Shielding one’s vision made it easier to sense the flow of spiritual power. Wind… fire… vaguely, there was something unusual mixed within.
Mo Xuanli shifted his grip slightly on the staff, and the direction ahead turned with him.
Yes—at this moment, Gu Baiqing and Mo Xuanli were walking one behind the other in the tunnel, each holding one end of God Nine Transformations.
At present, God Nine Transformations had taken the form of a staff.
On its silvery surface were ancient carved patterns, looking like a piece of crafted art. It could stretch and shrink at will—just now, it had contracted to the length of an arm.
The little red string tied to one end of God Nine Transformations again began to cause mischief in Gu Baiqing’s hand, slipping from his wrist into his sleeve, coiling upward like a tentacle all the way to his upper arm.
Gu Baiqing wanted to let go of the staff and tear the string off, but God Nine Transformations behaved like a mischievous child, bumping forward and poking him right in the ticklish spot at his waist.
Gu Baiqing let out a muffled laugh, making Mo Xuanli halt at once. He too had felt God Nine Transformations twitch. “Master, what is it? Is this thing misbehaving?”
“No, just being playful.” Gu Baiqing said helplessly. If not for Three Bean being too small to serve as a guide dog, he wouldn’t have to go through this trouble.
Although his master said so, Mo Xuanli was still displeased. He infused spiritual power into God Nine Transformations to discipline it. God Nine Transformations trembled once and immediately dared not fool around, obediently playing the role of a guide staff.
Not long after, Mo Xuanli stopped. “It’s here.”
He opened his eyes—only to see a wall inlaid with inferior spirit stones. This place was one they had already passed, where countless cultivators had also walked by and dismissed as useless. Mo Xuanli’s face was full of doubt. Gu Baiqing asked, “Here?”
Mo Xuanli felt a little embarrassed. “Perhaps I sensed wrong.”
Gu Baiqing knew it wasn’t wrong. Likely Mo Xuanli just didn’t want to lose face before his master.
“Could it be inside the stone wall? Try sensing again, find the exact spot, and we’ll dig directly.” Gu Baiqing reminded.
Mo Xuanli could only comply. Closing his eyes, he felt along the wall until suddenly touching a tiny crack. Opening his eyes, he saw it was thinner than a strand of hair. Frowning, he released a trace of spiritual power into the gap to probe.
At once, light spilled from the crack. The stone wall transformed into something like a water membrane, and Mo Xuanli’s hand sank straight in.
It was said the stronger the spirit crystal, the stronger its sentience. To protect itself from being mined, it could create barriers around it, making others think the place was just a wall of inferior stones. Only someone with keen sensitivity could follow the faint aura it couldn’t help but leak and find it.
“Master?” Mo Xuanli immediately looked at Gu Baiqing.
“Go in!” Gu Baiqing nodded.
The two ducked and slipped through the barrier, finding themselves in a spacious cavern.
On the ground grew brilliant spirit crystals—red and white, glittering like clustered gemstones. Within, tiny tornadoes and little flames could be seen.
It was a dual-element wind-and-fire spirit crystal—rarer still than single-element ones.
“We found it.” Mo Xuanli said with delight. “Such a coincidence?”
Of course it had to be coincidence—plot demanded it. Otherwise, how else to become the strongest?
As Mo Xuanli first plucked the spirit crystal blossoms and then prepared to mine the crystal itself, Gu Baiqing thought of a troublesome matter.
“Wait. Let your master set a barrier first.” Gu Baiqing said.
In the original tale, after finding the spirit crystal with Mo Xuanli, Gu Baiqing watched as Mo Xuanli immediately condensed his Core on the spot. But it had been said before—when a spirit crystal is unearthed, there will surely be a spiritual fluctuation. Everyone will sense it and rush over.
In the original text, although later there were indeed clashes, the process of forming the golden core went very smoothly for Mo Xuanli. The reason was that his tribulation-stage master had set up a barrier to block the leakage of spiritual energy. Only after Mo Xuanli successfully formed his golden core and came out did others sense the lingering traces of spiritual power.
“Master, you have spiritual power?” Mo Xuanli asked in surprise.
What could Gu Baiqing do? He could only use a tiny bit to help move the plot along.
But Mo Xuanli’s next words left him utterly dumbfounded.
Mo Xuanli said with delight: “I knew this spirit crystal would be useful for Master’s body. Unfortunately, if only we could find a thunder-type one. Once I finish handling this, I’ll go look for it. Now that Master has spiritual power again, you can try sensing for yourself.”
