264: Holy Child Ceremony

"Have I ever told you that you are not allowed to appear here?"

"No matter how much you do, it is useless. Trash is trash, and you will never amount to anything."

"If only you were the one who died."

A deep, youthful voice sounded from the darkness.

"Look, that monster is here. We won't play with you, you're an ugly freak!"

"Give it back, you must have stolen it! Hit him!"

"See? No one will like you, and no one will believe you."

A few childish voices also came from the darkness.

"Get lost, you jinx, don't delay my business."

"What is this thing? Could it be a rare Yao Beast? Why not catch it and sell it?"

"Don't be stupid, what rare Yao Beast looks this pathetic? If you ask me, might as well skin it and make a Storage Pouch."

"Does your kind only know how to make Storage Pouches?"

"Who said that? I can also carve beads!"

No, no!

A figure gradually emerged from the darkness; it was a gaunt, multicolored lion.

Its hind legs seemed injured, causing it to stumble as it walked. Its fur was withered and matted, and half of its body was covered in dried grass and stones that had tangled with its fur, making it hard to separate.

But it still struggled to run forward, toward the light in the distance.

It wanted to live!

"Want to run?"

A large, pitch-black hand reached out from behind the lion, grabbed its tail, and dragged it backward.

Just as it was about to fall into the abyss again, a hand radiating white light suddenly grabbed it and pulled it out.

"Ahhh—!"

Yuan Chenling sat up abruptly, gasping for air.

After clearing his vision and checking the residual aura, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

"What just happened? Why can't I remember anything at all..."

Yuan Chenling was about to get out of bed when his hand touched a piece of paper. He unfolded the note, which read:

You accidentally triggered a Formation I set up when you landed, and were knocked unconscious.

By the time you read this letter, I should have already gone to attend the Saint Ceremony.

The impact of the Formation was quite heavy; you need to rest well.

The attached map indicates which areas within the peak have dangerous Formations and which are safe.

There is food in the kitchen; you can go eat after you wake up.

If you wish to Breakthrough in your Cultivate, you can head to the areas I have marked, or wait for me to return to be your Protector.

Zhou Yan.

Yuan Chenling rubbed his forehead, feeling like he had forgotten something. What could it be?

Forget it, eating is more important!

"Finally able to eat a proper meal!"

At this moment, at the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven plaza.

Zhou Yan looked at the setup before him and couldn't help but feel surprised.

This was not a simple arrangement of tables and chairs in an open-air plaza; rather, it made full use of the space.

Portals were layered upon one another, making the originally spacious plaza appear even more magnificent.

Looking at it, it was as if countless rooms were stacked together, some even overlapping, yet allowing people to move freely, as if stepping into a fantasy realm.

Zhou Yan casually offered a gift and found a seat in the corner.

By this time, quite a bit of time had passed since Yuan Chenling fainted, and Zhou Yan had also become familiar with his newly acquired power.

Ever since he discovered he could switch between his Yin and Yang bodies and endow the other body with special properties, he had a plan.

He first transformed into his female body, then activated a similar ability to "One Life, Two Bodies", causing the body to split in two, with each Nascent Soul leading one body.

Afterward, he changed back into his male body, thus gathering one male and one female.

That state was very strange, as if controlling two game characters simultaneously, each with its own perception but connected to each other.

Since they were originally one entity, the two bodies could perform a small maneuver: locking and concentrating their aura and Divine Sense on one of the bodies.

Whichever body Zhou Yan focused his main energy on would become the primary target for enemies in battle, while the other could gain a certain "stealth" characteristic.

If not observed directly with the five senses, it was difficult to detect; if the other body actively hid, even a Cultivator's five senses would not easily discover it unless they stood directly in front of the other person.

However, this ability was not smooth to use; controlling two bodies simultaneously caused his reaction speed to drop too much.

Although they could perform special combinations, it was difficult to maintain throughout the battle, as it consumed too much mental energy.

Coupled with the restriction that the two bodies could not be far apart, Zhou Yan temporarily put this ability aside and had only tried it once.

