Chapter 146: Awakening (4K)

Zheng Fa walked along the mountain path of the Eighth Peak.

It was early morning, and many disciples of Elder Pang's lineage were on the Eighth Peak; upon seeing Zheng Fa, disciples with lower cultivation would first bow to him with clasped hands, while even those with higher cultivation would offer him a smile.

Zheng Fa knew this was due to the influence of that batch of Yellow Sprout Rice.

Initially, Zheng Fa and the Qianhe Sect had agreed on three hundred stones of Yellow Sprout Rice per month.

But those three hundred stones sold out in just ten days, and eventually, they even had to restrict purchases by outsiders.

By current calculations, the Jiushan Sect would need to order at least six hundred stones of Yellow Sprout Rice from the Qianhe Sect each month, double the previously agreed amount.

The biggest beneficiaries of this transaction were these disciples of the Jiushan Sect.

As Zheng Fa walked, he continuously returned their bows with clasped hands to these fellow disciples.

A journey that usually took less than the time it takes to burn one stick of incense had been stretched to an hour.

By the time he reached Elder Pang's main hall, the sun was already high in the sky.

Elder Pang was in the hall; seeing him arrive, he seemed not at all surprised, merely nodding at him: "Junior Nephew Zheng, have you come to see me about something?"

Zheng Fa bowed to Elder Pang, taking the opportunity to glance around the hall.

Quite a few disciples remained here, watching him curiously.

To be fair, among the three Nascent Soul cultivators of the Jiushan Sect, Elder Pang was actually the one who cared most about his disciples.

Not to mention his own master, Sect Leader Yuan.

He had yet to meet True Person Huang, Senior Sister Zhang's master, which showed just how reclusive he was.

Only Elder Pang would drag his disciples over for instruction every few days.

True Person Pang was one of the rare few who constantly planned for his own disciples' futures.

Thinking of this, he felt somewhat envious of these senior brothers.

"Elder Uncle, I have come with a request," Zheng Fa spoke. "Now that Senior Sister Zhang has taken away many senior brothers, the Affairs Hall and the Market Square are short-staffed; I wish to ask you, Elder Uncle, to send some senior brothers to assist me in managing the Market Square."

"..."

Elder Pang slowly straightened his posture, looking at Zheng Fa.

His expression said just one thing: Senior Niece Zhang just left, and you kid are already preparing to raise the banner of rebellion?

Zheng Fa naturally understood his thoughts.

The Affairs Pavilion and the Market Square had always been Senior Sister Zhang's territory, where disciples of Elder Pang's lineage were not allowed to interfere.

"Regarding this matter, I also mentioned it to Senior Sister Zhang before she left," Zheng Fa explained. "Senior Sister Zhang agreed."

In reality, Senior Sister Zhang taking away so many senior brothers this time was also meant to clear some obstacles for him.

Seeing that Elder Pang still looked somewhat unconvinced, Zheng Fa had to explain further:

"Over the years in the Market Square, some disciples, relying on Senior Sister Zhang, have engaged in extortion and fraud, while others have colluded with those unscrupulous merchants."

"Although Senior Sister Zhang has always been relentless regarding such matters, to be honest, these incidents have proven impossible to ban completely."

"Nowadays, the Market Square is becoming increasingly prosperous, but those reaching out their hands are growing bolder, and their numbers have increased compared to the past."

Zheng Fa knew that such things would continue in the future, and even intensify—

He was confident that the spirit stones and spirit materials the Market Square could earn would grow greater and greater.

On the other hand, as spiritual energy declined, these items became increasingly valuable.

Even Senior Sister Zhang had to admit that no matter how capable she was, she could not control the greed of the human heart.

It could only be suppressed by changing some rules.

"So you want to ask for my disciples?"

"All the senior brothers are proficient in the Eye of Illusory Void," Zheng Fa said with a smile. "I wish to ask the senior brothers to stand guard at the Market Square; first, to prevent anyone from causing trouble, and second, to supervise the disciples of the Market Square."

