Wei Fuming had the courage to take on four opponents at once, but he didn’t have the kind of sky-high cultivation to match.
When he saw the drought demon reach out and absorb the demonic cultivator’s essence, he started thinking about retreating and began preparing to leave.
Now, seeing everyone’s attention fixed on the crimson earth, he spun his golden staff in a blur, then slammed it hard into the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.
Taking advantage of the chaos, he used the Demon Sect’s great escape technique and slipped out of the fight.
Lin Heng’s face turned cold when he saw this, and he was about to take off in pursuit when a clear voice suddenly sounded in his ear: “No need to chase him.”
Li Jingyu glanced calmly at her companions and said, “The Demon Sect’s great escape technique is beyond us.
We can’t catch up.” Her gaze shifted to the dangerous mountain peaks ahead.
The sun had just risen, hanging in the sky, casting a fiery glow over the mountains and fields.
This area was already unbearably hot because of the drought demon, and now it felt like a steamer.
“The Demon God Stake is buried in the mountain,” Qin Ruoshui said, taking a deep breath and frowning seriously.
“We need to find the Earth Mother’s true body before the demonic cultivators do and destroy it.” The Twelve Demon God Stakes had already started appearing across Jiuzhou.
Xuanming had been defeated and suppressed, while Shebi Corpse had been taken away by the demonic cultivators.
These “Demon Gods” were all leaning toward the demonic path, constantly changing.
Every bit they grew stronger was another threat to the Immortal Sect.
Lin Heng turned to Qin Ruoshui and asked in a low voice, “With our strength, can we do it?” The drought demon they’d just faced was about as strong as a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, but now that the drought demon had merged with the red earth, what would happen once it became the Earth Mother’s true body? He glanced at the blazing Wuqishan, a shadow falling over his heart.
“The drought demon is outside, the Earth Mother is within.
Now that the drought demon has returned, the Earth Mother needs to digest its power before she can break free from the earth’s restraints,” Li Jingyu said after thinking for a moment.
“If the Demon Sect wants to bring back the Earth Mother, they’ll need to build an Earth Altar to awaken her from her slumber.”
Qin Ruoshui looked at Li Jingyu, not hiding the surprise on his face.
The Immortal Sect did have records of the twelve Demon Gods, but it was all so ancient—the Demon Ancestor’s twelve avatars were as mysterious as the Dao Ancestor’s eighty-one transformations.
Li Jingyu met Qin Ruoshui’s gaze, calm and unruffled, clearly not planning to explain.
Qin Ruoshui said, “Then let’s head into Wuqishan first.”
A few miles away.
Gao Cang’s face was ashen, looking extremely grim.
All the Demon Sect cultivators who’d come with him had fallen, and he was the only one who’d escaped.
Even though they’d achieved their goal, he was still filled with resentment and anger! He’d almost used this chance to break into the Golden Core stage! Progress always depended on a bit of luck, but that feeling had vanished, and he had no idea how to get it back.
Taking a deep breath, Gao Cang pulled out a talisman from his sleeve.
A faint blood-red color spread across the talisman, quickly forming the blurry figure of a Daoist.
Gao Cang bowed his head quickly and said respectfully, “Disciple greets Master.
The drought demon has returned, a thousand miles of red earth—Lord Earth Mother will awaken soon.”
“Well done.” The Daoist’s booming voice was like thunder.
“Next, bring the Earth Mother back to our Demon Sect.
If you do this well, there will be wondrous rewards for you in the hall.”
Gao Cang forced down his churning emotions, pretending to be grateful as he replied, “Yes, thank you, Master.” The Daoist didn’t say anything else, just pointed a finger at him.
Gao Cang felt a powerful force pour into his body from thousands of miles away, and his mind was suddenly filled with countless words—the method for building the Earth Altar.
As he silently absorbed this information, a red figure appeared in front of him, a sharp wind slicing across his face like a knife.
A ghostly flame appeared in front of Gao Cang, and he quickly retreated.
“What’s the meaning of this, Brother Wei?” Gao Cang looked at the furious Wei Fuming, squinting with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Wei Fuming snorted, put away his magic weapon, and shouted angrily, “So, Gao Cang, you were planning to use me as food for the drought demon?” Gao Cang replied, “We’re all Demon Sect cultivators.
