Chapter 37 – Heavenward

  Diyuan looked around to gauge the situation. He didn’t need to, of course; he had been paying attention for a while now, stunning unsuspecting foes when he was able to get away with it. Several people had cuts and bruises and were getting exhausted, but no one was in any dire position. He had to make it that way as his limitless Benediction Balm was currently on its three-day exhaustion period after healing his own Foundation core. The brigade’s first real combat experience wasn’t bad, though. If they could have resolved everything on their own, Diyuan would have simply pretended he was recovering the entire time so they could have that morale victory.

  However.

  Diyuan looked directly at Youzhi. If not for him, this would have ended already.

  [Brother Diyuan, I’m sorry,] Feng Xueying said. [I feel very weak. I’m always losing. Especially when you needed to rest.]

  Brother? He had heard her use that honorific earlier. It seemed she was becoming more comfortable with him.

  [Don’t feel bad,] Diyuan said, not looking away from the spearman, who in turn folded his arms in defiance. [There’s no rational world where a level 1 Spiritweave cultivator can beat a level 3 Spiritweave cultivator—and you were facing one and a second cultivator on the side. A level 3 cultivator is effectively six times the strength of what you have.]

  Effectively was the key word here. Deacon Hu was pretty weak for his level. He probably skimmed some items from the auction house, abusing his power, to get where he’s at.

  [I don’t know what those levels mean, but I assume you’re talking about Deacon Hu,] Feng Xueying said.

  “I see we have guests,” Diyuan said out loud, finally ending the silence as everyone waited on him.

  Niu Bolin stepped forward. “Yuhan Diyuan, you are being charged with the crimes of murder. Step forth and let justice be done unto you!”

  He spoke it with authority and loud enough so that everyone could hear the accusation. But of course, no one expected Diyuan to actually step forth and let justice be done on him.

  “Feng Xueying, repeat my words but for everyone to hear,” Diyuan commanded. Then he spoke.

  “We, the Black Brigade, have a question,” Feng Xueying repeated. “Does the Virtuous Wind Sect come for justice after we executed Xia Puti, the scourge of non-cultivators? Or perhaps you come for justice after we executed Niu Xingtao, who defended the scourge by throwing a banquet in celebration after the murder of a mortal?”

  “Don’t try to taint the conversation!” Niu Bolin shoved his finger at them. “Your crimes are many, including the deaths of the city guests, known as the Earthen Brothers, and the innocent lives during the Red Massacre. As well, you are suspected of kidnapping several women.”

  Those must be the women that Youzhi had referenced back at the Golden Auction. How that was going to tie into this demonic cultivator accusation was something Diyuan had yet to figure out.

  Youzhi finally decided to speak for himself. “I have come here tonight because I have heard accusations levied against you. For the past month, you have been accused of being a demonic cultivator. As a disciple of the Virtuous Wind Sect, I cannot stand idly by when the source of the incoming beast wave is right at my doorstep.”

  That stupid spearman. He should have just let Niu Bolin speak for him the entire time. Now he left himself open to be targeted. It was like he never had any verbal spars before.

  “How interesting,” Diyuan started, “considering…”

  “…the fact that Niu Bolin’s son, Niu Wuxuan, has direct relational authority regarding the Discipline Hall in the Virtuous Wind Sect, it could be seen that you are supporting the Niu family’s baseless claims simply to earn merit towards Niu Wuxuan. The most apparent display of Yuhan Diyuan’s strength, the Red Massacre, was witnessed by Sister Xiaoya and Sister Min—yet have they pit any demonic cultivation accusations against him? Unless you have an answer for this, I will ask the Virtuous Wind Sect to give us an explanation!”

  [Gah! He’s calling me sister again!] Min complained.

  [You should be more serious right now,] Xiaoya said. [He just used our sect’s name in a contest of honor. If he’s found guilty in any way, our sect has full rights to wipe out the Black Brigade.]

  [I’m really starting to understand why Senior Sister said to not get involved in city politics… Ah, and how did he know that Senior Niu Wuxuan is connected to the Discipline Hall? Not even his father knew that until Senior Youzhi told him.]

  Youzhi took his spear and stabbed the ground with it. “You do realize what you just said, don’t you?”

