Chapter 49: Prefabricated Demonic Creatures, Shadow Kin
The Tiger Demon paced to the edge of the small pond in the front yard of Vajra Temple. After crossing the exquisite stone arch bridge, there were steps leading to the first great hall.
This pond was quite large, rectangular in shape, and dug very deep. The pond walls were not only adorned with exquisite marble carvings but also fitted with a railing, as well as various abstract stone beasts that Yuan Zhu couldn’t recognize.
It was originally supposed to be a wishing pond for feeding ornamental koi and turtles, but now rolling Yellow Springs Death Qi was steaming up from it, clearly the ‘Death Qi hub’ of Vajra Temple, spreading to every part of the temple, twisting and eroding this ancient monastery, nurturing a Ghost Realm.
Now inside the pond, there were no longer lotus flowers, turtles, or koi to be seen in the landscape. In their place was a Reclining Buddha that had been deliberately thrown in.
The material and style of the dark gold Buddha statue obviously didn’t match the pond at all. It was clearly carried out from the Buddha Hall and tossed into the pond to suppress or nurture something?
Now, the entire Buddha statue was submerged 3/4 by the pond water. The part above the water was also corroded by Yellow Springs Death Qi, mottled and peeling. Moreover, the Reclining Buddha had no head; after being deliberately smashed, a flesh Corpse Hand was inserted into its neck, just like the ‘Buddha Hand Melon’ he had previously had the fortune to see.
Looking at the ‘Corpse Hand Plant’ growing and thriving on the Reclining Buddha statue’s neck, Yuan Zhu exclaimed in surprise: “Eh? Could it really be some kind of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures!?”
Unlike all the ‘Buddha Palms’ he had seen before, the ‘Corpse Hand’ on the Reclining Buddha statue’s neck had now completely detached from the image of an arm, more like a special plant made of flesh material.
Its main trunk (arm circumference) was already over 20cm thick, about two or three meters long, growing curved upward along the water surface. The overall outline was a giant hand with palm facing up in a grasping motion.
From the center of the palm on both sides, two smaller 1.5-meter arms extended. One snaked toward the sky, the other probed under the water surface.
On the surface of each thick, long finger, densely packed ‘small arm branches’, or ‘palm leaf blades’, or individual ‘finger caterpillars’ sprouted and grew, dangling downward, half-sinking into the pond.
At the tips of some suspended fingers, miniature small palms grew inverted, wriggling like worms, scooping up the turbid Yellow Springs water from the pond to nourish themselves.
At first glance, it looked like a collection of countless large and small arms, very creepy, still bending and twisting. But if he squinted his eyes, blurred his vision, and activated nearsighted mode, the art style improved dramatically, like a flesh coral swaying in the wind.
This flesh plant madly absorbed the death aura from the ‘Yellow Springs Pond’, extending downward numerous root tendrils like blood vessels and meridians, drilling into the Reclining Buddha statue, gradually twisting and vitalizing it, and spreading along the statue at the pond bottom toward the entire temple.
Yuan Zhu observed carefully and sure enough found many bean sprout-sized ‘miniature small palms’ emerging from the gaps in the stone slab ground. There were also barely noticeable slender small palms in wall cracks, flower beds, and on the surface of withered trees, breathing the Yellow Springs aura (blue mist) in the air, exhaling the polluted ‘Yellow Springs Buddha Rhyme’.
Then, he thought of the scene in the Shadow World, looking up at the base of Vajra Temple, where countless palm-like root tendrils protruded from between the stones, using respiration to transform the Shadow World, shaping a small Yellow Springs hell.
Those ‘pale blue Yellow Springs mist’ that he needed and could absorb were frantically plundered and absorbed by this thing, converted into Yellow Springs Buddha Rhyme with a corpse stench, and exhaled to pollute the environment!
“Could it really be an Underworld Spiritual Root? But the pollution purity is too high; it can’t be touched at all, let alone moved away.”
