What Are the Fine Traditions of Demon Cultivators?

Blackheart Mountain was a mountain, just as Such-and-Such Village was inevitably a village, and just as words with no causal connection before or after were usually nonsense.

However, Blackheart Mountain bore that name for a reason.

Blackheart Elder's willingness to use his disciples as expendable materials, even refining those with peerless talent, also had a reason.

That year, Blackheart Elder was over a hundred years old. In the Jia Five Realm, this was a matter of great joy, for a hundred years of cultivation meant one's cultivation had reached the height of perfection.

Filled with soaring ambition, Blackheart Elder sought to gather the remnants of the demon sect and reestablish it!

The result...

First, the other branches of the demon sect refused to submit to him and fought Blackheart Elder, severing the demon body he had been so proud of. Then Sword Disciple Mountain, which had once suppressed and slain the master of the demon sect, sent its disciples over. They unleashed the Seventy-Two Sword Aspect in succession, sealing him with techniques, condemning him with laws, suppressing him with force, and pierced Blackheart Elder straight through the heart.

Fortunately, this old devil had long since refined a "black heart." At the first moment, he transferred his injuries to his disciples, and only then did he narrowly save his life.

Yet with his demon body severed and his black heart spent, seven or eight parts of Blackheart Elder's cultivation were gone. Worse still, Sword Disciple Mountain's Seventy-Two Sword Aspect clung to him like gangrene on the bone, gnawing away without cease.

That was how Blackheart Elder came to take in disciples such as Tan Shuchang.

Returning to Blackheart Mountain, it lay shrouded in dark clouds year-round. As far as the eye could see, either jagged rocks displayed a savage and terrifying aspect, or crisscrossing shadows endlessly devoured what little light was visible.

Stare too long, and one would even develop the illusion that those shadows were living things.

Thus, though Blackheart Mountain had quite a few people upon it, it was often desolate and quiet, with only the natural sound of wind stirring grass and trees. At that moment, two streaks of light, like hazy flashes of lightning, came speeding in from afar. They moved so quickly that to the naked eye, they were no more than two overlapping afterimages.

Then, the two streaks of light began to solidify.

More precisely, the two people who had rushed there came to a stop.

They were two women of different ages, one in her early teens and the other sixteen. Both were slender and graceful, but their beauty was marred by their expressionless faces, which made them seem like two wooden dolls.

The place where the two women landed was a somewhat crude thatched hut. Though the hut was simple, much garlic and scallions had been planted around it, decorating the area in lush green and inexplicably bringing peace to one's heart.

After all, this was Blackheart Mountain. To suddenly see such a patch of verdant green naturally eased one's mood considerably.

After the two women stopped, they prepared to shake the bell hanging outside the thatched hut. Cultivators from both nearby and distant peaks knew that this was the rule of Tan Shuchang, Blackheart Mountain's third senior brother. Even the second senior brother of old, who had been so utterly devoid of humanity that he had exterminated his own entire family, had not dared violate this rule.

However, before the two could touch the bell, the firewood door of the thatched hut was pushed open.

As the door opened, the power that had concealed the hut from all prying eyes instantly dispersed from its surroundings, allowing the sparse furnishings within to come into view.

A stone bed, a silken goose-down quilt, and a camphorwood pillow.

Those were the only three items. There was not even a table or chairs for receiving guests.

Because Tan Shuchang had never been hospitable.

"Two junior sisters have come. Why are you here instead of attending to our master at his side?" Tan Shuchang stepped out. His bearing remained sharp, yet his tone was unusually gentle.

"Greetings, Third Senior Brother!" The two women remained expressionless, their voices devoid of even a trace of emotion. After this greeting, they immediately stated their purpose. "Third Senior Brother, your Fasting Demon Ascension was originally scheduled for after the New Year. However, the timing has recently become particularly suitable, and the results will be better as well. Thus, Master intends to have you undergo Fasting Demon Ascension ahead of schedule."

"Elysian Demon Ascension? I have looked forward to it for so long. Ever since Second Senior Brother sent me word and told me that demon ascension was a matter of supreme bliss, I have thought of it day and night. I never expected it to be moved up. Please, two junior sisters, take me there at once." Tan Shuchang was startled at first, but then his face broke into a broad smile, and even his voice gained a measure of excitement.

He knew of the anomaly in his cultivation. Once this old devil realized that he, too, could not break through that layer of concealing power, he would most likely be unable to restrain himself from acting against him.

Tan Shuchang had realized this after coming to Blackheart Mountain.

Originally, Eldest Senior Sister and Second Senior Brother had helped draw his attention away. But after both of them had been devoured by this old devil, Tan Shuchang's unusual qualities had swiftly entered the old devil's field of vision as well.

Had he learned before that this so-called "Fasting Demon Ascension" had been moved up, Tan Shuchang could only have cursed inwardly and chosen to flee Blackheart Mountain in a desperate fight for his life.

But now, he had already refined the fierce ghost young lady he had caught from that strange game... no, invited over.

Tan Shuchang was confident that Blackheart Elder's odds of defeating him were less than fifty percent.

At this moment, the two women showed no reaction to Tan Shuchang's display. However, Blackheart Elder, who was secretly controlling them, quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately had the two living puppets bring his third disciple to his true place of cultivation.

Blackheart Mountain had Blackheart Elder on it. That could not quite be called common knowledge, but most people thought so.

In truth, after witnessing Sword Disciple Mountain's Seventy-Two Sword Aspect, the old devil had hidden outside Blackheart Mountain, within a city built and managed by Jian Gorge Sect disciples.

Jian Gorge Sect could be considered part of the righteous path. Yet because many of its disciples had marital ties with cultivators from branches of the demon sect, over time it became a buffer between the righteous and demonic paths.

Sword Disciple Mountain had indeed cut down the previous master of the demon sect with awe-inspiring might, its reputation shaking the Jia Five Realm. But after the master of the demon sect vanished without a trace, Sword Disciple Mountain's patriarchs, every last one of them, either vanished as well or rarely showed themselves.

Thus, the righteous and demonic paths often avoided fighting whenever they could.

The neighboring peak mentioned in Tan Shuchang's diary was actually where Jian Gorge Sect was located.

Now, as Tan Shuchang followed the two living puppets into Clear River City of Jian Gorge Sect, he was somewhat surprised. He had not expected that the old devil had hidden here.

At the same time, he understood why he had remained safe all this while.

He had thought that, besides Eldest Senior Sister and Second Senior Brother drawing away attention, he had simply been exceptionally lucky. In reality, the old devil had merely hidden too far away and lacked the power to discover the anomaly upon him.

The foundation of a hundred years of cultivation was indeed formidable, but no matter how formidable, it had its limits.

"Does our venerable master live here?" Tan Shuchang looked at the grand residence before him. He had already sensed Blackheart Elder, but he still chose to ask despite knowing the answer.

"Hahaha, your master is right here. Hurry and come in!" Blackheart Elder's hearty voice rang out, carrying a faint note of excitement.