When I Mistook My Arch-Rival for My Dao Companion - Chapter 20

Chapter 20

On the other side, Wenren Qian’s initial situation was not much different from Fu Guzhou’s. However, after separating from Fu Guzhou, he did not leave immediately but waited in place.

Seemingly, the fog was as thick as it had been a moment ago, but with Wenren Qian’s perception, he could clearly feel that the dense fog around him had undergone an earth-shaking change. The mist seemed to want to envelop him, yet it didn’t dare to approach abruptly; it could only try to bewitch and entangle him bit by bit.

It was quite interesting. By remaining perfectly still, he was able to notice this subtle difference. Had he been moving, he certainly wouldn’t have been able to accurately detect the fog’s shifts, and he would have been silently entangled by this thick mist.

After waiting for a while, Wenren Qian raised his hand to draw out a cluster of flame. Where the flame illuminated, the thick fog thinned by a fraction. However, it was only a fraction. It seemed his fire could exert a certain suppression here, but it could not act as a complete counter.

Wenren Qian frowned, though it was still better than nothing.

Strictly speaking, this miasma was interesting: on one hand, it wanted to completely devour him, yet on the other, it feared the fire on his body. Fearing this kind of flame undoubtedly indicated that this miasmic fog belonged to the category of yin and evil. It seemed his Immortal Venerable would likely not have a very easy time right now.

Wenren Qian raised his hand to gather an even denser flame and walked unscrupulously toward the depths of the thick fog.

The miasma seized the opportunity, rapidly winding toward him. It expected to encounter resistance, but unexpectedly, it entangled him with ease.

Wenren Qian allowed the white mist to fully shroud him. Soon, he felt his divine sense being interfered with.

Hmph, so it’s something that specifically controls divine sense.

Before Wenren Qian could further savor the mysteries within, the scenery before his eyes changed.

The objects before him, which a moment ago were shrouded in thick fog, transformed in an instant into a battlefield of the Demon Realm.

Severed limbs and broken arms littered the ground; scarlet blood nearly dyed the entire place red. Many demons were sneering in his direction.

Looking up, a blood moon hung in the sky.

Wenren Qian’s dismissive attitude seemed to provoke the crowd of demons.

“Wenren Qian, do you know our power now? You are but a demon who has just reached the Nascent Soul stage, yet you dare to snatch the Spirit-Binding Fruit desired by His Majesty the Demon Emperor.”

The corner of Wenren Qian’s mouth twitched slightly as he laughed. “So it’s a reenactment of a scene? Boring enough.”

The crowd of demons acted as if they hadn’t heard his words, but Wenren Qian heard what his past self had said then: “Nothing but a bunch of ants.”

Such words were too arrogant. The group of demons grew even more aggressive, as if enraged, and they all charged toward him to kill.

In that instant, Wenren Qian seemed to have returned to that time. Having obtained the Spirit-Binding Fruit by chance despite having only a Nascent Soul cultivation, he began to be hunted frantically by the Xuanyin Demon Emperor’s subordinates. After fleeing for three months, he was finally cornered at Black Mountain Cliff.

Above Black Mountain Cliff, the blood moon hung in the sky; below Black Mountain Cliff, blood flowed like a river.

The blood-red moonlight draped everyone in a bizarre veil, while the demons below were engaged in constant slaughter.

Firelight filled the sky. At that time, Wenren Qian, with only a Nascent Soul cultivation, constantly squeezed his demonic power to support the spread of his demonic fire with all his might. As long as the firelight did not go out, this group of fellows truly couldn’t do anything to him.

It was laughable, really. The Spirit-Binding Fruit was merely a dispensable item to the Xuanyin Demon Emperor, yet this group of lesser demons, in order to gain favor before the Demon Emperor, did not hesitate to hunt him for over three months.

Wenren Qian could clearly feel himself merging with his past self. Or rather, this miasma wanted him to lose himself here. Perhaps his previous actions had made the miasma wary; it didn’t bother with a gradual approach and went straight for the “heavy medicine.”

Under the blood moon, after a final outburst, the firelight slowly weakened. As the last living being besides himself dissipated, the firelight finally extinguished. As the last surviving demon, Wenren Qian was already at his last gasp. This was the closest Wenren Qian had ever come to death in his life—not because of some grand figure, but simply because he had nearly failed against such a war of attrition involving tens of thousands.

Watching the horizon turn the color of a fish’s belly from afar, Wenren Qian felt something in his heart. Soon, he would meet an old acquaintance.

To deal with the current situation, Wenren Qian actually had many methods, yet that force seemed very wary of him, ruthlessly suppressing him in his past physical state.

Wenren Qian did not wait long. When the sky began to glow with warm light, a person approached the area.

“I heard there was a great battle of demons here yesterday. That firelight burned for an entire night. Looking today, I didn’t expect there to be a survivor.”

The cold voice was devoid of joy or sorrow, as if stating a plain fact.

As the person drew closer, the white-clothed figure, which had been somewhat blurry in Wenren Qian’s vision, revealed their true appearance. Corresponding to that pleasant, cold voice was a face like cold jade—an exquisitely beautiful face. The handsome features were enveloped in the faint morning light, as if fine mutton-fat jade were glowing.

This was a beauty, a rare cold beauty of white jade. However, compared to that fine face, those desolate eyes, which seemed stained with frost and snow, would make any person stop any romantic thoughts. It was because those eyes were simply too cold, and the gaze directed at the person before him was more like looking at a dead man.

The youth in white clearly arrived amidst the morning light, but that icy aura was enough to make even the morning light turn cold.

Receiving no answer, the white-clothed youth was not surprised.

He only gave Wenren Qian another look and said with certainty, “You are going to die.”