The Tiger Demon stared at the ‘Corpse Hand Plant’ for a long time, confirming it had nothing to do with him. Even because the pollution index was too high, the [Immortal Scripture] frantically alarmed, signaling him to stay away. He instinctively didn’t want to get too close, feeling an ominous sense of soon being pollutionized.
Game Sprite: “Boss, this thing is so evil and filthy! Resentment soaring to the heavens, enveloping the entire temple. Even worse, it’s occupying the [Yellow Springs] spring eye, polluting all the Death Qi. It really should be purified with a fire!”
The tiger head and snake tail pitifully stared at this pool of turbid Yellow Springs water, both disgusted by its rich Buddhist corpse stench and somewhat greedy and desirous. This was an instinct from the Tiger Demon bloodline, fond of all energy related to ‘Underworld and Netherworld’, which could accelerate the Tiger Demon’s growth and development.
“Sigh, if the present world also had such a Netherworld Spring, your [Mountain Lord Ghost Realm] innate divine ability could come into play.”
Yuan Zhu’s heart stirred, and he asked: “What about now? It’s not too late now. Can I activate this divine ability?”
The snake tail shook violently: “Impossible, completely impossible. Not to mention your [Tiger Demon True Body] isn’t ripe yet, currently only in the juvenile stage. Using game terms, roughly Lv1-4 level. To activate [Mountain Lord Divine (Ghost) Domain], at least Lv25-30. Moreover, the Mountain Lord divine domain requires ‘planting living piles and setting up great arrays’. Do you have human pillars? Do you have Ghost Companions?”
Another new unknown knowledge came up, and Yuan Zhu immediately became interested: “What are living piles? What is setting up an array? Why don’t I have these memories?”
“How can the juvenile stage awaken advanced bloodline memories? Besides, we’ve changed to a new universe; that array knowledge may not even work. A living pile is the formation base of the array; for you, it’s ‘Ghost Companion + human pillar’. Select people with Spiritual Root and Magic Power cultivation, arrange by Five Elements Attribute, pick Foundation Establishment cultivators, refine them into human pillar magic treasures, bury them in the soil, implant Ghost Companions to connect the Underworld, step by step expand the array, enhance effects and area… ultimately creating a divine domain. One divine achievement, ten thousand bones wither; those ten thousand bones are the ‘human pillar power’.” The Game Sprite freely fantasized, describing for Yuan Zhu the cultivation blueprint of the ‘Netherworld Ghost Tiger’ from the neighboring cultivation universe.
“So industrious… no, evil Ghost Tiger demonic monster!”
The Tiger Demon licked his lips; he couldn’t accept using humans as piles, but if it was using native mutated demons and monsters from Du Ling to refine ‘human pillar magic treasures’, he didn’t mind much inwardly. Instead, he felt a moral responsibility of acting justly for heaven’s sake.
Yes! This was the path he should take! From the shadows looking up at the light, becoming a multiverse warrior transcending species limits, contributing to society and humanity.
I come from Earth, not for anything else, but to slay demons and exterminate monsters, to save this inherently filthy world.
“Sigh, looks like no chance.”
Yuan Zhu looked at the Yellow Springs Pond somewhat regretfully, unwilling to leave just like this. If he could activate [Mountain Lord Ghost Realm] to mess around a bit, even if not occupying the pond, just purely causing chaos and destruction, it would still harm others without benefiting himself and make him happy.
Whether harming others or benefiting himself, it could bring him joy.
Game Sprite: Oh right! We multiverse warrior types are all like this! Fully support the boss.
The Game Sprite, always concerned about the boss’s mental health, synchronously perceived Yuan Zhu’s conflicted mindset and immediately followed up to relieve it: “Boss, aren’t you feeling uncomfortable inside if you don’t cause some trouble? This discomfort leads to blocked thoughts, affecting future cultivation?”
“Uh… not that exaggerated. But yeah, a bit unwilling. I worked so hard to kill my way in, and leave empty-handed? Then I came for nothing.”
