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The sunlight was just right.
Yan Jue, cloaked in the Concealing Breath Cape, headed up the mountain.
This time, however, she was not going alone.
She had brought a white fox with her.
Yan Jue walked silently along the mountain path, preoccupied with her own thoughts.
Bai Ying: “Master only needs to give me three Spirit Gathering Pills a day, and I can work for you.”
Spirit Gathering Pills were a powerful aid to cultivation.
Back when Yan Jue had gone with Lin Xi and the others to Emptiness Mountain on a mission, they had each been given three Spirit Gathering Pills on the way back.
She knew very well how effective that kind of pill was.
But pills refined by righteous cultivators couldn’t be bought at the Myriad Demons Pavilion.
The ones sold there were relatively niche, and some had even taken a crooked path, carrying a trace of demonic aura.
Which meant that if Yan Jue wanted to support the white fox, she’d have to buy them at the Five Dragons Market.
Bai Ying had lost too much spiritual power and needed Spirit Gathering Pills to make up for it.
It was like temporarily hiring an employee, paying a salary every day and providing lodging in return for work. Seen that way, her relationship with Bai Ying was rather equal.
-
When Yan Jue returned to her room, the bracelet on her wrist once again turned into a shadow and dropped to the ground, becoming an elegant white fox.
Bai Ying spat out its demon core again. “Now that you are my master, you should take this demon core.”
Yan Jue: “Why must I take it?”
Bai Ying: “Because all my previous masters were like this...”
Yan Jue crouched down, picked up the pale green demon core from the floor, and handed it back. “No need. I have other things for you to do.”
On the way back, Yan Jue had already come up with another idea.
Bai Ying stared at Yan Jue for a long while, then spat out something else.
Yan Jue froze.
A crystal-blue bead fell to the ground with a clear ring.
Bai Ying: “Since we’ve already formed a master-servant contract, naturally all my belongings belong to my master.”
“This is called a Lightning-Repelling Bead. Demons are born afraid of lightning; with this bead, most ordinary lightning in the world can be avoided.”
Yan Jue picked up the crystal-blue bead and curled her lips. “Why does everything you have seem to come out of your mouth?”
Bai Ying said coquettishly, “Because this concubine’s inner chamber is hidden in her belly. If I want to take something out, of course I have to spit it out.”
Yan Jue: “...Oh.”
Before the words had even faded, Bai Ying spat out another stone.
Thunk—it hit the ground.
A very ordinary stone.
Its surface was uneven, roughly round in shape.
Yan Jue: “What is this?”
Bai Ying: “I found it outdoors once while working with a painted-skin ghost. I thought its shape was pretty, and there was unusual spiritual energy flowing through it, so I brought it back.”
Yan Jue frowned slightly and brushed her fingertips over the uneven stone. Sure enough, she could feel rather unusual fluctuations of spiritual energy from it.
“These are all the things in my inner chamber. They all belong to my master.”
A demon core was a demon’s life; Yan Jue understood that very well.
So Bai Ying’s demon core, she absolutely could not take.
As for the other two things, since Bai Ying insisted on giving them to her, Yan Jue could only put them into her Qiankun bag for now.
...
Yan Jue had read the novel, and she knew what was about to happen in the original story.
But the current plot had already diverged far too much from the novel.
She didn’t know the male lead’s exact movements, nor those of the Demon Lord.
What was more, the Five-Dragon Summit was about to begin.
With the date of death drawing near, Yan Jue couldn’t help feeling as if she were sitting on pins and needles; she ate poorly and slept badly.
Although the male lead went to the cliff every night to search for that Demon Lord, she didn’t know exactly what he was doing there.
Yan Jue was truly worried sick.
But on the way up the mountain while bringing Bai Ying back to the dormitory, she had unexpectedly come up with a new idea.
Yan Jue slung the Qiankun bag over her back and first made a trip to the Five Dragons Market.
There, she went to Alchemy Hall and bought about a month’s worth of Spirit Gathering Pills for Bai Ying.
Then she went to a talisman shop.
After buying everything she needed, Yan Jue returned to the dormitory.
She first fed Bai Ying three Spirit Gathering Pills, then sat at the table to eat.
As the sky gradually darkened, Yan Jue suddenly turned around and said to the white fox, which was licking its fur in the corner, “Can you help me do something?”
Seeing how serious Yan Jue looked, Bai Ying became serious as well. “What orders does Master have?”
Yan Jue: “Like this, and like that...”