  “Does the Virtuous Wind Sect defend the oppressors of Fengpo city?” Feng Xueying asked. This time Diyuan fed her the words through sound transmission. “When Yuhan Diyuan approached the Niu manor and sought justice, two immortals from the Virtuous Wind Sect stood guard. Yuhan Diyuan, who feared for his life, decided to seek justice even if the Virtuous Wind Sect defended Niu Xingtao and Xia Puti, the man who accused and killed an innocent man of demonic cultivation. A man who had no cultivation! A baseless claim, much like your claims now. Our Leader Diyuan walked into that hostile environment, even as he wondered if the Virtuous Wind Sect would kill him.”

  Both Xiaoya and Min gave a disbelieving stare.

  [Feared for his life?] Xiaoya asked in a private conversation to Min. [Who?]

  [Notice how she said he walked in, conveniently leaving out how he shattered the barrier with a single punch, something everyone here couldn’t do,] Min commented.

  Youzhi looked around to see who was all in the area to listen in on the conversation. The common people had already been evacuated before the battles even started, but their voice projection should be loud enough that it’d carry. It must be bothering him that the perception of the Virtuous Wind Sect was being mangled right before him.

  [Now would be a good time to show off that evidence you said you had,] Youzhi said to Niu Bolin.

  [Put him in a position where he’s forced to use his cultivation strength, but don’t kill him.] Niu Bolin clasped his hands behind his back. [You’ll see what I mean after.]

  That made no sense to Diyuan. What sort of trap did they have planned?

  Youzhi took his spear and chucked it straight up into the air. When it reached its apex, it turned and flew down with a force greater than it had when it was thrown. It slammed into the ground, causing a small shockwave and blowing out dust and air. Youzhi jumped up high and spun in the air. He twisted and landed on the top of his spear with one foot.

  “Yuhan Diyuan of the Black Brigade, I cannot stand idly by as people die needlessly. I challenge you to settle this matter once and for all.”

  “What a stupid gambit,” Diyuan said bluntly. “If you all really think I’m guilty of some demonic cultivation crime, am I suddenly not guilty because I’m stronger than you? Are you stupid? And in what world would a Foundation cultivation accept a challenge from a peak Early Stage Spiritweave cultivator?”

  Youzhi frowned. It seemed like he wasn’t expecting that response.

  I guess he really is stupid, then.

  Diyuan shrugged nonchalantly. “But I’m not saying there’s no way I wouldn’t accept. You’d just have to agree to something.”

  Feng Xueying shook her head. [Brother Diyuan, he’s not like the other immortals here. Even if the two Immortal Maidens teamed up against him, he would still win.]

  Diyuan held up a hand to quiet her—more to show everyone else that she was speaking to him privately. He did that so they could tie together his response now. “I’d like to break his bones for being the outsider who interfered in this situation. And it’d be beneficial if he concedes the matter I want.”

  “Break my bones…?” Youzhi, still standing on top of his spear as a show of power, probably couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Ha! Fine. Tell me what concession you’d like from me. Do you want me to not use artes? Or perhaps fight with only one leg?”

  “Hm?” Diyuan acted confused, tilting his head all cute-like. “No, dearest Brother Youzhi, I don’t need you to handicap yourself. That’d beat the purpose of our fight. The concession I want from you is the declaration that the Virtuous Wind Sect isn’t here to defend the atrocities committed by Xia Puti. I’m sure everyone wants you to confirm your stance on that, as they might be wondering if you’re here for anything other than virtuous reasons.”

  Diyuan couldn’t help but think on the irony of his request. On one hand, he put it out there that the Virtuous Wind Sect may not be so virtuous after all. On the other hand, he wanted to use that very same virtuous reputation to have them sign off on the Red Massacre. Someone like Youzhi didn’t seem to understand people’s long-term perception on things, so an agreement here from him would spread like a rumor that the Sect did their investigation and found no wrongdoing for the Red Massacre.

  When that should happen, those who had felt weary of them for the whole massacre and the tyrant title would be less so.

  Youzhi stood there on his spear thinking for a moment. He wouldn’t see anything wrong with Diyuan’s proposal; he really wasn’t here for the Red Massacre event. So he nodded.

  “I accept,” Youzhi said. “The Virtuous Wind Sect is not here to defend the acts of any family in Fengpo city. There. Satisfied?”

  Diyuan responded by having his black cold steel sword appear in hand.

  Youzhi stretched forth his arm. Wind picked up and circled around him.

  “I am Youzhi of the Virtuous Wind Sect. I use the Heavenward combat style.”

  “Uh, I’m Diyuan. Diyuan of the Yuhan Alliance. I use the…Divine Pagoda combat style?”

