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Chapter 51: Cursing, and Liking

Ink-dark eyes shaded like smudged ink were close at hand, as if the moon in the sky had fallen into his palm.

Cang Shun's pupils steadied briefly, gazing into the clear moonlight deep within that ink-dark gaze.

...Had he figured it out?

The thought flashed by, and Cang Shun's heart sank slightly.

Chen Moqing lowered his eyes—the snow-white little beast in his arms seemed to freeze, motionless for a moment, then began glancing left and right.

It grabbed at his sleeve, trying to burrow furrily inside.

Chen Moqing held the cuff shut, not letting it burrow in, and pinched the scruff of the little beast's neck, lifting it up while still looking into its eyes.

"If His Majesty the Demon Emperor isn't willing, then I'll go by myself."

The words had barely left his mouth when Cang Shun gripped his wrist tightly.

【No!】

The low male voice took on a note of urgency, the snow-white little beast lowering its head, rubbing its soft fur against Chen Moqing's fingers over and over.

【I won't allow you to toss me aside!】

Chen Moqing looked at the little fluffball nudging back and forth in his palm, gently cupping his fingers around that furry little head: "Mimi's this small. If I lost you, I'd never find you again."

The snow-white little beast paused for a moment, then kept nudging him.

Chen Moqing flicked at the slightly perked beast ears again: "Does His Majesty the Demon Emperor want to soak in the water all furry like this?"

Cang Shun clutched his hand tight, pressing it beneath his own soft belly, and after two seconds said: 【I'll change back when the time comes】

Then quickly raised his head again, eyes fixed on him unblinking: 【That spirit pool, don't soak in it with anyone else】

Chen Moqing: "It's fine with you, though?"

"......"

Cang Shun fell silent again.

He buried his head in Chen Moqing's sleeve, and after a moment let out a small "mm," pressing softly against him.

【If you like it, once we go back to the Demon Realm later, I'll dig you an even bigger pool】

Chen Moqing looked at the little fluffball clinging tightly to him, the corner of his mouth curving up: "Okay."

The snow-white little beast's round, soft ears perked up again.

"The young family head is back!"

Someone said this, no one knew who, and quite a few people on the street surged toward the entrance of Chu Family City, lively voices filling the air all around. Chen Moqing quietly gazed at the snow-white little beast in his arms for a moment, then walked along with the flow of the crowd.

In the crowd, the siblings Chu Shan and Chu Shui spotted Chen Moqing and dashed over to his side quickly. Chu Shan stared at the smooth, soft fur nestled in Chen Moqing's sleeve, his palms itching: "Fluffy!"

Cang Shun's head shot up, his demon eyes narrowing.

"You can't touch it!" Chu Shui slapped her brother's hand away. "This is Brother Liu Yun's dao companion! They're a couple, only Brother Liu Yun gets to touch it!"

Chen Moqing: "......"

He looked wordlessly at the snow-white little beast in his arms, which had immediately puffed itself up, and tapped its furry little skull, saying: "You two are so young, how do you already know about things like this?"

Chu Shui's braids bounced cheerfully. "That's what everyone's saying! They say Brother Liu Yun, so young, already has a dao companion, and such a beautiful fluffy one too, everyone's dying of envy."

The snow-white little beast puffed out its chest and raised its head, leaping onto Chen Moqing's shoulder, fur fluffed up, tail pointed skyward.

Chu Shan's eyes went wide and unfocused: "So once you find a dao companion... you get to touch the fluffy thing!"

Chen Moqing, his face being nudged and rubbed by the fluff, fell silent for a moment, then said: "Don't believe everything you hear."

At the entrance to Chu Family City, the crowd was jubilant—their young family head Chu Budu, gone for over twenty years, had returned, holding a woman's hand, carrying an infant in his arms.

Chen Moqing stood in the crowd and saw Chu Budu responding to those around him with hearty laughter; the latter's gaze met his, froze for a moment, then he strode quickly toward him.

"Brother Liu Yun! We meet again!"

Beside the spirited Chu Budu, Madam Yue of Qingyue Prefecture approached with a smile: "Young Immortal Master, it's been many years, you look just as striking as ever."

Chen Moqing exchanged greetings with them, his gaze falling on the small bundle in Chu Budu's arms.