After she explained her plan to Bai Ying, Bai Ying immediately lowered itself to the ground with practiced ease and said respectfully, “I will obey Master’s orders.”
Yan Jue then took out the talisman token she had just bought at the Five Dragons Market.
She went to Bai Ying’s side and crushed the talisman token.
With a crisp snap, a barely perceptible thread of spiritual energy flashed through the air, then slowly attached itself to the white fox.
Immortal Art: Heaven-Piercing Insight.
This was an extremely advanced immortal technique, somewhat like clairvoyance and clairaudience. By applying this technique to Bai Ying, wherever Bai Ying went and whatever it saw, she would also be able to see.
Yan Jue had just bought three talisman tokens storing this immortal art, and they had cost her a total of ten top-grade Spirit Stones.
Yan Jue felt a little heartache, then sent Bai Ying off.
Bai Ying: “Yes.”
Its body flickered.
The fox, which had been snow-white only a moment ago, instantly turned into a tiny fly.
The fly beat its wings and slowly flew out.
-
That night, Chu Fu once again came as usual to the cave where the Demon Lord of Soul-severing Mountain lived.
This time, however, he didn’t notice anything different.
A tiny fly had landed on him and entered the cave with him.
Although Yan Jue had read about the Demon Lord of Soul-severing Mountain’s hiding place in the novel, she still felt a chill seeing it with her own eyes.
The cave was dimly lit.
A thick stench of decay hung in the air; the passage ahead started out extremely narrow, then gradually widened.
Yan Jue sat cross-legged on the bed and, after clearly seeing the scene before her, couldn’t help frowning.
What met her eyes was a waterfall; faintly visible behind the curtain of water was a human figure.
The Demon Lord.
In the novel’s plot, there were two Demon Lords in this world.
One was the Soul-severing Mountain Demon Lord, hiding in a cave on the cliff of Five Dragons Mountain.
The other was the Jueming Valley Demon Lord, currently hiding at Chalk Mountain.
In the end, both Demon Lords met miserable deaths; in their place, the male lead became disillusioned with the righteous immortal sect, took the female lead into demonic cultivation, and destroyed the entire Five Dragons Mountain.
In other words, in the original story, the one who ultimately went mad and slaughtered everything was also the male lead; this Soul-severing Mountain Demon Lord only played a supporting role from beginning to end. His greatest use was to provide all kinds of opportunities for the male lead in the early stages.
“..."
Chu Fu and this Soul-severing Mountain Demon Lord didn’t seem to have much extra to say to each other.
Chu Fu directly set the food basket in his hands on the ground, and then the living creatures in the bamboo basket were sucked in by the Demon Lord.
Because Bai Ying had the Heaven-Piercing Insight immortal art on it, Yan Jue could feel everything on the white fox’s body with remarkable clarity.
The smell of blood in the cave grew even stronger.
Yan Jue: “Can you fly in?”
She was also somewhat hesitant; after all, this was far too dangerous for Bai Ying. If it were discovered by the Demon Lord... although the Demon Lord was very weak now, dealing with a white fox that couldn’t even transform back into human form should still not be a problem.
To Yan Jue’s surprise, the white fox softly answered yes and flew straight into the water curtain.
What put Yan Jue slightly at ease was that the Demon Lord really did seem weak, and his divine sense wasn’t strong either; he didn’t notice the white fox that had turned into a fly.
Then Yan Jue saw the Demon Lord’s face behind the water curtain.
She sat on the bed and drew a sharp breath.
The Demon Lord was hunched over, his hair white. Sitting behind the water curtain, every breath he exhaled sounded heavy.
That face could hardly even be called a human face anymore...
Half of it was rotted away, while the other half was still normal; his left pupil glowed with an eerie red.
Yan Jue suddenly noticed something and abruptly widened her eyes.
The Demon Lord was sitting on something.
That thing was round; it was actually... an egg.
-
After Yan Jue brought the white fox back to the dormitory, she practiced seductive techniques with it in the room every day.
Yan Jue felt that Bai Ying’s cultivation should be higher than hers.
A demon that could form a demon core ought to be at least at the Fifth Realm level; it was only because Bai Ying was injured that its cultivation had fallen so badly and it couldn’t transform into human form for the time being.
Bai Ying also taught her everything it knew about self-defense without reservation.
Ten days passed, and Yan Jue had already become very skilled at the most basic spiritual control in seductive techniques.