The personal disciples of Elder Pang's lineage had all cultivated the "Eye of Illusory Void"—of course, that unlucky fellow Zhou Qianyuan had not yet.

In Zheng Fa's mind, these were all excellent materials for being security guards!

They came with built-in surveillance!

Hearing him say this, the disciples in the hall exchanged glances, seemingly not very tempted—this job sounded boring and likely to offend people, especially since the Market Square was Senior Sister Zhang's territory.

"Of course, we won't let the senior brothers work for nothing!" Zheng Fa held up three fingers. "Each month, on behalf of Senior Sister Zhang, I will give each of you senior brothers an additional three spirit stones."

At this, the expressions of several senior brothers shifted to interest—

Boring was good!

Who wouldn't want to get paid for doing nothing?

Offending people was even better!

The ones we'd be offending are exactly that group who monopolize everything!

With spirit stones, everything is negotiable!

Elder Pang looked at Zheng Fa, then looked again at his own disciples whose faces were filled with excitement.

He felt that if Zheng Fa just raised his arm and shouted, he could lead this group of his disciples away.

Three spirit stones a month was actually not high—since the lowest cultivation among Elder Pang's disciples was Foundation Establishment, and even a Foundation Establishment disciple in the Market Square who didn't try too hard to make money could easily earn that much.

But the problem was that Elder Pang's lineage was truly poor!

They managed the Discipline Hall and received a fixed salary.

Unlike Senior Sister Zhang's lineage, which controlled the Market Square and had plenty of rich pickings.

In talisman drawing, Elder Pang's disciples also could not compare to Senior Sister Zhang's lineage—the market for mystic-grade talismans and above in the Market Square was mostly controlled by Senior Sister Zhang's lineage.

Precisely because of this, despite Elder Pang teaching his disciples with such dedication, the strength of the two lineages had not really separated—ultimately, the resources available to Elder Pang's lineage were indeed somewhat scarce.

It was no wonder they harbored dissatisfaction toward Senior Sister Zhang.

Senior Sister Zhang's move, on one hand, was naturally to rectify the Market Square.

On the other hand, it was also a concession.

"I underestimated Zhang Shijie's magnanimity." After a long silence, Master Pang gave a slight nod: "If that's the case, whoever is willing to go, follow Zheng Fa afterward."

After speaking, Master Pang glanced at Zheng Fa and suddenly asked: "You've reached Qi Condensation Sixth Layer?"

"Yes!"

Zheng Fa bowed his head slightly in affirmation.

He had never trained slowly to begin with, and these past few days at Zhang Shijie's home, the spiritual energy was abundant.

His breakthrough came naturally.

"Others grow slower with each breakthrough—you grow faster with each one…" Master Pang fell silent for a moment: "Your pace of advancement has already caught up to Zhang Shijie's in her prime."

Zheng Fa froze—he didn't know how fast Zhang Shijie had broken through—but he knew she was the fastest in the Baixian Alliance to reach Foundation Establishment.

But upon closer thought, it made sense—

The "Fu Dao Foundation Establishment Technique" had helped him far more than it had helped Zhang Shijie.

If you counted his modern-era training time, he had trained for a long while.

Now he lived in the very heart of Jiushan Sect's most abundant spiritual energy.

"With this progress, as your elder, I must reward you." Master Pang's hand flashed, and a jade cylinder appeared in his palm: "I have some hidden cultivation methods for the 'Cave Void Spiritual Eye'—take it back and study it with Zhang Shijie."

Zheng Fa blinked, staring at Master Pang—You really kept this hidden?

Of course, he knew this was Master Pang's way of returning a favor.

…

"You mean… someone's watching me?"

Zheng Fa hadn't expected that right after hiring a few market guards, he'd receive such a major piece of news—and it wasn't about the market, but about himself.

"Yes." Seeing Zheng Fa's confusion, Sun Daoyu explained: "Our lineage has always been responsible for Jiushan Sect's security, and we have disciples patrolling within the sect—we instructed them to pay extra attention to your surroundings."

