#49: The Demon Seed

Shi Luoyi had felt a vague sense of familiarity with Jiang Qi’s voice from the start. On her way to rescue Hui Xiang, she finally remembered where she had heard it before.

After being branded as a demonic cultivator and targeted for execution in her past life, she had fled to the vicinity of the Ten Thousand Demon Abyss while gravely injured. Haunted by childhood trauma, she dared not take another step forward. At that moment, a man wearing a ghostly mask had appeared, smiling faintly as he asked: “Why won’t you go any further?”

Perched on his shoulder was a small demon with white feet and a crimson tail. The creature looked strange, almost like a monkey. Behind him stood countless demons, all deferring to him.

They addressed him as “Master.”

Sensing his intentions, the demons eagerly bound Shi Luoyi and dragged her before him. She struggled, shouting: “Let me go!”

She knew that some powerful demonic cultivators could command demons and even drain others of their spiritual energy. Shi Luoyi assumed the masked man intended to feed on her, but to her surprise, he merely lifted her chin with two cold fingers, studying her face: “You don’t resemble your father at all. Though misfortune doesn’t pass to the children, neither does fortune. Little immortal maiden of Buye Mountain, your life has been far too blessed. You know nothing of others’ suffering.”

“What are you talking about?”

“What am I saying?” He chuckled. “If you don’t understand, then so be it. Rest assured—I won’t kill you. You must live well. Ideally, live until the day your father awakens. I’m curious—how would the righteous leader of Daoism, Shi Huan, react upon waking one day to find his precious daughter fallen into demonic ways? Would he have the heart to kill you?”

With that, he asked her: “Will you choose to follow me into the Ten Thousand Demon Abyss, or will you continue wandering as a fugitive?”

Unwilling to admit she was a demon, Shi Luoyi ultimately fled the abyss.

The man merely watched her retreating figure, making no move to pursue her.

“When you feel like returning, I’ll be waiting here,” he said with a low laugh. “Go experience some hardship. Witness just how cruel this cultivation world can be.”

Perhaps the man hadn’t anticipated that a silver-white beast would later appear, granting Shi Luoyi a cultivation method to temporarily suppress her inner demon and control her violent urges. In the end, she chose to die in an abandoned temple rather than return to the Ten Thousand Demon Abyss, unwilling to associate with evil forces.

Now, piecing everything together, Shi Luoyi turned her gaze toward Jiang Qi.

“Do you hate my father?”

The smile on Jiang Qi’s lips vanished, replaced by icy indifference. He seemed to scrutinize why Shi Luoyi knew these things, but seeing the array inscribed on the stone bed and the pale, powerless girl shackled to it—now unmistakably his prisoner—he laughed and admitted outright: “Yes.”

Shi Luoyi sought an answer: Why, in both her past and present lives, did people constantly try to drive her into demonic possession? “What did my father do to make you hate him so much?”

“Do you know about the tragedy of Dingliu Village ten years ago?”

Shi Luoyi furrowed her brow. She had indeed heard something about it. Rumors spoke of a cultivator who had slaughtered an entire village. But the details remained unclear to her.

Seeing her silence, Jiang Qi rose and paced to the table, his tone dripping with mockery: “Of course not. Everyone only remembers the glorious feats of the Dao Lords at Wandering Sea ten years ago. Who would remember the mad cultivator of Dingliu Village and the one hundred fifty-two lives lost? And naturally, Shi Huan shielded you from such filthy truths—you wouldn’t hear them from him.”

Pouring himself a cup of tea, Jiang Qi continued calmly: “My family, the Jiang clan, fell into decline. Ten years ago, while I was training outside, I suffered a mortal wound. My parents and relatives ventured into a secret realm to find a spirit herb for me.”

“They found the herb but were ambushed by demonic cultivators. Those fiends planted demon seeds within my mother and relatives, luring them into a Life-and-Death Array.”

Shi Luoyi raised her eyes to look at him, her voice strained: “The other end of the Life-and-Death Array—the entire village?”

