The demon under the Jianmu tree
The bag was so light that you couldn't tell it contained 100,000 spirit stones.
Seeing the disbelief on her face, Mu Qing explained, "There weren't many people betting on you when I came, so I didn't dare to bet too much. I only put down a little over five thousand spirit stones."
When he placed his bets on spirit stones, the person running the gambling den reminded him not to bet on the wrong person. As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Zheng won.
The person who reminded him had a frighteningly ugly expression, as if he was going to renege on his debt. After secretly probing his cultivation level, the person obediently paid the money.
Wen Zheng stared blankly at the 100,000 spirit stones. Suddenly rich, she was in a great mood after she realized what she had done. "100,000 spirit stones is so much. I should be able to buy a lot of protective magic items."
Previously, her spirit stones were extremely scarce, and she was always very frugal with her money. Now that she's made a fortune, she'll buy more protective magical artifacts, just like Elder Ye.
Mu Qing's ears twitched, and she whispered, "100,000 spirit stones can only buy two or three magic artifacts at most."
Wen Zheng shook the bag containing spirit stones with confusion in her eyes: "There are 100,000 spirit stones here."
100,000!
The sect gives her less than a hundred spirit stones a month, and she almost always spends all of it by the end of the month, running out after buying some cultivation materials.
“There are few weapon crafters, and the magical artifacts they forge are rare. Magical artifacts for self-defense are even rarer,” Mu Qing said.
He said that spending 100,000 yuan to buy two or three ordinary magical artifacts would only get you ordinary ones; protective magical artifacts are rare and hard to come by.
Wen Zheng was stunned: "Don't the demon race have auctions?"
Mu Qing: "Yes, but they are of dubious origin."
As a righteous cultivator, Wen Zheng could buy but not use.
Understanding the meaning on Mu Qing's face, Wen Zheng's happy mood instantly calmed down, and she frowned and asked, "Did you watch my competition just now?"
Mu Qing nodded and took out a recording stone and waved it.
"The person I was fighting seemed to be..." Wen Zheng's words trailed off when she saw the recording stone, and she asked, "Why are you recording this?"
"..." Mu Qing was silent for a moment, then picked up on Wen Zheng's previous question: "What happened to the person you fought?"
Mu Qing was so strange that Wen Zheng couldn't help but glance at him a few more times before continuing, "It seems like he was controlled by someone halfway through, and the deviated sword energy rushed straight at me."
Moreover, the sudden appearance of Shan Wuxiu in the audience was also very strange; his pupils were so large that they didn't look human, but rather like those of a monster.
She told Mu Qing about it, but Mu Qing remained silent for a long time.
While the two were talking, Shan Wuxiu, who hadn't left yet, stood not far away, his eyes filled with doubt and confusion, as if wondering how he had ended up there.
After thinking for a while without finding a solution, he rubbed his temples and turned to leave.
Wen Zheng stood for a while until her legs ached before waking Mu Qing: "Never mind if you didn't expect this. I don't have any competitions this afternoon, so go back and rest first."
"Okay, go back and rest for a while. I'll investigate the strange thing about Shan Wuxiu later."
After saying that, the two leisurely returned to the courtyard where they were resting.
On the other side, Elder Ye, who had been being nagged by Wen Zheng, sneezed and apologized to the person in front of him.
"It's alright. It's been a long time. Elder Ye hasn't changed much from before."
Dan Fengyu picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and spoke with a profound meaning.
"Palace Master Shan is too kind." Elder Ye poured himself some tea and tentatively asked, "I haven't yet asked if Palace Master Shan's sudden visit is about your son?"
Given the widespread news of Shan Wuxiu's serious injury, it's perfectly reasonable for him to come looking for a mere alchemist like her.
"No." Shan Fengyu said, then fell silent.
Elder Ye glanced at the fingertips that lightly tapped the table and muttered to himself: He wouldn't come to the Three Treasures Hall without a reason.
Recalling the rumors she had heard and the things Wen Zheng had told her, she put on her best to deal with the situation.
"I heard that Young Master Shan will also be competing on stage today, but Palace Master Shan didn't go to watch."
