Five Demons

Yan Jue’s pupils contracted sharply. She opened her mouth, but before she could make a sound, Lin Xi noticed something was wrong at the same time.

In an instant, the silver-white longsword on her back flew from its sheath; the surrounding spiritual energy surged violently. Carrying a fierce sword intent, the blade shot toward the monster like lightning.

The human-faced creature bared a strange smile. It leaped up, actually springing straight onto a great tree!

Lin Xi cried, “Monster! Don’t even think about running!” and gave chase.

Emptiness Mountain was riddled with restrictions, so once a flying sword left the body, it could not travel freely for long as it usually would.

Lin Xi summoned it with her right hand, and the immortal sword returned to her grasp.

Her figure blurred as she immediately caught up.

Man and monster raced through the dense woods; the undergrowth rustled faintly beneath their feet.

Lin Xi was already at the Late Illumination Stage, so her stamina was naturally not weak. But in the forest, it was obvious that the human-faced monster knew the terrain better. More than once, Lin Xi nearly crashed head-on into a tree!

With one hand making a seal, Lin Xi activated the large dark-purple gourd behind her.

The gourd shot through the air at high speed; pale gold inscriptions flashed brilliantly in the glow of the setting sun.

It exhaled layer upon layer of pale purple smoke, and a scorching heat spread outward.

A fire-element magical treasure; an immortal gourd containing millennium divine flame!

“Fire-Summoning Divine Talisman!”

“Phoenix into the Woods!”

“Immortal Art: Fire Monkey—”

Powerful spiritual energy exploded outward; one after another, high-damage fire techniques howled forward, leaving nothing in their wake.

The grass and trees along the path were engulfed in raging flames.

The monster shrieked loudly, darting left and right through the forest before disappearing without a trace.

Lin Xi gritted her teeth and chased farther in the direction the monster had vanished, but after realizing she had truly lost it, she slapped her forehead hard.

Earlier, because the Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi in her hands was too heavy, she had actually set down the basket to rest!

She had actually set down the basket to rest!

It was mainly because they had already come out of the forest; she had subconsciously thought that leaving the woods meant leaving danger behind, and naturally relaxed her guard!

Only then did Lin Xi realize what a huge mistake she had made.

In the deep mountains, she must never let go of what was in her hands, no matter when.

With heavy steps, Lin Xi walked out of the forest, as though shrouded beneath a layer of dark clouds.

Her thoughts were a little jumbled. The moment she thought of the twenty Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi they had worked so hard to collect disappearing just like that, her eyes began to redden.

Ji Guiyan hurried out. “Senior Sister, did you catch it!”

Lin Xi: “No.”

She clenched her fists tightly, sat down on the ground, and buried her face deep in her knees. “Let me calm down for a moment.”

Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi was already rare. Those twenty plants had taken several people an entire day to find; if they had to start over, even if they could find more, it would probably take quite a long time.

Lin Xi had never blamed herself this much before.

Seeing her like this, Yan Jue couldn’t help sighing.

Humans were the spirit of all life; many demonic beasts, in the course of cultivation, would choose to transform into human form so they could more fully comprehend the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

That monster from earlier should have been a black ape trying to transform into human form, but because its cultivation was insufficient, it got stuck halfway through the transformation and could not complete it. That was why it became so neither-human-nor-ghostlike.

A human face, yet an ape’s body; it moved as swiftly and nimbly as an ape.

Even the giant snake they had seen in the forest just now was the same kind of failed transformation.

There was no helping it. Yan Jue had read many books before, but there were too many demonic beasts in Emptiness Mountain, which meant there were too many variables.

Naturally, she could not predict everything.

Yan Jue couldn’t help thinking again that if Qi Xianqing were here, that would be perfect.

Good heavens, she was truly losing it. She had only been away from Qi Xianqing for a few days; why was she thinking about her all the time!

Yan Jue shook her head, throwing that thought out of her mind.

Ji Guiyan said anxiously, “What do we do? It’s almost dark, Senior Sister! This mission only has a one-day deadline.”

The sky was already growing dark.

Lin Xi took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you when we get back.”

Ji Guiyan hurriedly said, “Senior Sister, don’t blame yourself. It’s fine. Anyway, after six months we’ll be heroes again.”

