"All under heaven know beauty and thus know ugliness; all recognize good and thus not good."

Good and evil, beauty and ugliness, right and wrong.

These are humanity's subjective judgments, not objective existences; beneficial birds and harmful insects, fierce beasts and auspicious beasts, these too are judgments of humankind.

Only since the reign of the goddess Nüwa have these concepts emerged, with the creation of "the way of humanity."

All creatures struggle and kill, the weak are prey to the strong; these are the natural state within an even greater framework than "the way of humanity."

Outside of "the way of humanity," there is no good or evil, no right or wrong; the food chain, from top to bottom, is without distinction of virtue or fault.

The reason ancient immortals observed the way of heaven and held to its course, creating "the way of humanity," was to enable humanity to live better lives, to thrive and prosper within the brutal reality of nature, and to eventually rise to dominion over the primordial chaos.

The Three Emperors led humanity, passing down civilization and even tamed tigers, leopards, bears, and elephants to serve their needs. Yu the Great cast his cauldron, capturing the souls of three thousand fierce beasts within it, which, strictly speaking, is fundamentally no different from later demon path practices—except that one utilized beast souls and the other human souls.

Shi Feiyang transformed the Myriad Cold Centipede, an ancient great demon, into a divine demon; it was a similar case.

However, this great demon was not comparable to the ordinary souls of humans or beasts. Having endured this trial, it had become the pinnacle of both demon and beast paths. By the ninth period of one hundred days, it had even drawn down heavenly tribulation.

Timing-wise, the Myriad Cold Centipede's millennia-ending tribulation matched this period, and with the descent of the demon embryo, both beast tribulation and demon tribulation came forth together. Starting ten or so days early, the sky above Gupo Ridge turned red, growing denser day by day until the entire sky looked as if it had been stained with blood.

Shi Feiyang was confident in his ability to control this demon; firstly because his Dao level was high enough that the demon's power could not affect his mind or corrupt his primordial spirit, and secondly, he performed sacrificial refinement during the last three hundred days as the demon embryo matured, improving upon the Red Body Sect's demon containment method and incorporating the Circulation method of tempering the demon heart within its restraints.

He divided the Circulation God Talisman into eight parts, corresponding to the eight solar terms: the start of winter, spring, summer, and autumn; the winter and summer solstices; and the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Each part governed three energies, with forty-five Golden Talismans each, allocated among eight demons. Using his own essence blood, he imprinted them deep within the demons' primordial spirits, then imprinted the Nine-character True Talisman of Guang Chengzi onto the final demon leader, culminating in the nine demons' combined refining.

Despite the nine demons' violent resistance, Shi Feiyang both suppressed them with the Nine Heavens Yuan Yang Ruler through casting and tempted them with his True Dragon essence blood. Ultimately, the demons were unable to escape his control, absorbing the essence blood day by day and swallowing the Spirit Talismans; all the while, the Heavenly Talismans and their demon bodies grew as one.

When the time for their birth was near, the deadly serious heavenly tribulation had already pierced through the mountains and into the cave!

Shi Longgu, carrying the nine demons in her belly, felt the impending tribulation and grew restless.

Under normal circumstances, without Shi Feiyang's interference, they would have controlled the mother's body to constantly hunt fresh blood to strengthen themselves.

During the six months of their physical growth, Shi Feiyang continuously nourished them with Spiritual Medicine. Yet, during the last three hundred days, when they needed to grow in mana, he purposefully had Shi Longgu cease eating and drinking.

Demons often use beautiful illusions to deceive humans while concealing a core of extreme horror, like a mirror reflecting two worlds - one side with endless romance and handsome men and women, the other a bleak landscape of white bones among mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Shi Feiyang continually taught Shi Longgu to break free from the Demon Realm, to shed her mortal heart amid terrifying circumstances, and to cultivate a Dao heart.

In Buddhism, there is the White Bone Temple and the Impurity Contemplation, both secret methods of cultivation that ordinary people cannot practice lightly, for they may easily encounter psychological difficulties, with some even coming to loathe life and committing suicide.

Having personally experienced this "demonic affair," Shi Longgu went through hundreds of days and nights on edge, a moment's inattention sending her into the Demon Realm. Shi Feiyang would then awaken her, prompting cold sweats, before she fell back into the Demon Realm, and Shi Feiyang would again pull her out— always honing her in the face of relentless trials, until her nature fundamentally changed.

In the last three hundred days, Shi Longgu had become able to concentrate and resist according to Shi Feiyang's teachings, enduring the extreme hunger inflicted by the demons without food or drink. The frequency of falling into the Demon Realm decreased, and sometimes she would awaken and escape on her own without waiting for Shi Feiyang.

During the initial six hundred days, the nine demons developed well physically, but experienced stunted development during the subsequent three hundred days of mana growth. Now, with heavenly tribulation imminent, they no longer dared to be wild, all cowering within their mother's womb, trembling.

Nevertheless, their presence alone drew forth a massive heavenly tribulation.

Over Gupo Ridge, blood clouds pressed lower and lower, almost reaching the mountain ridge. Looking up, countless demon shadows flickered within the clouds.

The Demon Infant's emergence faced its first great trial, and it was the Demon Tribulation!

Otherworldly Heavenly Demons, with their Divine Splitting Qi, rode the tribulation clouds, intent on taking these nine Demon Infants to their realm.

This hurdle was extremely perilous; Heavenly Demon Sensing was something neither Magical Treasures nor Spirit Talismans could block. These entities could directly connect to human and demon hearts.

When the nine demons sensed the Heavenly Demon's Divine Thought, they would be deceived by various illusions created by the Heavenly Demon, fostering within them the desire to follow. If the demons wished to leave, the Heavenly Demon would remotely entice them—common defences would prove futile. Although someone like Shi Feiyang could prevent the nine demons from leaving completely, if they chose to abandon their blood and flesh bodies to leave with only their primordial spirits by the Heavenly Demon's guidance, he would be unable to stop them.

Facing such a predicament, Shi Feiyang had already made preparations; the best defense was to attack!

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