Chapter 153: True Loyalty is Forged in Life and Death

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The Taichu Sect’s great mountain array indeed had not been nourished or repaired for several hundred years. The strange events in the Aqueous Manor had served as a wake-up call to the sect’s leadership, so the Sect Master had decided to put on this show that was both real and fake.

The Ninth Elder grunted and said, “You have rendered a great service. The Sect Master will reward you in the future. Now, return to your rooms immediately. Otherwise, if you are killed by the chaotic energy of the array, you cannot blame the sect.” With that, he leaped back onto his flying sword, holding the captured Blood Demon, and sped towards Emperor Peak.

As the Ninth Elder left, his oppressive aura dissipated. Qin Haoxuan let out a long breath, feeling that his entire back was soaked through. It had been more exhausting than fighting ten Nether-Creatures at once.

Xing, on the other hand, collapsed straight onto the ground. As the mortal enemy of cultivators, he felt the terror of a high-level expert far more keenly than Qin Haoxuan. Recalling the look of dead despair in Hua Feng’s eyes as he was captured, Xing couldn’t help but put himself in his place. The more he thought, the more terrified he became. Long after the Ninth Elder was gone, he was still breaking out in a cold sweat.

“Hua Feng won’t report us to the sect, will he?” Qin Haoxuan asked Ye Yiming, as the sword light vanished over the horizon.

Ye Yiming shook his head silently, rapidly considering how they should respond if he did. The sect’s policy towards creatures like Xing was simple: kill on sight. And anyone who befriended them would also be killed.

Just then, Xing, recovering from his panic, saw the look in Ye Yiming’s eyes and immediately stood up, brushing the grass from his rear. “What are you afraid of? I am a peerless genius of the Netherworld, a rarity in a hundred years. So what if a mere human cultivator’s strength is temporarily greater than mine?” As he boasted, his confidence waned, and by the end, his voice was so low only he could hear it. For the first time, he actually blushed.

“We should get back quickly. If we run into another elder, it will be hard to explain,” Ye Yiming said. As the eldest, his disposition was much calmer, and he recovered the fastest.

Qin Haoxuan nodded and quickly walked into the patch of grass to retrieve the Aqueous Manor Token that had fallen from Hua Feng’s robes. But even holding such a great treasure, he felt no joy.

Xing looked on with an envious expression.

Because of the urgency, and the fact that the sect-wide lockdown was still in effect, Qin Haoxuan put the precious token in his robes and said to the others, “Let’s go.”

Ye Yiming began to walk, but after a few steps, they realized that Xing was still standing in the same spot, with no intention of returning.

Seeing Qin Haoxuan turn back, Xing spoke very directly. “There is a time for all feasts to end. You are human, and I am demon; we are different. I do not like your world of cultivators. We have been together for some time, and although my magnanimous bearing and vast knowledge have surely made you reluctant to part with me, the time for separation has come. From now on, you walk your sunny path, and I will cross my single-plank bridge. We will have nothing more to do with each other.”

Qin Haoxuan fell silent. If Xing had truly sided with the Blood Demon just now, he and his senior brother would likely be dead. And he probably would have had a real chance to escape. But at the critical moment, he had not. Over these past few days, although they had bickered constantly, an invisible bond of friendship had gradually formed between them, forged in several life-or-death situations—a friendship that transcended race. Although, it was a friendship that was in grave violation of the Taichu Sect’s rules.

At any other time, Qin Haoxuan might have tried to persuade him to stay. But with Hua Feng’s capture, Xing’s presence had been exposed. If he didn’t leave now, once Hua Feng talked, he would surely not survive.

“After I leave, I will only drink the blood of beasts, not humans,” Xing added after a moment of thought. The words sent a wave of warmth through Qin Haoxuan’s heart.

“Haoxuan, he can’t go!” Ye Yiming stepped in front of Xing, blocking his path. “It’s easy for you to run, but what about Haoxuan? He was only here tonight because of you! Do you really think you can escape? The Ninth Elder saw all three of us. If you suddenly disappear from the sect, where am I supposed to find another ‘Hua Lao’?”

