Chapter Ninety-Eight: Setting Out for Demon Mountain

The memories left behind by his former self were long since blurred, but whenever something or someone stirred them, Lin Ze could still dredge up a little.

It had always been this way before, but this time was different.

He could not even recall the man’s name, only the surging anger that kept spilling out of the memory.

For the kindly old man from Xiao Family Village to be so agitated, the other man’s identity was actually already obvious. It was just that so much time had passed that the details had long since faded.

“Who is he?”

“He is Han Zixuan, the direct disciple of the elder from Mount Wolong.” He Lin did not seem puzzled. Lin Ze had only joined the sect three months ago; not knowing the man was perfectly normal.

“Though calling him simply a direct disciple would not be quite right. He is actually Elder Han’s own son.” He added this with a smile.

Lin Ze nodded and walked out of the Bronze Immortal Gate with the others.

“The Little Pill Peak is heading for Soul-Severing Cliff. We are lucky enough to have that old man Yang Shulong with us, so we can look after one another.” He Lin wore a smile on his face, but Lin Ze could still see a trace of tension in his eyes.

The sect he belonged to specialized in alchemy, so when it came to combat, they were inevitably a little weaker.

Lin Ze glanced at his iron token. The area assigned to Little Green Mountain happened to be the lower reaches of the Yellow Sand Long River, not far from Soul-Severing Cliff.

Nine hundred or so Foundation Establishment cultivators sounded like a lot, but the places where the demon race could break through the line numbered far more than a few dozen. The especially difficult sections would require more than a hundred people to guard, and for any single location to have even twenty or thirty cultivators left was already considered quite good.

After they had gone dozens of miles from the immortal gate, the cultivators gradually split apart.

“At your age, take care of yourself.” Lin Ze glanced at the old man beside him.

“Relax. They are hardly going to make the old fellow lead the charge.” He Lin patted his belly and walked toward several stewards from the Little Pill Peak. They activated a spell of lightness, and in just a few breaths their figures vanished into the distance.

Another incense stick of time later, fewer than twenty cultivators remained ahead, from two different mountain sects.

Being able to send out seven or eight stewards each, even if they did not count as truly powerful, they were still far better than the likes of the Little Pill Peak.

The leader of the group was named Peng Yangrong, a steady cultivator at the late Foundation Establishment stage.

He turned back to look at the three people behind him, silently relaxing the fingers that were maintaining the lightness art. If this group traveled at full speed, the little girl at the Qi Refining stage would definitely not be able to keep up.

Seeing this, the female cultivator beside him was somewhat displeased and complained in a low voice, “You do not amount to much yourself, and still you want to drag along a burden.”

“Junior Sister Chen, mind your words,” Peng Yangrong reminded her.

It was clear he had considerable authority within the group. Even though he was the one who had taken the lead in abandoning the lightness art, most of them did not object.

Lin Ze noticed the change in the cultivators ahead.

He had not originally intended to travel with these people. With the iron token in hand, even a fool would not get lost. They had agreed to meet at sunset two days later, so leaving so early did not leave them pressed for time.

What was more, he still wanted to use this time to probe the situation with the simulator first.

He had not expected them to be so considerate, and it actually made him feel a little embarrassed. So he simply stopped where he was and said, “I am tired from walking and need to rest for a while. You all go ahead.”

“…”

Peng Yangrong turned back helplessly.

“Fellow Daoist, we have not even been out of the sect for an hour yet.”

“I am old. That is how it is,” Lin Ze said with some feeling.

Junior Sister Chen glanced at his face, which looked even fairer and more youthful than her own, and clicked her tongue. “Could it be that you are afraid—”

Halfway through her words, Peng Yangrong stopped her. He nodded and said, “Then we will take our leave first. You must be careful. There is no harm in going slower.”

Lin Ze nodded and watched them depart.

Yu Huan said coolly, “Actually, you could carry me.”

She did not mind such trivial matters at all.

Unexpectedly, Lin Ze gave her a strange look. “What kind of dream are you having?”

After saying that, he strolled over to a large tree, leaned against it, and sat down. Then he looked at the white fox.

“What are the rules of a demon calamity? Tell me.”

This was the real reason Lin Ze had wanted to travel alone. In truth, he should not have waited until now to ask these things, but he really had not had the time in the past few days.

At those words, Yu Huan was somewhat surprised.

Asking a great demon about the demon race’s plans—did she really dare answer, and did he really dare believe it?

The white fox replied crisply, “What rules could there be? The Demon Mountain is not even as vast as the Eastern March Range. Where would it fit so many cubs? It is nothing more than borrowing your cultivators’ hands to get rid of some useless old, weak, sick, and disabled ones.”

Her casual tone made Lin Ze’s expression shift slightly.

He had thought the Eastern March Sect was already cruel enough. Ordinary disciples could toil away for years and never catch the eye of any of the peaks, only to leave in silence and disappointment.

He had never imagined the Heavenly Demon Sect could be so ruthless.

Cultivation certainly required the accumulation of resources, but to watch one’s own kind be sent to their deaths so openly truly did not match his values.

Yet upon closer thought, it was not entirely strange. After all, the Eastern March Sect controlled the most important techniques for stepping onto the path of immortality; mortals could not stir up much of a storm. Demons, on the other hand, were born of heaven and earth, and their bloodline and lifespan accounted for a large portion of their strength. The two were fundamentally different.

Besides, if ordinary disciples were unsuited for cultivation, at worst they could leave and return to Taiyang Prefecture to find some livelihood. The demon race did not have nearly so many choices.

Once cultivation resources became scarce, internal conflict was entirely predictable.

“Just that?” Lin Ze continued.

“Mm... and if they discover that the Eastern March Sect has grown weaker, they would not mind seizing this mountain range and folding it into Demon Mountain. With more land, of course they can support more cubs.” The white fox smiled mischievously.

She was in the most relaxed mood of all.

The life and death of Eastern March Sect cultivators had nothing to do with her, and the Heavenly Demon Sect was her mortal enemy. No matter which side suffered losses, it was good for her.

“If you ask me for more, it will be useless. You know this already—if I had taken part in such things, that divine killer would have chopped this head off and made a chamber pot out of it long ago.” She was referring to Qin Hongxiu.

“A chamber pot made from a fox’s head—wouldn’t that be unsettling to use?” Lin Ze asked in confusion.

“I was only making a comparison.” The white fox drew a deep breath and, on account of the Daoist being a Nascent Soul Immortal Lord, magnanimously decided to forgive him.

Lin Ze’s attitude only made her more certain that he was deeply hidden and far from ordinary.

What ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator would dare speak to a Golden Core great demon like this? Especially when there was no black-sword seal around his neck anymore.

Unable to get the answer she wanted from the fox demon, Lin Ze could only open the simulator.

He had always believed in one thing: the scenes produced by simulation could only be used as reference. They must never be treated as the true future.

But given the current situation, it was still better than knowing nothing at all.

The first thing he tried was still his host card.

A moment later, Lin Ze opened his eyes and decided it would be better not to harbor any more fantasies about the Daoist.

They had already come all the way here, and yet the other man could still return to the Green Mountain without so much as a change in expression.

As for the demon calamity?

What did it have to do with the Daoist?

Let a fellow Daoist die; not the poor Daoist.