Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Demonized Demon Beast
Seeing that Qin Yu had lured the demon beast over, Lu Sangjiu—who had promised to stand guard for Xie Ningyuan—turned and ran without a second thought!
As she fled, she even had the audacity to shout a warning, "Mr. Xie, run! The demon beast is coming! I can’t stop it!"
Xie Ningyuan, who opened his eyes only to be face-to-face with a demon beast: "..."
’She had a sense of honor, but only a little.’
Seeing the demon beast already charging at him, Xie Ningyuan knew it was too late to run.
So, his fingers blurred through a series of hand seals. Just as the demon beast lunged, a Golden Seal slammed it to the ground.
Amidst the demon beast’s furious roars, Xie Ningyuan calmly called out, "Mr. Qin, now’s your chance!"
Qin Yu had no real grudge against Xie Ningyuan; he wasn’t actually hell-bent on killing him.
So, seeing an opportunity to strike back, he didn’t hesitate and immediately unleashed his most powerful sword attack.
The demon beast let out another agonizing roar that echoed through the stone cave, but it was only severely wounded.
Qin Yu, however, was nearly exhausted and couldn’t muster another attack of that intensity.
As for Xie Ningyuan, he had only just begun to recover from his serious injuries. His face was still pale, and it was unclear how much longer the Golden Seal suppressing the demon beast would hold.
Lu Sangjiu wasn’t an idiot. She knew that if both Qin Yu and this Xie Ningyuan were done for, she wouldn’t meet a good end either.
So she stopped just watching and shouted, "Senior Brother Qin, don’t just stand there! Use the Spirit-killing Water!"
Her words jolted Qin Yu. He hadn’t found an opportunity to use it before, but now, while the beast was still under Xie Ningyuan’s control, was the perfect time!
Qin Yu took out a small vial of Spirit-killing Water and hurled it toward the demon beast. In perfect coordination, Lu Sangjiu threw a stone that shattered the porcelain vial right above it.
The Spirit-killing Water rained down. Xie Ningyuan’s Golden Seal was the first to suffer, but the demon beast pinned beneath it didn’t even have time to cry out, let alone escape. In an instant, half of its body had melted into a puddle of venomous liquid.
Because the demon beast was enormous and a Fifth-stage Demon Beast, it contained far more Spiritual Energy than the Ruishui River from before. As a result, one small vial of Spirit-killing Water surprisingly wasn’t enough to finish the job.
The remaining half of the Four-eyed White Ape’s body collapsed to the ground, splattering blood everywhere in a gruesome scene.
And just like before, the use of the Spirit-killing Water released a large cloud of toxic gas.
Having experienced this before, Qin Yu immediately conjured a Protective Shield.
Lu Sangjiu, on the other hand, simply jumped behind Xie Ningyuan. "Mr. Xie, this gas is potent! Quick, put up a Protective Shield!"
Xie Ningyuan, who had already conjured a Protective Shield, fell silent for a moment as he looked at the person hiding behind him as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Then, he gently reminded her, "Mr. Lu... I’m an injured man."
Lu Sangjiu blinked innocently. "Mr. Xie, I’m only at the Foundation Establishment stage."
Xie Ningyuan: "..."
A few moments later, the toxic gas dissipated, and the three of them could finally catch their breath.
The White Ape’s half-corpse lay on the ground. Lu Sangjiu edged a little closer and immediately spotted the remaining half of its enormous heart inside its chest cavity.
’A faint wisp of black gas emanated from the heart—it was the Demonic Qi that I know all too well... It seems this creature absorbed all the Demonic Qi that leaked from the Demon Essence Stone I left here back then.’
’That must be how it managed to advance to a Fifth-stage Demon Beast in a place with such thin Spiritual Energy. I just wonder how this thing slipped in here, and how many years it’s been living here?’
As she was pondering this, Qin Yu walked over at some point and also noticed the White Ape’s heart.
He was instantly startled. "This... This White Ape was corrupted by Demonic Qi! So this really is the abode of a Great Power among Demon Cultivators!"
