Subduing Demons (Part 1)

A crescent moon hung high in the sky. Xie Yuezi and his band of old Daoists had all drunk themselves into a stupor, each collapsed in his own alchemy room, sleeping with his head buried under the covers.

Li Feng lounged rather inelegantly against Zhao Yue'er's thigh, one leg crossed over the other as he comfortably hummed a little tune. Zhao Yue'er leaned against a great pine tree, her head tilted back as she stared blankly at the moon, murmuring, "It would be fun if we could go up there and have a look."

Li Feng yawned, glanced at Zhao Yue'er, and tilted his head. "Master, don't ask for too much. Flying to the moon is something that little lass Chang'e does. Why do you need to go play on the moon? Is there anything up there more fun than this place? You just came out of seclusion—enjoy yourself properly in the mortal world. Your disciple here doesn't want to wake up the next day and find that his master has vanished."

Zhao Yue'er lightly slapped Li Feng's face and laughed. "Ha, you say you can't bear to part with me as your master, yet you spend every day fooling around with me? Hmph, aren't all those Martial Uncles of yours ridiculously good to you? They protect you in everything you do. But it really is strange—why is every one of them so good to you? It's as if you have dirt on every last one of them... Strange, truly strange. Especially this—where did they get so much wine? Heehee, it doesn't seem to be wine brewed by that Martial Grandfather of yours."

Li Feng rolled upright in one smooth motion, leaned against Zhao Yue'er, and said gleefully, "Of course it isn't the utterly undrinkable swill my Martial Grandfather makes. This is fine wine that our Yiyuan Sect gathered only after sweeping clean every wine cellar within three hundred li. Hehehe." Without concealing a thing, he told Zhao Yue'er every detail of how the nine great disciples of Yiyuan Sect had gone down the mountain to steal wine.

The more Zhao Yue'er listened, the funnier she found it. By the end, her snowy face was full of smiles, and she finally could not help giggling. "Th-this, this... what is this supposed to be? Good thing Father is in seclusion, or he would surely die of rage. Yiyuan Sect is an orthodox Daoist sect, and now it has turned into a den of thieves. If word got out, the patriarchs of every generation would surely descend from heaven to give you a vicious lesson. This is all your doing, you little brat—luring your Martial Uncles and Martial Grandfathers out to steal wine. Heehee, honestly... Good thing none of our fellow cultivators saw it. Otherwise, the entire Cultivation World would laugh their teeth out."

Zhao Yue'er almost indulgently stroked Li Feng's face, utterly failing to notice that he was already two inches taller than she was, and much sturdier than before.

Li Feng shouted, "Hey, hey, I didn't do anything wrong! I merely skipped one tiny step. Martial Grandfather said that after carrying off the wine, we had to leave payment. I just didn't leave any silver, that's all. You absolutely can't blame me for that, hehe... Besides, those fellows get their wine easily enough. How could our Yiyuan Sect have that much silver to give them? Better to just carry it away... Think about it—because our Yiyuan Sect is stationed here, demons and monsters don't dare show themselves nearby. They haven't even paid us protection money."

Zhao Yue'er was left speechless. Probably Li Feng was the only person in the world who could make stealing sound so righteous and justified. Yet she had absolutely no objection. After all, Li Feng was her disciple. More importantly, beyond their relationship as master and disciple, there was a particularly strange emotion in her heart, one difficult to put into words. Because of that, no matter what Li Feng did, she thought it was right; no matter what he wanted to do, she thought it was only proper.

The two sat there back to back, foolishly watching the moon. Both wore silly smiles, though neither knew what they were smiling about.

After a long while, Li Feng finally said, "Master, aren't you cultivating a little too fast? You've already formed a Golden Core. How old are you, anyway?"

Zhao Yue'er viciously twisted Li Feng's ear and said coquettishly, "Just admit defeat and get ready to carry Little Cat around Mount Hua once, heehee... Mother guarded me during the process. She used three spiritual pills of the second Heaven grade and one spiritual pill of the first Heaven grade, then used the One Yuan Pearl to restrain the overly potent spiritual energy. That's why I've only just formed my Golden Core. Otherwise, you would have lost long ago. One first Heaven-grade spiritual pill alone could have let me form a Nascent Soul."

Li Feng's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. He truly had nothing to say. She was the sect leader's daughter, after all. To help her cultivate, they had actually used so many spiritual medicines. Heavens—according to Gu Lingzi, what did a first Heaven-grade spiritual pill represent? Yet this little girl had simply squandered one. And after using so many spiritual pills, she had only just formed a Golden Core. Presumably, all the excess medicinal power had been used to suppress the backlash caused by the little girl's insufficient cultivation. Heavens, that was extravagance indeed.

