Jiang Youbai raised his head to reach Shen Changchuan’s lips. His slender neck was forced to stretch upward, and his Adam’s apple protruded slightly along that line, looking brightly seductive.
Shen Changchuan paused for just a single moment, then pinched the back of Jiang Youbai’s neck and pulled him away. “What do you need so much spiritual energy for?”
Jiang Youbai licked his lips, looking like a small beast that had just finished a hearty meal, exceptionally satisfied. “Spiritual energy, of course, the more the better.”
Shen Changchuan looked at the fox-like Jiang Youbai, but did not let go of his grip. “I gave you more than enough. Take so much, and you had better be careful you can’t handle the consequences.”
Jiang Youbai treated Shen Changchuan’s harsh words as an attempt to scare him and had no intention of returning the spiritual energy, so he changed the subject. “Then Master, let us begin.”
Shen Changchuan glanced at him, well aware that the other person was changing the subject, but said nothing more. He released his grip. “I will teach you the incantation and hand gestures. Forming formations shares the same underlying principles as drawing talismans. The most important things are meticulousness and patience; do not be hasty.”
Jiang Youbai watched as Shen Changchuan chanted the incantation and channeled spiritual energy into his fingertips. A golden formation slowly formed in the courtyard, the dismantled parts of the formation resembling a spider weaving its web, every step detailed to the extreme.
Clearly, Shen Changchuan did not even need to chant spells and could form the formation with a flick of his finger, yet right now, he was building the formation bit by bit just like a beginner.
Watching this, the corners of Jiang Youbai’s lips imperceptibly curved upward.
Shen Changchuan was actually an exceptionally good teacher. Although he spoke little, it did not mean he was taciturn; he simply disliked uttering idle words, and every single sentence hit the core point.
This was something Jiang Youbai had understood deeply in his past life. Even though he had only half-understood the basic classes, Shen Changchuan was still able to integrate those fundamentals into practical application and teach them to him. He would have had to be a genuine fool not to learn.
“You give it a try.” Having finished the demonstration, Shen Changchuan withdrew his spiritual energy. Turning his head, he saw Jiang Youbai zoning out, though he merely lowered his gaze and said nothing.
Jiang Youbai smiled and raised his hand. Spiritual energy condensed at his fingertips, and following the incantation he chanted, the spiritual energy flickered before ultimately extinguishing.
Unsurprised, he said, “Ah, why didn’t it work?”
Shen Changchuan glanced at him. “You recited the incantation wrong.”
Jiang Youbai let out an “oh” and re-recited the incantation, but the formation failed once more. He looked at Shen Changchuan and asked again, “Why is it still not working?”
Without waiting for Shen Changchuan to point out that he hadn’t used enough spiritual energy, he preempted him. “Master, is it because you didn’t teach it right?”
Shen Changchuan looked at Jiang Youbai, knowing full well that the other person was playing tricks, yet still asked. “So?”
Jiang Youbai said, “Since even the First Seat of the Immortal Alliance cannot teach me properly, it seems I am not suited to learn these things. The First Seat should let me down the mountain.”
He originally wanted to accuse Shen Changchuan of being a poor teacher, but recalling Shen Changchuan’s meticulous demeanor just a moment ago, he simply couldn’t bring himself to slander the man.
Shen Changchuan stared at him for a long while, making Jiang Youbai’s heart squirm with guilt, before finally speaking. “In that case, once you learn it, I will let you down the mountain.”
Seeing him agree so readily, Jiang Youbai asked suspiciously. “Really? The First Seat must not go back on his word.”
Shen Changchuan nodded. “Naturally.”
Jiang Youbai blinked, wearing a smile of absolute certainty as he turned around and summoned the Spirit-Sealing Grand Array. “First Seat, a word spoken is hard to catch even with a team of four horses. Release my demonic energy seal now.”
Shen Changchuan looked at the Spirit-Sealing Grand Array that Jiang Youbai had summoned with such ease. A flash of admiration crossed his eyes; although Jiang Youbai was a demon beast, his comprehension and cultivation talent far surpassed ordinary people.
Seeing no reaction from the other man, Jiang Youbai’s gaze darkened. He walked up to Shen Changchuan, pressing his lips together. “The First Seat wouldn’t want to renege on his promise, would he?”
“As the dignified First Seat of the Immortal Alliance, the sect master of the Qingqing Sect, and the role model for cultivators everywhere, you are actually tricking a little demon beast? If word gets out, where will your face as Shen Changchuan go?”
Shen Changchuan glanced at him, his emotions unreadable in his gaze, and only said. “I mean what I say.”
He raised his hand toward Jiang Youbai’s glabella. A phantom jade token flashed and vanished, and in an instant, Jiang Youbai felt abundant demonic energy surge out from his dantian, rushing through his limbs and bones. His eyes lit up. “Shen Changchuan, we shall never meet again!”
With that, as if afraid Shen Changchuan would regret his decision, Jiang Youbai bolted away from Yuling Peak in a flash.
However, once he left Yuling Peak, his pace slowed down. He did not plan to return to Spirit Mountain immediately; he still had whatever Xie Qingli had left inside his body. Jiang Youbai pondered going to the Demon Realm first to find Xie Qingli, but Xie Qingli would undoubtedly have a Hongmen banquet waiting for him. Having never dealt with this person in his past life, he only knew that the man was likewise ruthless.
Yet not going to the Demon Realm and failing to return Xie Qingli’s item was not his style either.
Thinking this, Jiang Youbai walked very slowly. As the sky grew dark, the sunset glow spilled over him like a cluster of burning flames.
No, that was not sunset glow; it felt as though a raging fire was burning within his body.
This sensation was identical to his first day being brought to the Qingqing Sect by Shen Changchuan. Back then, it was Shen Changchuan’s qin music that had suppressed the pain inside him, but now it was flaring up once more.