Yan Jue wasn’t deliberately hiding her abilities or anything of the sort.

It was just that she was a demon and had no qi.

If she had burst out from the start with cultivation that was wildly inconsistent with her qi, and Lin Xi and the others asked about it afterward, she could only say she had used a Concealing Breath Art.

Since it was a lie, of course she didn’t want to be questioned.

Even if Lin Xi and the others asked nothing, Yan Jue still had to be cautious, because her identity was awkward; if someone here spread the matter, it could easily bring her unnecessary trouble.

But since she was already exposed, Yan Jue no longer needed to hide it.

The Five-Dragon Summit was imminent; her death was near too. She had to complete this mission and leave the mountain immediately.

If this mission failed, she would again be unable to take missions for another six months.

Yan Jue’s gaze fell on the supreme-grade Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi on the cliff not far away.

The last strand of sunset was about to vanish; pale violet afterglow spilled over the Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi.

The entire plant shimmered with a faint golden radiance.

It was about to be night.

The whole team fell into a silent panic. Yan Jue suddenly asked, “How many middle- and lower-grade Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi can one supreme-grade plant replace?”

Ji Guiyan felt utterly hopeless. “If we can pick one supreme-grade Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi, that’s enough to complete the mission. Why are you asking this?”

Her eyes suddenly landed on the lingzhi on the cliff not far away, and she couldn’t help widening them. “Don’t tell me you want us to go pick that one? Impossible. Emptiness Mountain has been sealed by the immortal sects; you can’t fly with a sword here.”

Yan Jue: “I’ll go get it.”

“No!” Lin Xi, who had finally come out of her shut-in self-pity, stood up with a cold face and said to Yan Jue, “I’m the senior sister leading the team. I have to be responsible for your safety. That path is dangerous; you can’t casually try it.”

Yan Jue looked once at the Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi on the cliff and silently calculated the Five-Dragon light-step footwork. “It’s fine. If something happens, it won’t be your fault. Du Ying can testify.”

Du Ying frowned. “Forget it, Yan Jue. You don’t even know light-footwork…”

Yan Jue’s clear phoenix eyes lifted slightly. “One supreme-grade Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi can replace twenty middle- and lower-grade ones, right?”

Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi was divided into lower, middle, upper, and supreme grades.

One upper-grade lingzhi could replace ten middle- or lower-grade plants.

As for a supreme-grade plant, it could be said to be priceless.

Lin Xi pressed her lips together. Seeing Yan Jue’s confident face, for some reason she felt that Yan Jue really did have a way.

Lin Xi didn’t often come down the mountain. This was her first time serving as the lead senior sister, and she was very prone to reliance. By this point, she truly had no other choice.

Because if her first team mission failed, all her future leading assignments would be affected.

Lin Xi asked, “You really want to go get that Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi?”

Yan Jue smiled. “I’ll go get that supreme-grade Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi, but I have a condition.”

Lin Xi froze, instantly alert. “What condition?”

Yan Jue: “The reward for this mission is one hundred upper-grade Spirit Stones and three Spirit-Gathering Pills. I want the three Spirit-Gathering Pills.”

Spirit-Gathering Pills were upper-grade pills with the effect of increasing cultivation, and could be considered quite precious.

Yan Jue knew her time was limited, so she was making plans for herself.

The last sunset sank away, leaving only a single source of light around them.

Lin Xi bit her lip and nodded. “All right. They’re yours.”

Yan Jue nodded and came to the edge of the cliff. After estimating the distance once more, she jumped down.

Scared… of course she was scared… This move also involved a gamble. If she was an important opportunity for the male lead in this world, then Heavenly Dao definitely wouldn’t let her die here.

Yan Jue wasn’t ignorant of the possibility that Heavenly Dao might let her escape smoothly.

But if one spent every day living in fear, what was the point? Even if she ultimately couldn’t get away, she would still do her best to fight for it.

On the first leap, the whistling cold wind from the cliff face struck her. Yan Jue seized a rock abruptly; her heel pressed against the edge of the cliff, and fine stones rolled downward.

Qi Xianqing’s exquisite movement technique flashed through her mind.

On the second leap, Yan Jue unfolded Drifting Snow; her body was as light as a flying swallow, tracing a beautiful arc through the air before landing hard on the foothold.

