Chapter 98: The Demonic-Piercing Golden Needle

When they returned to Lanruo Temple, the sky was already dark; the group went back to the main hall, added more firewood to last night’s bonfire, and sat around it discussing their daytime investigations.

Zhiqiu explained to Qian Chen: “That werewolf demon was extremely cunning—it deceived us several times, luring us into ambushes. Later, Brother Yan grew impatient and slew it with a single sword strike. Fortunately, we got all the answers we needed, though we still have doubts about whether it told the truth.”

Yan Shu smiled: “This Lanruo was once called Qingyuan Temple, a forest built after the Blood Demon was suppressed—likely established by Master Bu Dai as a cultivation ground specifically to monitor the Blood Demon. But due to its remote location and lack of devotees, the number of practicing monks gradually dwindled…”

“Eight hundred years ago, only one master and two disciples still possessed any magical power; the rest were ordinary monks.”

“Later, as the Blood Demon slowly revived, Lang Dajiang also rose to power. At that time, his werewolf subordinates had little cultivation and knew nothing of Qingyuan Temple’s decline—they only knew that one of the old monk’s disciples had been bewitched by demons, invited the wolf into the house, and caused the deaths of all the monks in the temple, leading to its downfall.”

“At that time, the Blood Demon’s power had not yet grown strong; it could barely break through its seal and release a trickle of demonic energy…” Ning Qingchen took over: “So it first set a trap to remove one of the orthodox sect’s spies planted nearby to monitor it. The deed was executed with great subtlety—though every monk in Qingyuan Temple died overnight, nearby villagers believed it was an epidemic and paid no attention.”

“Over the past few centuries, the suppression on the Blood Demon has weakened further. With Qingyuan Temple gone, its minions have grown stronger in secret and become increasingly brazen. In the past hundred years, they’ve begun slaughtering civilians near Tiansha Peak, giving rise to legends of demonic disturbances on Tiansha Peak.”

“To act so recklessly…” Zhiqiu sighed: “It seems the Blood Demon’s breakthrough is imminent. I’ve already sent word to my master—more orthodox elders should arrive soon.”

“What about the strange occurrences within Lanruo Temple?” Qian Chen asked briefly.

Ning Qingchen unfurled a scroll: “This is the will I found beneath the willow tree.”

She spread out the scroll and pointed to a needle-like artifact, drawn with gold powder as fine as a hair: “Since Qingyuan Temple was established by Master Bu Dai, the most likely artifact hidden here is the Demonic-Piercing Golden Needle, crafted by Master Bu Dai himself.”

“The Demonic-Piercing Golden Needle was forged by Master Bu Dai using Buddha-light to gather the Sun’s True Fire, aided by five hundred Buddhist cultivators chanting sutras and lending their cultivation and spiritual focus, aiming to forge the Great Sun Tathagata Body to subdue the Blood Demon. At that time, under the divine decree of the Xuantian Emperor, True Person Yin Feng entered the Mahavira Hall alone with his sword, urging Master Bu Dai to abandon sectarian divisions and unite against the demon.”

“But the two men disagreed in their words and eventually came to blows. True Person Yin Feng had no choice but to draw his Xuantian Demon-Slaying Sword and shatter Master Bu Dai’s incomplete Great Sun Tathagata Body, proving to him that even the full power of the Great Sun Tathagata Body was insufficient to subdue the Blood Demon’s overwhelming sea of blood.”

After his Great Sun Tathagata Body was shattered, even his treasure, the Hundred-Patch Sack, was pierced through by the Xuantian Demon-Slaying Sword. Master Bu Dai then realized he could not even stop True Person Yin Feng, let alone the Blood Demon—and so he joined the Seven Heroes. He condensed the essence of the Great Sun Tathagata Body’s power to dispel demonic heresies into a single thread of divine light gathering infinite Sun True Fire, and with True Person Yin Feng’s aid, forged this Demonic-Piercing Golden Needle…

“This artifact is the only one capable of immobilizing the Blood Demon’s true body within its sea of blood.”

“Without this artifact, the Blood Demon’s true body can move freely within its sea of blood—so long as the sea remains, you cannot harm it!”

Zhiqiu nodded: “The origin of the Demonic-Piercing Golden Needle matches what Miss Ning said… According to the werewolf demon’s confession, the wolf demons avoided occupying this Lanruo Temple site and instead chose to destroy it—because during daylight, any demon within the temple grounds feels a piercing pain in its soul, and if it doesn’t leave quickly, its demonic soul may shatter and die.”

“Only at night does this sensation lessen significantly—then demons dare enter the site to search for clues to the demonic-suppressing artifact.”

“The werewolf demon also said that, under the Blood Demon’s guidance, Lang Dajiang had already discovered where the demonic-suppressing artifact was hidden—but dared not retrieve it due to the seals left by Master Bu Dai.”

Qian Chen returned with them to the Jialan Pagoda Grove and meticulously searched the grove again, examining every broken brick and shard of tile, yet still found no clue to the Demonic-Piercing Golden Needle’s hiding place.

Ning Qingchen said: “Since this artifact map mentions the Demonic-Piercing Golden Needle was forged from Sun True Fire, and the werewolf demon confirmed that demons feel piercing pain only during daylight when entering Lanruo Temple, this artifact must reveal clues only in daylight… We found nothing tonight—why not wait until morning and search again carefully?”

