Outside Chunshan Town.
Miao Tianyin faced off against the forces from Sky Nether City, but she didn’t strike first. Luo Guanyin remained vigilant as well. After all, this was White Jade Capital’s territory, and the Heavenly Balance Mansion’s Cave Heaven True Person was unaccounted for—it didn’t mean she wasn’t lurking nearby. If the enemy truly abandoned Chunshan Town, their own situation would turn perilous.
When the rift tore open from thin air, Miao Tianyin’s eyes flickered. Thick, inky clouds hung low, waves of strange qi rippling outward. Chunshan Town, shrouded in dense fog, finally revealed itself. The Sacrificial Ritual binding the townsfolk had been severed! Had Yujie and the others destroyed it? Sensing the shift, Miao Tianyin struck abruptly. Formless shifted once more, manifesting as a massive golden alms bowl that inverted over Chunshan Town.
Luo Guanyin’s brows furrowed tight; she’d sensed the disturbance in the town too. She shot Dong Rong a glance and demanded unhappily, “You swallowed that Demon Creature?”
Dong Rong nodded faintly. “Those juniors saw through it, and variables arose. The Demon Creature’s cultivation hadn’t advanced. No point keeping it.” Not just the Demon Creature—even her painted avatar, meant to unseal the Asura Painting Scroll, had collapsed outright.
“Let’s go!” Luo Guanyin decided on the spot. She hadn’t lingered here to get encircled and annihilated by Xuanmen Grotto-Heavens. With variables emerging in Chunshan Town, blocking Miao Tianyin served no purpose. Besides, they’d already lured this group out.
Dong Rong’s avatar had only Golden Core Realm cultivation. Whether opening the path to Chunshan Town or locating the ancient seal, a mere Golden Core couldn’t suffice—it was Dong Rong’s own power channeled through that avatar.
Luo Guanyin knew Xuanmen Golden Core juniors had entered the town; in fact, it was part of Sky Nether City’s plan—to infiltrate “Ruoxu” into Xuanmen. After the Three Ways River Sword Duel, they’d lost many spies embedded in Xuanmen, and Yingzhou Island had been abandoned for various reasons. Just as Xuanmen schemed to infiltrate Sky Nether City, they spared no means to plant their own agents.
The intel had clearly stated a Xuanmen Daoist destroyed a temple—not the Sacrificial Ritual’s core. Ruoxu had already altered the ritual’s heart; how had those Xuanmen Daoists spotted it? And how had that avatar exposed itself? Luo Guanyin frowned deeply, unable to figure it out.
“You think White Jade Capital is a place you can come and go as you please?” A cold laugh rang out as the White Jade Capital Cave Heaven True Person materialized, staring icily at the troublemaking Luo Guanyin.
Luo Guanyin eyed the gathering fellow Daoists, her smile stiffening briefly before she smoothed her temple hair and flashed a charming grin at Miao Tianyin and her group. “Fellow Daoists, you all rush out like this—aren’t you worried about Town Prison?”
The White Jade Capital Daoist and the trailing Li Tianshu from Heavenly Balance Mansion exchanged a glance, their brows knitting with a flash of worry, but they didn’t turn back. He sneered, “Does Sky Nether City have another Cave Heaven True Person lurking?”
“Why need a Cave Heaven?” This time, Dong Rong replied.
Luo Guanyin aimed to rescue Li Jing; they needed someone with supreme alchemy talent to refine Demon Pills. They couldn’t pin all hopes on Chunshan Town and await an exchange with Xuanmen. Dong Rong lifted her gaze, peering past the obstructing Daoists to the hazy White Jade Capital city tower in the clouds. Her lips parted slightly as she abruptly invoked her curse technique!
Her divine ability latched onto the name seal “Tenfold Spring Charm,” spreading through the cultivation world’s talkbooks. Ruoxu hadn’t wandered far, but the signature left at Fengyue Alley in White Jade Capital was enough to stir chaos in Town Prison. Those who grasped her name seal would become her book puppets.
Turmoil erupted outside the town. Inside Chunshan Town, Zhan Yujie and her group paled sharply.
With Ruoxu Daoist’s disappearance, that eerie scroll gaped like a bloody maw, swallowing the near-dead Demon Creature whole. A ferocious gale then roared toward them, its power overwhelming—impossible to resist with their own strength! No matter how many sword beams they unleashed, the unfurled scroll devoured them all.
“Cave Heaven technique!” Zhan Yujie shivered inwardly. She hadn’t known Sky Nether City possessed such prowess.
Unable to win, they could only flee. The Sacrificial Ritual had dispersed, and she spotted brilliant golden light enveloping Chunshan Town—Fu Shi’s aura! If they held out until Fu Shi arrived, victory was theirs.
No sooner had the thought formed than the group bolted toward the surging Xuanmen pure qi.
Yan Zhichuan trailed behind Zhan Yujie. She gripped the small whistle Yan Jizhi had given her, the Fire Lotus Mark on her brow flickering faintly. Some other impulse seized her; instead of blowing the whistle, she paused and glanced back at the unfurled scroll.
That single hesitation left her a step behind. Gangwind from the scroll swept in, the thick ink-like mist engulfing half her body.
Zhan Yujie whirled back to see Yan Zhichuan lagging, swallowed by the scroll. Her heart clenched like it was gripped by an invisible giant hand. Without a second thought, she sword-flew toward Yan Zhichuan, seizing her wrist to drag her from the scroll’s maw. But the ink spread faster than her movements—in a blink, it consumed them both.
“Zhan Daoyou? Yan Daoyou?” Sui Heng tried to circle back, but it was too late. Golden light descended, its myriad rays scattering the fog. The bizarre scroll in the sky slowly folded shut. After purging the demonic qi, where were Zhan Yujie and Yan Zhichuan? Sui Heng wiped blood from her face and slumped powerlessly to the ground.
