Song Zejun and his wife had planned meticulously, feigning death and hiding their souls in the Soul-Pacifying Bead in a desperate attempt to deceive Teng Kun and secure a chance at survival.
All their schemes had come to nothing because he had revealed that the Soul-Pacifying Bead was inside Song Ziyan's abdomen. He had watched with his own eyes as Teng Kun burned both their souls to ashes with a breath of demonic fire.
Why had the two of them appeared in Tamu Town again?
The body's original owner had served them for years and was intimately familiar with their builds, their bearing, the tiny movements they made as they walked, and their eyes.
Although they had concealed their figures beneath cloaks, exposing only their eyes as they surveyed their surroundings, Zhao Changfeng had still recognized them.
He had killed Song Ziyan and Ning Luo, shattered the couple's painstaking schemes, and caused the destruction of the souls they had hidden in the Soul-Pacifying Bead. There was no way they would ever let that hatred go.
If there was one irreconcilable blood feud he had acquired since arriving in this world, it was his enmity with that couple.
The couple were at the Three Calamities Realm, a terrifying level far beyond his current reach. If he appeared before them, he would surely die without even a place to bury his body.
Cui Pinyuan, who called himself the town chief, was only at the Primordial Spirit Realm. He strictly forbade anyone from fighting in his town, but could he restrain Song Zejun and his wife?
The Three Calamities Realm, the Three Calamities Realm... how much of their peak strength do they still have?
Zhao Changfeng could not believe that the couple could still retain their full fighting strength after Old Devil Teng had wounded them so grievously that they had been forced to escape by feigning death, with even the souls they had separated into the Soul-Pacifying Bead burned away.
Yet even if they had not recovered their strength, their Three Calamities Realm cultivation would still let them crush him with ease.
With Song Zejun and his wife appearing in Tamu Town, Zhao Changfeng could forget betraying the sect and fleeing the town. He did not even dare step outside now, for fear of attracting their attention.
Souls can sense one another. They must know what I did. Why have they come to Tamu Town?
Zhao Changfeng frowned, deep in thought.
The Lingxiao Sect was far from the Sola Desert. They had flown here aboard Demon Mountain, while Song Zejun and his wife must have had some purpose in making such a long journey.
To meet Song Ziyan? To retrieve the Soul-Pacifying Bead?
Connecting this with his earlier suspicions, Zhao Changfeng felt certain that the couple had foreseen the coming flood of Demon Spirits through the world membrane and viewed it as an opportunity to reclaim the Soul-Pacifying Bead.
Demon Mountain!
Perhaps they were heading for Demon Mountain all along. They secretly instructed Song Ziyan to stall because they wanted to take their daughter and the Soul-Pacifying Bead away while Teng Kun was absent!
Zhao Changfeng felt he had probably untangled the threads.
But that must have been the couple's original plan. Now Song Ziyan was dead, and Old Devil Teng had taken the Soul-Pacifying Bead into the world membrane. What purpose could their arrival serve?
Cultivators in this world had an unimaginably low birth rate. It must have been extraordinarily difficult for the couple to have Song Ziyan, and they knew who had killed her.
Could they have come specifically to kill me?
At that thought, Zhao Changfeng felt a chill surge from the bottom of his heart, his eyes filled with the dejection of someone cursed with the worst possible luck.
Ruan Meizhen, who shared the stone house with him, had been watching his ever-changing expression. She knew he must have spotted something unusual but was keeping it buried in his heart, unwilling to speak.
For some reason, whenever she looked at Zhao Changfeng's face, she could never help feeling disgust.
He said he could help me break through to the Primordial Spirit Realm. What makes him think he can?
My secrets... how did he find out about them?
He survived that deadly poison. He...
Ruan Meizhen's thoughts wandered. The Demon Spirit tide had left her unsettled as well, and she quietly made plans of her own.
On the way to Tamu Town, she had repeatedly probed him through every means she could think of, but Zhao Changfeng had kept his teeth clenched and stubbornly refused to reveal how he knew her secrets.
