Chapter 93: The Oriole Lying in Wait
The Moon-Supporting Lotus Seed hovered in Song Yan’s palm, a faint wash of moonlight flickering into being and fading there.
The yellow-robed Daoist youth, suspended in midair, jolted violently. His pupils constricted to pinpoints, and disbelief spread across his face.
Even the shadowy demon-form behind him wavered.
“No way... impossible!”
This sudden scene, and the appearance of that other lotus seed, had utterly overturned his train of thought.
“You can’t fool me. That is another seed... Where did you get it?”
“Another one?”
Song Yan gave a derisive laugh. “How is a mid-Foundation cultivator like me supposed to go hunting for a treasure like the Ancient Moon-Supporting Lotus?”
“You know yourself that if you searched the whole Chu Kingdom, you would never find a second one!”
The surrounding cultivators stared dumbly at the abrupt turn of events.
The yellow-robed youth was shaken; even he could no longer tell whether this brat was telling the truth.
Years ago, when he and another demonic cultivator had been driven to this place while fleeing pursuit, they had accidentally obtained a brief record.
It seemed to be written by one of the earliest leaders of the free-cultivator alliance in Linghua Valley.
It mentioned that Linghua Valley had once been founded upon the seeds of this Ancient Moon-Supporting Lotus.
The ancestors knew that the strength of free cultivators could never match that of sects or demonic cultivators, and feared covetous eyes and future calamity. So they concealed the existence of the lotus seeds under the name of Spirit Spring Pearls and Jade.
Objects born with the spiritual eye from heaven and earth were impossible to seize by force; by doing so, they spared their descendants senseless disaster.
The Moon-Supporting Lotus Seed possessed surging vitality and was especially suited to the cultivation of the Yellow Springs Demonic Art practiced by the yellow-robed youth, which was why he had schemed to seize it.
Buzz...
The yellow-robed youth’s expression had already darkened.
Demonic qi billowed in his palm as the translucent jade that purported to be a spirit pearl gradually dissolved away, revealing the shape of a lotus seed within.
Upon careful sensing, he found that the seed in his hand did indeed have more spiritual force than vitality. Compared with the one in that brat’s hand, it was clearly an imitation.
At this point, he believed it at least partly.
Liang Feng stared blankly at the lotus seed in Song Yan’s palm.
The yellow-robed youth finally could not bear this turn of events any longer. His face twisted viciously as he shouted, “What is going on here?!”
Song Yan did not even blink. “Naturally, it was all Senior Cong’s plan!”
“You really think such crude tricks could escape Senior Cong’s eyes?”
Cong Yuzhen blinked slightly, though her expression remained calm.
Heaven help him, she knew nothing at all!
Song Yan took back the lotus seed and went on, “Senior Cong noticed something was wrong long ago. This time, letting Brother Liang succeed on purpose was merely to lure the snake from its hole...”
“And catch them all in one net!”
He smiled without smiling. “You want to know whether that lotus seed is fake? Simple.”
“If you can survive Senior Cong’s sword and make it back alive, use it then, and won’t you know?”
The rain suddenly intensified.
A flash of cold light crossed her eyes, and the flying sword Slow Rain had already struck!
Cong Yuzhen was a very pure-hearted person.
She liked sincerity.
She believed in those who were willing to help her.
So she believed Song Yan. The lotus seed in the demonic cultivator’s hands must be fake.
Then she had nothing left to hesitate over.
She formed a hand seal, and a vast surge of spiritual power roared forth.
From her lips came a soft murmur: “Rain of No Life.”
Buzz—
In an instant, the downpour froze in place. Countless raindrops hung suspended in the air, no longer falling.
The Yellow Springs youth’s heart skipped a beat.
That single beat was enough.
The innumerable droplets hanging in midair suddenly transformed into needle-like death, slashing toward him at terrifying speed.
Boom!
Demonic qi surged around the yellow robes. The ten-foot demon-form swelled to thirteen feet, its aura becoming even more solid as it shielded him within.
Bang, bang, bang...
The impacts came one after another, like cold springs striking jade.
That overwhelming spiritual force, and the sky full of sword-rain, made everyone on the Linghua Valley side feel fear rising in their hearts as well.
The Moon-Supporting Lotus Seed in the yellow-robed youth’s hand dropped from the air and vanished into the grasses and brush of the forest.
