"Chen Haoming..."
Zhao Changfeng's eyes betrayed hesitation.
When this man first met him, he had shown him hostility just as Zhang Mu had, and he had done the same during his visit a while ago.
He was not this body's original owner. He had long since recognized Chen Haoming's fierce possessiveness toward Ruan Meizhen, as though she were his private property.
That was precisely why Chen Haoming hated him, the junior disciple who spent every day with Ruan Meizhen, and why his murderous intent kept growing.
When Chi Jingchen called for him to come to the rescue, he had ignored him in the hope that Chen Haoming would die from demon spirit infestation, sparing him the trouble of eliminating the man himself.
But this was Tamu Town, and its mayor, Cui Pinyuan, strictly forbade anyone from fighting to the death on his territory.
Cui Pinyuan was only a rogue cultivator, so Zhao Changfeng had not taken him seriously. His master, Teng Kun, however, had issued the same order: fellow disciples were not to kill one another before the demon spirit tide was resolved.
Besides, Chen Haoming was at the late yuanqi stage. Killing him would entail considerable risk.
With these thoughts in mind, Zhao Changfeng asked, "Why come to me?"
Shi Yue remained respectful and answered earnestly, "Your senior brother called for help just now, but you ignored him."
"Also, to be honest, my son's keepsake is actually on Chen Haoming. I overheard his conversations with Zhang Mu and the others. He's been harboring murderous intentions toward you all along!"
"Just yesterday, he told those fellow disciples that once the demon spirit crisis was over, he would find an opportunity to kill you!"
With the aid of that little bell, Shi Yue had been keeping constant watch on Chen Haoming's movements and had learned quite a few useful things.
There was another reason he had approached Zhao Changfeng. The way Zhao Changfeng had slaughtered his companions in the desert had been brutally bloody, clearly demonstrating his ability to kill opponents above his own level.
Earlier, Zhao Changfeng had appeared all over town, taking the demon spirits infesting the City Guard Army into himself and wearing them away within a short time.
That alone proved Zhao Changfeng had a will as unyielding as iron, along with some unknown, extraordinary means.
After turning it over in his mind, Shi Yue decided that Zhao Changfeng, who shared his enemy, possessed exceptional fighting strength, and struck with savage brutality, was the ideal person to avenge his two sons.
He clings to me like a restless ghost. I hadn't even thought of going after him yet, and he's already set his sights on me.
Zhao Changfeng muttered this to himself.
He gave Shi Yue another searching look and saw that the man remained steeped in intense grief. Clearly, the pain of losing his sons had inflicted tremendous mental torment on him.
He lost two sons, and even knowing the other party is a disciple of the Crippled Demon Sect, he still insists on revenge...
A thought stirred in Zhao Changfeng's mind.
Although the second Small Cauldron had drawn in many demon spirits, it had not formed an effective obsession-born inner demon and could not continuously generate new willpower.
Without an obsession-born inner demon, the mysterious patterns on the Small Cauldron's surface would not appear, leaving him unable to learn the second part of Heavenly Heart Demon-Seeding.
Zhao Changfeng rose to his full height and stepped over to Shi Yue.
Studying the bewildered Shi Yue, he said calmly, "Don't move. I'll check your cultivation level."
Silently circulating the Heavenly Heart Demon-Seeding art, he placed his hand on Shi Yue's shoulder. His brows immediately relaxed.
It works!
Scene after scene appeared within the second cauldron: images of Shi Yue enduring untold hardships to raise his two children, along with many important experiences from his life.
After examining them for a while, Zhao Changfeng understood the broad outline of his story.
Shi Yue had embarked on cultivation when he was nearly eighty. Seeing the hundred-year limit of a mortal lifespan approaching, he had sought to break that limit and keep living.
An old man nearing eighty would hardly have any talent for cultivation, and even if he did... what sect would accept him?