On a bright afternoon, Yan Jue and Bai Ying sat facing each other in the room.
The white fox: “If Master learns all of my seductive techniques, you’ll surely win the heart of the one you love.”
Yan Jue actually did not want to learn those seductive techniques that made people go soft all over; now that she had learned spiritual control, she didn’t want to study any further.
Unfortunately, the white fox was too enthusiastic and had taught Yan Jue many little tricks for getting along with others.
The white fox: “You know how girls all like fluffy little animals, right?”
Yan Jue choked slightly. “Yes, I know.”
Like Qi Xianqing.
The white fox: “When she’s doing something, for example when she’s reading, you rest your chin on her leg and nudge her hand with your nose.”
Yan Jue: “...Then what?”
The white fox: “Then she won’t be able to resist petting you.”
Yan Jue rolled her eyes. “Then what?”
The white fox: “Then you’ll have taken up both of her hands, and she won’t have a spare hand left to do anything else.”
Yan Jue: “...”
Fine, you’ve got skills.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
Yan Jue glanced at Bai Ying; the white fox immediately turned into a streak of golden light, becoming a white-jade bracelet that wrapped around Yan Jue’s wrist.
Yan Jue opened the door and saw Du Ying standing at the entrance with an excited face. “What is it?”
Du Ying: “Yan Jue, hurry up; today is the day to register for the Five-Dragon Summit!”
Yan Jue: “I wasn’t planning to participate.”
Du Ying: “Come on, the point is to take part; how can you be so unenthusiastic? We’re mainly going there to have some fun. You should be at the late Illumination Stage by now, right? Not participating would be such a waste.”
Yan Jue: “...”
She wasn’t at the late Illumination Stage; she was already at the Fusion Realm.
Du Ying: “And do you know? The prize for winning this time is the immortal sword Drifting Ice; that’s the paired sword to Senior Sister’s immortal sword Zhuying. Even if you don’t want to win it yourself, you still shouldn’t let someone else snatch it away.”
At the mention of Drifting Ice, Yan Jue frowned slightly.
An image of Qi Xianqing, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time, surfaced in her mind.
“And this summit isn’t just giving an immortal sword to first place; there are also prizes for second and third. And there’s even a fighting spirit award! The top prize is as high as one thousand top-grade Spirit Stones! It’s the first time ever! Just look how humane that is!”
Du Ying’s words pulled Yan Jue into thought.
If she could successfully deal with Chu Fu this time, then she would definitely still need to continue living in the Five Dragons Sect for the time being.
It was always better to face life by taking part actively.
Besides, the reward for this competition—one thousand top-grade Spirit Stones—was truly tempting.
After thinking it over, Yan Jue said, “All right, let’s go.”
Yan Jue then went with Du Ying to Buzhou Peak, and soon arrived at Five Dragons Square, where the event was being held.
Under the sun, Five Dragons Square was already crowded with people standing in twos and threes.
On the stone platform not far away, an elder in a pale snow-green Dao robe stood solemnly, apparently waiting to announce something later, though it was not yet time.
The crowd around them was buzzing. Yan Jue almost instinctively began searching for Qi Xianqing’s figure, but after looking around once, she still couldn’t find her; there were simply too many people.
Du Ying saw through her thoughts. “Senior Sister should be over on the Thunderflame Sect side. We’re with Watercloud Sect, so of course you can’t see her.”
Caught red-handed, Yan Jue said, “...I wasn’t looking for her.”
The two of them stood there and chatted for a few moments.
Then the noisy crowd in the square suddenly fell silent.
The elder: “Disciples who wish to participate in the competition may come forward to draw lots.”
In such a wide square, the elder’s voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone’s ears, showing that his internal strength was profound.
Yan Jue was bewildered, only to hear Du Ying explain, “Here’s how it works. This competition is divided into team battles and individual battles.”
“First comes the individual competition, then the team competition.”
“The individual round is one-on-one fighting on the arena. In the team round, you form your own group and enter the Five Dragons Mystic Realm to search for treasure; the team with the most points wins.”
The word mystic realm was suddenly tossed into Yan Jue’s ears. Just a few days ago, she had been discussing it with Qi Xianqing, and she hadn’t expected that this Five-Dragon Summit would also have something like a mystic realm.
Yan Jue couldn’t help wondering whether the Five Dragons Sect also had its own mystic realm.
Du Ying: “The lots the elder’s talking about now should be for choosing the first-round opponents in the individual competition. At a time like this, you really have to pray hard; don’t become a stepping stone for some big shot, and don’t draw a big shot in the first round.”
