The phrase “you are also from the demonic path,” the word “also” exposed her identity.
She no longer cared; having unleashed her Demonic Arts and with such a dense Demonic Qi, even a fool could see she was from the demonic path.
Shi Chun, secretly enduring the pain, was somewhat stunned. What the hell? The first job I take after getting out of prison is kidnapping someone from the demonic path? However, the knife plunged into Xiang Lan'er’s body still paused in time; the other party had softened, and he didn't want to push things to a dead end.
In fact, he was the “fool” in Feng Chi’s perception; he genuinely didn’t know what Demonic Qi looked like.
If Feng Chi hadn't said it, he wouldn't have known she was from the demonic path at all.
This revelation thoroughly bothered Shi Chun, and it was the extremely unsettling kind of bother.
The reason Feng Chi made this judgment was that almost everyone with cultivation below hers couldn't withstand the Demonic Sound she unleashed, a technique named “Demonic Chant.”
To resist her Demonic Chant, one either needed significantly higher cultivation or to have cultivated a supreme Yang and righteous cultivation method with counteractive properties.
But even with such a cultivation method, if the cultivation difference was so vast, they would still be somewhat affected.
Under her “Demonic Chant,” it was impossible to have no mental setback or the necessary resistance. A minimum level of resistance was expected.
Based on her experience, the only possibility for someone to be unaffected was if the other party also cultivated Demonic Arts, and specifically Demonic Arts of a similar origin, not some miscellaneous demonic art.
If it wasn't a miscellaneous demonic art, then it could only be one of the three lineages of the demonic path, stemming from the same source.
If that aspect was ruled out, then only one possibility remained: this guy had hidden his strength, and his cultivation was far superior to hers. Was that possible? She, for one, ruled out that possibility.
Upon hearing this, Xiang Lan'er, her face filled with bitterness, also had flickering eyes. Besides being greatly surprised, she also felt humiliated, due to the competitive relationship between the three lineages, and she was the Holy Maiden of one of them.
As for Shi Chun, he was somewhat at a loss for how to reply to her.
If agreeing could save his life, his moral standards were very low; he wouldn't mind impersonating someone from the demonic path, and he could even drag Wu Jinliang along to impersonate.
In short, survive first, and worry about future matters later.
The problem was that he had only heard one or two things about the demonic path, completely unclear about it, not even knowing its basic outline.
As soon as the topic was discussed, he would immediately be exposed. To be precise, he didn’t even qualify to impersonate someone from the demonic path.
However, he had heard of the “Lianshan” and “Guizang” mentioned by the other party. It was said that after the Demonic Ancestor founded the demonic path, he established three lineages: Lianshan, Guizang, and Tianyi.
After the demonic path disintegrated and fell, under the continuous suppression of the righteous path, the three lineages had long since vanished.
As for the current state of the demonic path, he was completely ignorant.
The problem was, why was he so unlucky to stumble into this?
He really wanted to tell the other party, “I’ll let the person go, can you let us go?” But he knew this was wishful thinking. That group was strictly suppressed by the Heavenly Court.
If he exposed their identity, it would be strange if they didn’t kill him; they might even chase him to the ends of the earth.
In the Land of Exile, he commanded East Nine Plains and contended with various factions, surviving through deceit and cunning.
He understood some tricks, knowing that these people hiding in the shadows were truly unpredictable.
Also, what was that faint black mist that had inadvertently drifted over to his side? Why did it make him feel inexplicably excited when it got close to him? It was a natural affinity.
Yet, he still feared a trap, so he used a spell to hold his breath.
But to his horror, his capillaries actually popped open one by one, greedily sucking in the mist.
He was suddenly startled, thinking he had fallen prey to a hidden demonic trick. Just as he was about to threaten the other party, an anomaly suddenly occurred within his body.
A certain element within his internal spiritual energy seemed to be activated, actually operating on its own.
Upon closer inspection, it wasn't quite operating on its own; rather, that inexplicable feeling of excitement stimulated his subconscious to activate his cultivation method.
After the black mist absorbed into his body circulated and dissipated, it greatly stimulated his body and mind, giving him a pleasurable sensation so comfortable he wanted to moan, a joy that stirred his soul, soothing the pain caused by the function of his right eye.
What astonished him most was that the residual medicinal power from overdosing last night, taking three pills, actually made him feel the medicinal effects he hadn't perceived at all last night.
His cultivation, which had been as stable and still as stagnant water for two or three years, now had a sense of fluctuation. It made him feel a bit impulsive, wanting to release Xiang Lan'er and carefully investigate what was happening.
However, with a formidable enemy right in front of him and his life at stake, how dared he relax his vigilance.
Feng Chi waited for a while, seeing that the other party kept changing his expression and didn't answer, and couldn't help but frown.
She could wait, but the Holy Maiden couldn't. Her wound was still bleeding.
Was he trying to deliberately torment the Holy Maiden with such despicable means? But truly, this guy was indeed capable of it. He could even buy and resell people from a brothel, and use those low-grade tricks that even the demonic path disdained.
What else was he incapable of? He was simply a disgrace to the demonic path! She immediately reprimanded, “Answer me!”