The skeleton snake nodded fiercely, starting to offer malicious advice: “Right! We should cause some serious trouble, or it’s a waste. I have a plan; Boss, listen closely.”
“Speak!”
The snake tail looked around furtively, confirming no one nearby, then its pair of gem eyes flashed with wisdom, full of sneaky vibes as it whispered into the Tiger Demon’s ear: “Boss, you can spit into the pond, heavily pollute this pool of Buddhist filthy water, secretly mark your territory, leave your trace.”
“???” The kitten tilted its head; Yuan Zhu didn’t understand for a moment. “You might as well explain clearly.”
“Fierce Tiger pees, kitten spits hairballs, marks territory, occupies the mountain as king!” the Game Sprite explained. “[Universe Within The Belly] has over 40 mutated demonic creatures accumulated; you can’t digest them now, and it abnormally consumes polluting energy. My suggestion: abandon them all, spit them heavily into this pond, let those half-digested ‘mutated demonic creature. Ghost Companion reserves’ compete with that Corpse Hand for nutrients and Death Qi… Even if ultimately purified, it can still add chaos! At least, harm others without benefiting self!”
The venomous strategist Game Sprite proposed a bold and vicious plan: [Shadow Vomit Pollutes Buddha Rhyme Yellow Springs]
“Feasible? The prey I worked hard to swallow, digested for over 30 hours, just let go like this? What about my Ghost Companions?”
“Just let them go; that’s the highest cost-performance!” The Game Sprite manipulated the ‘Mao Mao King. bow tie’ on its neck to automatically decompose and reform into a feather fan and silk headscarf, worn on the head, using a small black thread arm woven from silk to fan itself, entering strategist mode. “Please hear me out.”
“First, the demonic creatures sealed, suppressed, and contained in our belly come from complex sources, fully a dozen kinds of garbage Evil God pollution products. These demonic creatures are transformed from ordinary mortals, weak in strength and poor in potential, but their pollution sources are especially complex; decomposing and eroding them is laborious and time-consuming, better to spit them out! A dozen different pollutions falling into this pool of Buddha Rhyme Yellow Springs—not talking about intensity—can disgust the opponent to death. Like adding a dozen seasonings to a pot of pure soup, heh heh heh…”
“Second, although these demonic creatures weren’t fully digested by [Universe Within The Belly], over the past 30+ hours, they’ve been thoroughly polluted and processed by ‘Shadow Power’, starting to transform toward [Tiger Ghost Companion], gaining some Ghost Companion attributes. Now that [Ghost Companion Divine Ability] is complete, if these demonic creatures regain freedom, they can’t contact their respective Evil Gods, can’t get Power of Pollution supplements, and can only be eroded by [Yellow Springs] in the current environment. Then, they will inevitably head toward death, transforming into Ghostly Creatures; at that time, they also count as spontaneously transforming into wild Yellow Springs Ghost Companions, self-processing and self-cooking.”
In the Game Sprite’s eyes, the basic functions of [Universe Within The Belly] were digestion, absorption, transformation… of prey (ingredients), processing them into Ghost Companions.
Now the Tiger Demon Yuan Zhu was too young, with average digestion function; swallowing 40 portions of ingredients but unable to absorb them. But over 30 hours, his ‘stomach acid’ had successfully transformed (polluted) this batch of ingredients, endowing them with basic shadow pollution, turning them into semi-finished ingredients (Ghost Companions).
Releasing them now, they simultaneously have ‘Evil God pollution, shadow pollution’, and suffer ‘Yellow Springs Buddha Rhyme pollution’, inevitably dying. After death, they absorb Death Qi, spontaneously transforming into ‘mutated wild Ghost Companions’; this is self-processing and self-digestion outside the digestion system.
Turning themselves into pre-prepared meals, more suitable for the Tiger Demon’s gut system, waiting for Yuan Zhu’s return. It can also pollute and disrupt this pond, competing with the Corpse Hand Plant for Yellow Springs power, spreading a dozen Evil God pollutions for harassment and destruction.
