Chapter 337: Great Demon

Shenshan became a true forbidden zone.

Day and night, one could see blood qi surging into the sky, and atop the Shanfeng, that blood-colored pig demon.

The pig demon was refining the medicinal power of the Zhuan Shou Hua Yuan Pill.

Rather than refining it, it was assimilating it.

This pill was originally forged within its body, forcibly stripped away, and now it was merely "returning to its rightful owner."

The pig demon refined the blood qi slowly; it seemed it would take a long time, but no matter how long, there would come a day when it finished.

Time passed slowly; the pig demon's blood qi grew denser, its aura increasingly terrifying.

Across the entire Xiancheng, every cultivator's face was clouded with gloom.

Yu Changlao and others' expressions grew ever more solemn.

The storm is coming; a great calamity approaches.

"The Dao Ting Si has confirmed this pig is not Wu Xiaoyao," Fei Xiangmei sighed. "You can only… find a way to relocate the city."

"One can only come here, but cannot use cultivation below seventh grade."

"Is it because… the blood qi is too profound?" Mo Hua pondered a moment before speaking.

"What if it really is Wu Xiaoyao?"

"All cultivators of Fei Xiangmei must relocate to distant lands and seek livelihood elsewhere. Otherwise, once Wu Xiaoyao finishes refining the blood qi and begins hunting, after devouring the beast beasts, it will turn to humans—eventually, as it did two thousand eight hundred years ago, it will devour every single cultivator of Fei Xiangmei…"

Even if Foundation Establishment is insufficient, there are still Qi Condensation cultivators; even if Hunter-Anti-Demon is insufficient, there are still Dao Soldiers—so long as many cultivators unite, even if they must exhaust it by sheer force, they might wear Wu Xiaoyao down…

But Mo Hua secretly knew it was highly unlikely.

"Why not?" Mo Hua still did not understand.

Mo Hua was deeply confused.

Zhang Lan sighed: "That is the Dao's rule. Since the founding of Dao Ting, this land was designated seventh grade—so all cultivators here may use only Foundation Establishment-level cultivation…"

He had never imagined things could become this severe.

After confirmation by the Qintianjian, this is Wu Xiaoyao, ancient name Feng Xi.

Zhang Lan's expression turned solemn.

Zhang Lan explained, "What use is it for Xiancheng cultivators, who cannot use Fei Xiang cultivation, to come here?"

"Starve to death?" Mo Hua was startled.

"Does Dao Ting have no other solution?" Mo Hua asked Zhang Lan.

"Because the lowest allowed is Foundation Establishment…"

"Wu Xiaoyao's blood qi is extraordinarily profound, nearly equivalent to dozens of times that of a same-grade beast."

Mo Hua's mood also sank.

Fei Xiangmei nodded: "Wu Xiaoyao's attacks are only slightly weaker than those of a same-rank beast, but the most troubling part is its blood qi…"

"Why seventh grade?"

Yu Changlao sighed: "'Great demon' is a Hunter-Anti-Demon term—it refers to beasts of extreme power, beyond human capacity to oppose, capable of annihilating a city or a prefecture."

"Are they afraid of death?"

"Where will they relocate?" Mo Hua asked. "There should be no places left suitable for cultivators to live."

In Mo Hua's gaze lay deep fear:

And even if relocation were necessary, Yu Changlao alone could not move—every great Xiancheng in the distance must relocate too.

Because he had seen the pig demon with his own eyes, and had damaged it with a broken array, knowing its flesh-renewal power was mysterious and profound, bordering on Dao, unlike any ordinary beast.

Mo Hua's scalp prickled: "The blood qi is that profound?"

"It devoured all the cultivators of Yu Changlao, all the beasts of Great Baishan, ate everything it could, and finally, after a hundred years with nothing left to eat, it exhausted its blood qi and starved to death…"

"The most terrifying part is that it regains blood qi by eating humans—trying to outlast Wu Xiaoyao by sheer human numbers is impossible."

"Was this Wu Xiaoyao killed?"

Mo Hua went to ask Yu Changlao.

Zhang Lan drank some wine and sighed: "Fei Xiang cannot come."

He had once thought "Wu Xiaoyao" was merely a slightly stronger beast—that with unity, there must be a way to kill it. But he never imagined Wu Xiaoyao truly meant "great calamity," forcing an entire city's cultivators to flee.

"In a second-grade prefecture, this great demon is second grade; in a third-grade prefecture, the great demon is third grade… and so on. A weak beast approaching the lower limit of a region's grade is called 'Wu Xiaoyao.'"

"Why can't it be killed?"

"That is the most terrifying part," Fei Xiangmei continued:

If that were so, fewer cultivators would relocate, and more habitable land would remain.

"In Dao Calendar 20,077, in the seventh-grade Great Baishan Prefecture, the pig demon caused chaos."

"Die?!" Mo Hua was startled.

Dao Ting Si sent a document; Zhang Lan received the news, realized there was nothing to be done, felt a strange relief, went to a tavern to drink, and told Mo Hua about it.

"But if Wu Xiaoyao is this terrifying, how could anyone survive a campaign against 'Wu Xiaoyao'?"

Mo Hua thought: "Is it calculated by the prefecture's grade?"

Mo Hua pointed to the horizon: "Have you seen that blood qi?"

Eight days ago, Dao Ting Si sent a document, which read:

"Is there any precedent?" Mo Hua asked.

