The Ancestor of All Demons

After Deng Yin and the Princess of Stone God practiced dual cultivation of the "Blood God Scripture," their mana skyrocketed. The power of the Blood Demon Forbidden Net they jointly cast was unmatched, and even Shi Zhu's frantic use of the Six Roots Pure Bamboo could not withstand it.

He then released the Nine Xuanyuan Swords, transforming them into nine dragon-shaped sword lights that clawed and pounced in all directions, attempting to shatter the blood light that bound him.

At this moment, the old man Shi Pi suddenly appeared and shouted, "Do not fight here!" He waved his horsetail whisk, and instantly a massive amount of Shura Blood Flame fell from nowhere, enveloping the blood-colored web, severing the connection between Deng Yin's and the other's fingertip demon light and the demon net.

Within his blood flame were billions of golden sabers, golden swords, golden needles, and golden spears, all shooting toward the center, clashing with the sharp sword tips that Shi Zhu had unleashed. With a rapid clanging sound, all were shredded to pieces.

However, on those golden sabers and needles, there were Yin Demons with tangible substance. Though the blades crumbled, the Yin Demons used the sword light to counterattack Shi Zhu's mind.

Simultaneously, as Shi Pi swung his horsetail whisk, the ground beneath split open. The Demon Light Demon King, along with thousands of Yin Demons, exerted force inward, once again trapping Shi Zhu, turning into a scarlet fleshy sphere that fell from the cracked ground.

Shi Pi then flicked his horsetail whisk again, and the ground resealed itself, restored to its original state.

He sat firmly on the Golden Lotus Throne: "He has already been confined by me in the Demon Prison, not worth worrying about. Once we've finished our discussion, we'll deal with him accordingly!"

He had made up his mind to ally with Deng Yin. The next step was to carefully discuss how to unite, to what extent, and how to split the spoils after success...

As for Shi Zhu, after being sealed by three powerful masters using spells, he was then transported directly into the Demon Prison through a method of Inverting Five Elements and spatial relocation.

In the past, when Shi Pi believed the Asura Path was not feasible and sought another way through Buddhism, he began cultivating Buddhist law.

At that time, he wanted to meditate and cultivate, forcibly severing his twelve Great Divine Demons that he had nurtured for a thousand years. However, he was reluctant to destroy them, so he spent considerable effort building this Demon Prison, imprisoning the twelve demons inside.

The more powerful and easy to use the demon, the closer the bond with its master, making them extremely difficult to separate in the end.

The Demon Prison of Shi Pi is entirely cast with Taibai Gold Essence, imbued with Buddhist Law and Demonic Magic spells, but it only restricts these demons from leaving. The spiritual connection remains, and the demons often howl, plead, or curse in the prison, their voices directly ringing in Shi Pi's mind.

As Shi Pi's mana increased, he continually reinforced the Demon Prison.

Until he later abandoned Buddhism and returned to demonic practice, summoning these demons to accompany him, leaving the Demon Prison empty afterward.

Shi Zhu was sealed by the joint efforts of the three, and after spending about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, he finally broke through the Demon Light Demon Net with the Xuanyuan Nine Swords and the Six Roots Pure Bamboo.

With both feet on the solid Vajra Ground, he carefully examined his surroundings. The floor and walls were made of white metal, intricately carved with various eerie runes, some Buddhist and some demonic. The ceiling was a dome split into six petals, adorned not only with runes but also with numerous Shura Yaksha, divine demons, and ghosts.

As soon as he appeared, these runes began to surging with demon light and blood flame.

Shi Zhu stood motionless, to avoid triggering the demon formation.

Soon, his gaze fell on another person nailed to the wall in the distance.

A handsome young man, seemingly sixteen or seventeen years old, dressed in white, with a jade-like appearance, and dual pupils in his eyes, was pinned to the wall by several golden spears piercing through his scapula and other parts of his body. The runes on the wall constantly spewed Shura Blood Flame, which slithered like small snakes into his nostrils and ears, burning his entrails and Primordial Spirit, causing him immense pain.

"Are you... Ruan Zheng?!" Shi Zhu recognized the other's identity, Ruan Zheng, the favored disciple under Qi Shuming of the Emei Sect.

Ruan Zheng struggled to open his eyes and looked over: "Are you... you are Senior Kuzhu."

In this life, Shi Zhu walked through Central Earth as the Sect Leader of the Huangshan Sect, accomplishing many significant deeds, but the Emei Sect and others continued stubbornly calling him Kuzhu. Elders addressed him as Fellow Daoist Kuzhu, while juniors called him Senior Kuzhu.

They were unwilling to acknowledge or see the current Shi Zhu, still nostalgically recognizing only the Kuzhu of old.

"Kuzhu is no more; I am now surnamed Shi, named Shi Zhu."

Shi Zhu had seen Ruan Zheng several times in grand events, as he was Qi Shuming's favored disciple, but they had never spoken, and Ruan Zheng rarely participated in Emei Sect's collective activities, so they were not familiar.

Shi Zhu stared at him, a bit absent-minded.

Ruan Zheng was uncomfortable under his gaze. Of course, he was already in extreme discomfort under the punishment of body refinement by Shura Blood Flame: "Senior, did you notice anything amiss?"

Shi Zhu laughed: "In your current state, do you still need to ask me if there's anything wrong? Do you think you're fine?"

Ruan Zheng smiled bitterly: "This is all past karma, and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Meeting is fate, tell me, why did you fall to this point?"

Ruan Zheng sighed, and with painful groans, intermittently recounted the story of how he came to be here.