Her pitch-black long hair was whipped wildly by the gale. Yan Jue looked up at the surging stream beneath her feet and knew that one careless slip would mean falling to her death and being smashed to pieces here. Her heart hammered like a drum.

It was hard to imagine that one day she would experience a scene like this.

On the third leap, Yan Jue sprang into the air. Her body curved gracefully as she jumped; Yan Jue’s arms suddenly exerted force, and she hooked tightly onto the cliff above her head.

Loose stones kept rolling down.

Yan Jue used all her strength to reach out and seize the Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi, whose cap was shaped like a phoenix.

When she turned back, she saw the few people on the slope over there, all flustered by the wind.

Ji Guiyan stared at Yan Jue, her face dark. “But… she’s only an outer sect disciple at the mid-Building Foundation stage. Where did she learn such incredible light-footwork?”

“Could it be… self-taught?”

Because outer sect disciples had never formally taken a master, if they wanted to learn martial arts, there were only two paths.

One was to go to the Library Pavilion and study on their own.

The second was to learn in large classes taught collectively by inner sect disciples.

No matter which path they chose, achieving any real success was extremely difficult; after all, the path of cultivation itself was already arduous enough.

……

The road back was far more difficult than the way there.

Yan Jue took a deep breath, replaying Qi Xianqing’s movement technique in her mind. That day in the monkey demon’s cave, when Qi Xianqing used Instant Thousand Miles, she had arrived in front of Yan Jue in a single instant.

Later, Qi Xianqing had also taught her the footwork for Instant Thousand Miles, but Yan Jue still hadn’t learned it.

Today was her first practical use of it.

As the footwork churned in her mind, Yan Jue made a seal with her right hand, regulated her breathing, held the supreme-grade lingzhi in her left hand, and sprang into the air. The gale howled past her ears; when Yan Jue opened her eyes again, she had already reached the slope.

Her legs were trembling. She couldn’t help dropping to her knees at once. Du Ying hurried over to help her up. “Yan Jue, are you all right?”

Yan Jue: “I’m fine…”

Lin Xi: “…Fellow Daoist Yan, may I ask you something?”

“Mm?”

Lin Xi’s expression was a little odd, though clearly much more courteous than before. “This light-footwork of yours…”

Qi Xianqing had not reported it to the sect and had privately taught Yan Jue martial arts. If anyone found out, it would be a very serious matter. Yan Jue definitely wasn’t stupid enough to talk about something like that casually; she immediately smiled and said nothing.

Lin Xi did not ask further.

This was a world of cultivation; everyone had their own path and opportunities.

Sometimes asking too much was actually rude.

Yan Jue’s complexion was rosy, her spiritual energy pure and clear. She likely wasn’t someone who cultivated demonic arts, and demonic cultivators didn’t usually have such exquisite light-footwork anyway.

Ji Guiyan pressed her lips together. “Fellow Daoist Yan, thank you. We weren’t very nice to you at first, so please forgive us…”

“It’s not like the 《Five Dragons Encyclopedia》 said…”

Yan Jue waved a hand, still savoring the Instant Thousand Miles she had accidentally displayed a moment ago. “It’s fine. It’s already dark; we should hurry down the mountain.”

“All right.”

Lin Xi’s gaze fell on the gleaming supreme-grade Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi in Yan Jue’s hand, and she gave Yan Jue another grateful smile before reaching out to take it.

Suddenly, a black shadow flashed past.

Along with a strong stench of filth, a familiar patch of black mane appeared in Yan Jue’s eyes.

That half-human, half-ape monster had somehow descended between the two of them. Its strong hind legs suddenly drove downward, and it raised its head and grinned at her.

With a spit, thick sticky saliva sprayed onto Lin Xi’s face.

Lin Xi’s vision went black. She immediately raised a hand to cover her eyes, and the monster familiarly took the lingzhi from her hand.

It leaped onto a tree.

-

Yan Jue was only stunned for a moment before she immediately gave chase.

This supreme-grade lingzhi had been something she had worked so hard to get; naturally she would not let this monster take it so easily.

In the darkness, the girl moved as swift as the wind.

The black ape, only halfway through its transformation, was covered in mane, but its twisted and ferocious human face was grotesque; it ran forward on all fours, astonishingly fast.