Jiang Xuanji pressed her lips thin. The string of red-threaded copper coins in her hand clinked like the wail of the desperate.
After a long moment, she said, “Their vital energies persist.”
Within the Demon World Asura Chart.
Yan Zhichuan yelped “Ow!” as she crashed onto rock, tumbling head over heels, dizzy and disoriented.
Luckily, she’d gorged on Dragon Blood Pills beforehand—her bones and flesh were tough enough to shatter the stone, though she hadn’t had time for a Forget-Sorrow Pill. Every muscle and bone ached fiercely.
“Xiao Tian, where’s Senior Sister?” Yan Zhichuan demanded first. She remembered Zhan Yujie grabbing her hand amid the eerie mist. If she’d fallen here, her Senior Sister should be too, right? Alone in this weird place without familiars, it was scary. Without waiting for the system’s reply, she pricked up her ears, tracking rustles in the wind to find Zhan Yujie.
The wilds lay silent, save for faint grass and tree whispers.
Suddenly, a monstrous roar thundered like lightning, followed by a sword beam piercing the gloom.
Yan Zhichuan’s legs went weak.
But thinking of Zhan Yujie, she raced toward the sound. Less than a quarter-hour later, amid wreckage, she found Zhan Yujie propping herself up with a single hand on her sword, drenched in blood.
Ahead of her loomed the Two-Headed Demon Monster that had ravaged Chunshan Town.
It lay quartered by sword qi, deader than dead.
“Senior Sister!” Yan Zhichuan jolted in fright and rushed to Zhan Yujie’s side, supporting her while stuffing healing pills into her mouth like they were free.
But Zhan Yujie swallowed only one.
External wounds could heal with a surge of mana, but she didn’t. Instead, she said, “Shimei, do you know how to set bones?”
Yan Zhichuan blinked dumbly. “Huh?”
She’d only learned pill-refining—like bone-setting, she’d only seen Wu Jiang do it.
Seen it, so I can do it, right?
“Where’s it broken?” Yan Zhichuan asked.
Zhan Yujie said flatly, “Left arm bone, leg bone, ribs.”
Yan Zhichuan winced all over. She gently placed her hand on Zhan Yujie’s twisted arm, but before acting, heard, “Only demonic qi here—no ambient qi for Xuanmen Daoists to refine. Shimei, no mana.”
With dan sand, it’d be easier, but breaking into Nascent Soul Realm had exhausted her supply. Once mana depleted, no external replenishment was possible.
“Oh,” Yan Zhichuan said, then added, “Is there?” She hadn’t noticed any lack of qi; circulating her technique felt no different from outside.
The Heavenly Dao System flapped its wings, itching to say “yes.” This place was odd—not the mortal realm, surrounded by demonic qi! As for Yan Zhichuan not sensing it—her Demon Seed thrived here like returning home.
Yan Zhichuan didn’t get it, but eyeing the quartered Demon Monster corpse, she played the obedient shimei wisely. Limbs could be shoved back, but ribs without mana? Before she could ask, Zhan Yujie circulated mana herself, mending them.
She casually brushed aside Yan Zhichuan, who would only make things worse. For a moment, Zhan Yujie wondered if she’d hit her head on the fall.
Better not rely on shimei. Conserve mana whether needed or not.
Freed from work, Yan Zhichuan relaxed, hands on hips. “Senior Sister, where are we? Does White Jade Capital have a place like this?”
Zhan Yujie frowned. “Not the mortal world.” The terrifying scroll in Chunshan Town had swallowed them via its ink. They’d likely fallen into the painting’s realm—a demonic handiwork, thick with demonic qi.
Yan Zhichuan stayed calm, pulling a handful of melon seeds from her Qiankun Pouch and offering them to Zhan Yujie.
When Zhan Yujie didn’t take them, she withdrew her hand and asked, “Senior Sister, does it hurt? Want a Forget-Sorrow Pill?”
Zhan Yujie: “……”
The sharp pain had faded; the Forget-Sorrow Pill was late anyway.
She didn’t need it. If she dulled every pain to temper her sword, what would hone it?
Accustomed to Yan Zhichuan’s antics, Zhan Yujie ignored the crunching sounds of her munching melon seeds and asked, “Shimei, how many herbs left? How many spirit pills and types?”
Yan Zhichuan: “Herbs mostly gone. Spirit pills… one bottle Dragon Blood Pills, two Spirit-Concentrating Pills, ten bottles Forget-Sorrow Pills, three Clear Heart Subdue Demon Pills, one bottle Demon Disguise Pills.” She’d fed others to the Heavenly Dao System, redeemable later at Myriad Treasures Pavilion for herbs—so technically, she had some.
Zhan Yujie’s brows locked tighter.
So the one she took earlier was the last healing pill.
No dan sand meant Spirit-Concentrating Pills were useless.
Clear Heart Subdue Demon Pills had some utility—warding off demonic corruption in this foul land.
Fine, rely on myself.
Zhan Yujie closed her eyes, avoiding Yan Zhichuan’s innocently clueless gaze.
She continued, “Cave Heaven technique. This scroll is likely a Cave Heaven True Person’s artifact, at minimum a spirit treasure. Escaping on our own is improbable, so we must—”
Yan Zhichuan chimed in: “Hide somewhere?”
Zhan Yujie skipped over it. “Shimei, can you contact the sect master?”
Yan Zhichuan fiddled with the whistle named Word Spirit and let out a surprised “Eh?”
Zhan Yujie thought it good news, only for Yan Zhichuan to cheerfully declare in her light tone, “It’s broken! Shizun needs to get me a new one!”
Zhan Yujie: “……”
