Chapter 261 – A Thorough Sweep; Wood Demon Subjugation - Part 3

A few days later.

Within the Black Lotus Cult, a man with disheveled hair and red-rimmed eyes—drained by exhaustion—hurried into the great hall. Even before he fully crossed the threshold, his ragged, furious voice rang out

“PENG MI! YOU BROKE YOUR WORD!”

Each syllable tore from his throat like bellows fueling a fire. He stormed into the hall, where a man in black robes—embroidered with a black lotus crest—smiled faintly. Or rather, his features were born smiling, so even when he tried to look serious, his gentle expression never entirely vanished.

This was Peng Mi, the vice cult master of the Black Lotus Cult. Some claimed he had already reached fourth rank; others believed he was still stuck at fifth. No one was certain. He practiced poison arts and professed Buddhist faith, both with unsettling enthusiasm.

The intruder was Zhu Ban. From the fact that Zhu Ban had once forged a quasi-domain spirit artifact for Peng Mi, it was clear the two were more than casual acquaintances, perhaps even close allies. Whether they had always been so or only recently become so, who could say?

Seeing him in such a state, Peng Mi dropped all pretense. Standing and stepping down from his seat, he pressed his hands together, offering a wry smile.

“Amitabha...my brother, I swear to you, I knew nothing of it. One of the fools under my command apparently kidnapped Li Yuan’s daughter, and then killed her. If he hadn’t already been torn to pieces by the Holy Tree Temple, I would’ve stripped him of his skin and pulled out his tendons myself, so he could neither live nor die, thus ridding him of all his sins. Amitabha...mercy, mercy...”

His kindly face was the picture of remorse. But Zhu Ban pointed accusingly at him and shouted, “Stay away from Li Yuan. And keep your hands off my daughter as well! I know what you and your people are plotting. Hear me, if you rush it, you’ll turn a good plan into a disaster!”

Peng Mi chuckled. “Amitabha... Zhu Ban, as if we would! Who in his right mind would dare harm Li Yuan or your daughter? That would be suicide, wouldn’t it?”

At the words

suicide

, a murderous gleam flickered through his gentle gaze, contrasting oddly with his pious facade—like two conflicting personalities forever switching roles, leaving him volatile and unpredictable.

“But your people already did,” Zhu Ban snapped.

“Everyone involved in that fiasco has sinned,” Peng Mi replied. “I’ll personally help them atone, and from now on, the Black Lotus Cult will leave Li Yuan in peace. Will that satisfy you?”

Zhu Ban looked grim. “When my mind’s a mess, I can’t forge spirit artifacts.”

Peng Mi rose, pulled a ledger from his robe, jotted several marks in it, then tossed it aside. “Bring them all here at once.”

Two black-robed men stepped out, both adorned with lotus embroidery, and bowed. “Yes, sir!”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Li Yuan knew nothing of this chain of events. As far as he was concerned, he was nothing more than a grieving father. He’d built a simple burial mound for Sheng'er’s clothing in the pale sea of blossoms, with the Jing Clan’s permission. Now, he stood before the mound, silent and brokenhearted.

The off-white petals swayed, blurring the horizon. Eyes reddened, Li Yuan pressed his palm against the headstone. The despair etched on his features was almost too raw to bear. It was a mask that served him well, granting him a secure vantage point for observing the world around him until he could spirit Cui Huayin and his child away. Once they escaped, the heavens would be boundless.

But both Cui Huayin and his son needed the Holy Tree Temple’s advanced cultivation manuals to progress. Li Yuan also wanted to learn more skills here, ones he couldn’t obtain anywhere else, no matter how wealthy he became.

He remained there in silent grief, until distant footsteps reached his ears. A teenage boy came sprinting over, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Sis—!”

He dropped to his knees before the headstone, clutching it while sobbing uncontrollably. Then, he turned to face Li Yuan, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Why didn’t you protect your daughter?! Why?!”

Behind him came Gu Xuejian, who chided him in a hushed tone, “Ping'an, he’s your father!”

Ping'an rounded on her, shouting, “He warned me to be careful. He taught me to be cautious. And yet he let his own daughter die; he got my sister killed!”

Li Yuan said nothing, though he could feel his patience wearing thin.

This kid...

Now wasn’t the time to box his ears. He glanced briefly at the numbers hovering around his son, 220~235. That was excellent seventh rank power, on the cusp of perfection. Such was the fearsome might of someone with innate shadow blood.

Ping'an’s voice cracked with grief. “Revenge! I’ll avenge my sister! I’ll kill them! I’ll kill them all!”

Li Yuan just stared at his hot-headed son. Then again, he thought wryly, could he really blame him?

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

“Where’s Mom?!” Ping'an demanded, glaring at Li Yuan. “Bring her here right now! I don’t want anything happening to her, too!”

“...” Li Yuan froze. Narrowing his eyes,

he turned to Gu Xuejian. “Could I have some time alone with my son?”

Gu Xuejian nodded. “As long as you don’t take Ping'an outside the third gate, you can wander freely together. Please understand; he’s at a critical point in his cultivation and can’t be allowed to leave.”

Li Yuan inclined his head. “I wouldn’t take him outside anyway. It’s dangerous out there; no need to worry.”

“Take care,” Gu Xuejian murmured. “My condolences.” Then she walked off.

Ping'an whipped back around. “Dangerous outside? You know it’s dangerous, yet you left my mother out there? You got your daughter killed. Are you trying to get your wife killed, too?!”

Li Yuan didn’t waste words. He stood up and grabbed the blade at his son’s waist. Ping'an tensed in surprise, but Li Yuan overpowered him immediately, pinning him face-first to the ground.

