The journey was smooth sailing; there was no cliché plot of common bandits blocking the road, with the protagonist slaughtering all sides and saving a beauty along the way.
Li Jin’an was very satisfied with this, indicating that even the three nuisances couldn’t withstand the loss of their karmic luck.
Li Jin’an wouldn’t let the three nuisances get even a tiny bit of help.
Within half a day, Lan Ci and the other two had openly arrived at Ziye Town.
Standing outside the town, Lan Ci was remotely asking Xie Huaixue for instructions, saying that they were ready to enter Ziye Town.
Xie Huaixue didn’t reply, allowing the three of them to make their own arrangements.
After they left, Li Jin’an suddenly manifested her form, staring intently at the bustling town in the distance, then suddenly turned her head to look at Xie Huaixue.
“Did you sense it?”
Because she had only manifested as a spiritual clone, her strength was greatly reduced, and her perception wasn’t as agile. She needed Xie Huaixue to confirm her guess.
Xie Huaixue followed closely behind, her spiritual clone solidifying from illusion into reality. She stood beside Li Jin’an and also looked towards the town.
“A spirit monster?”
Seeing her say that, Li Jin’an knew she hadn’t guessed wrong. Her long-standing desire to compete with Xie Huaixue was stirring.
She cleared her throat. “I guessed it first!”
Xie Huaixue withdrew her scrutinizing gaze from the town and turned to look at the person beside her, effortlessly understanding what she was quibbling about. She could only respond helplessly, “Alright.”
Li Jin’an was rather satisfied; the other person wasn’t perfunctory, though she inevitably felt Li Jin’an was childish.
After a simple little fuss to delight her heart, she then looked at the bustling and peaceful small town and let out a gasp.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a spirit monster that has become so established.”
“Spirit monster” is one term, but ‘spirit’ and ‘monster’ are two different types of entities.
Those that are plants and animals cultivating to become human-shaped are ‘spirits,’ including the yao race, like fox spirits, spider spirits, spiritual plant spirits…
While things nurtured by negative energies like corpse energy, malevolent energy, Yin energy, and demonic energy are collectively called ‘monsters.’ They are most favored by demonic cultivators, who usually create these monsters, as demonic cultivators’ living environments are already sinister enough.
But in very rare cases, these two can merge into one. Things nurtured in special environments combine all the strengths and weaknesses of both, making them extremely difficult to deal with.
To the naked eye, Ziye Town appeared normal; it was bustling with activity, people living in peace and working contentedly. Everyone entering or leaving had a happy smile on their face and a red string tied around their wrist. Whether cultivators or mortals, they were all in pairs, with almost no one left alone.
However, in Li Jin’an’s perception, everything in Ziye Town was covered by a layer of dusty, dark light, just like the things on Qi Lingzi and her companions’ life tablets.
When probing with her spiritual sense, it felt very obstructed, as if sand and mercury had been blended in. The resistance was extremely great, making it impossible to move an inch, and she could only see things not far away.
No wonder this spirit monster had been operating here for a long time without being discovered. It seemed its ability to bewitch people’s minds and weave illusions was truly not low.
Generally speaking, the true form of such a spirit monster is weak, but it’s very difficult to find its true form.
Correspondingly, finding its true form would break the illusion.
“A large, interactive illusion. The spirit monster’s true form must be the location of the formation’s core.” Li Jin’an said, stating the obvious, then looked at Xie Huaixue. Seeing her still in thought, she asked, “What are you looking at?”
Xie Huaixue looked up at the sky. “So many butterflies.”
Many kinds of butterflies fluttered around both inside and outside the town, gracefully flying around the heads of people coming and going, very lively.
Li Jin’an understood the meaning behind her concise words. “Are you saying you didn’t see butterflies the last time you passed by here?”
“That’s right.”
Li Jin’an smugly thought that she was indeed the one who understood Xie Huaixue the best, then said ill-temperedly, “How long ago was your ‘last time’? Hundreds of years? It’s been occupied by a spirit monster, so it’s perfectly normal for a few small spirits and monsters to appear.”
