Demon Arts

After crossing the dense forest, Yan Jue quickly made her way back to her dormitory.

After a tiring day, her whole body felt limp. She was just about to hurry inside and sleep for a while when she suddenly saw someone on the little bridge in front of the dormitory, and she stopped short.

Under the moonlight stood a tall, handsome youth in the Watercloud Sect’s standard pale blue outer-sect robe.

The evening breeze lifted the hem of his robe. With features as fine as carved jade, he really did have the air of a celestial boy.

This body of Yan Jue’s still retained some of the original owner’s habits; for example, every time she saw that person, her heart would inexplicably skip a beat.

Chu Fu.

Chu Fu was standing by the dormitory entrance, apparently waiting for someone.

There was no need to ask; Yan Jue knew he was waiting for her.

Sometimes, Yan Jue really admired the male lead’s persistence. To get what he wanted, he truly stopped at nothing. It had already been several days since he’d last bothered her; there was no way he would give up.

Frowning, Yan Jue walked over.

Hearing footsteps, Chu Fu turned around abruptly. When he saw who it was, the corner of his lips curved slightly, and he smiled. “A-Jue, you’re finally back. Where did you go so late?”

Yan Jue said flatly, “Do you need something? If not, please leave. This place doesn’t welcome you.”

Chu Fu frowned. “You’ve been so cold to me since months ago. Can you at least tell me clearly what I did to offend you?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a faint peach-pink light flashed in his eyes!

Yan Jue froze. Almost the instant Chu Fu cast his bewitching art, her gaze clung tightly to those beautiful eyes.

That peach-pink color was hazy and indistinct.

But her fox-demon instincts were still sharp enough to notice it.

For one fleeting moment, Yan Jue almost felt herself being drawn into Chu Fu’s handsome eyes.

A word flashed through her mind.

Seduction art.

No, why would Chu Fu, a grown man, know something like that?

Yan Jue took a deep breath and forced herself to stay patient. “I’ve told you many times. There’s nothing between us anymore! I don’t have any feelings for you either, so please don’t come looking for me again. Can you do that?”

Chu Fu stared at her, his voice trembling uncontrollably. “Then everything you did to me before was a lie?! Do you have any idea how much I gave up for you?”

That ambiguous

peach-pink light flickered in Chu Fu’s eyes, bright and dim in turns, like fireworks bursting in the night sky, forming one whirlpool after another.

Yan Jue looked at him coldly. “I don’t know.”

Chu Fu clenched his teeth and looked at Yan Jue, while at the same time staring into her eyes and doing his utmost to unleash every bit of seduction art he had.

Yan Jue’s beautiful phoenix eyes lifted slightly.

Chu Fu suddenly discovered, within those crystal-clear amber eyes, a tiny glimmer of peach-pink light that was exactly the same as his own!

Chu Fu froze, staring blankly at Yan Jue’s eyes.

The peach-pink glimmer in Yan Jue’s eyes was pure and flawless.

It seemed even purer than his, like peach blossoms quietly opening in a spring orchard.

In an instant, Chu Fu felt the world spin around him as if he’d been slapped hard across the face; he nearly fainted on the spot!

He loved Yan Jue...

He had never liked the girl in front of him this much before.

He only wanted...

All kinds of chaotic thoughts surged over him in a storm, and Chu Fu practically blacked out!

Yan Jue froze, then left without another glance back, leaving Chu Fu standing in the silent night.

“...”

Back in her room, Yan Jue felt like throwing up.

Seeing Chu Fu again had reminded her of the ending she might one day face, and Yan Jue could not help feeling deeply irritated.

Every time she turned into a little fox and saw Qi Xianqing, it was like being soaked through in a land of warmth and softness.

Then, once she turned human again, the cruelty of reality followed immediately after.

Sigh. So annoying.

Was there any way to keep Chu Fu from coming to find her?

Yan Jue knew that the biggest difference between demonic cultivators and regular cultivators was that demonic cultivators, in addition to all sorts of divine abilities, also had one self-protective skill that could save their lives: demon arts.

Since Yan Jue had transmigrated into the original owner’s body, she naturally inherited her demon arts as well.

