Chapter 64

A dark cloud appears out of nowhere and blocks the bright moonlight. Thunder and lightning suddenly rage in the clear sky, casting a deathly white light.

The lightning strikes directly at the Vermilion Bird Tower. All eighty one bronze bells on the tower ring at the same time, with an urgency like they were demanding someone’s life.

Right after that, there is the sound of something exploding. The Vermilion Bird Tower, which has existed for thousands of years, split into two from the middle. The ancient walls break into pieces, and within seconds, the tower collapses into nothing.

The inside of the Vermilion Bird Tower, which countless people lust after, is finally revealed to the crowd.

Behind the empty and fallen tower, which is like a shabby cage, the neither dead nor alive statue of its lord sits primly like a ghost that manifests in this plane. Over the head of the statue is a carelessly hung lantern, which shakes like a person suffering from malaria.

The features of the stone statue seem to be full of a great sorrow. Under the flickering light of the lantern, a tortoise shell1 falls from the statue's hand. As the shell spins non-stop, it is revealed that “unrest” is carved on its other side.

Unfortunately, no one can see that clearly. Just a second later, both the tortoise shell and the stone statue turn to dust without any warning.

A sigh in an ancient voice can be heard from the lantern, then the light inside it gradually fades.

As the Vermilion Bird Tower no longer exists, the tower spirit that has been protecting it in the past hundred years likely dies along side it.

At that moment, someone with sharp eyes sees something else, and asks the person next to him in a low voice, “Look, isn’t that an ice pillar? What is frozen in there?”

Following those words, the crowd see that there is an ice pillar taller than an adult under the extinguished lantern. Inside it is a person, whose features can’t be seen clearly. The black energy swirling around his body criss-crosses in the transparent ice pillar, as if wanting to break out and blend into one with the night.

As the saying goes, “as long as there is life, the demon of the heart will live”. There is no way to completely destroy that thing, so Cheng Qian had to seal it in the ice.

Cheng Qian thought there was nothing in the Vermilion Bird Tower besides junk and the tower spirit, who wasn’t a human. Therefore, the demon of the heart sealed in the ice wouldn’t have anything to derive its power from, and would weaken. Even if the ice pillar got melted by the Vermilion Bird Tower in the next decade or two, it would be ‘starved’ to near death.

Who could expect that the Vermilion Bird Tower, which seemingly could stand for eternity, would collapse in a second!

Thick black clouds fly in from the South and swirl around the ice pillar, as if being summoned.

Seeing that situation, some wiser cultivators already prepare to run away.

The two cultivators with primordial spirits who protect the spoilt brat on the carriage of course are more experienced. The taller and thinner one says, “It won’t be easy to deal with this kind of demonic energy, which reaches to the sky.”

The stockier cultivator says, “People say the Nightmare Travellers are based in Nanjiang. In my opinion, there is no smoke without a fire. Whatever is going on, let’s get there first.”

The tall and thin elder sighs and asks rather helplessly, “Then what should we do about the young master?”

Before the stocky elder can reply, a cultivator nearby says in a startled voice, “Seniors, please look!”

The cultivator who has just spoken wears a gray silk rope on his waist. Like a living being, the rope rises up, and shaking slightly in the wind, it points to the Vermilion Bird Tower.

The cultivator with the grey silk rope urgently says, “Senior, this is a ‘Trace Seeking Silk’. When we arrived here, in case there was trouble, I tied one end to our young master. Before, the Trace Seeking Silk was likely blocked by the Vermilion Bird Tower. Now that the tower has exploded, the silk can immediately sense the location of our young master.”

Hearing that, the tall elder immediately pales. He says with some fear, “Why is our young master in the Vermilion Bird Tower. What- what should we do now?”

They can’t do anything anyway. At that moment, an earth-shaking growl can be heard from afar, as the black energy gathers around the ice pillar like a tornado. It forms a dragon and rises from the ground, while the ice pillar is lifted up by the tornado.

Someone mutters, “When the land snake becomes a dragon, chaos reigns.”

That black dragon looks at the sky and makes a growl that shakes the ten thousand great mountains of Nanjiang. The ice pillar cracks with a crisp sound, then falls apart. The shadow sealed in the ice pillar becomes one with the huge dragon, then flies in the direction of the horizon.

