Spirit Vessel

There has never been a summer with so much rain. The downpour has lasted for half a month with no sign of stopping. The surging currents of Jin River were on the verge of bursting the dam.

Feiyun's Nine-doves Gown had a demonic glow; his eyes were red and his long hair fluttered in the wind.

He trod through the muddy shore, southward. Who knows of his destination?

The fight against the Beiming has left him wounded. Moreover, he carved the statue of Supreme Goddess for three months without resting.

Though his evil affinity was violent, he was still a human, not a god. The guy could collapse at any moment.

Dongfang Jingyue weathered the rain and continued to follow him from a distance. Her black dress was dirty; hair a mess. Beads of water ran down her forehead and left behind muddy stains on her otherwise flawless face.

The two walked like that for miles without speaking.

Suddenly, Feiyun stopped and took out his weapon essence while gathering his beast souls: "Scram!"

Jingyue also halted without replying.

"If you don't get the hell away from me, I will kill you!" Feiyun spoke with a coarse and bloodthirsty voice; a vicious glare belonging to a wild beast.

She didn't move and continued to stare.

Feiyun hasn't lost his sanity completely or he wouldn't have been able to carve the statue or yell at Jingyue, telling her to leave. He didn't know when he would lose it completely and turn into a bloodthirsty demon.

Once that happened, the first victim would be Dongfang Jingyue.

"Why are you following me?" He said with a painful and hesitant stare.

"I want you to be a human, not a monster. I will pull you back." Jingyue paused ever so slightly before answering.

The hesitation disappeared from his eyes. They turned cold, as red as blood. He rushed forward and destroyed a mountain while going southward.

"What are you trying to do?" Jingyue followed right behind him.

"I will become a demon and massacre the world, a sinner of the ages… for the sake of Supreme Goddess." Feiyun spoke ruthlessly with a hint of romanticism just like a god of death recalling an old love.

He began his rampage - killing everything on his sight for 18,000 miles. More than a million people became his victims.

During this month, everyone shuddered after hearing his name, afraid that he might kill everyone in the world.

But he suddenly disappeared after one month and the killing stopped.

Starting from a village, someone announced that the demon was subdued by Supreme Goddess. It didn't take long before the entire Central Royal Prefecture begins building shrines for her. Worshippers came offering incense nonstop, praying for her to forever imprison that demon so no more disasters would happen.

"You know, one day when that demon was killing everyone in the city, he suddenly fell on the ground. A white goddess descended from the sky came and grabbed the demon then flew to the sky. The monster never appears again from then on. More than ten thousand people saw this, she must be Supreme Goddess!"

"She's our kingdom's divine guardian. The empress performed a blessing rite at Faith Convent and offered three heavenly incense sticks for Supreme Goddess. They will burn for three years without extinguishing."

"Even the empress worshipped her? She must be a real deity then."

***

Heaven's Equal was a majestic mountain range, zigzagging for 370,000 miles across half of Jin.

It touched five prefectures - Grand Southern, Ancient Jiang, Myriad Mines, Earthchild, and Northern Frontier Prefecture.

It had the most pristine forests where powerful beasts, precious minerals, and rare materials could be found. Half of the cultivation resources in Jin came from this place. Numerous sects, both good and evil, were built next to it.

At the southern region was the number one sacred ground, Wanxiang Pagoda.

At the midpoint, the Dao Gate.

Ten thousand miles south of the Dao Gate was the number one Buddhist holy ground, the Beastmaster Camp.

There were another thousand sects or so in this region outside of the three great powers. Ten thousand miles to the north were marshes with branches from the corpse caves.

Of course, the mountain range was large enough to accommodate these sects. They all had their own territories.

Some of these ancient forests contained powerful beasts, uninhabited by cultivators. Rumor has it that deep inside were spirit beasts that could kill Enlightened Beings. During nights of full moon, the spirit energy around the area would start to tremble violently.