“Yes. My father rescued my mother and relatives, killing all the villagers in the process. Knowing the gravity of his sins, he willingly forfeited his cultivation and offered himself to the flames to prove his resolve. He begged the cultivation world to spare my mother and relatives—they hadn’t chosen to harbor the demon seeds. My mother and kin were kind-hearted, powerless people who posed no threat to the world.”

“My father knelt at Buye Mountain for ten days and ultimately burned himself alive to atone. But what we received in return was an extermination order. That day, cultivators stormed into our home and slaughtered my mother and relatives, who had been desperately resisting the demon seeds. They were crying, not yet demons…”

As Jiang Qi spoke, a bitter smile tugged at the corners of his lips, but his eyes burned with deep hatred: “I was once like you and Wei Changyuan—happy and carefree in my youth. But in a single night, I lost everything. How laughable. Even as she died, my mother didn’t forget to leave behind the life-saving spirit herb for her useless son.”

“But what good did that do? I could do nothing. In this cultivation world, weakness is a sin. If the world deems demonic acts unforgivable, then I will wear the guise of a celestial being while committing those very acts. And you, Shi Luoyi—if falling to demonic ways and bloodshed are sins without cause, and if Shi Huan now slumbers beneath Wandering Sea, then you will stand in his place. Let you bear the judgment of Heaven for my family.”

By the end of his speech, his voice had grown hoarse, his eyes filled with both vindictive satisfaction and venomous malice.

Shi Luoyi’s body burned from the True Fire, the pain searing and unrelenting. Gritting her teeth, she remained silent, never imagining that the tragedy of Dingliu Village ten years ago stemmed from such circumstances. No wonder Jiang Qi forced her to choose between Hui Xiang and the villagers. He wanted to see her commit the same act as his father—killing innocents.

But Jiang Qi never expected that Shi Luoyi would rather perish alongside him in the True Fire than pick up the Divine Collapse Blade to kill the women and children trapped in the array.

Shi Luoyi finally understood. Before her rebellion in her past life, the corpses she had been accused of killing weren’t hers after all—she had no memory of them because they were Jiang Qi’s doing. From the very beginning, like the sect leader, he had sought to ruin her reputation. Only this time, the person who died happened to be Zhang Xiangyang.

Yet Jiang Qi’s version of the truth conflicted with Shi Luoyi’s memories. She said: “That’s not true. I remember clearly—ten years ago, a group of cultivators came to plead for mercy. That day, I returned from halfway up the mountain and saw my father’s sorrowful expression. Standing outside, I overheard him give the order to seal the implicated individuals in the Ice Valley. He planned to find a way to extract their demon seeds once he returned from Wandering Sea.”

She vividly recalled that her father had not issued an extermination order.

In the next moment, her cheek was gripped harshly: “Liar!”

Jiang Qi’s eyes blazed with fury: “Your father—a sanctimonious hypocrite, obsessed with his saintly image. And you—spewing lies, utterly disgusting!”

Though the grip on her cheek hurt, Shi Luoyi persisted: “I’m not lying. My father isn’t the person you claim he is. I heard it with my own ears.”

Their gazes locked for a long moment—one burdened with a decade of hatred, willing to consort with demons to seek justice; the other steadfast in her belief that her father was not a ruthless man.

Shi Luoyi was certain she hadn’t misheard. That day, standing outside, she had seen her father’s anguished expression and heard his heavy sighs. Later, she had even seen texts on demon seeds in Buye Mountain’s library.

The cultivator sent by her father had rushed there in haste, fearing delay would lead to disaster.

But her father had gone to Wandering Sea and never returned.

Jiang Qi tightened his grip on Shi Luoyi’s neck, gradually losing control. He refused to believe a single word she said. If Shi Huan hadn’t given the order, then how had his family been killed? Jiang Qi, who had always lacked talent, had been revived by the spirit herb but had cried himself hoarse and vomited blood, vowing revenge against Shi Huan.

