Guardians of Mountain and Sea - Chapter 15

A state of unrest had been quelled, leaving only a path of desolation in Fan City.

The black clouds dispersed as evening approached, and the setting sun hung slanted against the western city wall, lingering on the verge of falling.

The city was filled with residual blood and mangled flesh; not a single intact limb could be seen. Houses had collapsed, and the streets were plowed open and severed, with deep trenches extending and converging directly onto the formation at the city center.

The ink-colored plant that had burst through the teleportation array remained stagnant. Its massive flower bud drooped slightly, and the black coffin, which had been mostly vomited out, hung suspended in mid-air.

Of the eighteen arrays at the city center, seventeen had been destroyed by the plant’s roots. Only one small teleportation array at the edge still shimmered with light.

A few cultivators warily leaped onto it to investigate before returning.

“The teleportation arrays are mostly destroyed; only one is barely functional. That demonic plant is motionless and devoid of any aura of life. Something is fishy, and we dare not investigate rashly.”

The demon ghosts had hidden in the remote Fan City plotting for who knows how long, only to tear off their disguises now to bring this ink-flower into the world to disgorge its coffin.

Now that they had finally interrupted the demon ghosts’ scheme, if they were to disturb that sinister black coffin, none of them would likely escape. The priority was to get word out, ideally summoning an expert from a Heaven Sect to deal with the plant and the coffin.

Generally, for safety reasons, most sects do not allow teleportation arrays near their mountain gates. To send word to a Heaven Sect as quickly as possible, one would have to go to the Ten Thousand Demon Sect.

Only this “evil” Heaven Sect acted without taboo; for convenience, the demon disciples had placed a teleportation array right at the foot of Mount Guming.

Having decided on a plan, half of the hundred or so cultivators remained to guard the demonic plant, while those leaving gathered to register.

“Wuyanzi, do not be anxious. In that situation, if we had left the demon ghost alive, none of us would have survived. Although we didn’t get any information out of him, at least you have a lead regarding your sect’s revenge.”

Lin Pu nodded to the Huangdao Alliance cultivator registering destinations and turned to the man in red. “Once I return to the mountain, I will ask my three senior brothers and sisters, or even the Sect Leader and the other elders, to help neutralize the poisonous pill in your body so your soul and body can be one.”

Wuyanzi’s state of a female soul in a male body was unique. Since the body was transformed from her original flesh after consuming the Shape-Sculpting Poisonous Pill, the soul and body were technically harmonious and did not hinder cultivation.

However, her self-identity was that of a woman. Being trapped in a male body caused her to feel both repulsion and self-loathing. Unable to unify her state of mind, her progress was extremely slow. At this rate, her Earth-rank Creation Realm cultivation would at most reach the fifth realm, True Immortal; she would never survive the Heart-Demon Tribulation of the Fallen Realm.

Wuyanzi’s mood had been low since learning the demon ghosts were connected to the destruction of the Bronze Sparrow Terrace. She looked toward the first wave of cultivators heading to the teleportation array for the Ten Thousand Demon Sect.

“It doesn’t matter if the poisonous pill is neutralized. My heart-demon is too heavy. Even if I restored my true body, I would never survive ‘The Fallen’ stage.”

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw her senior sister welding the stone door shut with spiritual energy before being pinned to the wall of the forging room, unable to rest in peace. She saw her mentor, the Sect Master of the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, charred to a crisp half-kneeling before the main hall.

Not to mention the billowing smoke and black fire on the day the mountain gate fell, and the bone ash flying through the air. Those were the fellow disciples and kinsmen who had raised her and shared every day of her life!

Ten thousand lives of her kin weighed on her heart, already intertwined into a deep heart-demon. According to righteous cultivation techniques, she would not survive the Earth rank.

There were dark circles under Wuyanzi’s eyes. A vertical eye at the center of her forehead opened for a split second and closed again, so quickly it seemed like an illusion.