Seduction art was one kind of fox-demon demon art; it was something fox demons were born knowing.

Although Yan Jue wasn’t quite used to it, because of the original owner, she still knew the basics of seduction art.

Just now, when Yan Jue had seen that faint peach-pink glimmer in Chu Fu’s eyes, she had subconsciously used the same seduction art on him.

She knew that when demons cast demonic arts, demonic energy could leak out; however, the lock-demon ring around her neck protected her, so she wasn’t afraid.

From what she had seen of Chu Fu outside just now, Yan Jue knew he was probably suffering the backlash.

This was likely what people called trying to outsmart someone and ending up outsmarting yourself.

But Yan Jue had never imagined Chu Fu could be this disgusting just for the sake of getting what he wanted!

Someone suddenly knocked on the door.

Yan Jue yanked it open in annoyance and saw Du Ying standing outside. “Yan Jue, Junior Brother Chu has been waiting for you outside for a long time.”

“You still won’t let him in?”

Du Ying was also a member of Kongqing Prefecture, and the pen in her hand was quite formidable.

If it had been usual circumstances, she would already have written up the piece and been waiting to publish it in The Five Dragons Encyclopedia the next morning after letting Chu Fu stand outside Yan Jue’s dorm for a few hours.

But now Yan Jue was her friend, so naturally she couldn’t do something like that.

Although, just now outside, for some reason she had felt a tiny bit of goodwill toward that Junior Brother Chu. But after returning to her room and washing up, she gradually came to her senses; the more she thought about it, the more wrong it felt, so she hurried over to inform Yan Jue.

Yan Jue: “How could I possibly let him in?”

Du Ying: “Ah, this... why do I feel like Junior Brother Chu has a really thick skin? You’re already like this, and he still...”

“Do you want me to go speak to him for you?”

Yan Jue looked at Du Ying, and suddenly remembered the strange peach-pink glimmer she’d seen in Chu Fu’s eyes earlier. Shaking her head, she said, “It’s fine. I have my own way.”

After Du Ying left, Yan Jue drew water to wash her hands.

After washing them clean, Yan Jue took out a strand of Sheming Xu from her Qiankun bag, spread her palm, and blew lightly out the window.

The Sheming Xu drifted and transformed into the shape of a girl.

Yan Jue nodded, admiring with satisfaction the stand-in she had created with her Divine Sense.

The girl was slender and delicate, extremely similar to her.

But her face was blurry and indistinct.

Though flawed, it was more than enough to deceive Chu Fu.

Yan Jue sank her Divine Sense, and the stand-in slowly walked out.

...

Yan Jue had read the original novel, so she naturally knew about the original owner’s past with Chu Fu.

The original owner had been a little fox spoiled rotten by her fox-demon parents in Ghost Mansion Mountain.

Once, she had secretly run down the mountain to play and was caught by hunters in a city and locked in an iron cage.

Chu Fu happened to be in the city below Ghost Mansion Mountain at the time.

Back then, Chu Fu was still a kind boy. Seeing the little fox in the cage crying miserably, he couldn’t bear it and took out all his savings to rescue her.

From then on, the original owner swore to repay Chu Fu’s kindness.

The girl fell deeply in love.

The twisted fate between the original owner and Chu Fu, to put it plainly, was the classic tale of a fox demon repaying a kindness.

Yan Jue stared at the pitch-black night ahead, her expression dark.

Originally... this should have been a fairy-tale-like match made of gold and jade, but Chu Fu had ruined it into this mess.

Since Chu Fu had repeatedly tried to steal her yin essence, then he couldn’t blame her for not showing mercy.

-

Chu Fu was still standing on the little bridge outside the dormitory, waiting miserably.

For some reason, ever since that glance just now with Yan Jue, his head had been foggy and his thoughts unclear.

He only wanted to wait here until Yan Jue came out.

The Watercloud Sect sat at a high elevation, and the temperature became especially cold after nightfall.

It was already late, and the cold wind kept sweeping toward Chu Fu in waves, seeping through every gap to drill into him. It was so cold his teeth were chattering.

His seduction art could not possibly be ineffective against Yan Jue.

