45 fellow students

When you're traveling, you choose your own identity.

Another sword strike, heavy as a thousand pounds, was barely dodged by the phantom demon. The ground beneath its feet took the hit, sending sand and stones flying and cracking open with countless fissures.

The phantom demon was no longer as composed as before. One of its arms had been severed in the fight, and black smoke was continuously emanating from the wound. Even so, it showed no intention of fleeing. Instead, after a roar, it charged towards Du Zhijin on all fours with all its might.

Its entire form was bizarre, its head a chaotic mass of unrecognizable shape, with only a pair of scarlet eyes devoid of any white showing. Wherever it passed, black viscous liquid seeped from the cracks in the brick walls, glowing with a phosphorescent light under the moonlight; the lanterns hanging in the courtyard moved without wind, their candles flickering, then suddenly going out all at once.

Their vision was completely enveloped in thick, unyielding darkness, with only the moon casting a faint red glow. Jiangwei instinctively felt fear and stammered, "Young Master Amo, our benefactor is in danger...should we...should we go help?"

Before Ying Jianhua could retort, the man beside her spoke up: "Danger? It's you who are in real danger if you go."

In the darkness, Ying Jianhua could not make out the man's face, only the vague outline of a sword-wielding figure. The man was tall, dressed in a wide-sleeved robe, and something seemed to be tucked into his waistband.

Noticing two pairs of eyes scrutinizing him, he clasped his hands in a fist and palm salute: "I am Zhao Zhonggan from Dengxian Mountain. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Is he also a cultivator from Dengxian Mountain? Ying Jianhua remained wary of this suddenly appearing person and did not speak to him, only listening to Jiangwei introduce himself: "My name is Jiangwei. This is Young Master Amo, our benefactor's surname is Mu."

Zhao Zhonggan cupped his hands again in the direction of him and Du Zhijin. Jiangwei hurriedly said, "Immortal Zhao, may I ask you to lend a hand to my benefactor? She..." "Ah, that's not quite right." Zhao Zhonggan interrupted Jiangwei's plea for help, waving his hand and saying, "To deal with the Illusion Demon, Fellow Daoist Mu alone is enough."

As if to confirm his words, a piercing scream suddenly erupted from the night. The three paused their conversation and turned their attention to the center of the battle.

Du Zhijin squatted on the ground, her head slightly lowered. The hairpin that held her hair back had been lost at some point, and her long hair was now cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall.

Ying Jianhua's heart sank, and he was about to step forward when Zhao Zhonggan stopped him.

He shook his head, gesturing for him to look at the ground.

On the ground?

He glanced at it, puzzled, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

On the road, shattered by the fighting, lay a grotesque, terrifying creature, its head and limbs barely discernible by its clothing. A sword, its hilt now intact, was embedded in the monster's chest.

Zhao Zhonggan murmured, "The Illusionary Demon has no original form... It's neither a demon, nor a ghost, nor a monster... What exactly is it?"

As if hearing his murmur, the phantom demon let out a strange cry. Du Zhijin frowned and pushed the sword in another inch before it could barely form a sentence, its voice ethereal: "Want to know? Come closer and I'll tell you everything."

"Be careful! Don't fall for its trick!" Zhao Zhonggan grabbed Jiangwei, whose eyes clearly looked off after hearing this, and shouted a warning to Ying Jianhua, "This demon is most skilled in illusion."

Ying Jianhua nodded, walked over to Du Zhijin, and asked the question that mattered most to him: "Why me?"

The phantom demon tried to struggle the moment he approached, but the moon was as solid as a rock and it couldn't move at all.

Du Zhijin: "Behave yourself."

"Ha, why you? How naive... You think he's my only target? Wrong! I'll take the entire city of Wanze down with me!!"

With this sudden roar, a powerful gust of wind rose from its body, carrying sand and decaying leaves, and condensed into a huge vortex in mid-air.

Their clothes fluttered in the wind, and Jiangwei stumbled, nearly being sucked into the vortex. The vortex grew larger and larger, and the horrific scene inside became vaguely visible: tongues being pulled out, iron trees, a mirror of retribution, a steamer... it was the eighteen levels of hell.

The demonic illusion continued its maniacal laughter: "May all the people of this city go to hell! Even hell has its limits, but in my illusion, you will never escape! Die!"

As soon as the words were spoken, a flash of red light appeared at the center of the vortex, and it suddenly grew larger, as if it would devour the heavens and earth. The Illusion Demon watched all this with satisfaction, patiently waiting for its world to descend.

Then, it saw the vortex deflate like air, not only failing to grow larger, but shrinking smaller and smaller until it was only the size of a fingernail, before falling to the ground with a "thud".

"This...this is impossible! How could my illusion..." "Do you think we're the only ones targeting you?" Du Zhijin, with a touch of wicked humor, returned the illusion demon's words verbatim. She drew her Awakening Moon sword, the black, slimy blade pointing at the eaves not far away: "Have you heard of the Master Baopu?"

Ying Jianhua followed the direction of the painting. Under the enormous blood moon, Elder Jun sat alone on the eaves, his black iron mask gleaming coldly in the night.

“Master Baopu…it’s actually Master Baopu! Legend has it that he is extremely skilled in forging, and his ‘Sea-Stabilizing’ sword can disregard the laws and solidify all things in the world!” Zhao Zhonggan exclaimed in surprise.

