“There are still three days left before the Evensil Yin Festival, the day best suited for Mother to refine the panacea. To prevent any incidents during these three days, let’s place Tianfeng Jinyu at my place for safety. I shall keep her firmly under watch,” the Second Elder said, his head hung low.
The Grand Elder, who was reclining on her seat, did not offer a reply in regard to his suggestion. She only lift her gaze and asked another question, “Twelfth also went out to look for them, didn’t he?”
The Second Elder’s heart jumped, but his face was calm as he replied, “Yes. He had previously failed to bring back Tianfeng Jinyu some time ago, back at the entrance of the Clear Wilderness, and has since been searching for them since. It’s possible he’s still searching within the Snake Clan. Does Mother wish…”
The Grand Elder snorted, half-lidded eyes flashing with a shrewd light. Having lived for such a long time, she of course had known about Twelfth’s trivial intentions long ago. However, he wasn’t capable of making any waves, so she couldn’t be bothered to waste her attention on him.
Her gaze shifted to Tianfeng Jinyu, who had been thrown to the side by the Second Elder. She was slightly displeased. “Why have you not eradicated the adrift soul within Tianfeng Jinyu yet? Did I not temporarily hand over my Soul Devouring Bell for you to use?”
There was a reason the Grand Elder could steadily hold onto the revered seat of the Leader within the Fox Clan; even though she was long past her prime, few demons still dared to gamble a move against her. Aside from the prestige accumulated in the past, it was also because of the fabled treasure bound to her, the Soul Devouring Bell.
The Soul Devouring Bell was once a divine treasure of the Gods, but it later fell into the hands of the Grand Elder and became her fabled treasure. Once the Soul Devouring Bell is used on someone, it can disintegrate the person’s very soul, to the point where the doors of reincarnation would be closed to them. Its terrifying and malicious power was bluntly obvious.
Aside from the Soul Devouring Bell’s owner, the resilient souls of Gods and Devils, and a relatively small number of demonkin that possessed powerful soul stabilization abilities—— there weren’t many that could hope to defend against it.
Previously, the Grand Elder assumed that some insignificant demonkin’s soul was inhabiting Tianfeng Jinyu’s body. Because it was not yet time to refine the panacea, they still needed the body alive, so she did not pay much attention to it. After all, in her eyes, they were nothing more than a precious medicinal herb; as long as its medicinal properties remained unchanged, everything else was irrelevant.
But today, she clearly felt that the Soul Devouring Bell she had temporarily entrusted to the Second Elder had already been used, so then why had the soul within Tianfeng Jinyu not been destroyed yet?
The Second Elder could hear the irritation within the Grand Elder’s question and hastily explained, ”I obeyed my Mother’s command and used the Soul Devouring Bell, but for some reason, she only became unable to move and did not have her soul scattered away. The Soul Devouring Bell is here, Mother can inspect it.”
As much as he coveted the Soul Devouring Bell, there was no way to take it for himself as long as the Grand Elder was alive. Not to mention, his plan was at a critical juncture, how could he dare to make any waves during such a time? Just a little more time, and what belongs to him will naturally come into his hands.
The Second Elder held the Soul Devouring Bell in his hands, his posture respectful.
The Grand Elder accepted the Soul Devouring Bell, and confirmed this through sensing it, and at once she grew some feelings of astonishment towards this ‘Tianfeng Jinyu’. She raised her hand, and the girl flew into her clutch.
After scrutinizing deeply, the Grand Elder’s expression suddenly changed. This ‘Tianfeng Jinyu’ somehow had the devil’s essence deep within her. Although it was suppressed, it was indeed devil qi.
But Gods and Devils have long since vanished. Logically, it was impossible to find vestiges of Devils left on this world, but in present day, it had indeed reappeared within the body of ‘Tianfeng Jinyu’.
Was it that she inadvertently absorbed residues of devil qi that remained somewhere, or perhaps——
Have the Devils reappeared in this world?
If it was the latter, then they needed to eliminate that Devil before it became a terrifying existence!