  That was all Youzhi needed to hear to receive the approval to begin the battle. He jumped off his spear and let the wind circling around him pick him up even higher. His spear flew up on its own to his hand.

  “Moonlight Gaze Stagger!” Youzhi shouted and thrust his spear forward in the air.

  A bright orb spawned at the tip of the spear, beaming down a light. Diyuan moved his black sword to prepare for whatever came next, but his body wouldn’t move.

  A stun arte.

  Diyuan was still locked in place as he saw Youzhi float up even higher as another gust of wind carried him up. The spearman reached his apex and turned his body, targeting Diyuan.

  It would be a one-two hit. A stun and then hitting a defenseless opponent. But Diyuan wouldn’t let him complete his style so easily. Despite being stunned in place, he used limitless Stunlock Bind and hit Youzhi in the sky with it.

  The man, now locked in his own position, starting to fall down. The stun should have lasted until he hit the ground, but green scales appeared in random places on Youzhi’s body before disappearing again, ending the stun early.

  “Sky Dragon Seal.”

  Youzhi’s descent suddenly accelerated, spear tipped at Diyuan. Diyuan’s own stun wore off and he held the flat of his blade to catch the point of the spear.

  The two clashed. A galeforce pulsed out from them, causing people to lift their hands to protect their faces.

  Youzhi and Diyuan both jumped away from each other. The second the tip of their shoes touched the ground, they charged in and met weapons. Each of Youzhi’s spear thrusts carried unnatural wind that tried to push Diyuan’s sword out of position; but the black cold steel weapon just drank it up like it was nothing. Spear and sword hit each other over and over. Blue energy would sometimes wrap around before Youzhi struck, but it meant little to Diyuan. Whenever the metals struck hard against one another, another galeforce would appear.

  There came a point where miniature vortexes started to spawn around the courtyard. Short twisters. People were getting sucked into them and needed to fall flat to avoid it. They would disappear without much interaction.

  Except Youzhi was watching them. Once about three of these roaming short twisters existed simultaneously, he leapt up into the sky, absorbing the three forces.

  “Cloud Succession Stomp!

  Youzhi stepped on the air and kicked up off of nothing. His double jump allowed him to go even higher. If Diyuan’s thoughts were correct, he was likely to use that Sky Dragon Seal arte again, which might have greater impact at higher heights.

  Fortunately, Youzhi wasn’t the only one who could double jump.

  Diyuan leapt into the air as high as he could. It was nowhere near what Youzhi was capable of. At the apex of his jump, he used limitless Emperor’s Rule to jump again. Youzhi watched in surprise. The spearman’s confidence grew when he realized Diyuan wouldn’t be able to reach him even with a double jump.

  Without teleporting, anyway.

  Diyuan’s eyes glowed white as a sharp, reverberating sound sliced through the air right behind Youzhi.

  The battle was indeed taking place Heavenward.

  Youzhi attempted to spin, but Diyuan landed a foot on his face and applied the normal Stunlock Bind. He held his black sword down and shoved it at the man’s throat. Green scales appeared and absorbed the impact—not that the defensive arte needed to; Diyuan wouldn’t have been able to pierce the skin in a single attack without his Wind’s Edge.

  Diyuan kicked off Youzhi’s face to jump even higher as the stunned man plummeted down. Wind expulsed from Youzhi’s body, some of it enveloping Diyuan. It was like a cloud cushion covered him and held him up in the air. Diyuan didn’t fall and instead hovered in the air for a moment. He took the time to look around at the night city.

  The battles elsewhere had already been resolved from what he could see. Yao Luchen was sprinting at full speed towards the Black Brigade. The two made eye contact despite the distance. Diyuan waved.

  Unexpectedly, a shadowed location atop a building not far from Yao Luchen waved back. Catching his attention, Diyuan looked and realized it was the two Zhuge veiled hat people. He almost laughed when he saw Silent Wolfy hit the top of Princess Zhuge Zimei’s hat; probably for giving away their position. He could almost hear her whine about how she thought he was waving at them.

  The cushioned wind cloud vanished. Diyuan began his fall to the ground.

  Youzhi was below and ready. He had been preparing some charging arte as the blue Spiritweave energy continued to condense around his spear. That would normally be problematic, but there was a reason why Diyuan applied the physical stun instead of the limitless one. His fall was feet first. He didn’t even bother to pretend to use his black sword to clash with the spear. Youzhi pulled back in preparation to use his arte, which was when Diyuan hit him with limitless Stunlock Bind. He landed on the spearman’s face and kicked off for the second time in the night, landing on his Black Brigade side.

