Spirit Vessel

Golden Silkworm Scripture was taken from Bronze Cauldron Mountain by Wu Qinghua’s master. The extraction process from the avatar of a dead Buddhist cultivator took one hundred years, resulting in an incomplete version. Though it only had ten percent of profundity, it was still profound and powerful.

In theory, a cultivator of this art would turn into a golden cocoon after death. After breaking out, they would be able to live again just like how a chrysalis turns into a butterfly, even more powerful than before.

But after dying for the second time, they wouldn’t come back to life again. Their skin and flesh would fuse into their bones and turn into a golden avatar - virtually indestructible and unchanging.

Wu Qinghua’s master was an amazing Buddhist with incredible talents, nearly reaching the level of an en Enlightened Being. She walked the world and trained in Buddhism, trying to find how to overcome the difficult bottleneck.

She used a great technique to reach a forbidden area, one of the eight great ancient ruins - Bronze Cauldron Mountain. She didn’t find a way to become an Enlightened Being but met a golden avatar instead. She then decided to stay for a century there.

She eventually brought this avatar back to Beastmaster Camp, trading all of her mental focus for ten percent of its profundity. After recording this in the version of the Golden Silkworm Scripture, she was mentally exhausted and died.

The result of her life was only an incomplete version. It was impossible for her to derive the entire thing.

Golden Silkworm Scripture was one of the three great texts. Feiyun also had the Eight Arts Volume, part of the Grave Palace Treasure Seeking Records.

Even he had only learned the surface of the Great Change Art. As for the Minor Change Art, he only understood around twenty-percent of it.

From this, one could see just how profound these texts were, exceedingly difficult to master. Their origin was amazing. With enough comprehension, one would gain great powers.

Feiyun could sense the supreme grand dao while learning the Great Change Art. Just this art alone was actually comparable to the top arts of his clan. Once reaching full mastery, he could actually reach the stars and realms above.

This horrified him back then because, in the eyes of the phoenix race, humans were weak - a race to be bullied. Not to mention the phoenix, the rest of the demons felt the same.

Humans were born too late and couldn’t compare to the demons that have existed in antiquity.

Another time when he was proven wrong was when Shui Yueting killed him. Her power erupted back then and wasn’t weaker than him at all. A female human had reached a frightening level.

The Golden Silkworm Scripture was at a similar level, far above anything else in Jin. It was stolen now. One could easily imagine how fury brewing inside Qinghua.

“Did she take the copy or the avatar itself?” She nearly lost her mind.

Too many unprecedented things have happened today. Each was enough to infuriate her.

“Just the copy.” The old woman answered.

Qinghua heaved a sigh of relief. If the avatar itself was stolen, she would become a sinner of the sect.

The avatar contained runes on the surface containing the scripture’s profundity. The copy was the edition written by her master.

“Why would you have over a sacred item to a new learner?” Qinghua coldly asked.

The old woman was actually her Senior Aunt. She alongside three 500-year-old nuns protected their holy library. It was indeed impregnable - no one can steal anything from there.

The old woman kneeled on the ground and said: “We watched Yu Lao grew up here. She’s kind and innocent on top of always following you to the library, how could we know that she was lying? We didn’t expect that an outsider had snuck into the camp either.”

Qinghua took a deep breath to calm her mind. Beastmaster Camp has been peaceful for too long.

The entrance had plenty of disciples so any intruder would put the camp into a state of alert. How could something like this had happened?

“Feng Feiyun, you dare to deny still? You’re the only stinking man in the camp, hand over the scripture right now or I’ll kill all three of you.” Qinghua turned her aggression towards Feiyun.

The other disciples and the old nun all glared at him, thinking that he was despicable.

A girl that had a deep relationship with Yu Lao came up before Feiyun. She took out a jade sword; her eyes flashed as she said: “Feng Feiyun, a scum like you should have died a long time ago. Why did you play with Yu Lao’s heart? Not only did you plague her body but you also tricked her into stealing the scripture for you. An innocent girl has been ruined.”

