Chapter 37: What Harvest

Buzz—

At the instant the fox's eyes shot red light, Jiang Yu brandished a bronze mirror to block it in front of her face.

The hazy amber glow reflected by the mirror formed a shield around her, while also reflecting the red light back onto the little fox; Hu, quick‑eyed and swift, snapped its bone and slammed it to the ground.

It let out a wailing "Ah", then thudded onto the ground, blood spilling from its eyes and mouth; this time it truly had only one breath left.

When she opened her eyes again, she cried out in pain, "I can't see! My eyes! The junior's methods are so vicious."

"I can't compare to you, half‑demon, but after a few words you actually wanted my life." Fortunately, this wolf spirit inhabits a fifth‑rank demonic fox and is protected by an elder's divine light; otherwise Jiang Yu wouldn't dare guarantee she could evade that facial strike.

She flipped the bronze mirror in her hand; it was one of the gratitude gifts from the Taiyi Sect, capable of both defending and reflecting a tenth of the attack back to the opponent.

These days, after finishing her nightly practice of the Starry Path technique, she would deeply refine several defensive implements and practice their usage, to ensure safety when venturing out.

"Hmph, it seems Hua Daoist wants his soul to scatter.

Then I, the humble Daoist, will see you off," Hu, also extremely angry, said. A demonic cultivator is a demonic cultivator; at the slightest disagreement, he will kill.

"Wait, wait, wait, what I discovered is Gang Silver ore; I have stock of it in my storage ring.

You, my collaborator, you surely can't guess who it is," Hua Daoist immediately begged for mercy.

Hu's technique had already unfolded, "Searching your soul is the same."

Gang Silver sand is extremely rare; it's a premium material for forging artifacts. Adding even a little to a treasure makes it unusually sturdy, instantly raising its quality.

Jiang Yu saw that Hu's grip on the technique was slower than before, clearly half‑teasing, half‑deceiving him.

But the dying Hua Daoist, just now blinded and spiritually wounded by his own counter‑spell, hadn't noticed anything, "My Primordial Spirit has a seal; if you search it, it will explode.

If you don't believe it, try it yourself."

Hu altered his technique midway, gently probing the little fox's head with one hand, and indeed saw a blood‑colored mark on its Primordial Spirit.

"Tell me who it is, and where the Heavenly Demon Sect has set up, and I can strip your Primordial Spirit from your demonic body, giving you a chance for a soldier‑style reincarnation."

"If a new vein opens nearby, patrolling disciples would surely notice; only if insiders collude within the old mine could it go unnoticed by both gods and ghosts."

To gain his trust, Hu turned and asked, "Do you have a high‑quality Concentration Pill?"

"Yes." Jiang Yu slapped her storage bag, took out a pill bottle, and, at her signal, tossed a pill to the little fox.

Hua Daoist gulped it down forcefully, "Hu Daoist, even a single Binding Pill you eat for stabilizing spirit, you won't spare? Your sincerity is a bit lacking."

Jiang Yu suddenly infused her palm with spiritual energy; golden spiritual threads whirled around the little fox's neck, "If you don't want to eat it, spit it out."

"Release, quickly release. Hu Daoist, Hu Daoist…" The tiny fox body was violently yanked by the golden threads, the broken bones throbbing painfully.

Hu waved his hand, letting Jiang Yu release, "I dare to give; do you dare to eat? Aren't you afraid the pill's potency will cause your body to explode?"

"Hua Daoist, if you still want a taste of a Binding Pill cultivator's face, just say it plainly, and we can part cleanly."

"Or are you saying you want to stay forever inside a demonic fox, waiting to be caught by a Foundation Establishment cultivator for skinning and bone‑crushing?"

"Oh no, if you don't come clean, my junior disciple can finish you off; killing a Binding Pill cultivator at the Refining Qi stage is a commendable feat."

"She isn't afraid of being hunted by the Heavenly Demon Dark Guard; go ahead and act," Hua Daoist knew she wouldn't kill, but even in death she wanted to savor a final retort.

Clang, Jiang Yu drew her sword, infused it with spiritual energy; the spiritual sword flew to the little fox's head, sliced downwards, and blood instantly spurted from its neck.