As for how he would help her achieve a realm breakthrough, he had not offered a single honest explanation, saying only, "You'll know when the time comes."
Over the past few days, she had recovered a little of her fighting strength using the spirit stones Zhao Changfeng had given her and those she had requested from other junior disciples after reaching Tamu Town. Still, she remained far short of the reserves needed to attempt a breakthrough.
Damn Chen Haoming. They stole everything that could have helped me recover quickly.
Ruan Meizhen bit her lustrous lower lip and immediately felt another surge of violent, murderous impulses she could barely suppress. She hurried to calm her mind before those evil urges grew worse.
"Senior Sister Ruan, could you give me the Blood Shadow Movement Technique?"
As she quietly steadied her mind, Zhao Changfeng closed the window without betraying his emotions and made his request in the suddenly darkened stone house. "Besides the Blood Shadow Art, the Essence-Devouring Demon Art I practice also has this accompanying movement technique. Things are so dangerous now. I hope you can give it to me as soon as possible, Senior Sister Ruan."
The reappearance of Song Zejun and his wife had thrown him into disarray, and he wanted to improve his fighting strength as quickly as possible.
Ruan Meizhen said coldly, "The technique does exist, but Chen Haoming and the others took it. And I can't remember the formula for the Blood Shadow Movement Technique."
Zhao Changfeng frowned. "You really don't remember?"
Her expression icy, Ruan Meizhen said, "I really don't!"
Just then-
Knock, knock, knock!
"Is Senior Sister Ruan here?"
Chen Haoming's voice rang out at that very moment. He was clearly already outside the door.
Ruan Meizhen, who had become extremely stingy with her captivating smiles, grew even colder upon hearing that voice. With a look as sharp as a frigid blade, she ordered Zhao Changfeng to open the door.
Creak!
Zhao Changfeng opened the small wooden door.
The ape-built Chen Haoming looked at the tall, lean Zhao Changfeng and Ruan Meizhen, whose beautiful face was covered in frost, and hurriedly offered an apologetic smile. "Senior Sister Ruan, I came to return your things. What happened back then... you really can't blame me. You were barely breathing from the poison. How was I supposed to know you would pull through?"
Drip!
Water was still dripping from his bright red robe.
He had only just reached Tamu Town and been assigned a leaky house with the others by Cui Pinyuan when he learned, to his shock, that Ruan Meizhen was here too.
Chen Haoming had turned pale with alarm. Without even taking time to dry his robes with his demonic art, he had rushed over to pay his respects.
This house was larger than the one assigned to them and still had an intact roof. Ruan Meizhen sat quietly on the bed in the gloom, her beauty beyond compare.
Yet Chen Haoming felt none of the joy of a reunion with a fellow disciple. His heart held only panic, unease, and countless questions.
Why isn't Ruan Meizhen dead? Did she successfully break through?
Standing outside the door, Chen Haoming kept his gaze fixed on Ruan Meizhen past Zhao Changfeng. With Cui Pinyuan, a Primordial Spirit Realm cultivator, overseeing Tamu Town, and their master having issued strict prohibitions, he reckoned she would not act recklessly.
"Put the things down."
Ruan Meizhen spoke indifferently.
"Oh, of course!"
Chen Haoming immediately set down her cloth bag and probed with a broad smile. "Congratulations, Senior Sister. You must have successfully advanced to the Primordial Spirit Realm. You're sure to be one of our main forces against the Demon Spirits!"
Ruan Meizhen frowned slightly but said nothing more.
An expert at reading expressions, Chen Haoming knew from that frown that she had probably failed. Quietly breathing a sigh of relief, he smiled again. "Junior Brother Zhang parted ways with us along the way. We never saw him afterward."
Looking somewhat impatient, Ruan Meizhen said coldly, "I killed him."
"What?!"
Chen Haoming feigned astonishment and even gave the matter some serious thought before acting as though understanding had finally dawned. "Then I understand. He must have deserved to die!"