The porcelain-delicate baby girl, wrapped in soft silk, had been intently sucking on her own thumb, but upon seeing Chen Moqing, her large dark eyes fixed unblinkingly on him, and she soon broke into giggles at him.

"She recognizes you," Yue Nianxi said softly.

Chen Moqing smiled faintly and produced an item: "A full-month gift for your daughter."

Yue Nianxi let out an "ah" of surprise as a wisp of gauze brimming with moonlight fell between his fingers—even in broad daylight, it gave off a pure, beautiful frost-like moonlight.

"...A thousand-year Jiao King's gauze?" Even Chu Budu, who had seen countless treasures, was startled. "This is far too precious, we can't possibly—"

Before he could finish, the baby girl in his arms let out a "waah" and reached out, grabbing hold of that wisp of gauze.

Chen Moqing let his hand fall away accordingly.

"......"

Cang Shun lay draped over Chen Moqing's shoulder, eyes curved with amusement as he watched him, tail wagging rapidly.

That piece of Jiao King's gauze had been something from his own cave abode, tucked away in his storage space on a whim before. Later, he'd inscribed his human's spiritual sense into the storage space, letting him access anything inside it whenever he wished.

Just now, his human had simply picked through his things and chosen that piece of Jiao King's gauze.

The fluffy tail brushed against his neck now and then, itchy. Chen Moqing lowered his eyes; the Demon Emperor on his shoulder met his gaze for a moment, then burrowed clingily back into the crook of his shoulder, looking utterly pleased with himself.

"Brother Liu Yun, will you come back to the estate with us for a chat?"

Chen Moqing gathered the snow-white little beast into his arms, having caught what Chu Budu had left unsaid, and nodded in agreement.

Though Chu Budu had concealed the aura around himself, it couldn't escape his and Cang Shun's eyes.

Three years unseen, and the Chu family's young family head, once at early Void Refinement stage—had fallen back to Golden Core.

At the Chu family estate, Chu Budu's mother, Luo Shuijian, saw her returned son and stood frozen in place for a long while.

In the end, she didn't ask about his cultivation level, only saying: "As long as you're back, as long as you're back."

Then she turned to Yue Nianxi, taking her hands: "You've suffered for this."

Chen Moqing sat off to one side, the snow-white little beast curled between his knees, watching the family's reunion, and in the process learned the reason behind how Chu Budu had managed to find his daughter.

The Chu family possessed a secret method: if a cultivator relative had passed away, their kin could use their connected bloodline through this method to locate the reincarnated relative's soul.

In the ten thousand years of the Chu family's lineage, very few had ever truly used this method—though a soul could re-enter the cycle of rebirth, the timing of reincarnation was uncertain, ranging from a few years to as long as a century or a thousand years. And regardless of whether the person was found or not, invoking the method always cost half a lifetime's worth of cultivation.

Chu Budu had been fortunate; his daughter Yue Zhaoshuang had happened to be reincarnated, and he'd finally found her in a remote, lower prefecture. But for this, he'd fallen four major realms, his half-lifetime of cultivation entirely drained away.

Luo Shuijian carefully cradled her granddaughter, gently patting the bundle, unable to hide the smile at the corner of her mouth: "Cultivation can be rebuilt once it's lost. As long as you're all safe, that's worth more than anything else."

Chen Moqing watched this scene of familial warmth, lowered his gaze, picked up a piece of pastry, and waved it in front of the snow-white little beast curled between his knees.

Cang Shun kissed his fingertip.

Then took the pastry in his mouth and made off with it.

Chen Moqing: "......"

He expertly ruffled the fur atop the Demon Emperor's head.

A figure rushed into the hall as if flying, stirring up a gust of wind through the space.

Chen Moqing turned his head slightly and saw Chu Qingya, in green robes, walk up to the side of his chair, staring coldly at Chu Budu.

"You've fallen in cultivation level?"

Chu Budu stood up: "Cousin."

Chu Qingya opened his mouth to say something, but caught sight of Yue Nianxi and Luo Shuijian holding the baby out of the corner of his eye, and closed it, turning to bow to Yue Nianxi instead: "Greetings, cousin's wife."

He held out an item: "A gift for my little niece."

Yue Nianxi accepted it with a smile, glanced at Chu Budu and Chen Moqing, gave her respects to Luo Shuijian, and took the initiative to head to the back room.

