The Ancestor of All Demons

Shi Feiyang dived down to inspect the aftermath, the black-clothed boat and Jade-faced Flying Fox Ma Cheng had been blasted to pieces, not even a hair remained; the Three Talents Treasure Mirror and Ma Cheng's double-tined pitchfork fell to the bottom of the water.

Sikong Xuan's Flying Sword exhibited some consciousness, automatically flew back to hover around its master. As Shi Feiyang approached, the sword instinctively protected its owner, its light flashing as it darted towards him.

Shi Feiyang extended his Dragon Claw and grabbed it, the sword, lacking the will and True Qi of its master to command it, couldn't even scratch his Dragon Claw, and was pinched between two fingertips, still trembling like a fish trying to escape.

Shi Feiyang channeled his True Yuan, sealed the sword with a burst of Dan Qi, making it lose its glow, and set it aside for the moment.

Sikong Xuan's entire skeleton had shattered, his organs were damaged, blood flowed from all seven orifices, he was unconscious and drowning, and also suffered from tremendous water pressure. Although he relied on his Dao Level and the protection of True Qi to sustain his body for a short while, without timely rescue, death was not far off.

Shi Feiyang cast a spell on Sikong Xuan's forehead and in an instant, pulled out his Primordial Spirit Soul, holding it in the palm of his hand.

Sikong Xuan was still dazed, suddenly awake and recognizing his current predicament, his face showed an expression of fear and sorrow, and he bowed solemnly to Shi Feiyang on the Dragon Claw: "Before, I was unaware of your immense mana and provoked your dragon might, which brought about this disaster. It's all my own fault, and I blame no one else. Now that I have lost my body and died once, it can be considered a punishment. I implore you to release my Primordial Spirit so it can return to Chongming, see my uncle, and he can send me for reincarnation. When I am reborn as a human, I will certainly remember your great kindness."

Shi Feiyang was not inclined to believe him, "Don't rush with these words. Let me first ask you, where were you headed today? What were you going to do?"

Sikong Xuan said, "Because my uncle and Aunt Pu want to refine an Immortal Pill, they needed several extremely precious herbs. It just so happens that there are five plants of Green Spirit Grass on Dinghu Peak, which are just the right medicinal properties, so they instructed us to collect them. We had just arrived here when we saw the golden light and rosy clouds moving with the waves in the lake, thinking it was the emergence of Xuanyuan's Treasure from the legends. We wanted to go down and get the treasure, and finally ended up in this situation!"

Green Spirit Grass... Shi Feiyang remembered there was a record of it in the original work, and he asked Sikong Xuan for more details.

"The grass is extremely cold in nature, but paradoxically, it nurtures a True Yang Qi within the extreme cold, good at neutralizing evil poisons. My uncle heard from Xu Feiniang, the Mysterious Immortal of the Wutai Sect, that there were five plants of Green Spirit Grass here, originally rooted for over a thousand years, growing in the core of stones, untouched by soil, appearing once every thirty years, only producing five seeds each time, and then hiding back into the stones unseen. This year was precisely the time for them to mature and appear."

Shi Feiyang nodded, deciding to secure the five plants of Green Spirit Grass later after nightfall.

"Now, tell me, what kind of Daoist Technique do you and your uncle cultivate? Explain it in detail."

Sikong Xuan spoke proudly of the origins of his school's practices.

About sixty years ago, his Uncle Sikong Hu was a Jianghu knight, wielding a pair of water-splitting lightning swords and skilled in using a type of hidden weapon named Ruyi Beads. Quick of hand and eye, able to throw and catch, he never missed his target, unrivaled across Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and he was nicknamed the Eight-eyed Vajra.

One year, a Daoist nun from the North arrived, rough with large hands and feet, and eyes like those of a leopard, claiming the name Pu Miaomiao. She fell in love with Sikong Hu at first sight and insisted on marrying him.

Sikong Hu found Pu Miaomiao too ugly and her temperament too crude, naturally refusing her. Pu Miaomiao persisted stubbornly, and when it came to a fight, Sikong Hu could not defeat her, being captured twice by her, and nearly forced into marriage. Sikong Hu managed to escape by resorting to cunning tactics.

Chasing and fleeing, they ended up in Chongming Island. This world's Chongming Island stretched over three hundred li from east to west, dotted with continuous hills.

