Chapter 73

After stopping the Scattered Scenery and Concealing Form Art, the clear, sweet medicinal fragrance of the Crane Embryo Pill filled the entire side room, drifting faintly from both of their bodies.

After Chen Heng bowed slightly, he did not say much more, but instead found an apricot-yellow meditation cushion to sit down on, started his Embryonic Breathing, and repeatedly washed it over his entire body's acupuncture points.

His physical body also faintly emitted a layer of pale jade light, matching the rhythm of his breathing, rising and falling like the tides.

It was not until a cup of tea's time had passed that he slowly stopped his cultivation, finished regulating his breath, and stood up with a flick of his sleeves.

"Although that Huaiwu Cave Master's elixir is called the Crane Embryo Pill and can boost one's Qi Cultivation progress, it is merely a facade. Once ingested, within an hour or two, one will immediately transform into the likeness of a Heavenly Demon, and even one's primordial spirit will be corrupted."

Chen Heng's gaze flashed, and he calculated in his heart.

He did not know if that Luo Zhang was aware of this.

But the plump Daoist nun he brought, whom he addressed as Ninth Senior Sister, must certainly be aware; she might even be an accomplice in this.

Today was the day the elixir was completed, and the heat was sufficient; that plump Daoist nun had calculated the timing perfectly to arrive, not a minute early, nor a minute late.

If Chen Heng had not first tested it within the True Dharma Realm, but had swallowed it directly, then when that plump Daoist nun arrived, although he would not know her exact intentions, his fate would certainly not have been good.

"It seems that this Daojun Fu Yu Lake territory is no place to stay, and I fear even Yangshan cannot be occupied for long. I must return immediately to the Xuanzhen Sect at Xiao Ganshan; even if there will be trouble upon returning to the sect, I cannot worry about that now..."

Chen Heng's eyes sank slightly.

The reason he had remained in Daojun Fu Yu Lake was firstly to purchase a mid-grade flying sword, and secondly, to wait for the official completion of the "Golden Valley Market," when that Huaiwu Cave Master would surely bestow benefits upon those attending the ceremony, and he would receive a share.

But in the current state of affairs.

With the Huaiwu Cave Master being involved with Heavenly Demons and also having designs on him, let alone benefits, he feared he would not even be able to keep his life.

Even if the flying swords from those merchant houses like the Treasure Gathering Pavilion had not yet been transported over, he could not worry about that.

Although returning to the Xuanzhen Sect meant inevitably being under Yan Feichen's nose again and being constrained by him, where one wrong step would surely invite a thunderous disaster.

But within that sect, at least there was Ai Jian, a Cave-Mystic Great Refiner...

No matter how reckless the Huaiwu Cave Master was, he feared he would not dare to provoke Ai Jian's displeasure!

Although he did not know which layer of the Cave-Mystic Realm Ai Jian was in, thirty years ago, when he established the sect, he had defeated at least two Cave-Mystic Third Layer Great Refiners; his killing power was extraordinary! His fierce reputation was even greater!

In the dojo of such a great cultivator, no matter what designs the Huaiwu Cave Master had on him, he feared he would not be able to act openly and unscrupulously.

And just as Chen Heng was pondering in his mind, a few steps away, Wei Lingjiang also drove the Crane Embryo Pill's medicinal fragrance from her body, forcing it out as a wisp of light smoke.

Above the head of this pure and beautiful woman, who was like a jade tree of precious flowers, rolled flame light, like a mass of great sun golden fire, shining brilliantly.

Seeing her point a finger, a stream of fire like flowing clouds separated, covering that wisp of forced-out light smoke; after a few breaths of hissing, that light smoke vanished into thin air without a trace.

The room was instantly clear, with not a trace of medicinal qi left.

"You are so fast?"

Wei Lingjiang was slightly startled to see Chen Heng standing quietly a few steps away.

Although that pill was called the Crane Embryo Pill, it was actually bait for demonic transformation; once ingested, one would be occupied by boundless demonic evil, and in the end, one would not be able to control one's own life or death, becoming a living puppet for the mastermind behind the scenes.

Although she had seen through the clues and had not entered the trap, when she opened the box lid, she had still inevitably been entangled by the medicinal qi in the pill.

Once this exotic fragrance attached itself to a person, it was difficult to expel for a while.

