Chapter 221: The Longer You Live, the More You See

Zheng Fa looked the crow before him up and down.

The crow looked ordinary on the outside, its body covered in black feathers, but its pair of eyes was exceptionally lively.

What struck Zheng Fa as rather remarkable was that this bird's aura was utterly pure, without a trace of demonic Qi — if not for the fact that it could speak human language, the vast majority of people would surely take it for an ordinary bird.

Precisely because of this, when it barged into the Five Dragon Tiangong, it drew no one's attention at all.

Zheng Fa was still sizing it up, but Senior Sister Yuan could no longer hold back; she walked over, grabbed the crow by the neck, and shook it up and down.

"Ga!"

One could tell this crow had little cultivation either, utterly unable to resist.

"Zhao Shimei Yuan!"

Senior Sister Zhang frowned lightly, gave a soft rebuke, and asked the crow: "What you said just now — about the Zizaimo Sect colluding with the demon race — is it true?"

The crow flapped its wings twice in Senior Sister Yuan's hand and hurriedly nodded: "Of course it's true, this has been going on for ages! I don't know about other places, but the people of the Zizaimo Sect have long been in contact with some great powers of the demon race, and now that the depletion of spiritual opportunity is about to arrive, the contact has only grown closer."

Seeing how solemnly it swore.

Zheng Fa exchanged a glance with Senior Sister Zhang, then asked: "Then about them wanting to deal with our Jiushan Sect — where did you get this intelligence?"

"Do I even need to spy for that?" The crow rolled its eyes. "Your Jiushan Sect uses Lei Chi to block the Zizaimo Sect completely — who else would they deal with if not you?"

"…"

Zheng Fa was silent for a moment, studied the crow for a while, and seemed to catch a hint of slyness in its eyes.

"I meant the details."

"Details… I forgot the details!" The crow gently shook its head, seemingly unwilling to say more.

Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang looked at it with suspicion.

Then they heard the crow say: "How about you let me take a bite — I might just remember!"

Zheng Fa was dumbfounded.

Senior Sister Yuan at the side grew even angrier: "I haven't even bitten you!"

"You're just a mere mixed-blood Qingluan — how can you compare with me?"

Who would have thought — a flash of golden light in the crow's eyes, and its words carried a hint of disdain.

Zheng Fa grew even more curious.

Senior Sister Yuan's true form was originally a Qingluan, considered a divine beast even among the Xuanshui feathered clans.

Otherwise the Sect Master would not have kept her as a pet.

Moreover, if Senior Sister Yuan could advance to Nascent Soul, she might one day become the Jiushan Sect's mountain-guarding spirit beast.

Yet this crow's tone was inexplicably grand.

Zheng Fa thought of the Fusang Wood within his body, his expression turning a little odd — this thing, could it be the legendary Jin Wu?

Senior Sister Yuan was also taken aback; looking at the golden light in the crow's eyes, she too seemed to recall something: "There are still Jin Wu bloodlines in this world?"

The crow lifted its head, its bearing wildly arrogant, and cried: "Precisely!"

Senior Sister Yuan pressed her lips together, the anger on her face easing a little, and said to Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang:

"Among the feathered clans of the world, there are said to be three supreme origins — first, the Phoenix; second, the Kunpeng; and third, the Jin Wu." Her tone was very solemn. "But in these ten thousand years, I have never heard of any feathered being of these three bloodlines coming into the world."

One could tell she was somewhat intimidated by the crow's so-called Jin Wu bloodline.

Zheng Fa nodded lightly and looked toward this Jin Wu.

The Jin Wu also met his gaze with lofty pride.

"So… why is your cultivation so low?"

Zheng Fa's very first question froze the arrogance in its eyes.

"…"

Senior Sister Yuan blinked, suddenly understood, and shook the crow in her hand again.

This Jin Wu did have some cultivation, but it was only at Foundation Establishment.

And thinking again about this so-called supreme origin… clearly something was off.

"I…"

"If you truly carry the demon race's supreme bloodline, why is no one protecting you? Letting you run about everywhere?"

"…"

The crow quietly lowered its head.

Zheng Fa looked again at its lower body — just two legs.

"I've heard Golden Crows all have three legs…" he said, stroking his chin in summary, "you're not a crippled Jin Wu, are you?"

"…You're the crippled one!" This attack on its person was too much for the Jin Wu to bear: "I am of pure Jin Wu bloodline! It's just that today's spiritual Qi environment is utterly insufficient to support the growth of my bloodline!"

Zheng Fa was inwardly astonished — this was the first time he had heard such a claim.

The Jin Wu also looked a little aggrieved, and gestured with a wing toward Senior Sister Yuan at the side: "Although her bloodline is lower than mine, she actually finds it easier to cultivate now! My Jin Wu bloodline, although spiritual intelligence awakens early, makes cultivation slow…"

"Is this the reason those so-called supreme origins have not appeared for so long?"

Zheng Fa felt a sudden flash of understanding.

The Jin Wu nodded and explained: "Over these ten thousand years, the demon race has discovered — the stronger the bloodline, the harder it is to cultivate now; in fact, this is precisely why the great powers of the demon race want to cooperate with the demonic sects."

Hearing this, Zheng Fa immediately guessed: "They want to borrow the power of the Demon Ancestor's bloodline?"

"Yes." But the Jin Wu then delivered a piece of news that greatly surprised Zheng Fa: "But it's not that they want to — it's already been achieved."

"Mm?"

"There are demon beasts born from demon race and demonic sect disciples dual-cultivating — beasts that can practice demonic cultivation techniques."

"…"

Zheng Fa slowly furrowed his brow: "What advantage do such offspring have?"

