Chapter 408 — Nurturing and Transforming All Things

Fan Xuanshu's expression shifted slightly; the force of the Great Luo Celestial Star Palm changed accordingly. In magical arts and divine powers, she was almost without peer in this world. Each node within the Great Luo Celestial Star Palm's force was a star; as the stars turned, the palm force's nature changed and its power became different. Her palm force looked like a physical divine power, but its roots were in spellcraft and divine powers, collapsing space inward—its variations were nearly inexhaustible.

In fact, after mastering the Great Luo Celestial Star Palm, Fan Xuanshu had lost all motivation to advance, because this divine power was too perfect, so perfect that none of the divine powers she later created could ever surpass it. The Great Nurturing Nether Demon Scripture possessed a grand unification art; Fan Xuanshu called the Great Luo Celestial Star Palm a Grand Unification divine power, able to command and govern all the divine powers of the Great Nurturing Nether Demon Scripture! Yet no matter how her palm force changed, Xing'an paid it no heed, made no attempt to guess her transformations.

No matter how many forms her power took, Xing'an simply smashed each one with a fist or palm, using sheer force! A god's fist.

A god's strength. A god's magic.

The god ignored every change she made, rolling over her directly, crushing all resistance! Blood seeped from Fan Xuanshu's mouth; she could feel the terrible might surging through Xing'an's palm force, a might that hammered at her primordial spirit and shook her demon seed. Li Zheng, the Blind Old Man, and the rest had been unable to overcome her or rescue Si Youyou; the Old Tathagata had been unable to convert her.

Yet Xing'an struck straight at her origin, meaning to destroy her! Emperor Yanfeng and the Blind Old Man attacked; Yu Zhaoging also rallied and threw herself at Xing'an.

Xing'an used his other four arms to handle Emperor Yanfeng and the Blind Old Man while the vital qi above his head steamed up and coalesced into a divine bridge. His primordial spirit stood on the bridge and fought with Yu Zhaoging, blocking the attacks of all three and leaving every one of them heavily wounded.

Too terrifying. With three heads and six arms, even Emperor Yanfeng could not break through his defense.

The Blind Old Man had the ability to pierce his defense and get inside, but Xing'an's strength was too great, and his magic power was so vast that it far exceeded the Blind Old Man's, stripping his attacks of any lethal force. As for Yu Zhaoging, her duel against the primordial spirit on Xing'an's divine bridge was a succession of narrow escapes. Xing'an's primordial spirit was bizarre and terrible; it kept changing, now a god of the Azure Dragon, now a god of the White Tiger, then suddenly turning into the Black Tortoise, then the Vermilion Bird. He had not merely seized the primordial spirit of one expert who had cultivated his spirit to the god realm! "Flawless, flawless.

.

. " Blood poured from Fan Xuanshu's mouth; the demon seed was gradually shaken. But before the demon seed could be destroyed by Xing'an, this body would probably not be able to bear it.

For this was the body of her disciple, Si Youyou. Through the Dao-Heart Demon Seed, she had turned her own primordial spirit into a heart demon planted inside Si Youyou, nourished and strengthened by Si Youyou's body; recently it had begun to fuse with her, a cuckoo seizing the magpie's nest. Because of this, Si Youyou's body had also soared in cultivation—a year ago it had already broken through Life-Death, and some time ago it had broken through to the Divine Bridge. Yet Si Youyou's primordial spirit could not withstand Xing'an's attacks.

Before Fan Xuanshu's demon seed was beaten to death by Xing'an, Si Youyou would die at Xing'an's hands first.

"If Youyou dies, this body will be mine.

I can flee—Xing'an cannot keep me. .

. " Fan Xuanshu was overjoyed. All these years she had fought Si Youyou over this flawless body, but before this, the Blind Old Man, Li Zheng, and others had interfered, and the Old Tathagata had tried to wipe her out; now she was finally about to get her wish. What she loved was not Si Youyou as a person; she loved Si Youyou's body. How wonderful it was to be a woman, to possess a beauty that even gods would envy, a perfection as though it should not exist in this world.

Once she had this body, wherever she went she would draw ten thousand gazes; countless people would be infatuated with her, driven mad by her; everyone would love her. She could have everything!

As the former leader of the Nether Demon Sect, her abilities were not simply a matter of high combat power. If she wanted to escape, there were few people in this world who could detain her.

The followers of the Nether Demon Sect were versed in every kind of escape art, and she was a grandmaster among them! Now all she had to do was wait for Xing'an to eliminate Si Youyou's primordial spirit; then she could make her getaway and live a happy, perfect life from then on. Yet abruptly, a nameless panic seized Fan Xuanshu's heart.

She remembered a bright morning a hundred years ago when the young Patriarch had brought a little girl of the Si family to her. "Si Youyou, this generation's Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Saint. I cannot teach her.

Compared with me, you are still young and vigorous; you can stand the trouble. " The young Patriarch threw the little girl at him and turned away.

The young Patriarch ran off, as if this little girl were a flood or a wild beast.

He looked at Si Youyou's face at that moment—back then he had still been a man. Si Youyou had been only thirteen.

He still remembered that first glance of the thirteen-year-old Si Youyou: it had struck his heart like an overwhelming happiness, as if his heart had been clasped by a gentle hand, as if the whole world were nothing but the girl before him.

But he knew he was her master and must not harbor evil thoughts toward his own disciple. All along, he had followed a master's duties, teaching Si Youyou with all his heart, passing on everything he had learned in his life.

Yet the forbidden thoughts still crept out from time to time, disturbing his thoughts, disturbing his Dao-heart. Si Youyou had been very mischievous.

There was hardly anyone in the Heavenly Saint Sect whom she had not tormented, and she had stirred up no end of trouble. In those days, Fan Xuanshu's busiest work had been cleaning up after his young disciple, smoothing over the messes Si Youyou had made.

But that had also been the happiest time of his life. Even when he was dealing with one disaster after another, his heart held a feeling of doting indulgence.

Before him, Si Youyou was well-behaved and sensible, quick in her progress, pleasing him greatly.

There were no stupid women in the Si family. At that time deep affection bound master and disciple, and he hid his evil thoughts deeply. When had it begun to change? Si Youyou grew up.

The childish naughtiness, the green callowness of youth, gradually vanished, replaced by a terrifying charm.

Every movement, every word, every gesture was radiant with allure, leaving his eyes with only her. He still knew he was her master and should not entertain evil thoughts toward his disciple, but he could not stop himself. He spied on Si Youyou while she bathed.

He collected clothes she had worn. He was infatuated to the extreme. But Si Youyou noticed, and she gradually began to keep her distance from him.

It was probably from that point that his infatuation, his love, finally warped into greed. The more he could not have her, the more he wanted her; the more he wanted her, the more warped his heart became.

He told himself that what he loved was not his disciple but that most beautiful body. Feeling how twisted his heart had become, he was horrified.

The collapse of his Dao-heart, its contortion and deformation, frightened him.