This was also the reason why the two of them had not opened the door to welcome Luo Zhang and the plump Daoist nun in.

If that plump Daoist nun had smelled the medicinal fragrance but saw that the two of them showed no signs of demonic corruption, she would inevitably grow suspicious, and it would be difficult to explain then.

It was just that this sweet medicinal fragrance was extremely difficult to remove; once Chen Heng removed the Scattered Scenery and Concealing Form Art, there was no more cover, and it was like a maggot on a tarsal bone. Wei Lingjiang had also circulated her Embryonic Breathing for several cycles before brushing it off.

Yet she had not expected Chen Heng to be even a few moments faster than her.

"Fast? Senior Sister is not slow either."

After hearing this, Chen Heng's eyebrows raised imperceptibly, and he nodded slightly toward her:

"That Huaiwu Cave Master likely harbors ill intentions toward the two of us. For the sake of your life and safety, Senior Sister, it is best to leave Daojun Fu Yu Lake as soon as possible and go far away. I, too, shall take my leave."

After finishing speaking.

He gestured vaguely with his hand, indicating he was seeing her out.

Wei Lingjiang was slightly startled upon hearing this, momentarily not knowing how to speak. Seeing his cold and distant demeanor, after a moment, a nameless fire rose in her heart.

"The Huaiwu Cave Master is involved with Heavenly Demons; what do you intend to do?"

She stepped forward abruptly and said.

Chen Heng glanced sideways at Wei Lingjiang.

He saw that she was wearing a gorgeous wide-sleeved dress today, with moon-shaped earrings and a golden dangling hairpin inserted diagonally, making her look even more bright and splendid, with a unique and extraordinary beauty.

Because she had left in a hurry, she was not wearing her usual veil hat.

At this moment, those ink-painted eyebrows could not help but knit together; although she was trying her best to endure it, a sense of indignation still revealed itself in her expression.

Seeing Chen Heng look over, Wei Lingjiang stared coldly at him for a while, but still could not resist the scrutiny of those deep, dark eyes; she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then continued to glare back, refusing to yield an inch.

"You ask me what I intend to do; what do you intend for me to do, Senior Sister?"

In the end, it was Chen Heng who lowered his gaze first, saying indifferently:

"Go to sects like the Five Lights Sect or the Divine Fire Cliff to expose him? Expose the evidence of the Huaiwu Cave Master colluding with Heavenly Demons? Neither of us has ironclad proof, and those two Crane Embryo Pills clearly cannot count as evidence; by then, I fear we would be bitten back instead."

"Moreover—"

He said: "Even if there were, why would those great sects believe me?"

The Heaven and Earth are a mass of clear and turbid qi—

Qi separates the clear and turbid, and the origin opens to divide heaven and earth.

Except for the most essential "Origin," of the 129,600,000 types of spiritual energy, the vast majority have a distinction between clear and turbid.

Most of the Xuan Sect's Daoist arts and supernatural powers are derived from the clear yang phenomena, while the Demon Sect's profound arts also follow the distinction of clear and turbid, often only extracting the principles of yin and turbidity.

One is clear yang, the other is turbid yin.

The Xuan and Demon of these Nine Provinces and Four Seas, if divided by the arguments in Daoist books, seem to be the distinction here.

People of the Xuan Sect, perhaps due to the influence of the clear yang phenomena, can mostly uphold a heart that promotes good and follows the Dao, but not everyone is bright and upright, with a heart of gold and jade, a person without self who has cut off the six desires and seven emotions, and has no worldly attachments.

And the people of the Demon Sect, although mostly due to their study of the principles of turbid yin, have temperaments that are extremely self-respecting and self-valuing, and their various profound arts and supernatural powers, for this reason, appear quite bloody and ferocious in the eyes of others.

But heroes who can subdue the demons in their hearts and shatter the old patterns are by no means rare, especially within the Six Demon Sects, where they are everywhere.

The difference between Xuan and Demon is nothing more than one clear and one turbid.

Chen Heng would not bet his life and safety on these Xuan Sect orthodox sects, hoping they would subdue evil and eliminate demons, and behead the Huaiwu Cave Master.

If one speaks of the Xuan Sect, the Xuanzhen Sect is also an orthodox Xuan Sect, and there are even faint rumors that this sect is one of the hundreds of Daoist lineages under the jurisdiction of the Yuchen Sect.

