Chapter 98

When they returned to Lanruo Temple, the sky was already late. The few of them returned to the main hall first, added some firewood to last night's fire, and sat around the fire to talk about what they had investigated during the day.

Zhichiu explained to Qian Chen: "That pika demon was truly cunning; it deliberately tricked us several times and lured us into an ambush. Later, Big Brother Yan lost patience and killed it with a sword. Fortunately, the questions were all answered clearly, though I still have some doubts about whether it told the truth."

Yan Shu laughed: "This place called Lanruo was formerly known as Qingyuan Temple. It was a forest built only after suppressing the Blood Demon. It should have been a place of practice established by the senior Monk Master Bu Dai, set up specifically to monitor the Blood Demon. But because it was located in a remote area and had no believers to make offerings, the monks practicing there gradually became fewer..."

"Eight hundred years ago, only one master and two disciples remained here with any magic power or cultivation; the others were all secular monks."

"Later, the Blood Demon gradually revived, and that General Lang also came into his own at this time. The pika demon under his command had shallow magic power then and did not know the detailed inside story of Qingyuan Temple's decline. It only knew that one of the old monk's disciples was seduced by the demon, lured the wolf into the house, and harmed all the monks in the temple, which is why Qingyuan Temple declined."

"At that time, the Blood Demon's power should not have grown yet, and it itself had only just been able to break through a little of the seal to release the demonic qi..." Ning Qingchen took over the conversation: "That's why it first set a trap to pull out a nail planted by the righteous path beside it to monitor it. This matter should have been handled very cleverly at the time. Although all the monks in Qingyuan Temple died overnight, the nearby commoners only thought it was caused by a plague, so it did not attract attention."

"Over these hundreds of years, the restrictions suppressing the Blood Demon have become smaller and smaller. As Qingyuan Temple was also eradicated, its claws and teeth developed and grew in the dark, and its actions became increasingly rampant. In the last hundred years, it has even begun to slaughter the mortal commoners near Tiansha Peak, which is why the legend of the demon disaster at Tiansha Peak spread."

"Acting so unscrupulously..." Zhichiu sighed: "It seems the Blood Demon breaking through the suppression is right before our eyes. I have already sent a message to my master; more righteous path seniors should arrive before long."

"What about the oddities in Lanruo Temple?" Qian Chen asked briefly.

Ning Qingchen unfolded a scroll and said: "This is the suicide note I found under the willow tree."

She spread out the scroll, found a needle-shaped magic treasure as thin as a hair and drawn with gold powder, and said: "Qingyuan Temple was a dojo established by Monk Master Bu Dai, so what is hidden here is most likely the demon-subduing magic treasure refined by the senior Monk Master Bu Dai—the Demon-Breaking Golden Needle."

"This Demon-Breaking Golden Needle was refined by senior Monk Master Bu Dai using Buddha light to contain the Feng Yangzhen Fire, with five hundred Buddhist cultivators chanting scriptures and assisting with their own cultivation and thought-power, intending to refine the Great Sun Tathagata Dharma Body to subdue the Blood Demon. At that time, True Person Yinfeng, having received the Great Emperor Xuantian's decree to eliminate demons, stepped into the Mahavira Hall alone with a sword, persuading Monk Master Bu Dai to abandon the distinction between Buddhism and Daoism and join forces to resist the demon."

"But the two had some disagreements in their words, could not reach an agreement for a time, and started fighting. True Person Yinfeng had no choice but to draw the Xuantian Demon-Slaying Sword and break Monk Master Bu Dai's unrefined Great Sun Tathagata Dharma Body, proving to him that the power achieved by the Great Sun Tathagata Dharma Body was still insufficient to subdue the Blood Demon's heaven-tilting sea of blood."