For the revival of the demonic path, it’s only right to sacrifice ourselves to the Demon Ancestor!” Wei Fuming sneered, “Then why don’t you feed yourself to the demon, Gao Cang?” He paused, then added, “Don’t think I don’t know what your Tianhai Demon Sect is up to! The Twelve Demon God Stakes aren’t just about changing the balance of purity and filth—you want to unite the entire demonic path, don’t you?” Gao Cang just lifted his eyelids and gave Wei Fuming a cold look, not bothering to respond.
Even though the other man had stopped fighting, who knew when he might attack again?
Wei Fuming narrowed his eyes, definitely tempted to kill Gao Cang.
But right now, Gao Cang was busy with the Twelve Demon Gods, and if he made a move, even his own master might not protect him.
After thinking for a moment, he barked, “I’ll let you off today, but if we meet again, I’ll be sure to test your skills!” Gao Cang watched Wei Fuming until he was completely gone before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
Demon Sect cultivators were all tough to deal with, but once he became a hall master of the Tianhai Demon Sect, he’d see what they could do then.
Gao Cang felt a surge of excitement, but quickly calmed himself.
He needed to build the altar, but with his status, he could only mobilize a limited number of demonic cultivators.
Did he really have to swallow his disgust and ask the women of Huoxin Palace for help? Gao Cang narrowed his eyes, flicked his sleeve, and turned to leave.
· Dong’e City.
This place was east of Wuqishan, about ten miles away.
Because of Wuqishan’s influence, it hadn’t rained here in ages, but there was a Dragon God Temple in town, dedicated to the Well Dragon King, so the rivers and wells hadn’t completely dried up.
Streaks of light flew through the sky, and the people in the city pinned their hopes on these immortals, but before the drought could be solved, patches of crimson earth appeared both inside and outside the city, and all the crops in the fields turned to ash, as if burned by fire.
“If we couldn’t find any trace of the Earth Mother in Wuqishan, is there really a way to solve this here?” The speaker’s voice was soft, tinged with anxiety.
It was Lin Heng.
Their group had searched all over Wuqishan but hadn’t found the Earth Altar or the Earth Mother, and the searing heat had forced them to leave in a hurry.
With a thousand miles turned to red earth, Dong’e City was the closest populated city to Wuqishan.
“Let’s report back through the local outpost first,” Qin Ruoshui replied.
As he spoke, he glanced at Li Jingyu, hoping to get more information from her, but she just kept her mouth shut, looking distant and detached, as if none of this concerned her.
That strange feeling rose up again.
Qin Ruoshui frowned deeply, then turned to Li Jingyu and said, “Junior Sister Ran, with a thousand miles of red earth, the wells and rivers here are almost dry.
Can you try a rain-calling spell?” Li Jingyu nodded, “I’ll give it a try.” She smiled, then looked at Ji Yutang and added, “But if I work with Yutang, maybe it’ll be more effective.
What do you think, Yutang?” Summoning wind and rain was a true dragon’s innate power, and the Jewel of the Rising Tides contained the waters of the four seas, enough to provide plenty of moisture.
There was a hint of lighthearted laughter in her rising tone, like a tuft of green grass brushing the heart.
Ji Yutang shivered at the familiar, intimate words, but quickly focused on the task at hand.
She hadn’t been much help while following Qin Ruoshui and the others around, so she couldn’t refuse now that she was being asked.
Eighteen rivers crisscrossed Dong’e City, with markets scattered among them like stars.
Lin Heng and Qin Ruoshui each headed to their own sect’s outpost, while Ji Yutang followed Li Jingyu to find the source of the waters.
Ji Yutang had complicated feelings about Li Jingyu, the past and present all tangled together, the impression in her heart changing again and again, never settling into a clear picture.
She deliberately slowed her steps, not wanting to walk side by side with Li Jingyu, but just as she did, Li Jingyu stopped, as if waiting for her.
Ji Yutang’s mind was spinning with little thoughts, and just then, Li Jingyu spoke.
“Daoist Friend Ji, we’re here for Dong’e City.”
The shift from using her name so intimately to the distant “Daoist Friend Ji” made Ji Yutang’s emotions rise and fall, never settling.