As the nine skies tremble, the moon and stars dim. The black energy is everywhere on the mountains like a fire that can’t be put out, as if swallowing up half the world.

Even the gods and buddhas are afraid.

The stocky cultivator with primordial spirit fearfully says, “Go! Go! Let’s go!”

However, even if he is a great cultivator of a region, in this situation, his voice is no louder than a cricket’s. Gritting his teeth, he decisively leaves the others in his group behind, then turns into a shooting star and tries his best to escape.

As soon as the sword under his feet rises into the sky, like a giant mouth stinking of blood, the place where the Vermilion Bird Tower stood opened up and swallowed everyone there. Even having a cultivated body and primordial spirit isn’t enough to help one escape.

Seeing that, the stocky cultivator with primordial spirit pales. Not even daring to look back, he flies directly to the North.

Meanwhile, in the tavern of that border town, Yan Zhengming has a pretty good scare as Cheng Qian is suddenly knocked out.

He shakes and calls Cheng Qian’s name for a while, and realises that that latter got drunk from cassia tea mixed with wine, a discovery that makes him not know whether to laugh or cry.

Not expecting that this inhuman junior brother of his, who seems invincible at first glance, can be defeated so easily, Yan Zhengming panics a little. Then he finally realises what he should do. Stepping forward, he speaks, not really knowing whom he is talking to, “Go sleep in the bed.”

Of course, no one replies to him. Having said that line out loud, as if granted permission, Yan Zhengming carefully lifts Cheng Qian up and puts him on his bed, which is so clean that there isn’t a single strand of hair on it.

Yan Zhenging stares at Cheng Qian, then raises his hand and taps his face slightly. “Hey, can’t you really handle even one mouthful?”

Cheng Qian doesn’t react at all.

Despite himself, Yan Zhengming’s mood brightens, even if he doesn’t know himself what he is happy about. If he had a tail, it would be wagging. He pokes at Cheng Qian’s forehead and says, “Looks like you only amount to that much.”

Under his hand, Cheng Qian’s face tilts slightly, his breath smelling faintly of wine flavoured with cassia. In any case, it is just mortal wine. With Cheng Qian’s constitution, even if he is unconscious, his spiritual energy will expel the bit of alcohol. His drunken state won’t last long.

Yan Zhengming sits on the edge of the bed, his eyes admiring Cheng Qian’s features. Like a lake into which a small stone is thrown, his heart is full of ripples again.

Like a peasant child tasked with watching over candies, he is itching to steal what is entrusted to him, but doesn’t have the guts to commit the crime. All he can do is stare while harbouring all kinds of thoughts. Although he dares not touch a single hair of Cheng Qian’s, his heart is about to escape, as an absurd smile blooms on his face.

At that moment, a strange noise flies in through the window.

Yan Zhengming, who has been enjoying the situation, pulls his mind out of a pile of indecent delusions. His face paled, he pushes the window open through the air.

The birds around the building act like they are scared and flap their wings wildly. The colour of the sky in the South changes, as thick clouds swirl relentlessly like sea tides and an ominous aura can be felt from the night sky. No longer having the heart to peep at a sleeping Cheng Qian, Yan Zhengming places a hand on Cheng Qian, sending in a flow of spiritual energy with the air of a sharp blade into his veins. Within seconds, the apathetic spiritual energy that is circulating in Cheng Qian’s body is stirred up. The tiny drop of alcohol is immediately consumed away.

Cheng Qian wakes up while choking on that energy. Of course, it isn’t pleasant to be forced to wake up by a foreign flow of spiritual energy. His breath stuck in his chest and his temples throbbing, Cheng Qian frowns as he wakes up with some difficulty. In his mind, if Noble Consort Yan dares to tell him that this attack is because he didn’t take off the shoes before getting on the bed, he will definitely have to commit rebellion.

In a blink of the eye, Yan Zhengming is already standing by the window. He says without looking back, “Down after just one cup. Wake up. Something is wrong.”

Shuang Ren, which Cheng Qian tossed on the table earlier, is buzzing. He rubs his forehead. “What happened?”

As soon as he says that, the door to Yan Zhengming’s room, which was already vandalised by Cheng Qian, is once again kicked open. Carrying on his shoulder a huge bird with long legs that is as tall as half an adult, Li Yun charges in. “Most senior brother. Huh, Xiao- Xiao Qian?”

