Chapter 32 Part 1

The Devil Qi cycled once through Li Jiangying’s body, then quickly vanished without a trace. What disappeared first was that stubborn, pure strand of Fire Element Devil Qi. What followed was the Water Element Devil Qi that Zhu Yue had painstakingly cultivated.

Zhu Yue raised an eyebrow and released her hold. “Hmm? Your constitution… it’s quite unique.”

“I also never imagined… that the Moon-Chasing Devil Venerable was a Devil Cultivator with a Fire Element Body, yet who practices Water Element arts,” Li Jiangying shrugged. “Of course, you’re not wrong either. My Fire Element Body is indeed rather special.”

A thought seemed to strike Zhu Yue. A satisfied look suddenly appeared in her eyes as she considered Li Jiangying. She smiled. “Interesting. Very interesting. No wonder you don’t cultivate. But don’t be afraid, Little Ying Suanli. This Venerable One will certainly protect you and A-Yue well.”

Li Jiangying looked at her like she was an idiot. “City Lord, what pleasant dream are you having this time?”

Instead of showing displeasure at this deeply disrespectful look, Zhu Yue simply smiled and said, “Rest well, Little Ying Suanli. This Venerable One won’t disturb you any longer.”

Completely baffled, Li Jiangying watched Zhu Yue come and go. What was that? She came all this way just to find out why I don’t cultivate?

Utterly inexplicable!

The next several days passed peacefully. The Moon-Chasing Devil Venerable did not visit again. It was as if she had already forgotten about Li Jiangying and Li Yueying. But Li Jiangying could not forget the triumphant, confident smile Zhu Yue had worn when she left that night.

Zhu Yue was definitely plotting something!

Meanwhile, with consecutive days of training and recuperation, Li Yueying’s condition looked much better. She had almost completely stabilized in that silly, cheerful state. The Li Yueying of manic chaos and lucid hatred had not reappeared.

Li Jiangying felt anxious about Zhu Yue’s schemes, yet also felt relieved by Li Yueying’s improvement. At the same time, she never forgot to seize every moment to read books.

I can’t just sit around waiting for her to strike, Li Jiangying thought. I need to find a way to escape.

Li Jiangying recalled the records in the Flame Devil’s Handbook about the Flame Devil’s activities in the Foothill Lake Capital. He had written that while exploring the Mid-Lake Island at Foothill Lake, he discovered a naturally formed underwater Secret Passage within the Lake within Lake. This Secret Passage connected the Lake within Lake to Foothill Lake, with its exit located on the rocky cliffs at the northeastern corner of the Mid-Lake Island.

He also documented that while exploring the underwater Secret Passage, he discovered a turtle demon living in the Lake within Lake. The monster lurked underwater. If any cultivator approached, it would open its massive mouth and swallow them whole.

The Flame Devil had encountered the turtle demon and managed to subdue it. But he had no use for such a massive, clumsy Devil Pet. At the same time, he felt it was a pity for a creature that had cultivated for so many years to simply die. So, after discovering that the turtle demon contained a trace of the ancient Divine Beast Black Tortoise’s bloodline, he built an altar within the Secret Passage and trapped the turtle demon inside it.

He proclaimed: One day, when your humanity surpasses your bestial nature, you may leave this place.

The altar gathered Water Element Devil Qi, which could aid the turtle demon’s cultivation, and required it to eat less human flesh, allowing the turtle demon to retain its reason.

To this day, it was unknown whether the turtle demon had broken free. But even if it was still alive inside that altar… so long as they steered clear, it shouldn’t be able to harm them easily.

On a bright, scorching hot day, Li Jiangying pulled Li Yueying into the Lake within Lake, pretending to play and frolic in the water. Well, pretending was only on her part. The little madwoman was very earnestly playing with water.

Li Yueying excitedly churned the water with her tail, showing Li Jiangying. “Yingying! Look at my tail! It’s clean!”

Li Jiangying said, with a hint of exasperation, “Mm. Very clean. Very pretty.” She had been painstakingly scrubbing it daily with strong liquor and soap whenever possible. Now, Li Yueying’s tail had finally returned to its beautiful, glossy black, capable of reflecting the golden sunlight.

Li Jiangying leaned close to Li Yueying’s ear and asked if there was anyone nearby. Receiving the answer that someone was there but far away, Li Jiangying told her to keep playing with the water. She herself took a deep breath and dove down.

Although the lake water was clear, many lotus flowers and weeds grew in it. Li Jiangying could only patiently search along the edges of the small lake. She surfaced and dove repeatedly before finally finding a large cave entrance hidden behind some water plants.

Li Jiangying surfaced, took another deep breath, and held it as she swam into the cave. It was deep and dark inside. After swimming a short distance, the ground sloped upward. The water became shallower, enough to expose her knees. The ceiling overhead grew more expansive, exactly as described in the Flame Devil’s Handbook.

At this point, Li Jiangying didn’t dare venture deeper alone. She turned back and swam out of the lake.

She sent Li Yueying off to continue her training and exercise. Standing at a high vantage point in the Star-Picking Tower, she observed the entire City Lord Manor. A short while later, Li Jiangying called Jiang Sujin over. Together, they discussed how to escape.

“I’ve already found the route I’ll use. Now we need to think about how to create a diversion,” Li Jiangying asked. “Sujin, any ideas?”

Jiang Sujin shook her head with a wry smile. “I initially thought of setting a few fires. But observing the manor these past days, I’ve seen there are quite a few people. And with so much water everywhere here, even if we lit a fire, it would be extinguished very quickly.”