Next time if he can return, the Tiger Demon will inevitably be stronger, with a more mature digestion system. At the same time, there will be dozens of unique ‘Yellow Springs Ghost Companions (wild pre-prepared meals)’ waiting for it to hunt and taste again.
After hearing this, Yuan Zhu was stunned: “It can be operated like this? Then in the future, I might as well not digest Ghost Companions, directly make semi-finished products, then spit spit spit… let them self-ferment, wild mutation, more nutritious and mature, then eat them?”
Game Sprite: “Great King, what do you think Buddha Tomato’s magic-dyeing of that leaf citizen was? And right now in Vajra Temple, this Yellow Springs Buddha Rhyme circulating, transforming countless Dharma Palm Corpse Ghosts—what is that? You absolutely must not belittle yourself; although [Tiger Demon] is young and tender, it also has Demon God characteristics. This ‘semi-finished Ghost Companion ingredient’ is your own shadow pollution method! Unfortunately, your purity isn’t enough; you can’t massively auto-disseminate pollution, can only actively transform semi-finished products and then release them…”
Think about Buddha Tomato scattering ‘filthy blood’, instantly polluting numerous civilians, letting them spontaneously spread and diffuse, absorb starlight to grow stronger, then using Buddhist Dharma to convert them into believers. And in this Vajra Temple, there’s also a fully automatic pollution process that can transform ordinary people into Corpse Ghosts.
Looking at himself again, he must actively swallow prey, [Universe Within The Belly] makes them into semi-finished pre-prepared meals, then release back to nature to self-transform and mature… Seems pretty similar, just difference in efficiency.
Yuan Zhu suddenly had enlightenment and asked: “Put another way, from the pollution source or Anti-Law Demon God perspective. After releasing these ‘semi-finished ingredients’, they won’t be under my control, might even be hostile to me. But they’ve been marked by me with [Shadow. Ghost Companion] pollution tag, having the same attributes. Letting them grow wild is equivalent to the gold content of my recipe also increasing? When I get stronger, they also ferment more nutritious and delicious; then not only easy to digest and absorb, but also gain ‘supernatural element information’ outside [Shadow. Ghost Companion], that is, their original pollution attributes?”
A dozen garbage Evil God pollution attributes, even if digested and absorbed, are garbage tier, no reference value, and would make one’s own purity even messier, losing potential.
But letting this group of demonic creatures transform in Yellow Springs, after elimination and screening, the survivors will inevitably be stronger and more excellent.
At that time, they have both ‘Ghost Companion attributes’ and their own perfected optimized ‘other pollution characteristics’; after secondary recovery by [Universe Within The Belly], they become mine.
Yuan Zhu: “You say, the Captain generously gave uniforms and didn’t force us to sign Anti-Law with [Mao Mao King], even supporting us to continue contacting other supernatural elements, cultivating ‘power seeds’. Could it be a similar principle? The uniform is like our method of processing these demonic creature pre-prepared meals. After being tainted by shadow, it doesn’t affect the original supernatural powers, even deeply combines and mutates, giving me an opening.”
“In the future when I return to this Bubble World, they will inevitably absorb full [Yellow Springs Aura], process themselves into alternative ‘specialized. shadow Ghost Companions’, then be refined and absorbed by me, gaining a batch of [mutated version. shadow characteristics] that I couldn’t actively cultivate myself. And Happy Home team members evolve personalized ‘exclusive uniforms’ according to their habits; for [Mao Mao King], it collects various unique ‘new seeds’. If continuing to sign Anti-Law for deeper cultivation, these seeds will root and sprout, grow into stronger ‘pollution characteristics’, waiting to be harvested?”
“Eh…? Could this be [Mao Mao King]’s true purpose. If zooming out the perspective further, [Pale Great Law] tolerating or even allowing [Anti-Law Demon God] rampant growth—is it also a similar mechanism? If I were [Shadow. Great Law], painstakingly spitting out a batch of [Anti-Law. dregs], let them absorb [Yellow Springs Aura] to regrow and strengthen… ultimately return for self-service, further strengthening [Shadow Great Law]’s foundation…”
Yuan Zhu: “Oh ho, we’ve invented the truth of the world!”
