Chapter 151: Cat Demon
The demonic calamity had resulted in over twenty casualties in the Chen Clan, and it also caused immense damage to the Chen Clan’s Manor.
After the Chen Clan's fall from grace, their assets, shares, and cotton were swiftly gobbled up by the local Daoist temple, the county office, as well as their relatives and neighbors.
In particular, the cotton was sold to CEO Wang Cailiang for fifty percent of the purchase price. The position of CEO had been assigned to Wang Cailiang by Chu Qiguang, and he became responsible for managing all of the trade association's affairs in Chu Qiguang's absence.
The cotton was purchased at far below market price, so this was a significant haul for the Azure Sun Trade Association.
After emerging from seclusion, Chu Qiguang immediately took control over the situation, debunking all of the negative rumors about him. Now that the Chen Clan was no longer around to sabotage their business, the stock prices quickly recovered, and everything returned to its previous, upward trajectory.
By then, it was almost time for Chu Qiguang to set off for Jade Face Mountain.
***
One morning, Chu Qiguang was seated with his legs crossed. He had just consumed a Fire Pill, so he opened the Sumeru King Scripture. This was his first time cultivating the Sumeru King Scripture since he reached the fifth state, and sure enough, he immediately felt a difference
Before long, he felt as if all of his qi and blood had been set alight, and his body temperature gradually rose. At the same time, his hands were unconsciously making the seals recorded in the scripture.
As he cycled through the hand seals, he could feel his qi and blood circulating much more forcefully than before, and his body temperature rose at an alarming rate as well. He felt as if his hands had turned into a fiery lotus flower, flickering and changing forms with each seal.
His enhanced qi and blood as a fifth-state martial artist only served to accelerate the heat that was rising up inside him. If it weren't for the increased heat tolerance granted to him by the Fire Pill, he would be teetering on the edge of spontaneous combustion at this point.
The heat was so intense that it started to affect the room’s temperature as well.
Chu Qiguang could feel himself becoming inhuman as he became more flexible, stronger, and more accustomed to the high heat.
Right as tendrils of white smoke rose from his bright red figure, Qiao Zhi slammed the scripture shut, yelling, "Stop! You're about to reach your limits!"
Chu Qiguang looked down at the closed scripture with reluctance.
He felt incredibly warm, as if he had been basking under the hot sun, and the images on the scripture seemed to have been guiding him to embrace something even warmer and holier.
Chen Gang was drenched in sweat. He opened the door and hid the scripture away before repeatedly calling out to Chu Qiguang.
It took Chu Qiguang quite some time to return to a stable mental state, and he couldn't help but think to himself, These orthodox arts are really dangerous! This is not something I can practice on my own without supervision.
Now that Chu Qiguang was back to normal, Qiao Zhi ran outside to cool off. The sweltering heat in the room coupled with his coat of fur was just too much to bear.
While Chu Qiguang was still busy composing, he heard an alarmed yelp outside, prompting him to step outside to investigate it.
***
Just moments ago, Qiao Zhi had discovered a pure white female cat while taking a dump in the flowerbed.
The cat was a pristine white, with not even a single strand of colored fur, and she possessed a pair of bright, ruby-like eyes. In addition, she also had a gorgeous figure.
Qiao Zhi’s gaze was instantly transfixed on her. He strode over to the white cat with his head held high and greeted, "Hey there, my name's Qiao Zhi. But everyone likes to call me Timely Rain around here."
The white cat remained silent; she simply stared back at him with a blank expression. It seemed that she was only an ordinary cat rather than a cat fiend, so Qiao Zhi immediately lost interest in her. However, the white cat suddenly approached him and began sniffing him all over.
"What are you doing? Hey, that tickles!"
The white cat's snout rubbing all over him made him feel ticklish, but it also felt rather good, so he encouraged her, saying, "Go a little lower."
Just then, the white cat opened her mouth and bared her fangs at him.
"Hey, don't try to bite me! It's not gonna end well for you!" Qiao Zhi warned her.
All of a sudden, the white cat's mouth rapidly expanded until it was large enough to swallow Qiao Zhi whole. There were over a dozen rows of fangs in its mouth, all of which were spinning like saw blades.
Qiao Zhi was so terrified that he let loose an alarmed yelp and jumped out of the flowerbed with the force of a thousand suns. However, the white cat had already reverted to its original naive and adorable form.
"Y-You're a demon!" Qiao Zhi exclaimed with an astonished expression.
Chu Qiguang, Chen Gang, and all of the nearby cat fiends rushed to the scene after hearing Qiao Zhi's panicked yelp.
The white cat immediately tried to jump into Chu Qiguang's arms at the sight of him, but he caught her by the scruff of her neck and held her away.
However, the cat seemed determined to rub herself against Chu Qiguang’s chest as several tentacles extended out of its mouth toward the latter.
Unaware that the white cat was no ordinary cat, Chu Qiguang received quite a fright. In spite of the cat demon's terrifying appearance, it wasn't actually all that powerful, so Chu Qiguang easily subdued it before locking it up in a cage.
The white cat struggled incessantly within the cage, spouting all types of demonic appendages to try and break free.
Chu Qiguang and Qiao Zhi looked on in bewilderment.
"Where did this thing come from? And why did it try to attack us?" Qiao Zhi asked.
"I don't think it was trying to attack us..." Chu Qiguang mused.
It feels more like it was trying to get to my chest, where the Ring of Ignorance is. I suppose that makes sense. If the Ring of Ignorance is able to release knowledge to create demonic tainting, then it’s not a surprise if demons are drawn to it.
Qiao Zhi suggested killing the cat demon, but Chu Qiguang refused. This was the first time he had ever captured a living demon weak enough for him to control, so it would be a waste not to study it.
He had always been very curious about demonic tainting, demonification, and demons in general.
Considering the possibility that the cat demon could have been here by his Ring of Ignorance, Chu Qiguang took the white cat to a secluded location at the back of Hidden Fiend Village. He planned to run some experiments on it.
