Human and Tiger, Learning Together; the Plague Dao's Immortal Abode

Before long, the scholar returned, his face laden with sorrow.

His eyes were red-rimmed; clearly, he and Tu Qing'er had just had a good cry together.

Ah, still such a little crybaby.

Wen Dan looked at Ao Ding.

Ao Ding smiled without a word.

Once the three had gathered, the flood dragon maiden quietly explained Ao Ding's idea.

"You want me to duel the tiger spirit?" The scholar froze.

He-a frail scholar who could lift nothing in his hands nor carry anything on his shoulders-could... could he really do such a thing?

Ao Ding said, "That tiger is stronger than even I am. Naturally, we aren't asking you to fight him hand to hand. If martial means won't work, we'll use literary ones."

He drew He Xiao to his side and whispered to him at length. He Xiao's expression shifted, but the fear between his brows proved difficult to dispel.

Wen Dan sneered. "What, all that empty talk of true love-and now that the moment has come, you're unwilling to act?"

Provoked by Wen Dan, He Xiao gritted his teeth and agreed.

"All right, I'll go!"

They did not even wait until the next day. Once the banquet dispersed, Ao Ding led the flood dragon maiden and He Xiao to block the tiger demon White Great King's road back to his mountain.

"A human cultivator?"

The tiger demon immediately grew wary and ordered his ghost soldiers into formation.

His royal father had said that human cultivators were the most wicked of all. One moment of carelessness, and he would be captured and made into a mount.

"Please be calm, Great King-I'm not the one who's come to see you this time."

Ao Ding stepped aside, revealing He Xiao behind him.

Looking at the white-browed, golden-eyed tiger towering over ten feet tall before him, He Xiao stepped forward trembling and said gravely, "I admire the young lady of the Tu Household and have come expressly to challenge you to a duel, Great King."

White Great King froze. He sniffed to either side, then rubbed his chin.

I'm not under an illusion. This cultivator beside him isn't playing tricks.

He said gravely, "You-a two-legged human? A mortal? You've come to challenge this great king?"

He Xiao's expression did not change. "In strength, I naturally cannot compare with you. But the person Little Qing loves is no brute, but a man of letters. I... want to compete with you in reading."

"No!" White Great King refused without a second thought. "I'm not an idiot. How could I be your match at reading? As for Tu Qing'er's love, what would I want that for? Can it fill my belly? I'm taking a concubine to forge a marriage alliance. Who cares about your true feelings? When the time comes, she can endure a few rounds with my tiger cock. If she lives, she stays; if she dies, I toss her out. If you like her, I can give her to you once I'm done playing with her."

Out of consideration for Ao Ding and the flood dragon maiden on a distant treetop, White Great King felt he had been very polite.

"You-" He Xiao flew into a rage and wanted to step forward to argue.

But looking at the other party's savage, fang-baring face, then at his own slight frame, he silently abandoned the idea of fighting and instead took out a book according to their original plan.

"Read this before you say anything-"

White Great King lazily swiped a paw. A fierce wind swept up the book and rapidly turned its pages before him.

At first, he paid it little heed, but soon, upon seeing a wisp of clear qi flash across its pages, his expression showed some shock.

"This is-" His tiger eyes fixed on Ao Ding beside him.

Ao Ding smiled. "A fragment of the Nine Heavens Azure Green Primordial Scripture. What you and He Xiao will be competing in is your aptitude for understanding what you read-whoever comprehends its mysteries wins. If he wins, please show mercy, Great King, and let a loving couple be together."

"And if I win?"

"The book is yours. Though this fragment is a lucky find, your Tiger Clan-especially your particular lineage-needs it badly, doesn't it?"

White Great King ground his claws against the earth, scratching it repeatedly as he considered...

Only after a long while did he give a firm nod.

"Done-I agree! But exactly how will we compete?"

"To ensure fairness, He Xiao will eat and live with you for a while. You'll be responsible for providing his meals-and they must be safe and harmless. Still, I imagine you wouldn't tamper with such things and disgrace your entire Tiger Clan, would you? If you really did, I could always spread the word afterward..."

"Hmph-I naturally wouldn't play dirty! Rest assured, while he's with me, he won't lose so much as a hair. Only-I've never liked reading, so this is somewhat unfair. I can't even read this scripture fluently."

"That's simple. He Xiao will teach you. In addition, you must teach him about cultivation-you don't understand reading, and he doesn't understand cultivation. Both of you have your shortcomings."

White Great King thought it over. That did indeed make sense.

Though he did not read, he could consult others later. If He Xiao played tricks, he could find other spirits who knew how to read. Wouldn't the Tu Household be an excellent choice? He could even summon Tu Qing'er; surely the Tu Household would not dare resist.

But this mortal was different. Without knowing the methods of cultivation, what could he possibly comprehend in a few short days?

As for whether Ao Ding would teach He Xiao beforehand, White Great King did not care in the slightest.

The Nine Heavens Azure Green Primordial Scripture was profoundly abstruse, a fragment passed down since ancient times among the immortal sects. Over all those years, no cultivator had been able to comprehend it. Moreover, its cultivation methods did not belong to the same lineage as Ao Ding's.

Seeing him agree, Ao Ding immediately produced a contract.

Once the contract was established, spiritual power enveloped He Xiao and White Great King, ensuring that White Great King could no longer harm He Xiao in any way during this period.

"All right, off you go-study hard, and teach well."

Ao Ding beckoned to He Xiao, who walked shakily over to White Great King.

"Great King, please-sorry for the trouble of looking after me for the coming while, Tiger King."

