Chapter Forty-Six: The Fox Borrows the Tiger’s Might

Ji Feichen had only taken a few steps when he suddenly spoke again. “Junior Sister, after watching for so long, how do you think my current cultivation measures up?”

The moonlight was hazy, white mist drifting all around, as the young girl slowly emerged from the shadows. Xiao Ying looked at Ji Feichen with a complicated expression. “Senior Brother’s magical power has reached the realm of mastery. Refining a Dao Fruit would be as easy as turning your hand.” After being drugged and subdued by Ji Feichen previously, she dared not show the slightest hint of defiance.

She had watched Ji Feichen from hiding just now and understood that, among their five-branch peers, his cultivation had already left her far behind.

The Nether Underworld Sect absolutely possessed secret methods for cultivating the “Great Secret of One Origin.” But these were kept strictly confidential—who but the sect master could know of them? Thus, what the disciples of the Nether Underworld Sect truly pursued was nothing more than the “Hundred Thousand True Waters Refine the Dao Fruit.” This level of achievement could rank among the very best in the entire cultivation world, enough to dominate all but the chosen heirs of the Holy Lands.

“He hasn’t refined his Dao Fruit yet only because he’s waiting for this final step,” Xiao Ying mused, her face brightening with a smile. “I heard that Senior Sister Qingyi came to besiege you. Perhaps I could lend a hand.”

“A hand? To help them kill me, so you can get the antidote to my poison?” Ji Feichen sneered coldly. “Junior Sister, you simply want to see whether I live or die, or whether you can retrieve the antidote from my corpse.” He casually tossed her a bottle of pills. “What’s been happening in the sect these last few days?”

Xiao Ying checked the bottle and put it away. “I don’t know how the Xuanmen obtained the news, but lately they’ve been attacking our Nether Underworld Sect with great force. Many of our low-level disciples have been captured, and two of our elder uncles were besieged.”

Ji Feichen’s face showed no emotion—this matter was closely tied to him. After mulling it over, he asked, “What about Uncle Hei Chi’s situation? How is the Seven Apertures Pill progressing?”

“Many of the main ingredients are hard to obtain. But the supporting herbs are already being processed.”

“So, in five years, there should be a result?” Ji Feichen and Xiao Ying returned to the mountain gate. He instructed her, “Spread the word that I’m going to deal with the Green Branch. I’ll need it soon.”

The two parted ways by the Ink Lake, and Ji Feichen headed straight for Hei Chi’s abode. He did not seek out his own teacher, Master Hei Liu, but went to visit the unlucky Uncle Hei Chi, who was on the verge of proving his Dao—and whom Ji Feichen had previously set up, leaving him still unable to gather all the required materials.

Hei Chi’s cave-dwelling was on the Nine Yin Peak of the Black Branch, but far from the Kanming Main Hall—an outlying area, where a stately yet ancient black jade palace perched atop a barren black stone mountain. The cave itself was filled with an aura of black fiendish energy, and above it a bone-white treasure pearl revolved slowly.

Black water mystic radiance circled the white bone pearl, while all around, bone-white demonic statues worshipped the primal pearl. Within the pillar of light, the vague image of a demon god could be seen, resembling the Bone Demon God statue at the center of Nine Yin Peak.

“His cultivation seems somewhat more advanced than my master’s. He has already refined the bone demon statues and is but a step away from transforming into a true demon, like Grandmaster himself.”

Human immortals refine the White Bone Pearl, and Earth immortals cultivate the Bone Demon God—this is the essence of the Kanming Hall’s guardian technique, the Profound Nether Black Demon Canon.

Ji Feichen arrived silently, slipping into the black mist. He moved his lips slightly, shaking the Black Heart Pill in his hand.

Immediately, a passage opened in the thick mist, leading directly to the Jade Palace.

Entering the hall, Ji Feichen approached the middle-aged man seated on a Biyou couch, saluted with composure, and said, “Ji Feichen pays his respects to Uncle Master.”

The man wore a blood-red robe and squinted at the Black Heart Pill in Ji Feichen’s hand. “Why have you come to see me behind my senior brother’s back?”

“I heard you sought the Black Heart Pill to refine the ‘Profound Nether Seven Apertures Pill.’ I’ve come to assist you.”

“Assist me? You went to Tiger Departure Mountain, killed the demon fox before my men could get there, and now you bring medicine?” Hei Chi eyed him suspiciously. “Speak. What are you and your master plotting? Are you here to show off?”

“This was my own action. If you must know…” Ji Feichen opened a jade box, revealing the Seven-Tailed Phoenix Feather Grass inside.

A fragrant scent of spiritual medicine filled the air, phoenix cries echoed through the palace, and red phoenix shadows danced between them.

Hei Chi was shocked. “How did you come by this?”

He had spent a fortune to acquire Phoenix Feather Grass, only for the Xuanmen to intercept his disciples and imprison them in the Suppressing Demon Tower on their return. He’d dispatched rescue parties several times, but none succeeded, and he’d all but lost hope. Yet here was the Phoenix Feather Grass in Ji Feichen’s hands!

“How did you get this?” Hei Chi’s eyes never left the divine herb.

“You’ve been concerned about the Suppressing Demon Tower. You must know what happened there, right?”

Hei Chi recalled, “The Drought Demon escaped? Was it that person who sent you? Wait—were you at the Suppressing Demon Tower that day?”

“No. Senior Chen gave this to me, asking me to deliver it as a token of alliance.”

“Alliance?”

“Indeed.” Ji Feichen pointed to his brow, and the divine fire in his Niwan Palace flared above his head. Drought Demon’s demonic fire blazed fiercely, and a demonic god’s apparition appeared behind him.

