Volume 3, Chapter 104 – The Envoy (Two-in-One)

There were four trucks in the convoy. Bai Xiang’s truck was third in line.

That was because her job was to guard the rear. The demon crew had been so eager to “recruit” her precisely because they were desperate for usable muscle.

She kept her truck steady behind the taillights ahead and slowly drove into Jingwu Village. By the headlights’ beam she could see low houses on both sides of the road.

The houses were real. The demons knew humans had drones and satellites that could take pictures.

When she said the whole of Jingwu Village was fake, was a lie, she meant there was no one here at all.

They were clever. They used real houses as cover to fool satellite imagery and had schools like Gas Middle School send people over now and then to “visit,” creating the illusion that the village actually existed.

If Luohou’s army or corporate mercenaries ever came to investigate, they would activate the protective Demon Pool. Outsiders would only see old folk and women sitting in their doorways, men with farm tools working the fields, a dreamlike scene of peaceful lives.

This time, though, it was their own people arriving, so there was no need to activate the Demon Pool.

“We are here.” The hanging radio in the cab crackled with a reminder. “Everyone out, get ready to unload.”

In the open square at the center of the village, the four trucks pulled up in a ring around a stone statue in the exact middle. The crew jumped down one by one and began hauling cargo from the beds.

Bai Xiang did not get out. She was watching the stone statue.

It was a statue of Mo Buddha. The Mo Buddha the Luohou people worshiped had a face similar to the Tathagata World Honored One, but the hem of his robe was ragged and torn, and the string of prayer beads at his neck was carved with one hundred and eight different human faces.

This statue was no exception. It was about five meters tall, with a base over a meter thick. Standing with palms pressed together, his face of merciful calm lit by the truck beams, his eyes were closed, only the slight curl of his lips looking a little strange.

With a bang, a man in a brown leather jacket jumped down from the leading truck, carrying a long spindle of black crystal, and walked toward the statue.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch him, faint excitement and fanaticism in their eyes, as they watched him climb the statue and carefully wedge that piece of black crystal between its joined hands.

Bai Xiang watched him the whole time and noticed that the texture of that crystal was different from any she had seen before.

Crystals grown by black crystal disease usually held white mist inside, with a less-than-clear look. Even polished into jewelry or Buddha figurines, if you raised them to the light and looked closely, you could still see tiny filaments within.

Those filaments and the mist they formed were not impurities in the ore. They were partially transformed blood vessels and nerve tissue.

The spindle crystal was different. When the light hit it, there were a few close-up moments where she could clearly see its interior, flawlessly clear, like the purest black crystal glass.

So these things had grades.

Did you need crystal of a certain purity to open an Illusory Realm entrance?

She was still guessing when the scene abruptly changed.

The man in the jacket jumped down from the statue and raised his hands toward the sky, chanting. The others copied him, raising their hands and muttering. Some even dropped to their knees to kiss the dry ground.

They were not chanting Black Heaven Dharma, but some strange language Bai Xiang had never heard. Driven by that cadence, the clouds at the horizon slowly parted to reveal a bright full moon, which cast a single beam of pale light like gauze onto the back of Mo Buddha’s head.

Something strange happened. The statue’s eyes lit up, and two concentrated beams of moonlight shot from its eye sockets onto the surface of the black crystal.

Sizzle.

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The black crystal began to smoke and melt, the black liquid spreading quickly from the statue’s hands over its whole body. It felt like the space around it shuddered once, and then she heard a sudden roar of voices.

The village was still roughly the same village. The basic layout of the buildings had not changed.

But now, the ramshackle wooden sheds and brick houses had become tall buildings with a distinct architectural style, jammed between rows of wooden gateways along the street. Every building blazed with light, and the streets were crowded with passing figures.

This was it.

Bai Xiang tightened her grip on the monk’s staff.

This was no Demon Pool effect. She could tell. The Heaven-and-Earth energy here had suddenly become much thinner. The whole place had clearly been shifted to another space.

She was likely in the real Jingwu Village now, which was at the same time the closest market-town of the Blackrock Demon Kingdom to the main world.

She opened the door and stepped down. The man in the leather jacket was already walking toward her with a demon in ancient-style robes.

The demon had deer antlers on his head and long, pointed ears. When he spoke, his lips twitched uncontrollably, revealing sharp teeth, but his clear eyes still held reason.

“Is this the one?” He pointed at Bai Xiang and glanced at the man in the leather jacket.

The man nodded.

“One?” The antlered man sounded displeased. “And a woman, at that.”