And the sect master, Ai Jian, is even rumored to be a true disciple of the Yuchen Sect, who has truly entered the mountain gate and received the transmission of the true Dharma.

But the various actions within the Xuanzhen Sect are probably not necessarily bright and upright.

"I... I did not mean for you to expose him to the Five Lights Sect; they would not believe you either."

Wei Lingjiang said anxiously: "I just..."

Halfway through her sentence.

She could no longer speak, and then there was silence.

She wanted to ask, we have at least experienced life and death together... are you really so heartless and cold, able to ignore everything except yourself?

But when the words reached her lips, she swallowed them gently, leaving only silent speechlessness.

This was only a spiritual body of hers; coming to the Southern Territory this time was only to subdue the Evil-Resentment Yin-Victory Demon, so as to cut off the faint schemes of the Ai family ancestor.

It was only a spiritual body.

Even if it died, it would not endanger her true body in the "Nine Emperors Constant Yang Golden Palace" mystic realm.

In this way.

How could it be considered experiencing life and death...

Furthermore.

Between the two of them, perhaps in Chen Heng's view, it was just a chance encounter on the side of the road; given his indifferent temperament, he likely did not harbor any so-called friendship at all.

"..."

Wei Lingjiang took a step back, did not speak again, and her expression suddenly faded.

Even she herself could not explain why a nameless fire had suddenly risen, and after a brief silence, had suddenly cooled down.

Her true body had already collected thirteen great medicines and was about to condense the elixir; only waiting for the success of the work, she would be able to achieve the Golden Core Ultimate Realm through the intersection of dragon and tiger. And often, before condensing the elixir, there would be various inner demons to disturb the state of mind.

Wei Lingjiang thought.

Since meeting Chen Heng, this faint, previously unexperienced feeling was perhaps the inner demon.

"The upright heart is hard to settle, the returning nature is not peaceful; is this the obstruction of the inner demon?"

She sighed silently and closed her eyes slightly.

When she opened them again after a few breaths, all the distracting thoughts in her heart were cut off, and only her usual calmness and detachment remained in her eyes.

She looked calmly at Chen Heng, wanting to reach a deal with him.

After all, this trip was specifically to eliminate the Evil-Resentment Yin-Victory Demon, so naturally, she wanted to achieve this intention as much as possible.

And if she wanted to eliminate that demon, Chen Heng's "Great Formless Constant Realm True Qi" was indispensable.

With his true qi, supplemented by the "Ten Thousand Mile Illumination Talisman" bestowed by the Daoist Lord, Wei Lingjiang only needed a thought to come up with a strategy.

But Wei Lingjiang had not yet had time to speak.

Chen Heng just looked at her steadily, shattering all her calmness and composure.

Like a sudden falling stone from a mountain top.

Splashing out water...

"Senior Sister thinks I am in a hurry to drive you away; am I really that heartless?"

Chen Heng lowered his eyes, his gaze resting quietly on her face:

"You do not know. I come from the Xuanzhen Sect, and encountering such a matter with the Huaiwu Cave Master, I naturally can only return to the sect to avoid disaster. But I have a great enemy in the Xuanzhen Sect; he is called Yan Feichen, the head of the three great elders of the sect. Since his daughter Yan Zhen died, this person has been determined to have me accompany her in death, hating me to the bone..."

"My returning to the Xuanzhen Sect to avoid disaster is also a helpless move, not to intentionally cast you aside. In the sect, I do not even know how to ensure my own safety; I fear I will inevitably be manipulated, my life and death uncertain, and I will be unable to look after you."

Chen Heng said:

"Senior Sister is so beautiful, like a pearl in the rubble; I fear it is difficult to harmonize with the dust... If I invited you to go with me, it would only pointlessly make you hated by Yan Feichen as well. That would instead bring disaster upon you."

Wei Lingjiang's heart jumped violently, and the fingers she had clenched in her sleeves relaxed unconsciously. She stood blankly on the spot for a long time, a red glow slowly flying onto her face, and her snow-white earlobes were already bright red and dripping.

"Do you think praising me for being beautiful can cover it up? You are clearly making excuses after the fact!"

Wei Lingjiang snorted coldly, but the expression between her brows suddenly relaxed: "Don't forget, you still owe me a favor; don't think you can muddle through so easily!"

"When you listen to people speak, do you never listen to the second half of the sentence?"