Jiang Qi had raced toward Wandering Sea, battered and wounded. Originally prepared to die, he instead stumbled upon Zhu Yan’s escaping, fragmented soul.

Fueled by his hatred, Jiang Qi had used his own lifeblood to nurture Zhu Yan, risking everything to form a contract with it. If successful, he would become Zhu Yan’s master and eventually kill Shi Huan. If not, he was prepared to die alongside Zhu Yan.

In the end, Jiang Qi won the gamble. Zhu Yan acknowledged him as its master, granting him access to three-tenths of its spiritual power.

Jiang Qi began traveling the world in search of ways to nourish Zhu Yan further. He eventually arrived in Southern Yue, where he immediately noticed the young emperor Zhao Shu’s infatuation with Shi Luoyi. Effortlessly becoming the Grand Master, Jiang Qi led the emperor astray. He never intended for Southern Yue to endure, as it was Shi Luoyi’s maternal lineage.

If his clan had perished, then her people couldn’t be allowed to survive either.

Let Southern Yue vanish into history, buried alongside his family.

With a ruthless glint in his eyes, he sneered: “Shi Luoyi, admit your mistake. Acknowledge that your father was a hypocritical, despicable man, and I’ll release you.”

Though Shi Luoyi might have stood a chance against Jiang Qi alone, she was no match for him when he wielded three-tenths of Zhu Yan’s power.

Choked by Jiang Qi’s grip, unable to breathe, she remained silent even as her consciousness began to fade, refusing to utter a single word. Jiang Qi stared at her intently, but suddenly released her.

Shi Luoyi collapsed onto the stone bed.

Backlit, Jiang Qi trembled violently. After a long while, his emotions finally calmed: “I won’t kill you. The more pain I’ve endured, the more you will suffer. This is only the beginning. I’ll make you watch as Southern Yue falls and the world is devoured by corpse fiends. I’ll force you to kill with pleasure, allowing the immortal sects to judge you just as they once judged my family.”

With that, he cast one last deep glance at her before leaving the cave.

It didn’t take long for Shi Luoyi to understand his meaning. On the stone bed beneath her lay a Spirit-Draining Array.

Because of Zhu Yan, Jiang Qi was far more sensitive than an ordinary cultivator. He had detected the inner demon within Shi Luoyi and was using the Spirit-Draining Array to slowly sap her divine energy.

Jiang Qi returned in the evening, his emotions much calmer. He pried open Shi Luoyi’s lips, attempting to force the demon seed into her mouth.

Shi Luoyi fought back with all her strength. She knew what a demon seed was—it was the core of a demonic creature. Consuming it would almost certainly drive her into demonic possession. While succumbing to her inner demon might leave her with a shred of self-awareness, swallowing a demon seed would turn her into a mindless monster entirely.

Whatever type of demon seed she consumed, she would become that very thing—void of any semblance of rationality.

She bit down on Jiang Qi’s fingers, drawing blood.

His fingers brushed against her lips and tongue. Pausing for a moment, he said coldly: “Refusing to eat? You don’t have a choice. Of course, I wouldn’t give you some lowly demon seed. This is the core of a nine-tailed celestial fox—a treasure from the Divine Realm, according to Zhu Yan.”

Blood filled Shi Luoyi’s mouth as she refused to swallow.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Qi didn’t continue forcing her. He withdrew his hand, staring at the blood covering it, lost in thought.

The Spirit-Draining Array was also a relic from the Divine Realm. Shi Luoyi was growing weaker by the moment.

When the moon rose that night, she was already too weak to move. Jiang Qi lifted her into his arms, carrying her to the entrance of the cave. A solitary moon hung in the sky.

Her hands bound, she leaned against his chest. “Look at the moon in the sky and the village below,” he murmured.

Shi Luoyi was stubborn to the core. She knew she couldn’t defeat Zhu Yan and accepted her misfortune. No one in the world could single-handedly kill Zhu Yan, but she refused to give Jiang Qi the satisfaction of breaking her. She closed her eyes, choosing silence.