Xie Huaixue was speechless and replied seriously, “One hundred and forty-two years ago, at Daoist Friend Shang’s invitation, I went to the Merchant Domain.”
Li Jin’an asked, “God of Fortune Shang invited you but not me? What ulterior motive does she have?”
Shang Dangge was a mutual friend of Li Jin’an and Xie Huaixue. She had no Daoist title and loved being called God of Fortune by others. Of course, Li Jin’an, among others, loved to call her a stingy swindler. In a cultivation world striving for progress and diligent cultivation, she was an anomaly, loving spiritual stones more than anything, truly eccentric. Or rather, the entire Merchant Domain was eccentric.
With Jiang Fengmian as an example and the Heavenly Tome’s influence, Li Jin’an inevitably guessed that God of Fortune Shang harbored unrequited love for Xie Huaixue. She was no longer the naive Sword Sovereign she once was.
But then she thought it impossible. God of Fortune Shang only loved spiritual stones and anything that could be exchanged for spiritual stones. She wasn’t interested in living beings that could breathe but couldn’t be exchanged for spiritual stones. She couldn’t sell Xie Huaixue for spiritual stones, so how could she have improper thoughts about Xie Huaixue?
“She discussed some matters with me.”
“What matters?” Li Jin’an pressed, getting to the bottom of it.
Xie Huaixue glanced at her. “People from the Merchant Domain spending spiritual stones to cultivate at the Dao Sect for a few years, the trade of spiritual herbs and plants, spiritual beasts’…”
“Alright, alright, let’s talk about serious matters.” Li Jin’an gave up, interrupting her, and looked profoundly at the small town before them. “It seems Ziye Town has undergone an anomaly in the past hundred years. Your three good-for-nothing disciples might not be able to solve this spirit monster.”
What a jumbled mess of nonsense! It made a sword cultivator’s ears hurt. She didn’t even want to know if Xie Huaixue and the Dao Sect had agreed to God of Fortune Shang’s big money-making scheme.
Indeed, there was a reason why sword cultivators were poor. When it came to getting rich, she could only think of hunting demon beasts and exploring secret realms. Even if methods that made her head hurt were placed before her, she wouldn’t do them.
Xie Huaixue understandingly nodded in agreement and asked, “Shall we forcefully break the illusion?”
This spirit monster was indeed troublesome, but even so, a wisp of a spiritual clone from a Sword Sovereign and an Immortal Venerable, even with their strength reduced countless times, was not something just any spirit monster could deal with.
The names Jijin and Qingxiao were reputations forged through slaughter.
Troublesome, huh? One sword strike, and the entire town would be demolished.
Solving problems with violence was usually Li Jin’an’s favorite method. Xie Huaixue asking this also showed consideration for her wishes.
Li Jin’an’s phoenix eyes shifted, and she refused with sound reasoning, “No need for that. Our disciples are both inside, considered hostages, and there are also many cultivators and mortals who mistakenly entered. It wouldn’t be good if they were accidentally injured.”
Xie Huaixue raised her gaze to look at her.
She seemed to be silently asking her if those words were disingenuous.
When had Jijin Sword Sovereign become such a kind-hearted person who would consider others?
Although they all spoke of benevolence and righteousness, in reality, most grand cultivators in the cultivation world were arrogant and scornful, while smaller cultivators valued their own interests more. Not affecting innocent mortals nearby when subduing demons and evil already showed they weren’t completely blind to others.
However, Li Jin’an was different; she simply didn’t think of it.
Li Jin’an felt Xie Huaixue’s gaze was very unfriendly. She snorted coldly and pointed at the town ahead. “Let’s go. We’ve been standing here for so long; any spirit monster that isn’t stupid would have discovered us.”
A faint smile crossed Xie Huaixue’s face. “Alright.”
As they approached Ziye Town, it felt as if the entire town had come alive. The human presence and warmth that couldn’t be felt outside surged towards them.
