The Demon with Holy Radiance Chapter 36

After Yang An left with the Glue Insect Child, the heavy stone door of the cavern, carved with mysterious patterns, closed shut. Only then did Mother Divination True Master turn to Elder Life Crane.

"Senior, the Ancient Collection at the bottom of the Xiyue River is set to open in half a year. When it does, I must ask that you assist me in opening it!"

"There’s no rush. I have my own considerations. Besides, you’re not the only one who knows about the Ancient Collection. This requires careful, long-term planning."

Elder Life Crane’s expression was calm. He Tou didn’t even bother to raise its eyes to look at Mother Divination True Master.

Mother Divination knew better than anyone what was entangled in the matter of the Ancient Collection, but until the division of profits was clearly established, there was still room for negotiation.

Mother Divination True Master gave a slight smile. She knew exactly what this old codger was up to.

She set the topic aside for the moment and brought up the Flood Dragon Demon.

"I went to great lengths to find a Flood Dragon Demon at least five hundred years old. I’ve already had my people extract its heart and Demon Marrow. You may enjoy them at your leisure shortly, Senior."

"Fine!"

Elder Life Crane nodded, his expression devoid of emotion. He Tou’s eyes, on the other hand, instantly lit up.

...

Meanwhile, as he followed several Glue Insect Children through the dark and silent caverns, Yang An discovered that this isolated island held a whole other world beneath its surface.

The entire underside of the island was probably riddled through and through with passages.

It was gloomy and dark, like entering a massive lair.

After several hundred steps along a winding path, Yang An was led into a stone chamber.

The Glue Insect Children bowed respectfully and withdrew, leaving Yang An alone in the chamber. Once the heavy stone door shut behind him, the room was plunged into absolute silence.

If he didn’t know that this was the Quiet Chamber Mother Divination True Master had arranged for him, and that he was free to leave as he pleased, Yang An would have truly felt like he’d been imprisoned.

The stone chamber was spartan. In the center stood a stone platform, carved as a single piece with the floor. On top of it sat an exquisite, bronze-colored Incense Burner and a candlestick.

A small candle flame cast a faint glow throughout the stone chamber.

A wisp of green smoke drifted up from the Incense Burner, filling the chamber with a light, fresh scent.

Out of caution, Yang An held his breath and gently touched the antique Incense Burner and candlestick. He then passed his finger through the rising wisp of smoke. There was no reaction to either.

Only then did he relax.

He sat down beside the stone platform. The Meat Burial Talisman’s gaping mouth produced the Scroll he had stored inside. By the dim candlelight, Yang An slowly unrolled it.

The unrolled Scroll wasn’t particularly large, about four inches wide and a meter long.

It recorded the method for testing a Cultivator’s compatibility with a Cultivation Technique during the Resonance Stage. Following that was the Cultivation Method for the early, middle, and Late Stages of the Fake Food Realm.

The text was interspersed with mystical diagrams, making it seem quite esoteric at first glance. But after studying it several times, Yang An gradually began to understand.

’From another perspective,’ he thought, ’since my ability was able to detect the complete information of this Cultivation Technique, it means Elder Life Crane didn’t tamper with it. I can cultivate it without worry.’

Soon, his analysis confirmed his earlier suspicions and led him to two very pleasing conclusions.

First, the Resonance Stage was meant to test the compatibility between a Cultivator and a Cultivation Technique. Its purpose was to let the Cultivator experience the cost of the Cultivation Technique firsthand to see if they could adapt to and endure it.

If a Cultivator couldn’t adapt or endure the cost, forcing their way into the Fake Food Realm would only make cultivation more difficult and could even lead to severe consequences.

’But I have the Purification Ability, which can eliminate the cost of a Cultivation Technique. This means that without a cost to experience, the Resonance Stage is meaningless for me. I can start cultivating directly from the Fake Food Realm without any issues.’

Second, and this was related to the same issue...

Unlike the costs associated with using Magical Artifacts or Techniques, the cost of a Cultivation Technique was, in essence, the tribulations one would face during cultivation.

