Shi Feiyang's array, designed to confront Ruan Zheng, Shen Tuhong, and Zhuge Jingwo, three disciples from the Emei Sect, could not be deemed entirely useless, yet it nearly was.

In battles of spell and array, one traditionally employs Qimen Dunjia, a military divination technique incorporating Jia Wood and Geng Metal and the interplay of the Seven Killings.

Liu Ren, on the other hand, is used for mundane daily predictions, such as needle and garlic trivia, not meant for trapping and killing. If Ruan Zheng were inside, he might have directly broken out with the help of Tianxuan Divine Sand, specialized in breaking demon enchantments.

However, everything in the world hinges on the phrase "being opportunistic". A thousand years ago, Elder Kuzhu had reached the end of his cultivation path with nowhere to advance, grappling between the teachings of Buddhism and Daoism.

Kuzhu Zen was the path he carved for himself, but lacking proper guidance from a legitimate Buddhist high monk, his efforts led him increasingly astray despite his relentless endeavours.

He reincarnated into Central Earth every sixty years, which appeared to refine his spirit and accumulate merits, but in reality, within Buddhism, he practiced only superficial virtues, gaining humane and heavenly rewards and, in the process, accruing numerous karmic sins. Although his mana grew year by year, there was no advancement in his Dao level.

If his practice was correctly aligned, with his prowess in Technique Divine Power, he wouldn't need to reincarnate every sixty years for several hundred or thousand years—a few lifetimes would suffice for his ascension.

Buddhism states: Once one attains the first fruit Sotapanna, Nirvana is assured within seven lifetimes at most.

Yet, over the last millennium, his reincarnations had far exceeded this count.

Repeatedly reincarnating without achieving enlightenment and accumulating continuous karma, Shi Feiyang hence designed this worldly grand array based on the Liu Ren Formation specifically for him, merging Mysterious Sect's arrays with Demon Cult Techniques. Each character in the array was not a product of magic but a reflection of various thoughts from Elder Kuzhu's mind amidst the tumultuous mortal coil.

In the past, Shi Feiyang, while at the East Sea, listened to a monk from Shaolin Temple talk about the non-duality of cause and effect, cultivating based on cause, and achieving based on effect.

Later, he also acquired the Red Lotus Demon Scripture in Qingluo Valley, along with several extremely potent Demon Path Great Techniques taught by Brooyinca noted in Wei Fengniang's cultivation diaries.

He combined these, crafting this array for Elder Kuzhu's karmic opportunities.

He designed Elder Kuzhu's incessant reincarnations as "the cause" and now, within the bounds of the array, set as "the effect," the past sown causes presently reaped their assorted effects!

Every reincarnation, Elder Kuzhu managed to provide his family with wealth lasting several generations and used Immortal Medicine to maintain their health, ensuring their longevity.

He believed this sufficed to repay the kindness of his birth parents, and around the age of twenty, he would leave home, feeling that he owed nothing, breezy as drifting clouds.

Now, Shi Feiyang, using a grand Liu Ren divination, derived all this reflection in the Heavenly River and presented them as the Demon Conditions of all heavenly realms, pointing directly at one's heart and questioning the soul.

The water in the Blood Pond boiled, and close relatives from past lives appeared one after another as if in hell, loudly questioning him, whether he was as heartless as stone.

Elder Kuzhu knew these were illusions and was about to release another Taiyin Green Spirit Divine Light to obliterate them when a thought emerged from his subconscious, "I am indeed that heartless!"

This thought arose, and suddenly, from great distances, he felt his original body protected by layers of arrays on Wuzhong Ridge at the East Pole Great Wilderness Mountain showing signs of petrification!

He regarded the bodies he had during his reincarnations merely as putting on and taking off clothes, using them and then sealing them away with spells when done, discarding them without a second thought, leaving them to fate, but that original Dharma Body refined over a thousand years was precious. It was his opportunity for enlightenment—he still envisioned his physical body becoming divine, certifying him a Golden Immortal.

Daoist teachings emphasize the marvelous unity of body and spirit, requiring not only the Primordial Spirit to reach Pure Yang without yin but also the body to undergo Returning Pill Enlightenment, purging yin residue, ultimately merging body and spirit into one, achieving Divine Qi. Otherwise, only the Primordial Spirit would ascend, leaving the body as what Buddhism calls a mere stinking skin bag.

These reincarnated bodies mattered not; that original Dharma Body was crucial, absolutely irreversible damage, usually protected by thirty-six stakes of Taiyin Green Spirit Bamboo and surrounded by numerous prohibitive techniques making it secure as if fortified in copper and iron, wary of demonic invasions.

But now, no external demon had attacked; the demon had emerged from within his own heart!

He had become increasingly cold and "dry" the more he practiced, fortunate to realize in time that he was on a dead-end path, pulling back from the cliff's edge, delving into the mortal world to comprehend the complexities of human emotions, and engaging in "prosperity."

Now, with a single thought as cold and hard as stone, all past "prosperity" achievements were abandoned, forcefully stepping further outside the cliff into the "dried" realm!

As a result, his original Dharma Body began to stiffen like stone, truly turning to stone!

Should his body indeed turn to stone, his long and painful cultivation over hundreds and thousands of years would be largely wasted, plummeting his Dao Level. He would either have to strategize extensively to truly turn calamity into re-cultivation, cultivating anew a body with excellent potential to achieve a Golden Immortal, or find a way to revive the stone body, the trials of which would likely be even more challenging.

