Demonic Nature

East Secret Mountain, Black Wind Valley.

Xie Miao's wounds had healed. The valley master no longer ordered him to probe anything, which put his mind considerably more at ease.

Xu Xuan's Sword Qi, which sliced into the infinitesimal and extinguished all it touched, still frightened him. Sometimes he would examine that sword wound closely in the mirror. Once healed, it had left a fine red line.

Today, Xie Shu had specifically summoned him, stirring an unease he had not felt in some time.

Over the years, he had found his nephew's thoughts increasingly inscrutable.

When the Blood-Burying Demon Sect took control of Green Peaks, Xie Shu had rebelled against his father, presenting his father's head on a jade platter as he smilingly paid his respects to that demon.

When the Great Red Abbey destroyed the Demon Gate, he had stabbed the Demon Gate’s young master in the back, extricating himself and escaping the reckoning.

When the Lotus Temple claimed the lion's share, he had seized the opportunity to plunder, pocketing a great many spiritual treasures.

To Xie Miao, his nephew was a venomous snake-slippery and cold, always managing to bite someone before slithering free. The thought chilled him.

The hall was dim. The men and women who had once feasted and reveled here had vanished, leaving only traces of their pleasures on the floor.

How many people had been sent into this hall?

Xie Miao could no longer remember clearly. Mortals and rogue cultivators alike had entered the hall, become as though possessed, and then disappeared.

He straightened his hunched back a little and looked toward the throne. Its hundred ghosts wore savage expressions, as though ready to devour someone.

Xie Miao felt that the pale, somewhat sickly man on the throne had already had his skin stolen by an evil ghost, which was now acting out this play with him. If his performance fell short, it would tear away that face and eat him alive.

"You're here, Uncle. Has there been any news of the Great Red Abbey lately?"

"Reporting to the valley master: strange signs have been faintly appearing over Green Luo, with thunderous radiance surging. It seems Xu Xuan has broken through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining."

Xie Miao reported everything he had heard, one piece at a time, but the man on the throne smiled instead.

"Among the direct descendants of the Plainlands, there are some of a similar age and aptitude to him. They've reached the Sixth Level too, though they achieved it by consuming blood qi."

Xie Shu raised his brows slightly, a genuine, smug smile appearing on his face.

"Wen Fufeng, you cannot even teach your disciples properly. What right have you to call yourself righteous?"

As he spoke, the somewhat sickly man rose. Sinister winds stirred, carrying the mutterings of demons and shadowy ghosts. His face brimming with malice, he looked at Xie Miao and said:

"I think this Xu Xuan still fails to see things clearly. If it were me, I'd start by eating the mortals under my rule, then the disciples of my sect, and finally Wang Xiwei and Wen Si'an. All of them would go into my belly. I'd reach Foundation Establishment early, abandon the sect grounds, and then where couldn't I go?"

These words left Xie Miao trembling with terror, cold sweat streaming down his body. He felt that the man before him had gone completely mad and dared not utter another word.

"A pity. If he'd been a little more rigid, I would have stormed the Chen Household's gates when they sealed off their mountain. Now that he's reached the Sixth Level, with his formations and magical artifacts to help him, he's a tough bone to gnaw. I can only wait for him to expose an opening."

At this, Xie Miao hurriedly offered his counsel. "If we give him time and he reaches Foundation Establishment, won't disaster fall upon us? Valley master, you-"

He broke off abruptly. Realizing his slip, Xie Miao immediately shut his mouth. Xie Shu's greatest sore point was that, after breaking through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining, he had exceeded the allotted time in seeking his [Life Foundation], leaving him almost no hope of Foundation Establishment.

Xie Shu smiled, showing no anger. Instead, he sat back down and said with a soft chuckle:

"Uncle, broaden your horizons. What immortals cannot give, demons can."

He revealed his aura. Behind him, an egg-shaped mass of mingled flesh and blood faintly appeared, pulsing continuously. A shrill, agonized wail came from within it.

Xie Miao stared in disbelief and asked shakily:

"What is that thing?"

"My [Nature Root], Uncle."

Xie Shu smiled, an unnatural bloody glow rising over his pale face.

Wang Qiyun was about to enter Qi Refining.

Quite a few days had passed since his wedding, and his daily life had already changed somewhat.

Shen Shu helped him manage the miscellaneous affairs of Cloud-Sweeping Peak, while he devoted himself entirely to his breakthrough.

