Ancient trees, verdant and towering, stretched skyward, while the path winding through the perilous cliffs was elegant and serene.
Atop this immortal mountain, a grand Daoist temple stood majestically amidst the peaks.
The temple, vast and imposing, seemed to be carved from the very mountainside.
Within the temple, strange murals were etched onto the bright yellow walls.
One mural depicted two dragons entwined, but the Dragon Pearl at their center was not a jewel.
Instead, it resembled a collection of bizarre fleshy blood eggs.
Through the canopy of towering ancient trees, the sunlight that trickled through seemed to carry a hint of ominous gloom.
And then
“‘Scooping the Moon from the Ocean’ lies in the strength of your stance!”
“‘Wild Horse Mane’ lies in the subtlety of your force!”
“‘White Ape Offering Fruit’ lies in the strangeness of your moves!”
Beneath a quaint, tiled roof, a group of Daoists were practicing their martial arts.
Each of them wore deep blue, tattered Daoist robes, their faces concealed behind unsettling stone masks.
They held swords in their hands, practicing their swordsmanship.
But what was truly frightening was this:
The one reciting the martial arts principles, the one obviously instructing them, was not human.
The individual, wielding a large blade, had a muscular physique similar to a human’s.
But upon closer inspection, a thick carapace covered its neck.
Tentacles lashed out, fangs protruded, it was an utterly grotesque sight.
It was clearly an insect demon.
Yet, the Daoists didn’t find it strange.
After finishing a set of sword forms, the insect demon instructed, “The swordsmanship you have learned today is not true swordsmanship.”
“Rather, it is the essence of the martial arts that I have learned in my lifetime – you must continue to practice diligently.”
Upon hearing the insect demon’s words, the Daoists all bowed their heads in acknowledgment.
“Insect General’s words are most wise, we shall do as you say.”
But there was no sincerity in their voices.
The Insect General was not surprised by this.
Within the Yellow Flower Temple, the Daoists swallowed pills and imbibed spirits, all in pursuit of immortality.
They sought eternal life, they sought to ascend to the Immortal Path.
As for martial arts, they learned them if they must.
But to ask them to immerse themselves in it, to study it deeply?
That was something they simply couldn’t do.
Furthermore, even if they learned, what good would it do?
He, the so-called Insect General, was afflicted by demonic arts and turned into an insect demon.
No matter how masterful his martial arts, unparalleled in the world.
Wasn’t he still shunned by the world, left to linger in this gathering of demons and evil?
Therefore, the Insect General merely sighed.
He ended today’s martial arts lesson and dismissed the Daoists.
The Daoists dispersed, leaving only one behind.
The Daoist was dressed no differently than the others.
But the Insect General, being a demon, could recognize him from his scent.
“You have something else you want to ask?”
His mandibles clicked open and shut, strangely exhibiting a hint of fondness.
“Indeed.”
The Daoist replied, his voice gentle.
“I have a slight misunderstanding regarding the ‘White Ape Offering Fruit’ move.”
“Please enlighten me, General.”
His words were polite.
A stark contrast to the Daoists of the Yellow Flower Temple, who were practically driven mad.
“Demonstrate it for me again.”
And so, the Insect General patiently instructed the Daoist.
Soon, after guiding the Daoist on his martial arts, the Insect General looked at him.
He said with a hint of confusion, “Yuan Daoist, you are an inner disciple, bestowed with the Lotus Pill by the temple.”
“Yet you attend every one of my martial arts lessons – neglecting your cultivation like this, aren’t you afraid of delaying your pursuit of immortality?”
He was truly perplexed.
The disciples of the Yellow Flower Temple could be distinguished by their attire.
They were divided into those who used dust whisks, those who used staffs, and those who used swords.
The sword-wielding disciples were those with the highest aptitude and innate talent, and they focused solely on cultivation.
Those who used dust whisks and staffs were a level below, tasked with various duties.
But one thing was the same.
That was, as long as one was chosen by the headmaster, and taught the True Pill, the Lotus Pill, by the Dharma Master.
It was said they had the chance to ascend to immortality in the Heavenly Ladder Kingdom, in the far north.
And this Daoist, whose secular name was Xu Yuan, known within the temple as ‘Yuan Daoist’.
He had only been in the temple for five years.
But due to his exceptional talent, he had been given the Lotus Pill upon entering the temple.
Countless disciples within the temple envied and resented him.
But the Insect General knew.
This Yuan Daoist, in his daily cultivation, was practically lazy.
It was said that he barely passed the Dharma Master’s small tests.
On the other hand, he never missed the martial arts lessons.
The Insect General was naturally concerned.
He knew all too well what kind of place the Yellow Flower Temple was.
If Yuan Daoist continued to be indolent like this, and one day he failed the small test…
He feared that he would be sent down to the Spider Silk Cave below to feed the spiders.
“Thank you for your concern, General.”
But Yuan Daoist Xu Yuan responded calmly.
“Cultivation lies within oneself, not in haste.”
“This Daoist is on the righteous path, I’m not in a hurry to become immortal.”
Having said this, he bowed and departed.
Leaving the Insect General dumbfounded on the spot.
“Righteous path…”
He let out a bitter laugh and shook his head.
He looked at the quaint Yellow Flower Temple around him, and only emitted an insect-like sigh.
“This cursed place, where is there a righteous path to walk?”
Sighing again, the Insect General turned and entered the temple.