Zheng Fa was stunned, then thanked them: "Thank you, Senior Brothers, for going to so much trouble."

Sun Daoyu waved his hand: "Senior Brother, you've given us spiritual stones to earn—we don't have any secret techniques like our master to give you, so we can only do small things."

Zheng Fa smiled bitterly: "This isn't a small thing."

He hadn't expected Zhang Shijie's foresight would spare him such trouble.

Sun Daoyu led him to a guesthouse at the street corner.

Several senior brothers were already there, speaking with the shopkeeper.

"True Person Zheng!" The shopkeeper wasn't a Jiushan Sect disciple—he was some senior brother's relative, running this guesthouse within the sect to make a living.

"Did you notice them?"

"Of course! The moment those two entered our guesthouse, they locked themselves in their room—never came out, never did anything visible." The shopkeeper nodded: "I know that room—the window faces directly toward True Person Zheng's courtyard."

"When those True Persons asked me if there were any suspicious people near your home, I remembered these two."

As he spoke, the shopkeeper's expression grew uneasy: "I only had a slight suspicion—I never thought they were truly malicious. I noticed the younger one among them actually seemed fond of Jiushan Sect."

"Fond?"

"Yes—he watched 'Saving Little Cultivator Pang Qian' and whenever he saw me, he'd happily chat about how wonderful Jiushan Sect was, sounding genuinely envious…"

Zheng Fa and Sun Daoyu exchanged glances.

"He… actually believed it?" Sun Daoyu said slowly.

"…More than I did." The shopkeeper's expression was equally baffled.

Even Zheng Fa didn't know what to say—after the drama aired, most of Jiushan Sect just watched it for amusement; its brainwashing effect was weak—yet somehow, it moved a villain.

One can only say distance breeds beauty.

"Where are they now?"

"We went to knock on their door, just to ask questions—but the moment they saw us, they ran…" One senior brother said: "Several senior brothers chased after them, but their movement technique seemed to be the legendary Heaven Demon Shadow Step."

Sun Daoyu was startled, his expression turning grave: "The Heaven Demon Shadow Step is a secret technique of the Great Zizaimo Sect. Senior Zheng Shidi, I must report this to our master—what do you think?"

"I'll go see the sect master too."

…

"Heaven Demon Shadow Step?" On the Ninth Peak, the sect master frowned deeply upon hearing the technique, a rare look of concern crossing his face: "The Great Zizaimo Sect?"

He paused, then suddenly turned to Zheng Fa: "Did you seduce their Holy Maiden?"

"..."

What a big-disciple PTSD.

"... No, no." The sect master shook his head himself.

Zheng Fa felt an inexplicable sense of relief—the old man still trusted his character!

"Zhang Shijie won't give you that chance."

"..."

Next to him, Yuan Shijie nodded, her gaze sharply alert as she watched Zheng Fa.

"Master, what exactly is the Great Zizaimo Sect?"

"... A demon sect," the sect master sighed suddenly: "You know, the Great Zizaimo Sect was founded by the surviving cultivators of the Last Cataclysm."

Zheng Fa and Yuan Shijie nodded.

"Rumors say some of those cultivators still live."

"What?"

That's a bit too turtle-like.

The Last Cataclysm ended at least a million years ago.

Someone actually survived until now?

"Including the Great Zizaimo Sect, we recognize thirteen great demon houses—meaning thirteen ancient cultivators passed down their bloodlines, collectively known as the Demon Sects."

These people are known as the Thirteen Demon Ancestors; some of them may still be alive—most likely, the founding ancestor of the Great Zizaimo Sect.

"…Master, I have just one question: why did our immortal sect survive?"

According to the laws of the Xuanwei Realm, the older one is, the stronger one becomes.

If someone truly lived this long, what would they even be doing?

From the ancient texts, the previous calamity was indeed the domain of the demonic sects, but Tianhe Zunzhe single-handedly wielded his sword, annihilating the Thirteen Great Houses, and clashed with other titans hidden in history, thereby unifying the Xuanwei Realm.

