Young Noble Be Monster Slaying
Chapter 919: The Grand Illusion

The demon king of the Verdant Foxhills left peacefully.

…

Chu Liang had deliberately chosen to use that very shard of golden bone, the one that had appeared after Yan Renjie died, to strike down both Caiyi and the devil embryo.

After all, the devil embryo was a monstrous entity. Even the Mount Shu Sect’s Vessel of God had failed to destroy it in direct combat. No matter how powerful Chu Liang’s weapon was, it could never surpass the Vessel of God. Even the Demon-Slaying Sword, known for its enhanced effects against evil beings, would not have sufficed.

If there was anything in the world that could possibly achieve this, it would be this shard of bone.

This shard of bone was the physical remnant left behind when the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda merged with the Demon God’s life essence inside Yan Renjie's body. The abyss repelled all devils and demons because of the spiritual energy radiating from it, a power so potent that even eighth-realm demons could not withstand it.

In other words, its spiritual energy repelled all evil entities, and its power even surpassed the eighth realm.

It was only fitting that such a thing be used to slay the most powerful demon in the world!

Puff.

Just as expected, with a dull thud of pierced flesh, Chu Liang drove the bone shard straight into Caiyi’s chest. In that fleeting instant, her face suddenly morphed, briefly taking on the appearance of Daoist Cangyun before reverting to her own.

It’s a trap!

Warning bells rang in Chu Liang’s mind, but by the time he tried to retreat, it was already too late. When he turned his head, all he saw was a dark and gloomy sky.

As expected, the fox demon king and the devil embryo were not so easy to kill. This kind of trickery felt more like one of Caiyi’s illusory techniques.

Dark storm clouds gathered overhead as a large flock of cawing crows took flight from the far side of the mountain, their wings beating against the wind as they scattered toward the horizon. The air was heavy with the scent of rain, damp and pressing, as if a storm were about to break.

But before the rain fell, a thunderous sound of footsteps echoed in the distance.

Chu Liang knew exactly what was coming.

It was demonic qi.

Just then, a voice called out behind him, "Boyyyy, time to eat—"

The voice sounded oddly familiar in his memory. Chu Liang turned around and saw a plump woman standing at the village entrance in the distance, holding a woven basket and waving kindly at him.

The moment he saw her, the word that instinctively surfaced in his mind was… "Mother."

Only then did he realize he was no longer a disciple of an immortal sect. He no longer had an eighth-realm puppet or the coursing blood of a dragon. He was just a small, frail child now, dressed in a patched-up coat riddled with holes, each one carefully mended by hand.

At this moment, he had no power at all.

All he could do was look up and shout, "Run!"

There was no White Pagoda, no flying sword, no trace of cultivation. He had nothing. All he could do was run with everything he had. Then, in the next instant, a massive and savage shadow rose up behind him.

It was a rhinoceros demon, its footsteps pounding like thunder and matching the sound Chu Liang had heard earlier. But it wasn’t alone. Dozens of demonic monsters of all shapes and sizes burst from the surrounding woods, closing in on the mountain village from every direction. On the far side of the village, screams had already erupted and reached Chu Liang a moment later.

"Demonic creatures! Demons!" his mother cried out in panic. 

Her legs trembled beneath her, but she didn’t hesitate for even a moment. She scooped Chu Liang into her arms and, with a sudden burst of strength, hurled him up onto the beam overhead. "Hide here! Don’t come down!"

"Mother!" Chu Liang cried out instinctively.

"Do not make a sound!" she warned sharply, then turned and ran out of the house to hide elsewhere.

However, demonic creatures had sharp senses. Amid the rising chorus of screams, he soon heard his mother’s cry as well.

While Chu Liang was lying on the beam, his thoughts were in complete disarray. Ever since he stabbed Caiyi, it had felt as though he had fallen into an illusion. But how had she done it? How had he been pulled into this? He had no idea.

Everything he was experiencing now… it felt like…

Wait. 

Suddenly, he felt his thoughts slipping away, as if someone were wiping his memories clean.

While he was still struggling to make sense of it all, the noise outside abruptly fell silent. The eerie stillness made him tense. He cautiously turned to look outside and found that everything outside had turned scorched black.

