Chapter 99: Five-Eyed Xiao Xian (Part 1): All the Secrets

The cave interior was sparsely lit only by the faint glow from scattered ores. A sudden swelling drew the eyes instinctively, and at a glance, it was clear that it came from the formation.

Compared to the one in the courtyard of the Heaven-Earth Ascension Spirit Platform, this one was several times larger and more spacious. A large circle of pure white, complex, and dazzling curse array traced across the ground’s surface, steaming white mist like drifting souls.

The plot had arrived. Mu Qian Tan temporarily let her go, placing one claw on her shoulder while the other stepped on her cheek. She squinted, sizing up the scene ahead. Shang Shan had her face turned aside by the stepping, the position somewhat uncomfortable, but she said nothing. Her hand protected her shoulder, lest she slip and fall.

The two pressed forward. The distant view was extremely empty, like the mouth of a giant beast, permeated with cold and stifling air. The dome ceiling loomed several zhang above the ground. A massive dark red eggshell buckled at the very center of the formation, serving as either the array eye or a heart. Spiritual power pumped from beneath it, radiating outward. The outer ring circled dozens of smaller eggshells, about half a person’s height. Their shapes made it hard to identify any species. But at such a size, they were more likely not biological eggs.

The clay little demons spotted the egg circle and grew both excited and afraid—happy about something, fearful of something else. They huddled shoulder to shoulder around the girl as they ventured deeper into the formation. Shang Shan glanced around, straining to find traces of the black dog. Her foot crunched something that shattered like thin porcelain, the squelching sound echoing through the cave.

She lifted her foot and peered down. It was a thin fragment of clay eggshell, shattered further under her step, with more scattered nearby.

Shang Shan looked up again. The giant egg encircling the formation’s edge was actually somewhat broken, fragments littering the ground. The circle was incomplete, as if the thing living inside had broken free.

In such an environment, the sight inevitably sent a chill down one’s nape.

The group reached the giant egg at the center. It had looked huge from afar, and up close, it truly was—taller than two people. Its surface bore thick, complex, rough textures without any pattern. Mu Qian Tan knew the key lay inside this egg, but she couldn’t speak directly. Instead, she clamped her beak on Shang Shan’s ear, then kicked at the air with a foot, gesturing for her to smash it.

“Smash this egg?” Shang Shan had grown proficient at reading body language. She tried to grab the kicking claw, but it dodged. “That doesn’t seem right. We don’t even know where we are, and we’re just going to smash things? That black dog couldn’t possibly be hiding inside.”

In the original story, one had to search for clues step by step and deduce the truth. But right now, there was no time for slow exploration. After shrinking into a penguin, Mu Qian Tan’s patience teetered on the edge. If she’d known this transformation was coming, she would’ve stormed the heavens and slaughtered that five-eyed one the moment she entered Pot City. She had no interest in following the script anymore. Hurry up—jump, jump, jump straight to the end!

After wrestling her arm, Mu Qian Tan now battled her ear. The poor white, soft ear soon dotted with pink. Shang Shan sighed and let her have her way. She lowered her head to ask the little demons, “I thought you brought me here to find that black dog, but it doesn’t seem like it. So what is this place?”

The words had barely left her mouth when a chill crept up her nape. An extremely faint patter of fleshy paws on the ground raised goosebumps. Instinct outpaced thought—Shang Shan twisted away. A ghastly white light stabbed at where she’d stood moments before. The black dog’s massive jaws snapped shut, biting empty air, then tilted its head for another chomp.

Mu Qian Tan was fed up with these key-moment interlopers. As she leaped forward, spiritual power erupted from her mouth into the black dog’s maw. At the same time, she rocketed backward like a cannonball, slamming into Shang Shan’s chest. The girl reeled, seeing stars, old blood nearly surging up her throat. She staggered back several steps before steadying herself, not forgetting to scoop up the monster bird on her chest to keep it from hitting the ground.

The black dog took a solid hit this time. Half its face hung in tatters, dripping thick black viscous liquid. Its scarlet tongue lolled between two rows of teeth. It shook its head, the wound knitting back together. Shang Shan said, “Is this a demon? Why doesn’t it bleed?”

With her as a meat pad, Mu Qian Tan avoided the worst of the recoil. She followed up confidently with a second blast, then a third. The opportunity was rare—she poured ample spiritual power into each strike, pushing her body’s limits. The final one finally detonated the black dog’s head.

Even reduced to four limbs and trunk, the black dog stood rigid, not toppling. Mu Qian Tan flapped her wings and opened up for another go, but the meat pad behind her wasn’t pleased. She coughed twice before saying, “Master, I take back what I said earlier. You’re actually not that soft.”

Mu Qian Tan ignored her. A hand reached from behind and pinched her beak. “Can’t hit like this. Tan Que’s still in her belly— it’d be a disaster if we hit her by mistake.”

Mu Qian Tan whipped her head to dodge the hand. Only then did she remember Tan Que. She rolled her eyes and stopped. In this form, even basic attacks drained spiritual power excessively. And even with the meat pad, prolonged collisions grew uncomfortable—especially with her existing fracture. It wasn’t pleasant. Better let her handle it.

Shang Shan scooped under her wings with both hands, lifted the monster bird, and held it before her eyes, gazing intently. “Master, you like this… it’s too dangerous here.”

Penguin Tan stared back calmly with her two round black eyes. She thought: What else? Send me out first? I’d love that!

The black dog’s neck stump quivered like a black flower. New flesh merged inward like petals, crowding together to form a new head—utterly indestructible, like black mud molded into shape.