The true form of the Drought Demon and the Profound Nether White Bone statue were polar opposites. When the Drought Demon’s phantom appeared in the Jade Palace, Hei Chi instantly cast a spell to conceal the anomaly, eyeing Ji Feichen warily. “You… The Drought Demon wants an alliance with me? Why me?”

“Because you are a human immortal on the verge of becoming an earth immortal, and you practice the Profound Nether White Bone path, complementary to the Drought Demon,” Ji Feichen replied, leaving the explanation half-finished, letting Hei Chi draw his own conclusions.

“The Drought Demon and the Bone Demon God are opposites… Does she want dual cultivation? Or is there some yin-yang treasure land needing both? She doesn’t seek my ruthless master or the sect leader, but me—perhaps she thinks I’m easier to control?”

In his place, Hei Chi would have done the same: foster an earth immortal of his own, not rely on an established one.

“She escaped the Suppressing Demon Tower, and you came out with her?”

“Yes, Senior Chen brought me out,” Ji Feichen answered steadily. “She learned from me that you were about to become an earth immortal. She asked me to bring the Phoenix Feather Grass to aid you. She’s alone and needs a fellow Daoist for mutual support.”

Ji Feichen borrowed the Drought Demon’s name to persuade Hei Chi.

Hei Chi remained doubtful, but with the Phoenix Feather Grass before him, his suspicions faded. Just as he reached out for it, Ji Feichen closed the lid.

“We mustn’t forget those who helped us drink from the well. I brought you this treasure in secret, Uncle Master. In the future, I’ll be the bridge between you and Senior Chen, and help you find other rare medicines. Don’t you think you should show some appreciation?”

Hei Chi’s expression grew serious, his gaze deep as his aura rose. “What do you want?”

Protected by the Drought Demon’s fire, Ji Feichen seemed unfazed. “With Senior Chen’s guidance, I’ve cultivated the Demon Dragon Canon to a bottleneck. But I never learned the crucial step of refining the Dragon Pearl. I beg you, Uncle Master, please grant me the true transmission.”

“The true interpretation of the Profound Fiend Demon Dragon Canon?” Hei Chi quickly weighed his options and nodded. “That’s simple. Bring me more rare medicine for alchemy and I’ll help you form your Dao Fruit, freeing you from your master’s control. Hmph, with your wit you should know what your master wants, right?”

Ji Feichen’s face turned sorrowful. “Isn’t this the way of our demonic path? My master’s schemes for his disciples are utterly ruthless. Otherwise, why would you be so eager to advance now?”

That hit Hei Chi’s sore spot. Indeed, why the rush to ascend? If not for detecting that the Kanming Hall Master’s cultivation was close to achieving the Celestial Dao Fruit, he wouldn’t dare to forcibly break through with pills at this time. Wait a century or two more, and once the Hall Master could ascend by devouring a human immortal disciple, he’d be doomed. Thus, he had to seize the initiative, using the sect’s internal strife to create his own opportunity.

“Hmph, your master and your grandmaster are truly alike. Who knows how many of my Black Branch disciples they’ve devoured? For his own survival, your master sent countless cauldrons and medicine men to the Hall Master.”

It was precisely Master Hei Liu’s sycophantic behavior that allowed him to survive the Hall Master’s culling. Ji Feichen, clever as he was, had never cultivated the Profound Nether Black Demon Canon, deliberately avoiding a path that would clash with others.

“You’re a sharp one!” Hei Chi sighed. He recalled his own naive youth, tricked by Master Hei Liu’s false brotherly act into cultivating the Profound Nether Black Demon Canon. From the start, he’d been used as a substitute for the Hall Master’s practice. As fellow disciples fell one by one, he became alert and barely escaped to become a human immortal.

Yet, without becoming an earth immortal, he was nothing but a larger piece of meat for slaughter. When the Hall Master reached the verge of a celestial breakthrough, he would certainly be used.

Hei Chi felt a moment of kinship with Ji Feichen, but then dismissed it. “I understand your intentions. If you ally with Senior Drought Demon and she helps me achieve earth immortality, all will be well. But how will you explain coming to me to your master?”

“I’ll tell him I came here as a spy on purpose,” Ji Feichen winked. “When the time comes, I’ll handle it—at most, I’ll have to appear before Grandmaster. Just keep calm when that happens, Uncle Master.”

“As for other matters…” Ji Feichen hesitated, his tone somewhat uncertain. “Uncle Master, do you know of my origins?”

“Your origins? Why ask that?” Hei Chi’s face darkened, his tone severe. “We of the Demonic Sect have no parents, only the sect above all. The rules state clearly: low-ranking disciples are forbidden to seek their origins!”

The sect would seal away such memories at initiation. Not even Ji Feichen or the original owner of this body could say who his parents were.

Hei Chi then added, “Once you form your Dao Fruit and are truly initiated, the seal can be lifted. But by then, as a true sect member, what would it matter?”

“Hmm?” Ji Feichen appeared a little lost. Hei Chi sighed. “We of the Nether Underworld Sect are better than some; at least we don’t seal your memory, make you kill your parents, and then restore your memory. I know a little about your past.”

Playing with the Black Heart Pill, Hei Chi said, “Since you brought me the spiritual herb, I’ll tell you. Our disciples mostly come from abducted children or people caught by the sect. Their memories are sealed, and they’re forced to train as outer disciples. Your father died in a conflict, your mother and twin brother fell off a cliff and likely perished.”

“You were alone and entered the Nether Underworld Sect young. Pursuing your origins is forbidden.”

A conflict? Most likely killed by the Nether Underworld Sect. Ji Feichen, not the body’s original owner, only asked this to prepare for the future and to show Hei Chi his sentimental side, lowering his guard.

Hei Chi put away the Phoenix Feather Grass. “You shouldn’t linger here. Leave quickly!”