Seeking the Devil - Chapter 34

As a staunch supporter of the modern elder and junior grandmaster of the Daoist sect, Yuan Canglang’s first reaction was—

“Daring Nightmare Demon, even after entering the Daoist sect, you remain unrepentant! How dare you still try to manipulate people’s hearts with your sinister tricks? Laughable! How could the top figure under Heaven’s Gate be so easily swayed by the likes of you?!”

Yuan Canglang could swear before the ancestors of the Yuan family and the forefathers of the Daoist sect that this was indeed what he had in mind.

But for some reason, he didn’t speak it aloud. Instead, he subconsciously turned his head toward Lin Qinghe.

The junior grandmaster truly lived up to his title.

Even when slandered by such vile words from an ancient demon, his expression remained exactly the same as when he first entered—indifferent, or perhaps calm—it was hard to tell.

If anything, his eyelids lowered slightly.

He seemed to sigh softly.

“Bringing you back was not my original intention,” Lin Qinghe said.

The Nightmare Demon let out an arrogant laugh. “So what will you do? Let me go?”

“You’ve committed countless evils; the world ultimately cannot tolerate you. Even if I could let you go, the Daoist sect certainly would not.”

“Then why don’t you strike me down with your sword and rid the world of this scourge for the sake of your precious mortals!” the woman finally couldn’t suppress her laughter, her expression twisted as she gritted her teeth.

Lin Qinghe remained silent.

By the time Yuan Canglang snapped out of his thoughts, he had already listened to two exchanges without realizing it.

He was somewhat confused.

Though the Path of Detachment teaches that one should be free from worldly attachments and that personal matters are not worth dwelling on… still, after being slandered by the Nightmare Demon for having his vital essence stolen, shouldn’t the junior grandmaster’s first words be something else, if only for the reputation of the Daoist sect?

Yuan Canglang thought for a moment and decided to cautiously and discreetly offer his advice through a voice transmission.

Lin Qinghe, however, was very forthright.

Instead of responding in kind through voice transmission, he simply turned slightly toward Yuan Canglang, and in the presence of the Nightmare Demon inside the Heaven-Sealing Stone Prison, calmly said,

“What she said is true, there was no slander.”

Yuan Canglang: “…?”

It felt as if the thunderbolt from the heavens, meant to strike during one’s ascension to immortality, had come crashing down on Yuan Canglang.

Seeing how shocked Yuan Canglang was, looking as if his very soul was about to leave his body, Lin Qinghe, though personally indifferent, added a few words out of consideration for the younger disciple: “I’ve never done anything to betray the sect. You needn’t worry.”

Yuan Canglang’s mustache twitched. “Disciple… is not worried about *that*…”

Lin Qinghe lifted his eyes.

Those clear, distant eyes—like the Milky Way—briefly met Yuan Canglang’s gaze. Understanding, he shook his head. “No need to overthink. I’ve already entered the Path of Detachment, all ties to the past are severed—no entanglements remain.”

“Hah… hahaha…”

This statement finally provoked a reaction from the woman inside the prison. She took a step forward, pressing herself against the black iron bars. Her eyes were wide with fury, and intense hatred surged in her gaze, turning her face into a mask of ferocity.

“Lin Qinghe! Your so-called ‘Path of Detachment’ is nothing but a joke! What gives you the right to claim that all ties are severed, just because you say so? Yes, you’re extraordinary—your sword established peace under the heavens, and you’ve never failed the sect or the people! But can you truly say that you’ve never failed *me*?!”

“…”

In the Heaven-Sealing Stone Prison, her hysterical voice echoed relentlessly.

From beginning to end, Lin Qinghe remained silent, offering no retort.

Once Yuan Canglang snapped out of his daze, he could no longer hold back his anger. He shouted coldly, “Nightmare Demon! This is the Daoist Sect’s water prison—how dare you speak such arrogant nonsense here? Even if there was any truth to the events of the past, that was thousands of years ago and is now nothing but dust in the wind! Stop twisting the truth to obscure your heinous crimes, thinking you can escape your punishment!”

As his words fell, he infused his spiritual energy into a whip-like force, which lashed through the air with a mournful whistle, passing through the black iron bars and striking the hysterical woman inside.

*Smack.*

A crisp sound.

The woman in her white silk robe and red dress, with part of her pale shoulder exposed, was sent flying, crashing to the ground.

Lin Qinghe’s eyelashes trembled slightly.

The Nightmare Demon lay there for a few breaths, then struggled to prop herself up, silently staring at the outside of the prison, her gaze still filled with hatred.

