Chapter 20: The True Nature of the Zhenyuan Banner

““Hey, it’s quite effective for hitting people!””

Bai Jiujiu weighed the (pseudo) Zhenyuan Banner in her hand. The sensation of using this magical artifact to strike was surprisingly good; it felt like a perfectly adequate wooden club.

Since that was the case, she decided.

““Transform!””

Bai Jiujiu swept her right hand over the banner, restoring it to its original form.

The long banner, taller than Bai Jiujiu herself, danced in her grip with fierce, whistling winds, resembling a formidable spear.

““The Zhenyuan Banner! No, you’re a demon, how can you use the Zhenyuan Banner?!””

Lóng Zhí stared, dumbfounded. Although her mind was currently unhinged, she could still perceive the demonic energy radiating from Bai Jiujiu.

The fox demon before her was undeniably a true demon. How could a demon possibly wield a human magical artifact?

Bai Jiujiu offered no chance for a retort. She stepped forward, brandishing the (pseudo) Zhenyuan Banner, using the banner as a staff to strike Lóng Zhí.

Lóng Zhí was about to leap away to dodge, but Bai Jiujiu seemed to anticipate her intention. She raised the (pseudo) Zhenyuan Banner and struck the wound on Lóng Zhí’s abdomen.

Then, exerting force with both hands, she forcefully slammed her opponent back to the ground from mid-air.

““Lóng Zhí, I remember telling you all that I wouldn’t interfere with demons from other places, but the demons on my Yunlai Mountain are not to commit heinous acts unless absolutely necessary. Yet, look at what you’ve done!””

““You’ve turned yourself into this unsightly state, neither human nor demon.””

Bai Jiujiu recognized every demon on Yunlai Mountain; she remembered the demonic energy within each of them.

The Lóng Zhí before her was the young demon she had found at the foot of Yunlai Mountain three hundred years ago. After following her for a century, Lóng Zhí had left Yunlai Mountain.

Bai Jiujiu didn’t understand how a mere two centuries could transform the once timid little demon who followed her into this current monstrosity.

““Fox demon! You fox demon! Don’t get too arrogant!””

Lóng Zhí realized that the fox demon, Bai Jiujiu, couldn’t actually use the (pseudo) Zhenyuan Banner as an artifact. She was merely wielding it like a club.

With this realization, Lóng Zhí’s fear dissipated.

‘Right, how could a demon possibly use a human magical artifact?’

Under the suppression of the Zhenyuan Banner, Lóng Zhí’s demonic energy gradually faded. Without the restraint of her demonic power, she found it even harder to suppress the countless souls within her.

Being humiliated and beaten by Bai Jiujiu in such a manner only fueled her immense rage.

Under the loss of emotional control, Lóng Zhí’s physical body began to break down, and writhing souls started to emerge from the wound on her abdomen.

With a furious roar from Lóng Zhí, another soul-gathering Memory Orb shot towards Bai Jiujiu.

“I’m a snake… never mind…”

She was tired of explaining.

Why should she bother reasoning with a mad demon?

‘Don’t be angry, don’t be angry; I picked her up myself, after all.’

Bai Jiujiu finally understood that for the creature before her, the art of ‘mouth-to-mouth resuscitation’—or verbal persuasion—was utterly useless in restoring its sanity.

She danced with the (pseudo) Zhenyuan Banner, then plunged it into the ground, retrieving the other seven banners. They instantly formed a shield, effortlessly blocking Lóng Zhí’s attack.

The Zhenyuan Banner’s barrier possessed the ability to suppress demonic energy. Conversely, it could also dissolve demonic attacks from the outside in.

A brilliant idea struck Bai Jiujiu, revealing a new application for the (pseudo) Zhenyuan Banner.

Since it was both a shield and a banner, she decided to call this technique the Zhenyuan Banner Shield!

Bai Jiujiu took one banner from the eight, allowing the other seven to orbit her body, creating a 360-degree, impenetrable defense!

She landed a strike on Lóng Zhí, then effortlessly switched to another banner, delivering a rapid series of blows.

