FFSC_10

Chapter 10: Angry? — Blah Blah Blah

The snow-white little creature landed on the soft pillow, rolled around in a fluffy circle chasing its own tail, then turned its head to look at itself.

Where exactly was it fat?!

It clearly wasn't!

Chen Moqing extended his palm.

Cang Shun leaped onto his hand, and the palm sank down under the weight.

It never used to be this heavy before.

Cang Shun: "……"

The snow-white little creature perked up its soft little ears, nestled in the palm of the human cultivator, and innocently glanced left and right.

It quietly curled itself up, looking just like a fluffy little ball of glutinous rice, not big at all.

Chen Moqing stared at it for two seconds.

Maybe it hadn't gotten fat— it was just growing.

After all, it was only a three-hundred-year-old kitty.

His fingers brushed through that snow-white fur: "At most, only one small dried fish."

The snow-white little creature immediately perked up, raising its little head high: 【Benzun doesn't even like eating them!】

After a while.

Beside the basket of small dried fish on the table, a fluffy little ball of glutinous rice had appeared, quietly dipping its little head down, snatching away three crispy dried fish.

It sneakily turned its head.

The light gauze curtains hung gently before the bed, as the young cultivator with black hair and fair skin sat with his eyes closed, deep in meditation.

And so Cang Shun strutted back to the bedside with the small dried fish in its mouth, and nestled itself into a comfortable spot between that person's knees.

In the early morning, the light of day filtered through the mountain ranges, thin mist drifted across the forest leaves, and nearly a hundred cultivators had already gathered near the valley.

"Manager Bai, good morning," The second elder of the Tinyu Sect cheerfully cupped his hands toward Bai Yue, "There was such a huge commotion last night. I thought it was heavenly lightning descending, but it turned out to be a secret realm appearing."

Bai Yue returned the greeting. Beside her, Ning Lili curiously glanced toward a spot in the valley—where a bronze ancient gate had risen out of thin air, nearly surpassing the peaks of the mountains. Its doors were open just a crack, and from within seeped a profoundly mysterious aura.

"Fellow Daoist Jiang, you've come."

The moment those words fell, they immediately drew quite a few gazes.

Through the morning mist of the valley, a figure parted the fog and came walking through the forest.

It was a black-clad young man, far younger than anyone had imagined. His black hair was tied back in a neat ponytail, and his dark robes accentuated his narrow waist and long legs. The ink-dark color of his eyes was deep and still, and merely standing there, he was like a gentle breeze passing through the forest.

Cradled between his slender fingers was an adorably lively snow-white little creature—something between a cat and a leopard, soft and fluffy, with a pair of ice-cold crimson demon eyes.

Bai Yue heard Ning Lili mutter under her breath: "This air about him... is only just barely a tiny bit less than Master's."

Bai Yue knocked her on the head.

Ning Lili clutched her head, then looked up again—above the valley, a sword cultivator in pale blue-white robes stood floating in mid-air, letting the morning valley wind toss his robes about.

At his waist hung a sword, but its tassel was a tattered, blood-stained remnant of a sleeve, swaying with the wind and occasionally brushing against his robes.

Truly a remarkable figure—even his sword tassel was unconventional. Could it perhaps be a keepsake from a beloved?

Ning Lili swept one glance and pulled her gaze back, noticing that the small young demon beast in Jiang Yu's arms was likewise looking in that direction, its gaze extremely cold—almost like... loathing?

【Truly worthy of being your dear junior brother, flaunting your belongings like that.】

A cold male voice, utterly devoid of warmth, sounded in Chen Moqing's ears.

【Benzun will kill him for you.】

Chen Moqing: How extreme.

His fingers ruffled the snow-white little creature's fluffy head, and he said in a calm voice: "No need."

He would come himself.

Standing at a height, the masses below were like ants.

"An outsider?"

Hearing Murong Zhou's cold and indifferent voice, the first elder of the Tingyu Sect quickly bowed his head: "Yes, his name is Jiang Yu, a talisman cultivator who recently arrived in Qingzhu City. Extremely gifted."

Murong Zhou casually tossed out an object.

An ornately carved ancient mirror landed precisely in front of Chen Moqing. The mirror reflected his face, still showing the face of "Jiang Yu".

Murong Zhou put away the mirror and didn't spare Chen Moqing another glance, dropping a single line: "Merely Foundation Building."

His next words fell upon everyone's ears alike: "I will not help any of you, nor will I take away your opportunities. Once inside, your fortune is your own to seize, and whether you live or die is left to the heavens."

With that, he shot through the bronze ancient gate like a streak of sword light.

...Foundation Building?

Not Golden Core, merely Foundation Building?

