Immortal of the Ages

Under the canopy of her blood palanquin, the woman cast a disdainful gaze that soared high into the heavens, her eyes piercing through the red veil to scorn the diminutive fox below.

"Tedious," she declared with a flick of her wrist, pressing down.

CRACK! CRACK! Moon Fairy's body, split and bleeding, crumbled under the force like grain beneath a millstone, his form dispersing into a cloud of bloody dust, ground into the earth.

To be ground like soy milk in such a manner meant a death from which there was no return.

"Immortal Yun..."

Even knowing this was but a body double of Yun Xiao, the hearts of the Great Mother and Pale Revenant shattered in that moment.

With a single, devastating strike, the woman in the blood palanquin articulated the harsh rules of survival in the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

BOOM! A thousand tormented spirits bellowed, surging skyward, and in a mere instant, they whisked the blood palanquin away, plunging into the vortex of the abyss beyond.

Silence fell over this blood-soaked land, a dead hush!

SIZZLE! CRACK! SMUSH! The crushed bone and flesh, under a gathering force, began to coalesce and bind together.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."

With each faint groan, as time trickled by, a figure took shape—a youth with snow-white hair and silver fox ears, miraculously congealed into form.

"The Divine Desolation Physique is mighty indeed, to not perish after something like that," Moon Fairy gasped, a sensation of lifetimes between breaths washing over him.

"Isn’t it my doing? Without my vitality, you’d have long perished!" a pair of dull yellow eyes joked, opening upon his face.

"The flesh holds because of my skill." Two crimson eyes flared on Moon Fairy’s forehead.

"Enough!"

Plainly put, this unkillable talent was rooted in the Divine Desolation Physique, enhanced by the Seed of Creation from both the Nian and Yaksha Ancestor.

Even Yun Xiao's true self lacked this ability. Moreover, even if the body double and the original were to merge, this capability could not be transferred to Yun Xiao’s flesh; only Moon Fairy could survive being crushed into meat paste.

"Whew..."

Despite this, Moon Fairy was immensely weakened, his complexion even paler, his appearance frail, more akin to a delicate white vixen now.

However, the fire of his anger brewed endlessly within him.

"Yanfu Tan, blessings through spit, is it? I don't care whose spit it is, daring to steal my corpse demons and snatch my life… you're dead!"

Moon Fairy had entered the Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm with the primary goal of understanding the third Dao Source. Now, he had an additional, more immediate purpose—revenge!

And who knew how this crazed woman would treat Pale Revenant and the Great Mother? Should she take displeasure, their end would be grievous indeed...

"Sea of Bitter Blessings, wait and see."

Moon Fairy, once embraced on both sides, now stood alone—never had he been more volatile.

All this while, Yun Xiao had been honing this body double, which had hardly ventured alone. Now, equipped with the powers of the Immortal Asylum, Nian, and Yaksha Ancestor, his capabilities were formidable!

His silver eyes stared fixedly at the vast expanse of the Six Paths of Reincarnation before him.

It was just a blood palanquin, yet Yun Xiao found himself beginning to despise this strange world...

"Alone, am I? So be it. No need to hold back, no concerns for repercussions."

If he could survive what had just happened, what was there to fear? Let the world be as bizarre as it wished, Yun Xiao cared no longer. Boldly and openly, his body double strode toward the six endless vortexes.

Ironically, the more he ceased to conceal his movements, the safer his journey became.

As Moon Fairy neared the massive entrances of the vortexes, he gradually encountered fellow travelers.

These travelers, heads bowed in nervous anticipation, moved toward the world of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, their faces pale and expressions grave. Among them were humans and demons, mostly of older age.

There were also devils, half-devils, Yokai, Dokkaebis… a whole chaotic mix that opened Yun Xiao’s eyes to the diversity of life in this world.

"Sir, are you in a hurry to reincarnate?"

Moon Fairy's shoulder was bumped by an old man with thinning hair, prompting him to strike up a conversation.

The old man glared at him, muttering a prayer, "May the Buddha save me from the Beast Path. I pray that I won't enter the Beast Path!"

"Really reincarnating? But you're flesh and blood, not a deceased spirit," Moon Fairy asked in confusion. Reincarnation usually followed death. Yet here were these beings, none of whom appeared dead.

"Speaking such foolishness in a place of rebirth, you truly are an idiot!" The old man shot Moon Fairy a look of exasperation and briskly walked forward. His expression turned obsequious as he chuckled to the air, "Grandfather Six-Eyed Pandemonium. Yes, it’s me again! This time, I wish to mend my ways in my third life. Please grace me by letting me enter the Human Path!"

With that, the old man walked on, pulling several fragrant celestial fruits from his Bag of Holding, offering them forward with a sycophantic smile. "This is to show my respect to you, Grandfather!"

What lay ahead? Moon Fairy, initially seeing nothing, took a few more steps forward and was stunned to discover a colossal beast beside the six boundless vortex abysses!

At first glance, Moon Fairy mistook it for a corpse demon!

