“This is impossible!” The fox yao couldn’t believe that a human cultivator could escape his life-saving ultimate technique.
“Could it be that I have no desires?” Jiu Hui looked down at the unconscious Zhi You and used her spiritual power to move him to a corner in the distance, where he sat against the wall.
“There is no such thing as a person without desires in this world.” The fox yao retorted, “A taste for fine food and beautiful clothes, a lust for beauty and power, a craving for immortality and wealth—these are all desires, and you are no exception.”
“If you have no desires, then why did you intentionally move that handsome young man far away?” The fox yao bared its teeth at Jiu Hui in alarm. “I’ve lived for nearly twenty thousand years, and I’ve never met a human like you.”
“It’s probably because you’ve been dead for too long, Senior. The old magic techniques have lost their effectiveness.” Jiu Hui frowned when she heard that this fox yao had lived for nearly 20,000 years.
Fortunately, this fox yao was currently in a weakened state. If it were to cultivate a physical body, how many people in the world would be its match?
The fox yao knew that Jiu Hui was talking nonsense, but it didn’t dare to attack rashly, so the situation remained deadlocked.
“Senior, you’re so old. I once heard a legend that many years ago, a Divine Lord descended to the mortal world to undergo a tribulation. However, because he encountered many things he detested during his tribulation, he returned to the heavens and cursed the mortal world.” Jiu Hui asked, “I wonder if Senior has ever heard of this matter?”
“What Divine Lord?” The fox yao looked at Jiu Hui with suspicion, his tail hanging behind him without moving, his hind legs slightly exerting force, but his face remained calm. “When did your human race spread such ridiculous rumors?”
Jiu Hui’s doubts grew stronger. The village elders knew very little about this rumor. The twenty-thousand-year-old fox yao who died ten thousand years ago was even considered a joke made up by the human race.
Was the matter of the Divine Lord crossing the tribulation true or false?
If it were fake, why would signs of a great calamity appear repeatedly?
If it were true, why would none of the three clans have detailed records, only vague rumors?
At that moment, the fox yao moved. It suddenly transformed into a giant fox skeleton with ghostly blue flames burning in its eye sockets. The thick yao poison made the entire dungeon as dark as night.
Jiu Hui took out a white jade bottle and tossed it into the air. The white jade bottle emitted a brilliant silver light in the air, continuously absorbing the yao poison.
“At such a young age, you actually have such a good thing.” The fox yao’s skeleton made a crackling sound. “No wonder the current yao clan lives like rats in the gutter. You human cultivators these days really have something.”
As soon as the words left its mouth, it lunged at Jiu Hui, opening its sinister maw to reveal sharp teeth, and bit at Jiu Hui’s neck.
Jiu Hui dodged and took out a huge formation magic weapon, enveloping the entire prison in a formation. She was afraid that if she fought the fox yao, she would knock down the prison and hurt innocent people.
“After all these years, why do you human cultivators treat ordinary people with more and more importance?” The fox yao failed in one strike and opened its mouth to spit out two fireballs.
The fireballs did not extinguish when they met water, nor did they go out when they met ice. These were not ordinary fire spells.
Just as the fireballs were about to burn the unconscious guard, Jiu Hui took off the scarf from her arm. The scarf turned into a blue ice dragon, which coiled the fireballs in its belly and pressed them firmly under its body.
The fireballs did not go out, but under the suppression of the ice dragon, the two fireballs could no longer move.
Summoning these two fireballs had already used up the vitality that the fox yao had painstakingly accumulated, and when it saw that Jiu Hui could actually materialize a divine dragon, it took two steps back.
How could this young girl, who looked to be less than twenty years old, possess such terrifying cultivation?
Even if the human race had flourished for ten thousand years, it would be impossible to produce such a peerless genius.
“What a rare and promising talent.” The fox yao was ready to retreat. “If you’re willing to keep my soul in your personal jade pendant, I can teach you lost magic techniques, help you find the secret realm of immortals, and find all kinds of rare treasures for you, making you the number one cultivator in the world.”
“A personal jade pendant?” Jiu Hui remained unmoved. “The cultivation world has long since stopped using the old-fashioned jade pendants from those grandpa’s storybooks. How could a senior have such an outdated idea?”
“I advise you to dispel the charm mist as soon as possible, so that you can die a more comfortable death.” Jiu Hui could not let a 20,000-year-old evil yao covered in yao poison leave this place. She clenched the crow feather fan in her hand. “An evil spirit that has long since died should be buried deep in the ground, not crawling out of the soil against the will of heaven.”