"…So this calamity belongs to the immortal sects, and our immortal sects have long been dedicated to suppressing the demonic sects."

The sect leader sighed and said: "The appearance of traces from the Great Zizaimo Sect is certainly no good news."

"Master… why are these Demon Ancestors so obsessed with perpetuating their bloodline?" Zheng Fa asked involuntarily.

This was the point he could not understand at all.

Cultivating the Dao for immortality makes reproduction less important.

Especially for beings who have clearly lived for a million years—this bloodline connection is far too distant.

"All demonic cultivation techniques originate from the Thirteen Demon Ancestors, and only their bloodline can practice them. I have never seen these techniques, but a great adept once said—for the Demon Ancestors, these descendants are both offspring and crucibles, and ultimately, they may even become blood food."

"There are also rumors that some Demon Ancestors have survived this long only by possessing their own best bloodline descendants."

Zheng Fa paused, then understood: "So this is to counter the decline of spiritual energy… cultivating a kind of spiritual plant only they can use?"

"…You're not wrong to say that, but it scares me."

The sect leader fell silent for a long time before speaking.

…

The uncle and nephew who were monitoring Zheng Fa ran wildly, fleeing for their lives.

The Heavenly Demon's Absolute Shadow was an excellent space-dodging technique, but unfortunately, someone among the pursuers called for a Jin Dan disciple; the two not only failed to escape, but watched the pursuers grow closer.

"Uncle? Where do we run?"

"Young Master said that if we were exposed, we should go to a secret location to meet him—he would rescue us," the middle-aged man said as he ran: "That place isn't far from here; we'll arrive soon."

It was a bend in the riverbank, where a small hut—likely used by fishermen—stood.

"There it is!"

The middle-aged man pointed at the small hut.

But when they reached the door, he suddenly blocked his nephew and handed him a blood-red pill.

"Uncle?" the young man blinked.

"If something happens inside the hut, swallow this Burnheart Pill immediately."

Saying this, the middle-aged man took a deep breath and pushed open the hut's door.

A flash of mysterious light appeared inside, followed by the middle-aged man's loud warning: "Swallow the pill quickly!"

Hearing this, the young man immediately swallowed the Burnheart Pill in his hand.

The next moment, his blood began to congeal, and his heart slowly stopped beating—

He suddenly understood: there was no Young Master inside the hut; it was almost certainly just a warning array.

The moment they entered, the Young Master knew they had been exposed.

Now, the Young Master was invoking the spirit of the Sacred Ancestor to sever the life force of his uncle and nephew.

In the Great Zizaimo Sect, those with pure and powerful bloodline could kill or spare others like this—without even lifting a finger!

He felt his body gradually stiffen, with only the heat of the Burnheart Pill sustaining a flicker of heartfire.

Peering from the hut's threshold, he saw his uncle lying motionless inside…

His chest burned fiercely—not just from the Burnheart Pill, but from the raging fire of his fury.

"Found them!"

Behind him came the pursuers' shouts.

He lifted his head, straining to tilt his neck upward, and whispered to the approaching figures: "Save… save me."

The Jiushan Sect disciples froze, seeing the man lying on the ground slipping into unconsciousness, then glancing at their own Jiushan Sect uniforms, and grew puzzled:

"…Did he mistake us for someone else?"

…

When he woke again, the young man found himself lying on a bed.

Beside the bed, a man held a ceramic bottle, from whose mouth extended a thin, long tube inserted into his arm.

"…You're awake?"

Seeing him awake, Zheng Fa smiled, waved his hand, and the blood-sucking talisman's tube vanished into thin air, as if nothing had ever happened.

Gazing at the bottle, the awakened youth remained silent, then asked: "Where is this?"

"Jiushan Sect."

Zheng Fa clearly saw the man's face flicker with an expression of shattered faith…

"Zheng Sect Brother! The blood's run out again!" Li Nu pushed the door open, his face plastered with "need funding," and he stared at the full ceramic bottle, sniffed the air, and exclaimed: "Is this the new blood you bought, Sect Brother?"

"Huh? Why is this guy unconscious?"