Chapter Eleven: The Sect’s Sacred Treasure

Though the Black Moon Demon Fox commanded countless venomous insects, it was ultimately no match for Luo Qingyi and her companions. The Yin Nether Sect’s Azure Vein cultivated the Yin Flame, and the “Azure Phosphorus Yin Fire Scripture” was the method practiced by all present. Even Luo Qingyi, under her father’s tutelage, mastered a strand of the Three Yin Azure Phosphorus Flame. This fire rivaled the Threefold True Flame of the Mystic Sect, drawing upon the Yin energies of Heaven, Earth, and Man. Once unleashed, its ghostly blaze killed invisibly.

The corpses of insects along the way glowed with phosphorescent light and emitted foul odors, yet the group advanced smoothly to the entrance of the cave mansion.

At this, the Demon Fox could no longer sit idly. Leaping from its lair, it bared its fangs at the intruders.

Seven feet tall, the Demon Fox was as imposing as a grown man. Sharp claws and teeth flashed as it stirred up wind and sand to attack Luo Qingyi and her companions. A fierce gale rose, blinding yellow sand swirled, black miasma billowed, and beastly roars echoed through the mountains and forests.

Ji Feichen and Xiao Ying stood at a distance, halting when they heard the furious roars. Ji Feichen chuckled with his hands clasped behind his back. “Doesn’t this Demon Fox have a touch of the ‘tiger’s roar through the mountains’ about it?”

“It's just a fox borrowing the tiger’s might,” replied Xiao Ying distractedly. Even from her vantage, she sensed the intense battle raging afar—the Demon Fox’s strength far exceeded her expectations.

Ji Feichen patted her shoulder, then traced a circle before them, deploying the “Water Mirror Circle of Light Technique” to project the battle from the other peak onto a shimmering screen.

Wind and sand raged, but the Azure Vein disciples remained unflustered. Accustomed to dealing with the Yellow Vein’s people, they were well-versed in sand curses.

Luo Qingyi pivoted gracefully, and a golden bracelet appeared in her hand.

“Senior brothers, stand aside,” she called, tossing the bracelet skyward. Brilliant gold light radiated down, extinguishing the wind and sand—the sky cleared, daylight returned. The black miasma and sand dispersed entirely, revealing the Demon Fox’s true form once more. Luo Qingyi pressed her advantage, her slender jade fingers firing streaks of crimson light.

“This is the first time I've seen Sister Qingyi take action. I never expected her strength to be so formidable,” Xiao Ying exclaimed, a hint of surprise in her voice.

“The Heart Demon Sect’s ‘Heart Demon Chain’ and ‘Seven Harm Finger Technique’,” Ji Feichen observed, watching the power she wielded, quietly measuring the gap between himself and her.

Both were now in the late stage of the Mortal Shedding Realm, though Ji Feichen’s mana was slightly less than Luo Qingyi’s. Yet his mana was purer—a quality that Luo Qingyi could not match. In terms of physical cultivation, the Heart Demon Sect’s methods focused on inner demons and soul magic, while Ji Feichen emphasized physical refinement.

In cultivation, Ji Feichen lagged behind a bit; in actual combat, he could instantly slay Luo Qingyi.

“Use the Bone Heart Method to neutralize her heart demon curse, then risk everything in close combat to pierce her heart in one blow.” Ji Feichen mentally rehearsed a battle between himself and Luo Qingyi, then turned his attention to the others.

Among the Azure Vein disciples, Luo Qingyi’s techniques were indeed the most formidable. After a brief assessment, Ji Feichen dismissed them and focused on the Black Moon Demon Fox.

This was Ji Feichen’s first encounter with a fox demon. Foxes, renowned as clever beasts, were often called “fox immortals” in the mortal realm. There were generally two lines of fox cultivation: those who refined their number of tails, thus legends of three-tailed demon foxes and nine-tailed celestial foxes abounded. The Heart Moon Fox lineage was rare, and demon foxes fallen into the demonic path even rarer.

The Demon Fox watched Luo Qingyi deploy the Seven Harm Finger Technique and sneered, speaking in human tongue: “Little maid, so naïve—how dare you flaunt such tricks before me?”

