Chapter 19: Master (XI)

The rain ceased before anyone noticed. A pale, blurred sun hung upon the canopy of the sky.

Amidst it, dragon shadows and black qi were entangled, fighting until heaven and earth were dark and the yin and yang were split apart. The small portion of the town that remained began to tremble incessantly. Once the dragon phantom won, the wandering spirits of this realm would likely scatter then and there.

Everything seemed shrouded in an illusory mist, hazy and indistinct. Only the spiritual pressure radiating from Qin Tan was real—heavy as a thousand jun, cold as autumn frost, making one’s very organs ache.

Qin Tan pressed one hand to his sword, slowly circling the two of them. His face was sunk like still water, and his words seemed to pop out from between his gritted teeth: “You two. Just great.”

Fu Fengyan looked up and responded with great politeness, “Thank you for the praise, Immortal Lord.”

He Tingdong hurriedly shoved his head down. “Shut up, you!”

“Heh.” Qin Tan laughed out of anger, his breath sounding like it was wrapped in ice shards. “Quite proud, aren’t you?”

However, he had no time to lecture these two scoundrels right now. Overhead, the mass of wandering spirits was shifting unpredictably. The Demon Lord in the Dragon Daughter’s memory was too powerful; the dragon form was actually being suppressed.

Qin Tan came from the Sword Sect and had dealt with many such things during his travels. Although wandering spirits were not quite like demons, he was still handy at dealing with them. especially since there was a rare projection of a Demon Lord here. Even if it was just a phantom, being able to fight against a powerhouse of the era would benefit him greatly.

“Stay here. Don’t run around.”

Afraid that these few would run off and be injured by the spiritual energy later, Qin Tan drew a square box with his sword, trapping the three inside. When his gaze fell on Yue Qianxun, who was lying on the side, he paused slightly, and then his brows furrowed tightly. “Half-demon?”

A fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy, skinny as a stick, body curled up, already unconscious. He had suffered too heavy an injury; he was already an arrow at the end of its flight. Just now, Qin Tan had casually waved him away, sending him flying to hit his head on the floorboards. He lay there like a stunned fish, motionless.

Usually, when Qin Tan saw demons, regardless of whether they were mixed-blood or pure-blooded, he would simply cut them down with one strike.

But he was busy right now. Observing that the boy had no bloodlust aura around him and was as weak as a chick, Qin Tan decided to put him aside for the moment. He then leapt up, joining the battlefield.

In the air, the wind and clouds changed suddenly. Sword qi crisscrossed, looking as if it would poke a hole in the sky.

The ensuing great battle had nothing to do with He Tingdong and his companion. Qin Tan was honestly strong to a perverted degree. He fought back and forth with his sword; that demonic aura was pitch-black and flying high, so eventually, no human figure could be seen.

He Tingdong shifted to a comfortable position to sit and rest.

Conveniently, he dragged Yue Qianxun, who looked like he was about to die, into the box as well. He laid him flat, placing his hands on his chest in a pose of serenity.

This night was still very long—so long it was becoming boring.

Fu Fengyan fished around in his robes and pulled out a handful of melon seeds.

He Tingdong nudged his shoulder. “Share some.”

So Fu Fengyan handed He Tingdong a large, overflowing handful.

The two began to go crack, crack, eating melon seeds.

Yue Qianxun was woken by the crack-crack sound of melon seeds. eyes blurry, he saw the backs of the two youths. Head to head, shoulder to shoulder, leaning against each other, loose and completely defenseless.

The sky overhead had already split open. The white mist was dispersed by sword light, and the rain that had fallen continuously for ten years finally stopped. He moved his wrists, struggling free from the rope. The coils scattered on the ground. He narrowed his eyes, playing dead, using the tips of his toes to push backward, inching away silently.

Too dangerous.

The master and disciples who appeared here were all too dangerous. Their methods were ruthless, yet they came from an orthodox Immortal clan. If they discovered his identity… what awaited him was likely only death.

He didn’t want to die.