In a corner no one noticed, Xiao He drifted out from the shadows and quietly carried it away in its mouth.
Only then did Song Yan let out a barely perceptible breath.
What he had feared most was that this enraged demonic cultivator would destroy the genuine original Moon-Supporting Lotus Seed.
In the present situation, he had countless ways to muddle through.
As expected, the demon-form’s aura grew weaker and weaker.
But Guest-Detaining Rain also vanished at that very moment.
The yellow-robed Daoist was just about to cast an escape art when a streak of blue swordlight, wrapped in violent water spiritual force, shot toward him like lightning!
It flashed past in the yellow-robed man’s stunned gaze.
Pfft—
Without the slightest hesitation.
He was killed on the spot.
Even his blood was swept away by that swordlight, leaving only a withered corpse, skeletal as a skeleton, to crash to the ground.
Song Yan stared in disbelief at the scene.
“A Foundation-stage demonic cultivator...”
“Just like that...”
“Died?”
His gaze toward Cong Yuzhen carried a little more reverence.
In pursuit of a flawless killing blow, Cong Yuzhen had also exhausted herself completely.
She was a little winded now, but her manner remained brisk and decisive.
With a casual motion she drew up the yellow-robed man’s cosmos pouch, then shouted to the people below, “Take Liang Feng and return to Linghua Valley for discussion!”
“Yes, Senior.”
Before leaving, Cong Yuzhen’s gaze rested on Song Yan for a brief moment.
“Come with me.”
...
Several dozen li away.
In a mountain village.
A mass of writhing flesh, trailing wisps of pale-yellow mist, moved slowly through the shadows.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”
“That woman! That brat! I remember you both!”
It cursed endlessly, the fire of rage in its chest impossible to vent.
“Once my Yellow Springs Demonic Art reaches completion and I rise again, I will make sure you suffer a fate worse than death!”
“Fortunately, this lord has always been cautious and left a clone here...”
Then it spotted, from afar, a mortal boy who seemed to have lost his way in the woods.
“Heh! Just when I was worrying about finding a body...”
“I’ll use you first!”
The flesh clone of the yellow-robed youth slowly slithered toward the boy.
The child had already seen the strange thing from afar. Terror seized him, but he could only gape with his mouth open, too frightened to make a sound.
Staggering, he fell to the ground.
He could only watch helplessly as the mass of flesh swelled little by little, gradually taking on the shape of a small man, then slowly walking toward him.
“It’s all right... child...”
A hoarse, sinister voice came from somewhere within the “little man.”
“It’s all right...”
The “little man” held out blood-smeared hands, slowly reaching toward the boy.
“It’s all...”
The words stopped dead.
A horizontal blade had been laid lightly against the “little man’s” throat.
A cold voice came from behind.
“He is all right.”
Under the moonlight, Sheng Nian’s face looked especially sharp and angular.
“You are the one in trouble.”
The blade moved slightly, just about to cut down, when the voice within the body rang out.
“Before you kill him, don’t you want to see what he can do?”
...
The flesh clone of the yellow-robed youth was already too frightened to hide it.
If it died now, it would truly be both body and soul destroyed.
At once, it began to wail and beg for mercy.
“Spare me, Senior! Spare me, Senior—uh...”
A pair of large hands had already seized the “little man” by the head.
A layer of crimson crept over Sheng Nian’s eyes.
“Soul-Seizing Art!”
...
...
“Hah. I thought the younger generation would have made some progress by now after all these years. Never imagined they’d only get worse and worse...”
“Old ghost, that ‘Asura Dharma Body of the Desire Realm Heaven’... sounds formidable.”
“The foundation of the Asura Path’s demonic arts. You call that formidable? So-so, at best. It’s not as good as the art I passed on to you...”
“Can I cultivate both?”
“Hah. You’re courting death.”
“...”
After a moment of silence, that underworld-like voice suddenly changed tone.
“Still... if that fellow from your hometown could master his own demonic thoughts, this technique would suit him rather well...”
“Ah... old ghost, are you really an ancient demon sovereign? Why do you keep thinking so much about some righteous cultivator?”
“Heh heh. This lord thinks that boy is more suited to becoming a demon than you are.”
“...”
“...I’ll copy out a version for him later.”
“But the name should be changed. If people see such an ominous title, they won’t even dare accept it.”
“...”
Thanks to my digital father, Embroidered Dog, for the ten-thousand-point reward!
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