Old Daoist Wu Shen's face was like stone, cold and devoid of expression, but inside, he was so furious he was nearly going mad. He wished he could slaughter every Yiyuan Sect disciple with a single stroke of his sword, then subject his own disciples to harsh torture and interrogate them thoroughly about whether they had hidden anything else from him. The Heart Demon Blood Oath, the Hundred Ghosts Exterminating Spirit Pearl—any cultivator knew that these things had originated from the canonical scriptures of the Blood God Cult, which had been wiped out over five hundred years ago.
If word got out and the Cultivation World learned that disciples of Emei's Heart Sect had cultivated the notorious, infamously vile Blood God Cult scriptures, would his Emei Heart Sect still have any face left in the Cultivation World? Their patriarchs might well be so enraged that they would cough blood and die in the Immortal Realm. Shameful—shameful beyond all measure! Where had these bastards gotten such things?
Old Daoist Wu Shen felt too ashamed to look at the Yiyuan Sect members again. He could only turn his fierce, glittering eyes upon his third disciple, Daoist Huo Zhen. Daoist Huo Zhen's heart went cold, and he hurriedly said, "Master, this has nothing to do with this disciple. I merely mentioned while chatting with Junior Brother that using inner cores and Primordial Spirits to refine pills produced excellent results, but I absolutely never told Junior Brother to collect such things... As for how Junior Brother came to practice those wicked arts, this disciple knows even less."
Wu Shen's fourth disciple, who had just been struck by Daoist Huo Zhen's palm, let out a cold laugh. "Third Senior Brother, that simply will not do. Didn't you find that Blood Demon Secret Codex on Yin Feng Mountain? And weren't you proud enough to say that as long as one cultivated both righteous and evil paths, one would sooner or later become invincible beneath heaven? Didn't you also say that if us brothers merely softened up and bowed to you, you would teach us those things? Heh heh, what benefits did Junior Brother give you, for you to teach him even the skills you kept hidden at the bottom of your chest?"
Daoist Huo Zhen froze, then burst into furious curses. "Fourth Brother, what do you mean by that? Haven't you learned the Blood Demon Secret Codex too? Where did that layer of bloody radiance on your flying sword come from?"
Fourth Brother blanked out, then shouted, "So what if I learned one move of the Crimson Blood Sword? Which of Eldest Senior Brother and the others has not learned it?" That did it. The seventeen disciples of Old Daoist Wu Shen, master of Emei Sect's Heart Sect, completely tore off all pretenses and turned on one another. Beyond exposing how many devilish arts the others had learned, they mercilessly dragged out countless shameful matters that should never have seen the light of day.
Liu Xingzi and the others stood where they were, watching the spectacle with indifferent faces. This was an internal conflict within Emei Sect's Heart Sect; there was no need for them to involve themselves. In any case, they could simply treat these disgraceful scandals as a joke. As for Old Daoist Wu Shen, his face first turned iron-blue, then purple-black, followed by a flush of blood-red before it suddenly went deathly white. His internal organs felt as though they were burning, and a scorching breath surged from his dantian straight to his throat. With a "wah," he violently spat out a mouthful of bright blood.
Ling Guangzi looked curiously at Old Daoist Wu Shen and murmured, "Ah, how strange. Why did he suddenly cough blood for no reason? Could he have suffered qi deviation? That cannot be right. Qi deviation only happens when one sits in meditation to cultivate. How could a living person, standing perfectly well on the ground, suffer qi deviation? Could Emei Sect have some art that lets one cultivate while standing?" Ling Guangzi believed he was talking to himself, but his voice happened to be loud enough for everyone to hear. When Old Daoist Wu Shen heard it, his chest grew even more stifled. Proud and arrogant as he was, how could he endure words that sounded like mockery? He sprayed out three more mouthfuls of blood in succession.
Inside the cavern hidden deep within the mountain's belly, Li Feng drew out his flying sword, Cold Sparrow, and desperately dug the huge gemstones embedded in the cave walls. This place had likely once been a volcanic crater. After underground magma surged upward and cooled, it had formed countless large gemstones, all of which now fell into the hands of a money-grubbing fellow like Li Feng. The largest were as big as goose eggs, while even the smallest were the size of little fingers. What was especially rare was that every one of them was incomparably pure, all top-grade gemstones—thus greatly benefiting Li Feng. His movements were swift, and Cold Sparrow was matchlessly sharp. In less than half an hour, nearly all ten thousand gemstones had been piled onto the ground.