“The ancient wu line has been broken for many years. We used a great deal of effort to find even one.” The man in the leather jacket fawned. “There are no more. If you want more, you will have to go to the Yu people’s lands and look for the Western Wu ancient clans.”

“That is enough.” The antlered man cut him off impatiently and pulled a heavy cloth pouch from his sleeve, handing it over. “Take this and go. Once the cargo is unloaded, you are done.”

“Yes, yes, your humble servant will withdraw.”

Once he had sent the man away, the antlered demon came straight over to Bai Xiang.

“You, come with me.”

He gave her a once-over, said nothing more, and turned toward the street.

Bai Xiang’s face stayed blank. She hefted her staff and followed.

When she stepped up out of the square, truly leaving the central open space, she felt something and glanced back to see that the four trucks were gone.

Not just the trucks. The people who had been unloading them were gone too, replaced by another crew hauling away what remained on the ground.

“Stop looking,” the antlered demon called back impatiently.

“Country hicks. Is this level of willpower really usable?”

The last two sentences were muttered under his breath. Then he raised his voice again, urging her to keep up.

Bai Xiang looked at the strange demons crowding the street, said nothing, and followed.

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On the way, she saw all kinds of shops and stalls, with an endless variety of goods on display. She also heard plenty of demon conversation, discussion, and haggling.

“Can you go any lower on this battery pack?”

“No. This is imported from outside. Five modules per set, detachable or stackable. One cell can power a Scorpion Type Three for fifteen minutes. Do you have any idea what that kind of tech is worth?”

“It is still too expensive. What about this skull?”

“Excellent eye, sir. This is the skull of a human ore that grew mid-grade black crystal. One price. Just three mid-grade pieces.”

The customer clearly winced, but he had taken a real liking to the skull. Gritting his teeth, he produced three black crystals about the size of go stones and bought it.

Bai Xiang noted that the currency they called “mid-grade crystals” still had flaws inside. They could not compare to the crystal that had opened the Illusory Realm.

Black crystal was the main currency here.

Some merchants accepted Great Yu copper coins, though not many. Almost none took paper money issued by the federations.

So that was the Blackrock Demon Kingdom. Its inhabitants had been collecting black crystal this whole time, and even the half-living skulls from earlier were used to grow human ore. In the end, all of it was for the sake of harvesting crystal.

Why was black crystal so important here?

She had been wondering, until she saw more and more demons and finally formed a guess.

Most demons here wore long-sleeved robes. Their features were bizarre and varied, and did not always correspond to any known animal outside.

The key point was that parts of their bodies were “crystallized.”

It was not like black crystal disease. Black crystal disease could not be controlled and came with intense pain. Crystals would sprout at random from the chest, abdomen, and other places, a torment to flesh and mind alike.

Here, their “crystallization” seemed highly controlled.

A burly demon boar had just passed by. He had a mane of black bristles and a raised snout. His bristles ran from the top of his head down his exposed spine. The further back they went, the harder and more crystalline they became, clearly transformed at will into “black crystal bristle spikes.”

Most of the others were the same. The horns of bull demons, teeth and claws of others, often showed a black crystal texture, without hindering their use at all.

She looked again at the antlered demon leading her and, sure enough, saw a crystalline sheen on his horns.

So.

She more or less understood what they wanted black crystal for.

The Blackrock Demon Kingdom was a realm grown on blackrock crystal veins. Any being that joined it probably made crystallization its life’s goal.

It sounded horrifying, but might just be their cultivation method.

By devouring black crystal they strengthened the crystallization process within their bodies. Once their whole form was transformed into crystal, they would shed the mortal body. There might be all kinds of mysteries there.

In that sense, cultivating human ore was simply “farming” to them.

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Those suffering uncontrolled crystallization were “fields,” “land that produced grain,” and spreading the crystal curse was sowing the seed.

Her eyes narrowed a touch, killing intent brewing in her heart.

Jingwu Village in the demon realm was indeed incredibly prosperous, but its total area was not much larger than the main world’s Jingwu Village. Before long, they had reached the end, where a wooden tower in an antique style came into view.

The antlered demon led Bai Xiang into the tower and up to a side room on the second floor, told her to wait, and slipped out alone.

The Heaven-and-Earth energy here was rather thin.

She surveyed the furnishings and closed her eyes, carefully running the Taishang Perception.

She got lucky. Perhaps it had not occurred to anyone that a person could invent such a technique, but the antlered demon had not gone far. He was in the room two doors down, meeting someone.

