Chapter Six: The Sage Never Dies, the Great Thief Never Ceases

The dual swords of the Evil-Slaying Sword radiate brilliance, swirling around Sha Wujing as they soar up and down, cleaving, chopping, shattering, flicking, parrying, washing, intercepting, stabbing, stirring, pressing, hanging, and clouding, showcasing the celestial swordsmanship to its fullest extent

Unknowingly, six days had passed. Zhu Ganglie opened his eyes and found the underwater cave empty, with not a single figure in sight. Just as Zhu Ganglie was about to go out in search of Sha Wujing, the waters of the Liushah River suddenly surged violently, with dark currents churning beneath. The surface of the river was tumultuous, and the sound of distant thunder rumbled down, frightening the little demons in the river into hiding.

Oh, this Ziyang Daoist has the potential of a Bronze Saint, just missing the moment when he gets defeated and shouts, 'The same trick won't work on a Saint!'

However, the greatest thieves of heaven are not these deceased cultivators, nor the carefree immortals, but rather the six great saints who were born at the very beginning of the primordial chaos. Therefore, the Real Man of Nanhua spoke in a mocking tone: "As long as the saints do not die, the great thieves will never cease!" This implies that as long as these saints are alive, the great calamities of heaven and earth will never dissipate. Although this statement is somewhat extreme, it does hold a degree of truth.

However, the power of the Yangping Zhiduguang Seal is not to be underestimated. Although it cannot compare to the Fan Tian Seal, it is nonetheless a product of the furnace of the Supreme Old Lord, capable of immobilizing Sha Wujing.

Increase the magical power by five hundred years, transform negative energy into 'Bi Feng', and blow it into the six internal organs from the Yintang, passing through the Dantian, penetrating the nine orifices, causing the bones and flesh to become sparse, and both the physical body and the primordial spirit to decay into ashes

Sha Wujing had long since released the True Water of Samadhi, protecting his entire body. With a Suo Luo treasure staff, he struck east and west, striving to resist. The swords of the Taoist priests from Longhu Mountain had all been tainted by the True Water of Samadhi, turning into mundane iron and losing their threat. Only the two swords in the hands of Zhang Cizheng, the headmaster of Longhu Mountain, were bestowed by the Supreme Lord to Zhang Tianshi as demon-subduing treasures. After Zhang Tianshi ascended, he left these two swords, the Male and Female Swords of Evil Slaying, as treasures to protect the mountain, unafraid of the True Water of Samadhi.

However, after merging with the primordial spirit, one officially steps into the realm of immortality and will encounter the first tribulation, the thunder disaster

Cultivators are all thieves of heaven, seizing the creation of the universe, infringing upon the mysteries of the sun and moon, seeking immortality, which is intolerable by the principles of heaven, thus they face three calamities and tribulations

The Seventy-Two Transformations and the Nine Mystical Arts are indeed great supernatural powers created by ancient immortals using profound wisdom, enabling one to transform into seventy-two primordial beasts and conceal one's own aura with the intense demonic energy of these beasts

Zhu Ganglie let out a sigh of relief. The Fan Tian Seal is a treasure of Guang Chengzi from the Fengshen period, renowned for its ability to annihilate countless beings, both celestial and mortal. Guang Chengzi entrusted the Fan Tian Seal to his disciple Yin Jiao, who ultimately rebelled and used the seal to strike at Guang Chengzi. Even the master did not dare to block it and sought help from others, which illustrates its ferocity

Zhu Ganglie was so frightened by his fierce appearance that his intestines twisted in fear and his calves cramped up

During their cultivation process, they absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to achieve the goal of immortality. The amount of spiritual energy absorbed corresponds to the amount of negative energy generated in the world. Once they reach the stage of merging with the primordial spirit, this negative energy will accompany the primordial spirit, giving rise to the first tribulation: the calamity of thunder.

A crowd of people stole glances, and they saw a righteous and imposing figure flying over the water—a stout man dressed in a scholar's robe, surrounded by an ethereal aura. He was truly a warm-hearted immortal.

These individuals are all masters who have refined their primordial infants, and several have even reached the level of scattered immortals. The sect leader is actually a golden immortal; it is unknown why he remains in the mortal realm and has not ascended.

On the second day, the Heavenly Court dispatched two celestial soldiers to descend to the mortal realm, summoning Sha Wujing to receive punishment. They struck him with flying swords a hundred times before returning to the Heavenly Court. Sha Wujing, despite possessing great abilities, dared neither to evade nor to block the blows. With his strength, he could have easily killed the two celestial soldiers with a single strike, but they were executioners sent by the Jade Emperor, and he did not dare to retaliate. Instead, he returned, drenched in blood, burst into the room of the gatekeeper, seized the three mortals, and bit off one head, chewing while casting a fierce and menacing glare at Zhu Ganglie, his gaze extremely hostile.

Zhang Cizheng exerted all his strength to unleash the Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal, firmly suppressing Sha Wujing. He shouted, "All disciples, quickly unleash the Palm Thunder and eliminate this demon, then move on to the next one!"

However, what kind of person is Sha Wujing? Although the attacks of the Evil Male and Female Sword are fierce, he does not take them seriously and can easily withstand them

Sha Wujing consumed the essence of three individuals to replenish his vitality, and then he began to regulate his breathing again. Zhu Ganglie also sat down to cultivate. Although he possessed the strength of a scattered immortal, he had not yet synthesized his primordial spirit, having only developed the Yang Spirit and the Yin Spirit. The Yang Spirit, also known as the Primordial Infant and the Book of Life, is cultivated for the purpose of life and possesses supernatural powers, enabling the holder to manipulate objects. The "Baizhen Pian" states, "When the myriad Yin are stripped away and the elixir matures, one leaps out of the cage to live for ten thousand years." The golden elixir transforms into the Primordial Infant, greatly extending one's lifespan.

