“Truly a perfect match—the gifted man and the beautiful woman, made for each other by Heaven.”
“Before long, the Xuanling Dao Sect will have two more cultivators of the Dongtian Realm.”
“Xi Fu is certainly lucky.”
…
As the time for the couple to pay respects to Heaven and Earth at the dual-cultivation ceremony drew nearer, the guests gradually shifted from discussing the Dao to offering their blessings to the newlyweds.
Once the pair formally forged their dual-cultivation contract before Heaven and Earth, the most important part of the ceremony would be complete. Afterward, Xi Fu and Pei Qiyun could choose to hold a Dao discussion. They could give the lecture themselves or invite another guest to speak. To many cultivators with lower levels of cultivation, attending such a banquet was like taking a free class on cultivation techniques. The sect would never let anyone who had brought a gift leave empty-handed.
When the time came to pay respects to Heaven and Earth, all the guests would naturally gather together.
The disciples of the Xuanling Dao Sect moved throughout the banquet hall, checking whether the guests needed anything else while taking the opportunity to publicize the sect’s achievements in recent years—how many disciples they had recruited, how quickly those disciples’ cultivation had progressed, how many demonic cultivators they had exterminated, which subsidiary sects they had brought under their control, and so on.
As for Situ Jian and the others, disciples of the Xuanling Dao Sect had been waiting nearby the entire time, ready to serve them at a moment’s notice.
Situ Jian, Qu Yougu, and the others were all chatting and laughing pleasantly, blending perfectly into the banquet. To an outside observer, there was not the slightest sign that anything was amiss.
Meanwhile—
Outside Busi Manor, the guards who had been faithfully performing their duties suddenly heard a command in their minds. They began moving along their predetermined routes.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“You can’t just leave your post.”
…
Some of the other guards tried to stop their companions.
But the moment the words left their mouths, they were met not with explanations or friendly smiles, but with faces filled with killing intent and sinister energy.
Across the ground surrounding Busi Manor—including the cities and even some mortal villages—strange patterns began to flicker in and out of sight.
“Father, I think something red just passed over the ground.”
“You must have imagined it. It’s broad daylight—where would something like that come from?”
…
“City Lord, Manor Lord Xi is about to pay respects to Heaven and Earth with his Dao companion. You should be setting out.”
“City Lord? City Lord?”
The guards and the city’s elders had been calling out to the City Lord from outside his door, but he still failed to respond.
After waiting for two days, they finally realized that something was wrong. If they did not get the City Lord out the door soon, they would offend Busi Manor.
However, when they forcibly broke into the City Lord’s room, all they found was a skeleton dressed in the City Lord’s ceremonial robes.
The floor was covered in countless blood-red patterns. In an instant, they seemed to transform into ravenous beasts, lunging at them with gaping maws.
…
In a mortal village—
“Bone King is here again! Hide!”
“The rest of you, hurry to the village entrance and stand guard! It’s fine if Bone King eats a little of our flesh, but the children in the village are still young. They can’t grow up without their mothers!”
The village chief had already become practiced at gathering all the able-bodied men in the village. One after another, they assembled within the village.
They knew far better than the cultivators did: the moment blood-red light appeared on the ground in their village, it meant the Bone King was coming again to demand a sacrifice.
But this time, just as the blood-red light neared the village, it seemed to meet some kind of resistance.
As if drawn away by something else, the streams of blood-red light all changed course and surged toward the Unsought Manor.
“...The immortals! The immortals have answered our prayers!”
Ordinary mortals could not see them.
High in the sky, two flying swords were performing peerless sword techniques, driving all the blood-red light toward a place rich in spiritual energy.
At Unsought Manor,
Xi Fu led Pei Qiyun by the hand, and together they walked step by step toward the raised platform, witnessed by the officiant and the many elders and disciples of the Profound Spirit Dao Sect.
On the platform stood two long sticks of Heaven-Questioning Incense, crafted from the finest materials.
When two cultivators wishing to become cultivation partners each lit a stick and recited their vows together, they could call upon the Heavenly Dao to bear witness.
To end their partnership, they would likewise have to hold a stick of Heaven-Questioning Incense together and declare that their relationship had come to an end.
With the Heavenly Dao as their witness, a properly bonded pair of dual-cultivation partners could make twice the progress when practicing dual-cultivation techniques, compared with the meager gains of simple energy extraction.
This was known as the Heavenly Dao’s blessing.
