41. Setting off again
On the edge of the blessed land, in a deserted area, there is a building with eighteen underground floors.
After passing through a winding, cold corridor, a short, stout man covered in bandages made his way to the deepest training ground with practiced ease.
No matter how many times he came, the guards outside the dojo always had the same faces. Shi Jinxiu was getting tired of seeing them, but the guards still had a cold look on their faces, as if they didn't know him. When he tried to go in, the guards all raised their weapons and stopped him.
Shi Jinxiu was secretly displeased, and quickly showed his token, "I am Shi Jinxiu from the Third Execution Team. I have important matters to report to the director!"
The guard glanced at the token but remained unmoved, unable to reconcile the suspicious man, whose face was obscured by bandages, with the smiling bald monk on the token.
"The director is in cultivation and must not be disturbed."
"Hey! I really have something important to say! I come here often!"
It's always like this! Are these ants blind? If it weren't for the Raven King's eerie and terrifying flames, he wouldn't have ended up like this!
Strangely enough, when I ordered the extermination of Fragrant Grave Soil, the burns on my body were almost healed, but after the grave soil was wiped out, the burns became more and more serious.
...as if there really is such a thing as cause and effect, or retribution.
Shi Jinxiu dared not think too much; the words "gravesite" were a nightmare for him. He insisted on entering, but the guards forcefully stopped him. In anger, Shi Jinxiu stomped his foot, which aggravated the burning pain on his body. He grimaced and paced back and forth in pain to relieve the agony.
I really want to die.
No, why should I? I'm just carrying out a mission!
If anyone's going to die, it won't be me first!
Just as Shi Jinxiu was about to explode in anger, the headmaster's command finally came from inside the dojo. His voice was deep and resonant, as if it came from the ends of the earth.
"It's alright, come in."
Shi Jinxiu was overjoyed and proudly waved his fist at the guards before lifting the hem of his robe and tiptoeing into the temple.
The man addressed as the director was sitting cross-legged in the center of the dojo. The dojo, forged from black iron crystal, sent chills down one's spine with every step, as if countless ghosts had transformed into cold, malevolent energy, drilling upwards from beneath one's feet, along Shi Jinxiu's bones and meridians, and climbing to the top of Shi Jinxiu's head.
The lotus-patterned array flickered, and Shi Jinxiu shivered from the cold. He bowed respectfully to the "mountain of flesh" in the center of the array. "Chief, they've come again for demon cores, but it's only the beginning of April, and they..."
The voice of Shi Jinxiu echoed within the temple.
The place was empty and cold, with no top in sight. The temple was surrounded by countless luminous pearls, an astonishing number, piled up into a tower. Logically, so many luminous pearls should have been enough to illuminate the entire temple. But for some reason, the abbot extinguished the beautiful luminous pearls, which made it impossible for Shi Jinxiu to see the abbot's appearance clearly in the dim light. He could only see a vague shadow.
Not only could he not see clearly, but his voice echoed. As Shi Jinxiu listened, the echoes grew increasingly strange, as if a stranger was hiding in the darkness, mimicking his speech. Feeling uneasy, he gradually fell silent.
"so?"
The person who spoke was enormous, about three meters tall, like a mountain of flesh. His robes were wide and hazy, and the "mountain of flesh" appeared cold and sinister, with a kind of oppressive and terrifying aura that made people's blood run cold.
"So...so...we need to extract the demon cores that are maintaining the formation and hand them over first..."
Shi Jinxiu's tentative voice echoed in the empty temple, but received no response. He retreated to a corner to wait, feeling dejected.
The director ignored Shi Jinxiu, and held the demon core in his hand between two fingers, comparing it to his brow. His gaze fell on the demon core in his hand, and behind the demon core, one of the luminous pearls on the wall suddenly lit up, forming a straight line with the demon core and the director's brow.
Finally, a glimmer of light appeared in the temple. Shi Jinxiu secretly looked up, but he still couldn't make out anything on the face that looked like rotting flesh. Shi Jinxiu could only rely on his human instincts to figure out where the director's facial features were.
The two pearls overlapped, their light shining through the core, revealing turbid threads inside that were intertwined like blood vessels, as if countless tiny worms were wriggling inside the demon core.
The Enchanted Web Insect can produce hundreds of baby spiders at a time, a characteristic that is surprisingly manifested in its demon core, which looks rather bizarre.
Director Yan sighed to himself, "None of these batches of demon cores have any insignia."
If a demon core does not have the distinctive emblem of the demon race, it indicates that it is a demon core of extremely poor quality.
Click on me?
Shi Jinxiu quickly lowered her head even further, not daring to look around anymore.
It was bad, but there was nothing that could be done, because the monsters in the blessed lands couldn't hand over their demon cores, and the more urgently they were urged, the worse the quality of the demon cores they handed over became.
