Chapter 297 – Changing Faces, Plan for Sect Takeover

“Daoist, I wonder if you have any understanding of that demon. Would you like us to investigate it a bit to give you some preparation?”

“Daoist, please don’t misunderstand – I’m not underestimating your abilities.”

“It’s just that I’ve heard these demons are exceptionally cunning. If that beast learns of your arrival in advance, it might find a place to hide, only to emerge and commit evil deeds after you’ve departed.”

“This would not only waste your valuable time but also allow that vile creature to harm more people.”

Hearing Master Chu’s words, Black Cloud Daoist revealed a confident expression.

It seemed the so-called demon was no problem at all in his eyes.

While eating the delicacies before him, he spoke with effortless calm: “To be frank, I had already investigated that vile creature before coming here. If my speculation is correct, that fellow should be a jackal that has gained spiritual awareness – quite alert.”

“This kind of demon not only has a cautious nature and knows how to assess situations, but even understands some strategies, making it a rare anomaly among demons.”

“Why do you think it has only been hunting tenant farmers and refugees in the outskirts recently, without touching the common people within the county town at all?”

After exchanging glances, Master Chu and Constable Chen seemed to have reached the same answer.

Master Chu spoke: “I suppose this vile creature’s actions serve two purposes. First, the tenant farmers and refugees in the outskirts are relatively easier to kill. Second, it’s testing the county’s response to its actions.”

“If the county quickly sends people to deal with it, that would indicate this place poses some danger to it.”

“But if the county shows no reaction, that would indirectly condone its behavior.”

“Thus, it would likely consider Caihua County as its hunting ground, coming occasionally to reap easy gains.”

“Eventually, it might even stop limiting itself to refugees and tenant farmers in the outskirts, but extend its claws into the county town itself.”

“It was precisely considering this point that I spared no expense to invite you, Daoist, to take action.”

“After all, no one wants to live in a place long haunted by a demon causing trouble. Don’t you agree, Daoist?”

Hearing Master Chu’s words, Black Cloud Daoist gave him a meaningful look.

Finally, Black Cloud Daoist praised: “Master Chu, it’s truly a pity you remain a mortal. If you could practice cultivation, with your perceptive heart-nature, it would be hard for you not to achieve something.”

“After all, besides valuing aptitude, heart-nature is also a very important aspect for cultivators.”

“What a pity, truly a pity.”

Though Black Cloud Daoist said this, Master Chu didn’t respond, merely smiling without saying anything more.

Because he knew all too well what so-called cultivator families were really like.

Mortals might think of them as transcendent beings floating beyond the mortal world.

But Master Chu knew very well that there wasn’t much difference between so-called cultivator families and ordinary demons.

Some cultivator families even employed methods more ruthless than demons.

Given the choice, he would rather remain a wealthy man than become a cultivator who was neither human nor demon.

Seeing that Master Chu didn’t respond to his words, Black Cloud Daoist said nothing more.”Ten thousand taels of silver, plus two young maidens. After the matter is settled, erect a Cultivator Family plaque for me in Caihua County, with annual tributes.”

“How about it, can you manage this?”

Master Chu immediately stood up and bowed to Black Cloud Daoist, saying, “Then on behalf of all the common people of Caihua County, I thank the Daoist for your benevolent action.”

“Rest assured, Daoist, I will arrange everything you requested without the slightest discrepancy.”

“As long as you can eliminate that demon outside the county.”

Hearing this, Black Cloud Daoist revealed his yellowed teeth and said with a laugh, “Just a mere Jackal Spirit, a trivial matter, trivial matter.”

Soon, continuous laughter echoed throughout the hall, creating a very harmonious atmosphere.

Meanwhile, all of their conversation was overheard by Lu Chen nearby.

Though the words were few, Lu Chen managed to deduce quite a lot from them.

The reason Cultivators in the Ancient Fiend World were willing to help Mortals was likely because they needed these Mortals to assist in their Cultivation.

Although Lu Chen didn’t understand what benefits Mortals’ tributes offered to Cultivators,

since Black Cloud Daoist specifically mentioned it, there must be profound meaning behind it.

In fact, Lu Chen suspected that the tributes were the key reason Black Cloud Daoist was willing to take action.

