The Demon Lord Wants a Vacation - Chapter 24: The Tianshou Sect

When Luo Xianyun grabbed both sides of Duanmu Wuqiu’s waist, Duanmu Wuqiu’s heart instantly clenched.

He didn’t know what was happening to himself.

He felt extremely nervous, afraid that Luo Xianyun might move a step closer, yet at the same time, he hoped Luo Xianyun would come a little closer.

World-Destruction System promptly reported the mission progress: [“Subdue Luo Xianyun” progress: 40%.]

Duanmu Wuqiu roared furiously in his mind at World-Destruction System: “Heart demon! What have you done to me? My stomach feels a bit cramped, my heart seems to be missing a piece, my hands want to grab tightly, but I don’t know what to hold onto! Heart demon, did you dig out my heart and stomach?!”

World-Destruction System responded with utter calm: [According to the system’s diagnostics, the host’s body has no issues. Both heart and stomach are healthy. Additionally, World-Destruction System is not a heart demon.]

Duanmu Wuqiu said, “Then you must have extracted my soul. Otherwise, why would I feel this kind of emptiness in my soul?”

World-Destroying System: [After checking, the host’s soul is intact. All missions from World-Destruction System are meant to help the host survive better. We will never harm your body or soul. Please rest assured.]

Even without the system saying so, Duanmu Wuqiu had already examined himself with his divine sense. He didn’t detect anything wrong.

“Could it be that I’ve been cursed? When and where, and by whom? What kind of curse causes these symptoms?” Duanmu Wuqiu speculated based on past experience.

He had once seized a book titled Secret Techniques of Curse Cultivation, which recorded various methods of refining and resolving curses. Duanmu Wuqiu searched his memory for any matching symptoms.

Just then, driven by the Savior System, Luo Xianyun lightly wrapped his arms around Duanmu Wuqiu’s waist and rested his face against Duanmu Wuqiu’s back.

Duanmu Wuqiu instantly froze, his mind went blank, and it was as if a few of his three souls and seven spirits had flown off. His life remained, but he felt more than half-dead.

All thoughts of curses, poisons, and hexes vanished into thin air, leaving only Luo Xianyun’s hands around his waist and Luo Xianyun’s face against his back.

Fortunately, Luo Xianyun only held him for a moment before the flying sword arrived at Mu Qianli’s residence.

Luo Xianyun also let go at the right time. His expression remained composed and calm, his smile utterly perfect, his manner of speech appropriate and courteous. He explained his earlier behavior openly:

“The mountain wind was strong. I lost my balance. Fortunately, junior brother, you were steady as a mountain and helped me regain my footing.”

“Mhm.” Duanmu Wuqiu had lost the ability to speak. He could barely hear what Luo Xianyun was saying, and his vision was nothing but a blank haze. He couldn’t see his surroundings—only Luo Xianyun smiling at him and moving his lips as he spoke.

Luo Xianyun’s lips were somewhat thin. Though he was a gentle and compassionate man, looking at his lips alone gave off an impression of cold-heartedness.

Luo Xianyun raised his hand and pinched Duanmu Wuqiu’s arm, finding the skin under his clothes still burning hot. He directly said:

“Just now, I heard your heartbeat was too fast, and your body temperature was high—like you’d just gone through a fierce battle. What happened? Is it a heart demon acting up, or an old injury?”

Savior System: [Host, you really just asked him outright? Aren’t you afraid he’ll directly say, “It’s because my love for you burns like fire”?]

Luo Xianyun’s expression didn’t change as he scolded inwardly: “Shut up. Duanmu Wuqiu has a pure heart. He would never say something so absurd like you!”

Duanmu Wuqiu finally understood what Luo Xianyun had said and responded, “Not sure. The heart demon said it’s not acting up, and I examined my body—no injuries. I suspect I may have been cursed in the past, and now it’s flaring up.”

“Cursed?” Luo Xianyun’s expression changed upon hearing that, and he asked with concern, “What kind of curse could harm a cultivator in the Great Ascension stage? With your level of cultivation, you should be able to locate and destroy any curse inside your body, no?”

