"To be honest, I'm very curious..." Zhang Daoling ignored the other three elders and focused his gaze back on Ying Chen.
"Who exactly are you?"
"You give me a very strange feeling, a sense of familiarity yet also immense distance. It's as if we should have been from the same era, yet that's impossible. After all, even I could only leave behind a wisp of consciousness, so how can you possess a complete physical body?"
Zhang Daoling vaguely sensed Ying Chen's true nature but couldn't bring himself to believe it.
As a founding ancestor of a sect with earth-shattering abilities, he had poured all his resources into crafting this single alchemical furnace and leaving behind this fragment of consciousness.
How could Ying Chen's spirit and body remain incorruptible, spanning over a thousand years?
"Could it be... you are a disciple of my Longhu Mountain? Or perhaps the descendant of one of my old friends?" Zhang Daoling asked, furrowing his brow.
If Ying Chen were indeed a disciple of Longhu Mountain or the descendant of an old friend, Zhang Daoling would have to reconsider his plan of refining Ying Chen.
Unexpectedly, Ying Chen scoffed, "You think I'm your disciple? Do you think you're worthy?"
His words instantly darkened Zhang Daoling's expression.
A sharp killing intent permeated the entire hall.
The blazing light representing the furnace fire within the hall surged and leaped, as if eager to devour Ying Chen!
"I intended to spare your life, but you refuse to appreciate it. Then you shall perish!"
"The autumn cicada knows not of winter; you will never know what this missed opportunity means!" Zhang Daoling snorted coldly.
It seemed he knew something but was unwilling to reveal it.
Ying Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.
He realized that Zhang Daoling might have divined that the age of Dharma Decline was ending and the world was on the brink of great change.
This was why he had made all these preparations, lying dormant, waiting for an opportunity.
If this were the case, then Ying Chen would not hesitate.
He would claim all of Zhang Daoling's preparations for himself!
"Dragon and tiger in mutual aid, yin and yang rise!" Zhang Daoling pointed towards the hall.
Instantly, the light flowing throughout the hall erupted, transforming into a sky full of furnace fire.
The intense flames crackled against the void, and even vision became distorted and indistinct under the firelight.
The twelve Xuan Yin bells at the edge of the ceiling chimed in sequence.
The sundial beneath the high platform began to rotate again.
From Zi hour to Hai hour, it slowly turned.
Completing the twelve hours signified the passage of a day.
And the furnace fire within the hall grew hotter.
It was as if the furnace had been burning for a day and a night.
From the ceiling, cries of anguish occasionally echoed.
These were the demon cadavers, drawn into the ceiling, struggling in pain.
However, they were no match for Zhang Daoling in their prime, and now, after being suppressed for a thousand years with their power diminished, how could they possibly contend with him?
They could only bloom like flowers with the furnace fire, transforming into drops of thick, golden liquid.
Initially, there were only a few drops, but as the demon cadavers perished, the golden liquid increased.
Soon, it was like raindrops, covering the entire ceiling.
These golden liquids contained immense power and vitality. An ordinary person who consumed a single drop would undergo immediate transformation.
If one could withstand the power of the golden liquid without exploding, they could transcend the mortal realm and become a master of the mystic arts.
One drop had such a terrifying effect, let alone thousands upon thousands of drops!
If Zhang Daoling were allowed to successfully refine all the demon cadavers into a single pill of ten thousand demon cadavers, he might truly be able to resurrect himself from this residual consciousness!
Even if resurrection were not possible, this residual consciousness could grow and strengthen, possessing the foundation to endure until the spiritual energy's revival!
"It seems that from ancient times to the present, whether emperors, generals, or sect founders, they are all the same! None are willing to die peacefully!" Ying Chen mused.
"But have you ever considered, if you yourself are unwilling to die peacefully, then how could the demon cadavers you are refining be willing to die peacefully?"
"What do you mean?" Zhang Daoling's expression changed as he asked.
Ying Chen did not answer, but suddenly raised his hand and drew a talisman in the air.
As the talisman formed, ripples spread out, sinking into the souls of the demon cadavers!
"What are you doing? Do you wish to die?" Zhang Daoling was startled and shouted sternly.
As the founding ancestor of Taoism, he could not see through the talisman Ying Chen had drawn!
He could not understand its purpose!
This gave him a faint sense of unease.
Logically, talismans of later generations, no matter how varied, should not deviate from their origins, and could not exceed the general principles of talismans he had created.
But he did not recognize this talisman used by Ying Chen!
"Could it be... he is using pre-Qin sorcery?" Zhang Daoling suddenly shivered, a thought striking him.
"Impossible! Impossible! Whether it was pre-Qin sorcery or the sorcerers, by my era, they had already vanished. Otherwise, I would not have created the Taoist sect."
"Eighteen hundred years later, it's even more impossible for it to exist in the world. Perhaps people of this era don't even know what sorcery looks like!"
"He must be using another method, a method unique to this era. But this era's spiritual energy is depleted, so what can even the most top-tier methods of this era achieve? They are nothing but mere trifles!" Zhang Daoling reassured himself.
He no longer paid much attention to Ying Chen's peculiar talisman.
After all, he held the Yang Ping Zhi Du Gong Seal, the Twelve Xuan Yin Bells, and the entire hall was adorned with various formations.
If even with all this Ying Chen could cause chaos, he might as well cease to exist.
"The curved cannot be made straight, the full cannot be made empty, the worn cannot be made new. In all these ways, are you still willing to die?"
"In my name, I borrow your strength. Release the unyielding spirit within you!"
After finishing the talisman, Ying Chen spoke loudly.
As his words fell, the souls of the demon cadavers, on the verge of being refined into golden liquid, began to struggle violently.
Their figures, which had been almost transparent, became clear and visible once more.
Moans of unwillingness and anger emanated from their mouths.
They converged into a vast torrent, surging back towards the Twelve Xuan Yin Bells!
*Clang!*
The Twelve Xuan Yin Bells trembled rapidly for a moment, and then fell silent!
The blazing furnace fire also dimmed.
In the void, demon cadaver souls converged towards the same direction, one by one.
Growing stronger, bit by bit.
Until a silhouette the size of a mountain appeared!
The phantom exuded an evil aura, its features indistinct, only a pair of hollow, deep eyes, tightly closed.
The phantom suddenly reached out.
It actually grabbed the surrounding furnace fire and consumed it like food, chewing and swallowing!
Seeing this, Zhang Daoling was stunned.
The furnace fire was a substance of extreme purity and yang, inherently suppressing these demon cadavers.
How could demon cadavers consume it as food?
Zhang Daoling could not comprehend it.
Ying Chen looked at the phantom and clapped his hands, laughing, "Though the demon cadavers are yin, their will is not yin. They gather the unyielding will of ten thousand demons to form, and collect the unwilling souls of ten thousand demons to become a body."
"You may be called—"
"The Unyielding Pill Ghost!"
Upon receiving Ying Chen's naming, the phantom's tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open.
Instantly, a sea of blood, filling the heavens and the earth!