Chapter 68 - 2#

Chapter Sixty-Eight (Part 2)#

But Pei Huang was actually able to completely control his sword Qi, not harming his opponent in the slightest.

His temperament had not been affected even half a point by this demon art.

Xi Feng looked at Pei Huang and said: “Back when my master met me, he had already taken six disciples and originally did not intend to take any more. It was only because my aptitude was outstanding—the best in the entire Demon Realm—that he made an exception and took me as his last disciple.”

After a pause, Xi Feng sighed: “But only now do I know that there is always someone better; your aptitude is actually far superior to mine.”

Pei Huang heard the active goodwill in her words. The Water Demon Tribe seemed to only be testing his strength, not intending to be at odds with him to the death.

He reciprocated and said flatly: “You’re not bad either.”

Having said that, he jumped off the stage. Xue Jingci immediately came over and checked him from head to toe very carefully.

Xue Jingci noticed a tiny wound on Pei Huang’s face.

He immediately took out some ointment from his bosom, used his fingertip to take some, and gently applied the medicine to Pei Huang.

Xue Jingci’s fingertip was ice-cold. When it fell near the end of Pei Huang’s eye, it was neither heavy nor light, like a feather brushing past, making one’s mind restless.

Pei Huang grabbed his fingertip and said: “The wound is very small, no need to worry about it.”

Xue Jingci, however, stubbornly shook his head and said: “No.”

After carefully finishing applying the medicine, Xue Jingci said: “I’ve seen many masters and disciples these few days. Other masters apply medicine to their disciples, so naturally I should apply it to you too.”

Pei Huang couldn’t help but chuckle for a moment.

Previously, he was worried about his status as a demon cultivator and deliberately proposed a “trial period,” always saying how other masters were this and that, wanting Xue Jingci to do the same.

He didn’t expect Xue Jingci to still remember and check everywhere what other masters were like.

Pei Huang lowered his eyes. Thinking that because of the technique matter, many people had become interested and wanted to take Xue Jingci as their master, but they were all blocked by him.

He hoped Xue Jingci’s strength could be seen by everyone, and he didn’t mind others sharing Xue Jingci’s techniques.

But he didn’t want another junior brother or sister.

A thought flashed in Pei Huang’s mind as he recalled what Xi Feng had said.

If he could be Xue Jingci’s last disciple, then he wouldn’t have to worry about this person taking other disciples again.

Moreover, Xie Zheng had already been Xue Jingci’s first disciple; his status was different after all.

If Xue Jingci took him as his last disciple, his status would naturally be different too.

Xue Jingci put away the ointment and suddenly felt a gaze falling on him.

He was always sharp. As soon as he looked up, he saw Xiao Xun on the high platform.

The two shared a brief gaze, and soon the war drums sounded again. This time, Pei Huang was still to go on stage.

Xue Jingci’s attention immediately went to the stage.

Xiao Xun watched him quietly, his head full of the scene of Xue Jingci applying medicine to Pei Huang.

Xue Jingci used to apply medicine to him like that too.

“The person you just fought was Pei Huang?”

The sudden voice made Xiao Xun instantly come back to his senses. He turned around and looked at the man sitting at the other end.

The man was precisely the Water Demon Lord Fu Yin, also the person with the strongest cultivation in the Demon Realm currently.

At this moment, he was talking with Xi Feng, who had just finished her match.

Xi Feng nodded and spoke of how she was completely suppressed by Pei Huang during the match and had no power to fight back at all.

These words piqued Fu Yin’s interest. Truly worthy of that person’s bloodline; his cultivation speed is indeed an existence that others find impossible to catch up with.

As long as he is given time, surpassing old fellows like them is only a matter of time.

But compared to his mother, who had no desires and was overly naive, Pei Huang had more ambition, as well as decisiveness and coldness when killing.

Fu Yin lowered his eyes to look at Xi Feng, took out a pill at will, and handed it over: “Take this pill and then go down to rest. You are not his match; let your Third Senior Brother go in the next round.”

