Chapter 122 - 111: Turmoil (2)
The person who emerged looked strikingly similar to the red-haired Female Cultivator he had seen at the Store and Residence Affairs. The only clear difference was in their temperaments—this one was wild and utterly reckless.
In terms of cultivation, the woman was only at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.
Lü Zhong didn’t understand the source of her confidence, and he quietly raised his guard.
He had long heard that the methods of Demon Cultivators were bizarre and unpredictable, making them impossible to defend against.
Despite having the advantage in cultivation, he remained extremely cautious, not wanting to fail due to a moment of carelessness.
The red-haired Female Cultivator’s face was etched with hatred, and her voice was ice-cold. "You’re the brat who led the Law Enforcement Team here. Since you dare to be their running dog, you can die right here, right now!"
The words were barely out of her mouth when she produced a blood-red dagger and, with a reverse grip, pointed it at her own heart.
SQUELCH.
The dagger plunged deep.
Through his Qi Observation Skill, Lü Zhong saw Demonic Qi erupt from the woman’s body. A storm of Demonic Qi formed where she stood. Amidst the swirling, flashing currents of black and red, a Blood Shadow flickered in and out of existence.
Seeing this, Lü Zhong’s expression remained calm.
The moment she had pointed the dagger at her heart, he had begun to cast the Qingyang Fire Rain Technique.
Once dozens of Fireball Bullets had formed, he immediately unleashed them.
He hadn’t expected a Demon Cultivator to come to his door seeking revenge.
But there was clearly something wrong with the woman. She had brazenly performed a Demonic Secret Technique right in front of him, giving Lü Zhong the perfect chance to strike first. He sent a volley of Fireball Bullets straight at her face.
Fiery light erupted, followed by a string of deafening explosions.
An ordinary cultivator would have been blown to pieces.
But then, Lü Zhong saw a Blood Shadow burst from the sea of flames.
Its appearance was ghastly. There wasn’t a single patch of unblemished flesh left on its body; the flames had licked it until it was charred on the outside and cooked on the inside. Yet, it still retained some mobility. Its eyes, churning with bloody flames, burned with undisguised hatred.
"I’ll... kill you!" a voice echoed, as if from the Abyss.
Lü Zhong’s brow furrowed. He sighed internally.
’As my cultivation has grown, the once impressive Qingyang Fire Rain Technique has become mediocre. While a Magic Skill’s power increases with the cultivator’s strength, it ultimately can’t compare to a true High Tier Magic Skill.’
Ignoring the Demon Cultivator’s screeching, he changed his Sword Mantra.
A cascade of golden light plummeted, cleaving the creature in two.
Then, with a flick of his sword’s tip, he retrieved a Storage Bag from the mangled remains.
With that done, Lü Zhong looked into the distance. Flames soared into the sky amidst the unending sounds of battle. A tall tower, which once pulsed with layers of Spiritual Light, was now slowly collapsing in the inferno.
The massive accumulation of Demonic Qi had condensed into a demonic cloud, completely obscuring the starry sky.
"What in the world is going on?" Lü Zhong wondered aloud.
Judging by the situation, the chaos had to be the work of Demon Cultivators.
’But while they might be fanatical, they aren’t brainless fools. They wouldn’t act so brazenly without a purpose. There must be a deeper reason for all this.’
But he had no way of knowing what it was.
’No point in overthinking it. I’ll find out tomorrow.’
With that thought, Lü Zhong returned to his small courtyard.
...
He spent the night sitting cross-legged in his Quiet Chamber as the turmoil raged on.
The chaos from the previous night wasn’t brought under control until just before dawn. When Lü Zhong stepped outside in the morning, he found Changle Square in ruins, the remains of the dead strewn everywhere.
The vast majority of the dead were mortals.
With no way to protect themselves, they might have lived decent lives on any other day.
But in the face of chaos, especially when Demon Cultivators were involved, their mortal fragility was laid bare. In that respect, they were even more helpless than the wild dogs of the wastes.
After all, no matter how destitute a cultivator became, they were still the masters of the Cultivation Realm.
As he walked, he passed a mountain of corpses. It must have taken at least a thousand bodies to create such a pile. Blood still trickled from it, pooling in a low-lying area nearby.
Figures wandered through the widespread ruins.
They were mostly mortals who had been corrupted by Demonic Qi. Their appearances were grotesquely altered; some now had green faces and sharp fangs, while others were covered in festering, pus-filled sores.
Regardless of the transformation, they likely wouldn’t live for long.
In the distance, Heling Sect disciples wearing black masks were at work.
Wherever they passed, they incinerated any mortals who had been corrupted by Demonic Qi.
