Chapter 58 The Demon Lord Returns! Sorry, I took your spot right away...
Don't think he didn't know; Xiao Huaiyuan had been having an affair with his underling for a long time.
When Fu Ming was imprisoned on the sect leader's peak, he couldn't cultivate for too long due to his damaged physique. With nothing to do, he would wander around that house to pass the time.
Although he was being held captive, to Fu Ming, it was no different from going home.
As long as Xiao Huaiyuan didn't stay by his side every step of the way, untying the Immortal Binding Rope was just a matter of time. So he spent half a day untying him and another day picking the lock, finally gaining his partial freedom.
Next, Fu Ming rummaged through the wooden cabinet in the old side room and the drawers in the main room, and found folded letters and a diary. The recipient of the letters was Fang; it was obvious who it was. As for the diary, its contents were much more trivial and complicated.
Amidst the Immortal Alliance talks, the recruitment ceremony, and factional discord, only a few words of self-talk occasionally escaped from the otherwise serious sect affairs.
October 10th, autumn.
"...He looks a bit like him."
October 13th.
Could it be him?
On the day he returned from the ghost market, Xiao Huaiyuan made a special note of it.
"He likes it to be a little painful."
This is a huge misunderstanding! When did he ever like pain? He's not a masochist.
As Fu Ming read this, he accidentally aggravated his almost broken back, which triggered a tearing pain.
However, Xiao Huaiyuan, who was clever all his life, still kept these letters of treason in the house. Did he intend to show them to him in person one day?
"You should learn to hide your bad deeds. You're still as stubborn as ever," Fu Ming sighed, then stuffed the stuff back in its place.
A crimson meteor streaked across the sky as Fu Ming, riding his sword, traversed countless mountains and rivers. On his way to the riverbank, for some reason, he kept thinking about these trivial matters.
Xiao Huaiyuan, you really are...
The strong wind ruffled his tousled hair and also scattered the mountains of clouds piled up under the azure sky.
Fu Ming looked down at the river network beneath his feet, which originated from the western mountains and converged in the heart of the Central Plains, but split into two branches hundreds of miles downstream from Luoyang. One main branch flowed into the sea, called the Source River, while the other poured into the Demon Abyss, called the Styx River.
The area where Boyun Village is located is a cluster of towering, steep peaks that divide the river in two, resembling a sword mound.
Upon closer examination, it's impossible that the fairy and the person playing the xun who threw them into the pond didn't know that the eddy under the pond led to the underground river outside the village.
He managed to escape using his Golden Core stage clone, so there's no reason why Xiao Huaiyuan, with his higher cultivation, wouldn't have found the exit. Therefore, the only difference between him and Xiao Huaiyuan is that Xiao Huaiyuan was poisoned, while he wasn't. It's likely that Xiao Huaiyuan was teleported to another region, a secret realm unknown to the world, or a small, unclaimed space left over from ancient times, which severed the connection.
Fu Ming's heart pounded like a drum, a dull ache throbbing within him, but why did he still feel so panicked?
The poison of the "Tracing Machine" is not incurable. Taking the medicine five times within three months, while not guaranteeing a complete cure, will at least ensure his life is safe. He remembered that the prescription was in the True Immortal's Notebook, and it didn't require precious ingredients like dragon liver and phoenix marrow. He could gather them quickly after reviewing the prescription once he returned.
As long as Xiao Huaiyuan can return within three months.
However, if Gui Shiyun is indeed involved in this matter, with the enemy in the open and us in the dark, it's hard to say whether Xiao Huaiyuan will be ambushed. If he has altered the Qi-Connecting Poison, it will be even more difficult to cure.
Annoying, so annoying!
If a child were to look up at this moment, they would only catch a glimpse of a lightning-fast afterimage. Fu Ming pushed his lightness skill to its limit, yet it still wasn't enough. He even used a dozen or so instant teleports in the air, clearly much more serious than when he was crushing the demonic cultivators.
