Ch18 – Demon(妖) Poison

Inside the Endless Valley, it was deathly silent.
A slight breeze carried over moist and cool air; however, it did not take away Pei QianYue’s body heat.

In fact, that scorching temperature continued to climb even higher. 

Accompanying this heat, was an increasingly violent surge of demonic(妖) energy that poured out uncontrollably from his body.

Feng Ci asked him: “What’s going on?”

 

 

“…… It’s the fog within the forest.” Pei QianYue lowered his head.
Within this brief moment, a thin layer of sweat already seeped out and covered his forehead.
He frowned, voice quiet and hoarse.

However, his tone still sounded fairly steady.
He even gave a slight chuckle: “They seemed to have released some demon(妖) poison, which can drive the serpent clan into a frenzy.
Really very well-prepared.” 

“Prepared?” Feng Ci didn’t understand his sudden words: “Who exactly is trying to plot against you? You—”

 

Before he finished speaking, he keenly picked up the sound of footsteps and conversation coming from not far away.

“What’s going on? How did the Great Mountain Seal get dispelled so suddenly?!”

“Go find if there are any survivors!”

 

“The murderer mustn’t have gone far.
Hurry and search!”

There were quite a few people that came too.

Feng Ci looked at the corpses lying haphazardly nearby on the ground and then looked at Pei QianYue, who was by his side.
Instantly, he understood the entire sequence of events here.

 

The disciples of the Endless Valley most likely fell to dastardly hands a while ago already.
The so-called request for assistance from the messenger bird and the forced activation of the Great Mountain Seal were only parts of a pretense to lure Pei QianYue to this place.
Poisoning the fog and trapping him here was the true objective. 

As for why……

The sound of footsteps came closer.

“There is someone here!”

“That’s……That’s…….the LangFeng City Master?” 

“It really is City Master Pei! But why would he……why would he be here?”

“Such, such a thick demonic(妖) aura!”

…….

The crowd discussed clamorously.
Feng Ci raised his head and looked over.
He saw many disciples of sects he’d never seen before. 

On the contrary, the Six Sects were completely missing in presence.

Someone had disseminated the news of Endless Valley disciples being trapped within the array, and lured people from various sects of the Immortal Alliance over for rescue and support, only to greet them with the view of the already slaughtered Endless Valley once they arrived, as well as a Pei QianYue, who has already been consumed by his demonic(妖) nature.

 

Even Feng Ci’s impatient destruction of the array just now has become a piece of evidence to the new arrivals’ suspicions.

— Besides Pei QianYue, who had received the true inheritance of Grandmaster QianQiu’s knowledge and wisdom, who else was capable of dispelling the Great Mountain Seal in such a short period of time? 

This was a meticulously prepared scheme to frame Pei QianYue.

Feng Ci closed his eyes.
Even the sword hanging against his waist trembled faintly.

This was really…..
quite a painstaking effort.

Ever since Feng Ci returned to this world, he has sensed a hidden turmoil surging restlessly beneath the cultivation world, and especially between the Six Sects.
However he had remained an observing bystander this entire time.
He had already given too much to the cultivation world back then.
After the passage of all of these years, he was too lazy to worry about anything other than completing the mission given to him by the Heavenly Principles. 

Not to mention, the Six Sects could all be considered his successors.
To favor one side was clearly very unfair.

Nevertheless… Using another cultivation sect’s massacre to design a plot to shift the blame elsewhere and cause strife between different sects, creating doubt amongst each other.

Was this still the cultivation world that he had given up everything and risked his life to protect back then?

Who gave them the nerve? 

Feng Ci placed his hand gently on his sword hilt.
The sword instantly started to vibrate wildly.

However, just at this time, a scorching hot hand rose and pressed down on the back of his hand.

As more and more Immortal Alliance disciples entered the valley, the inside of the valley gradually quieted down.
The crowd of Immortal Alliance disciples stood nearby.
No one moved.
No one talked either.
Yet they surrounded Pei QianYue with a tacit understanding.

Slowly, faint hums could be heard audibly in the air.
This was the sound of vibrations created by magic items activating on standby. 

Feng Ci turned his head to look towards Pei QianYue.
The latter’s voice transmitted directly into his head via magic: “The real murderer remains unknown.”

