P.S. I was half asleep when I suddenly remembered you promised Loli ten thousand Alliance Masters (in my dreams), so I hurried up and got up to post an update.
Crimson Fire Dragon Spine
Four thousand years of Daoism Cultivation
And a pill called the Devil Pill!
The Devil Pill was formed from the demonic energy of the Five Turbidities, mixed with the suffering of the Seven Emotions and Six Desires and blended from human hearts, beast hearts, and the heart of Heaven. It automatically absorbed demonic energy within a thousand meters and was so hard that no human strength could shatter it.
It could become a demonic seed or an essence spirit, bear consciousness, contain its owner, or serve as a vessel for descending into demonic cultivation.
"This..."
Su Qingqiu clicked his tongue in amazement.
This thing was actually something that led people to fall into the demonic path. What was he supposed to do with it?
Become a demonic cultivator?
As if he had nothing better to do.
"Wait... It can bear the will of Spiritual Light..."
Su Qingqiu's eyes shifted. He looked at his reverse scale, then at the Devil Pill, and decided to run an experiment.
Great Wasteland
Downstream along the southwestern stretch of the Luo River lay a county called Changping.
It sat right beside the Luo River and bordered the thousand-mile wilderness and wetlands of the Great Wasteland. Its location was excellent, and trade there was exceptionally brisk.
Xuan Ye and his party had traveled south all the way from the lands of the Dragon-Raising Temple. Once they reached the Luo River, the rain that had followed them the whole way finally stopped.
Afterward, they found a boat and followed the river until they reached the vicinity of Changping County.
"The County Magistrate of Changping is Li Baocai. He passed the imperial examinations in the thirty-second year of Zhaoyang and has served as County Magistrate here for over six years."
"During his tenure, he hasn't achieved any great merits, but he hasn't committed any major offenses either. For the past few years, things had gone along steadily enough. Unfortunately, he was supposed to be transferred and promoted this year, but then a once-in-a-century flood struck."
"Before that, heavy rain had been falling intermittently for over three months. This latest downpour lasted seven days and six nights. The Luo River swelled, leaving the people on both banks displaced, and even Luojia Mountain upstream was washed away once."
"He's had both natural and man-made disasters land on his doorstep, and his promotion was delayed. I've also heard that the Inner Cabinet has already drafted a memorial and sent it to the Crown Prince, intending to hold Li Baocai accountable for failing to prevent the disaster."
Aboard the large ship, an attendant carefully briefed Xuan Ye on the situation in Changping County.
It was anyone's guess how much of it Xuan Ye took in. His thoughts were still back at the Dragon-Raising Temple, as he tried to recall every detail of what had happened there, hoping to find some trace of the True Dragon.
Unfortunately, he'd thought about it all the way here and still hadn't come up with anything.
As he mulled over his thoughts, red, gold, and black lights shimmered into view. Then a child no more than seven or eight years old descended onto another fishing boat not far from Xuan Ye.
"Where did that cultivator come from?"
"What a curious-looking face!"
Xuan Ye cried out in surprise.
The newcomer was clearly only seven or eight years old, yet wore armor of red-and-black scales. Intricate patterns were carved into it, with Spiritual Light flickering through them from time to time. At a glance, it was clearly made from the scales of some powerful spirit beast.
A red horn stood proudly in the center of the child's forehead, faintly wreathed in crimson flames—a sign of an extraordinary bloodline.
Though the child's face was young, it carried an imposing air.
"A single horn on the forehead... Which clan's cultivator is showing signs of spiritual transformation? Eunuch Fu, can you tell what he is?"
Xuan Ye asked.
Eunuch Fu was the emperor's most trusted companion and the head of his personal attendants. When Xuan Ye saw that his mission to scheme against the Dragon-Raising Temple had failed, he had secretly met up with Eunuch Fu and the others, and together they had set off for the Imperial City.
After all... if he returned with one more companion, the emperor's reprimand would be three parts lighter.
