Chapter 116: The God of Desire

The mist rose from nowhere.

A thin veil obscured his vision, making the path ahead hazy. Baili Feihong’s expression turned grim. With his eyesight, he could normally pierce through walls; how could a mere wisp of fog block his gaze?

"What divine entity is playing tricks on me?"

His deep voice cut through the haze, echoing throughout the Flower Street. The only response was the sound of his own voice returning to him. The Flower Street had seemingly transformed into an infinite corridor, layered upon itself like overlapping mirrors, sealing this place off.

"Divine ability? Law?"

A divine ability is but a manifestation of a Law. Only a divine ability could resist his Six Dao Absolute—the Five Absolute Sounds. Some unknown, mysterious entity with vast powers had trapped him, dragging him into a bizarre world.

A world conjured by a divine ability.

Hand on the hilt of his blade, he pressed deeper.

He reached the Yihong Brothel. Without a moment’s hesitation, Baili Feihong stepped into the familiar building. The vast brothel was completely empty. The mist clung to his eyes like fine gauze; through it, he looked up, only to see blurred, reflected images flickering before him.

Songs and dances, drinking to drown the sorrows of the day. The city’s noble guests arrived in an endless stream, while the graceful, enchanting women used every trick in their arsenal to please them. The scene was lively, right before his eyes, yet when Baili Feihong reached out to touch them, his hand passed straight through their shadows.

Moon in the water, image in the mirror.

These eerie scenes did not strike fear into Baili Feihong; on the contrary, he observed them with keen interest. He understood that if an entity could kill him, fear and struggle would be useless. If it could not, then all of this was merely a dream.

"I can only see the figures if my gaze pierces through the illusion."

"The mirror corridor created by this mysterious entity has not fully suppressed me."

Baili Feihong’s mind raced; he immediately realized that this mysterious entity was not invincible. It was just that the opponent’s strange methods left him without a lead, and he had yet to find a way to counter them.

He had his suspicions about the identity of this mysterious being, but could not be certain. Were these the methods of a True Demon or True Fiend? A warlock? Or perhaps a wizard or mage? It was also possible that a powerful master of divine abilities had set a trap, waiting for him to fall into the snare.

Leaving the Yihong Brothel, Baili Feihong walked along the Flower Street, moving forward continuously. He tracked the distance in his mind; he had walked well beyond the length of the street, yet he found himself back at the Yihong Brothel once more.

He entered again, watching the mirror reflections. The figures overlapped, becoming even more blurred and illusory. A faint arc appeared at the corner of Baili Feihong’s lips. He did not immediately strike to shatter the mirror corridor, as the destructive force required might level the entire Flower Street.

He walked out, continued forward, and returned to the Yihong Brothel. After nine repetitions, the world before him was shrouded in a deathly, ash-gray stillness.

The mirror corridor no longer held any figures. There was only the gray, dim, and dilapidated Flower Street. The mist in the sky drifted down like dust or willow catkins, evoking a sense of loneliness, emptiness, and despair. Baili Feihong was not immune; this was a instinctive physiological reaction. Yet, after a single, fleeting breath, he suppressed it with his surging blood qi.

"Every time I reach the end of this street, I return to the starting point."

"The corridor is endless, with no beginning or end in sight."

"Each time I walk it, it is as if I cross a layer of mirror, entering a deeper level of the illusion."

"Standing still makes it impossible to escape."

"Continuing to walk, reaching the end, only leads to the next layer of the mirror world."

"This is a dead end."

At this moment, Baili Feihong ruled out the possibility of a martial arts divine master. As for wizards, mages, or warlocks, although he had not studied these cultivation systems in depth, he knew that even at the level of divine abilities, it would be difficult to use such power to isolate or suppress the impact of his own blood qi.

"All paths lead to martial arts; it is the supreme path." That was no joke.

"An infinite nesting doll?"

Everything has an end. This bizarre corridor was no exception. It consisted of layered mirrors, each more powerful than the last. For the mirror corridor to be seamless, the mysterious entity had to use its own power to plug every possible loophole.

An end must exist. Unless the mysterious entity possessed infinite power, it could not create an infinite mirror corridor. Even creating a single speck of dust requires infinite power once the word "infinite" is attached to it. The heights reached by the unknown entity determined the depth of the mirror corridor.

