Chapter 66: Suppressed Great Demon

Hua Changxi had heard stories about spirits seeking a title in her previous life.

She just never imagined that such a thing actually existed in this world, and that it would happen to her. Staring at the plump, fair-skinned baby before her, she was momentarily stunned.

The plump baby, noticing Hua Changxi staring straight at him, squirmed a little as if embarrassed. Suddenly, he "whoosh"ed away, then "whoosh"ed back a few breaths later.

This time, a leafy vine hung around the plump baby's waist.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi's eyelid twitched. She finally snapped out of it, immediately putting on a stern face and staring seriously at the plump baby. "What exactly are you?"

Seeing Hua Changxi's expression change, the plump baby blinked his black, jewel-like deer eyes and said timidly, "Fairy, I am the mountain spirit of Five Finger Mountain, you know."

Hua Changxi looked surprised—she had thought the plump baby was a mountain monster, not a mountain spirit. "A mountain god, I've heard of that. Mountain spirit... what's your relationship with mountain gods?"

The plump baby said, "I have no relation with the previous mountain god. I was born from heaven and earth." As he spoke, he crossed his arms huffily.

"The previous mountain god died a long, long time ago and didn't leave me any legacy. It left me knowing nothing, and I almost got caught by that shaggy-haired old Daoist."

Hua Changxi's eyes flickered. "The previous mountain god died? Mountain gods can die?"

This question seemed to hit the plump baby's blind spot of knowledge. His steamed-bun face wrinkled up. "Don't know. The spiritual energy vanished, the bestowal mandate also disappeared, and the gods are all gone."

The information in these words was quite loaded, and all of it also fell into Hua Changxi's blind spot of knowledge.

Spiritual energy vanishing—leaving aside the reason—she understood the literal meaning well enough.

But what exactly was this "bestowal mandate"?

"What is the bestowal mandate?"

The plump baby said, "It's the appointment order to bestow the title of mountain god."

Hua Changxi said, "Do mountain gods need to be appointed? Who does the appointing?"

The plump baby pouted. "No idea. The previous mountain god left me very little legacy. I only know a tiny bit of things."

Seeing the plump baby becoming resistant, Hua Changxi decisively changed the subject. "If the mountain god is dead, then how are you still here?"

The plump baby gave her a look that said "you're so dumb." "Because the spiritual energy appeared again, and it's getting denser and denser. Otherwise, I wouldn't have cultivated a spirit body so quickly."

Hua Changxi thought: Spiritual energy disappeared for a time, and now it's appeared again—is this a spiritual energy resurgence?

The plump baby hopped up and down in delight. "And I've been so lucky! I met a fairy, received the fairy's title, and suddenly gained a human form."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi wasn't so pleased. Spirits seeking a title—it apparently couldn't be done carelessly. The person who granted the title would pay a price.

"Do you know there are many people outside who want to seize Five Finger Mountain?"

The plump baby nodded angrily.

Hua Changxi asked curiously, "There are so many people outside, and they've been here for months. Why didn't you go ask them to title you? Why pick me?"

The plump baby's eyes darted around. "Because the fairy's aura smells the best."

Hua Changxi stared at him, not quite believing his words. "Did you ask other people, and they ignored you?"

The plump baby seemed to get angry, hands on his hips. "How could that be? I'm the mountain spirit of Five Finger Mountain! It's me who doesn't want them to title me."

Hua Changxi said, "You have to have a standard for who you ask to title you, right? You can't let just anyone title you."

The plump baby raised his chin. "Of course! I'm the mountain spirit of Five Finger Mountain. How could someone with shallow fortune title me?"

Hua Changxi raised an eyebrow. "So my fortune is very deep?"

The plump baby nodded eagerly, spreading his arms wide. "The fairy's fortune is the dee~pest."

Hua Changxi's lips curled up, and she quickly asked again, "Deeper than all the people outside?"

The plump baby fell silent.

Hua Changxi said, "Since there are people whose fortune is deeper than mine, why don't you go to them?"

The plump baby pouted. "A few of them have the same nice aura as you, fairy. But the people around them are very bad—they wanted to catch me! Of course I had to run."

Hua Changxi said, "Why would they want to catch you?"

The plump baby was stunned for a moment, then looked at Hua Changxi, thinking to himself: This fairy's brain doesn't seem very bright.

He was the mountain spirit of Five Finger Mountain! Catch him, refine him, and Five Finger Mountain would become their Dao field. She didn't even know such an obvious thing—so dumb.

However, thanks to this immortal's poor wits, otherwise he wouldn't have obtained the investiture so easily.

Thinking this, the fair, chubby baby immediately patted his chest in lingering fear.

"Good thing, good thing—Heaven still likes me, sending me such a silly immortal."

Hua Changxi stared at the chubby baby's strange reaction, looking baffled: "What are you doing?"

