Qi Zhu's Background

"Qingzhu, after all these years, you still haven't woken up."

"Did you know that Qi Zhu looks very much like you? Every time I see her, I think of you."

"She has excellent cultivation talent. I've kept her cultivation sealed and suppressed all this time because I was afraid she would break through too quickly and awaken the Half-Demon bloodline in her body."

"All these years, I've been searching for a way to deal with the Demonic Energy in her body. Now, I've finally made some progress."

"Hurry and wake up. Once you're conscious, I'll bring her to see you."

"I imagine Qi Zhu would be overjoyed if she knew you were still alive."

In the pitch-black mountain cave, an elegant middle-aged man murmured to himself while facing the figure of a woman inside an ice coffin.

The middle-aged man then took out several glass orbs and manipulated the power of faith within them, merging it into the woman inside the ice coffin.

After closing the ice coffin, the middle-aged man cast one reluctant glance at the woman.

He flashed to the cave entrance, activated a restriction, sealed the entrance, and left.

Only after a very long time had passed, once he was certain the middle-aged man had gone, did Fang Mu finally breathe a silent sigh of relief from the dark corner of the cave where he had been hiding.

This was the most horrifying and life-threatening situation he had ever encountered.

If he had been discovered by that man even for an instant, his fate would have been certain death.

No matter how confident Fang Mu was in his own strength, he knew he was absolutely no match for an expert in the Innate Realm.

Thus, he had hidden in the darkness like a dead dog, not daring to leak the slightest trace of his aura.

Looking at the white barrier sealing the cave entrance, Fang Mu gave a bitter smile and did not rashly touch it.

He cautiously approached the ice coffin and saw a woman frozen inside.

The woman's appearance was extremely similar to Qi Zhu's, as though they had been carved from the exact same mold.

She wore a dark green dress. Her face was pale, and her eyes were closed in deep slumber.

"Could she be the deity worshiped by the Sacrificial God Hall? Is she Qi Zhu's mother?" Fang Mu thought to himself.

The woman looked exactly like the statue worshiped by the Sacrificial God Hall. Clearly, this was the deity's true body.

Many roots had grown from the woman's body, piercing through the ice coffin and burrowing into the ground, spreading toward who knew where.

"If this is the deity's true body and she's been unconscious all this time, then who's protecting Qingzhu City?"

Fang Mu was secretly shocked and suspicious. He had discovered some problems and also guessed the identity of the man from earlier.

Although it seemed somewhat unbelievable, he figured his guess was probably very close to the truth.

Without touching the ice coffin, Fang Mu flashed to the white barrier at the cave entrance.

He tried pushing the white light and discovered that the barrier was extremely elastic, like a huge net.

He pushed against the barrier with all his strength, only to be bounced away.

After flipping through the air and landing, Fang Mu turned incorporeal, intending to pass through the barrier, but he was bounced back out once again.

Fang Mu grew somewhat irritated and thought, I refuse to believe I can't deal with you.

He unleashed his full strength and bombarded the white barrier, but to his despair, he discovered that it was extraordinarily elastic and incredibly tough.

Under Fang Mu's full-powered barrage, it remained completely unharmed.

Just as Fang Mu grew frantic like an ant on a hot pan, unsure how he was supposed to get out, a golden light enveloped him.

Fang Mu hesitantly touched the white barrier and discovered that he could pass through it with ease.

Fang Mu passed through the white barrier without damaging it. Seeing that the barrier behind him remained perfectly intact, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He had never expected the golden light of the Demon Refining Mirror not only to refine Demons, but also to pass through restrictions.

Daring not to think further, Fang Mu hurriedly left and returned to the dry well.

The dry well had already been sealed shut. He flapped his flesh wings and flew up above it.

After carefully sensing the movements outside and making sure no one was around, he exerted all his strength and pushed away the stone slabs and huge rocks pressing down on it.

After escaping, Fang Mu immediately warily surveyed his surroundings. Only after finding nothing unusual did he push the stone slabs and huge rocks back into place, covering the well entrance again.

He turned incorporeal and flashed away. Like a ghostly shadow, Fang Mu sped through the darkness.

After putting distance between himself and the Sacrificial God Hall, he reached a dark alley in the city and finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Tonight had truly been perilous. He had nearly lost his life.

Fortunately, he possessed an auxiliary skill that seemed useless but was actually quite effective. Otherwise, he might really have died tonight.

This could be considered fulfilling his mission: he had uncovered Qi Zhu's background.

He simply didn't know how he should explain it to her. It seemed that quite a few troubles were involved as well.

Fang Mu, lost in thought, headed toward the Slums.

As he passed through a dark alley, he suddenly saw a bald man walking through it while leading a monster with a human torso and a snake's tail.

"My treasure! Qingzhu City will be your hunting ground. Enjoy your feast!"

The bald man wore an evil grin as he spoke in a deep voice.

Fang Mu, hiding in the darkness of the alley, held his breath and concealed his aura.

He felt that he had truly hit rock bottom. Wherever he went, he ran into powerful figures.

He recognized the bald man's voice. It was the person who had stolen the Sacrificial God Hall's power of faith two days ago.

He had never expected enemies to cross paths so narrowly—he had actually encountered him.

The bald man released the Snake person he had been leading, jabbed it several times in quick succession, and elicited several strange chuckles from it before flashing away.

"Roar!"

At that moment, the Snake person let out a series of beastlike roars, then charged into the dark alley and vanished without a trace.

After the bald man and the Snake person had left, Fang Mu hurriedly flashed away through the alley on the opposite side.

"It seems Qingzhu City is going to be restless again. I wonder how many people will be killed or injured this time."

As Fang Mu ran swiftly through the alley, he sighed and thought to himself.

He was confident he could stop that Snake person, but he had no confidence whatsoever in dealing with the bald man.

If he provoked that man, Fang Mu felt he would be certain to die.

"My strength still isn't enough. Even though my power has advanced by leaps and bounds lately, the enemies lurking in the shadows are all far too strong."

With no choice but to protect himself, Fang Mu decided to return and protect Fang Jing first.

When he returned home in the Slums, Fang Jing and Qi Zhu were both asleep.

Xixi had at least not been slacking off. It was vigilantly guarding the two of them, although it looked bleary-eyed, as if it had just woken up.

Fang Mu grew suspicious. Had it been sleeping on the job earlier and only put on an act after sensing him return?

The night passed without incident. At dawn the next day, Fang Mu instructed Qi Zhu to inform her father that a powerful Snake person Demon had appeared in the city.

As for what exactly to say, Qi Zhu would have to think of that herself. As long as she did not implicate him, that was enough. He did not want to attract attention.

Qi Zhu was somewhat surprised that Fang Mu knew a powerful Snake person Demon had appeared in the city.

But seeing that Fang Mu did not look like he was joking and clearly seemed serious, she did not dare delay. She agreed and hurriedly left.

After Qi Zhu departed, Fang Mu brought Fang Jing to a cellar hidden inside the house.

This cellar had been dug long ago specifically in case they encountered danger, giving them somewhere to hide.

His clone would need to continue posing as a Demon Slayer Envoy for the time being, drawing out that mysterious Shen Shi.

Only after dealing with him would the clone be able to break free and protect Fang Jing.

Fang Mu handed the Bee Tail Sword to Fang Jing for self-defense.

Xixi had keen senses and could detect danger in advance.

Thus, before leaving, Fang Mu sternly warned Xixi that if anything happened to Fang Jing, he would chop it up and eat it like a watermelon.

Xixi trembled all over in fright, repeatedly promising as it nodded its head frantically.

Yet as soon as Fang Mu left, it began dozing off again.