… 1 First Release ◇ F
Bai Ze originally didn't intend to pay attention to Jiang Yun's appearance, naturally because Jiang Yun dared to temporarily isolate his Divine Sense, which made him a little angry and embarrassed.
However, when he heard Jiang Yun say that he wanted to start Cultivating the Demon Refining technique immediately, that bit of anger instantly vanished!
“Have you truly considered it?”
“Yes, I have decided!”
Although he was secretly pleased, Bai Ze still feigned contemplation and said, “Alright, seeing how sincere you are, I will agree to you. However, to become a Demon Refiner, you need Demonic Qi as a guide. I’ll take another loss and give you some of my Demonic Qi to help you comprehend.”
As if fearing Jiang Yun would go back on his word, as soon as Bai Ze finished speaking, he opened his mouth and spewed out a thick cloud of Demonic Qi, which directly enveloped Jiang Yun's entire body.
“Remember, normally, keep my Demonic Qi hidden within the Spirit Lake of your Dantian, otherwise, if some Cultivators who consider themselves righteous sense it, they will definitely kill you without mercy, treating you as a demon.”
Immediately after, a shimmering text appeared in Jiang Yun's mind.
“When the heavens and earth are out of balance, something extraordinary becomes a demon; when the gods are unrighteous, they become evil; when human hearts are deluded, they become a devil…”
Jiang Yun closed his eyes, diligently integrating Bai Ze's Heavenly Demonic Qi into his Dantian, while carefully observing the text.
Looking at Jiang Yun, who was clearly immersed in the technique, a hint of cunning appeared in Bai Ze's massive eyes: “As long as my Demonic Qi exists within your Spirit Lake, given time, it will inevitably achieve Fusion.”
“Once you condense a blessed land, my Demonic Qi will forever remain within your body, growing stronger as your cultivation improves. Hehe, by then, you will become my Puppet! A Demon Refiner Puppet!”
“To think that I, Bai Ze, am a Vantong Heavenly Demon, there truly is no smarter being in this world than me. Alas, it’s a bit lonely, but once I have this Demon Refiner Puppet, I will be even lonelier!”
…
Nanxing City is one of the three largest cities in Nanshan Prefecture. The number of permanent residents alone exceeds eight million, and with a constant flow of outsiders, the total population is nearly ten million.
Among these ten million people, although the vast majority are Mortals, with only a few being Cultivators, due to the large population base, the actual number of Cultivators is quite significant.
Therefore, Nanxing City has a hundred-mile-long Xiuyuan Street, exclusively open to Cultivators. It is filled with shops opened by various Sects and powerful families from the Five Mountain Islands, selling all kinds of cultivation resources.
As long as you have enough Spirit Stones, you can buy most of the items related to cultivation that you need on this Xiuyuan Street.
Naturally, Xiuyuan Street has become a must-visit place for every Cultivator who comes to Nanxing City, and thus the street is usually crowded most of the time.
However, today, the number of Cultivators on the street was even double that of usual days, which made the Shop assistants of various shops enthusiastically solicit customers at their doorways while discussing why there were suddenly so many people.
“You don’t know this? Three months from now is the Luo Family Old Ancestor’s thousandth birthday. These Cultivators must all be here to offer congratulations.”
“There are still three months, so why are there so many people already?”
“The Luo Family has extensive connections and a strong Foundation. There will certainly be many people coming to offer congratulations. If they wait until three months later, there probably won’t be any place to stay, so they naturally came early. If you don’t believe me, just watch; starting tomorrow, the more time passes, the more people there will definitely be.”
“Hehe, more people are good! More people mean better business for us!”
“Enough talk, enough talk! Let’s quickly solicit business!”
The influx of a large number of Cultivators made every shop on Xiuyuan Street bustling with people, a constant flow, and a hubbub of activity.
However, there were exceptions.
At the very end of Xiuyuan Street, there was a shop named Duoyao Pavilion, which was deserted.
Although Cultivators would pass by from time to time, after a glance at the facade, which could almost be described as shabby, they would quickly leave.
Apparently, such a small shop simply couldn't pique their interest.
For such a situation, the young Shop assistant in the shop, who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old, was clearly used to it. He didn't even bother to go out to solicit business and simply sat behind the counter, yawning.
But just then, a gust of wind suddenly blew in through the open door, and several figures rushed in, startling the Shop assistant. He abruptly stood up and, looking at the three burly men, over ten feet tall with fierce faces, who had appeared before him, he stammered, “W-what are you doing? Are you, are you trying to rob us?”
A red-robed big man spat heavily and said, “Pah, what robbery? Since this is a Medicine Pavilion, you should also be able to identify Medicinal Materials, right!”
“You scared me to death! I thought you were robbing us!” The young Shop assistant finally regained his composure, wiped the sweat from his face, and puffed out his chest, saying, “When it comes to identifying Medicinal Materials, you gentlemen have come to the right place! Our boss at Duoyao Pavilion is best at this!”
As a Medicine Pavilion, in addition to buying and selling Medicinal Materials and Medicinal Pills, it also needed to help people identify Medicinal Pills and Medicinal Materials.
The red-robed big man sneered, “Then stop talking nonsense. Our brothers just got a plant, but unfortunately, we don’t know its origin. If you can identify it, we’ll sell it to you cheaper. If you can’t identify it and waste our time, hehe, you’ll have to compensate us!”
Upon hearing this, the young Shop assistant’s chest, which had just puffed out, immediately deflated again. How could he not understand? These three big men were clearly here to rob, but not openly; they had simply changed their method.
The young Shop assistant could even almost certainly confirm that the Medicinal Material they brought was extremely rare. Not only could his small shop not identify it, but even the few large Medicine Pavilions on Xiuyuan Street probably couldn’t identify it.
However, any large Medicine Pavilion definitely had extremely strong backing, and ordinary Cultivators, no matter how bold, would not dare to cause trouble there, so they could only choose inconspicuous small shops like his own.
“Well, gentlemen, I have some Spirit Stones here. I’ll offer them to you to buy some tea. Why don’t you, or rather, go to another shop to identify it!”
As the young Shop assistant spoke, he pulled out a few first-grade Spirit Stones from under the counter and offered them.
“Get lost! Do you think we’re beggars?!” The red-robed big man unceremoniously slapped the Spirit Stones away, and at the same time, a colorful plant appeared in his hand. He slammed it heavily onto the counter and said, “Quickly, get your boss to come and see what kind of Medicinal Material this is!”
The young Shop assistant didn’t even look at the plant. Instead, he turned and shouted towards the back room, “Dad, come out quickly!”
“I said, Xia Shi, your dad went out of the city to collect Medicinal Herbs this morning. He specifically told you, did you not hear him again?”
A somewhat helpless voice came from the back room. Immediately after, a Young man in a green shirt, seventeen or eighteen years old, lifted the curtain and walked out.
This Young man had a delicate appearance, with long hair braided into several plaits scattered over his shoulders, and clear eyes.
Although he looked a bit thin, his arms, exposed by his highly rolled-up sleeves, were covered with various scars.
Most striking was that one of his hands held a large, stiff brush, while the other hand was actually carrying a bronze cauldron half the height of a person!