The dark and gloomy forbidden grounds, shrouded in poisonous mist and shielded by barriers, were extremely weak in sensing external disturbances. Wei Li, who had arrived early for his "appointment," was naturally unaware of the events unfolding at the Nine Swallows Mountain Sword Washing Pool.
He did faintly hear the rumble of thunder and the flash of lightning overhead, but as demon cultivators, they were inherently afraid of thunder. The tips of his beast ears, adorned with white fur, twitched in alarm.
However, he didn't think much of it. How could he have guessed that his small sect, comprised of five mountain peaks, would produce a celestial artifact by sheer luck? It was more unbelievable than a daydream.
Countless skeletons and remains were buried within the bulging mounds of earth. This patch of extremely Yin, cracked black land was barren, supporting only a peculiar, gnarled wood. It bore no leaves, no flowers, just bare, withered branches and ancient trees with coiling boughs.
Impatient, Wei Li kicked over a small mound, scoffing with childish malice. He silently counted how many graves he had desecrated underfoot, yet the damned scoundrel still hadn't arrived!
But he was unwilling to leave just like that. His beautiful eyes scanned around as he recalled what time the other person had written down to meet. Enraged at the time, he hadn't paid close enough attention.
So when Gu Junshi arrived, she saw large swathes of the otherwise intact burial ground riddled with fresh earth pits, and a nine-tailed fox with its head and face wrapped in red silk, looking like a secret agent meeting in disguise.
She didn't know that above her head, a swarm of wronged spirits had coalesced into a low-pressure storm, roaring furiously at her like a devil, but unable to invade due to her powerful consciousness.
Gu Junshi raised an eyebrow.
What "good deeds" had this person been up to?
The moment Wei Li sensed her arrival, he turned around.
The strong wind puffed out the red silk on his face, revealing his fair, jade-like skin and his neat, ear-length hair. His fair neck was slender, and his features were striking, giving him a captivating, exotic allure in this attire.
His fox eyes, with their upturned corners, appraised the newcomer. This person was mysterious, cloaked in a flowing black robe, with a wide hood pulled low, obscuring their face in a haze of shadow, making it impossible to discern the contours of their features. Even with his cultivation, he couldn't see through their hidden true identity.
At the same time, Wei Li was astonished that he couldn't see through the other person's strength. Who was this person, and what was their purpose in coming to the Great Expansion Sect? If they were here for revenge, why not kill him when he was at his weakest and most unaware, instead of merely humiliating and toying with him?
Thinking of his once long, waist-length hair, which had been the mark of his beautiful fur, now reduced to such an unseemly state, his emotions flared. He lost control of his human emotions, and his vision blurred as if in a torrential downpour, tears welling up uncontrollably.
"Did you step on my face?"
"Yes."
A strange, low voice, neither male nor female, clearly a disguised original voice.
Hmph, such a shameless wretch.
"Did you cut my hair too?"
"Yes."
Seeing that he (she) seemed like a softie, readily answering every question, Wei Li curved his lips, his eyes narrowing into sharp arcs. Restraining his murderous intent, which was on the verge of losing control, he asked, "Who are you? What is your purpose in coming to the Great Expansion Sect?"
This time, the other party did not reply as readily.
"That's not important."
Wei Li laughed at this, his body engulfed in blazing, crimson-orange demonic energy like an inferno. Beneath his long lashes, his pupils also glinted crimson. He said gently, "Yes, it's not important. The past of a dead person is indeed not worth mentioning."
The next second, Wei Li attacked.
The barbed spiritual energy transformed into two pairs of "sharp feathers," lunging towards his sides. But unexpectedly, the other party was already prepared. He (she) dodged and moved away from the spot. The ground vibrated subtly, sending dust and stones flying. The surrounding poisonous mist dispersed in an instant under the pressure of the spiritual energy.
He was clad in resplendent red, his pursuit and the wind weaving everywhere. The black shadow fleeing ahead gradually dissipated, merging into the mist, and the other party's elusive voice echoed in the air.