Duanmu Wuqiu replied, “I am trying to identify the curse. Secret Techniques of Curse Cultivation mentions a kind of curse that—”

He hadn’t finished speaking when they heard Duan Chengying shout in fury, “Mu Qianli, you really did escape!”

A tattered figure was then thrown from Mu Qianli’s room and slammed heavily onto the ground.

Everyone took a closer look—the figure was a puppet made from the bones of some enormous creature. A sword was stuck in the puppet’s body, and it was none other than Sect Master Duan’s life-bound sword, Chengying.

In the Qingtian Sword Sect, once a cultivator subdued a life-bound sword, they would change their name to match the sword. Mu Qianli’s life-bound sword was named Qianli, taken from the verse by the Sword Immortal of Qinglian: “Ten steps to kill a man, a thousand miles without stopping.”

Duanmu Wuqiu snorted coldly and said, “Didn’t I say he would definitely run?”

Duan Chengying walked out the door wielding a broken sword, his whole being exuding killing intent. He gave Duanmu Wuqiu a cold, piercing look—his gaze as sharp as a blade, making one’s skin sting.

Mu Qianli had truly escaped, just as Duanmu Wuqiu had proclaimed across the mountain earlier. At this moment, every word Duanmu Wuqiu had said felt like a slap to Duan Chengying’s face—smack, smack, smack.

Luo Xianyun glanced at the broken sword in Duan Chengying’s hand and recognized it as the Qianli Sword.

“Mu Qianli even left behind his life-bound sword?” Luo Xianyun asked.

Sect Master Duan gritted his teeth and said, “If it weren’t for this sword being left behind, how could I have thought he was still in the sect?”

Luo Xianyun examined the skeletal puppet and said, “This is made from the bones of a descendant of Xing Tian.”

Xing Tian was an ancient god-demon, a giant who, after being beheaded by the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan, continued to fight headless, wielding a giant axe.

According to legend, when Xing Tian was decapitated, his blood spilled across the land. A tribe living nearby benefited from that blood and claimed to be his descendants.

Those people were three meters tall at birth and grew to over ten meters as adults. Their physical strength alone gave them the power of a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage. However, due to their low intelligence, few could cultivate. Among mortals, they were incredibly strong, and some smaller tribes even worshipped them as deities. But once cultivators became common, the Xing Tian descendants lost their former glory and gradually went extinct.

Ten thousand years ago, when the Beichen Sect was founded, the Xing Tian descendants were already extinct. Only weathered bones remained as proof that they had ever existed.

Xing Tian’s descendants had massive skeletons, which were excellent materials for modern cultivators to use in crafting tools. All the major sects had collected some of those bones.

In legends, Xing Tian wielded a giant axe, symbolizing the Metal Spirit Root. Thus, all of Xing Tian’s descendants were born with Metal Spirit Roots.

Mu Qianli used such bones to craft a puppet and even gave it the Qianli Sword. No wonder Sect Master Duan only realized it was a puppet after destroying it.

Luo Xianyun checked the puppet’s traces of spiritual energy and said to Duan Chengying, “Sect Master Duan, this puppet was not made in a short time. It took no less than ten years to complete. The Mu Qianli who came to question me after receiving my letter—was that the real Mu Qianli?”

Duan Chengying said, “No! Not just when he came to question you—in truth, all these years, the one who drank tea with me reminiscing about the past, who repented to me and promised never to harm the innocent again—that was all this puppet!”

Having been deceived for over ten years, it was no wonder Duan Chengying was so furious that he even personally broke the Qianli Sword.

Duanmu Wuqiu said, “It seems that Sect Master Duan will not be able to seek justice for me. I will command the disciples of the Taoyuan Sect to hunt down Mu Qianli. Sect Master Duan, you have no objections, do you?”

Duan Chengying had originally intended to treat this matter as an internal affair of the Qingtian Sword Sect. As the sect master, if he personally handled the traitor, it wouldn’t lead to further complications. But who would have thought Mu Qianli had already fled—and fled for ten years at that? Who knew what evils he had committed during those years outside?

It seemed this matter truly could no longer be kept under wraps.