The Seven Harm Finger was a spell of the Heart Demon Sect. It damaged the seven desires and emotions, wounded the heart, shattered the spirit—a direct assault on the mind. But if one’s Dao heart was firm, it had no effect.

The Demon Fox, with eight centuries of cultivation, faced Luo Qingyi’s attack without fear, ignoring the seductive elegance of the witch. It lashed out with its claw.

Luo Qingyi grunted, wounded by the fox’s strike; her companions rushed to her aid.

They engaged the Demon Fox, and after a dozen exchanges, it grew impatient. As poisonous miasma rose from the mountains, the fox spat out a jet of black light. “Ha! Behold my treasure!”

The black light soared skyward, forming an inverted bowl. Daylight faded, golden sun dimmed, the clear sky turned pitch black, and poisonous miasma rolled in from the mountains.

“A cave-guarding treasure?” Ji Feichen and Xiao Ying’s faces changed dramatically.

Throughout Tiger Departure Mountain, poisonous rivers erupted, spawning demon serpents and dragons, which merged with the dark clouds above. Twisting and winding, dragons and snakes writhed in the clouds, spreading terrifying, poisonous power across the sky. The toxicity in the surrounding miasma multiplied. Ji Feichen and Xiao Ying made a snap decision to flee Tiger Departure Mountain.

Outside the mountain, Xiao Ying looked up at the billowing demonic clouds, shuddering. “Luckily, we sent Luo Qingyi and her group to scout ahead. Otherwise, we’d be the unlucky ones.”

The cave-guarding treasure was the most unique of all magical artifacts. As its name implied, it suppressed and protected a cave mansion, harnessing the spiritual essence of mountains and waters, connecting with the vital forces of heaven and earth, and attuning itself to the local terrain.

Elsewhere, it was merely a powerful magical item, but within its cave it was invincible, able to unleash even greater might. Moreover, it could suppress fate and accelerate the absorption of spiritual energies—a cave’s core treasure.

Ji Feichen possessed such a treasure himself, stored in Moon Sun Court. The Demon Fox’s artifact perfectly matched the terrain of Tiger Departure Mountain, integrating with the entire mountain. The miasma formed an inverted treasure bowl. Had Ji Feichen and Xiao Ying not escaped quickly, their fate would have matched that of Luo Qingyi’s party.

“Isn’t this Demon Fox only eight hundred years into cultivation? How does it possess a cave-guarding treasure? Aren’t such items crafted only by immortal beings?”

Ji Feichen and Xiao Ying waited at a distance. Soon, the clouds and mist dissipated, and three streams of azure light escaped Tiger Departure Mountain, each fleeing in a different direction.

Ji Feichen’s gaze sharpened. “After them!”

With the Demon Fox empowered by its cave treasure, it would be nearly impossible for Ji Feichen and Xiao Ying to defeat it. Their urgent task, therefore, was to deal with the Azure Vein disciples.

They split up—Xiao Ying pursued one, Ji Feichen targeted the other two.

The Yin Nether Sect strictly forbade disciples from harming one another. Yet, in the Demon Sect, was fraternal affection ever truly expected? That was the least likely thing. Not just these disciples—even today’s elders had all emerged from bloody slaughter.

Master Black Stream had murdered countless disciples and yet lived unscathed.

Generally, upon joining, Yin Nether Sect disciples swore a sacred blood oath: never to betray the sect, never to harm fellow disciples.

But for every rule, there was a workaround.

Internal strife? How could one ever truly trace it?

If someone was gravely injured, then pushed off a cliff to die—whose fault was it? Or if one hired outsiders or informed other sects to arrange an assassination, would the oath react? Or if one gave a fellow disciple medicine—since all medicine carries some poison—and manipulated herbal interactions to kill, how would that be judged?

Thus, internal strife persisted—the Demon Sect tacitly permitted it. So long as matters were not exposed or discovered by the immortals, there was no issue. But the Elder Immortals were each versed in the secrets of heaven; little escaped them. Unless it involved the main fighting force—immortal-level disciples—a few Mortal Shedding novices dying was of little concern. Only teachers might bear grudges; others cared little.

By contrast, most Mystic Sect branches adhered strictly to the oath forbidding internal killing. As a result, scandals frequently erupted.