As the air and ambient energy vibrated together, fragments of information flowed along the shared space and reached her, one by one. Jade Spirit analyzed them, and her mind rebuilt a complete three-dimensional image.

It was a room laid out much like this one. A table in the middle held plates that were, without exception, full of human heads.

Those heads clearly came from patients in the final stages of black crystal disease. Crystal growth had blocked organ function, so they had not yet fully died, even after being severed. Each grimaced and writhed on its plate, a sight of pure horror.

The antlered demon sat on one side of the table. Across from him sat another demon in a pure black robe whose entire head was crystallized.

At the same time, their once-muddled conversation became clear.

“New material?” the crystal-headed demon asked doubtfully. “Can she really work?”

“Worth a try. Better than nothing.” The antlered demon frowned slightly. His tone did not sound confident.

“You say that, but I am the one who has to answer to the Holy Venerated One.” The crystal-headed demon tapped the table. “Catalyzing a Saint-Stone Envoy is the single most important task right now. I told you we needed more material with ancient demon bloodlines. What you are bringing me is too low quality.”

“It is your standards that are too high.” The antlered demon tried to argue. “His Highness has already done everything he can for you. This is not Great Yu. There are barely any Sword Dao practitioners, let alone people with demon bloodlines.”

“If they have not learned Sword Dao, cannot you create them on the spot?” The crystal-headed demon sounded unimpressed.

“Gather some children and train them. We gave you demon-breeding grounds, and you still have nothing to show. So many demons, so many Demon Pools, and you still have no results?”

“That takes time,” the antlered demon said weakly. “His Highness starting this war has already aroused suspicion among several companies. We cannot act openly under that kind of surveillance.”

“That is your concern,” the crystal-headed demon cut him off. “If Prince Saiwei wants to earn that promised seat and ‘ascend’ from the lowly human world to the upper realm, he has to complete the Holy Venerated One’s task.”

“And from what I know, we are not the only ones preparing to return. Those corporations should be busy enough. How would they have the energy to interfere with you?”

“Chief Steward Cai, you should remind Prince Saiwei not to play too many little games and lose the big prize over something small.”

“I will,” the antlered demon said, his face tight, but he still forced himself to agree.

From this exchange alone, Bai Xiang could tell the crystal-headed demon held absolute dominance.

He had to be upper management in the Blackrock Demon Kingdom, at least a minor high-level.

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As for the antlered demon, Chief Steward Cai, he was from Luohou’s royal family, serving Prince Saiwei.

There was a lot in that conversation.

So Prince Saiwei had started a war to distract the multinationals while secretly throwing himself at the Blackrock Demon Kingdom, hoping to “ascend” to some so-called upper realm.

No wonder the atmosphere in Baco City had felt so strange.

From the moment she entered Baco City’s territory, Bai Xiang had felt that “the strength of the royal family and government is very, very weak.”

Whatever she wanted, Aurora’s answer was always “no problem,” with a strong confidence behind it, as if she took it for granted that Baco City was Starwater’s back garden and Starwater, not the crown, was the true ruler here.

She had thought it was simply the classic case of a giant corporation crushing a small monarchy, a standard “proxy” play.

Now it seemed Prince Saiwei had been putting on a show.

After a while, the two at the table finally started eating.

Each took up a head and, while it was still alive, grabbed its temples. One scratch and pull with their nails, and a complete piece of skull lifted away to reveal the brain inside.

That brain had been transformed as well. It was no longer pale but crystalline black, quivering in the air like a black gel pudding.

The two demons reached in without a thought, scooped up the “pudding,” and ate it, their faces calm, unmoved by the contorted expressions on the heads.

“All right, I should go take a look at this material.”

After finishing two heads, the crystal-headed demon stood, then said with a hint of curiosity, “You said she is female?”

“That is right.” Chief Steward Cai nodded, a sly smile crossing his face.

“I checked her for the envoy. Her skin is a little dark, but her figure is not bad.”

“If her witchcraft proves sound and her body strong enough, we can make full use of her during the catalysis ritual.”

“Human women are too fragile,” the crystal-headed demon said, smiling now as well. “It has never been satisfying. You are the only one who understands my troubles, Brother Cai.”

“I have already moved the guards away downstairs,” Chief Steward Cai said, rising too. “The Envoy may enjoy himself.”

He said nothing more and left.

“Let us see what this southern witch woman’s talent is like.”

The crystal-headed demon spoke to himself as he walked along the corridor toward Bai Xiang’s room.

He lifted the curtain.

A blaze of brilliant sword light met him head-on.