Director Yan sighed again, making Shi Jinxiu's heart tighten. With a flick of his fat, limp old hand, the demon core floated in mid-air, hovering right in front of Director Yan's forehead.
The pill began to slowly rotate, emitting pink smoke and a sweet, honey-like fragrance that instantly spread. As the demon pill rotated, the pink smoke gradually turned into a viscous, purplish-black liquid, forcibly penetrating his skin, seven orifices, and meridians. Wherever it passed, blood vessels instantly bulged and turned black, like thorns entwining his arms.
He tilted his head back as if enjoying it, but his neck spasmed from the excruciating pain, emitting a non-human scream.
Shi Jinxiu felt a chill run down his spine. He had seen this scene countless times. He had heard the eerie black energy emanating from the demon core drilling into the seven orifices and under the skin before.
No matter how many times he heard it, he was still somewhat afraid. The sound was like the struggle of a dying person, or the ecstasy of a madman.
The demon core shrank smaller and smaller, the smoke thinned and thinned, and was drawn into his nostrils like wisps of silk until it was completely absorbed and disappeared. Director Yan licked his lips contentedly, slowly opened his eyes, and shook his wide robes.
What do you think?
Even the most obtuse person could sense the director's dissatisfaction. Shi Jinxiu froze for half a second before realizing what a foolish question she had just asked. She shuddered and pulled her outer robe tighter to make the bandages on her body less noticeable.
"Director Yan, those five distinguished guests are, after all, from the Immortal Alliance... but, but..."
However, they are currently unable to collect demon cores, which is a major headache for the entire Demon Management Bureau.
"This trivial matter is making you so anxious and howling?"
Director Yan snorted coldly, a fleeting ferocity flashing across his face.
He lost control of his expression in that instant, and the skin on his face and neck immediately peeled off like a large lump of melted clay.
Director Yan quickly raised his hand to support the frail, limp body. Even though he was no longer human, he would still subconsciously make some movements to maintain his human appearance. Thus, the fleeting violent emotion on his face quickly subsided, and he returned to his calm and composed demeanor, speaking slowly.
"What rubbish! They can sit in high places with their heads held high, while I have to live a life of ignominy and even give them demon cores for nothing?"
Shi Jinxiu's back was almost bent in half as he whispered, "But... how should we..."
Director Yan clicked his tongue impatiently, and a lot of unknown liquid instantly oozed from the crisscrossing wrinkles on his face. The pale yellow fat was seeping with black blood, and his breath emitted a foul stench that could be clearly smelled even from ten meters away.
"You idiot! Magical artifacts, puppets, formations, cultivation—which of them doesn't require a large number of demon cores to maintain? You have so many excuses; do I really need to teach you?"
"Sigh, if Yao Yuqian hadn't been seriously injured and unable to move or speak... never mind."
As he spoke, he waved his hand helplessly, signaling Shi Jinxiu to step back.
Shi Jinxiu's face, which was buried in his chest, instantly turned dark and inscrutable.
Originally hesitant about whether to report the appearance of the Azure Dragon and White Tiger, Shi Jinxiu was inexplicably scolded and compared to that crazy woman. He simply lowered his head and retreated.
In the cultivation ground, only "Director Yan" remained.
The place was filled with luminous pearls, stacked into a tower shape on the four sides of the barrier. He gently raised his hand, and the dark underground dojo was instantly illuminated by the numerous luminous pearls, making it as bright as day.
Now that he was alone, he dared to look at his own reflection. He raised his hand and waved his arm, and a huge water mirror appeared out of thin air in front of Director Yan.
The person in the mirror looked like a monster made of countless piles of flesh, with wrinkles all over his face, sores growing in the crevices of the wrinkles, withered and old, his skin and flesh could no longer hold him up, and the new skin formed layer by layer by layer of "demonic energy" also withered quickly, and sticky liquid seeped out from the seams between the new skin and the old skin.
He's gotten a bit older, and eighty demon cores simply aren't enough.
Director Yan sighed, staring blankly at his terrifying reflection in the water mirror. Then, he took a deep breath, quickly composed himself, sat cross-legged again, and obtained another demon core.
·
The abandoned area was lifeless, and the full moon hung high in the forest of graves.
The Azure Dragon and White Tiger's original intention in coming here was to personally retrieve the Vermilion Bird, fearing something amiss. However, their trip to the blessed land unexpectedly uncovered so many strange occurrences. The death of Zhu He, the trampling of the blessed land, the discrepancies between the legends of the Immortal Realm and the Secret Realm, the oppressed and disheartened lords of various realms, the restless evil spirit masters and demons…
The group chatted until dark without realizing it.
"...It can be embedded into magical artifacts to enhance attacks, used as a source of spiritual energy to maintain formations, or directly used for cultivation with our demon cores. It has many uses."
