Chapter 119: The Eight-Nine Profound Arts and the Arrival of the Witch and Demon Tribes

Upon achieving an immortal body, Luo Zu’s physical cultivation also saw a corresponding improvement. However, the increase was modest, adding only four transformations to his original foundation, bringing him to nineteen. Originally, the eighteen transformations of the Four-Nine Mysterious Technique were meant to be a significant breakthrough, but given that Luo Zu’s cultivation had surged and he had achieved an immortal body—securing the vital essence of three hundred and sixty-five primordial gods and demons—this major hurdle seemed inconsequential, failing to provide a substantial boost to his physical form.

Because of this, Luo Zu decided to draft a revised version of the Four-Nine Mysterious Technique, distilling its essence to better suit the human physique. After all, he had now glimpsed the true secret of the human body: the vital essence of the primordial gods and demons bestowed by Goddess Nuwa. Perhaps it was precisely because of this essence that humans were able to awaken innate divine abilities.

So, were human innate abilities merely a bonus, a prerequisite skill derived from the essence of the primordial gods and demons? Many, however, never reached the realm required to realize this. Yet, he believed that as the human race grew and its population reached a scale comparable to the Lich clans, this gift from Goddess Nuwa would be widely recognized and harvested by the masses. When that day came, every human in the Primordial World could claim to be a "lesser primordial god or demon."

*Hah*, it seemed Goddess Nuwa was playing a grand game of chess. If everyone could achieve this, the Goddess’s great transformative powers might also advance by leaps and bounds. Then again, that was not quite right; at the level of cultivation Goddess Nuwa had already attained, even millions of humans achieving the body of a primordial god or demon would likely be of little help to her own progression. Furthermore, Luo Zu dared not dwell on it too much, lest the Goddess, perceiving his silent thoughts, cast her gaze upon him.

As for the new version of the Four-Nine Mysterious Technique, Luo Zu decided to name it the Eight-Nine Mysterious Technique. The name sounded quite auspicious, didn’t it?

"I suppose this counts as preemptively registering the copyright." In the future, the Eight-Nine Mysterious Technique of the Primordial World would have to follow his version. Someday, Erlang Shen would practice this, Sun Wukong would practice this, and every famous figure would practice this...

Luo Zu let his imagination run wild, then drafted a broad framework and used his seventy-two spiritual-energy brains to perform the calculations. He possessed exactly seventy-two such brains, which fit perfectly with his Eight-Nine Mysterious Technique—auspicious, truly auspicious; fitting, truly fitting. To better grasp these transformations, Luo Zu specifically crafted an external incarnation, molding it after his current immortal body.

However, it was not a one-to-one recreation; otherwise, the energy required would likely deplete the Three Realms and drain all the spiritual energy within a radius of ten thousand miles. It would be a true extraction, converting mountains, rivers, and all matter into basic spiritual energy before forcibly refining it. It would be as if the land of Luo Township were to become a lake ten thousand miles deep and ten thousand miles in radius. Thus, Luo Zu merely used a wisp of immortal energy to craft a life-sized version of himself.

The Heaven-within-a-Pot could now support a vessel of his "massive" volume, so he no longer needed to mold a three-foot-tall puppet. Consequently, the Lord of Demons beneath the "Divine Mountain" on the mortal plane could also increase in intensity, with his size doubling and his aura surging accordingly. Sitting atop the mountain, Yang was startled, feeling as if he were perched atop a volcano, his seat scorching hot.

Luo Zu also implemented a small update; now that the volume of the Heaven-within-a-Pot had grown and the spiritual energy he provided had increased, coupled with his act of driving "calamity energy" into the Nine Netherworlds, the great calamity of the mortal world had been significantly weakened and postponed by several centuries.

Yet, the precursors to the conflict between demons and humans, which had already reached a boiling point, had not dissipated; instead, they intensified as contradictions deepened. Qing, who styled himself the Grand Marshal of the Demon Race, was striving for excellence. He was nearing the perfection of his primordial spirit and immortal energy, and had unified the various demon tribes across the wildlands from south to north and east to west, even learning from the humans by beginning to build cities. On the other hand, he attempted to awaken the intelligence of the giant beasts in the wildlands, trying to pull them into the demon camp. Furthermore, he sowed discord between the humans and the barbarians, constantly inciting conflict.

His painstaking efforts bore fruit, and the relationship between the humans and the barbarians became increasingly strained. In truth, the primary cause was Qing’s strategic contraction of demon territory, retreating to the south of the wildlands and ceding the majority of the northern and eastern regions to the barbarians. This was merely a nominal surrender; he had written numerous guarantees and even presented the barbarians with maps of key locations in the wildlands, marking important mineral deposits, areas of concentrated spiritual energy, and abundant fruit groves, all of which were gifted to them. Such a rich prize was naturally accepted by the barbarians with joy.

However, since the human race was powerful, Qing knew they would also have scouted the wildlands just as the demons had. With the typically overbearing nature of the humans, they would certainly not allow the barbarians to occupy such vast benefits. The two races would either be forced to the negotiating table or erupt into direct war. As long as the demon race stood by and fanned the flames, they would surely be able to watch the tigers fight from the mountain and reap the rewards as the fisherman.

As for the future development of the demon race, Qing already had a plan: the ocean! The ocean, which the humans had always wanted to enter but never could, would be the demons' new frontier. They would occupy the southwest corner of the wildlands to exploit the resources of the sea. Qing had discovered minute creatures capable of purifying seawater. Moreover, there were aquatic demon tribes that could dive into the depths. As long as they could overcome the toxicity of the water and the treacherous giant beasts lurking within, they could tap into the vast riches of the ocean.

As for what the ocean held and what its most important resource was—it was spiritual energy! Spiritual energy that had not yet been seized by the humans. It was hidden on the seabed and within the ocean currents; to exploit it, one had to face poisonous waters and violent currents. But there were demon tribes capable of overcoming these obstacles, allowing the demons to occupy this vast ocean that the humans, despite their dominance on land, could not touch. Previously, the demons had not been unified, and their thinking had been limited to the vast, fertile wildlands; they had missed the chance to develop the sea, but now, the opportunity had arrived.

Even without the resources of the wildlands, the demon race could still develop rapidly. Additionally, they had developed a method to transport spiritual energy. This was Qing’s idea: using talismans as carriers to categorize the chaotic spiritual energy of the sea and then channeling it to the land to supply the demon race.

As the negotiations between the humans and the barbarians broke down, they were poised to deploy their forces and wage war across the wildlands. As for Luo Zu, the "Heavenly Dao" of the Three Realms, he received this news but was not the least bit surprised, nor did he have the time to deal with it.

Because a piece of news interrupted many of his plans: the demon race was attacking again.