Xiao Qiangwei’s emotions had become somewhat unsettled.

You Longtao had just barely let go of the idea of leaving Qingzhou, and Shen Yi had immediately picked it back up.

The former, affected by the situation with General Jiang, had lost some of his usual steadiness — but at least he’d known to call Senior Yang first and talk it through. The latter was apparently planning to walk straight into the Howling Moon Demon King’s territory alone.

Shen Yi’s translocation arts dominated Qingzhou, that was true.

But only because Qingzhou had no Mixed Origin Grandmasters. The General was a Martial Immortal who fought with divine spirit — he didn’t need movement arts to augment the body. The Howling Moon was a genuine demon king comparable to the Mixed Origin realm.

The gap between cultivation tiers was a chasm that a single movement art couldn’t bridge.

“Maybe let General You go with you after all. Better to have someone watching each other’s backs.”

She hadn’t planned to involve herself. But right now she stepped forward without thinking.

“…”

You Longtao set his hands down and felt something quietly amused in him.

If he was remembering correctly, Xiao Qiangwei had just been counseling him to stay steady. And now, the moment Shen Yi was involved, everyone around him seemed to become a different person.

Though thinking about it more carefully — it made sense. His performance had been so consistently exceptional that naturally people’s regard for him had grown.

Mm.

At least Martial Junior Sister Jiang would be an exception. She and Shen Yi were the same kind of person.

With that thought, You Longtao finally found some consolation, and took two qi traces from his storage implement.

“These are from earlier — I’d asked Senior Yang to collect them for me. Gold-bell demon-hunters have a more advanced qi-tracing method. The position readings are more precise. Take these, General Shen.”

The two qi traces were dense enough to feel solid, like small flickering flames in the palm.

“If you change your mind before you leave — I’m available whenever.”

“Thank you, General You.”

Shen Yi held the qi traces and felt through them briefly. The demon ferocity he sensed was extraordinary — several dozen times more concentrated than the mountain lord’s.

“These two blue-faced lion demons are brothers. Inseparable. They rank in the upper-middle tier among the Howling Moon’s demon lords — trusted favorites of the demon king. Which is exactly why they were assigned to protect the White Jade Rabbit.”

You Longtao had dealt with all three of these demon lords for years and knew their methods well.

The core-nurturing stage had three thresholds: planting the path seed, nurturing the path embryo, and finally manifesting the path infant or divine spirit.

If the White Jade Rabbit was roughly equivalent to a practitioner who had just planted the path seed — and a weak example at that — then either of these lion brothers could dominate a practitioner at the path embryo stage, and working together they gave even him, with all three thresholds crossed, real difficulty.

“I’m only going to try. If it doesn’t work, I’ll come back to Qingzhou quickly.”

Shen Yi nodded without making any strong promises.

The many techniques he’d derived to Perfection through enormous lifespan expenditure — now that his cultivation had caught up — were finally showing their genuine power.

Whether the Twin-Harmony Dragon-Tiger True Intent, the Nine Transformations, or the Heaven-Devouring Art itself — mastery of any one of them was sufficient to fight above one’s tier.

But no one could know whether the demons had some hidden innate divine ability they hadn’t shown.

Any demon who had cultivated this far had something they could stake their life on.

“Official business done — I want to ask something personal—”

You Longtao gave a slightly self-deprecating sound. All of Qingzhou’s Division was risking their lives for the stability of twelve prefectures. And here he was, as a Demon Suppression General, in a crisis like this, still taking up Shen Yi’s precious time.

“I heard General Shen traveled to the capital with Martial Junior Sister. I wanted to know whether she—” A pause. “Emotionally—”

He stopped midway and felt a little foolish. With Jiang Qiulan’s composed manner, even if she did have any emotional state, how would she let Shen Yi of all people notice it.

“Emotional state?”

Shen Yi moved his gaze from the qi traces, put them away, and thought for a moment.

“She seemed alright. At least she smiles more than before.”

After her cultivation had made further progress on the way back, Jiang Qiulan had stopped being quite as silent as before. She’d occasionally started conversations on her own.

Quite a difference from the expression-free manner of before.

Though he’d been too focused on thinking about the demons of Qingzhou to really listen closely — he didn’t know much more than that.

“Smiles more—”

The people in the room paused. They each spent a long moment trying to picture that, and couldn’t.

You Longtao shook his head. He understood Shen Yi was trying to offer some comfort.

“Thank you. I understand.”

“Then I’ll take my leave.” A small nod. Shen Yi stood and moved toward the exit.

Better not to let things drag on. The demon cores were waiting.

The abrupt movement caught You Longtao off-guard. He glanced instinctively toward Lin Baixi.

She seemed accustomed to this. Back in Baiyun County, Shen Yi had dropped flatbread on the table and walked out the door without ceremony. At least now he said goodbye.

She only looked down with a quiet resignation.

He’d agreed to talk that evening, clearly, and had turned around and forgotten it immediately.

One more parting, and who knew when there’d be a next meeting.

Going off to do something this dangerous, and still, as always, not a word left behind.

If she’d worked harder before, built up more credits, used the War Temple refinements to raise her level — she wouldn’t have to stand here watching Shen Yi leave alone.

At that thought, Lin Baixi looked at the small bell at her waist. Something resolved in her expression.

“Elder Brother — I’m going too!”

She turned — and was pulled back immediately by Xiao Qiangwei. You Longtao looked at her sideways with mild flatness.

“I can’t manage General Shen. But I can still manage you. Stay in Tingyang Prefecture and get that arm healed first.”

He exhaled.

“When General Shen comes back, I’ll send word to you immediately.”

The edge of Tingyang Prefecture. A stream in a quiet stretch.

Wind settled. Shen Yi’s form appeared. He found a secluded spot and sat.

He was about to leave Qingzhou’s territory.

Not his first time. He still didn’t relax his guard.

He took out the demon cores borrowed from Jiang Qiulan.

Originally fourteen. Five remaining.

He opened the panel and continued deriving the Heaven-Devouring Art. Whatever else could be said about it — while this method’s inner core was considerably more substantial than a standard Condensate one, it was also genuinely voracious.

Five cores down, another three hundred and seventy-odd years of demon lifespan spent.

About thirty percent faster than before the breakthrough.

But Shen Yi wasn’t pleased by this.

The increase in speed wasn’t from greater familiarity.

The path seed was actively consuming the demonic force on its own.

The core-nurturing stage in practice — nourishing the path with various essences of heaven and earth, condensing them into a living being.

Now — on the web of tendrils extending outward from the crimson point, something resembling a small body with limbs had begun taking shape. Only the faintest outline, but it already carried the first stirrings of a consciousness.

This was a divergence from the Heaven-Devouring Art’s description.

The emergence of consciousness was supposed to happen at the path embryo stage. To reach that point himself would require at least two more cores at the quality of the rabbit demon’s.

(End of Chapter)