The Storm, the Method, and Companions for Slaying Demons and Exorcising Evil

Three days later.

A restaurant not far from Zhen'an Ward.

The elderly storyteller blew on the rising steam from his hot tea, took a sip, and continued:

"It is also said that Yue Maiden Sword Jiang Rongyue, whose swordsmanship and Qi cultivation have reached the pinnacle of the mortal realm, actually defeated all the renowned martial arts masters present at the Martial Arts Gathering Tournament and won the championship in one fell swoop."

"Yet even such a person frankly admitted that his Qi cultivation was not as profound as that of Master Su, and dared not have any extravagant expectations."

"Ahem, at first glance, this statement is harmless. After all, these two are beauties rarely seen in this world, and at most they may have a mutual appreciation. However, to say that they are helping each other cultivate their minds in the mortal realm is against propriety."

"But Jiang Rongyue has been seeking a suitable Legend of the Immortal for a long time, so it's normal that she would have made some private deals with it. As for whether the two will reach an unknown agreement, we can get a glimpse by seeing when Yue Maiden Sword is willing to leave this Capital City."

Although the Martial Arts Gathering had only been over for three days, the terrifying Celestial Phenomenon witnessed by the entire Capital City and the rather disheveled courtyard, which had been ravaged by the Heaven and Earth Qi, added fuel to the already bustling event.

There are many different opinions from the outside world, but they have all looked into the deeds of the instigator and spread them.

Although this deviates significantly from the process by which Li Shishi initially achieved her goal, the outcome remains the same.

She had hoped that Su Qing'an could put on a great show on this well-known stage.

If they still wanted to keep it a secret, they wouldn't have let her wear that white robe that day; the usual pear blossom blue double-embroidered light silk dress would have been a more suitable choice.

One of the swordsmen who participated in the Martial Arts Gathering that day, looking dejected, finished his drink and sighed:

"The moment Master Su's fingertips touched the strings, all the guests, regardless of their status or martial prowess, were captivated and lost their composure. She was a terrifying person."

Others, upon hearing this, echoed:

"Ever since the Master Su came to Zhen'an Ward, some guests who rarely visit such places of entertainment have made an exception for them."

"At first, some people were skeptical of the legendary, superb musical skills, but once they actually had the chance to hear them, they could no longer utter such comments."

Even now, the Master Su has never been known to have anything that doesn't live up to their reputation, which shows that the beauty of their music is truly extraordinary.

"But this terrifying assessment seems to imply something else entirely?"

The swordsman remained silent for a long while before replying:

"Those who can truly participate in the Martial Arts Gathering all possess their own unique skills and abilities, and some of them have even reached a level of martial arts that is said to be called Still Water."

"Those who have honed their martial arts to this level possess the ability to concentrate fully and unleash near-full combat power in life-or-death battles."

"Such a person can even deliberately shut down one of their five senses and amplify another aspect of their perception to the extreme. This not only allows them to push their martial arts to the limit but also enables them to adapt to any situation."

"It is already extremely incredible that Master Su was able to effortlessly draw all the martial artists present into her musical realm for the first time."

"But after Yue Maiden Sword asked her to play the zither a second time, everyone sensed it beforehand. Some of them deliberately shut down their hearing to the point of near deafness, yet they still fell for the trick."

"If this isn't terrifying, then what is?"

The man silently stroked the Tang sword at his waist and said calmly:

"Leaving aside the immense and unconventional Heaven and Earth Qi that seemed to defy the laws of nature, the sound of this zither alone is enough to make it impossible for anyone in this world to draw their weapon in her presence."

Someone sighed:

"How could such a person reside in a place of pleasure?"

"I believe this gentleman possesses considerable insight. What are your thoughts on this?"

The swordsman said indifferently:

"Such a person would naturally disdain lying. If the 'Mortal Cultivation' is not just a vulgar joke, but truly came from his mouth, then it is probably the truth."

"Martial artists outside the threshold strive for the State of Still Water, while those who have entered the State of Still Water spend their lives pursuing the ultimate martial art of clarity and diligently practicing the Qi techniques that each has its own inherent limits."