After thinking it over, Chu Fu felt that Yan Jue’s indifference toward him must be feigned.

He knew Yan Jue had a soft heart.

If Yan Jue saw him standing in the cold wind for so long, she would definitely let him in.

Then he would use seduction art again... She would absolutely have no chance of escaping.

Chu Fu had always been an obstinate person; opportunities that fell into his hands, he would never give to anyone else.

Just as he was thinking all sorts of things, he suddenly saw a figure slowly emerge from the darkness ahead.

The girl wore a pale lotus-green cross-collared ruqun; against her snow-white skin was a red bandeau, making her look dazzlingly lovely.

She stood beneath a large tree over there, timidly glancing this way, and seemed to smile teasingly.

Chu Fu froze, his eyes practically straightening.

That girl—who else could it be but Yan Jue!

But, but Yan Jue had never shown him such a bewitchingly beautiful side of herself before!

Looking at the person before him, Chu Fu felt his soul sway and his thoughts float; he hurriedly stepped forward. “A-Jue, what’s wrong? It’s windy in the middle of the night, and you’re wearing so little...”

Yan Jue did not speak. She merely gave him a shy smile, then walked gracefully toward the forest over there.

Chu Fu grew anxious and quickly followed behind her.

Perhaps because Yan Jue was walking too fast, her face was always hazy and hard to see clearly. Chu Fu stayed close behind her, trying hard to make out that charming little face while also wanting to unleash his seduction art as soon as possible; he tripped several times on dead branches underfoot without even noticing.

The night wind was fierce, blowing his face blue with cold, yet he remained completely unaware.

Yan Jue ran ahead with a grin.

Chu Fu chased after her in delight.

The two of them soon reached the depths of the forest.

The light around them grew very dim, and from the weeds in the distance came the low chirping of night insects.

Chu Fu watched as Yan Jue kept running, then suddenly stopped beneath a large tree over there!

Chu Fu: “A-Jue, why did you bring me here?”

Suddenly, Chu Fu cut himself off.

Beside Yan Jue, tiny points of light suddenly began to glow!

Bit by bit, blue lights appeared, gradually gathering into a vast sea across the sky!

Fireflies!

Sure enough, this woman actually still had the mood for this... to play romantic games with him!

The corner of Chu Fu’s lips lifted. He spread his arms and looked at the swarming fireflies overhead, smiling. “Ah, right. I remember that every night, there are a lot of fireflies in the forests of Five Dragons Mountain. Don’t tell me you wanted to bring me here to see fireflies?”

Before Chu Fu could finish, he suddenly blinked hard.

Yan Jue, who had been there just a moment ago, was gone!

The surroundings fell into utter silence.

Chu Fu instantly became alert. “A-Jue? A-Jue?”

Impossible...

He had just seen Yan Jue right here.

That woman had always been timid; Chu Fu did not believe she had the courage to run into the forest alone.

Chu Fu took a few steps forward when his foot suddenly slipped into empty space. Before he could even cry out, he fell into the icy cold stream.

Plunk!!

In the silent night, the sound of the youth falling into the water was especially sharp.

The cold night wind blew in waves. Chu Fu was soaked through in the river, and he immediately felt his hands and feet go cold, the chill piercing his bones; his whole body began to shiver!

And that girl from just now had vanished directly into the air.

Chu Fu’s pupils shrank sharply.

The romantic fireflies overhead had, in an instant, turned into dim, eerie green glows!

They looked almost like... ghost flames!

Those strange ghost flames, one after another, moved slowly. Chu Fu’s pupils constricted further; he instinctively shifted his body, and in the darkness, it seemed as though something was biting him!

A wave of tingling numbness spread across his skin, like an electric shock!

Those ghost flames could bite people!

In that instant, Chu Fu’s blood ran cold from head to toe!

Before coming up the mountain, he had once heard his mother say:

In the forest there were ghost-flame demons. They slept by day and came out by night, and they especially liked biting at the souls of passersby.

If someone walked in the deep mountains at night year after year, their soul would eventually be sucked dry by the ghost-flame demons!

Chu Fu was so cold he was trembling all over. “Help! Help!”

No one answered.