According to the current situation, the other person desired nothing more than to push the blame of the immortal cultivation sects’ massacre onto Pei QianYue.
However to do this, he only needed to modify the Great Mountain Seal and then release poison into the array.
The person secretly manipulating everyone didn’t even need to come to the Endless Valley personally.

These Immortal Alliance disciples who had been lured here to the Endless Valley, on the contrary, were more likely to become injured in Pei QianYue’s frenzy.

They…… were also only a bait for the scheme. 

Feng Ci took a deep breath and calmed down.

How interesting.
In the end, the most rational person when encountering issues was actually Pei QianYue, who he had always perceived as being emotionally unstable.

 

Feng Ci chuckled quietly.
He was just about to say something when he saw Pei QianYue sway abruptly.
An uncontrollable groan seeped out of his mouth.
That poison within the fog was prepared specifically for him.
After holding it off for so long, he probably couldn’t suppress it for much longer.

Feng Ci said solemnly: “I’ll take you to get treated.” 

However, as soon as he moved, there was the sudden sound of weapons being drawn around them.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection.
If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Instantly, the atmosphere turned hostile and tense.
However, Feng Ci couldn’t help but laugh.
He turned to say to Pei QianYue: “They’re really very afraid of you.”

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Finally someone asked the question that they wanted to, but was too afraid to ask.

Pei QianYue still didn’t answer.
This was likely because he was currently fighting with the aggressive demon(妖) poison within his body, and in no mood to pay attention to others.
Thus, Feng Ci answered for him: “My City Master is experiencing a strange poison.
Right now, he’s not in the mood to answer everyone’s questions.
If you have any questions, you can ask him slowly when you visit LangFeng City in the future.”

After he finished talking, he helped Pei QianYue up and wanted to step forward.
However, a sharp sword intent shot straight at him from the air, drawing a deep gash on the ground in front of Feng Ci’s feet. 

Feng Ci looked up.
The attacker was the same old man just now.

The old man withdrew his sword.
Looking dignified, he said: “Where did this youth come from? So impudent.
This elder was speaking with the City Master.
What right do you have to interrupt?”

Feng Ci smiled: ” It’s none of your business who I—”

“He’s our City Master’s direct disciple.” A voice suddenly spoke up from behind the crowd of people. 

Feng Ci fell silent.
He saw the front of the crowd suddenly parting down the middle.
Lin ChangAn walked in leading the LangFeng City disciples.

Seeing the current state of affairs, Lin ChangAn’s expression instantly changed.
He walked swiftly forward and knelt down in front of Pei QianYue: “This disciple came late.
Please forgive me, City master.”

Pei QianYue naturally couldn’t answer him.
Feng Ci asked him: “Ling-Shixiong, why are you here?”

Lin ChangAn: “The Great Mountain Seal was suddenly dispelled, but we didn’t see anyone at the exits.
Worried that something unexpected had happened, we rushed over to take a look.” 

Pei QianYue’s figure was much taller than Feng Ci’s current physical body.
Holding him was quite strenuous for Feng Ci.

Seeing this, Lin ChangAn stepped forward to lend a hand: “Is the City Master…….”

 

Before Feng Ci had a chance to answer, that old man asked: “The City Master’s direct disciple? How come this old man has never heard of City Master Pei accepting any disciple?”

“……” Feng Ci still wanted to struggle a bit: “Actually, I haven’t formally completed the apprenticeship ceremony.” 

Lin ChangAn reminded: “But you’re still considered under his guidance.”

Feng Ci reasoned with him: “I don’t think it should be this casual.”

“Enough.” The old man interrupted, unable to listen anymore: “Whatever it may be, if City Master Pei doesn’t give us a proper explanation for what happened today, don’t even think about leaving here!”

“Explanation?” Feng Ci was already not in a great mood.
After being obstructed persistently by this person, he was gradually losing his patience: “What kind of explanation do you want? Don’t you just want to ask if the destruction of Endless Valley is related to our City Master? If I say no, would you believe me?” 

“You—”

That old man couldn’t even reply to his snappy remarks.
He said in irritation: “If City Master Pei is unable to explain clearly, we definitely won’t allow you guys to leave.
Otherwise, how can we answer to the fellow cultivators of the Endless Valley, as well as the dozens of sects that have already been annihilated in the past, the hundreds of lives.”

The spirit energy of the green magic sword in his hand expanded exponentially as he shouted loudly: “Everyone–”

“Let’s join hands to capture Pei QianYue, hand him over to be judged jointly by the Six Sects, and ascertain the truth!” 

