D.C.Haenlien

Back from my family roadtrip from New York. The schedule will now return to normal now.

Within the inner territories of the Golden Crow Clan, three avian demons sat atop a tree with yellow leaves and orange bark. The tree was known as Flame Bewitchment Tree, a special breed descended from the legendary Parasol Tree connected to phoenixes. Just sitting on it allowed fire attribute demons to increase the purity of their bloodline and enhance their physical bodies.

"More and more of our promising descendants are dying." Ashflame Crow, an elder of the Golden Crow Clan, said with a voice heavy. His body was the color of obsidian, and grey flames would periodically erupt from his feathers. 

"We tried ordering them to return, but many are still defying our orders." Another elder said with a sigh. Her name was Flametailed Peacock. "They haven't experienced the might of the immortals like us. The immortals aren't as strong as us, but they carry numerous treasures and are sinister in nature. Without our ancestor's aid, we simply cannot hope to fend them off."

The third avian flapped its wings, causing fire to flare out before being absorbed by the tree leaves of the Flame Bewitchment Tree. He was Ragingflame Crow and the youngest of the three elders present. "I say we lure them to the core of our territory and teach them a lesson. If our ancestor's strength is suppressed out of the core territory when the immortals descend, then we simply have to lead the invaders to our core."

Flametailed Peacock shook her side to side, her tailfeathers leaving trails of blue embers as it swayed with her movement. "We already tried such tactics before. The immortals seem to know our plan and refuse to enter our core territory where the ancestor can unleash his full might."

"Then what can we do? Should we just watch as the invaders penetrate into our territory and rob us of our treasures and desecrate our clan members' corpses!?" Ragingflame Crow asked his fellow elders, the bitterness within his voice unable to be hidden.

Both Ashflame Crow and Flametailed Peacock shook their heads and sighed. Whenever the immortals descended, even Unity Realm equivalent demons like them had to face the risk of death if they were unlucky. For demons under the Unity Realm, their death was practically assured if they fought the immortals one-on-one.

"We can only keep ordering our descendants to retreat to the core while carrying as the most valuable treasures as possible." Ashflame Crow said with his tail pressed down, his tone full of dejection. "They will soon learn how helpless we are, then they will retreat."

"If we were only able to forge the spatial pouches that those immortals carry, such an operation couldn't be easier." Flametailed Peacock said, her eyes full of envy. 

"That's it? You're going to run away without even putting up a fight?! Cowards!" Ragingflame Crow questioned as he stood as tall as he could, his red-hot feathers puffing and increasing his size as he did so.

Ashflame Crow sighed as he nodded. "We were once like you, infuriated by how helpless we are. We demons are the lords of this realm, but we can only hide like turtles in our shells whenever the immortals descend. If you want to attack them, go ahead. But I warn you not to underestimate them, flee at the slightest hint of danger. I don't want to see your corpse turned into an artifact by the invaders." 

"Hmpf, I'll show you." Ragingflame Crow said as he sped off into the distance impatiently.

"Look how reckless that youngin is." Ashflame Crow said, his voice containing the exhaustion of age.

"Wasn't I like him back in the day? If he survives, then he'll understand how vast the universe is." Flametailed Peacock replied, her voice calm. "Besides, his parents were killed by the immortals. It's no wonder he has a personal vendetta against them"

"Does he think he is the only one that wants vengeance? My most promising descendant, one with a pure golden crow bloodline, died because of the immortals." Ashflame Crow said with unconcealed hatred.

"It's not pure enough." Xia Yushan said as he released the hand sign he had formed. He was sitting in a makeshift cultivation chamber he had repurposed. It was originally a demon's den inside of a mountain.

In front of the nascent soul grandmaster was the corpse of a bird demon of the fire attribute. Xia Yushan had tried to extract the golden crow blood essence out of the corpse, but the demon trained in the fire path rather than the yang path and muddied his bloodline, so Xia Yushan couldn't extract much. With a sigh, Xia Yushan waved his hand, and the corpse disappeared into his spatial ring.

"This is the strongest demon I was able to slay, but it's still not enough. I need one with a pure golden crow bloodline." Xia Yushan murmured to himself as he sank deep in thought. We are already quite close to the core territory of the Golden Crow Clan. So far, we haven't crossed the border, but if we do, the golden crow true demon might suddenly attack us. 

Xia Yushan desperately needed the corpse of a golden crow for his cultivation, but he had to weigh the risk and rewards of such an act. The Demon Slaying Expedition was the greatest opportunity for him. If he failed, he could always seek his master for aid, but that would no doubt delay his cultivation.

