Chapter 49: Pre-Fabricated Demons, Shadow Kin

The Tiger Demon paced towards the small pond in the front courtyard of the Vajra Temple. Crossing a delicate stone arch bridge would lead straight to the steps of the primary grand hall.

This pond was quite sizable, rectangular, and deeply excavated. Its borders were not only lined with intricately carved white marble but also enclosed by a low balustrade and various abstract stone beasts that Yuan Zhu could not identify.

Originally, it must have been a wishing pond for viewing ornamental koi and turtles, but now, rolling mists of Yellow Springs nether-qi billowed upward from within. It was unmistakably the "nether-qi nexus" of the Vajra Temple, diffusing throughout the entire monastery, eroding and warping the ancient temple while cultivating a pocket of ghost territory.

Gone from the pond were the lotuses, turtles, and koi. In their place stood a reclining Buddha statue that had been artificially cast into the water.

The material and style of the dark golden Buddha clearly clashed with the pond. It was obviously hauled out from one of the halls and tossed in to suppress or incubate something.

Currently, three-quarters of the Buddha statue was submerged. The portion exposed above the water was mottled and peeling, corroded by the nether-qi of the Yellow Springs. Moreover, the reclining Buddha was headless; its neck had been deliberately smashed and replaced by a protruding hand of flesh and blood, bearing a striking resemblance to the "Buddha's-hand melon" he had once had the fortune to witness.

Gazing at the "corpse-hand flora" growing and being nurtured out of the reclining Buddha's neck, Yuan Zhu exclaimed in astonishment, "What? Could there really be some rare heavenly treasure here?!"

Unlike any "Buddha palms" he had seen before, the "corpse-hand" on the reclining Buddha's neck had completely shed the appearance of a normal limb, resembling instead a bizarre plant made of flesh and blood.

Its main trunk (the circumference of the arm) exceeded twenty centimeters and measured about two to three meters in length, curving upward along the water's surface. Its overall contour was that of a giant palm facing upward in a grasping gesture.

From both the palm's front and back extended two smaller arms, each about one and a half meters long. One meandered toward the sky, while the other probed beneath the water's surface.

Sprouting densely across the surface of every thick, long finger were numerous tiny branch-like arms, palm-shaped leaves, or independent finger-like caterpillars that drooped downward, half-submerged in the pond.

The tips of several suspended fingers bore miniature, inverted palm-sets that wriggled like worms, scooping turbid Yellow Springs water from the pool to nourish themselves.

At first glance, it looked like a terrifying assembly of arms of all sizes, still writhing and curving. But if one squinted, letting the vision blur into a nearsighted haze, the aesthetic shifted dramatically, making it resemble a crimson coral swaying in the breeze.

This flesh-and-blood plant frantically devoured the deathly aura of the Yellow Springs pond, extending countless root-like vascular meridians downward to burrow into the reclining Buddha statue, gradually twisting and vitalizing it. Following the contours of the statue, these roots spread and diffused outward along the bottom of the pond toward the entire temple.

Observing closely, Yuan Zhu indeed spotted countless miniature bean-sprout-sized palms poking out from the gaps in the stone pavement. The crevices of walls, flower beds, and the surfaces of withered trees all bore imperceptible, delicate little palms that breathed in the surrounding Yellow Springs miasma (the blue fog), exhaling a polluted "Yellow Springs Buddha-rhyme."

Following this, he recalled the sight from within the shadow world when he had looked up at the base of the Vajra Temple: countless root-like palms protruding from between the stones, reshaping the shadow world through their respiration and carving out a minor Yellow Springs hell.

Those "pale-blue Yellow Springs mists" that he needed and could absorb were precisely what this monstrosity was frantically plundering and absorbing, transforming them into corpse-scented Yellow Springs Buddha-rhymes and exhaling them to pollute the environment!

"Could it really be a spirit root of the underworld? But the pollution purity is far too high; I can't touch it at all, let alone uproot and take it away."

