Chapter 418: Qing Yuan (Requesting Subscription)

'But being taken out as a witness to my brother's murder is quite convincing.'

'Besides... I'm a Void Dragon, skilled in Void Escape Art—perfect as a mount, flashy and useful...'

'Even in battle, if you let me out, you can just shout—"A Black Dragon's on your face, how can you lose?"'

Fang Xing internally scoffed, then feigned a timid posture: 'I... am willing to submit.'

'Excellent!'

Song Zhong cooperated fully, forming a hand seal and forcing out a drop of essence blood: 'I'm binding a blood pact with you—open your soul, don't resist! Go!'

He pointed a finger; that drop of essence blood transformed into a rune and shot like lightning into Fang Xing's forehead.

On a scale above the Black Dragon's brow, a crimson rune appeared like a tattoo, radiating a scarlet glow.

This was the unique pact method of the Seven Kill Demon Palace; the elders and disciples instantly knew this great demon had been subdued.

But in reality... it was just for show!

'You're too big—shrink down.'

Song Zhong frowned at Fang Xing's twenty-meter-long body.

Fang Xing nodded, activating the Transformation of Size and Form, shrinking instantly to the size of a black cat, landing on Song Zhong's shoulder.

'Perfect. I'll go kill another great demon—this time, I'll surely become an inner sect disciple.'

Song Zhong said: 'Actually, inner sect disciple means nothing—I aim to become a Core True Disciple! Core True Disciples are selected only from the Mortal Realm disciples, and the benefits are said to be immense...'

This was, in fact, answering some unspoken questions in Fang Xing's mind.

For example... if you've already grasped the Dao, why not directly break through to the Nascent Soul realm?

'It seems Nascent Soul here differs from Nascent Soul elsewhere.'

'Such cultivation knowledge—I'm a wild demon with no ancestral memories; I simply don't understand any of this...'

'That old white ape claimed his bloodline was extraordinary, but his ancestral memories held little of value—only Mortal Realm knowledge... unless you reach a certain realm, the bloodline won't reactivate or reveal deeper truths...'

This was the nature of bloodline inheritance: only the appropriate content was released at the appropriate realm, never dumped all at once.

It was for the benefit of descendants—and also for secrecy, to prevent the entire inheritance from being exposed at once.

'Now that I have Song Zhong as a stepping stone, perhaps I should consider the Seven Kill Demon Palace's scriptures?'

Fang Xing's original minimum goal was to escape the Ten Thousand Demons Realm.

Now that he'd acted without triggering any countermeasures, he knew a Heaven Immortal like Qi Sha Dao Ren couldn't possibly monitor a trial realm constantly.

According to Song Zhong, even the sect's Nascent Soul elders often went thousands of years without seeing their own sect master.

Qi Sha Dao Ren might enter seclusion for tens of thousands of years, while Nascent Soul elders lived only ten thousand years—several generations would have come and gone...

'Here are the sect's basic information and rules—study them well. Don't cause trouble for me.'

Song Zhong performed excellently, pulling a book from a leather pouch at his waist and tossing it to Fang Xing.

Fang Xing caught it with his claw, curled up on Song Zhong's shoulder, and read with great interest.

'Seven Kill Travelogue?'

'So this is the enlightenment text personally compiled by Qi Sha Dao Ren for Seven Kill Demon Palace disciples?'

Fang Xing immediately perked up and began flipping through it carefully.

In the Seven Kill Travelogue, Qi Sha Dao Ren described the world: the Seven Kill Demon Palace's world was called the Qing Yuan Great Realm—a vast continent with countless sects, humans and demons vying for dominance... with nine layers of underground caverns plunging into the Nine Heavens Below, and countless stars above, each holding infinite populations, reclusive sects, and ancient demonic god descendants...

This world was full of wonders, treasures abound, and billions of beings chased after eternal life!

'Seems pretty impressive.'

After reading the world introduction, Fang Xing turned to the cultivation realms.

'Human cultivation is divided into nine Mortal Realm stages: Blood Mobilization, Bone Refinement, Marrow Exchange, Qi Refinement, Five Viscera, Six Bowels, Primordial, Master, and Heaven Human...'

'Above the Mortal Realm nine stages lies the Nascent Soul realm, also with nine levels, granting ten thousand years of life!'

'To become a Nascent Soul, the superior cultivate by comprehending Heaven and Earth, uniting with the Dao—thus the Dao is formed; the inferior refine pills and ingest them to force a Nascent Soul...'

'Nascent Souls are naturally close to the Dao; once they break through, their perception of Dao principles becomes far clearer and smoother... thus even Nascent Soul cultivators of the inferior method can quickly catch up, each grasping at least one Dao principle to the third stage.'

'But those who achieve Nascent Soul through Heaven-Earth Unity gain extra benefits... different methods of breakthrough yield different advantages.'

'No wonder Song Zhong isn't in a hurry to break through—without breaking through, he's the true genius of the Seven Kill Demon Palace; once he does, among Nascent Soul elders, he'll blend in, and due to his short cultivation time, he'll be at a disadvantage... he's consolidating his foundation, refining his Qi further.'

Fang Xing continued reading.

'Above the Nascent Soul realm lies the Heaven Immortal realm—fully comprehending one Dao principle, granting ten million years of life... no known case of natural death.'

This section was brief, since Qi Sha Dao Ren himself was merely a Heaven Immortal.