The crowd shouted in agreement.

Supporting Pei QianYue, Feng Ci took half a step back, eyebrows furrowed tightly.

The person, who had plotted against Pei QianYue, might not be within this group of Immortal Alliance disciples.
Therefore, Feng Ci originally did not intend to fight these people.
However, if these people were determined to obstruct him, then he has no other choice.

As Feng Ci thought this, Lin ChangAn suddenly stepped forth half a step and blocked in front of them: “Lu-Shidi, take the City Master and leave first.” 

Feng Ci was stunned: “You……”

The other LangFeng City disciples also drew their swords one by one and blocked in front of them.

The young man, who had seemed lazy and indolent on the flying ship, was now taking a stand with his sword in hand, hair fluttering softly in the breeze.

However, when he turned his head around, he switched to a slightly uncertain expression again. 

He leaned over and asked in a suppressed voice: “City Master didn’t really do this, right?”

Feng Ci: “…….”

 

Lin ChangAn gave Pei QianYue a glance and then rubbed his face: “Forget it.”

“Who cares if he did or not.
My Shizun told me, if it weren’t for the City Master’s arrival to LangFeng City back then, our LangFeng City might have collapsed from the lack of proper successors and be on the verge of ruin already.
Today wouldn’t even be existent.” He turned around, looked towards that group of Immortal Alliance disciples, and gave a cold scoff: ” Want to lay hands on our City Master? Do you really think there’s no one else in LangFeng City?” 

Feng Ci’s tightly knitted brows smoothed out.

Here he was thinking that this entire cultivation world was already hopeless, but actually, there were still people who knew how to repay kindness with kindness.

However, just at this time, a gust of wind suddenly surged within the valley.

Feng Ci turned his head to look at the person beside him. 

Pei QianYue’s complexion was still deathly pale; however, on the side of his neck and cheek, black snake scales began to emerge slowly.

The demonic(妖) energy within the valley instantly became so thick, it was unbearable for ordinary people.

“Get out of the way!”

An unforgiving spirit energy exploded next to Feng Ci and surged outward.
He only had time to yell loudly.
Immediately, he heard a few cries of alarm.
The LangFeng City disciples, who were originally standing in front of them, and even some of the far away Immortal Alliance disciples, who had planned to strike forcibly, were all stunned and shoved away by this surge of energy.
They were thrown heavily to the ground. 

Feng Ci hastily took a few steps back.
When he looked up again, Pei QianYue was gone.

In the air, a thick demonic(妖) aura congealed with the radiance of spiritual energy, revealing the silhouette of a huge black serpent.
The black snake raised its scale-covered head and let out a hoarse, beast-like roar.

The wind raged rampantly within the valley, wrecking havoc.
At some point, the sunlight became obscured by dark clouds.

The black snake pushed through the crowd.
Countless beams of spirit energy landed on its body, but they couldn’t injure it the slightest.
How could ordinary disciples be a match for this snake demon(妖), who has cultivated for more than 3000 years, let along a snake demon(妖) in the midst of frenzy. 

With a sweep of its tail, dozens of disciples were thrown away, slamming harshly onto the stone walls.

The valley was full of clamor, but the old man, who had originally proposed capturing Pei QianYue, didn’t actually enter the fray of battle.

He casted a spell and flew into the air.
Floating in the sky, he quietly overlooked everything that was happening within the valley.

The old man came from DanYang Sect.
He was the sect leader. 

The DanYang Sect was originally a weak and small cultivation sect.
Many years ago when Pei QianYue established the Immortal Alliance, he willingly joined the Immortal Alliance to seek shelter and protection.
It could be considered one of the earliest sects to join the Immortal Alliance.

He had originally thought that after joining the Immortal Alliance, he’d receive assistance.
Even if not Grandmaster QianQiu’s true inheritance, there should be some kind of magic pills, magic equipment, spiritual deposits, or treasures.

 

But there was nothing.

Pei QianYue only cared most about the Six Sects.
Little sects and groups like them couldn’t enter his eyes at all. 

In front of Pei QianYue, he, the leader of a sect, was no different than an ant.
He has never been treated with the proper respect.

But today was different.

The DanYang Sect Leader looked down coldly beneath his feet, at the view of the Immortal Alliance disciples struggling with the black serpent, a malicious smile emerging on his face.

The extent of the current development was exactly what he wanted to see. 