The implication of her words being dissuading him was quite clear, but Shan Fengyu seemed not to hear it and asked, "Wen Zheng chatted quite a bit with Elder Ye on the spirit ship before coming to Qian Sheng Palace."
With just one sentence, Elder Ye was captivated.
There were no people from the Thousand Saints Palace on the spirit ship. She paid extra attention to her surroundings when she was talking to Wen Zheng, and Shan Fengyu even knew this.
After calming himself down a bit, Elder Ye slowly said, "That child is also unfortunate. He has too many injuries, big and small, and came to me to ask for some medicine to heal his wounds."
Shan Fengyu met her gaze: "Really?"
Elder Ye picked up his teacup and looked away, feigning regret as he said, "Yes, it seems his meridians are damaged, making it difficult for him to improve his cultivation. Although he has reached the Nascent Soul stage, a talisman cultivator who has reached the Nascent Soul stage is still not as good as others."
"If she hadn't been injured and had continued cultivating at the Thousand Saints Palace, she probably would have already reached the Nascent Soul stage."
Strangely enough, it is extremely difficult for other sects to produce a Nascent Soul cultivator, but the Thousand Saints Palace is different. Almost all the palace masters have been at the Mahayana stage. The only drawback is that they die young.
Almost every Palace Master of the Thousand Saints Palace would perish within a hundred years of taking office, without exception.
Dan Fengyu sighed softly, following her words: "Yes, if he hadn't made a mistake back then, he might have been the next palace master long ago."
Elder Ye: "Palace Master Shan is joking. You are in your prime. If you cultivate for another hundred years, you might be the first person to ascend to immortality."
Since the collapse of the Jianmu tree, no one in the cultivation world has ascended to immortality, which is truly strange.
"Ascension is incredibly difficult; I'm afraid I won't be able to overcome this hurdle," Shan Fengyu said calmly.
After chatting for a while, Shan Fengyu brought the topic back to the present, "I heard that Wen Zheng asked you to help refine pills. Considering our master-disciple relationship, Elder Ye, please feel free to ask if you need anything."
As he finished speaking, his deep eyes stared at Elder Ye, the darkness in them seeming to expand, like a ferocious beast devouring people.
Elder Ye's hand trembled in fright, but he still didn't respond to him: "Just some tonic pills, I'll refine a few on the side."
She appeared strong and calm, and took out several bottles of ordinary Qi-tonifying pills, placing them on the table.
"Here, this is it. She didn't have any money, so she asked me for the cheapest one."
Elder Ye had previously observed Wen Zheng's attire, and given that she was a talisman cultivator, he could tell at a glance that she had no money, which matched her words.
Dan Fengyu sighed, got up and turned around, finally stopping at a pot of lotus flowers placed by the window.
"Elder Ye has been consuming a lot of Bitter Lotus lately. Should I send someone to deliver some?"
He tugged at the leaves of the lotus in the bowl, causing the tiny water lilies inside to sway gently, their pale purple petals instantly turning green.
The fact that a high-quality bitter lotus was discarded made Elder Ye's face turn dark.
"No need." Elder Ye's face turned cold, but out of consideration for Shan Fengyu's status, he dared not turn against him.
Dan Fengyu chuckled and left.
As soon as he left, Elder Ye went to check on the bitter lotus he had carefully cultivated. Of the five bitter lotus flowers that had bloomed in the water bowl, one was ruined, and the remaining four were faintly green. If they were not repaired in time, they would be unusable.
Without a second thought, Elder Ye immediately took out the medicine and poured it on the lotus. After treating the bitter lotus, she felt a vague unease about the sudden arrival of the storm.
After thinking for a moment, she got up and went out.
In the courtyard, Wen Zheng took out the talismans she had drawn that morning, and then took out a stack of strangely colored talismans, sticking them onto the rice paste she had made.
She was going to have to compete with Shan Wuxiu eventually, and since he could resort to underhanded tactics today, she could prepare in advance.
After she affixed the talisman, she carefully folded and put away her robes, and poured a cup of tea for Mu Qing, who was flipping through a book beside her.
