As the price for letting Si Lingxi take the blame, Lu Zheng belonged entirely to her that very night.
During the interval, Si Lingxi’s eyes suddenly gleamed. She pulled the brocade quilt over them, gently extended her jade hand, and a phoenix divine flame ignited in her palm. Within the sparks, the form of a red heron appeared.
“Greetings to the Palace Master!” The red heron, formed of flame, bowed in salute.
Si Lingxi nodded. “What is it?”
“We have discovered traces of a demonic fiend in the Southern Border,” the red heron said. “The culprit is a disciple of Enchanting God Valley, lured into demonic ways. It is true desire demonic qi.”
“Enchanting God Valley?” Si Lingxi frowned lightly. “The one founded by that Grass Lamp Monk who broke the five Buddhist precepts?”
The red heron nodded. “One of his followers.”
Si Lingxi nodded. “The Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor excels at stirring desires. Sects that cultivate through desires, if their mental state is unstable, are essentially offering themselves as prey to that old demon.”
The red heron asked, “Palace Master, shall we gather forces and exterminate Enchanting God Valley? If the Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor is there too, we can capture him as well and leave him to your judgement.”
The red heron had such confidence. Not to mention the various demon kings who vaguely treated Phoenix Mountain as their backer and would respond at once to a call, even within thousands of miles, many great demons directly under Phoenix Mountain’s domain pledged loyalty to Si Lingxi. Acting together, they could overpower even the Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor.
Yet Si Lingxi shook her head. “Do not underestimate the Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor. This old demon is a heavenly demon from the upper realm. Though he has little strength after descending to the mortal world, his skill in escape is formidable. If he conceals himself, even I cannot find him.”
She paused, then continued, “I will handle this matter personally. You continue the search.”
“Yes!” The red heron nodded, bowed again, and Si Lingxi waved her hand to extinguish the flames. She turned and embraced Lu Zheng, silencing the words he had been about to say.
The second half began.
…
“Oh? The Flower Interval Colour Cloud Sect? That has fallen to the old demon as well?” Si Lingxi raised an eyebrow.
Lu Zheng mentioned the matter the next morning, while everyone ate breakfast together.
“It seems the sect master of the Flower Interval Colour Cloud Sect was defeated by a disciple of the Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor, then lured into demonic ways. He passed on techniques blended with demonic arts to all the sect’s disciples, but it is deeply hidden. It only emerges in moments of life and death,” Lu Zheng said.
“Both Enchanting God Valley and Flower Interval Colour Cloud Sect lack solid foundations. No wonder they could not withstand the Heartless True Desire Demon Ancestor,” Si Lingxi nodded. “In that case, we shall visit the Southern Border and see if we can uncover traces of that old demon.”
Lu Zheng took a bite of steamed bun and a sip of thin congee. “I will go with you.”
Si Lingxi’s lips curved in a smile. She nodded. “Good.”
Lin Wan said, “I will not join you, but take me back first. I have work tomorrow, or I might not make it in time.”
“Very well.”
After breakfast, Lu Zheng sent Lin Wan back to the modern world. Shen Ying found little appeal in staying there alone, so she did not follow but returned to Peach Blossom Flat to rest and cultivate. Liu Qingyan still had patients to see at Benevolent Heart Hall, so naturally she stayed behind.
Thus, only Lu Zheng and Si Lingxi set off for the Southern Border.
The pair made their preparations, rose into the clouds, and flew straight towards the Southern Border. Crossing mountains and ridges, they soon passed Ling Mountain, traversed the barrier between the Central Plains and the Southern Border, and entered the realm of the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
“Enchanting God Valley was established by the master of the Grass Lamp Monk,” Si Lingxi explained. “Several hundred years ago, his master obtained a secret Joyful Zen method from a Western Buddhist land. Combining it with his own knowledge, he broke the five Buddhist precepts and created the Bliss Enchanting God Technique. He caused upheaval in the Central Plains involving several temples, could no longer remain, and came to the Southern Border to found Enchanting God Valley.”
“Around the same era as the Flower Interval Colour Cloud Sect?” Lu Zheng asked.
“Even inferior to that,” Si Lingxi shook her head. “Though both involve similar harvesting of yin to supplement yang or yang to supplement yin, they fall far short of Yin Yang Palace, the Imperial Maiden Lineage, the Divine Maiden Sect, and others, let alone orthodox dual cultivation traditions like Great Joy Zen Temple, Harmony Heaven Temple, or Mysterious Maiden Mountain.”
Lu Zheng stared in shock. “Are there truly so many dual cultivation sects in the Southern Border?”
“These are only the sects chiefly devoted to dual cultivation. Many more incorporate dual cultivation methods, for the harmony of yin and yang is itself a grand dao of heaven and earth,” Si Lingxi said with a light laugh. She leaned closer to Lu Zheng and whispered, “My dear Lu, do not forget that every time our phoenix powers merge and entwine in union, is that not a form of dual cultivation?”
“Hiss.” Lu Zheng drew a sharp breath. Recalling the sensation of phoenix power blending nearly made his legs weak.
Si Lingxi giggled and linked arms with him. “The harmonious dual cultivation from our phoenix power fusion surpasses the effects of ordinary dual cultivation methods.”
Lu Zheng nodded. “I agree completely.”
Each union with Si Lingxi consumed considerable fortune light. The recovery period was short, and his cultivation advanced rapidly. With the jade seal in his mind, Si Lingxi’s selfless aid, and the thousands of strands of fortune light spent in their first union, his dao accumulation neared two thousand years. He had become a relentless cultivation machine.
The speed frightened even Lu Zheng himself.
He had actively cultivated for little more than six years, yet already possessed nearly two thousand years of accumulation. Qing Song Zhenren had said Lu Zheng might surpass him in twenty or thirty years. By his own estimate, at this pace, it might take less than three.
Of course, that assumed sufficient fortune light.
Lately, cultivation had drained fortune light like running water, as if a leak had opened in the reservoir. Without slaying the four demons and rescuing Si Lingxi, Lu Zheng might finally have reached his own “bottleneck” by now.
…
As the two discussed the various forces of the Southern Border, they soon penetrated deeper and reached their destination.
Lu Zheng looked ahead and saw encircling mountains stretching endlessly. Several peaks rose steeply, shrouded in mist. At their centre lay a valley dozens of li across, above which grey mist hovered, faintly radiating mental fluctuations.
This was Enchanting God Valley.
Rooted in Buddhist arts yet incorporating Joyful Zen and some local Southern Border methods, it specialised in soul secrets. It followed a skewed path, making combat exceedingly perilous.
However, against foes with superior mental cultivation or deeper heart realm foundation, its practitioners were largely helpless, as the old monk had been when using the “Bliss Heavenly Maiden Enchanting Realm” against Lu Zheng at Five Beauties Villa, offering almost no resistance.
“Any demonic qi?” Lu Zheng asked. “I sense none.”
“There is, though faint,” Si Lingxi nodded. “It hides within the body, masked by their own power. Detection is difficult. From a distance, even I cannot perceive it.”
With that, Si Lingxi waved her hand.
In the next instant, the sky turned crimson. A phoenix canopy descended from above, enveloping the entire Enchanting God Valley.
