In the dormitory, Meng Hao sat on his bed practicing his spiritual breathing techniques to strengthen his Primordial Spirit.
"Hong Hu should have succeeded by now."
Meng Hao thought to himself, "This time I deliberately inflicted a hidden injury with my Primordial Spirit power on that woman, then subtly hinted to her to seek out Zhou Bai. By the next day, the injury should heal automatically, without anyone being the wiser. No one could possibly trace it back to me."
A slight smile crossed his mind, "I’ll go to the mansion tonight to have a look and also report to the superior."
However, the next moment, the door was violently broken open, and he suddenly jumped up, just about to react when an overwhelmingly powerful Primordial Spirit force swept towards his body.
Meng Hao, looking at Ying Hui before him, exclaimed in surprise, "Teacher Ying Hui..." Then he glanced at Zhou Bai next to Ying Hui, confusion filling his eyes.
Ying Hui snorted coldly, "I told the Night Army people that I would personally capture you, it’s better that way to avoid bad influence within the school."
Meng Hao’s heart sank, but he still forced a smile, "Teacher, could there be some misunderstanding..."
"There’s no misunderstanding or not misunderstanding, your accomplices have already been captured." Ying Hui reached out his hand and dragged Meng Hao out.
Meng Hao then saw not only Ying Hui and Zhou Bai outside, but also Jiang Ran floating mid-air, completely bound by Ying Hui’s Primordial Spirit power, unable to move or even utter a word, his face ashen as he looked at him.
Meng Hao felt his limbs go weak, almost too fearful to move.
In this era of human and Heavenly Demon mortal conflict, he understood too well how dire his fate would be once discovered.
He managed to say, "I don’t know why you are capturing me, but I believe it’s all a misunderstanding."
Ying Hui coldly responded, "You don’t need to explain to me, think about how you will explain to the Night Army."
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...
Afterward, Zhou Bai did not know the details of the interrogation.
Zhang Aidao’s ex-wife was not involved. She knew nothing of the plan to ensnare Zhou Bai and was merely used by Hong Hu and his associates. Whether it was falling ill suddenly or calling Zhou Bai, it was all part of the unintentional result of deliberate scheming and guidance.
As for Meng Hao and Jiang Ran, they were secretly taken away that night, and Zhou Bai never encountered them again.
The official explanation given was that a government secret department recruited them, allowing them to graduate early.
Later knowledge led Zhou Bai to think, "They don’t want to expose the fact that someone turned to the Heavenly Demon."
Having resolved the issues with Meng Hao and Jiang Ran, Zhou Bai spent the next few evenings walking around, and after several trials, Christina, in her cat form hiding and observing, found that no one was following him anymore.
Zhou Bai relaxed a bit, "In that case, once the cooldown period is over next week, I can explore Dr. Zhuang’s secrets."
Thinking back to the strange figure resembling Dr. Zhuang he saw at the hospital, Zhou Bai felt utterly baffled, along with his inability to read the Taoist scriptures after achieving 10% Dao transformation. He had far too many questions seeking answers.
However, before the cooldown period recovered next week, Zhou Bai had once more resumed his normal cultivation routine.
...
A pitch-black space where the concept of time and space was indiscernible, even the perception of one’s own existence was nearly impossible within the Heavenly Demon Pool.
Xing Jun sighed slightly, "It failed. Who would have thought that all three of Hong Hu would be captured."
Another female voice spoke up, "Fortunately, the three of them didn’t know much, unable to implicate others. Otherwise, our arrangement in Donghua City would be ruined."
Xing Jun said coldly, "Don’t worry, no one in Donghua City knows the identities of the others aside from me. I can try again, there must be some secret with Zhou Bai."
A strong demonic aura hit them, and the female voice said, "Xing Jun, you have become a Heavenly Demon, don’t get too caught up in your past emotions. For a Heavenly Demon, that will only lead to unnecessary complications."
"Put aside the plans to capture Zhou Bai by force for now. We can’t afford to waste our manpower in Donghua City. Try to make contact with him, to draw him in." The female demon laughed, "How many humans can refuse an invitation from a Heavenly Demon? Once he becomes one of us, his secrets will naturally become our secrets."
Xing Jun responded in an icy tone, "I understand."
"The matter regarding Zhou Bai is settled then, next you should properly prepare." The female voice continued, "Your new body has been created, and we have received the message of the 20th hexagram. I expect you to bring it to meet me."
"I understand," Xing Jun expressed submission, the one speaking to him was a top-tier existence among the Heavenly Demons, one of the twelve Heavenly Demon Kings.
Feeling the immense demonic aura and the myriad of bizarre knowledge and twisted wisdom it contained, Xing Jun’s mind showed admiration and fascination.