Long journeys, exposure to wind and dew, unpredictable dangers along the way—the destination was unmistakably arduous.

Mo Hua nodded: "Correct."

"Great Baishan Prefecture."

"The only hope is that we are all wrong—that this pig is not Wu Xiaoyao—then Dao Ting Si can petition Dao Ting to send more Foundation Establishment cultivators to besiege it."

That was not the death Mo Hua had ever imagined.

Zhang Lan nodded, then asked: "What rank?"

"Use it weakly, and you'll die!" Zhang Lan said gravely.

"That is the Dao's law!"

But Mo Hua knew inwardly that, rather than "relocating the city," it was more like fleeing.

"If strength can counter the calamity, relocation may be considered."

"What we fear…" Zhang Lan pointed toward the heavens, "is the Dao's law."

"Then you know too," Mo Hua said bitterly. "Wu Xiaoyao has always been legend—where it comes from, no one can say clearly… Elder Yu's records mention Wu Xiaoyao only once, two thousand eight hundred years ago."

Mo Hua looked up and saw beneath Shenshan the pig demon's blood aura rising like a pillar.

"It will definitely move south, near the wild frontier—there, vast lands remain uncultivated, with no beast or savage tribes."

Mo Hua felt Zhang Lan was asking nonsense, yet also suspected Zhang Lan might not be speaking nonsense; after thinking a moment, he hurriedly said:

"If it can kill, then every cultivator in the city will be devoured…" Mo Hua smiled bitterly.

"But once someone dies, it replenishes Wu Xiaoyao's blood aura—this imbalance means every cultivator will eventually fall into its mouth, eaten alive!"

Mo Hua was momentarily stunned.

"What's a more precise way to put it?"

Yet Mo Hua's heart was filled with profound confusion.

"No," Mo Hua shook his head. "Wu Xiaoyao has never been killed."

When Dao Ting Si deems it appropriate, it must formulate strategy to preserve local peace.

Mo Hua sighed. "But if we do that, life will become extremely hard…"

Elder Yu shook his head. "Great demons aren't simply ranked by grade."

Mo Hua still didn't understand. "Can Dao Ting Si send a Tong Xian cultivator to kill this pig?"

"Starved to death."

"Even the Dao Jun who rules over Sizhou cannot escape this rule!"

It's just a seventh-rank beast—even if powerful, surely there's some way to kill it, right?

Zhang Lan shook his head. "A seventh-rank Wu Xiaoyao—even if a Fei Xiang cultivator can't kill it, it can still escape."

Mo Hua blinked. "Relocate the city?"

Zhang Lan did not answer, but asked: "What state boundary are we currently in?"

"What does this have to do with the Dao's law?" Mo Hua didn't understand.

A chill rose in Mo Hua's heart; he frowned and asked:

I hope this pig demon truly isn't a Wu Xiaoyao…

Zhang Lan said: "Don't speak of Tong Xian—even if a Xiao Cheng cultivator, as long as they haven't become immortal, must violate this Dao restriction. Once they defy this law, no matter how high their cultivation or how strong their power, the Dao will erase them outright, destroying body and Dao."

"Tong Xian is eighth-rank, exceeding the lower limit of a seventh-rank state boundary, so it can't come?"

"Once this boundary is crossed, the Dao will erase you!"

"Unless one dies, every cultivator is merely Wu Xiaoyao's 'blood-replenishing pill.'"

"Not Feng Xi," Zhang Lan corrected. "Once it becomes a Wu Xiaoyao, it earns a name recorded in the cultivation annals—in Daoist history, all pig Wu Xiaoyao are called 'Feng Xi.'"

This pig merely ate a Qian family elder, even died once—why suddenly became a Wu Xiaoyao?

"If Dao Ting Si cannot act, Wu Xiaoyao will be classified as one of the 'great calamities.'"

Mo Hua drew a sharp breath. "Devoured… all the Fei Xiang cultivators?!"

Mo Hua had studied cultivation geography at Jin Dan Gate—he studied diligently, remembered well, so even though he dropped out, he could still answer:

"What should we do now?"

"What happens if we use it weakly?" Mo Hua asked.

"Wu Xiaoyao's blood aura is profound; subduing it must be a prolonged war—no casualties are impossible."

Elder Yu nodded and explained to Mo Hua:

"Can't it be killed?"

"Relocate the city," Mo Hua nodded.

The contents of that official document, Mo Hua learned from Zhang Lan's mouth.

"You'll die!" Zhang Lan nodded, then thought a moment and added: "So when you say we fear death and thus dare not act, you're actually right."

Zhang Lan declared firmly: "No!"

"What level of beast qualifies as a great demon? Above second-rank?" Mo Hua asked.

Mo Hua shook his head, his tone solemn:

What is a great demon? Why did this pig become one? And why does a great demon mean a great calamity?

Mo Hua blinked. "Then how did it die?"

"What about below Tong Xian?"

Fei Xiangmei's expression was bitter. "That is a great calamity of heaven and earth—even a futile calamity. We have no power at all…"

"Elder Yu belongs to the Lizhou Great Baishan territory; omitting the state name, it's simply called the Baishan state boundary."

"The Dao towers above all things, above countless cultivators!"

"The cultivation realm is divided into four states; below states are territories, and within territories lie Xiancheng."

"But why did this pig become a Wu Xiaoyao?" Mo Hua asked, puzzled.

These cultivation secrets were entirely new to him.

Mo Hua blinked and answered: "Seventh-rank."