Zhao Yue'er had a sharper eye than Li Feng. Thick Stone Stalactites hung everywhere in the cavern, and drops of milky-white liquid carrying wisps of chill dripped from their tips, drop by drop, into a small pool at the center of the cave floor. That pool was only about ten feet across and a foot deep, yet it was entirely formed from exceedingly rare ten-thousand-year Stone Stalactites. What delighted Zhao Yue'er even more was that more than a dozen tiny silver-white creatures resembling jellyfish were swimming swiftly through the pool. With her discerning eye, she recognized them as Spirit Rock Essence, a substance capable of dispersing all yin evils, poisons, and miasmas, and one of the finest medicinal ingredients for refining spiritual pills.
After considering it, Zhao Yue'er took out two jade bottles. With a stir of her mystical art, two gleaming silver columns of water rose from the pool and flew precisely into the bottles. The dozen or so Spirit Rock Essence creatures split neatly into two groups and were drawn into the jade bottles as well. Zhao Yue'er smiled. After sealing the bottles, she instructed, "Disciple, good disciple, listen. Stop digging those stones... A single drop of these ten-thousand-year Stone Stalactites equals ten years of ordinary Qi Refining for a common person. Even for cultivators like us, consuming one can replace three months of hard cultivation. And the Spirit Rock Essence inside is an equally rare treasure... Hee hee, we will take half back for our fellow disciples to refine medicine, and the remaining half will go to you. From now on, whenever you cultivate Qi at midnight, swallow one drop of Stone Stalactites. It will help you condense your True Essence."
As she spoke, she tossed a jade bottle to Li Feng. He promptly agreed with a grin, and with a flick of his hand, the bottle vanished into his sleeve. Zhao Yue'er watched him climb back up the cave wall to dig gemstones and could not help sighing. "Sigh, if you act like this, how can you still call yourself a cultivator?... Hm? How strange. It is so bright in here, yet no sunlight enters. There ought to be some treasure here." She wandered all around the cavern but found nothing, and her brows furrowed.
Li Feng had already gathered every gemstone into one pile and was pondering how to transport such a huge heap back. Seeing Zhao Yue'er frowning in thought, he could not help puffing himself up. "Master, what is there to think about? You are looking for the treasure here, right? Watch me." As he spoke, Cold Sparrow became a streak of brilliant light and shot out. It circled the cave once, then cleaved all the enormous stalactites formed over hundreds of millions of years into fragments.
Zhao Yue'er froze for a moment, then cried out angrily, "What are you doing? You have ruined this treasure ground." If Li Feng had not done that, another pool of Stone Stalactites might have formed here after a few centuries. But now he had cut down every stalactite, severing the roots. This cave was effectively useless from now on; who knew how many hundreds of millions of years it would take before such immense stalactites formed again?
Hearing the faint reproach in Zhao Yue'er's voice, Li Feng hurried over with an ingratiating smile. "Master, I was trying to share your worries. Look, if you are searching for treasure, naturally you should... Wah, I see it!" Like a rabid dog, Li Feng pounced forward and threw a punch. A ball of spiritual radiance that was slowly rising was struck by his fist, which was filled with True Essence. With a clang, it fell to the ground and became a transparent stone the size of a child's fist, radiating ten thousand beams of icy light and bone-piercing cold.
Zhao Yue'er also darted over. After one look at the stone, she exclaimed, "Oh! Our luck really has gone all the way home. This is Profound Stone, condensed from Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy over who knew how many years. It is said that if you wear this stone on your body, you will never face the threat of qi deviation. Fengzi, your luck truly is excellent. I have my mother protecting me, so I do not need it. Listen carefully: whatever you do in the future, you must keep it close to your body. Do you understand?"
As she spoke, Zhao Yue'er picked up the Profound Stone. After thinking for a moment, she sent out a streak of sword light and pierced a tiny hole through it. She drew several silk cords from her belt, threaded them through the hole, and hung the Profound Stone around Li Feng's neck. Li Feng smelled waves of delicate fragrance before his nose and was just about to offer some polite words when Zhao Yue'er pulled open his clothes at the chest and tucked the Profound Stone against his bare skin. As her delicate fingers accidentally brushed the flesh of his chest, his entire body went numb, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.