***

Two tall peaks filled with bluestones with had a dangerous path by the ridge. A bronze carriage was traveling on this path. When looking from below, it looked like the carriage was flying in the sky and could fall at any moment, resulting in a horrific death.

The driver was a girl in white with beautiful black hair and a pipa in her embrace.

This area was beautiful - waterfalls and mists, numerous white cranes and towering old pine tree. Who knows how long they have been growing for?

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Two girls around sixteen years of age - dressed in white buddhist robe - rode two cranes and flew over from the clouds.

They were beautiful, armed with jade swords. They jumped off the cranes to stop the carriage.

"Halt, this is the hallowed Beastmaster Camp," said Ming Sheng, a grand completion God Base.

Jingyue stopped and stared into the distance through the mist. She could hear the ethereal bells ringing several hundred miles away: "So this is Beastmaster Camp?"

"This is Calmwind Pass, still 180 miles away from the camp. However, it is still the entrance towards the sect guarded by us. No one is allowed entry." Ming Yun said.

One needed to travel through this pass before reaching the Beastmaster Camp.

"The two of you are buddhist disciples?" Jingyue asked.

"We are the disciples of the twenty-sixth generation, my name is Ming Sheng, she is Ming Yun. What is your name, benefactor? And your purpose in coming?"

Jingyue said: "I am the fourth daughter of the Yin Gou, Dongfang Jingyue. I am here for an audience with Master Tan, hoping that the two great Venerable Buddhas here could chant the Calmheart Mantra to save my friend."

Ming Sheng and Ming Yun naturally knew the Yin Gou Clan and that Jingyue was a big shot. They both slightly bowed and became more relaxed and respectful.

"So you are Benefactor Dongfang, may I ask if your friend is male or female?"

"Male." Jingyue said.

Ming Sheng firmly said: "Please return, Benefactor Dongfang! The Beastmaster Camp does not allow men to enter, the master won't see you."

Suddenly, white clouds and mist condensed together to form the gigantic figure of a woman. Its voice traveled far: "Ming Sheng, Ming Yun, invite Benefactor Dongfang in and take her to Skyhigh Peak, Whirling Cavern."

This figure was the avatar of the camp's master, Tan Qingsu.

"Greetings, Master." Both the girls bowed towards the figure.

They were confused - this matter actually attracted the attention of their master? Just who is in that carriage?

Jingyue glanced towards that avatar and thought to herself: 'That's Tan Qingsu for you, she knew I would bring Feng Feiyun here.'

She said: "Thank you, Camp Master."

The avatar dispersed back into clouds and mist to blot out the sky again.

Feng Feiyun's demonic and evil blood has invaded his entire body with ten thousand beast souls running wild. If it wasn't for the Nine-doves Gown protecting his last strand of sanity, he would have lost his humanity already.

He was already grievously wounded on top of not sleeping for several months. He collapsed after his murderous rampage.

Dongfang Jingyue saved him and brought him to the Beastmaster Camp.

This was the number one holy ground of Buddhism that had trained a legendary character like Fo Canzi. It was considered one of the most ancient sects around but it didn't participate in the power struggle. That's why its influence wasn't as strong as the four clans.

No one really knew the exact strength and resources of this lineage that had lasted for tens of thousands of years.

Jingyue only knew that they had two Enlightened Beings since a thousand years ago. The seniors from her clan told her so. Most outsiders didn't know anything about this, so one could see how distant the camp was from everyone else.

In order to save Feng Feiyun, restore his humanity, and chase away the evil blood, one must calm the raging beast souls first. Only the Calmheart Mantra of this place could do so.

Rumor has it that an old Buddhist meditated on a boulder and chanted this mantra until all the beasts in this mountainous region fell asleep.

'I hope those two Enlightened Beings are still alive.' Jingyue thought while riding the carriage. She lifted the curtain to take a look at Feiyun before sighing.

Becoming evil for love, massacring for love, sinning for love - but this love wasn't directed at her.