Gu Baiqing froze, his mind momentarily blank. Uh… there won’t be any. For a spiritual vein like this one, having a dual-element crystal already counts as sheer luck.
Mo Xuanli’s face dimmed for a moment. He knew as well—dual-type crystals were already extremely rare. This place couldn’t possibly nurture enough energy for a second one.
“That doesn’t matter. Even if the attributes differ, in the end it’s all just spiritual power. As long as Master absorbs it, it’s fine,” Mo Xuanli said unconcernedly. “As long as it helps, I’ll keep looking. I’ll definitely help Master recover.”
At last, Gu Baiqing realized what Mo Xuanli meant.
The whole reason for coming here to find a spirit crystal—Mo Xuanli had intended all along for Gu Baiqing to use it. He had never once thought of using it himself to form his golden core. Clearly, even though Fu Zhiyi had already told him, and even though half the reason the External Affairs Elder had come to help was for him to properly form his golden core, Mo Xuanli still…
Looking at him squatting there so seriously, preparing to dig out the crystal, Gu Baiqing was momentarily speechless. Suddenly, his chest tightened and his eyes stung faintly. He fixed his gaze on Mo Xuanli’s back, waved his hand to form the barrier, and muttered under his breath: “What a fool.”
No matter how close other master–disciple pairs might be, one cannot gamble away the disciple’s future for some vague, illusory possibility. This person really was a fool. An idiot.
Digging out a spirit crystal was no easy task. As a precious yet fragile object, if it accidentally shattered during extraction, the spiritual energy inside would be greatly diminished.
But just then, Three Bean’s fur bristled, and both master and disciple felt danger approaching.
Gu Baiqing instantly turned, Morning Snow sword in hand—only to see four familiar figures rush in. They were the four who had set up the roadblock earlier, but now they had transformed into low-level demonic creatures, charging straight at the two of them.
Three Bean immediately transformed and lunged forward.
“How can there be low-level demons?” Mo Xuanli said.
Gu Baiqing wanted to ask the same thing. “Quick, dig out the spirit crystal.” If something went wrong, where would he ever find another spirit crystal for Mo Xuanli to form his golden core? This task could not be delayed.
He didn’t even need to say it—Mo Xuanli was already being careful, since in his mind this crystal was for curing Gu Baiqing.
As he spoke, Gu Baiqing rushed forward. With a single swing of his sword, he cut down the four demons. But an unending tide of demonic energy poured in from beyond the barrier. Clearly those four had only been a probe; the real trouble was just beginning.
This demonic energy was definitely no ordinary demon clan’s—it was stronger than the succubi and gu demons they had met in the secret realm, though weaker than the killing demon. Gu Baiqing was confident he could handle it.
But just then, the demonic energy at the entrance abruptly vanished, replaced by the spiritual pressure of a cultivator. And not just any cultivator, but one at the Immortalization stage. Could it be another cultivator had run into the demon clan and started fighting them? Then why was there no sound of battle?
At that moment, Mo Xuanli successfully removed the spirit crystal and stored it in his pouch.
“Master, what’s going on?” Mo Xuanli walked over, equally puzzled. Gu Baiqing too was baffled—this hadn’t happened in the original text.
Since they could no longer sense any demonic energy, when attacks suddenly came at them from all directions, even though they reacted instantly, they were still a step too slow. In the blink of an eye, they became trapped like turtles in a jar. The entire cave was engulfed in overwhelming demonic energy.
The attacks came as countless red threads, slicing through the air like arrows, striking at the two of them inside the cave.
Before they realized it, both were bound by the red threads, suspended in midair like puppets on strings.
The moment Gu Baiqing released his thunder power, it was sucked away by the red threads, as if they could endlessly devour their prey’s spiritual energy—extremely troublesome. Even Morning Snow reverted to its ordinary form after its power was drained. Three Bean too was wrapped up into a ball, back to a kitten.
Lifting his head, Gu Baiqing saw not far away that Mo Xuanli was in the same predicament. With spells useless, Mo Xuanli shut his eyes. At a mere thought, his Illusory Spirit Space activated.
In the next instant, he appeared closer to Gu Baiqing—but was immediately attacked by the seemingly conscious red threads, trembling violently.