A face flashed inside Xia Yushan's mind. The face was that of a handsome male on the cusp of adulthood, but the most attractive features were those pair of bedeviling eyes. Those eyes seemed to contain the world and the universe itself within them. Closing his eyes, Xia Yushan immediately made up his mind.

A week later, Xia Yushan led the group of disciples from various sects deeper into the Golden Crow Clan's territory. As he had expected, the resistance increase even more, but so were the bountiful rewards. There were some close calls, mostly from the core formation masters, but no one had died yet under Xia Yushan's leadership, causing his reputation to rise up even more among the disciples of other sects. 

"The demons are getting more and more difficult to deal with." Ji Shuye said as she stood next to Xia Yushan in the air.

Xia Yushan looked down at the battle between the core formations masters and the demons. The nascent soul level demons had yet to participate as both sides were just feeling each other out for now. "We are getting closer and closer to their core territory. And we don't just see the younger demons anymore."

He had noticed how most of the demons they fought were on the younger side for their species. On average, demons had longer lifespans but cultivated slower than humans. Now, with the experience of age, the demons were no longer as easy to defeat as before.

"At this rate, I will have to use my martial skills instead of spells." Ji Shuye lamented. She really didn't want to bring out her polearms and charge headfirst into the fray.

"Each people have their own strengths. You should focus on your strengths instead of hiding them." Xia Yushan sincerely advised as he turned towards his longtime friend. "You're still at the early Nascent Soul Realm, but you should have been able to reach the mid Soul Nourishing Realm, yet I can't sense it at all."

"When I first joined the sect, you were already in the Foundation Establishment Realm while I was in the Qi Gathering Realm. If you keep delaying, I'll leave you in the dust." He jokingly said towards Ji Shuye.

"Yeah, looking back, we've already known each other for over forty years." Ji Shuye said as her tone took on a tone of reminiscence. "Do you remember our first encounter?"

"How could I forget?" Xia Yushan said and held his arms in a shiver. " You beat me half to death. I remember being bedridden for over a month while I waited for all my bones to recover."

"That's only because you called me a gorilla!" Ji Shuye retorted fiercely with none of her previous gentle demeanor. She even raised a fist and shook it at Xia Yushan. "Just because you're at the mid Nascent Soul Realm now doesn't mean I can't break your bones anymore."

"I never called you a gorilla ever again after that!" Xia Yushan quickly raised both hands in a defensive posture and leaned away from Ji Shuye.

"Hmpf, you wouldn't be alive if you did." Ji Shuye righteously said, causing Xia Yushan to be unable to laugh or cry. Ji Shuye's gentle demeanor had disappeared without a trace at this point. 

"...Senior Sister Ji has returned to your original personality." Xia Yushan said, somewhat unused to the lofty and imposing personality Ji Shuye showed. 

"Hmpf, just because I treated you gently all these years doesn't mean you should take my kindness for granted." Ji Shuye snorted. The pressure of her Nascent Soul Realm cultivation receded and was replaced by her Soul Nourishing Realm cultivation. 

Then, Ji Shuye's fearless eyes gazed straight at Xia Yushan, causing his throat to dry and butterflies to appear in his stomach. Xia Yushan quickly caused raised his hands once more in a defensive gesture. Ji Shuye frowned at Xia Yushan's actions, which caused his heart to drop to his stomach.

"Yushan, I admire you. I hold a great fondness for you. Let's stay together for the rest of our lives. Become my dao companion." Ji Shuye stood with her back straight, nothing in the world seemed to be able to make her bend her back, and bravely confessed.

Xia Yushan stood there stunned at Ji Shuye's open admission of affection for him. His mind was struck into disarray, and an unknown feeling rose in his chest. Like a child, Xia Yushan looked around to see if anyone noticed their conversation. 

"I'm sorry, I can't return your feelings," Xia Yushan finally said as he forcibly calmed down. For some reason, he avoided looking at Ji Shuye's eyes as the memory of a gentle woman playing pipa to him before bed popped into his mind. 

"I see," Ji Shuye's facial expression showed disappointment at Xia Yushan's rejection, but her imposing aura seemed to have increased instead.

Xia Yushan belatedly realized that Ji Shuye was advancing from the early Soul Nourishing Realm to the mid Soul Nourishing Realm. The whole process took less than ten minutes.

"Senior Sister..." Xia Yushan started to speak but stopped upon realizing that he didn't know what to say. Looking at the confidant woman in front of him, he doubted anyone would have realized she was rejected by him moments before.

"The demons have started to send out their Nascent Soul Realm level combatants. I haven't tempered my martial skills for a while, so I'm going to join." Ji Shuye said and rushed to join the battle, a polearm materializing in her hands.