Liu Ao, who had arrived fashionably late, happened to catch those words. The look in his eyes as he turned toward Chen Moqing instantly shifted, carrying a few degrees of cold scrutiny—though he quickly veiled his gaze again, as if recalling the presence that had driven him back that night at the inn.

The second elder of the Tingyu Sect's hand trembled as he stroked his beard. A Foundation Building cultivation and yet capable of refining third-grade talismans! What an utterly inconceivable level of talent!

He immediately broke into a beaming smile: "Young Friend Jiang, why not travel with us? We can look out for one another along the way."

Chen Moqing: "I appreciate the kind offer, but I have already made a promise to Patriarch Liu."

The second elder still looked a little regretful, yet said nothing more, and led his group of disciples into the secret realm.

Bai Yue: "Lili, stay close to your master."

Ning Lili answered loudly in agreement, clutching her arm like an octopus that couldn't be pried off no matter what.

The corner of Bai Yue's mouth twitched. She smiled and nodded to Chen Moqing: "Fellow Daoist Jiang, see you inside."

"See you inside."

"Young Friend Jiang," Liu Ao suddenly spoke up, "once we enter the secret realm, let us each explore on our own."

Behind him, Liu Piao rolled her eyes at his back without the slightest restraint, then spread her hands toward Chen Moqing.

Chen Moqing stroked the soft fur of the snow-white little creature in his arms, his expression unchanged: "That's fine."

He entered the secret realm together with the Liu family members. A flash of light swept past his eyes, and he was already standing at the base of a steep valley.

All around him was a grey valley, and he was the only one there.

Upon entering a secret realm, being randomly transported to different locations was commonplace. That trace of sword intent was on Liu Piao—he could sense from afar that she was unharmed.

【Heh, this place is truly something extraordinary.】

Cang Shun lay draped across his shoulder, its tail sweeping unhurriedly across the side of his face, letting out a soft laugh.

【If you can obtain the secret realm's inheritance, you'll have struck it rich.】

The fluffy tail brushed against the side of his face, leaving a faint ticklish sensation. Chen Moqing listened to the "mewing and chirring" beside his ear, calmly pressed down that lively tail, and tucked it under the snow-white little creature's belly.

Cang Shun: "……"

The snow-white little creature on his shoulder began nudging at him without a word. Chen Moqing flicked his wrist, and a bright yellow talisman paper spontaneously ignited in midair. Countless talismanic script scattered and swirled, converging into a winding curve that stretched out ahead.

The Shenlu Sect of Jiugai Prefecture had a tracking talisman famed throughout the world, capable of detecting every treasure trove rich in spiritual energy within a secret realm. He had seen it several times before, and in recent days had also read through a great many talisman formulae at Qianxuan Pavilion, drawing inferences from one to another, until he had finally worked out this lower-grade imitation of it.

He lifted a certain demon sovereign who kept nudging about from his shoulder into his arms, and followed the talismanic script onward.

The secret realm stretched vast and boundless, its scenery an undulating expanse of grey mountain ranges, solemn and dim.

After some time had passed, Chen Moqing descended into a narrow valley. Sparse wild grass dotted the surroundings, and only three cultivators were there, just about to leave.

They wore the inner disciple robes of the Tingyu Sect—two men and one woman. The slightly taller cultivator among them cupped his hands and spoke: "Fellow Daoist, we have already searched this place. There is nothing here."

Chen Moqing gave a slight nod: "Thank you for the warning."

Yet he remained where he stood, showing no intention of leaving.

The three Tingyu Sect disciples exchanged a glance and headed off into the distance.

Chen Moqing gently closed his eyes, and his divine sense surged outward like a vast ocean overturning, blanketing the entire valley.

Pebbles and blades of grass—all of it carried faint traces of talismanic aura. He swept through it again and again, and finally detected an extremely well-hidden, minute detail.

The talismanic aura there was three parts denser than anywhere else.

Without a moment's hesitation, Chen Moqing used his finger as a brush, completing a talisman script in a single breath. His slender finger pointed toward it from afar.

Spiritual energy collided. The valley before him was torn open with a rift, revealing a deep and hidden space within, and his figure vanished into it.

A moment later, three more figures appeared in the previously empty clearing—it was the Tingyu Sect disciples from before, returned the way they had come.

"There was actually a spirit ground here? How did he find it?"

"Follow him!"

Within the rift was a world unto itself—a vast and winding cave, enormous as the stomach of a Kunpeng¹, its jagged rocks emanating a dim green glow.

Chen Moqing had only just arrived when he heard Cang Shun on his shoulder say in an unhurried tone: 【Careful.】

Before the words had even fully fallen, a second-grade Burning Flame Talisman had already been casually flung out. Blazing firelight surged upward and illuminated the cave ahead, incinerating a figure that had lunged toward him in an instant.

