Chapter 120: National Migration

Unfortunately, while pursuing Sun Youcai, they encountered a Fire Beast, leading to a sudden turn of events that allowed the Devil Head to escape. After Wang Lin emerged from the volcano, he immediately used his Divine Sense to track it, chasing it all the way.

At this moment, after continuously devouring more than ten people, the Devil Head's cultivation had already recovered to the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment Stage, entering the False Core Realm. It believed it could completely ignore Wang Lin's control and charged forward ferociously.

Wang Lin's eyes were cold, and a red lightning bolt flashed through them. The Devil Head immediately felt as if struck by lightning, letting out a miserable cry as it halted its charge in mid-air and rapidly retreated. How could Wang Lin let it have its way? He took a step forward, reaching out with his right hand. The Gravity Spell transformed into an invisible palm, seizing the Devil Head.

The Devil Head immediately wailed for mercy, but Wang Lin ignored it. Waves of extreme realm Divine Sense continuously pierced the Devil Head, and his Divine Sense control was excellent. Each time, he would pause just before the Devil Head was about to dissipate. This cycle repeated, and wisps of green smoke emanated from the Devil Head's body. Its screams grew weaker and weaker, eventually subsiding completely.

The fear in the Devil Head's eyes had reached its peak. This time, it was truly afraid of Wang Lin from the bottom of its heart.

Wang Lin's cold eyes revealed a hint of ruthlessness. He stared at the Devil Head and said indifferently, "One more time, and you die!"

The Devil Head was terrified and still shaken, mumbling repeatedly.

Wang Lin patted his Storage Pouch, and the iron plate Magic Treasure flew out. Without Wang Lin's reminder, the Devil Head quickly transformed into a red light and burrowed inside. After flashing a few times, the iron plate Magic Treasure returned to the Storage Pouch.

Wang Lin glanced at the corpses devoured by the Devil Head, falling silent for a moment. His mindset now was vastly different from before the great upheaval in the State of Zhao. If before, Wang Lin's character was heavily imbued with the simplicity of a mountain village youth, now, that trace of simplicity had vanished with the demise of his Family.

In the Cultivation World, the strong prey on the weak. If one cannot even protect their own life and the lives of their Family, what reason is there to show such ridiculous compassion?

Since Situ Nan had repeatedly wanted him to enter the Demonic Path and become a Demonic Cultivator, Wang Lin had resisted it. But after dying once, he no longer had any reason to resist.

"Become a devil, so what!" Wang Lin sneered, waving his hands. All the surrounding corpses immediately vanished into thin air. He leaped up, soaring into the sky.

Above a rare non-volcanic mountain range in the Fire Incineration Country, Wang Lin circled once, selected a spot, and after landing, the iron plate Magic Treasure flew out, quickly carving an Immortal Cave into the middle of the mountain.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the Immortal Cave was formed. Wang Lin stepped inside. After entering, he used碎石 (crushed stones) to set up several Illusion Formations outside the cave, then sealed the entrance.

After doing all this, he sat cross-legged, took out Sun Youcai's and the black-clothed middle-aged man's Storage Pouches from his怀里 (bosom), probed them with his Divine Sense, searched for a bit, and then took out three Jade Slips.

He placed the first Jade Slip on his forehead, examined it for a moment, then pondered briefly before setting it aside. This Jade Slip recorded a Cultivation Technique from the Heretic Demon Sect called the Great Freedom Asura Art.

The Heretic Demon Sect is a Demonic Path School in the Fire Incineration Country, and most of its Cultivation Techniques are shocking to hear about. This Great Freedom Asura Art has six layers and focuses on cultivating the Dao of the Heartless Asura.

It involves refining the heart through killing, entering the Dao of ruthlessness through heart refinement, immersing oneself in the Dao of ruthlessness, refining an Asura Soul, and using this soul to replace the Nascent Soul, thereby achieving success in the Great Freedom Asura Art.

Cultivating this Cultivation Technique has strict requirements in the initial stage: one person must be killed every day. Wang Lin pondered, guessing that the black-clothed middle-aged man was probably cultivating this Great Freedom Asura Art, and this Jade Slip was indeed from his Storage Pouch.

Wang Lin had little interest in this Cultivation Technique but was very interested in some of the Spells recorded in the Jade Slip. Although these Demonic Path Spells were overly cruel, they were practical.

