Chapter 80: Isn

3:00 a.m.

A silver moon hung at the horizon; the blue stone street was bathed in cold white moonlight. The night watchman passed through the alley entrance, his bronze gong producing a light rhythm:

“Dong~ Dongdong…”

Deep within the dark alley lay the Wu family compound.

The grand house was dark and silent. Wu Su, his hair streaked white, sat behind a rosewood desk, elbows propped on his forehead, deep crow’s feet around his eyes betraying intense torment.

After obtaining a drop of Xie Jin’s essence blood in the Corpse Vault, Lin Wanyi had felt a profound sense of bodily euphoria—and even desired more. This sensation was a hallmark of the demonic Dao cultivation method:

Blood Craving!

Wu Su felt it too, even more intensely.

The core of demonic Dao is to follow one’s nature, selfishly seizing others’ gains; the cultivation method prioritizes pleasure above all. Once entering the “Unrestrained Desire” stage, each practice session plunges body and soul into ecstasy, making the practitioner desperately crave the next.

As a cultivation path, this sensation does not create physical addiction—but the “mental craving” cannot be eradicated:

Easily acquiring cultivation progress that others spend years struggling to attain…

The more lawless and unrestrained one grows, the faster one advances…

No laws, morals, doctrines, or ethics bind one…

Once tasted even a few times, no one can endure the prison of reality again. This is the driving force behind demonic Daoists climbing at any cost.

Consuming Blood Essence Pills quenches the blood craving, but the sensation is like a dummy—it brings pleasure, yet pales beside the raw, violent truth of a living human.

Wu Su had once been an ordinary antiques dealer. At thirty-something, he received a Five Elements Seal, took up cultivation midlife, and after nearly twenty years of stumbling, barely reached the sixth rank of the Dao.

Realizing he could advance no further in this life, he began studying the demonic Dao texts he’d gathered over the years and consuming Transformation Demons Pills. From sixth to fourth rank, he achieved it in just three years.

At first he dared not kill. But when his progress stalled again after mastering the “Soul Seizing Technique,” he could no longer hold back. Early this year, he tried draining a living person dry—and once he did, he could not stop.

He remained restrained, relying on Transformation Demons Pills for nine-tenths of his practice.

But if he unleashed himself to sack towns and plunder villages, he was certain he could reach the summit in short order—even become a transcendent like Lu Wu, the Imperial Tutor—and never again spend a single silver tael on medicinal ingredients.

Yet why must this world have the Three Teachings and Hundred Schools, imperial laws, and so many righteous heroes who meddle in others’ affairs…

Wu Su longed to let loose completely, to test how swiftly he could grow by draining a master’s essence blood, to experience the ecstasy of using legendary immortal maidens and heroic ladies as cultivation vessels.

But the rigid constraints of reality forced him to live like a rat in a sewer—even when encountering mere government office runners who could reduce him to ash with a flick of the finger, he had to bow his head and detour!

Wu Su knew the imperial court had begun cracking down. He clenched his forehead, suppressing the urge to slip out and kill one more.

Yet a devil lurked in his heart, whispering ceaselessly:

You hold a divine artifact—no one can detect you…

Even killing a commoner would do—quick and clean…

After a lifetime of cultivation, how can you live so pitifully…

After enduring this inner torment for who knew how long, the night watchman’s gong suddenly echoed from the alley:

“Dong~ Dongdong…”

And on the rosewood desk, a faint glow appeared.

Wu Su snapped back to awareness, bloodshot eyes fixed on the seal before him.

The seal was palm-sized, carved with a golden-limbed Huang Lin, its material like yellow jade—but now, the Huang Lin’s eyes glowed faintly.

Wu Su lifted the Huang Lin Seal, channeling his aura into it. The Huang Lin’s eyes projected faint light spots onto the desk, slowly drifting.

Wu Su had possessed this Huang Lin Seal for over twenty years. He knew it bore the rare “Magnetic Metal Spell,” capable of detecting hidden treasures. He had used it to deduce the location of high cultivators by treating it as a required magical tool or weapon.

The light spots now appearing were black and blue—likely water- and wood-related artifacts. And there were more than one…

Could this be a patrol immortal official…

Wu Su frowned inwardly. As he observed the light spots’ movement, he noticed several of them drifting toward the Huang Lin Seal itself!

?!

Wu Su had always been cautious—but never before had he encountered this. He realized a high cultivator had locked onto his position. His blood ran cold. Without hesitation, he snatched his prepared pack and bolted for the door…

—

The silver moon hung high. The night watchman, lantern in hand, faded into the distance down the dark alley.

Xie Jin emerged from a side alley, scanning the long, shadowed street. After a day’s exertion, he was already weary.

Meiqiu, who had been napping opportunistically, now sprang to life, hovering midair to scout movements among the buildings.

Linghu Qingmo followed behind, sword in hand, eyes scanning everywhere.

Though Xie Jin suspected Wu Su most, the antiques street was a wealthy district with hundreds of households. She did not know which house was the Wu residence, and at this hour, she could not ask anyone—so they had to search door by door.

But Xie Jin did not hunt demonic cultivators by sight—he used the “Ghost Wife Radar.”

After turning several alleys, he heard the ghost wife’s warning:

“Oh my, you can confiscate the ill-gotten gains. Someone is using a secret method to scan for spiritual artifacts—southwest.”

Xie Jin frowned. He feigned glancing at Meiqiu, then silently leapt onto the wall, moving toward the southwest.