Zhao Yue'er had no idea of all the improper twists and turns in his mind. Smiling, she tidied his clothes and softly warned, "Though this Profound Stone has no great use, to cultivators of those wicked Outer Dao paths, it is an unsurpassed life-saving treasure. You must be careful. Never let anyone know you possess it, understand?"
Li Feng nodded repeatedly. "Do not worry, Master. I guarantee that aside from myself, only you know I have this treasure... Well, if Little Cat lets it slip, there is nothing I can do about that."
Zhao Yue'er glared viciously at Little Cat and snarled, "If he dares leak it, I will roast him and eat him." Little Cat was so frightened that he stretched out both front paws, swiftly covered his head, and lay flat on the ground. He howled indignantly in his heart. Why? I, Little Cat, am also a handsome and dashing tiger spirit of my generation, yet I get treated so differently! How unfair! This little girl has a man now and forgets all friendship. Did she not remember that when she was little, I was the tiger who carried her all over the mountains? Back then, whenever she wanted to torment those wild beasts, was I not the one acting as her thug?... Wuwu, she has a new one and forgets the old one... Another day, I will find a female tiger for company too, so I do not have to watch you two acting all lovey-dovey every day.
Thinking of a female tiger, the corners of Little Cat's mouth curled upward again, and a stream of drool dripped onto the ground.
After the commotion, Zhao Yue'er looked at the huge pile of gemstones on the ground and shook her head with a sigh. "What do you need all these stones for? Do cultivators like us still need silver? But since it is your hobby, so be it... Disciple, why do I feel you are like the legendary Divine Dragons? They too desperately seize gemstones whenever they see them."
Li Feng puffed out his chest and replied with a laugh, "That proves your disciple is wise and valiant, with the bearing of a Divine Dragon... Ow, do not hit me."
Zhao Yue'er raised her foot and viciously kicked Li Feng twice in the backside, laughing as she scolded, "You are, at most, a snot worm crawling on the ground, and you call yourself a Divine Dragon?... Fine, I will let you have this bargain. Since you love collecting gold, silver, and jewels so much, I will give you a Universe Bag. It can hold an entire mountain, and it will save you from burying all that gold and silver behind the Gathering Yuan Formation and ruining the feng shui for no reason."
Li Feng cried indignantly, "How can gold and silver ruin feng shui?... Ah, thank you, Master. Is this the Universe Bag that is said to hold an entire mountain while weighing only a couple of ounces? What a marvelous treasure, a marvelous treasure! Heh heh, thank you, Master. Now I can carry all that gold, silver, and jewelry with me. That puts my mind at ease—I will not need to worry about thieves stealing them." Like snatching something, he grabbed the small silver silk pouch from Zhao Yue'er's hand. It was two inches wide and around three inches long. With a hand seal, the pile of gemstones on the ground flew spinning into it. Li Feng groped around inside it frantically, and sure enough, the pouch remained light and thin, as though nothing had been placed within.
Li Feng leaped about in delight like a monkey. Zhao Yue'er, meanwhile, frowned at the cavern that Li Feng's flying sword had turned into a complete mess. Shaking her head, she said, "Forget it, forget it. The spiritual energy here has all leaked away with that one stroke of yours. Who knows how long it will take to gather again? Still, it was not a loss. You obtained a piece of Profound Stone, along with so many Stone Stalactites and Spirit Rock Essence. We have struck it rich this time... Let us return to Qingyun Flat, lest Senior Brother and the others worry."
Li Feng nodded and obediently lay on the ground, crawling out through that narrow crack in the rock. This time, Little Cat simply shrank himself even smaller and lay on Li Feng's back to hitch a ride. The three left the cavern that Li Feng had utterly destroyed and rushed back to Qingyun Flat. Li Feng stared in astonishment. "Eh, who is that old Daoist? Why is he leading a bunch of grown boys and girls around... Ah, this is bad... Damn it, you old bastard! I will fuck the grandmothers of your eighteen generations of ancestors, you dog-fucking turtle bastard, you—"
Zhao Yue'er and Li Feng simultaneously rode their sword lights forward. Li Feng unleashed the Lightning Control Art, and the True Essence within his body surged out like a tide as a bolt of Heavenly Lightning crashed down wildly.