Yuan Canglang forced himself to take a long breath, pushing aside distracting thoughts, and asked coldly, “Speak! Where is the Heavenly Sandalwood now?”

“…”

The woman in the prison said nothing, still glaring viciously at that distant, tranquil figure, standing like a mountain shrouded in mist.

Yuan Canglang warned, “I advise you not to be so stubborn. Now that you’re in the Daoist Sect’s water prison, don’t think you can struggle in vain. If you’re willing to hand over the Heavenly Sandalwood, we might still—”

Before he could finish, the Nightmare Demon let out a cold, mocking laugh. “Might still what? Have mercy on me? Countless souls have perished by my hand—do you really think that even if you obtain the Heavenly Sandalwood, you’d leave a trace of my soul intact? You’d just wipe me out completely, severing my chance of reincarnation!—Little one, when your ancestors were still in the womb, I was already wreaking havoc across the Three Realms. What makes you think you can play mind games with me?”

“You—!”

Yuan Canglang’s face flushed red with anger.

The Nightmare Demon slowly sat upright, returning to her earlier lazy demeanor. This time, she even lowered her eyes, leisurely smoothing her bloodstained, disheveled hair, like a beauty admiring herself before a mirror.

But the suppressed smile on her lips was truly mad and twisted.

Even Yuan Canglang felt a slight chill.

After tidying her hair, she made no effort to pull up the robe slipping off her shoulder. Finally, she lifted her gaze. “Want to know where the Heavenly Sandalwood is? Fine.”

She glanced at Lin Qinghe, then said, “He comes in, you go out. Then I’ll talk.”

Yuan Canglang’s face changed immediately. “Junior Grandmaster, you mustn’t!”

The Nightmare Demon laughed, covering her mouth. “Hahaha! Lin Qinghe, your little junior seems afraid I’ll eat you alive, doesn’t he?”

Lin Qinghe raised his eyes, his voice calm and cold. “I won’t be going in. Give up on that idea.”

“!”

The smile on the Nightmare Demon’s face instantly twisted into a ferocious snarl.

A dead silence filled the Heaven-Sealing Stone Prison, the air tightening like an invisible string pulled taut.

After a long moment.

Lin Qinghe lowered his gaze and turned away. “Enough.”

Yuan Canglang’s expression grew even more troubled. “Junior Grandmaster, this matter concerns—”

But with outsiders present, he didn’t finish the sentence.

Then again, there was no need to say it all.

The Nightmare Demon leaned back against the cold stone wall, her lips curled in either indifference or satisfaction. “Your Five Decays of Heaven and Man have already begun, haven’t they?”

“—?!”

Yuan Canglang spun around in shock, glaring fiercely at the Nightmare Demon.

In that instant, he nearly lost control and killed her on the spot. The fact that such an earth-shattering secret, one known only to elders and the most important core disciples of the Daoist sect, was so easily exposed by this ancient demon was terrifying. If this news spread, it would surely send shockwaves across the Three Realms!

Sensing his alarm, the Nightmare Demon tilted her head mockingly, her gaze intentionally lingering on the green-robed figure standing beside them. “Why so surprised? When it comes to your junior grandmaster’s body, no one knows it better than I do.”

“…Shameless demon!” Yuan Canglang’s face flushed bright red with anger.

But the figure she was staring at, the person in question, remained completely unmoved by her words, from beginning to end.

The woman lowered her eyes, lazily pulling the thin silk robe back up over her exposed shoulder.

*The Path of Detachment,* she thought, *truly lives up to its name.*

It was the bane of her Nightmare Enchantment, the unattainable fruit she could never grasp, the inevitable disaster destined to cross her path.

A flicker of self-mockery passed through her gaze.

Yet, her tone remained full of disdain as she sneered, “So what if you’re the number one under Heaven’s Gate? If you don’t break through Heaven’s Gate, if you don’t ascend to immortality, in the end, you’re still just mortal. And all mortals are bound by fate!”

She let her hand fall, coldly laughing. “Suddenly remembered the Heavenly Sandalwood I possess, did you? What’s the plan? To use the Heavenly Sandalwood to rebuild a new mortal body?”

Yuan Canglang’s heart stirred at this. “You… the Heavenly Sandalwood is really with you?”

“It’s been in my hands for ten thousand years,” she said with a smirk, her eyes briefly glancing at Lin Qinghe. “Your junior grandmaster knows this better than anyone. Otherwise, why would he have sent you all the way to the underworld to capture me?”

