Ancient Secrets

The space suddenly became scorching hot, and the dense ghostly aura and frigid chill brought by the Eight Extremes Wolf King's Skull Short Staff were swept away in an instant. Liao Xiaojin opened his eyes to see an almost transparent, pure flame striking the Skull Short Staff less than two feet from his head. The blazing heat singed his hair. Finding strength from nowhere, Liao Xiaojin let out a strange cry and performed a lazy donkey roll, tumbling more than thirty feet away. Only then did he escape the fate of becoming a monk. Even so, a quarter of his hair had been burned away.

Bang! The Skull Short Staff exploded after being scorched by the flame. The Eight Extremes Wolf King was greatly alarmed. This White Bone Yin Wind Flute had been carved from the bones of a dead man steeped in three hundred years of intense resentment. It had taken him three full years of refinement through secret arts to forge it. Not only was it as hard as refined steel, but the icy aura it released in battle could invade an enemy's body the moment they let down their guard, disrupting the circulation of their True Essence. More importantly, the skull at the tip could emit piercing ghostly shrieks when wielded, throwing an enemy's mind into disarray. It was truly a formidable magical treasure. Yet now it had been destroyed. The Eight Extremes Wolf King was both shocked and enraged, but when he saw that pure, transparent flame, he immediately let out a shriek even sharper and more grating than the howl of his White Bone Yin Wind Flute. "Samadhi True Fire! My heavens!" The Eight Extremes Wolf King clutched his head and ran. Though arrogant, he was not fearless in the face of death. Anyone capable of wielding Samadhi True Fire was at least a great expert in the initial Spirit Transformation stage. Though he had formed a Demon Core, by the standards of cultivators, at best he could only be counted as Qi Induction Late Stage. Though it sounded like merely one step apart, he knew perfectly well that the difference in strength was like one in heaven and one on earth.

"Trying to run!" A cold voice entered the Eight Extremes Wolf King's ears. He charged forward desperately, only to be blocked by an invisible barrier. With a furious roar, the Eight Extremes Wolf King opened his mouth and spat out a fist-sized crimson pearl. It forcibly blasted through the invisible barrier, and he fled with his head in his hands, vanishing in the blink of an eye. He even abandoned the Inner Core bound to his life. After all, losing his Inner Core would only cost him half his cultivation, which he could regain through bitter training. But if he lost his life, other than reincarnating, there would be no second way out.

"Master!" Seeing Zhou Qing collect the crimson Inner Core in his hand, Liao Xiaojin leaped up and cried, "Master, you are wise and mighty! I knew you would save me!" "Nonsense! This is my Second Primordial Spirit. My true body is still at home! Hurry up and carry that woman back. Be careful not to let anyone follow you!" Though Liao Xiaojin had long known that Zhou Qing possessed a Second Primordial Spirit, his eyes still bulged like a water buffalo's. This Second Primordial Spirit is too monstrous! It's practically another him! Liao Xiaojin muttered. "What are you looking at? Hurry!" Zhou Qing used a burst of Samadhi True Fire to burn away the blood and clothes left on the ground, then transformed into an extremely thin streak of yellow light and vanished into the darkness. Liao Xiaojin picked up Meihu as well and disappeared.

"Master, you're being too cautious! That wolf demon was scared so badly he nearly wet himself. Would he still dare come back?" Watching Zhou Qing set up several large formations around the villa to conceal their aura, Liao Xiaojin muttered this while admiring how watertight Zhou Qing's thinking was. Zhou Qing rolled his eyes at him without speaking and went straight into the training room, where he sat down cross-legged. Liao Xiaojin followed him inside.

"That wolf demon had quite a high level of cultivation. If you had transformed, you might have stood a chance. How could you be so careless? If I hadn't arrived in time, would you have gone to see Yan Laowu?" "Hehe." Liao Xiaojin gave a dry laugh. "I wouldn't go see Yan Laowu. If I were going to see anyone, it would at least be our Lord Cain, wouldn't it?" Zhou Qing could not be bothered with nonsense. "What is this woman's background?" "I don't know. From what that wolf demon said, it seemed to be some internal affair of the Monster Alliance. He even mistook me for someone from Shu Mountain. Right, wake her up and ask her!" Liao Xiaojin pointed at the woman lying on the floor.

"No need to wake her. She woke up long ago. Miss, get up. Stop pretending." Zhou Qing said.

"Who are you?" Meihu knew Liao Xiaojin, but when Zhou Qing exposed her act of pretending to be unconscious, she questioned him in return. "A fox demon?" A flash of golden light passed through Zhou Qing's eyes. Activating his Second Primordial Spirit, he immediately saw Meihu's true form. "You can see my original form?" Meihu was greatly shocked. Then she suddenly felt a chill at her chest. Looking down, she found that her undergarment was exposed, and her face instantly flushed crimson. She clasped both hands tightly over her chest. Zhou Qing casually reached out, and a man's jacket appeared in his hand. "Put this on." Zhou Qing handed the clothes to Meihu. Looking at this ordinary-looking yet unfathomable man, Meihu suddenly felt something indescribable in her heart. In truth, Zhou Qing had cheated. He had secretly split off his Second Primordial Spirit, gone next door to fetch a piece of clothing, used a Concealment Talisman to hide its traces, then delivered it into his own hand, creating the illusion that he had conjured clothing from thin air.