Wherever he passed, the sky suddenly changed, from clear to overcast. Thick clouds seemed to be attracted by him, gathering together like flying clouds chasing the moon.
"Cataclysmic clouds! There are such thick cataclysmic clouds behind you, host!"
The system, which shares the view of the clone, was in a panic and even forgot to use its favorite cutesy, Taobao customer service-like tone.
"Isn't that perfect?"
Fu Ming plummeted straight down without slowing down, his momentum sending up a shower of rocks and water. Fine droplets of water fell into his hair, instantly evaporating in his fire-attribute true essence.
His pupils turned an extremely frenzied crimson.
“It’s time to smash that damned place to pieces. It should have been done a long time ago.” Fu Ming was still smiling, but his eyes were full of coldness, which made even the inhuman system tremble.
Rather, this is the most well-known version of Demon Lord Fu Ming.
Disdainful of explanations, never speaks nonsense, cold and aloof, violent and indifferent.
Over the years, in order to seek revenge and survive, he was no longer the carefree and gentle senior brother that Xiao Huaiyuan remembered.
The surrounding thick clouds suddenly lit up, followed by a series of thunderclaps, even more urgent and fierce than when the old demon lord forcibly broke through to the Mahayana stage.
Fu Ming ignored it.
Two nearly identical faces flickered between light and shadow. Fu Ming pressed his forehead against his clone's and murmured the incantation for the Soul Splitting Technique.
Although he had removed his disguise, his clone's face still seemed softer than his main body's, revealing a naive innocence that had not been tempered by hardship.
The clones gradually transformed into bright specks of light from bottom to top, fluttering into his body like fireflies, like birds finally returning to their nests. His flesh, blood, and soul were about to return, but he still felt that there was an emptiness somewhere inside him, as if something was missing.
As if by some strange twist of fate, he left the soul-summoning array on the lower abdomen of the main body. Although it had lost its effectiveness, it might still be able to maintain a trace of connection with the person who had been placed under the array.
Actually, if he really wanted to break the soul-summoning array and retrieve his clone, Fu Ming thought there were many ways. Killing Xiao Huaiyuan, or causing him to suffer a severe backlash, was an option, but he hadn't considered doing that.
Why?
Because Xiao Huaiyuan was his only junior brother, and the person he cared about most in this world.
Is that so? Is that the answer?
The rumbling thunder unveiled the vast curtain of rain, and the torrential downpour seemed as if the sky had been breached.
The cold rain poured down on Fu Ming's face. He wiped it off haphazardly, but touched warm liquid, which seemed to be someone's tears.
He knelt in the swollen stream, where the shallow water, which had only reached his ankles, suddenly rose to chest height, and thunder was almost within reach.
"Host, wake up! You're being haunted by a nightmare!" The shrill cries of the system brought Fu Ming back to his senses.
This is so strange.
Fu Ming seemed to wake up from a dream, suddenly drawing his sword in a defensive stance. Such indecisiveness was really unlike his usual self.
A conversation he had with the remnant soul of a true immortal suddenly flooded his mind.
“In your world, spiritual energy is scarce, all things are poor, the total number is too small, and each person gets little, making it difficult to advance.”
"In my opinion, if you want to reach the Mahayana stage, you probably need to reach the level of our Tribulation Transcending stage back then before you can be absolutely certain of success."
“Young friend Fu, your talent is naturally excellent, and your comprehension is also outstanding. Like my Daoist partner’s junior brother, you have the potential to ascend to immortality, but you are still a little short.”
The remnant soul of the True Immortal took a sip of tea, displaying a leisurely and refined demeanor, even though he and the tea were merely ethereal projections.
"May I ask, senior, what is lacking?" Fu Ming, sitting on the opposite futon, humbly inquired, "Cultivation level, techniques, or merit?"
The answer was beyond his expectations.
"No."
"It is your Dao heart."
At that time, Fu Ming was still somewhat unconvinced: "What do you mean by that, senior? My desire to pursue the Great Dao and achieve immortality has never wavered."
