Chapter 28

Jiang Xiaofan helped the old man up, and when he raised his head, he discovered that Ye Yuanxue was smiling at him. How beautiful! As for Bingxin, she was staring at him in a daze. He suddenly realized that when Bingxin spaced out, she actually looked very cute.

But why is she staring at me like that?

Jiang Xiaofan immediately used his extraordinary imagination. He thought that the ice chick had finally fallen for his charm, so now all he had to do was add a touch of gentlemanship in his attitude and fully conquer her heart. Hence, he flashed a warm smile at Bingxin.

What followed was Jiang Xiaofan wanting to slap himself because of Bingxin’s one word. “Idiot!”

To hell with gentlemanship!

Around thirty years ago, unorthodox sects ceased to exist on Planet Ziwei. Since Bingxin wasn’t a pedantic person and the old man had committed no evil acts, she naturally wouldn’t harm him. Besides, the villagers needed help. They were left with no choice but to reseal that demonic sword at the mountain behind the village. This was the only way to purge the demonic qi from the villagers’ bodies.

She agreed to the resealing of the demonic sword, but before that happened, she asked about the situation with the young boy.

At the mention of the young boy, the expression on the old man’s face changed. He sank into silence for a long while before finally opening his mouth and replying, “Thirty years ago, not far from where I buried the demonic sword, there was a pool of water nearby. It was there that I discovered the infant Ziya.”

The three of them nodded, motioning him to continue.

The look on the old man grew morose, and he lowered his voice. “Maybe you all don’t know about this, but what I am about to say is the truth. That pool looked to be the Mystic Spirit Pool from the legends. Ziya doesn’t seem to be human either!”

“Mystic Spirit Pool! Are you sure?!”

Bingxin abruptly stood up, and Ye Yuanxue’s mouth was agape. The two distinguished ladies were somewhat shocked.

Jiang Xiaofan was shocked as well, except he couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Bingxin’s reaction. What Mystic Spirit Pool? That’s not the main point here, alright? Rather, shouldn’t the main point be these five words, “doesn’t seem to be human”?

“That’s right. It’s the Mystic Spirit Pool!” The old man firmly responded.

“No wonder why the little guy can resist demonic qi!” Ye Yuanxue exclaimed.

Jiang Xiaofan was at loss for words. He really couldn’t understand why these two girls weren’t concerned with “doesn’t seem to be human” but rather concerned with that whatever bullshit Mystic Spirit Pool. He had never even heard of that name before.

Aware of Jiang Xiaofan’s skepticism and displeased with him, Ye Yuanxue tugged his earlobe and explained, “The Mystic Spirit Pool, as its name implies, has to do with the connection to the spirit world through mysticism. The existence of such a place is a primordial rarity that has witnessed times of old and the new. Even the ancient archives have records of it. The effects of the pool water are akin to those of a divine herb which is even more powerful than the Immortal Spirit Root, a primordial king.

“Oh…. So it’s like that.” Jiang Xiaofan finally understood and nodded. He then asked, “What’s a divine herb?”

“You don’t know?!” Incensed, Ye Yuanxue wanted to kick him.

“Idiot!” This was Bingxin’s evaluation of Jiang Xiaofan.

All of a sudden, Jiang Xiaofan felt aggrieved. At school, teachers had always liked students who asked questions because it meant that the student was a good student with a thirst for more knowledge.

To his dismay, the case was different on Planet Ziwei. His thirst for knowledge led to the two girls attacking him in this manner.

Even the old man looked at Jiang Xiaofan strangely. How can this man have never heard of a divine herb? This is ridiculous! He’s a cultivator after all! Why wouldn’t he know of it?

Although he was suspicious, he nevertheless elucidated, “This world has many prized herbs. They have various powerful and mystical uses and are the physical forms of the accumulation of the purest spiritual qi. Naturally, in the cultivation world, they are categorized into grades as well. From least effective to most effective, they are: precious, immortal, primordial king, and saintly.”

Precious and immortal herbs were rare, but they could, nevertheless, be found and obtained. Those with the grade of primordial king were rarer, and even the leaders of the four prominent sects had difficulty in acquiring them.

In addition, once herbs reached the grade of primordial king, they would contain immense spiritual qi and also nurtured fragments of Dao within it. They were necessary for the pursuit of power for cultivators who wanted to reach their peak. Immortal Spirit Root belonged to this grade.

A divine herb was a treasure among rarities. Essentially, it could heal near-death injuries such as deep flesh and bone wounds. As for the saintly herb, its existence was on the same rarity level as an emperor pill, or rather, it was even rarer than an emperor pill. No one had ever come across a saintly herb before.

Pills, herbs, cultivation realms, and graded tasks were the foundation of cultivation. They were necessities that every cultivator should have a solid grasp of knowledge on, yet Jiang Xiaofan didn’t even know what a divine herb was. It was no one’s surprise that Ye Yuanxue grew so frustrated that she wanted to kick him.

Jiang Xiaofan’s face flushed red. Ye Yuanxue had previously advised him to go take a look at the materials inside the Emperor’s Heaven Sect’s Pavilion of Stored Scriptures; however, he never took her advice with serious consideration.

As the old man had said, when he discovered Ziya, the spiritual qi from the Mystic Spirit Pool had already completely disappeared. He surmised that the infant Ziya was born from the amalgamation of the spiritual qi. This was why he had claimed that the young boy wasn’t a human.

