Chapter 14: The Immortal Slaughter Valley Plot

The Abyss Spring bubbled forth.

Qi Shuyue found herself forcibly held within its waters, her eyes fixed longingly on Su Qin, who was digging in the earth.

“Tonight, you shall remain within this circle,” Su Qin declared.

“Even a Golden Core cultivator would be powerless against you here.”

The Abyss Spring recognized its master, its potent earth harmless to Su Qin and anyone he marked.

“This is no prison of your own making, but I implore you, do not stray,” he cautioned.

Su Qin dug a small trench, and the spring water, as it flowed, evaporated, carrying with it fine particles of earth to form a protective barrier.

Any energy-based attack from a cultivator would be instantly dissipated by the evaporating spring water.

As for physical attacks… well, those would be met with an even more formidable defense.

Su Qin retrieved an ox bone and tossed it towards the barrier.

The swirling vapor, laden with sand capable of eroding iron and melting gold, instantly vaporized the bone.

It was, without a doubt, a Pro Max version of a sandblaster from his previous life.

“Should you decide to wander, I cannot guarantee the safety of your feet,” he warned her sternly.

“Why must I stay here?”

Qi Shuyue pouted, her displeasure evident, while Su Qin, unhurried, washed his hands in the spring’s mist.

“Because it is highly dangerous,” he replied.

“Because there are those who might wish you harm.”

“Hmph, it’s clear you simply don’t trust me,” she retorted, unconvinced.

Qi Shuyue found it hard to believe anyone could truly harm her.

Her current status was far too crucial; all factions were watching, yet none dared to make a definitive move.

‘She’s a living ancestor, a veritable handful,’ Su Qin mused inwardly.

‘If I brought her along tonight, there’s no telling what mad scheme she might cook up on a whim.’

‘Unmanageable, truly unmanageable,’ he thought.

‘This one is more demonic than any demoness, a definite factor of social instability.’

Tears would fall at a moment’s notice, and sharp retorts would spring to her lips without hesitation.

How was one supposed to deal with that?

“You may think as you wish,” Su Qin said, shrugging.

“I simply don’t trust you; a demonic overlord would never trust a Saintess.”

Su Qin with a dismissive wave, turned and departed.

Realizing she couldn’t sway him, Qi Shuyue ceased her tears.

Instead, she sat huffily upon the spring’s source, furiously absorbing its energy, as if intent on draining Su Qin’s Abyss Spring dry.

***

Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, Su Qin settled in to await the deep hours of the night.

At Hai Shi (TL Note: The period between 9 PM and 11 PM), with less than an hour remaining until the appointed time, Su Qin raised his hand.

The Tusk Treasure Chest promptly disgorged the Eight Trigrams Mirror.

As his spiritual sense reconnected, Su Qin was immediately bombarded by hundreds of messages.

“Heh, how interesting,” he murmured.

Su Qin perused the messages on the chat board with relish, the image of a naive, homebody girl in his mind growing ever more vivid.

Initially, the messages were along the lines of, “Could you let Yue’er talk to me?”

Then they shifted to, “Why aren’t you speaking?” followed by over three hundred “Are you there?” messages.

However, two particular messages caught Su Qin’s eye.

“Please, do not harm Yue’er! She is still a child! She has a marriage ahead of her, a bright future! I will find a way to gather the ransom; if all else fails, I will take Yue’er’s place, and I swear I will not resist!”

Su Qin’s lips twitched.

To think that such a demoness was still considered a child by someone.

Nevertheless, it revealed a few crucial pieces of information.

First, the Azure Profound Sect already knew Su Qin was the kidnapper; this grudge had been irrevocably forged.

Spies truly were everywhere.

Gu Yuhe was one, and the fourth disciple, Han Zhiyun, was another; though she hadn’t shown her face directly, his bats had still spotted her.

“She intends to hide in the shadows, quietly stirring up trouble,” he mused.

“Truly, she’s learned the essence of an assassin.”

His Silver Splendor Hall was a special case; these few disciples held prejudice against him, leading to the intelligence leak.

But what of the other halls?

At this rate, it seemed they had already been leaked like a sieve.

Second, the Azure Profound Sect harbored no strong desire to redeem Qi Shuyue.

They needed to gather that little bit of ransom?

For the leader of the Southern Border’s righteous path, it was mere pocket change.

Sect Master Qi He, in particular, possessed an astonishing private treasury.

For their Saintess, even a sliver of hope for her survival should warrant sacrificing flesh and blood.

This ambiguous attitude… it seemed someone within the Azure Profound Sect did not wish the Saintess to live, yet merely refrained from acting themselves.

Moreover, they weren’t preparing the money, yet urged him to bring the “goods.”

Wasn’t this a clear signal that they intended to devour him whole?

“It appears even the righteous path adheres to the principle of dog-eat-dog,” Su Qin concluded.