Yan Jue narrowed her eyes slightly. The black ape’s figure became exceptionally clear in her vision; Yan Jue suddenly exerted force, her body leaping through the air. The wind roared by her ears, and in the blink of an eye Yan Jue appeared in front of the monster.

Instant Thousand Miles!

The ape-bodied, human-faced creature was startled and let out a shrill cry. With a spit, thick saliva flew toward Yan Jue.

Yan Jue sidestepped to avoid it. The “Spirit Communication Seal” activated, and the collar around her neck began vibrating violently, instantly transforming in midair into a strand of thread.

It wrapped around and around, binding the ape-bodied, human-faced creature tightly.

Because a talisman had previously been imprinted onto the gold thread using thousand-year ice crystal, the thread released an immense chill the instant it touched the black ape. Ice-blue cold qi gushed out madly, gradually covering the monster’s body.

The black ape’s human face twisted. Before it could even let out a scream, frost had already formed all over its body.

The next second, terrifying waves of heat crashed down.

A dark-purple fire gourd dropped straight from the sky. Lin Xi was somehow already standing behind Yan Jue; she made seals with both hands and chanted under her breath.

Above them, her magical treasure, the fire gourd, was wreathed in thick smoke. Suddenly it burst forth with fire as viscous as lava, dripping onto the black ape.

Ice and fire in equal measure; the black ape let out a miserable scream, kicked once with both legs, and lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, that phoenix-shaped divine lingzhi was lying quietly on the ground.

Ji Guiyan and Du Ying arrived shortly after. Seeing the black ape on the ground bound tightly in gold thread, they were momentarily at a loss for words.

Lin Xi couldn’t help glancing at Yan Jue.

She had run such a long distance without even breathing hard.

Why did she feel that this junior sister was on par with Lord Meng Heng of Thunderflame Sect?

Yan Jue, however, gave her no time to think. She immediately bent down, picked up the phoenix-shaped supreme-grade lingzhi from the ground, and put it in the basket. “It’s already dark, and the mountain is dangerous. Senior Sister, let’s go down the mountain first.”

Before she realized it, Lin Xi’s thoughts had been led away by Yan Jue, and she subconsciously nodded. “All right.”

The last strand of sunset had already been swallowed by the night; the mountain path was becoming very hard to travel.

Lin Xi activated the huge dark-purple fire-spewing gourd on her back. The fire gourd gave off a faint glow in the dark night, forming a natural barrier that blocked evil spirits all around them.

Seeing this, Ji Guiyan also activated her own cyan fire gourd. Two layers of light overlapped, forming a powerful protective shield.

Compared with the quiet journey up, the road back was rather lively.

“Senior Sister,” Yan Jue said very politely with a smile, “your fire gourds… really do look alike.”

She had wanted to say this for a long time. Ji Guiyan and Lin Xi were both of fire-leaning five-element affinity; their gourds, one large and one small, were really very similar except for the color.

Yan Jue knew that disciples under the same sect sometimes had a chance to obtain the same materials to refine their magical treasures.

How enviable.

Ji Guiyan: “They’re not the same. Senior Sister Lin’s fire gourd is made from fire crystal, so the material is better. My fire gourd is much inferior.”

She stroked her cyan fire gourd and said awkwardly, “It’s called Green Jade Table; it’s made from a piece of green iron.”

When they came, she hadn’t thought she’d still be able to talk with Yan Jue.

Lin Xi suddenly cut in. “Fellow Daoist Yan, may I ask how you learned… that?”

She was referring to the light-footwork Yan Jue had displayed today while pursuing the black ape.

Yan Jue: “Instant Thousand Miles? Isn’t that something every Five Dragons Sect disciple can use?”

Lin Xi and Ji Guiyan exchanged glances at once upon hearing this.

They could learn it, yes, but none of them mastered it well; after all, once one had learned sword flight, who would still bother with light-footwork?

The only person in Five Dragons Sect who could truly be said to know Instant Thousand Miles was only that one…

“…”

Du Ying said with a smile, “All right, all right; the mission is over. Let’s go down the mountain and have some fun.”

What a coincidence; Emptiness Mountain was actually not far from Nanxing Town.