She sped up to walk ahead of Li Jingyu, the hot wind slapping her face, and finally her restless heart began to calm.
The words spoken on the eve of her wedding left a mark in her heart—she shouldn’t care so much about Li Jingyu’s attitude.
She was supposed to cut off that inexplicable connection, so how could she let herself get caught up in it? The more Ji Yutang thought, the calmer she became.
She reached down to adjust the grass charm hanging at her waist, but the simple red string couldn’t withstand the fierce wind and snapped, tumbling away.
Ji Yutang took a deep breath and looked ahead.
She didn’t notice Li Jingyu’s movements behind her, or that the grass charm she’d dropped was quietly picked up and tucked into someone’s sleeve.
The rivers in Dong’e City hadn’t dried up, and there was much more moisture in the air than in the small village.
With the help of the Jewel of the Rising Tides, thunderclouds quickly gathered overhead.
A dragon’s shadow darted through the clouds, chasing after nine shining pearls, and soon, rain poured down, drenching the whole city.
Li Jingyu hovered in midair, her robes glowing faintly, not a drop of water touching her.
As she worked her magic, she added a bit of Three Light Divine Water to the rain, so now the falling water carried a purifying power.
When it hit the red earth, the crimson faded a little.
It was a rare and precious rain.
The people in the city cheered loudly, thanking the heavens, thinking it was a miracle.
But cultivators were different from ordinary people—they could easily sense the power of magic in the rain.
“Someone’s using a rain-calling spell.
There’s purifying power in this rain.
I wonder which fellow Daoist is responsible,” a female cultivator in scholar’s robes whispered.
“If you want to know, why not go take a look?” drawled another female cultivator, looking disheveled, swirling a wine gourd in her hand, her eyes a little tipsy.
“We still have—” Before she could finish the word “business,” the woman with the wine gourd had already flown off toward the strongest magical fluctuations.
Her companion frowned, knowing it was too late to say anything, and hurried after her to keep her out of trouble.
The rain wove a hazy curtain between heaven and earth.
Ji Yutang looked at Li Jingyu through the misty rain, sensing a kind of distant emptiness, like the moon in water or a flower in the fog.
Even with all her prejudices, she had to admit Li Jingyu was stunningly beautiful.
In her twenty-odd years, she’d met plenty of beauties, but few could tug at her heartstrings like Li Jingyu.
But—Ji Yutang’s mind flashed with a thought she couldn’t quite catch, when suddenly a surprised voice called out.
“Huh? Junior Sister Ji, Junior Sister Ran, is that you two doing the rain spell here?” Ji Yutang turned, surprised.
“Senior Sister Yan, Sister Shen?” After leaving Bailu Academy, she’d thought she wouldn’t see these fellow students for years, but who knew fate would bring them together so soon? Seeing familiar faces cleared away the confusion in Ji Yutang’s mind, and she asked, “What are you doing here?” “It’s a long story,” Yan Shouxia said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“The Twelve Demon Gods business is all over the place now.
We were ordered by the academy to look for clues, and we ran into a Qingtian Sect demonic cultivator on the way, chased him all the way to Wuqishan, but he got away.
We were about to head back when the ‘thousand miles of red earth’ incident happened, so we came to check it out.”
Ji Yutang nodded in understanding.
“I see.” She paused, then added, “We’re here because of the red earth too.
It’s all the Demon Sect’s doing.” She explained about the “Earth Mother Houtu” and the drought demon, then finished, “We have to destroy the Earth Mother’s true body to end this, but right now we have no leads.”
Li Jingyu crossed her arms, watching Ji Yutang and Yan Shouxia’s lively discussion.
Her eyes darkened, and when she heard “no leads,” she smiled and said gently, “Who says we have no leads? Isn’t there the Earth Altar?” Ji Yutang shot Li Jingyu a look.
Honestly, after finding nothing related to the “Earth Altar” in Wuqishan, she was starting to doubt Li Jingyu’s information.
“The altar?” Yan Shouxia frowned, exchanging a glance with Shen Zao.
After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “When we came to Dong’e City, we saw an altar on the road, but didn’t pay much attention.” With the drought everywhere, the people could only build altars and pray for rain.
There were thousands of altars in Jiuzhou, and unless one was giving off a sinister aura, no one really noticed them.
