Chapter 35: The Grand Pure Heavenly Venerate and a Misplaced Bounty

This name.

Bai Jiujiu frowned slightly.

She had learned from Long Zhi’s memories that two centuries ago, while she was in a deep slumber, it was this human, Bai Jiu’er, who came to Cloudfall Mountain.

Without Bai Jiujiu’s knowledge, Bai Jiu’er had then descended the mountain with Su Ling’er.

Moreover, judging by what she said to Su Ling’er at the time, this person clearly knew about Bai Jiujiu’s unique nature.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to assert so confidently that she could fully utilize the Azure Water Pearl.

Bai Jiujiu had never truly understood why she, a demon, could use human cultivation techniques and magical artifacts.

Initially, she had assumed Su Ling’er knew something, which was why she had stolen the Azure Water Pearl from the Great Chu Kingdom for her.

However, from the memories, it appeared that everything had been revealed to Su Ling’er by Bai Jiu’er.

“Bai Jiu’er? Eh, as an eight-thousand-year-old great demon, you don’t even know about the Grand Pure Heavenly Venerate?”

Tong Qiu was utterly astonished by Bai Jiujiu’s question.

She stared at the shaking Bai Jiujiu with a look one might give a caveman.

“It’s not that. You know I’ve always stayed on Cloudfall Mountain. You’re the one who told me about ordinary cultivators, so how would I know about this ‘Heavenly Venerate’?”

Bai Jiujiu pouted, a hint of displeasure in her voice. Tong Qiu clearly knew she lacked the common sense of most demons, yet she still stared at her with such an ignorant gaze.

It was so impolite!

A snake demon is a demon, not a human! There’s no reason for her to know about your human prodigies.

“It’s normal for us humans not to know about the Heavenly Venerate. If I weren’t a constable of the Demon Suppression Bureau, I wouldn’t know either,” Tong Qiu said, putting away the demon suppression bounty notice. “But it’s very strange for you demons not to know, especially a great demon who has lived for millennia.”

“Eh?”

“The Grand Pure Heavenly Venerate is the eighth cultivator to achieve the Heavenly Vein Realm and open their own Heavenly Vein, following the Dragon Cultivation Heavenly Venerate from twelve hundred years ago. They are also the ninety-ninth generation successor of our Demon Suppression Bureau.”

Seeing Tong Qiu once again begin to expand her worldview, Bai Jiujiu didn’t interrupt her, quietly digesting the useful information within her words.

After all, she was already sufficiently familiar with this world!

“And the Great Chu Kingdom, which has issued bounties for you and Su Ling’er, was founded by the adopted daughter whom the Heavenly Venerate entrusted to do so during the Dreamfall Incident.”

“The Heavenly Venerate thus became the Grand Emperor Emeritus of the Great Chu Kingdom, which is why the relationship between our Demon Suppression Bureau and the Great Chu Kingdom has always been excellent. The headquarters’ central courtyard of the Demon Suppression Bureau is also located near Yingdu.”

“Currently, the only four Ninth-Rank Constables of the Demon Suppression Bureau, known as the Four Great Constables, are all personal disciples of the Heavenly Venerate. Even the internal cultivation techniques and methods I practice are based on the insights gained from the Heavenly Venerate’s self-opened Heavenly Vein, allowing for their cultivation.”

“Wait, the Four Great Constables, Heavenly Veins, the Dreamfall Incident, and so on—that’s too much information. Could you explain them one by one? I can’t process it all.”

Bai Jiujiu realized that despite living for eight thousand years, she still didn’t understand enough about the world.

These eight millennia had truly been lived as a snake.

Oh, a snake demon is a snake.

Never mind then~

Bai Jiujiu simply felt as if she had blinked, only to find the small blackboard of her worldview densely covered with incomprehensible content written by Tong Qiu.

It was as if, in her previous life, her classmates were already preparing for college entrance exams, while she had just pulled out her first-year high school textbook, ready to study geometry.

“Explaining too much would be a waste of time. I’ll buy you a few introductory scrolls on the history of cultivators later, Senior, and you can study them yourself.”