The last time Yan Jue had taken a mission with Qi Xianqing, she had come to this place before.

It was already late at night when the few of them arrived at an inn to rest.

Below the Golden Core realm, cultivators still could not avoid grain and food. They hadn’t eaten all day, so everyone was already starving.

After putting their luggage in their rooms, they came downstairs to eat.

Lin Xi and Ji Guiyan were still a little awkward when they saw Yan Jue.

Yan Jue set down her bowl and smiled. “Senior Sister, today, I’d like to clarify one thing.”

Lin Xi raised a brow. “What is it?”

Yan Jue smiled. “I was young before and not very sensible. Now I know my mistake, and I’ll never be like I was before.”

She didn’t spell things out clearly, but Lin Xi and Ji Guiyan naturally knew what she meant.

Why had Yan Jue become so famous in Five Dragons Sect in the first place, if not because of an unspeakable past with Chu Fu, the talented reserve disciple of Watercloud Sect?

Ji Guiyan and Lin Xi exchanged a look, both with vivid expressions.

Lin Xi hurriedly stood up and clasped her hands toward Yan Jue. “Yes; before, it was I who misunderstood Junior Sister.”

Before her words had even faded, they heard a burst of footsteps from outside the inn.

Yan Jue was startled. At the doorway over there, a girl slowly walked in.

The girl kept her eyes lowered. She wore a crow-blue cloak, its huge brim hanging low as she entered.

As she drew nearer, Yan Jue, with her fox-demon sensitivity, suddenly felt a heavy pressure.

It was the righteous qi emitted by a high-level cultivator of the orthodox path.

Beside the girl was a cat, its neck firmly bound by an iron chain.

It walked beside the girl with graceful steps. Its fur was a beautiful golden color, striped like a tiger, with a pale gold mark on its forehead.

By the markings, Yan Jue thought it should be a tiger; but its head looked especially odd, its four legs were very thick, and its body was powerful, a little like a dog.

The waiter ran over. “Honored guest, what would you like to order?”

“Brick tea,” she said.

Yan Jue was still dazed when she suddenly heard Du Ying beside her whisper, “Tiger mastiff; the one beside her.”

No wonder Yan Jue had thought the big cat beside the girl looked both like a tiger and a dog. So it was a tiger mastiff.

Tiger mastiffs were an extremely rare spirit beast in this world, with immense strength and also very delicate care requirements; ordinary people could not keep them.

“Brick tea is tea from the northwest. Could she be…”

A name suddenly flashed through Yan Jue’s mind; it was a name Qi Xianqing had once mentioned.

Beast Taming Pavilion.

-

After the group finished eating, Yan Jue also packed a serving of sugar-steamed milk curd to take back to her room.

There was no helping it. The last time she and Qi Xianqing had eaten sugar-steamed milk curd together, Yan Jue had to admit it was the best specialty Nanxing Town had to offer.

Maybe because she had spent so long with Qi Xianqing during that period, she really had been thinking of Qi Xianqing constantly.

Annoying as hell.

Yan Jue set the sugar-steamed milk curd on the table, then climbed out through the window.

Since she was finally down the mountain, naturally she would take a trip to… Myriad Demons Pavilion.

If the condition for Five Dragons Sect disciples to leave the mountain was to complete three beginner missions, then she had already fulfilled… all the conditions.

Since she was about to prepare to run away, Yan Jue needed to get some things ready.

First Yan Jue went to Nanxing Town’s commercial street and entered a jewelry shop that was still open at night. She spent two middle-grade Spirit Stones to buy more than twenty gold hairpins.

Then, carrying the hairpins, she went to Myriad Demons Pavilion.

Nanxing Town’s Myriad Demons Pavilion was in a cave in the forest outside the city. Yan Jue entered the woods with practiced ease.

The huge cave was hidden by vegetation, faintly revealing a dim light within.

The din of demons was deafening; Myriad Demons Pavilion was just as lively as ever.

Mm… maybe even more lively than before?

A huge karst cave went in and out with all sorts of little demons, including transformed demons and untransformed ones.

This time, Yan Jue had taken off the demon-locking collar in advance and held it in her hand, silently reciting a heart mantra.

The golden collar trembled lightly in her hand, gradually shrinking until it became a square piece of black iron.