Shang Shan glanced at the black dog, then back. After a moment’s thought, she placed her atop one little demon’s head. “Take her far away. All of you—thanks.”

One little demon bore Lingdang, another Penguin Tan. The pair toddled off on short legs, hiding behind an outer giant egg to watch the fight.

The black dog had fully regenerated. Its claws scraped the ground as it charged again! Shang Shan confirmed the little demons were clear, then rushed head-on. She ducked low to evade a claw, balled her fist, and hammered the black dog’s chin. Teeth crunched into tongue with a squelch. Then she planted her hands, flipped over, and dodged the flurry of claws.

Rolling out from under its face, Shang Shan clasped her hands behind her head, roared, and leaped to smash her hammer onto the black dog’s forehead. The blow landed true and heavy. The black dog went numb, stunned for a moment. Seizing the opening, Shang Shan wrenched its jaws open, pinned the tongue, and dove inside, sliding down the esophagus.

“….” Mu Qian Tan, who’d watched the whole thing, slowly widened her eyes. She remembered the original story using a gentler, step-by-step approach. How had it turned into this bizarre, extreme method?

Was Shang Shan anxious? Worried about her friend?

The black dog thrashed its head wildly, clearly baffled by the move. It pawed the ground frantically. Its belly must have been churning like a storm-tossed sea. It gaped its mouth in dry heaves, leaped about, rolled on the ground, and barked madly. Then it convulsed violently. Its belly bulged in a round arc before exploding!

What burst forth wasn’t black flesh but liquid akin to the shattered head. Shang Shan broke through like surfacing from water, cradling Tan Que horizontally as she tore straight through the belly skin. Black glows intertwined with pale golden spiritual power, flecking her eye corners and brows, her gaze unyieldingly resolute.

She landed amid the black rain and squatted down. She laid Tan Que flat and checked her carefully. The girl bore no injuries, her breathing steady. Her clothes were slightly disheveled, her dark skin splashed with black juice. She seemed to have fainted, hence unconscious. Shang Shan’s heart finally settled. Ignoring her own filthy face, she gently wiped Tan Que’s clean.

Lingdang gaped upon seeing her emerge. She leaped from the little demon’s head like a pink paper scrap fluttering rapidly to Tan Que’s side. Her tongue prodded the girl’s neck and chest as she tilted her ear to listen intently.

Mu Qian Tan thought: Tongues as stethoscopes? The cultivation world sure is magical.

With her owner confirmed safe, Lingdang’s cheeks flushed deeper. She hopped onto Tan Que’s chest, lay flat to feel the heartbeat with her belly, and wailed like an infant in aftershock. Shang Shan stroked her head and smiled. “It’s fine now. Don’t be scared. Even from the depths of hell, I can bring her back.”

After soothing Lingdang, Shang Shan rose and glanced at an eggshell peak, spotting the gray little speck unharmed. Only then did she turn to the black dog.

This freak, which could regrow even after its head exploded, inexplicably failed to heal after being gutted—as if its core had been ripped out. Its body melted into black liquid that seeped into the soil, exposing a pale, naked corpse.

Shang Shan had expected it to regenerate again, but it simply dissipated. As she pondered whether this counted as her kill, a green object dropped by her foot.

She looked down. It was a jade pendant. She bent to retrieve it and examined it in her palm. It closely resembled Qiu Shui’s— they should fit together.

Qiu Ling’s?

Shang Shan approached the pale girl and squatted to study her face closely. Delicate features, slightly gaunt cheeks—at least seventy percent similar to Qiu Shui, though far younger, by at least a dozen years. It was unmistakably Qiu Ling.

One hand clutched the jade pendant while the other examined Qiu Ling’s body. Unfortunately, she was truly dead.

Shang Shan’s heart sank a touch.

If her guess was correct, Qiu Ling’s presence here in this youthful form meant she’d likely been cast into this “hell” back when she followed Qi Xiaoxiao to overthrow the Three Venerables. Her survival as a black dog demon until now, overlooked by Xiao Xian, bespoke such indulgence that it pointed to Xiao Xian as the true perpetrator!

If one such victim existed, there were surely more. Perhaps all those dozens of cultivators who ascended together hadn’t perished at the Three Venerables’ hands but had been betrayed by Qi Xiaoxiao herself!

With that realization, the rest fell into place. Xiao Xian raised them in hell, twisting them into these abominations. Periodically, she unleashed one upon Pot City, then played savior and protector—slaying them to earn the city’s worship and adoration. She’d forged her own godhood.

Those cultivators had stormed the Heavenly Palace to save Pot City’s people. Now, they were monsters compelled to ravage their homeland!

Shang Shan’s eyelashes quivered faintly as she surveyed the dozens of giant eggs around her.

She hadn’t known what they contained before, but now she had a rough idea. They likely gestated Qiu Ling-like monsters. The shattered ones were those that had once terrorized Pot City. During their rampages, no one could have imagined that beneath that horror lurked followers of the revered Five-Eyed Xiaoxiao—the very ones who’d bravely challenged the Three Venerables. The irony was profound!

Shang Shan fell silent for a moment, then carried Qiu Ling’s corpse to Tan Que’s side, intending to take them both out later.

Her hem tugged. She looked down to find the monster bird atop the little demon’s head, having returned unnoticed.

Mu Qian Tan flapped her wings toward the central giant egg again, mimicking smashing gestures. This time, not just her—the scattered clay little demons imitated too. Shang Shan grasped their intent in bringing her here. She hesitated no longer and positioned herself before the giant egg.

The secrets of Pot City and Xiao Xian—all of them—lay within this eggshell.