The fair, chubby baby opened his innocent big eyes and spread his hands: "I don't know why they caught me either."

Hua Changxi frowned and guessed, "Those people outside have come to seize the Five Fingers Mountain. If they capture the mountain spirit, can they take possession of the mountain without bloodshed?"

Seeing the look in Hua Changxi's eyes turn strange, the fair, chubby baby quickly rushed over, hugged her thigh, and whined, "Immortal, immortal, what are you thinking about?"

Hua Changxi withdrew her thoughts, reached out, and poked the chubby baby—he was quite soft: "Let me ask you, when I gave you investiture, did I have to pay something?"

Hearing this, the fair, chubby baby's face reddened, and he smiled ingratiatingly at Hua Changxi with a hehe.

Seeing him like this, Hua Changxi immediately felt a bad premonition: "Little chubby baby, tell me quickly, what exactly did I pay as the price?"

The fair, chubby baby extended his right hand, thumb pressing against his pinky finger: "Just a tiny bit of fortune."

Seeing Hua Changxi's face darken, the fair, chubby baby quickly comforted her: "Immortal, your fortune is deep and profound. Spending a little of it won't matter, really. You have to believe me."

After saying this, he nodded his round head with certainty.

Although Hua Changxi felt that talk of luck was a bit mysterious, this world was undergoing a spiritual energy resurgence and one could even cultivate immortality, so she didn't dare to dismiss it.

Moreover, without even thinking, she knew that bestowing investiture upon a mountain spirit would consume no small amount of fortune.

Hua Changxi wanted to scold the chubby baby, but seeing his clear, pristine eyes that reflected her own image perfectly, her heart softened, and she couldn't bear to rebuke him.

"After investing you, I won't have bad luck, will I?"

The fair, chubby baby grew angry, wrinkling his baozi-like face: "How could that be? I am the mountain spirit of Five Fingers Mountain. By investing me, you will receive blessings."

As soon as the words were spoken, Hua Changxi's expression suddenly changed—a dangerous aura approached.

Hua Changxi grabbed the chubby baby from her lap and fled the spot at top speed.

After dashing a thousand meters, Hua Changxi hurriedly glanced back and saw the place where they had just stood covered by a giant net radiating spiritual light.

The fair, chubby baby clutched Hua Changxi's clothes tightly, his voice trembling: "Immortal, it's the mangy old Daoist. He's come to catch me again."

Hua Changxi kept running without slowing, her expression very grim. The spiritual energy fluctuations behind were strong—very strong. The newcomer's cultivation level was definitely far above hers.

"Chubby baby, I can't beat that old Daoist. If you follow me, you'll be caught more easily."

"Aren't you the mountain spirit? Hurry and find a hidden place to hide; that old Daoist definitely won't find you."

The fair, chubby baby realized that Hua Changxi wanted to abandon him, so he clung even tighter: "Immortal, I don't know what's going on. No matter where I run, that old Daoist can always find me."

"Immortal, please don't leave me behind. I'm so scared. That mangy old Daoist wants to eat me. Boohoo~"

Feeling her clothes soaked with tears, Hua Changxi was at a loss. She couldn't bear to abandon the chubby baby, so she had no choice but to keep carrying him and running at full speed. But sensing the spiritual energy fluctuations behind drawing closer, she grew anxious.

"Which place on Five Fingers Mountain is the safest? Quickly, show me the way."

"The safest place... it's about the same all over the mountain."

"Then what about the most dangerous place? Is there somewhere no one dares to act rashly?"

The fair, chubby baby immediately thought of the stone cave where the great demon was imprisoned. The mountain god's legacy told him that the only place on Five Fingers Mountain that could not be approached casually was the Monkey Cave.

Should he go there?

After cultivating his spiritual body, he had toured the entire Five Fingers Mountain and visited the Monkey Cave a few times. But that place emitted a terrifying aura that made his spiritual body unstable.

The fair, chubby baby secretly glanced behind him and saw the old Daoist getting closer. He trembled all over with fear: "The Monkey Cave—let's go to the Monkey Cave."

After that, guided by the fair, chubby baby, Hua Changxi exerted her utmost effort and dashed swiftly toward the Monkey Cave.

After running frantically for one shichen, Hua Changxi burst into the central area of the middle finger peak of Five Fingers Mountain. The surrounding vegetation gradually diminished, and when there was not a single blade of grass left, a stone cave appeared at the base of the bare cliff.

"Is that the stone cave?"

Sensing the howling sound behind her growing closer and the disturbance in the spiritual energy of the air that hindered her flight, Hua Changxi knew that their pursuer was very, very close. Without waiting for the chubby baby's answer, she charged directly into the stone cave.

The fair, chubby baby cried out in panic: "Don't go in..."

Before he could even finish shouting, he was already inside.

