Chapter 10

As the demonic shadows saw their prey being rescued, they all let out furious roars and pounced at Yue Qing, but were blocked by the Five-Colored Smoke Mist. No matter how they transformed or clawed, they could not break through that layer of faintly colored smoke.

Zhu Hong was taken away by Yue Qing, and the black jade gourd he was holding was also swept over by the sword light. Yue Qing held the gourd in his hand; it was a treasure passed down from the Wutai Sect, so he was not unfamiliar with it. He made the hand signs, recited the incantation, and spat out a mouthful of essence, which caused a large amount of sticky black evil to spew out of the gourd’s mouth. The heavy, bloody smell made people feel nauseous, and it contained soul-capturing evil. Even with his three hundred years of cultivation, Yue Qing felt a darkness before his eyes.

The evil spirits felt the suction power of the gourd. They had not yet obtained the essence of blood, and were unwilling to give up. They struggled to scatter and escape, but Yue Qing quickly spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which transformed into true essence blood evil. Each demon was wrapped in a layer of blood evil, and no matter how they struggled, it was in vain. They could only be forcibly pulled back into the gourd with great reluctance.

In just a short while, three of the six flags used by Yue Qing to set up the array had been destroyed by the demons. The power of this Six-Six True Essence Gourd was too strong. When the Grandmaster Taiyi Hunyuan was pressed by the Emei Sect, he also wanted to refine it, but it was too malevolent and caused too much killing, so he did not take action. After the gourd was refined, it contained thirty-six demons. Now, Zhu Hong had only completed one-third of it, and its power was only one-tenth of what it would be when fully refined. However, if Yue Qing had not obtained the Taiyi Five Smoke Luo in advance, he would have had no choice but to flee for his life.

Yue Qing put the gourd away, dismantled the array, and dispelled the dark clouds and evil spirits, as well as the various illusions. The sky outside was still gloomy, and the rain was heavier than the day before, making the body feel cool when it fell on it.

Yue Qing wiped his face and silently bowed to the north, praying: "Master, I have avenged half of your great enmity today! I will kill the Three Immortals and Two Elders in the future, destroy the Emei and Qingcheng Sects, and then fully comfort your spirit in heaven!"

The mist and rain around Mount Simen were hazy, and the world was filled with the sound of the rain.

Yue Qing walked into Zhu Hong’s cave. Situ Ping was squatting at the cave entrance with an empty bowl in his hands: "Master, you’re back."

"Um, did you finish the porridge?" Yue Qing patted his head and went to the alchemy room in the west, where he cut the yellow essence and polygonum into small pieces and put them into the alchemy furnace, adding spring water to boil. "Recite the incantation for refining tools that I taught you."

Situ Ping sat properly on a small cushion and recited loudly in a childlike voice: "I have three treasures in my body, essence, energy, and spirit. Essence transforms into energy, energy transforms into spirit, and spirit and energy return to the void. Refine essence and gather the five energies, spirit, soul, essence, and will. Guard the central palace, calm the heart and desires, and the first yang is born in the earth..." This was the Wutai Sect’s introductory practice, "The Small Five Elements," which consisted of five poems, each with ten sections. Situ Ping was smart and serious, and he did everything Yue Qing asked with great care, so he quickly memorized all fifty sections without a single mistake in just two days.

Yue Qing was very satisfied with him and gave him a brief explanation. Soon, the porridge was ready, and he served it to Situ Ping in a small bowl, telling him to take it to the sleeping cave to eat.

After sending Situ Ping away, Yue Qing released Zhu Hong’s spirit.

A cold wind rose, and Zhu Hong appeared in ghost form. Without a word, he immediately knelt before Yue Qing, bowing his head like a chicken pecking, and pleaded in a high-pitched voice: "Brother! I beg you to show mercy and let me reincarnate! Brother, I have already died once, and I have repaid all my debts to everyone."

"Not enough!" Yue Qing shook his head. "Not nearly enough! The debt you owe to Master cannot be repaid even if you die ten thousand times!"

"Brother! In the name of our sect, I beg you! In the next life, I will serve you as a cow or a horse!"

"We’ll talk about the next life when it comes. I’ll ask you, where is the stolen scripture now?"

