22: Chapter 22 Songgang Demon Cave
The dark red liquid in the pit writhed slowly, like a giant heart pulsing.
Lu Mingyuan stood outside the circle formed by seven withered pines, his Eye of Clarity operating at full power. In his vision, the liquid was no longer mere filth, but countless tiny, twisted black runes rolling, colliding, and devouring each other. Every drop of liquid emitted corrosive ripples, transforming the surrounding Spiritual Qi into the same foulness.
At the edge of the pit, the soil was charred black, and not a single blade of grass grew. A few flying insects that accidentally entered this range fell instantly, vanishing after a wisp of black smoke rose from the liquid's surface.
"This scale..." Lu Mingyuan felt a chill in his heart.
The remains at the Earth Deity Temple were just the surface; the pollution here had already formed a "Source Point." If left alone, within three months, the entire Qingsong Ridge would turn into a dead land, further eroding the surrounding ley lines.
He attempted to probe his Divine Thought deep into the pit.
Three inches—the Divine Thought touched a viscous barrier and was slowly corroded.
Five inches—the corrosion intensified, and the Divine Thought felt as if it had entered a quagmire.
Seven inches—
"Hiss!"
Lu Mingyuan abruptly withdrew his Divine Thought, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. Just now, he sensed a "consciousness" awakening deep within the pit. It was not the consciousness of a living being, but a collective of pure greed, hunger, and the desire to devour everything.
The liquid in the pit suddenly churned violently!
Gurgle, gurgle...
Bubbles rose from the depths, making a tooth-gritting hissing sound as they burst. One bulge after another rose on the liquid's surface; as they broke, dark red slime splattered out. The slime landed on the withered pines, and deep holes were immediately corroded into the trunks.
Lu Mingyuan took three steps back, holding the tingchao staff across his chest. His left hand formed a Seal, and a faint green light shield enveloped his body—the Classic of Purity and Tranquility Body-Protecting Protective Aura, "Tranquil Glazed Shield."
"Roar..."
A low roar came from the depths of the pit, not as a sound, but as a mental impact that directly shook the Divine Soul. Lu Mingyuan felt a sharp pain in his mind, as if countless fine needles were stabbing it. He immediately circulated his Noble Spirit and silently recited the "Cultivating Qi Chapter" of Mencius. A warm and upright power rose from his Dantian, protecting his spiritual platform.
In the center of the pit, the liquid began to spin, forming a vortex. The vortex spun faster and faster, and the center gradually rose. First came a black skeleton, then dark red muscle tissue, finally covered by a semi-transparent, viscous membrane.
The thing was thirty feet tall and humanoid, but it had no facial features. Its entire body was covered in mouthparts that constantly opened and closed. Each mouthpart was filled with dense, sharp teeth dripping with corrosive saliva. Its arms were extremely long, hanging down to its knees, and its fingers were ten sharp bone spikes.
"Demon Puppets..." Lu Mingyuan recognized the thing.
The original version of the classic of mountains and seas recorded that when Chaos Devilish Qi corrodes living beings, if the concentration is high enough, it will transform them into "Demon Puppets"—monsters with no reason, only the instinct to devour. The one before him had clearly formed after absorbing the vitality of the entire pine forest and devouring passing travelers.
The largest mouthpart on the Demon Puppets' "head" opened, letting out a silent shriek.
Lu Mingyuan felt the surrounding air stagnate, as if imprisoned by an invisible force. He immediately performed the Swimming Dragon Step, shifting his body thirty feet to the left—
"Sizzle!"
A deep hole was corroded into the ground where he had been standing. The Demon Puppets' arm had extended over at some point, its bone spikes piercing the earth as black smoke rose.
Such speed!
Lu Mingyuan dared not be careless. He tapped out with the tingchao staff in his right hand, the "Rising Tide Form" piercing straight toward the Demon Puppets' chest. The tip of the staff glowed with a faint blue light, like surging ocean waves—
"Clang!"
The sound of metal striking stone. The mouthpart on the Demon Puppets' chest actually bit onto the tip of the staff! Corrosive black Qi spread up the bamboo staff, clashing violently with the staff's pure light.