“I absolutely cannot bring her tonight.”

Magical artifacts and spirit stones were no longer important.

No matter how much he repaired his body, it wouldn’t increase his chances of survival.

His current strategy was to eliminate as much of the enemy’s living force as possible in one fell swoop.

He could leverage the unique characteristics of the Immortal Slaughter Valley (TL Note: Lù Xiān Gǔ).

The Immortal Slaughter Valley was a site of ancient chaos; if casualties reached a certain threshold within a short period, the Great Immortal Slaughter Array would activate.

This was precisely why the Azure Profound Sect and the Demonic Sword Sect had agreed to battle there.

The old fogeys were well aware that war was merely a continuation of politics.

The Immortal Slaughter Valley served as a safeguard; even if they were defeated there, their sects would not suffer devastating blows.

The Azure Profound Sect had no desire to lose its position as the righteous path’s leader, and neither did the Demonic Sword Sect.

Su Qin’s gaze was indifferent.

Before a major battle, he would do his utmost to purge himself of emotion.

Activating his spiritual sense to control the magical artifact, Su Qin sent a message:

–Zi Shi (TL Note: The period between 11 PM and 1 AM), center of the Immortal Slaughter Valley. I have departed.–

–Received. Could I trouble you to put more clothes on Yue’er? It’s quite cold there.–

“Heh,” Su Qin chuckled coldly, a string of mirthless laughs escaping him.

Wasn’t this a blatant declaration that she and the ambushers had been lying in wait there for a long time?

‘No need to rush,’ he thought.

‘Let them play their games for a while.’

***

As night deepened into Zi Shi, the seemingly small Immortal Slaughter Valley managed to conceal thousands of people, nearly every patch of grass occupied.

The Bone Painting Hall, righteous spies within the demonic sects, demonic spies within the righteous sects—and the Azure Profound Sect, led personally by Qi He.

There were even large numbers of peculiar rogue cultivators, enticed by Xiao Chen.

He knew the secrets of the Immortal Slaughter Valley, perhaps even more comprehensively than others.

The Immortal Slaughter Valley was, in truth, a kiln where a Body Integration Dao Venerable had once refined several sects, obtaining clones and ascending in one stroke to become a Mahayana Emperor.

The more people, the better.

If the Great Immortal Slaughter Array were triggered, even if he couldn’t obtain clone materials, it would still deal a heavy blow to these sects.

Tens of thousands of eyes, all simultaneously, stared at Immortal Lingtai, who stood in the very center, clutching a large bag of ransom.

This individual was still sending messages via the Eight Trigrams Mirror.

“What’s going on? Why isn’t he here yet?”

It was already Zi Shi, and Elder Gao’s nerves were stretched taut.

His spiritual sense revealed no less than five Golden Core cultivators present, two of whom had even reached the perfected stage!

To make matters worse, two of the killing arrays he had deployed were timed.

If Su Qin didn’t arrive soon, he would be roasted alive.

Escape was no longer an option.

These were all uninvited guests, every single one of them.

Who among them was merely here to watch the spectacle?

Almost everyone was wary of everyone else.

Should anyone make a rash move, they would undoubtedly be ganged up on.

How could one dare to bet that he was truly retreating, rather than feigning retreat to take your life?

They were all old coins (TL Note: A Chinese slang term, ‘lǎo yìngbì,’ referring to cunning, experienced, and cynical individuals), fully aware of each other’s intentions.

“Sect Master, time is up,” a voice murmured.

“I fear there has been a change of plans.”

Qi He’s expression was troubled.

He naturally understood the repercussions of retreating now.

“Do not act rashly,” he commanded.

At the edge of the valley, Xiao Chen’s expression also held a hint of surprise.

He repeatedly replayed his intelligence channels, trying to pinpoint where the error had occurred, and his gaze involuntarily fell upon Han Zhiyun.

‘Could it be that this disciple and Su Qin were actually in league?’

Thus, the seed of suspicion was sown, causing Xiao Chen to become more vigilant.

He secretly activated a communication token.

At the Silver Splendor Hall, Gu Yuhe, who had been silently praying for the demon lord’s demise, received the message.

She immediately rushed towards the main hall without delay.

After a moment’s thought, however, she turned back, brewed a pot of tea, and then proceeded towards the hall once more.

This way, if the demon lord was indeed present, she could use the excuse of serving tea to deflect any suspicion.

Thump-thump-thump.

Gu Yuhe practically sprinted towards the main hall, but as she neared it, an instinctive terror from the depths of her soul utterly seized her heart.

High upon the ornate throne in the main hall sat Su Qin, his face utterly devoid of expression.

“Yuhe, you’ve arrived.”

A smile utterly devoid of warmth effortlessly shattered Gu Yuhe’s composure.

Her legs trembled uncontrollably, and every pore on her body shrieked with fear.

She was no longer capable of relaying any information.