And it was this single use that brought him quite an improvement.

Just as Qingxuan said, finding a Dao Companion to marry was indeed effective.

After Zhou Yan performed the wedding ceremony with his own split clone, his Law of the Heart immediately leveled up, and his cultivation also rose by one level.

Although he was still far from the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, this feeling of leveling up easily was still very refreshing. Who doesn't love a freebie?

And this action also greatly enhanced Zhou Yan's control over the Law of the Heart, and he discovered its other uses.

Just at that moment, Yuan Chenling descended from the sky and became the first "test subject" after his upgrade.

It seemed he was also the one when he first obtained this ability; did this count as having a beginning and an end?

After the Six Desires Heaven was upgraded, Zhou Yan could directly intervene in others' Heart Demon. So, after Yuan Chenling walked right into the trap, he quickly saw Yuan Chenling's Heart Demon, which was a phantom of a nine-headed giant tiger.

Its appearance was quite ferocious; among the nine heads, only two were clear tiger heads, while the others were blurry, chaotic faces. One tiger head looked like a cub with a mocking expression, and the other looked like an adult tiger, fierce and violent.

It seemed this was Yuan Chenling's Heart Demon, and its scale was much larger than the one Zhou Yan had encountered originally.

So, while extracting the other party's emotions and erasing related memories, Zhou Yan gave him a push, customizing a "Heart Demon mini-drama" for Yuan Chenling.

This was also a new ability after the Six Desires Heaven upgraded.

In the mini-drama, the other party would experience effects similar to the Heart Demon Tribulation, but gentler and easier to break free from, like having a dream.

This could also be considered helping him face the Heart Demon in advance, as a precaution. Otherwise, given his current state, he would never be able to reach the Nascent Soul stage; this Heart Demon was too intense.

Currently, Zhou Yan did not have the ability to eliminate the Heart Demon; perhaps he would only be able to truly help after the Six Desires Heaven upgraded again.

However, the limited-time event of "getting a certificate to level up" could probably not be repeated.

So he was helpless for the short term and could only use this method to see if it had any effect.

After handling this, Zhou Yan cleaned up the scene, moved Yuan Chenling to the room he had prepared to rest, and incidentally helped him adapt to the Heart Demon in advance.

Judging from the feedback just now, Yuan Chenling should have finished the Heart Demon mini-drama, but it was unclear if he had gained anything.

"The auspicious time has arrived!"

An Outer Sect Elder proclaimed loudly.

Zhou Yan looked up and saw a huge portal unfold above, reflecting the scene on the high platform of the plaza.

On the platform stood a handsome young man with outstanding bearing, his eyes shining like stars.

He was wearing the same white robe with blue bottom and gold-patterned Dharma robes as Zhou Yan, and his whole body was surrounded by Immortal Qi, which made Zhou Yan pause slightly.

Because his Physique had improved, his appearance had returned to normal, and even without using a title, he would not appear feminine.

After adding the title, he had completely gotten rid of his feminine temperament.

But this Fifth Elder was acting too cool; he was even more handsome than the original.

Was this the control high-level Cultivators had over their temperament and bearing?

Zhou Yan watched "himself" standing with hands behind his back, looking cold and aloof, and quietly made a note in his heart.

This is how he should be when he goes out in the future.

Just then, two golden lights suddenly lit up at the corner table where he had been alone.

A man and a woman teleported in.

Both of them were top-tier in appearance, and they gave Zhou Yan a vague sense of familiarity.

The man spoke first, gentle and elegant, with a warm smile.

"Fellow Daoist, there are still empty seats here. May we share the table with you?"

Contrary to him, the female Cultivator's face was as cold as frost, her temperament aloof, just like the Fifth Elder performing on the high platform.

Just as Zhou Yan was about to answer, the female Cultivator suddenly moved, doing something completely inconsistent with her appearance and persona.

She grabbed Zhou Yan's thigh and said with a blank expression, "Brother Zhou, do you need a thigh accessory?"