Volume 4, Chapter 44 – Schemes

The atmosphere in the hall had been reasonably harmonious a second ago. As soon as Xu Heqing finished speaking, the mood instantly cooled.

Feng Xuzi and Jing Lanyu were already doing their best to keep their expressions unchanged, but at these words their gazes still flickered, and they could not help sneaking quick looks at Bai Xiang.

Even Mibu the monk, who was putting on the best act, had a brief instant where his whole body stiffened, though his expression did not change.

Very clearly, though Xu Heqing’s last words were unpleasant, they were exactly the point that Taixu Monastery, Qinglan Immortal Sect, and Mingyuan Temple cared about most.

That way of thinking again.

Sitting upright on the main seat, Bai Xiang took in every shift in their behavior and more or less understood where Lishan Sword Sect’s hardline attitude came from.

They had most likely made the same mistake as Cui Yuanhao, attributing Bai Xiang’s rise entirely to the Xuandi bloodline in her body. In their view, it was not that she was astonishingly brilliant, merely that she stood on the shoulders of her predecessors and basked in the light of the Xuandi Scripture.

Some probably even believed that her creation of the Path of Qi might not be true, that the so-called Path of Qi had in fact been created by Xuandi while alive, and that she herself was not the founder of a Dao at all, unworthy of such respect and treatment.

To be fair, that suspicion did have a lot of traction.

Bai Xiang really was too young. Attaining Immortal Venerable at the age of double nine—such a thing was not completely unheard of in their experience, and there had even been more extreme cases. But in every such case, those people without exception had ancient demon bloodlines in their bodies, even blood from powerful ancient demons.

Any intelligent being who wanted to attain the Immortal Venerable realm so young had to rely on their bloodline. So why should Bai Zhixing of all people be an exception?

Saying the bloodline had thinned after so many generations… no one would believe that.

A human whose imperial blood was that thin could not possibly achieve this. Her imperial blood had to be highly concentrated, and everything she was had to be derived from it.

It had to be that she had unearthed the secrets hidden in the Xuandi bloodline, comprehended the legendary canonizing cultivation art, the Xuandi Scripture, and that was how her ferocity and her string of victories could be explained.

“I heard Lishan Sword Sect accepted recruitment from the Sacred Court five years ago and became one of its satellite organizations,” Feng Xuzi suddenly said. “Judging from Brother Xu’s words and deeds today, it seems that rumor is not false.”

“There is no need for Taixu Monastery to concern itself with that,” Xu Heqing replied, far more arrogant toward Feng Xuzi than toward Bai Xiang. He even spoke to him with a sidelong glance, openly mocking him as he continued. “A thousand years ago, Taixu Monastery was an out-and-out human force. And now you lot serve as their messenger officers…”

“Feng Xuzi, aren’t you afraid they’ll slaughter the donkey once the millstone’s turned?”

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“Ridiculous.” Jing Lanyu frowned and rebuked him, then snapped her sleeve and turned her head away, only saying, “Are you here to preach ‘humans and demons cannot stand together’ to us? That is not the path the Sacred Court follows.”

“Amitabha…” Mibu the monk also chanted a Buddha-name. “If the world has no order, then there can be no talk of Loss of Order.”

“Layman Xu clearly cultivates the Heartless Sword, yet his emotions and thoughts are rather extreme and deranged. You must be careful not to let a mind-eroding Void Demon taint your heart…”

Not a single one of these birds was an easy piece of work.

Inwardly, Bai Xiang could only shake her head.

Feng Xuzi’s first sentence had already stabbed straight through Lishan Sword Sect’s greatest backing, namely that they had been recruited by the Demon Court five years ago and could barely be counted as part of the Demon Court. Those words were meant for her.

Jing Lanyu, too, had not only drawn a clear line between herself and Xu Heqing, but also stripped his words and actions away from the Demon Court’s doctrine, which was tantamount to tearing off the tiger skin he was wearing and cutting off his “legitimacy.”

The most vicious was Mibu the monk. The first two had only tripped Xu Heqing in secret. This bald donkey had gone so far as to help Bai Xiang think up an excuse to kill him.

Every one of them was full of bad water.

As expected, there were no simple people among those chosen as envoys.

Well…

Looking again at Xu Heqing arguing with the others, with that look of someone completely unable to read the room, Bai Xiang felt that at least his name should be taken off that evaluation.

She knew perfectly well that Taixu Monastery, Qinglan Immortal Sect, and Mingyuan Temple must harbor suspicions similar to Lishan Sword Sect’s.

But the reason they had sent people with gifts was because they held the intention of “getting along for now and keeping the peace.”

It did not matter how the upper echelons doubted. Once a task was assigned, the people below were supposed to carry it out properly. There was no reason to start pressing and pushing.

Even now, with that layer of suspicion having been bluntly exposed by Lishan Sword Sect, the other envoys were still siding with Shenming Sword Dao, rushing to draw clear lines between themselves and Lishan.