Gods, demons, whatever—he didn’t want to care about any of it. He just wanted to escape. To flee far away from here, to go out and see the world outside.

In the blink of an eye, he had already scooted a body’s length away. He secretly raised his hand, seeing that the two hadn’t noticed, and planned to gather his strength, roll over, get up, and run.

As his wrist braced against the ground, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed a dark red line of blood on the wet ground. It swam toward him like a snake, condensing into a fist-sized clump on the damp surface. Then, that dark red clump suddenly expanded, and countless slender hands reached out from it!

Yue Qianxun’s pupils constricted. He retreated in a panic, but he was a step too late. His mouth was covered, his eyes covered, his neck embraced, and he was dragged backward into it.

“What is that?” Fu Fengyan turned sideways, pointing at the shadow that was currently swallowing a person.

“It’s the Chaotic Spirit Mass.” He Tingdong shoved the melon seeds into his robes and lunged toward Yue Qianxun. “Go, go, go! I said the spiritual power on both sides was a bit too weak; the Dragon Daughter’s sea of consciousness has indeed split into two.”

He Tingdong grabbed Yue Qianxun’s leg, and Fu Fengyan immediately grabbed the other one. All three were dragged away by a massive force.

In an instant, the large square box Qin Tan had drawn was empty. Subsequently, the ground cracked and collapsed. The illusory realm created by the wandering spirits was torn apart as if by giant hands, instantly splitting in two.

Qin Tan looked down during a lull in the fight: “Huh?”

Where did everyone go?

---

Yue Qianxun genuinely hated his mother.

He knew his mother hated him with equal sincerity.

But he didn’t understand—he had thought about it for ten years and still didn’t understand. If she didn’t love him, wouldn’t it have been better to kill him? Why give birth to him, only to loathe him so, torture him, and wish for his death?

The woman’s massive, hideous face appeared underwater, surrounded by countless dark, ghostly shadows. He saw that crimson, opening and closing eye; dense clusters of eyeballs appeared on the white of the eye like a rash or blisters.

Her form in the water was part human, part dragon. Her limbs seemed elongated, swaying like water weeds. The resentment saturated in her body almost dyed the lake water black. Only the lantern she held in her hand was bright, looking like a plump pearl in the dim turbulence.

So Yue Qianxun opened his mouth and smiled, countless bubbles rising in the water. “Mother, you’ve come to kill me.”

From the age of five, he could see this shadow appearing in every dark corner. In his childhood, it was just for an instant. Later, the appearances grew longer, and she came closer and closer.

Countless pitch-black fingers covered him. He was wrapped up like a cocoon, sinking into the dark sludge at the bottom of the lake.

…

She saw the clear water surface. The ripples from swimming twisted the sunlight into scale-sized spots of light, falling into the water, swaying, shining brighter than pearls.

She was a spirit nurtured by the Great Marsh. Every patch of clear lake water was her eye. Through the currents, She saw women washing silk, children treading water, and further away, billowing sails. Boats passed by like floating leaves.

When She swam through the water, it would often draw countless people to kneel in worship. They burned incense, danced, and threw four-legged livestock in.

She didn’t eat them and threw them all back.

During storms, She would occasionally surface, lifting small boats that were about to sink and delivering them to the shore. Humans would bow to She. She only found it amusing, and carried a few more boats on her back. Later, they built temples, burned incense, and sculpted a golden body for She. One day, the massive faith from mortals suddenly gave She a human form.

From then on, Dream Marsh had a Dragon Daughter.

Carrying a bright lantern, guiding boats home during storms.

Until she fell in love with a man.

After a brief period of sweetness, she lost her reverse scale, her dragon pearl, and her horns. When she woke up in a pool of blood, she saw a long nail embedded in her chest. Crimson incantations swirled upon it—a vicious curse from the Demon Realm.

The husband she had married only three days ago left dashingly, leaving her only the Soul-Binding Nail piercing her lifeblood, and an extra heartbeat in her womb.