  And like most Spiritweave fights, it would just repeat. Youzhi charged in, and he would meet the man in the middle. Small twisters formed, but this time Diyuan threw a dagger at the ground base of it, causing it to disperse. Youzhi would use his moonlight stunning arte, but since Diyuan now knew it was a beam area of effect, he could simply step out and dodge it.

  He had no problem keeping up with the spearman as the man was not close to being as strong as Xie Yanshuang, who was the strongest level 3 Spiritweave cultivator he had fought up until now.

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  Which wasn’t a fair comparison, he could admit, as Xie Yanshuang of the Honglie clan was actually at the level 4 Dharma realm but reduced due the grotto’s miasma. Nonetheless, it was the standard Diyuan was using.

  Youzhi realized he wouldn’t get the wind boost that he wanted so he settled for less and jumped up anyway.

  Diyuan crouched down, ready to begin combat in the air again. He was about to meet his opponent in the sky when an “outsider” decided to interfere. A blue phantom sword struck the level 3 Spiritweave cultivator and vanished. It didn’t pierce the skin as scales appeared and absorbed the impact, but it got his attention.

  Yao Luchen jumped on the outer wall and jumped again. His jump would have fallen short of catching Youzhi as well; but, like Diyuan, he had his own contingencies. The blue phantom of himself appeared before him out of nowhere and took him by the arm and swung him up before vanishing. Yao Luchen swung his sword, which was blocked by the handle of Youzhi’s spear.

  The blue phantom appeared again just a few feet away, above the spearman. This time, Diyuan realized the phantom was carrying a different sword—the heavy sword Yao Luchen had showed off weeks ago. The weight of the swing slammed into Youzhi’s shoulder, hitting the newly formed scales and sending the spearman back down to the ground. He twisted his body to land on his feet, but Diyuan threw a dagger to hit his foot, causing him to stumble and land on one knee and hand.

  Feng Xueying rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Heavenward? No. Maybe Gravebound. He seems to always hit the ground.”

  Yao Luchen landed next to Diyuan. The blue phantom landed next to him and vanished. What an interesting arte. With a clever cultivator, it could be used in versatile ways.

  “You interfered with our one-on-one!” Youzhi snarled, brushing off the dirt from his robes.

  Yao Luchen shrugged. “Oh, so now you don’t like sneak attacks. Besides, if you want to face Brother Diyuan, you’d have to prove you’re worthy first.” He looked over at Diyuan and hit him on the shoulder. [Fight’s all done everywhere. The Right Guardian is handling the minor cleanups. The rest will be here soon. How did you manage to end up fighting against the Virtuous Wind Sect by yourself?] He looked over to Feng Xueying as if she had to sign off on the battle.

  [Don’t look at me,] she said. [I thought he was going to use that feather item he bought from the Golden Auction. And you know how Brother Diyuan is; we still don’t know his real strength even now.]

  Oh yeah. Diyuan owned the White River Feather item which would let him jump even higher. He wasn’t used to using items so it had slipped his mind.

  Diyuan saluted Youzhi. “Considering I’m only a Foundation cultivator, you have held back for my sake. However, there’s no reason for you to do so. Please take this seriously.”

  His Black Brigade people cheered. To anyone else, the victor would have been decided with that short exchange. But Youzhi wasn’t satisfied. After feeling humiliated, he seemed to have let his anger do the decision making. Blue energy swirled around him, prepared for round two.

  But it wouldn’t come.

  “That is enough,” a voice projected out.

  Everyone looked around to find the source of the voice. It was a female and didn’t sound like any of the Spiritweave cultivators that Diyuan had met so far. The first person to identify the speaker was Min. Her eyes went wide and she pointed.

  “Senior Sister!”

  It was then that Diyuan saw her. Standing in the night sky, without wings, was a barefoot woman. Her outfit was similar to the style of the Virtuous Wind Sect, but she showed no skin like her Junior Sisters. Her long silken sleeves came together as she stood in a refined manner, not unlike Auntie Mei Yi. There was nothing to show how she could remain standing in the air, at least not until she began to descend down.

  Her barefoot tapped on nothing as she bounced slightly back up in an arc, leaving behind a water-like ripple where she had stepped.

  She landed between Youzhi and Diyuan in a slow grace. Her bare feet still didn’t actually touch dirt, as a ripple of water continued to appear just once inch above the ground.

