Volume 4, Chapter 54 – Advancing Again (1)

After finishing her exchange with the three envoys and dismissing them to rest, Bai Xiang sat alone in the hall, turning over the information she had obtained.

With Monk Mibu’s account, along with the additions from the other two, the blurred outline of Blood Soul Heaven was finally mostly filled in.

It was an organization opposed to the Demon Court, and even more so, an organization opposed to the human race.

Although the Demon Court looked down on humanity and considered humans an inferior species destined to be eliminated within Void Tribulation, it was at least willing to offer a certain degree of protection to humankind.

Not only did its own people refrain from indiscriminate slaughter of humans, but if they learned that others in the Upper Realm were doing such things, they would even dispatch Heaven-Patrol agents to restrain them. This also explained why a human force like Tianfu Mountain could openly exist in such a chaotic environment. Faced with a human faction that had already risen, other demon factions were permitted only to engage in “normal conflict” with it. They were not allowed to rally allies under the banner of exterminating another race and then join together with many forces to crush it.

That gave humanity the breathing room it most needed, and breathing room of immense value. It meant that in the Upper Realm, quite a few human forces had still managed to survive and develop, and over time had gradually begun to integrate with their surrounding environment.

On this point, Jing Lanyu was the best possible example.

In the course of their detailed discussion, she had mentioned that her father came from the Illusory Realm known as Light-Sea Heaven, a planar space dominated by humans.

Although she had not said how her human father came to know her demon mother, nor how the two had come together, the process behind it could more or less be inferred… this had basically only succeeded because the broader environment encouraged it.

The Demon Court’s task was to shape that environment, to create “an environment that did not discriminate against unions between the two races.” Once they succeeded in doing that, it would only be a matter of time before humanity was integrated and assimilated by that larger environment.

Jing Lanyu was not only an example; she was also a result. Through her, Bai Xiang could see the Demon Court’s “political attitude” toward the two races.

No matter whether the ultimate goal of that attitude was to erase humanity by some other means, and no matter whether their motivation was to seek the great Dao, to explore the balance between Order and Loss of Order, or something else entirely, in Bai Xiang’s view, the method itself was clearly one of soft assimilation.

That also explained why, at the level of culture, the Upper Realm was still dominated by humanity.

For example, in many colloquial turns of phrase, people still said things like “such-and-such a person,” or “someone did such-and-such.”

They did not instead say “such-and-such a demon” or “a certain demon did such-and-such.”

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But Blood Soul Heaven was different.

The Demon Court might have chosen a conciliatory path, but that did not mean all demons accepted its ideas.

How were demons born? First came Void Tribulation. Void Tribulation shattered the laws of Order and gave rise to the first thread of demonic power between heaven and earth. That demonic power then contaminated other lifeforms and transformed them through evolution.

If one really had to put it plainly, then the demon race was actually a vast super-race, broader than humanity and broader than many other kinds of animals as well. Because whether you were human or some other species, once you were contaminated by demonic power and awakened sentience, you could be classified among them.

For a super-race of that scale, with numbers so immense, internal divisions so complex, and one that had evolved precisely by accepting the representative force of Loss of Order, one hardly even needed to guess. They were bound to be difficult to tame by nature. The very word “demon” on them represented Loss of Order itself.

So the existence of Blood Soul Heaven was practically inevitable.

These demons and demon-humans did not agree with the Demon Court. They insisted that “demons are demons, humans are humans,” and believed that in the face of a world-overturning catastrophe, the Demon Court’s route was obviously the wrong one. Demons should take full advantage of their innate closeness to the Illusory Realms and Void Tribulation, and push their exploration boldly further on that basis.

And that “further” did not just mean Dao-Void Methods. They wanted to surpass them, overturn them, and walk a new path different both from the human race’s Sword Dao and from the Demon Court’s Dao-Void Methods.

“Complete Loss of Order…”

Opening her eyes, Bai Xiang murmured softly.

That was the only possible result of “drawing power directly from Void Tribulation.”

According to Monk Mibu, in the overwhelming majority of cases, that sort of act would only cause the body to become deformed, turning one into a monster stripped of sentience. Their term for such a creature was “Xusui,” used to distinguish it from a Void Demon.

“But there are said to be successful cases too.”

Bai Xiang still remembered how strange Monk Mibu’s expression had been when he spoke of this, as well as the expressions on the faces of the other envoys.