In June, rain fell continuously, unceasing for three months. Dream Marsh flooded during the high water season. She heard the clamor of the waves; every roll of the waves was screaming, a scream that shook heaven and earth.

It drowned an entire town. Wails of grief filled the wild.

Kill him. Refine him. It can still make up for part of the spiritual power.

She clutched her already showing belly, but in the end, could not make the move.

The flood swallowed a town and only receded half a year later.

The Dragon Daughter Temple was also washed away, nowhere to be found.

At the end of October, she gave birth to a child. A tiny, weak child, fragile as a nursing kitten, yet full of her hope.

She had lost most of her spiritual power, her cultivation had regressed, but it didn’t matter. Everything could be regained through cultivation.

Until she saw the first water ghost in the water pool. Small, short, only a year older than her child, floating on the waves, stretching out short fingers to grab at pedestrians on the shore.

Shocked, she subdued the water ghost. Then, when she returned to the waters, inside Dream Marsh, she saw innumerable hideous souls.

They were the mortals who drowned after the flood.

She began to ferry souls, ferrying souls day and night without rest. Her sea of consciousness, originally a calm marsh, unknowingly had its waters turn red, gradually filling with a blood-red mist. Every time she picked up a soul, every day she lived, every time she saw her child, a floating corpse would bubble up in the marsh.

If I hadn’t given birth to the child… If I hadn’t had my horns broken and pearl dug out… If I hadn’t married… If I had recognized the man’s true face earlier… If…

Guilt crushed her.

---

He Tingdong’s wrist was twisted free. He watched Yue Qianxun being dragged away while countless water ghosts with hideous faces lunged at him from all directions—densely packed, uncountable. Fu Fengyan raised his hand, and a ball of blazing white fire emerged from his palm, burning furiously even in the water. The lake bottom instantly lit up; the light of the spiritual fire drove away all the water ghosts. The shadows fled frantically, and the darkness before their eyes cleared at once.

He Tingdong saw curved, pale bones and rotten, swollen flesh. A massive corpse floated on the water surface like an island, countless phosphorescent fires residing within it, scattered by the firelight from Fu Fengyan.

They had arrived at the bottom of the lake, beneath the dragon corpse.

Fu Fengyan couldn’t swim. He paddled his arms, but it was useless; he dropped like a sliding weight. However, the light on his body remained bright. He Tingdong broke free from the water ghosts’ restraints and swam toward Fu Fengyan, grabbing his arm and pulling him along.

Fu Fengyan opened his mouth, spitting out a ring of bubbles. Looking at He Tingdong’s face underwater, his eyes were bright. He tilted his head back, exhaling all his air as if deflating, then posed as if drowning, delicately waiting for his beloved to pass him air.

He Tingdong: “…”

Ruthlessly, he fished out a Water Repelling Bead and stuffed it into Fu Fengyan’s mouth.

Fu Fengyan: “…”

Helplessly and sorrowfully, he spat out a water bubble.

He Tingdong swam around the bottom of the lake carrying Fu Fengyan, like carrying an oversized lantern. He dove to the very bottom, reaching out to dig up Yue Qianxun, only to find him encased in a bubble.

His breathing was steady and calm; he was fast asleep.

Fu Fengyan pointed at Yue Qianxun, his palm lighting up to reveal a snow-white longsword. He transmitted his voice: “Dig him out?”

He Tingdong stopped him, frowning deeply.

He had been thinking: what was the Dragon Daughter’s greatest obsession?

Killing the scumbag?
Qin Tan was already doing that, but the black chaotic spirits still hadn’t disappeared.

Killing her son?
But Yue Qianxun was lying peacefully in the water, even covered by a water bubble.

The Dragon Daughter was looking for her inner elixir, looking for her horns. Her chaotic spirit stood upon her own corpse, holding a lantern, drifting with the water day after day, with countless ghosts gathering beneath her.

He began to recall the plot Su Tan had mentioned.