“If you don’t want to give it,” Lin Qinghe said, looking directly into the prison, “then don’t.”

“Junior Grandmaster,” Yuan Canglang stepped forward anxiously, half a step closer.

Lin Qinghe acted as if he hadn’t heard him. “You’re right. Whether you hand it over or not, you’ve committed countless atrocities, bringing disaster wherever you go. The Daoist sect will inevitably destroy your soul and sever your chance at reincarnation.”

“—”

The Nightmare Demon’s eyes trembled, and then she let out a shaky laugh. “Is everyone who cultivates the Path of Detachment as cold-blooded and shameless as you?”

“Perhaps,” Lin Qinghe replied softly.

“Fine, then I’ll tell you,” the Nightmare Demon rasped, her voice filled with hatred. “The Heavenly Sandalwood is no longer with me. Someone else took it.”

Yuan Canglang rushed to the prison bars. “Who?”

“Hahahaha, I don’t feel like telling you. Why don’t you guess?”

“…Damn demon!!” Feeling mocked, Yuan Canglang nearly lost his mind in fury. His spiritual energy once again formed into a whip, but this time, there was no trace of the restraint he’d shown earlier. He was about to lash out at the woman in the cell with full force.

“Canglang.”

But the blow never landed.

Yuan Canglang’s wrist was gently restrained by an invisible force.

“Lin Qinghe, who are you putting on this show of false compassion for, hmm?”

Inside the Heaven-Sealing Stone Prison, the woman smiled, chuckled, and then burst into manic laughter, escalating into hysteria.

“Go ahead, guess who took it! Can’t figure it out? I told you he would come back! This Daoist sect, these Three Realms, these masses of people—all of them are living off the blood debt they owe him! I told you, even if he became a vengeful ghost, he would return!!”

“……”

Her maniacal laughter filled one half of the room, while silence consumed the other. The man remained speechless.

For the first time, Yuan Canglang felt deeply uneasy in the midst of this silence. Cautiously, he turned around and sent a voice transmission with his spiritual sense. “Junior Grandmaster, who is she talking about?”

Lin Qinghe sighed softly, closing his eyes as he shook his head. “Let’s go.”

With those words, a subtle movement rippled through the air outside the stone prison, and Lin Qinghe’s figure had already vanished.

Yuan Canglang hesitated for a moment, but ultimately restored the prison’s seals before following him out.

Outside the Water Prison.

The waterfall cascaded down in a silver torrent, gleaming like a white silk ribbon.

The entire mountain was covered in lush green, with mist swirling around, creating a serene and refreshing atmosphere.

At that very moment, as Yuan Canglang reappeared outside, he suddenly realized something and, in a panic, looked at the figure in front of him. “Junior Grandmaster, you reached the pinnacle of cultivation thousands of years ago but have still been unable to ascend. Could it be that your inner demon is—”

“!”

His words were abruptly cut off.

It felt as though an invisible sword had severed them, the sword of the number one under Heaven’s Gate.

For the first time, a ripple of emotion appeared in Lin Qinghe’s eyes.

He turned slightly, and the autumn chill seemed to spread across the entire mountain.

“……”

Yuan Canglang stood frozen in place, cold sweat soaking his back.

A few moments later.

Lin Qinghe’s gaze lowered once more, his voice calm and indifferent. “Do not speak of this matter again.”

“…Understood. I, the younger disciple, will obey.”

—

**At Huatian Pavilion, inside a nearly empty eatery.**

Shi Liu had only just reached the thought, *Why does this man sitting next to the disciple of the Tianyan Sect look somewhat familiar?*—

And the fighting had already begun inside the hall.

To be more precise, Feng Ye hadn’t moved, Wen Shifei hadn’t moved, and neither had the young Daoist.

Only Jiao Zhi suddenly reverted to his original form, though it was less than a tenth of its full size. With a vicious, bloodthirsty howl, the fiery red shadow leaped toward the adjacent table.

It all happened in the span of just a few breaths.

Among the disciples of the Tianyan Sect at the neighboring table, the leader—an expert at the peak of the Heavenly Realm—caught sight of the danger from the corner of his eye and angrily shouted toward the man who had just come down the stairs:

“You dare lead the demon clan into an ambush?!”

The man coming down the stairs immediately changed his expression. His cultivation was the weakest, and he was the furthest away. Without even attempting to explain himself, he instantly turned to flee.

Jiao Zhi twisted in midair, ready to tear the man apart with a swipe of its claws.

