The Demon Cult

"Who would write a letter to a tiger demon? Hasn't it always been hiding from cultivators, making sure they don't learn where it is?"

The three of them couldn't figure it out. Given the tiger demon's cautious nature, no one from beyond the mountains should have known it existed.

"Read it, Jingzhou. What does the letter say?"

Meng Jingzhou cleared his throat and read in a rich, expressive voice, "Brother Tiger, it's been many days since we last met. How have you been?"

"Brother Tiger, you've always acted cautiously, unwilling to show yourself and let righteous cultivators know you exist, and you only target mortals. Your steady, step-by-step approach to cultivation is admirable, but it's ultimately too slow. A great age is dawning, and heroes are rising everywhere. All manner of forces have their eyes on the Central Continent. Didn't you seize this opportunity to leave your home, break away from the Qiongqi lineage, and sneak into Song Mountain from the Demon Territory?"

"'Acted cautiously'... The two of you, stop crowding me! Can't I just read it to you?" Lu Yang and Man Gu had sandwiched Meng Jingzhou between them so they could read the letter themselves.

"You're reading too slowly."

"I'll read faster. Now get out of my way."

Meng Jingzhou pushed them aside and continued, "Caution is hardly a serious mistake, but in this great age that's now reviving, you must be bold to seize your opportunities. Stake everything on one throw, refine your bloodline, and become a pure-blooded Qiongqi. Only then will you have a foothold in this great age."

"Your humble younger brother dares to suggest that you and your beloved join my Yanjiang Branch and hunt cultivators as prey, so that we may plot great things together!"

"I've included my token in this letter. Brother Tiger, you can bring it straight to the Yanjiang Branch to find me, and I can directly recommend you for the position of deacon."

"Your younger brother, Qin Yuanhao, respectfully writes."

The letter wasn't long, but it revealed a great deal.

Lu Yang analyzed it. "The letter says the tiger demon doesn't want righteous cultivators to know it exists. That's not a natural way to put it. People don't usually say 'righteous cultivators' like that unless the writer stands opposed to them. Is this Qin Yuanhao a demonic cultivator?"

That also explained why a cultivator who knew about the tiger demon hadn't reported it.

On the Central Continent, the righteous path held an absolute advantage. Demons, demonic cultivators, and ghosts were natural allies. Take the tiger demon: it didn't harm people directly, but instead had its wraiths trick them into coming to it.

The tiger demon had Qiongqi blood, and it was undoubtedly at the Golden Core stage. It was only natural for demonic cultivators to try to recruit it.

"So the Yanjiang Branch is a stronghold of the Demon Cult?"

Meng Jingzhou nodded. "The Demon Cult likes to use place names for its strongholds. We just don't know which Demon Cult this Yanjiang Branch belongs to."

Just as the righteous cultivators had the Five Great Immortal Sects, demonic cultivators had their own sects, known as the Four Great Demon Cults.

The Demon Cults were religions, not sects. The main difference was whether they worshipped some powerful being.

The Four Great Demon Cults had different beliefs. Some said their beliefs represented four immortals; others claimed their four forms of worship were merely four incarnations of a single immortal. There was no shortage of theories.

The Demon Cults revealed very little about themselves, and their whereabouts were shrouded in mystery. The Great Xia Dynasty and the Five Great Immortal Sects had joined forces many times to search for the Demon Cults' headquarters, but never found them.

Whenever righteous cultivators wiped out a swath of Demon Cult strongholds, the cultists would sprout like bamboo shoots after the rain, impossible to kill off.

People spoke of the Demon Cults as mysterious, uncanny, ruthless, and terrifying. But really, the righteous path was simply too powerful, leaving the Demon Cults afraid to show their faces and willing to act only from the shadows.

If they ever found the Demon Cults' lairs, the Five Great Immortal Sects wouldn't even need to get involved. The Great Xia Dynasty could send out its troops and generals, turn the Demon Cults upside down in five days, and clear out every last hideout within a month.

That was the righteous path's confidence.

The demonic path was ultimately something that couldn't stand in the light.

Lu Yang shook the envelope, and a bone token fell out. A special strand of true qi had been left on it—a method used by Qin Yuanhao, the Demon Cultist, that no outsider could imitate.

Man Gu asked, "Could we use this token to join the Demon Cult?"

Finding a Demon Cult stronghold would be a far greater achievement than eliminating two tiger demons.

Lu Yang shook his head. "No. If we take his token and join the Yanjiang Branch, Qin Yuanhao will definitely find out."

"Besides, we don't know where the Yanjiang Branch is. How are we supposed to join?"

"Then what should we do?" Man Gu asked.

"It's called the Yanjiang Branch, so it should be in Yanjiang Commandery. We can go there and ask around for someone named Qin Yuanhao, then follow him to the branch. He calls himself the tiger demon's younger brother, so his cultivation can't be higher than the tiger demon's. We can kill him, then use the token directly. We'll say we're old friends of Qin Yuanhao's and came to join him, only to find out he's dead."

"Good idea." Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu's eyes lit up.

"Keep looking. See if there's anything else good in there," Lu Yang urged Meng Jingzhou eagerly.

Meng Jingzhou found a blood-red plant about the size of his palm. It looked somewhat sinister.

"Bloodvine grass? Why are its veins red?" Meng Jingzhou wondered. Bloodvine grass was mainly used to counteract poison, and its leaf veins were blue-green, like rivers flowing across the land. Why was this one red?

Lu Yang crouched down to examine it, then said, "You forgot. Bloodvine grass is mainly used by humans as a key ingredient in antidote pills. It doesn't work the same way for demons."

"Bloodvine grass can refine bloodlines. The tiger demon may have watered it with its blood over a long period to ripen it, making the grass adapt to the Qiongqi bloodline. At this rate, in a few more months the grass will be fully mature. Once the tiger demon consumes it, its Qiongqi bloodline will grow purer, and it'll be able to form its Golden Core."

That was where the "blood" in Bloodvine grass came from.

Lu Yang had learned about Bloodvine grass from the Little Medicine King.

"Now this Bloodvine grass can no longer be used to make antidote pills. Only demons can consume it to purify their bloodlines," Lu Yang said.

"In that case, you two should keep it. Bring it to the sect's market on the fifteenth of every month and sell it. You should get a good price." Meng Jingzhou handed the herb to Lu Yang and Man Gu.

Quite a few people in Ask Dao Sect raised demon beasts, so herbs that could improve their bloodlines were in high demand.

Lu Yang and Man Gu humbly tried to give the herb to each other, but in the end Man Gu couldn't refuse Lu Yang and accepted it.

Meng Jingzhou reminded Man Gu, "Don't eat the Bloodvine grass. The Ancient Barbarian Tribe is a branch of humanity, so it won't do anything for your bloodline."

Man Gu let out a regretful "oh."

Legend had it that the Ancient Barbarian Tribe began with a romantic proposal. In ancient times, humans lived scattered in tribes, and the strongest person in each tribe was known as its warrior.

One day, two tribes crossed paths. A male warrior from one tribe took a liking to a female warrior from the other and proposed, "Hey, girl, give me a smile. If I like it, I'll marry you."

The female warrior grinned, raised a rock, and swung it at him. The two wrestled, and in the end the female warrior came out on top. She dragged the male warrior into her house, and neither of them slept a wink that night.

Ten months later, the first barbarian warrior was born.