The people of the Heavenly Dao Sect all knew.
Ever since their incredibly talented senior disciple, Qing Lan, died two hundred years ago.
The Sect Master, He Lianbo, had acquired a purple-gold gourd that hung from his waist.
But no one knew its purpose.
Nor had they ever seen He Lianbo open it in public.
Some said it was a wine gourd, as Senior Disciple Qing Lan was the Sect Master's most cherished student.
He had perished with the Heavenly Demon at Tiandu Peak.
Though the Sect Master never spoke of it, he missed his senior disciple dearly.
Thus, he could only drown his sorrows in wine, and the wine gourd was never far from his side.
Others believed the gourd was a relic of Senior Disciple Qing Lan.
The Sect Master, seeing it, would reminisce about him, keeping it close to comfort his longing.
Yet others claimed the gourd was a newly forged magic treasure by the Sect Master.
They said that with a surge of spiritual power, it could unleash eighty-one immortal-slaying flying daggers.
The Heavenly Dao Sect speculated endlessly, with theories ranging far and wide.
Some grew impatient with curiosity and subtly probed He Lianbo.
He Lianbo never offered an explanation, not even to the young master of the Heavenly Dao Sect,
His late-born son, He Hua, when he inquired.
Because the gourd was a secret.
If its true purpose were revealed, he would be ruined.
Not only would he fail to remain Sect Master, but he would also become an enemy of the immortal sects, his life no longer his own.
This purple-gold gourd had another name: the Demon Refining Realm.
Despite its small size, it contained a universe within, a self-contained world.
It wasn't a true world, but a virtual realm artificially created through supreme demonic arts.
It lacked mountains and rivers, sun and moon, or stars.
It was not a complete world, but an endless purgatory.
Its sole purpose was to refine vengeful demons.
This gourd was forged by the Heavenly Demon himself with supreme demonic arts after the Immortal-Demon War.
He bestowed it upon He Lianbo, not as a protective artifact, but as a mission: to forge the Ten Directions Vengeful Demon Array.
This Ten Directions Vengeful Demon Array was the most potent technique among the Three Thousand Demonic Arts.
Once successfully forged, its power would be boundless, capable of destroying heaven and earth.
It was no exaggeration to say that once completed,
Its activation would spell the annihilation of the entire Moon Radiance Realm.
The spiritual energy would vanish, and the Moon Radiance Realm would transform into a paradise for demonic cultivators.
However, forging this array was no easy feat. It required three thousand vengeful spirits and eight hundred vengeful demons.
Furthermore, twelve supreme vengeful demons were needed as the array's foundation, to suppress and command the three thousand eight hundred vengeful spirits and demons.
In addition to these, the soul of a cultivator possessing the Exquisite Physique was required as the array's core.
Let alone the difficulty of gathering thousands of vengeful demons and spirits, finding twelve supreme vengeful demons was an impossible task.
As for a cultivator with the Exquisite Physique, not one had appeared in the Moon Radiance Realm for millennia.
It was an undertaking of extreme difficulty, virtually impossible to complete.
But his master had commanded, and He Lianbo dared not disobey. He could only strive to fulfill the task.
Since receiving this mission, he had scoured the land for vengeful demons and spirits.
However, vengeful spirits appeared only by chance.
After decades of searching, the purple-gold gourd contained
Only a few hundred vengeful spirits and a few dozen vengeful demons.
With the completion date of the Heavenly Demon's mission seemingly nowhere in sight,
He Lianbo made a decision: since gathering them was proving futile, he would create vengeful spirits himself.
And then, through special methods, he would upgrade them into vengeful demons.
Moreover, to obtain supreme vengeful demons, he devised a scheme.
He would select young disciples with exceptional potential,
Nurture them meticulously, and then, upon their graduation, kill them.
They would then be refined into supreme vengeful demons, thus accelerating the process considerably.
This was why the immortal sects rumored that ever since Qing Lan's death,
His disciples had been cursed, meeting innocent deaths after their training.
In reality, they all died at his hands, refined into vengeful demons and absorbed into the purple-gold gourd.
To his even greater delight, among the disciples he had taken,
There was a female disciple named Qing Jia, whose innate qualities were extraordinary.
Her disposition was pure, and she was incredibly close to possessing the Exquisite Physique.
He Lianbo was overjoyed. He spent his days researching how to transform Qing Jia into an Exquisite Physique.