“Your sister told me you’re a crybaby. Seeing you in tears again today would only keep her restless in the afterlife,” Li Yuan said. “So how about a beating on her behalf?”

“Fine—go for it!” Ping'an spat. “If I cry out, then my name isn’t...LI. PING. AN—!

...

“Ow! Ow, ow, ow! Someone help me!

...

“Argh, Dad, please go easy...”

...

“I’m just hurting so bad inside... Uuu... Wahhhh!”

After a while, father and son were able to reconcile. Li Yuan ruffled his son’s hair. “Focus on your cultivation and break through as soon as you can. Leave everything else alone. You’ve got great potential, and the Holy Tree Temple values you. Don’t waste that.”

“But... but—” Ping'an’s lips quivered, tears gathering in his eyes again. “Sister’s gone...she’s really gone.” He tilted his head back and wailed at the sky.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Far away, a cute, doll-like girl let out a sudden sneeze, a bubble of snot forming comically at her nose.

Beside the girl, Xue Ning covered her mouth with a laugh, trying to stifle her amusement.

Pop!

The snot bubble burst. The girl jolted awake from her nap and glanced outside, a spark of wonder and excitement crossing her face—tinged, however, with a trace of sorrow.

“Mama Xue, Papa said that if I suddenly start sneezing, it could mean someone’s thinking about me...or cursing me.” Sheng'er spoke with solemn conviction.

Xue Ning laughed. “Who would be foolish enough to curse someone as sweet as you?”

Sheng'er asked, “When will Papa come? And my brother? And Aunt Yao, and Mama Cui...?”

She posed each question in turn, but seemed not to expect an answer, simply staring quietly out the window. The farther west they traveled, the colder the air grew. Though it was the middle of July, the warmth felt stifled, as if the summer heat couldn’t fully arrive.

Xue Ning pulled Sheng'er closer. “They’ll be all right.”

“I’m not worried about Papa,” Sheng'er replied. “I’m worried about my brother. He’s...well, not the brightest, and he cries a lot. I wonder if he’s still like that.”

Xue Ning only smiled. “In every family, someone’s bound to be the silly one, right?”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

One month later.

A colossal, ancient tree of unknown species pushed its way through rock, its blackish branches gleaming faintly like metal. They stretched across a searing meat field, almost as dazzling as the midday sun.

Like iron hands, the thick limbs spread out above the fourth rank meat field, and from each great limb hung a small building. This clever architecture, perched right above the condensed essence of the fourth rank meat field, made for an ideal cultivation ground.

If the fourth rank meat field were large, such structures wouldn’t be necessary. But this one was quite small, even smaller than the meat fields the Blood Blade Sect owned.

Hanging these little lofts above the meat field prevented any of the precious energy from going to waste. Bright-white like polished bamboo, each loft seemed pure and pristine.

This was the heart of the Holy Tree Temple, the White Bamboo Hanging Bell Tower.

Every day, Ping'an trained in one of those lofts high above. Cui Huayin and Yao Jue had set up their cultivation far away, near a sixth rank meat field—Cui Huayin had just advanced to sixth rank and was consolidating her cultivation, while Yao Jue, thanks to Li Yuan’s influence, was granted access to the temple’s complete life chronicle. At present, she was engaged in fervent study.

Li Yuan himself stayed in the middle ground—a garden that lay on a fifth rank meat field. This garden was one of the Holy Tree Temple’s hidden strongholds, filled with all sorts of secrets. Even the insect wardens originated here.

Now, beneath the shifting shadow of an old tree, Li Yuan sat reading an ancient tome. Its title was Wood Demon Subjugation, a sixth rank beast taming manual focused on controlling plant-type demonic beasts.

The text contained everything from controlling plant demons to insect mastery, because plants and insects often went hand in hand. To handle a plant demon, one had to be able to direct the insects living on that plant demon, which, in turn, gave rise to the insect warden profession.

Yet becoming a true beastmaster demanded so much talent and specialized skill that most insect wardens never crossed that threshold. They could command certain bugs, but never tame large, powerful demonic beasts.

Li Yuan had been studying Wood Demon Subjugation for half a month, long enough to grasp the basics. Realistically, he could fully master it instantly, but such rapid progress would attract too much attention. So day by day, he nudged his skill mastery forward—maybe half-a-dozen points some days, a dozen or so on others. Still, the deeper he delved, the more he sensed it wasn’t as straightforward as it first seemed.

Just then, an insect warden approached. She was small and slender, wearing an all-black, full-body leather outfit despite the summer heat. A thick helmet-like hat covered her head, and a large crystal visor shielded her eyes, leaving her nearly encased from head to toe.

She stopped in front of Li Yuan, fidgeting with nervousness. “M-Master Li, I...I’m Jing Shuixiang of the Jing Clan. I...I...” Her voice came out raspy, as if she was parched or trembling too hard to speak properly. “I...I...

cough

...I’m here to show you around the garden, to help you learn about the plants here.”

Li Yuan closed his book, stood up, and nodded. “Much appreciated.”

Leading the way, Jing Shuixiang pointed to a patch of white flowers off in the distance. “Those are called eight-petaled fairywood. They follow the sun’s path each day, so their centers remain warmer than the surrounding air. That heat draws a certain species of red insect, which we then control through flute music. Right, these red bugs only appear here in the fifth rank meat field. You won’t find them anywhere else.”

Li Yuan studied the flowers carefully.

When they’d made a full circuit of the garden, Jing Shuixiang added shyly, “If...if you ever want to learn how to play the flute, just let me know. Only by mastering the right melodies can you control these insects. It’s part of beast taming, after all.”

Li Yuan nodded. Indeed, over the past few days, he had noticed a new requirement emerging as he leveled up Wood Demon Subjugation, such as learning to play the flute.