Lu Mingyuan flipped his left hand, and a "Five Thunders Talisman" appeared in his palm—this was the most offensive of the ten Talismans given by Xuanweizi. He bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the Talisman paper:
"Righteous Qi of Heaven and Earth, Five Thunders obey my command—Break!"
The Talisman paper burned away, and five streaks of green lightning descended from the sky, striking the Demon Puppets' head!
"Roar—!"
The Demon Puppets let out a roar of pain, and the mouthpart on its chest released the tingchao staff. The lightning blasted five charred holes in its body, and dark red liquid splattered. However, in an instant, the surrounding liquid surged over, and the wounds began to heal slowly.
"Lightning Spells are effective, but the power isn't enough..." Lu Mingyuan frowned.
After all, he was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, and the power of the Five Thunders Talisman he cast was limited. If a Golden Core Cultivator had cast it, this single strike would have heavily injured the Demon Puppets.
The Demon Puppets were enraged. It swung its arms, and ten bone spikes stabbed like a rainstorm, each strike carrying corrosive black Qi. Lu Mingyuan used the Swimming Dragon Step to weave between the withered pines. The bone spikes missed, shattering the withered pines one by one.
This won't do.
Lu Mingyuan observed while dodging. The Demon Puppets' core should be in its chest—when the lightning struck earlier, the fluctuations there were the most intense. But ordinary attacks would find it hard to break through the corrosive layer on its surface and its rapid healing ability.
Unless... a one-hit kill.
He remembered the record in the original classic of mountains and seas: "Demon Puppets are formed from Chaos and fear the most Yang and most upright Qi."
Most Yang and most upright...
Lu Mingyuan's gaze sharpened. He took a deep breath, planted the tingchao staff into the ground, and formed a hand Seal. Within his Dantian, the Chaotic Dao Foundation spun slowly, and the wisp of nurtured Noble Spirit was fully activated.
"There is Righteous Qi in the world, manifesting in many forms..."
He recited in a low voice, his voice growing louder and louder. With every word he spoke, the white light on his body grew brighter. It wasn't the glow of a Spell, but pure Mental Energy—the "moral integrity" nurtured by scholars for thousands of years, the uprightness of "though thousands may oppose me, I shall go."
The Demon Puppets seemed to sense the threat and lunged forward frantically.
Lu Mingyuan did not dodge. He pushed his hands forward—
"Noble Spirit—Everlasting!"
The white light was like the rising sun, illuminating the entire pine forest. The light was not hot or blinding, yet it possessed an unshakable "uprightness." When the Demon Puppets crashed into the range of the white light, the corrosive layer on its surface melted rapidly, like snow meeting the scorching sun.
"Roar! Roar roar—!"
The Demon Puppets rolled in agony as large patches of the dark red liquid evaporated. It wanted to flee back into the pit, but how could Lu Mingyuan give it the chance? He gritted his teeth and fully unleashed all the Noble Spirit in his Dantian.
The white light surged like a tide, completely submerging the Demon Puppets.
Three breaths later, the light dissipated.
The Demon Puppets had vanished, leaving behind only a pool of gradually solidifying black gelatinous substance. The dark red liquid in the pit also stopped churning, its color fading significantly.
Lu Mingyuan's face was pale. He stumbled a step and only steadied himself by leaning on the tingchao staff. That strike just now had almost completely drained the Noble Spirit he had nurtured for months. But he had no time to rest and quickly walked to the edge of the pit.
The liquid was still there; the source of the Devilish Qi had not been removed.
He took out the last three Purification Talismans, bit his finger, and used his blood to draw the "Demon-Suppressing Rune" from the Classic of Purity and Tranquility on the Talisman paper. This was a small trick Xuanweizi had taught him—using one's own essence blood as a medium could greatly enhance the power of a Talisman.
"Pure and natural, impervious to all demons—Seal!"
The three Talismans flew into the pit, distributed in a triangle. The blood-colored runes lit up, transforming into three crimson-gold chains that extended from the Talismans and intertwined in the center of the pit to form a simple sealing Formation.
The liquid struggled violently, but the chains tightened further, eventually suppressing it back to the bottom of the pit. A faint golden light membrane appeared over the opening, isolating the internal and external auras.
