Chapter 586: In the Smoke of Demon

Li Xuanxuan looked at Li Ximing, then turned his gaze to Li Xizhi. The expressions of both brothers fell fully into his sight. He reached into his sleeve and took out two jade boxes.

“This is the broken Bronze Zang sword and the Six Thunder Profound Punishment Token.”

The Bronze Zang was Yu Mu Jian’s artifact, and its quality was not low. However, the Buddhist methods of artifact refining were simply incomparable to those of the immortal and demonic paths. Though the artifact’s material was excellent, its refining technique was not particularly brilliant. Now that the sword had been severed by the Green Ruler Sword, Li Xuanxuan took it out and placed it in his palm, revealing the smooth, gleaming cross-section of the bronze sword. It was unclear if it retained any lingering magical properties.

The Six Thunder Profound Punishment Token, however, was entirely different. While this artifact was a world apart from the Six Shock Profound Thunder Token, it represented the peak of craftsmanship, far from an ordinary item.

Li Qinghong opened the jade box, revealing six palm-sized, silver-white tokens shimmering inside. Their ancient script glowed, emitting a faint, crackling hum. Li Qinghong took one out and weighed it in her hand. Silver-white lightning flowed into her palm, and she couldn't help but praise, “What a treasure!” She examined it closely, gently caressing the ancient script. The other five tokens immediately jumped up, circling her wrist like streaks of light. Li Qinghong closed her eyes and murmured, “What a pity… it’s Profound Thunder.”

Li Qinghong’s cultivation foundation was the Profound Thunder Pool, a modification of the Winter Thunder Sound. Although it was called the Profound Thunder Pool, it belonged to the ‘Sky Thunder’ among the thunder types and was not a perfect match. But it was a thunder artifact nonetheless, and this slight incompatibility only meant a minor deficiency in mana circulation. Li Qinghong toyed with it for a moment, then, with a flip of her hand, put it away. She softly said, “It’s a top-tier artifact, but I’ve never used this kind of immortal token artifact before. I’ll need to study it more.”

She put away the tokens and unfastened the Profound Pattern Bottle from her waist. The artifact shimmered purple, covered in purple lightning patterns. The bottle radiated brilliance as it stood on the table. Li Qinghong explained gently, “This artifact was originally obtained by Brother Jiao from the East Fire Grotto-Heaven. Its effects vary depending on the user’s immortal foundation.”

“However, its effect was special in Brother Jiao’s hands, but for me, it only breathes out thunder and stores spirit thunder.” She held up the bottle, extended a flat hand, and poured out a stream of bright thunder light. Controlled by her, the lightning descended one by one into her palm, glittering, some violent, some agile, each with its unique characteristics. Li Qinghong took out several small gold bottles from her storage bag and stored the thunder into them one by one. After filling seven gold bottles in total, she handed the bottle to Li Xizhi: “It should have been yours all along.”

“Auntie, what are you saying!” Li Xizhi examined the Profound Pattern Bottle for a moment. It was only three fingers wide in his palm, small, exquisite, and glowing with a shimmering purple light. He raised his hand and placed the item into Li Ximing’s hand. “Since it’s from the East Fire Grotto-Heaven, it’s better in your hands…” Li Xizhi was distracted; he hastily closed Li Ximing’s hand around it and anxiously looked at Li Qinghong, saying restlessly, “Auntie, Xiang’er is still in the North!”

Li Xuanxuan had been sitting on the edge of his seat for a while, wanting to speak. Seeing his grandson voice his thoughts, the old man now rose from his seat and whispered, “Qinghong… this matter…”

Among the Li family, only Li Qinghong had the ability to cross the river and return unscathed. She nodded gently and said in a soft voice, “I understand. I’ll return to the North immediately.”

“Thank you, Auntie!” Li Xizhi responded gratefully. Li Ximing, listening from the side, understood. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his hand felt warm. Li Xizhi’s hand was still covering his, pressing the Profound Pattern Bottle into his palm. All his words of dissuasion were pressed back into his throat, and in the end, he could only utter a few words: “Auntie, be careful…”

Li Qinghong nodded and replied, “There’s no time to lose. Ximing, come with me to the North first. Xizhi and Li Quantao should rest and recover for a few days, then come over too.”

“I’ll go back to Qingdu to pack!” Li Ximing rose, and the aunt and nephew flew off on the wind together. Li Xizhi saw them off from outside the courtyard, then restlessly clasped his hands behind his back, paced around the old residence twice, and finally returned to his seat.