With a light tap of her toes, Jun Lao arrived in front of them. After listening to Zhao Zhonggan's words, she disdainfully tossed Zuilan back to Du Zhijin: "Listen to this, even outsiders know this, but you just won't believe it. You insist on using two pieces of broken copper and scrap iron, which won't work at all. If Dinghai were here, would I have let this little illusion demon jump around until now?"

For the first time in her life, Zui Lan was disliked, but unfortunately, the person opposite her was a senior whom even her master couldn't afford to offend, so she could only cry silently.

Du Zhijin originally wanted to stand up for his own natal sword, but when he caught a glimpse of Ying Jianhua staring motionlessly at Huan Yao, he frowned slightly.

Ah Mo has been acting strangely since just now...

She couldn't quite put her finger on what was strange, only a vague sense of unease. She saw him take a step forward, still maintaining a distance that wasn't too close or too far from the Illusion Demon. He hadn't spoken or done anything, yet the Illusion Demon suddenly became excited: "Haha! Hahaha! You self-proclaimed righteous bunch can't even stand up to your own... Pfft!"

The phantom demon stared in disbelief at the tip of the sword in front of its chest, its eyes devoid of white.

Zui Lan pierced its body from behind.

Jiangwei stared blankly at the scene before her, seemingly not understanding why Du Zhijin had suddenly made his move. Old Jun shook his head and sighed, "You shouldn't have killed it now."

“I don’t like listening to nonsense,” she said.

The hem of her dress was splattered with the blood of the demon. Ying Jianhua took a few steps back and met her gaze.

In that instant, he breathed a sigh of relief.

————

"I have been tracking this demon for a long time, following it all the way from the East Sea to Xiqiu and then to Wanze City. I was wondering why it insisted on coming all this way to this place. It turns out it was for revenge. Alas, if it were a human, I would respect its loyalty and righteousness. But it is a den of snakes and rats. Even if it is killed, it is doing justice for Heaven." Zhao Zhonggan sighed.

Du Zhijin: "Not entirely. Judging from what you said, it has been traveling all this way, probably choosing a city it can devour, and then taking advantage of the full moon to increase its strength and fight me."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhonggan chuckled, his tone tinged with schadenfreude, seemingly indifferent to the demon's fate: "It's a pity it misjudged. The reason there are no powerful demons in Wanze City that it can devour is because Elder Jun is here. By the way, I didn't know which sect or school you, Fellow Daoist Mu, belong to, yet you possess such strength."

Now, not only Ying Jianhua, but even Jiangwei looked at him with a strange expression.

I don't know which school or sect she comes from? But she is clearly one of them—

"Dengxian Mountain".

"Pfft—cough cough!"

Ying Jianhua had anticipated this, and while Zhao Zhonggan was drinking tea, she subtly moved her seat to prevent him from making an indecent move after hearing the truth. Sure enough, Zhao Zhonggan spat out his tea.

He accepted the handkerchief offered by Jiangwei with a thank you, feeling somewhat embarrassed as he faced Du Zhijin again. Du Zhijin, oblivious, recalled his performance and commented: "Your skills are still immature, and your sword-drawing movements aren't smooth enough... How long have you been a disciple? Have you reached Foundation Establishment? Your master is—"

"Um, well... Senior Sister Mu, please ask slowly." In the blink of an eye, Du Zhijin was promoted to Senior Sister Mu. Du Zhijin thought for a moment, hesitating whether to reveal her real name, after all, they were fellow disciples. She looked up and saw Ying Jianhua shaking her head at her.

They may not be from the same school.

As for how he knew? Of course, it was because—

[Little Zhao, stop pretending! With your pathetic skills, you should just stay behind your senior sister!]

[Senior sister and junior brother, a match made in heaven! Too bad you're fake, so I'll still choose Zhan Zhouzhou and A Mo.]

After the confusion last night, his mind seemed to have returned to normal, and he would occasionally utter a word or two.

Yes, he already knew this thing wasn't a demon. Rather than a demon, it was perhaps more like a guide.

One is the guidance of the Way of Heaven.

While he was pondering, Du Zhijin continued to relentlessly question Zhao Zhonggan. She was acting out of kindness, wanting to exchange pleasantries with her fellow disciple, but Zhao Zhonggan faced a much more complicated situation.

"Speaking of which, you've been following this phantom demon for so long, yet you haven't found a chance to get rid of it?"

Finally, he could no longer bear Du Zhijin's unintentional "humiliation" and confessed with a mournful face: "I am not a direct disciple at all."

Du Zhijin comforted him, "It's alright, outer disciples are quite capable! I know a junior sister who is also an outer disciple. She reached the Foundation Establishment stage in just five years. Would you like me to introduce you to her so she can share her experience?"

"I...I'm not an outer disciple either," he said softly.

Du Zhijin tilted his head, looking puzzled: "Ah, is there a hidden disciple I don't know about?"

Zhao Zhonggan blushed, gritted his teeth, and blurted out, "Actually, I'm an unofficial disciple!"

"Unofficial disciple?"

She was puzzled, and so was Jiangwei. Zhao Zhonggan opened his mouth, but couldn't bring himself to tell the truth.

Ying Jianhua finished her tea and kindly explained to them, "What 'outside the official staff' means is that he made it up."

"When you're out in the world, you give yourself your own identity."