How could an infant child, whose eyes weren’t even open, possibly appear in a small pool? Even if his parents wanted to abandon him, surely, they couldn’t just throw him into a pool in the middle of a barren mountain, right? Not to the mention, the pool was very deep. Why hadn’t the infant Ziya sunken to the bottom? Could it be that a newly-born child can swim?

The circumstances and facts implied that the young boy definitely wasn’t a human, but he did have all the traits of a human.

On that same night, under the old man’s lead, the four of them headed towards the mountain at the back of the village. They didn’t bring the young boy with them. Although he was unordinary, he was, nevertheless, just a child. For his own good, it was better if he had no knowledge of his origin.

The mountain was very desolate, but that didn’t mean that there was no fauna.  Along the way, Jiang Xiaofan spotted many wild fruits. Not long after, they reached the entrance to a pitch-black cave. The vegetation around the cave had withered. Even the soil was stained black.

The Celestial Demon Sword was buried here, deep inside the cave!

After arriving in this area, Jiang Xiaofan instantly furrowed his brows. His Buddhist Sutra involuntarily activated and channeled his qi, as if it was very resistant against the aura of the cave. His body began to radiate faint golden rays, and the demonic qi from the cave immediately dispersed.

Grandpa Zhang didn’t feel anything because his cultivation was lost. However, Bingxin and Ye Yuanxue quickly turned their heads and looked at Jiang Xiaofan. Frightened by his move, they watched on until his body’s golden rays dimmed to nothing.

Ye Yuanxue devilishly glared at Jiang Xiaofan and smiled, “Perverted Wolf, you seem very excited. How about you go ahead and open the path for us?”

“No way! If I go in, we go in together!”

Jiang Xiaofan shook his head. Who is she kidding? Even Grandpa Zhang isn’t certain of the geography of the cave. If I am to open the path, then what will I do if encounter something dire? Won’t I be cannon fodder then?! There will be no way to return home!

“Chicken!” Bingxin chirped him with disdain.

Jiang Xiaofan ignored her remark, turned around, and asked the old man, “By the way, what rank is that Celestial Demon Sword? Is it spirit-ranked or precious-ranked?”

Because the old man used to be a cultivator, Jiang Xiaofan’s tone towards him was more casual than average.

“I’m not sure. The Celestial Demon Sword is a unique weapon. Although it is the sacred treasure of my sect, its power is normally sealed away.” The old man shook his head but then gave an alternate answer, “However, the sect leader once said that its rank is at least arcana.”

What?! Arcana?!

Instantaneously, Jiang Xiaofan’s mouth rapidly secreted with saliva and almost drooled.

Looking at Bingxin and Ye Yuanxue about to enter the cave, he dashed ahead *woosh* and stopped the two girls. With a stern expression, he resolutely told them, “I’ve been pondering for a while now. There could be dangers inside. You guys stay put. I’ll go explore.”

“Didn’t you just say that you wanted to go together?” Bewildered, Ye Yuanxue queried him.

“Silly, I was just kidding!” Jiang Xiaofan chuckled and then grew serious again. “No matter what, I’m a man. How can I allow two girls to face danger? Do I, Jiang Xiaofan, look like the type of person who would do that?!”

“Very much so!” Bingxin nodded in agreement.

Jiang Xiaofan wanted to vomit blood. Sister, can’t you say it more euphemistically? 

In the end, the two girls could no longer bear Jiang Xiaofan’s manly temperament, so they allowed him to do as he wished. Jiang Xiaofan then meticulously asked the old man for a topographical layout of the cave and the location of the buried Celestial Demon Sword. After all was said and done, he charged into the cave.

“Will he be alright just by himself?” Grandpa Zhang was somewhat concerned.

“It’s best if he dies inside!” Bingxin coldly remarked.

While exploring, Jiang Xiaofan sneezed a few times. Without a plausible reason, he felt chilled.

Shit! Someone must be cursing me!

He violently shook his head and continued trekking. Arcana, huh? And it’s a demonic weapon! Jiang Xiaofan was giddy with joy.

Originally, he had no intention of becoming cannon fodder. However, he was suddenly enlightened. Screw everything! What’s my cultivation?! Please, it’s the Buddhist Sutra, okay? What are demons most afraid of? Buddhist aura! I was born to subdue demonic cultivation!

In other words, he had high hopes of suppressing and retrieving the Celestial Demon Sword.

If Bingxin and the others were to follow him, then he would have no grand role to play. I must retrieve the sword, and then…. Wahaha! Asshole Zhu Xidao! You have a precious-ranked weapon? I’ll chop it until it becomes a heap of scrap iron! I’ll let you crouch in a dingy corner and draw circles on the wall!

These were merely his thoughts. He could not openly draw out the Celestial Demon Sword after retrieval.  Otherwise, he would be finished. The entire cultivation world would be after him. By then, he hypothesized that even if he acted like an ant and hid in the mound, he would, nonetheless, be dragged out and trampled to death.

The lighting in the cave was very bleak. Even with Jiang Xiaofan’s current cultivation level, he had difficulty in seeing what lay ahead.

He strenuously trekked deeper inside the cave. The demonic qi in the atmosphere grew denser, and his breathing became labored. Eventually, Jiang Xiaofan felt that he was about to suffocate.

It was at this time that Jiang Xiaofan smiled. He was already far away from the cave entrance. He didn’t need to worry about Bingxin and the others discovering his act. His body suddenly radiated with faint golden rays. The light purged the dark, demonic aura and lit up the path in front of him.

“Hehe, as I expected! I am the god here!”