“You…” Lin Pu gasped, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. She took half a step back in shock.

“I have been hiding something from the Young Superior.”

Wuyanzi turned back to look at her, her expression mournful.

“The void collapse ten years ago drew a Nine Heavens Demon God. He tossed me a Demon Seed.”

“I do not have your fortune, nor is my skeletal structure as peerless as yours. Even if I joined the Yushan Sect, I would only be seeking a place of shelter. Following the path of righteousness and cultivating step by step, I can see that the road ahead is a dead end. But if I change to demonic cultivation…”

Greed, anger, obsession, love, hate, desire, loyalty, filial piety, integrity, and shame; all human traits turn to madness when taken to the extreme. What demonic cultivation requires is exactly this kind of obsessive madness.

The current cultivation world disliked the Demon Sect mainly because demonic cultivation did not require refining one’s temperament; one could transform heart-demons into cultivation. They did not fear the sixth realm’s Heart-Demon Tribulation, which attracted many opportunistic and wicked cultivators. Because the Demon Sect gathered many stubborn and crafty individuals, righteous cultivators looked down upon them.

But what the righteous path truly disliked were only those ill-intentioned demon practitioners. Those who could turn obsession into a demon and truly make a name for themselves, being accepted as inner-sect disciples of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect, were actually respected geniuses of a Heaven Sect.

The Bronze Sparrow Terrace had been a major righteous sect. As the Sect Master’s personal disciple, Wuyanzi naturally had her own pride and integrity. In the past, if it were merely to dodge a Heart-Demon Tribulation, she would never have agreed to switch to the demonic path.

But now…

“The Bronze Sparrow Terrace is gone. My only wish is to avenge my sect. But by practicing righteous techniques, I can only stop at the True Immortal stage for the rest of my life. If I practice demonic arts…”

Wuyanzi looked at Lin Pu, her eyes reflecting the sunset glow, shining brightly. “That was a Demon Seed personally handed down by a high-ranking Nine Heavens Demon God.”

There are two ways to practice demonic arts. One is like joining any other sect, learning the techniques and practicing slowly. The other is becoming mad with obsession and luckily receiving the favor of a Demon God who bestows a Demon Seed. The latter, as long as they are willing to practice demonic arts, will be accepted as a core disciple upon joining the sect.

Wuyanzi’s Demon Seed had been personally bestowed by the true body of a high-ranking Demon God.

The red-clad man lowered his head earnestly. “Wuyanzi begs the Young Superior’s permission. After escorting you back to the mountain, allow me to leave for a time. I will return the life I owe you in the future.”

Earlier at the city gate when the old Daoist ambushed them, Wuyanzi had already saved her once.

Lin Pu smiled and shook her head. She pulled out two golden feathered arrows, one in each hand, and drove them toward her own Dantian and heart. Wuyanzi looked up in horror and flashed forward to catch the arrowheads.

As blood dripped from her hands, a faint light shimmered. A crisp crack sounded from Wuyanzi’s Dantian; the restriction set by the True Lord dissolved, and her soul returned to its place.

Wuyanzi stared blankly as the woman put the feathered arrows back into her storage pouch. Lin Pu clapped her hands and smiled. “There. You have saved my life three times now. The shackles are undone, and we are even.”

“You…”

Lin Pu looked toward the array and hurriedly pushed her toward it.

“Go quickly. The array is about to activate. I am not a child; I don’t need someone to escort me home.”

She stood outside the array and waved to the man in red, bidding him a smiling farewell. “Sister Wuyanzi, you have to work hard! I crossed the three realms of the Human rank in ten years because of my skeletal structure, but my progress won’t be that fast from now on. Your sect met with disaster, and it is understandable you were stuck at the fourth realm for decades. But now that you are switching to demonic arts, if I catch up and pass you the next time we meet, you will be shaming your master’s house!”

