CHAPTER 172: FIEND-BREEDING MOUNTAIN VILLAGE

In the second year after the heavens reopened and cultivation resumed, Qing Yanzi once explained the concept of fiends to Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan. At the time, he drew upon many sources, leaving Mu Wanxuan looking adorably confused. Wang Sheng, on the other hand, managed to remember all of his master's words.

The word "fiend" was closely related in meaning to words like "aberration" and "deviant." Anything abnormal or heretical could be called a fiend.

In the foundational texts that the Celestial Master Sect's disciples studied upon entry, it was written:

When humans create what Heaven never meant to exist, they become a fiend.

When lifeless things gain sentience, they rise as spirits.

When souls refuse to pass beyond, they linger as ghosts.

When aberrations occur, they are called monsters.

When the divine stray from their path, they are called corrupt.

When human hearts are consumed by madness and obsession, they become devils.

Due to the influence of numerous folk legends and mythological works in literature and film, the concept of "fiend" had gradually been confused with the concept of "spirits."

According to Qing Yanzi's summary, primal qi began nourishing all living things upon its resurgence, allowing myriad creatures to start cultivating. Plants, animals, insects, and scaled beasts in the depths of the mountains and forests awakened spiritual intelligence and began cultivating on their own, turning them into spirits. They refrained from killing and sought only self-improvement.

Once tainted by human presence, spirits would gain human traits and start harming others. Eventually, they would become a fiend.

In ancient times, fiends were enemies of cultivators. Even most spirits were often hunted down to prevent future threats. Furthermore, since many spirits could be used as ingredients for alchemy, plenty of cultivators had their eyes on them.

Nowadays, there was less need to worry. Non-human fiends and spirits required long periods to awaken spiritual intelligence. Moreover, humans were the leaders of all living beings and had inherited numerous Daoist traditions. Hence, fiends and spirits simply could not match the progress speed of human cultivators in the Dao.

That was why modern cultivators who exterminated fiends didn't have to disturb the cultivation of spirits. If they felt uneasy about them, they could emulate the practices of certain ancient masters and bring them back to the mountains for captivity and observation. Once chosen and brought back by a cultivator to be raised in the mountains, such a spirit would gain a new title: Mountain-Guarding Celestial Beast.

At the end of the day, humanity made the rules.

From ancient times until now, the word "fiend" had never had a good connotation. Wang Sheng couldn't help but feel disgusted whenever he thought about how, in various mythological stories and films, fiendkind would make their entrance by shouting, "Today, we fiends shall exterminate you weak humans!"

It was no different from corrupt cultivators popping up and screaming, "Today, we corrupt Daoists shall wipe out you righteous weaklings!"

It was hard to take seriously.

Back to the matter at hand.

Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan had been flying over a range of small mountains when Mu Wanxuan's phone ran out of battery. While looking for a place to charge it, they unexpectedly stumbled upon a creature hidden in the hollow behind the mountains. It absorbed moon essence and cultivated using fiends.

Since they hadn't seen it with their own eyes yet, they couldn't yet determine whether it was a human using fiends for cultivation or a spirit cultivating on its own. For now, they simply referred to it as "fiend cultivator."

The dozen or so auras were not particularly strong. The most powerful among them barely reached the level of a Spirit Convergence Realm cultivator.

However, they were quite close to a nearby village that was home to many fruit farmers. Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan couldn't just turn a blind eye to it.

Using voice transmission, Wang Sheng said, "Fiends are rare these days. Try to catch them alive if possible."

Mu Wanxuan's expression instantly turned serious. "Mm!"

Wang Sheng opened the sword case on his back, and Spiritless sprang out. He caught it firmly in his hand and then pointed his sword finger forward, making the flying sword accelerate again. Meanwhile, Mu Wanxuan raised her hands, gathering gentle yin qi in her left palm and warm yang qi in her right to prepare for a serious fight.

The moment they flew over the ridge and into the hollow, Wang Sheng's true essence erupted under his feet. The flying sword shot forward.

"Engage!" Wang Sheng shouted lightly.

The two leaped down from the sky, one to the left and one to the right. The celestial-grade flying sword spun between them in a dazzling flash, plummeting down toward the ground below.

When Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan landed, over ten sharp pairs of eyes immediately turned toward them. Contrary to their expectations, however, the creatures never attacked. Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan landed swiftly and stood against each other's backs, momentarily confused.

In the hollow were more than ten cages, each tall enough to fit a person and with iron bars as thick as a thumb. Inside them were over a dozen fierce-looking... wolves? No, they were muscular, vicious-looking, large dogs. They bared their fangs and growled lowly at the two.

Mu Wanxuan was only afraid of ghosts. These big dogs posed no threat to her at all; she was confident that she could slap them all to death if needed.

Wang Sheng frowned. Without waiting for his senior sister to speak, he pulled her along and rushed toward a shadowed corner that he had noticed.

"Conceal your aura, Senior Sister! Now!"

Dogs bullied the weak and feared the strong. Hence, when the two ran, the dozen large dogs barked furiously. Soon after, several figures came rushing from the entrance of the hollow.

Since they weren't cultivators, they didn't run very fast. As they closed in, they erupted into shouts.

"Shut up! What the hell are you barking for? If the police show up, you're all getting slaughtered!"

"You all say you understand humans, but you just keep making trouble for me!"

"Shut up, all of you!"

"Wait, Third Eldest, they're barking toward that side. Could someone have snuck in?"

"We've been guarding the perimeters the whole time. How the hell could anyone have gotten in? Oh right, maybe they've scaled the damn mountain?"