It is no surprise that Cheng Qian is here. The surprise is where he is sitting.

One of Li Yun’s legs already on the threshold, he looks both gleeful and embarrassed. He can neither go in or withdraw.

Surrounded by the unknown danger, Yan Zhengming can see that Li Yun’s gaze is still guilty because of the shady thoughts in his head. Yan Zhengming says annoyedly, “What’re you still standing there for? Get in here!”

Glancing at the feeble great bird, Cheng Qian asks, “This is our little sister?”

“There is a strange development in her yao skeleton,” Li Yun puts Puddle on the table. Her body temperature is very high, causing many black burn marks on Li Yun’s sleeves and arms. As soon as she touches the table, there is a boiling sound, as the cool wine jar nearby heats up.

Li Yun moves the wine jar to the window sill, then blows at his hand, saying, “So you can’t blame me for not being able to turn her back.”

Half dead half alive, Puddle flops on the table like a well-roasted chicken. She says, “Senior brother, I’m going to die.”

Afterwards, this dying Puddle tilts her head and sees the package of cakes that Yan Zhengming opened then put aside earlier. She reaches out and pecks at the package to tear up a hole. Then she comments as she eats. “Even if I’ll die, I must have a full stomach.”

Cheng Qian: “…”

He discovers that his most senior brother is really good at bringing up children, in that he goes with the special talents of his charge, so all of their little sister’s avian nature is preserved in one piece.

At that moment, the night sky outside is black as ink. The few customers in the tavern all wake up and stare outside, terrifiedly. Cheng Qian checks what is there. A black dragon is swirling among the black clouds from afar. This isn’t an ancient beast that has died for eight thousand years in the True Dragon Flag. Its immense threatening aura mixed with demonic energy, which makes one unable to breathe, growls and covers half the disquiet sky.

A cracking sound suddenly comes from Puddle’s body. Her great wings, which are already half the height of a person, suddenly grows longer. A great flame erupts and burns the wooden table to ash.

Yan Zhengming’s long sleeves flutter, as his cool sword energy covers the whole room like a transparent cage. Li Yun takes out a package of cinnabar from his robe, which he dissolves with the cassia wine on the window sill. Then, as he seemingly turns into a shadow, layers of bright red spells appear on the ground, as quickly as water flowing.

Cheng Qian wants to say, “We shouldn’t stay here. Shall we go?” However, in this situation, he swallows those unnecessary words. He takes Shuang Ren and jumps on the roof, protecting the others from the outside.

Under his feet, there is the sound of a great struggle. The power of a celestial yao relentlessly tries to burst out of the skeleton, which is tightly suppressed by Yan Zhengming.

Whenever the yao skeleton of Puddle grows, Yan Zhengming and Li Yun have to practically risk their own lives. Although Yan Zhengming’s cultivation progresses quickly and regularly, Puddle’s celestial yao power becomes increasingly ferocious. At this moment, the feathers on her back are fleeced by the sword energy and fall everywhere. The relentless True Flame gets out of her control and spreads. It affects even Cheng Qian, who is outside the sphere of the sword will.

Cheng Qian feels like his back is getting burnt. Compared to the subtle heat of Vermilion Bird Tower, the flame on Puddle’s body is much more fierce.

Suddenly, a mournful avian cry rises from behind Cheng Qian. A red cloud bursts out of the roof and flies into the sky, tearing up the thick black cloud. It is like a target that can be seen from miles around has been painted.

The black dragon amidst the cloud from afar suddenly turns its head and looks in this direction. Its eyes meet Cheng Qian’s gaze. A chill runs along his spine as he instinctively clutches his sword more tightly. It has been a long while since he last felt this sensation.

Suddenly, someone nearby says in a low voice, “Descendant of the Phoenix. Can it be, she is a Scarlet Crane?”

That voice is very familiar. Cheng Qian turns his head and surprisedly asks, “Tang-xiong? What are you doing here?”

The person who has just arrived is Tang Zhen. Maybe it’s because he is standing under the black clouds, he looks even worse than usual, like a consumptive patient who is about to die.

Two young men carefully support him on both sides. One of them is Nian Dada, Nian Mingming’s precious child who loves to ramble to himself. The other is Liu Lang, whose soul was pinned to his body by Cheng Qian with the three ice nails not so long ago.