Qian Chen stared silently at a fragment of a Buddhist pagoda he had dug from the soil, lost in thought.

The others had no better idea, so they sat in meditation within the pagoda grove, waiting for dawn…

Yan Shu and the others all felt a sense of urgency: now it was clear that to eliminate the Blood Demon, these Seven Demonic-Suppressing Treasures were crucial—missing even one would cause great trouble. They knew nothing of the Blood Demon’s abilities or cultivation, but according to legends describing its immortality, its cultivation seemed close to Primordial Spirit.

Of course, the Blood Demon could not have truly achieved Primordial Spirit—otherwise, it would be the demons subduing the Seven Heroes, not the other way around.

From the most optimistic perspective, the Blood Demon likely possessed cultivation equivalent to a Daoist Yin Spirit that had endured three tribulations and was about to become a Yang Spirit—or perhaps even a Daoist Yang Spirit, or a fully matured demonic primordial spirit, nearing the level of an immortal demonic entity.

Even if the Blood Demon had been suppressed for two thousand years and its primordial energy severely damaged, this gap in cultivation meant they could only defend themselves, unable to harm the Blood Demon.

Once the Blood Demon unleashed mass slaughter, rebuilt its sea of blood, and restored its full cultivation, it would be the orthodox sect and their own group of reincarnators who would perish.

“It seems the key to this mission is these Seven Demonic-Suppressing Treasures—collect them all and it’s easy difficulty; miss a few and it’s hard difficulty; if you get none… it’s hell difficulty.” Qian Chen was familiar with this kind of setup.

According to the Reincarnation Master’s mission difficulty structure, the early phase mainly involves defeating the Blood Demon’s Four Generals and acquiring the seven demonic-suppressing artifacts, then confronting the escaped Blood Demon… If the reincarnators cooperate fully, the mission’s difficulty can be drastically reduced—the newly escaped Blood Demon, facing artifacts that directly counter its nature, would be easy to handle.

But if even one or two artifacts are missing and the Blood Demon escapes, trouble will follow.

If not a single demonic-suppressing artifact is found, once the Blood Demon breaks free, slaughters the masses, and restores its true sea of blood, the mission’s difficulty will skyrocket to a hopeless level… At that point, Qian Chen and his group will face a demonic powerhouse nearing Primordial Spirit—or even a pseudo-immortal Primordial Spirit. The beings of this world needed seven Yin Spirit cultivators to seal it… Compared to Qian Chen’s group, all below Golden Core, they’re like children.

But Qian Chen felt no optimism at all… The mission had already spiraled out of control the moment he entered.

Because Qian Chen brought a reincarnator who shouldn’t exist in this mission world—Miaokong. How many of the Blood Demon’s Four Generals is one Miaokong worth? Qian Chen couldn’t be sure how much time he had left… Clearly, slowly gathering artifacts one by one and following the mission’s prescribed steps would be too slow.

He must gather all seven demonic-suppressing artifacts before Miaokong releases the Blood Demon—or worse, helps it recover.

Only then will he have the strength to confront them directly…

“Miaokong’s alliance with the Blood Demon is like making a pact with a tiger… Once the Blood Demon recovers, it will devour Miaokong first—demonic cultivators are like this: they trust no one but themselves, seeing everyone only as tools. Of course, the Blood Demon’s alliance with Miaokong is also like making a pact with a tiger… Miaokong, having perfected his primordial demonic spirit, is already at Yin Spirit level, equal to the imprisoned Blood Demon.”

“The Blood Demon, upon recovery, can devour Miaokong and transform him into another demonic avatar; but Miaokong also wants to devour the Blood Demon, seize its foundation, and achieve immortality as a demonic entity himself.”

“Without me as a major threat, Miaokong would have plotted slowly—he would never have released the Blood Demon at the outset, for the Blood Demon’s imprisonment benefits him more. But now I am also a player in this game—Miaokong can release the Blood Demon to tie me down, use me to tie down the Blood Demon, and remain hidden, quietly preparing.”

The reason Qian Chen has maintained a “weakness” posture all this time is to further comprehend the supreme demonic art of using demons to control demons, preparing to confront the Blood Demon and Miaokong. At the same time, he’s trying to bring the Twelve White Bone Demonic Spirits and the Nine Heavenly Ghosts under his control—this is his fastest path to strength and the best way to gain power to rival them. To this end, he’s even had to delve deeper into demonic arts.

In his heart, Qian Chen also wishes to cultivate the supreme Daoist power, where a mere wave of the hand radiates righteous majesty, unmistakably exuding prestige.

But circumstances force him to take risks and prepare more hidden cards.

Among cultivation methods, demonic arts are the undisputed champions of rapid advancement through danger—even Qian Chen cannot help but admit it… At first, he wanted to destroy the White Bone Stupa—yet now he’s forced to make do with it.

Strengthening one’s own power is the fundamental response to calamity.

But relying on external tools and allies is also crucial.

Miaokong has brought the Blood Demon as a powerful ally; Qian Chen, too, has several newly met fellow cultivators—reliable allies. And these Seven Demonic-Suppressing Treasures are the key to this entire situation.

But where… is the Demonic-Piercing Golden Needle hidden?

Qian Chen clenched the fragment of glazed tile in his hand…

A faint glimmer of dawn appeared on the distant horizon; as the first ray of morning light fell upon the earth, all of them stared intently at the pagoda grove, searching desperately for any trace.