Picking up the second Jade Slip, Wang Lin's Divine Sense swept over it, and a hint of joy appeared on his face. This Jade Slip only recorded one Spell—the Pseudo Earth Evasion Art.

This Earth Evasion Art is one of the Five Elements Evasion Arts. Speaking of the Five Elements Evasion Arts, their name is extremely resounding, hailed as a great Divine Ability in ancient times. Even today, after the destruction of the ancient Cultivation World and the emergence of the Cultivation Alliance, the Five Elements Evasion Arts are extremely rare, and their reputation as Divine Abilities is even more mysterious.

However, the Five Elements Evasion Arts are too famous, so countless branches naturally appeared. Most of these branches claimed to be Five Elements Evasion Arts, but in reality, compared to the true evasion arts, they were merely superficial.

The Jade Slip in Wang Lin's hand was also not a true Five Elements Evasion Art; it could only be said to be slightly more advanced than those superficial Spells. But even with only a slight improvement, its power showed a world of difference.

Immersed in the study of the Earth Evasion Art, time slowly passed. It wasn't until early the next morning that Wang Lin slowly opened his eyes, a look of enlightenment on his face. Without standing up, he clapped his hands on the ground. With this clap, his figure instantly vanished from his original spot, reappearing three zhang away.

Wang Lin's face showed a hint of joy, and he muttered to himself, "Ma Liang's body, whether in talent or Spiritual Root, is much stronger than mine was before. Although not exceptional, it can at least be considered average. Cultivating this Pseudo Earth Evasion Art isn't too difficult, but it still requires long-term practice to truly master it."

Wang Lin rummaged through his Storage Pouch for the wooden bucket containing Spiritual Qi liquid, took a big gulp, and then meditated. Half an hour later, the fatigue from a night of exploring the Earth Evasion Art was swept away.

He unhurriedly picked up the third Jade Slip and concentrated on it. It recorded some of Sun Youcai's daily trivial matters. Presumably, Sun Youcai had a hobby of recording his daily affairs. This Jade Slip comprehensively described his thirty years of cultivation.

During this period, there were also his complicated and unclear chaotic relationships with several female Cultivators.

Wang Lin quickly skimmed through these matters. What truly interested him was Sun Youcai's detailed summary at the end of the Medicinal Pills he had taken over more than ten years. It mentioned more than ten types of Medicinal Pills, each with the body's reaction after taking it, the amount of spiritual power increased, and the speed of cultivation improvement.

In addition, there were seven or eight types of Medicinal Pills that he greatly longed for but had never had the chance to see. After reading for a while, Wang Lin put away the three Jade Slips and continued to examine other items in the Storage Pouch.

Inside Sun Youcai's Storage Pouch, besides a few bottles of Medicinal Pills, there were no Magic Treasures. If it were before, Wang Lin might have been puzzled, but after reading the microcosm of his thirty years of life, he knew that although Sun Youcai had killed people and seized treasures multiple times, almost all his assets were spent on exchanging Spirit Medicine to increase his cultivation.

Inside the black-clothed middle-aged man's Storage Pouch, one item caught Wang Lin's attention: a yellow paper. A black symbol was drawn on the paper, and waves of powerful aura emanated from it.

Wang Lin recognized this yellow paper; he had once owned one. This was precisely a Pill Treasure created by a Core Formation Stage expert, capable of unleashing one full-power strike from its creator.

Holding the yellow paper, Wang Lin sneered inwardly. If the black-clothed middle-aged man had been more cautious and unleashed this treasure, he certainly wouldn't have died. But clearly, this Pill Treasure was his trump card, not to be used unless absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, he encountered Wang Lin's extreme realm Divine Sense and underestimated him, so he didn't even have time to take out this treasure.

Compared to this Pill Treasure, the other items in the Storage Pouch were insignificant. After organizing the spoils of war, Wang Lin touched his glabella, and the Heaven Defying Bead slowly seeped out, floating in mid-air.

Looking at the bead, Wang Lin's mouth curved into a bitter smile. At this moment, the bead's surface had once again returned to five leaves. Wang Lin pondered for a moment. The Heaven Defying Bead needed the Five Elements Perfection to unleash its true power. Now, the Water and Fire spiritual energy attributes had reached Great Perfection, the Wood attribute was still half-short, and with the remaining Gold and Earth attributes, the Five Elements would be complete.