After remaining silent for quite some time, Li Feng finally let out a long sigh. It was fated; there was no escaping it. Zhao Yue'er narrowed her eyes, smiling as she firmly pinched Li Feng's cheek. "What are you sighing for? Aren't you happy that your master has come out of seclusion? You heartless little brat... Eh? What's that?" Zhao Yue'er sprang to her feet with a grave expression, her bright eyes fixed on the eastern horizon.

Li Feng saw it too: an abnormal streak of light. A golden beam, incomparably dim and only a little over ten feet long, came swaying in from the east. Behind it, a green palm more than ten zhang across came roaring after it. Streams of green radiance and ghostly fire poured from the palm, while muted streaks of lightning buzzed toward the sword-light, striking it so hard that it tumbled chaotically through the sky. It looked as though it could not hold out much longer.

Zhao Yue'er's face turned iron-blue. "What kind of joke is this? Since when was Qingyun Flat a place where those crooked fiends and heretics could come and cause trouble at will?" She tapped the ground with her toes, and a streak of azure light shot into the air like a rainbow, spinning as it tore through the sky to meet them.

Li Feng froze for a moment, then hurriedly shouted, "Master, wait for me! Shouldn't we wake Martial Grandfather and the others first?... Hey, hey, hey, Master, wait!" Seeing how swiftly Zhao Yue'er had departed, Li Feng stamped his foot and snapped angrily, "Damn it, this is Yiyuan Sect territory. What are we afraid of? Those old Daoists are always boasting about how powerful they are. This is the perfect chance to see what they can do." After straightening out the magic treasures on his body, Li Feng mounted the Vermilion Bird Crescent and flashed through the air in a streak of red light.

The Vermilion Bird Crescent's power truly was astonishing. Li Feng's cultivation was far inferior to Zhao Yue'er's, yet his flying speed was noticeably faster. He easily caught up to her sword-light, and the two streaked forward side by side. Zhao Yue'er looked at his sword-light and smiled faintly. "That is the Crimson Spirit Palm, formed from the primordial spirit of a most wicked cultivator. Don't get close later. I have Nine Heavens Divine Thunder refined by Father. It will be enough to send that fellow crying all the way home."

Before her words had faded, the two had already closed in on that dim golden light. Zhao Yue'er suddenly cried out, "Second Disciple Brother? How did you..." Before Li Feng could react, Zhao Yue'er released more than a dozen golden bursts as large as buckets from her hand in rapid succession. Carrying faint rolls of thunder, they blasted toward the green palm. Li Feng was sharp as could be. Hearing Zhao Yue'er call out "Second Disciple Brother," he immediately sent the Vermilion Bird Crescent flying to stab at the giant hand behind them, while he himself plunged into the incomparably dim golden light and roared, "Second Martial Uncle, don't be afraid! I'm coming to save you!"

The old Daoist riding the golden light saw a beautiful young girl use the sect's Nine Heavens Divine Thunder and immediately recognized Zhao Yue'er. His heart relaxed at once—someone from his own sect had come to aid him. Then he saw the red streak behind her, clearly using Yiyuan Sect's sword-riding technique, and felt even more reassured. But upon suddenly hearing Li Feng's shout, he choked inwardly. "Ah, is that any way to speak? I was merely chased until I had nowhere left to run. When was I ever afraid? And you—you—you call me Second Martial Uncle, yet call yourself 'your father'? Does that make me your son?"

The old Daoist was dumbfounded for a moment, but he had no time to say anything more. He hurriedly rode his sword-light behind Li Feng, pulled out a bottle of pills amid the clouds, stuffed them into his mouth, and hovered there to regulate his breathing. Li Feng glanced at him and nodded lightly. "Not bad, not bad. At least you've got some conscience. Master's wife and I are holding off the enemy for him, yet he didn't take the chance to run away. He's got some backbone."

In that instant, the dozen or so golden bursts Zhao Yue'er had thrown out collided head-on with the Crimson Spirit Palm behind them. How could the thunderfire formed from Nine Heavens Divine Thunder by True Man Qingquan be so easily withstood? Especially when that green palm-shadow had been formed from a heretic's primordial spirit—upon encountering this supremely yang, supremely rigid heart-thunder, more than a dozen explosions rang out in quick succession. The palm immediately shrank by half.

The palm seemed to have tasted its opponent's strength. After trembling, it retreated toward the path it had come from. But as luck would have it, Li Feng's Vermilion Bird Crescent had already pierced straight through it. In terms of cultivation, Li Feng's was negligible. Anyone capable of pursuing Yiyuan Sect's second disciple was certainly no easy opponent. Yet the Vermilion Bird Crescent had been born from the essence of southern true fire, and its supremely yang energy was precisely the bane of such a sinister primordial spirit. A mass of flames wrapped around the green palm-shadow and began burning fiercely. From within the palm-shadow came several cries like an infant's wail, and an incomparably foul stench spread through the air.