Chu Fu shouted, “A-Jue! I was wrong! I won’t pester you ever again!”

The stream was not very deep, but Chu Fu’s teeth were chattering, his face deathly pale. He used all his strength to try to stand, but his legs could not gather even the slightest force!

He clutched tightly at the stones by the stream and tried to climb up.

But it seemed there was something at the bottom of the river tightly clinging to his limbs, making him unable to move at all!

Chu Fu cried, “Help! Help!”

As he shouted, the ghost flames in the sky suddenly came pouring down like a flood, as if they meant to swallow him whole!

Suddenly, footsteps sounded from the shore.

Chu Fu’s voice trembled as though he had seen a savior. “A-Jue! Is that you! Hurry and save me! I’m about to die!”

Of course, Chu Fu had already developed murderous intent; the dagger he carried with him had somehow been drawn out and was clenched tightly in his hand. As long as Yan Jue pulled him up, he would hack her to death!

...

Qi Xianqing was carrying her long sword on her back and happened to be passing through the forest.

Just after saying goodbye to the little fox, Qi Xianqing was on her way to take care of something at the Library Pavilion of Jingang Sect.

When she passed the stream in the forest, she suddenly heard someone shouting.

Qi Xianqing lowered her gaze and looked at the disheveled youth below, her brow shifting slightly.

Chu Fu.

Qi Xianqing: “It’s late and the dew is heavy; why is Junior Brother Chu here?”

Chu Fu cried, “Senior Sister, save me!”

Biting his teeth, his whole body trembling, he said, “My darling wife Yan Jue, Yan Jue asked me to meet her in the forest at midnight. We ran into ghost flames, and she ran off first, leaving me here alone.”

He had been affected considerably by Yan Jue’s seduction art; whenever he mentioned Yan Jue, warmth and tenderness filled his mind, and he actually sounded deeply attached!

Qi Xianqing: “...”

Darling wife?

Sometimes Qi Xianqing really felt that she did not understand Yan Jue at all.

The training tasks during the day were already no light burden for Foundation Establishment Realm disciples, yet Yan Jue still had time to come to the forest and play coy games with Chu Fu.

Suddenly, extremely faint footsteps came from behind her. Qi Xianqing turned around and saw a familiar figure flash past in the distance.

The girl was slender and wore a lotus-green ruqun. She was standing beneath a large tree far away, seemingly watching something.

Yan Jue.

The girl suddenly turned her head. When she saw Qi Xianqing, she seemed startled and hurried off in that direction.

That person should indeed be Yan Jue.

Qi Xianqing looked at that hurrying back, only to see her running and hopping as she went.

Qi Xianqing could not help frowning slightly.

Qi Xianqing: “Junior Sister Yan.”

It would have been fine if she hadn’t called out, but the moment she did, the person became even more flustered and actually jumped three feet straight up on the spot, leaping onto a tree.

Qi Xianqing: “...”

Qi Xianqing looked up, only to see there was no girl at all.

On the tree, at some point, a tiny little monkey had crouched there. When it saw her, it chittered nonstop, then made a face and vanished into the air.

Qi Xianqing looked at where the little monkey had disappeared, then glanced at Chu Fu lying in the stream like some kind of ghostly creature: “...”

-

For the next month, Yan Jue got up very early every day.

She would rise early to climb the mountain, then after finishing the climb, she would report to Qi Xianqing’s Thunderflame Sect.

Qi Xianqing remained just as cold as ever; her attitude toward her was tepid at best, and there were even a few days when she increased Yan Jue’s workload.

Gradually, the sandbags tied to her feet were no longer a burden. Yan Jue felt her body becoming lighter and lighter, while the spiritual energy inside her seemed like two unruly little snakes, wildly twisting around in her abdomen.

Perhaps because demon physiques were naturally excellent, Yan Jue would bind sandbags to her legs every morning to climb the mountain, then at night she would turn into a little fox and walk around the Cold Pool with Qi Xianqing.

The feeling of exhaustion grew less and less.

Sometimes they would go to Frozen Peach Haven, and sometimes to the Valley of a Hundred Flowers.

Being led around by Qi Xianqing at night had almost become a habit.