"Monk Master Bu Dai's Great Sun Tathagata Dharma Body was broken, and even his signature magic treasure, the Hundred-Gathering Bag, was poked with a big hole by the Xuantian Demon-Slaying Sword. However, he had a sudden enlightenment that even he could not stop True Person Yinfeng, let alone the Blood Demon. He then joined the Seven Heroes, condensed the essence of the Great Sun Golden Body breaking many demonic evil views into a single line of divine light gathering infinite Feng Yangzhen Fire, and with the help of True Person Yinfeng, he finally refined this Demon-Breaking Golden Needle..."

"This magic treasure is also the only demon-subduing magic treasure that can fix the Blood Demon's true body within the sea of blood."

"If there is no such treasure, that Blood Demon true body can move arbitrarily within the sea of blood. Unless the sea of blood dries up, don't even think about hurting him!"

Zhichiu also nodded and said: "The origin of the Demon-Breaking Golden Needle is indeed as Miss Ning said... According to the pika demon's confession, the reason the wolf demon did not occupy the Lanruo Temple ruins but chose to destroy it is that during the day, any demon within the range of Lanruo Temple would have a needle-stabbing-like sharp pain in their soul. If they didn't leave quickly, their demon soul might shatter and die."

"Only at night would this feeling be much lighter. At this time, the demons would dare to enter this place to look for clues to the demon-subduing magic treasure."

"The pika demon also said that under the guidance of the Blood Demon, General Lang had actually discovered the place where the demon-subduing magic treasure was hidden, but because of the seal left by Monk Master Bu Dai, he did not dare to take it out at will."

Qian Chen went with them to the Jialan Pagoda Forest again. Qian Chen searched the pagoda forest carefully once more, not even letting go of the broken bricks and tiles, but still did not find any possible clues to the place where the Demon-Breaking Golden Needle was hidden.

Ning Qingchen said: "Since this magic treasure atlas mentions that the Demon-Breaking Golden Needle is refined from Feng Yangzhen Fire, and that pika demon also said that demons entering Lanruo Temple only feel their demon souls like needle-stabbing during the day, it shows that this magic treasure should have clues only during the day... We had no harvest tonight; why not wait until daytime to search carefully again?"

Qian Chen looked at a pagoda fragment dug out from the mud, silent and speechless, lost in deep thought.

The other few had no other way and could only sit in meditation in the pagoda forest to adjust their breath, quietly waiting for dawn...

In the hearts of Seeing Yan Shu and the others, there was a sense of urgency. Now it seems that to eradicate the Blood Demon, these Seven Demon-Subduing Treasures are the key. Missing even one would cause big trouble. They knew nothing about what divine abilities the Blood Demon had or what magic power it had refined. The Blood Demon's cultivation, according to the description of being immortal and indestructible in legends, seemed to have approached the Primordial Spirit.

Of course, it was impossible for the Blood Demon to refine a true Primordial Spirit; otherwise, it wouldn't be the Seven Heroes subduing the demon, but the demon subduing the Seven Heroes.

Thinking from the most optimistic angle, the Blood Demon should also have the level of a Daoist Yin Spirit having gone through three tribulations and about to achieve a Yang Spirit, or perhaps it was even a Daoist Yang Spirit, with the Demon Sect's signature divine demon perfected... approaching the cultivation of an immortal demon.

Even if the Blood Demon had been suppressed for two thousand years and had suffered heavy damage, this gap in cultivation still left everyone only able to protect themselves, unable to do anything to the Blood Demon.

Once the Blood Demon slaughtered the common people on a large scale, rebuilt the sea of blood, and found back its cultivation, the ones who would die... would probably be the righteous path of this realm and their own group of righteous path camp reincarnators.

"It seems the key to this mission is these Seven Demon-Subduing Treasures. Finding them all is simple difficulty; failing to gather them is hard difficulty; having none at all... that is hell difficulty." Qian Chen was familiar with this kind of routine.

