Chapter 107: Interpretation

Wen Xu had already been rescued, his feet firmly on the ground. Hearing this, he raised his hand. “You mean this? I don’t know either.”

As he spoke, he actually gave it a shake. The black and red aura dispersed uncontrollably, tempting Sword Venerable Meixi to draw his sword again. Could this newly recruited Little Grand-Uncle Master of Yonglu Mountain have been seduced by some evil path? he wondered.

“Stop, stop, stop! You two, master and disciple, are going to be the death of me!” Gu Wufang blurted out his inner thoughts in his panic. Heaven knew how fast his heart was beating right now. “Little Martial Uncle, how do you… feel right now?”

Wen Xu shook his head. “It’s nothing serious. This thing…”

“This thing jumped out of the storage bag of spiritual seeds sent by Zhou Ji’s father. At the time, it flew straight toward… Little Grand-Uncle Master’s forehead. It’s definitely nothing good!” Bian Chunzhou added immediately.

“Zhou Ji’s father? Zhou Zhongling?” Gu Wufang’s mood grew even worse. “How dare you accept things sent by someone of such dubious origins!”

These words were spoken in a fit of anger, and Gu Wufang immediately felt they were inappropriate. Just as he was about to say something to smooth it over, he heard Wen Xu readily bow his head and admit his mistake. This made him feel even more guilty. They were just some worthless spiritual seeds; accepting them was no big deal. In truth, his Little Martial Uncle hadn’t really done anything wrong.

While they were speaking, Zheng Jin finally arrived with Zhi Lianshan. The two greeted Gu Wufang and the two Sovereigns. Zhi Lianshan’s face was deathly pale, showing that using his spiritual power had not been easy on him. Yet he had still insisted on coming over, all for the sake of saying, “Sect Master, why not have Sword Venerable Meixi try striking this arc of light with a lightning spell?”

“Oh? Are you sure?”

Zhi Lianshan nodded. “This disciple is sure.”

Gu Wufang turned to ask Wen Xu, “Are you willing as well?”

Wen Xu nodded. “This disciple is willing.”

As for Sword Venerable Meixi, he was naturally very willing. However, if he had to strike with such precise lightning, using a sword would be somewhat inconvenient. He considered it for a moment, then drew a lightning-attracting talisman from his robes. After all, this was the Little Grand-Uncle Master of Yonglu Mountain. The Suitian Sword Sect did not fear Yonglu Mountain, but… it was best not to offend that Dragon Venerable if they could help it.

Sword Venerable Meixi tossed the lightning-attracting talisman into the air above Wen Xu’s right hand. Then, he pressed his fingers together like a sword, guiding the sword light to draw lightning into the talisman. The talisman instantly shot toward the black and red aura. At that moment, Wen Xu felt the arc of light gripped in his palm struggling frantically. He exerted every ounce of his spiritual power, barely managing to keep it from breaking free.

“I can’t hold on much longer…”

The moment Wen Xu cried out, the lightning finally pierced through his palm. The expected pain did not come; instead… a thick, nauseating aura emerged once more.

Wen Xu subconsciously let go, but the black and red arc of light had already faded. In its place appeared a… no, a small half of a Demon Seed, wrapped in a sinister aura.

Gu Wufang cursed inwardly. He, Sword Venerable Meixi, and Master Yicheng struck simultaneously. Their three forces intertwined, finally stabilizing the partial Demon Seed and keeping it from taking root in the ground.

That was close.

Wen Xu collapsed to the ground and… began to retch.

Bian Chunzhou & Chen Zui: This familiar sight… Could this thing be… related to demons?!

With three Soul Transformation Sovereigns taking action, and one of them being Sword Venerable Meixi who practiced lightning arts, the partial Demon Seed was finally sealed for the time being. Holding the partial Demon Seed trapped in purple lightning, Sword Venerable Meixi asked, “Didn’t they say the one who fell to the demonic path appeared in Sifang City?”