"I won't disturb you any longer, Senior Sister. I'll leave now!"
Chen Haoming cupped his hands. Just before stepping away, he finally glanced at Zhao Changfeng and asked in surprise, "Why aren't you..."
Shaking his head, he swallowed the rest of his words and turned to leave.
After a few steps, a vicious look suddenly appeared on his face, and he turned to glance at Zhao Changfeng again.
Before Ruan Meizhen, he had been all smiles and courtesy, his former arrogance replaced with deference as he humbled himself as much as possible.
But now, as he faced Zhao Changfeng, he made no attempt to conceal his murderous intent.
Why is he still alive? He was clearly poisoned too. Why did Ruan Meizhen cure him?
Now the two of them are alone in one room. Could Zhang Mu have been right? Has Ruan Meizhen taken a liking to him?
The more Chen Haoming thought about it, the worse he felt. His murderous intent nearly stirred the demon in his heart, and he had to take several deep breaths before suppressing it.
He had coveted Ruan Meizhen for a long time and already regarded her as a woman reserved for him alone.
If Ruan Meizhen had died, that would have been the end of it. But as long as she lived, he believed she would fall into his grasp sooner or later.
The only possible reason Zhao Changfeng had survived was that Ruan Meizhen had cured his poison. But why?
Bitch! In what way am I worse than Zhao Changfeng?
Remembering how she had ignored his repeated overtures and coldly mocked his ugly looks, he felt the demon within him flare up again. Frightened, he hurried back to his house to suppress it.
At the same time.
In another dilapidated, leaky house.
"Elder Shi, we can stay if you want, but you'll have to pay us more spirit stones!"
"The Demon Spirits are gathering right now. Who knows when they'll appear in Tamu Town? Even if we find a chance to kill that Chen Haoming, we might not escape being devoured by the Demon Spirits."
"Exactly. You have to pay more spirit stones!"
The two rogue cultivators who had tried to prey on Zhao Changfeng and Ruan Meizhen in the desert, only to lose the rice while failing to steal the chicken, stood in a corner where little rain dripped through, like two venomous snakes lurking in the shadows.
They spoke in turn, demanding more spirit stones from Shi Yue.
Clutching his bronze bell, Shi Yue already knew that Chen Haoming had just appeared in Tamu Town. After only a brief hesitation, he agreed. "Once it's done, I'll give each of you another thousand spirit stones!"
Seeing him agree, one of them added, "Everything Chen Haoming has on him belongs to us too. You don't get any of it!"
Shi Yue revealed a strange smile and said mildly, "Fine. As long as you avenge my son, I'll agree to anything!"
He was from Heavenly Shield City and had spent years roaming around the Sola Desert. He knew all too well how terrifying a Demon Spirit tide was.
These two rogue cultivators, however, were outsiders who had wandered here. They clearly knew nothing of the dangers of a Demon Spirit tide and actually imagined they could escape this calamity.
"Zhao Changfeng, can I really advance to the Primordial Spirit Realm next time?"
After Chen Haoming left, Ruan Meizhen retrieved the bottles and jars of poison from her recovered belongings. Gazing at the vividly colored Illusionary Liquid inside, she asked in a subdued voice.
With her possessions back, she could use the poison to swiftly restore her fighting strength, but she still had no confidence whatsoever in achieving a realm breakthrough.
She was still alive because Zhao Changfeng had displayed certain strange abilities and given her hope through his earnest assurances.
"If not next time, then the time after that, or the time after that. At least I can keep you alive."
Absorbed in studying the Blood Shadow Movement Technique, Zhao Changfeng answered without even raising his head.
What truly doomed Ruan Meizhen beyond redemption was the inner-demon obsession whose power multiplied many times over during her breakthrough. And that very obsession was a source of willpower for the Small Cauldron inside Zhao Changfeng.
Zhao Changfeng did not care whether she succeeded. Having confirmed how extraordinary willpower was, he only wanted to steal that power born from obsessive inner demons.