Chapter Fifty-One: So Everything She Said Was True!
City Lord’s Mansion.
“My lord, that Song Fairy just handed a pile of jade slips to Yuan Zhengqing. It seems they contain the locations of demon nests,” reported a maid dressed in an emerald-green gown, kneeling respectfully.
Cheng Changsheng cast a casual glance her way, and the image of Qu Yiqiu’s celestial beauty immediately surfaced in his mind.
Ever since he’d met Qu Yiqiu that day, he could no longer bring himself to look at the maids around him.
He waved his hand dismissively. “I know. You can all leave now. Unless I summon you, don’t show yourselves before me these days!”
He was utterly bored with these maids.
How had he ever fancied them? Truly, he’d been a frog at the bottom of a well.
The longer he sat in the city lord’s seat, the more he realized the vastness of beauty that the world had to offer.
Both beauties and resources would ultimately fall into his grasp.
A smug smile crept across Cheng Changsheng’s otherwise ordinary features.
He had already investigated Qu Yiqiu’s background thoroughly.
She was the chief disciple of a forgotten, weak mountain peak, a child whose parents had vanished on their travels, born with a low-grade five-element spiritual root—a talent considered utterly useless.
Any one of these alone would cap her future at the Nascent Soul stage at best.
If she pushed herself to the limit, perhaps she could form a Golden Core, and that would be the peak of her life.
But with Cheng Changsheng, things would be different.
He flipped his hand, and a radiant pill hovered above his palm.
“Heh heh, a Sixfold Pattern Nascent Formation Pill—the breakthrough elixir every Golden Core cultivator dreams of. With this, I don’t believe that girl won’t be tempted!”
Cheng Changsheng quickly stowed the pill away, pinched a wisp of spiritual light between his fingers, and flicked it toward the door.
His eyes gleamed as he smiled. “Little girl, what are you still struggling for? You went to such lengths to gather all that useless information, but in the end, you’ll have to come begging to your city lord!”
...
At the site of the collapsed medium-sized spirit mine.
Qu Yiqiu lounged contentedly behind a giant boulder as she stored Yao Zhimei, Xiao Yan, and the miniature spirit vein into her spatial ring.
This miniature spirit vein wasn’t something she’d ordered the two to extract; rather, Xiao Yan and Yao Zhimei had secretly stolen it while scouting for the demon cultivators’ lair.
It was supposed to have been seized by the demons, but the two of them had managed to deliver it into Qu Yiqiu’s hands instead.
She couldn’t help but praise these two as truly selfless, devoted workers—far more useful than the sly old Golden Ghoul King she’d forcibly recruited.
When she returned to the Celestial Evolution Sect, she would immediately set her next expansion plan into motion.
She would locate the property deed for Twin-Dye City, harvested from the Ghost Cultivators’ Paradise, and open her own pill and artifact shop in the city to earn a hefty profit of spirit stones.
As for the little ghosts from the Ghost Cultivators’ Paradise, she’d have them run errands and sell wares in the shop, with Yao Zhimei as the manager.
As Qu Yiqiu happily pondered her future ventures, a sound transmission talisman wrapped in spiritual light swiftly flew before her.
Before she could reach for it, the talisman dissolved by itself, emitting both sound and image.
“Song Fairy, take a look at this pill; it is a Sixfold Pattern Nascent Formation Pill! I have several more like it. If you’re willing to become my concubine, or even my city lord’s wife, I would reserve these pills for you and guarantee your smooth advancement to the Golden Core, free from the hardships of your sect. You’ve suffered enough in Qunan City, and it pains me to see it. If you wish to escape your bitter fate, you are always welcome at my City Lord’s Mansion.”
The message faded, leaving no trace.
Qu Yiqiu stared speechlessly in the direction of the City Lord’s Mansion, utterly unmoved by such temptations.
She could achieve everything Cheng Changsheng promised on her own; she had no need for outside help.
His words were nothing but superfluous.
Closing her eyes, Qu Yiqiu quickly dismissed this trivial matter from her mind and quietly focused on her cultivation.
At the same time—
Beneath the Old Cheng Tavern on West Street, Qunan City.
A group of wounded demon cultivators sat cross-legged on meditation mats, recovering their strength.
They were no longer clad in black; instead, their bare chests, still smeared with blood, were fully exposed.
On their broad arms writhed ferocious, jet-black, eight-legged centipedes; anyone who saw this would instantly recognize it as the exclusive mark of disciples from the Insect Commandery.
The leading disciple of the Insect Commandery opened his eyes first and rasped, “Hurry and recover your strength. We can’t stay here long.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than the heavy floor above was suddenly flung aside with great force.
Their shirtless bodies were instantly exposed to those above.
Zou Peng stared at them in shock, eyes wide.
“L-leader, there really are demons down here!” a disciple stammered, his eyes nearly popping out.
The atmosphere froze.
“Kill them!”
Amidst mutual astonishment, someone bellowed the command, instantly igniting the battlefield.
Spells clashed and disciples from both sides fell into fierce combat.
...
North Street, Immortal’s Rest Inn.
Qi Yongfeng strode in with five disciples, his manner full of disdain, as they passed through the spotless doors of the inn.
A smiling attendant quickly bowed to greet them.
“Honored guests from the Celestial Evolution Sect, we are an innocent branch of the Protected Merchants’ Guild. What would you like to eat today?”
“Hahaha, our Brother Qi has long grown tired of your famous dishes. Can you serve us some demon cultivator meat today?” Wen Delin, a fellow disciple, joked loudly.
That the jade slips pointing to demon nests actually indicated the Immortal’s Rest Inn—a business under the protection of the Celestial Evolution Sect—was simply too laughable.
“Hahaha, yes, let our Brother Qi have a taste of demon meat!”
“Not just Brother Qi; we’d all like to slay some more demon cultivators and have a taste of victory. Does Immortal’s Rest have such a delicacy?”
The group laughed and bantered, oblivious to the sudden change in the attendant’s expression.
At the same time, the errand runners, dishwashers, accountant, stable hands, and the hidden cooks in the back all underwent a sudden transformation, their eyes flashing with murderous intent.
Qi Yongfeng had thought his subordinates’ jokes amusing, but at that moment, the spiritual sense he kept extended at all times suddenly detected a surge of lethal hostility.
Before he could even process what was happening, the hunched attendant in front of him exploded into action. With a burst of malice and bloodlust, he struck down the nearest male disciple, ending his life in a single blow.
“Not good! Demon cultivators are lurking here!” Qi Yongfeng reacted instantly, spiritual power erupting within him.
The blood and flesh from the slain disciple splattered across Wen Delin’s still-smiling face, making him nearly retch and his knees buckle.
Qi Yongfeng had no time to care for Wen Delin, hurling a brilliant orb as he led his startled disciples into battle with the other demon cultivators.
The once-renowned Immortal’s Rest Inn, known for its convivial atmosphere, was instantly bathed in blood.