The two didn’t conceal the pressure of high-level cultivators and didn’t make any disguise. However, it was strange that the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators coming and going seemed unable to see them, as if they couldn’t sense the oppressive aura emanating from them, and walked past without even a glance.
Their appearances were top-notch even in a cultivation world full of handsome men and beautiful women, unparalleled in the world, let alone in a small town. Yet, not a single person looked at them. Everyone was chatting and laughing with their companions, their expressions full of doting affection, as if they wished they could give the sun in the sky to their loved ones.
It was fine before, but now that they were closer, they increasingly felt the strangeness of Ziye Town.
Female-female, male-male, female-male, human and spiritual beast, human and flowers/plants… all in pairs. In any case, no one could fall behind, and nothing living and breathing could be left alone. This meant Li Jin’an and Xie Huaixue walking side by side was very harmonious, perfectly blending in.
Li Jin’an looked around curiously, letting out a hiss. “This spirit monster really values marital bliss and family harmony.”
Perhaps because it was born a spirit monster, it didn’t quite understand what human families were like. The family types here were extremely diverse, with various combinations.
After forcefully conversing with passersby, they concluded that this was a peaceful and warm town where people lived in peace and worked contentedly. Everyone’s feelings were harmonious, loyal to marriage, and there were never any incidents of emotional breakdowns or townspeople leaving. Scholars in private schools also prioritized marriage…
As long as you were loyal to feelings, marrying anyone was still marriage.
Because of the mountains, ground transportation wasn’t very convenient, and cultivators who could fly wouldn’t fancy the local purple leaf needles. Coupled with the spirit monster’s not-so-low ability to weave illusions and subtly change people’s minds, the strangeness here had never spread outside.
It was only thanks to Chixin Sword Lord’s stroke of genius, sending the annoying grand-disciples away with one stroke, that the Sword Sovereign and Immortal Venerable came here.
At the town’s only inn, Li Jin’an inquired about Lan Ci and the other two who had just entered not long ago, and Qi Lingzi and her companions who had entered earlier. As expected, the two elderly couples running the inn, both in their fifties or sixties, said they hadn’t seen them.
Although they each had a room, Li Jin’an still squeezed into Xie Huaixue’s room, sat down, and said, “The people here are so strange, indescribably strange.”
“They’re cut from the same mold,” Xie Huaixue said.
The people of Ziye Town looked normal, but if you put them and their loved ones together, you would find that their affectionate appearance was simply like buns from a bun shop—all from the same steamer.
“That’s right. Young people feeding each other a bite of food is innocuous, but those elderly couples downstairs are so old, their facial wrinkles almost sagging to their necks, yet they’re feeding each other flatbread bite by bite, smiling as if they’d drunk honey. Isn’t that too creepy?”
Does this spirit monster only have love and romance in its head?
Even though she and Xie Huaixue, two outsiders, were present, those elderly couples were just short of giving each other a loving kiss.
How is this like the Heavenly Tome?
Heaven’s Will is doing this whole routine, and the spirit monsters below are also imitating it?
Can the cultivation world even get better?
Li Jin’an was very disappointed with the cultivation world. Still, they were sword cultivators, with no interest in romantic love, wholeheartedly devoted to the sword!
She firmly believed that all this love and romance was vain.
Xie Huaixue naturally didn’t understand what this spirit monster was thinking. “Perhaps.”
Suddenly, a colorful butterfly flew in from outside the window, landing on the windowsill and openly looking at them.
Li Jin’an’s eyebrow raised, and she glanced at Xie Huaixue.
The next instant, both made a move simultaneously. One went to catch the butterfly, while the other blocked its escape route, trapping it like a turtle in a jar.
Li Jin’an held the butterfly, wanting to study it, when she saw the butterfly, failing to escape, directly transform into a stream of light and drift towards the window.
Just as she was about to chase after it, sounds of gongs and drums beating and suona blaring to the heavens came from outside.
Nice work
“All this love and romance was vain” someday you will eat your words, Jin’an 😌