And for the sake of that blessing, plenty of cultivators were willing to set aside differences of sect, species, gender, and even cultivation level to form a pact and become dual-cultivation partners.
Now, they had reached the most important part of the ceremony.
Xi Fu held Pei Qiyun’s hand in a tight grip, and a strange feeling stirred in her heart.
Why was Xi Fu’s hand so cold?
Pei Qiyun tried to pull her hand free, but it wouldn’t budge.
“My dear, we’re about to become dual-cultivation partners and light the Heaven-Questioning Incense. Best not to cause a scene now.” Xi Fu smiled, gazing at Pei Qiyun with gentle warmth. “All our guests are here to witness this. We can’t send them home disappointed.”
Pei Qiyun had begun to sense that something was wrong.
Though she had not met Xi Fu many times, the person before her seemed utterly unlike the Xi Fu she had known.
Who are you, really?
Pei Qiyun tried to speak, but found her voice trapped in her throat. No matter how hard she tried, not a sound came out.
Her body had gone rigid in an instant, too. She had lost all control of it.
“I gave you so many things, and you never used any of them.” Xi Fu sighed. “But there was no way you wouldn’t wear the red ceremonial robes for our dual-cultivation ceremony. My dear, don’t keep our guests waiting.”
Pei Qiyun could clearly see a tiny blood-red flower at the center of Xi Fu’s brow, flickering wildly.
The Blood Demon Sect?!
Pei Qiyun’s eyes widened. She tried to wrench herself free, desperate to warn her fellow disciples of the Profound Spirit Dao Sect.
But how could the person before her be less than a hundred times stronger than she was?
She could not make a sound. And judging by the people around them, no one else could hear Xi Fu speak—or see the unmistakable mark of a Blood Demon Sect disciple on his brow.
“The Profound Spirit Dao Sect has been unworthy of its position for far too long.” Still holding Pei Qiyun’s hand, Xi Fu led her to the platform. Each of them took a stick of Heaven-Questioning Incense.
The guests below were applauding.
“You see? Nearly half of the Daoist sects’ most gifted disciples are gathered here. Once they are dead, your Xuanling Dao Sect will immediately be carved up by the sects standing behind those cultivators.”
“Then tell me—do those sects know that I am here?”
“They do. I may have been able to deceive your Xuanling Dao Sect, but I could never fool them.”
“And yet they still sent their disciples here.”
“How could they pass up such a perfect excuse to carve up the Xuanling Dao Sect?”
“Madam, our Ancestor has always enjoyed playing teacher. Naturally, we disciples have inherited the desire to let people understand exactly why they are dying. So let me teach you another lesson.”
“If the cultivators of this world wish to control their own fate, they must constantly fight for it. Relying on your sect or your dao companion? Heh. Neither will do.”
Pei Qiyun’s heart turned cold.
The more he said, the longer he had been plotting.
And that also meant that the Xuanling Dao Sect was destined to suffer this calamity.
Xi Fu snapped the Asking-Heaven Incense in his hand in two and let the extravagantly expensive incense fall to the ground.
“Fellow Daoists, all who come are honored guests. Why not enter my Spirit Pearl and share immortality with me?” Xi Fu spread his arms atop the high platform.
The entire Busi Manor began to shake with his movement.
The ground suddenly exploded open.
Beneath the manor, countless traces of formations were revealed. Baleful energy, condensed from heaps of white bones, surged into the sky.
“The Blood Demon Sect! It’s the Blood Demon Sect!”
Some cultivators recognized it immediately.
Once the Blood Demon Sect’s formation was activated, every person within it would have their cultivation and vital essence drained by the Blood Demon Sect’s cultivators. Even their souls would find it difficult to escape beyond this world. It was unquestionably the demonic sect most hated by the countless Daoist cultivators.
Who could have imagined that the master of Busi Manor was actually a disciple of the Blood Demon Sect?
“Everyone, stay calm! Follow me and cut down this demon!” The elders of the Xuanling Dao Sect were the first to react, fully aware of what their most urgent task was.
If they failed to slay this Blood Demon Sect fiend, then once word got out, the Xuanling Dao Sect would never be able to show its face in the cultivation world again.
Moreover, for the Blood Demon Sect to conceal such a formation for so long, it must have tampered with Busi Manor long ago.
The manor had shown no signs of trouble all these years. It was likely that it had already become the Blood Demon Sect’s headquarters.