"A single horn on the forehead... What a peculiar sign of spiritual transformation. Forgive my poor eyesight, but I truly can't tell which clan this cultivator belongs to."
"Still, his aura surges like a raging sea, and the red, gold, and black power in his body faintly spills out. Even with my eyesight, I can't tell just how strong he is."
"He may be a cultivator beyond the seventh rank, a powerhouse who has reached the middle three ranks and partially transformed his body."
"Your Highness, powerhouses like this are rare. And with such a strange child's face, he must be an exceptional talent. Would you like to go and make his acquaintance?"
Eunuch Fu noticed Xuan Ye's interest and smiled as he made the suggestion.
There was an old saying in the cultivation world: never provoke children, old women, the blind, the lame, or the crippled; they were often ancient monsters who had lived for ages.
It was only a joke, but the child cultivator clearly seemed powerful, which naturally piqued Xuan Ye's interest all the more.
Xuan Ye oversaw the Imperial Court and loved to befriend capable and unusual people. It was said that he had personally invited more than half of the Attendants in the Imperial Court, which was why Eunuch Fu had asked.
"You're right! A talent like this makes my heart leap at the sight of a worthy quarry."
"Haha! Let's go together, then!"
Xuan Ye laughed heartily.
For a moment, he even forgot the unpleasantness he'd encountered at the Dragon-Raising Temple.
After all, recruiting an extraordinary talent would make for a fine story.
At that moment
On the fishing boat where the child cultivator had landed, the fishermen hurriedly clasped their hands together and knelt to bow, repeatedly crying out "Immortal Master."
Ordinary people had no idea how cultivators were classified. As long as someone wasn't an evil spirit who took lives, they called them an Immortal Master.
Of course, the Dragon-Raising Temple was an exception.
The great monks and little nuns there had an excellent reputation throughout this part of the Great Wasteland. Most people recognized the Dragon-Raising Temple's insignia and generally called them Eminent Monks, Holy Monks, or Immortal Monks.
"Rise."
"Let me ask you: is this the Luo River region? Near Luojia Mountain?"
The newcomer was Su Qingqiu.
He had used the Devil Pill and one of his scales to make this false body, then used the power of Shape-Shifting Illusion to transform it into a human form and disguise the Devil Pill's demonic energy.
Unless they were a Land Immortal of the upper three ranks, no one could tell that the child cultivator before them was actually nothing more than a pitch-black Devil Pill wrapped in scales!
"In answer to the Immortal Master, this is already the lower Luo River, near Changping County. It's more than a hundred and twenty li from Luojia Mountain."
The boat's captain hurriedly replied with respect.
Su Qingqiu furrowed his brow.
He had originally meant to go and take a look at Luojia Mountain. He hadn't expected to overshoot it. Of course, he had followed someone's aura here.
But it wasn't entirely his fault. Controlling the Devil Pill from a distance was already difficult, and controlling it through his reverse scale made it harder still.
The Devil Pill could absorb demonic energy. To keep it from getting contaminated, Su Qingqiu had thought of using his reverse scale's ability to filter and absorb it. After some tinkering, the Devil Pill had actually fused with the reverse scale, and the enormous amount of demonic energy could no longer affect Su Qingqiu.
"Then do you know how far this place is from the Dragon-Raising Temple?"
Su Qingqiu asked again.
He wanted to see how far his will of Spiritual Light could control something outside his body. After all, once he reached this area, even his vast fifteen thousand years of Daoism Cultivation was having trouble keeping it up.
"This..." The boat captain glanced around uneasily. He was just an ordinary fisherman; how could he know where the Holy Monks lived?
"This place is more than three thousand six hundred li from the Dragon-Raising Temple. Fellow Daoist, have you come for the True Dragon at the Dragon-Raising Temple?"
"I'm Wang Xuan. Greetings, fellow Daoist!"
Xuan Ye swept through the air in his splendid clothes, looking unbearably flashy.
Fish, you've taken the bait!
Before you continue