Xing tilted his head, his eyes turning cold. “So? For your sake, I should stay here and wait to die? Is your life a life, and mine is not? And if I’m caught, do you think you can escape suspicion? Or are you planning to sell me out first?”

“Senior Brother, let him go,” Qin Haoxuan said wearily. “Although Xing is cunning, he is also a demon of his word. If he had sided with the Blood Demon just now, you and I would already be dead. Since he promised not to eat people, I… want to trust him this one time.”

Ye Yiming looked at Qin Haoxuan in shock. “Haoxuan, what are you saying? He’s a demon! How can you trust him?”

“Let me be willful just this once, Senior Brother…” Qin Haoxuan’s voice became very gentle. “I want to trust him this one time. No matter what he is, I want to trust him.”

Xing’s body trembled slightly, and his cold eyes softened. In his entire life, no one, not even another demon, had ever spoken such words to him.

“Go,” Qin Haoxuan urged. “Quickly, before another elder arrives.”

“Then I’m leaving… Aiyoh!” Xing suddenly collapsed to the ground, clutching his leg. “A leg cramp! Did I overexert myself just now? It hurts so much, it’s killing me… Quick, help me up…”

In the short time he had been feigning his cramp, the great mountain array had already stabilized, and the weak point in the seal had vanished.

Ye Yiming stared at Xing in astonishment, but Qin Haoxuan looked at him with a bitter smile. “Was that really necessary?”

“Necessary for what? I just have a leg cramp,” Xing retorted, rolling his eye. “You don’t think I did that on purpose, do you? This place is so damned dangerous; why wouldn’t I leave? I just lied to you about not eating people, and I guess karma struck me with a cramp instantly! Now are you going to help me up or not?”

Qin Haoxuan smiled through his tears, walked over, and helped him up. “You’re courting death, you know that?”

“Well, I can’t leave now anyway,” Xing said with the air of a pig that isn’t afraid of boiling water. “All we can do is hope he doesn’t sell us out before the next time the manor opens.”

In a daze, Ye Yiming followed the human and the demon back towards the Spirit Field Valley.

Although there were many patrolling elders on the way, with the Thousand-Mile Mirror in hand, Qin Haoxuan was able to spot them from a distance and avoid them, so their return journey was perilous but not fatal.

Just as they returned to their room, Qin Haoxuan heard a dragon’s roar from the direction of Emperor Peak. Through the Thousand-Mile Mirror, he could see a dense cloud of spiritual energy gathering above the Taichu Grand Hall and pouring into the golden array in the sky. The great mountain array grew even more brilliant, bathing the entire mountain range in a golden light.

The golden dragon formed from sword gleams had now grown several times larger. Just looking at its eyes through the mirror sent a chill down his spine, and Ye Yiming had to quickly protect his mind with his own spiritual energy.

“The great mountain array is truly wondrous,” Ye Yiming said with a look of reverence. “That golden dragon is formed entirely of sword gleams; it is one of the array’s most profound transformations.”

Soon, the bell and drum sounds faded, the golden light of the array receded, and everything returned to normal. The repair was complete.

Qin Haoxuan turned the mirror to Xing’s room. The demon was sitting on his bed, sighing dramatically. “Aigh, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Now I have to wait a few more days to leave. This is torture!”

Seeing his dejected state, Qin Haoxuan laughed unkindly. As Ye Yiming had said, he was like a starving ghost who had fallen into a feast but was forbidden to eat. The thought alone was cruel.

After the array was repaired, the disciples who had been up all night emerged, their faces full of awe. “Our Taichu Sect is so strong! Anyone who dares to break into this array would be ground to mincemeat!” They soon dispersed, eager to get back to their cultivation.

It was only the middle of the night, and with the Blood Demon affair finally resolved, Qin Haoxuan was satisfied. The surveillance level of the great array had returned to normal. He could finally go to the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley.

He took out the Thousand-Mile Mirror and began to search for the valley. The image of the valley entrance appeared, and he grew excited. It seemed the mirror would work. He could almost see countless heavenly treasures waving at him.

But what happened next left him dumbfounded.

When he tried to move the view inside the valley, the image in the mirror was covered by a thick white fog that, no matter what, he could not see through. Although the mirror could enter the valley, it could not see the situation inside clearly.