Li Xuanxuan was counting various spiritual items, his old face sagged and unreadable. He raised his eyes, saw Li Xizhi’s solemn expression, and said in a hoarse voice, “Ximing has been in seclusion for many years. He’s only met Yuexiang a few times in total. How much affection could he possibly have… Don’t overthink it. He’s a bit heartless… but not to that extent…”

“Grandfather…” Li Xizhi sighed softly, his lips trembling, finally revealing his pain. He replied, “I also don’t want Auntie to take risks… I understand Ximing’s thoughts, and I know Yuexiang is most likely in grave danger, but what if there’s a sliver of hope?” His remaining words trailed off, never leaving his mouth. He had been unaware of Li Yuexiang going North until later, only then discovering it was a family arrangement.

‘He’s not the only one who’s heartless.’

Yan Shan Pass.

Demonic smoke billowed across the ground, and scattered specks of light rose. The gloomy ruins were strewn with fragments of collapsed white stone, the bloodstains long dry, with only a few scattered bone fragments. The ruins were desolate. Tiny black lights seeped from the stone cracks, forming a black snake that wandered through the lonely ruins.

Li Wushao’s black snake eyes fixed on the demonic smoke, his body slithering. It had been months since he slowly escaped from Chengshui Tomb, and this was his first appearance at Yan Shan Pass. The North and South were fighting a chaotic battle. Li Wushao had seen the emerald water of Chengshui Tomb and the falling immortal light. He decisively transformed into his true form, constricted his body, and burrowed into the water below, fleeing south without looking back.

He was originally a hook-snake from the East Sea. Aside from other things, he had survived in the East Sea for such a long time, so he was naturally skilled at escaping. Being in the water, his element, he quickly shook off his enemies and continued south. But Li Wushao had not expected Yan Shan Pass to fall. The entire journey was through demonic smoke. He fled blindly, was attacked three times, and nearly lost his life there. “Good thing I was born in the East Sea, full of demonic aura, not practicing any righteous cultivation. It’s hard to spot me in demonic smoke. If I had pure light like those other sect mounts, I’d have been killed long ago!”

As Li Wushao slithered over the ruins, a black light suddenly descended from the sky, landing in front of him and transforming into a man in black, who stared at him suspiciously. Li Wushao, caught red-handed, was not alarmed. He lifted his snake head and looked openly, then suddenly heard the other party say coldly, “Fellow Daoist, from which unit are you? Why are you lingering here?” Li Wushao’s demonic aura and his wandering around the ruins confused the man. How could he guess that a defeated soldier from Chengshui Tomb was still roaming the demonic lands?

Li Wushao saw the man’s demonic aura and immediately identified him as a rogue demonic cultivator from the North. He flicked his tongue and replied, “I am a protector under Master Kong Heng of Yan State! And you, Fellow Daoist? So meddlesome!” The snake demon spoke with certainty, but inwardly grumbled, “Damn it… using the monk’s name again. For months, this old man has truly been his mount! How humiliating…”

The other party hesitated. Although the main Buddhist forces were primarily Kong Wuxiang, Cibeixiang, and Shanlexiang, the seven northern paths had all sent people to some extent. Who was this Kong Heng? But seeing the snake demon’s confidence, he said coldly, “I’ve never heard of any Master Kong Heng!”

“Are you blind, you dog!” Li Wushao cursed. He slammed his tail on the ground, pointing directly, and snapped, “My master is someone whom even Master Yuxin of the Great Desire Sect desperately begged to debate with but failed! A mere demonic cultivator, unworthy of meeting a great person, dares to bark here!” Yuxin was indeed the Great Desire Sect Master who attacked Yan Shan Pass the first time and was repelled by Li Qinghong and others, so it was true. The black snake raised its head, its expression truly intimidating.

‘This snake demon’s mouth is too foul.’

The demonic cultivator heard him mention Yuxin and indeed believed him somewhat, but being cursed for no reason still annoyed him. He still retained a shred of doubt and said coldly, “Since Fellow Daoist is a protector under a great person, you must have read many scriptures!”

Li Wushao sneered, “Heh! You asked for this!” He took out “The Scripture of Honoring and Subduing,” which Kong Heng had taught him, and started chanting incomprehensibly. Profound and inscrutable incantations echoed in the air. Combined with his previous words, the demonic cultivator immediately jumped in alarm.

“Damn plague-ridden snake!” Buddhist scriptures were strange. He didn’t want to be converted halfway. He quickly cursed to save face, then ascended on the wind and plunged into the black mist.

“Pah!” Li Wushao spat at his retreating back, then burrowed back into the ruins. This person was likely the Foundation Establishment cultivator guarding the area. With this disturbance, there were no more obstacles.