With an order from the Xuanling Dao Sect’s elders, the cultivators present were given a clear target. In an instant, countless cultivators tried to attack Xi Fu on the high platform.
Yet the moment they circulated their spiritual energy, faint crimson glows appeared across their bodies, more or less.
Some came from gifts bestowed upon them by other cultivators.
Some came from the spirit fruits they had eaten or the wine they had drunk.
And some had no idea when they had been affected.
“How can we possibly be a match for the Blood Demon Sect? We must hurry back and report this to our sects.”
The cultivators who sensed that something was wrong tried to flee while they had the chance.
But before they could make a move, the guards outside Busi Manor had already taken their positions. They stood beyond the manor, chanting under their breath.
Soon, the entire Busi Manor was covered in a faint blood-red radiance.
The whole of Busi Manor had been enveloped by the formation.
Anyone who wanted to leave could forget about it!
“Everyone, there’s no need to panic.” Xi Fu threw back his head and laughed. “The Blood Demon Sect has spent years laying its plans. Did you really think we’d let you leave so easily? And ask yourselves this: at a time like this, is anyone truly coming to save you?”
“Demon, stop spreading lies!” An elder of the Xuanling Dao Sect struggled to suppress his fear and unease, then shouted at him.
Xi Fu merely gave the elder a cool glance and lightly curled his fingers.
The elder, who had been speaking moments before, flushed crimson. His body collapsed to the ground, beyond his control.
“I-Imm… Immaculate Realm…”
He fell, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, only for it to vanish almost at once.
His vital essence leaked away like air from a punctured balloon. In the blink of an eye, he was nothing but bones.
High above Busi Manor, a bead no bigger than a grain of rice was absorbing the blood essence of the cultivators throughout the manor, slowly growing larger.
“Peak of the Grotto-Heaven realm. His foundation was a little lacking, but his cultivation was solid enough.” Xi Fu savored the taste, as though he had just finished a fine wine.
Some of the cultivators in the manor had already broken down.
“An Immaculate Realm demon! He’s an Immaculate Realm demon!”
“We’re finished. We’re utterly finished.”
…
“Senior Brother Zhuang, Senior Sister Li.” Xie Xianzhi immediately turned to his senior brother and sister. “Come here. I’ll protect your blood essence from being drained by that demon.”
Situ Jian, Qu Yougu, Xie Xianzhi, and the others had immediately checked themselves for anything amiss, purged every blood-colored mark from their bodies, and summoned their magical treasures to shield themselves.
Situ Jian and Qu Yougu exchanged a glance. Both had already sent word to their sects.
They only needed to hold out until reinforcements arrived. Their sole concern was protecting themselves.
But neither Situ Jian nor Qu Yougu was eager to step forward just yet.
Compared with them, it was the Xuanling Dao Sect that had to race against time to slay the demon.
Hearing Xie Xianzhi, Zhuang Heze and Li Pianran also tried to hurry to his side.
Xie Xianzhi had a protective treasure bestowed by his sect. Surely the Blood Demon Sect’s formation could do little against him.
But the moment they moved to approach him, the boxes Xi Fu had given them suddenly sprang open on their own. Wave after wave of demonic energy drifted out and sank into their brows.
The banquet hall had descended into chaos before anyone knew it.
“Hahahaha! At last, I’ve found my chance to kill you!”
“Bah! Since when were we friends? You think I didn’t know you tried to ambush me in secret?”
“Once you’re dead, that batch of pills you refined will be mine!”
“Why do you get to be the senior brother while I’m stuck as the junior? Why does Senior Sister favor you?”
…
Blades flashed; magical treasures and spirit artifacts, divine abilities and spells erupted throughout the banquet hall.
Situ Jian reached out, seized Xie Xianzhi, and pulled him up into the air.
“Your senior brother and sister have been possessed by demonic energy. If you don’t want to die, stay away from them.”
“Is this the Blood Demon Sect’s Heavenly Demon Heart-Luring Smoke?” Qu Yougu frowned. “This is one of the Blood Demon Sect’s closely guarded secrets, and it’s extraordinarily difficult to refine. Has Cui Yuhua really been this generous?”
The effort required to refine all this smoke would probably be enough to drain the entirety of Cui Yuhua’s savings accumulated over the years!
The greatest effect of the Heavenly Demon Heart-Luring Smoke was that it could provoke a person’s bloodlust. Even the most trivial matters could make a cultivator harbor murderous intent.
