Chapter 86: Demon Dao

Only then did Dugu Qingli realize that A'nuo, who was invariably inseparable from Lu Xingzhou whenever he wasn't cooing with women, was absent this time; strangely, she entered the room to see what A'nuo was doing.

The moment she stepped inside, a deafening explosion erupted within the room; A'nuo was blackened like charcoal, with only her eyes remaining white, blinking away.

Dugu Qingli asked in surprise, "A'nuo, what are you doing?"

A'nuo sniffled, "I dug up their Yuan Ci from the Incense Tower's secret vault, wanting to try controlling it myself, but I failed..."

"Yuan Ci..." Dugu Qingli looked at A'nuo's palm, where a strange, black-hole-like magnetic field was flickering with thin sparks of electricity.

"How could the Incense Tower possess such a thing..." Dugu Qingli was somewhat puzzled: "This thing counters our sword cultivators; even Dao cultivators carrying magical treasures mixed with metal would be disrupted and suppressed by it. It doesn't look like something within the Incense Tower's capability to possess and control."

If they truly could control it, the Incense Tower could use this to attack sword cultivation sects, making those sects suffer greatly.

However, this lump of stuff seems small; perhaps its range of influence isn't large?

A'nuo said, "The Incense Tower has ancestors too."

"Hmm..."

"Sister Qingli, do you think I should cultivate this into my own magical treasure? My own biscuit is becoming less and less useful... Hmm, or should I knead it into my biscuit?"

"Then the material of your biscuit needs to be changed; you must find something non-metallic yet strong and tough." Dugu Qingli disliked this thing; she felt she could barely hold onto her sword, so she retreated outside the door: "Don't hold it anymore, put it away first... store it in a jade box."

Behind her came Lu Xingzhou's voice, "Is this the attitude of a swordsman aspiring to undergo trials, facing something that counters him?"

Dugu Qingli was stunned for a moment: "It's just this tiny lump of dead matter; what do you want me to do, fight it and conquer it?"

"Even a melon girl knows to trace the source..." Lu Xingzhou sighed and took out the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

The residual soul of Yiyang True Person appeared blankly before them.

Lu Xingzhou pointed his finger at his brow center, "What is the origin of this Yuan Ci?"

Yiyang True Person said, "Beneath our Incense Mountain lies a vast area of strange magnetic fields, born within the magnetic field... This magnetic field caused the soil of Incense Mountain to change in early years, making it suitable for planting many types of medicinal herbs. But in recent years it has expanded further, already beginning to affect living conditions, and has started to interfere with the growth of medicinal herbs, so we set our sights on Danxia Mountain."

So there was this background... Dugu Qingli's heart stirred slightly, "Have you explored the magnetic field?"

"We explored it and took the Yuan Ci. But the magnetic field continues to expand; we have no way to stop it."

"Does the magnetic field have any special effects? After your exploration, did you feel it was artificial or natural?"

"It interferes with cultivation and seems to have some effect on the mind as well; there are no benefits... It should be natural."

Lu Xingzhou looked at Dugu Qingli, and Dugu Qingli was also looking at him.

Lu Xingzhou smiled, "Well, does this count as a good place for your counter-cultivation?"

"It should count." Dugu Qingli said cheerfully, "But we must still see it on the spot; guessing blindly won't work."

Lu Xingzhou nodded, "I will go with you; Yiyang True Person's residual soul can provide much experience and reference."

"Good." Dugu Qingli summoned the Frost Sky Sword, appearing to want to ride the sword and leave, yet hesitated and turned her head to look at him again, "Can you fly?"

As her words fell, the wheelchair floated up.

Dugu Qingli: "..."

This wheelchair really is a flying magical treasure... This Lu Xingzhou is too good at hiding things.

Lu Xingzhou knew what she was thinking and explained, "Dao cultivators using flying magical treasures must reach the middle three grades to wield them; until a few days ago, I was only seventh grade and couldn't use it... I broke through to sixth grade just when my legs were reattached."

