Chapter Eighty-Eight: Subduing Demons and Refining Elixirs!

“So all the sects and noble families in the province have been conscripted?”

By a wild mountain brook, Qi Xiu plunged headfirst into the clear, icy water and scrubbed himself clean with abandon.

He had not bathed in more than five months.

Though at his present level he scarcely dirtied himself at all, the feeling alone was enough to make him think he had nearly turned into a man of mud.

“Exactly, senior. The prefectural offices have posted proclamations throughout the province. No one dares disobey the order from the regional governor. And with the inspector-general traveling everywhere as well, if anyone wants to remain in the Great Dianchuan Province, they have to carry out this demon-suppression campaign.”

Miao Chong explained.

“Then things ought to be much steadier in the province now, shouldn’t they?”

Qi Xiu wiped the water from his face, his eyes flickering.

The more peaceful the world became, the more favorable it was to him.

Troubled times were a mire, and not suited to the growth of a hardworking genius like himself.

“Well… not really any better.”

After a moment’s thought, Miao Chong’s answer left Qi Xiu stunned.

He asked, puzzled, “That doesn’t make sense. If the sects and noble clans have all joined the effort to slay demons and subdue evil, how could there be no improvement?”

“It is strange, indeed.”

“In recent times, the number of demons and sinister cultivators in the province has only grown larger. Not just the fugitives from the Xiangchu Province, either. Demons from other provinces have also been crossing into ours again and again. Add to that the local cults and evil sects within the province, and all we can do is barely maintain a balance. But if their numbers keep rising, that balance will be shattered very soon.”

Miao Chong’s expression was worried; even as he spoke, he seemed quite troubled.

With the situation worsening in the province, the court was stretched too thin.

The sects and noble families, who had originally been able to cultivate in peace without concerning themselves with anything else, were dragged to the front lines as well.

When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer.

Today was a perfect example.

If not for the chance meeting with this senior, he and his junior sister would most likely have become two dried-up skeletons in this wilderness.

Less time for cultivation, greater danger.

How could that not trouble disciples of the sects, who had grown up in comfort and enjoyed serenity all to themselves?

After washing himself clean, Qi Xiu took out a long robe from the coiling serpent pool, shook it out once, and the moisture on it vanished in an instant.

“If senior has nowhere else to go for the moment, please come back with me to the Azure Sword Sect. We must properly repay this lifesaving favor.”

Miao Chong’s words were sincere.

By nature he was honest and steady, and since Qi Xiu had saved the lives of both him and his sister, he would repay that kindness no matter what.

“No need. It was only a small gesture.”

“Oh, right. Do you know where there are more demons nearby?”

After changing into fresh clothes, Qi Xiu casually tied up his black hair, now hanging to his waist. Purple flames bloomed in his palm, burning away his beard.

Once again he became the clean, refined scholar he had been before.

“A place with many demons?”

“About one hundred and fifty li from here, to the southwest, there is a place called Red Blossom Town.”

“That town has now been occupied by a band of demons and sinister cultivators and has become one of their strongholds.”

“And since it lies outside the lands controlled by any sect or noble family, no one has ever gone to clear it out.”

“Senior, are you asking because...”

Having named the place, Miao Chong seemed to realize something. The reverence in his gaze toward Qi Xiu deepened at once.

This senior truly possessed noble ideals and a lofty spirit.

The moment he emerged from seclusion, he was already eager to slay demons, subdue evil, and save the people.

A lone wandering cultivator could still have such devotion to the nation and its people.

How laughable that those of us who have cultivated since childhood, those who pride ourselves on being the orthodox direct disciples, were so resistant and repelled by the court’s decree to suppress demons and eradicate evil.

Compared side by side, the difference was clear at a glance.

“Senior, let me go with you!”

With steadfast eyes, Miao Chong suddenly stepped forward, his tone resolute.

“Go with me?”

Qi Xiu was taken aback by the other man’s righteous expression and felt somewhat baffled.

I’m going to subdue demons and refine pills. What would you be doing there?

The secret essence of the Primordial Dragon-Tiger True Scripture had already been forged. From here on, all I need is to keep generating Primordial energy to temper my body.

With Essence-Gathering Pills to assist me, the process will be much faster.

Although pill talismans can also be used to derive the medicinal power of an Essence-Gathering Pill, their effect is only one-tenth that of the original.

And writing Essence-Gathering Pill talismans consumes an enormous amount of mental energy.

If I wrote two in a day, I would be left with headaches and palpitations.

By that calculation, it would take five full days to accumulate the medicinal power of a single Essence-Gathering Pill.

Now that the Heavenly Fiend tribulation was stirring in the dark, he did not have time to slowly stockpile pill talismans. So Qi Xiu could only seek out gathering places of demons, capture them, and refine pills from them.

That was the fastest way to accelerate the body-tempering of Primordial cultivation.

“Mm!” Miao Chong nodded hard.

Seeing that this sect disciple seemed to have misunderstood something, Qi Xiu waved a hand.

“It’s enough that you have the thought of helping.”

“But your cultivation is far too low. Even if I took you with me, could you protect yourself?”

“At that point, you would only distract me.”

“Go back. Cultivate properly. Kill a few more demons. Then my saving you won’t have been for nothing.”

“This...”

Miao Chong opened his mouth as if to say more, but he also understood that every word Qi Xiu said was reasonable.

Slaying demons and eradicating evil was not like strolling through the mountains for leisure or playing at house.

If he insisted on following along, he would only become a burden and end up harming his benefactor.