“Since the heavens have allowed me to live again, then I shall follow the will of heaven.” The fox yao laughed heartily, spewing countless fireballs from its mouth. “You may be kind-hearted, but you only have two hands. Let’s see how many people you can save!”
Tiny fireballs danced around like flies. The ice dragon formed from the silk scarf swept away some of them with its tail, but it couldn’t completely block them.
Jiu Hui waved her fan, but the fireballs seemed to have eyes as they changed direction and continued to attack the unconscious people on the ground.
“Grandpa Bu is right, fire is my restraint.” Seeing the fireballs penetrate her magic weapon’s defense, Jiu Hui raised two fingers and tapped her forehead.
In an instant, countless fresh and slender garlic chive leaves surged out from behind her back, coiling around all the fireballs like spirit snakes.
The fox yao, who had been planning to seize this opportunity to escape, was blocked by the garlic chives that filled the sky. Having exhausted its cultivation, it looked at the girl under the garlic chives and retreated again and again, exclaiming in horror, “You, you’re actually a yao?”
No wonder she wasn’t affected by the charm mist. This type of grass plant yao was naturally less susceptible to the charm mist.
“You, a yao, actually went against your own clan for the sake of the human race?!” The fox yao had little spiritual power left, but it had worked so hard to come back to life that it didn’t want to die again. “As long as you let me go today, I can help you ascend to the throne of the yao king.”
“Yao King?” Jiu Hui looked at the fox yao with a complicated expression.
“Yes, Yao King.” Seeing that Jiu Hui didn’t speak, the fox yao thought that she was moved, and immediately said, “If you don’t believe me, I’m willing to sign a spirit pet contract with you. Just wait until I recover all my cultivation, and I’ll be able to help you take down the yao clan.”
“No way.“carpreads.pages.dev
“Why not?”
Jiu Hui looked at the other party’s pitch-black, foul-smelling skeleton, gathered all the fireballs together, and manipulated the garlic chive leaves to strike the fox yao.
The fox yao dodged in a sorry state, enduring the hatred in its heart. “You and I are both yaos. You don’t have to become my enemy for the sake of these inferior humans.”
“You make a good point, but I’m not willing to accept it.” After one failed attempt, Jiu Hui didn’t panic. The garlic chives behind her transformed into a golden whip. Countless whips danced in the air, like an impenetrable net. No matter how the fox yao dodged, it couldn’t escape the pursuit of the whips.
Snap!
The fox yao’s tailbone flew away.
Snap snap!
The fox yao’s leg bones snapped in two, followed by its sternum and spine…
The only thing left was its skull, which was flickering with a faint light.
“Tell me how to dispel the charm mist.” Jiu Hui stepped on the fox yao’s skull with an expressionless face. The skull creaked under her foot and gradually cracked.
The fox yao let out an indignant and pained roar. “You have humiliated me so, you will never know the method to undo this.”
“Is that so?” Jiu Hui pressed down harder with her foot. “If I add Jian tree Incense to the Soul-Calming Incense, will it work?”
“How did you know……”
The fox yao’s eyes grew dimmer and dimmer, and its voice grew softer and softer. “Who are you?”
“Crack.”
The last trace of life of the fox yao dissipated. Jiu Hui moved her foot away and looked at the pitch-black broken bones on the ground. “I’m already the young master of the yao clan. Why would I want to be the yao king? Do I want to usurp the position of the village chief grandpa?”
“Hiss.” Looking back at the tip of her leaf that had been scorched by the fireball, Jiu Hui took out a bottle of spiritual dew from her storage ring and dripped it onto her leaf.
The spiritual dew restored some of the color to the leaf tips, but they were still a bit yellow. She didn’t care about that, and took out the Soul-Calming Incense and the Jian tree Incense. After lighting them, she walked around the cell.
Two hours later, the unconscious people gradually regained consciousness. They rubbed their heads in confusion as they looked at the charred wall and the kicked-down prison door.
“How did I… fall asleep?”
“The hair on my body is gone!”
“And the pig tail is gone too!”
The first thing Zhang San noticed was the white jade bottle suspended in the air. The yao poison in the room was being continuously sucked into the bottle.
“Immortal Jiu Hui.” Tao Er got up from the ground, with two straws still hanging on his forehead. “Where is that yao?”
“On the ground.”
Jiu Hui walked to Zhi You’s side, but he still hadn’t woken up. She reached out a worried hand and pressed it against his forehead.
“On the ground? Where on the ground?” Tao Er had yet to notice Zhi You’s abnormality.
“The pieces on the ground are it.”