The Dragon Daughter was critically wounded in her lifeblood by the Soul-Binding Nail, then gave birth to Yue Qianxun… Wait, the Soul-Binding Nail. A type of curse object of the Demon Race. It locks the soul of the pinned victim, preventing reincarnation, preventing liberation, preventing dissipation, causing them to suffer the invasion of resentment daily.

Was the Soul-Binding Nail on the Dragon Daughter’s reverse scale ever pulled out?

He Tingdong looked out. The massive corpse floated in the water, covered by countless souls. The wandering souls rose and fell, filling in the incomplete dragon body.

They swam around the dragon corpse for a long time. Finally, among the pieces of white bone and flesh, they found a pitch-black long nail about the length of an arm. Even after so many years, the scent of blood on it was still heavy.

He Tingdong looked grim. Touching it with both hands, he felt a cold, slimy aura surging out from it, causing his whole body to shudder.

Fu Fengyan stared at the long nail for a while. “So dirty. Don’t touch it, I’ll do it.”

He Tingdong held down his wrist. “If you pull it by force, you’ll suffer a backlash. I’ve seen plenty of these things; I have a way.”

“Get behind me,” He Tingdong ordered. “Hug my waist. Don’t fall off. If you can ride your sword later, then do so. I probably won’t have the strength to swim up.”

After speaking, He Tingdong murmured an incantation. He bit open his index finger. Blood seeped out but didn’t disperse. It landed in the water as if drawn on paper—iron strokes and silver hooks. The final stroke carried the faint might of thunder.

He Tingdong’s pupils shone with bright light. His back wasn’t broad, perhaps even a bit thin, but standing in front, he looked stable and reliable.

It was just that after stopping his brush, his lips were much paler.

Different from ordinary talismans, this was the Great Immortal Seal—ancient divine script. The Immortal Alliance had only deciphered twenty-eight characters so far, each with a different use: gathering spirits, exorcising evil, breaking barriers, and so on. He Tingdong stamped down with a palm. The incantations on the long nail scrambled, instantly scattering, twisting their necks like snakes to bite, but were burned by the spiritual power of the Great Immortal Seal. The two forces resisted each other, and finally, the vicious curse withered, turning into a pool of foul blood and dispersing.

He Tingdong tremblingly reached out and pulled the long nail out in one go.

The giant dragon, dead for many years, suddenly shuddered. Scales opened and closed, bones ground together. The coiled, twisted corpse suddenly uncoiled.

A wave of water slammed into them. He Tingdong was hit squarely in the chest. Losing all strength, he fell into Fu Fengyan’s arms.

Then, the two of them dropped like a sliding weight together.

Moments later, Fu Fengyan, carrying He Tingdong on his back, kicked and paddled, imitating how He Tingdong swam earlier, and squirmed his way out of the water.

---

Qin Tan had already hacked the Demon Lord’s phantom to death and dispersed the spirit mass.

Now holding his sword, sword light surged behind him. Countless sword shadows rotated in the air, pointing at the chaotic spirit ahead, as well as the countless surging ghost faces in front of the chaotic spirit.

Cultivators tried to avoid involving themselves in mortal karma.
If the karmic ties were too heavy, one would suffer heavenly retribution and go mad more easily. Even the Path of Slaughter couldn’t help it.

Qin Tan pressed forward with his sword threat, but the wall of ghosts stood immovable. The crowded spiritual bodies blocked the front of the dragon body like a solid fortress.

If he really shattered so many souls, he would definitely suffer for it in the future.

Qin Tan began to regret not bringing a Buddhist cultivator with him. A knock on a wooden fish could super-save them all—how convenient.

Just as he was looking for a tricky angle to kill with one strike, the dragon body beneath his feet suddenly shook. The massive corpse began to roll. Qin Tan flew into mid-air, seeing the water fluctuate. He raised his hand to perform a seal, ready to fight the dragon corpse. But as the opponent turned over, the ghosts disappeared, and the one-eyed chaotic spirit also disappeared.

Qin Tan held his sword, holding his seal, fully armed, with a baffled expression.