At the same time, thick demon qi poured out.

She narrowed her eyes slightly; the clear amber pupils in her eyes lit up with a faint gold.

Right. Demons had no qi.

The only thing by which a demon’s cultivation could be measured was this body of demon qi.

The wild wolf spirit guarding the gate barked harshly, “State your name!”

Yan Jue: “Red Fox.”

Though she was expressionless, her eyes were brilliant and alive, full of alluring glances. Among the fox clan, only a fox could transform into such a peerless countenance.

The wild wolf spirit looked at her for a while, then stepped aside.

Yan Jue walked into the cave; a strong smell of blood hit her face.

Yan Jue couldn’t help frowning slightly.

In real life, demons’ lives were not nearly so poetic and picturesque.

Many demons lived in caves, spending their days amid stench and blood, just getting by.

That was a smell unique to demons, but after being here through the book for so long, Yan Jue still wasn’t very used to it.

The passage through the karst cave was jammed shoulder to shoulder; demons always walked about with reckless collisions. More than once, if Yan Jue hadn’t dodged quickly, she would have been sent flying by a bull spirit coming the other way.

Yan Jue came to a stall and looked down at the item displayed there.

A Qiankun bag.

Yan Jue’s own Qiankun bag held too many things; during the day in the Emptiness Mountain forest, she had to take out the iron sword before she could barely fit the snake meat in.

Yan Jue was also quite happy, because that meant she had earned quite a lot in this world too.

This trip to Myriad Demons Pavilion was also to exchange for a new Qiankun bag.

The Qiankun bag owner was a badger spirit, with two black-and-white ears standing upright on his head as he smiled at her. “Is the lady here to choose a Qiankun bag?”

Yan Jue: “Yes. Do you have any better ones to recommend?”

The badger spirit smiled as he rummaged through a box and took out a small purple-gold Qiankun bag. “This Qiankun bag is a new product I recently developed. Not only is it large in capacity, it’s also more convenient than other Qiankun bags.”

“Moreover, this Qiankun bag contains its own hidden world.”

Yan Jue blinked. “Contains its own hidden world?”

The badger spirit: “That’s right. I added a small ‘Sea-Contain and Mountain-Hide’ formation to this Qiankun bag. Inside, there’s a refrigerated section for storing raw meat, food, and so on. There’s also a warm-keeping section for hot food. Aside from that, it has countless storage compartments; it’s far better than ordinary Qiankun bags!”

Yan Jue’s eyes widened slightly. “May I try it?”

She had never seen a Qiankun bag like this before.

More importantly, wasn’t this basically the standard male lead configuration?!

A storage function was simply too important to her. Before this, the way she dealt with items in her Qiankun bag was just to stuff everything together.

For instance, when she had put the snake meat into the Qiankun bag today, everything had been covered in that damned smell.

Smiling, the badger spirit handed over the Qiankun bag. Yan Jue sank her Divine Sense into it and entered.

What appeared before her was a stretch of lush green mountains.

Yan Jue knew this was probably a beautification formation added inside the Qiankun bag, but she was still a little surprised.

It was too real; she almost felt like she could smell the forest.

Then she saw a little wooden house standing before her, with several large words written on it: Storage House.

Yan Jue walked in casually and found that the inside of the wooden house was rather perfunctory. Against the wall stood a cabinet; when it was opened, a chill rushed out, and Yan Jue knew this was the “refrigerated cabinet.”

Opening another cabinet sent a wave of heat straight at her face; this should be the warming cabinet, or a heating cabinet.

This really was… eye-opening for a bumpkin like her who had crossed over here.

Besides, it was well known that the things in Myriad Demons Pavilion were a bit cheaper than those in the mortal world.

After bargaining with the badger spirit, Yan Jue finally exchanged fifteen exquisitely crafted gold hairpins for the Qiankun bag fused with the ‘Sea-Contain and Mountain-Hide’ formation.

Then Yan Jue stuffed all her things into it.

Afterward, Yan Jue took out the ‘withered sha snake meat’ she had stored in the Qiankun bag.

Because the snake meat had been sitting in an ordinary Qiankun bag all along, Yan Jue was worried it would spoil and had to deal with it as quickly as possible.

Yan Jue soon arrived at the pheasant spirit’s pill shop.