Linghu Qingmo noticed no unusual movement from Meiqiu. She followed, about to ask, when suddenly Meiqiu called from above:

“Gu~ Gu…”

Xie Jin heard the signal—he knew the unknown cultivator was fleeing. He dropped all pretense and surged forward at full speed:

“Southwest, one hundred and four zhang. You left, I right.”

Hu~

Before the words faded, his figure became a moonlit afterimage, racing toward the buildings a hundred zhang away!

“Huh?”

Linghu Qingmo, though puzzled, reacted swiftly. She dashed full speed toward the left.

But after racing only a few zhang, she faintly heard wind tearing through the distant buildings—and a dark figure leapt out of the complex:

Hu hu—

Linghu Qingmo spotted the target, instantly accelerated, fingers forming a seal, silently chanting:

“Qian commands wind to rise, Kun orders earth to shift… Swift as the decree!”

Bang—

As her aura surged, her body accelerated abruptly, flashing forward several zhang in an instant—overtaking Xie Jin.

Huh?

Xie Jin was stunned. Before he could react, he saw Linghu’s “Ten Thousand Li Divine Step Spell” was short-lived—her speed plummeted after a burst, then surged again, appearing like a series of instantaneous teleports.

But this level of speed was clearly sufficient.

Xie Jin launched a full assault, flanking with Linghu to trap the target and force him toward the bustling street patrolled by immortal officials.

But the rogue cultivator beyond the half-li distance was no fool. Realizing he couldn’t shake them by fleeing, he dove into the labyrinthine buildings—and the wind noise vanished.

Linghu Qingmo relied on sight alone. Losing visual contact, she could no longer track him.

But the instant Xie Jin lost sight of the target, he feigned glancing at Meiqiu, then reversed direction, sprinting down a side alley.

Yet even with his silence, the rogue cultivator reacted instantly, turning back the way he came…

He turned, and the other turned too…

Huh?!

Xie Jin saw this and realized he’d walked into a “god’s trap”—this rogue cultivator had X-ray vision!

But as the Heavenly Walker of Wind Spirit Valley, he was practically running a radar, with an “unmanned chicken” hovering above his head. If he let this one slip, he’d never live it down.

With Linghu nearby, Xie Jin couldn’t fully unleash his power. So he spoke:

“This one is cunning. Go alert the immortal officials on the street. I’ll hold him.”

Linghu Qingmo didn’t understand Meiqiu’s signals or see the target’s trail. She immediately drew her sword and dashed toward the bustling side street.

Once Linghu was far enough, Xie Jin dropped the act. Following the ghost wife’s guidance, his speed exploded—he surged straight toward Wu Su, hidden among the buildings!

And at the same moment!

Wu Su clutched his pack, darting through shadows beneath eaves and corridors, Huang Lin Seal in hand, judging the pursuers’ position.

Today was utterly cursed!

He turned left—the pursuer turned left. He turned right—the pursuer turned right!

Half a li apart, no sound reached him. He wasn’t exposed to hawk-eyed surveillance. The pursuer wasn’t a top-tier ancestor. How the hell was this possible?

Could this man also possess a seal with the Magnetic Metal Spell?!

Wu Su considered discarding all his valuables—but the Huang Lin Seal was his foundation. Without it, he was dead. He could only flee at full speed, hoping to escape the detection range.

But soon he realized: this pursuer was far more formidable than he’d imagined!

When the second pursuer suddenly veered off in another direction, the one behind accelerated violently—straight toward his exact location!

And his turns were no longer delayed. It felt as if the pursuer was staring at the back of his skull and charging head-on!

Sss?!

Wu Su’s spirit reeled—he believed the other’s artifact was of impossibly high rank.

Flying onto rooftops would expose him. Staying among buildings slowed him. This hesitation lasted only an instant—then wind tore from behind.

Hu~

Wu Su knew he couldn’t escape. Mid-flight, he turned, slid to a stop in a large courtyard, and looked back.

Hu la la…

Hu~

In the next instant, a figure leapt skyward from the rooftops and crashed onto the western wing’s ridge.

Dong~

After the muffled impact, the courtyard fell into deathly silence.

Wu Su faced a dire threat, raising his eyes to see the intruder clad in a white robe, right hand gripping a club’s hilt, poised to strike—his cold spring eyes like a death warrant, locking onto every part of Wu Su’s body.

“You’ve got some real skill, no wonder the government office couldn’t catch you.”

Wu Su clenched the Huang Lin Seal hidden beneath his sleeve, his heart sinking to the abyss, yet doubt still lingered:

“What did you bring? How do you know my location?”

Xie Jin carefully sized up the gray-haired old man below and realized he was merely a fourth-rank nobody; he relaxed his ready stance.

“We’re all struggling cultivators scraping by in the cracks—who doesn’t have a bit of fortune on them? Judging by now, your fortune is far weaker than mine. Where did you get that Huang Lin Seal?”

?!

Wu Su had hidden the Huang Lin Seal in his sleeve, yet the other man named it outright—his heart jolted; he knew his opponent was deeply formidable. He gritted his teeth and hurled the bundle to the ground:

“Stolen from a tomb robber. I’ll give you both the seal and the silver—please spare my life…”

Xie Jin leapt through the air and landed in the courtyard.

“If I kill you, the items still become mine—and I’ll earn a reputation as a hero rid of a scourge. If you were me, what would you choose?”

The courtyard fell utterly silent.

(End of Chapter)