Chapter 16 Part 1

“Actually, Night Senior is pretty good.”

Hong Kui said so.

Pang Sanxian feebly retorted, “If the three of us weren’t lying here like this, your words might have made some sense.”

In a relatively spacious quiet room, Hong Kui, Shen He, and Pang Sanxian lay side by side, all in a state of severe injury on the brink of death.

No need to say it—the one who had struck them was naturally the now-bald Kill Matt Night Senior.

Truth be told, the terrifying power that the little bird had erupted with in an instant made Shen He feel like he was surely bound for the Underworld to report in.

He never imagined he would open his eyes again. It was truly unbelievable.

Hong Kui said seriously, “If it had been a senior from another sect, we’d have already been thrown into the pill furnace as fertilizer.”

Shen He smiled wryly. “Because we’re still alive, Night Senior showed some mercy?”

“That’s right. Senior Brother Hong is correct. The senior who injured you was furious from embarrassment but ultimately held back a bit of his strength. Otherwise, with this Qi Refining fatty’s poor strength and lack of endurance, he would have died on the spot.”

A delicate and gentle voice rang in the three’s ears, followed by a fresh fragrance. A woman in a pink long skirt approached their bedsides with a smile, holding a medicine jar.

The woman was another sect senior sister whom Hong Kui knew, named Le Qingping.

Senior Sister Le’s master had gone out for training, so she stayed in the sect to cultivate in seclusion. She excelled at growing various demonic plants and was proficient in drawing runes. She was a technical cultivator whom the sect focused on nurturing.

“Since we’re demonic cultivators, we need to have some basic common sense.”

Le Qingping smiled as she aimed the medicine jar at Hong Kui’s mouth.

Hong Kui, gravely injured, couldn’t dodge even if he wanted to. He could only endure the agony as Le Qingping forcibly poured a bellyful of strangely scented ointment into him.

“Our greatest crises come from the sect elders. As long as we can endure the three disasters and five hardships within the sect, we’ll have free rein once we step outside!”

Shen He watched Hong Kui, who looked like he desperately wanted to vomit but was forcibly suppressed. Then he saw the pink-skirted senior sister suddenly produce a second jar and approach his side. The youth particularly wished he could just pass out right then.

“……Like, like right now with us?”

“That’s right. Since you’re injured, just obediently be medicine people for once. This is our newly developed quick-recovery meridian ointment. You’re just in time to try it.”

Cultivators absorbed the pure and turbid qi of heaven and earth, so none of them were ugly. As a Late Foundation Establishment cultivator, Le Qingping looked particularly lively and cute when she smiled, especially with that little dimple by her lips, giving her the approachable feel of a girl next door.

But her actions were straightforward and bold, precise and efficient. In the time it took to speak, she had already skillfully and ruthlessly shoved that jar of ointment down Shen He’s throat and cast a special spell that prevented him from vomiting it back up even if he wanted to.

Shen He rolled his eyes, kicked his legs, held his breath, and directly fainted.

In the instant he passed out, he was certain he heard Pang Sanxian’s pig-slaughter-like wail of misery.

Shen He lay on the sickbed for three days. The stone-hard demonic qi once again turned into a river, surging and scouring through his body. He finally recovered basic mobility.

At the same time, the highest-cultivation senior in the pill room—a Soul Transformation Stage cultivator—came specifically to speak with Shen He, Hong Kui, and Pang Sanxian.

It turned out that the sect leadership had decided to include the Demon Clan Snack Pills they had refined into the sect’s material reserves. The sect would buy out the pill formula outright and give Shen He a large amount of resources, compensation, and better techniques in return.

Hong Kui seemed to have expected this, while Shen He and Pang Sanxian exchanged glances.

So that bird really was a sect leadership bigshot!

Shen He’s tattered White Bone Bell was replaced by the sect with a growth-type Black Bone Bell. Silver patterns faintly flowed across its pitch-black bone shell—it was clearly a good item at a glance.

At the same time, Shen He gained a large number of Class Hours Points, which he could exchange for various desired resources.

Shen He decided on the spot and directly used the Class Hours Points to exchange for the sect’s highest-grade Spirit Spring Cave Mansion, saying he wanted to seclude himself for a month before emerging.

Since he was the notorious Fake Foundation Establishment cultivator, that Soul Transformation cultivator approved Shen He’s request.

Shen He said uneasily, “Before Master Lin left, he entrusted me to look after an avian demon. If I go into secluded cultivation, I might not be able to tend to it. Could I entrust it to Senior Brother Hong…?”

Since Senior Brother Hong had said Night Senior showed mercy, let Hong Kui deal with Night Senior himself!

The Soul Transformation cultivator clearly didn’t understand the details and just thought it was an ordinary beast-tending task. He said it was fine and to go cultivate; he would notify Hong Kui.

Shen He was overjoyed. He finally had a period of quiet, undisturbed cultivation days.

Another seven days passed, and Xie Linlang awoke.

After hearing Shen He describe the previous events, combined with what Lin Yu had said earlier, Xie Linlang slowly said, “It seems a senior in the Silent Night Palace leadership had a cultivation deviation. Immortal sect struggles are fierce, but demonic sects must be even more cutthroat, you live or you die. You’d best quickly stabilize your cultivation and leave Silent Night Palace. If I’m not wrong, other demonic cultivator sects will attack soon.”

Shen He smiled bitterly. “They say cultivation lets you transcend the three realms and live freely, but this disciple feels like ever since stepping onto the path of cultivation, there hasn’t been a single peaceful day.”

Xie Linlang said calmly, “Cultivation is wresting life from the heavens. Immortal sect cultivators cultivate shun—complying with heavenly timing, thereby gaining the power of heaven and earth. But demonic cultivators cultivate ni—to defy the heavens and change fate, wresting a sliver of life from the vast sky. Thus, demonic qi naturally stirs the cultivator’s emotions, drawing them into fierce struggles.”