Yan Jue discovered that Qi Xianqing had a habit of talking to small animals.

She did not know whether it was because she usually held back too much, but being with animals that had no language seemed to make Qi Xianqing feel very relaxed.

After sorting through the novel’s contents in her memory, Yan Jue roughly pieced together Qi Xianqing’s childhood.

Qi Xianqing’s family had lived in a small town in the western regions.

The Qi family had been wealthy and prosperous; Qi Xianqing should originally have spent her whole life as a rich young lady.

Then one day, ghost creatures suddenly came to town.

The entire town was slaughtered clean by the ghost creatures.

Because Qi Xianqing possessed the rare Immortal Spirit Physique, she was taken back to the ghost creatures’ lair and fed every day with lingzhi and immortal herbs. They had originally planned to kill her and take her blood when she turned sixteen.

Who would have thought that before Qi Xianqing even reached sixteen, the ghost-creature lair would be annihilated by the joint efforts of the six great immortal sects.

Qi Xianqing was taken back to Thunderflame Sect by Five Dragons Sect’s Sect Master Mu Zhongzi, then raised by Yun Zhen, and from that point on became a disciple of Thunderflame Sect.

After learning of Qi Xianqing’s background, Yan Jue felt deeply emotional.

No wonder Qi Xianqing hated demonic things so much.

If her whole village had been wiped out by demons and ghosts, how could she not hate them?

Yan Jue felt a kind of pity and sympathy for Qi Xianqing. When the little fox was with Qi Xianqing at night, she often could not help licking the girl’s hand.

Day by day passed. After climbing the mountain every morning, Yan Jue now had enough energy left to run to the Library Pavilion.

Yan Jue spent almost every day in the Library Pavilion.

After looking through many books, Yan Jue finally understood Qi Xianqing’s intention.

The first realm of cultivation is the Qi Refinement Realm, also called the Body Tempering Realm.

Whether it was refining qi or tempering the body, to put it plainly, it was a process of adapting to spiritual energy and strengthening the physique.

Although the original owner was already in the Foundation Establishment Realm, her body foundation was poor, and she had not properly gone through body tempering at all.

That would become a huge bottleneck in her cultivation.

If she wanted to learn light-body movement techniques, she first had to strengthen her internal cultivation.

To cultivate internal skill, she had to temper her body first.

Qi Xianqing having her climb mountains was probably because she had seen that Yan Jue’s foundation was very weak and could be knocked over with a single push.

So she had deliberately made her start with body tempering.

-

It was already late autumn, and the temperature on Five Dragons Mountain was cold.

After climbing the mountain, Yan Jue came as usual to Thunderflame Sect.

Qi Xianqing walked out. “Climb Qiwu Peak one more time.”

After more than a month of training, Yan Jue had fully adapted to this devilish mountain-climbing life; since Qi Xianqing wanted her to climb, she did not mind at all.

Qi Xianqing walked behind Yan Jue, watching the girl in her old pale blue robe, the gold collar around her neck shining brilliantly, its bells jingling.

Yan Jue moved with a light, nimble gait, darting left and right; in barely an hour, she had reached the summit of Qiwu Peak.

Standing at the mountaintop, Yan Jue turned back to look at Qi Xianqing. “Senior Sister, was there anything wrong with my light-body movement just now?”

When it came to learning techniques, Yan Jue was still very humble.

Qi Xianqing wore white as snow and carried a sword. When she saw the girl’s bright, beautiful face, she paused slightly.

She pressed her lips together and said lightly, “No. Go to the Cold Pool.”

Yan Jue froze. Her light-body movement actually gave Qi Xianqing nothing to correct... she was so happy!!!

So Yan Jue’s lips curved, and she followed behind Qi Xianqing to the Cold Pool.

It was late autumn, and around the Cold Pool swirled wave after wave of chill mixed with spiritual energy.

“Junior Sister Yan,” Qi Xianqing said. “A month ago, I taught you the Five Dragons light-body mental formula. Do you still remember it?”

Yan Jue recited the formula very easily.

Qi Xianqing considered it. “Looks like you’ve memorized it quite thoroughly.”

“Then today we’ll do something different.”