Chapter 163: Haggard Appearance

"Its emotions are very complex." The expression on the Demon Lord's face was somewhat puzzled, "Even a bit contradictory; I can't quite put my finger on it, but I only sensed it for an instant before I was discovered."

Having said that, the Demon Lord sighed, appearing somewhat regretful.

"But why on earth do you insist on investigating the secrets of the National Teacher Palace?" Ruan Xing asked, uncomprehending.

"Ah? I do whatever I want, does that need a reason?" The Demon Lord seemed to have heard an incredible question and couldn't help but laugh, "Besides, don't you want to know the secret?"

Ruan Xing remained silent.

He tilted his head and tapped his temple with his index finger, "Don't forget, my technique consumes the five Qi; I can see that you harbor hidden malice toward the National Teacher Palace and even the sect behind it."

This is truly... the Immortal can perceive good and evil, and the Demon Lord can discern the five Qi and stray thoughts.

The two of them are quite complementary; in front of them, it is likely difficult to even tell a lie.

The Demon Lord was not wrong; ever since she learned that the World Tree had placed a restriction in her mind preventing her from speaking about anything related to it, she had no good impression of them.

No one likes being threatened and controlled by others, right?

It was just that Ruan Xing lacked the strength at the time and could only swallow her anger for the moment.

However, Ruan Xing still felt a bit stifled, "Do you think the information you've gathered is of any help to me?"

"Hmm... haven't found any yet." The Demon Lord pondered for a moment and said honestly.

Actually, it was a little helpful, but Ruan Xing did not want to encourage the Demon Lord's tendency to act without authorization and cause trouble for others.

At the very least, Ruan Xing now knew that the inside and outside of the barrier were not completely disconnected.

"What are your plans for next?" The Immortal, who had been listening silently on the side, interjected.

Her gaze passed through the trees covering the entrance of the karst cave, looking at the disciples huddled together in a sorry state inside, feeling some pity.

She had taught them for a time, after all; although many of these disciples followed the Demon Lord to practice demonic arts, she had watched them under her own nose, and these disciples had low cultivation and had done no evil deeds at all.

She naturally did not wish for these people to die here.

Ruan Xing shook her head, "We'll take it one step at a time."

She had not yet made up her mind, because Ruan Xing did not know exactly how many Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators were inside the Six Suns Study, and her intuition told her the number would definitely not be as low as what was publicly announced.

The people inside the karst cave heard the voices outside, and a figure poked their head out, saying with some pleasant surprise: "Xing'er!"

Ruan Xing looked over at the sound, her lips moving, "Sister."

Thirteen-year-old Ruan Tao had already grown into a graceful young girl, but the two days of life in the karst cave had left her looking somewhat haggard.

Ruan Tao crawled out of the karst cave, came over to hug Ruan Xing, and whispered: "I'm sorry, I've troubled you to come back again; we've caused you trouble."

"It's fine, it's nothing, I can solve it." Ruan Xing comforted her with a few words.

Establishing the Fengling Yueying Sect was not something others had forced upon her; she had also thought it over carefully at the time.

There were many reasons for it; she needed a force and organization to help her accumulate a large amount of wealth to supply her Simulations, but because her own cultivation speed was too fast, this sect had not yet entered the world of Cultivation to be of any use.

Additionally, this sect was a mix of immortal and demonic; she was doing it to prevent the Demon Cultivators from sweeping through Nanzhou in fourteen years, at which time this sect could use the Demon Cultivators as a front to act as a cover.

This was all to prevent future events, which was why this sect was allowed to exist, but since it had been established, she could not just ignore it when encountering a little risk.

Besides worry, there was also some distress on Ruan Tao's face; she bit her lip and said: "But... I am almost unable to suppress my cultivation anymore."

Hearing this, Ruan Xing hurriedly used her Divine Sense to check and found that Ruan Tao's body was filled with Spiritual Power, to the point where it was almost about to dissipate.