Li Feng and Zhao Yue'er retreated in haste. The smell was simply too vile for them to endure. Li Feng beckoned, and the Vermilion Bird Crescent, still displaying its mighty power, returned to him. The green palm-shadow had already become dull and dim, and hurriedly shot away into the distance.

A tremendous peal of thunder exploded overhead. True Man Miaomiao, True Man Huoyun, and Chen Songzi appeared in the air, their faces iron-blue. True Man Miaomiao alone made his move. Rubbing his hands together, he sent ten thousand zhang of lightning crashing down from the heavens, shrouding an area of several li in thunder. The green palm gave a miserable howl and was wiped out by the sweep of lightning.

True Man Huoyun had already flown to the man Zhao Yue'er had called Second Disciple Brother. He stuffed a spiritual pill into his mouth, tucked him beneath his arm, and shot back toward Qingyun Flat in a streak of golden light.

Every member of Yiyuan Sect, still not recovered from their drunken stupor, ran out. Sect Leader True Man Qingquan and True Person Lingwei also emerged from their alchemy rooms after hearing the commotion. The man Zhao Yue'er had called Second Disciple Brother sat on the ground, his body in tatters as he looked bitterly at his fellow disciples, all reeking of wine. "In tatters" was truly the only way to describe him. His head had been struck viciously by a heavy weapon, leaving a huge wound across his forehead. He seemed to have been pierced by a flying sword three times, with three transparent holes through the base of his thigh, his right arm, and the left side of his chest.

True Man Qingquan's expression was somewhat grim as he asked in a low voice, "Liu Xingzi, what happened? You have suffered such severe injuries, and it seems you were poisoned by a violent toxin as well. No wonder your sword-light became so weak. And who was pursuing you? Judging from his cultivation, he possessed at least a thousand years of heretical power. Whom exactly did you provoke during your travels down the mountain?"

True Person Lingwei shot Qingquan a glare and shook her head. "Don't ask so many questions first. Heal Martial Nephew Liu's injuries before anything else. In his current state, Martial Nephew Liu cannot explain clearly anyway. Yue'er, go to my alchemy room and bring a Seven Treasures Rotation Pill for your Second Disciple Brother."

Zhao Yue'er nodded quickly and pulled Li Feng away. Li Feng chuckled inwardly. Sure enough, True Person Lingwei had asked for one Rotation Pill, yet Zhao Yue'er took two additional third Heaven-grade Returning Origin Pills, which strengthened True Essence and calmed the heart-fire, and stuffed them into Li Feng's hand. Li Feng was delighted inside. This is the benefit of currying favor with Master's wife, hehe. There is a share of every good thing for me. Otherwise, the restrictions on the sect leader's alchemy room alone number at least ten layers. How could I possibly get in?

The people of Yiyuan Sect joined forces, and the Seven Treasures Rotation Pill's medicinal effect was indeed extraordinary. Liu Xingzi's injuries vanished in an instant. Even his badly damaged Nascent Soul was replenished with abundant primordial power and became lively once more. His Sky Star Sword, which had suffered a heavy blow and been tainted, was also refined on the spot by Old Daoist Huoyun, restoring its spiritual nature.

As soon as his injuries healed, Liu Xingzi knelt on the ground. After kowtowing to greet the five old Daoists, he said, "Sect Leader, Master, Martial Uncles and Martial Great-Uncles, this disciple has traveled down the mountain for two years, cultivating diligently all along and seldom meddling in mortal affairs. Only this time, in Xiangyang Prefecture, I discovered that a great number of commoners had died abnormally. The people said that a plague was at work, but after this disciple investigated, I discovered that several old demons were devouring the primordial spirits of mortals there."

"This disciple overestimated himself and challenged their lair alone. Who would have thought that several demons would attack together? One of them even secretly attacked from behind, striking this disciple on the head with his inner core. As a result, before this disciple could unleash much of his magic, I could only flee in defeat. Fortunately, Junior Sister and this... Martial Nephew? arrived in time to aid me. Together with Master's and the others' great display of might, you destroyed the Three Corpses primordial spirit of that lead demon. Otherwise, this disciple certainly would not have made it back to Qingyun Flat."