After a long while, Jiang Qi chuckled.

Uncertain why, Shi Luoyi furrowed her brow and opened her eyes, only to find him leaning close, studying her.

“What are you looking at? Am I starting to look like Shi Huan?” she muttered, recalling his words from her past life. Inwardly, she smirked—Even if I do resemble him, it won’t kill you.

The genuine smile in Jiang Qi’s eyes faded, replaced by a false one. He sneered: “Yes.”

Straightening up, Jiang Qi distanced himself slightly. Staring at the village below, he murmured: “Once the demon seed takes root within you, you’ll slaughter them all, won’t you?”

Though she tried to appear unfazed, Shi Luoyi’s heart raced. Still, she refused to let Jiang Qi see her fear. She knew the consequences of consuming a demon seed. If it ever came to that, she would likely end her own life before she could harm the villagers.

She wondered how the elders and disciples of the Hengwu Sect were faring.

She believed her death was inevitable. With her final moments approaching, her thoughts were scattered. She thought of Buye Mountain, of Hui Xiang and Han Shu, and finally of Bian Lingyu. She wondered if he had safely returned to Buye Mountain. She had arranged everything—if she died, he would live comfortably in the house she bought for him, peacefully spending the rest of his days.

He might grieve over her death, but thankfully, Bian Lingyu’s feelings for her were only slight. That way, he would recover quickly.

Three days passed between them.

On the third day, Shi Luoyi had bitten three wounds into Jiang Qi’s hand. For reasons unknown, he hadn’t healed the wounds or forced the nine-tailed celestial fox’s demon seed into her. Sometimes, he sat by the window, reading books and drinking tea, seemingly confident in his and Zhu Yan’s invincibility. He had plenty of time to wear her down.

After a long silence, Shi Luoyi finally spoke: “Where is Zhu Yan’s true body?”

Surprised, Jiang Qi turned to her. For a moment, he resembled the senior brother from their sect, his smile gentle: “After all these days, this is the first time you’ve spoken to me. Its true body… I naturally won’t tell you.”

Everyone in the world had hurt him, but Zhu Yan never would.

In two more days, the corpse fiends would be fully cultivated, and Southern Yue would become the world’s greatest sinner.

That night, however, Jiang Qi woke in his inner chamber, gripped by a searing pain in his chest. Realization dawned on him, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

Trembling lips parted: “Impossible… impossible. Zhu Yan hails from the Divine Realm. I’ve nurtured it for so many years, and its spiritual power has nearly returned. Who could possibly harm it?”

If Zhu Yan died, he would revert to being the mediocre cultivator he once was.

Jiang Qi’s face hardened as he stepped out of the inner chamber. Shi Luoyi still lay curled up on the stone bed, utterly drained of spiritual energy by the Spirit-Draining Array, now resembling an ordinary mortal.

The excruciating pain in his chest persisted. Jiang Qi knew Zhu Yan was in danger and that he had to rush to its aid. Adding his three-tenths of spiritual power might save it.

Gritting his teeth, he stared at the bite marks on his hand, fearing the worst. This time, he forcibly shoved the demon seed into Shi Luoyi’s mouth.

Shi Luoyi lacked the strength to resist, and Jiang Qi, sensing the shadow of death looming over them both, seemed determined to drag her down with him.

With a strike to her acupoints, he forced the demon seed into her.

Jiang Qi raised his hand, withdrawing the Spirit-Draining Array. As he stepped out of the cave, he cast one final glance back at the girl lying on the stone bed.

Her dress spread across the bed, her frailty evoking pity. For reasons he couldn’t explain, he recalled the morning he first saw her during their early lessons.

The young maiden had stood bathed in morning light, winter snow melting, spring buds sprouting.

An impulse surged within Jiang Qi. He almost blurted out: “If I manage to return alive…”

But he stopped midway, unable to finish. His expression hardened as he turned and disappeared into the moonlight.

A sea of blood-soaked vengeance awaited him. Even if he survived… he could never truly return.