She had already reached Foundation Establishment Perfection before, but she had kept practicing, only starting to suppress her cultivation when she was about to undergo the tribulation; now, if she dared to loosen her restraint on the Spiritual Power in her body even a little, tribulation clouds would immediately drift into the sky.

However, because both the Demon Lord and the Immortal were in Puppet Bodies, filled with Yin energy, they were most afraid of heavenly lightning and the like, and had no way to guard the formation for Ruan Tao.

Ruan Tao could only wait for her to return.

"It is my negligence; I have never taken on disciples, and when I was practicing myself, I never encountered any difficulties; my Master solved them all for me." Although the Immortal's voice was cold, it held a bit of awkward guilt.

Now, it was not just the National Teacher Palace inside the barrier conducting searches everywhere; it was likely that Yunyang City and the nearby villages and towns had not been spared either.

Although they had not entered Yunyang City, they had sent a few Immortal Cultivator disciples out to scout and knew the general situation outside.

If any cultivator who did not belong to the Six Suns Study underwent a tribulation in this territory, the Six Suns Study would nine times out of ten assume this person was someone spying on their secrets.

Ruan Tao could not undergo the tribulation here.

With a shift in her thoughts, Ruan Xing immediately said: "I will take Sister out to undergo the tribulation first, and while I'm at it, I'll scout for specific information on the Six Suns Study; you all stay here for now and do not let yourselves be discovered."

"Tsk—" The Demon Lord's lazy tone sounded, "Why not ask the local residents?"

Hmm? Local residents? A bewildered Ruan Xing suddenly realized the Monster Beast aura around the karst cave...

"That Monster Beast, it's not dead yet?" Ruan Xing felt surprised.

"How could I beat it to death? With so many delicious low-level cultivators, plus the bloody scent of a Monster Beast, how many Monster Beasts would that attract? How would we stay hidden?" The Demon Lord said with disdain.

In this mountain pass, there were many Foundation Establishment and Golden Core Monster Beasts; they divided their hunting grounds according to their respective habits and strength, leaving their own unique scents in their territories to deter others; if any other Monster Beast dared to step into their range, it was considered a provocation to the lord.

And the place they had seized was the habitat of a Golden Core stage monster python; the dark and damp underground karst cave was its home, but now, the Demon Lord and the Immortal had joined forces to drive it out and beat it up, yet they did not kill it to eat it.

It was terrified and wanted to leave, giving this territory to these humans, but they would not let it go.

They used the deterrence it had left behind to deceive the surrounding Monster Beasts into thinking everything was normal here.

It could only stay near the karst cave, shivering; it could neither leave nor enter the karst cave.

The Demon Lord pursed his lips in the direction of the monster python, and Ruan Xing saw a monster python thicker than her own body coiled under a tree, its dark green scales covered by layers of fallen leaves, leaving only its yellow vertical pupils in the gaps; for some reason, Ruan Xing felt she could see a trace of grievance and accusation in those cold vertical pupils.

The Demon Lord said: "This monster python has been practicing in this mountain pass for over seven hundred years and has long since opened its intelligence; why not ask it?"

Ruan Xing was in a difficult position, "But I don't know the art of Monster Beast contracts."

Monster Beasts cannot speak human language until they reach the Transformation stage; they can only communicate through methods like mental links, which requires establishing a Master-Servant Contract with the Monster Beast.

Keeping Monster Beasts is such an expensive thing; she had never considered such things.

Qintai He should know how; he has a white wolf, but she had never asked.

"What's difficult about that? I know how." The Demon Lord laughed, "Give me a drop of your blood."

Ruan Xing's heart skipped a beat.

What did the Demon Lord want her blood for? She believed there was an eighty percent chance the Demon Lord truly needed this drop of blood to complete the contract technique, but there was still a twenty percent chance she thought the Demon Lord wanted to stir up trouble. It was not that she was being defensive, but the Demon Lord's thinking was truly too wild and uncontrolled, and he acted without regard for the consequences.