"Immortal, eternally serene and rational, walking the path of truth-seeking. Heavenly Demons... truly the most beautiful creatures in the world."
...
Meanwhile, somewhere within a blood-red canyon.
A huge sandstorm enveloped the entire canyon, and the sand and stones struck the rock walls like bullets, creating loud booming sounds.
In the deepest part of the canyon, Li Xiuzhu looked at the Tao Te Ching in his hands, lost in thought.
At this moment, his face looked somewhat pale, and his body had become much thinner than it had been a few months ago, which worried Annie standing beside him, "Can your body still hold up?"
"A bit feeble, but I’ll get used to it."
Annie looked towards the Tao Te Ching and asked, "How is it? Still not working?"
"The first hexagram has a problem, so my last divination failed," Li Xiuzhu said. "I’ve been checking over and over these days. The first hexagram might have lost its essence. Could it be Xing Jun’s doing?"
He recalled the astonished expression on Xing Jun’s face, "If it was him, his acting was too good."
Suddenly, Li Xiuzhu covered his mouth and coughed violently. Seeing him cough like that, Annie patted his back hard, "Your body is too weak, why don’t you rest for a while?"
Li Xiuzhu waved his hand, unable to stop thinking about Zhou Bai, ’Xing Jun wanted to take this kid away until the end, and it was with his help that Xing Jun obtained the first hexagram. Could the anomaly in the first hexagram be related to Zhou Bai?’
Just then, the entire valley trembled violently, and furious roars came from outside like a mountain collapsing.
"Li Dao!"
"Get out!"
"Eat him!"
"They’ve come after us again?" Li Xiuzhu frowned slightly, stood up, and walked outside, "I’m going out to stretch my legs."
"Right, find time to contact our people left at the Dao School in Donghua, and try to get in touch with Zhou Bai for me, I’d like to have a word with him."
Annie watched Li Xiuzhu’s thinning figure with concern, "Can you still handle this? The Heavenly Demon Kings might have already noticed us here, if not, we should withdraw."
Li Xiuzhu shook his head sternly, "The western front has been broken through, and Heaven can’t support us right now. If I don’t hold the line here, the gods of the Thunder Department on the western front won’t hold out."
As he slowly walked out of the canyon, the entire sky was already covered with densely packed blackness.
Countless Heavenly Demons danced wildly and roared; some looked like fish, some like humans, some simply a chaotic assembly of flesh, and some even resembled stones.
Various strangely shaped Heavenly Demons unrestrainedly unleashed their powers.
Further away, within tens to hundreds of kilometers, Heavenly Demons continuously emerged from underground, from the sky, from the clouds, and from the sandstorm, converging towards the location of the canyon.
’Level 7, Level 8, Level 6, Level 7...’ Li Xiuzhu’s gaze swept across the sky over the massive Heavenly Demons that resembled small mountains, silently assessing their levels.
When they noticed Li Xiuzhu’s presence, the monsters in the sky surged towards him like a black tsunami.
"Heavenly Demon!" Li Xiuzhu’s eyes snapped open, his originally weak and thin figure straightened up, bursting with an overwhelming aura.
The next moment, golden-white Primordial Spirit energy soared into the sky, facing the Heavenly Demon army that seemed like an inverted galaxy, he ascended, like a speck of white phosphorescence, confronting the boundless darkness.
An hour later, the entire canyon was covered with countless black particles, turning dark, which were the remains of the disintegrated Heavenly Demons.
Annie rushed up from an underground cavern, and seeing the large hole torn open in Li Xiuzhu’s chest, her eyes immediately reddened.
A flash of light in her hand, and several Primordial Spirit Needles appeared.
As she treated Li Xiuzhu, she said, "Your injuries are very severe, I’ll do my best." Sensing his body’s various disordered nerves, severely damaged organs, and even shattered bones, Annie’s complexion grew paler.
Then she saw Li Xiuzhu reach out his palm and take out a doll.
"The second hexagram?" Annie hurriedly stopped him, "You can’t use the second hexagram again, the side effects are too severe."
Li Xiuzhu smiled, "It’s okay." He looked up at the sky.
And then he saw a black void appear in the sky, and a body thousands of meters long slowly emerged, its massive black ram’s head looking towards Li Xiuzhu, "Li Dao!"
Seeing Li Xiuzhu planning to use the second hexagram, Annie’s eyes showed an immensely worrying expression, and information about the sixty-four hexagrams flashed through her mind.
The sixty-four hexagrams, perhaps the most mysterious things between heaven and earth, no one knows who created them.
Even us, we only know that the sixty-four hexagrams exist in this world in various ways and possess all kinds of incredible mysterious effects.
But using them comes at a price, each hexagram has different yet equally bizarre side effects.
Watching the rapid healing of his injuries on his body, becoming more thin and pale, Annie’s look of concern deepened.