Chapter 70
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Chapter 70
The clam spirit sensed something amiss and sprouted even more translucent white tentacles, attempting to bind Gong Wu completely within its shell and drain her of all her cultivation.
Gong Wu waited calmly for a moment, realizing it couldn’t drag her down, and decided to walk toward the clam shell.
Since she couldn’t die, there was no need to force the issue.
Suddenly, she felt a strong urge to test just how powerful she had become.
Having reached the Jade Balance Realm, she could not only summon rain and snow but also wield spiritual energy far beyond the capabilities of ordinary cultivators.
She could have summoned her fairy umbrella underwater, but out of curiosity, she wanted to gauge her current limits.
Seeing the girl willingly approach, the River Demon hesitated, then eagerly widened its shell, its countless tentacles creeping up her robes.
Gong Wu’s vision remained sharp in the murky, blood-filled water.
At that moment, she wore no water-avoidance talisman, yet she could see every detail, even the veins pulsing beneath the creature’s skin.
She raised her fingers and smoothly sliced downward from her neck, cleanly severing everything in their path.
The strong, slippery tentacles felt as fragile as spider silk to her, and with a simple swipe, she cut through them effortlessly.
As the tentacles were severed, thick, murky green blood gushed out, and the River Demon recoiled, letting out a desperate, guttural wail.
Before it could flee or resist, Gong Wu casually grabbed the edge of its shell with one hand while the other reached inside to retrieve its Golden Core.
Her movements were calm and precise; her fingers were as delicate and fair as a young girl’s, not like the sharp blades of the Bamboo Theatre.
Yet wherever her fingertips touched, the thick, resilient flesh was sliced apart by her spiritual energy inch by inch. She simply reached for the spot she aimed at and retrieved the core with ease.
The clam spirit’s heart chamber clung tightly to the Golden Core, refusing to let go.
Gong Wu frowned slightly, glancing back at the scattered bones and remnants at the riverbed, and with a firm tug, she yanked it free.
Kan Jixuan abruptly stopped pretending to be dead and stood up, waving at her.
“Girl! If you don’t need it, toss it over as a snack!”
Gong Wu threw it toward her; dozens of tentacles scrambled to reclaim the Golden Core, but after she tapped the shell twice, they were severed at the root, never to regenerate.
Kan Jixuan caught it deftly, crunching it like fish-skin peanuts and tossing it into her mouth. The clam spirit let out a final, despairing wail as its cultivation dissipated entirely, leaving behind a puddle of rotting flesh that was neither human nor fish.
At the same time, the whirlpool suddenly lost its magical power, and the rushing water began to rapidly recede, filling the cave that had been occupied by the clam spirit and its descendants.
The riverbanks were all receding, and the floodwaters that had once submerged the rooftops of the rice fields were rapidly retreating, leaving the outsiders in awe.
“The waters are retreating!! The man-eating waters are receding!!”
“Could it be another trick of the River Demon?! Don’t go, don’t go near it!!”
“Is it true? So many skeletons are washing ashore; it’s the first time I’ve seen the ground here, the first time I’ve stepped on it!”
“To reassure the locals, we should take this clam shell to the magistrate and inform him that the matter has been resolved.”
Tu Xuixin crouched beside Gong Wu and tapped the clam shell with his knuckles.
“After this, the officials can handle the resettlement and farming. I believe that in four or five years, this place will return to its former state.”
Gong Wu, obedient to her master, flew to the magistrate’s office in Cizhou, carrying two large clam shells taller than herself.
The officials, who had been idly snacking on sunflower seeds, were startled when they saw three Daoists descending from the sky. They hastily bowed in respect.
Gong Wu spoke gently, “Summon your magistrate.”
At that moment, the magistrate was napping in the back courtyard. Upon hearing that immortals had arrived, he rushed over in a fluster, his hat askew. When he saw the two large clam shells in her hands, he immediately understood and bowed deeply in gratitude.
“I’m not an immortal; this one…” Gong Wu glanced at Kan Jixuan and decided not to reveal her identity, “isn’t either, but my master, the one in the middle, is Ji Qing, the Immortal.”
The magistrate, seeing a True Immortal for the first time, was so awestruck that he bowed repeatedly. He quickly ordered the officials to prepare horses and carriages to parade the two clam shells through the streets for all to witness.
Soon, a band of musicians assembled, and the officials, adorned with red flowers, marched out joyfully. Amid the clamor of gongs and firecrackers, the secretary sang loudly in unison.
“The Great Demon of Minge Villa has been vanquished! The people can return home and rebuild their lives!”
“With the immortal’s intervention, peace and blessings are upon us! Cizhou shall remain stable from this day forward!”
“Fellow villagers of Minge Villa! Return home and see for yourselves!”
Tu Xuixin, who had initially come to help his disciple collect the dead, found himself doing little. Seeing the joyous celebration and the locals bowing and praying along the streets, he quickly wrote a few talismans for the magistrate, saying, “Should Cizhou face further disasters or demonic troubles, you may burn these at the City God Temple or the Earth God Temple to summon my aid. Even if I cannot come in person, I will find a way to assist.”
The magistrate thanked him profusely, his voice trembling with emotion.
Though this endeavor did not result in ascension, they had amassed considerable merit. Both Tu Xuixin and Gong Wu now radiated an immortal aura, their Daoist hearts clearer than ever.
