My Beasts Grind Proficiency For Me

Chapter 339 - 200: 5 Aggregates Demon

Unlike his first stealthy visit, Yang Jing arrived at the Demon Realm for the second time with much greater fanfare. A Martial Might-level Flying Boat delivered him to its very outskirts.

Accompanying him were seven Array Masters and fifteen artisans.

The moment the Flying Boat landed, the Array Masters began surveying the Spirit Veins to deploy an Array. The one they were to set up was the Tier Three Seven Luminaries Demon-Slaying Array.

This was one of the Arrays the Six Sects had specially created years ago to destroy the Demon Realm. A total of eighteen Seven Luminaries Demon-Slaying Arrays had been constructed at the time, completely encircling the Demon Realm. They served as staging grounds for the Demon Suppression Army’s expeditions, infirmaries for the wounded, and storehouses for supplies.

However, that campaign had ended in disastrous losses due to the treacherous nature of the Demon Realm.

Of those Seven Luminaries Demon-Slaying Arrays, three were used for the outposts that monitored the Demon Realm; the rest were stored away in the secret vaults of the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion.

To guarantee their safety, the Governor’s Mansion had specially requisitioned one from the vaults. If a powerful Celestial Demon were to charge out of the Demon Realm, they could retreat into the safety of the Seven Luminaries Demon-Slaying Array.

With Iron Head helping the Array Masters pinpoint the nodes within the Spirit Vein, the entire Seven Luminaries Demon-Slaying Array was deployed in a mere six hours.

The artisans retrieved various components from their Storage Bags and swiftly assembled a three-courtyard residence within the Array’s perimeter.

"Minister Yang, this is the Array Disc for the Seven Luminaries Demon-Slaying Array. By activating it, you can unleash the Seven Radiant Divine Light. Even a Celestial Demon on the level of a Three Corpses Bone Demon would be reduced to ashes in an instant."

The Array Master patiently explained to Yang Jing in detail how to activate the Seven Radiant Divine Light and how to use the Array’s Restrictions to lock onto enemies.

Yang Jing summoned his disciples to memorize the instructions. He even had Chi Yu, Ji Feng, and Yellow Foot—who were all unfamiliar with Arrays—give it a try. A scorching blast of Seven Radiant Divine Light shot forth, instantly annihilating the earth and stone in its path and leaving behind a scorched scar dozens of yards long.

"Take care, Minister!"

The Array Masters and artisans eagerly boarded the Flying Boat, anxious to leave.

Forget Independent Cultivators and Foundation Establishment Clans—even the Cultivators from the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion itself were deeply wary of this Demon Realm and refused to linger.

"New house, here we come!"

Chi Yu, completely unafraid, dashed toward the residence, eager to claim a good room. Yellow Foot trotted happily after her on his short little legs.

Yang Jing, meanwhile, took out the Demon-Catching Tripod. With a surge of his Magical Power, it reverted to its original size. He then produced a chain forged from Profound Essence Gang Silver and wrapped it around one of the tripod’s handles.

He then took out an Earth Escape Stake and drove it into the ground.

These were little contraptions he had forged from materials Ji Feng had skimmed during her Artifact Refining sessions. The Profound Essence Chain, for instance, could stretch to a length of nearly ten thousand yards. It was enhanced with a Restriction, making it virtually unbreakable by brute force alone.

The Earth Escape Stake, in turn, could embed itself deep underground, linking with the earth’s ley lines. It could only be removed by activating one of Yang Jing’s unique Spells.

Though ordinary Celestial Demons were like lambs before the Demon-Catching Tripod, Yang Jing had still crafted the Earth Escape Stake and Profound Essence Chain as a precaution.

"If you run into a troublesome Celestial Demon, we’ll use this to pull you back."

Yang Jing said to the Wanhua Child.

"Thank you, Master!"

The Wanhua Child gave a respectful bow and slipped inside the Demon-Catching Tripod.

"Iron Head."

At a signal from Yang Jing, Iron Head used his Bone Stretching Magic to transform his physique. He cradled the Demon-Catching Tripod, hefted it once, and then hurled it with all his might.

The heavy Demon-Catching Tripod let out a piercing whistle as it soared toward the Demon Realm. The slender Profound Essence Gang Silver Chain snaked through the air behind it, forming a silver arc. After flying for more than a thousand feet, it landed lightly on the ground.

The Celestial Demons within the Demon Realm were startled by the Great Tripod that fell from the sky. A few of the bolder ones tried to approach and investigate, only to be instantly ensnared by Spiritual Light Chains that shot out from the tripod.

Wielding his two great Talents—Demon-Catching and Soul Suppressing—the Wanhua Child rendered the Celestial Demons powerless the moment the Spiritual Light Chains touched them. Like lambs to the slaughter, they were dragged into the tripod, unable to resist.

The ecosystem of the Demon Realm was in constant flux.

The Beast Demons that had once huddled on the fringes of the Demon Realm were long gone. The area was now occupied by a swarm of Death Demons. In the hierarchy of Outer Celestial Demons, these creatures ranked higher than Beast Demons but lower than Yin Death Demons.

The Wanhua Child activated a Restriction, and the Death Demons were directly refined into billowing clouds of Essence Qi before they even entered the Tripod World.

He kicked up his feet and lay back inside the Demon-Catching Tripod, sighing in comfort as he basked in the ceaseless flow of Essence Qi. ’Now *this* is the life a Demon-Catching Tripod ought to live.’

However, after enjoying himself for only half an hour, the Wanhua Child shot to his feet with a jolt.

’That master of mine, Yang Jing, is an absolute perfectionist who could wring oil from a stone. If I haven’t caught enough Celestial Demons by the time we leave the Demon Realm... I can’t even bear to think about his methods.’