Li Wushao thought, “Something happened at Chengshui Tomb. Most of the demonic cultivators stationed here left, and that master also returned North… Otherwise, this guy wouldn’t have been so easy to fool…” He also saw the glittering light falling from the North, not surprised. He cursed inwardly, “Humans just care about their face. They kill, but they have to create disputes, fight back and forth, only to fall in the end. All that pointless fuss, only for a false disguise.”

Li Wushao had seen this many times in the East Sea. When dragon princes from water palaces needed immortal foundations for alchemy and artifact refining, East Sea demons lined up to offer themselves for death. There was no need for such elaborate battles or disputes. Despite his thoughts, Li Wushao envied the decorum of cultivators on land. Purple Mansion cultivators still feigned when killing Foundation Establishment cultivators, and rarely killed for no reason. Life was much more comfortable.

He lowered his head and moved through the ruins for a moment, quickly arriving at his former station. He rummaged through it and found a long halberd. The halberd was simple in design and very light, still bearing engraved characters: “Li Family of Qingdu, Chen Clan of Lijing, Chen Mufeng.”

‘This young one died here.’ Li Wushao had met this middle-aged man. When Li Wushao was captured by the Li family, Chen Mufeng was a youth. Li Wushao had interacted with him.

“Damn it…” The snake demon frowned, overturning several large stones. Indeed, he saw half of Chen Mufeng’s head. Li Wushao dug out the other half from the dirt; it was already rotten. He wiped them clean, put them together, and placed them in his storage bag. “Humans have a tradition of burying their dead. I’ll take it back for Chen Donghe to bury.” He blinked, searched around, then pulled out several other corpses of Li family members. Fortunately, he didn’t recognize any of them. He put them all away, cursing, “Damn it, just die where you are!”

He had transformed into human form, his eyelid twitched. He searched again, but did not find An Zheyang’s body, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief. That man had been with him excavating the mineral veins under Moon Lake, bald and jovial, good at eating, sometimes lazy, but quick to run. He inspected the area. There was also a big man with a golden hammer at the pass, probably named Li Wen, also missing, possibly turned to dust and ashes. The hammer might have been taken by someone.

He walked back, finding a few more corpses along the way, secretly collecting them all. He thought to himself, “Those Moon Lake Peak demonic sect members… seeing the situation, should have run, or perhaps didn’t even have time to run.” He walked barefoot, occasionally seeing familiar but incomplete faces: sometimes a familiar nose, or a half-rotten, somewhat familiar ear lying on the ground. Li Wushao cursed whenever he saw them, grumbling all the way into the pass, his voice growing lower and lower, until finally, the old snake fell silent.

Li Wushao had lived in the East Sea for so many years, truly having no friends to speak of. His own kind, seeing his lowly bloodline, often disdained to speak with him, and other demon races didn’t even dare to see him. It was only when he came to the Li family that Li Wushao gradually gained the concept of acquaintances and friends. Despite his gruff demeanor and foul mouth, An Zheyang, Chen Donghe, and others, perhaps for other practical considerations, didn’t mind and had a good relationship with him. Li Yuexiang was even a little girl, obedient and adorable from childhood. The children taught by Xiao Guilu were one smarter than the last. At that time, Li Wushao looked after her for Li Yuanjiao.

From the time she was a little girl, Li Yuexiang always liked wearing white dresses. She used to tell Li Wushao, “I’m usually on the mountain, Uncle Wushao doesn’t need to wait constantly. Come from the lake, it won’t make Xiang’er wait too long.” In the blink of an eye, over twenty years had passed.

When Li Yuanjiao died, Li Xuanfeng asked him if he wanted to stay with the Li family. Li Wushao couldn't utter a single word in front of him, but in his heart of hearts, Li Wushao had grown accustomed to a life without constant fear, where he could express himself freely…

Now, acquaintances were dead, scattered across the ground. Despite the cold weather, they were still rotting beyond recognition. For the first time, Li Wushao frowned for a few Qi Refining humans. The old snake walked to the center of the collapsed formation, his spiritual sense searching through the ruins. He rummaged a couple of times and suddenly caught sight of a broken sword. The sword was only just over a foot long. A small wooden talisman at the hilt swayed gently. It was palm-long, two fingers wide, deeply stained with dark blood, and bore small, delicate characters: “Long have I waited for my lord.”

Demonic wind rolled. The old snake looked at the wooden talisman, then at the scorched marks and dark blood on the stone. After two breaths, he looked back at the talisman, a choked, reptilian hiss emerging from his throat.