Facing Lóng Zhí’s counterattacks, Bai Jiujiu neither dodged nor evaded; her opponent’s strikes were perfectly deflected by the Zhenyuan Banner Shield circling her body.

Moreover, the (pseudo) Zhenyuan Banner had the effect of suppressing demonic energy. Lóng Zhí’s demonic power was already dwindling, and after using another demonic spell, her resistance grew weaker and weaker.

Lóng Zhí’s mind became increasingly chaotic. Some consciousness urged her to flee, while others compelled her to lash out with sharp claws and retaliate against this demon.

Some impulses told her to run east, others to regroup with other younglings. Some commanded her to tear the opponent to shreds with her left claw, while others more directly urged her to bite off Bai Jiujiu’s head.

As her demonic energy diminished, the fully absorbed souls within her exerted a deeper influence.

Yet, Lóng Zhí couldn’t help but feel confused. Both demons were under the Zhenyuan Banner’s influence, and their cultivation realms differed by only one stage, so why did she not even have a chance to retaliate?

What Lóng Zhí didn’t know was that her cultivation time was merely three hundred years. The reason she attained the Soul-Seeding Realm was entirely due to forcibly absorbing a massive number of souls, a method of ‘pulling up seedlings to help them grow’ prematurely.

Bai Jiujiu, however, was different. Her demonic energy was the result of eight thousand years of solid cultivation on Yunlai Mountain, absorbing the purest spiritual essence of heaven and earth. Even her heavenly tribulation was passed in her sleep, at the very peak of her physical limits.

Although she couldn’t use demonic arts, her physical strength and the density of her demonic energy were simply beyond comparison to Lóng Zhí’s.

If Bai Jiujiu truly were a good-for-nothing, how could she have held the upper hand while living with five disciples who were all intent on ‘pressing their master down’?

Eventually, there was no demonic energy left within Lóng Zhí’s body.

Without the restraint of demonic energy, Lóng Zhí’s forced growth caused her physical body to crumble, unable to bear the souls within. It began to disintegrate.

A torrent of vengeful spirits surged from Lóng Zhí’s shattered body.

Crimson resentment shot straight into the sky.

Even the youngling Lóng Zhís, currently fighting other soldiers and constables, were affected. The mother’s mutation caused them excruciating pain.

The younglings on Lóng Zhí’s back howled piteously, their cries wrenching at one’s heart.

““So many souls, Lóng Zhí, how many souls have you absorbed over these years?!””

Bai Jiujiu was astonished. Dozens of souls were already emerging, not to mention the countless others hidden within her body.

This was far more than a demon with two hundred years of cultivation could possibly bear.

Bai Jiujiu hadn’t doted on this Lóng Zhí as she did her other five disciples, but back then, her other four disciples had all gone down the mountain. If Bai Jiujiu hadn’t been in a deep slumber at the time, Su Ling’er would have gained another junior sister.

Yet, Bai Jiujiu didn’t possess soul-related magic. The (pseudo) Zhenyuan Banner could only suppress demonic energy, not souls.

‘No, the power of demons is fundamentally rooted in demonic energy. Although Lóng Zhí is an anomaly among demons, she cannot deviate from this basic law.’

““Queen Mother, save me!””

As many souls separated from her, Lóng Zhí’s true self suddenly spoke.

Freed from the influence of other souls, Lóng Zhí finally recognized who the demon before her truly was.

““You’re not calling me a fox demon anymore?””

“Queen Mother, save me~”

Lóng Zhí pleaded to Bai Jiujiu for help. Three hundred years ago, she had cried out for help in the same infant-like wails at the foot of the mountain.

Back then, Bai Jiujiu had been a beacon of light, illuminating Lóng Zhí’s heart.

If Bai Jiujiu would just infuse her body with demonic energy, just as she had saved her three hundred years ago, then these souls could be suppressed, and she wouldn’t face the complete dissipation of both soul and body.

““I’m sorry, the only thing I can do for you is to let you die without so much pain…””

At this, Bai Jiujiu lowered her head, her eyes filled with tears and a cruel resolve.

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