The Tiger Demon stared at the "corpse-hand plant" for a long time, confirming it had no affinity with him. Moreover, because the pollution index was so high, the [Immortal Scripture] was flashing frantic warnings, urging him to stay away. Instantly, an instinctive aversion welled within him, accompanied by an ominous sense of being polluted and converted.

The pixie chimed in, "Big Boss, this thing is so evil and foul! Resentment towers to the heavens, shrouding the entire temple. To make matters worse, it's actually usurping the [Yellow Springs] springhead and polluting all the death-qi. We really ought to purify it with a fire!"

The tiger head and snake tail stared pathetically at the pool of turbid Yellow Springs water, simultaneously disgusted by its rich Buddhist corpse-stench and filled with a greedy craving. This was an instinct born from the Tiger Demon's bloodline—a fondness for all energies related to the "netherworld and nether-abyss," which could accelerate the Tiger Demon's growth and development.

"Alas, if the mortal realm also had such a nether-spring, your [Mountain Lord Ghost Territory] innate divine ability would finally come in handy."

Yuan Zhu's heart stirred, and he asked, "What about now? It's not too late now, right? Can I activate this ability?"

The snake tail shook violently. "No way, absolutely not. Not to mention that your [Tiger Demon True Form] lacks refinement and is currently in its juvenile stage—in game terms, roughly around Level 1 to 4. To activate the [Mountain Lord God (Ghost) Territory], you need at least Level 25 to 30. Furthermore, the Mountain Lord's divine territory requires 'driving life-piles and deploying grand arrays.' Do you have human pillars? Do you have ghost retainers?"

Faced with a new realm of unknown knowledge, Yuan Zhu instantly grew interested. "What are life-piles? What is deploying an array? Why do I have no memories of these?"

"How could a juvenile stage awaken advanced bloodline memories? Besides, we've crossed into a different universe; those array techniques might not even work. Life-piles are the foundation stones of a formation. For you, they translate to 'ghost retainers + human pillars.' You select individuals endowed with spirit roots and magical cultivation, arrange them according to the five elements, pick cultivators who have reached Foundation Establishment, refine them into human-pillar magical treasures, bury them in the soil, and drive in ghost retainers to connect with the netherworld. Step by step, you expand the array, enhancing its effect and area... until you finally forge a divine territory. Ten thousand bones wither for the success of a single divine art—and those ten thousand bones are the 'human pillar hosts.'" The pixie indulged in wild imagination, painting for Yuan Zhu the cultivation blueprint of a "Netherworld Ghost Tiger" from the neighboring immortal-cultivation universe.

"Such a diligent... no, such an evil ghost-tiger demon!"

The Tiger Demon licked his lips. He found it unacceptable to use humans as piles, but if he were to refine the mutated demons and ghosts native to this anomaly as "human-pillar magical treasures," his conscience wouldn't put up much resistance. In fact, he might even feel a righteous, public-spirited moral responsibility to uphold justice on behalf of heaven.

Right! This was the path he ought to walk! Standing within the shadows while gazing at the light, he would be a multiverse-universalist warrior who transcended species limitations and contributed to society and humanity.

He came from Earth for no other reason than to slay demons and vanquish devils, rescuing this inherently corrupted world.

"Ah, looks like there's no chance."

Yuan Zhu looked at the nether-spring pond with some regret, yet was unwilling to leave so easily. If he could mobilize the [Mountain Lord Ghost Territory] to stir up some trouble—even if he couldn't seize the pond, just wreaking havoc and causing destruction purely for the sake of making everyone miserable, himself included—it would bring him joy through sheer malice.

Whether harming others or benefiting himself, both brought him amusement.

The pixie agreed, "Ah, exactly! We multiverse-universalist warriors are all like this! I'm backing you up, Boss."

Always attentive to her employer's psychological well-being, the pixie synchronously perceived Yuan Zhu's conflicted state of mind, immediately following up with words of comfort: "Boss, if you don't stir up some trouble, you just don't feel comfortable inside, right? And if you're uncomfortable, your thoughts won't flow smoothly, which will affect your future cultivation!"

"Ugh... It's not that dramatic. But I really am a bit reluctant. I went through all that hard work to kill my way in, only to leave empty-handed? Wouldn't my trip be in vain then?"