But upon further scrutiny, the Grand Elder discovered one more thing, and that was that the soul within Tianfeng Jinyu was, unexpectedly, an otherworldly soul. A soul belonging to that of a different world, enveloped in the arcane mystic that did not originate from the Heavenly Dao of their world.
The Grand Elder couldn’t discern the origins of this otherworldly soul, but she abruptly realized something, and delight bloomed across her face. Because of this, she temporarily suppressed the devil qi that she had previously sensed.
There’s only one thing that can agitate her this much, it’s probably about that man within the secret chamber. The Second Elder secretly thought after noticing her expression.
And as he expected, he heard the Grand Elder’s voice, more urgent than before, saying, “You’ve always been adept at formations. Follow me to the secret chamber this instant and set up the Soul Imperium Array!”
The Soul Imperium Array; the act of preying on and plundering a person’s soul to nourish another person’s soul.
The Second Elder knew about many more things compared to other fox clansmen, such as how that man – locked away by the Grand Elder in a hidden chamber for countless years – was a spirit that had lost its physical body, and how that spirit has gradually weakened over the passage of time. The Grand Elder tried out myriad of methods to resolve this, but none of them could stabilize that man’s soul.
It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought of setting a Soul Imperium Array to stabilize and nourish that man’s spirit before, however, that man was not an ordinary demonkin. He used to be a God, and although he has been reduced to nothing but a fragment of his spirit, it was still the fragment of a God’s soul. The souls of ordinary demons couldn’t nourish him in the slightest, but if it was an otherworldly soul, perhaps it could work.
Aside from the Second Elder and the Grand Elder, there was probably no one else who knew that the Grand Elder of the Fox Clan could be as crazed as to do something like imprisoning a God. During the period where Gods and Devils alike had all but fallen from grace, the last God, however, was hidden from the outside world by the Grand Elder, who seized his spirit and locked him away in a secret chamber all these years.
Even the appearance of Tianfeng Jinyu, the demoness with the so-called divine bloodline of the Gods, was also due to him.
Tianfeng Jinyu, the ‘Saintess’ with the bloodline of the Gods.
The story released to the public was that many years ago, a God left behind a fragment of vitality, which happened to be obtained by a young lady of the Fox Clan, after which she was then able to give birth to Tianfeng Jinyu.
But in reality, Tianfeng Jinyu was nothing more than a high-rank demon when she was born, with no divine bloodline to speak of.
It was the Grand Elder, who had the sudden idea of refining and combining that man’s broken, divine body – which couldn’t be possessed or used anymore – and newborn children together. For this reason, the Fox Clan had lost quite a number of newborn children during that period of time. The others had all been failures, and only Tianfeng Jinyu was left as a success, thus creating the ‘Saintess’. Because of having been alchemized and tampered with at birth, Tianfeng Jinyu grew up to be the murderous and violent madwoman she was known as.
Originally, that child was prepared to be used as a vessel for that man, but who knew that even a body with the bloodline of both a god and a demon was still inhabitable for that man’s soul? She had no choice but to give up. Later, she sacrificed her lifespan to try and mend that man’s spirit; her lifespan drastically decreased, and thus she decided to refine Tianfeng Jinyu into medicine—— a panacea that could prolong her lifespan.
Shu Yu was awake the whole time but was rendered immobile by the sound of that strange bell. But today, after meeting the old crone and being subjected to that gaze full of malice, all kinds of foreboding feelings kept creeping on her.
This old woman was the Grand Elder. The last time she appeared in Tianfeng Jinyu’s memories was ten years ago, back then she was still a magnificent and stunning beauty with who knows how many suitors after her. But now, she seemed to be approaching the end of her lifespan.
Shu Yu wasn’t clear on their purpose in capturing her, but it was obviously not as simple as she previously thought, otherwise she couldn’t be here. Fu Wang had briefly mentioned to her that he suspected the Fox Elders had ill intentions towards her, but at the time it was nothing more than Fu Wang speculating, so he didn’t say anything else. But looking at the current situation, it seemed they did have some kind of secret. While Shu Yu contemplated what kind of things they were up to, she also kept thinking of what Fu Wang would think once he got home and realized she was gone.