"The former has difficulty understanding the latter's goals; this is a difference in perspective."

"And we see the same in that person's actions; it's just a matter of different levels of understanding that creates strangeness and bias, and there's no need for further speculation."

The man drank the wine in the pot in one gulp. He stroked his knife for a long time, seemingly still immersed in the music of that day, unable to let go.

Ironically, what a person truly desires can only be understood through a stranger's music.

Wealth and glory, fame and fortune in the martial world.

All distracting thoughts are stripped away by the influence of the Manas consciousness, leaving only the most essential and yearning vision in the heart, which is then realized, bringing unparalleled satisfaction and joy.

Those guests who heard the man play the zither, after understanding the true desire for something real and the satisfaction of achieving that goal, wouldn't they be affected?

At least.

He has become so attached to his true self that he finds it difficult to go against his own heart, and I imagine the same is true for others.

"Master Su... Master Su, how is this method of enabling people to understand their own minds and nature, to observe and realize their own enlightenment, any different from that of an immortal?"

The swordsman sighed for a long time, tossed down a few large coins, and left the tavern, embarking on his journey towards the outskirts of the Capital City.

On a table not far away, the petite girl watched this scene, blinked, and said:

"Wow, no wonder it's Su Su's enlightened and refreshing song! I've met another martial arts enthusiast preparing to pursue their dreams."

Xiao Xuan tugged at the girl's sleeve, tilted his head back, and asked:

"My lord, do you think his dream is to be a hotel owner or a scholar?"

As the immortal listened to the surrounding people's opinions and discussions about that person, her lips unconsciously curled slightly. She flicked Xiao Xuan's forehead and whispered:

"Don't just give sheet music weird names without asking."

The girl's eyes widened slightly, seemingly unable to believe that the other person would flick her forehead for such a reason. She pouted and earnestly explained:

"That's right! After hearing that, Xiao Xuan wanted to go eat lots of delicious food with the immortal Tiāntiān."

The immortal remained silent for a while, unable to distinguish between the self the other person was referring to and the previous Tome of Cangxuan.

Xiao Xuan seemed to have some self-awareness about this, and she quickly pulled out other cases, saying:

"Look at that burly uncle, who's as strong as an ox. He's clearly the leader of a sect, but after listening to Su Su's music, he immediately said he wanted to go home and farm."

"And that seventeen or eighteen-year-old swordsman, he didn't even bother to answer the imperial edict that very day, saying he was giving up his life in the martial world for his sweetheart and was going home to get married."

"Oh right, I remember there was a couple in the Martial Arts Gathering with... particularly proud and arrogant personalities. After hearing this, they couldn't help but confess their feelings to each other."

She became more and more self-righteous as she spoke:

"I heard Sister Dan Zhu say that the arrogant personality is terrible. Even if two people like each other, they will end up alone or miss each other because of it. But when Su Su played the zither, even the arrogant became honest. Immortal, what else could this be but a song of enlightenment and refreshing spirit?"

Fu Hua was speechless.

She herself didn't fully understand what was going on with Su Qing'an's music.

Although there were some vague guesses, they were too far-fetched to be considered a real possibility.

"Why do you feel refreshed and invigorated?"

Xiao Xuan took a bite of the pastry on the plate, tilted her head, and said:

"You mean, Immortal? You've changed a bit since you heard Su Su's music."

She was somewhat troubled:

"I don't know how to put it, but there's definitely been a change, so I can only describe it as feeling refreshed and invigorated."

The girl was stunned by what she heard.

After a long while, those eyes lowered, their surface shimmering with a captivating light.

Her slightly parted lips parted, and she whispered:

"He is a miracle to me."

"An irreplaceable miracle, enough to change the rest of one's life."

"Xiao Xuan, the changes you perceive may be due to this."

A hint of joy and tenderness flickered in the girl's eyes, yet a resentful look lingered as she spoke:

"Alright, alright, I know that Master Su is a rare beauty who can truly capture the heart of a blockhead."