Dugu Qingli glanced at him sideways, "Then what was the point of you taking a carriage back and forth to Dongjiang Commandery?"

This Bai Mao, asking a question he already knew the answer to, wasn't he?

Lu Xingzhou simply ignored her and shouted into the room to A'nuo, "A'nuo, stay home and play for now; I and your Sister Qingli will go check the magnetic field and return; it won't take long."

A'nuo sniffed, very much wanting to say that A'nuo could also fly on her biscuit... Never mind, Master likes the little Bai Mao, better not become a lantern. Besides, there certainly won't be any danger there; the people of the Incense Tower have already explored it.

Recently, A'nuo has been less and less able to help Master... Because Sister Shen Tang and Sister Bai Mao are both very powerful, A'nuo must become even more powerful.

The little girl angrily stuffed the uncomprehended Yuan Ci into a jade box, hid it in her ring, then took out a handful of pills and popped them like rice.

Is being fourth grade under eighteen years old so impressive? Just wait; A'nuo can do it at ten years old!

For a journey where a one-way carriage ride takes only a little less than half a day, if one can fly, the distance is almost negligible; even though both of them were flying very slowly at this moment, it took only a little less than half an hour to arrive.

Looking down, the ruins of the Incense Tower still had many cultivators from the vicinity of Dongjiang Commandery rummaging for things, hoping to find some resources that had been overlooked. Ordinary people without background or sect support find cultivation in this world truly difficult; resources are too scarce, techniques are missing, and such post-war ruins are often their opportunities.

Keep in mind that there are still many corpses in the ruins that haven't been cleared yet...

As for whether there were any gains, there truly were... The Tianxing Sword Sect and the Dongjiang Gang often looked down on low-grade medicinal herbs and magical treasures, as well as immature medicinal herbs planted in herb gardens; for ordinary people, these were great gains.

Some even fought over a bottle of ninth-grade Qi Refining Pills, each with their heads bloodied.

Lu Xingzhou was accustomed to such matters; his own childhood had been far more miserable... But Dugu Qingli, after gazing down for a while, had a somewhat stunned expression, as if seeing for the first time an ecosystem where people fought over scavenging trash, and she seemed quite shocked.

Saying she had held a sword since childhood and wandered the glaciers was merely that her training environment was harsh; in terms of resources and techniques, she lacked nothing, after all, she had the number one master in the world and the strongest sect in the world.

Lu Xingzhou glanced at her, finding it somewhat amusing; what a human machine, what an ice block, she was ultimately just a girl with insufficient knowledge of worldly affairs, her database not yet rich enough.

"Let's go; don't let them notice, to avoid unnecessary chatter."

Dugu Qingli looked at him strangely, "By logic... these things all belong to you; you... don't mind them taking them?"

Lu Xingzhou shook his head, "Everyone has it hard; why make things difficult for them."

Dugu Qingli fell silent and said no more.

With Yiyang True Person leading the way, it was like returning home; amidst the chaos, they easily found the underground passage. Lu Xingzhou formed an array to seal the entrance and set up another array to sense the situation outside; the two of them headed straight down.

Not long after, they arrived at the center of a hollowed-out mountain belly; indeed, there was nothing there, only a faintly perceptible magnetic field emanating, which made Dugu Qingli's sword difficult to hold steadily and stirred a strange restlessness in her mood.

Yiyang True Person said honestly, "Earlier, the Yuan Ci was suspended in the center. We originally thought that taking the Yuan Ci would solve the problem, but later we realized we had the cart before the horse; the magnetic field is not caused by the Yuan Ci, but rather the Yuan Ci gathered and formed due to the oscillation of the magnetic field."

Such magnetic field oscillations are very detrimental to soul bodies; Yiyang True Person had barely spoken a sentence before he felt as if he were about to be scattered by the vibration, so Lu Xingzhou immediately withdrew him into the banner and stroked his chin in deep thought.