He probably wouldn’t think she voluntarily left, right? According to general novel plotlines, Fu Wang could misunderstand that she didn’t want to live with him anymore and then end up blackening… Of course, with Fu Wang’s IQ it was impossible for things to develop in such direction, the realistic scenario is that he would notice she was kidnapped and then chase after them to save her.
Speaking of which, would Fu Wang come save her?
To be honest, Shu Yu didn’t really wish for Fu Wang to break into the chasm of these tigers and dragons1龙潭虎穴, a deep chasm or body of water where a dragon lives, or the cave where a tiger dwells, which describes a place that is extremely deadly and dangerous. Ergo, she hopes he doesn’t come to the Tianfeng Manor to save her.. The Second Elder alone was too powerful; when she faced him, the martial arts that she practiced arduously for so long weren’t enough, not to mention there was an even more unfathomable Grand Elder. This was the territory of the Fox Clan, too. No matter how you looked at it, their chances were drearily grim.
Fu Wang has already gotten free of the half-demon stigma that he detested so much. His life would only get better and better in the future. If he didn’t come and continued on his own, he would definitely live a better life than before.
However, Shu Yu knew that it wasn’t like Fu Wang wouldn’t come just because she hoped he didn’t come; on the contrary, she was positive that Fu Wang would definitely come here. She couldn’t detect any selfish or cruel traces of the original plotline’s BOSS on Fu Wang’s person. Even if he was slightly cold in the beginning, he had long since turned completely into a pool of spring water; these days, it could be said that Fu Wang treated her so very earnestly. This kind of Fu Wang will definitely come to save her.
Shu Yu didn’t want to drag him down at all, but a lot of things won’t happen just because she wanted them not to, just like now. She was simply unable to oppose whatever these people wanted to do to her.
She heard the Grand Elder say something about a secret room and even a Soul Imperium Array; the moment she heard its name, she had an ominous feeling about what would happen to her. Shu Yu tried moving her hands and feet, but it was useless, she was still unable to control her body, as if her entire spirit had been imprisoned within her body, unable to take control. Just like this, she was dragged by the Second Elder, until Shu Yu found herself arriving at the secret chamber they were talking about.
Truthfully speaking, there was no one who would decorate their secret rooms in such a perverse manner. It was similar to the birdcage in the movie The Promise2无极 The Promise; Chinese fantasy film in 2005, by Chen Kaige., but significantly more gorgeous and bigger in size.
Steel bars that were several dozen meters tall, embedded on a surface of white jade, with intricate and beautiful designs carved into those steel bars. There was a heavy white hanging veil inside, with a luxurious lamp which was made from hundreds of pearls hanging from the ceiling, which served to illuminate everything here. There was many extravagant furniture inside, as well. When compared to this place, the luxurious mansion of Tianfeng Jinyu that Shu Yu first saw when she transmigrated here was nothing.
Within that world of pure white, there was a beauty that could fell countries and ruin states, isolated and forgotten by the world.
Upon a closer look, there were some slight similarities between him and Tianfeng Jinyu, but he was more than one step above than Tianfeng Jinyu in terms of beauty. Quoting a sentence from some television series: How in the world could there exist such an outstandingly beautiful man!
“Cang Xiao, I’ve found a method to strengthen your divine soul, are you happy?”
Shu Yu watched the Grand Elder, who turned into a beautiful woman after eating a pill, lunge towards and plaster herself against the steel bars like a demented lovesick fool. She was smiling as she spoke to the beautiful man inside behind the bars.
And the beautiful man, well, he ignored her. He merely stared vacantly at an old string of tattered and old beads in his hands.
But it seemed the Grand Elder was used to this as she carried on happily, “Cang Xiao, after I have aided you in strengthening and stabilizing your soul and my lifespan has increased, I will continue helping you look for a way to reconstruct your physical body, alright? Then the two of us can be together happily.”
The beautiful man ignored her.