Thinking this, a complete plan began to form vaguely in Lu Chen’s mind.

Since Mortals’ tributes were so important to Cultivators,

perhaps he could use this point to locate and trap those Cultivators.

Moreover, this information gave him a relatively reliable direction for finding Cultivators at the Nascent Soul Stage.

The key to tributes ultimately came down to people.

In other words, places with more people would naturally have better tribute effects.

If his speculation was correct, then the Cultivator Families receiving tributes in Xia Dynasty’s famous major cities must at least have Golden Core Stage Cultivators.

This way, he wouldn’t need to search for a needle in a haystack.

Though he now knew this, he still needed to solve two problems.

One was to find opportunities to understand the distribution of Cultivator forces, and the other was to establish a reasonable identity for himself in this world.

Only then could he stay long-term in the Ancient Fiend Nine Realms.

Thus, this Black Cloud Daoist undoubtedly became his best guide.

By controlling him, Lu Chen could undoubtedly obtain much of the information he wanted.

Thinking this, Lu Chen’s gaze toward Black Cloud Daoist became increasingly interesting.

Late night, Caihua County, outskirts.

After resting for a day at Master Chu’s residence, Black Cloud Daoist immediately stated he would go out to find the Jackal Spirit.

Because only during nighttime would the creature come out to hunt without restraint.

This was also the best time to subdue it.

What most people didn’t know was that after arriving in the outskirts, Black Cloud Daoist didn’t need to search much –

a three-meter-tall Jackal Spirit voluntarily appeared before him.

Though ferocious in appearance, the creature behaved as obediently as a pet in front of Black Cloud Daoist.

Clearly, this demon and man had known each other for some time.

Black Cloud Daoist looked at him and said quietly, “So, how are the tasks I assigned you coming along?”

The Jackal Spirit said proudly, “Don’t worry, Old Black, when have you ever needed to doubt my work?””The ten fresh hearts you requested, I have prepared them all for you.”

“Right now, everyone will only think demons have been lurking here, never suspecting you’re using these mortals’ bodies to practice your cultivation technique.”

“Moreover, after this affair, you might even gain the adoration of Caihua County’s residents.”

“With their worship, you can greatly reduce the side effects of using cultivation techniques. If you can secure twenty more counties like this as your worship lands, you might even have a chance to reach the Golden Core Stage in the future.”

“But can you currently find the Dao Fruit needed to breakthrough to the Golden Core Stage?”

Hearing this, Black Cloud Daoist calmly said, “Forget about the Dao Fruit, even finding twenty worship lands similar to Caihua County is difficult for me.”

“After all, I’m not the only one in this world who needs mortal worship to reduce the cost of cultivation techniques.”

“Caihua County is remote, which is why I managed to snatch this opportunity.”

“Once those other schools free up their hands and deal with the Xia Dynasty’s imperial family, as well as the Pine Mountain Temple behind them…”

“Not to mention a small place like Caihua County, even the vast Xia Dynasty will be divided among the major sects, becoming reserved territories for cultivators from various schools.”

“Right now, I’m just trying to secure a way out for myself before Pine Mountain Temple’s destruction.”

As if hearing something amusing, Jackal Spirit said with a mocking smile, “What’s this? You’re one of Pine Mountain Temple’s Daoists yourself, yet you seem quite pleased about its impending downfall.”

Unfazed by the teasing, Black Cloud Daoist replied nonchalantly, “Whether I’m there or not makes little difference to Pine Mountain Temple.”

“Besides, compared to other sects, the stagnant Pine Mountain Temple isn’t worth continuing to follow.”

“Most importantly, if these sects don’t fight among themselves, how would Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators like us have the opportunity to steal Dao Fruits and advance to the Golden Core Stage?”

“Unless we discover a completely new world to plunder Dao Fruits from other realms.”

“Otherwise, we can only seize opportunities when those Golden Core cultivators die.”

Hearing this, Jackal Spirit couldn’t help shaking his head, “You human cultivators make cultivation so complicated. We demons have it much simpler.”

“As long as we eat enough humans, our realm naturally advances.”

“If you ask me, Old Hei, you should just become a demon completely. That way you might actually reach the Golden Core Stage within your lifetime.”