Within the gradually brightening array, standing among the cultivators, the red-clad man’s eyes reddened and grew moist. He knelt on both knees and performed a formal kowtow. He straightened his back and was about to say something when the array activated.

With a flash of light, the people in the array vanished. Only then did Lin Pu sigh, showing her reluctance.

Priestess Granny and her Senior Sister were trapped in the pocket realm, and now Wuyanzi was gone. This was the first time in her life she was truly alone, and she felt a wave of sadness and loneliness.

But business was business. Wuyanzi had been punished by her Senior Sister for her initial ill intent, and later she had waited faithfully for ten years in the Chaos Sea and saved Lin Pu’s life. The debt had long been paid. Furthermore, because of Priestess Granny, she felt a sympathetic pity for Wuyanzi’s situation. Everyone has their own path; she couldn’t let herself hinder someone else’s future.

A soft, fluffy little beast rubbed against her feet. Seeing the woman look down, it tilted its head and gave an “Ow-woo,” as if to comfort her.

“Tiger Senior, now only you are with me!”

Lin Pu bent down to pick up the tiger beast, which had shrunk to the size of a kitten, and turned to wait in line for the array to reset.

At that moment, a light flashed behind her. A sweet, cheerful female voice rang out: “Whose little chick is this? To think it has cultivated such divine wonders!”

Wanxiang?

The spot on her shoulder was suddenly empty. Lin Pu turned around quickly to see a radiant woman who had just been teleported in three fathoms away.

She wore a silver-patterned, gold-threaded “Immortal-Remaining” dress over a pale purple base. She stepped through the air with bare feet, her hair held by a jade hairpin, a drop of red amber on her forehead, and a pearl pendant around her neck. Her skin was as white as snow, and she possessed a natural, enchanting allure; she was truly a beauty of peerless charm.

The woman smiled with a soft gaze. She raised her ivory wrist, her wide sleeve sliding down to reveal a slender, smooth arm. The jade bracelet on her wrist transformed into a round, cute Cold Sparrow, which flew into her palm. Together with Wanxiang, it hopped and played in her hand.

“Fairy Lingyi!”

Someone nearby cried out in surprise, and a crowd began to swarm around her.

Those who didn’t recognize her inquired with others. Cultivators have sharp ears, and within moments, her identity was known.

Fairy Lingyi—the genius of the Demon Sect who reached the sixth realm in only three hundred years, the personal disciple of one of the thirteen Demon Lords hand-picked by the Demon God, and the youngest of the twenty-seven core disciples of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect.

In a few words, a rogue cultivator explained the situation to her.

Fairy Lingyi was stunningly beautiful and her aura was intensely seductive, yet her personality was gentle and kind, not at all as overbearing as her appearance suggested. She listened with a smile as several rogue cultivators described the previous events.

Even when someone’s words wandered off track as they looked at her with infatuation, the little fairy did not get angry. She only tilted her head and gave a gentle, polite reminder, asking if the demon ghost had perhaps wounded their Dantian, causing their Sea of Consciousness to fluctuate.

That cultivator snapped out of it, realizing his state of mind was unstable and had been clouded by beauty. He thanked her in shame and apologized before stepping back to focus on his recovery. The others watched, full of admiration.

Lingyi did not immediately inspect the demonic plant nearby. Instead, she walked in a circle until she was in front of the woman holding the tiger cub.

She leaned in slightly, curiously stroking the tiger’s head. She dodged the cub’s growls and snapping teeth, tapping the little thing’s forehead with a playful cry: “Oh, it’s so fierce!”

Then, she extended her jade-white palm toward Lin Pu’s shoulder, sending the little bird “Cheep-cheep-cheep” back to its master’s shoulder to rest. Only then did she tilt her head and smile: “Fellow Daoist, you have been staring at me for a long time. Have you seen enough? I didn’t use any tricks to kidnap your spirit bird.”

“Oh? Why is your face turning red?”

Support Guardians of Mountain and Sea