The Second Elder seized Shu Yu in his hold and stood in a corner, his eyes were full of scorn and mockery.
And Shu Yu… Sorry, right now looking at the situation in front of her, she couldn’t help brainstorming a tragic love story containing a plot of two hundred thousand words.
The Second Elder set up the Soul Imperium Array, which were two formation symbols that oozed with a hair-rising aura. Shu Yu was put on top of one of them, and the other was underneath that beautiful man. With another flick of the Second Elder, Shu Yu noticed she could finally move, but at the same time, she felt her head starting to get dizzy, as if something was being wrenched from her body. The continuous pain made her involuntarily grab her head and groan.
Seeing this, the Grand Elder’s face started showing delight and she endlessly asked the beautiful man behind the bars how it felt, but the beautiful man continued ignoring her. After talking for a while, she stopped speaking, but not long after, her hands started losing their luster and turning back into the hands of an old croon. She was stunned and quickly hid her face, then turned around and fled the secret chamber. The Second Elder hurried behind her and left. Then, the only ones left in the secret chamber were that beautiful man and Shu Yu.
After the two left, Shu Yu instantly stopped groaning. She gritted her teeth and got up with difficulty, and then took out something from her dimensional bag.
It was something Fu Wang made for her. Fu Wang often experimented with formations, though Shu Yu didn’t understand an iota of it, but one day Fu Wang gave her this tiny little thing. This object cannot break through arrays or formations, after all there were countless arrays under the sky, each with endless differences that were impossible to not down, so Fu Wang made such an object that, when one was trapped in a deadly formation, could temporarily cut open a self-isolating space around the user.
Shu Yu only meant to tentatively give it a try, but it actually worked. The small box-like object was opened and instantly she felt a weight lift off her body, and the pain in her head also disappeared. Shu Yu sat up and looked at the small box. The small box originally had its surface covered in paintings of red lines, but now the red lines were slowly vanishing one by one. When all the red lines disappeared, this temporary barrier would also disappear.
Thankfully, the Grand Elder was too confident in her own territory and didn’t have anyone guarding her, which allowed a moment of reprieve for her.
But even with this, she still couldn’t break free of this formation and can’t get out!
Shu Yu pulled out many things from her dimensional bag, but not a single one did anything. She used her sword to hack at the outer part of the formation, and it was no use. Anyways, she tried anything she could think of, and still couldn’t get out. She couldn’t even destroy this formation, and even less said about the dangerous traps and mechanisms outside. Shu Yu felt more than a bit glum.
Looking over there again, that beautiful person was still sitting like a porcelain doll. His eyelashes didn’t even twitch.
Just as Shu Yu grimly sat there and tried to recall if she had previously raised any sort of flag that could’ve led to this strange predicament, the beautiful man suddenly opened his mouth.
He said, “You have devil qi on you.”
Shu Yu: “Excuse me, I didn’t know.”
He said again, “You have a Devil by your side.”
Shu Yu: “There’s no Devil.” That being said, didn’t those terrifying Devil creatures go extinct a long time ago? And there wasn’t anyone else with her aside from Fu Wang.
Shu Yu felt that this immaculate and stunning man had been locked away in this small dark room for so long that he developed some mental issues of his own.
“I had sworn to her before, I shall slaughter every and all Devils. As you’re involved with a Devil, I shall kill you.”
Shu Yu: How can such a handsome guy be so vicious, going kill kill kill at the drop of a hat? As I thought, my Fu Wang is always better.
“Want to kill me? Fine, but you have to crack open this formation first,” Shu Yu said expressionlessly. He himself was locked up here, what bullshit was this guy spitting.
“Mhm.” The beauty agreed. Then, he raised his hand and straight out obliterated the formation.
Shu Yu: … Eh?!
Chapter Description: Shu Yu: Did I raise any flags before?
Translator’s Note: Starting from this chapter on I will most likely omit the Author’s Notes. Happy Christmas!
![Flying Dust [Fei Chen]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/9k.png "Flying Dust [Fei Chen]")