Mo Wenjie looked at the Huang Ling'er and the others, who were all desperately seeking opportunities to improve their strength and gain power. He was very happy. He wasn't just happy that they had improved their strength and could help themselves more, but also happy that they had improved their strength and could protect themselves!
Ding Yan watched as they all started to improve their strength, and she began to feel a sense of crisis. If she didn't try even harder, they would all surpass her one by one. Now, she was still in third or fourth place, and if she were to be surpassed by them, she might become the last two. At that point, it would be quite embarrassing. She couldn't let that happen. She had to work hard to change everything!
Ding Yan bit her teeth and turned towards the dimly lit secret chamber shrouded in mist. The chamber housed some ancient manuals of martial arts, but most of them were obscure and difficult to understand, seldom visited by others. Determined to make a last-ditch effort, she believed that the less frequented a place was, the more likely it was to hide powerful forces.
After entering the secret chamber, Ding Yan carefully flipped through the ancient texts covered in dust. Suddenly, a slim volume with a faint glow caught her attention. When she opened the book, a mysterious force rushed into her body instantly. It was an ancient cultivation method that had long been lost, but the training methods described in it were incredibly strange and required bearing great pain.
Ding Yan, without any hesitation, started to cultivate according to the heart law. With each cycle of heavenly rotation, her body was as if being gnawed by countless ants. However, she persevered with her indomitable will. As time passed, a swirling aura of spirit energy gradually appeared around her, and her strength began to steadily increase. At the same time, the outside Mo Wenjie sensed a powerful wave of qi fluctuations and couldn't help but secretly exclaim in surprise, wondering who had obtained such a great opportunity.
As Ding Yan was enhancing her strength, there was a thousand-legged silver beetle hidden in the corner of the secret chamber. Seeing Ding Yan enhancing her strength, it was planning to sneak up and attack her! The thousand-legged silver beetle would spray a liquid with a strong odor when it encountered danger. Humans who touched it would develop blisters, red rashes, and skin necrosis. If it came into contact with the eyes, severe cases could lead to blindness in the eyes.
Ding Yan was fully immersed in the cultivation of the heart law, unaware of the danger lurking in the shadows. The thousand-legged silver beetle slowly moved its body, inching closer to Ding Yan. Just as it was about to launch an attack, Ding Yan's cultivation method suddenly released a protective light ray. The thousand-legged silver beetle directly collided with the light ray and was propelled away by force. It was enraged and quickly rose again to attack Ding Yan, releasing a large quantity of liquid with a strong pungent odor from its mouth, aiming to spray at Ding Yan.
However, the mysterious force of the heart law seemed to have a feeling, automatically enveloping Ding Yan even more tightly. The liquid splashed onto the spiritual light, making a sizzling sound, but could not penetrate it.
Ding Yan now sensed something abnormal and opened her eyes to see the thousand-legged silver beetle attacking frantically. Her gaze turned cold, and she mobilized the spiritual energy she had just enhanced. With a wave of her hand, a strong gust of air swept towards the thousand-legged silver beetle.
The thousand-legged silver beetle was unable to dodge in time and was ruthlessly hit by Ding Yan's attack. It curled up its body. Ding Yan followed up with a few more attacks, completely defeating the thousand-legged silver beetle. Then, she breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for her good fortune and strong life. She decided to cultivate this amazing heart law even more diligently, then closed her eyes to continue her training.
When Ding Yan unexpectedly disturbed the slumbering through-the-arm ape while killing the thousand-legged silver beetle, it was as if "when one is at their lowest, the heavens pour down rain."
The Through-the-Arm Ape: In Chinese ancient mythology, the through-the-arm ape exists beyond the three realms and the five elements, and is exceptionally intelligent. It is said to have learned boundless divine powers from Maitreya Buddha in the Western Paradise and can bless all sentient beings with peace and good fortune. Because of this, it is revered as the "Great General of the Divine Ape" in folk belief, and temples are built in its honor.
The Through-the-Back Ape is a legendary being that exists beyond the Six Paths of Existence in Chinese mythology.
Among the four old monkeys in Guohuashan - two red buttocks monkey and two through-the-arm ape, they guided the Monkey King to obtain weapons from Aolai state to train the monkeys, and were later promoted as the Four Powerful Generals - two red buttocks monkeys exchanged for Ma and Liu Two Generals, while two through-the-arm apes exchanged for Bing and Ba Two Generals.
In "Journey to the West" episode 58, when Buddha recognized the true identity of the false Monkey King, he said: "There are five immortals within the cosmic cycle - Heavenly beings, Earthly beings, Immortals, Humans, and Ghosts. There are also five kinds of insects - Bees, Lizards, Fishes, Birds, and Ants. This creature is neither Heaven nor Earth nor Immortal nor Human nor Ghost, neither Bees nor Lizards nor Birds nor Ants. Moreover, there are four monkey kings who mix up the world and do not belong to any of the ten categories."
There are five immortals within the cosmic cycle - Heavenly beings, Earthly beings, Immortals, Humans, and Ghosts. There are also five kinds of insects - Bees, Lizards, Fishes, Birds, and Ants. This creature is neither Heaven nor Earth nor Immortal nor Human nor Ghost, neither Bees nor Lizards nor Birds nor Ants. Moreover, there are four monkey kings who mix up the world and do not belong to any of the ten categories. The Through-the-Back Ape can grasp the sun and moon in its hands, compress mountains into tiny bits under its feet, discern fortuitous occurrences from auspicious signs and misfortunes by turning around between heaven and earth with ease.
The through-the-arm ape watched Ding Yan who was cultivating. This human dared to come to its cave to seek cultivation resources. Wasn't her courage too great? Did she not take the King into consideration? Did she really think the King was easy to bully?