The Heling Sect disciples were clearly surprised to see Lü Zhong’s calm demeanor. They sent one of their own to question him, but their suspicions faded once he revealed the aura of his Four Spirits Technique, and they departed.
"Halt! Do not approach!"
"Changle Square is under lockdown! Until the demonic scourge has been completely eradicated, no one is permitted to enter or leave!"
When he reached the gate of the square, Lü Zhong was stopped by the shouts of Heling Sect cultivators.
Nearby, many cultivators with panicked expressions and eyes full of terror were trying to flee this land of death, their belongings hastily packed into bags. They were all stopped without mercy.
Even their desperate pleas, made on their knees, had no effect.
In front of the sealed gate lay the bodies of two cultivators who had tried to defy the order. The clean, precise wounds on their bodies showed they had been killed by a Magical Artifact.
Lü Zhong looked at the Heling Sect cultivators guarding the gate and thought, ’I wonder if the contract I signed with Liuu Qingxun yesterday will get me out of the square?’
A nearby cultivator saw him and, mustering his spirits, offered some well-intentioned advice. "Fellow Daoist, you should turn back. The Heling Sect won’t let anyone out until the Demon Chaos in the square has been completely suppressed."
"Thank you for your kindness, Fellow Daoist," Lü Zhong replied, but stepped forward anyway.
At the same time, a sheet of golden paper appeared in his hand.
He still wanted to try. ’It just might work.’
Seeing someone approach the gate, the guarding Heling Sect disciples shouted another warning.
In response, Lü Zhong presented the contract in his hand.
A Heling Sect disciple, who had already summoned a Magical Artifact and was ready to strike, halted his attack. "Stay right there and wait," he said coldly.
A short while later, Lü Zhong was allowed to pass.
A Heling Sect cultivator was waiting outside the gate. When he saw Lü Zhong emerge, he said, "Fellow Daoist Lü, I presume? I’m here to escort you to the Talisman Hall for your instruction."
"Many thanks," Lü Zhong said, cupping his hands.
...
The Talisman instruction was over quickly.
Shortly after noon, Lü Zhong was escorted out of the Heling Sect’s Outer Sect.
He touched the Storage Bag tucked inside his robes, a smile finally gracing his face.
Combined with the Spirit Stones he already had on him, Lü Zhong now possessed a little over six thousand Spirit Stones. For a Mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, this was an enormous sum.
He had originally planned to use these Spirit Stones to open a shop, but after last night’s chaos in Changle Square, he had changed his mind.
’A shop is just an external possession, after all. How could it be more important than my own cultivation?’
’Besides, once I reach the Late-stage Qi Refining, my ability to earn Spirit Stones will increase dramatically. New opportunities are bound to arise then.’
Changle Square was not unsealed until dusk.
Unlike the peace and harmony of before, there were hardly any intact buildings left in the square. The few that remained had their defensive Arrays activated, standing silently amidst the ruins and floating white ash.
When he arrived near his riverside courtyard, he saw the area was in a similarly sorry state.
Lü Zhong had returned to pack his things and move.
After such a catastrophe, Changle Square had become a cursed place. The air itself was thick with a baleful aura, making it completely unsuitable for living and cultivating.
After carefully collecting the Array Flags of his White Cloud Array, he and Hong Fu hurriedly left.
They resettled in West River Square, this time in a slightly larger courtyard. It was similar to the small bamboo courtyard Lü Zhong had once rented on Yanling Mountain, with a total of six rooms, making it far less cramped than their previous riverside home. Naturally, with the larger space came a higher rent, which jumped to ten Spirit Stones per month.
He worked through the night to set up the White Cloud Array, only falling asleep as dawn broke.
...
「The next day」
Lü Zhong went out to do some shopping.
He went to the same Pill Shop as before and bought ten bottles of Jade Solidification Pills in one go.
While passing through the South City Market, he overheard some shocking news.
After a long period of friction, the conflict between the Heling Sect and the allied Golden Rainbow and Luoyun Sects had finally reached a boiling point. Three days ago, open warfare had broken out between them.
Some well-informed cultivators there claimed that the Demon Chaos in Changle Square was directly related to this sect war.
The goal was to destabilize Yongling City.
The Golden Rainbow and Luoyun Sects only controlled a few workshop markets, but the Heling Sect possessed all of Yongling City, giving them terrifying war potential. The city’s production of Talismans, Pills, and Magical Artifacts was nearly equal to the combined output of the other two sects. If they couldn’t destabilize Yongling City, the two sects would be slowly ground down and defeated, even if they held an initial advantage.
This meant that Yongling City’s days of peace were over.