Wang Lin was quite expectant of what power this bead could display once the Five Elements were complete. Currently, it seemed to have no other function apart from possessing a Dream Space. But a Magic Treasure that could cause Situ Nan, the top expert of the Vermilion Bird Country, to have his Physical Body destroyed in a struggle, couldn't be that simple.

Staring at the bead, Wang Lin's eyes flickered. After grabbing it and pressing it to his glabella, he shook his Storage Pouch, and a Jade Slip flew out. Wang Lin grabbed it with his large hand, probed it with his Divine Sense. This Jade Slip was copied by Yang Xiong from the Battle God Temple, recording various methods and Incantations for Artifact Refining.

Wang Lin hadn't had time to examine it on the way, but now he finally calmed down to study it carefully.

At this moment, countless volcanoes, large and small, within the Fire Incineration Country, emitted increasingly dense black smoke, and a rampant, scorching spiritual energy spread throughout the Fire Incineration Country.

Furthermore, many Disciples of the Four Great Sects discovered Fire Beasts within the volcanoes, each greatly shocked, and quickly reported this phenomenon through various methods.

The Four Great Sects were already well-versed in sealing volcanoes, and even had some knowledge of the Fire Beasts within them. However, such matters were secrets that only Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators could understand.

At this moment, in the main hall of the Battle God Temple, six people, four men and two women, sat on two sides, all frowning and silent.

"Everyone, what are your thoughts on this matter?" an old man with white hair, a withered face, and a gaunt, sallow complexion at the left spoke in a low voice.

"Senior Brother Song, I've only read about Fire Spirit Beasts in some ancient books. They are said to be a type of Spirit Beast, and the descriptions are quite exaggerated, so there's no need to pay them much mind. I think since it's a Spirit Beast, it can definitely be subdued. If the six of us join forces, I refuse to believe that with our Nascent Soul Stage cultivation, we can't subdue this mere Fire Spirit Beast!" The speaker was a middle-aged scholar with a slender waist and temples, a jade-like face, gentle and refined. His voice, though faint, was full of arrogance.

"Absurd. This princess once saw that Fire Spirit Beast with my master when I was still in the Core Formation Stage. It is naturally endowed with fire spirit. All fire-related Spells not only have no effect but will also boost its power. Only ice-attribute Spells can resist it somewhat, but as for killing it, there's no need to even consider it, let alone subduing it." The beautiful woman, who had met Wang Lin once, said without reservation.

The middle-aged scholar didn't feel awkward. He looked at the woman with affection a few times, chuckled, and shook his head without speaking.

"This matter is quite simple. Since that Fire Beast has existed for a long time and never left the volcano, there must be some kind of heavenly might restriction. All we need to do is strengthen the Seal. Instead of discussing it here, it's better to Seal it early. Lu will go first." The speaker flicked his sleeve, stood up, and walked out. This person was six feet three inches tall, with river-like eyes, a prominent forehead, and a mouth that seemed to contain a vast sea.

Seeing that everyone else was silent, the old man surnamed Song said in a deep voice, "Forget it. I just hope the appearance of this Fire Beast doesn't cause the Seal to fail. According to the previous rules, let's each Seal the volcanoes within our respective territories."

The same scene played out in the Luohe Sect, Demonic Path Sect, and Corpse Yin Sect. The final results were largely similar. Thus, a series of Sealings commenced among the Nascent Soul Stage experts of the entire Fire Incineration Country.

For a time, throughout the Fire Incineration Country, Nascent Soul Stage experts from various Schools were often seen wandering between volcanoes, performing Seals. The spiritual energy fluctuations between heaven and earth also grew more intense during this period.

As the Seals progressed, what felt strange to all the Nascent Soul Stage experts was that each volcano contained countless Fire Beasts. These Fire Beasts had cold eyes, neither obstructing the Seal nor attacking, but merely watching quietly.

Their expressions gave people a feeling of complete disregard for the Seal. Gradually, the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators participating in the Seal felt their hearts sink deeper and deeper. Even those who had been optimistic before couldn't help but change their minds.

Wang Lin, who was immersed in the Artifact Refining Jade Slip, was not entirely unaware of all this. He had long guessed that the Fire Beasts would eventually appear, but he had to wait ten days for Lin Tao to retrieve the map. Only then could he leave; otherwise, going to another country to find a map would be too troublesome.