Ding Yan felt a powerful aura descending upon her, and when she looked up, she saw the through-the-arm ape standing in front of her with a stern expression. She was startled at first, but quickly composed herself, bowing respectfully and saying: "Present Senior, my Junior accidentally stumbled upon this place while seeking the path of cultivation." The through-the-arm ape coldly snorted: "Human, you dare to trespass on my cave and still dare to argue." As he spoke, he raised his hand to give Ding Yan a lesson.
At that moment, a gentle beam of light suddenly appeared. It was the mysterious heart law that had flown out on its own, suspended in the air and emitting waves of auspicious energy.
The through-the-arm ape was greatly startled to see the heart law, recognizing it as the treasure he had lost long ago. He put aside his aggressive posture and carefully examined Ding Yan.
"Since you have a connection with this heart law, today's incident will no longer be pursued by your majesty. However, you must agree to do something for your majesty." Ding Yan quickly nodded in agreement.
The through-the-arm ape nodded with satisfaction: "Once you have achieved your goal, you must go to the most evil place in the west and bring back a Bodhi fruit to give to your majesty." Although puzzled, Ding Yan agreed. The through-the-arm ape flicked his long sleeves, disappearing into thin air. Ding Yan took a deep breath and realized that this opportunity was accompanied by challenges. She clenched the heart law in her hand tightly, determined to train hard in order to fulfill her promise.
Ding Yan closed her eyes and trained for several months, finally mastering the heart law to some extent. She felt her strength had greatly increased, far surpassing her previous level. So, she said goodbye to everyone and set off on a journey to the most evil place in the west. Along the way, she encountered many dangerous situations, such as giant sandstorms formed by towering sand dunes, and toxic mist demons hidden beneath swampy lands. However, Ding Yan relied on her strong abilities and indomitable will to overcome them all.
Finally, she reached the edge of the most evil place in the west. The area was suffocating with dark energy, and eerie roars occasionally echoed around. Ding Yan took a deep breath and stepped inside. The path ahead was blocked by numerous demonic barriers, with each step feeling like being watched by countless eyes.
After a difficult search, she discovered a towering tree with a glowing Bodhi fruit on it. As she reached out to pick it, the tree suddenly transformed into the shape of a demon and launched a fierce attack on her. Ding Yan fought with the demon for a long time before ultimately unleashing the strongest move of her heart law, driving back the demon and successfully plucking the Bodhi fruit. She took the fruit back on her journey, fulfilling her agreement with the through-the-arm ape, filled with a sense of achievement and anticipation for more unknown adventures in the future.
But things were not as simple as Ding Yan had thought. As she was returning with the Bodhi fruit, she was suddenly blocked by a group of men in black robes.
Ding Yan immediately felt the immense pressure. She muttered to herself: These black-robed men are much stronger than me, and there are more than a dozen of them. As one person, I definitely do not have the ability to defeat them, let alone be confident in winning against them. The most crucial thing now is to figure out how to escape from here. I have absolutely no ability to fight these black-robed men, and the only way out is to find a way to escape!
Ding Yan quickly surveyed her surroundings and noticed a dense forest nearby. A plan formed in her mind, and she suddenly threw several stones at the group of black-robed men, taking advantage of their distraction. She turned and ran into the forest. The black-robed men were furious and immediately chased after her into the woods. Ding Yan weaved through the trees, using them as cover to conceal herself. However, the black-robed men appeared to be familiar with this forest, gradually closing in on her.
Just as Ding Yan felt despair, she discovered a hidden cave ahead. Without thinking more, she darted inside. The cave was dimly lit and filled with a foul smell. Holding her nose and mouth, she ventured deeper into the cave. Suddenly, she stepped on a loose stone, triggering a mechanism. After a slight tremor, a stone door slowly rose, emitting an odd glow from within.
Curious, Ding Yan stepped into the stone door. Inside, she saw a powerful energy array. At that moment, the black-robed men had also followed her to the entrance of the cave. Ding Yan made up her mind to risk entering the array. As the black-robed men charged in, Ding Yan activated the array. A bright flash of light occurred, and the black-robed men were pushed back.
Ding Yan seized the opportunity to search for a chance to escape in the inner chamber. With hard work, she indeed found a transmission array. She jumped into the transmission array and recited an incantation to activate it. As soon as the transmission array was activated, the black-robed men arrived, arriving just a step late. Ding Yan patted her chest and muttered to herself: What a narrow escape!
Ding Yan looked through the light of the transmission array and saw the black-robed men, unwillingly hitting the walls of the array. In a blink, she was transported to an unfamiliar valley. The valley was filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, like an enchanted land, but Ding Yan was not relaxed at all. She explored the place cautiously, suddenly hearing a melodious flute sound. Following the direction of the flute sound, she found a white-clad young boy sitting by the stream playing his flute.
The young boy smiled slightly when he saw Ding Yan and introduced himself as a hermit. Ding Yan shared her story, and the young boy said he would help. He took out a jade talisman and handed it to Ding Yan, saying that this talisman could hide one's aura and temporarily evade the pursuit of the black-robed men. Ding Yan was full of gratitude. At that moment, the sky suddenly became dark with clouds and thunder lightning appeared. It turned out that the black-robed men had located this place using special magic.
Ding Yan held the jade talisman tightly, while the young boy stood in front of her. The black-robed men appeared, and the situation was tense. The young boy engaged with the black-robed men, and Ding Yan took her chance to quietly cast a spell and slip away. By the time the black-robed men realized they had been tricked, Ding Yan had already vanished without a trace.
Ding Yan ran as fast as she could until she was certain of her safety and then stopped in her tracks. She knew that her journey in cultivation would still be filled with challenges, but this experience had left her with valuable lessons. She determined that she must become stronger in the future.