Now, after Old Daoist Wu Shen had coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, his disciples were so frightened that none dared speak again. Wu Shen forcibly suppressed the rage in his heart and restrained his Killing Intent before saying coldly, "Fellow Daoists of Yiyuan Sect, this time I, Wu Shen, acted rashly. Without asking the reason, I came to your door only to suffer humiliation... As for Fellow Daoist Ling Guangzi killing Qing He, let us write it off in one stroke. Let us treat today's matter as though it never happened."
Liu Xingzi nodded gravely. "Yes, nothing happened today." Liu Xingzi already found this matter difficult to handle. If word spread that Emei Heart Sect's second-generation disciples were all cultivating devil arts, it would be a scandal great enough to destroy the entire Emei Sect. He had no choice but to speak with caution.
Old Daoist Wu Shen silently walked outside, with his disappointing disciples following dejectedly behind him. As the hosts, Liu Xingzi and the others naturally followed closely behind to see their guests out. Liu Xingzi, Xie Yuezi, and several others with quicker minds secretly used their Primordial Spirits to transmit messages and discuss countermeasures. This matter could not possibly pass without causing a storm. Anyone could see that Old Daoist Wu Shen wanted to kill people already. Once he returned to the mountain, how many of his seventeen disciples would likely remain alive?
Seeing that the Yiyuan Sect disciples were distracted, Old Daoist Wu Shen's eldest disciple quietly stepped forward and whispered into Wu Shen's ear, "Master, once we return to the mountain, you may punish us however you wish... But our faces have been utterly disgraced this time. If the Yiyuan Sect people spread word outside that your disciples cultivate devilish techniques and arts, Emei Sect's thousand-year reputation will be destroyed in a single day... By then, leaving aside whether we disciples will have our cultivation crippled and be expelled from the mountain gate, even you, Master..." He put on a deeply meaningful expression and sighed softly.
Several thoughts churned through Old Daoist Wu Shen's heart. Killing intent flashed in his eyes as he glanced at his eldest disciple. "Wu Ling, what do you think?"
Daoist Wu Ling's face was thick with Killing Intent. "As long as we ensure these people can never speak again, we need not fear anyone finding out. This is our Heart Sect's household affair. Master may deal with us however he wishes, but we absolutely cannot allow the Yiyuan Sect people to spout nonsense before other fellow cultivators and ruin Master's prestige." Daoist Wu Ling had his own calculations as well. As long as you Yiyuan Sect people do not meddle, given Master's usual indulgence toward us brothers, would this not become a big matter made small, and a small matter made nothing?
Xiao Longzi flew over carrying a Daoist robe and shouted, "Eldest Senior Brother, your clothes. Change into these."
Daoist Wu Ling quickly said, "All twelve of Yiyuan Sect's major disciples are here, and aside from us, there is no one else present. Yiyuan Sect's elders are all in secluded cultivation and cannot possibly know what is happening outside. Master, you must seize this chance. We have seventeen brothers here, plus over thirty disciples with cultivation. We are far stronger than they are." With selfish intentions rising in his heart, Daoist Wu Ling actually used the Soul Stirring Great Method on Old Daoist Wu Shen.
Old Daoist Wu Shen was caught off guard. How could he have imagined that his own disciple would use devil arts to provoke him? Moreover, his belly was already full of fury and his heart full of killing intent. Once the devil art hooked into him, his towering rage immediately transformed into murderous intent and erupted in an instant.
He spun around sharply and looked at the twelve Yiyuan Sect disciples standing five to ten feet behind him. Liu Xingzi froze, halting his Primordial Spirit conversation with the other brothers. Smiling, he clasped his hands in salute. "Fellow Daoist Wu Shen, do you have any further instructions?" Before he could lift his head, dazzling golden light burst before his eyes. A vast, overwhelming force struck him head-on, nearly blasting his Nascent Soul out of his body.