He hadn’t even made a move; how did the spirit resolve itself?

And where were those three little brats?

Were they eaten?

He stared dangerously at the dragon’s belly. With a gurgle nearby, a bubble popped up. Then Fu Fengyan, carrying He Tingdong on his back and grabbing a foot in his hand, struggled onto the dragon’s back.

He Tingdong had overdrawn his spiritual power and had no strength. Seeing the sky densely packed with sword shadows ready to strike, his scalp went numb, and he immediately stopped him. “Immortal Lord, wait! Don’t attack, avoid incurring evil karma.”

He raised the long nail in his hand, gasping, “We got it wrong. The Dragon Daughter’s greatest obsession all along was to send those drowned souls to reincarnation. But she was pinned by the Soul-Binding Nail, unable to enter the Netherworld. I just pulled it out; she’s leaving soon.”

The legend of the Lantern-Carrying Dragon Daughter had always existed. The temple was washed away during the disaster ten years ago, but later, mortals rebuilt it, continuing to worship her as a local water god. The incense was flourishing, only the dragon shadow was never seen again.

The Immortal clans also knew there was a spiritual creature in Dream Marsh, but they cultivated separately and didn’t interfere with each other, so they wouldn’t come to disturb her.

He hadn’t expected the Demon Lord to target her.

Listening to He Tingdong explain the cause and effect in detail, Qin Tan sheathed his sword, though his brow remained furrowed, looking a bit worried.

Those obscure past events dispersed. The dragon body in the Great Marsh shook, and a small glazed lantern fell from its body.

Qin Tan picked it up and looked at it, then tossed it disinterestedly to He Tingdong. “Flashy thing.”

Subsequently, a cloud carried the few of them away. The Dragon Daughter, carrying a back full of ghosts, swam slowly toward the center of the Great Marsh.

From now on, there would be no white-clad fairy ferrying people in Dream Marsh. Mortals living by the water no longer needed to fear encountering water ghosts when wading. All the drowned souls in the Great Marsh would ride the wandering dragon to reincarnation.

The giant dragon’s spine sank into the water. Specks of phosphorescent fire shone in the water like stars in the sky, sinking into the inky abyss, receding into the distance.

The dragon body was nowhere to be seen. The white mist gradually cleared, revealing the ship in mid-air that had been stalled for a long time.

He Tingdong hugged the lantern, breathing a slight sigh of relief.

So tired. Want to sleep.

But before he could close his eyes, he saw Qin Tan beside him lift the still-unconscious Yue Qianxun, glance at him, and mutter to himself, “Half-immortal, half-demon, violates the harmony of heaven. Also related to the Demon Lord. Should I seal him in the Upper Mystic Realm for observation, or just kill him?”

He Tingdong perked up instantly. “…Don’t do that, right?”

Qin Tan stood holding his sword, looking at them. “Having you two is troublesome enough. If I bring another one, am I crazy or do I just have too much money?”

His long eyebrows furrowed, his mind made up. “Too troublesome. Better to kill him.”

Just as he was about to make his move, a strange electronic noise suddenly darted into everyone’s ears. Then, a crisp child’s voice sounded on the cloud: “Congratulations, Host Su Tan, for completing Mission One: Saving the blackened male lead in the Sea of Chaos Spirit Realm.”

“This is the transmigration world of The Demon Lord. I am Harmony System No. 88, nickname 88, dedicated to serving you.”

“Currently, the male lead’s blackening value is 98.9%. You need to use love, gentleness, and kindness to warm him, influence him, conquer him, and help him reach the peak of life, unite the Nine Provinces, and achieve invincible hegemony.”

A moment later, another dazed voice sounded, sounding like someone who had just woken up. “What is this stuff? A system? I’m already in this state, how do I still come with a system?”

Qin Tan: “…”

He Tingdong: “…”

Fu Fengyan looked at the high and cold Immortal Lord in front of him, hesitated for a moment, then praised:

“So many people.”