"Compared to the demon race, they can rely on Mo Sect cultivation techniques to grow their cultivation faster." The Jin Wu sighed and said: "Compared to Mo Sect disciples, they also have the bloodline inheritance of the demon race, making them even more powerful."

Zheng Fa grinned.

What hybrid advantage.

This news really isn't good, especially for Jiushan Sect.

The Demon Ancestor's control over his disciples is probably hidden within their bloodlines. In the past, the Zizaimo Sect seemed to place great emphasis on the purity of bloodlines.

Now that the Demon Ancestor is willing to let his disciples mate with the demon race — in a sense, this can even be seen as a breakthrough in realm.

"Actually, even without this matter, the demon race also intends to cooperate with the Mo Sect." The Jin Wu continued: "For this entire epoch, the demon race has had it terribly rough."

That much was true.

From what Zheng Fa had heard at Jiushan Sect, the demon race in the Xuanwei Realm actually didn't amount to much —

Although there was no shortage of great demons deep in the mountains, the demon race itself was like a scattered pile of sand, without any major power.

Not to mention there were still sects that liked to take demon race members as spirit beasts.

Where there is oppression, there is resistance… let alone now that the rumors of spiritual energy's decline grow ever more intense, the demon race naturally had to seek a way out.

Zheng Fa looked at the Jin Wu and asked: "Then why did you…"

"I don't want to be a stud bird anymore…"

"Huh?"

The Jin Wu hung its head dejectedly. Seeming unable to keep up the pretense and afraid Zheng Fa wouldn't trust it, it simply laid out its own origins in full:

"My bloodline is noble, but my strength is weak, so I was picked out and sent to the Zizaimo Sect…"

Zheng Fa couldn't help but ask: "…You can't even transform into human form."

"I can't turn into a human, but the demon women of the Zizaimo Sect can turn into birds!"

"……"

"They even have aphrodisiac techniques! Aphrodisiacs for birds!" The Jin Wu's voice even carried a sob: "My body's nearly wrecked!"

The Jin Wu's words left the courtyard in silence.

Zheng Fa couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration in his heart — the Zizaimo Sect had truly given too much and gone too far in biological experimentation!

"So you escaped?"

Zheng Fa suddenly understood. Although this Jin Wu's cultivation was low, if its bloodline was truly so noble, it couldn't possibly be wandering around alone.

"Yes." The Jin Wu nodded: "My ability to conceal myself is extremely strong. If I don't speak, no one can tell I have the Jin Wu bloodline. I thought your market town here was lively, with great immortal sect power, so those people wouldn't dare to chase me here."

"But then I discovered…" The Jin Wu looked at Zheng Fa with shining eyes and said: "You're even more tempting to me than they are!"

That's not…

Comparing me like that and I might really get angry!

Senior Sister Yuan beside them, however, silently nodded.

"So when you said they were going to target Jiushan Sect, that was fake?"

Zhang Shijie's eyes flashed as she spoke up to ask.

"Not fake." The Jin Wu shook its head: "You've blocked the Zizaimo Sect too fiercely. Now they can't even come out, they're already desperate."

Zheng Fa's heart tightened and he asked: "What are they planning to do?"

"Not sure. I only heard that they don't want to fight you at Lei Chi…"

"Jiushan Sect!"

Zheng Fa and Zhang Shijie exchanged a glance, both understanding the Zizaimo Sect's thinking.

Right now at Lei Chi, the Zizaimo Sect was truly at a disadvantage.

Not to mention the many immortal sects gathered here — there were more than one or two Nascent Soul cultivators.

But Jiushan Sect was different.

There was neither Lei Chi nor other immortal sects there. For the Zizaimo Sect now, it was instead a breakthrough point.

"Let's go find Master!"

Zhang Shijie nodded and followed behind him. The few of them found Zhu Yuanzhang.

"You're saying this crow has the Jin Wu bloodline, and its status among the demon race is not low?"

Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the crow and looked it over and over, asking Zheng Fa and the others.

Zheng Fa nodded.

"It even gave up a life of a harem of three thousand, but was captivated by you and came to seek refuge?"

"……"

That sounded strange, but it didn't seem wrong either.

Zheng Fa could only nod.

"I've lived for nearly ten thousand years…" The Sect Leader suddenly sighed.

"Master?"

"I originally thought your Senior Brother hooking up with a Mo Sect demon woman was already outrageous enough."

Zheng Fa's mouth fell open.

"I didn't expect you to be even more outrageous than your Senior Brother…" The Sect Leader sighed: "Tell me, when is the demon army coming?"

"……"

"Master, I didn't summon them!"

"Just tell me whether they're coming or not!"

"They are…"

……

Jokes aside, this matter is no small thing.

Uncle Pang was also summoned by the Sect Master, and the group held a discussion within the Five Dragons Tiangong.

"Here is the plan: I will return. If the situation at Lei Chi becomes critical, Junior Brother, you take the disciples into Lei Chi to take shelter. I will have Zhao Shimei Huang bring the remaining disciples over. Within Jiushan Sect, there is me, and if necessary, there is also the Ancestor; you need not worry."

The Sect Master suddenly spoke.

Zheng Yichen's heart sank; this was preparing for the worst.

Uncle Pang frowned and said, "Senior Brother, they have endured for so long; once they move, it will be with the force of Lei Ting overwhelming all. I fear they will not be so easy to deal with, especially since only you remain."

"Junior Brother, I have lived for nearly ten thousand years," Zheng Fa heard his Master say again. "I have only a hundred-plus years of lifespan left."

"Senior Brother..."

"It is not certain I will die!" the Sect Master laughed. "I now hold the Zhou Tian Lei Jie Talisman Array; even if a Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator comes, I will not fear. If I sacrifice my hundred-plus years of lifespan to kill one or two Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivators, even if I die, it will not be a loss!"