"Aren't you worried about the recording stone of your demonic beast form being leaked?"
A sect of human cultivators having a demon cultivator as its sect leader was enough to turn the Great Expansion Sect into a complete laughingstock in the spirit world of the eleven heavens.
"Heh, killing you will solve it just the same."
"What if I entrusted the item to someone else beforehand?"
"Even if they see it, what of it? I can easily come up with an excuse to gloss over it. Do you think they will believe me, the sect leader of the Great Expansion Sect, or you, an outsider hiding your true identity?"
Gu Junshi hadn't expected him to have some sense. Since threats wouldn't work, she had to resort to enticement.
After all, her current strength was inferior to his. Her choice of the forbidden grounds was for strategic advantage, utilizing the area's endless death qi to create a facade of exhaustion and decline. Furthermore, the nine-tailed fox, being a demon cultivator, also had reservations and wouldn't exert full power to cause too much disturbance.
"Then, do you want to be free from the torment of forcefully transforming into your beast form during the full moon?"
This sentence struck Wei Li’s weak spot. He had forcibly transformed into human form before cultivating for a thousand years. This was going against the natural order and also defied the laws of Heaven, for which he paid a heavy price.
Each instance of being forcefully reverted to his original form was excruciatingly painful. Always clean and proud, when he transformed into his beast form, he lost all reason, becoming like a true wild beast. Moreover, he had to consume the hearts of the dead to regain human form. He had searched all twenty-eight heavens but could never find a way to prevent this monthly backlash.
He paused his attack, looking at the black shadow in the poisonous mist, shifting between substance and illusion with ease. This person appeared even more sinister and strange than himself, a demon cultivator. The faint aura of death emanating from them – was it from the forbidden grounds or from within them?
Wei Li recalled the incident where the sect's "Immortal Seeking Stone" was destroyed, which was also intricately linked to death qi. Could this person be the mastermind behind it?
Although his personality had a touch of the pathological, his fox brain was not foolish. He decided to probe this person's intentions, temporarily suppressing his killing intent, and playing along: "You know, do you have a way?"
"What if I do?"
But he didn't believe it. He used his spiritual sense to track her hidden location. This time, he would rip out her insides and refine her into a puppet to be at his beck and call. Unexpectedly, in the next second, he heard: "You need the leaves of the Other Shore Flower, right?"
Wei Li, who was determined to obtain it, relaxed his hand that was gathering spiritual energy. His fox eyes widened, and he asked almost losing composure, "Do you truly have the leaves of the Other Shore Flower in your possession?"
Being able to pinpoint his exact need, he couldn't help but believe that the other party had come prepared.
He had indeed been secretly searching for the leaves of the Other Shore Flower, as it was the only thing that could effectively counteract his backlash. However, the Other Shore Flower grew by the River of Forgetfulness in the Underworld, blooming once every thousand years and bearing leaves once every thousand years. Setting aside the rarity of this item, ever since the Gate of the Underworld had vanished along with the Underworld a thousand years ago, there had been no more Other Shore Flowers in the world. This was why he had been seeking other methods.
"Naturally, I do."
Here it comes. The purpose behind the other party's actions was about to be revealed. What did she want?
Was she trying to coerce him into colluding with her to harm righteous cultivators? Was she trying to lure him into committing murder and arson to aid the rise of crooked sects? Or… was there a greater conspiracy, one concerning the life and death of the entire spirit world?
A myriad of terrifying thoughts flashed through his mind. He feigned being captivated and asked, "What do you want me to do in exchange for the leaves of the Other Shore Flower?"
"I want you to..."
She paused, weighing which condition to propose. But before she could finish, the nine-tailed fox exploded in fury.
His face flushed red, and he said indignantly, "You, you neither-man-nor-woman, how dare you covet me?"
Gu Junshi blinked, momentarily forgetting what she was about to say.
She… coveted him?
Was he out of his mind?