Chapter Seventy-One: Is It Hard? Do You Regret It?

"Why are you still alive?"

"Why should I die?"

Lu Wujie’s chest heaved violently for a moment.

"So you really are an evil cultivator."

"I am not."

Xu Wenshan was certainly not an evil cultivator.

He was a demon cultivator.

The demon cultivation lineage had been extinct for three thousand years, enough time for any memory to fade into oblivion. Lu Wujie had to search the depths of his recollection for a long while before dredging up a phrase he once read in an ancient tome:

"...Demon cultivators can control monsters and are exceedingly dangerous."

Lu Wujie rubbed his temples, muttering, "Why? Why?..."

Xu Wenshan smiled, knowing Lu Wujie could never untangle the knot.

He couldn’t fathom why the Mind-Seizing Art was ineffective against him.

He couldn’t fathom why the venomous insects obeyed his commands.

He couldn’t fathom how, though he had slain the mother of the venomous insects with a single sword strike, he still ended up in such dire straits.

...

Let us return to five days prior.

Xu Wenshan was in his inn, having just turned Sand County upside down with Lu Ze and Spider.

As a demon cultivator, he ought to be prudent, keep a low profile, not act so flamboyantly, and certainly not cause trouble on another’s turf.

But he had no choice.

Coming from a remote mountain village, penniless, landless, and without resources, his beginning was abysmal.

He’d once thought to make his first fortune by exploiting Sand County’s monopoly on pelts, but it was too slow and prone to disaster.

This time Xu Jing had bailed him out, but his pelts were seized. Even if he endured humiliation and managed to retrieve them, what about next time? And the time after?

So long as Flying Arrow Manor existed, they would obstruct his trade. Sooner or later, friction would lead to the death of seven or eight from Flying Arrow Manor before things settled.

In that case, wouldn’t he be exposed anyway?

Rather than letting pressure build until it exploded, better to let it vent in a controlled manner.

"Everyone, pay attention. We are in an extremely dangerous situation," Xu Wenshan said. "Even with Spider’s concealment, there are at least four ways for orthodox cultivators to discover my demon identity."

He placed the "Prophecy Book" left by the Three Peaks Taoist on the table, opening it to explain to the two monsters how to counter the cultivators’ investigative methods.

"Countering the other three approaches is simple. The most troublesome is the Mind-Seizing Art. I made such a commotion to lure the cultivator out—once he uses the Mind-Seizing Art on me, I’ll be invincible."

"How will you achieve that?" Lu Ze asked.

"That, well, requires some outside assistance," Xu Wenshan replied.

...

Xu Wenshan’s so-called outside assistance was the mother of the venomous insects, now standing before him.

While mapping the area around Sand County, he’d sent Spider to visit all the monster dens nearby. One that showed considerable promise was the mother of venomous insects before him.

Her illusions were vital to his plan.

In the dark, sinister cave, Xu Wenshan thought she looked beautiful—beautiful like a lilac blooming in the black forest.

Indeed, she was lovely: slender, with a touch of youthful innocence to her face and an alluring gaze, both coy and joyful.

But Xu Wenshan knew it was all illusion.

The mother of venomous insects was a creature born to cultivate, meaning she didn’t require a Dao body.

Thus, these creatures had only a single magical body, no Dao body.

Yet, she raised a brood of little venomous insects, and to nurture them, she inevitably needed to show herself. If her true form were revealed, she’d terrify many, so she constantly shrouded herself in illusion—without a discerning art, she appeared as an ordinary human.

That is: she looked human, felt human, even carried a faint fragrance, but what one saw, touched, and smelled was actually a huge, fleshy insect.

Her illusions made her seem harmless to humans, but to Taoists, her aura was thick with demonic energy, easily exposed.

This mother of venomous insects had just migrated to Sand County a year ago, braving the risk of exposure to buy oil in the town for a whole year.

"I just want my children to be safe," she spoke awkwardly, pausing between each word.

Xu Wenshan flashed an angelic smile. "Follow me and you’ll have all the oil you want—you can soak in oil every day if you wish. You’ll also be protected by 'Concealment,' not a trace of demonic power exposed. Your children will be safe and happy so long as they work."

The mother nodded, looking like a timid child.

She extended her hand; Xu Wenshan smiled and did the same.

The two hands clasped tightly. Even if Xu Wenshan suspected he was shaking a giant claw, he felt genuinely happy.

"Thus, the master-servant pact is sealed."

...

Once the mother of venomous insects joined Xu Wenshan’s motley crew, their whole team underwent a remarkable transformation.

The spider demon possessed an innate talent for venom arts—so did the mother. When their venoms were combined, the resulting toxin was highly corrosive and carried a hint of anti-magic power, capable of destroying even immortal treasures.