Yan Jue very much agreed with this.
When she was in the modern world, she had once taken part in a sanda competition; there was one time when she met a master in the first round, and that feeling was simply hard to describe.
As soon as the elder finished speaking, a large group of people surged onto the platform.
Thunderflame Sect had already begun going up to draw lots.
Yan Jue subconsciously looked over there and almost immediately spotted the figure that was impossible to ignore.
Qi Xianqing wore a white robe, her peach-blossom eyes lowered, with the black immortal sword Zhuying on her back.
She stood at the very front of the group of disciples and was the first to step onto the drawing platform.
As soon as Qi Xianqing went up, whispers broke out below.
“Senior Sister...”
“Senior Sister, I love you!”
“Senior Sister, take first place again this year!”
“Wuwu, I haven’t seen my goddess for several months, and she’s become just like a fairy.”
There was no way Qi Xianqing couldn’t hear the murmurs below, but her face was like still water; there wasn’t the slightest extra expression.
Qi Xianqing drew her lot first, then walked down, and the other Thunderflame Sect disciples followed after her.
After Thunderflame Sect finished drawing, it was Jingang Sect’s turn, then Mystic Escape Sect’s.
Muyin Sect.
Watercloud Sect...
Yan Jue went up onto the platform, only to see a huge wooden box placed before her. The lots were drawn from inside it. Yan Jue reached in, felt around until she touched a bamboo lot in the shape of a rectangular prism, and with a hook of her fingers, pulled it out.
Just as she was making out the number on the lot, she suddenly felt a chill at the back of her neck, as if someone were looking at her.
Yan Jue turned around and saw Qi Xianqing standing below the platform, looking at her.
A voice suddenly rang in her ear: “What number?”
Qi Xianqing was sending her a transmission.
Yan Jue froze.
Ever since they returned from Suyang Immortal Mansion last time, she hadn’t exchanged transmissions with Qi Xianqing again. This transmission art had also been taught to her by Qi Xianqing.
Yan Jue: “Number 26.”
“How is it assigned?” Yan Jue never forgot to ask Qi Xianqing for advice, no matter the time.
Qi Xianqing’s calm voice brushed past her ear. “There are six hundred participant slots in total, and there are three hundred numbers. Each number appears twice; whoever draws the same number becomes a group.”
“After the first round of elimination, they draw again; the same number forms a group again, and so on.”
That way, a lot of people could be eliminated in one round.
Yan Jue asked, “May I ask what number Senior Sister got?”
Qi Xianqing: “Seventy-eight.”
Yan Jue nodded slowly. “Then Senior Sister should apologize in advance to whoever ends up facing you in the first round.”
Qi Xianqing’s brow twitched. “Why?”
Yan Jue: “He becomes your stepping stone for no reason at all; how miserable. Shouldn’t you pay him some stepping-stone fee?”
Around them people were packed shoulder to shoulder; standing in the crowd, Qi Xianqing’s eyes curved slightly.
The crowd instantly erupted.
“Damn, did you see that? Senior Sister smiled at me!”
“Bullshit! She smiled at me!”
“Who the hell took a picture of that just now?! Lord Meng Heng actually smiled, ahhh, I’m not sleeping tonight.”
Yan Jue: “...”
Standing in the crowd, Yan Jue also smiled faintly and asked in a low voice, “Senior Sister, my Myriad Sword Art practice is almost done...”
Halfway through her words, she suddenly frowned.
The Five-Dragon Summit was about to begin, which also meant her date of death was drawing near.
She and Qi Xianqing were not suited to meeting in private.
Yet Qi Xianqing seemed to have already guessed what she wanted to say. Before Yan Jue even finished, she said, “I’m busy today; three days from now.”
As if the two of them were already very familiar.
Yan Jue was slightly stunned. “Then Senior Sister should go attend to your business and make sure to rest.”
The concern in her tone was genuine.
There wasn’t much reverence in it; instead, it was a very rare tone of equality, breaking through the sea of people and coming from afar. It was somehow especially reassuring.
Qi Xianqing paused, then didn’t reply further, because Immortal Lady Yun Zhen was already walking over to her with a smiling face.
The two of them said a few words to each other, then left together, riding the air.
-
Yan Jue watched in the direction where Qi Xianqing had disappeared. Just as she was coming back to herself and about to see where Du Ying had gone, she suddenly heard a deafening voice from beside her: “No way, no way; everyone look! This trash actually wants to participate in the competition!”