"...take care, Senior Sister." Xia Yushan whispered to no one as a sudden sense of unspeakable loss assaulted him. Xia Yushan quickly pushed down the negative emotion within him as he surveyed the battlefield.

For some reason, the demons were particularly aggressive today, with no signs of retreat even as the number of deaths began to pile up. None of the disciples had died yet, and the demons didn't seem to care at all at the unbalance loss their side suffered. If it were before, they would have long retreated.

Xia Yushan grasped his sword and prepared to unsheathe it at a moment's notice. Although he was the overall leader, he was only in charge of selecting the location of the attack, so during the battle began, most had to look out for themself. If he forcibly took command of the disciples of other sects, that would cause tension between the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the vassal sects.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Xia Yushan saw Ji Shuye decapitating two demons, their claws and fangs never coming close to touching her clothes. His heart tightened as he felt entranced by the vivid scene, but he quickly forced his attention away.

Next, Daoist Moneybag caught Xia Yushan's attention. Riding in an immortal boat in the shape of a warship, Daoist Moneybag was using his warship to annihilate the demons. Just even thinking about the sheer amount of money that would be needed to keep the immortal functioning made Xia Yushan's liver ache. He prayed that Daoist Moneybag made enough returns to at least break even.

Xia Yushan observed Bing Huoyuan next. The man was displaying his masterful techniques of fire and ice against his foes. Similarly, Ji Wutong was also displaying devilishly beautiful fire techniques as if to compete against Bing Huoyuan.

As for the two bai sisters, both of them were fighting demons together. In Xia Yushan's judgment, the two would have long perished had it not been for Bing Huoyuan and Ji Wutong's secret aid, though it seems neither of the two realized it. 

He just couldn't understand why these two ordinary girls could attract the attention of the geniuses from the Bright Ascension Sect and Boundless Mountain. Xia Yushan wouldn't mind if Tianyi became head over heels for either of the girls, though.

Off in another corner of the battlefield, a dome of darkness popped. Three shadowy figures appeared from within the popped dome. Each carried some sort of torture instrument and began massacring the demons left and right. Xia Yushan recognized the technique as the Nihility Sect's Negative Manifestation Art.

It was a soul technique that allowed the user to store the negative emotions of those slain into a specter that was utterly loyal to the user. Xia Yushan wondered briefly if his slaughtering sword could combat the soul technique when a surprising scene caught his eyes.

He saw an acupoint opening master weaving between the specters and killing demons with honed precision. It must be said that those around the specters would find their emotions running out of control, and only those with incredibly strong wills could resist the effects. Hun Jusang was one of the Nihility Sect's most promising disciples, so it surprised Xia Yushan that a mere acupoint opening master could resist his specters' negative influence.

Even Xia Yushan couldn't detect the acupoint opening master's aura with his spiritual sense. If it were a Nihility Sect disciple, he wouldn't have been surprised, but that acupoint opening master was a Jade Cauldron Sect disciple, Jiang Chunye.

Briefly, Xia Yushan entertained the idea of killing Jiang Chunye and passing it off as the demon's fault. As the thought entered his mind, a sliver of killing intent reflected in his eyes against his control. 

Jiang Chunye momentarily froze before retreating into the distance and looking towards Xia Yushan's direction, shocking Xia Yushan. Due to his cultivating a slaughterous sword intent, sometimes he couldn't fully control his killing intent and allowed it to leak. Still, he never imagined that just that tiny sliver of killing intent would allow Jiang Chunye to detect his intentions.

Although it seemed that Jiang Chunye couldn't pinpoint the exact source, her reflexes still made Xia Yushan pay more attention to her.

Compared to Daoyi, Jiang Chunye's features were sharp not just physically but also in her aura. She was like a sharp blade that could slit anyone's throat at a moment's notice. In the end, Xia Yushan didn't take any action. 

Just her sensitivity towards killing intent allowed Xia Yushan to judge that Jiang Chunye wouldn't be easy to deal with. If she discovered any loopholes and exposed him, his prestige would take a hit. Xia Yushan settled down, waiting for an opportunity.

As the battle between the cultivators and the demon escalated, Xia Yushan continued to wait, looking for the perfect prey. Suddenly, Xia Yushan turned towards the distance, where an immortal was flying towards them. The immortal boat stopped just outside of the battle and didn't take any more action.

Xia Yushan recognized that immortal boat. It was the one personally forged by Grand Elder Xi for Tianyi. This meant that Daoyi was also in the boat, watching all of this.

Thinking of Ji Shuye's confession, a thought began to sprout within Xia Yushan's heart.