"Thud!"
Something heavy suddenly slammed into the ground from the summit of Demon Mountain, spraying yellow sand and dust and drawing Zhao Changfeng's gaze.
Ruan Meizhen came over and stood beside him to look out at the world beyond. The seductive smile vanished from her face as she said solemnly, "Master is going to investigate the condition of the World Membrane here."
Teng Kun's booming voice suddenly rang out from the swirling yellow sand. "Demon Mountain will set off for the sect again in seven days. You may do as you please until then. Anyone who fails to return in time can make their own way back!"
Two red-robed figures, a man and a woman, flew out of two cave entrances on Demon Mountain's third level, swiftly converging on the old devil like phantoms.
Zhao Changfeng narrowed his eyes, but still could not make out their faces. "Who are they?" he asked curiously.
"Master currently has four formal disciples. Two are in secluded cultivation back at the sect, and these are the other two." Envy and apprehension mingled on Ruan Meizhen's beautiful face as she said wistfully, "Only formal disciples like them are qualified to accompany Master, traveling under his protection to seek out marvels at the World Membrane."
"Perhaps..."
An unusual light shimmered in Ruan Meizhen's bright eyes. "Perhaps they'll capture some extraordinary treasure or wondrous object and break through again, crossing the threshold into the Middle Three Realms."
Teng Kun himself was only in the six tribulations realm. If one of his formal disciples reached the three calamities realm, the entry point to the Middle Three Realms, it would be an immense honor for him, raising even his standing in the Crippled Demon Sect.
Zhao Changfeng asked in surprise, "What happened to the World Membrane in this desert?"
The World Membrane separated the realms of the ordered zone from those of the Unordered Zone. This desert lay in the northwest corner of the Lingyao Realm, adjacent to the Chaotic, Disordered Biluo Realm.
"Our sect is responsible for watching over this area."
"A while ago, the sect suddenly received word that some alien beings from the Biluo Realm seemed to have passed through the World Membrane. Master came specifically to investigate."
"As for sweeping through the righteous sects and destroying the Lingxiao Sect, that was merely something we did along the way."
"Junior Brother Zhao, you don't mind me putting it that way, do you?"
Ruan Meizhen asked with a warm smile.
Zhao Changfeng shook his head and said calmly, "Why would I? I'm a disciple of the Crippled Demon Sect now. You and I are the fellow disciples here."
How many days had it even been since he transmigrated?
What did those people from the Lingxiao Sect have to do with him?
Besides, from his master and his master's wife down to every one of his fellow disciples, was there a single decent person in the entire Lingxiao Sect?
"I knew you wouldn't mind."
Ruan Meizhen pursed her lips in a soft laugh. Pointing a slender finger at the Essence-Devouring Demon Art on the stone platform behind them, she instructed, "Bring that demon art and come try your luck in the desert with me. You've only just joined the demon sect, so there's a lot you don't understand. I can explain things along the way."
"More importantly..."
"You'll be safer with me. Our other fellow disciples might not be nearly as polite as I am to someone like you, who switched from the righteous path to practicing Demonic Cultivation Arts."
Within a single hour, Zhao Changfeng understood what she meant.
Yellow sand stretched without end, seeming to extend from beneath Zhao Changfeng's feet all the way to the edge of the sky.
The wave-like dunes seemed to surge beneath the scorching sun. Everywhere he looked, there was only desolation and deathly silence.
The thin cloth shoes on his feet could not fully keep out the burning heat of the sand, leaving Zhao Changfeng grimacing as he walked.
"Senior Sister Ruan, why are you bringing along a bastard who sold out his master for personal glory?"
The same scarlet robes, embroidered in black with "Crippled" on the front and "Demon" on the back-the signature attire of the Crippled Demon Sect.
Two senior brothers, one tall and one short, rose from their crouches and watched the approaching Ruan Meizhen and Zhao Changfeng warily.
Beside them, two shriveled corpses lay on the loose sand, dressed in robes that were not those unique to the Crippled Demon Sect.
Disgust curled the corners of Ruan Meizhen's lovely mouth. Clearly knowing what they were doing, she asked coldly, "Ordinary people? Or rogue cultivators?"
The shorter man, Chen Haoming, had arms that nearly reached his knees when hanging naturally at his sides. Standing there, he resembled a humanoid ape, and droplets of blood were trickling from his dangling fingertips.
"Rogue cultivators without a sect, of course.
"I practice the Essence-Devouring Demon Art, and I'm at the yuanqi stage, just like you, Senior Sister. How much use could ordinary people's blood... possibly be to me?"
"Besides, I'm no fledgling who just joined the sect. How could I not know the ironclad rule forbidding attacks on commoners?"
Chen Haoming explained with a twitch of his lips, yet remained on guard throughout, as if terrified that Ruan Meizhen might suddenly strike.
Zhao Changfeng was astonished. He had not expected disciples of the Demon Sects to dispense with even a superficial show of cordiality. It seemed they did not forbid fellow disciples from killing one another at all.
In the Lingxiao Sect, where this body's original owner had belonged, no matter how many sinister schemes lurked behind the scenes, fellow disciples always appeared united and affectionate. Fighting and killing one another was strictly forbidden.
"Senior Sister Ruan."
Zhang Mu, who had spoken first, was tall and thin as a bamboo pole. He seemed deeply contemptuous of Zhao Changfeng's betrayal of his master for personal glory. An undisguised thirst for slaughter showed deep in his eyes, which had more white than iris. "I'll pay fifty spirit stones for this fellow's life, so I can absorb the corpse qi from his body after he dies!"
Zhao Changfeng frowned slightly.
Of these two so-called senior brothers before him, one had openly stated that he was at the yuanqi stage. The other was probably at the same stage.