A dark wind swept through the dim cave. Countless figures emerged from behind the rocks, moving on all fours, their bodies as though pieced together from innumerable twisted lines, with only a single eye atop their heads, carved with faintly glowing talismanic script.

Talisman demons.

To inscribe a talisman into a demon—that was a talisman demon.

To forge a spirit through talismans—such a divine ability was exceedingly rare.

The corner of Chen Moqing's mouth curved ever so slightly. He pressed two fingers to the center of his brow, and a thread of golden radiance flowed from his ink-dark eyes. He rose into the air, his robes billowing, and faced the vast dark tide.

His fluttering hair and robes trailed behind him like an arrow loosed from its bow as he plunged into the demon tide.

In the blink of an eye, the young cultivator's figure was on the verge of being swallowed by the dark tide.

Cang Shun's pupils suddenly darkened. It watched as countless pitch-black claws came lunging from all directions—the nearest had already grazed that person's robes, and within a few short breaths, this slender human cultivator would be torn apart and devoured.

The next second, a torrent of silver-white lightning came surging and roiling forth, like the Milky Way suspended upside down, flooding the cave and crushing the dark tide to nothing.

Talismanic script reflected in Chen Moqing's deep, unruffled eyes, transforming into brilliant silver-white arcs of electricity.

He stepped forward, his gaze blazing and resplendent, lightning coiling around him and frosting his hair with gleaming silver, like a deity from an ancient age who commanded thunder.

The dazzling radiance was likewise reflected in a pair of crimson demon eyes.

The surging lightning boiled for several breaths, consuming great swaths of talisman demons, then vanished abruptly. The cave, bright as day a moment ago, fell dim once more, with only the intermittent gleam of talismanic script flickering within.

A swift wind swept past Chen Moqing's side. He cut rapidly through the depths of the cave, while more talisman demons surged from all directions, shrieking as they gave chase.

Chen Moqing remained entirely unhurried, using his fingers as a blade to inscribe talismanic script and repel his enemies.

For a talisman cultivator in battle, talismanic script served as the channel through which spiritual energy was poured, unleashing tremendous power. Just now, he had drawn the talismanic script into his own body, making himself the weapon of slaughter—a combat method he had devised on his own after turning to the path of talisman cultivation.

A second-grade Thunderbolt Talisman, borne by his own body, had unleashed the power of a third-grade one.

The effect was excellent, yet it consumed a tremendous amount of both spiritual energy and physical strength. But should he encounter a powerful enemy afterward, it could reverse the tide of battle at a critical moment.

On Chen Moqing's shoulder, a fluffy little ball of snow-white fur gripped his collar tightly and pressed close to his ear, crying out loudly.

【You're a talisman cultivator! Do you really have to fight in close combat!】

【Do you have any idea how dangerous that was just now!】

Chen Moqing: All this mewing and chirring—what is it going on about.

Not listening.

Cang Shun: "……"

The snow-white little creature was so furious its ears had gone rigid. This person—how could this person always be so careless with his own safety!

Compared to sword cultivators and body cultivators, spell cultivators tended to have weaker physical constitutions. Ordinary talisman cultivators found it difficult to contain overly powerful forces within their own bodies, and so they typically used talismanic script as a medium, letting the power detonate through the talisman.

Yet this person was different. He possessed the powerful Golden Core physique of a body cultivator, in no way inferior to one—and even so, the combat method he had used just now was extremely dangerous, no different from drawing lightning into himself.

The snow-white little creature raised its fluffy little paw and smacked him indignantly, one strike after another—on the fabric of his robe at his shoulder.

Countless talisman demons swept through like a plague of locusts, pressing in relentlessly. Their claws scraped against the stone walls, producing a grating sound that set the teeth on edge.

Chen Moqing made no attempt to evade, his path of movement appearing to dart left and lunge right with no discernible pattern, yet he always headed toward wherever the talisman demons were most concentrated, and soon vanished entirely into the depths of the cave.

After some time had passed, he suddenly flicked his wrist. His distinctly jointed fingers moved slightly, and talismanic script was drawn in an instant.

The shifting script leapt and flickered, stretching in the blink of an eye into countless twisting curves that pieced themselves together into a beast-like form, which landed and immediately locked into combat with the nearest talisman demon.

That was a talisman demon of his own creation.

Cang Shun raised an eyebrow.

He was actually studying those talismanic scripts while fighting at the same time. After only a handful of exchanges, he had already penetrated the underlying principles and replicated them.

His talent was truly beyond all reason.

A talisman demon suddenly leapt forward, its claws swiping at the snow-white little creature, who appeared to have lost focus.

Cang Shun glanced over idly—a slender, fair hand had already come down in front of him, subtly blocking the strike.