“Don’t get me started. This entire matter has been bizarre from start to finish. Take it to the Demon-Slaying Grand Array first. Delay breeds trouble.”

Sword Venerable Meixi nodded. “Very well. I shall take my leave first.”

Having finished speaking, he could not help but steal another glance at Yonglu Mountain’s Little Grand-Uncle Master. Right now, there was not a trace of demonic aura left on him. So… could someone actually resist the invasion of a Demon Seed? Or was his Dao Heart so perfect that even a Demon Seed could find no opening to exploit? If that was the case, it was no wonder the Dragon Venerable had taken him as a disciple.

After a moment’s thought, he pulled out a Nine Heavens Thunder Talisman and handed it over. “My apologies. I caused you offense earlier.”

“No…” Ugh, he still felt like throwing up.

“Take it. I have urgent business, so I won’t linger.” With that, he left the talisman floating in the air and vanished. He truly came and went like the wind.

Seeing this, Gu Wufang still felt uneasy and checked Wen Xu’s pulse. Finding no damage, he finally set his mind at ease. “This Nine Heavens Thunder Talisman is incredibly powerful. Since he gave it to you, just accept it. The rest of you, rest and meditate first. Yicheng, let us go check the Tianji Pavilion’s flying ship.”

“Amitabha. Let us go.”

On the Tianji Pavilion’s flying ship, the injured Song Zijing was holding Xin Ci, channeling spiritual power into her. Sword Venerable Meixi’s strike earlier had directly shattered the evil force clinging to Xin Ci, but as a party to the contract, Xin Ci had also been affected.

Crimson blood continued to seep from her wound, soaking her clothes, and the life force in her body was rapidly dispersing. However, for a cultivator, this was not actually a fatal injury. The true culprit draining her life force was that deadly Soul Contract.

There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Xin Ci knew this, of course. But when she was on the verge of death, even if she knew it was poison, she would have swallowed it! She had saved Zhou Ji and given him her whole heart, yet he only paid lip service to loving her. In the Zhou Family, she had lived worse than a servant. She was clearly his savior, yet simply because she fell in love with him, she had to endure endless harassment, ultimately sinking into the very dust.

Back then, she still believed her forbearance had meaning. It was only when… her life was about to end that she finally realized her mistake. The lover she adored had no backbone, and his father was a venomous snake. She only regretted saving Zhou Ji in the first place!

Since that was the case, she would make him return his life to her!

When rage overrode everything else, by the time Xin Ci realized what was happening, she had already made a deal with a devil. She was no longer a mortal girl; by a stroke of luck, she had entered the Tianji Pavilion and become the junior sister of the Pavilion Master.

With such a status, even if she did nothing, it would be enough to crush the Zhou Family of Nanfeng City.

She had been ecstatic, eager to return for revenge. However, the devil she made the deal with did not want her to return immediately. Instead, it had her focus on her cultivation, waiting until the Five Sects Conference to enact the most ruthless vengeance.

So Xin Ci endured. She endured and endured, until the Five Sects Conference finally arrived, and she could at last kill her enemy with her own hands. Yet her time in the Tianji Pavilion had gradually made her peaceful. Many times, she did not even want revenge anymore. If she could just stay on Tianji Mountain, she… was even willing to find a way to forget the past.

But the devil told her she must have her revenge.

Xin Ci began to regret the Soul Contract she had signed with the devil. But the contract bound her, forcing her to find ways to appear before the Zhou father and son time and again, driving the Zhou Family toward their doom step by step.

Ultimately, she had drawn the demon into the world.

Xin Ci realized clearly that she had become a sinner.

“Song… I’m sorry. I lied… to… you all. I…”

On her deathbed, Xin Ci struggled to voice the apologies in her heart, but she knew words were useless. In truth, she should have died long ago. A-Yu had died from the Zhou Family’s schemes, while she… was dying from a web of her own making.

“I’m… sorry.”