Daoist Wu Ling watched with boundless delight as thirty-six dragon-shaped streaks of golden light shot from Old Daoist Wu Shen's hand, accompanied by dragon roars that shook the heavens as they flew toward the Yiyuan Sect members. Every Yiyuan Sect disciple was struck by three successive streaks of golden light, their bodies shooting backward like scattered leaves. Daoist Wu Ling knew that in his fury, Old Daoist Wu Shen had brought out Mount Emei's mountain-protecting treasure, the Six Paths of Reincarnation, God-Exterminating True Dragon Swords, said to possess the greatest offensive power in the Cultivation World.
According to legend—or rather, according to Emei's elders' boasting—each of the thirty-six True Dragon Swords had been formed from the body of a Flying Dragon that had died under Heavenly Tribulation. The spiritual power contained within them was inexhaustible, their might peerless. With three swords striking the Yiyuan Sect disciples in succession, no matter how high their cultivation, they would surely suffer grave injuries.
How could Liu Xingzi and the others have expected Wu Shen, master of an entire sect, to suddenly launch such a vicious sneak attack? The distance was especially close, and the True Dragon Swords were terrifyingly fast. The twelve had no time to raise their qi before they were blasted away. Xiao Longzi, Gu Lingzi, Gui Xinzi, and several others with weaker cultivation directly spat blood, fell backward onto the ground, and fainted. Liu Xingzi, Ling Guangzi, Ling Houzi, Lei Zhenzi, Xie Yuezi, and the others with deeper cultivation also spat out blood. The True Essence inside them instantly fell into chaos, while three incomparably sharp Sword Qi streams pierced back and forth through their bodies with astonishing destructive force.
Seeing that his strike had succeeded, Old Daoist Wu Shen was overjoyed and prepared to control his swords for another slash. If that sword light merely twisted once, at least half the fleshly bodies of Yiyuan Sect's twelve disciples would be destroyed. Wu Shen's seventeen disciples had already prepared Heavenly Lightning and earthly fire; the instant they saw any Primordial Spirits trying to flee, they would strike and annihilate them completely.
Fortunately, Li Feng and Zhao Yue'er had already rushed out. Zhao Yue'er's face was icy as an additional jade bottle appeared in her hand. Countless slender strands of seven-colored radiance scattered from its mouth. Heaven and earth immediately darkened, leaving only those fine rays drifting through the pitch-black sky and releasing ten thousand zhang of brilliance as they gently, yet incomparably swiftly, blanketed the Emei Sect disciples. Li Feng sent out both the Vermilion Bird Crescent and Cold Sparrow. One was a blaze of fire, the other a streak of icy light, and they hacked furiously at Old Daoist Wu Shen. He also gathered all the True Essence within his body and unleashed a Heavenly Lightning with all his strength.
Old Daoist Wu Shen had not taken Zhao Yue'er's magical treasure seriously, but the rays came far too swiftly, arriving before them in the blink of an eye. Caught unprepared, three strands passed straight through his chest. At once, he felt the True Essence within his body leak away, as though even his Nascent Soul had begun to burn. His sensation was correct. His Nascent Soul was slowly burning. Those rays possessed a strange heat capable of setting even a Nascent Soul formed from pure energy aflame.
Old Daoist Wu Shen was scared out of his wits. His spiritual platform abruptly cleared, and he suddenly recalled a legendary, most vicious devil-refining treasure forged by gathering Arctic magnetic light. At the same time, he saw several conscious Yiyuan Sect disciples already forming strange hand seals, their eyes gleaming fiercely at him. Miserable cries rang in his ears. His Nascent Soul could continue burning for several days, but more than ten of his disciples had already been struck until body and spirit were both destroyed; even their flying swords had been melted away by those streams of radiance.
Old Daoist Wu Shen let out a miserable howl. While he was distracted, Li Feng's Vermilion Bird Crescent sliced off his left arm as easily as cutting tofu. Then, that somewhat underpowered Heavenly Lightning, together with twenty-seven strands of radiance, struck his chest again. Old Daoist Wu Shen shouted urgently, "Disciples, retreat at once... Fellow Daoists of Yiyuan Sect, this time Old Daoist Wu Shen acted rashly. Any explanation now will not be heeded by you fellow Daoists. Wu Shen can only return another day to beg forgiveness. Disciples, retreat!"