Game Sprite: “Congratulations Boss, felicitations Boss! Seeing through illusions, piercing the world’s truth. Astonishing talent, unparalleled wisdom!”
The Tiger Demon proudly swung its tail, restraining himself: “Humble, calm, low-key. I observe that in the Shadow World, there is Yellow Springs mist scattered; this pond perhaps has hidden connection to the Shadow Dimension. After throwing this batch of pre-prepared meals in, letting them develop and grow, perhaps my ‘shadow pollution’ can help them penetrate the pond and Shadow Dimension, adding a batch of ‘pre-prepared meal species’ to the dead silent Shadow World, escaping Buddhist Pollution?”
The Shadow World he entered before was barren and dead silent, with no shadow creatures. But Vajra Temple was clearly eroding and transforming the Shadow World, wanting to add Yellow Springs attributes, creating an affiliated ‘Hell’ for the Bubble World.
Then his ‘wild pre-prepared Ghost Companions’ might very well take root in the Shadow Dimension, proliferate and spread… This Bubble World has potential!
Thinking of this, the Tiger Demon hurriedly used its forelimbs to grab the pond railing, poked out a big head, endured the discomfort to approach the pond water, and reversely activated [Universe Within The Belly].
The Tiger Demon’s belly felt nothing, didn’t open mouth to vomit. Instead, the small tail suddenly convulsed, smashed headfirst into the shadow below, then a shadow giant python drilled out from underground, opened its big mouth: “Wah ah, urp ah, wah urp…” and started regurgitating.
The Game Sprite spat out one after another meatball emitting rich [Shadow Pollution] aura, wrapped in black fetal membrane, rhythmically trembling. Under the meatball fetal membrane was the coiled outline of grotesquely shaped demonic creatures.
Plop! Plop! Plop!
Large and small pitch-black eerie fetal membrane meatballs fell one after another into the pond water, rapidly eroded and polluted by the rich Yellow Springs Death Qi, vitality visibly dissipating, and emitting ‘Corpse Ghost Buddha Rhyme’ and ‘Ghost Companion aura’, transforming toward death.
This refinement speed was much faster than his digestion speed!
Yuan Zhu didn’t care, because the ‘shadow tag’ he imprinted hadn’t disappeared, nor had the demonic creatures’ original ‘pollution attributes’; instead, under the pond water’s pressure, they were forced to fuse for self-preservation. Meanwhile, the way the black fetal membrane meatballs absorbed Yellow Springs power also showed ‘Ghost Companion’ partial characteristics; that was enough.
He didn’t care if it succeeded. If it did, it’s a surprise; even if failed, it could screw the opponent, heavily pollute that Corpse Hand Plant.
This group of pre-prepared meals clearly weren’t proper Buddhist Corpse Ghosts, but foundation-miscellaneous alternative wild Corpse Ghosts… and successively showing shadowification potential. Perhaps they could directly escape into the Shadow Dimension from the pond depths?
“Congratulations Great King, created uncontrolled wild dependants! Let’s escape quickly; if they hatch, the first thing might be to attack us.”
Having done a bad deed, the Tiger Demon was in great mood, joyfully saying: “No rush! Let’s check inside the great hall, loot a bit before running—not too late. I heard monks love gold, silver, glass, coral, agate… I’ve lived so poor, now quit the steam factory job; this king must make a fortune, support family!”
Once the small tail finished spitting the pre-prepared demonic creatures from [Universe Within The Belly], the Tiger Demon leaped over the stone arch bridge in one bound, rushing toward the great hall. At worst, scrape off a layer of Golden Body. He was so poor!
Today the backend changed the release time again, postponed to the 28th, Chinese New Year’s Eve… heaven-defying great luck, probably won’t encounter it again in this lifetime.