It turns out that last time when Chi You went south, Yi Ding and Yi Zhen escaped back to the mountain. Li Yingqiong remembered the last will left by the Saintess Gaya, and as the Sect Leader took her fellows to West Kunlun, to completely exterminate the Red Lotus Demon and fulfill the saintess's last wish.

She led the most elite disciples of the Emei Sect, more than ten quasi-Heavenly Immortals who met the conditions for ascension, and was equipped with a large number of Divine Weapons and Treasures. Practicing the most powerful 'Nine Heavens Mysterious Scripture', they directly sought the entrance to the Red Lotus Cave Heaven, breaking the barrier, and charged right in!

A fierce battle ensued, and the Red Lotus Demon could not withstand them, almost had his physical body destroyed, shattered into a pool of blood and flesh, which he reassembled into a blood figure.

Having suffered such a great loss, the Red Lotus Demon was beyond furious, but he simply could not fight against this group of elite disciples from the Emei Sect.

He had no choice but to abandon the Red Lotus Cave Heaven, but unwilling to accept failure, he didn't directly escape by breaking through the void. Instead, he opened a path underground, leading the Emei Sect members into the cave of Po Tou Monk.

Po Tou Monk had been diligently refining the Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword for years, reaching a state of Human-Demon Union. Suddenly disturbed, he nearly Deviated, and in his madness, he unleashed a killing spree.

But even with these two joining forces, they were still no match for the fierce elite of the Emei Sect. The Red Lotus Demon secretly employed deceit and used the Plum Blossom Splitting Technique, leaving a portion for Po Tou Monk while he led several weaker ones and rushed to Sa Shen Child's Demon Palace.

These Great Demons cultivate on Kunlun Mountain; the thousands of miles of distance are almost instantly traversed, making their comings and goings extremely convenient.

Sa Shen Child was at home repairing Jiu Panpo's Primordial Spirit when suddenly, the Demonic Flames in the cave roared upwards, among the flames appeared a Red Lotus, from which the Red Lotus Demon's Divine Splitting emerged.

The Red Lotus Demon told him that Jiu Panpo's Primordial Spirit was severely damaged and missing a lot. To restore it, unless they have Spiritual Medicine in Shi Feiyang's possession, which can solidify and condense the Soul, it would take at least sixty years of time; another shortcut is "Soul Replacement", collecting others' Souls to supplement Jiu Panpo's.

"I have two of the best ones here, Fellow Daoist, if you like them, feel free to take them!"

After the Red Lotus Demon said this, his Avatar disappeared, and his true form had already arrived outside Sa Shen Child's palace, bringing along the Yi Family brothers, Yu Yingnan, Yan Renying, and several other Emei disciples.

Having reached the door, a confrontation between the parties was inevitable.

After a prolonged battle, the Princess of Stone God also returned to join the fray.

The final outcome was that the Red Lotus Cave Heaven was completely destroyed, Sa Shen Child's Demon Palace was also ruined, the Red Lotus Demon's physical body was destroyed, and it took three years afterward to restore his form from the shattered bones and mangled flesh. Po Tou Monk was slain, not only was his physical form obliterated, but his Primordial Spirit was also injured. However, he had already achieved Human-Demon Union, and his Primordial Spirit ultimately fled with the Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword.

The Yi Family brothers of the Emei Sect were recaptured by the Princess of Stone God, as was Ruan Zheng, who, to save his younger disciples, was jointly seized by Sa Shen Child and the Red Lotus Demon.

Ruan Zheng and the daughter of the elder Shi Pi, Ming Shu, had been husband and wife in a past life. This lifetime, Ruan Zheng made mistakes and was expelled from the sect, and during those times where he reincarnated three times, he met Ming Shu during his time of purification in Yunnan, where they had a honeymoon phase.

But later Ruan Zheng refused to marry Ming Shu, which greatly displeased the elder Shi Pi.

The Princess of Stone God knew of this relationship, foresaw its future utility, and imprisoned Ruan Zheng by piecing through his scapula to restrain him. This time, she brought Ruan Zheng to convince elder Shi Pi to join her faction, specifically offering Ruan Zheng as a gift for elder Shi Pi to dispose of.

Elder Shi Pi hated this ungrateful boy, only stating that he must agree to marry his daughter and be willing to stay by her side eternally in exchange for the heritage of the Divine Sword Peak and the Asura Sect.

Ruan Zheng was still thinking about ascension, where would he agree to this?

Elder Shi Pi said: "You are of the Mysterious Sect, I do not object to your pursuit of ascension into the Spiritual Space. But wherever you go, you must bring her. My daughter has a gentle and blended temperament, unlike our Asura Sect's characteristics. I have devoted myself to teaching her, and she hasn't benefited from cultivation. I am unsure of my future, and I entrust her to you without other requests, just that you treat her well. Many things were promises you made in your past life with mountains and seas as witnesses; if you dare to break them, I will ensure you meet a death of difficulty!"

In the original timeline, Ruan Zheng had already ascended by now. Yet his Yang God cultivation was lacking a shred, unable to achieve Pure Yang — this bit of Yin residue not refined thoroughly — thus he could not ascend. Though his Mana grew, his Dao Level did not advance.

He truly had feelings for Ming Shu but did not wish to hinder his Immortal Business, refusing, wanting to forget Ming Shu and move on in Jianghu.

This infuriated elder Shi Pi greatly, even his white eyebrows stood on end from anger, repeatedly pressured him, but Ruan Zheng resolutely refused to yield. He then imprisoned Ruan Zheng in this Demon Prison, subjecting him to unbearable torture day and night, until he agrees to marry Ming Shu and be released, otherwise remaining forever to suffer until his form is ruined and spirit dissipates, collapsing into nothingness!