Chen Heng was expressionless.

"..."

Wei Lingjiang glared at him upon hearing this, and the fist in her sleeve clenched again.

"You want to escape from Daojun Fu Yu Lake to avoid disaster, but since the Huaiwu Cave Master gifted the pill early, it shows he has long been watching you."

After a while, Wei Lingjiang frowned and said:

"Even if you have the Scattered Scenery and Concealing Form Art, it will be extremely difficult to escape his eyes and ears."

Although the Scattered Scenery and Concealing Form Art is an extremely brilliant technique for simulating qi mechanisms.

It can only collect qi mechanisms, but cannot change the physical body's form.

And in the eyes of a Cave-Mystic Refiner, even if the qi mechanism changes, the physical body does not, which is no different from covering one's ears to steal a bell.

"Does Senior Sister have any brilliant ideas?"

"Kill the Huaiwu Cave Master!" Wei Lingjiang said.

Chen Heng remained unmoved.

"I am talking about borrowing a knife to kill."

Wei Lingjiang's lips curled slightly, and she said: "We only need to expose the evidence of his collusion with Heavenly Demons, and we can borrow external forces to easily eliminate him."

"Why is Senior Sister so insistent on killing him?"

Wei Lingjiang was momentarily speechless. She wanted to cover it up, but after pursing her lips and pondering, she spoke truthfully.

"The Huaiwu Cave Master is involved with an Evil-Resentment Yin-Victory Demon. The sect elders cast a hex for me; if that demon is eliminated, it will be a great benefit for me..."

"Evil-Resentment Yin-Victory Demon?"

Chen Heng smiled faintly: "The loose cultivator Wen Ning, does he also have a sect?"

"You—"

Wei Lingjiang's face flushed red.

"Since you say you want to borrow external forces, what is that external force? To kill a Cave-Mystic with Qi Cultivation, you must have something to rely on, right?"

"What if I say I have nothing to rely on? Will you stand on my side?"

Wei Lingjiang suddenly looked at Chen Heng expectantly and blinked.

"Senior Sister must eliminate that demon?"

"Yes."

"If you have nothing to rely on and insist on overestimating your ability to eliminate the demon, then that is just throwing your life away."

Chen Heng pointed outside the door and said:

"In consideration of the friendship of these past few days, tell me, what style of paper offerings do you like? On festivals, if I remember, I can burn a few more for you; it can be considered as repaying your favor.

However, before you die, would Senior Sister be willing to gift me your Universe Bag?"

Wei Lingjiang's expression stiffened, and she could no longer hold back; she suddenly leaned forward and punched his shoulder hard!

But her palm and fingers seemed to hit a piece of black iron, causing her palm to tremble slightly; when she pulled it back to look, it was already bright red.

"I have it! This Ten Thousand Mile Illumination Talisman!"

Wei Lingjiang took out a golden, shining talisman from her Universe Bag in a huff.

That talisman only spun in the air before transforming into a three-foot-tall, white-haired, white-bearded, hunchbacked old man. He looked at Wei Lingjiang, then at Chen Heng, sniffed the air with his nose, and the expression on his face instantly became fascinating.

"Ancestor Fu Can, disciple—"

"Damn it! It's this Qi Cultivation Art!"

Before Wei Lingjiang could pay her respects, the tiny hunchbacked old man jumped onto Chen Heng's shoulder, sniffed him carefully again, and shouted:

"Are you wild? You haven't been caught back by your father yet? Strange, strange, I've really gained some insight today!"

"... What does the Senior mean?"

Not only was Wei Lingjiang surprised, but even Chen Heng frowned for a moment.

"You don't know? You don't know, and she doesn't know either? Fun, this is getting interesting."

The tiny old man's gaze wandered back and forth between Chen Heng and Wei Lingjiang, and a strange smile appeared on his old face:

"You hooked up so quickly? You have the style of your father! The kid is damn beastly enough! Hey, little girl, although I am from the Tai Fu Palace, for the sake of us both being among the Eight Xuan Sects, I will give you a hint."

"If you don't want to lose your life in an unclear way, not only will your reputation not exist after death, but even your primordial spirit will not be able to enter reincarnation."

The tiny old man reached out and pointed at Chen Heng, shook his head, and said:

"Stay away from this kid; seriously, the Ancestor is doing this for your own good!"