"The mirror corridor at the limit is forged by the entity's greatest strength."

"I hope you don't disappoint me, or I will beat you to death."

Baili Feihong laughed, then began to run—running with all his might. Tirelessly, time and time again, he plunged deeper into layer after layer of the mirror corridor. The world before him grew increasingly gray. The oppressive atmosphere began to irritate him.

The drifting gray dust touched his skin and vanished, visible to the naked eye, transforming into a mysterious force that seeped into his body.

His blood flowed like a raging river, devouring the mysterious force.

"My skin is impervious to blades and spears, as tough as the finest steel. As my first layer of physical defense, this mysterious force bypassed it with ease."

"Fortunately, my blood is my most powerful weapon."

After swallowing the mysterious force, Baili Feihong felt his inner agitation growing. He was forced to circulate the *Myriad Things Origin-Return Cauldron* to temper his body.

"Oh?"

He felt an extra wisp of "Origin Cauldron Mother Qi" within the cauldron. This Mother Qi was a special energy cultivated by the *Myriad Things Origin-Return Cauldron* technique. It could be converted into Blood Origin to amplify his blood, or it could amplify the Origin-Return Cauldron in his dantian. It was the mother of all origin energy.

"The greatest utility of this martial art, the *Myriad Things Origin-Return Cauldron*, is its ability to convert all things into Mother Qi to strengthen oneself. It is far more formidable than the 'Star Sucking Great Technique' or the 'Northern Dark Divine Art' I have heard of."

The beginning of all things evolves from the Primordial Qi. The uniqueness of this technique lies in reversing all things, returning them to their source. Its philosophy originates from the *Blood Origin Technique*. Humans consume food and convert it into biological energy to sustain life. The *Blood Origin Technique* is a method for refining food, tempering Blood Origin, strengthening blood qi, and purifying the blood. The *Six Dao Demon-Suppressing Scripture* is the most powerful technique of the age, derived from absorbing various other arts, all based on the *Blood Origin Technique*.

"All things can return to their origin. No matter what this power before me is, it cannot escape the refining and evolution of the Origin-Return Cauldron; it will all become Mother Qi."

Baili Feihong now had a brand-new understanding of the *Myriad Things Origin-Return Cauldron*. However, he knew that without the purification of his blood, circulating the technique directly would allow certain evil, residual powers of the mysterious entity to invade his power system. If he were to absorb such bizarre, desire-driven power for too long, his own Mother Qi would be affected. With his blood as a shield, filtering out the impurities, he could refine any power without issue.

"If you are the power of infinity, then my Origin-Return Cauldron will devour that power to grow."

What Baili Feihong lacked was the tempering and accumulation of origin energy. His skill points had pushed him to the peak of the Origin Embryo Realm, but the amount of Heaven and Earth Origin Qi he could absorb during that promotion was limited. The existence of his acupuncture points and the Origin-Return Cauldron were meant for breaking boundaries. He had been cultivating constantly, but relative to his potential—which was like an abyssal sea—the amount of origin energy he had absorbed had not yet filled his internal points or the Cauldron.

The limit of a technique is not the true limit. A technique is merely a tool for mastering power, an equation for energy. How much power one can plunder from the world through a technique depends on the individual's own cultivation.

"I have not yet reached the depths of the mirror corridor."

At this moment, Baili Feihong was brimming with motivation. The mysterious entity was powerful. The stronger the power, the more satisfying it would be to absorb.

...

On Flower Street, a figure shrouded in gray mist stood at the Yihong Brothel, watching the world of mortal life. The gray mist flickered, sometimes appearing like a mirror, sometimes like a fog, shifting into human forms—young, old, male, and female.

He absorbed the desires released by the men and women on the street. Simultaneously, threads of gray light pierced through the dozens of brothels on the street, drilling into the heads of the humans and piercing their souls. The souls of nearly ten thousand people on the street were now under his control.

But these humans were not her target. At least, not yet.

She looked down upon the mortal world, gazing at the human trapped within her belly. This human was releasing light and heat like a furnace, which she found extremely annoying.

She did not want to give up. Instead, she stared at the human within her with greedy eyes. If she could possess that body, she would surely be able to descend into the mortal realm and become a true god walking among men. A perfect vessel.