The skeleton snake nodded fiercely, beginning to offer treacherous counsel: "Right! We ought to raise a ruckus, otherwise the trip is wasted. I have a plan, Boss, lend me your ear."

"Speak!"

The snake tail guiltily glanced left and right. Making sure no one was around, a pair of ruby-like eyes flashed with the light of wisdom. Full of sneakiness, it whispered closely into the Tiger Demon's ear: "Boss, you could just pee into the pool, fiercely polluting this pool of Buddhist sewage, secretly marking your territory and leaving your own mark."

"???" The cat tilted its head; Yuan Zhu failed to grasp the meaning for a moment. "You might as well speak plainly."

"A mighty tiger pisses, a kitty spits out spheres, marking its territory to rule the mountain!" the pixie explained. "The [Belly's Universe] has accumulated over forty mutated monsters. You can't digest them right now, and they're constantly draining your polluted spiritual qi. In my view, you might as well abandon the lot of them and spit them all fiercely into this pool, letting those semi-digested 'mutated monsters-in-training for ghost retainers' compete for nutrients and death-qi with that corpse-hand plant... Even if they eventually get converted, you'll still have stirred up a massive hornet's nest! At the very least, it's a lose-lose situation!"

The toxic-strategist pixie proposed a bold and vicious plan: [Shadow Vomit to Foul the Buddha-Rhyme Nether-Spring].

"Is this viable? I went through so much effort to swallow those preys, digesting them for over thirty hours, only to let them go just like that? What about my ghost retainers?"

"Letting them go like that is actually the most cost-effective move!" The pixie manipulated the "Mao Mao King ribbon" on her neck, causing it to automatically disassemble and reorganize into a scholar's cap and feathered fan, which she placed on her head. Waving the fan with a tiny black-threaded arm, she entered military-strategist mode. "Please listen to my elaboration.

"First off, the monsters sealed and suppressed within our belly have complex origins, products of the pollution from over a dozen garbage evil gods. These monsters were all transformed from ordinary mortals, possessing weak strength and poor potential, yet their pollution sources are exceptionally complex. Digesting and wearing them down is laborious and taxing—we might as well spit them out! Dropping a dozen different pollutions into this pool of Buddha-rhyme nether-springs, even leaving aside intensity, will be enough to disgust the enemy to death. Just like dumping a dozen random seasonings into a pot of pure soup, hehehe..."

"Secondly, although these monsters haven't been completely digested by the [Belly's Universe], over the past thirty hours, they've been fiercely polluted and processed by the 'shadow force.' They've already begun transforming toward [Tiger Ghost Retainers], acquiring a fraction of a ghost retainer's attributes. Now that your [Ghost Retainer Ability] has been complemented, if these monsters regain their freedom, unable to contact their respective evil gods or replenish their polluting power, they will inevitably be eroded by the [Yellow Springs] in the current environment. Thus, they are bound to walk toward death, transforming into ghosts. At that point, they can be considered as spontaneously transforming into wild Yellow Springs ghost retainers—self-processed and self-cooked!"

In the pixie's eyes, the basic function of [Belly's Universe] was to digest, absorb, and transform... prey (ingredients) into processed ghost retainers.

Right now, Tiger Demon Yuan Zhu was too young and his digestive function was mediocre; having swallowed forty ingredients, he couldn't absorb them. However, over the past thirty hours, his "stomach acid" had successfully modified (polluted) this batch of ingredients, imparting a baseline shadow pollution and turning them into semi-finished ingredients (ghost retainers).

Releasing them now meant they simultaneously harbored "evil god pollution" and "shadow pollution," while suffering from "Yellow Springs Buddha-rhyme pollution," guaranteeing their demise. Upon death, they would absorb the death-qi and spontaneously mutate into "mutated wild ghost retainers." This was self-processing and self-digestion outside the digestive system.

Turning themselves into pre-made dishes made them even better suited for the Tiger Demon's gastrointestinal system, waiting for Yuan Zhu's return. Moreover, they would pollute and churn up this pond, competing with the corpse-hand plant for Yellow Springs power, spreading over a dozen evil god pollutions to harass and destroy.