Having lost too much spiritual power, Mo Xuanli’s face was pale. He struggled once, but the threads, though they looked like mere strings, were sharp as steel wires. One tug and a bloody gash was cut open. His God Nine Transformations weapon had at some point taken the form of a blade, but it too was bound in midair, unable to move.
Gu Baiqing looked toward the barrier below. Soon, a figure stepped through the stone wall.
Mo Xuanli also stopped and turned to look.
A woman in red, veiled, holding a black-qi-shrouded umbrella, slowly approached. Her blood-red eyes revealed her terrifying strength. Gazing with satisfaction at the two of them ensnared by the red threads, she said, “My Love Net is designed to restrain cultivators’ spiritual power—it’s nearly impossible to escape. Don’t waste your strength.”
“Who are you?” Gu Baiqing demanded.
The newcomer was Ruiyao. But at this moment, with demonic energy rolling off her, neither Mo Xuanli—who had never seen her—nor Gu Baiqing, whose original body’s memories of her were faint, recognized the woman before them.
Ruiyao’s eyes, seductive as silk, fixed intently on Gu Baiqing. “And who are you? Such pure thunder essence belongs only to Gu Baiqing. Yet your face is not his, and neither is your heart.”
As she spoke, her slender fingers plucked the red thread coiled around Gu Baiqing’s chest.
“The Love Net tells me—your heart is warm… not cold. You care for someone. So you are not Gu Baiqing. Gu Baiqing could never care for anyone. His heart is cold.” Ruiyao spoke in a low, drifting voice.
“Could it be… you really are that disciple’s elder brother?” Ruiyao tilted her head, wearing a look of puzzlement, as if she herself wasn’t sure anymore.
Mo Xuanli caught on: “You’ve been following us? Since Star-Stepping City?”
Otherwise, how would she know that Gu Baiqing was posing as Mo Xuanli’s brother?
Ruiyao turned her gaze toward Mo Xuanli, displeasure flickering in her eyes. Pointing at Gu Baiqing, she demanded: “I know you are Gu Baiqing’s disciple—so why does this man resemble Gu Baiqing so much?”
Of course Mo Xuanli could not admit Gu Baiqing’s identity. “He’s just also a thunder-type cultivator, that’s all. You came here specifically to capture me, didn’t you? What exactly are you? What do you want?”
Ruiyao sneered. “Gu Baiqing’s personal disciple, inheritor of the Void Spirit Space, wielder of an immortal-grade spirit sword? Hmph, his teaching doesn’t seem so great after all. Then again, how could he spare any heart for others? Listen well, boy—within the Demon Realm, my identity is Love Demon, the incarnation of all the world’s lovesick men and resentful women. And today, naturally… I’ve come to destroy you!”
As she finished, her eyes shifted coldly, and her fingers plucked at the red threads as if playing an instrument.
A scream tore from Mo Xuanli’s throat.
Ruiyao laughed in delight. “Boy, does it hurt? You must understand—love is the sharpest blade in the world. With my Love Net, I can pluck at the emotions within your heart, let you taste what it means for pain to carve into your very bones, to wish for death rather than life!”
“Ahhh!” Mo Xuanli screamed again and again. It was as if he truly suffered the most excruciating torment. Each red thread seemed to connect directly to a strand of his emotions, pulling them at will, forcing fluctuations that stabbed into his soul. It was not the body that hurt, but the spirit itself. Under such an assault, any person would inevitably be driven into their deepest hatred.
“When you can no longer endure, I will help you fall into demonization. I look forward to seeing your master—the great exemplar of demon-slaying in the cultivation world—when he learns that his only disciple has fallen and become a heretic. What kind of expression will he show, I wonder? Hahaha!”
Just as Ruiyao laughed, suddenly there came a sizzling sound—the sound of thunder she knew all too well.
A voice rang out from nowhere.
Startled, Ruiyao instantly sensed something wrong. Suddenly, a thick bolt of lightning charged with overwhelming spiritual power struck down from the void, aiming straight at her.
The thunder came with unstoppable force. Ruiyao panicked, dodging frantically, but there was no avoiding it completely. She managed only to deflect it from a vital point, but was blasted aside. The black qi around her thinned, blood trickling from the corner of her lips. Only then did she realize the truth—the Love Net bound nothing at all. Everything just now had been an illusion.
Above, Mo Xuanli lay collapsed on Three Bean’s body, while Gu Baiqing floated in the air, Morning Snow in hand, staring down at Ruiyao with cold eyes.
