Chapter 79: The Left-Path Demon Qian Mou

"The second cycle begins!"

"Cycle participants may enter the Cycle Realm seven days early to obtain information about the upcoming mission world..."

Qian Chen counted the days and finally received the Lord of Cycle's notice; for the following six months, he did not venture out again, but quietly established a cave dwelling, daily gathering qi and refining it, polishing his magic power.

He consecrated the Cold Moon Ice Soul Pill and several newly acquired magic treasures, and fully digested all his prior accumulations.

He waited until the opening of the second cycle.

Qian Chen lifted the sealing barriers of his cave, sat cross-legged, and calmed his breath; once again, his vision went black, and soon he returned to the solitary cloud terrace suspended in the void. It had not changed since a year ago—not even the mark he had left behind when departing remained intact.

"So indeed, time does not pass here after I leave the void terrace!"

Qian Chen retracted the faint magic power he had left behind to mark time, only to find his merit had inexplicably decreased by five hundred; his expression grew even graver. He had previously offered five hundred merit on the Divine Talisman as a test—but this outcome was startling… If celestial deities from above could also gain merit from the Cycle Realm, then the background of this place warranted deep contemplation.

"The waters of the Cycle Realm… seem deeper than ever!"

Qian Chen looked up and said: "Lord, I wish to view my mission."

"The Great Wilderness is strewn with countless peaks and endless towering mountains, where sacred lands nurture celestial spiritual energy. Cultivators establish cave dwellings upon spiritual veins, transmitting their Dao lineages; this world produces an unending stream of extraordinary sword immortals."

"Yet where there are sacred mountains and spiritual veins, there are also bottomless abysses…"

"It is said the abysses directly connect to the Ninth Abyss Demon Realm, where demonic creatures endlessly emerge; cultivators who commune with the Ninth Abyss and draw in turbid qi are called heretical sects… Thus arose the distinction between orthodox and heretical."

"Two thousand years ago, a legendary demon lord of the heretical sect descended into the deepest, most perilous Heaven’s Rift Abyss, discovering an infinite blood sea, where he attained enlightenment as a Blood Demon and unleashed an endless catastrophe. Wherever he went, humans and beasts alike were drained of their essence and died… The extraordinary sword immortals of the Great Wilderness united to confront the Blood Demon."

"Finally, under the combined assault of seven extraordinary sword immortals of this world, the Blood Demon was utterly defeated. Because his Blood Demon incarnations were immortal and indestructible, he was sealed beneath Heaven’s Wrath Peak, subjected to the scourging of subterranean poisonous flames. Two thousand years later, tales of the Blood Demon faded; the orthodox sword immortals assumed he had been consumed by the poisonous flames and no longer feared the resurgence of demonic forces… Yet now, Heaven’s Wrath Peak stirs with anomalies!"

"Main Quest One: Travel to Heaven’s Wrath Peak and investigate the cause of the Blood Demon’s seal anomaly. Completion reward: five hundred merit!"

"Main Quest Two: Unlocks after completion of Main Quest One…"

"Side Quest: This mission is a multiplayer task; Cycle participants will be assigned to opposing factions. Killing a Cycle participant from the opposing faction grants you all items from their Void Terrace and one moral point. Killing a Cycle participant from your own faction triggers a faction alert and bounty, deducting half your mission reward. This penalty stacks."

"The Guide has activated Cycle permission and will accompany you into this Cycle mission!"

"Finally…," Qian Chen took a deep breath; he was about to encounter other Cycle participants. He did not know whether the Cycle participants of this life were like those from his past life’s Lord’s Space—filled with betrayal, slaughter, scheming, and mutual calculation. But judging by the conduct of Miao Kong and the Divine-Communicating Daoist, Qian Chen held no such expectations.

The number of Cycle participants remains unknown, but Miao Kong was already a sworn enemy to the death.

Frankly, with this mission centered on the Dao-Demon conflict, Qian Chen’s situation was far from optimistic. Miao Kong was a demonic cultivator, and the Blood Demon of this main quest clearly bore the demonic aesthetic; from the mission hints, the heretical side’s strength vastly outweighed the orthodox.

Hence, Cycle participants were allowed to choose factions even while the Blood Demon remained sealed.

Clearly, the Lord of Cycle judged the sealed Blood Demon to be equivalent to the entire orthodox force of that world… The orthodox side’s sole advantage lay in the Blood Demon’s imprisonment—but with Miao Kong accompanying Qian Chen into the mission world, that advantage had become a major unknown. Judging by the main quest, even without Cycle participant interference, the Blood Demon had a high chance of breaking free; adding a seasoned demonic Cycle participant…

Qian Chen was truly not optimistic at all; in the worst case, he might face the fully restored Blood Demon and Miao Kong in alliance.

And as for his own faction’s Cycle participants—what kind of incompetent allies they might be remained unknown…

Qian Chen slowly exhaled a wisp of turbid qi: "My cultivation is now refined; I only lack a spark of spiritual insight to condense my magic power into a true talisman and ascend to the Passage-Attainment realm. To counter Miao Kong, I spent a year preparing, dismantling every possible countermeasure he might employ… Yet he knows nothing of me—he likely still thinks I’m a novice just entering the Dao."

"He is in the light; I am in the shadows. All my preparations, all my arduous cultivation, are for this single battle!"

