Elder Kuzhu bellowed a command and thrust his bamboo staff downward, whereupon it immediately sprouted a thirteen-zhang-tall green light, pinning it in place.

He himself quickly flew toward the Yin Palace, just as the water source happened to rotate there; he immediately struck out with an attack.

Yin corresponds to Wood and was nourished by Water, which instantaneously gave rise to a multitude of colorful flowers that spun and swarmed toward Elder Kuzhu.

Elder Kuzhu raised his hand forward, releasing a vast expanse of green light. Beyond the green light were boundless silver specks; upon touching the flowers, they shattered them in swathes.

He was just about to bank on the Taiyin Green Spirit Divine Light to charge through and destroy the water source when, all of a sudden, the dispersed petals turned into thick smokey clouds. Within the fog, flames unexpectedly kindled.

This fire was different from the Earth Fire he encountered in the Si Palace; this time, it was actually Heavenly Fire, fluid like a river, as if the sky had cracked open and a river of fire was pouring down, completely enveloping him in a sea of flames in a blink of an eye.

At first, Elder Kuzhu didn't take much notice; after living for more than a thousand years, he had seen all sorts of flames. He had even survived the Qiantian Divine Flames of the Heavenly Tribulation several times and no longer found it strange. So, he just kept charging forward, relying on the divine light.

However, it wasn't long before he realized that the silver specks outside his green light were actually being dissolved by the flames, disintegrating in large patches.

Elder Kuzhu was shocked: What kind of flames are these? They managed to damage the Taiyin Green Spirit Divine Light that he had cultivated for a thousand years!

What he didn't realize was that the Earthly Branches originated from the Heavenly constellations.

The ancients of Huaxia observed the heavenly Dao and divided the stars of the Yellow Path into four symbols: the Vermilion Bird, Xuanwu, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger. Furthermore, they divided each symbol into seven parts according to the sun, moon, and five planets, which formed the Twenty-Eight Constellations.

Among these, the four constellations with "Sun" were extremely important: the Void Sun Rat, Star Day Horse, Room Sun Rabbit, and Pleiades Sun Chicken. They corresponded to the Winter Solstice, Summer Solstice, Spring Equinox, and Autumn Equinox. These four days were placed in the central positions among the Four Spirit Constellations, like four giant pillars supporting the endless cycle of the Heavenly Dao. The legend of Nuwa cutting off the giant turtle's legs to support the sky when she revised the calendar originates from this.

Using these stars as the background, the ancients set the Yellow Path. They then used the movements of the sun, moon, and five planets within it to define the order of the Twelve Constellations. By arranging the Twelve Constellations of the Yellow Path, they began with the Void Sun Rat matching Zi and ended with the Room Fire Pig matching Hai.

Yin Palace, where the Zodiac sign matches the tiger, corresponds precisely to the Tail Fire Tiger among the constellations.

In Guang Chengzi's Heavenly Book, there is the Three Lights Tribulation Transformation Method; the Three Lights refer to the light of the sun, moon, and stars. Shi Feiyang, wishing to transcend this final tribulation, began preparing many years ago, casting spells to gather starlight and condense the Twenty-Eight Constellations. The starlight, through an Array, triggered the power of the Tail Fire Tiger Constellation, unleashing the roaring Heavenly Fire.

This is also one of the mysterious and ingenious layouts of the Heavenly Dao. The dynamic force originates from True Water, continuously supplying it until through the Array it transforms and releases the Cloud Sky Immortal Fire.

Elder Kuzhu is one of the top masters among the side branches of the Shushan World. The Taiyin Green Spirit Divine Light, achieved through his millennium of cultivation, is invincible, immune to all water, fire, wind, and thunder. Although belonging to Wood, he fears no fire in the world—except for the fire from the sky!

Taiyin, Liu Ren, Dunjia—these numerologies have always been studied since ancient times and are not uncommon. What is rare, however, is not knowing their source within the Dao. Shi Feiyang, having lived twice as a human and having earnestly studied Guang Chengzi's Heavenly Book and the Classic of Mountains and Seas, has reached a level of cultivation not on the same realm as someone like Elder Kuzhu, who dwells in the side paths. After all, side paths are side paths; they generally possess Mana far superior to Dao Level, which is the understanding of the Dao.