As they conversed, they picked up the wooden sticks beside the cages and walked to the corner where the dogs were barking. However, they found not a single person in sight. Slowly, the barking died down. The fierce dogs looked confused, their expressions oddly humanlike.

Meanwhile, on a slope beside the mountain hollow, Wang Sheng was recording the scene with his phone. Though feeling a little distressed over the data it would cost him, he sent the video to Mou Yue along with his location.

Mou Yue was quick to reply.

Mou Yue: Ten minutes.

The Special Investigation Unit had clearly dealt with similar incidents before. Wang Sheng didn't even have to provide further explanation.

This wasn't a simple case of a vicious cultivator exploiting dog fiends. Someone had obviously been raising them deliberately. Although the people present were just ordinary folk, a corrupt cultivator was undoubtedly behind them.

Wang Sheng and his senior sister lay hidden in a pile of dry grass in front of a sparse forest, the stars and moon overhead giving the scene a touch of quiet elegance. They sensed no other fluctuations of primal qi in the vicinity.

The few ordinary people below issued a few commands, and the dozen or so fierce dogs inside the iron cages once again lay down or sat obediently. They raised their heads to the moon and opened their mouths, making threads of moonlight stream directly into them.

They clearly possessed spiritual intelligence, but their mental acuity was rather limited.

Wang Sheng transmitted, "Senior Sister, those corrupt cultivators have to be running out of options. If they've started raising fiends, then they are likely short on manpower."

"Vicious dogs," Mu Wanxuan replied with a thoughtful expression. She quickly sent Wang Sheng a text message.

Mu Wanxuan: Those dogs all look extremely vicious, and they seem to be wrapped in a thread of resentment. They've likely already murdered other creatures before.

Wang Sheng frowned slightly. His senior sister's spiritual consciousness was far superior to his own. Given her higher cultivation realm, he found no reason to doubt her judgment.

They waited at the top of the slope for a while. Around ten minutes later, Wang Sheng's spiritual consciousness detected a group of policemen armed with rifles approaching. At the same time, he received another message from Mou Yue. According to on-site reports, all the entrances and exits of the village had already been sealed, and the surrounding mountains had been secured.

After a brief discussion with his senior sister, Wang Sheng leaped alone from the top of the slope. His celestial-grade flying sword appeared beneath his feet and carried him swiftly down the mountain.

Meanwhile, Mu Wanxuan remained standing atop the ridge, spreading her spiritual consciousness to monitor the area. From her vantage point, she could also see the large number of police forces moving toward the village.

Wang Sheng had no intention of using Spiritless against a few ordinary people. He simply unleashed a few palm phantasms, each one precisely hitting its target and knocking them unconscious.

The dogs around them howled. Wang Sheng's eyes glinted with light as cold qi surged from his flying sword.

"Silence!" he commanded, and the vicious dogs all tucked their tails and fell silent. Due to their human traits, they instinctively valued their lives.

The armed policemen stormed into the hollow, and Wang Sheng tossed his report toward them from a distance. Two middle-aged officers quickly caught it and ran over, saluting him before reporting their precincts.

"Advisor Wang, how should we handle these dogs? You have authority over this site."

"Keep them here," Wang Sheng replied. "Secure this place and guard them. There's a high chance that corrupt cultivators will make a move. My senior sister will stay here to assist you.

"Also, notify the officers inside the village not to disturb the residents. Just guard the entrances and ask around to see if any unfamiliar faces have moved in recently. I'll go check if corrupt cultivators are hiding among them."

The two officers immediately began coordinating with the other team. Wang Sheng stepped onto his flying sword and shot off toward the village, leaving the policemen staring at him in astonishment.

The police response had been remarkably efficient. By the time Wang Sheng landed at the village entrance, they had already finished their local investigation. Several officers came rushing over to meet him. One of them, a middle-aged man wearing white gloves, held up an evidence bag containing a regular smartphone.

"Advisor Wang, we've confirmed that three households moved in about six months ago. They leased the fishpond in the back mountains and fifty mu of orchard. All three households are now in custody. According to their statements, they were just farmers hired and paid to tend the land. Each family was under a different boss."

"And these bosses?" Wang Sheng asked.

"They fled in a car about ten minutes ago. We're already tracking them down. Also, this was found on site."

Another officer took out a second evidence bag containing a sheet of white paper. It had two lines of bold handwriting.

Check the phone, Daoist Master Wang. Pass code: 4396.

Wang Sheng frowned slightly, immediately sensing that something was off. They weren't flying that high under the moonlight, which likely allowed the corrupt cultivators' accomplices to spot him in advance.

They had recognized him. Realizing he was flying toward them, they assumed he was coming to eliminate their base. Hence, they fled without hesitation, even abandoning the dozen fiend dogs.

Well... Alright then.

"Can I take a look at the phone?" he asked.

"Of course. Go ahead."

Wang Sheng unlocked the phone through the evidence bag. The screen opened to a conversation window in a messaging app.

He tapped on the unopened video in the window, which appeared to have been taken inside an operating room. A man stood beneath a harsh overhead light, his strange face gradually coming into focus.

—Flying on your sword beneath the moonlight—how romantic. We meet again, Daoist Master Wang.

Wang Sheng immediately recognized him.

Even though the man wore a human-skin mask and had altered his voice, his tone and eyes were unmistakably familiar.

Clearing his throat, Wang Sheng glanced up at the top of the chat. The phone's owner had saved the contact under a very telling name: Young Master.

The young master of the Yin-Yang All-Creation Sect!

Well, he supposed there wasn't really anything surprising about it anymore.