Zhu Qianqian gently stroked Pipi's feathers with her fingertips. "Because of long-term oppression and unfair treatment, there are many demons in the blessed land who have always regarded human immortals as a cancer and their long-term goal is to annihilate humans for revenge. Of course, if there really is an immortal standing in front of them, the demons would certainly not dare to be disrespectful."
"Moreover, due to the constraints of the laws of the realm, monsters cannot be disrespectful to humans, monsters cannot act arbitrarily, and so on. Under these various rules, the strength of the monster race has declined across the board."
"When I was a child... well, two hundred years ago, newly hatched crows, before they even grew feathers, were already able to control fire. But when Fragrant Graveyard was wiped out, the crows that had taken human form weren't even good at controlling flames."
"Not only have the monsters in the Fragrant Graveyard declined in strength, but the monsters in other areas have too. As a result, many monsters are making deals with those guys, willingly offering their demon cores and leaving the blessed land in exchange for the official documents."
"The departing demons tried every means to get close to the immortals, formed contracts, and lurked among humans for a long time, waiting for an opportunity to take revenge. But now, it is unknown how many demons still remember the grand ambition of restoring the blessed land."
With a flick of his finger, the evil spirit master could easily set up territorial restrictions and secret realm laws to restrict the monsters and exchange their demon cores for various methods. Although she didn't want to admit it, Zhu Qianqian knew very well that from the very beginning, the monsters had voluntarily offered their demon cores in exchange for the right to "enter and exit human living areas."
No one spoke in the room except for Pipi's even breathing.
Tang Xihe hadn't expected that there was such a layer in the original story's background, and her feelings were complicated.
The fact that the Azure Dragon and White Tiger knew this person's name indicates that Yan Youzu was one of the seven disciples.
In the original work, Yan Youzu was a medical cultivator who suddenly came to the side of Guifang after the feud between Beichen and Guifang, and his name was not even changed.
...Not changing the name? Still using the name from back then?
If we follow the original timeline, then the "strategist" Yan Youzu who will be by Gui Fang's side in the future is the same person as Yan, one of the seven disciples of the previous immortals.
Could it be that Yan Youzu has been alive ever since he self-destructed on Beichen Star back then?
Tang Xi shuddered. It was too bizarre. How could a person live for so long?
The world can live for five thousand years, but a mountain spirit needs a thousand years of cultivation to gain knowledge, and a raven needs a hundred years of cultivation to speak fluent human language.
But Yan Youzu dared to live for hundreds of years using his own name.
In the silence of the room, Gui Fang suddenly spoke up, "That's right, the contract has a law of spiritual energy balance! Once the master-servant contract is signed, the monster's strength will increase greatly. The stronger the master, the stronger the monster."
"Could it be that those tiny, adorable little creatures in the school are actually monsters that escaped from some blessed land?"
"It can only be a blessed land, right?" Zhu Qianqian said with a wry smile.
"There's one more thing."
Qinglong looked at Tangxi and asked, "Why is it that in the version of the legend you know, Beichenxing survived? And where did you hear the name Yan Youzu?"
Tang Xi met Qinglong's slightly scrutinizing gaze, pursed her lips, and remained silent.
The sun and moon can bear witness! He really only knew about Yan Youzu because he had read the original novel!
Tang Xi had a slight impression of Yan Youzu because Yan Youzu later became one of Gui Fang Wu Di's confidants. However, this all happened after Gui Fang received the immortal inheritance.
Moreover, this person has little presence in the original work, and his strength is unknown. He only appears when Gui Fang is hesitating about important decisions.
Seeing that Tang Xi remained silent for a long time, Gui Fang continued, following Qinglong's words: "It's not just him; everyone heard a different version."
"In the versions I heard before, Beichenxing was powerful and brave, with extraordinary martial arts skills. He generously shared his inner cultivation techniques and was ultimately scorned by the immortal realm. It was actually Beichenxing who was the one who was condemned."
"No, this is strange... Why are there several versions? It's like they're subtly sowing discord among the people, and doing it so discreetly."
Azure Dragon narrowed his eyes slightly, deep in thought, then stood up. "...I'm going to the Immortal Alliance. What about you, White Tiger?"
"I stayed."
The White Tiger looked at the ugly bird in Zhu Qianqian's arms. Only a few hours had passed, and the ugly bird seemed to have swelled up again. "There are too many variables. I can't understand it. I'll wait here for the Vermilion Bird to take human form. This form is too weak; I'm not at ease with it."
"OK."
Qinglong stood with her hands behind her back, glanced at Tangxi and the three of them, and although she didn't speak, Tangxi immediately understood what she meant and raised her hand, saying, "Let's go to the Wandering Inn next."
Qinglong nodded and gracefully raised his arm, "I'll see you off."
The pale blue array suddenly lit up, and Gui Fang Wu Di's expression changed drastically. "No, wait a minute!"
I'm so dizzy from teleportation!
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