Xiao Xun’s gaze swept over the pill and recognized it as a Clear Mind Pill worth over a thousand top-grade spirit stones, which could instantly suppress the rampaging demonic Qi in a demon cultivator’s body.

Yet such a precious pill didn’t even deserve a name in Fu Yin’s mouth and was even given casually to a disciple beside him, as if it were just an ordinary stone.

Although the Demon Race had been driven out by the righteous path for many years, for those whose cultivation realm had reached Fu Yin’s level, the depth of their foundation was still something ordinary cultivators couldn’t imagine.

A thought flashed in Xiao Xun’s heart, and he took the initiative to walk toward Fu Yin and spoke about Pei Huang’s affairs.

As expected, Fu Yin became increasingly interested in Pei Huang and actually stood up from his seat, leaning over to watch his match.

This time, Pei Huang’s opponent happened to be his third disciple.

Fu Yin’s third disciple was named Man Mu, a half-demon with half Cypress Demon blood in his body.

Because he was a plant demon, he possessed a clear Qi of vegetation, naturally able to suppress the rampaging demonic Qi in his body.

He had a steady character and was not as aggressive as other demon cultivators, unleashing major moves from the start. Instead, he fought steadily and surely, waiting for the enemy to go into a frenzy before seizing the flaw for a fatal strike.

The two had been fighting for a while, and as Fu Yin watched, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

When Pei Huang fought Xi Feng earlier, he attacked swiftly and ruthlessly, but now he had become steady, without a hint of rampaging demonic Qi.

He was truly a good seedling for cultivating demon arts, just as Xiao Xun had said.

The fight between the two lasted for a long time. Xue Jingci clenched his hands, his eyes not blinking for a second.

He could see that this Man Mu was different from other demon cultivators and would not have his temperament affected by demonic Qi.

Although his technique had been widely praised in the Fire Demon territory these past few days, he still wasn’t completely sure whether it could truly solve the problem of demon cultivators being affected by demonic Qi and becoming violent.

Xue Jingci stared closely at Pei Huang, fearing to miss even the slightest bit of his changes. Seeing the battle at a stalemate, Man Mu’s clear eyes gradually became stained with blood, and finally he rushed toward Pei Huang with a roar.

Now was the time.

A calm look was in Pei Huang’s ink-black eyes. He raised his hand and summoned his flying sword, attacking Man Mu without mercy.

He was clear in his heart that Man Mu’s distraction was only momentary and he would soon regain clarity. So he no longer spared the demonic Qi in his body, directly extracting more than half of it to pour into the long sword.

When Pei Huang approached, Man Mu also regained clarity. His pupils contracted sharply, and he wanted to raise his sword for defense, but it was already too late.

The sword Qi pierced his arm, causing the sword in his hand to fall directly to the ground.

He actually lost so badly that he even dropped his weapon…

Man Mu stared fixedly at Pei Huang, for the first time feeling the demonic Qi in his body pressing against the edge of a riot, anger boiling in his heart.

For the first time, he couldn’t control the demonic Qi in his body and actually used his physical body to fight with Pei Huang.

Pei Huang also put away his sword and struck Man Mu’s heart area with a palm without hesitation.

Xue Jingci had told him about this place this morning: if one accidentally falls into obsession, striking this acupuncture point can suppress it a bit.

Man Mu was sent flying off the stage by Pei Huang’s palm, but he gradually came to his senses and admitted defeat willingly.

All of this fell into Fu Yin’s eyes.

Xiao Xun spoke up at the right time: “I have long heard that your self-created technique, the Profound Water Formula, is very profound. When practiced to the highest level, it can even freeze ten thousand miles, but the requirement for temperament is extremely high. This third disciple of yours should have the best hope of mastering it, right?”

Fu Yin shook his head: “His temperament is still a bit lacking.”