Moreover, the mother was a third-level monster, endowed with considerable demon power.

Now the cards were in his hand—it depended on the enemy’s move.

...

Lu Wujie, soaking in venom, still couldn’t fathom how he’d fallen into this trap.

"I understand one thing... I used the Mind-Seizing Art on you, but you possess demon power, so my memories rebounded, exposing my treasures and abilities..."

The Mind-Seizing Art was a double-edged sword; if the target had magical power, it would backfire, causing the caster’s memories to flow into the target’s mind.

Thus, Xu Wenshan had set trap after trap, leading him into a disastrous pitfall.

Yet, even if the power backfired, he should have gleaned something from the other’s memories—so why had he found nothing?

That day, the result of Lu Wujie’s Mind-Seizing Art was simply: "My name is Xu Cong, a hapless pelt merchant." The entire recollection was spotless, free of blemish.

He relied on intuition—he suspected Xu Wenshan, but the Mind-Seizing Art declared him innocent.

Lu Wujie had always wanted to kill Xu Wenshan, but he could never find evidence.

It was precisely because the Mind-Seizing Art revealed nothing incriminating that he relaxed his guard; otherwise, he’d have struck him down without hesitation.

But now Xu Wenshan stood here, clearly cunning, proving the Mind-Seizing Art had failed.

Lu Wujie refused to believe it could fail.

Xu Wenshan smiled with satisfaction, proud of his ingenious method.

Yet he was not the villain who only delivered empty words and neglected the finishing blow—he waved his hand, and numerous venomous insects with protruding mouths crawled out from the shadows.

"Go! My venomous serpents!"

At Xu Wenshan’s command, the "venomous serpents" began spitting their "saliva" at Lu Wujie.

Now was the moment he’d been waiting for!

...

You may underestimate anyone, but never underestimate a cultivator.

Especially a cultivator in the Core Formation stage.

When the enemy attacks, that is when the enemy is most vulnerable.

Lu Wujie activated the Shadow Flight Escape and soared into the air.

If Core Formation cultivators have any overwhelming advantage over Foundation Establishment cultivators, it is speed.

The speed of a Core Formation cultivator far exceeds ordinary imagination.

In the instant—one hundredth of a second—when Xu Wenshan began to wave his hand, Lu Wujie had already leapt skyward, palms flipping, the Flowing Flame Sword appearing in his grasp.

"Take my blade!"

Before he could strike, a stone overhead transformed into a woman, who punched Lu Wujie square in the face.

The force of that blow was astonishing—Lu Wujie was sent flying, crashing into the venom pool and stirring up towering waves.

"How can this be? She’s supposed to be a monster on par with Foundation Establishment—where did she get such immense demon power?" Lu Wujie was utterly shocked.

He did not know that, as a demon cultivator, one could concentrate all the demon power into a single creature. That punch was Xu Wenshan’s long-planned strike, all demon power focused in Lu Ze.

Lu Wujie took the punch, now soaked in venom, his magical power nearly depleted. Misfortune compounded—venom from the "venomous serpents" now swept down upon him. He could barely form a shield of air to fend off the poison, yet droplets struck him, making him cry out in agony.

...

The "venomous serpents" were Xu Wenshan’s wild invention, combining the powers of the mother of venomous insects and the spider demon to create a new toxin.

He then had the mother produce a new "soldier type," describing: "This new type stands half-upright, with strong muscles around the venom glands, able to spit poison far..."

Soon, the mother produced new venomous insects as described. Xu Wenshan called them "venomous serpents," though the mother protested they were insects, not snakes.

These "venomous serpents" yielded unexpected results. With only forty, they destroyed Lu Wujie’s protective flag. The next forty could, without losing a single soldier, spit him to death.

Of course, if the mother died, both venomous serpents and all venomous insects would perish with her.

But Lu Wujie had not killed the mother.

The defenseless mother was, at that moment, sitting peacefully in Xu Wenshan’s newly purchased house, oil bottle in each hand, drinking merrily.

From the beginning, she was never in the cave.

The "mother" Lu Wujie had cut down earlier with the Flowing Flame Sword was not the mother, but merely her shed skin.

This species possessed a wondrous ability—their shed skin was lifelike enough to fool anyone, leading Lu Wujie to the wrong conclusion.

He fell into a trap: he assumed from experience that the mother only had the venomous insects construct stone walls for defense when about to molt.

He failed to consider the existence of demon cultivators.

The stone walls were built at Xu Wenshan’s request. In truth, the mother had just advanced from second to third level, not from third to fourth as Lu Wujie had guessed.

Moreover, she was never in the cave.

This chain of errors led to Lu Wujie’s total defeat.

...

The puzzle was nearly complete.

Only one piece remained: how did Xu Wenshan counteract the Mind-Seizing Art?

His method was to use illusion on himself.