The pheasant spirit: “Lady, snake meat can also be eaten by our medicinal beasts, but this withered sha snake meat is very precious. Are you sure you want to have it made into an antidote or something similar?”

Yan Jue caught the implication in her words and asked, “What else can the snake meat be made into?”

The pheasant spirit: “The withered sha snake is one of the world’s venomous snakes, but it’s not famous for its poison. It’s famous for its excellent concealment ability.”

“It usually coils on tree branches, disguising itself as a vine and blending into its surroundings so well that prey approaching it can’t notice. Lady can have this withered sha snake made into Concealing Breath Pills.”

“Also, from what I can see, your withered sha snake seems to have quite a high level of cultivation, probably on the verge of transforming. Making it into Concealing Breath Pills would undoubtedly increase their power; one Concealing Breath Pill can hide one’s aura for at least the time it takes to burn an incense stick.”

Yan Jue: “Then please make six-tenths of the snake meat into antidotes, and the remaining four-tenths into Concealing Breath Pills.”

When traveling outside, getting poisoned and the like was simply too common.

As for the concealment function, Yan Jue felt she didn’t need it for the time being.

The materials were rare; she could only store them there for now and maybe use them later.

The pheasant spirit took the snake meat, slit it open from the middle with a dagger, and fed a large portion of it to the medicinal beast.

Having seen this scene so much, Yan Jue was rather unsurprised now.

The medicinal beast ate happily; after finishing, it sat with eyes closed for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, as though digesting the materials in its body. Then, using its hind legs for force, it excreted several pale-blue pills.

Following the same process, the antidotes and Concealing Breath Pills were made.

The pheasant spirit owner briefly introduced them to Yan Jue.

Six antidote pills; they should be able to cure most poisons in the world.

Four Concealing Breath Pills; they can hide one’s aura for the time it takes to burn an incense stick.

After making the medicine, the more than twenty gold hairpins Yan Jue had on her were nearly all spent.

She found a place by the roadside, leaned against the wall, and with great satisfaction sank her Divine Sense, beginning to sort through the contents of her Qiankun bag.

All the money she had earned since crossing into this world now amounted to only eighty-three middle-grade Spirit Stones, all stored in the little compartment for Spirit Stones.

The iron sword that every Five Dragons Sect disciple used had to be kept, of course; if she succeeded in escaping in the future, she could take it out now and then to reminisce.

The Concealing Breath Pills and antidote pills were naturally placed together with the healing ointment and the ointment for warding off spirit mosquitoes.

Yan Jue looked at the pale-green ointment for driving away spirit mosquitoes and paused slightly.

She hadn’t been bothered by spirit mosquitoes for a long time, which meant mosquitoes, after cultivating into spirits, had become picky about their prey too; perhaps they would only bite people like Qi Xianqing.

When she returned to the mountain, she should find an opportunity to give the mosquito repellent ointment to Qi Xianqing.

Yan Jue then placed the wooden box containing Sheming Xu on the shelf.

Of the six sleeve arrows, she kept four tied in her sleeves, and the other two were also placed on the shelf and secured. Finally, she put the glazed bottle containing ghostfire fireflies, various flower honeys, and the flower tea she had previously blended together.

Yan Jue was sorting and organizing her spoils when she suddenly heard a boiling uproar from over there.

Piercing screams echoed in the air.

Yan Jue snapped back to herself and looked toward the sound. There, for some reason, a ring had been built out of stones, and two demons were fighting on the stage.

Demon duels were especially bloody and brutal.

A green python halfway through its transformation already had a human face, but its body was still a snake body covered in scales.

It shot forward abruptly and coiled around its opponent.

A cat spirit was being constricted until its tongue stuck out and its eyes rolled wide.

Then the serpent spirit’s face suddenly split open, revealing ferocious fangs and a gaping maw; it swallowed the cat spirit in one gulp.

The smell of blood thickened all around, and cheers erupted from below the stage.

Yan Jue found it somewhat hard to endure and frowned, her gaze suddenly drifting toward the viewing platform.

The arena below was packed with demons watching. Most of them were bunched tightly together at the back, pushing and shoving.

Some were in animal form; some had human bodies with beast heads; and several had even transformed but still weren’t wearing clothes, standing there naked, with blue faces and fierce fangs, looking especially savage and terrifying.