If he could return next time, the Tiger Demon would inevitably be stronger and his digestive system more mature. At the same time, dozens of unique "Yellow Springs ghost retainers (wild-caught ready-to-eat dishes)" would be waiting for him to hunt and savor once more.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Zhu was utterly astounded. "Can it be operated like this? In the future, I might as well not digest ghost retainers at all; I'll just make semi-finished products and spit them out, out, out... letting them self-ferment and undergo wild mutation so they're more nutritious and mature before I eat them?"

The pixie replied, "Great King, what did you think [Faqie]'s behavior of demonically staining the citizens of Ye Country earlier was? And what about right now inside the Vajra Temple, where this Yellow Springs Buddha-rhyme circulates and transforms countless ritual-hand corpse-ghosts? You must never belittle yourself. Although the [Tiger Demon] is young and tender, it also possesses demon-god characteristics. This 'semi-finished ghost retainer ingredient' is your very own shadow pollution method! Sadly, your purity is still insufficient, so you can't automatically spread pollution on a massive scale; you can only actively modify the semi-finished products and then release them to graze..."

Think about it: after Faqie scattered his "foul blood," it instantly polluted numerous ordinary civilians, allowing them to spread and diffuse autonomously, absorbing starlight to grow stronger, before finally being converted into believers via Buddhist teachings. And right here in the Vajra Temple, there was also a fully automated pollution pipeline capable of transforming ordinary people into corpse-ghosts.

Looking at himself, he had to actively swallow his prey, turn them into semi-finished pre-made dishes via the [Belly's Universe], and then release them back into nature to self-mutate and mature... It sounded pretty much the same, really, just differing in efficiency.

Yuan Zhu suddenly experienced an epiphany and asked, "To phrase it differently, from the perspective of a pollution source or an anti-law demon god: after these 'semi-finished ingredients' are released, they won't be under my control and might even be hostile to me. But they've already been branded with my [Shadow. Ghost Retainer] pollution tag, sharing the same attributes. Allowing them to grow wildly is equivalent to increasing the gold content of my menu? When I grow stronger, they will also have fermented to become more nutritious and delicious. By then, not only will I easily digest and absorb them, but I'll also acquire 'supernatural elemental information' beyond the [Shadow. Ghost Retainer]—namely, their original pollution attributes?"

The pollution attributes of over a dozen garbage evil gods, even if digested and absorbed, were of garbage tier, holding no reference value and only making his own purity more chaotic, destroying his potential.

However, allowing this group of monsters to mutate in the Yellow Springs meant that through elimination and screening, the ones that ultimately survived would be stronger and superior.

At that time, possessing both 'ghost retainer attributes' and their own perfected, optimized 'other pollution characteristics,' they would be recycled a second time by the [Belly's Universe] and truly become his property.

Yuan Zhu pondered, "Could it be that Captain's generous gift of uniforms, her refusal to force us to sign anti-law pacts with [Mao Mao King], and her support for us continuing to contact other supernatural elements to cultivate 'seeds of power' follow a similar principle? The uniforms are akin to our method of processing these monster pre-made dishes. Once tainted by shadows, they don't affect the original supernatural powers; instead, they deeply integrate and mutate, creating an opening for me."

"When I return to this bubble world in the future, they will inevitably have absorbed enough [Yellow Springs Qi] and processed themselves into alternative 'specific shadow ghost retainers,' only to be refined and absorbed by me once more, yielding a batch of [mutated shadow traits] that I couldn't actively cultivate myself. Meanwhile, the Happy Home team members evolve personalized 'exclusive uniforms' according to their own habits, while [Mao Mao King] gathers various unique 'new seeds.' If they continue to sign anti-law pacts for further advancement, those seeds will sprout and grow into even stronger 'pollution characteristics,' waiting to be harvested?"