Fortunately, his mana was immensely high, and his experience abundant, knowing it was external demonic dust triggering devil thoughts and forming a demonic realm. He hastily centered his mind and gathered his qi, remotely casting spells causing the Taiyin Green Spirit Bamboos at Wuzhong Ridge to root and sprout, branching and leafing rapidly, forming a dense bamboo forest in moments, emitting vast vital energy to fumigate his original body causing his dry bamboo to rebound spring.

Concurrently, he assured himself, "I am not a person with a heart of stone…not at all like stone…I am alive...with blood and flesh…definitely not dead…not a clay or stone sculpture…"

His legs had already turned to stone, and the petrification was spreading swiftly toward his waist. At that moment, the life force of Spirit Bamboo nourished him from outside, while his own thoughts revolved internally to halt the momentum and even push it back, gradually restoring the petrified areas.

But this deterred him from daring to kill those "wronged kinsfolk and creditors" of his past!

His blood-soaked parents and siblings struggled out of the Blood Lake, calling out each of his names from past lives, pleading for his help, "You have now become an Immortal, even more blessed than the Emperor, please save us... deliver us from this torment..."

Elder Kuzhu dared not harden his heart further; he released the Green Spirit Divine Light to cover their upper bodies, and with a wave of his hand, forcibly drew them from the Blood Lake onto dry land.

The crowd was overjoyed, with the younger ones even cheering. His brothers and sisters from days past clung to his legs, ceaselessly calling him brother.

A few old women approached him, calling him son, addressing him by his childhood name, "Having become an Immortal, how can you abandon us? Our age grows day by day, our health wanes, times are tough, and we can't make a living. Let's ascend the mountain to cultivate Immortality with you. We don't ask you to fend off old age for us, just give us some food."

Elder Kuzhu thought they were trying to cling to him, yet he dared not drive them away, "Alright, but there is a Demon Dragon here. After I slay it, I'll take you to the Great Wilderness Mountain at Wuzhong Ridge to enjoy the blessings of Immortality!"

He knew this was a tricky illusion cast by the Demon Dragon, viciously poignant, hitting directly at the weak points of his inner cultivation. Lacking a good solution, he decided to secure the situation for now with his magical power. The attacker couldn't harm him, so he would stabilize this first, directly cast a spell to break out of the Array, slay the Demon Dragon, and then see how the Demon Formation changed.

Killing the Demon Dragon, he estimated, would also break the formation; but the ordeal indeed dealt a severe blow to his psyche, impacting his future cultivation. He would have to retreat and meditate on this thoroughly upon returning.

Once again, he released the Taiyin Green Spirit Divine Light, covering the pond and the artificial hill in front. Initially aiming to crush them to dust, the green light barely stirred before dissipating into a myriad of fireflies—the array had already shifted while he was conversing with his "wronged kinsfolk and creditors" and the water source had moved elsewhere, leaving only an illusion in its place.

Elder Kuzhu scoffed, recalculated the divine intricacies of heaven, and transformed into a streak of green light, flying off.

His family members cried out in a flurry, "Where are you going? Are you abandoning us? Have you hardened your heart again, resolute in severing ties with us?"

"I am breaking the Array. Stay here and don't move; I will return in a moment!" Elder Kuzhu flew past several palaces, finally catching up with the water source at You Palace.

The same pond, the same artificial hills, and two people, one tall and one short, stood by the shore.

The taller one was a middle-aged man in a green robe, embodying a celestial Daoist presence. The smaller one was a boy in his teens, dressed in a delightful cross-collared robe.

Elder Kuzhu confirmed he had never seen them before. Quickly and thoroughly, he searched his millennium of memories and still, no impression emerged, somewhat alleviating his concerns.

Destroying these two in their true forms surely wouldn't turn them to stubborn stones again!

Green light flickered in his hand, ready to strike, when the man spoke, "Elder Kuzhu, do you not recognize me?"

Elder Kuzhu was annoyed, " Who are you?"

The man said, "I am Qi Shuming, Sect Leader of the Emei Sect, my Taoist name is Miao Yi. Elder Kuzhu, you must have heard of me?"

Elder Kuzhu sneered, "What use is there to conjure your likeness in this Demon Realm? Do you think I cannot kill you?"

"Qi Shuming" smiled serenely, "Do you know that I am your nemesis?"

Elder Kuzhu was taken aback; he had spent years predicting his future fate and knew there was a nemesis capable of destroying his true bodily form, even potentially annihilating him during the final tribulation. Despite his efforts over hundreds of years, he never pinpointed who it could be.

Now, here in the Demon Realm, a person claiming to be his nemesis appeared—was this real or false?

He compared the divinations he had predicted with the Qi Shuming before him, and they matched perfectly, down to the last detail!

Qi Shuming continued, "This child here, his infant name is Golden Cicada, is the savior you've been desperately searching for, isn't he? The one you planned to give the Heavenly Heart Ring to, correct?"

At this moment, Elder Kuzhu realized the true intensity of this Array!

That "Golden Cicada" grinned, showing his small white teeth, and pointed at Elder Kuzhu, "Daddy, am I this man's savior? Is he relying on me to save his life in the future? If I don't save him, he won't survive, right?"

Qi Shuming repeatedly affirmed and pridefully stroked his beard, "Not only will he not survive, but he could also reincarnate and try to cultivate again. If you do not save him, he is very likely to be annihilated during the Earth Immortal's great calamity in thirteen hundred years, at the very least demoted in his Dao Level, sinking into Hell, entering the path of beasts and hungry ghosts…"

Golden Cicada smugly said to Elder Kuzhu, "Did you hear that, old man? I am your savior, and my father is your nemesis! Whether you live or die, exist or are obliterated, it all depends on a single thought from us father and son. Kneel down and beg quickly. Become a protector of the Emei Sect, a slave of the Qi family, serving under our Sect for a thousand years…"

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