Chapter 136: Initial Encounter with the Desire Demon

Lan Boting looked puzzled but still lowered his magical sword. He asked suspiciously, "Senior Sister Moonlight, this person is full of evil energy; he can't be trusted easily!"

"I said, he's still useful."

The scene immediately fell silent. Facing the bewildered gazes of the numerous Qi Refining disciples who had rushed over, Changxi offered no further explanation, simply glancing at Wang Yu.

"Follow me."

Wang Yu surveyed his surroundings, finding no opportunity to break through. His heart sank; he had fallen into a wolf's den.

He regretted even more choosing the Black Mountain Demonic Land for his closed-door cultivation.

Next time, he would definitely find a place hated by both humans and dogs, unsuitable for human activity, to cultivate in seclusion.

The cultivation world was truly dangerous. He had thought Foundation Establishment was the beginning of his rise, but he hadn't even taken a single step through the door of cultivation before reality struck him down.

After following Changxi out of the encirclement, Wang Yu silently waited for her to speak. As the fish on the chopping block, he decided to see what she intended to do before making any plans.

"You are Wang Yu, aren't you? When I spoke with you just now, I felt some sympathy for you, yet you maliciously deceived me. What exactly are you trying to achieve?"

Wang Yu was startled. Seeing Changxi's changed attitude, he immediately began to ponder where his deception had been exposed.

His information within the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect wasn't top-secret, but Changxi couldn't have verified it so quickly. At most, she could confirm the part about his experiences in the Taihu Spirit Domain.

That part was all true, so there couldn't be any problem there.

After a moment, Wang Yu suddenly realized where the problem lay. His mind settled slightly, and he spoke.

"When traveling, caution is the way for rogue cultivators to survive. I have cultivated in the demonic domain for many years, and I'm sure the Immortal Lady has heard of how harsh the environment there is. If I were to disclose everything about myself to every powerful cultivator I meet, wouldn't I have died long ago?"

The logic was sound, but once Changxi became suspicious, she wouldn't let it go lightly, and the secrets of the Black Mountain Demonic Land went far beyond that.

"I am a Sword Sect envoy, acting justly and honorably. I have judged countless evil cultivators and have never made a single wrongful verdict. Even if you practice unorthodox methods, I haven't used baseless accusations against you, so why the malicious deception?"

Wang Yu smiled.

"I admit to deception, but where is the malice? The only lie I told was not wanting to disclose my whereabouts after visiting my family. Is that wrong? If so, then wouldn't everyone in the world have to be completely honest?"

Changxi was momentarily speechless. She had only thought about being deceived and that Wang Yu might hold secrets related to the current incident, which had put her in a very bad mood.

After some argument, the atmosphere suddenly grew silent.

A moment later, perhaps she had come to a realization, as Changxi changed to a calm tone and fulfilled her previous promise.

"You wanted to know why we are here, didn't you? I'll tell you now."

Wang Yu simply sat on a nearby rock. He couldn't leave anytime soon; at least not until the Sword Sect's business was resolved and he was cleared of suspicion. It was better to hear her explain everything so he would have a clear understanding.

"In recent years, many young women have gone missing from the cities near Black Mountain Pass. Initially, it only affected immortal sprouts with lower aptitudes, but later it gradually spread to mortal women. Shihu City, Qianqiu City, Lingxi City... the number of missing persons has increased year by year. By this year's Spirit Testing Day, the number exceeded ten thousand."

At this point, Changxi let out a cold snort.

"For the past few years, I have been eliminating evil. I have slain the lords of over a dozen cities centered around Dingshan City, with their nine clans implicated. The target was finally pinpointed to Black Mountain Demonic Land, where all the girls who have gone missing over the past decade were sent."

As he listened, Wang Yu understood the whole story. While his doubts were resolved, a feeling of annoyance arose within him. Several years ago, after the slave-catching team left Black Mountain Pass, six of them went north to perform a secret mission. Only later did he realize it was related to the missing young women.

When he was searching for a cultivation retreat, besides the Withered Leaf Swamp being unsuitable for long-term habitation, part of his intention was to avoid encountering these people, as his idea of "waiting for the rabbit" in Shihu had failed.

Now that he thought about it, their northward journey could only have two possibilities: they were either deceiving their own people, treating it as a top-secret mission, or there were informants watching Black Mountain Pass, and they deliberately misled those informants.

Between the two guesses, the latter was clearly more plausible. He had been misled! How infuriating!

Meanwhile, Changxi, who had been carefully observing Wang Yu's facial expressions, suddenly asked, "You knew about this?"

Wang Yu decisively shook his head.

"No, I didn't know, but I can roughly guess it's the doing of the Joyous Union Demonic Sect. Only they would have such a great need for women. However, I haven't figured out why they would need mortal women."

"Alas—"

Changxi repeatedly used her Enlightened Sword Heart to sense the truth of Wang Yu's words, but ultimately found nothing.

After some thought, she said, "This matter is not top-secret; there's no harm in telling you."

"Oh?" Wang Yu was extremely curious. What other secrets did this Black Mountain Demonic Land hide?

"A 'Demon' is imprisoned in the Black Mountain Demonic Land. It is said that in an ancient era beyond verifiable history, it was sealed here. Its name is — Desire! It is rumored that the earliest practitioners of the Joyous Union Demonic Dao in this world were a group of people who held an 'Unrestricted Gathering' at the sealed location in Black Mountain Demonic Land, engaging in licentious acts. This act activated the power of the Desire Demon. Its demonic thoughts permeated their hearts, transmitting the Joyous Union Demonic Dao. It is also revered by all demonic cultivators who follow the Joyous Union path as their ancestor, the founder of their path!"

Wang Yu was momentarily astonished. He hadn't expected such a story. He wasn't unfamiliar with the concept of "demons," as the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect was also founded upon the remnants of an ancient blood demon.

"So the Joyous Union Demonic Sect wants to rescue their ancestor?"

"Rescue?" Changxi sneered. "They wouldn't dare."

"Why not?"

"Before reaching the Nascent Soul stage, demonic cultivators are just amateurs hovering outside the true door. Without cultivating demonic qi, they are not true demonic cultivators, and demonic qi is a power superior to the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. These imprisoned and sealed demons are the legendary Indestructible True Demons. Even cultivators at the Soul Transformation stage cannot kill them. Over countless ages, they have long gone insane. The first thing they would do upon release is to slaughter the very people who freed them."

Wang Yu immediately fell silent. So they were a group of insane individuals who had lost their minds.

"In that case, the reason the Joyous Union Demonic Sect abducted women is very clear. Why don't you just go directly to the sealed location? Why search everywhere?"

Hearing this, Changxi looked at him in surprise.

"It seems you truly don't know. How vast is Black Mountain? And the cave where Desire is sealed is constantly moving within Black Mountain. Only the secret arts of the Joyous Union Demonic Sect can pinpoint its location. We only know that the sealed cave is on a bare, thousand-meter-high black peak, where Blood-Colored Joyous Demonic Gold grows, which is a supreme treasure of demonic lust."

At this point, the explanation was quite clear.