In a sealed space like this, combined with the use of such a substance, it could only lead to one outcome—mutual slaughter.
Xi Fu on the platform was probably no longer Xi Fu at all. He was merely a demonic entity, Cui Yuhua, temporarily appearing through Xi Fu’s body.
He was not truly a cultivator of the Immaculate Realm, either. Within the formations of Busi Manor, he was merely creating the illusion that he was one, thereby intensifying the cultivators’ fear.
And once fear and panic took hold, resisting the effects of the Heavenly Demon Heart-Luring Smoke became even more impossible.
The smoke would also plunge these cultivators into even deeper despair, ultimately accelerating the refinement of the Blood Spirit Pearl.
This was an insoluble predicament.
“By the way, where is Daoist Shu Xin?” Qu Yougu looked across the entire hall but could not find any trace of Shu Xin, so he could not help asking.
Situ Jian discreetly blocked off a certain corner. “She naturally has matters of her own to attend to.”
After receiving the message from Busi Manor, the cultivators of the Longevity Dao Sect and the Myriad Dao Sect immediately set out for the manor.
To keep the Blood Demon Sect’s cultivators from noticing anything amiss, they did not dare lie in ambush outside ahead of time. Instead, they chose to exploit the difference in timing, making all the necessary preparations before setting out.
The Longevity Dao Sect dispatched two cultivators of the Immaculate Realm.
“Old Chen, are we really going to take our time getting there?” one of the Immaculate Realm cultivators asked his companion. “Shouldn’t we hurry over?”
“Sigh, are you genuinely foolish, or merely pretending?” the cultivator surnamed Chen replied. “The two of us have already stabilized our Immaculate Realm cultivation. As long as we don’t betray the sect and ask the Ancestor to suppress the backlash for us, we don’t need to worry too much about our realms falling. But those two newly accepted disciples of the Ancestor have yet to completely stabilize their cultivation in the Immaculate Realm.”
The cultivator who had asked the question halted at once, his face filled with hesitation. “Could it be that the two young Ancestors intend to wait until the Blood Spirit Pearl has been successfully refined before making their move to seize it?”
“You and I both understand the situation. That’s all that matters.” The cultivator surnamed Chen nodded silently. “Their cultivation was bestowed upon them by the Ancestor. They must have consumed countless precious heavenly treasures to stabilize it, and it’s perfectly normal for them to spend years in secluded cultivation without showing themselves. Neither of them is someone we can afford to offend. One is the Murong family’s beloved son-in-law; the other is destined to become the mother of a future head of some aristocratic family. As for how the Blood Spirit Pearl will be divided, that is their concern.”
Of the Nine Sons of Longevity, only the final two rarely appeared before the public.
They were Fu Ge, ranked eighth, and Wen Jingshu, ranked last.
Neither of them had originated from the Longevity Dao Sect. They had been personally accepted as disciples by the Ancestor.
Under the Ancestor’s painstaking guidance, they had become cultivators of the Immaculate Realm in just over a century.
Of course, the Ancestor’s methods had certainly played a major role. Under normal circumstances, it would have been absolutely impossible to reach such a level in that amount of time.
“Truly, the heavens are unfair. How can people of such character and aptitude possibly reach the Immaculate Realm?” the cultivator beside him lamented. “I only blame my own ordinary constitution for failing to catch the Patriarch’s eye. If the Patriarch were to favor me, I might even dare dream of reaching the Mahayana Realm, let alone the Immaculate Realm.”
“Those who hold positions beyond their virtue are bound to invite disaster. You needn’t belittle yourself so much,” the cultivator surnamed Chen consoled him.
“Old Chen, I knew you were the more honest one.”
“Heh. Don’t take a word of what I just said seriously. Just listen to it for entertainment.” The cultivator surnamed Chen shook his head with a laugh.
As for how the Longevity Dao Sect would act and what path it would follow, that was entirely up to the Patriarch.
Given enough time, Fu Ge and Wen Jingshu might not have been without hope of reaching the Immaculate Realm with their aptitude and constitutions. But having been forcibly dragged there by the Patriarch, their advancement was like a castle in the air—beautiful to behold, yet lacking any real foundation. They would never have any hope of progressing further.
Even so, the weakest Immaculate Realm cultivator was still an Immaculate Realm cultivator. Once the two of them fully stabilized their cultivation, the Longevity Dao Sect would officially announce to the outside world that it had gained two more Immaculate Realm cultivators.