After painstaking efforts, he had found a copy of the Profound Yin Scripture and begun cultivating as a rogue cultivator. Demonic Cultivation Arts progressed quickly, and in a little over ten years, he had reached the perfected yuanjing stage.
From then on, every attempt to break through had ended in failure.
Utterly despairing, Shi Yue had chosen to have children to carry on his line. Heaven had shown him some kindness, and he had indeed succeeded in fathering two sons.
He had treasured both children as the continuation of his own life, naturally showering them with love and care.
With offspring of his own, he no longer feared death so much. Instead, he had untied the knot in his heart-the fear of dying of old age-and unexpectedly broken through his bottleneck into the yuanqi stage, gaining another hundred years of life.
He attributed those hundred years to his two sons, believing they had given them to him.
Now both sons were dead. His entire sky had collapsed, and his sole desire was to kill Zhang Mu and Chen Haoming.
This obsession-born inner demon was quite powerful. It had already begun generating new willpower, much to Zhao Changfeng's satisfaction.
Shi Yue, whose shoulder he was holding, was completely bewildered. He felt no change in his body and said, "There's no need to go to such trouble. I'm at the middle yuanqi stage, and lately I've felt hopeful about breaking through to the late stage."
"If you need me, I can help with everything I have. I've long since prepared myself to die!"
Zhao Changfeng withdrew his hand and said with a hesitant expression, "Chen Haoming is my dear senior brother, and our master has strictly forbidden fellow disciples from killing one another. You're putting me in a very difficult position!"
Shi Yue was stunned. Haven't you killed enough fellow disciples already? Hong Xian, Lin Kexin, Zhang Mu-which of them wasn't your fellow disciple? Didn't all those junior brothers from your Lingxiao Sect fall victim to your murderous hands?
-He had already thoroughly investigated Zhao Changfeng's history.
"Then what do you have in mind, Brother Zhao?"
Knowing perfectly well that Zhao Changfeng meant to raise the price, Shi Yue still had no choice but to steel himself and ask.
"How about paying a little extra? Three thousand spirit stones, and you'll have to give me half up front."
Zhao Changfeng remained perfectly composed.
Shi Yue had no choice. After silently weighing his resources, he gritted his teeth and agreed. "Fine. Three thousand it is!"
The atmosphere in the simple council hall remained oppressive.
That was because Song Zejun and his wife had merely withdrawn from Tamu Town for the time being, rather than died.
Heavyhearted and frowning, Cui Pinyuan kept urging Ruan Meizhen and Qin Hui to notify the powers behind them as soon as possible and request more reinforcements.
Preferably experts in the three calamities realm.
He had noticed how composed Song Zejun and his wife were when they left and suspected their injuries were not that serious. Moreover, the demon spirit tide's army had yet to arrive. Every moment was torment.
"Zhao Changfeng has rendered a great service. I'll set up a formation shortly and report this to my superiors. The Crippled Demon Sect ought to reward him generously!"
Shen Yanrong had completely changed her tune. She now thought highly of Zhao Changfeng and offered a string of praises.
She spoke of how he understood the greater good, how he had willingly borne infamy to save Tamu Town from danger, and how he had bravely rescued her fellow members of the City Guard Army without regard for his own life.
Ruan Meizhen grew increasingly irritated as she listened.
She knew something of Zhao Changfeng's character. After carefully thinking it over for a long time, she still felt certain that his efforts to rescue people everywhere were motivated by personal gain; she simply did not understand the reason.
If Shen Yanrong reported all the details, her withholding of the demon cores would inevitably be exposed.
Teng Kun and the sect had always been clear-cut in their rewards and punishments. If they learned that Zhao Changfeng had indeed rendered great service and seized quite a few demon cores, they would certainly reward him handsomely afterward.
I'm afraid I won't be able to keep my demon cores. Ah.
Ruan Meizhen sighed inwardly.
"Miss Ruan, please have a proper talk with your junior brother later and ask him exactly when he noticed something wrong with Song Zejun and his wife."
