Volume Twelve: Invitation to Hell Chapter Fifty-Seven: What's Wrong with Hitting You?

Seeing Yaogang’s expression, Shang Liye felt a chill run down his spine. Before he could react the next second, he was grabbed by Yaogang and hurled straight into a giant cauldron.

"What are you doing, girl?" Shang Liye screamed from inside the cauldron.

"Your spiritual power is of the fire attribute, as I can see. This purple-gold cauldron can help you reconstruct your mortal body; you must refine yourself right here. This purple-gold cauldron possesses spiritual awareness—whether you can forge your body in an hour or a hundred years depends entirely on your own capability," Yaogang said, waving her hand. Instantly, purple-gold flames began to blaze within the cauldron.

"Will the senior be melted down?" Guisi asked with concern.

"No. Shang Liye's soul body was originally of the fire attribute, but it has now transformed into the metal attribute. I am refining him with the purple-gold cauldron precisely to make his metal attribute burst forth so he can condense a physical form on his own. Otherwise, he cannot survive his heavenly tribulation. After all, being a ghost cultivator, without forging an immortal's physical body, he wouldn't be able to withstand even a single bolt of heavenly lightning. To ascend to Upper Immortality, he must endure thirty-six bolts—golden lightning at that. All I can do is clear the path for you," Yaogang explained.

"Thank you," Guisi said.

"Thank my foot! Once this matter is settled, get your ass back to Guishan Temple and kowtow in repentance to the old man. Do you have any idea how much suffering he endured on your account? If you dare to be unfilial again, I'll tear you apart!" Yaogang flew into a rage.

Guisi hurriedly forced a smile, promising that he would, absolutely, and that he would even kowtow until his forehead bled.

Inside the purple-gold cauldron, Shang Liye had already crossed his legs and sat down. The moment the flames ignited, he felt a surge of power within his body, prompting him into a state of deep meditation amidst the raging inferno.

Seeing that Shang Liye had comprehended the method, Yaogang retrieved a purple-gold pill from her bosom and tossed it into the cauldron. The pill instantly dissolved into the space between Shang Liye's eyebrows.

"Not bad. As expected of a demon clan elder; this comprehension is peerless." As she spoke, Biluo noticed that Shang Liye's once ethereal body was gradually losing its transparency.

"A physical form? So quickly?" Biluo was astonished. The next moment, Yaogang lifted the lid of the purple-gold cauldron and channeled her inner energy, causing Shang Liye to slowly float out of the furnace.

"I imagine his heavenly tribulation won't be lightning," Yaogang remarked.

"Then what will it be?" Biluo asked.

"Heavenly fire," Yaogang replied. As she spoke, they saw streams of red curves flying across the firmament and striking Shang Liye's body, causing him to furrow his brows.

Heavenly fire burns the heart and eats away at the bones, and it will not stop until it has scorched every inch of the body. Yaogang remained completely nonchalant.

Just then, a ginseng sprite came skipping over. It glanced at Yaogang, then looked up at Shang Liye perched atop the cauldron. With a flash, it appeared right in front of Shang Liye's forehead. Plucking one of its own fingers, the sprite shoved it directly into Shang Liye's mouth, and then bounced happily back.

"A ginseng sprite? Can your finger grow back?" Biluo asked in surprise.

"That's just what you think. What I fed him was merely my spiritual Qi, you fool." The ginseng sprite shook its hand, showing that it was completely unharmed, and with a turn, vanished into thin air.

"Don't bother looking. That's a ten-thousand-year-old ginseng doll; you won't be able to catch her," Yaogang said.

"Why?" Biluo was stunned.

"I am her master. Once a ginseng sprite recognizes a master, she never betrays. You didn't know that?! Fool," Yaogang scolded.

Before Biluo could reply, they saw waves of crimson light emanating from Shang Liye's body.

"Shang Liye." The next moment, Yaogang appeared once again above Shang Liye. "You are a ghost cultivator. Today, I ferry you into the immortal realm and confer upon you the title of Immortal True Person of Shangli Fire. Henceforth, you must practice benevolence and universal salvation."

"My deepest thanks to the Divine Venerable." Shang Liye knelt in mid-air.

Yaogang waved her hand, and a flame mark appeared between Shang Liye's eyebrows.

As Shang Liye descended back to the ground, Yaogang reached out and patted his shoulder. "True gold fears no fire; this physical frame of yours can now serve as a copper wall and an iron fortress."

"For that, I must thank the Divine Venerable for her patronage," Shang Liye said with a smile.

"Venerable, immortals from the Asura Realm have come to visit outside the mountain gates. They are already forcing their way through the barrier," a dark-robed heavenly maiden flew up to report.

"Daring to barge into my Lingshan Mountain of the Phoenix? They've lost their minds." Disdain flashed across Yaogang's face as she rose and flew toward the mountain gate.

"Who dares trespass upon our Lingshan Mountain of the Phoenix?" Just as the three figures reached the foot of the gates, a voice like a thunderclap boomed down upon them.

"We are true physical incarnations from the Asura Realm. We have come specifically for Huangquan, the sinful minister of our Asura Realm," the intruders replied.

"They came for you," Yaogang said, glancing at Guisi who stood atop the mountain peak.

"Those three are the very ones who executed my punishment back then, and their master is the one who inflicted the 'Thousand Piercing Wounds' upon me. Their master is called Xiuye, and these three are Xiushan, Xiuling, and Xiuqin," Guisi explained.

"Heh, my fishing wasn't in vain. As soon as the news was released, they showed up. Perfect—I'll beat them half to death to settle a part of your vengeance," Yaogang smiled.

"What do you plan to do?" Guisi asked.

"Just watch the show," Yaogang smiled, her figure already gliding toward the mountain gate.

The three men looked up to see Yaogang slowly approaching through the air.

"The true god of the Asura Realm, Huangquan, is already dead. The one standing here now is Upper Deity Guisi of the Divine Realm. Who gave you the audacity to come to my Lingshan Mountain of the Phoenix to demand people?" Yaogang stood atop the mountain gate's archway, looking down at the three clowns with condescending eyes.

"We have long heard of the Phoenix Divine Venerable's peerless grace, but upon meeting you today, you seem entirely unreasonable," one of the intruders retorted.

"Xiushan, Xiuling, Xiuqin—the three of you acted on Xiuye's instructions, deployed forbidden arts, and used the 'Thousand Piercing Wounds' to harm Upper Deity Guisi. I was just fretting over where to find you, and yet you delivered yourselves right to my doorstep," Yaogang sneered.

"You spout nonsense!" The three men were momentarily startled upon hearing this, before immediately denying it.

"Hmph, I spout nonsense? Then I won't say any more." With those words, Yaogang flicked her wrist, sending out a bolt of energy that knocked all three men straight down the mountain slopes.

"A dignified exalted deity, resorting to hitting people?" The voices of the three men drifted up from the mountain base.

"I'll hit you without a second thought! Go back and tell Xiuye that I will personally go to the Asura Realm to seek justice from him, and when that time comes, I want to see how the King of the Asura Realm punishes the lot of you. As for your crime of trespassing upon the Lingshan Mountain of the Phoenix, we shall settle that together then." Having said this, Yaogang's figure vanished from the archway.

Returning to the Wangxian Platform, Yaogang remarked, "A guilty conscience makes for cowardly souls. Once the matter concerning Die Wuying is settled, we must indeed take a trip to the Asura Realm."

Shang Liye and Guisi both nodded in agreement.