According to the mission difficulty set by the Lord of Samsara, the early stage of the mission is mainly to deal with the Blood Demon's four generals, get the seven demon-subduing magic treasures, and then deal with the Blood Demon who has escaped... If the reincarnators can work together, the difficulty of this mission can be reduced to a very low level. The Blood Demon who has just escaped, facing the Seven Demon-Subduing Treasures that restrain its essence, is certainly not difficult to deal with.

But if one or two are missing, allowing the Blood Demon to escape, then there will be trouble.

If there is not even one demon-subduing magic treasure, once the Blood Demon breaks the seal, slaughters all living things, and restores its sea of blood true body, the difficulty of the mission will also increase to a desperate level... By then, Qian Chen and the others will be facing a demonic powerhouse approaching the Primordial Spirit, or even a pseudo-immortal Primordial Spirit. The living beings of this realm gathered seven powerhouses who had refined Yin Spirits to seal it... Qian Chen and his group of outstanding individuals below Core Formation are like a group of children in comparison.

Qian Chen was not optimistic at all at this time... The mission had already spiraled out of control from the moment he entered.

Because Qian Chen brought a reincarnator who should not have appeared in this mission world—Miaokong. How many of the Blood Demon's four generals is one Miaokong worth? Qian Chen was not sure how much time was left for him... Anyway, gathering magic treasures one by one slowly and following the mission process step by step is definitely too late.

He can only gather the Seven Demon-Subduing Treasures before Miaokong releases the Blood Demon or even helps the Blood Demon recover.

Only then will there be the strength to face the enemy head-on...

"Miaokong cooperating with the Blood Demon is certainly seeking skin from a tiger... After the Blood Demon recovers, it will definitely be the first to devour him. People in the demonic path are like this; except for themselves, they trust no one, and everyone only has the value of being used. Of course, the Blood Demon cooperating with Miaokong, isn't that also seeking skin from a tiger... Miaokong refined his signature divine demon and is himself in the Yin Spirit realm, which is on par with the trapped Blood Demon."

"After the Blood Demon recovers, it can devour Miaokong and refine him into another divine demon avatar. Doesn't Miaokong also want to devour the Blood Demon, seize its foundation, and achieve an immortal divine demon himself?"

"If I weren't a thorn in his side, Miaokong would certainly plan slowly and would never release the Blood Demon from the start. The Blood Demon being sealed is more beneficial to him. But now I am also a player in this game of chess. Miaokong can completely release the Blood Demon, use the Blood Demon to contain me, and use me to contain the Blood Demon, while he hides and prepares secretly."

The reason Qian Chen has maintained a state of 'keeping weak' during this period is to further comprehend the supreme demonic path of using demons to control demons, preparing to deal with the Blood Demon and Miaokong. At the same time, he is trying to take the Twelve Bone Divine Demons and the Nine-Child Heavenly Ghosts for his own use. This is the fastest way for him to become strong and have the strength to contend with the two. For this, he even had to dabble further into the demonic path.

In his heart, Qian Chen also wanted to refine the supreme magic power of the Daoist sect, with grand righteous qi in every gesture, with his status undoubtedly revealed.

But the situation forced him to take risks and prepare a few more trump cards.

Among the means of cultivation, when it comes to quick success and taking risks, the demonic path is indeed the best. Even Qian Chen had to tearfully admit it was good... At the very beginning, he even wanted to destroy the Bone Relic? Now, isn't he still just making do with using it?

Strengthening one's own strength is naturally the foundation for dealing with disasters.

But relying on external objects and having the help of Dao companions and partners is also very important.

Miaokong found the Blood Demon as a strong reinforcement, and Qian Chen here also has a few newly met fellow friends, all of whom are reliable god-tier teammates... And these Seven Demon-Subduing Treasures are the key to this game.

It's just this Demon-Breaking Golden Needle... where exactly is it hidden?

Qian Chen gripped the glazed tile fragment in his hand tightly...

A hint of fish-belly white appeared on the distant horizon again. When the first ray of morning light spilled onto the earth, everyone stared fixedly at this pagoda forest, trying to find some clues.