After finishing all this, Lu Mingyuan was nearly exhausted. He sat cross-legged, took out two Low-Grade Spirit Stones to hold in his hands, and operated the Classic of Purity and Tranquility Mind-Cultivation Technique to recover his Spiritual Qi.
Half an hour later, he opened his eyes.
His Spiritual Qi had recovered by thirty percent, but his Noble Spirit was still empty—that would require a long time of nurturing to replenish. But for now, the crisis was temporarily resolved.
He stood up and carefully observed the Seal. The blood-Talisman chains were very firm, but they could only last for three months at most. After three months, if no one reinforced it, the Devilish Qi would leak out again.
"I must notify Longhu Mountain," Lu Mingyuan decided.
A pollution source of this scale was not something a single Foundation Establishment Cultivator could completely resolve. As the ancestral home of Daoist Talismans, Longhu Mountain specialized in sealing Formations and should have a way to handle it.
He took out paper and pen, briefly recorded the situation here, and drew the pattern of the sealing runes. After folding the note, he took out a Jade Slip—this was a transmission Jade Slip given by Xuanweizi, capable of sending messages within a thousand miles. He used his Divine Thought to carve the contents of the note into the Jade Slip, set the recipient as "Longhu Mountain Tianshi Mansion," and then crushed the Jade Slip.
A streak of green light shot into the sky and disappeared toward the southeast.
After doing all this, Lu Mingyuan took one last look at the pit. Under the faint golden Seal, the dark red liquid was still writhing slowly. Three months... he had to reach Longhu Mountain within three months and convince them to send someone to deal with it.
As he turned to leave the pine forest, the sun was setting.
The golden afterglow filtered through the pine needles, spilling onto the small path he had come from. The traces eroded by the Devilish Qi had faded after being purified by the Noble Spirit, but it might take several years to fully recover.
Lu Mingyuan leaned on his staff and slowly walked out of Qingsong Ridge.
His steps were somewhat unsteady, but his gaze was firmer than when he arrived. This battle had truly made him understand the weight of the word "cultivation"—it was not about working behind closed doors or talking about theories, but about stepping forward in times of danger and maintaining uprightness amidst filth.
It also made him realize his own shortcomings: a single method of attack, weak Spiritual Qi, and a lack of combat experience.
"Traveling to seek the Dao..." he murmured to himself, "is not just about learning the strengths of various schools, but more importantly, applying what is learned."
Ahead, the official road reappeared.
The sound of horse hooves and creaking wheels came from the distance as a merchant caravan slowly approached. The elderly leader saw Lu Mingyuan emerge from the pine forest and warily reined in his horse: "Young Master, is that Qingsong Ridge ahead?"
"Exactly," Lu Mingyuan nodded. "It's best not to take this path for a while; there is miasma in the forest that can harm people."
The old man breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you for the warning! We'll just take a detour." He looked at Lu Mingyuan's pale face, "Young Master, are you... unwell?"
"It's nothing, I'm just a bit tired."
There was a carriage in the caravan. The curtain was lifted, and a young girl poked her head out: "Grandfather, let this Young Master get on the carriage and rest. Aren't we going to Jiangzhou? It's on the way."
The old man hesitated for a moment, and seeing that Lu Mingyuan indeed looked unwell, he said, "If the Young Master is going to Jiangzhou, you can travel with us. There's room for one more person in the carriage."
Lu Mingyuan cupped his hands: "Thank you, elder. Then I shall trouble you."
He boarded the carriage. Besides the girl, there was also a seven or eight-year-old boy inside. The girl was about fifteen or sixteen years old, with delicate features, wearing a pale yellow dress. She looked at him curiously: "Is the Young Master a scholar?"
"In a way."
"Why is a scholar traveling this desolate road alone?" the boy chimed in. "My father said that scholars all have book attendants."
Lu Mingyuan smiled: "My family is poor; I cannot afford a book attendant."
The carriage jolted forward, the setting sun casting long shadows. Lu Mingyuan leaned against the carriage wall, closing his eyes to rest. In his ears were the sounds of the wheels, horse hooves, and the laughter of the caravan workers.
The mundane world's bustle remained.
And he had just fought to protect this very bustle.