Duan Chengying said, “I will also issue a warrant among the righteous sects, calling on the righteous alliance to be wary of Mu Qianli. If there’s any news of him, they are to report it to me immediately.”

Although Mu Qianli had not been caught, Duanmu Wuqiu was still quite satisfied with Duan Chengying’s attitude and said, “Mm, at least you know your place.”

Duan Chengying was in a terrible temper today, and hearing Duanmu Wuqiu speak so rudely, his temper surged to the top of his head. In a burst of rage, he shouted, “Duanmu Wuqiu, how can you still command the Taoist sect? Are you a member of Beichen Sect or a damned heretic of the Taoist sect?”

Duanmu Wuqiu felt like Duan Chengying was insulting him and was just about to retort, when he heard Luo Xianyun’s gentle voice:

“Sect Master Duan, it is through my junior brother that the Beichen Sect restrains the demonic path. Indeed, people of the demonic path are heretics, but my junior brother is not. You can’t confuse the jailer guarding the prisoners with the prisoners inside the cell.”

With just one sentence, Luo Xianyun suppressed the anger boiling in Duanmu Wuqiu’s heart.

Duanmu Wuqiu felt that as long as he stayed by Luo Xianyun’s side, his heart remained lazy and relaxed, as if he were constantly basking in sunlight. Even when rushing about with Luo Xianyun, there was a leisurely feeling like lying on a beach sunbathing.

Perhaps it was because Luo Xianyun not only didn’t make him do anything, but always found others to help him get things done—and even spoke on his behalf.

Being with Luo Xianyun wasn’t tiring at all.

Luo Xianyun had the kind of ability that made people unable to get angry. Duan Chengying’s temper cooled a little, and he asked, “Elder Luo, where do you think Mu Qianli would escape to?”

Luo Xianyun said, “He’s been on the run for ten years now, it’s truly hard to say how many hiding places he’s set up outside. I only have a few directions to investigate. The first direction—Taoyuan…”

At this point, Luo Xianyun paused, glanced at Duanmu Wuqiu, then changed his words:

“The first investigation direction is among the Taoyuan Sect disciples who tried to assassinate my junior brother. Song Gui has seen a few of those individuals; we can begin our investigation with them;

“The second direction is the Beichen Sect. Mu Qianli’s obsession was with the Awakening Bell. Since he has already begun his move, he must have long known the incantation to activate the Awakening Bell. That method is known only to those at the Dharma Body level and above in the Beichen Sect. With careful questioning, it will be clear who leaked the incantation. I’ll have my senior brother, the sect master, handle this;

“The third direction: the Tianshou Sect.”

“Why the Tianshou Sect?” Duan Chengying asked.

Luo Xianyun replied, “Mu Qianli had a child to survive, he seized another’s body to survive, and he schemed for the Awakening Bell all to survive. Now that the Five Decays of Heaven and Man have begun, even seizing Mu Ge’s body only prolongs the inevitable. He will still face the problem of his lifespan.

“He is trying to take the Awakening Bell precisely to live a long life, so he will naturally seek a method to prolong life. In this world, only the Tianshou Sect possesses such a method—it can even extend one’s life to over a thousand years.

“The life-extension method of the Tianshou Sect has long been a rumor in the cultivation world, but no other sect has had solid evidence—except for the existence of He Jinglun, which proves it.

“Two hundred years ago, He Jinglun was merely a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator. After mending the heavens, his cultivation stopped and never advanced. Yet two hundred years later, He Jinglun is still alive, proving that the Tianshou Sect indeed possesses a method to extend life.

“As I see it, the last place Mu Qianli might go… is the Tianshou Sect!”

Everyone had been completely clueless about Mu Qianli’s whereabouts, but Luo Xianyun effortlessly came up with three leads to investigate, which was truly admirable.

In Duanmu Wuqiu’s eyes, Luo Xianyun was glowing all over.

He rubbed his eyes, looked again carefully, and saw no halo around Luo Xianyun—he looked the same as before.

“My eyes must’ve been infested by some kind of Gu worm,” Duanmu Wuqiu thought to himself.