"The scripture is hidden under the alchemy furnace, in the black and white tiles. I set up the Five Demons Confusion Spell outside. With Brother’s power, it can be easily broken. It’s in the eye of the yin fish." Zhu Hong said readily, knowing that he was now at Yue Qing’s mercy. If he provoked him, he might really be made to die and come back to life ten thousand times, so he dared not resist any longer and only hoped that Yue Qing would let him reincarnate.

Yue Qing looked under the alchemy furnace but saw no yin-yang fish pattern. He grabbed one of the copper handles of the furnace and gently moved it to one side. Below was indeed a Taiji pattern made of black and white jade.

"If it’s a lie, you know the consequences!" Yue Qing grabbed Zhu Hong’s neck.

Zhu Hong, in his ghost form, was only a little over a foot tall, with a neck only half an inch long. When Yue Qing, full of true essence, grabbed his neck, it was stretched to nearly three inches, thinner than a thread, and his head was squeezed like a ball, making him look like a gourd with a narrow waist. He kept begging for mercy: "I dare not lie to Brother! Whether it’s true or not, Brother can see by sucking out the eye of the yin fish!"

Yue Qing, always cautious, carefully examined the Taiji pattern and found that Zhu Hong had set up the Five Demons Confusion Spell on its surface. This spell, a direct transmission from the Wutai Sect, could create illusions and even draw out one’s soul, turning them into mindless, bloodthirsty demons. Even Yue Qing, if he had not known in advance, would have had to struggle to break free.

Yue Qing was familiar with this spell and gathered his true essence, making twenty-five hand signs, which sent colorful light onto the surface of the Taiji pattern, dispelling the spell.

He placed his palm on the ground and sucked out the white tile in the eye of the yin fish, asking Zhu Hong: "Is it here?"

"Yes, yes, the scripture is here." Zhu Hong quickly answered.

Yue Qing’s wrist moved, and true essence burst forth, shattering the tile. Suddenly, a burst of silver stars exploded, and countless fine needles shot out in all directions.

Even a terrestrial immortal would find it hard to avoid such a sudden attack. Fortunately, Yue Qing knew Zhu Hong was cunning and vicious and had been on guard. As soon as the silver light appeared, a layer of Five-Colored Smoke Mist rose in front of him, protecting his entire body. The silver needles hit the mist and fell to the ground without even causing a ripple. In a few breaths, the ground was covered with a thick layer of silver needles, like mosquito legs.

"Good," Yue Qing nodded. "You have refined this treasure well. If I didn’t have the Taiyi Five Smoke Luo, even if I had been on guard, it would have been hard to save this body."

The force of the silver needles was extremely strong. Only those blocked by the Five Smoke Luo fell to the ground, while most of them were deeply embedded in the stone walls, and the holes were hard to see because the needles were so fine.

Zhu Hong was already trembling with fear, crouched in the corner, unable to beg for mercy, knowing that no matter how he pleaded, Yue Qing would not spare him.

However, at least one thing Zhu Hong did not lie about: the scripture was indeed hidden in the tile, a thick book with a texture that was neither silk nor paper, smooth and silky, held in Yue Qing’s hand.

But Yue Qing did not immediately look at the scripture. Instead, he looked at the other eye of the fish: "The scripture is hidden in the yin fish eye. What is hidden in the yang fish eye?" He put the scripture in his treasure bag and bent down to suck out the black tile in the yang fish eye.

Yue Qing had only guessed, but Zhu Hong’s reaction seemed to confirm it. He sucked out the yang fish eye and shattered it as before. This time, there was no hidden trap. The tile crumbled into powder and fell, revealing an ancient-looking glass lamp inside.

"What is this?" Yue Qing examined it carefully. It seemed to be an unfinished treasure, with inscriptions he had never seen before, which seemed profound and mysterious. He guessed that Zhu Hong had not been able to refine it. "Where did you get this?"

Zhu Hong hesitated for a long time before answering: "If Brother spares me, I will tell you..."

"Hmph." Yue Qing sneered, took out the black jade gourd, opened the lid, and pointed at Zhu Hong. A wisp of black smoke shot out from the gourd’s mouth, tightly wrapping around Zhu Hong’s spirit.

Zhu Hong was terrified, struggling in the black smoke to escape, but the smoke wrapped around him from head to toe, and no matter what spells he used, he could not break free. He was gradually compressed and pulled into the gourd.