The warier Death Demons had already sensed that something was amiss and were trying to flee from the strange Golden Tripod. But the Demon-Catching Tripod gave them no chance, sucking an entire swarm of them into the Tripod World.

Afterward, the Wanhua Child directed the Demon-Catching Tripod to levitate and fly over to another group of Celestial Demons’ territory to continue his hunt.

Now that his consciousness had fully formed as an Artifact Spirit, the Wanhua Child could operate independently like a Tier Three Magical Treasure, without needing to rely on his master’s Magical Power. However, the tripod’s immense weight consumed a great deal of his power, making its flight speed extremely slow.

Thanks to the Demon-Catching Tripod’s highly efficient and intense reaping, all Celestial Demons within a thousand-foot radius of the Demon Realm’s edge were completely captured, creating a vacuum devoid of their presence.

The boundary of the Nine Heavens World immediately began to press forward, slowly encroaching upon and compressing the Demon Realm’s territory.

Yang Jing was seated cross-legged in the residence, cultivating his Spiritual Qi. The Seven Luminaries Demon-Slaying Array suppressed all Demonic Qi, leaving not a single trace within the compound. Sensing a tumultuous shift in the Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth, he immediately flew out of the residence.

’The efficiency of the reforged Demon-Catching Tripod is astonishing,’ he thought. ’To think it accomplished this much in a mere six hours.’

’If the Demon Suppression Army had been sent, even with a Martial Might-level Flying Boat carrying a thousand soldiers, they would have achieved a similar rate of progress at best, and that’s not even counting the inevitable heavy casualties.’

The Demon Realm wouldn’t just sit back and wait to be destroyed; a High-Tier Celestial Demon would surely come to investigate.

Yang Jing drew the Celestial Waterfall Sword from his Dantian, just in case the incoming Celestial Demon proved too difficult to handle.

Iron Head and Yinjiao were also stirred by the disturbance.

"Master."

Yang Jing nodded at them.

Out in the Demon Realm, the Wanhua Child also knew the situation was about to change. The entire tripod sank, burying itself deep within the soil.

A moment later, a formless and shapeless Celestial Demon flew into the area.

It was a Five Aggregates Demon, a creature capable of inverting the five aggregates of existence: form, sensation, perception, volition, and consciousness. This type of Celestial Demon was comparable in Tier to a Moon Demon and was born with the ability to manipulate the five senses, toying with the inhabitants of the Nine Heavens World as if they were puppets.

Demons with weak Divine Sense were especially terrified of this creature; to them, encountering a Five Aggregates Demon was like meeting a natural predator.

Years ago, Yinjiao himself had been controlled by a Five Aggregates Demon and imprisoned within an underground spring for sixty long years.

This Demon was formless, shapeless, colorless, and odorless. It could only be targeted using Divine Sense, but in doing so, one risked having their own five aggregates manipulated in turn. Even a Cultivator with a powerful Divine Sense could fall under its sway with a single moment of carelessness.

The Five Aggregates Demon was bizarre, but in the Wanhua Child, it had met its natural predator. As an Artifact Spirit, the Wanhua Child had no fear of the demon’s power to manipulate the five aggregates.

The Five Aggregates Demon was puzzled by the sudden disappearance of all the lesser demons. It circled in the air, trying to find the source of the disturbance.

But as it flew over a stretch of unremarkable wasteland, several Spiritual Light Chains suddenly shot out from the ground, binding it tightly.

The Five Aggregates Demon was horrified. It immediately tried to break free from the Spiritual Light Chains, but discovered to its terror that it was struggling to mobilize its own Demonic Qi.

An irresistible, immense force surged through the Spiritual Light Chains.

Despite its desperate struggles, the Five Aggregates Demon was dragged into the Tripod World.

The Tripod World was a realm of chaotic blackness, utterly dark save for the faint glow emanating from a swarm of Death Demons.

The Five Aggregates Demon was astonished; nearly all the missing Death Demons were imprisoned here. It grabbed one of them and cruelly crushed it into a wisp of dispersed Demonic Qi, reading its memories in the process.

But the Death Demon’s memories were extremely limited. It only recalled a flash from a Spiritual Light Chain before losing all control and watching itself get pulled into the Golden Tripod.

’Could this be the Demon-Catching Tripod?! But how could the Demon-Catching Tripod contain an internal dimension?’

If it weren’t for the absence of the eternally burning stars of the Outer Realm, the Five Aggregates Demon might have suspected it had been teleported back to its home.

Before long, a square opening appeared in the sky of the dark world. A human face materialized above it, his eyes flashing with a Cyan Gold Light. The sight made the Five Aggregates Demon shudder, giving it the unnerving illusion that it was being seen through completely.

"Not bad. You even managed to catch a Five Aggregates Demon."

The Five Aggregates Demon’s form blurred as it appeared before the opening, trying to fly out, only to slam into a transparent barrier. It surged with all its Magical Power, ramming the barrier several times, but it refused to break.

Just as despair began to take root in its heart, the human Cultivator actually reached a hand inside.

The Five Aggregates Demon was instantly overjoyed. ’This human is so arrogant! He’s actually giving me a chance to manipulate his five aggregates!’ It was about to pounce, intending to use the outstretched hand to take control of the insolent fool.

The next moment, a profound sense of terror washed over it.

A blood-red light erupted from the palm, transforming into a blade of light that streaked through the Tripod World with the speed of a shooting star.

SHIIING!

The Death Demons were terrified, but before they could react, the blood-red ribbon of light sliced through them. The moment the light hit, it corroded their Demon Bodies, and in the space of a single breath, they all dissolved into piles of Blood Sand on the ground.

Seeing this horrific scene, the Five Aggregates Demon was nearly frightened to death.

’Celestial Demon Blood Transformation!’