This so-called magnetic field is not the same concept as the magnetic field in physics; it belongs to matters of the Immortal Dao's earth veins; physics is not very effective in such a world... The so-called "Spiritual Mountain and Precious Land" is actually one such category, only not one suitable for living and dwelling, but it is an excellent choice for creating special trial grounds.

For example, it would be very beneficial for Dugu Qingli to train her control and stability over her sword, and to train the Heart of the Cold River technique. Similarly, it would be very beneficial for him, Lu Xingzhou, to train the stability of his Spirit Platform; who knows, perhaps such magnetic field oscillations have certain uses for blending water and fire.

Additionally, there is a certain possibility that some treasure is hidden inside... The Incense Tower explored and believed there was none, but that does not mean there truly isn't.

"How about it?" Lu Xingzhou asked Dugu Qingli, "Do you plan to cultivate directly here, or explore with me to see if there are any treasures?"

"It is not formed by treasures." Dugu Qingli shook her head, "This is an earth vein phenomenon; my sect has records of it, named 'Mysterious Magnetic Earth Vein'; it has both benefits and drawbacks. If this magnetic field continues to spread, the people of the Incense Tower, living within it for a long time, would probably not live long. But it could also cure certain special illnesses and alter soil properties, and so on."

Lu Xingzhou pondered for a moment, "Then fine; you cultivate, and I will try to set up an array to stop it from spreading further. We still have use for this mountain."

Dugu Qingli said little more, sitting cross-legged directly with the sword laid across her knees.

The sword trembled uncontrollably; Dugu Qingli did not hold it with her hands but gathered her spirit to command it, thereby tempering her control over her flying sword.

In fact, being in such a place, her strength was effectively weakened by a large margin. Lu Xingzhou was slightly better off; although the Ten Thousand Souls Banner was also greatly suppressed, his current main focus, the Great Yin-Yang Ultimate Intent Art, was an unarmed technique that relied on no weapons.

It amounted to Lu Xingzhou acting as her guardian.

But regarding the impact on the spirit, she was far better off than Lu Xingzhou; she could almost ignore that kind of mental interference and irritability, whereas Lu Xingzhou needed to force himself to suppress it.

Enduring the nausea and vexation while studying it for quite a while, Lu Xingzhou frowned and shook his head.

He could not figure out how to stop the magnetic field from spreading... this thing was too formless and intangible, feeling impossible to stop.

Could it be that after finally seizing the mountain, they would have to abandon it immediately? Abandoning it was the least of the worries; what if it continued to spread? What would become of Dongjiang Commandery?

This matter felt like something that should be discussed with Wan Cheng of the Demon Suppression Bureau; perhaps the authorities had a solution.

Just as he was about to greet Dugu Qingli and go out to find Wan Cheng, Lu Xingzhou's heart suddenly stirred.

The perception array deployed outside earlier had given feedback; he faintly heard screams coming from outside, followed by someone shouting harshly: "Who are you! Even the Tianxing Sword Sect did not stop us, on what grounds do you... Ah!"

Lu Xingzhou furrowed his brows, not expecting that even in these ruins there were those who came to kill and seize land with brute force?

Sensing the outside carefully, the array's feedback brought faint images—a group of black-robed figures suddenly appeared in the ruins and, without a word, began killing people to refine corpses.

The hems of the black robes were embroidered with skull patterns.

Lu Xingzhou, hailing from the Demonic Path, naturally knew who they were; they had had dealings in past years.

The famous Demonic Yin Corpse Sect.

In Great Qian, where both official and righteous forces were very strong, demonic cultivators mostly operated in secret and were rarely seen in public. Even the most brazen, the Yama Hall, was only brazen because of Yuan Muyu; others remained quite well hidden. Lu Xingzhou himself had to rely on secret signals to find his old subordinates and did not even know where they were hiding.

This was the first time Lu Xingzhou had seen demonic cultivators so brazen, appearing in broad daylight before a large crowd of ordinary cultivators to kill at will, and all on Lu Xingzhou's own territory!

(End of this chapter)