A tall woman stood in the doorway, her figure partly hidden in the shadows. She wore a black top and a flowing red dress, and her chest was full and round, like two moons beneath the fabric. She stood there casually, half her figure illuminated by the light beyond.

The woman asked lazily, "Hey, kiddo, what are you doing up on that beam?"

"Esteemed Teacher?" Chu Liang blurted out without thinking, then froze in confusion. Why… why did I call her that?

"Eh?" The woman blinked in surprise, then smiled. "Well, now. That rolled off your tongue nicely."

…

"His name is Chu Liang. He’s my disciple. Can I finally be made a peak master now?"

Inside the Boundless Palace of the Mount Shu Sect, a domineering woman shoved forward a boy as skinny as a bean sprout. With a defiant gleam in her eyes, she stared down the group of elders before her.

Preparing to voice an objection, the Alchemy Master muttered, "It’s allowed, yes... but this child’s potential—" 

Di Nufeng waved her hand with flair, cutting the elder off mid-sentence as she launched into a heated rant. "What about it? So he’s a little average. He can still cultivate, can’t he? His whole village was wiped out by demons. If I hadn’t brought him up the mountain, he would become an orphan without anyone to care for him. Who’s to say he wouldn’t go astray? What if he turns to crime? What if he becomes a bandit? And what if, heaven forbid, he leads a rebellion and actually succeeds? That kind of success would come at the cost of rivers of blood and countless innocent lives. Alchemy Master, can you take responsibility for that?"

The Alchemy Master was left dumbfounded. "Who just starts a rebellion out of nowhere… and actually succeeds? Do you think this is some kind of game?"

"Heh." Di Nufeng let out a scornful laugh. "What’s so hard about that? I could give you three plans right now, each with more than a fifty-percent chance of success."

The Alchemy Master opened his mouth to retort, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Di Nufeng’s confidence wasn’t just for show. In the end, he chose to hold his tongue. He didn’t want to provoke her any further.

What if… she actually went and proved it?

"That’s enough," Venerable Wen Yuan said with a smile, waving his hand from his seat at the head of the hall. "Since you’ve won the duel and accepted a disciple, Silver Sword Peak is rightfully yours to lead. But Ah Feng, now that you have a disciple, you carry the burden of responsibility. You mustn’t be so wild and unruly anymore, leading others astray. You need to guide him with care."

"Don’t worry," Di Nufeng replied with a proud grin. "I promise you that I’ll raise him to be the most outstanding disciple Mount Shu has seen in the past five hundred years."

"Tch. What shameless boasting," the Alchemy Master scoffed.

"Want to bet your life on it?!" Di Nufeng narrowed her eyes. "Do you dare?"

The Alchemy Master shrank back indignantly.

He couldn’t understand how she could be so absurdly confident about something so unrealistic. Yet, that very confidence made him hesitate. In the end, he truly didn’t dare put her to the test.

And just like that, Di Nufeng took little Chu Liang back with her.

However, just as everyone had expected, she truly lacked a certain talent, effort, sincerity, time, money, patience, sense of responsibility, and determination required to properly teach a disciple.

Although Chu Liang was eager to cultivate and avenge the villagers who had been slain by demons, he truly lacked talent and had essentially taught himself everything from scratch.

Thankfully, the Mount Shu Sect offered a fairly open cultivation environment. Even if his teacher didn’t guide him much, he could still plant trees, tend to flowers, and feed spirit birds and exotic beasts in exchange for sword coins, which he then used to purchase manuals and pills.

When he turned seventeen, he finally reached the threshold of the Spiritual Awareness Realm. Chu Liang could hardly contain his excitement. Once he broke through to the third realm, he would be permitted to descend the mountain to slay monsters and eradicate demons.

With his current level of cultivation, he should have spent another six months to a year preparing before attempting a breakthrough. But after watching his peers advance one after another, he could no longer suppress his impatience.

And so, even though his foundational qi was still unstable, he pushed forward and attempted to break through to the third realm. He refined his qi and gathered his spirit sense, preparing to step into the Spiritual Awareness Realm!

That night was dangerous beyond measure, yet Chu Liang still managed to…succeed.

Huh?

The moment he broke through into the Spiritual Awareness Realm, he suddenly felt something odd.

Something’s… not quite right, is it?

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