Shen Zao, eyes half-drunk, said lazily, “We’ve got nothing else to do in the city, might as well take a look.” She was never one to procrastinate—once she decided, she was off, vanishing into the wind and rain.
Yan Shouxia pressed her brow, helpless as ever with Shen Zao, apologized to Ji Yutang and the others, and hurried after her.
“They’re a lot less at odds than they were back at Bailu Academy,” Li Jingyu said with a soft laugh, watching their backs.
Ji Yutang didn’t reply, but couldn’t help recalling that conversation at the academy about “Yun Chixin.” Had the barrier between those two finally disappeared, or had they just learned to hide it, blending in with everyone else? Shen Zao and Yan Shouxia’s investigation dragged on into the night with no sign of them.
Night fell on Dong’e City.
The rain had long since stopped, but the air was still fresh and clean.
Countless rooftops and pavilions hid in the darkness, leaving only black silhouettes like mountains at rest.
Lanterns swayed in the wind, casting long shadows, and a ghostly figure flashed by, leaving the night quiet once more.
Fulai Inn.
With a soft click, the innkeeper opened his sleepy eyes and was startled when he saw the tall, elegant figure.
He scrambled to his feet, all the arrogance he showed guests during the day gone, replaced by nervous deference, as if a mountain weighed on his back.
Li Jingyu strolled leisurely down the corridor, passing through an illusion and entering the hidden world within Fulai Inn.
In the quiet little garden, rare flowers and strange plants swayed in the wind, filling the air with intoxicating fragrance.
Pearls set in the walls lit up the place, and Li Jingyu walked through the flowers and willows until she stopped in front of a guest room.
The tranquility didn’t extend to this room—inside, laughter like silver bells rang out from time to time.
Li Jingyu covered her mouth and coughed lightly, then pushed the door open.
With a creak, the room fell silent.
A moment later, a wave of voices surged toward Li Jingyu like a tide.
Chattering noisily, it sounded like a flock of sparrows squabbling right by my ear.
Once all the cries of “Senior Sister” faded away, Li Jingyu finally asked, “Has the Tianhai Demon Sect made any moves lately?”
“They have—” A female cultivator lounging on the couch, idly playing with a pair of dice, flashed a look of disdain and snorted, “It’s a mess over there.”
“Gao Cang sent word, asking for our help.” Another person looked at Li Jingyu and added, “Seems like after the trip to Wuqishan, a bunch of those Tianhai Demon Sect lunatics died, and now Gao Cang’s got no one left he can use.”
Li Jingyu’s eyes lit up with interest.
She asked, “What does he want you to do? What’s he offering?”
“Build the Earth Altar.” The woman’s face was full of annoyance as she sneered, “He actually came to Huoxin Palace for something as rough as building an altar.
He’s offering us ten dinglu, but what do we need dinglu for? If we need partners for dual cultivation, can’t we just find them ourselves?”
“This Gao Cang is really rude.
Every time he sees us sisters, he looks like we owe him something.”
“He also gave us a piece of news—said that the Demon God Stake was forged using the flesh and blood of the Demon Ancestor.”
Li Jingyu’s expression sharpened, her brows knitting together.
“Demon Ancestor?” After the Demon Ancestor perished together with the Supreme Dao Ancestor, the corpse was torn apart and scattered, no one knows where it ended up.
The Tianhai Demon Sect actually managed to find the Demon Ancestor’s remains? No wonder the twelve Demon Gods were born from it.
But would Demon Gods born from the Demon Ancestor’s body really obey the Tianhai Demon Sect? The Demon Ancestor split into twelve forms—could these twelve Demon Gods eventually evolve back into the Demon Ancestor? If the Demon Ancestor returned, what would become of Jiuzhou?
“Senior Sister, do you think we should help Gao Cang? The Earth Altar is meant to awaken the Earth Mother, which would boost our Demon Sect’s power.
With it, maybe we could finally deal with those self-righteous Immortal Sect cultivators.”
The voice in her ear snapped Li Jingyu out of her thoughts.
She smiled slightly and said, “Why not help him? Tell Gao Cang that the Immortal Sect has already found the Earth Altar, so he’d better be careful.