"So why did you guys start fighting that day? I almost got blown away!"

The immortal remained silent for a moment. Suddenly, she thought of the strange Celestial Phenomenon that had almost engulfed Xiao Xuan in a thunderous storm, and the instigator of this phenomenon. She felt a sense of unease.

On the other hand, while the question raised by the Tome of Cangxuan is reasonable from the perspective of the Book of Azure Profound, it is more difficult for Fu Hua to explain.

Simply put, the person you love, who doesn't exist in the normal history, is forced by the evolutionary instinct of your Planetary-class genes to physically devour you after most of your personality and memories have been lost.

The amount of information contained in this short sentence, and the various events that need to be extended to truly explain it, are all quite complicated.

While it's not difficult to simply state it out, how to avoid being dragged back to Mount Taixu by Xiao Xuan to monitor his mental state is another matter that needs to be considered.

Therefore, she only said quietly:

"It's been so long since we last met, I was just saying hello."

Xiao Xuan recalled the alluring image of the girl returning disheveled, her milky-white skin faintly visible, and her mind immediately wandered. Her expression instantly became somewhat awkward, and she quietly asked:

"Does it need to be this intense? Isn't that a bit too hasty?"

The Immortal Chi Yuan, marveling at the power of the [Stigmata] and Su Qing'an's special condition, sighed helplessly:

"That's just how it is."

Although they were strangely not on the same wavelength, the conversation continued.

The girl stared intently at the other person's face and said:

"But in my memory, Immortal, you have never met anyone like this."

"It can't be a 'good friend' from the previous civilization, can it? I've never heard of it before."

"And to be honest, that first slash definitely wasn't a greeting, it was more like enemies meeting, but you seem to have a good relationship with him. It can't be that your previous way of getting along was to fight until the world turned upside down, right?"

Fu Hua said softly:

"I don't know how to explain it."

"In short, he's not an enemy; he's just lost a lot of his memories for some reason, which is why his behavior sometimes seems out of control."

Xiao Xuan said speechlessly:

"I know that without you saying it. The immortal is like a living fossil coming back to life in front of Su Su. No matter how you look at him, you can't conclude that he's an enemy."

She sat cross-legged on the table and said earnestly:

I don't really care about these answers.

"I just think it's a very, very good thing to have someone who makes an immortal feel like they're living for themselves."

"But since you've finally found him, why don't you take him with you?"

"Will the immortal really feel at ease leaving him in that Zhen'an Ward all this time?"

"I'm not saying Su Su is weak, but his memory and personality have serious problems, just like you said. He seems really easy to fool, and he could easily be taken advantage of by bad guys if we're not careful."

Fu Hua remained silent. Naturally, she wanted to take Su Qing'an away from here and return to Mount Taixu with her, or embark on a journey together to slay demons and monsters.

But setting aside the boredom and exhaustion of following her, the other person's condition alone forced him to abandon the idea of taking her away.

First of all, Su Qing'an still doesn't recognize herself.

The self-restraint I showed that day was probably because the other party had anticipated this situation and had prepared a backup plan, but the memory itself would not be restored as a result.

Under these circumstances, having Su Qing'an leave with him is not something that would suit her wishes.

However, the Immortal Chi Yuan's personality dictates that she would not be willing to base her wishes on the premise of going against the other party's wishes.

On the other hand, and also the most important core issue.

This Planet-class Honkai Beast' obsession and yearning for self-renewal and true sublimation.

Making Su Qing'an and Fu Hua stay together while they are on an empty stomach is a new kind of torture.

Due to personality issues, the boy is unable to resist his instincts and will constantly want to devour it, yet he is forced to restrain himself due to the constraints originating from the Soul Hall.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it an endless cycle of suffering worse than death.

This strange balance is extremely solid and almost impossible to break, but the problem is that Su Qing'an's consciousness is already in a state of confusion. If he is left in a state of being entangled with desires and almost unable to think for a long time, it is impossible to expect him to return to his original personality.