  Something Diyuan noticed was her features. She was the reason why the word Jade Beauty existed. Everyone who took Beautification Pills did so to look like her. Her face was striking, with smooth, pale skin, and eyes that anyone would want to have stare back. Her black hair flowed down past her shoulders, unbound except for the hair pin she had. Zi Qin didn’t need to dress up to stand out. She didn’t need great and fancy hairstyles.

  She was the type of woman who could do evil and people would follow her anyway.

  He was mesmerized by her that he nearly missed the fact that everyone saluted her. Even his own Black Brigade, which he had given instructions to not salute unless he did so first. Yao Luchen saluted without hesitation. Feng Xueying had stepped forward to give a deeper salute.

  Zi Qin’s presence was apparently someone that could override his command. The last time he had seen someone so respected was when Ancestor Tianxuan showed up.

  A strange thing to experience when she was only level 4 Spiritweave.

  Her eyes settled on Diyuan, like she was trying to learn something from him as he was from her. If she was offended that he hadn’t saluted, she did not show it. He wanted to know what was going through her head. The thought broke when she turned to Youzhi, leaving her back to him. She apparently did not fear an attack from him at all.

  “The duel is over,” Zi Qin said.

  “Senior Zi Qin, I can still—”

  Youzhi stopped speaking when Zi Qin looked away and focused on other things, like she couldn’t be bothered to continue a discussion that had been already been settled.

  Niu Bolin stepped forward and saluted her. “The Niu family greets the Holy Daughter. How is my son? I hope he hasn’t caused you any trouble.”

  “Junior Niu Wuxuan is competitive. He will continue to grow.”

  Niu Bolin smiled, happy to have a connection with the Holy Daughter candidate.

  “Junior Sisters, to me,” Zi Qin commanded.

  Xiaoya and Min hurried forward. As soon as Min was in arm range, she immediately got on both knees and put both of her hands up in the air. A brief moment of silence settled as Zi Qin tried to hide her amused expression.

  “Junior Sister Min, why are you kneeling?”

  “Huh?” Min looked up in confused. She then realized that no one had ordered her to kneel. “Oh! Well…habit! I’ll just get up then…”

  Zi Qin put her hand on Min’s shoulder and kept her down. “Since you felt guilty about something, then you can keep kneeling. Junior Sister Xiaoya, is there something you want to kneel for as well?”

  “Not at the moment…ah, now that I think about it…” Xiaoya got on both of her knees and held her hands up in the air next to Min. Xiaoya and Min looked at each other and smiled.

  Zi Qin acted like the antics weren’t unexpected and made eye contact with Feng Xueying.

  “Immortal Zi Qin,” Feng Xueying said as she saluted again.

  “Congratulations on the restoration of your Foundation core. Didn’t I say to call me Sister?”

  “How could I? I am but dust compared to you.”

  “You agreed to call me Senior Sister once you reached an immortal realm.” Zi Qin had the look of satisfaction with what she saw with Feng Xueying. “And here you are, Early Stage of the Spiritweave realm.”

  “I don’t have the right,” Feng Xueying said in a mumbled voice.

  “You took my candied fruit without shame when you were younger. Surely you haven’t started worrying about appearances now?”

  Feng Xueying blushed and tried to hide her smile. “Yes… Sister Zi Qin.”

  Zi Qin clapped her hands. “Perfect. Now then, is there anyone else important I should greet…” She purposely looked at Diyuan but then looked away.

  How rude.

  Deacon Hu came forward next to give his greetings. He talked about how she had just barely missed the Golden Auction and hoped she would be there next time. She gave casual conversation to him while also having sound transmission with her two Junior Sisters.

  [After I received your message talisman, I did some research,] Zi Qin said. [You said you saw tribulation clouds in this city? Did it cover the whole city, or just a portion of it?]

  Tribulation clouds? Was she talking about that moment when Diyuan’s divine pill had been abused to get everyone in the Black Brigade up a few levels?

  [Just a portion,] Xiaoya said while still kneeling. [In fact…it was over this portion of the city. Where the Black Brigade is at. I can’t know for sure how wide it was, though. I didn’t think to ask. But no lightning struck down.]

  Diyuan watched Zi Qin to see what he could learn from her. The ripple effect came whenever she turned her feet, not disturbing the ground beneath her. He assumed she used artes that involved water in some fashion. No visible weapon that he could see.

  But he did see a storage ring.