Gao Cang’s ambitions are sky-high, but he’s narrow-minded.
He wants to pull this off, but doesn’t want the Tianhai Demon Sect to get any credit.
He’s already offended Wei Fuming, so now he can only rely on our Huoxin Palace.
As for payment, have him hand over some ‘White Cang Yin Wood Seed.’”
White Cang Yin Wood Seed is the fuel for cultivating the White Cang Yin Fire Technique, filled with dense yin energy.
Li Jingyu cultivates the path of the lunar yin, and can absorb the White Cang Yin Wood Seed.
She’d wanted to get her hands on it in the past, but never succeeded.
Now that Gao Cang needs Huoxin Palace’s help, it’s only fair to make him bleed a little.
“Alright!” The Huoxin Palace cultivator immediately agreed crisply to Li Jingyu’s orders.
“Oh, and when the time comes, press this into the ‘altar.’” Li Jingyu added.
She pulled a talisman from her sleeve, tapped it, and sent it flying into a junior sister’s hand.
The talisman sealed a dose of “Three Light Divine Water.” When Houtu awakens through the Earth Altar, this Three Light Divine Water buried deep in the altar will also be sealed into its dharma body.
Three Light Divine Water is a star river formed from the sun, moon, and stars, containing the purest and clearest power of the stars.
Houtu is the filthiest and most corrupt Demon God—if it’s invaded by the Three Light Divine Water, it’ll rot away from the inside out.
Once its power is gone, Li Jingyu can seize the chance to devour it whole.
“Senior Sister, you—” The Red-clothed Female Cultivator’s eyelid twitched as she caught the talisman, looking nervously at Li Jingyu.
Li Jingyu smiled and asked, “Junior Sister, do you still believe in the Demon Ancestor? What do you think the Demon Ancestor is like? Is it anything like the twelve Demon Gods of the Tianhai Demon Sect?” Times have changed.
The Eight Great Immortal Sects still worship the Supreme Dao Ancestor, but the Demon Sect is already a scattered mess.
No one can say for sure what kind of being the Demon Ancestor is.
In the Tianhai Demon Sect, it’s the twelve Demon Gods who feed on humans and are utterly evil; in Qingtian Sect, it’s an ancient demon of immense strength who could split the heavens and earth; in Huoxin Palace, it’s a goddess of a hundred forms. The so-called Demon Ancestor is really just the “ancestral god” each person imagines from their own path.
The Dao Ancestor is purest clarity, the Demon Ancestor is purest filth.
They can take any form.
“Instead of worshipping the Demon Ancestor, why not make myself the ancestor? What do you think, Junior Sister?” Li Jingyu didn’t believe in the Dao Ancestor or the Demon Ancestor.
She pursued the Dao, and her only goal was the highest peak.
After the Dao Ancestor and Demon Ancestor fell, that era was already over.
Dao Ancestor and Demon Ancestor are both the Dao, but those who enter the Dao don’t have to merge with them.
Enter the Dao through oneself, but never lose yourself.
The Red-clothed Female Cultivator was deeply shocked—this was the first time she’d heard such blunt words.
After a long moment, she looked at Li Jingyu with a complicated expression and murmured, “But this era’s fate belongs to the Immortal Sect.” If not, the Tianhai Demon Sect wouldn’t have set up the Demon God Stake to dig up the filthy qi.
When fate is with the Immortal Sect, their luck and cultivation speed outpace the Demon Sect, so in every clash, the Demon Sect keeps losing.
Li Jingyu curled her lips into a smile.
“Junior Sister, it’s all up to us.” The world changes, and the rise and fall of clarity and filth has its own cycle—every fifteen hundred years, there’s a shift.
When the change comes, the world sends down calamity.
No matter your cultivation, if you’re caught in the calamity and your luck runs out, you’ll be wiped out.
The Immortal Sect cultivators cultivate themselves and try to carry as little burden as possible, but demon cultivators don’t restrain themselves—they indulge, so when calamity comes, it’s no wonder their luck gets cut down.
The demon path is one of the three thousand Dao, it won’t disappear, but as for the three Demon Sects, who knows what their fate will be.
Master has already sensed the calamity approaching and wants to change things—there should still be a way to escape the disaster.
Author’s note: Stirring up trouble means getting exposed.
