"Second Senior Brother, I'm so glad you're here."
Song Ziyan's taut nerves seemed to relax a little, but tear tracks still lingered on her cheeks. She looked so pitiful and fragile that the sight tugged at the heart.
Zhao Changfeng, however, secretly frowned.
The souls of Song Zejun and Zhou Jin were inside the Soul-Pacifying Bead, and their bodies might also have been preserved intact in a state of feigned death. Given the miraculous abilities of this world's cultivators, they could potentially return to life unharmed once their souls and bodies were reunited.
Her parents were not dead, and their souls were right there on her person. That made her "overwhelming grief" rather intriguing.
The Soul-Pacifying Bead concealed both her parents' souls. Handing it over would mean the complete failure of their plans, and their souls would truly be scattered to oblivion. She was therefore unlikely to obediently surrender the bead.
No matter how Lu Tao and Xu Yifei pressured her, or how Ning Luo tried to persuade her, their efforts would probably all be in vain.
The bead suddenly gave off a fluctuation just now. What does that mean? Could the two people inside actually be communicating with her in secret?
The more Zhao Changfeng thought about it, the more interesting he found it.
In the original owner's mind, everyone else was clever. His master and mistress possessed great wisdom, his junior sister had been quick-witted since childhood, and the youngest junior brother, whom the couple regarded as their final disciple, knew a little of everything.
His eldest senior brother and all his junior brothers were articulate, resourceful, and capable. He alone was the dullest.
He considered himself stupid, and his nature was pure and kind, so he had always been obedient.
He obeyed not only his master and mistress, but also his fellow disciples. He did whatever others told him to do, regardless of whether their intentions were good or malicious.
He had long grown accustomed to swallowing whatever came his way, and thought nothing of it.
Isn't this Lingxiao Sect supposed to be a righteous sect?
Why does everyone harbor a hidden agenda when danger comes? Why are their bellies full of schemes to save their own lives?
There was Lin Xingyan's coercion, Ning Luo's sudden killing to win Song Ziyan's trust, and Song Ziyan's performance of pitiful helplessness.
And then there were Song Zejun and Zhou Jin's methods...
When Demon Mountain appeared in the distant sky, the two had openly said they could not escape the Old Devil's pursuit. They had instructed everyone to scatter and survive, hoping to preserve the Lingxiao Sect's legacy.
Now that their souls were hidden inside the Soul-Pacifying Bead, it was clear they knew of the bead's wondrous properties.
They had stayed behind to resist the Old Devil, claiming they were buying everyone a chance to escape. Perhaps they had merely wanted the Old Devil to see them die.
They had told their daughter the Soul-Pacifying Bead's secret and instructed her to swallow it. Having everyone flee separately must have been intended to help Song Ziyan break through successfully by dispersing them.
Unfortunately, no one, including Song Ziyan, had escaped. All had been captured by the Old Devil and imprisoned on this Demon Mountain.
If the two could communicate with Song Ziyan, that meant they actually knew about Lv Yang and Lin Xingyan's deaths, yet they had done nothing.
From the memories Zhao Changfeng had acquired, the prominent demonic cultivators of this world were either deranged, brutal, or cold-blooded killers. Yet they placed tremendous importance on honesty and the spirit of a pact-their every word was a nail driven fast.
In other words... when the Old Devil promised that everyone could live if they handed over the Soul-Pacifying Bead, Lv Yang and Lin Xingyan would not have died if the couple had been willing to sacrifice themselves to save everyone.
"Senior Sister, it doesn't matter if the rest of us die. It's just a pity we won't be able to fulfill Master and Mistress's final wishes and carry on the Lingxiao Sect's legacy."
"There are only a few of us left in the sect. Ah."
The handsome Ning Luo sighed repeatedly, using the weighty matter of the sect's legacy as his opening. He appealed to her emotions and reason, trying every means to coax information out of her.
One moment, he spoke of how deeply he cared for their mistress; the next, he said he missed their master. Song Ziyan seemed to have her grief stirred anew, and her tears flowed without stopping.
Zhao Changfeng found it laughable.
The original owner had indeed been too dull to recognize that Song Ziyan was in love with this strikingly handsome junior brother. But to Zhao Changfeng, even as she played along with the act, her eyes still betrayed veiled affection whenever she looked at Ning Luo.