“You’re right. To create a diversion, it has to be an incident they can’t easily deal with.” Li Jiangying spoke frankly. “I’ve observed there’s a Beast Garden within the City Lord Manor. Do you think any of the Demonic Beasts inside are particularly powerful?”

“Demonic Beasts kept by the Moon-Chasing Devil Venerable… naturally, their grades wouldn’t be low. However, the Beast Garden definitely has Restriction arrays in place. Creating chaos there wouldn’t be easy.” The stronger the Demonic Beast, the higher its sense of territory and hierarchy. Conveniently, they had a powerful snake demon right here on their side. The only problem was how to break the restrictions on the Beast Garden.

Hearing this, Li Jiangying raised an eyebrow and smiled. “That’s exactly why I called you here. I have some ideas, but I just can’t put them into practice myself.”

The time for this super-genius who was pathologically weak in all cultivation arts to show her power had come! The countless books in the Scripture Pavilion of the Moon Shadow Devil Palace and the three-story collection in the Star-Picking Tower—she hadn’t read them all for nothing!

Li Jiangying said, “I need your help to inscribe the talismans.”

Jiang Sujin: “Eh?!”

After a day and a night of exploration and research, Li Jiangying drew up two strange talisman diagrams. If inscribed onto a carrier object using Devil Qi, they could be carried and used.

“This one is an Array-breaking Talisman I designed based on common Restriction arrays of former times. And this one… is based on common Restriction arrays used in the present era.” Li Jiangying said with some embarrassment, “This old body has lived in seclusion for many years and is not very familiar with current arrays. I’m not sure if they’ll work.”

Truthfully, the books in the Moon Shadow Devil Palace were all old. She’d read and deeply understood those. The more recent books on arrays and talismans, however, she had only flipped through a few in the Star-Picking Tower’s collection. She’d found that many things had indeed been updated compared to the old texts. Fortunately, many underlying principles were still the same, so Li Jiangying had also designed one based on the newer styles.

Li Jiangying explained, “After observing the restrictions on the Beast Garden, I believe the most likely way to cause chaos is through this type of Restriction-countering talisman. If powerful enough, it can break open a small breach. Although it cannot completely destroy the Restriction, it should be enough to let those clever Demonic Beasts escape and run wild.”

Jiang Sujin was overjoyed. “Sister Ying Suanli, you’re amazing! I’ll try it out. But… with my cultivation level, I probably can’t fully bring out the talisman’s power.”

Oh. Right. Jiang Sujin hadn’t even reached the Innate Realm yet.

Li Jiangying said, “Let me think about it.”

That thinking took another full day. Li Jiangying called Jiang Sujin over again. “I have an idea. Do you know what pressure means?”

Jiang Sujin: “???”

“Forget it, it doesn’t matter if you don’t. Basically, I’ve designed an assist array that can overlap the destructive force of multiple talismans and concentrate it on a single point. That way, even if the individual talismans you make aren’t that powerful, you can still overcome the restriction through sheer quantity.”

Jiang Sujin stared at her in shock. “Sister Ying Suanli… are you a talisman cultivator?”

Li Jiangying affectedly brushed a hand through her fringe. “I never thought… you’d see through me.”

“If only I could be as smart as Sister Ying Suanli,” Jiang Sujin murmured.

Li Jiangying laughed. “I’ve merely absorbed the wisdom of those who came before me.” The intricacy of the Cultivation World’s arrays and talismans… truthfully, she was still far from plumbing its depths. Being barely able to design a small makeshift array for their current use was already her limit.

It was far from enough! Li Jiangying secretly clenched her fist. The desire to absorb more knowledge made her tremble slightly. She had a feeling… that knowledge and power were intertwined, constantly surging forward. And she wanted to chase after them, even to walk at the very forefront.

I really want to read more books. Mental cultivation methods, arts, arrays, pill formulas… The more she knew, the more exhilarated she felt.

Li Jiangying yawned and said, “Succeed or die trying. The rest is up to you.”

“Don’t worry, Sister Ying Suanli. I’ll do my absolute best!” Jiang Sujin nodded solemnly.

She was fundamentally a medical cultivator. Although she could draw simple talismans, she wasn’t proficient. And the talisman diagrams Sister Ying Suanli provided were complex and exquisite. Jiang Sujin concentrated with twelve-tenths of her focus, controlling her Devil Qi, and began to inscribe the talisman, little by little.

Inscribing talismans, naturally, was very taxing work. But what was even more terrifying was that every time she successfully completed a talisman, Li Jiangying would demand she test its effect, then go back and revise the diagram and redo it!

The sun rose and set. In the end, after the final talisman pattern was settled, Jiang Sujin had failed seventeen attempts and succeeded only four. Her face deathly pale, she sat limply in her chair, her breathing noticeably weak. “I can’t go on… Sister Ying Suanli.”

Li Jiangying was just as exhausted. “Four? Four can work. Let’s rest for a bit first…”

As soon as the words left their mouths, both their heads lolled, and they fell asleep slumped over the table.

A moment later, the long-tailed snake demon came down from upstairs. She silently slithered to Li Jiangying’s side. Her tail went limp, lowering her body down.

Li Yueying looked up at Li Jiangying’s sleeping face. She extended a claw, wanting to touch her cheek. But at the last moment, she hesitated. The longest claw in the middle came to a stop just before the mortal’s fair, tender cheek. It could not advance any closer.

No. What if I hurt Yingying? Li Yueying retracted her sharp claws. Slowly, she brought her own face close instead. Closing her eyes, she rubbed her cheek against Li Jiangying’s. Then, gently, she lifted her and carried her to the bed, tucking her in with a blanket.