Just as Hua Changxi rushed into the stone cave carrying the fat baby, Jiang Guanyun, the Hua Infant realm cultivator of the Jiang family, swung his whisk, which was a full hundred meters long.

The whisk didn't wrap around Hua Changxi and the fat baby, but instead slammed against the cave wall with a loud bang.

Jiang Guanyun, who was flying rapidly toward the stone cave, suddenly changed expression and came to an urgent halt.

There was a reversal array on the cave wall—damage reversal.

Whatever force the whisk exerted, ten times that force was reflected back.

Because his goal was to capture the mountain spirit, not kill it, the force he used wasn't great, so Jiang Guanyun simply raised his hand and slapped away the rebounded force, dispersing it.

But as he stared at the stone cave, Jiang Guanyun's brow furrowed into a knot. The aura emanating from within made him uneasy, and he dared not approach rashly.

"How dare that girl go in there?"

"Is it because of the mountain spirit?"

Jiang Guanyun's mood at that moment was gloomy.

Where in the world had that Core Formation stage girl who took the mountain spirit come from? If it weren't for her, he would have already caught the mountain spirit.

Once he obtained the mountain spirit, Wuzhi Mountain would belong to the Jiang family.

Then the Jiang family could use Wuzhi Mountain as their dojo, bestowing blessings upon the world, rapidly gathering merits and fortune.

But all of this had been ruined by that girl who appeared from nowhere!

Jiang Guanyun was in a very bad mood at that moment, not only because he didn't get the mountain spirit, but also because a young cultivator at the Core Formation stage had appeared so quickly.

He could easily understand that large forces like the Imperial Court and the Sanqing Palace had a few Core Formation elders.

But that girl looked no more than fourteen or fifteen years old. She had probably only started cultivating a few years ago, yet she had already become a Core Formation stage cultivator. Her talent seemed even higher than the best disciples selected from across the land by the Sanqing Palace and the Taisu Palace.

This created a strong sense of crisis within him.

After all, the resources of a single realm were limited, and the Daos one could cultivate were also limited. The higher one went, the more crowded the Dao became. He had taken the lead in terms of timing, location, and human harmony. If he still lost to the local cultivators, he would truly develop a heart demon.

He had to find out that girl's background. To cultivate so quickly and be able to enshrine the mountain spirit showed that her fortune was also powerful. If such a person could not be put to his use, then there was no need for her to continue living.

Just as Jiang Guanyun was lost in thought, inside the stone cave, Hua Changxi sat down ungracefully, gasping for breath.

Running all the way had consumed eighty percent of her spiritual power.

"That was close, I nearly got caught."

Hua Changxi still had a look of fear. That old Daoist's cultivation was far above hers. Even if she hadn't consumed her spiritual power, facing him in a real fight, she probably wouldn't have lasted even one exchange.

"Fat baby, what are you doing?"

After entering the stone cave, the fat baby had been very quiet.

What was the mountain spirit doing?

He was examining his spiritual body, touching his head now and then, then his arms and legs. Seeing that his body hadn't dissipated, he wore a look of astonishment.

"Why hasn't it dissipated?"

Hua Changxi looked at him: "What dissipation?"

Mountain spirit: "How strange. Before, when I came here, my spiritual body would be unstable, but now it's fine."

Hua Changxi couldn't help poking the fat baby's soft little face: "Isn't it because you've transformed into a human now? You've become solid, so your spiritual body won't be unstable anymore."

The mountain spirit tilted his head: "Really?" But he felt that wasn't the reason.

"By the way, Fairy, how come you're not afraid?"

Hua Changxi was puzzled: "Why should I be afraid?" Saying this, she shot up, cautiously looking around the stone cave, "Is there some danger in here?"

The mountain spirit shook his head: "No, it's just that this stone cave once imprisoned a great demon. Although the demon died, its bones merged with the terrain here, forming a terrifying field."

"After spiritual Qi appeared in Wuzhi Mountain, this field was activated again, and it's getting stronger. The creatures in the mountain don't dare come near."

Now that she was safe, Hua Changxi's mind could spare some thoughts for reflection: "Wait, hold on a moment. Earlier, you said what kind of cave this was?"

The mountain spirit: "Monkey Cave."

Upon hearing "Monkey Cave," Hua Changxi's eyes widened: "Pangwa, you'd better not tell me that this cave once imprisoned a great demon that was a monkey, right?"

The mountain spirit nodded: "Yes, yes, it was a monkey, and it was even the king of the monkey clan, incredibly powerful, comparable to a deity."

Hua Changxi was stunned: "...That monkey wouldn't happen to be called Sun Wukong, would it?"

The mountain spirit shook its head: "I don't know, the inheritance I received didn't mention that. Anyway, the monkey king died in the stone cave."

Hearing that the monkey king was dead, Hua Changxi immediately breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't Sun Wukong, it was fine. If it were Sun Wukong, then she would have traveled into the world of Journey to the West.