By then, Xu Guan’s reputation for reaching the Immaculate Realm in three hundred years would be greatly diminished.
True geniuses would only come from the Longevity Dao Sect!
Compared to the leisurely pace of the Longevity Dao Sect’s cultivators, the Immaculate Realm cultivators from the Myriad Dao Sect moved much faster.
White Crane Dao Lord, in particular, had barely recovered some of his foundation before dragging along one of his allies and close friends, hurrying toward Busi Manor.
Qu Yougu, who was inside the manor, was the most promising Dao disciple of their branch. They absolutely could not let him die there.
“Hey, hey, I know you’re worried about your disciple, but slow down a little.” His friend was being dragged along helplessly. “Cui Yuhua isn’t an Immaculate Realm cultivator either, and your disciple has protective treasures. He won’t die that quickly…”
Before he could finish speaking, both their voices abruptly fell silent.
Near Busi Manor, a man dressed like a schoolteacher was slowly walking through the air. He wore a blue robe and held a book in his hand. There was clearly nothing beneath his feet, yet every step he took was remarkably steady.
White Crane Dao Lord’s face went deathly pale.
“It’s fine. It’s only an external incarnation. How could the Blood Demon Ancestor have come in person?”
“…An external incarnation is frightening enough.” His friend’s expression was equally grim.
Whether it was Cui Yuhua or the Blood Spirit Pearl, both were merely ordinary possessions to the Blood Demon Ancestor. What could possibly be important enough to make him personally send an incarnation here?
【I’m back!】
The Sword Spirit skimmed silently along the ground and returned to Shu Xin’s side. 【I’ve already redirected all those blood markers toward Busi Manor. The mortals should be fine, but it’s hard to say the same for the cultivators. There’s also some big shot outside. Looks like they noticed that something was wrong…】
【Wait, what are you doing?】
The Sword Spirit was just about to boast that it was still as sharp as ever when it saw Shu Xin sneaking around and stealing something.
Huh??
“Shh. Since things are chaotic right now, I’m going to take the opportunity to pocket a few good things.” Shu Xin lowered her voice. “Not a single guest who managed to come here is poor, so we can’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance. Besides, the Blood Demon Sect’s formations are rather interesting. I’m planning to dig out a few talisman stones containing the Blood Demon Grand Formation and take them home for a proper study.”
The Sword Spirit was practically beside itself with anger. 【At a time like this, you still have the mind to study those things?】
“Well, it’s not as if I can charge up there and start hacking away at Cui Yuhua right now. She’s in the middle of refining the Blood Spirit Pearl.” Shu Xin rolled her eyes. “Besides, have you seen any cultivators from the Longevity Dao Sect or the Myriad Dao Sect make a move? For Immaculate Realm cultivators, coming here would take no more than a thought. They’re deliberately dragging things out.”
At the very least, they had to wait until the Blood Spirit Pearl was nearly finished before the Daoist sects’ cultivators could make a “fashionably late” appearance and seize the treasure.
Besides, who knew what other tricks Cui Yuhua had left behind in Busi Manor?
It was better to stay cautious and hide behind the other cultivators for now.
And if the Immaculate Realm cultivators from the Longevity Dao Sect and the Myriad Dao Sect really did arrive, the Blood Demon Sect certainly wouldn’t sit idly by.
Mm. In a battle between good and evil like this, it was best to keep out of the line of fire for the moment.
Their mission here was merely to make sure the conflict got properly underway, then appear like “saviors” once the battle reached its fiercest point and rescue the cultivators who were on the verge of death. That was how they would gain the most gratitude and fame.
If they got the timing wrong, everything would be for nothing.
Besides, the people from the Profound Spirit Dao Sect had been at Busi Manor for so long without noticing anything amiss. They had the Longevity Dao Sect and the Myriad Dao Sect to thank for quietly cleaning up the mess behind the scenes.
There was much more to this situation than met the eye.
【So when are you planning to make your move?】
“No rush, no rush. Let’s watch for now.” Only after Shu Xin had taken nearly everything she wanted did she slowly move toward where Situ Jian was.
When immortals fought, ordinary people suffered.
Whether it was Busi Manor or the Blood Demon Sect, neither had much to do with her. She was simply here to fish in troubled waters.
And if you wanted to fish in troubled waters, how could you afford to draw too much attention?