“Become a demon completely?”

Black Cloud Daoist looked at Jackal Spirit and replied, “If things truly become hopeless, I might take that final step. But that’s all talk for the future.”

“Fair enough.”

With that, the human and demon began discussing how to provide an explanation to the people of Caihua County.

After all, Black Cloud Daoist was supposedly here to eliminate demons.

He needed to produce convincing evidence to prove he had successfully exterminated the Jackal Spirit causing trouble in the outskirts.

Their method was simple: have Jackal Spirit turn an ordinary jackal into a demon.

Then use that creature’s corpse as proof of his demon-slaying achievement.

They were already quite experienced with such schemes.They had successfully replicated this in several small counties.

But this time, they were destined to fail in recreating their previous success…

Just as they finalized the details of their plan, a figure materialized beside them out of thin air.

“Who’s there!”

Sensing Lu Chen’s appearance, the Jackal Spirit, with its keenest senses, was the first to react.

It stared at Lu Chen, its fur standing on end.

Although Lu Chen appeared to have no cultivation at this moment,

the Jackal Spirit could clearly sense the danger emanating from him.

This had nothing to do with its cultivation level; it was pure intuition.

And it was this very intuition that had allowed the Jackal Spirit to evade countless life-and-death crises, enabling it to reach its current Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation.

As for the Black Cloud Daoist, though he lacked such innate racial talents as the Jackal Spirit,

as someone who had managed to cultivate to the Foundation Establishment Stage in the Ancient Fiend World,

he too possessed a professional skill: reading people and situations.

After all, in this world, those who didn’t know how to read people and assess circumstances had long turned to dust, never living to reach such heights.

For Lu Chen to approach so closely without their detection

undoubtedly meant he was no weakling.

Thinking this, Black Cloud Daoist discreetly retrieved his Magical Artifact

while cautiously saying, “May I ask, Fellow Daoist, who you are? If I, Black Cloud, have offended you unknowingly, I beg your forgiveness.”

“And if you, Fellow Daoist, are merely passing by, I ask that you grant us some leeway.”

“But if you insist on making an enemy of me, know that I am not one to be trifled with.”

His tone was severe and threatening, perfectly capturing Black Cloud Daoist’s current state.

In response to the inquiries from this human and demon, Lu Chen showed no intention of answering, calmly walking toward them instead.

Seeing this, both Black Cloud Daoist and the Jackal Spirit understood that matters could not be resolved peacefully.

But before they could act, ethereal flames ignited on their bodies.

The flames appeared abruptly, as if materializing from nowhere.

Though Black Cloud Daoist and the Jackal Spirit struggled desperately to extinguish the flames,

they found them to be like maggots in the bone—no matter what they did, they couldn’t diminish the flames in the slightest.

Even more terrifying, these flames could burn not only their physical bodies but also their Divine Souls.

Such methods were utterly unheard of and unseen by Black Cloud Daoist and the Jackal Spirit.

After exhausting every possible means, Black Cloud Daoist and the Jackal Spirit could only look pleadingly at Lu Chen,

hoping he would show mercy and spare their lives.

Unfortunately, Lu Chen had no need to keep them alive.

Moments later, two piles of powdered ashes lay scattered in the wilderness.

And in Lu Chen’s hand, he held two small Divine Souls—

one belonging to Black Cloud Daoist, the other to the Jackal Spirit.

With their Divine Souls under his control, everything they knew was naturally laid bare to Lu Chen.

Before long, Lu Chen had grasped the basic situation of the Xia Dynasty and the current state of the Ancient Fiend Nine Realms.

Upon learning that the dynasties surrounding the Xia Dynasty, along with the Sects backing them, were planning to move against the Xia Dynasty and Pine Mountain Temple,

a complete plan gradually took shape in Lu Chen’s mind:

to replace the current master of Pine Mountain Temple and become its new owner.In this way, he could justifiably eliminate the invading Sects and the Great Cultivators behind them.

Though simple, this method was remarkably effective.

Even if some later found Lu Chen’s sudden appearance suspicious, they would struggle to trace his origins.

They could only attribute it to Pine Mountain Temple having enlisted assistance from unknown sources.

This scheme of deception… left no room for fault.

(End of Chapter)