If they can't find out where the Soul-Pacifying Bead is within two hours, the Old Devil will send the demonic snake to kill someone else. Anyone but Song Ziyan could die. No wonder Ning Luo is anxious.
Zhao Changfeng mulled it over inwardly.
He had only just transmigrated here, so naturally he could not have any attachment to these people from the Lingxiao Sect. Judging by the memories he had inherited, the so-called master and mistress had also concealed a great deal from the original owner.
With the success of the Heaven-Turning War, the order of this world had been turned upside down. Everyone considered joining a Demon Dao Great Sect an honor, while righteous sects like the Lingxiao Sect were met with contempt and loathing.
The surviving members of such sects could only conceal their names and live in hiding, fearing that exposure would leave everyone baying for their blood.
Song Zejun and Zhou Jin found it extremely difficult to recruit disciples through normal channels. Once they found a child with cultivation talent, they would either secretly abduct the child, pay to buy them, or pretend to belong to the Demon Sects to win the parents' trust.
According to them, the original owner had been abandoned by his parents and happened upon by the couple in the mountain woods. But only they knew the truth.
Over the years, because the original owner was kindhearted and not particularly bright, he had been a disciple in name but a servant in practice, shouldering almost every daily chore.
He had worked without complaint, tending to his master and mistress above him while also looking after his junior brothers' and sisters' meals below.
He had done the most work in the entire Lingxiao Sect, yet had the least presence and no real say in anything. He had always been pushed to the margins.
His master and mistress had never even told him what the Soul-Pacifying Bead actually was.
When everyone discussed important matters, they did not care whether he was present, much less what he thought.
Of course, he had never really had an opinion anyway. He had always drifted with the current.
As long as that demonic snake's next target isn't me, I'll keep watching. There's no hurry to flip the table.
Otherwise...
Zhao Changfeng's gaze paused briefly on Song Ziyan's abdomen.
Since demonic overlords honored their word, if his turn truly came to have his brain devoured by the snake, he would naturally reveal the Soul-Pacifying Bead's location in exchange for a chance to live.
As for Ning Luo's urgency, Song Ziyan's acting, or whatever other secret plans Song Zejun and Zhou Jin might have... he did not care.
Cultivation, realms, strength.
Zhao Changfeng examined his own condition again and suddenly detected a dark teal mass of foreign power circling the area of his lower dantian, seemingly trying to slip inside.
The foreign mass had three legs and two handles, with a faint current swirling around it. It actually took the shape of that Bronze Cauldron from beyond the heavens!
It was not a physical object, but an extraordinarily pure energy, brimming with an aura that nourished body and mind. It was clearly of immense benefit to him.
After absorbing those terrifying creatures, the mysterious cauldron in the void beyond the heavens not only poured all those streams of energy into my true body, but also traced this soul to its current vessel?
And then gave me a portion along the way?
Joy rose in Zhao Changfeng's heart.
He immediately tried using the Lingxiao Qi-Controlling Art practiced by the original owner to mobilize that dark teal foreign power and guide it toward his lower dantian.
Whoosh!
The process went unexpectedly smoothly. The instant the cauldron-shaped energy entered the little world within his dantian, it whipped up towering waves in his spirit sea.
The boundaries of his dantian spirit sea expanded continuously outward. Its once-clear, colorless waters shimmered with dark teal light, giving Zhao Changfeng the strange, faint sense that his spirit sea had undergone a fundamental transformation.
He immediately realized that this gift from the Heavenly Cauldron from Beyond the Heavens would surely increase his cultivation speed enormously.
"Second Senior Brother, at a time like this, you're still in the mood to cultivate?"
"In two hours, another one of us will have our brains eaten by the demonic snake. It might be me, or it might be you."
Having exhausted his breath trying every approach, only to find Song Ziyan still unwilling to reveal anything about the Soul-Pacifying Bead's whereabouts, Ning Luo snapped irritably at Zhao Changfeng.
Zhao Changfeng opened his eyes, gave him an honest, guileless smile, then immersed himself in his own world again.
"Awooo!"
A frenzied, beastlike howl suddenly rang out.
A demonic cultivator, also wrapped in a red robe with a huge character meaning "cruelty" embroidered on its chest, came charging over with blood-red eyes.
Bang!
He slammed heavily into the black iron bars, but they did not budge. Only specks of cold black light rippled over their surface.