"He is a seasoned Golden Core cultivator; yet I have forged a second-rank External Qi Golden Core. He is a seasoned Cycle participant, rich in experience and equipped with fine magic treasures; I too have amassed considerable gains through deception, theft, and plunder. He masters demonic arts; yet I possess the Dao Dust Pearl to shield my spirit from external demonic influences… Though I still appear at a disadvantage, I am not without a chance to fight back."

Qian Chen exchanged most of the merit and morality reserved for this mission for demonic cultivation texts and various methods to counter demons, especially gathering extensive data on the Blood Demon lineage; he spent tenfold the cost to acquire several rare heavenly treasures for use in the Louguan Sect’s exorcism and demon-subduing techniques.

Qian Chen held a scroll titled "Secret Dharma of the Three Corpses and Hundred Worms" and a condensed version of "Secret Demon’s Three-Life Binding of the Soul," carefully transferring the residual five-colored threads from his heart onto the Three Corpses Demons. Upon his heart, the three qi—red, green, and white—coiled, and the five-colored threads of the binding had been transferred there.

Then Qian Chen purified his Five Poisons Avatar with various spiritual herbs, rented a cauldron from the Lord of Cycle, used the exchanged Ten Thousand Spirits’ Essence Blood to pierce artificial skin obtained from the Lord of Cycle, and even spent five hundred merit to open a rift between the Void Terrace and the Ninth Abyss.

As Qian Chen danced and chanted the Asura Demon incantation, countless Ninth Abyss demons surged forward, tricked by him into the cauldron.

Three days later, the Five Poisons Demons emerged, replacing the Three Corpses Demons as the core within the White Bone Stupa.

Qian Chen wiped away nonexistent sweat and sighed: "Indeed, demonic arts focus on manipulating the human heart. Without a Zhen Dao-ren to procure many poisons of the human heart and conveniently gift me a full cultivation to perfect the Three Corpses, the quality of these Five Poisons Demons falls short of the Three Corpses Demons… Of course—five poisons are external substances; how could they compare to the demonic thoughts and evil qi inherent within a cultivator’s own body?"

"They were inherently inferior…"

"Had the Three Corpses not originated from myself—had they not been part of me—this binding might not have transferred so easily to replace them."

Qian Chen pointed a finger; the Five Poisons Demons vanished into the White Bone Stupa. The five demonic entities, shaped as venomous beasts, resembled hundred-legged venomous dragons—long as serpents, yet bearing a hundred legs; their tails curled like scorpion stings, a pair of gecko-like limbs clasped the venomous dragon pearl beneath their bellies, exhaling toxic vapors with a guttural "guk-guk" sound.

Truly a cruel and fearsome demon…

Qian Chen was about to praise it when his expression suddenly turned peculiar.

"I am a direct disciple of the Supreme Dao, a true heir of the Louguan Sect—not to mention my connection to the Supreme Dao Ancestor, I am a pure orthodox lineage. How did I end up crafting demonic gods and wielding demonic arts more proficiently than the demonic sects themselves? Have I taken a wrong path? When Miao Kong unleashes a wave of Ninth Abyss demonic fire, I’ll casually throw a White Bone Stupa, and the demon within will ambush him unawares… That scene doesn’t fit at all!"

Qian Chen recalled how, upon first acquiring the array of magic treasures left by Miao Kong, he had tried to salvage his image—refraining from forging two Seven Emotions Demons within the Seven Evil Banners, and avoiding the suspicious White Bone Stupa.

How had he arrived at this point?

Ah! Only by mastering demonic arts could one know how to dismantle and counter them… Qian Chen suddenly understood: "I did all this to kill Miao Kong!"

Qian Chen donned a black Daoist robe, suppressed his blood qi slightly with true qi, instantly turning his complexion unnaturally pale; he concealed the Cold Moon Ice Soul Pill and another external pill within his mysterious gate, while the seventh-rank emerald external pill was hidden behind his jade pillow point.

He retracted his true qi into his acupoints, using the Seven Evil Banners to simulate a muddled left-path qi.

A left-path cultivator, with muddled qi, weak magic power, freshly emerged. With his pallid face, frail frame, muddled black qi, and the sinister black winds that accompanied his spells, he looked exactly like someone whose foundation had been ruined by Miao Kong’s lingering inducements.

Qian Chen even made many gloomy, cruel expressions—no one would believe he was an orthodox heir.

In his right hand he held the Seven Evil Banners; in his sleeve, the Black Jade Dark Hook; his Cloud Soaring Satchel now reeked of foulness. Gazing at the water mirror, his entire figure drenched in black aura, he nodded in satisfaction: "Perfect disguise… My true nature is completely concealed."

Seven days passed in a flash; fully prepared, Qian Chen vanished from the void terrace in this guise.

Around him, darkness reigned; the mountain path was desolate and empty. Suddenly, Qian Chen appeared here. Night dark, wind high, his pale face grim, clad in black Daoist robes, radiating faint traces of blood—clearly the opening scene of a horror tale.

Qian Chen waved his hand to shoo away the surrounding mosquitoes and muttered.

"Too much Ten Thousand Spirits’ Blood on the robe! So stinking… and it attracts insects!"

He waved again, summoning a wave of demonic energy that circled his body, incinerating the swarming insects; reluctantly, he hastily infused a bit of insect-repelling incense into his robe.

"I should’ve crafted a blood-scented insect repellent… Why did I insist on smearing every kind of blood onto myself?"

"Miao Kong will come for me the instant he arrives…" Qian Chen scanned the surroundings and shook his head: "This is not the place for a final battle."