"Why don't you teach me? I am very smart; I can learn it on the spot." Ruan Xing said.

The Demon Lord gave her a deep look and suddenly smiled, "It is not difficult, after all."

He did not refuse, but instead earnestly explained the essentials of the contract technique to Ruan Xing.

This actually left Ruan Xing with a sense of guilt, and she could not help but reflect on whether she had been too guarded against the Demon Lord.

Soon, Ruan Xing mastered the contract technique and used a drop of blood to establish a Master-Servant Contract with the subdued Monster Beast python.

The Monster Beast python was listless, without a shred of resistance.

Only in the mental link, there was an additional immature voice of a small snake, sounding indistinguishable in gender.

"That is my home, that is my home, that is my home..."

"Drive you all out, drive you all out, drive you all out!"

"I am not clean anymore, I am not clean anymore, I am not clean anymore..."

The resentful muttering made Ruan Xing's head spin for a moment; she frowned and used the pressure of her Nascent Soul Stage to suppress the Monster Beast python.

The Monster Beast python immediately shut its mouth, its entire snake body coiling up like a mosquito coil, hiding even its head deep inside.

Why was this a little funny?

Seeing the Monster Beast python looking so aggrieved, Ruan Xing could not help but toss a Qingshui Pill to it; its yellow vertical pupils suddenly lit up, it swallowed the Pill in one gulp, and its snake body slithered over, fawningly rubbing against Ruan Xing's toes.

However, its body was a bit too large; caught off guard, the petite Ruan Xing was nudged into a stagger, and after patting the Monster Beast python's head, Ruan Xing sat directly on its body.

The Qingshui Pill could be considered a small snack for Monster Beasts; not only could it suppress the violent, bloodthirsty nature of a Monster Beast, but it also tasted good and contained some digestible Spirit Qi.

Having grown up in the jungle, this was the first time the Monster Beast python had eaten this kind of Pill, and it was immediately conquered; there were rarely any human traces in this mountain pass, and it had never eaten humans, so it had very little bloodthirsty aura on its body.

Having eaten and being soft-mouthed, it no longer whimpered in the mental link, and now Ruan Xing could properly ask questions.

After thinking for a moment, Ruan Xing asked some questions that the Monster Beast python could understand.

The Monster Beast python looked at Ruan Xing's hand, expecting her to give it another small snack, and answered obediently.

Only one Golden Core Cultivator came to the National Teacher Palace for shifts every thirteen days, and they would ride a Black Eagle when coming and going.

As for other Cultivators, they would just enter the barrier low-key when they arrived, but the Monster Beast python did not pay attention to how those Cultivators entered or exited, so it could not conclude if there was any regularity or periodicity to their entry.

As for why the shift-working Cultivators always knew...

A trace of fear appeared in the Monster Beast python's eyes.

The Black Eagle could carry dozens of people on its back at once; its size was much larger than the Monster Beast python's, and the Monster Beast python was on its menu.

Sometimes when the Black Eagle returned empty after dropping people off, it would come to the mountain pass to forage and catch spicy strips to eat; at these times, the Monster Beast python could only shiver and hide in the underground karst cave, so it wouldn't be snatched away by the Black Eagle.

This kind of fear was deeply engraved in its mind, making it so that even now, at the Golden Core Stage, it would still hurriedly hide in the karst cave whenever the Black Eagle swept over the mountain pass.

However, the Monster Beast python had never seen a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator come by.

In fact, for thousands of years, no Nascent Soul Stage Monster Beast had appeared in this mountain pass.

This was actually a bit strange.

Releasing the pitiful Monster Beast python, Ruan Xing said to it, "I have no use for you by my side; from now on, you will be the guardian spirit beast of the Fengling Yueying Sect. If you are obedient, I still have plenty of things like Qingshui Pills."