Pondering the Dao, while seemingly useless, has no apparent help towards combat strength. In reality, the deeper one's Dao Level, the clearer they can see the essence and operational rules of the universe and life. The broader their pattern and vision, the more accurately they can predict danger before it arrives and actively welcome good fortune, avoiding harm and seeking advantage. At each crossroad in life, they can make the most correct choices.

Choice is more important than effort. If the direction is wrong, the harder you strive, the more tragic it becomes!

Shi Feiyang's Dao is powerful, but his Mana is weak. In a duel with Elder Kuzhu, even with the many Magical Treasures in hand, he could never be a match for Elder Kuzhu; he's not even enough for a single strike from his staff.

Elder Kuzhu, on the other hand, has strong Mana but shallow Dao. Actually, his Dao is not shallow, but it's all relative. He is naturally reclusive, with a peculiar character, and dedicated to the side paths; he sprinted on a deviant path for over a thousand years, becoming ever more distant from the real Mysterious Sect and Righteous Path. He could still comprehend the changes in the Array before him, naively thinking he grasped its heart, but when the Heavenly Fire appeared, he became somewhat confounded…

For a time, Elder Kuzhu could not fathom the cause, but with his powerful Mana and extensive combat experience, he quickly formed hand seals and exhaled a stream of True Qi that shot forward, causing the green light to explode in length, and silver stars to scatter, creating an unstoppable path forward. Although he suffered losses, he managed to forcefully blaze a path through the surrounding flames.

He was determined to rely on his mighty Mana to smash through and destroy the water source!

Never mind the reason, he would shatter this Demon Formation first.

He was about to reach the water source when a surge of fire from behind rushed forth. He used the green light and silver specks to form a barrier behind him, much like a dam blocking the flames. As waves of fiery tide crashed against it, his Taiyin Green Spirit Divine Light was continuously being worn away, yet it couldn't break through for the time being.

The visual representation of the water source within the Yin Palace was a pond merely tens of zhang wide, with a rockery made of strange rocks behind it. On the mountain was a spring, where True Water gushed forth, falling into the pond.

Elder Kuzhu was about to blast both the rockery and the pond, when suddenly a flash of red light appeared in front of him, revealing two people—his biological parents from this lifetime.

The couple, both in their forties, with white hair and faces lined with wrinkles and grime, cried out to Elder Kuzhu, "My son! Where have you gone? Oh my son, your mother misses you!"

His father said, "Where have you been all these years? To find you, we've searched from Hejian Prefecture to Hankou, then to Chengdu. We sold our house and our land. Your mother has cried her eyes out for you…"

Elder Kuzhu roared with fury, "You beast, how dare you deceive me with such tricks!"

With a casual wave of his hand, a streak of azure light slashed across the waist of the two figures before him. He had thought they would disperse into colorful smoke just like the previous illusions, but to his surprise, they remained "alive"!

Instead, both were severed at the waist, their lower halves remaining in place, while their upper halves propped themselves up on their hands, blood gushing as they began to wail piteously, "My child! Do you truly seek to slay your own father and mother? You..."

Elder Kuzhu, livid with rage, raised his hand again, and with a sweep of azure light, he shredded the figures into bits. Yet, pieces of broken bones and rotten flesh still scattered upon the ground.

"That beast is using such despicable methods of the Demon Path against me. Useless as they are, they are indeed utterly nauseating... Just wait until I break this formation; I will flay you, dismember your bones, pull out your sinews, extract your teeth, and refine a few Magical Treasures to reward my juniors with, then take out your internal organs to prepare a full-course dragon banquet and invite my peers to taste!"

He had been following the Dao for a thousand years. Others had always approached him with utter respect—Master Changmei and Jile Perfected, Li Jingxu, were very polite when they met him, even addressing him as a senior in the beginning.

Shi Feiyang's move was indeed filthy, using Demon Light to transform into his biological parents to disgust him, causing his liver to ache with anger.