This immense creature dwarfed even the flesh mounds of corpses, being 1,000 times larger. It clung to the world like a giant grub on a coffin, devoid of arms or legs, possessing only a fleshy body with six enormous eyes spread across it.

The Six-Eyed Pandemonium? This was neither a corpse demon nor a regular demon, and whether it counted as a special life form or something akin to the Nian or Yaksha Ancestor was unclear.

At that moment, the Six-Eyed Pandemonium writhed, its massive eyes swirling chaotically, each capable of emitting thousands of beams of light that snatched the newcomers and thrust them into the vortexes behind it.

"Please, I want to enter the Heaven Path!"

Screams filled the air as each newcomer was flung toward its back.

"Your third time around and only these paltry offerings? Starve as a hungry ghost then!"

Those fattening words echoed by the old man's ear right before he screamed, hurled into the second to last abyss, disappearing from sight.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! The Six-Eyed Pandemonium, feasting on the tributes through its gaze while tossing people rapidly, its entire massive body undulated in a disturbing spectacle!

"And you! You! You saucy fox, where’s your tribute?" Suddenly, a greasy voice sounded right next to Moon Fairy’s ear.

He looked up to find one of the Six-Eyed Pandemonium’s eyes, a glint of residual light focusing on him.

"I..." Moon Fairy, for a moment, didn't know what to offer.

His hesitation displeased the Six-Eyed Pandemonium, which sinisterly remarked, "What is this, piss broke and you still want to reincarnate? Continue as a beast in your next life!"

As the words fell, a beam shot from that eye, thrusting Moon Fairy into the deepest, lowest vortex abyss!

Around him, the howls and screams of various wild beasts and demons filled the air, making his skin crawl.

"Regardless, at least I've entered the world of the Six Paths of Reincarnation..."

Yun Xiao found everything here utterly preposterous.

In the light of the Six-Eyed Pandemonium, he continued through the dark chaos until finally, he slammed into the marsh-like ground. Alongside him fell a variety of demons, some unfortunate humans, and a collection of bizarre oddities!

"Into the Soul Refining Cauldron, quick! Those with good talents in desolation might have a chance to stay in the Six Paths of Reincarnation, to live eternally!"

He had just entered when all he could see was pitch-black fog. Moon Fairy hadn’t even made out his surroundings when a sticky voice thundered above him, piercing his ears painfully.

GURGLE! GURGLE! GURGLE! Then, he heard the deafening sound of bubbling oil exploding, as waves of heat like volcanic lava surged toward him, indicating that the 'cauldron' ahead was exceedingly hot!

"The scent of the desolation...!" Moon Fairy shuddered all over and moved toward the front, only to see a vast basin ahead. Above the basin roared towering black flames, scorching the sky to a charred black!

Was this Soul Refining Cauldron made of the wasteland itself?

Back in the Great Dao Celestial Realm, Yun Xiao was preparing for his confrontation with Lu Fan, and here his body double faced tumultuous ups and downs, inevitably distracting him.

He could only focus on this Soul Refining Cauldron! He thought he heard something about desolation talents? To remain in the Six Paths of Reincarnation, to live forever without reincarnating?

THUMP! THUMP! Suddenly, heavy thuds came from the side.

Turning in that direction, he saw next to the Soul Refining Cauldron a black octopus one-sixth the size of the Six-Eyed Pandemonium. This black octopus had numerous tentacles, each festooned with huge tumors, and most strikingly, its head was a human skull.

With the head of a human and the body of an octopus, the creature's immense form was indeed a sight to puzzle over.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! At that moment, its octopus tentacles hammered away inside a small cauldron, the sound echoing loudly, splattering countless scorching droplets!

Faintly visible, the cauldron's contents under the pounding were meatballs. Under the relentless beating, each meatball became springier, and frying in the oil, they emitted an irresistibly delicious aroma.

"Takoyaki, tasty!" The skeletal octopus, a deathly creature, scooped up a golden, buttery meatball and swallowed it whole. Despite the skull's face, it seemed to relish the taste immensely.

"What?"

Was this some sort of morbid scene?

An octopus pounding takoyaki to eat!

"What are you staring at? Into the cauldron with all of you for the great king!"

After gobbling down the takoyaki, the skeletal octopus bellowed and, with a flick of its immense tentacles, swept thousands of newcomers straight into the cauldron, which roared like molten lava from a volcano.

For now, Moon Fairy put aside the bizarre and the absurd as he looked down. Below was a bubbling black sea, the scalding liquid continuously burping bubbles. Countless bodies, fried to a golden crisp and aromatic, were scooped up by the skeletal octopus and pounded into takoyaki to be devoured.

"Would that still be considered takoyaki, then?" Moon Fairy couldn't help but comment dryly.

But all that was trivial now. What mattered was the confirmation that the oil within this Soul Refining Cauldron was mostly desolation!

Elsewhere, at the edge of the black mist, the sounds of a massive army thundered, and amidst cries both agonized and exhilarated, someone shouted, "The Desolation Corps is recruiting!"

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