Raging flames blazed, and that talisman demon was burned to nothing.

"Stay closer to me," Chen Moqing pressed two fingers against the snow-white little creature's soft back and nudged him toward himself.

Cang Shun stared at him unblinkingly.

...He actually cares about me quite a bit.

The snow-white little creature held its round demon eyes wide open, went silent for a few seconds, then slowly climbed up to the top of Chen Moqing's head and curled into a small bundle, not interfering with his movements.

"Forgive me for saying so," Chen Moqing's voice was calm and steady, "but His Majesty the Demon Emperor should be able to fly, yes?"

Cang Shun wrapped both paws around his hair crown and turned its head away.

What's that supposed to mean, not listening.

—The result was that by the time the battle was over, Chen Moqing had yet to sustain any serious injuries, but his black hair, previously tied up neatly, was now thoroughly disheveled.

Messed up by a certain demon sovereign with absolutely nothing better to do.

Deep within the cave, a faint bright light suddenly appeared. The remaining talisman demons seemed to greatly fear that light, and scattered away in all directions.

Chen Moqing landed without a word. The still pool within the cave reflected his upright figure, with only a few strands of long hair scattered loosely across his brow.

A small white little head leaned down in front of him: "Meow."

【Are you angry?】

Chen Moqing's expression didn't change: "Why would I be."

He suddenly struck, lightning-fast, pinching a certain demon sovereign by the scruff of the neck and lifting him down, then gave the snow-white fur on top of his head one fierce backward stroke against the grain.

The snow-white little creature's previously smooth fur instantly puffed up into a dandelion.

Now both of their hair was a mess.

Cang Shun: "……"

Chen Moqing: "……"

Chen Moqing turned his face away without a word.

Cang Shun: "???"

"Meow!!!"

He's laughing! And laughing that loudly!!

Chen Moqing held the frantically flailing demon sovereign in one hand and snapped his fingers.

On the ground, countless lines raced swiftly across the surface, gathered upward, and transformed into a talisman demon that prostrated itself on the ground.

The talisman demon he had created had absorbed the talisman energy of others of its kind, and had somehow given birth to a faint sliver of sentience—thanks in no small part to the fact that this place was a talisman cultivation secret realm, already saturated with an abundance of talismanic aura. In the outside world, such a thing would have been utterly impossible.

The talisman demon had four spindly limbs, its entire body composed of pitch-black lines, with only the single eye atop its head glowing with white talismanic script.

When it came to naming things, Chen Moqing had always done so effortlessly: "You shall be called Gungun."

The talisman demon raised its two long, line-like arms and swung them about, circling around Chen Moqing and kicking up its noodle-like legs high into the air one after another, its manner thoroughly jubilant.

Cang Shun: "……"

The snow-white little creature turned its head away, perked up its ears, and began muttering to itself.

Grumbling quietly again.

Chen Moqing cradled this grumbling little furball in his arms and walked forward a few steps.

Deep within the cave, a treasure floated above a dark still pool—a nine-petaled lotus flower, crystalline and translucent.

Chen Moqing heard the unhurried voice of an elder: "Having reached this place, you have passed the trial. This object is yours."

Chen Moqing bowed respectfully: "Many thanks, Senior."

He raised his hand, and the lotus rose into the air and hovered between his palms, like a beautiful piece of colored glaze.

A fifth-grade treasure— the Snow-Dust Glazed Lotus Cup, capable of blocking a full-strength strike from an early-stage Deity Transformation cultivator.

Cang Shun extended a paw to bat at the glittering lotus petals, and Chen Moqing placed the pretty little lotus atop the snow-white little creature's head.

The snow-white little creature mewed and chirred, stretching out its little claws to reach for it, while Chen Moqing swept his gaze around the surroundings.

A talisman cultivation secret realm, and that was all there was to it?

He was just about to release his divine sense once more when a cold and familiar voice sounded from behind them.

"Hand over the treasure, and I'll spare your life."

The words fell— and the sound of a sword rang out!

—

A/N:

1). Kunpeng (鲲鵬, Kūn péng)

It's a mythical creature from ancient Chinese mythology, originating from the classic Daoist text Zhuangzi (庄子), written by the philosopher Zhuangzi around the 4th century BC. The Kun (鲲), an enormous fish dwelling in the northern sea, which transforms into the Peng (鵬), a colossal bird capable of flying ninety thousand li into the sky in a single ascent. In the text, the passage goes roughly like; “In the northern darkness there is a fish called the Kun, so enormous that no one knows how many thousands of li its size spans. It transforms into a bird called the Peng, whose back is also thousands of li wide. When it rises up and flies, its wings are like clouds that hang from the sky.”

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