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Yet Bai Xiang still did not quite understand where Xu Heqing got his confidence.

Even with the Demon Court behind him, none of these people had Immortal Venerable cultivation.

Theoretically, they were not even the same “species” as Immortal Venerables, and still they dared speak to her like this.

Did he truly have no fear of death?

If an Immortal Venerable decided to act, the people he relied on would not be able to save him in time.

It was a strange matter. Bai Xiang did not act rashly for the moment, but kept watching Xu Heqing’s expression as he battled the others with his tongue, determined to win against the three of them in words.

“Feng Xuzi, stop pretending. Before you took a master you ate plenty of humans. Do you really think some remorse makes it all go away?”

“And you, woman surnamed Jing. Don’t think that just because Qinglan Immortal Sect entered the alliance you’ve been fully accepted. You know perfectly well how much discrimination you’ve suffered. ‘Not the path of the Sacred Court’? Did the Sacred Court step in when you were the one getting burned?”

“Amitabha…”

“Shut up, bald donkey. A demon is a demon. You can meditate a lifetime and never become a Buddha.”

Something was wrong.

The longer Bai Xiang stared at Xu Heqing, the more that skin of his, reflected in her golden pupils, began to seep a faint black vapor, like something alive spreading out into the surroundings.

Affected by that black vapor, the other three’s emotions grew more and more “agitated.”

If this kept up, they were definitely going to fight.

What had he come here to do…?

Just then, the phone in the pocket of Bai Xiang’s waist sash vibrated.

She took it out and lit up the screen. A message from Bai Leying popped up before her eyes.

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[Bad news, Sis Xiang! Sis and I went to see Mom and Dad today and, on the way, we saw that Liu Yong guy getting kidnapped!]

[…Sis is asking if you can send backup. Do you want to come in person?]

Liu Yong?

Lishan Sword Sect’s foundational method was the Heartless Sword. Were they after the Qingping art formula hidden in Liu Yong’s body—the Taishang Slaying-Emotions Life-Preserving Scripture?

Was this man… a disposable pawn sent to stir things up?

Bai Xiang froze for a heartbeat, then suddenly lifted her eyes toward where Xu Heqing stood, just in time to see him looking up as well as their gazes crossed in midair.

Xu Heqing flinched under that razor-sharp look, his eyelids twitching twice without his control. Perhaps realizing then that his roots had been exposed, he suddenly gave everyone present a wretched smile, and all the flesh on his body melted at once into dark red slurry, mixed with thick black vapor that sprayed in all directions.

“A mind-eroding Void Demon, for real?”

Feng Xuzi shouted and flashed aside, trying to dodge.

But it was too late.

Xu Heqing had been standing far too close, and the eruption had been too sudden. Neither Feng Xuzi nor Jing Lanyu nor Mibu the monk had time to react. They could only instinctively drive their demonic power and Dao-Void mist to their arms, hoping to rely on their cultivation to endure it.

But such things were easier said than done.

This was a mind-eroding Void Demon, the most mysterious and very possibly the most dangerous type among all Void Demons.

Every face twisted in pain; Jing Lanyu even squeezed her eyes shut, not daring to look.

Yet after several breaths, nothing more happened in front of them.

No…

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It was not just that there was no movement. There was not even the tiniest sound.

Even the Dao-Void Methods flowing in their bodies… those had all gone rigid and stalled as well?

Startled, they opened their eyes and saw the splattering filth frozen in midair as if someone had pressed a pause button, stuck in place and unable to move. Above them, a figure wrapped in gore and formed entirely from pitch-black vapor had its throat pinched in Bai Xiang’s outstretched hand, its whole body trembling and convulsing, looking utterly helpless and in agony.

Hum.

Another ripple spread, then shrank back from the edges into a transparent ring. All the flying liquid remains were drawn together by an invisible force, contracting into a black fleshball in the chest cavity of that vaporous figure.

Bai Xiang tugged and pulled, and a half-transparent human-shaped shadow was hooked out of the fleshball. It flashed once in the air and then disappeared.

The path of the soul?

Jing Lanyu felt her very spirit shook.

They all said she had comprehended the Xuandi Scripture. So the legends were true?

She looked toward Bai Xiang’s face without thinking and immediately met a pair of strange golden eyes devoid of all emotion.

There was not even the slightest suspense. In the next instant, her consciousness, and those of all the others, were dragged into the world of the Illusory God, where it felt like two enormous star-vortices were merging from above and below, about to grind them into dust.

The pressure was enormous. Feng Xuzi was the first to buckle, letting out a strangled cry as he staggered back a step and tripped, landing on his backside.

Jing Lanyu and Mibu the monk were not much better off. Both bent low, calling out quickly, “Lord Venerable, please see clearly! This matter has nothing to do with us!”

Each of them lowered their heads until their chins nearly touched their chests, no longer daring to look upon her face.

But they waited a long time with no reply.

Mustering their courage, they finally raised their heads again, only to see that Bai Xiang’s figure was already gone from the hall.