"Any clues?" Wen Zheng asked.
That day, after she mentioned to Mu Qing that they were investigating from the direction of Jianmu, Mu Qing sent messages to people she knew and obtained many books about Jianmu, which she has been reading these past few days.
Mu Qing took the tea without looking up and put it aside. She then picked up a book from a pile of books, opened it, and placed it in front of Wen Zheng.
“I looked up the origin of Jianmu, and it is said to be to suppress demons from the earth. The book says that demons are different from demonic cultivators; they have no physical body and are like shadows.”
Wen Zheng already knew the first part of that sentence, but she hadn't heard of the second part.
Intrigued, she sat down next to Mu Qing and asked, "Are there any other records about demons?"
If a tree as large as Jianmu has records, there's no reason why the things suppressed beneath it wouldn't be recorded.
Mu Qing shook her head, her gaze returning to the book. Her eyes darted up and down as she quickly read through the page before turning the page.
Wen Zheng sat beside him, quietly flipping through the records in the book. Most of them were about Jianmu, while the mention of demons was only briefly mentioned.
After briefly reading the contents of the book, Wen Zheng put it down and stared blankly into thought.
She was still in a daze when someone jumped over the door and screamed as they landed.
"What is that!?"
Elder Ye frantically brushed away the flames from his robes and glared at Wen Zheng, shouting, "Hurry up and help!"
Wen Zheng watched in astonishment as Elder Ye jumped around, then picked up the teapot and splashed tea on him.
The fire at the hem of the garment went out, and tea leaves mixed with tea water stuck to it, looking quite comical.
Wen Zheng took a step back, holding the teapot, and said slowly, "You asked me to come and help."
Elder Ye gritted his teeth: "Who placed the talisman in the corner?"
It caught fire as soon as she stepped on it, and the fire was so big that it almost burned her hair.
Wen Zheng weakly raised her hand and whispered, "I use it to defend against thieves."
Elder Ye: "You're calling me a thief?"
Wen Zheng shook her head, holding the teapot.
Elder Ye snorted coldly, went inside to change into clean clothes, and came out saying, "Shan Fengyu came to see me, and he even knew I was refining pills for you."
Wen Zheng's heart tightened, and she asked nervously, "Did he discover something?"
Elder Ye shook his head: "Maybe, but he only knows that I've been using a lot of bitter lotus lately, and I haven't made many pills with bitter lotus. He'll find out soon."
She came to remind Wen Zheng that the pill to restore memories would take three more days to complete, and Shan Fengyu had just left her, probably going back to check the information.
Wen Zheng gasped, her brows furrowed as she anxiously turned the wooden bracelet on her wrist.
She was considering whether or not to intervene to stop Shan Fengyu, which was an open scheme. If she did, Shan Fengyu would definitely know that Ku Xinlian was the key, and if he continued to investigate, her amnesia would be exposed.
But if she doesn't take action, she'll still be dead once he finds out.
A difficult choice.
As Wen Zheng was struggling with her decision, Mu Qing leaned over and asked, "What kind of pills do you want Elder Ye to refine?"
Wen Zheng had not mentioned this matter, and Elder Ye assumed that Wen Zheng had mentioned it, so he did not bring it up either. Now that the two were talking, Mu Qing could not get a word in edgewise.
Wen Zheng's gaze drifted away, and she changed the subject, saying, "We'll talk about that later. Let's find a way to divert Shan Fengyu's attention to something else."
Elder Ye: "Why don't you go and kill Shan Wuxiu again?"
Wen Zheng lowered her eyes and began to think seriously.
Seeing how nervous they were, Mu Qing said, "What's so difficult about that? The matter of the Longevity Sect is not over yet. It's time to let Palace Master Shan know."
"Is this method feasible?"
Mu Qing nodded: "That's feasible, but we need to choose a suitable person."
With the matter half resolved, Wen Zheng's tense emotions eased slightly. Suddenly, she remembered the question she had been pondering and turned to see Mu Qing clearly:
"If the Jianmu tree collapses, what about the demons beneath it?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
