Chapter 61 Part 1

Jiuxia Mountain, as a sect that had occupied the dense forests of the central and western mountain ranges for over ten thousand years, had always been a second-rate sect in the True Realm, barely scraping by. The most fundamental and core reason was that the sect was impure in its essence.

——Jiuxia Mountain had not originally been a pure sect of Human Race Cultivators; its founding ancestor was a Great Xia Descendant.

Although few people knew this now, sects like Tianling Sect and Dream Flower Immortal Sect still had relevant records. Not to mention that certain sects in the Demon Domain had equally ancient inheritances, some even traceable to the era of gods and demons, and they were well aware of ancient matters.

Of course, times changed, and the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth shifted. The great powers of the Demon Race had long since secluded themselves from the world.

The numerous Demon Race members crowded into the Demon Domain, barely clinging to survival. The purity of their bloodlines, the number of awakened divine abilities, and their offspring birth rates were all in dire straits.

The Demon Race no longer had the power to influence the True Realm with any major sects, and Jiuxia Mountain had already become a Human Race cultivation sect.

But Jiuxia Mountain’s inheritance was ancient after all, and it still followed some strange rules and customs. One of them was that the position of Sect Leader had to be passed down to the Boxia Lineage.

Only Boxia Cultivators could master the special Cultivation Methods left behind from ancient Great Xia.

Shen You Zhenren had been a Boxia Cultivator back then. Although he had restarted his cultivation midway, Shen You Zhenren was a heaven-defying genius who had mastered the Boxia Lineage’s special Cultivation Methods early on.

Shen You Zhenren had always believed that his master chose his junior brother over him because his eldest disciple’s talent was lacking. Therefore, Pei Ji and Xie Linlang’s eldest senior sister was nominally only Shen You Zhenren’s registered disciple.

This eldest senior sister of theirs had no feelings for Shen You Zhenren either. After cultivating in seclusion in the sect until the Nascent Soul Stage, she immediately left for distant lands to seek opportunities and almost never returned.

Thus, the one who truly obtained the Boxia Lineage Secret Art was Pei Ji.

Although Xie Linlang had also taken Shen You Zhenren as his master, he was not considered a Boxia Cultivator.

Like his Sect Leader Martial Uncle, he was a cultivator of the Zhongxia Lineage.

In the past, Xie Linlang had paid no attention to these matters at all. His mind had been filled only with Senior Brother and Pill Refining.

It was not until Pei Ji went missing and presumably perished that he suddenly realized how awkward Shen You Zhenren’s position in Jiuxia Mountain was. Consequently, both he and Senior Brother Pei Ji were always secretly watched and scrutinized by the Sect Leader’s faction.

The two disciples Pei Ji had taken before his fall were only at the Foundation Establishment Stage and fundamentally lacked the ability to cultivate the Boxia Lineage Secret Art.

Thus, the Boxia Lineage Secret Art still returned to the hands of his Sect Leader Martial Uncle.

Xie Linlang did not mention these complex sect secrets. He simply told Shen He about Jiuxia Mountain’s origins before continuing, “The current Sect Leader of Jiuxia Mountain is a shrewd and clever fellow who’s reasonably amiable. As long as you don’t get in his way and show sufficient talent and ability, he won’t trouble a low-rank cultivator like you.”

“The cultivators of Jiuxia Mountain spend their lives exploring the mountain ranges behind them. They all love venturing out on expeditions and are quite knowledgeable. If you get the chance, you can exchange insights with them.”

Xie Linlang was not exactly advertising his former sect. The reason he could refine so many strange and bizarre pills was also because the sect disciples ran around everywhere and always managed to obtain peculiar materials.

“Aren’t you looking for your family? Due to its heritage, Jiuxia Mountain doesn’t harbor as much hostility toward Demon Race, Demonic Cultivators, spirit cultivators, and other foreign races. You can try buying information from them.”

Shen He’s eyes lit up at this. “Then, can I refine some pills to avoid Demonic Qi in advance and exchange them with them?”

Xie Linlang nodded with a smile. “The child can be taught.”

Xie Linlang also briefly mentioned other sects like Dream Flower Immortal Sect, and Shen He listened intently, committing it all to memory.

In the following days, Shen He delivered materials to Xie Linlang while opening the furnace for Pill Refining, preparing for the upcoming journey to the True Realm.

After lingering near the swamp for a while, the Treasure Ship finally set off.

Every day, Jin Ling Zhenren would take the various Demonic Snake materials handed in by his disciples, draw out their tendons, skin them, and stew them into snake hotpot, then reverently place it before Pei Jiye.

Pei Jiye’s belly had become perfectly round from eating these past few days.

Although the snake bodies writhed in the pot and looked quite horrifying, it was a supreme delicacy for an Avian Demon.

Pei Jiye even maliciously ate the hotpot right in Gao Chunqiu’s sickroom.

Gao Chunqiu had also awakened his Avian Demon Bloodline and was a Bifang branch capable of devouring Demonic Qi. When he saw the snake hotpot, he only felt that the aroma was irresistibly enticing. The smell made his mouth water incessantly, and his stomach growled.

For the Demon Race, rapidly devouring the blood and flesh of other Demon Beasts after sustaining heavy injuries was one of the better ways to alleviate their condition and accelerate recovery.

His Demon Race instincts told Gao Chunqiu: Eat it quick! You must eat! Only by eating can you recover faster!

But would Pei Jiye kindly share the delicious snake soup with Gao Chunqiu?

How could he?

Pei Jiye only mocked Gao Chunqiu to mess with his mentality while devouring the snake hotpot in big gulps.

Gao Chunqiu grew so angry that he actually perked up a bit.

After gorging himself like this for several days, when Pei Jiye transformed back into the Kill Matt Young Bird, the feathers on his body were noticeably fuller. The number of Kill Matt plume feathers on his forehead had increased, and some of the down had turned into black-gray Plume Feathers, as if he was gradually transitioning from a fledgling to a subadult bird.

Pei Jiye twisted this way and that in front of the mirror, admiring his new look, then waddled off with a square gait to find Xie Linlang.

That day, Xie Linlang had finally sorted out the Pill Formulas that Foundation Establishment Stage and Golden Core Stage cultivators could refine. Thinking of going out for some fresh air, he opened the door and saw a fluffy meat-winged Night Senior leaning against it.

Xie Linlang raised an eyebrow and perfunctorily cupped his hands in salute.