It was the sort of expression that mixed astonishment, sorrow, fear, scalp-prickling unease, and many other emotions. And through Golden-Pupil Illusory God, she had keenly sensed something else: among some of them, including those demon attendants, the emotional waves they gave off also carried the faintest trace of yearning.

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“After playing with fire long enough, strange variables are bound to appear. There truly are some beings… who, after doing this, did not lose all their sanity. They remain sentient beings, and can still control bodies deeply contaminated by Void Tribulation.”

If even Monk Mibu felt fear over them, then there should be quite a lot of such examples.

The most dangerous part was that performing such an act required no prior conditions at all.

It was not that one had to cultivate to a certain level before being qualified to try it. Nothing of the sort. So long as you wanted to, so long as you were willing, no matter your cultivation level, you could attempt to go out into the outer Illusory Realms and make contact with Void Tribulation.

Even among sentient beings of the two races who had never set foot on the path of cultivation, it was true that the death rate from doing such a thing would be even higher.

But the survival rate was not zero.

And given the vast number of sentient beings in the Upper Realm, “not zero” was already enough to make one’s scalp go numb.

Put that way, Blood Soul Heaven might prove to be a more dangerous enemy than the Demon Court.

That was not to say they were stronger than the Demon Court.

Not to that extent. At least, probably not yet.

Because of the existence of the Path of Qi, neither side could ever truly reconcile with Bai Xiang. But compared with someone like Li Huiran, who still possessed a certain degree of principle, Blood Soul Heaven’s methods were simply far too vicious.

I need to guard against them.

There is no telling what other schemes they may still have.

With that thought, Bai Xiang immediately rose and left.

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The best defense was to strengthen herself.

It was time to draw out the gift left behind by Immortal Venerable Jiuli and put it to use.

…

When she returned to the Listening-to-Rain Tower, she saw Bai Zhuqing standing guard at the entrance, just as expected.

Affected by Void Tribulation, the sky, which should already have turned to night, instead looked like a gloomy rainy daytime sky. A light drizzle pattered over the road, dampening the stone path and soaking the wooden railings.

Bai Zhuqing was wearing a pure white ancient-style dress, her hair tied up neatly, and stood at the eaves holding an oil-paper umbrella. The moment she saw Bai Xiang, she immediately came hurrying over in a small run, one hand holding the umbrella and the other lifting her skirt, shielding Bai Xiang from the wind and rain above.

Little pet. She should know I am not afraid of this…

Bai Xiang fixed her gaze on her younger sister’s face. The girl grew shy under that stare, but still gathered her courage and said, “I know Auntie doesn’t need it. But I also know that… compared with my doing nothing at all, Auntie would be happier if I did this.”

Smooth-tongued little thing.

Something at the tip of Bai Xiang’s heart trembled faintly. Lowering her eyes, she glanced down and saw that her younger sister was wearing slippers. Her small feet, wrapped in white stockings, had long since been soaked through by the rain, and the flesh-tone beneath was visible through the wet fabric.

From that alone, she could tell how long the girl had been waiting there.

“I’m going into seclusion,” Bai Xiang suddenly said.

“Eh?” Bai Zhuqing froze for a moment, and then her expression dimmed a little.

Under normal circumstances, unless something special was happening, like when Bai Xiang herself was on the verge of a breakthrough, the only time Bai Xiang would not pull her into dual cultivation was when she was entering seclusion.

So Xiang’er really does have matters of her own. When it comes to cultivation and methods, she has gone far beyond where I am.

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It’s true… right now, I really can’t help much at all…

With a low murmur of acknowledgment, the girl lowered her head in disappointment. After escorting Bai Xiang beneath the eaves, she stopped where she was.

She had intended to say goodbye to Bai Xiang right there, and wish her success and another advance besides.

That was how things should have gone. But suddenly, her nape was seized in one hand. Bai Zhuqing’s eyes went wide at once as she discovered that Bai Xiang had lifted her up exactly like a cat, not even caring that the umbrella in her hand had not been put away and was still spilling water downward. She was actually taking her upstairs just like that.

“Auntie…?” she said in a trembling voice. “This…?”

“I suddenly have a few novel ideas. I may need you at my side to assist.”

“But… my umbrella… and I’m all wet too…?”

“Hm?”

The force shifted, and that beautiful face she dreamed of day and night suddenly drew near.

“You’re making it sound as though there is some great distance between us…”

“Once we’re upstairs, take your clothes off first.”

“Then go to the washroom.”

“As for what you should do, think it through yourself.”