[What... is... he... doing?]

She whispered. Outsiders could not hear her voice, as she did not wish to be disturbed. This included the peers who eyed her covetously: the eerie face hidden in the wind, like a god of sea storms; the god of the forest, whose eyes and ears were the swaying leaves; and the night god, lurking in the shadows where light could not reach. These four were of her kind. Some weaker existences could not be called her kind; they were merely lingering spirits.

They had slumbered for too long. They had even forgotten the language of humans, forced to feed on the memories of human souls to regain the ability to speak.

[I have a heart.]

She was the only one among the god-like beings who possessed a heart. The heart is the gathering place of desire.

[The heart is the fountain of desire, the gathering place of thought.]

[If he continues to walk, he will die.]

[His physical body will be corrupted.]

She did not want the human to continue drilling deeper into her belly. The heart was her most precious part; it was her source. If she lost her heart, she would fall from the divine altar.

She could not let the human go deeper. He had to die.

As the thought arose, the clouds stirred.

Crossing the boundary for the ninety-seventh time, Baili Feihong stepped into the next layer and regained his footing. The shadows appeared again. This time, they were very real, as if they possessed physical form. Under the gaze of his Divine Eye, he saw the shadows were composed of countless threads. Intense waves of desire had solidified into these shadows.

The shadows stood in rows along the street, blocking his path.

"Getting close. I should be reaching the deepest part of the mysterious entity soon."

The shadows were stopping him. But Baili Feihong had run ninety-seven times like a fool; how could he let them succeed? If any other person had stepped into the mirror corridor and encountered the sky full of drifting catkins, they would never have made it to this layer. They would have been overwhelmed by the catkins.

The catkins were dust, the crystallization of desire. Once they stuck to someone, they would silently enter the body, forming a mysterious force of desire that waited for a threshold to be reached before erupting. The desire would drown the person, turning them into a puppet of desire—a puppet of the mysterious entity, with every aspect of their existence under its control.

Blood refining and the Origin-Return Cauldron had protected Baili Feihong, sparing him from the erosion of external desire.

"Since you cannot passively control me and turn me into your puppet, you are now intervening directly, using desire to shape shadows to stop me, or even kill me."

Baili Feihong sneered. He feared nothing more than battle. His fifty thousand skill points were his greatest trump card. He hadn't immediately raised his cultivation level because he felt his Origin Embryo had not yet reached the perfect state.

The shadows, now having taken physical form, stood before him like dark men. Gazing at them, he felt as if his very vision were being stripped away. Only with his Divine Eye half-open could he see their every move clearly.

He observed the shadows. The desire-shadows did not attack him immediately; instead, their bodies began to change. They started to gain contours. First, the eyes—different eyes radiated different lusters, representing the attributes and power of each shadow. Through a gray-white luster, Baili Feihong saw despair. Through a fire-yellow luster, he saw anger. Through an ice-blue luster, he saw sorrow.

The manifestations of desire were colorful and varied; it made one marvel at the vastness of the world. Gradually, mouths, noses, and ears took shape. Finally, skin.

The shadow clad in the flames of anger had a facial contour that resembled... Qian Yuchen. The shadow wearing the skin of greed looked like Governor Yan Fei.

"Come, let me see your power."

He let out a low roar, a declaration of war. Seeming to sense the impact of Baili Feihong’s inner state, the desire-shadow puppets moved. They were overwhelming. The shadow resembling Qian Yuchen let out a roar, and the fire it wore erupted with the destructive heat of all things, lunging at Baili Feihong.

He swung his blade in a diagonal slash, cutting the shadow in half at the waist. The blade met no resistance. The shadow remained unharmed, merely flickering like a flame being blown by the wind.

"Intertwined reality and illusion," Baili Feihong murmured.

The shadow had reached him. The terrifying heat released by the flames gave Baili Feihong a suffocating sensation, as if he were wrapped in superheated fire. If he continued, the rage would ignite the blood throughout his body.

Physical attacks ineffective? Origin energy attacks ineffective? Blood qi attacks ineffective? None of his attacks could damage these seeds of desire.

"Then taste the feeling of being refined by the *Myriad Things Origin-Return Cauldron*."