Yan Jue was slightly stunned.

The demons in the back were chaotic, but the first row was especially quiet.

The few demons sitting in the first row were not half-human, half-demon horrors, but people; people wearing clothes.

They were eating while watching the show, and the demons around them were jostling and shoving, but none of them seemed to dare approach them.

As if the noise and chaos around them were completely out of place with the first row.

For example, the woman sitting at the far left of the first row wore a red slit gown; her lips were scarlet, her figure hot, and her beauty was breathtaking.

Beside the woman was an old man wearing a monocle on the bridge of his nose. His narrow eyes were nearly shut as he stroked his beard and watched the arena with a thoughtful expression.

In the middle sat a baby-faced girl in a sapphire floor-length dress, her hair actually silver-white!

At the far right was a burly, bearded man with black hair growing over his chest, and a bald, muscular man with a bare upper body.

Then there was a pale young man in a crow-blue long robe with dark patterns and western-style brocade.

This simply… felt like the five-person group of refined scoundrels had walked onto the wrong set.

They were all demons, yet the difference was just too huge.

As Yan Jue watched in surprise, she suddenly heard a kindly voice beside her.

“May I ask, lady… what level of cultivation do you currently have?”

Yan Jue turned around and saw an old man standing beside her without knowing when he had arrived.

When he saw Yan Jue look over, he smiled and cupped his hands. “I am a little mountain goat spirit with a thousand years of cultivation. Lady is a red fox; your bloodline is pure and noble beyond words.”

He was very polite, unlike the other demons who shoved their way around. Seeing him like this, Yan Jue also smiled. “You flatter me.”

“My current cultivation is roughly… third realm, Spirit-Understanding.”

One reason was that Yan Jue had lived in Five Dragons Mountain for years and wasn’t sure how the demon race’s level divisions worked. Another was that, while out in the world, being too frank with others was dangerous. So Yan Jue only gave a rough answer.

The old man smiled. “As expected of fox blood. Lady has actually reached the Spirit-Understanding realm at such a young age…”

“May I ask whether you have considered the matter of forming a demon core?”

The old man’s enthusiasm made Yan Jue feel a little strange.

Was this person some kind of trafficker?

But out of politeness, Yan Jue still smiled lightly. “Forming a demon core is something for the peak of the fourth realm, Bone Refinement. I’m only in the third realm now; isn’t it a little too early to think about that?”

The demon race’s fifth realm corresponded to the human race’s fifth realm, the Golden Core realm, and was called the Demon Core realm.

Every demon, upon reaching the peak of the fourth realm, would consider the matter of forming a demon core.

For both demons and humans, forming a core was a lifelong affair.

Forming an upper-grade demon core was excellent for later breakthroughs and cultivation progress; it also greatly enhanced a demon’s strength.

But forming an upper-grade demon core required extremely precious heavenly materials and earthly treasures as aid, which made many small demons without backing hesitate.

The old man: “Among demons, core formation happens a little earlier than among humans. Reasonably speaking, once one reaches the third realm, one should already start thinking about it. I have some heavenly materials and earthly treasures used for forming cores here. I wonder if the lady is interested?”

Yan Jue: “……”

So this man was a seller of heavenly materials and earthly treasures after all.

The old man: “If the lady’s five-element affinity leans toward water, I have a Water Cloud Fruit picked from a Water Drunken Cloud Immortal Tree.

“If you don’t have a preference for the five elements, then you can use something of yin nature, like Earthheart Spirit Marrow.

“If you lean toward wood, there’s the extremely rare Black Phoenix Wood. These are all precious materials for producing an upper-grade demon core; they’re cheap and affordable. Would the lady like to take a look?”

After understanding his purpose, Yan Jue was no longer quite so wary. This person really was in sales; from a long way off, he saw her gentle bearing and guessed she was either a water or earth spirit root, so he came to strike up conversation.

Yan Jue chatted with him idly. “Then who are the people sitting in the very front?”

The old man followed her gaze and looked toward the five people seated beneath the arena. “They are the Five Demons family.”

Yan Jue blinked. “Five Demons? Which five demons?”

“Tiger, turtle, fox, lion, snake.”