Alright, Shi Chun still had a glimmer of hope to pursue. He tentatively asked, “Are you from the ‘Tianyi’ lineage?”
Among the three demonic lineages, she had asked if he was from Lianshan or Guizang, but specifically not Tianyi, so it was possible she was from Tianyi.
Feng Chi was surprised and suspicious. “You really don't know our background?”
Shi Chun said seriously, “If I knew your background, I wouldn’t have provoked you.”
Feng Chi was both surprised and angry. “You dared to attack us without knowing our background?”
The two had a clash of fundamental understanding.
She then pointed at the dripping, broken blade in his hand. “You bastard, pull that knife out of my lady’s body first and stop her bleeding! The three lineages have agreed not to kill each other anymore; we need to consolidate our strength and only compete fairly, otherwise, we’ll all unite against whoever breaks this.
What is this behavior?”
Shi Chun retorted, “What about my brother?”
Feng Chi: “He’s fine, he won’t die, he’ll be fine when he wakes up. Pull out the knife and stop the bleeding, didn't you hear me?”
He couldn’t afford to provoke the demonic path.
Shi Chun genuinely didn't want to offend her now, and he was quite cooperative. He called out, “Turn around.”
Feng Chi, gritting her teeth, couldn't lose her temper with him, who had a hostage. She bit the bullet and turned around.
Shi Chun's hands moved swiftly, pulling out the knife and applying pressure to stop the bleeding in one smooth motion. However, the short blade still rested near Xiang Lan'er's wound, and he said, “Alright,” orally.
At this moment, the two sides finally had a bit of a “fellow traveler” vibe.
Turning back, Feng Chi immediately checked Xiang Lan'er's wound.
Seeing that it was indeed under control, she questioned again, “Which lineage are you exactly?”
Shi Chun really wanted to pretend to be from the demonic path and get through this, but he was utterly clueless and had no chance of pulling it off; it would only backfire. He could only sigh, “You already know my background.
I just got out of the Living Prison, born and raised in the Land of Exile. How could I be from the demonic path?”
“Hmph,” Feng Chi scoffed.
She knew the demonic path’s methods too well. Preparing several individuals with clean identities for future use was perfectly normal.
What about indigenous people of the Land of Exile? Was it hard to arrange? She mocked, “Come, I’ll give you a chance to prove you’re not from the demonic path. If you can truly prove it, I guarantee we’ll let you go.”
Shi Chun responded cautiously, “How do I prove it?”
Feng Chi gestured with her chin towards the faint black mist that was now swirling around him. “Demonic Qi.
Take a few deep breaths of it and you can prove it.”
These words were too tempting.
Before Shi Chun could reply, he merely glanced at the black mist that happened to float before his eyes, and couldn't help but twitch his nostrils and the corners of his mouth simultaneously, taking a deep breath into his lungs.
Then he felt incredibly refreshed.
He couldn’t help but shake his head left and right, taking several more breaths. The fluctuations in his cultivation within his body also became apparent, clearly showing that it could help him raise his cultivation.
This was Demonic Qi? Shi Chun was both enjoying the sensation and utterly terrified, repeatedly asking himself, I’m actually absorbing Demonic Qi?
The problem of his cultivation stagnating for two or three years without progress had surprisingly found a solution this way. He indeed found it somewhat unbelievable and wasn't sure if he should be happy.
Though filled with melancholy, when he saw black mist floating over, the refreshing sensation unconsciously made his nostrils and the corners of his mouth twitch again, and he couldn’t help but take another breath.
“Heh heh,” Feng Chi let out a cold laugh.
“No matter how high your cultivation, it’s impossible to reach a state where you can inhale Demonic Qi into your lungs without any stimulation, treating Demonic Qi like air, and still claim you’re not from the demonic path. Who are you trying to fool? I knew it, someone who just came out of the Land of Exile, how could he possibly be heading to Wukang Mountain? Turns out, like us, you’re also targeting Wukang Mountain.
Is there any point in concealing it now? Tell me, which lineage are you from?”
Shi Chun truly wished she would stop talking; he couldn’t handle the stimulation anymore. Both his body and mind were numb.
He recalled the cultivation method he practiced, personally taught by Eighth Uncle from East Nine Plains. Initially, he was made to memorize the cultivation method, word by word, without understanding its meaning.
He just practiced according to Eighth Uncle’s instructions until he later learned to read and finally understood the method he had memorized.
Many terms in the cultivation method indeed contained the character for “demon.” He had originally thought it meant to eliminate demons, like “Demon Severing Hand,” believing it meant to kill evil demons. Now it seemed that was not the case at all.
It turned out that the “Bathing Demon Art” was a genuine Demonic Arts technique. It seemed he had read too few books; he needed to read more! Eighth Uncle also read too few books, teaching him nonsense.
From now on, this cultivation method must never be revealed, or he would be courting death.
After years of fighting and scheming, today I know who I am; I am a demon!
He subconsciously turned his head to look at the unconscious Wu Jinliang on the ground, recalling the joke he and Wu Jinliang once shared about eliminating demons and defending the righteous path.
If Wu Jinliang knew he was a demon, would he look down on him?