Both were a full level above him. If they attacked him outright now, he would probably breathe his last unless some outside force intervened.
There's nothing nearby to conceal myself behind, so there's nowhere to hide. With my running speed...
Zhao Changfeng swiftly considered ways to respond, only to discover that he truly had no options at all. His heart sank.
"Get on with your own business. Don't get any ideas about Junior Brother Zhao."
Ruan Meizhen gave a soft snort and ignored the two fellow disciples using rogue cultivators' corpses to practice their Demonic Cultivation Arts. She sauntered away, her full, peach-shaped buttocks swaying and trembling beneath her close-fitting robes.
Zhao Changfeng immediately had the sense to follow.
Chen Haoming, who practiced the Essence-Devouring Demon Art, watched Ruan Meizhen's enticing figure recede, his soybean-sized eyes filled with burning desire.
Only after he was certain Ruan Meizhen could no longer hear did he smack his lips and say, his mouth dry, "Even missing an arm, she's still a sexy little marvel!"
Zhang Mu said icily, "It's only an arm she's missing. None of the important parts are gone. It won't stop you from getting down to business."
Chen Haoming nodded repeatedly with a lewd grin. Closing his eyes, he began imagining erotic scenes of maneuvering Ruan Meizhen into all sorts of positions. In that brief instant, he had already cycled through several highly challenging poses.
"She practices the Ten Thousand Poisons Art. Careful your little bird doesn't rot away."
Zhang Mu threw cold water on his fantasies.
"Heh! Once I break through to the primordial spirit realm before her and become Master's formal disciple, won't getting my hands on her be child's play?" Chen Haoming laughed viciously twice, then said mockingly, "She's been stuck at the great perfection of the yuanqi stage for five years now."
"Five years... That's far too long. If she hasn't broken through in all that time, she probably won't have many chances left."
"As for me, although I've only just reached the late yuanqi stage, I'll definitely advance again and enter the primordial spirit realm before long!"
"When that time comes... heh!"
Thinking of such delightful prospects, Chen Haoming felt the heat in his heart and lower abdomen grow increasingly unbearable, and could not help bursting into gleeful laughter.
Zhang Mu snorted and continued needling him. "That boy's good-looking, even a little more handsome than me. Maybe he'll get a taste of her delights before you do."
Zhao Changfeng was tall and well-proportioned, his sharply defined face seemingly carved by knives and axes, exuding an extraordinary air of cold resolve. How was he merely a little more handsome than Zhang Mu?
"Hahaha! You haven't been in the sect long enough. You have no idea how Senior Sister Ruan operates!"
Chen Haoming cackled incessantly, then explained, "Her Ten Thousand Poisons Art has a special trait. When she suffers a backlash from its deadly poisons, she can inject those toxins into someone at the same cultivation stage as herself. That helps relieve the agony of the raging poisons and gives her a chance to escape with her life."
"Over the past few years, not a single fellow disciple who went out with her returned alive to Demon Mountain or the sect."
"I reckon she couldn't find anyone at her stage willing to accompany her, so she settled for bringing that boy along as insurance."
"That boy's at the ninth heaven of the yuan essence realm. Once he switches to a Demonic Cultivation Art, his cultivation is bound to advance rapidly. He'll very likely break through in a short time."
"Once he breaks through to the yuanqi stage, he can become Senior Sister Ruan's backup, taking a calamity of poison backlash in her place."
"Him? Getting there before me?"
"By the time I'm pinning Senior Sister Ruan beneath me and listening to her scream with pleasure, the grass on that boy's grave will probably be over ten feet tall!"
The blazing sun transformed into a bright moon, and night fell.
"The Three Great Ruins are floating landmasses. The sun and moon hang above them, yet they're actually the same thing. Each completed transformation marks a day."
On the cold sand, Zhao Changfeng gazed up at the sky, clicking his tongue in wonder.
This truly was a strange new world, vastly different from the one he had lived in before transmigrating. Filled with countless unimaginable mysteries, it left him awestruck.
The enormous cauldron connected to him by a bond was probably suspended somewhere beyond the sky, like the sun and moon. He wondered whether he might someday use it to study the sun and moon and gaze into the distance at the three landmasses called "Ruins."
"Plop!"
A Dryland Sand Lizard suddenly landed on the sand in front of Zhao Changfeng.
The sand lizard was an arm's length long, with raised, conical scales on its back and the base of its tail. The underside of its tail was pale blue, and round, orange-red spots marked its neck.
"Lucky us. I found a First-Rank Spirit Beast, just the thing for you to practice on."
"The Essence-Devouring Demon Art you chose requires living creatures rich in qi and blood to improve your cultivation. Before cultivators reach the yuanqi stage, they can't open their middle dantian to nourish their flesh and blood, so they aren't worth much to you."
"Birds and beasts, however, naturally have stronger flesh and blood than we do. Even a first-tier one will be very useful to you."
"This sand lizard has no poison in its body, so it won't help my Demonic Cultivation Art much. You get to reap the benefit."
There was a clinging sweetness to Ruan Meizhen's voice.
Her tall, voluptuous figure stood right before Zhao Changfeng. As he sat there and shifted his gaze from the Dryland Sand Lizard to her, the first things he saw were two little hills.
"Senior Sister, how should I repay you?"
Withdrawing his gaze after that brief glance, Zhao Changfeng slowly stood, looking utterly sincere. "The sect doesn't forbid fellow disciples from killing one another. Those two senior brothers already proved that. I, Zhao Changfeng, have only just joined. I have no spirit stones, no equipment, and my cultivation is so low. I truly don't know how I could be of any help to you, Senior Sister."
Ruan Meizhen lightly bit her sensual red lip with her pearly teeth, then smiled with a wealth of seductive charm. "To tell you the truth, I've taken a fancy to you."