The grand majestic Leader of the Immortal Alliance… Not only was he bearing the suspicion of massacring various cultivation sects; upon being questioned, he has even lost his mind and injured disciples.

If the news of this spread, what a great reputation.

—The reputation of a villain.

Immersed in his fantasies, he suddenly felt a suffocating spiritual pressure behind him.
Stunned, he turned around. 

And faced the huge head of a snake.

The black snake looked at him with its two empty, gray-white eyes.
For a vague moment, it seemed to transform back into Pei QianYue’s handsome and ice-cold, yet expressionless face.

It’s only now that the old man discovered that he had already stiffened completely.
The hand he rested on the sword hanging against his waist didn’t even have the strength to pull out the sword.

Facing an absolute one-sided suppression in strength, he didn’t even have the chance to fight back. 

He could only watch wide-eyed, looking into that handsome face, as those thin, sharp lips opened and closed, and said something he couldn’t hear.

Immediately afterwards, he felt a chill to his chest.

A serpent tail pierced through his chest, penetrating his body directly.

The old man fell from the sky.
Before losing consciousness, he finally realized in the aftermath, Pei QianYue seemed to have said— 

“Many thanks.”

A flying sword pierced through the horizons.

 

Exerting force with both of his arms, Feng Ci hugged the huge black snake, which had become several meters long, and flew into the sky.
The black snake continued its frenzy, struggling and roaring unceasingly in Feng Ci’s arms.
The flying sword wobbled up and down in the clouds, almost on the verge of falling.

Pei QianYue’s 3000 years of cultivation was no joke.
When he’s in a frenzy, even Feng Ci could do nothing about him. 

It’s not like he could deal with Pei QianYue like the demons and beasts he met in the past, and just chop him up with a swing of his sword.

“Calm, calm down! I’ll bring you back to LangFeng City!”

Cold wind cutting his cheeks, Feng Ci hugged the black snake tightly, his loud shout practically vanishing in the wind: “Pei QianYue, behave yourself!”

The frenzied black snake didn’t understand the word behave.
The flying sword swayed and jolted within the clouds wildly.
After a long time, it finally couldn’t endure it anymore and dropped straight down from the skies. 

Falling to the bottom of the deepest cliff within the mountain range.

Boom—

A heavy weight fell to the ground, sending the sand and stones at the bottom of the cliff flying in all directions.
Even the ground shook because of it.
The dust settled and dissipated.
Inside a deep crater, a man and snake’s figures appeared, embracing each other tightly.

Neither moved again. 

A moment later.

“Cough cough cough—”

Feng Ci abruptly inhaled and then started coughing violently again, coughing so hard that his mouth was filled with the taste of blood.

Just now, the black snake struggled too violently in midair.
Trapped in this physical body, Feng Ci didn’t have enough spiritual energy.
He had no choice but to randomly pick a place to land. 

It’s just the landing was too rapid and harsh, his physical body couldn’t withstand this kind of torment.
He was actually knocked unconscious for a brief moment from the fall.

It’s been over 3000 years since Feng Ci learned how to fly on a sword.
This was the first time that he fell off a sword for real.
As Feng Ci coughed, he thought incongruously, fortunately his real Shizun had died early.
Otherwise he’d definitely be scolded for being humiliating and beaten with a sword for three days and three nights.

He took a deep breath, and then finally raised his head to look at the surroundings.

Before landing, he didn’t have a chance to see.
At this moment, he finally discovered that this was a deep ravine underneath a steep cliff.
Nearby, there was even a waterfall.
The water flowed from above and fell into the coldwater pool below. 

Meanwhile, the crater that they created was right next to the coldwater pool.

There was plenty of moisture around the coldwater pool, but no signs of life.

 

Feng Ci let out a breath of relief.
Then he turned to look at the big guy next to him.

The black snake laid by his side.
Its tail was still moving back and forth slightly, but it was no longer as agitated as before. 

Perhaps similar to how it had instinctively depended on Feng Ci a few days ago in its mental delirium, just now when they fell down from the skies, the black snake actually wrapped its body around Feng Ci and took most of the impact from the fall for him.

Even he had been knocked unconscious for a little while.
The black snake naturally wouldn’t be any better.

Feng Ci patted the black serpent’s thick, firm body.
The latter waved its tail meekly, not even raising its head.

Poor snake baby.
Practically stunned from the fall. 