But the Insect General didn’t know.
At this moment, Xu Yuan, the last one to leave.
Was inwardly cursing under his breath.
“Cultivating to become immortal, what a load of crap!”
“It’s probably more like cultivating into a demon, then being captured by the Heavenly Immortals of the East to be refined into pills.”
“And that goddamn Lotus Pill… what true pill, it’s just an insect egg!”
In his heart, Xu Yuan cursed and cursed.
Yes.
Xu Yuan, the inner disciple of the Yellow Flower Temple.
Was a transmigrator.
He had been playing a game when he suddenly fainted, and when he woke up, he found himself in this world.
And this world was the very game world he had been playing before he passed out, the ‘Black Myth World’!
“Damn it, Erlang God, I just asked the Wind Spirit Ancestor to beat you up!”
“Why did you have to send me to this wretched place!?”
Xu Yuan raged in his heart, for the umpteenth time!
Yes.
Xu Yuan was aware that this world was incredibly dangerous!
The world was set against the backdrop of the mythical Journey to the West, where immortals and Buddhas existed.
But the key was, the undercurrent of this world was completely black.
The Heavenly Immortals devoured the spiritual essence of the mortal realm, and used demons as pawns to enslave heaven and earth.
Of course, this world also had a rebel.
That was the Stone Monkey, born from the myriad phenomena of heaven and earth, inherently possessing boundless spiritual essence.
But unfortunately.
The Great Sage’s rebellion ultimately failed.
He thought that following the immortals and Buddhas’ wishes on the Journey to the West would secure safety for himself and his loved ones.
But in the end, after the journey was complete, he relinquished his Buddhahood and returned to Flower Fruit Mountain.
Ultimately, the Heavenly Court sent troops, along with the five great demon kings, to jointly kill him, leaving behind only six relics in the mortal realm!
And those demon kings, who had been subdued during the Journey to the West, resumed their rampage in the mortal realm.
They even became more powerful, due to the absorption of spiritual essence from Sun Wukong’s six relics.
Xu Yuan, who was fully aware of the truth of this world.
Naturally understood how desperate his current situation was.
He was in the Yellow Flower Temple, the base of operations for one of the demon kings who killed Sun Wukong, the ‘Hundred-Eyed Demon King’.
And Xu Yuan knew.
The Hundred-Eyed Demon King and the Yellow Flower Temple were the puppets of a certain top-tier immortal.
“Based on the game’s information, that top-tier immortal should be a female immortal from Kunlun, someone even the Jade Emperor had to respect.”
“The Hundred-Eyed Demon King, on the surface, seems to be taking disciples and teaching the Dao in this Yellow Flower Temple, and also protects the spider spirits in the Spider Silk Cave beneath the temple.”
“But in essence, whether it’s the spider spirits or the Daoist disciples in this temple.”
“They are all merely material for refining pills, for that immortal and the Heavenly Court Immortals.”
Xu Yuan had no doubt.
Those so-called ‘immortals’ in the Yellow Flower Temple were probably sent to heaven to be refined into pills!
And the most crucial thing was, he could think of no way to resist.
Because it wasn’t like no one had resisted before.
But even ‘Anlu Star Officer’, a fellow immortal who sought righteousness, had died at the hands of the Hundred-Eyed Demon King, and his mother, the Vairocana Bodhisattva, had also been implicated.
“This world is too dark, too hopeless!”
And the most hopeless thing was.
The moment he transmigrated, in order to protect himself, Xu Yuan had to swallow the so-called Yellow Flower Temple immortal pill, the ‘Lotus Pill’.
And Xu Yuan knew.
This thing was essentially an egg from the exotic insect beast ‘Qintangxian’ from Kunlun’s Langfeng Garden!
Just thinking about having an insect egg inside him made him feel sick.
However, over the past five years.
Xu Yuan gradually began to figure things out, from his initial despair.
“This kind of insect egg won’t necessarily hatch immediately, it needs enough spiritual power to activate its hatching.”
“After it hatches – it will devour everything of its host, transforming the host into a half-human, half-insect demon, the ‘Insect Feather Warrior’.”
Therefore, Xu Yuan had been deliberately slacking off for the past five years.
Apart from the Insect General’s martial arts lessons, he only listened and didn’t practice in all other cultivation classes.
Each time, he only maintained the bare minimum to avoid being sent to feed the spiders in the Yellow Flower Temple.
With the hope of delaying the hatching of the insect egg inside him as much as possible.
Of course, if it were an ordinary person.
Then delaying time would just be a matter of waiting for death.
It would be a difference of dying sooner or later.
But for Xu Yuan, it was different.
Because…
“Just a little bit more, my cheat code is about to activate!”
Xu Yuan encouraged himself in his heart.
Yes.
In fact, at this moment, in front of him.
As his mind moved, a phantom progress bar appeared.
The progress bar displayed the words ‘99%’.
This was something that had appeared the moment he arrived in this world.
And at the same time, it was Xu Yuan’s only hope!
And just as Xu Yuan pondered in his heart…
“Hm!?”
He saw it.
On the phantom progress bar, the words ‘99%’ suddenly changed to ‘100%’!
And so, as Xu Yuan practically held his breath.
“Ding!”
A sound familiar to him, to the point of being second nature, echoed.
“Special Edition Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Modification Tool · Black Myth has been successfully loaded!”
And so, Yuan Daoist stood there dumbfounded.
“Ah?”