Chapter 49: The Demonic Sect

"Who would write a letter to a tiger demon? Doesn't this tiger demon always hide from cultivators, keeping its whereabouts a secret?"

None of the three could figure it out. Given the tiger demon's cautious nature, no one outside the mountains should have known of its existence.

"Niannian, what does the letter say?"

Meng Jingzhou cleared his throat and read in an emotive tone: "Brother Tiger, it has been many days. How have you been lately?"

"Brother Tiger, your cautious conduct and refusal to reveal yourself to righteous cultivators, choosing only to prey on mortals—this step-by-step approach to cultivation is truly admirable, though it is ultimately slow. Now, the Great Era is approaching, heroes are rising, and all parties are eyeing the Central Continent. Isn't Brother Tiger also seizing this opportunity to leave your homeland, break away from the Qiongqi lineage, and sneak into Songshan from the Demon Domain?"

"Careful and cautious... you two, stop crowding me! I'll read it to you, won't I?" Lu Yang and Man Gu had squeezed Meng Jingzhou in the middle to look directly at the letter's contents.

"You're reading too slowly."

"I'll read faster, move aside."

Meng Jingzhou pushed them away and continued reading: "Caution is certainly not a major flaw, but in this reviving Great Era, one must be bolder to seize opportunities. Take a gamble, purify your bloodline, and transform into a pure-blooded Qiongqi; only then will you have a foundation in this Great Era."

"Your younger brother boldly suggests that Brother Tiger and your spouse join my Yanjiang Helm. Let us use cultivators as prey and scheme for great things together!"

"There is a token of mine in the letter. Brother Tiger can bring it directly to the Yanjiang Helm to find me. I can personally recommend Brother Tiger to become a deacon."

"Respectfully, your younger brother, Qin Yuanhao."

The letter was short, but it revealed a great deal of information.

Lu Yang analyzed, "The letter says the tiger demon doesn't let righteous cultivators know of its existence. This doesn't fit standard linguistic habits. One wouldn't usually refer to them directly as 'righteous cultivators' unless the author stands on the opposite side. Is this Qin Yuanhao a demonic cultivator?"

This would also explain why some cultivators knew about the tiger demon's situation but never reported it.

In the Central Continent, the righteous path holds absolute dominance. The demon, devil, and ghost factions are natural allies. Taking the tiger demon as an example, it wouldn't kill people directly, but would let its ghost servants lure them over.

The tiger demon possessed Qiongqi blood and was a confirmed Core Formation stage beast; it was only logical for a demonic cultivator to try to recruit it.

"In that case, is the Yanjiang Helm a demonic sect stronghold?"

Meng Jingzhou nodded: "The demonic sect likes to use place names for their strongholds. It's just unclear which demonic sect this Yanjiang Helm belongs to."

Just as the righteous path has the Five Great Immortal Sects, demonic cultivators have their own factions, known as the Four Great Demonic Sects.

The demonic sect is a religion, not a sect; the biggest difference lies in whether they worship a powerful entity.

The beliefs of the Four Great Demonic Sects are not identical. Some say they represent four immortals, while others claim the four beliefs are merely four incarnations of a single immortal. Opinions vary.

The demonic sect reveals very little information to the outside world. Their movements are elusive, and the Great Xia Dynasty and the Five Great Immortal Sects have searched together many times without finding the demonic sect's headquarters.

Whenever righteous cultivators wipe out a large area of demonic strongholds, the sect members sprout up like bamboo shoots after rain; they are impossible to kill off completely.

The demonic sect is said to be mysterious, their methods sinister and ruthless, chilling to the bone. In reality, it is simply because the righteous path is too strong, forcing the demonic sect to hide and operate in the shadows.

If their lair could be found, the Five Great Immortal Sects wouldn't even need to act; the Great Xia Dynasty could dispatch troops, and in five days, they would turn the demonic sect upside down, rooting out all their hideouts within a month.

This is the confidence of the righteous path.

The demonic path is, after all, something that cannot be brought into the light.

Lu Yang shook the envelope and pulled out a bone tablet. It held a trace of special true qi, a method left by that demonic sect member named Qin Yuanhao, which outsiders could not imitate.

Man Gu asked, "Can we use this token to join the demonic sect?"

Discovering a demonic sect hideout was a great merit, far more valuable than eliminating two tiger demons.

Lu Yang shook his head: "No. If we use his token to join the Yanjiang Helm, Qin Yuanhao will definitely know."

"Besides, we don't know where the Yanjiang Helm is. How would we join?"

"Then what should we do?" Man Gu asked.

"Since it's called the Yanjiang Helm, it should be in Yanjiang County. We can go there to inquire if there's someone named Qin Yuanhao, track him to find the Yanjiang Helm. Since he can call himself a 'younger brother' in front of a tiger demon, his cultivation shouldn't be higher than the tiger's. We can kill him, then use the token and claim we are old friends of his, coming to join him, only to find he's dead."

"Good plan." Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu's eyes lit up.

"Keep digging, see if there's anything else good." Lu Yang excitedly urged Meng Jingzhou to get to work.

Meng Jingzhou found a blade of grass as red as blood, palm-sized, with an eerie feel.

"Blood-Jade Grass, why does it have red veins?" Meng Jingzhou was puzzled. The main use of Blood-Jade Grass is to detoxify, and its veins are usually blue-green, like rivers flowing on the ground. Why was this one red?

Lu Yang crouched down to identify it, then said: "You forgot, the main use of Blood-Jade Grass for humans is as a primary ingredient for detox pills, but that's not the case for demons."

"Blood-Jade Grass has the effect of refining bloodlines. It's possible the tiger demon used its own blood to nourish and ripen the grass, making it adapt to Qiongqi blood. Looking at this, in a few months, once it fully matures, the tiger demon would consume it to refine its Qiongqi bloodline, allowing it to form its Core."

The 'Blood' in Blood-Jade Grass is named for this reason.

Lu Yang had heard about Blood-Jade Grass from the Little Medicine King.

"Now that this grass can no longer be refined into detox pills, it can only be used by demons to purify their bloodlines," Lu Yang said.

"In that case, you two take it. Sell it at the sect's monthly market on the 15th; it should fetch a good price." Meng Jingzhou handed the herb to Lu Yang and Man Gu.

Many people in the sect raise spirit beasts, and herbs that can improve bloodlines have quite a market in the Ask Dao Sect.

Lu Yang and Man Gu deferred to each other for a while, but eventually, Man Gu didn't insist and accepted the Blood-Jade Grass.

Meng Jingzhou reminded Man Gu: "Don't eat the Blood-Jade Grass. The Ancient Barbarians are a branch of humanity; it's useless for your bloodline."

Man Gu gave a regretful "Oh."

Legend has it that the Ancient Barbarians originated from a romantic proposal. In ancient times, humans lived in scattered tribes, and the strongest in a tribe was called a warrior.

One day, two tribes met. A male warrior from one tribe took a liking to a female warrior from the other and proposed: "Smile for me, girl, and if I'm happy, I'll marry you."

The female warrior chuckled, picked up a rock, and swung it back. The two wrestled, and in the end, the female warrior prevailed, dragged the male warrior into her hut, and they didn't sleep all night.

Ten months later, the first Barbarian warrior was born. ===== CHAPTER 50 =====