On this day, with four days remaining until Lin Tao's appointed date, Wang Lin withdrew his Divine Sense from the Artifact Refining Jade Slip. He looked fatigued, but his eyes revealed a look of joy. The Artifact Refining Jade Slip was profound and not something that could be mastered in a short time, a fact Wang Lin now deeply understood. So, when he realized this, he immediately focused on refining Flying Swords.

Carefully placing the Artifact Refining Jade Slip into his Storage Pouch, Wang Lin's eyes flickered. With a wave of his right hand, the iron plate Magic Treasure immediately flew out. After circling above his head, it floated before him. After this period of use, the iron plate's size had already decreased by half, and its edges were somewhat blackened, clearly due to frequent high-speed flight causing repeated melting.

Wang Lin pondered for a moment, then immediately clapped his hands together. When he pulled them apart, several thin threads of spiritual energy appeared between his hands. These threads were the first step in the War God Hall's Artifact Refining.

The Artifact Refining technique of the War God Hall was completely different from traditional artifact methods. It could be said to be unconventional. It neither refines with spiritual fire, bakes with molds to add Formations, nor simply adds and fuses various Materials. Instead, it is a strange, unconstrained system.

This special system emphasizes three processes: 'adjust,' 'fuse,' and 'combine.' At the same time, the War God Hall's Artifact Refining technique also requires a crucial tool, which is the reaction furnace mentioned multiple times in the Jade Slip.

The main function of this reaction furnace is to activate the Origin attributes within various Artifact Refining Materials. Only by creating a reaction furnace can one be considered to have initially grasped the first step of the War God Hall's Artifact Refining.

Wang Lin's hands moved quickly, and threads of spiritual energy continuously increased in his hands, eventually connecting together, as if a piece of silk was wrapped between Wang Lin's hands, forming a shimmering spiritual curtain.

After the spiritual curtain-like silk formed, Wang Lin shook his hands, and the silk slowly floated up. Wang Lin's eyes flickered, and the method for making the reaction furnace from the Jade Slip appeared in his mind. There was an extremely strict requirement: a Spirit Beast's skull was needed as the furnace body.

Wang Lin didn't know that this single requirement alone had stopped most of the War God Hall's Artifact Refining Cultivators for life.

Wang Lin took a deep breath, slapped his Storage Pouch, and a small section of a snake corpse, as thick as a water bucket and still connected to its head, floated out.

This snake corpse came from Xu Hao's Storage Pouch in the Outer Realm Space. Wang Lin didn't know where he got it from and hadn't paid it much attention before. Now, the creation of the reaction furnace required a Spirit Beast's skull, so he took it out to try.

According to Wang Lin's analysis, this snake corpse was very likely the Spirit Pet of a powerful Cultivator from the Outer Realm Battlefield, who died alongside its master, and Xu Hao simply picked it up cheaply when clearing the battlefield.

Carefully cutting off the snake's head and removing the flesh, what appeared before Wang Lin was an oval-shaped skullcap. After removing the red and white matter inside, the body of a reaction furnace was complete.

Next, Wang Lin took a deep breath, carefully controlling the silk-like spiritual curtain, slowly pressing it onto the furnace body. With a 'snap,' a crack appeared on the skullcap. Amidst a series of 'kaka' sounds, the crack grew larger and larger, eventually causing the entire skullcap to break into countless fragments, falling to the ground.

At this point, the spiritual silk light curtain also slowly dissipated, eventually disappearing completely.

The reaction furnace creation failed.

Wang Lin gave a bitter smile. Although disappointed, he had some psychological preparation. The Jade Slip had mentioned that the success rate of creating a reaction furnace was low. To increase the chances, besides controlling the spiritual threads well, the most important factor was the choice of the furnace body.

A skull from a recently deceased Spirit Beast was best, a skull from a powerful Spirit Beast was even better. If one could obtain a skull from a Desolate Beast, the chances would be even higher. Conversely, if the Spirit Beast had been dead for a long time, using its skull would significantly lower the chances. If it wasn't a Spirit Beast, the success rate was basically zero.

The quality of the reaction furnace determined the effectiveness of future Artifact Refining, a point mentioned more than once in the Jade Slip.

Wang Lin pondered for a moment. Since the reaction furnace creation failed, among the Spirit Beasts in his Storage Pouch, only that snake corpse was a possibility. Now that the snake skull was shattered and he couldn't continue making a reaction furnace, Wang Lin could only settle for a secondary option and choose another method for Artifact Refining.