Xie Ningyuan, standing on Lu Sangjiu’s other side, added, "Mm... Nowadays, most Demon Cultivators are in the Western Demon Realm. They’re exceedingly rare elsewhere. This place looks quite old; it might be a remnant from before the Immortal Demon War."
Qin Yu immediately lit up as if he’d found a kindred spirit. "That’s what I was thinking, too! And I believe this might be the cavern of Mo Long, the Body Integration Realm Demon Cultivator from a century ago!"
Xie Ningyuan paused slightly. A hint of surprise flickered in his eyes as he looked at Qin Yu, but it vanished in an instant. He merely gave a perfunctory reply, "Mm... perhaps."
Then he changed the subject. "We shouldn’t linger here. We should hurry up and leave."
As he spoke, he pointed toward the path he’d come from. "I came from that direction. I just noticed that the path next to it seems to have traces of people passing through as well. I expect someone has already gone that way."
Qin Yu’s eyes lit up. "It must be Junior Sister!"
At the mention of Ye Zhiyao, he grew restless. "Can you tell which path they took?"
This cavern was like a junction, with paths leading in all directions. Besides the three tunnels they had arrived from, there were three more up ahead, and it was impossible to know which was the right one.
Before Xie Ningyuan could speak, Lu Sangjiu took the initiative and pointed to the middle path. "Isn’t it obviously this one? Eldest Senior Brother left a mark for me."
Qin Yu looked at the wall Lu Sangjiu was pointing to and saw that there were indeed a few messy scratches.
He had previously assumed they were left accidentally during Xie Ningyuan’s fight with the demon beast. He never expected they were actually from Li Qiancheng.
He was a bit baffled. "How are you so sure Li Qiancheng left them? They’re just a mess. Do they have some kind of hidden meaning?"
Lu Sangjiu said, "You can’t tell? It’s the character for ’Li.’"
Qin Yu: "..."
’I’m sorry,’ he thought, ’but I really can’t make out that chicken scratch.’
Not only had he not recognized it before, but even now that Lu Sangjiu had pointed it out, he still couldn’t see it.
Seeing the other two fall silent, Lu Sangjiu cleared her throat. "Ahem, Eldest Senior Brother’s handwriting is indeed a bit... ugly. But I’m sure I’m not mistaken."
With that, she confidently led the way into the tunnel. "Don’t dawdle. Let’s hurry and catch up."
Li Qiancheng was with Ye Zhiyao, and since this was the path Ye Zhiyao had taken, it was most likely safe. Lu Sangjiu was quite confident about that.
Besides, she knew that further ahead, there was only one last trial. After that, they would reach the entrance to her true cavern.
Some of her treasures were also in that place. If they dawdled any longer, she was afraid Ye Zhiyao would have already taken everything, and it would be too late for her to stop it.
Since Lu Sangjiu was already moving forward, Qin Yu no longer hesitated.
Xie Ningyuan watched Lu Sangjiu’s back, the corners of his lips curling into a subtle, amused smile.
But the smile was fleeting, and he immediately followed after them.
The journey was as peaceful as Lu Sangjiu had expected, and Qin Yu exchanged a few words with Xie Ningyuan.
"Mr. Xie, you are a man of great talent at a young age. May I ask which sect you belong to?"
Xie Ningyuan replied, "Just a small, insignificant sect, hardly worth mentioning."
He clearly didn’t want to elaborate, nor did he seem particularly curious about them—at least, he didn’t ask which sect they were from.
Qin Yu tried asking a few more questions indirectly, but Xie Ningyuan calmly sidestepped them all.
He appeared ordinary and seemed easy to get along with, but in reality, he was completely guarded. It always felt as if he was hiding many secrets.
’Whoever he is, he’s a wild card,’ Qin Yu thought. ’It’s always right to be on guard.’
After walking along the passage for what felt like a long time, they finally rounded a bend and saw a Stone Gate with two familiar figures standing before it.
"...Junior Sister!"