  Feng Xueying elbowed him. [Brother Diyuan, it’s proper etiquette for us to salute her first. Sister Zi Qin’s standing is pretty high—she’s the reason why the spiritual energy in the air is so rich. And even if not, she’s older than you, me, and Brother Luchen combined!]

  It wasn’t like he was against saluting her. He was only annoyed just a bit that his people did so rather quickly. But maybe that speaks more to his ignorance than anything else.

  Zi Qin had noticed Feng Xueying’s elbow tapping him so she looked at him once more. It was then he realized that she was waiting for him to act.

  After a sigh, he did so. Diyuan saluted her.

  Zi Qin held up her hand to silence Deacon Hu, who had gone on rambling. “And I greet Yuhan Diyuan, leader of the Black Brigade. Your performance in your duel against Junior Youzhi was spectacular.”

  “Junior Youzhi went easy on me. Everyone could see that strength didn’t match someone just shy of reaching Middle Stage.” Diyuan cupped his fist in palm and sent the salute to the spearman, who could only clench his jaw in response, especially at the part where he heard a Foundation cultivator call him Junior.

  Niu Bolin approached Zi Qin and bowed low to her. “Immortal Zi Qin, you may not know this, but many strange things started to happen this month. Those who had shattered cores had them restored and became immortal. Those who were only at the Core Formation Stage are now immortal, despite having a cracked core originally. All of this in less than a month. How can these be explained if not by demonic cultivation? Yuhan Diyuan is known for freely killing, so I cannot help but wonder if he uses the life of his victims for his alchemy. And now we’ve witnessed him, a Foundation boy, duel against Immortal Youzhi and have strength that cannot be explained.”

  Feng Xueying spoke. “Sister Zi Qin, I can assure you that Leader Diyuan is not a demonic cultivator. I’ve seen him refine the pill he gave me that restored my core and boosted my cultivations.”

  Yao Luchen also pitched in. “I can attest to that. Not once has he used unsavory energy to restore my own core from complete destruction.”

  Xiaoya and Min, who were still kneeling in the middle of the courtyard, looked back and forth from the speakers. Diyuan wished they would get up and go elsewhere, since their posture went against the atmosphere of the accusation.

  “Yes, alchemy done with demonic cultivation,” Niu Bolin stressed. “He has a great many high-grade pills which not even the great alchemists of the region can accomplish on a regular basis. If we simply apply a test I’ve heard of, I believe he will lose control and will reveal the truth himself.”

  “I sure do hope this test of his works,” Diyuan said. “Accusations of demonic cultivation leads to death. Since he’s threatening me with death, then it is only natural that he is killed if it’s false. Unless the Virtuous Wind Sect has a different strategy to deal with these kinds of things; if so, I will let you decide what is virtuous here.”

  Zi Qin looked at Diyuan up and down and studied him for a moment before turning her attention to Niu Bolin. “I have heard of no such test. What is it?”

  Niu Bolin saluted again and bowed low once more. His face was hidden from Zi Qin, but Diyuan could see the slight curve of a smile. “If a demonic cultivator is pressured, he may lose control and reveal a bit of his power. Since a duel against a peak Early Stage Spiritweave immortal didn’t do the trick, then perhaps if you apply your strength on him, it would reveal the truth. I am willing to give up my life if I am wrong here.”

  What a strange test. What Niu Bolin was asking was to have her apply her gravity well on him. She looked over, almost as if asking for approval, so Diyuan gave her a nod. He was curious himself with how things would turn out.

  Not that her gravity well would do anything to him. He activated limitless Emperor’s Rule to prevent any force from making him bend.

  Zi Qin lifted a hand and a wave of pressure hit the area around him. Feng Xueying and Yao Luchen backed off so Diyuan took it alone. The ground pressed as the level 4 Spiritweave cultivator’s gravity well crushed anything that might crawl above.

  As for Diyuan, he simply crossed his arms, unaffected. There was a momentary surprise that crossed Zi Qin’s face. Not only hers, but Niu Bolin’s as well.

  Then Niu Bolin’s surprised face transformed that into one of victory.

  A woman’s scream suddenly overtook the courtyard. One of the Black Brigade guards, Yiyi, had an aura of red energy coming out like the flames of fire. She was rubbing her arms like they were in pain. Another scream. It was a different female guard. Then another, and another, until all six of the female Black Brigade guards were on the ground, writhing in pain. Yibei grabbed Guard Yiyi’s arms, not caring if the red energy would harm him or not. It didn’t injure him.

