In just fifty years, Sun Yuan was able to overpower the seventy-two cave lords of Mount Huaguo, becoming the overlord of the entire mountain.
Controlling wind, water, lightning, and mist – these were the abilities of cultivators at the Demon Core realm.
With the strength of the Demon Core realm, Sun Yuan finally had a sliver of a chance to venture out to sea. His journey across the vast, boundless ocean was far from peaceful.
Storms raged, and water demons and spirits attacked him along the way.
Among them, those who had achieved the Demon Core realm, and even those who had condensed their Nascent Soul, were numerous.
Almost every crisis threatened to end Sun Yuan's life, and each time, he struggled between life and death.
Cultivation is difficult! Difficult! Difficult!
During these countless trials, Sun Yuan was once trapped beneath the sea, caught in the conflict between several monsters whose magical power far surpassed his own by millions of times. If not for his wit, luck, and unwavering will, he would have perished in the ocean.
By the time he finally reached Xiniu Hezhou.
Sun Yuan's cultivation far surpassed that of demons who had shattered their Demon Cores and condensed their Nascent Souls.
Relying solely on his own cultivation, he could live for hundreds of billions of years, achieving immortality.
This was already the level of a demon immortal.
The vast ocean, the endless sea, brought him not only life-and-death crises but also repeated tempering.
Amidst the crises, Sun Yuan finally grew, awakening his innate divine ability, the Fiery Eyes of Truth, honing his naturally divine body to a certain extent, and mastering all eighteen types of weaponry. Across the Four Great Continents, he could be called a "demon immortal."
Upon arriving at Xiniu Hezhou, Sun Yuan hesitated for a moment before resuming his search for Patriarch Bodhi.
Although he had endured hardships and achieved the status of a demon immortal, after witnessing numerous powerful demons in the ocean, he understood that a so-called demon immortal was, at best, a low-tier immortal fruit. In the Dragon Palaces of the Four Seas, such demon immortals were commonplace.
In this mythical world, the so-called demon race was merely a subjugated race ruled by immortals and Buddhas. While demon cultivators could achieve immortal status, it was ultimately inferior to the orthodox paths of Xuanmen and Buddhism.
Compared to the Daoist and Buddhist sects, demon cultivation was a minuscule path. Sun Yuan's initial goal in cultivating as a demon was merely to cross the vast ocean and reach Xiniu Hezhou.
Now that he had arrived, if he were to join Patriarch Bodhi's discipleship, Sun Yuan would dissipate his demonic immortal body and re-cultivate the orthodox immortal path.
Heretical and unorthodox methods could naturally not compare to the orthodox Xuanmen.
Therefore, Sun Yuan recommenced his journey to seek immortality.
Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, Xieyue Sanxing Cave – where were they?
Sun Yuan did not know the exact location, nor was it mentioned in Journey to the West.
He could only inquire from other cultivators.
But it seemed as though Patriarch Bodhi did not exist in Xiniu Hezhou.
Sun Yuan discovered that no matter whom he asked or how he inquired, he could not find any trace of Patriarch Bodhi.
No one had ever heard of Patriarch Bodhi.
In this mythical world, those who were knowledgeable were often immortals and deities, or great demons, not mortals.
The individuals Sun Yuan questioned and tested were, naturally, not ordinary mortals but great demons and deities, one after another.
Consequently.
Sun Yuan's widespread inquiries and probes not only failed to point him toward Fangcun Mountain but also brought him endless calamities.
Numerous great demons, immortals, and Buddhas took notice of him.
At the Santong Temple of the White Tiger Cave on Mount Qinglong, the contemporary immortal, Patriarch Wuzhen, intended to slay the demon and extract its heart to refine into a golden elixir in his furnace.
Great demons either wished to consume the divine ape's flesh and blood to replenish themselves or to forcibly subdue him as their subordinate.
Suddenly, Sun Yuan found himself surrounded by enemies.
Helpless, facing the greedy human immortals and great demonic beasts of the demon race, Sun Yuan could only fight, carving a path to survival through bloody combat.
The blood battles continued for countless years.
Sun Yuan, relying on his innate divine abilities and divine body to evade, engaged in combat with powerful enemies.
During this period, Sun Yuan even attacked the mountain gate of Patriarch Wuzhen, slaughtering all his disciples at Santong Temple, and plundering the cultivation manuals and magical treasures within the temple.
He destroyed various major sects, collected their cultivation manuals, and integrated their essence to create his own methods.
Sun Yuan's initial demonic cultivation was based on the techniques of the Tongbi Ape, the seventy-two cave lords, which allowed him to reach the Demon Core realm. Later, to break through to the Nascent Soul realm, he ventured into the sea to learn the techniques of the sea demons.
Now, he finally intended to create a method of his own.
In Xiniu Hezhou, various major sects had backing.
Even the great demons had the Six Great Demon Sages as their patrons.
The network of connections was ubiquitous. Sun Yuan's arrogance, his near-destruction of sects, naturally provoked stronger immortals and demons to act.
Although Patriarch Wuzhen established an immortal sect, he was merely at the Xuanxian level.
His patron sects were all descendants of the ancient Chan, Jie, and Ren lineages, and they included Golden Immortals, and even Grand Unity Golden Immortals.
While the Six Great Demon Sages would not personally deal with a junior like Sun Yuan, there were Golden Immortals and even Grand Unity Golden Immortals among their subordinate forces.
The immortals, demons, and Buddhas all attacked, leading to another bloody conflict.
Through these numerous blood battles.
Sun Yuan integrated his Dao within, and one day, he created the method of achieving Dao through the physical body, the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, and attained the fruit status of a Grand Unity Golden Immortal.
From then on, he forged his own path.
At this point, among the demon race, he could be called a "Demon Sage."
Having achieved the realm of Demon Sage, Sun Yuan had fully embodied his Dao, integrating the combat techniques he had experienced throughout his journey and the various divine abilities from numerous cultivation manuals, creating seventy-two divine abilities, which were precisely the "Seventy-Two Transformations."
Instantly, he transcended the mortal realm and became a saint, his divine power abundant, with all seventy-two transformations at his command.
Without ever apprenticing under Bodhi, he had already achieved the body of a Grand Unity Immortal.
Sun Yuan had a profound realization: "It turns out that the true master was originally within my own heart, and I merely sought it externally!"
Why should he seek Patriarch Bodhi to impart his teachings, when he could forge his own path?
The true master is never an outsider, nor is it found through seeking from others, but within one's own heart, it is one's own being.
At this moment, Sun Yuan had created the Seventy-Two Transformations and his own Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, truly understanding all the mysteries within divine abilities and cultivation methods, simply because he was their creator.
His cultivation, realm, and divine abilities far surpassed those who did not understand the principles of cultivation and merely blindly followed the methods of their predecessors.
If he had truly apprenticed under Bodhi back then, even with the Seventy-Two Transformations, he would have merely learned a quickly mastered divine ability without delving into its underlying principles.
Did this truly comprehend the rules of heaven and earth and achieve profound cultivation?
No, even with considerable combat power, he would not have understood the laws of heaven and earth, merely a quick learner. If he were to encounter his current self, he would be full of flaws, easily defeated even with minor tricks.