“First, I’ll tell you about the Dreamfall Incident…”

Knock, knock, knock~

Before Tong Qiu could give permission, Xia Ya pushed open the door in a panic, holding two garments, and rushed in.

“Big Sister, Sister Ling’er’s husband, look at this!”

“Cough, cough!”

Bai Jiujiu coughed several times, startled by the girl’s address.

‘This girl is a bit too reckless! She’s calling people names without even investigating properly. What kind of decorum is that? It seems Tong Qiu hasn’t taught her well.’

‘My demons on Cloudfall Mountain would never be so rash!’

Although Bai Jiujiu had completely lost faith in those five unruly disciples, she still had great confidence in Cloudfall Mountain, which she managed.

Did they not understand the value of being the top-ranked mountain for retirement among demons?

A snake demon was very proud!

Tong Qiu also felt embarrassed. Just as she was about to scold Xia Ya, she saw the girl frantically hand her two notices.

“What’s this?”

Bai Jiujiu and Tong Qiu looked simultaneously. Were these bounty notices?

Bai Jiujiu was no stranger to this type of notice; she had seen one in Chongxi Town. Wasn’t this the bounty notice for Su Ling’er?

The difference was that below this bounty notice, an additional paragraph was highlighted in red.

[This demon has now beguiled one of our Demon Suppression Bureau’s First-Rank Constables. We ask all citizens and cultivators to assist us in apprehending this demon!]

[This demon is impersonating the Ninth-Rank Constable, Ruthless. Our Bureau has now dispatched a Seventh-Rank Constable to assist the Great Chu Kingdom’s Princess in apprehending the demon fox!]

The bounty amount had also increased, from the original thirty million to thirty-five million.

The number of people targeted by the bounty had also grown.

Somewhere, Su Ling’er was bewildered: ‘Why has my bounty increased when I haven’t done anything?’

The content on the other notice was, as expected, a bounty notice featuring Tong Qiu’s portrait.

However, this one had no bounty amount; it merely listed the magical artifacts and cultivation techniques Tong Qiu possessed, to help cultivators going to apprehend her understand their enemy in advance.

“Big Sister, I found this new one posted by the guards when I went to the night market to buy clothes. I tore it down when they weren’t paying attention.”

Xia Ya placed the purchased clothes on the table, panting as she spoke to the demon and human whose expressions had drastically changed.

Although the bounty notice claimed her Big Sister had been beguiled by a demon, Xia Ya was very certain that the Tong Qiu before her showed no signs of being controlled.

She was still the steady, reliable Big Sister whose composure wasn’t easily disturbed by minor issues!

“No, why does that unruly disciple Ling’er’s bounty notice still have my portrait on it!”

“I’m a Third-Rank Constable! I’ve only been temporarily demoted to First-Rank! This bounty notice must have been written by that scoundrel Zhang Feng! Only that scoundrel would focus on that!”

Eh?

Their points of focus were somewhat different?

Sister Ling’er’s husband was one thing, but why was Big Sister’s focus also misplaced?

Could it be that Big Sister really had been beguiled by the demon next to her?

Xia Ya watched as the human and the demon simultaneously leaned out from under the covers, snatched up the bounty notices, and angrily slammed them onto the table.

They moved in such perfect synchronicity, it was as if they were one person.

Xia Ya nodded to herself, feeling that this possibility was quite high.

“A snake demon is a snake demon! Not a fox spirit!”

If this continued, Bai Jiujiu could foresee a future where every cultivator who saw her would first greet her by calling her a fox spirit.

Don’t distort a snake demon’s species!

It was only when she came back to her senses that Tong Qiu noticed she had also been targeted. Reacting immediately, she turned to Bai Jiujiu, carefully asking what exactly had happened last night.

Bai Jiujiu recounted how she had been mistaken for Ruthless, one of the Four Great Constables, by Zhang Feng, and how she had then knocked him out with a single blow.

“Ha!” Tong Qiu’s eyes widened, her voice filled with disbelief. “You didn’t erase Zhang Feng’s memory!”