Unable to break through the bars with that impact, the demonic cultivator began wrenching and battering them with all his strength. His blood-drenched eyes held the burning hunger of an inhuman creature for flesh.
Gurgling sounds came from his throat. His unnerving gaze roamed over Lv Yang and Lin Xingyan's bodies, as though he wanted to swallow their corpses whole.
When he still could not break through the bars, he began clawing at his own hair, cheeks, and neck with sharp fingers, until he was a bloody mess. Then he collapsed, twitching, and lay still.
"He practiced the Corpse Demon Art and, like Eldest Senior Brother, was at the Yuanqi Stage. When he succumbed to demonic madness, he would instinctively crave corpses."
"Judging by this, something must have gone wrong while he was practicing his Demonic Cultivation Art. He wanted to use our two senior brothers' bodies to ease the symptoms of his madness. He failed, so he died just like that."
Ning Luo spoke with lingering fear.
Song Ziyan nodded lightly, disgust filling her pretty face. She said calmly, "Although the demonic path flourishes in today's world, and demonic cultivators advance far faster than we do, they can never resolve the fundamental flaws in their cultivation methods."
"Fast doesn't mean steady."
"Out of a hundred demonic cultivators, at most six or seven can cultivate smoothly all the way to the middle three realms."
"The vast majority of demonic cultivators who die aren't killed in battle. They die from the backlash of their own Demonic Cultivation Art."
"Across the Three Great Ruins and the Great Domains, every demonic cultivator fears this."
"But our Lingxiao Sect's Soul-Pacifying Bead can steady a cultivator's mind and lessen the symptoms when demonic cultivators suffer backlash."
"Although it only lessens them somewhat and cannot solve the problem once and for all, even that is worth driving old devils like Teng Kun into a frenzy to seize it."
Song Ziyan finally revealed some of the Soul-Pacifying Bead's mysteries.
"Senior Sister, where exactly is the bead?!"
"If you want to die, that's your business. We don't want to die yet! Please give the bead to the Old Devil!"
Seeing that much of their time had already slipped away and Teng Kun would soon return, Lu Tao and Xu Yifei were as frantic as two ants on a hot pan. They could not help advancing again.
Song Ziyan shook her head and said quietly, "I truly don't know."
Ning Luo shouted sharply, "Senior Brothers! Take another step forward, and don't blame me for showing no mercy!"
Though equally consumed with anxiety, Ning Luo was still struggling to remain rational and calm. He believed Song Ziyan was determined to join her parents beneath the Nine Springs, and that taking the bead by force was the worst possible option.
-He had not completely given up yet.
"Huff! Huff!"
Lu Tao and Xu Yifei panted heavily. After quickly weighing their strength against the other side's, they stopped once more, returning the situation to a deadlocked standoff.
And so, the two-hour deadline finally arrived.
The Old Devil Teng Kun appeared on schedule.
"My offer remains the same. As long as you give me the Soul-Pacifying Bead, all of you can live."
"As you know, a prominent Great Demon Cultivator like me speaks words that carry the weight of nine cauldrons. No one values honesty more."
The disciple who had died practicing the Corpse Demon Art lay beside his feet, but he seemed long accustomed to such sights. He appeared utterly indifferent and did not even spare the corpse another glance.
On the other side of the bars.
All five of them, Zhao Changfeng included, watched him with differing expressions, their attention focused on his right eye socket.
The Brain-Devouring Snake slowly emerged from his eye socket.
This time, the demonic snake seemed exceptionally patient. It wound unhurriedly through the air and slowly slipped through a gap between the bars.
The shadow of death filled the cave again, as though seeping into their chests and hearts, pressing down on them until they nearly went mad.
Having already settled on his plan, Zhao Changfeng fixed his eyes on the snake's path and carefully retreated step by step, ready to call for a halt and reveal the Spirit-Calming Bead's location at any moment.
Like him, the other four also moved away from the bars, clinging to the hope that the snake's target would not be them.
"Still unwilling to speak? Ah, then there's nothing I can do."
The Old Devil sighed softly.
The demonic snake, linked to his thoughts, suddenly displayed ravenous longing in its green vertical pupils. Its body twisted through the air as it shot toward Ning Luo.
"Why me?!"
Ning Luo's expression changed abruptly.
His handsome face turned paper-white in an instant. His body, once straight and tall as a pine, began trembling violently, and his retreating steps became a stumble.