  “It’s demonic energy!” Youzhi said from the distance. “It’s demonic cultivation!”

  “No!” Feng Xueying shouted. She turned to Zi Qin with pleading eyes. “They aren’t demonic cultivators!”

  Yao Luchen’s mouth was open in shock. He couldn’t deny the red energy that had appeared.

  Diyuan’s mind raced, a bit disturbed by the screaming. Yibei looked over with desperation in his eyes as the writhing woman he loved cried out in pain. Diyuan attempted to keep a calm mind to analyze the situation. The only factor he had to go off of was the fact that one person predicted something strange would happen. Diyuan saw Niu Bolin’s face, which had a sneer while everyone else was in surprise.

  Diyuan hit him with limitless Stunlock Bind. At that same moment, all six red energies stopped. The screaming subsided, replaced with weak whimpering.

  While Niu Bolin was stunned in place, his eyes moved freely. They met Diyuan’s and locked on. When the stun ended, a dark smile crept up.

  Youzhi took his spear at pointed it at Guard Yiyi. “If we don’t take care of the demonic cultivators, a real beast wave will hit.”

  Xiaoya and Min stopped kneeling and stood up as they spread out, umbrella and fan now in hand.

  “They aren’t demonic cultivators!” Feng Xueying said urgently again.

  Guard Yiyi had her eyes shut and was breathing heavily after the unusual energy subsided. Zi Qin looked between the different female guards who were all panting. She didn’t say one thing or another, but it looked like she was trying to think of a solution as well.

  Diyuan spoke up. “The energy stopped when I stunned Niu Bolin. He is the perpetrator in all of this.”

  “How convenient,” Niu Bolin spat back. “Immortal Zi Qin, didn’t I say it? Didn’t I claim that something odd was happening with the demonic beasts? Now look as he tries to frame me. When cornered with your strength, he lost control of his powers over them.”

  Zi Qin didn’t say anything as she continued to ponder.

  Unfortunately for Diyuan, what was quite possibly the worst thing that could happen in this situation, happened.

  Diyuan’s storage ring activated without his permission. Something came out. All discussions and debates ceased as each person looked slightly above Diyuan’s head. Some had eyes wide and opened jaws. Zi Qin took a step back, her brows furrowed. A silver sword appeared in her hand as she also looked above him.

  Diyuan looked up to see what was getting their attention.

  A white serpentine creature floated above. Freshly hatched from its torso-sized egg was Di Guilin, his Avatar Incarnation, who had apparently left the storage ring on its own.

  And it was bigger than before.

  Di Guilin was previously a bone serpent, where the bones glowed white. Its size hadn’t been all that large either, being roughly the same length and thickness of his arm. But after staying inside a torso-sized egg for over a month, it came out and it was quite different. There were no more visible bones. It was not a small serpent anymore.

  Di Guilin was now a white ghostly serpentine dragon. Its body was only slightly thinner than Diyuan’s torso but was maybe twice or three times longer than he was tall; it was currently coiled as it hovered above. It was partially transparent, but it had a full body, rather than the bone structure of its pre-evolved state. Proper horns came from its head and some of it also poked out on its back. Sheen scaled covered it as well. It had white eyes that examined the area.

  “A demonic beast!” someone shouted.

  “I told you! I told you he was a demonic cultivator!” Niu Bolin yelled.

  Youzhi spun his spear in his hand and got into position for battle. Zi Qin still only looked, but didn’t take any action herself.

  Feng Xueying looked at it and back at Diyuan, eyes darting as if looking more would help her understand what was happening. He could tell she was wondering if Diyuan was indeed the reason the women had suffered the red energy. But she wasn’t alone; Yao Luchen’s mouth was slightly opened in disbelief. He was looking at Diyuan, trying to figure out the question that was about to settle in his heart.

  [I told you! I told you!] Niu Bolin repeated to Yao Luchen. [If you are as just as you seem to be, now would be the best time to rid of the demonic cultivator before he shows his true strength!]

  “This isn’t a demonic beast,” Diyuan said amidst the chaos. “It’s my puppet. Or better known as an Avatar Incarnation, if you know what that is.” Then, privately to his puppet, he said, [You couldn’t have picked a worse time to come out, you know?]

  Di Guilin looked down at him with its dragon-shaped head. It was then that Diyuan noticed it had a parchment paper in its mouth. It was the Sword paper. Di Guilin bit on it, causing the paper to disappear into motes of light, where his Avatar Incarnation absorbed it.