If he didn’t know for a fact that the thing inside him was Xie Qingli’s doing, he would have thought Shen Changchuan had played some trick on him.
Jiang Youbai endured it, his forward steps becoming unsteady. The pain made him furrow his brows tightly, and he finally had no choice but to sit down, leaning against a tree.
So painful.
Three different forces were fighting inside his body. If this continued, his meridians would burst open from the pressure, and unable to withstand the multiple forces within him, he would die from his body exploding.
Jiang Youbai’s fingertips dug into the soil, completely unaware that he could no longer maintain his human form. The plume feathers behind him burst forth, and those huge, snow-white feathers spread out behind him, covering the ground like a drift of snow piled up there, so breathtakingly beautiful one hardly dared to breathe.
Damn Xie Qingli, damn Shen Changchuan!
His body was now like a vessel, and the forces inside would not dry up until this container shattered into pieces.
Jiang Youbai wished he could storm into the Demon Realm right now. To hell with any Hongmen banquet, he would just slap Xie Qingli to death with his tail!
And Shen Changchuan.
No wonder this person had readily agreed to unseal his demonic energy. What righteous gentleman, what role model of the righteous path, he was clearly a hypocritical scoundrel!
Jiang Youbai cursed both of them to hell in his mind, struggling to stand up. The forest he was currently in was already outside the Qingqing Sect; although not far, there were still demons wandering nearby. His demon beast aura could no longer be concealed at this moment, and it didn’t take long to attract company.
“I smell it! The scent of a demon beast! So fragrant, so fragrant, it is over there!”
Hearing the voices, Jiang Youbai stood up with a dark expression. He turned his head away from the approaching figures, fixing a gloomy gaze upon them.
A few demons were staring at him with greedy eyes, but the moment they locked eyes with Jiang Youbai’s returning gaze, they froze collectively, feeling a chill run down their spines.
“This demon beast looks a bit terrifying. Can we actually catch him?”
“Wait! He is a humanoid demon beast! Being a bit terrifying is normal, right? You, send a signal to the elder, we will stall him!”
“Why should we let the elder come and share a piece of the pie? Wouldn’t it be better for just the few of us to carve up this demon beast?”
“That’s right! The Venerable Lord also has a humanoid demon beast, and I heard it’s otherworldly in bed! I also want to taste the pleasure of dual cultivation with a humanoid demon beast.”
“Together then! Attack!”
Jiang Youbai watched the expressions of the three demons shift from terror to greed as they approached him. He twitched the corners of his mouth and let out a mocking sneer.
Cultivators and demons, to their kind of demon beast, they were all the same.
They talked about the coexistence of the three realms, but in reality, it was just the two realms hunting down the demon beast clan: on one hand keeping them captive and refusing to let them go extinct lest the balance be shattered, and on the other hand hunting them down relentlessly, craving the natural treasures hidden within their bodies.
Hypocrites, every single one of them was utterly hypocritical!
Watching the three demons draw close, he spun around, his pupils stained with a deep crimson.
The movements of the three figures came to an abrupt halt. In just a split second of daze, the blood vessels in their throats were slashed open directly, fresh blood gushing out like pillars of water.
Without even blinking, Jiang Youbai bypassed the three corpses and continued walking forward. However, his vision was unfocused, and the crimson in his eyes did not fade; instead, it grew even more intense, almost completely occupying his pupils.
The next second, Jiang Youbai collapsed from exhaustion. Already unable to use his demonic energy, that recent outburst had only exacerbated the torment inside his body.
In the vast forest, the small demon beast curled its body into a ball, letting out soft whimpers.
Plop.
Something struck Jiang Youbai’s face, followed immediately by more bean-sized drops pelting his body.
It was rain, it had started raining.
Jiang Youbai could no longer see his surroundings clearly. Lying flat on the ground, he didn’t even have the strength to roll over.
So painful, it hurt just as much as the day he fell off the cliff.
Was he going to die again? Even after living a new life and altering the original trajectory, could he still not escape the fate of a miserable death?
Yet if all of this was already predestined, why make him live again?
He was not resigned to this!
Jiang Youbai turned his head, suddenly fixing his gaze on the three corpses.
Since they were all vessels, could these three not be used as vessels?
Jiang Youbai crawled forward on all fours, as though losing his sanity. Tilting his head, he leaned down, about to press his lips against one of them.
A cool, hard object pressed against his lips first. Jiang Youbai slowly reined in his focus, forcing his pupils to adjust with great effort, taking a long while to finally recognize what his lips were pressed against.
It was a jade token radiating golden light. Jiang Youbai blinked slowly, staring at the token. The golden light reflected in his pupils, and the crimson in the depths of his eyes seemed to fade slightly.
The raindrops above him stopped falling onto his body. Raising his head, he looked up, an oiled-paper umbrella was blocking the rain, pattering against the canopy as it shielded him entirely. The person holding the umbrella exuded a freezing aura, their snow-white robes immaculate and completely unstained by dust or dirt all the way through their journey. That person’s expression was as indifferent as usual, detached like the moon in the sky. Yet somehow, Jiang Youbai caught a very faint expression on Shen Changchuan’s face, so slight that one might mistake it for an illusion.
Jiang Youbai pressed his lips together, the crimson in his eyes tinged with sullen gloom. “Are you here to watch me make a fool of myself?”
The falling rain condensed into ice in mid-air, and the corpses beside him were frozen solid as well. The pools of blood covering the ground were frozen through to the core. Shen Changchuan looked down at him. “Will you come back to the Qingqing Sect with me?”
Jiang Youbai stared blankly for a long moment, opening his mouth several times without answering Shen Changchuan, before finally murmuring softly. “Shen Changchuan, it hurts.”