"Easily done."

White Great King took the fragmentary scripture in his mouth. With his heart speeding home like an arrow, he transformed into a fierce wind and rushed straight for his lair. As for He Xiao, he ordered a ghost soldier to carry him home.

"More or less, the plan can begin now. Hopefully, this time will allow some affection to develop between them."

The tiger was stubborn, so they would give him a step to climb down.

Preserve his dignity and devise a solution that satisfied both sides.

Wen Dan pondered for a while, then suddenly asked, "Later, would you be interested in exploring an immortal abode with me? It belonged to one of your human cultivators. I don't want the immortal abode, only the legacy. I can give you the abode."

"An immortal abode?"

"It's beneath a mountain stream somewhere in White Mountain Commandery. Tu Qing'er has the key to open it. That immortal abode was one of my reasons for agreeing to help them. But I live in the water, so cave abodes and such mean nothing to me. I'll give you the cave abode afterward-as compensation for contributing your cultivation scripture."

A cave abode?

Ao Ding had scarcely given such things any thought.

Right now, all he wanted was to find a master.

"Say yes-say yes!" Inside the Primordial Truth Mirror, Red Child urged anxiously, "What True Person doesn't have a cave abode? Look at the three True Persons Sun Chen found for us-which of them lives inside the Guangfa Sect? Haven't they all established their own cave abodes on Liyun Continent? From what Sun Chen said, he even has his own immortal cave abode in the Eastern Wasteland. Having another cave abode won't stop us from taking a master later, will it?"

On this point, even Blue Child and Yellow Boy offered their rare words of persuasion.

After considering it, Ao Ding silently nodded his agreement.

"Then let's go-there's no time to lose. Let's find Tu Qing'er."

After the banquet, Tu Qing'er found a way to avoid her elder sister and was also coming to seek the flood dragon maiden.

Hearing that the two had sent He Xiao to White Great King, the Fox Immortal's lovely face drained of color with fright, and she nearly lost her footing.

"Don't worry," Ao Ding reassured her. "I've placed safeguards on He Xiao. He won't die. Even if my safeguards fail, at worst I can go to the underworld and fish him out. Just wait with your mind at ease."

Tu Qing'er studied the handsome human youth, who had now dispelled his illusion, and said softly, "I understand. It's just that I still feel somewhat uneasy."

What a handsome young man!

But with love now filling her head, Tu Qing'er felt only appreciation, without the slightest stir of lust.

She took out a map and a key and explained their origins.

"One of my ancestral great-aunts was the cave abode owner's concubine. Later, when the Plague Daoist died, she returned to our clan, but she too passed away a few years afterward. Before her death, she left only this map and key, telling us to find an outstandingly talented human so that his Dao lineage could continue."

Against the broader backdrop of conflict between humans and demons, there were naturally reasons why the Six Sects had not completely forbidden cultivators from taking Demon Race concubines for pleasure.

Demons could be good or bad. When a Dao cultivator died, sometimes his disciples had no desire to seek his reincarnation and guard his path; instead, it was those demon spirits who ordinarily seemed to have little genuine affection for him who remembered his kindness and sought his reincarnation to repay him.

Of course, there were also cases of concubines stealing their masters' property to enrich their own families, even bringing all their Demon Race relatives into the immortal abode and going so far as to strip their masters' households of power.

In short, demon-spirit concubines and servants had a reputation that was half good and half bad in the cultivation world; each case had to be judged on its own merits.

Clearly, Tu Qing'er's great-aunt had been a demon of reasonably good character, still remembering to help preserve the Plague-Dispelling Dao's legacy.

But upon hearing this, Ao Ding's expression turned somewhat peculiar.

"The Plague Daoist, the Plague-Dispelling Dao?"

"That's right. You know of them, fellow Daoist?"

"As far as I know, the Plague-Dispelling Dao seems to have an heir... someone surnamed Qi."

"That's right, there is a Daoist Qi." Tu Qing'er's gaze flickered, and her words grew somewhat vague. "Back then, I happened to save a human cultivator at the foot of the mountain. Seeing that his aptitude was quite good, I gave him the map and key and directed him to inherit that cave abode. But a few years ago, he returned the key to me, saying he was going to seek revenge and asking me to find another talented person for the Plague-Dispelling Dao."

Ao Ding was puzzled. "Since you have a human legacy, why not save it for He Xiao? Wouldn't it be wonderful for the two of you to enjoy long lives together?"

"How could I possibly do that? The Plague-Dispelling Dao's arts are sinister and strange. Not only do they disfigure people, but they also make their temperaments increasingly perverse."

After speaking, Tu Qing'er added, "I only understood this after observing Daoist Qi's subsequent changes-I knew nothing of it beforehand."

Ao Ding pondered in silence.

Watching through the Primordial Truth Mirror, Red Boy bristled with righteous indignation. "Something's wrong. This demon woman is being vague-she must be hiding something! Hmph, hmph-don't think you can fool me, the future foremost figure of the cultivation world!"

Indeed, she is hiding something.

Ao Ding thought silently.

But Wen Dan said eagerly, "It harms humans, but we only need to avoid practicing the plague arts. Are you willing to give us this legacy?"

"Yes. But the condition is the same as before: you must copy out the Plague-Dispelling Dao's cultivation methods and scriptures, and help pass them on in the future."

"Of course." Wen Dan readily agreed.

Tu Qing'er was very generous. Seemingly not at all afraid that the two would go back on their word, she handed them the key to the immortal abode outright.

Wen Dan was even more impatient, dragging Ao Ding off to the cave abode that very day.