Chapter 145: The Utter Shamelessness of the Qian Yuan Sect

"Isn't foundation establishment a good thing?" Wei Yuning asked, puzzled.

While he was dazed, "Bang," the other closed door of the shop was shattered into fragments by a punch from the unestablished cultivator, and the man leapt forward into the interior.

Wei Yuning roared in fury, "Seeking death!"

A green vine suddenly appeared on the path ahead, thick at the base and thin at the tip, bearing a few sparse dark‑cyan leaves, its tip a slender needle, its whole body gleaming with metallic luster.

This is a peculiar vine called "Iron Leech," which grows in the damp crevices of cliffs; it is extremely hardy, its stems as hard as steel, both root and tip as thin as needles yet a few degrees tougher than its body, capable of slipping into any crack, the roots seeking water and the tips seeking sunlight; a single vine reaching dozens of zhang in length is commonplace.

The man failed to dodge and his body slammed straight into the vine tip.

The vine tip effortlessly pierced the man's abdomen, and then the rest of the vine quickly followed the tip, drilling into his belly.

A horrendous scream rang out as the man fell from mid‑air; just as he seemed about to crash onto the counter, another vine coiled around him and hurled him onto the street.

"Where did that evil cultivator come from, such nerve to charge at the Black Water Kingdom Royal Court!" the foundation cultivator spat, pulling out a slick black sphere, tossing it forward; in an instant the sphere transformed into a massive net that enveloped Wei Yuning.

Wei Yuning tried to teleport away, but sensed a deterrent force emanating from the net; his body stiffened, the teleport failed, and while he was stunned, the massive net had already pressed against his body.

The scent of the black net was strikingly familiar, carrying the cool aroma of the Black Water River and a whiff reminiscent of the whale hermit.

It was the scent of the dragon race, found only on beings with a strong dragon lineage; judging from the net's fibrous veins, the net that trapped him must be woven from the toughest tendons within an animal's body. Dragon beings possess innate draconic might, and even after death their bodies retain this pressure.

A massive net cage made from the dragon tendons of a sub‑dragon beast is a nightmare for any spirit‑aware cultivator, because it has a certain chance to disrupt spells and its spell resistance is astonishingly high.

The cool scent of the Black Water River is actually Jun Mo's aura; that was the realization he suddenly grasped last night.

He hadn't considered this before, but after hearing the Flower‑Moon and Autumn‑Moon sisters say the locals followed the Qian Yuan Sect cultivators' advice to use Black Water River water for healing, he suddenly recalled the Frenzy Pill used by Bao Shu and others of the same sect.

Whether common folk or cultivators, exposure to demonic Qi doesn't automatically turn one into a demonic being; those with stronger constitutions and firmer hearts can resist its erosion. When the demon‑piercer became a great demon lord in the Yun Yin Sect, although tens of thousands were demonicized, it accounted for just over ten percent of those polluted by demonic Qi.

Demonic Qi certainly exists in the Black Water River, but its concentration is extremely low, harmless to ordinary people; however, humans and animals living by the river do contain demonic Qi within their bodies.

The Frenzy Pill affects a creature's mind; when sanity falters, demonic Qi is naturally activated.

From the knowledge gathered through various channels, Wei Yuning realized that demonic transformation isn't wholly useless; otherwise cultivators wouldn't continuously join the demonic path, though demonic cultivators indeed clash with the world of ordinary beings and cannot gain acceptance from either the mortal or cultivation realms.

Uncontrolled demonic Qi causes beings to demonicize; most lose their original consciousness and become walking corpses, while a few lucky ones metamorphose into demonic cultivators, demonic monsters, or Green Corpse Demons—true members of the demon race with self‑awareness—and their power surges dramatically.

Trace amounts of demonic Qi don't disturb normal life; moderate concentrations affect organisms and, by sacrificing vitality, improve the recipient's body—this explains why the filtered concentrate of Black Water River water can treat illnesses.

However, the cured patients only gain a fleeting benefit, while their precious lifespan is depleted.

The black‑backed water buffalo that attacked the Xi Kingdom's camp that night was likely doubly affected by the Frenzy Pill and demonic Qi, becoming fully demonic, whereas the Blue Wolf of the Blue Wolf Nation seemed only influenced by the Frenzy Pill.

The tribal shaman's Frenzy Pill, in some respects, mirrors demonic Qi's effects but is somewhat safer and more controllable.

Because the demonic Qi in the Black Water River originates from Jun Mo, only under Monk Cheng Xin's Formless Divine Art does Jun Mo's true form manifest.

In other words, somewhere connected to the Black Water River there should be a source exuding Jun Mo's demonic Qi; it's unclear whether that source is Jun Mo himself or merely a fragment of this supreme demon. Wei Yuning's knowledge of demonic cultivators is essentially nil, let alone the top‑tier great demon spoken of by Monk Cheng Xin.

However, the spirit‑beast world is only a mid‑tier realm; theoretically it seems unable to house a top‑tier great demon.

He reviewed the whole incident from start to finish once more.

Initially, someone from the Qian Yuan Sect—or perhaps the current senior elder himself—had, intentionally or unintentionally, learned from a source or discovered that Black Water River water causes demonic transformation, and had tested a method to guarantee demonicization: exploiting the Frenzy Pill's chaotic effect.

If that original discoverer had a conscience, he would have kept this secret; clearly, he did not.

This strange Dragon Tendon Demonic Qi Net is the proof.

He reported it to the sect. The Qian Yuan Sect not only did not shun demonicization as a taboo, but instead leveraged the trait to develop an anti‑enemy artifact: the Dragon Tendon Demonic Qi Net.

The demonicization process is painful and perilous, and those undergoing it are the most vulnerable; this is precisely how the massive net kills enemies.

If an enemy is slain during demonicization, they might even be branded with a demonic creature's crime—just thinking of it sends chills; such a vile artifact truly amounts to killing and crushing the soul!

Moreover, the Qian Yuan Sect has been conducting demonic‑Qi contamination experiments throughout the mortal realms, from the distant Blue Wolf Nation to the nearby Gem City, all witnessed and heard by Wei Yuning; thus, this sect truly has no limits, is utterly shameless, and is a scum of the cultivation world.

All causes and effects flashed through Wei Yuning's mind like sparks from a firecracker.

Once the demonicization net latched onto Wei Yuning, it immediately began to tighten.

Wei Yuning's surface emitted a flash of green light, his skin grew markedly rougher, arcs resembling tree bark appeared, and his complexion shifted to an imperceptibly dark‑gold hue.

"Master Man, kill him; I'll go in and see!" Wen Songming's usual composed demeanor vanished, his face turning urgent with a hint of ferocity.

In the same breath, multicolored light flared on his body, signaling the activation of various elemental talismans; the fate of the earlier subordinate had shaken him. Though the enemy was already seized by the "Immortal‑Binding Rope," he remained cautious.