“So, are you here to kick a man while he’s down?” Clearly, even breathing had become difficult, yet when the Wenren Qian of that time said this, he still carried a trace of arrogance. Or rather, at that time, he simply didn’t take people seriously.

“If I must say, then I am indeed here to take advantage of the situation. My cultivation has hit a certain bottleneck. I heard that contracting a powerful demonic beast can bring improvement. Since you can still be alive after being cornered by so many demons, your strength must be quite decent.”

Wenren Qian heard the words he had found most offensive in his early years. Though he was half-dead, he still laughed because of the white-clothed youth’s words.

Drenched in blood, with even his features blurred, the man in red laughed loudly. While coughing up a mouthful of fresh blood, he said fiercely, “You want to contract This Seat? You can certainly try. This Seat wants to see if a brat with only a Golden Core cultivation can withstand This Seat’s contract.”

The white-clothed youth wasn’t afraid in the slightest. He simply said calmly, “Then let’s try.”

As he spoke, the youth bit his fingertip. Blood dyed those pale lips red, adding a significant amount of allure. However, the beauty with such a handsome face did not hesitate to use a large amount of his own essence blood, wanting to forcibly contract a demon.

Since the Changyuan Secret Realm incident occurred, nearly eighty percent of the human cultivators with profound cultivation in the cultivation world had died. Now, which human cultivator isn’t in a state of constant anxiety, terrified of provoking demons and bringing a sect-destroying disaster upon their own sect? And now, Wenren Qian had actually encountered a human cultivator who dared to forcibly contract a demon. For a moment, he didn’t know whether to say this human cultivator was bold because of his skill or simply seeking death.

The biggest difference with demons is that one cannot look at cultivation alone; one must also look at bloodline. Wenren Qian’s cultivation and bloodline were both extraordinary. For this white-clothed brat to want to forcibly contract him was no different from an egg striking a stone.

Wenren Qian was originally full of malice, waiting to drag the other down to death together. He was slightly stunned when he saw that the contract array drawn by this white-clothed brat, consuming a large amount of essence blood, was actually an Equal Contract.

The corners of his mouth twitched. “Brat, you drew your contract wrong.”

The person glanced at him, said nothing, and simply continued drawing his array.

Wenren Qian felt it was inconceivable. Could it be that beneath this brat’s cold exterior hid a soft heart?

Just after thinking this, Wenren Qian laughed. Human cultivators are the most cunning; this Equal Contract was likely just because he was afraid of a backlash.

After laughing, his expression became somewhat dark and uncertain. “Brat, even if you make it an Equal Contract, it’s useless. An Equal Contract is indeed a good way for other demons to reduce backlash, but for me, even with an Equal Contract, I can still devour you. Why don’t we see whether you contract me first, or I lash back at you first.”

“If it were normal times, you would certainly lash back at me first. But now you are going to die. A demon’s instinct will make you choose to contract with me. So, no matter how unwilling you are, you will become my contract beast,” the white-clothed youth replied flatly.

“Are the people of the Immortal Sects so unscrupulous in their cunning now? No wonder; without those old fellows pressing down from above, you naturally do whatever makes you happy.”

Stated another way, this sentence could be taken as an insult to Fu Guzhou for having no upbringing.

This was absolutely the kind of sentence most likely to provoke the anger of an Immortal Sect disciple. The white-clothed youth, who had been indifferent just a moment ago, finally changed his expression. Even the hand that was constantly drawing the array paused slightly.

However, he soon resumed drawing the complex array in his hand. “Master once said that demons are wild and difficult to tame. Looking at it now, those words are not false.”

These words seemed like nothing, but upon closer reflection, wasn’t he insulting someone in a roundabout way?

Wenren Qian didn’t get angry; instead, he started laughing. “Then did your master tell you that interacting with demons is the most dangerous thing?”

The white-clothed youth’s brow furrowed slightly. He actually abandoned the contract array that was nearly complete. With a turn of his longsword, an invisible, sharp sword-wind severed the head of a fire snake that had noiselessly struck toward him. Once the fire snake was severed, an even more dangerous and terrifying flame suddenly surged toward him.

Facing this scene, the white-clothed youth actually closed his eyes abruptly. When he opened them again, his eyes were clear. “This illusion of yours is quite impressive. If I hadn’t realized that if you truly wanted to attack me, you certainly wouldn’t have given a warning, I might have strayed completely into your illusion.”

Wenren Qian spoke with a half-smile, not showing the slightest embarrassment at having his illusion seen through, because his goal had been achieved.

The other’s contract array had been completely interrupted. Judging by the amount of essence blood a human body can store, the other was already unable to do it again in a short time.

“Would you rather die than contract with me? Logically, I should give up, but to get what I want, paying a little more doesn’t seem to be much.” As he spoke, he was actually about to use his essence blood to contract again.

Wenren Qian had seen people who didn’t value their lives, but this was the first time he had seen a human cultivator so reckless.

This time he did not interfere, allowing the other’s fingertip to trace the array. The array was only half-traced when the white-clothed youth, whose lips were already pale, lowered his finger.

“Forget it. A twisted melon isn’t sweet.”

As he spoke, the youth actually turned to leave. He had exhausted his essence blood twice, yet because of the phrase “a twisted melon isn’t sweet,” he chose to give up.

Where did this fool come from?

“This Seat will kill you. If I do not die today, This Seat will certainly take your life in the future.”

Hearing this, the white-clothed youth looked back at him. There was no change on his cold, stern face. He only said indifferently: “Then just come.”

Wenren Qian laughed again. Recalling the true name written in the contract array during the other’s first attempt, he spoke in a voice that was almost somber.

“Fu Guzhou.”

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