Once she'd left, Chu Qingya clenched both fists, lowering his voice: "Do you have any idea what state the Chu family is in right now! Do you know how much worry you've caused Aunt these past years! Gone for so many years, contributing nothing to the Chu family, and instead crippling your own cultivation. Do you still have your parents and the Chu family in your heart at all!"

"...I truly have failed the Chu family," Chu Budu slowly lowered his head, "and I've failed Yue-niang and Shuang'er too. I simply couldn't stand by and watch Shuang'er—"

Chen Moqing gently set down his teacup, raised his eyes, gaze passing through the eaves overhead.

"Pardon the interruption," he said, "but has the Chu family invited distinguished guests today?"

"......"

A protective grand formation enveloped Chu Family City. Beyond the barrier where spiritual power flowed, several figures hovered above the Chu family, all clad in ornate gold-and-crimson family robes.

"Chu family, come out here!"

"You injured someone from my family, and you won't even crawl out to apologize?"

"Not scared, are you, you bunch of cowards!"

Aside from the white-haired elder leading them, who kept his eyes closed and said nothing, the cultivators in gold-and-crimson robes behind him were especially arrogant, hurling abuse while trampling over the Chu family's dignity.

"Who do you all think you are!"

The siblings Chu Shan and Chu Shui climbed up onto the eaves and tossed a bone up into the air: "Go eat that outside, quit barking around here!"

The bone, wrapped in spiritual power, flew out past the barrier, seemingly about to strike those men, when the white-haired elder leading them suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of severity crossing his clouded gaze.

"Insolent brat."

A cold, chilling voice rang out, and a streak of silver-white light split down in an instant—somehow piercing straight through the Chu family's great formation!

Soul-path techniques, ignoring all defenses, striking directly at the soul!

In Chu Shan and Chu Shui's eyes, wide with terror, a silver blade suddenly dropped from the sky, its tip aimed straight at their heads, stabbing toward them in an instant—

A slender hand reached out from the side, catching the blade's edge lightly and steadily.

The silver blade, less than three inches from Chu Shan's eyes, dissolved into a wisp of faint light between that person's fingers. His blue robe's wide sleeve swept out, drifting lightly down over the young siblings' heads, like a mild spring breeze brushing past their faces.

Chen Moqing held the snow-white little beast in one hand, raised his sleeve to shield the siblings Chu Shan and Chu Shui, who were clutching at the hem of his robe, behind him, his calm, unruffled eyes lifting toward the sky.

The elder narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze settling on Chen Moqing for a few breaths, then spoke slowly: "Since when did the Chu family gain a soul-path cultivator?"

Luo Shuijian stepped forward past the crowd with Chu Qingya, saying evenly: "So it's Elder Sima. Arriving uninvited, what brings you here?"

The moment she finished speaking, the golden-robed man beside Elder Sima immediately pointed at Chu Qingya: "Elder, it was that brat who injured our clansman!"

"That's twisting the truth!" Chu Qingya said angrily. "It was you who attacked me first!"

Elder Sima didn't even look at him directly, only glancing sidelong at Luo Shuijian: "The Chu family injured my disciple, there needs to be an accounting."

Luo Shuijian said, unhurried: "And what does Elder Sima propose?"

"Let the younger generation settle their own grievances." Elder Sima's cold voice carried across the protective barrier. "Each side sends a few disciples to compete. Whoever wins is in the right."

Luo Shuijian glanced at Chu Qingya, who stepped forward: "As if I'd be afraid!"

"Young Friend Liu Yun," Chen Moqing received a secret voice transmission from Luo Shuijian, "the Sima family and my Chu family have never gotten along, and this visit comes on aggressively, I would ask for your assistance."

"That Sima Buhui is the Sima family's second elder, peak Void Refinement, primarily cultivates the talisman path, and also commands soul-path techniques, extremely difficult to guard against. My husband will emerge from seclusion any day now; we just need to hold out a while longer."

Chen Moqing said calmly: "I will of course do everything I can."

Luo Shuijian felt somewhat reassured, then heard that clear, calm voice again: "Though, doesn't the family head's wife find it rather too convenient that they've timed their arrival like this?"

Luo Shuijian clearly shared the sentiment, sighing softly, saying nothing further.