Just then, a cold voice sounded from behind.

“Leave him,” Feng Ye raised his eyelids, a faint, bone-chilling smile glinting in his black, obsidian-like eyes. “I’ll handle him myself.”

“Yes, Master.”

Jiao Zhi swiftly changed direction, diving toward the four Tianyan Sect disciples instead.

The man who had come down the stairs was already so terrified that his face contorted in panic. He scrambled desperately, hands and feet flailing, trying to crawl away. But no matter how hard he struggled, even as veins bulged on his forehead, he remained frozen in place, unable to move an inch.

Fear and despair twisted his features into something grotesque.

Shi Liu finally snapped out of her daze.

“Isn’t he the one from before…?” the girl trailed off uncertainly, turning to look at Feng Ye.

Feng Ye nodded slightly. “Yes.”

Shi Liu finally put the pieces together. “So you planned to travel with Wen Shifei just for him?”

“He trafficked humans before, and now he’s trafficking demons. He deserves to die.”

“Then why didn’t you capture him right after we got off the ship?”

“Naturally, to bait a bigger catch.” This time, it was Wen Shifei who spoke, his usual cheerful tone laced with menace. “He’s just a low-level grunt. If we kill him too early and get nothing out of him, wouldn’t it be a waste?”

Though he was smiling, his gaze was terrifying.

In the span of just a few exchanges, Jiao Zhi had already finished off the battle on his end.

The four Tianyan Sect disciples were piled up like sacks of grain, one on top of the other. The top disciple, pinned under Jiao Zhi’s massive claw with its flame-cloud markings, was completely immobilized.

The leader of the group suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood from his heart, trying to send out a life-saving sword signal to alert others.

Unfortunately, just as the beam of white light flew toward the entrance of the hall, it was met with a faint flash of green light. The white beam seemed to collide with something, as if swallowed by the maw of an enormous abyss…

Smash!

The beam of white light shattered, and was devoured completely, leaving nothing behind.

“Pu!!”

The disciple who had sent the signal suffered a backlash, spitting out a mouthful of blood before collapsing unconscious.

Shi Liu was a little startled. “Isn’t the Tianyan Sect one of the two great immortal sects? How could their disciples be involved with people like this?”

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

Wen Shifei casually took over the conversation, standing up. He even stretched lazily before signaling for Jiao Zhi to lift its claw. “Making me personally get involved… These so-called cultivators—at least they’ll have the honor of dying with dignity.”

Shi Liu wasn’t convinced that Wen Shifei could simply ask and get the answers he wanted.

Judging by the increasingly thick and oppressive aura of bloodlust surrounding the Demon Emperor, she could guess what was about to happen. These four Tianyan Sect disciples would likely suffer the kind of torment where they couldn’t even beg for death.

“……”

Shi Liu pressed her lips together and lowered her gaze.

At that moment, a snow-white cloak moved beside her.

Shi Liu looked up in surprise. “You’re going too?”

“I won’t dirty my hands,” Feng Ye replied, glancing at the four fallen disciples of the immortal sect with disgust.

His expression was cold, distant, and tinged with disdain, as though his emotions were hanging by a thread at the edge of a cliff.

—It was the same look he had back in the Tongtian Pavilion, when he first met the Daoist disciples like Yan Qiubai.

Indeed… he had always harbored an intense loathing for the disciples of the immortal sects.

Shi Liu suppressed her thoughts and said nothing. “What are you going to do? Do you need my help?”

“No need.”

Feng Ye left the table, walking towards the man who had collapsed in despair, grotesquely begging for mercy without making a sound. Wrapped in an invisible force, the man was dragged coldly and mercilessly towards the back courtyard.

It was as though a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood followed in Feng Ye’s wake.

Midway, Feng Ye paused, frowning. He glanced at Wen Shifei, who looked as though he was about to take action right there. “You too—go to the back kitchen.”

Wen Shifei frowned. “Why make it so troublesome? I’m not slaughtering pigs.”

“Go.”

The demon was never one for patience.

Wen Shifei shot him a glare in annoyance, then seemed to realize something. He turned his head and glanced at Shi Liu, sitting by the table.

“Tch,” the Demon Emperor clicked his tongue disdainfully as he dragged the four disciples along. “Never seen a servant girl more delicate than the one in your household.”

“……”

A few breaths later, the dining hall returned to a state of calm and quiet.

Except for the broken tables and chairs scattered across the floor, and the fact that the serving boy, the manager, and the accountant had all fled without a trace.