"The movements of Song Zejun and his wife in recent years, and what they did when your Crippled Demon Sect arrived, are all important intelligence. We can use that to determine how long they've been colluding with the demon spirits."
Qin Hui spoke with solemn emphasis.
Ruan Meizhen nodded lightly. "Understood. I'll ask him later."
Chen Jian of the Ghost-Controlling Sect had not said a word. Now he rubbed his ear, seemingly tired of listening to their conversation.
When the others present had dismissed Zhao Changfeng and refused to try, he had been the one to approach Zhao Changfeng to snuff out the hidden threat. He had also been the first to strike the couple with a stunning shock.
Yet Zhao Changfeng had become the hero, praised repeatedly by everyone, as though Chen Jian had contributed nothing at all.
That kid must have some secret art for dealing with demon spirits. Otherwise, he wouldn't have stepped in to rescue the City Guard Army.
Having watched Zhao Changfeng for a long time through the yin spirit inhabiting his vulture, Chen Jian was the second person who understood him relatively well. He kept feeling that something was off about Zhao Changfeng.
"Spirit jade. One piece is worth a hundred spirit stones. Good stuff."
Holding a smooth, lustrous stone, Zhao Changfeng watched its shimmering glow and the liquid that seemed to flow within it, then broke into a toothy grin.
The fifteen pieces of spirit jade were Shi Yue's advance payment. Each contained a hundred times the spiritual power of a spirit stone, and their appearance, like fine mutton-fat white jade, was indeed pleasing.
After a brief test, he knew that cultivating with spirit jade would increase his efficiency many times over.
Spirit stones, spirit jade, and spirit crystals were the universal currencies of this world's cultivators, exchanged at a ratio of one to a hundred between successive grades. They could be used to construct formations, refine spiritual artifacts, and power enormous objects such as Demon Mountain.
Put plainly, spirit stones, spirit jade, and spirit crystals were cultivators' primary energy sources, involved in every aspect of the cultivation world.
Buying spirit beasts, spiritual pills, and spiritual artifacts, covering the immense expenditure required to fill the dantian during a realm breakthrough, and constructing defensive or offensive formations-all required these things.
A first-rank spirit beast was worth a hundred spirit stones, meaning one could be purchased with a single piece of spirit jade. The spirit jade he now held could buy fifteen first-rank spirit beasts.
If used solely for cultivation, each piece of spirit jade would provide roughly as much power as a first-rank spirit beast, but spirit jade did not contain abundant blood and qi.
I can't waste these. I'll still have to exchange them for first-rank spirit beasts to maximize the improvement in my fighting strength through my Demonic Cultivation Art.
Zhao Changfeng thought to himself.
Creak!
Ruan Meizhen pushed the door open and immediately saw Zhao Changfeng holding a glowing piece of spirit jade, with fourteen more laid out before him.
It was already late at night. Thick clouds obscured the bright moon, and the light from the street could not reach inside.
Yet the glow released by the fifteen pieces of spirit jade brightly illuminated what should have been a dark room, making Zhao Changfeng's figure amid the light especially distinct.
A smile blossomed on his face as he looked up. "Senior Sister Ruan, twenty-seven demon cores belong to me. Now let's discuss a deal."
At these words, Ruan Meizhen immediately knew she could no longer pocket the demon cores. Inwardly startled, she wondered who had told him their secret.
"Just give me twenty demon cores. You can keep the other seven."
Zhao Changfeng took out another five pieces of spirit jade, his smile growing even more radiant. "On top of that, I'll give you five pieces of spirit jade."
Ruan Meizhen closed the door and silently walked over to sit on the bed. Only then did she look at him with beautiful eyes that shimmered like rippling water. Her lustrous lips stirred slightly. "What do you want me to do?"
Zhao Changfeng's smile faded, and a keen edge seemed to flash from his eyes. "Help me put on a little act. I want to kill Chen Haoming."