For example, with *Mystic Path Decoded*, every time a Cultivator fused three Dao of Destiny Techniques—which corresponded to advancing a Great Realm—they would have to undergo a Tribulation Crossing.

This was what Elder Life Crane had meant when he said it was "both the long steps to Ascension and a bastion against a Fallen Tribulation!"

Those who fuse three techniques face the True Illusion. Those who fuse six face Cang Zhuo. Those who fuse nine face the Mirror Self. And those who fuse twelve face the Lower Hu...

Based on the information from the pop-up window, these obscure terms represented different tribulations.

This led Yang An to even more connections.

For example, why did Elder Life Crane use the Lighting Technique as a selection criterion for his Direct Disciples?

The Lighting Technique causes the Caster to rapidly lose their sanity and descend into madness. Yet, Elder Life Crane’s criterion was to demand that the Caster remain sane in the candlelight for a sufficiently long time.

Combining this with Elder Life Crane’s previous satisfaction with his performance and the words he’d spoken...

A theory began to form in Yang An’s mind:

’Could it be that the tribulations one faces while cultivating *Mystic Path Decoded* are closely related to one’s ability to maintain sanity!?’

If that was the case, then advancing through each Great Realm would be an immense trial for any Cultivator.

However...

...that seemed to have nothing to do with him.

He could Purify and eliminate the Cultivation Technique’s cost. This meant that when he cultivated it, there would be no cost to bear, and naturally, no tribulations would befall him.

Other Cultivators had to bear the costs and undergo Tribulation Crossing.

But all he had to do was follow the steps, and he could break through realms with ease, completely unimpeded.

If word of this got out in this dangerous world, Yang An would be a complete outlier—the kind who’d be captured and dissected for research.

He stroked the characters on the Scroll. His fingertips felt no indentations; it was as if the words were inlaid within the material, perfectly smooth to the touch.

But just as he was about to Purify the Cultivation Technique and begin his cultivation, he suddenly stopped.

He recalled a lingering question he’d always had. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to test it out.

’Test what, exactly?’

’Of course, I need to experiment with my special Purification Ability. I need to verify whether a Purified item only works for me, or if it works for others as well.’

Since arriving in this world, Yang An had only encountered two items with detailed written instructions.

The first was the tattered page from his home that recorded the practice method for the Lighting Technique.

The second was the Scroll he was now holding, which recorded the Cultivation Method for *Mystic Path Decoded*.

Back in Jiunan Town, threatened by Demon Fiends and short on time, he had used his Purification Ability for the first time. He hadn’t had a chance to carefully examine the text on the tattered page before Purifying it.

As a result, he had no way of knowing if the text itself had changed after the process.

Now he had the Fake Food Realm section of a Cultivation Technique. Before Purifying it, while the text was still in its original state, Yang An decided to run his experiment.

He spent an hour memorizing every character and diagram on the Scroll, repeatedly checking his memory against the contents to ensure he made no mistakes.

’If the characters or diagrams on the Scroll change after Purification, and the content of the Cultivation Method is altered...’

’...that would mean the Cultivation Technique on the Scroll itself was Purified, eliminating the cost. In that case, if someone else got this Scroll, they could also cultivate it without any cost.’

’But if, after Purification, nothing on the Scroll changes at all...’

’...then things get interesting...’

His heart filled with anticipation. Yang An pondered for a moment, solidifying the memory in his mind one last time, then chose to initiate the Purification.

His eyes were glued to the Scroll’s contents, determined to spot any change the instant it happened—even if it was just a single character.

The next moment, a faint warmth flowed through the fingertip touching the Scroll and vanished, as if nothing had happened.

A pop-up window immediately appeared before his eyes. The cultivation cost for *Mystic Path Decoded* had changed to the single word: "None."

When the window faded, Yang An looked back at the contents of the Scroll and fell into deep thought.

On the Scroll, neither the characters nor the diagrams had changed in the slightest after the Purification. It was exactly as it was before!

To be absolutely sure, he spent another fifteen minutes confirming it over and over. Finally, he reached a conclusion:

It was completely identical!

"So... it wasn’t the Cultivation Technique that was Purified? But rather..."

"I was Purified?!"