The young Daoist, resting his chin on his hand, turned back with a cheerful smile. “I love moments like this.”

Shi Liu blinked. “What?”

“Doing good deeds without getting your hands dirty,” he replied, beaming.

Shi Liu paused and then responded, “…Hmm.”

Perhaps noticing that Shi Liu still seemed a little distracted, her mind likely occupied by thoughts of what might be happening in the back kitchen, Xue Wan suddenly got an idea and smiled mischievously. “Perfect timing! Since we’re not busy at the moment, how about I teach you the basics of cultivation?”

“Right now?” Shi Liu was caught off guard.

Wasn’t this a bit… too casual?

“Oh, relax! Your aptitude is far beyond that of ordinary people,” Xue Wan said, waving his hand confidently. “In fact, to be precise, you’re different from even the most talented cultivators.”

“In what way?” Shi Liu asked, intrigued.

“In the mortal world, cultivation relies on absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and refining it within oneself. But places rich in spiritual energy are rare.”

“When spiritual energy is abundant, a cultivator at the Earthly Realm might be able to absorb a single thread of it, whereas a cultivator at the Heavenly Realm could absorb ten threads. Those who reach the Transformation Realm could absorb a hundred threads. At that stage, some extraordinarily gifted individuals—due to their unique constitution or comprehension—can absorb far more than their current realm would allow.”

After finishing, Xue Wan thought for a moment and added, “Hmm, just like that ‘prodigy’ from the Daoist Sect who’s not actually born with divine talent.”

Shi Liu raised an eyebrow. “Who do you mean?”

“That would be Lin Qinghe,” Xue Wan answered, his tone light but laced with irony. “Everyone calls him a peerless genius, but the truth is, he wasn’t born with any special talent. His cultivation wasn’t the result of innate ability—he just forced it through sheer will and determination.”
“…Huh?”

Shi Liu had been listening attentively but was startled by the revelation. “Isn’t Senior Brother Yan Qiubai the biological son of the Daoist sect master?”

“Aiya, I must have let that slip.”

The young Daoist, completely unrepentant, only looked more mischievous, his eyes gleaming with cunning.

Shi Liu was left speechless. It took her a good while to digest the shocking news before she solemnly nodded. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Of course! I trust you the most!” The young Daoist’s tone was overly sincere, though Shi Liu couldn’t quite grasp what he meant by that.

Still, she nodded back. “Did you predict this with your divination as well?”

“That’s right.”

Shi Liu’s expression grew slightly concerned. “But if your calculations are so accurate, won’t it harm you in some way?”

“…”

Xue Wan froze for a moment.

The moment of surprise was so strong that he almost lost control of his Golden Lotus technique, nearly revealing his true form.

It took him a while to compose himself.

The young Daoist sighed softly, resting his chin on his hand as he looked at her. “Little fairy, you shouldn’t always worry about others. It’s true, people like you make the world a much better place. But people like you are also the ones who get hurt the most by the bad in the world. It’s not fair to you.”

Shi Liu thought seriously for a moment. “Then, is that why you look out for yourself by calculating those hexagrams?”

Xue Wan was stunned again.

This time, his reaction was shorter, and after a brief pause, he burst into laughter. “True enough. A fool not to laugh at a fool.”

Shi Liu nodded, taking him seriously.

“Alright, back to the point.” Xue Wan gestured with his hands. “Yan Qiubai *is* a genius among geniuses. Although he hasn’t broken through to the Transformation Realm yet, his ability to absorb and control spiritual energy has long surpassed that of more than half of the cultivators who *have* reached that realm. He can take on ordinary Transformation Realm cultivators with ease, not to mention his skill with various divine artifacts and techniques—but you, you’re even more remarkable than him!”

Shi Liu had been reflecting on his words, feeling a deep sense of admiration for Yan Qiubai, when she suddenly heard the last part and her eyes widened in shock.

“Me? More remarkable than Senior Brother Yan Qiubai?”

“Exactly!” Xue Wan’s excitement was palpable. “Once you reach the Blessed Land of the Immortal Sect, you’ll be able to see all the forms of spiritual energy in heaven and earth! If ordinary cultivators at the Earthly Realm can absorb one thread, those at the Heavenly Realm ten threads, and those at the Transformation Realm a hundred, then for someone with the *Nine Apertures Glazed Heart*, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is limitless. You’ll advance by leaps and bounds!”

A brief silence followed.

Shi Liu, still processing, asked in a daze, “What… exactly is the Nine Apertures Glazed Heart?”