"Whoa... Could this be the true purpose of [Mao Mao King]? And if we widen our perspective, the fact that the [Pale Great Law] tolerates or even allows [Anti-Law Demon Gods] to grow wantonly—is that also a similar mechanism? If I were the [Shadow Great Law], vomiting up a batch of [anti-law scum] with my heart's blood, letting them feed on the [Yellow Springs Qi] to re-develop and grow... and finally coming back to eat at the buffet, further strengthening the foundation of the [Shadow Great Law]..."

Yuan Zhu concluded, "Oh ho, we've figured out the truth of the world!"

The pixie cheered, "Congratulations, Boss! Hail, Boss! Seeing through the illusion and piercing the true meaning of the universe. Brilliant talent, peerless wisdom!"

The Tiger Demon proudly flicked his tail and restrained himself, saying, "Humble, calm, low-profile. I observed that in the shadow world, there is mist drifting from the Yellow Springs. This pond might have a hidden connection to the shadow dimension. After tossing this batch of pre-made dishes in to let them grow and develop, perhaps my 'shadow pollution' can help them bridge the pond and the shadow dimension, adding a batch of 'pre-made dish species' to the dead, desolate shadow world and helping them escape Buddhist pollution?"

The shadow world he had entered earlier was utterly barren and desolate, devoid of shadow creatures. Yet the Vajra Temple was clearly eroding and reshaping the shadow world, attempting to infuse Yellow Springs attributes to forge a subsidiary "hell" for the bubble world.

In that case, his "wild pre-made ghost retainers" stood a very good chance of taking root and multiplying within the shadow dimension... This bubble world truly held boundless promise!

With this thought, the Tiger Demon hurriedly grabbed the pond railing with his front limbs, poked out his massive head, and forced himself to endure the discomfort as he approached the pool water, reversing the activation of the [Belly's Universe].

The Tiger Demon's stomach felt nothing, and he didn't open his mouth to vomit. Instead, his little tail suddenly convulsed, plunging headfirst into the shadow beneath him. Then, a giant shadow python drilled out from the ground, opened its maw, and began to regurgitate: "Wah, ugh, wah, ugh..."

The pixie spat out orb after orb of flesh wrapped in black fetal membranes, exuding a thick [Shadow Pollution] aura and trembling rhythmically. Beneath the membrane of each orb lay the curled-up outline of a bizarrely shaped monster.

Plop! Plop! Plop!

Large and small jet-black, bizarre fetal-membrane orbs dropped one by one into the pond water, where they were rapidly eroded and polluted by the dense Yellow Springs death-qi. Their vitality visibly dissipated as they emitted "corpse-ghost Buddha-rhymes" and "ghost retainer auras," transforming in the direction of death.

This refinement speed was vastly faster than his own digestion rate!

Yuan Zhu couldn't care less, because the "shadow tag" he had branded them with had not vanished, nor had the monsters' original "pollution attributes." Instead, squeezed by the pool water, they were forced to fuse in order to self-preserve. At the same time, the way the black fetal-membrane orbs absorbed the Yellow Springs power also displayed partial characteristics of "ghost retainers," and that was enough.

He didn't care whether it would succeed or not. If it worked, it would be a pleasant surprise; even if it failed, it would still deal a heavy blow to the opponent and viciously pollute that corpse-hand plant.

This bunch of pre-made dishes were clearly not orthodox Buddhist corpse-ghosts, but rather heterodox wild corpse-ghosts with muddled foundations... and they were successively exhibiting the potential for shadow transformation. Perhaps they might even tunnel directly from the depths of the pond into the shadow dimension?

"Congratulations, Great King, on creating uncontrollable wild familiars! Let's flee quickly; in case they hatch, their very first target might be us."

Having committed a wicked deed, the Tiger Demon was in a wonderful mood. He cheered, "No panic! Let's go check out the main hall first, loot a bit before running. I hear monks love gold, silver, glaze, coral, agate... My life has been so bitter, and now I've even quit my job at the steam factory. This king must make a killing to feed my family!"

Once his little tail finished vomiting out the pre-made monsters from the [Belly's Universe], the Tiger Demon leaped across the stone arch bridge in a single bound, dashing toward the grand hall. At the very least, he had to scrape a layer of gold leaf off a golden body. Life was just too hard!