For example, two disciples might fight over a treasure, one pushing the other off a cliff, hoping for his death, only for the victim to survive and return for revenge. Or, a disciple might leak information to the Demon Sect, leading to ambushes. Or, secretly tamper with medicinal pills.

In short, the Mystic Sect scorned the Demon Sect’s internal killings, while the Demon Sect mocked the so-called “righteous” for their intrigue and scheming.

Ji Feichen and Xiao Ying separated to pursue their targets. Xiao Ying chased Luo Qingyi, while Ji Feichen pursued the other two.

Upon catching up to one, Ji Feichen immediately summoned the Azure Tide Pearl. Twenty-four pearls struck out in succession, killing his target before he could react—reducing him to mangled flesh.

Ji Feichen dared act so boldly thanks to the shielding effect of his Ink Dragon Scale. Its grade was no less than that of the Earth Immortal, and it blocked detection, making it difficult for the immortals to track him. Coupled with the Azure Tide Pearl, a merit artifact, he could kill without incurring karmic retribution and feared no one’s divination.

After collecting the spoils, he went after the second disciple.

Qian Chu staggered into a mountain. Looking around, he found only barren hills and wild caves—no vegetation.

“Damn beast!” Blood stained Qian Chu’s chest, the Demon Fox’s claw had wounded him, and black blood dripped continuously. “It poisoned me?” he cursed, finding a cave to heal and expel toxins. He buried a Thunder Pearl at the entrance as a trap, then settled in to recuperate.

Ji Feichen tracked him by the blood trail to the cave entrance. Instead of entering, he took out a wooden cauldron and burned maggot medicine, wafting its strange fragrance inside.

Qian Chu, in the midst of healing, smelled something unusual and heard movement at the entrance. Alarmed, he rushed out to investigate, only to find a black-robed man fanning the scent toward him.

Qian Chu’s face fell. “Ji Feichen, what are you doing?”

“Nothing, really. Just worried about your injuries, so I brought medicine,” Ji Feichen replied, smiling as he shook the bottle of pills. “I saw you leave Tiger Departure Mountain and feared you’d been poisoned, so I hurried to help. And the fanning—don’t worry, it’s just ordinary incense, nothing toxic.”

The maggot medicine was indeed not highly poisonous; Ji Feichen simply didn’t want to enter the cave, so he used the scent to scare Qian Chu into coming out.

Qian Chu’s mouth twitched; he realized Ji Feichen had noticed he was being followed, and felt uneasy. “Don’t take it amiss, junior brother. We heard you were capturing a demon at Tiger Departure Mountain and feared you and your companion might fail, so we came to lend a hand.” He kept his mana concentrated at his chest to suppress the poison, not daring to relax.

“That’s why I rushed over with antidote,” Ji Feichen stood, holding out the bottle as if to approach.

Qian Chu’s face darkened; he knew full well the infamous “medicine-giving” practices of Yuan Sect disciples. This “antidote” was also known as “corpse dissolution pill” or “liberation pill”—a single dose would kill in less than an hour, sending the soul to the netherworld for “great bliss.” He had cultivated for decades, had administered many such “bliss pills” to fellow disciples, and now, facing death himself, understood their bitter fate.

“Don’t come any closer!” Qian Chu brandished a broken sword, threatening Ji Feichen. “If you approach, I won’t hold back!” He was gravely wounded, his gaze flickering in panic, like a virtuous woman forced by a villain—protesting as he retreated deeper into the cave.

He stopped three yards inside; Ji Feichen had reached the entrance. Qian Chu was secretly delighted, though his face remained anxious, hoping to lure Ji Feichen into the cave.

Ji Feichen glanced down, then grinned slyly. “You wouldn’t be foolish enough to plant Thunder Pearls here, would you?” With a flick of his sleeve, three Water Thunder Pearls flew forth, exploding at the entrance. These pearls, crafted by Ji Feichen from Water Divine Thunder, each held ten bolts of lightning.

As he released them, Ji Feichen swiftly withdrew.

Boom—

Thunder rumbled behind him as he fled without looking back. Holding the medicine bottle, he muttered, “I really did bring antidote—why won’t you believe me, senior brother? Hurting my feelings like this leaves me no choice but to kill.”

From within the cave came a shrill scream: “Ji Feichen, I’ll never forgive you!”