When Gu Wufang and Master Yicheng boarded, they arrived just in time to catch Xin Ci before she breathed her last. Seeing this, Yicheng immediately acted, managing to barely keep her hanging on to life. But they both knew that once a person’s life force was gone, even a golden immortal could not save her.

“Song Zijing, where is your master?”

Song Zijing quickly composed himself upon seeing this. “Reporting to Sect Master Gu, my master has rushed back to Tianji Pavilion. A demon has appeared in the world, yet Tianji Pavilion detected no signs of it. Master said there might be trouble brewing within the pavilion.”

“You…”

Gu Wufang wanted to ask more, but it was obvious Song Zijing did not know much either. On top of that, Tianji Pavilion’s Little Martial Uncle was on the brink of death. Why was all this trouble piling up at once? His gaze fell upon Xin Ci, the Little Martial Uncle of Tianji Pavilion. He had just heard from Zhi Lianshan that this woman had signed a Soul Contract with a demon. If that was the case, she was bound to be, regarding the appearance of the Demon Seed… far from innocent.

How could the old Pavilion Master of Tianji Pavilion have taken such a disciple?

“Do you know of the Zhou Family of Nanfeng City?”

Tianji Pavilion was right near Nanfeng City, so Song Zijing naturally knew of them. “What about the Zhou Family?”

“The former head of the Zhou Family, Zhou Zhongling, was the one who fell to demonhood in Sifang City.”

“What?” Song Zijing was astonished. “How is that possible?” Even a Qi Refining disciple knew how harsh the conditions were for a cultivator to fall to demonhood. He had met the head of the Zhou Family before, and the man did not look like someone who would turn into a demon at all.

“He offended your Tianji Pavilion, conspiring with others to steal your pavilion’s secret treasure. He was expelled from the Zhou Family because of it, and in his utter despair, he fell to demonhood.”

As the eldest disciple of the Tianji Pavilion Master, Song Zijing knew… absolutely nothing about this. He could not help but look at his Little Martial Uncle, Xin Ci, as a faint realization began to dawn on him.

Seeing his reaction, Gu Wufang understood as well. “It seems this is all connected to your Little Martial Uncle. I only wonder what kind of grudge she holds against the Zhou Family.”

“Um, Sect Master…” Bian Chunzhou quietly raised his hand from nearby. “This disciple knows a little about it. Would you like to hear?”

Gu Wufang whipped his head around, nearly spraining his neck. Listen to this. How does this make any sense? The people from Tianji Pavilion themselves knew nothing, yet a disciple from his own Yonglu Mountain knew a bit. If you all put this much effort into your cultivation, you wouldn’t still be struggling to reach Foundation Establishment!

“Let’s hear it.”

“Well, it’s like this. Me and…” Bian Chunzhou rambled on, recounting the story of A-Yu and that Zhou scumbag. Of course, his gossip was incomplete; until today, he had thought that Xin Ci, or A-Yu, had simply been rescued. He had never expected a demon to be involved.

What was even more unexpected was that the cultivator who had fallen to demonhood in Sifang City was actually Father Zhou, the very man who had delivered the spirit seeds to apologize on his son’s behalf!

Who could have guessed? Bian Chunzhou thought indignantly. No wonder he had found Father Zhou so grating to look at that day. He had thought he was just being prejudiced, but who would have thought? It was actually a Demon Seed.

It was too terrifying. Going out was so dangerous; it made him afraid to leave home ever again.

Looking at the three Qi Refining disciples sitting in a neat row, all sharing a love for gossip, Gu Wufang suddenly did not feel so exasperated anymore. After all, compared to being involved with demons, enjoying a bit of gossip was harmless. In fact, it could even prove surprisingly useful at times.

For instance, right now, the truth that so many of them were blind to was actually held by three Qi Refining disciples. They had even stumbled their way into finding a small portion of a Demon Seed that had slipped away.

But then again, how had the Little Martial Uncle managed to capture the Demon Seed alive? It was truly mind-boggling.