Feng Ci chuckled to himself, but this laugh tugged on the dull ache in his chest again.
Coughing twice wretchedly, he leaned against the black snake’s body and rested for a moment.

He hasn’t been this battered in years.

He thought about it carefully.
Perhaps it’s because he’d spent too many peaceful days in the other worlds that he has lost his sense of awareness and judgment towards danger.

To actually fail in preventing Pei QianYue from stepping in this trap. 

Pei QianYue went into a frenzy just now in the Endless Valley.

At that time, the scene inside the valley was too chaotic.
Amidst the chaos, Feng Ci was only able to protect those kids from LangFeng City.
As for the casualties and injuries of the other cultivation sects, he wasn’t too sure.

However, most likely, someone died.

At the very least, the old man, who had hindered Feng Ci persistently and refused to let him leave with Pei QianYue, definitely lost his life. 

Feng Ci didn’t know that old man, but he saw with his own eyes, the black snake penetrating that old man’s chest.
It was also at that time that Feng Ci stepped forth out of worry that it’d cause even more casualties, to grab this frenzied black snake and leave the Endless Valley on his flying sword amidst cries of alarm and shock.

However, it was still a bit late.

Because the deed has already been done.

The Leader of the Immortal Alliance suddenly went into a frenzy, and even killed a fellow Immortal Alliance cultivator.
In comparison to just appearing at the scene of a cultivation sect’s massacre, this was definitely much more serious. 

The latter only created suspicions.
The former was a crime with solid evidence to back it.

Feng Ci realized slowly in the aftermath, this was most likely the real objective of this scheme.

 

At this point, it was no longer important whether Pei QianYue massacred the cultivation sects or not.
He had killed a fellow Immortal Alliance cultivator in front of all of these people.
Just this alone was enough to doom him beyond redemption.

This was a multi-step trap that was interconnected in subtle ways. 

Thinking here, Feng Ci suddenly had a bit of a headache.

He’d rather enter a demon(魔) territory alone and fight with the demon(魔) clan for three days and three nights than play these kinds of calculated schemes with disgraceful miscreants, hiding in who knows what kind of shady places.

After a moment of rest, the black snake seemed a bit more clear-headed.
Raising its tail, it nuzzled against Feng Ci’s side.

Feng Ci gently stroked its scales. 

The black snake’s body was no longer as hot; however, there was still an irregular warmth, which proved that the demon(妖) poison within his body still has not resolved completely.

Feng Ci has never seen this kind of poison, but he knew of similar things.

Created from the blood of demons(妖) and monsters(魔), capable of sending demons and monsters into an uncontrollable frenzy and making them lose their mind.
A few thousand years ago, this was once used by the demonic(魔) clan to train their soldiers.

There wasn’t any special method to resolve this poison.
It just had to be vented out completely, or like how the black snake was right now, pacified slowly. 

However, the problematic area with this poison was that once it dissolves, it’s impossible to find any traces of it inside the body.

Thus, it was also impossible to obtain proof of its existence.

Every aspect of this mysterious manipulator’s scheme had been designed with meticulous precision.

Feng Ci sighed, too lazy to keep pondering over this.
He relaxed his body and laid on the black snake’s body, eyes closed and recuperating. 

That tail was still rubbing against him gently.

A few days ago, Feng Ci stayed around the black snake a lot and had already gotten used to it always rubbing up against him, so he didn’t stop the other.
However, it slipped his mind that the black snake right now was no longer completely without awareness as before.
On the contrary, right now it was extremely clear-headed, and even…… a bit excited.

Feng Ci instinctively sensed that something wasn’t right.
He opened his eyes.
However, the thick and sturdy snake wrapped itself around his body at the same time.

After its size increased, the black snake’s strength also became much different than before.
Feng Ci had fallen from the skies just now.
His body still hasn’t recovered completely.
Very quickly, he felt a bit suffocated from being wrapped up so tightly. 

Fortunately, the black serpent hadn’t planned to strangle him to death.
It only wanted to hold his body completely still so it could head towards its target.

The next second, Feng Ci felt something pressing against his lower back.

 

This presence was very hard to ignore, and there was fucking two.

Feng Ci instantly felt his scalp turn numb. 

He remembered now.
This kind of poison not only magnified a demon(妖)’s aggressiveness and bloodthirst boundlessly; it also enhanced…… sexual desires.

It was trying to……