However, what followed made his heart, liver, spleen, and lungs all ache together!

This time it was the parents of his past life, with his father being a high-ranking official and his mother a noble lady.

Elder Kuzhu did not want to hear anything these "Demon Light illusions" had to say. As soon as they appeared, he immediately sought to blast them to smithereens.

However, his "parents" had lightning-fast reactions, almost as if their hearts were connected, sensing his murderous intent the moment they appeared. They immediately knelt down, kowtowing, "Spare our lives, my son! Spare our lives! I am your true father! She is your true mother, who carried you for ten months in her womb..."

Elder Kuzhu again released a burst of azure light and silver rain, reducing them to a splattered mess of "blood and flesh sauce," staining the ground red.

A red light flashed behind him, and another middle-aged couple appeared, scolding fiercely, "You little beast, killing your own parents—aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"

No sooner had they finished speaking than dark clouds began to accumulate overhead, with thunder rumbling menacingly.

Elder Kuzhu was startled but quickly sent another burst of azure light to obliterate the couple, then pointed upwards, shooting another streak of azure light straight into the cloud layer. With a loud "boom," it exploded, scattering countless silver sparks like fireworks, dispersing the thundercloud.

Then, further away, his great-great-grandparents appeared: "There are no disloyal Immortals in the world! You left home and ran away all those years ago, which was undutiful. Now you are even attacking us..."

He didn't get to finish his speech before Elder Kuzhu eradicated them as well.

Grinding his teeth, Elder Kuzhu thought that while these Demon Realm illusions were not particularly formidable, they were indeed infuriating!

He now longed to storm into the main hall itself, to tear that Demon Dragon into seventeen or eighteen segments with his hands—no need for Magical Treasures, no need for Spells, just his bare hands!

He thought calmly; the best course of action now was to quickly destroy the water source, breaking the Demon Formation and resolving everything.

At that moment, four figures appeared behind him, both male and female, his great-grandparents' siblings, each with an angry expression, berating him, "You really could bear to kill your own biological parents! Your mother endured ten months of pregnancy and hardship to give birth to you. There's nothing greater than a mother's grace! Not only do you fail to appreciate it, but you even killed her!"

Another sister suddenly laughed eerily, "You think by killing mere illusions, you're absolved of any consequences? Don't you realize that it has already affected your heart? People venerate Divine Statues by kneeling and praying for blessings; essentially, those are nothing but clay and wood, so what's the difference from these illusions? Although you didn't truly kill your parents just now, it's tantamount to destroying their memorial tablets!"

A little brother said, "You're nothing but a beast without parents! You, being the eldest in the family, our father always treated you as the pillar of the household, consulting you in all affairs, serving you the best dishes first, dressing you in the finest clothes, placing great expectations upon you, yet you left without a word..."

Elder Kuzhu turned around angrily, "I cured their chronic diseases with Immortal Pills, ensured they lived happily and healthily, and even provided them with more silver coins than they could ever spend in their lifetimes..."

The illusions interrupted, "Can your Immortal Pills cure the mother's pain of missing her child? Our dad did not live past fifty, our mom died in her forties! Your Elixirs were utterly useless. In fact, you yourself are the real poison. If it weren't for you, a calamitous star, being born into our family, our parents wouldn't have died so young."

Elder Kuzhu exploded in anger, "What's the point of wasting words on you Demon statues!"

With another wave of his hand, he reduced the four "siblings" to ashes.

"Humph! That beast has learned a bit of the Demon Cult's superficial methods, thinking to affect my psyche—pure wishful thinking!"

Once more, he approached the pond's edge, suddenly noticing that the previously clear waters had turned red, looking like blood. Floating in it were numerous bloody corpses, all his biological parents and siblings from several past lives. With their hair disheveled, they wailed loudly, some calling out for their son, others for their brother:

"How cruel can you be! We are already dead, our souls bound by the Demon Dragon to refine into the Flower Evil Divine Gang, turned into Demons. You, a True Immortal of the secluded world, think not of saving us but of slaying us. Are you truly heartless? Is your heart, your body, your soul as unyielding as iron and stone?"

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