The remnant soul of the True Immortal drank the cup of tea in one gulp and laughed, "Wrong. The Dao Heart is not about how you want to seek the Great Dao, but about why you want to seek the Great Dao. If you understand this, then it will naturally come to fruition."
Yes.
He almost fell for the illusion. He was on his way to save people. What was the point of being sad and disheartened here? The so-called pursuit of the Tao is nothing more than defying fate and seeking a glimmer of hope.
Fu Ming's aura rose steadily, and his true essence surged into the sky. He had been forcibly suppressing his cultivation level at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm for more than three years, and every strand of true essence in his meridians was compressed to an extremely solid state.
Seeing that several thunderbolts as thick as buckets were about to strike, Fu Ming did not delay any longer and headed straight for Boyun Village, hidden in the mountains.
"Oh dear, why did it suddenly start raining, and with such loud thunder?"
He Cuihua raised her only remaining right hand above her head to shield herself from the rain. Her cloudy old eyes were too heavy to open in the downpour to see whether the ripples in the pond had subsided.
She was worried that the pond hadn't had enough to eat, so she'd have to throw another person in. The fairy hadn't been too happy with her these past few days, and it wouldn't be good if she were chosen instead.
However, after the ritual is completed, the fairy will give them magical water that can cure diseases. After drinking the magical water five times, she will be able to completely transform back into the healthy village beauty and go home to live with her son and daughter-in-law.
It's really true, all she had was a freckle, and her son dared to refuse her entry into the house.
Thinking of this, He Cuihua shamelessly approached the fairy who had taken shelter from the rain in the bamboo house: "Fairy, when will this ritual be completed? Look, the rain outside is getting heavier and heavier, so why don't you..."
The fairy holding the snake was extremely impatient: "What's with the fuss? You're making a fuss over a little rain. The dragon that master is raising hasn't even had its fill yet. Go outside and wait..."
Bang!
Rumble!
The extremely bright lightning stung the eyes of all the villagers present. The thunderclap exploded several times on the muddy ground and did not stop. It even pierced through the roof of the bamboo house and exploded straight on the floor.
The fairy and He Cuihua quickly jumped to the sides. Upon closer inspection, they realized that it was a long, jet-black sword that had attracted the lightning.
A dashing young man in tight-fitting clothes appeared in the bamboo house at some point, leaning on a knife and greeting them with a smile.
"Long time no see, oh, not that long. Now tell me where all the people who were thrown into the pond have gone."
Fu Ming drew his sword with lightning speed, and in the blink of an eye, the gleaming blade was at the fairy's neck.
The fairy looked as if she had seen a ghost: "It's you! Shouldn't you be dead—Uncle Jiang!"
Behind the house, a short, sharp sound of an ocarina rang out, even producing a few extremely unpleasant wrong notes.
The crimson dragon obediently lowered its head, and Fu Ming noticed that its eye sockets were empty, and it had no heartbeat or breath. It was clearly just an empty shell being driven by someone.
The dragon spewed out a continuous stream of fire breath, but Fu Ming did not dodge. Instead, he used the fairy maiden as a shield in front of him.
"Uncle Jiang, quickly tell Long to retract his attack."
The dragon obediently swallowed the flames back before the battle, but was struck hard by another round of thunder, and immediately let out a painful cry.
The fairy maiden rang a bell to cast a spell, but Fu Ming chopped the bell in half with a single blow. Uncle Jiang played the xun to summon a dragon, but was nearly cut off by a flying blade of energy.
The villagers outside the gate seemed to want to help, but instead erected a transparent barrier, which was covered with many ugly faces.
"Retreat! We need to retreat now!"
At the sound of the xun player's whistle, the crimson dragon turned and descended, preparing to carry them elsewhere.
Just as the fairy was about to climb onto the dragon's back, someone grabbed the dragon's mane and beat her to it.
It's Fu Ming.
Sorry, I took your seats as soon as I arrived.
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