“Rest assured, Senior. From now on, I, Miao Chong, will cultivate diligently and strive to one day stand alongside you, slaying demons, subduing evil, and defending the nation and its people.”

With newfound clarity, Miao Chong solemnly promised Qi Xiu.

Looking at Miao Chong, whose eyes were clear, steadfast, and sincere, Qi Xiu studied him for a moment, then smiled.

“Good. I hope that one day, you and I can fight side by side.”

With that, Qi Xiu set off.

His figure turned hazy as he moved, covering more than ten meters in a single step. In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the endless forest.

Staring in the direction Qi Xiu had gone, Miao Chong clenched his fists quietly.

“Don’t worry, Senior. I’ll remember this to heart, Miao Chong!”

...

In a long valley surrounded by several mountain ranges, a town lay nestled against the mountains.

Night had deepened. In the town, one blood-red lantern after another glowed to life, like a pair of eyes filled with bloodshot veins, faintly spying on everyone who came from every direction.

This town was called Red Blossom Town.

It had once become famous for producing a tea called Red Blossom Gold Silk, and because it lay at the center of several important county towns, it had usually seen a steady flow of travelers and merchants.

Then one day, a plague suddenly broke out within the town, and it was highly contagious.

To prevent the disease from spreading, the counties of Changyuan and Qingyao discussed the matter and decided to seal off the roads out of the mountains, forbidding the people of Red Blossom Town from leaving.

They planned to wait until the cause of the plague had been identified and a cure or solution found.

But the plague had been far too ferocious.

Before any cause or remedy could be discovered, nearly seven thousand people in Red Blossom Town had already died to the last one.

After that, several successive magistrates tried relocating refugees and disaster survivors to the old site of Red Blossom Town.

Strangely enough, however, anyone who entered Red Blossom Town would, within a few days, die suddenly inside their house, their corpses grotesque and horrifying.

Thus a rumor spread.

It was said that the wronged souls of those trapped and starved to death in the town back then were haunting the place.

From then on, the town was abandoned, and no one dared live there again.

Until three months ago.

A group of demons and sinister cultivators discovered the place. Because it sat at the center of several counties, it did not fall under the jurisdiction of any sect or noble family.

As a result, more and more demons and evil cultivators flocked there after hearing the news, and it eventually developed into a demon stronghold of considerable scale.

There was even a demon of the Entry-to-Path realm holding the fort.

Its reputation spread quickly.

Crossing a mountain hollow that had been blasted open by human hands, Qi Xiu could already see, from afar, the blood-red lanterns hanging in the deep valley of the mountains.

“So that’s Red Blossom Town?”

“What a heavy demonic aura.”

Even from more than ten li away, Qi Xiu could smell the nauseating, rank stench of dense demonic energy.

“I can’t go there looking like this. If I do, they’ll probably spot me as prey before I even get close.”

Glancing down at his own appearance, Qi Xiu took out a mask with a hundred faces and fastened it on.

In an instant, he transformed into Hollow Void, a pale, white-robed man with a deathly complexion and two dark circles beneath his eyes.

He silently activated the secret essence of the Primordial Dragon-Tiger True Scripture.

The vibrant aura of living flesh and blood quickly restrained itself, replaced by a chilly, vicious, eerie presence that warned others to keep away.

“Yes, this should do.”

Satisfied, Qi Xiu strode toward Red Blossom Town in the distance.

By the time he reached the mountainside, the gloomy, frigid woods around him had begun to fill with more and more human silhouettes.

They emerged from corners and shadows no one could tell.

Each of these figures carried a strong or faint stench of blood, along with demonic aura steeped in strange power.

There were even some terrifying shapes that bore no resemblance to human beings at all.

One short, black-faced mountain monk grinning as he held a human skull in his hands, scooping out brains with a ladle; a back-eyed ghost with a head and face but neither brows nor eyes, a single vertical eye on its back that turned and fired beams of golden light to kill anyone it met; a figure resembling a human, draped in coarse mourning cloth, wearing a hemp cap, carrying a bronze staff, and with a dreadful fondness for human hearts...

All manner of bizarre demons passed by Qi Xiu.

When they glanced at him, a human sinister cultivator, they merely swept their eyes over him and hurried on, apparently not interested.

“They’re all in such a rush? What is this, a meeting?”

Noticing that the demons and evil cultivators around him all looked hurried, Qi Xiu’s eyes flickered.

“Hey, brother. It’s my first time here today. Why is everyone moving so fast?”

He raised a hand and stopped a man with bluish skin, a pale face, and a bamboo basket hanging from his waist, then asked with a smile.

“You damn—”

The man with the white face was just about to curse.

But the moment he sensed the aura far stronger than his own, his expression blossomed into a brilliant smile like a flower.

He then explained softly why all the demons were moving so urgently.

“A feast?”

“A feast of what?”

At the words, Qi Xiu instinctively thought of King Golden Wealth.

That toad had also falsely claimed it was hosting a longevity banquet to lure a host of demons and sinister cultivators there.

In the end, it had planned to gather them into its Essence-Gathering Treasure Pouch and use them as materials for refining Essence-Gathering Pills.

Could this so-called banquet of Lord Feathered Heaven be the same kind of trap?

If so, that would not do.

I, Qi Xiu, have traveled all the way here after such hard work. You can’t just sweep me up in a single pot.

With a flicker in his eyes, Qi Xiu wasted no more time.

He immediately followed the white-faced man and hurried toward Red Blossom Town.

...

Thanks to the reader known as the Spirit of the Broadsword for the generous reward! Many thanks!