"Stop, stop, stop, you junior said to act and acted; Hu Daoist doesn't even intervene," Hua Daoist added another wound, thinking the youngster was truly reckless.

Alas, he originally hid his severe injuries deep; after realizing his body couldn't be saved, his Primordial Spirit lacked the strength to escape his own formation, so he could only inhabit a demonic body.

Now, even a Refining Qi junior girl can cut him up at will.

Hu, impatient, said, "I'll count three, two, one; if he doesn't speak, you act."

"Yes." Jiang Yu gladly replied; she had once hunted demons in the Southern Sky Mountain Range, and anyone who tried to kill her she would utterly annihilate, otherwise she wouldn't have survived to now.

Her sword moved with her will, closing three inches further toward the little fox's forehead.

Hua Daoist sighed inwardly that not speaking truly wouldn't work, so before the Dao‑Demon Great War, he had roamed here among wandering cultivators.

Later, a cultivation family honored him as a distinguished guest; while helping them eradicate invading mining beasts, he discovered that the neighboring family's black‑gold mine contained Gang Silver sand.

Through observation, he found that family wasn't affiliated with the Grand Void Sect; they were secretly sending the sand to the black market for sale, so he approached them to claim a share.

Since the local black market was limited, he took the Gang Silver to the Demon Gate to sell; after the sect's Nascent Soul learned of it, they demanded large‑scale collection, so they built a few small transport arrays to facilitate his transport.

"We fought together; I stopped for a year, not daring to act.

Unexpectedly, many frontline sect devices were damaged, requiring further gathering.

Because the demand was huge, after I sent it away the spirit stones weren't delivered in time; moreover, the head of the Bai family, knowing it was sent to the front, arranged a banquet to poison me." Hua Daoist realized he was already trapped, and fought for his life.

He plunged into the Thousand Bamboo Forest, only to find Grand Void Sect disciples frequently shuttling to the forest; he hid carefully to treat his wounds, but the poison was too ruthless, and he still died.

Jiang Yu, hearing him mention the Bai family's mining, couldn't help but wonder if Junior Sister Bai came from that family.

After Hu finished questioning his entire transport route, he immediately set a Soul‑Severing Array, extracting the man's Primordial Spirit from his demonic body.

Hua Daoist was reluctant to be dismembered, but facing the two glaring at him, he could only sigh, and instantly dispersed his Primordial Spirit, vanishing like smoke.

Jiang Yu, uneasy, asked, "Is there any lingering soul?"

"There won't be," Hu set fire to the man and the fox, grabbing the storage tool as it burned, and heard the howl of a Swift Wind Wolf.

"Come up yourself," she whizzed, turned, and vanished.

Jiang Tu leapt out, scanning the surroundings, "Besides the leftover array, there's nothing else; you gained nothing this time."

"We obtained a transmission jade talisman; the mission was completed smoothly." No matter how much, Jiang Yu didn't press further; before collecting the Celestial Pivot array disc, she even had the little turtle Jiang Tu use spiritual fire to scorch the entire cave, ensuring no lingering souls.

When retrieving the final array flag, she noticed the flag surface torn, "Does it look like it was cut by a mantis?"

Jiang Tu agreed, "Hmm, most likely a gold‑backed mantis discovered this place, prompting the demonic fox to…

…to kill them, which ended up damaging the bamboo forest.

Hu took the array disc, grabbed a portion of Gang Silver sand from Hua Daoist's storage ring, and gave it to her, "Keep it for future forging; I'll send you back, don't tell the Bai family's little girl."

"Understood, I won't tell anyone," Jiang Yu, aware of the gravity, replied.

The next day, after returning to the sect, until the second mission, she never saw Junior Sister Bai again.

She never imagined that, after a long time, when she met the person again, Junior Sister Bai would blame her for the Bai family's downfall.

This is a later story; Jiang Yu's current mission is to accompany Senior Disciple Uncle Xia to an auction in another market.

The several groups that tracked her to the Thousand Bamboo Forest last time, because they had no chance to act, have this time agreed to cooperate and have quietly followed her again.