The tip of the sword pointed straight for his heart.

Feiyun was wrapped by a thick black chain around a pillar. He glanced at the sword without any fear: “Little nun, I don’t think you’ve killed anyone in your life! Look at how you’re shaking. If you don’t know how to kill, release me and I’ll show you how, hehe!”

The girl’s hand was indeed shaking. After all, she was facing an infamous devil of the cultivation world. She responded: “Mon-monsters… even death is not enough to atone for all your crimes. Hand over the scripture and maybe the supreme will spare Yu Lao. Do you have no conscience left? Will you watch a woman who loves you and your child die?”

Feiyun laughed in response: “I’ll be blamed if any girl in this sect gets pregnant? I guess that’s amusing enough and if that were the truth, it would have been a life worth living and I’ll be smiling down below. Hehe, little nun, do you want a cute baby too tonight?”

His eyes were red while his laughter sounded sinister. A murderous aura oozed from him.

The girl has never heard such frightening laughter before and nearly cried. Her hand shook even more intensely, nearly dropping her sword.

“Ming Liu, get back.” Wu Qinghua chanted a Buddhist mantra. The girl suddenly woke up since the words washed away the evil thoughts imprinted into her from Feiyun.

She quickly retreated, gaining a bright innocence again in her eyes. She nearly lost her Buddhist heart earlier because of him.

Meanwhile, Feiyun glanced over at the sobbing girl on the ground. ‘She clearly knows that it wasn’t me, why isn’t she saying anything? Is it to protect her man?’

‘What a foolish girl. I wonder who is this guy, capable enough to trick her to this level. She’s still defending him too and doesn’t mind dying. I guess the girls here are so easily tricked, hehe.’

***

The tenth branch of Beastmaster.

The bamboo leaves rustled, shrouded in fog and mist.

“I have made up my mind! I need to leave this place now, can’t wait any longer. Monk, if you stop me again, I’ll smash my head against this pillar to die!” Nalan Xuejian had tears in her eyes while clenching her fists.

Monk Jiu Rou was sitting below a bamboo tree as thick as a water basin. He grabbed a wine jar with both hands and took a big sip: “I broke all the old walls and replaced them with bamboo sticks. You won’t die, it’ll just make your face swollen and ugly for a bit.”

Xuejian angrily said: “Then I’ll go jump off a cliff!”

“The cliffs here aren’t high enough to kill you, of course, you might become a cripple. Ah, so sad, instead of dying, you’ll just be paralyzed or become an idiot instead, how pitiful!” The monk ripped off a piece of pork meat and threw it in his mouth.

Xuejian wasn’t the same girl as before. She was taller and more beautiful. After staying in this Buddhist land, she became more spiritual just like a fairy.

At the age of twenty, she still had some immaturity in her. Sometimes she looked holy and transcending. At other times, she would cry and cause a scene like a little brat.

She suddenly became very sad and wiped her eyes. Tears oozed out while she pulled on her hair, broken-hearted: “I don’t want to cultivate Buddhism but you keep on making me, I just wanted to play with Feiyun but you dragged me here. Look now, without my watching him, that guy caused trouble everywhere and got burned to death, not a single piece of dregs remained. All I want to do now is to go burn some joss paper for him but you still won’t let me.”

The monk suddenly lost his appetite and put down the meat. He quickly wiped away the grease with his robe before consoling: “Little girl, stop crying! A dead man can’t come back to life…”

He didn’t add the last sentence on his mind, not wanting to provoke her any further, ‘that scum isn’t worth crying over.’

Xuejian still thought that Feiyun has been killed in the mansion, not knowing that it was only a ruse, or that Feiyun had arrived at the camp a year ago.

Monk Jiu Rou didn’t tell her anything, letting her think that Feiyun was dead so she could focus on Buddhism.

He told everyone in the camp to never let Xuejian find out about Feiyun’s presence.

The kid’s evil affinity was far thicker than before. When she found out, she would definitely go to him at all costs. Who knows what will happen then?