"What's so remarkable about that? Seeing through your true form is nothing. Even harder things are no challenge for my master. My master is an expert in the Transformation Stage!" Liao Xiaojin said.

"An expert in the Transformation Stage?!" Naturally, Meihu knew what a Transformation Stage expert represented. Her mind went blank for a moment. Then she repeatedly kowtowed to Zhou Qing. Zhou Qing was so startled that he nearly jumped up. "What are you doing? Are you sick?" "I beg Senior to accept me as a disciple and let me take revenge." Meihu continued kowtowing.

"Stop! What revenge? What disciple? Why can't I understand any of this?" Zhou Qing was so astonished he nearly sprang to his feet. Well, well. I saved a pretty girl, only to find she's not just a fox demon, but a lunatic too!

"I am a fox demon, and the daughter of the Enchanting Fox Clan's chieftain. My name is Meihu." Meihu began to explain. "Eh? The Enchanting Fox Clan?" Zhou Qing recalled the records concerning the Enchanting Fox Clan in the Refining Compendium and the Demon Refining Chapter. Legend says the women of the Enchanting Fox Clan are all beautiful. Looks like it's true. Zhou Qing thought as he looked at Meihu.

"Right, what did you mean by revenge? Could it be that your Enchanting Fox Clan was wiped out?" Liao Xiaojin cut in.

Hatred flashed through Meihu's eyes. "Ever since the forests and mountains began to be destroyed on a massive scale more than a decade ago, we demons could no longer remain there. So most demons came to the cities and lived lives like ordinary people. But there were simply too many human cultivators. Conflicts with demons broke out from time to time. To protect themselves, the demons established the Monster Alliance ten years ago. Put simply, it called on demons to unite and maintain a balance with human cultivators."

"Ah!" Liao Xiaojin's mouth hung wide open. "What's so strange about that? Humans have human paths, demons have demon roads! In ancient times, humans, demons, immortals, and devils were all mixed together!" Zhou Qing lectured Liao Xiaojin. "Then your Enchanting Fox Clan must have joined the Monster Alliance as well?"

"Yes. Though the Enchanting Fox Clan is not naturally fond of conflict, we had no choice but to join the Monster Alliance. By relying on our clan's strength alone, we simply could not survive in human society. But five years ago, an unknown demon of extraordinarily high cultivation suddenly appeared within the Monster Alliance. He won over nearly half the powerful demons and had himself elected alliance leader. Originally, our Monster Alliance had no leader. Whenever something happened, the three Grand Elders would gather everyone to discuss it. But after that demon became alliance leader, he did do several good things at first. But later..."

"Later, did he become tyrannical and domineering, completely changing his ways? And is that demon leader the enemy of your Enchanting Fox Clan?" Liao Xiaojin asked. "How did you know?" This time, Meihu was the astonished one.

"Tch! Villains in novels are all like that. Anyone could figure it out with their hands!" At Liao Xiaojin's words, a ray of sunlight passed through Meihu's originally gloomy heart. Just as she was about to say something to Zhou Qing, he pondered for a moment before suddenly speaking. "I understand what you mean. You want to take me as your master, then seek revenge against that demon, don't you? I imagine that demon had his eye on something belonging to your Enchanting Fox Clan. The only thing your clan has worth stealing is a copy of the Gouchen Heavenly Book. That demon must be after that, right?"

"What! You know about the Gouchen Heavenly Book too?" Meihu was greatly alarmed. Instinctively, she clutched the item in her arms tighter. It's over. I just escaped the wolf's den, only to enter the tiger's mouth. This man knows about the Gouchen Heavenly Book too. How could he possibly not try to seize it? Is my Enchanting Fox Clan truly doomed to extinction? As she thought this, Meihu's face turned deathly pale, and her body began to tremble.

Seeing Meihu like this, Zhou Qing hurriedly said, "Don't misunderstand. Though the Gouchen Heavenly Book is indeed a good thing, it is useless to me. Besides, I would not sink so low as to rob a woman of her possessions." "Master, what is this Gouchen Heavenly Book? How come I've never heard you mention it?" Liao Xiaojin had heard another unfamiliar term and could not help asking.

"This Gouchen Heavenly Book was passed down by Emperor Gouchen. In ancient times, humans, demons, immortals, and devils lived side by side. The world was chaotic. To change that chaos, the three great sages of that time—Grand Supreme Elderly Lord, Yuanshi Tianzun, and Lingbao Daojun—jointly signed the Investiture of the Gods and established the Heavenly Realm for those with supernatural powers, such as demons, immortals, and devils, to reside in. To govern the Heavenly Realm, the three sages then appointed the Four Emperors and three hundred sixty-five Orthodox Gods to oversee its many immortals, devils, and demons. Emperor Gouchen was the only member of the Demon Race among the Four Emperors. The other three emperors—Emperor Zhenwu of the Northern Dipper, Emperor Ziwei of the South Pole, and the Jade Emperor—were all immortals. The Gouchen Heavenly Book was passed down from that era and recorded the secrets of the ancient Demon Race. Unfortunately, it was written entirely in the ancient demon script, which no one can understand now." Hearing Zhou Qing say this, Meihu finally let out a breath of relief and explained.

Zhou Qing was tongue-tied as well. The Refining Compendium he possessed had not recorded matters in such detail. He had only known that the Enchanting Fox Clan held a heavenly book. He had never imagined it had truly been passed down by Emperor Gouchen.