He pointed at the iron plate Magic Treasure, and the iron plate immediately spun rapidly in place. Soon, drops of molten iron fell, and the iron plate grew smaller and smaller. Finally, as it spun faster and faster, with a 'bang,' the entire iron plate melted, leaving only a puddle of molten iron on the ground. The Devil Head residing within it had long since flashed out, standing aside, timidly sneaking glances at Wang Lin.

The phantom of a small green sword slowly floated out of the molten iron, circling around Wang Lin. Wang Lin pulled out a black Flying Sword from his Storage Pouch. This Flying Sword belonged to Senior Brother Sun Youcai, and now it conveniently became Wang Lin's.

Wang Lin pointed at the phantom of the small sword, and the phantom immediately shot into the black Flying Sword, slowly fusing with it. This method was the most direct and also the worst for Artifact Refining. In fact, it couldn't even be considered Artifact Refining; it was more like a Possession for his Flying Sword, merely changing its body.

After experimenting with a frown, the Flying Sword was significantly faster than the iron plate, but it was still far from its speed back in the State of Zhao. However, this was the best result he could achieve for now.

This time, the Devil Head didn't wait for Wang Lin's command and obediently drilled into the Flying Sword. Wang Lin put away the Flying Sword, calculated the time, rested and meditated for a moment, then without any hesitation, stomped his foot and vanished.

Wang Lin didn't know that during these days he spent in seclusion, earth-shattering changes had occurred in the Fire Incineration Country.

The source of this upheaval was a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator from the Luohe Sect. While Sealing a volcano, a volcano he had just finished Sealing suddenly erupted, spewing magma that reached nearly a hundred zhang high.

At the same time, large swathes of black smoke immediately filled the sky. This was not all; what made that Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator's scalp tingle was the endless Fire Beasts that surged out of the erupting volcano, following the magma.

Among these Fire Beasts, an exceptionally massive one charged towards the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator. After a battle between the man and the beast, the Nascent Soul Cultivator was defeated and fled with injuries.

Fortunately, the Fire Beast did not pursue, but instead dispersed to other volcanoes, destroying the Seals. For a time, volcanoes throughout the Fire Incineration Country erupted one after another. The entire world was filled with violent fire-attribute Spiritual Qi. If one were to absorb external Spiritual Qi under such circumstances, they would suffer Qi Deviation in mild cases, and immediately self-immolate in severe cases.

As soon as this incident occurred, the entire Fire Incineration Country fell into chaos. First, in the Mortal Realm, for Mortals, these Fire Beasts were simply irresistible. The Mortal Realm of the Fire Incineration Country initiated a national migration.

Next were the various cultivation Families, big and small. These Families all turned their gaze towards the Four Great Sects, waiting to see how they would decide: to fight, or to migrate!

The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators of the Four Great Sects gathered at the War God Hall. After reporting the matter to the superior Cultivation Country, they decisively issued the order to migrate. All Disciples who were out returned to their respective Schools, commencing a national migration.

After all, the Four Great Sects dared not gamble on when the Level Four Cultivation Country would arrive. If they didn't leave quickly, even if the Fire Beasts were eventually eliminated, the Fire Incineration Country would suffer heavy losses and might very well fall back to Level Two.

The border of the Fire Incineration Country was close to the Xuanwu Country. The Xuanwu Country was also a Level Three Cultivation Country, and compared to the Fire Incineration Country, the forces within Xuanwu Country were complex, with many Schools.

When Wang Lin emerged from the cave, it was precisely during the migration of the Four Great Sects. The migration of an entire School, though seemingly simple, was actually extremely cumbersome. Coupled with the attacks of the Fire Beasts, each School had to migrate while simultaneously sending out Disciples to block the Fire Beasts' assaults.

As a result, by the time the Four Great Sects had organized themselves and gathered together with the various large and small cultivation Families, forming a Cultivator army of over twenty thousand people, the Fire Beasts had not only opened all the volcanoes in the Fire Incineration Country but had also formed an army of over one hundred thousand Fire Beasts, creating an encirclement and pressing in from all directions.

After several major battles, the Cultivator army finally broke through the Fire Beast encirclement. After leaving a portion of people to resist, they rapidly approached the Xuanwu Country.

The moment Wang Lin appeared outside the cave, his pupils sharply contracted. In the sky, seven or eight Cultivators were pounced upon by a group of Fire Beasts. Blood splattered, and they were instantly annihilated.