With that, he continued to watch Pei Huang’s match.

Pei Huang fought match after match. Whenever his demonic Qi was about to be exhausted, he used byes to rest and reorganize, and he actually managed to endure. He didn’t lose even once; the only time he drew was with Fu Yin’s first disciple, Ling Jiang.

Finally, it came to the final stage of the competition. According to the rules, each faction needed to send one person for a free-for-all.

The Wind Demon side finally arrived late, sending a lean youth.

The Sand Demon side sent one person who looked to have a low cultivation, yet he controlled ten puppets alone, making the observing demon cultivators’ eyelids jump.

On the Thunder Demon side, the Demon Lord’s own son was sent, showing the importance placed on this competition.

Now only the Water Demon side was left.

Pei Huang stared closely at the bottom of the stage, worried that the Water Demon side would still send that first disciple to the stage.

That person’s cultivation was profound and on par with his. If he allied with other factions during the free-for-all, it would be very troublesome.

As expected, that first disciple moved. But before he could even go on stage, a blue figure descended from the sky, landing lightly beside Ling Jiang, and said lazily: “Lend me your sword for a bit.”

As his voice fell, the person hooked his finger lightly and just like that, took away the Dragon-Escape Sword from Ling Jiang’s hand!

Everyone was completely shocked.

That Ling Jiang is currently the person in charge of the Water Demon Tribe.

What is the background of this person who dares to snatch his sword?

Fu Yin watched everyone’s reaction with great interest and chuckled: “I’ve been in seclusion for too long; it seems the younger generation of the Demon Race no longer recognizes who I am.”

Everyone thought: Who is this? What a tone!

The next second, they saw Ling Jiang bow respectfully and say: “Congratulations to Master for coming out of seclusion.”

Hearing this address, everyone took a sharp breath of cold air.

Who doesn’t know that the reason the Water Demon Tribe can firmly hold first place is because of Fu Yin’s existence.

Only in the past hundred years, he had been in seclusion and hadn’t appeared. Many people thought his lifespan was nearing its end and it was difficult to break through, and he had already died.

Unexpectedly, he actually appeared at this time!

Everyone instinctively looked toward Pei Huang.

The Fire Demon Tribe has been out searching for the person in the prophecy for years, wanting to unify the Demon Realm.

Many people actually held hope, hoping the Demon Realm could be unified.

They had been trapped in such a desolate place for years. If they wanted to contend with the righteous path, they needed someone who could gather the power of all tribes.

But now that Fu Yin suddenly appeared, Pei Huang’s situation became dangerous.

If you say who is the person who least wants the Demon Realm to be unified, it must be Fu Yin.

For all these years, the Water Demons have been the dominant power, occupying the best resources in the Demon Realm. How could he tolerate someone breaking this order!

So did Fu Yin come out specifically to kill Pei Huang?

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Unexpectedly, the next second, Fu Yin actually suppressed his own cultivation and stood on the stage, saying: “After watching the matches for a long while, I feel a bit itchy. Today I will take the place of the Water Demon Tribe to fight.”

Hearing this, the other three were so scared they took a step back. The Wind Demon cultivator was even more exaggerated; half a foot was hanging outside the platform, already prepared to escape with one kick.

Only Pei Huang had the intent to fight ignited in his eyes.

He had never fought with a demon cultivator of this realm; this was an extremely rare opportunity.

Pei Huang completely released the power of his bloodline and actually took the lead in attacking Fu Yin!

The ground shook and mountains swayed when the two fought, kicking up gusts of strong wind.

The crowd gradually lost sight of their two figures. It wasn’t until everything settled and Pei Huang was still standing on the stage that they took a sharp breath of cold air.

Although Fu Yin had suppressed his cultivation, the pressure on his body was still there. Pei Huang was actually able to maneuver with him for so long.

Given time, there would probably be no one in the Demon Realm who could surpass him.