The Sima family had deliberately stirred up trouble, and yet the Chu family, in its current state, had no strength to refuse, and could only agree.

The Chu family had no elders left—the three former Void Refinement and five Deity Transformation elders had all died years ago in the battle at the Demon Abyss. The family head was in seclusion, the young family head who'd once held Void Refinement stage had fallen to Golden Core, this was the Chu family's weakest moment.

Outside Chu Family City, yellow sand piled up into a thousand-meter arena, and a duel unfolded upon the desert.

"Go get him, Chu Qingya! Sure, you've got a nasty mouth and love to bite, but you're still a bit stronger than me!"

"Chu Qingya! Don't you dare lose! I usually can't stand you, always running your mouth, but everyone's behind you now!"

Chu Qingya: "...Thanks a lot."

He looked at the man across from him—Sima Bu'ao, the youngest son of the Sima family, one of the people he despised most, a spoiled brat who spent his days bullying others.

Sima Bu'ao arrogantly tapped his foot against the ground, crooking a finger at him: "Kneel down and kowtow to your grandfather, and grandfather might just spare your life."

Chu Qingya's brow arched high: "Beg for mercy? From you, someone who barely formed his core with the help of pills, and pilled his way all the way to peak Golden Core? Your parents begged for so many pills on your behalf, and all it did was stuff you into a bloated, useless waste."

"Asking for death! Grandfather's going to tear that mouth of yours off today!"

Sima Bu'ao stamped his foot, the ground caving in a full three meters, and he floated up into midair, bellowing: "Sword, come!"

An extremely ornate golden greatsword plummeted down from high above, crashing into his hand, dragging his arm down with its weight.

Below the arena, the Chu family members buzzed with discussion: "Since when did he become a sword cultivator? Wasn't he hopeless at drawing talismans, and failed out of formation studies entirely?"

Chu Qingya sneered, his finger a brush, tracing like a swimming dragon—a talisman formed in an instant, a hundred-meter sand shield bursting up from the ground, sand swirling everywhere, blocking Sima Bu'ao's slashing blade.

But with just that one clash, he sensed something was wrong—that sword-force was nowhere near the power of peak Golden Core, but above Nascent Soul!

"Wasn't he only breaking through to peak Golden Core two years ago? How is he suddenly at mid Nascent Soul?!"

"That presence feels stronger than an average Nascent Soul cultivator! Damn it, Chu Qingya, watch out!"

Below the arena, the crowd of Chu family members kept cheering Chu Qingya on. Chen Moqing stood quietly amid the crowd, surveying the battlefield, a faint darkness tinting his eyes.

【Another bug】

Cang Shun let out a scornful huff—after all these days, he'd caught that rotten scent again.

To everyone's eyes, though Sima Bu'ao's every strike carried the presence of mid Nascent Soul, Chu Qingya wasn't losing ground—having broken through to early Nascent Soul before the age of two hundred, he stood among the best of the younger generation across the Nine Thousand Prefectures.

Back and forth, Sima Bu'ao's swung greatsword was gradually being suppressed by Chu Qingya's talismans, falling behind, and the Chu family cheered on again and again, their momentum completely overwhelming the other side.

Sword-force collided with the flying talisman script, repelled once more, and Sima Bu'ao's palm split open at the grip, his expression twisting from its initial arrogance into something distorted. He suddenly roared: "Die!"

The moment the words left his mouth, countless black markings surged across his body, his presence exploding upward, instantly climbing to peak Nascent Soul—in the very next exchange, Chu Qingya was knocked straight off the high platform, spitting out a mouthful of blood!

The crowd erupted in uproar. Sima Bu'ao, black markings coiling over him, dragged the greatsword in both hands and laughed uproariously: "Trash is trash, grandfather alone can trample all of you underfoot!"

Chu Qingya clutched his chest, coughing up blood continuously, as a group of Chu family members rushed over to support him, some tending his wounds, others clamoring "Are you alright?"

Chu Qingya shook his head, pushing away the Chu family members helping him up, climbing to his feet himself, and said coldly: "Again!"

Sima Bu'ao spat at his feet: "A defeated opponent, and you think you're worthy? Hurry up and get that so-called young family head of yours out here! I'll cut down a Void Refinement cultivator just the same!"