Jiu Hui noticed that Zhi You’s divine sense was in chaos, as if he had fallen into a mental maze and was unwilling to wake up.
This body was not Zhi You’s real body, so his divine soul might be more susceptible to the charm mist. But what exactly was it that could make Zhi You indulge in the illusion of desire and not want to wake up?
“The ground is covered in pieces of…” Tao Er only then noticed that the ground was covered in charred black bones, and he was even stepping on a piece of burnt bone.
During their unconsciousness, what kind of battle did Miss Jiu Hui and that fox yao fight, that even bones were flying in the sky?
“The fox yao’s soul has been destroyed, and the yao poison in your bodies has been lifted.” Jiu Hui turned to look at City Lord Tao. “City Lord Tao, could you please help me find a clean room?”
“What happened to Immortal Zhi You?” Tao Er then noticed that Zhi You hadn’t woken up yet. He wanted to go over, but Tao Xiangyi pulled him back. “It’s important to treat Immortal Zhi You. Please, Immortal Jiu Hui, come with us!”
“Tao Er, you stay here and handle things. Your father and I will go ahead first.”
“Oh, okay.” Tao Er nodded dumbly. He looked at Zhi You, who was being helped up by Jiu Hui, and was too worried to speak.
After Jiu Hui and the others left, Zhang San walked over to the two burnt incense sticks and reached out to pick up some of the incense ash. He sniffed it and thought, “This smell is… Jian tree incense?”
“Hey, what are you doing?” Tao Er saw Zhang San staring blankly at a pile of broken bones. “You there, you’re helping Zu Wei clean the prison cells. Don’t slack off.”
“Yes, Second Young Master.” Zhang San waved his sleeve to fan away the incense ash, leaving no trace behind. “This humble one will go sweep it up right away.”
He was no longer the Jiutian Sect’s Yin Ji, so he only needed to know that he still owed Jiu Hui a favor.
-—–
Jiu Hui helped Zhi You onto the bed and sent a message to Shanghuang Village. The great yao who had died so many ten thousand years ago had been resurrected, which was not only a big deal but also a troublesome matter for the current yao clan.
Upon hearing the news, Yu Jing rushed over and saw Zhi You lying unconscious on the bed. Her expression changed. “Jiu Hui, what happened to Zhi You?”
“He’s been hit by the fox yao’s charm mist. I want to enter Zhi You’s sea of consciousness with my divine soul. I hope Master can protect us.”
“Entering the sea of consciousness with your divine sense is extremely dangerous. If he rejects your approach, it will harm your divine soul.” Yu Jing sighed. “Why don’t you let me do it? You can go rest nearby.”
Jiu Hui shook her head. “Master, Zhi You and I spend all our time together, inseparable. It’s safest for me to enter his sea of consciousness.”
Yu Jing’s expression changed, and she finally sighed softly, “Alright, both of you must take good care of yourselves. It wasn’t easy for me to take in the two of you as my precious disciples, so don’t make me sad.”
“Don’t worry, Master.” Jiu Hui placed her hand on Zhi You’s wrist. “I trust Zhi You. Even if he’s in my sea of consciousness, he won’t hurt me.”
Tao Er, who had rushed over, was a little puzzled when he heard this conversation. Wasn’t it said that cultivators below the Divine Transformation stage couldn’t control their souls leaving their bodies? Could it be that he had remembered it wrong?
He saw that Pavilion Master Yu was calm and didn’t suspect Jiu Hui at all, so he silently lowered his head.
It seemed that he had really misremembered.
“Okay, Master will stay here with you.” Yu Jing stroked Jiu Hui’s head. “You go and wake up Zhi You.”
“Thank you, Master!”
Jiu Hui smiled gratefully at Yu Jing, her eyebrows flashing with golden light that flew into Zhi You’s body.
Yu Jing supported Jiu Hui’s body and carried her to the soft couch nearby, sighing softly.
-—–
The path leading to Zhi You’s sea of consciousness was a winding path. The path was originally dark, but the moment Jiu Hui stepped onto it, countless flowers on both sides of the road bloomed in competition, as if they were desperately trying to please her.
“Little Senior Sister.” Zhi You, dressed in scarlet brocade, descended from the sky, the smile on his face brighter and more radiant than the sun. “Did you really agree to let me become the zhuixu of Shanghuang Village?”
Jiu Hui: “Ah?!”
Author Notes:
Zhi Youyou’s biggest ambition: to become the only zhuixu of the young master of Shanghuang Village!
Little Garlic Chive: Ah? What are you talking about?