Finally, he discovered a method in ancient texts:
The essence pearl of the ancient and rare Purple-Gold Clam could achieve this.
Given Qing Jia's potential, a mere infusion of the essence pearl would allow her to evolve into the Exquisite Physique. Then, he could complete his mission and report to the Heavenly Demon.
However, the essence pearl was difficult to obtain, requiring a Purple-Gold Clam that had lived for over a thousand years to nurture one.
Furthermore, the essence pearl would only be effective if the Purple-Gold Clam
Willingly offered it.
Otherwise, even if the Purple-Gold Clam were killed,
The essence pearl would be rendered useless, its efficacy lost.
He Lianbo searched far and wide, spending three years.
He finally learned that in the Azure Wave Pond atop Empty Name Mountain, there resided a Purple-Gold Clam.
It had cultivated for over a thousand years and had condensed an essence pearl.
However, directly demanding the essence pearl from the clam demon would surely result in refusal.
Therefore, He Lianbo summoned Qing Jia and instructed her to go to the Azure Wave Pond.
She was to feign a chance encounter and use her beauty to trick the clam demon into giving up the essence pearl.
But Qing Jia, with her pure heart, developed genuine feelings for the clam demon after their encounter.
She did not follow her master's instructions to deceive the clam demon, Luo Qi.
She never mentioned the essence pearl, and instead, wished to marry him and spend her life together.
Upon hearing this, He Lianbo was enraged and stormed about.
He could not reveal the truth to Qing Jia, telling her
That obtaining the essence pearl was for the purpose of transforming her into the Exquisite Physique,
Then killing her to serve as the core of the Ten Directions Vengeful Demon Array.
Thus, he could only tell Qing Jia that humans and demons were different, and he absolutely would not consent to their marriage.
He even unleashed the Boundless Sword, hoping to intimidate Luo Qi.
As long as Luo Qi begged for mercy, he could seize the opportunity to set his terms.
This way, he could coerce the clam demon Luo Qi into voluntarily surrendering the essence pearl.
Who knew that Qing Jia took him seriously, believing her master intended to kill Luo Qi, and bravely protected her husband with her life.
He Lianbo, having accidentally killed Qing Jia, decided to go all the way.
He severed Luo Qi's legs, rendering him unconscious.
He then collected Qing Jia's soul, disguised himself,
And, posing as a mysterious black-clad figure, transported Luo Qi to the bottom of the Azure Wave Pond.
He stabilized his injuries, using the lie of resurrecting Qing Jia
To trick Luo Qi into voluntarily handing over the essence pearl, and even tricked Luo Qi into helping him create vengeful spirits and demons for sacrifice.
He returned to the Heavenly Dao Sect with the essence pearl and Qing Jia's soul.
Impatiently, he fused the essence pearl into Qing Jia's soul.
Perhaps it was because the fusion did not occur while Qing Jia was alive and had a physical body,
Or perhaps other issues arose, but after the fusion, Qing Jia, who had been refined into a vengeful demon,
Managed to escape from his grasp.
The Exquisite Physique was gone, the essence pearl was gone, and He Lianbo had lost everything.
In the years that followed, he had been searching for the vengeful demon that Qing Jia had become, but to no avail.
And over the past two hundred years, although Ji Shiyou had destroyed the vengeful demons in the Azure Wave Pond,
He had gathered all the vengeful demons, except for the core of the Exquisite Physique.
He searched everywhere but never found Qing Jia.
It must be understood that the core of an array
Is its very essence, the point from which it draws its power.
The magnitude of an array's energy hinges on its core.
With the core, the array exists.
Without the core, the array is merely an empty shell, a paper tiger.
To put it plainly, an array without a core is ineffective.
Qing Lan's body was destroyed by Fairy Jin Wu and Ji Shiyou.
His ferocity ignited, he seized the purple-gold gourd directly in his hands.
He was about to unleash the ultimate weapon he had prepared for two hundred years to deal with Fairy Jin Wu and Ji Shiyou.
To avenge his death, and to kill everyone present.
However, He Lianbo believed that Qing Lan had lost his mind in his anger.
If he were to unleash the Ten Directions Vengeful Demon Array without a core,
It would not only be ineffective but could also backfire, leading to disaster.
Therefore, he excitedly shouted at Qing Lan.