Before True Man Qingquan could speak, Li Feng was already shouting, "Honestly, honestly. Second Martial Uncle, you must have charged right up to that demon lair and openly issued them a challenge, saying you would uphold Heaven's way and slay demons and eliminate monsters, right? If they didn't ambush you, would they still count as demons? No wonder you were driven into flight without even getting a sword strike out... If I had acted, I would have gone after them one by one from behind with a blackjacking. No matter how powerful those demons are, could they keep their True Essence circulating to protect themselves all day long? They have to eat, drink, shit, and piss sometime, don't they? Then one sword through the heart from behind, hit them and run. There are thieves for a thousand days, but who guards against thieves for a thousand days? Sooner or later, we'd wear them down."

A chill ran through the hearts of everyone in Yiyuan Sect. True Man Qingquan gave several dry chuckles. "Ah, what Fengzi says does make sense. But we are cultivators of a famed righteous sect, after all. Attacking from behind would sound rather unpleasant if word got out."

Li Feng slanted his eyes and said in utter disbelief, "Sect Leader, by then we'll naturally pull up the weeds and dig out the roots, killing everyone there. Who will be left to spread the word? Even if someone does spread word that we stabbed them in the back, we'll silence them and clear the field. They can only go complain to the King of Hell. Besides, if we use Samadhi True Fire and thoroughly refine even their primordial spirits, they won't even be able to lodge a complaint after death."

Li Feng said with a savage grin, "So this disciple suddenly realized that if cultivators choose to do evil, they really do have a bright future. Those people who get cut down always like to say, 'I won't let you off even after I die.' Hehe, but once Palm Thunder comes out, how are they supposed to not let us off?"

The Five Elders of Yiyuan opened and closed their mouths like fish out of water, unable to say a word. Several Yiyuan Sect disciples also stared blankly at Li Feng. Only Zhao Yue'er excitedly slapped Li Feng on the head and said, "Exactly! Second Disciple Brother really is something else. He knew those demons wouldn't reason with anyone or follow rules, so why challenge them head-on?"

Liu Xingzi nearly spat blood. His sect had forcibly sent him down the mountain to travel and gain experience. For two years, he had essentially wandered the wilderness like a wild man, merely waiting for the three-year term to end so he could hurry back to the mountain and resume quiet cultivation. How could he know anything about blackjacking or tricking wolves into snares? This time, he had merely taken a wrong road and ended up in Xiangyang Prefecture, where he encountered several minor demons devouring mortals' pure yang essence. Daoists and demons were naturally like fire and water, born enemies. Thus, he immediately defeated several minor demons, forced confessions from them, and tracked down the demon lair. Who could have known that several old demons would teach him a vicious lesson, pursuing him for thousands of li?

Before True Man Qingquan and the others could react to Zhao Yue'er's words, she was already asking Li Feng, "Hey, Martial Nephew, what do you think we should do now?" Before her fellow sect members, she remained cautious enough not to directly call Li Feng her disciple. In the Cultivation World, which prized respect for masters and strict observance of rules above all else—in other words, was exceedingly old-fashioned—that would have been taboo.

Li Feng leaped up like a monkey and blustered, "Damn it, what else is there to say? Naturally, we charge into the demons' lair and show them what we're made of. Second Martial Uncle surely told them his name and said he was a Yiyuan Sect disciple, yet those demons clearly didn't give a damn. That means they don't take our Yiyuan Sect seriously... I know Sect Leader Uncle-Master doesn't take personal honor and disgrace to heart. As they say, the heart is like a bodhi tree, and the clear breeze circles it of its own accord. But the face of all Yiyuan Sect's patriarchs through the generations has been utterly disgraced."

Li Feng said viciously, "If we don't give those monsters a proper lesson this time, they'll surely shout about it everywhere in the future: 'Yiyuan Sect claims to be this and that, yet we beat their faces until they blossomed red like peach flowers, and they didn't dare react at all. Yiyuan Sect claims to be this and that, but it looks like they're nothing but blowhards...' Tsk, tsk. I wonder if our patriarchs of every generation will be angered to death in the Immortal Realm when that happens."

True Man Qingquan's expression grew somewhat uglier. After exchanging several looks with the other four old Daoists, he narrowed his eyes and said, "That does make some sense. Originally, our Yiyuan Sect stands apart from worldly matters and has no wish to concern itself with demons and monsters. But since they dared commit such a grave taboo by wantonly slaughtering mortal commoners, and even dared lay cruel hands upon a Yiyuan Sect disciple, it truly would be hard to justify not teaching them a proper lesson, wouldn't it?"

Li Feng nodded repeatedly. He had been wanting to see just how formidable True Man Qingquan and the others really were. To be honest, he still had some doubts about exactly how powerful Yiyuan Sect was. There were simply too few of them. If these old fellows were not enough to rely upon as backers, then when he went down the mountain later to live freely and happily, would he have to think thrice before stirring up trouble? That would never do. No matter what, he had to force these old Daoists of Yiyuan Sect to fight with their full strength at least once, then see which way the wind was blowing.