“Hahaha, not bad, truly not bad.” Fu Yin stared fixedly at Pei Huang, his eyes showing unhidden appreciation, and he suddenly spoke:

“How about being my disciple?”

Though it was a question, his tone was unquestionable.

The crowd was in an uproar.

“Wasn’t Fu Yin’s last disciple Xi Feng? He said at the time that he wouldn’t take any more disciples in the future, yet now he has made an exception for Pei Huang.”

“I heard the Fire Demon Tribe has already submitted to him. If he also becomes Fu Yin’s disciple, won’t there be no more obstacles to unifying the Demon Realm?”

“If nothing else, Fu Yin is truly good to his disciples—giving divine artifacts at will, and feeding spirit pills and immortal herbs like meals…”

While everyone was discussing, Pei Huang remained silent, as if stunned by this pie falling from the sky.

Xue Jingci stood at the bottom of the stage, his hands hidden in his sleeves clenching tightly.

Even though he knew it was normal for peerless experts to take a fancy to the protagonist, he still felt inexplicably depressed.

Although he claimed to have long let go of the matter of Xie Zheng and no longer thought about the matter of Xiao Xun, Pei Huang seemed exceptionally different to him.

If he truly didn’t recognize him as his master…

Xiao Xun stood on the high platform, but his gaze was fixed tightly on Xue Jingci.

Seeing Xue Jingci lower his eyelashes, which trembled, his heart trembled along with it.

On the day of the apprenticeship ceremony, he walked past Xue Jingci without looking back. Was he also looking like this then?

Xiao Xun clenched his hands tightly and withdrew his gaze.

Pei Huang, however, finally spoke: “Thank you for the favor, Senior, but I have already taken another as my master.”

One sentence stirred a thousand layers of waves.

Xue Jingci looked at Pei Huang. With a light tap of his toes, he landed on the stage, protecting him behind him. He looked at Fu Yin and said coldly: “Senior, swords can be lent, but disciples cannot.”

Fu Yin stared at Xue Jingci and said: “You are his master? But your cultivation is only at the Golden Core realm. With his cultivation speed, it won’t be long before he surpasses you.”

Facing such questioning, Xue Jingci did not yield: “Senior although powerful, I can solve the problem of his Qi and blood running backward from practicing demon arts.”

Hearing these words, the gaze of the crowd toward Xue Jingci instantly changed.

They recalled carefully and only then realized that Pei Huang was indeed different from other demon cultivators.

After fighting so many matches, his mind remained clear throughout.

In an instant, the gaze of everyone toward Xue Jingci became burning hot.

Even Fu Yin showed a bit of surprise. He originally thought Pei Huang could do this because of his temperament far exceeding ordinary people, but unexpectedly there was also Xue Jingci’s handiwork behind it.

“Forget it, this old man has no hobby of snatching others’ disciples. You are called Pei Huang, right? Today in this competition, you have taken first place. The other four tribes must obey your orders according to the rules.”

“The time period is set for one year.”

Pei Huang nodded, appearing exceptionally steady, without even a bit of losing himself due to having great power.

He turned around and suddenly knelt down to Xue Jingci.

“Before it was in a hurry, I wasn’t able to properly perform the apprenticeship ceremony for Master. Now that I have taken first place, I will use this as my apprenticeship gift.”

Pei Huang looked up, his gaze extremely solemn.

“With the sun, moon, and stars as witness, disciple Pei Huang is willing to take Xue Jingci as his master. From now on…”

The crowd was extremely quiet. No one expected that at such an important moment, he would perform the apprenticeship ceremony in public.

Xue Jingci also had an unspeakable feeling in his heart.

When he took Xie Zheng as his disciple back then, he didn’t care about any apprenticeship ceremony; he just took a cup of master-respecting tea from Xie Zheng and considered the ceremony performed.

To the point that when they went to the upper realm later, he wanted to tell others Xie Zheng was his disciple but couldn’t even produce evidence.