Sikong Hu arrived first and discovered a mountain cave in the southeast of the island. Inside was the weathered remains of an Immortal, and he also found an Immortal Sword and two scrolls of Daoist books.

Pu Miaomiao caught up soon after, and Sikong Hu took the initiative to offer her a volume of Daoist books, saying that he didn't mean to despise her, but had always been envious of the Immortal Path, aiming to renounce worldly ties and cultivate in seclusion. He cut off all thoughts of marriage long ago and now, by chance, had inherited wisdom from a predecessor, which fulfilled his lifelong wish. He wanted to practice immortal cultivation here on Dinghu Peak, and if Pu Miaomiao wished, she could join him on the ascent to immortality, but if she was unwilling, she should leave, or else he would fight her to the death.

Pu Miaomiao was still not willing to give up and attacked again, but Sikong Hu now had that Immortal Sword, which could slice through iron as if it were mud, radiating Sword Qi in all directions. Pu Miaomiao's weapon, forged from steel a hundred times over, was easily cut in half by it. After several failed assaults, not only did she gain no advantage, but she also nearly lost her life under the sword and was forced to compromise.

Since then, the two had been cultivating on Chongming Island, one in the northwest and the other in the southeast, for a period of sixty years.

Shi Feiyang had no interest in their romantic gossip, focusing instead on the specifics of the two Daoist books they were cultivating.

This involved their most sacred secrets, something that should never be revealed, even upon death, but Sikong Xuan was already dead, as powerless as a fish on a cutting board, with no possibility of refusal.

The Daoist book Sikong Hu received had a strange name, called the "Twenty-Eight True Scripture."

When Shi Feiyang asked what it meant, Sikong Xuan replied, "Among the ten Heavenly Stems, 'two' is Yimu (Wood), and 'eight' is Xin Metal, thus it is named Twenty-Eight True Scripture, which is actually Yimu Xin, focusing on the Wood and Metal Daoist Technique. The one that Aunt Pu received is called the 'Three-Seven True Scripture,' where 'three' is Bing Fire and 'seven' is Geng Metal; its essence is the Bing Geng True Scripture, focusing on the Metal and Fire Daoist Technique. According to the scripture, she has refined the Three-Seven Wheel that can emit Golden Fierce Fire, the Treasure of the Cave, with infinite power."

Shi Feiyang, who was deeply acquainted with Yi Jing Technique, was very sensitive to such numbers, and faintly felt something was amiss but couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong at the moment, so he let Sikong Xuan continue.

"My uncle said what he received was incomplete, the full volume of Daoist books should have five, with 'One-Nine,' 'Four-Six,' 'Five-Zero' being the correct ones. These years, he and Aunt Pu went into seclusion several times, striving to comprehend the other three volumes to complete them, but without success, and greatly lamented their failure."

Shi Feiyang pressured him to detail the entire contents of the "Twenty-Eight True Scripture," and Sikong Xuan had no choice but to divulge as much as he could.

Shi Feiyang listened attentively, immediately interrupting and probing whenever there were inconsistencies, and by extrapolating, he kept generating new details, tormenting Sikong Xuan to no end.

Sikong Xuan, Sikong Hu's own nephew, was brought back to the cave by Sikong Hu over forty years ago during a visit to his hometown after recognizing his youngest nephew's potential.

Sikong Hu saw his nephew as the heir to his legacy, and taught him the "Twenty-Eight True Scripture" without reservation. Now, under Shi Feiyang's relentless questioning, he revealed almost all of its contents.

Shi Feiyang listened and pondered, memorizing every detail carefully in his mind. With his Black Dragon body, not only was he physically robust, but his memory was also extraordinary, able to retain everything after hearing it once.

After Sikong Xuan spoke for most of the day, and as the sun set and the moon rose outside, it had become night.

Shi Feiyang swam to the surface of the lake and climbed onto the shore, asking Sikong Xuan, "Where did you say the Green Spirit Grass is located?"

"I don't know exactly where, but Sister Xu said that the Immortal Herb grows atop rock marrow, untainted by any soil. We just need to follow the rock veins to places without sand or soil."

Shi Feiyang, who was not versed in geomancy, asked Sikong Xuan to find the way while explaining to him as they went.

The two first found the foundation of the mountain's rock veins, discerned the direction of the rock marrow, and followed the path of the flowing wind. It didn't take long for them to find the Green Spirit Grass, hidden in a secluded corner behind the peak's summit.