Compared to the Great Xia world, this was the Law Lord realm.

At the end of the realm section, Qi Sha Dao Ren added his insight: 'Heaven Immortal is hard to achieve. Even with infinite lifespan, where does one seek "Union with the Dao"? Break into Chaos? Trials are countless... across the myriad worlds, who can achieve eternity? Who can transcend?'

'Union with the Dao... Chaos... Eternity... Transcendence?'

Fang Xing's heart stirred, deeply moved.

'Above the Heaven Immortal realm, one must achieve "Union with the Dao" to break into the Chaos realm?'

'According to Great Xia's terminology, that's like the Dao Lord realm after Law Lord—requiring mastery of a Great Dao to break through?'

'And what of Eternity and Transcendence after that?'

'Though Heaven Immortals here have infinite lifespan, they still face calamities leading to death... and Heaven Immortal is extremely hard to achieve—the Seven Kill Demon Palace has existed for hundreds of thousands of years, yet aside from Qi Sha Dao Ren himself, not a single other Heaven Immortal has been cultivated...'

'Heaven Immortal, Law Lord—how could such a thing be easily achieved?'

Fang Xing felt profound emotion.

After the realm section came the introduction to the Seven Kill Demon Palace and its rules.

They were unremarkable—he skimmed through them quickly.

At this moment, Song Zhong had recovered, wielding a red tassel spear and hanging a heart-flame battle knife at his waist, soaring into the sky to hunt other great demons.

Passing the fruit grove, Fang Xing glanced over and saw it was again in ruins.

But the old white ape's corpse was gone.

It seemed the old monkey had merely talked big—he'd chosen survival after all.

That was fine.

'Farewell... after this parting, we likely won't meet again...'

Fang Xing's vertical pupils gazed at the Ten Thousand Demons Realm, a faint sense of nostalgia rising.

After all, he'd lived here for decades.

Still, he longed for a wider world.

Several days later.

A canyon.

Wild winds howled, carrying faint chimes.

The chimes came from an ancient vine clinging to a sheer cliff, its center bearing a fruit shaped like a bell.

'Qing Ling Fruit... aids breakthrough to Mortal Realm eighth stage, and is also an auxiliary ingredient for Nascent Soul Pills!'

Song Zhong's eyes lit up at the fruit.

For him, slaying great demons was simple.

Every Ten Thousand Demons Realm trial was a golden opportunity for capable disciples!

Each year, the "Imperial Dew" irrigated the Ten Thousand Demons Realm, nurturing countless heavenly herbs.

As long as your strength was sufficient, you could harvest freely!

Song Zhong was poor; his Song family was even poorer!

Such a power-boosting spirit fruit was not to be missed.

Fang Xing lounged lazily on Song Zhong's shoulder, treating the servant as his mount.

After all, the master-servant pact was just for show—during battle, fine; but in daily life, if he let Song Zhong ride on his back, wouldn't that be asking for abuse?

Song Zhong stepped forward, hand outstretched—suddenly, he vanished.

Whoosh!

A crescent blade flashed past his former position, carving a deep gash into the steel-like rock wall.

'Hm?'

Song Zhong turned to his attacker—a woman in green robes, cold and serene, like a goddess from the Cold Palace: it was Murong Yue!

'Murong Yue, you want the Qing Ling Fruit too?'

Song Zhong's spear tip pointed at Murong Yue.

The Seven Kill Demon Palace bore the word "Demon"—its ways were demonic; among sect members, unity and camaraderie were nonexistent—competition was the norm.

Even those like Cai Zhujin who harmed fellow disciples faced no consequences unless caught with undeniable proof.

Clearly, Qi Sha Dao Ren was breeding monsters.

Though Fang Xing thought this method inefficient and prone to breeding traitors, perhaps this cultivation style suited some particular "Dao"—he admitted his vision couldn't match a Heaven Immortal's; Qi Sha Dao Ren's choice must have merit!

Among the Seven Kill Demon Palace, conflict and killing among sect members were commonplace.

'The Qing Ling Fruit, though a heavenly treasure, holds no value to me—I merely wish to debate Dao with you, Song Zhong...'

Murong Yue's voice was cold as alpine spring water; in her hand, a slender curved sword materialized: 'Please.'

Her swordplay mirrored her demeanor—cold, aloof—each blade flash resembled a crescent moon, like liquid mercury spilling across the earth, sword qi flooding the heavens.

'You're pushing too far!'

Song Zhong thrust his spear, each strike precisely hitting the slender blade, the force making it recoil.

Fang Xing watched clearly: though both were Mortal Realm ninth stage, their Dao comprehension differed vastly—this woman had no chance of winning.

Ding ding ding ding!

After a rapid series of clinks, Murong Yue's slender sword snapped in two, and two rosy blushes appeared on her cheeks.

She instantly transformed into a streak of light and retreated backward: "Ning Jie is right… you're truly stronger than I am!"

Song Zhong watched as Murong Yue's figure vanished into the distance without pursuing her; his expression was grave.

Although he had become Fang Xing's soul servant, the Wan Xin Secret Art was exceedingly profound—unless Fang Xing gave an order, Song Zhong's every movement and even his psychology and personality remained exactly as they had been before.

"Ning Jie… could she be 'Ning Qian,' the True Disciple?"

"She was also a beneficiary of the last trial—has she already noticed me?"

(End of Chapter)