That icy expression made Ruiyao’s heart jolt. “You are—”
But before she could finish, Gu Baiqing’s killing strike had already fallen. In an instant, thunder erupted in every corner of the cave.
In fact, the moment Mo Xuanli activated the Void Spirit Space, he had already whisked them out. Gu Baiqing had coordinated perfectly, cloaking them both with a barrier before the red threads closed in, hiding their figures and their spiritual power. The threads, losing their target, fell still.
With his cultivation strength, even the Love Demon could not see through it. At the same time, linked with Gu Baiqing’s power, Three Bean had conjured the illusion at the very instant the Love Demon entered. But using the Void Spirit Space at such precision had overdrawn Mo Xuanli’s energy, leaving him unconscious.
Gu Baiqing had wanted to take the chance to probe this person’s true identity—why she appeared here, why this plot deviation existed. Yet this Love Demon seemed abnormal. And the original text had never mentioned any “Love Demon.” From who knows where had appeared such a formidable opponent. If not for Mo Xuanli’s Void Spirit Space, they might have been forced into a bitter battle here.
Gu Baiqing never once thought of Ruiyao’s real identity. After all, his own reputation was notorious throughout the Demon Realm; it wasn’t strange for someone to know of him or to mock him.
But this madwoman wanted to corrupt his disciple into demonhood? Dream on. Such a dangerous demon—she had to be killed.
With killing intent rising, Gu Baiqing struck without mercy. But Ruiyao had once been of his own generation, and had even been hailed by Chuixue Pavilion as the most gifted candidate for sect master. Even fallen, she was terrifyingly strong. And with Gu Baiqing mindful of others within this spiritual vein, he dared not unleash destructive techniques freely, leaving him somewhat constrained.
He refused to use the spiritual power absorbed from Mo Xuanli, afraid of triggering another collapse. He could only spend accumulated points instead. Watching them drain away, his resolve to kill hardened. But he soon noticed the woman’s tenacity—not yielding to death, and those red eyes blazing with hatred whenever they fixed on him.
Flames of vengeance?
Soon, Ruiyao could no longer hold out. Just then, a sudden gust of wind and snow blew in from the barrier, disrupting Gu Baiqing’s strike. He realized someone was throwing down cover to rescue the Love Demon.
Heh—he didn’t mind killing two instead of one.
He was just about to strike again when the entire spirit vein tunnel shook violently, like an earthquake, instantly overturning the battle. The Love Demon was yanked out through the barrier, and all Gu Baiqing caught was a glimpse of a woman’s hand reaching in.
He scooped up Three Bean, ready to give chase—but then the spiritual energy all around them shifted wildly. The entire spirit vein began to collapse.
Gu Baiqing was left dumbfounded, practically coughing blood from sheer frustration. Carrying Three Bean and Mo Xuanli, he rapidly tunneled a path with spells to escape the mountain before they were buried alive.
Along the way, he saw all the spirit stones visibly lose their luster, turning gray and dull, becoming nothing but ordinary rock.
Gu Baiqing truly had no idea what was going on anymore.
As soon as they burst out, he heard the startled cries of other cultivators not far away. Naturally no one was injured, but all were exclaiming in shock: how could this spirit vein suddenly become completely barren?
At that moment, someone shouted,
“Brother Mo!”
Gu Baiqing instantly reacted—it was Ji Chuling’s voice. Turning his head, he saw not far away Ji Chuling staggering under the weight of an unconscious Li Xiuran.
And before her, a group of hostile cultivators were glaring, eyes sharp like tigers.
The situation had grown so chaotic that Gu Baiqing could no longer spare thought for the Love Demon. He had to descend and protect these juniors first.
“That person must have just received some kind of inheritance!”
“Yes, a flash of light, countless swords! It must be some mysterious legacy.”
“He inherited it, and then the spirit vein collapsed—he must have monopolized the entire spirit vein!”
“Force him to hand over the inheritance, force him to compensate everyone!”
The rabble began to stir things up, and more and more cultivators with unclear stances gathered around.
Just then, the spiritual energy leaking from Mo Xuanli’s storage pouch drew the attention of those who had recovered from the earlier shock.
“This is… this is supreme grade… no, it’s spirit crystal aura! The spirit crystal is in the hand of that other unconscious boy!”
“D*mn it, all the other spirit stones lost their power, but this spirit crystal still has aura—there’s definitely something fishy.”
“They know each other—are they in this together? Did they destroy our spirit vein? They must give us an explanation!”