His accumulated reserves had reached fullness, and he had thoroughly mastered the sect's breathing method for the Fetal Breath realm. He therefore entered seclusion to prepare for his breakthrough.

To advance from Fetal Breath to Qi Refining was to refine spiritual qi, transforming one's spiritual power to accord with the inherent nature of heaven and earth. From then on, one chose a single path of cultivation. Along that road, one could only advance, never retreat-unless one discarded all one's cultivation and possessed a precious medicine capable of washing the marrow and remaking the bones, allowing one to start anew.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, changing one's Dao Path would likely require reincarnation and cultivating again from scratch.

Wang Qiyun sat in his cave abode, leafing through the third-grade Fire-Crossing Unhindered Art and practicing the qi-refining method recorded within.

This cultivation art belonged to the path of [Bing Fire]. In heaven, Bing Fire was the sun; on earth, it was the furnace. It excelled at forming artifacts, making it naturally well suited to his Artifact Refining tradition. As for other methods—nurturing through water, fostering through wood, or even Blood-Qi Artifact Forging—such artifact-refining arts were rare and unusual. He had only heard of them.

Silently, he gathered spiritual qi into a single point, drew that [Fire-Crossing Qi] into his body, and drove it against his qi acupoints. His qi sea gradually formed. At the same time, he silently recited the prayer for seeking the Dao recorded in the art.

His qi sea took shape, his spirit platform illuminated itself, and his consciousness sea emerged. Wang Qiyun sensed an existence of supreme vastness and heat at an infinitely lofty height. It cast down a ray of fiery light, which descended onto his spirit platform.

"It worked."

The sensation was extraordinary. His magical power could now gather fire qi, and he could ride the wind as well.

Upon leaving his cave abode, he saw Shen Shu standing outside. She looked as though she had been waiting for a long time.

"Congratulations, my husband, on attaining Qi Refining. From now on, you can ride the wind at will. You truly are one of the immortals."

Shen Shu offered her congratulations with a smile. In high spirits, Wang Qiyun immediately tried raising a cloud of qi and invited her aboard. He carried her through the sky on the wind for a long while, the two chatting and laughing warmly.

Liu Xiaowen was listening to a lecture in the True Abode Hall. Xu Xuan had found some free time these past few days and summoned him to examine his cultivation closely.

After inspecting Liu Xiaowen's cultivation, Xu Xuan found that he had firmly entered middle Fetal Breath. His progress was already extraordinarily fast, only a shade slower than Xu Xuan's had been.

Liu Xiaowen had originally possessed a seven-inch Spirit Root, but after resonating and connecting with the seal-script inscription of [Sun-Flint Descent of Fire] on the ancient stele in Xu Xuan's qi sea, it had grown another two inches. With his aptitude now measuring nine inches, he could be considered a promising seed for Foundation Establishment.

Once he entered Qi Refining and his consciousness sea emerged, Xu Xuan would be able to formally impart this seal-script inscription to him. There was no telling what further wonders might arise then.

"Master, why do so few people in our sect cultivate the Heavenly Fire Eternal Radiance Scripture? Isn't it a Fourth-Grade Cultivation Method?"

Liu Xiaowen suddenly asked this while listening to the scripture lecture below, leaving Xu Xuan obliged to answer him first.

"The Qi Refining portion of our sect's Heavenly Fire Eternal Radiance Scripture has some omissions. Only those whose fate draws near the heavenly sun, with the fortune of fire descending upon their bodies, can cultivate it. Otherwise, they will be trapped at the first or second layer of Qi Refining, unable to advance an inch."

"It contains one fourth-grade spell and two third-grade spells, all belonging to the path of [Bing Fire]. Their power is tremendous, beyond comparison with ordinary third-grade cultivation arts."

Hearing this, Liu Xiaowen grew immensely excited. He wished he could immediately begin cultivating the Heavenly Fire Eternal Radiance Scripture and see just how wondrous those secret arts were, which required both nature and life to be complete before they could be used.

Xu Xuan was also somewhat tempted. He silently looked within, where that ray of purplish-crimson thunder radiance surged in his qi sea.

[Great Thunder-Prayer Radiance]. Empowered by his Life Foundation, this secret art had undergone a qualitative transformation in strength.

Xu Xuan merely waited quietly for the right moment. He faintly sensed that someone already had their eye on him. Before long, he would likely have a chance to test the power of this secret art.

(End of chapter)