As Liu Xingzi and the others cast their spiritual seals, five delicate spiritual peaks appeared in the sky. Amid flashing jade-green light, clusters of lightning began sealing off the surroundings. Old Daoist Wu Shen happened to rise into the air with fifty disciples of relatively high cultivation, while all the remaining disciples were destroyed on the spot by the radiance Zhao Yue'er had sent forth.
With a thunderous boom, the opening movement of Qingyun Flat's protective immortal array, the Great Five Elements Exterminating God Array, began. Thirteen Emei disciples in the air were instantly reduced to dust, their magical treasures exploding into heaps of scrap metal along with them. Old Daoist Wu Shen screamed, "Fellow Daoists, show mercy! Leave some room for future meetings!"
Li Feng, whose True Essence had been exhausted, sat on the ground and roared, "You old turtle bastard, I would be interested in meeting your wife next time, but you can fucking die! Fuck your mother! You dared strike my masters—do you believe I will really go fuck your mother?" Seeing Xiao Longzi and the others lying on the ground with faint golden faces and traces of blood at the corners of their mouths, Li Feng did not know why, but his heart suddenly ached. He began cursing madly and without restraint.
Liu Xingzi said nothing. As he guided the spiritual seals, the five spiritual peaks slowly rotated once, and countless streaks of golden light blasted down from the sky. Screams rang out one after another as seventeen more Emei disciples were struck by the golden radiance and immediately dispersed into vapor, vanishing like smoke.
Old Daoist Wu Shen cried out in anguish, "Brother Liu Xingzi, if not for my, Wu Shen's, sake, then think of the friendship between Emei Sect's founding patriarch and several predecessors of your Yiyuan Sect... Think of seventeen hundred years ago, when the Heavenly Tribulation devil attacked Yiyuan Sect and Emei Sect's three branches came to aid you. More than a thousand sixth-generation disciples died or were wounded..."
When Liu Xingzi and the others suddenly heard Old Daoist Wu Shen mention that matter, their hearts softened. The speed at which they released their spiritual seals slowed for a moment, and Old Daoist Wu Shen had already fled with the final twenty disciples, panic-stricken as dogs without a home and hurried as fish that had slipped through the net. For a time, the entire world was silent except for Li Feng's shrill curses. "Old turtle bastard, stop right there! Pay for my martial uncles' and Master's lives! I will bathe your Mount Emei in blood... I swear, one day I will bathe your Emei in blood... I will fucking splash black dog blood all over your entire mountain! Fuck your mother..."
Still cursing, Li Feng rolled and crawled to Xiao Longzi's side, shouting, "You old bastard, do not die! You still have many arts to teach this young master!... Hey, hey, Gu Lingzi, you stingy old undead bastard, do not die either! You still owe me so many pill-refining arts..." "Wuwu..." He truly began to weep, with not a trace of falsehood in his tears. Even he wondered in his heart, How strange. Why am I crying so sorrowfully? Why should I be this sad? Wuwuwu... Heavens, could I have fallen for those old Daoists? Impossible! The one I like is Master's wife... How strange... Wuwuwuwuwu...
Warmth filled the hearts of Liu Xingzi, Xie Yuezi, and the others. They exchanged looks and nodded heavily. Fine, fine. We did not take this nephew who loves trickery and slippery schemes in vain... It is only a pity that his mouth is truly too venomous.
Zhao Yue'er recalled those rays of radiance and stared blankly at Li Feng, who was kneeling on the ground and crying bitterly. A different thought surfaced in her heart. Fengzi is this heartbroken. Then if I were to die, would he hold me and cry too?... Pah, pah, pah! What am I thinking? Three Pure Ones above, what I just said was nonsense. Why would I mention death when everything is perfectly fine?
The five spiritual peaks quietly vanished into the sky, leaving behind a clear blue expanse as warm sunlight spilled down.
White clouds drifted in clusters, and fresh breezes came in waves.
Within the clouds, Old Daoist Wu Shen, covered in blood and missing an arm, wore a dazed expression. Filled with shame and regret, he furtively led his disciples back to the Heart Sect residence in Emei's rear mountains. Immediately afterward, he announced ten years of secluded cultivation and refused to see any fellow sect members or fellow cultivators.
Before you continue