Zhu Ganglie does not concern himself with any calamities, regardless of their severity. Even if a great catastrophe were to befall the heavens and the earth, those beings above would bear the brunt of it. The master only trains the Yin and Yang spirits to the realm where the dragon and tiger converge, forcefully suppressing them to prevent their union. He then familiarizes himself with the transformations of the heavenly polarities, continuing his cultivation until he can successfully employ various transformations, at which point he ceases his training

The Yin spirit is the soul, a pure and ethereal entity, cultivating only nature and not fate. While the Yang spirit cannot venture into certain realms, the Yin spirit is omnipresent, traversing heaven and earth, transforming and following like a shadow

But one could see the true water of Samadhi enveloping the brilliance, shimmering brightly, while the thunder in the palms exploded one after another. The water curtain grew increasingly faint, and the onlooking Daoists realized that this demon was about to overwhelm them. Suddenly, a voice filled with masculine righteousness called out: "Fellow Daoists, do not panic; I have come to assist you in subduing demons and eliminating evil"

My divine needle can not only burst the chrysanthemum but also string together candied hawthorns. Once it enters your ear, all I need to say is: 'Long!' and instantly, one will be strung together

However, this transformation must completely turn into something else, leaving not a trace of its original essence; otherwise, calamities will still befall one.

The integration of the Yang Spirit and the Yin Spirit into one is what constitutes the true Immortal, achieved by merging the strengths of both types of consciousness.

Is someone fighting up there? Zhu Ganglie felt a stir in his heart, circled around for three to four miles, and flew out to the center of the river. He saw ten beams of light shining on the river's surface, with more than thirty Taoists surrounding Sha Wujing in a fierce battle. It turned out that the Taoists from Longhu Mountain had come seeking revenge

Is this the honest and easily deceived Sha Monk from Journey to the West? Did Old Wu make a mistake?

The Taoist priests were so enraged that their three corpses were in turmoil, smoke billowing from their seven orifices, wishing they could grab the fat man and crush him into pieces immediately Four Taoist priests flew forward, and the Purple Sun Taoist quickly warned, "Junior brothers, be careful, this fat man possesses a treasure that specifically targets the lower half of the body, it is truly vile"

Fan Tianyin? Zhu Ganglie's expression changed, and he was about to consider whether to abandon Sha Wujing and strategically retreat, when he heard Sha Wujing laughing angrily, "The Yangping Zhidu Seal cannot do anything to me!" He slapped the top of his head, and demonic clouds suddenly rose, revealing a primordial spirit of the Tang Shiz, over ten zhang in length. With a wide-open mouth, he exhaled, and the demonic clouds surged upward, preventing the Yangping Zhidu Seal from descending.

Since the inception of this method to evade the three calamities, it has brought about a new disaster known as the Great Catastrophe of Heaven and Earth. The Great Catastrophe arises from the increasing negative energy in the universe, which the heavens and the earth can no longer contain. If the proliferation of negative energy continues, it will trigger anomalies in the heavens and the earth, leading the universe back to chaos, where all living beings will turn to ashes, and even the sages will be unable to escape

In Zhu Ganglie's memory, there are no Seventy-Two Transformations or Eight-Nine Mystical Arts, only the Thirty-Six Transformations. The so-called Thirty-Six Transformations are merely a selection of the more powerful variations of the primordial beasts extracted from the Seventy-Two Transformations and Eight-Nine Mystical Arts by ancient immortals who were bored. Compared to the *Diagram* and the other two methods, it simply has fewer variations, with no distinction in superiority or inferiority.

The crowd responded with enthusiasm, each unleashing their palm thunder, all aimed at Sha Wujing!

Zhu Yuanwai was recognized for his true identity, so he decided to use the precious gold-plated palladium. While fending off the attacks from the four Taoists, he secretly released the Explosive Chrysanthemum Divine Needle, targeting the young Master Zhang.

The last time negative energy reached the brink of explosion was before the canonization of gods. At that time, the three saints of the teachings devised a plan to survive this great calamity of heaven and earth. They established the List of Canonization during the campaign of King Wu against the tyrant Zhou, allowing their disciples to carry out the massacre, even going so far as to take action themselves, resulting in countless cultivators' deaths. This partially neutralized the spiritual energy and negative energy, barely enabling them to escape the great calamity of heaven and earth

Disasters caused by thunder can be avoided. However, if a cultivator accumulates an additional five hundred years of spiritual energy after evading such a disaster, a second tribulation known as "Yin Fire" will arise. This Yin Fire cannot be evaded; it can only be resisted. It ignites from the Yongquan point beneath the body, penetrating through the Mud Wall Palace, turning the five internal organs to ash, causing the limbs to decay, and leaving the primordial spirit unable to escape

Zhang Cizheng, seeing that he could not make progress after a long time, freed his hands and threw out a small square seal. It expanded in the wind, growing as large as a small mountain, and pressed down directly on Sha Wujing's head

Those ancient immortals, after long contemplation, finally discovered a method to counter the three calamities. As long as one transforms into another entity, the natural disasters will lose their target and will naturally dissipate.

Zhang Cizheng pulled out a small figure from his sleeve, resembling an infant, with features similar to those of the Ziyang Daoist. In a sharp voice, he exclaimed: "Master, it is this fellow who killed two of my junior brothers and destroyed my physical body"