Kan Jixuan chuckled, “A demon like me, doing good deeds alongside you—well, so be it.”
Concerned for Gong Wu and Ji Yang, she dared not linger. She produced a hand-drawn map and said, “The next place is even more perilous—Ba Jing Tower.”
Tu Xuixin urged, “Let’s choose the most dangerous places in the world! Lesser troubles will surely be handled by others; finding Little Wu is our priority!”
Kan Jixuan scoffed, “I’ve chosen the most dangerous place in the world right now—Ba Jing Tower.”
As Gong Wu flew alongside them, she grew puzzled.
“Senior, that place isn’t a cultivation sect. Why is there trouble there?”
Kan Jixuan, who had spent years imprisoned in the black market, had learned many hidden secrets.
“The master of Ba Jing Tower has a wife named Cui Chengfang, who has been stuck in the Opening Sun Realm for years, unable to advance.”
“The master himself is nearing ascension, yet his wife remains stagnant. He’s desperate to find a solution, likely because her foundation was damaged years ago, and he seeks to mend it.”
“Oh, you mentioned this before,” Gong Wu mused, sensing something amiss. “Now that the Wuxuan Sect has been destroyed, the cultivation stolen from her should have been restored. Perhaps we won’t need to intervene after all?”
Kan Jixuan waved her hand dismissively, “Ah! You’re too naive!”
“She cannot cultivate further because she isn’t human. How can a demonic form tread the path of immortals?”
Tu Xuixin nearly choked on the wind. “What did you say? Lady Cui was born in the Demon Realm?”
“There are celestial beings who descend to the mortal world, and there are also demonic cultivators who disguise themselves,” Kan Jixuan replied. “I’ve heard that Master Chen was charming and talented in his youth, with numerous affairs. Now he probably doesn’t even realize that his lawful wife is a demonic obstacle.”
Gong Wu whispered, “What you’re saying… doesn’t sound supportive of her.”
The old woman, now disguised to look her age, rolled her eyes at this.
“What’s so good about marrying a mortal cultivator? It’s just self-indulgence.”
“If you truly want to be admired, it’s better to embrace the demonic path and focus on becoming a celestial demon!”
“That doesn’t seem right,” Tu Xuixin frowned. “The master is still in his prime and is about to ascend. Can’t he see that his wife is a disguised Demon in the Opening Sun Realm?”
“Furthermore, how could he not notice the Demonic Energy in her bloodline or her fondness for blood and corpses?”
“That’s why Lady Cui has been buying secret medicines year after year, pretending to be weak, soaking in her medicine pot all the time.” Kan Jixuan smiled wickedly. “The ingredients she has been buying were all laced with my blood.”
Gong Wu remembered the secrets her senior brother had shared with her, causing a chill to run down her spine.
“Secret medicines… what are they used for?”
Tu Xuixin quickly covered her ears. “You’re still young; you shouldn’t hear about these things!”
“What’s so inappropriate about it?” Kan Jixuan said, picking her teeth with her fingernail. “It’s just about seductive techniques and how to absorb vital essence.”
“In a few years, that master will realize he has drained everything and become nothing but medicine dregs.”
Gong Wu, with her ears covered, looked at them confusedly, unable to hear clearly.
“Huh?”
Tu Xuixin still shielded her ears and asked Kan Jixuan, “So the evils there revolve mainly around this lady?”
Kan Jixuan pressed down, sniffing the air, her expression growing serious.
“Something is off.”
As a ruler of the Demon Realm, she could naturally see the miasma and illusions swirling around Ba Jing Tower. The more she observed, the more her worries deepened.
In the past, she had heard that there were countless guests and tens of thousands of disciples here; it could never have become what it was now.
Seeing her uncomfortable expression, Tu Xuixin looked down and asked, “Is there an illusion designed specifically to obstruct the eyes of immortals?”
“There is, and many.” Kan Jixuan’s expression changed repeatedly; she dared not descend carelessly. “There’s more than just one celestial demon inside.”
Gong Wu was stunned. “Lady Cui has already reached great success?”
“More than just that,” Kan Jixuan remained silent for a long time, still wary of landing. “Seven years ago, when I came here, it wasn’t this perilous…”
At that time, the master had been in the dark, and Lady Cui had pretended to be weak, but she had quietly moved many Demons into Ba Jing Tower, changing the power dynamics. Now it was…
“Tu Xuixin, we better prepare communication devices; if things go wrong, we must call for reinforcements immediately.”
Before she could organize any arrangements, Gong Wu had already descended without hesitation.
“Come back! What’s the hurry?” Kan Jixuan reached out to grab her but missed, feeling very frustrated. “Who rushes in like that to meet death?!”
“Don’t you remember? She’s rushing towards death.” Tu Xuixin followed her down. “If things go poorly, we might miss our chance for ascension.”
He was indeed captured by Kan Jixuan’s intensity, and following the Six Lines technique, he cast a divination to prepare for summoning help in advance to stabilize the situation.
The worst-case scenario was that the sect leader had already been killed, and the entire territory had become the Cui family’s demonic cultivation estate. When the divination result came out, Tu Xuixin couldn’t help but chuckle. Oh, it was a great fortune indeed.