Hearing this, the Chu family juniors flew into a rage: "The nerve!"

"There's no way he went from Golden Core to peak Nascent Soul in two years! He must be cheating somehow!"

The moment those words left, Sima Bu'ao suddenly whipped around toward that direction, eyes hiking up high, his expression twisting into something monstrous: "Die for me!"

A blade of sword-force swept out sideways, a beheading strike falling toward the unguarded Chu family juniors!

Water surged up in waves, rising into a wall of azure mist, dissolving the savage sword-force into gentle ripples in an instant. Luo Shuijian waded forward through the water, saying flatly: "You haven't taken the platform, you may not attack."

Sima Bu'ao paid her no mind at all, swinging his greatsword, unleashing several more strikes of sword-force in succession, all dissolved by the water veil.

Furious, he pointed at Luo Shuijian and cursed loudly: "You bitch! Second Grand-Uncle, kill her for me!"

The moment those words left his mouth, a fierce gust suddenly swept in, slapping across his face directly, twisting his entire head half around, two white teeth flying out, scraping a long trail of blood across the arena floor.

Sima Bu'ao crumpled to the ground, clutching his face which had swollen red in an instant, staring in disbelief at the figure in blue-white robes that had landed on the platform.

"Who the hell are you?!"

In his eyes, that young cultivator with his dark hair bound high looked down at him, and let fall two words: "Chu Shun."

Cang Shun: "......"

When exactly are we having our dao companion ceremony?

The Demon Emperor said nothing, lying quietly beside his human.

Sima Bu'ao was furious—this person clearly looked like a useless talisman cultivator who could only scribble a few broken talismans and formations, not worth a single hair compared to him, a sword cultivator and heaven's chosen son.

At that moment, he received a voice transmission from Sima Buhui: "No need to hold back."

Sima Bu'ao shouted loudly: "You heard Second Grand-Uncle!"

He scrambled up from the ground, raising his left hand high—an ancient bell materialized in the sky above, tolling again and again, stirring up thousand-meter waves.

The Chu family juniors all paled—under the bell's tolling waves, their spells were suddenly, temporarily sealed!

"Heaven-Severing Void-Suppressing Bell! A seventh-grade treasure! Made specifically to counter useless talisman cultivators like you!"

The flesh on Sima Bu'ao's face twitched hideously, and under the bell's resounding waves, he swung his greatsword again and again.

"A bunch of bugs, die for me!"

Sword-force howled, accompanied by towering black flames, the sea of sand whipping up into a black hurricane, as if a giant serpent were bearing down from above. Chen Moqing stood perfectly still, his high-bound dark hair whipping wildly alongside his robes.

He had seen those black markings on Sima Bu'ao's body before—back in the day, the Haoran Sect, five hundred sect members, all had looked just like Sima Bu'ao did now.

The black storm swallowed that slender figure in an instant. Below the arena, Chu Qingya's pupils contracted sharply, Luo Shuijian lunged forward, a group of Chu family juniors cried out in shock—only the Sima family members wore cold sneers.

Sima Bu'ao threw his head back and laughed loudly: "I really am a genius! First under heaven across the Nine Thousand Prefectures!"

A fist smashed into his face, sending him flying a full thousand meters in an instant!

Before the disbelieving eyes of the Sima family, a sharp, sword-straight figure stepped calmly out of the swirling black sandstorm, seized Sima Bu'ao by the throat, lifted his three-hundred-jin weight clear off the ground, and slammed him down into the earth by the neck!

The ground split open into a spiderweb of deep craters, Sima Bu'ao's eyes bulged, a mouthful of blood spraying out, his body bouncing up like a dead fish before an unblemished black boot ground down onto his chest!

Silver chains dangled from the boot, tracing the beautiful, sharp curve of a calf, yet the sole bore the weight of a thousand jin, grinding down until it felt like all of Sima Bu'ao's organs would shatter. In the depths of his terror-stricken, trembling pupils, a pair of dark eyes, deep and still as an abyss, were reflected.

Dead silence fell over the entire arena, only the black sandstorm still howling on, unable to drown out that cold, clear voice cutting through the desert: "Truly useless."

Cang Shun: "......"

He looks so good when he's cursing someone out.

The Demon Emperor thought quietly to himself.

He liked it.

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