Yan Jue turned her head and saw a familiar figure standing in the crowd not far away.
Li Hao wore the purple-red Dao robe unique to Jingang Sect disciples, looking lofty and imposing as if born immortal.
He stood at a distance, looking at her with ill intent.
Yan Jue’s eyes darkened.
The people around them instantly began whispering, with faint snickers drifting over.
“I heard that Yan Jue is a waste who doesn’t cultivate swordsmanship and only trains her body; why is she also joining in on the Five-Dragon Summit?”
“Probably got dragged here by her roommate to make up the numbers. After all, there’s a team competition this time too; she’s just a foil.”
“So miserable... She’ll probably not survive the first round.”
“Come on, is that rumor true about her taking on four people alone in class last time? Looking at that small frame of hers, I’m worried she’ll get shoved over in one move if she fights another martial cultivator.”
“Does any fellow Daoist have a Shadow Capture Box? I’m going to camp Yan Jue’s match later and watch the beauty get crippled by Senior Brother. But honestly, do you think Yan Jue might suddenly fall for Senior Brother’s handsome face when she goes up against him and deliberately hold back? Then it wouldn’t be fun anymore.”
Hearing the crowd’s discussion, Li Hao’s lips curled up slightly.
He stared at Yan Jue and sneered. “Someone like you, a useless piece of trash, still dares to come to the Five-Dragon Summit. You really overestimate yourself. Today, I’ll teach you a lesson!”
With that, Li Hao suddenly formed a hand seal with both hands, and a silver sword rose into the sky.
Suspended in midair, the silver sword was wrapped in a dense layer of spiritual power; faint crackling could even be heard.
The immortal sword “Count” was a thunder-attribute spirit sword.
It was a famous sword second only to Qi Xianqing’s immortal sword Zhuying, and Li Hao had even inscribed it with fifty-six strands of heavenly thunder, turning it into the Thunder Count Sword.
Yan Jue frowned slightly.
That silver sword seemed to be the very one she had once snapped outside Drunken Spring Pavilion with Northern Sea black iron silk.
She had sold the fragments of Li Hao’s iron sword to Refining Hall.
She hadn’t expected Li Hao to buy the sword back.
The immortal sword “Count” was raised in the air; when it saw Yan Jue, it seemed to be facing an enemy it had not seen for a long time, poised and eager to strike.
Li Hao curled his lips and chanted the true incantation, “Thunderlight Flame.” Violent lightning intent began swirling around the sword’s blade, growing larger and larger.
Everyone’s gaze turned this way in an instant, and the looks they gave Yan Jue also carried a trace of sympathy.
This world was cruel to begin with; if you were trash, then you had to endure the humiliation of being bullied.
Yan Jue suddenly said, “Li Hao.”
Li Hao’s pupils contracted.
Yan Jue wore a Dao robe and had her black hair tied high. Those clear phoenix eyes looked over without the slightest deviation, her face showing no panic at all; instead, she was very composed.
She completely ignored the giant sword in the sky radiating thunderous power and slowly walked toward Li Hao.
What was going on?
Li Hao couldn’t help freezing.
Why did he feel such terrifying pressure when this girl walked toward him?
Cold sweat even broke out on Li Hao’s forehead. Staring at those amber-clear eyes, he was so shaken that the speed with which he chanted the incantation slowed a little.
He was currently at the late Illumination Stage, and his grasp of sword arts was not very good. When using moves, he still had to rely on hand seals and mantras to bring them to full power.
But he was the eldest son of Jingang Sect elder Li Tian; he had been steeped in immortal arts since childhood.
Among his fellow disciples, none could surpass him.
Li Hao shouted, “Silence of a thousand horses! The nine provinces are born—”
Before he could finish, his jaw was struck violently; with a dull impact, searing pain surged through him, and Li Hao was instantly sent flying.
With one sweep, Yan Jue knocked Li Hao to the ground.
Below the Fusion Realm, in terms of striking speed, martial arts were always faster than sword arts.
Li Hao crashed to the ground, rolling awkwardly before coughing up a mouthful of blood.
The crowd gasped and hurriedly opened up a path.
Li Hao clumsily lifted his head and stared at Yan Jue in disbelief.
Yan Jue looked indifferently at the man lying on the ground like a stray dog. “This is what happens when you’re reckless; consider it a lesson.”