After realizing the problem that day, Fu Hua knocked the other person unconscious to prevent them from continuing to suffer, and sent them back to Zhen'an Ward.

She is currently unable to find a convenient and immediately effective solution.

The only two potentially effective methods I can think of for now are: one is to restore Su Qing'an's mental state to its peak so that he can control his appetite; the other is to have him slay demons and monsters for a long time and use Honkai Beast as food to alleviate his hunger.

The former not only treats the symptoms but not the root cause, and is also a long way off. Even if it succeeds, it cannot be considered a success because the other party will still feel pain because of your presence.

The latter could be considered a method that is likely to be effective and also aligns with one's own principles.

The problem is that Fu Hua, as a Fusion Warrior —the most delicious food—cannot accompany the other party to slay demons and monsters, otherwise it would contradict her original intention.

However, sending Su Qing'an out alone to slay demons and monsters is an extremely unreliable and unsettling idea.

For some reason, the Udu-dust that Fu Hua intended to give her was completely unable to bind to the other party's consciousness.

Therefore, the only way to locate Su Qing'an is through one's vague intuition.

Even if such a mystical and unfounded thing successfully brought me to his side, it still cannot be considered as a regular ability.

This is equivalent to saying that letting this child go out to slay demons and monsters is safe, even if we exclude any dangerous factors such as being deceived, plotted against, tempted, misled, bullied, or attacked by Honkai Beast.

Fu Hua also had to face the possibility that Su Qing'an might get lost and become completely undetectable.

Well, this concern is not without merit.

Given the vastness of Shenzhou and the self-concealment of the Manas consciousness, which can directly ignore the detection of the powers, finding a person under these circumstances is no different from finding a needle in a haystack.

Theoretically, if Fu Hua had the bad luck of drawing cards, it wouldn't be surprising if she couldn't find Su Qing'an even after more than ten years.

Therefore, no matter how you look at it, the idea of letting the other person find their own food is not feasible.

Taking all factors into account, the girl had no choice but to let Su Qing'an stay in Zhen'an Ward for the time being.

However, for various reasons, she first used Udu-dust to clear the memories of the entire Zhen'an Ward, confirming that Li Shishi was the only one who was close to her. Then, she used her powers to confirm that she had no ill intentions towards Su Qing'an before leaving an Udu-dust between her consciousness as a coordinate and field of vision to observe Su Qing'an.

Fu Hua said:

"If I meet with Su Qing'an now, something similar to what happened before will probably happen again. Before we can resolve the root cause of this problem, we need to keep a certain distance from each other."

"That's why I can't take him back to Mount Taixu, but what you said makes sense, Xiao Xuan. I am indeed a little worried."

Xiao Xuan sighed:

"Oh dear, what should I do? This is really a troublesome matter."

The immortal said quietly:

"How about I leave you here to keep him company?"

The girl blinked, first shocked by the rapid change in her status, then clutching the other person's dark blue sleeve, she sobbed:

"I've only Awakened for a short while, why doesn't the immortal want Xiao Xuan anymore?"

The girl's lips curled slightly as she whispered:

"What? You're not so fond of the food in the Capital City anymore?"

Xiao Xuan chewed on the half-eaten mung bean cake in her cheek, blinked her innocent eyes, and said unhappily:

"That has to be with an immortal. That's the reason my master created me, and it's something I can't disobey under any circumstances."

Fu Hua stroked her smooth hair and said:

"I'm not kidding anymore."

"In short, I've already made arrangements for Su Qing'an, so you don't need to worry."

The girl breathed a sigh of relief, spun around a few times in mid-air, and cheered:

"That's great! I knew the immortals wouldn't be so bad."

The Immortal Chi Yuan gazed at the entrance of the tavern, where a young swordswoman was slowly walking towards it, her feelings a complex mix.

The only way to safely implement the second plan is naturally to find Su Qing'an a reliable teammate.

In this regard, Jiang Rongyue, who has experience traveling the martial arts world and is a natural holder of the Stigmata, is naturally the most suitable candidate.