  Huh? Did it just absorb the Sword Intent paper as if it was a spirit artifact?

  A connection similar to a sound transmission formed between him and Di Guilin. He half expected his puppet to speak, but it instead was simply getting caught up to speed on everything that had happened up until now by having the memories shared.

  It was more automatous now. It was acting and reacting without needing Diyuan to give it instructions.

  But before anyone could confirm or deny if they even knew what an Avatar Incarnation was, the red energy flared up around the six female guards. Guard Yiyi groaned and tried to stifle the pain as she twisted in Yibei’s arms. Diyuan immediately responded by flicking a finger towards Niu Bolin, stunning him, causing it to stop.

  Diyuan’s mind spun as he tried to figure out how to resolve this, dismissing the interruption that Di Guilin had caused. How was Niu Bolin activating this red energy? Why did his people have red energy in the first place?

  The way Deacon Hu looked at Niu Bolin was strange. It was a look of satisfaction.

  “Enough of this, kill the demonic cultivators to protect the city!” Youzhi called out.

  “No!” Feng Xueying pleaded desperately, looking at Zi Qin to do something.

  Before Zi Qin could say anything, Youzhi struck with one of his spear artes. A blue beam shot forward towards Guard Yiyi. Yao Luchen rushed in front and blocked it. The attack pushed him back.

  “Is no one willing to at least listen to Brother Diyuan? To hear an explanation?” Yao Luchen asked.

  [Leave the fighting to the Sect,] Niu Bolin said privately to Deacon Hu. [Pinning this on a newcomer was certainly easier than Madam Mei Yi, who doesn’t let her girls take our pills.]

  Diyuan felt stupid. With such an admittance, everything fell into place. So that’s how it is.

  “Demonic cultivators come back to life after being killed, right?” Diyuan asked. He turned to Feng Xueying and Yao Luchen for confirmation. His eyes began to glow white.

  The two of them nodded.

  Diyuan warped. With his Wind’s Edge out, Niu Bolin could only barely turn his head in surprise as the spirit artifact dagger entered his torso. The patriarch of the Niu family looked down to see that his heart had been pierced. Several emotions crossed his face, but the last that would remain on his face was anger.

  Silence took the courtyard at the unexpected assassination.

  Diyuan pulled out his dagger and watched the man slump to the ground, lifeless. He waited for Niu Bolin to return to life and prove once and for all that he was the demonic cultivator pulling the strings.

  From the start, Niu Bolin had spread rumors that Auntie Mei Yi was a demonic cultivator and had some scheme that resulted in her having temporary horns. When they couldn’t prove anything as she had used a decoy, which allowed Diyuan to meet her for the first time, they then turned their attention to Diyuan, who had just made a splash by killing the Black Brigade leaders.

  It seemed like that no matter what, someone had to take the blame for being a demonic cultivator. That was because demonic beasts could sense a demonic cultivator, starting a true beast wave. If Niu Bolin could blame others first and frame them in some way, it would hide his own demonic cultivation.

  As for how Niu Bolin made the Black Brigade female guards writhe in pain, that was explained by the Beautification Pills. And that was why he felt stupid. Beautification Pills were high-grade pills. High-grade pills in a thin spiritual energy area where only mid-grade pills were put up as a magnificent item? He should have known right then that something was amiss. The pills would have had to have been made by demonic cultivation—whatever that means, Diyuan still didn’t know—and based on the sound transmission Diyuan heard in the Golden Auction, it was the Niu family that had been providing the Infinite Wealth Auction House the Beautification Pills. A secret no one else knew.

  Of course, all that sounded correct in theory. But there was one problem.

  Niu Bolin, the dead body on the ground, did not come back to life.

  Any second now…

  “He killed Brother Niu Wuxuan’s father!” Youzhi shouted. “He’s a true demonic cultivator!”

  Any second…

  “Death to the evil Black Brigade!”

  Xiaoya and Min had their weapons ready, blue energy forming around them.

  “The Black Brigade has teamed up with a demonic serpent!”

  Di Guilin looked like it rolled its eyes, fully understanding normal language. No one seemed to care how it wasn’t rampaging or acting like a real demonic beast.

  Zi Qin watched the body on the ground, almost as if she was expecting something to happen as well.

  Niu Bolin did not move. The frozen anger on the face and eyes of the dead body did not even twitch.

  Would they believe me if I said this was all a big misunderstanding?