When it came to Xiao Xun, he decided that he must take him as his master in a justifiable way. That’s why he painstakingly went on missions to get the token of an outer elder, to be able to formally take him as his disciple at that apprenticeship ceremony.

But on that day, his situation was awkward; he was the only elder in the entire Lingxu Sect who didn’t receive a disciple.

Until today, under the eyes of everyone, Pei Huang solemnly took him as his master.

Xue Jingci’s heart was moved. He bent down and placed his hand on Pei Huang’s head, saying softly: “Master will protect you for a lifetime.”

Xiao Xun stood on the high platform watching this scene, his hand hanging at his side clenching tightly, only feeling the whole of his heart aching intensely.

He lowered his head, and the scene from the apprenticeship ceremony appeared in his mind.

If he had stopped in front of Xue Jingci that day, would he also have stroked his head like this and said, Master will protect you for a lifetime?

A lifetime.

This was the promise he wanted most yet didn’t dare to ask for.

…

Too many things happened in the martial arts competition today, and everyone was still talking about them with great interest until evening.

Xue Jingci had finally truly received Pei Huang as his disciple and was very happy in his heart, wanting to give him an apprenticeship gift.

In the past, he might have just picked something himself to give to Pei Huang.

But now after going through so many things, Xue Jingci understood that maybe what he gave wasn’t what others wanted.

So after thinking about it, Xue Jingci simply went to find Pei Huang and asked him what he wanted.

Pei Huang smiled and said: “Anything is okay?”

Xue Jingci nodded.

He has the system mall; even if Pei Huang wanted some rare treasure, he could find a way to get it for him.

But he waited for a long while, only to hear Pei Huang say: “Then I hope that from now on, Master will only have me as your one disciple.”

Xue Jingci was stunned for a moment, not expecting Pei Huang to make such a request.

But he soon remembered that when Fu Yin said he wanted to take Pei Huang as a disciple, he also seemed to feel a bit uncomfortable in his heart.

Actually, at that time, he also hoped in his heart that Pei Huang only had him as his master, right?

Xue Jingci didn’t agree immediately but looked at Pei Huang and asked: “At that time when Fu Yin said he wanted to take you as a disciple, you hesitated for a moment. Did you have even a little bit of heart-stirring?”

Hearing this, Pei Huang was very anxious and quickly shook his head: “No, not even half a point! I was thinking about something else at the time.”

Afraid Xue Jingci wouldn’t believe it, Pei Huang even wanted to swear by the Heavenly Dao immediately, but was stopped by Xue Jingci.

Being held by Xue Jingci’s ice-cold fingertips, Pei Huang gradually calmed down and soon realized one thing.

Xue Jingci asking this—did it mean he also has… a sense of possessiveness toward him?

The corners of Pei Huang’s mouth couldn’t help but tilt up, and he tried hard to suppress it. He leaned close to Xue Jingci and said in a softened voice: “Actually, at first I was thinking about how to be your last disciple, so that you wouldn’t take any more disciples.”

“Who knew that Fu Yin would not play by the rules. He already took a last disciple, yet how could he suddenly go back on his word and take someone else as his disciple in public? That’s why I was a bit stunned.”

The knot in Xue Jingci’s heart was completely untied.

It turned out that even in the face of such a strong expert, Pei Huang would firmly choose him.

He nodded and said: “Okay, then I will only have you as my one disciple from now on, and you can only take me as your master.”

Pei Huang was satisfied, yet suddenly remembered the matter of Fu Yin taking a last disciple.

He looked at Xue Jingci and made a new request: “Master, I don’t want to be your ’last disciple’ (Guan-men Di-zi) anymore.”

Xue Jingci looked at him in confusion.

Pei Huang said seriously: “A ’last disciple’ (door-closing disciple) is not safe; a closed door can still be opened. If anyone asks in the future, you say…”

“I am your ’lock-door disciple’ (Suo-men Di-zi).”