Tang Zhen doesn’t hold any small talk with Cheng Qian. He looks at the approaching black dragon and whispers weakly, “Among the three thousand paths of demonic cultivation, the rarest path is the one where the person is guided to the Tao by their demon of the heart. The cultivator lets the demon of the heart use their own self. If they manage to go all the way, they can gather the invincible power of the heart demon from all over the world, and form the demonic dragon. However, the demon of the heart is a double-edged sword. This is the first time I see a practitioner of that path advance this far. My young friend, please be careful. The skeleton of a celestial yao is suitable to be the spine of a demonic dragon.”

While they talk, the black dragon has come near. Mortals and cultivators alike are just insects compared to it, so they’ve long run away amidst the sound of screaming.

The howl of the dragon is like lightning striking at the ground, under which no one can stand up straight. There is the sound of a great explosion. Besides the tavern under Cheng Qian’s feet, none of the buildings or trees around escapes the fate of collapsing within seconds.

Cheng Qian shouts, “Stay away!”

Shuang Ren in his hand is immediately unsheathed. The frosty aura swells up and spreads around like water. The reverberating sound like that of a zither string can be heard even from far away.

It is as if he squeezes out the water from the hot and humid air. The frost quickly covers the entire tavern. Cheng Qian stands on the roof with Shuang Ren in his hand. Like a current that divide the sea, he holds firm without wavering.

The rising frost and the charing black clouds collide into each other, making an exploding sound.

Caught in the middle of the conflict of extreme light and extreme darkness, the two stone lions decorating the ground floor of the tavern is grounded into chalky powder. In the metallic screeching sound of Shuang Ren, the black dragon madly circles the sky.

Right when the two sides attack each other in close combat, Tang Zhen throws out a five-coloured stone. The stone transforms into a cage that covers all three of them. As the great light fades, there is a visible crack on the cage.

It is indeed a force that crushes stones and shakes the Heavens.

Nian Dada is so stunned that he stammers. “Tang… Tang… This- this is the Five Coloured Stone La- Lady Nuwa left on the mortal realm…”2

In a contrast to him, Tang Zhen doesn’t seem to have much regard for the thing. He says blandly, “It’s only the leftovers. How can it stand a chance against an attack from the demonic dragon? As the demonic dragon has been formed, this demonic cultivator has the ability to win the Lord Beiming title.”

Nian Dada’s eyes widen. “He can become Lord Beiming?!”

“No,” Tang Zhen says, “In demonic cultivation, it’s all or nothing. To become Lord Beiming, he’ll have to step on the corpse of the previous bearer of the title. The remaining soul of the previous Lord Beiming was sealed by a, well-talented fellow cultivator. Consequently, that Lord Beiming is neither dead nor alive. The ‘Lord Beiming’ title is accordingly sealed off, and no one can contest it anymore.”

Nian Dada doesn’t have the heart to hear him tell stories. He asks anxiously, “My disciple uncle is only a little more than a hundred years old. How can he be a match for the Lord of Demons?”

Hearing that, Liu Lang, who hasn’t spoken, can’t help balling the hands that are supporting Tang Zhen into fists.

Tang Zhen doesn’t say anything. He simply looks up. The whole body of Cheng Qian’s sways on the roof, as the tip of Cheng Qian seems to be infected by the black energy. Not bothering to glance at the sword in his hand, he cleans the blood on the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. He fixes his stare on the black dragon on the sky without conceding even one step.

The black dragon aims its claws, which are three times bigger than Cheng Qian, directly at him. Cheng Qian jumps up to meet the attack. All of the frosty aura that has been dispersing like the sea tide is gathered in one place, as the “All or nothing” move from the “Not according to wish” form smoothly combines with the sword will, and precisely stabs in the point between the claws of the black dragon.

Tang Zhen pats Liu Lang’s hand and says in a low voice, “Don’t waste your energy worrying over nothing. See, he is the sharp blade that was forged by heavenly tribulations.”

******

1. Tortoise shell: In ancient times in China, tortoise shells were used for divination. According to legends, the cracks on tortoise shells were the origin of the yao hexagrams, and also the inspiration for the Chinese script.

2. Lady Nuwa: According to legend, when the world was newly formed, it was promptly broken by a conflict between the gods, so the goddess Nuwa used the five-coloured stones to repair the sky and the earth. More about this mythological figure from the wiki.