The Monster Beast python nodded repeatedly, quite human-like.

How could it not be human-like? It could not communicate with people, and after being beaten eight times in two days, it finally understood the intentions of those two people, and could only huddle in a corner, silently licking its wounds and shedding tears of humiliation.

Arranging for the Monster Beast python to wait near the karst cave, Ruan Xing signaled for Ruan Tao to leave, letting the Sword bring Ruan Tao into the Invisibility Channel, while she herself traveled by flying on her Sword.

The two stopped after about an hour or so, landing in a small town a few dozen kilometers away from Yunyang City.

Ruan Xing had once been attacked in this place, and the entire center of the town had been smashed to pieces by the duel between several Golden Core Stage Cultivators; those low-level Cultivators and mortals who could not escape in time were crushed under the collapsed houses.

But now, it had all been rebuilt, and one could not see any of the past dilapidation at all.

"Are we going to undergo the tribulation near here?" Ruan Tao asked.

"Not yet," Ruan Xing waved her hand and replied, "I still need to confirm one thing; I will take you to undergo the tribulation tomorrow. Can you still hold on?"

Ruan Tao nodded and said, "One day, no problem."

Ruan Xing took out the Transmission Talisman that was about to gather dust from her Storage Bag and sent a message to Cai Xueshi, asking if he could come out for a chat.

Within half an hour, she received a reply from Cai Xueshi, and he agreed.

Ruan Xing found a restaurant, requested a private room, and lowered the curtains and screens to block the view from outside; Ruan Xing then released Cai Jiao from the Storage Bag.

Once Cai Xueshi arrived, she would let the two reunite first to feel the changes in Cai Jiao; presumably, Cai Xueshi's loyalty and trust in her would also be higher.

Sure enough, seeing what Cai Jiao looked like now, Cai Xueshi's eyes streamed with tears.

Although he could not hear the sound of Cai Jiao calling him grandfather, he knew that this was his Nannan, his Nannan had returned!

Silently watching the grandfather and granddaughter embrace, Ruan Xing waited for a moment until Cai Xueshi's emotions were less agitated before she began to ask, "In such a long time, what have you gained?"

Cai Xueshi was very impressive; his cultivation had already reached Foundation Establishment Mid-stage.

Cai Xueshi wiped the tears from his face, returned to his serious and pedantic appearance, and said, "I have not failed the Gang Leader's entrustment. Among this batch of newly entered Inner Sect Disciples, my progress can be considered the fastest. Ever since I sent Nannan away, the teacher I follow has treated me much better. You asked me to participate more in Sect affairs, and I have participated actively. This is roughly all I know for now; please see if it is of any use."

Cai Xueshi took out a stack of paper from his bosom, which recorded some of what he had seen and heard within the Six Suns Study.

This was a habit he had continued from when he was an official.

Ruan Xing flipped through it hurriedly; Cai Xueshi did not know much, but it could be cross-verified with previous information.

In the Six Suns Study, the number of Nascent Soul Stage people was not just the Master of the Study alone, but there were three Nascent Soul stages. Usually, those who came forward to handle the Sect's affairs were the Master of the Study and a group of Golden Core Elders; the other two Nascent Soul True Monarchs spent most of their time cultivating alone, acting low-key and rarely appearing, which was why they were unknown to the outside world.

If it weren't for Cai Xueshi following Ruan Xing's instructions to think and observe more while doing things for his teacher, he would not have discovered that there were two such big shots hidden in the small Six Suns Study.

I was about to fall asleep when I wrote to the end yesterday. When I got up today and looked at it, I had a head full of question marks. Did I really write this? How do I have no impression of it at all? qaq So I modified the last paragraph.

Thanks to Nuo x for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Ai Zhizhi 12345 for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Book Friend 20240513144016024 for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Book Friend 20231019183119642 for the monthly ticket~ (End of this chapter)