"Devil Venerable Yin Fan..."
In this world, no one besides him and Yin Fan himself knew that the approachable Senior Brother Jing of the Heavenly Sword Sect, admired by so many disciples, was actually the same person as Yin Fan, the newly risen Devil Venerable of the Devil Domain.
"Interesting."
The prayer beads in his hand began turning again, and Wu Fei's lips curved with a wickedness he would never ordinarily let outsiders see.
Not long after he transmigrated into the still-young Wu Fei, he had noticed something was wrong.
When he first arrived, he had merely read a romance storybook in front of a junior sect brother. The next day, he unexpectedly slipped beside a well. Had several senior sect brothers not caught him with quick eyes and hands, he would certainly have fallen into the well and died.
Yet when he was alone in his room, nothing happened, no matter how many storybooks he read.
At first, Wu Fei had also thought it was a coincidence, until one time he made a remark involving greed for money in front of his fellow disciples. The following day, the plaque above the main hall nearly struck him squarely. That plaque was made of immensely heavy stone; had he not anticipated it and dodged quickly, he would certainly have died on the spot.
From then on, Wu Fei was only Wu Fei in public; only in private was he truly Lu Wufei.
Wu Fei raised his eyes toward the air, his gaze seeming to look through it at something beyond.
That book was called "Heavenly Dao," yet the words "Heavenly Dao" had never appeared anywhere in its text. Could the rules binding him... be the so-called Heavenly Dao?
And the protagonist of "Heavenly Dao"...
Wu Fei's fingers abruptly stilled.
Others were struck by his beauty at first sight, but the perfected state of mind showing through his eyes soon soothed them. Only Jing Fanyu...
Wu Fei slowly raised his arm. The hideous wound from earlier that day had long since healed, and red blood flowed beneath his fair skin. The look he had seen that day surfaced in his mind...
For an instant, Jing Fanyu's eyes had fixed intently on his wound. That look had held a fleeting urge to destroy.
In all this time, Yin Fan was the first person whose cultivation was on par with his yet remained unaffected by his perfected state of mind.
Interesting indeed.
More interesting still, in the original book, Yin Fan had not gone to the Devil Suppression Prison tonight to dispose of Meiji. Meiji had only later been rescued by Devil Venerable Mingyu.
Wu Fei pondered, the smooth prayer beads slipping one by one between his well-defined fingers with a peculiar rhythm.
Buddhist cultivators had always preferred quiet, so the courtyard the Heavenly Sword Sect had arranged for the Buddha Spirit Sect was the quietest place in the sect, separated from the other areas by a vast grove of green bamboo.
Now, however, the breeze carrying the faint, fresh fragrance of bamboo held traces of another presence.
"Fellow Daoist, wherever you may be, why not show yourself?"
Wu Fei did not open his eyes, nor did the prayer beads in his hand stop. His even voice carried the Zen quality unique to Buddhist cultivators.
Chapter 2: The Tracker (typo fixes)
After his words fell, everything remained silent.
But a gaze with an exceptionally strong presence suddenly landed on Wu Fei, utterly brazen.
In an instant, Wu Fei understood: the gaze belonged to Devil Venerable Yin Fan.
Wu Fei remained utterly still, allowing that gaze to scrutinize him. Only after a long while did a cloud of black mist slowly emerge before him. The dense aura of a Devil Cultivator finally made him open his eyes.
The masked Devil Venerable stood before Wu Fei, his ink-dark eyes studying him with interest.
Wu Fei confirmed once again that Yin Fan truly was unaffected by his exquisite state of mind.
Devil Venerable Yin Fan used bloody, brutal methods. With late Spirit Transformation cultivation, he had slain a Devil Venerable at the Mahayana stage and taken his place, becoming the Devil Domain's newly risen Devil Venerable.
Both the cultivation world and the other Devil Venerables of the Devil Domain believed Yin Fan only possessed late Spirit Transformation cultivation. But Wu Fei, who had read the original book, knew perfectly well that Yin Fan had advanced to the Mahayana stage shortly after becoming a Devil Venerable.
Now that he had met Devil Venerable Yin Fan, Wu Fei could tell that he was still at the Mahayana stage. In that case, it was not because of cultivation. The reason he remained unaffected by Wu Fei's exquisite state of mind could only lie in Yin Fan himself...
The white-robed Buddhist cultivator remained silent, pondering privately. To the Devil Venerable, however, Wu Fei was outright ignoring him. The sight made the Devil Venerable's gaze change, and he raised a hand to clamp Wu Fei's chin.
"Are you not afraid of me?"
In his eyes, Wu Fei was merely an insignificant Golden Core stage Buddhist cultivator and ought to fear him.
A slight pain came from his jaw, but Wu Fei's expression remained unchanged.
"With no attachments in the heart, what is there to fear?"
Wu Fei spoke, meeting the Devil Venerable's gaze with clear eyes that seemed capable of seeing through his mask.
The face he had seen that day suddenly surfaced in his mind. Wu Fei could not help wondering whether the face behind this mask had now shed its other mask of noble, unblemished grace...
The protagonist's face, along with the Devil Venerable's unrestrained, willful nature, suited his tastes very well. Unfortunately...
Wu Fei sighed inwardly. Unfortunately, in front of others, he could only be Wu Fei.
Enraged by his attitude, Yin Fan sent thin strands of Demonic Qi out of his fingertips and pressed them against the Buddhist disciple's cheek. Beneath the yellowish lamplight, the shadowlike Demonic Qi writhed, inexplicably lending an eerie quality to the white-robed Buddhist cultivator who desired nothing.
"Even if I destroy that face of yours, you will not be afraid?"
Wu Fei's expression did not change. "Outward appearances are external things. Naturally, I have no fear."
Though he said this, he was thinking of the Youth-Preserving Pills Senior Brother Kushi refined back in the sect. Just one pill would restore skin as soft and tender as a young maiden's. They had earned quite a few Spirit Stones to keep the Buddha Spirit Sect running.
The Demonic Qi writhed, and several red marks immediately appeared on Wu Fei's handsome face. The pain was not intense. A bead of blood slowly welled from the deepest mark and slid down, only to be caught in the fickle Devil Venerable's hand.
"The Buddhist disciple of the Buddha Spirit Sect. I will remember you."
Yin Fan gave a snort of unclear meaning. Then the black mist dispersed, and the Devil Venerable's presence vanished.
Wu Fei's expression instantly turned cold. He raised a hand to touch the red marks and discovered that Yin Fan had not withdrawn his Demonic Qi. That strand lay hidden beneath his skin. Presumably aware of the Exquisite Heart's unique properties, the Demonic Qi merely lay dormant there without moving.
Although he could easily destroy this strand of Demonic Qi, the cultivation he currently displayed to others was only at the Golden Core stage. If he rashly destroyed it, he would certainly arouse even greater suspicion in Yin Fan.