river.”

“His wounds are too serious, he’s at the end of the road.”

Ten pursers or so saw Feiyun standing next to the river and started laughing. It was only a matter of time before his death.

Feiyun’s face was completely covered in dried blood. His robe was torn everywhere; his hair draped down in a messy manner.

He glared at them and called out the spirit vessel again. He jumped on deck and told it to cross the river.

It was as big as a peak and exuded an ancient aura. It looked devilish as it crossed through this river, akin to a ghost ship.

“What is that ship! How can it float on the evil river?!” The pursuers couldn’t believe it.

This river has been stained with evil affinity from the Heaven’s Emergence cultivator. No one has been able to cross through it for thousands of years. It served as a famous moat in Season.

The broken vessel traveled across the river and slowly disappeared into the gray fog. One could still hear its sailcloth flapping from the wind.

“Go back and tell the elders that Feiyun is crossing the evil river. He’s heading north.” Someone gave this order.

***

The actual name of this river was Eternal but people simply called it “the evil river”. It was the longest river in Season at thirty-two million miles. As for its width, this remained a mystery.

Once the devil king was buried here, the place became forbidden. One could see bones everywhere on the surface.

Once the vessel made it to the center, it suffered an attack. Feiyun couldn’t handle this power; his eyes gradually closed.

The vessel didn’t fly back into Feiyun’s dantian and continued floating on the river towards the unknown.

His body grew colder; even the blood flowing out was on the verge of freezing.

The deck has rusted and was covered in a thin layer of ashes. Each speck was extremely heavy as if they were the ashes of saints.

“The nine continents are crushed, all things have fallen... dead...”

In the boundless darkness, Feiyun heard faint words as if someone was whispering to him.

Am I not dead? Why am I hearing things? Who’s speaking?

“My dao is the dao of immortality. I remain after the death of the world...” A different voice resounded.

“There are nine layers of firmaments and nine layers of earth. Hell has nine springs connecting the two entities...” The third person had an overbearing voice, akin to a ruler reciting the laws of the world.

“Who are you, what the hell are you saying?” Feiyun wanted to speak but the words were stuck in his throat.

No one answered him. More began to talk about strange matters, only one line each. Feiyun kept on asking to no avail.

“Another golden age. Unfortunately, destruction comes next...” This was the 18,006th comment Feiyun had heard.

He ignored them by this point while thinking to himself: ‘All of you are dead but I can’t die, I want rebirth, salvation after death, extreme sorrow turns to joy.”

Bright spots appeared on his body and the nine bones became ablaze. His blood became hot again while ashen specks entered his wound.

With each speck came one phrase - the language of dao enlightenment. They came in various forms - a sentimental yet ordinary phrase or just one laughter.

After a while, all the wounds were gone and he was engulfed in flames just like a phoenix experiencing a rebirth.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” Three key bones in his body became as red as blood with a resplendent glow.

The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth bone.

More time passed by...

Feiyun slowly got up as his twelve bones began channeling energy.

“Death to nirvana, nirvana to rebirth. This is the Death Tribulation.” Feiyun murmured to himself and sensed a power billowing within.

108,000 specks of dust were floating inside his golden Buddhist energy, looking like a galaxy.

“These are... the ashes of saints.” Feiyun felt a power surpassing Heaven’s Emergence in them.

Each contained one dao law left behind by the ancient saints. What he heard near death were their last words. Since the ashes entered him, so did their will.

108,000 final words, 108,000 wills.