Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 316 Swamp Dog
As soon as the words "corpse demon" were uttered, Li Wuxiang immediately felt the tip of the tail he was holding twitch violently—the crocodile demon was trembling with fear!

He desperately tried to leap into the river, but Li Wuxiang simply held onto the tip of his tail and didn't move, letting him struggle.

This crocodile demon isn't very bright; his intelligence is probably only equivalent to that of a five or six-year-old child. Reasoning with him or trying to comfort him will be useless; we can only wait for his temper to pass.

The crocodile demon struggled desperately for a good quarter of an hour without stopping. Xue Baoping said, "Don't scare him. He doesn't eat people. He's pitiful. Didn't you tell me that small animals will have stress reactions when they are frightened?"

The crocodile was no small animal. However, Li Wuxiang still injected a burst of true energy into its body. The crocodile demon immediately felt as if it had been electrocuted, its whole body went numb and it became weak and powerless. It fell to the riverbank and then transformed back into its previous human form, curling up in a ball and pretending to be dead with its two front paws covering its head.

When Li Wuxiang saw that he was no longer moving, he released his tail, which immediately retracted and wrapped around his head.

He walked up to the crocodile demon, squatted down, and patted it on the back: "What did the ghost you saw look like? Was it like me? Did it look like a human?"

The crocodile demon peeked at him through its claws, but said nothing.

“Tell me, and I’ll save you.”

His long mouth suddenly popped out: "Really? If you save me, you won't be a ghost, sigh!"

"Um, I'm not a ghost. What did the ghosts you saw look like?"

"Look like a human being, just like me!"

Li Wuxiang thought for a moment and then patiently asked, "Does it look like one person, or like a group of people?"

"I don't know, sigh! Sometimes it's one, sometimes it's several! Sigh!"

"Did it change from one person to several people? Are they all connected together?"

"Sigh, isn't that right!"

Li Wuxiang remained silent for a moment, then realized that what he was talking about might really be a corpse demon.

When he first encountered Kong Jingci's Golden Core Corpse Demons, they were completely inhuman. But after fighting his way into the Great Calamity Mountain with Mei Qiulu, he discovered that the appearance of the Corpse Demons varied. Those with lower cultivation levels and fewer in number didn't resemble humans much. Those with higher cultivation levels and more in number became increasingly human-like.

The reason why Kong Jingci and the others were not like humans before was probably because they had only gathered a dozen or so Golden Core cultivators from the Thirty-Six Sects.

Before his death, Cui Daocheng was a Nascent Soul cultivator, but he gathered together the Nascent Soul cultivators from the other thirty-six sects, so he looked no different from a human.

Tang Xi and the others did not gather all thirty-six Yang Gods, but it was probably because of their high cultivation levels that they were able to transform into human form.

The magical treasures of the Thirty-Six Sects were all taken from the corpse of the Ninth Prince of the Demon King. The cultivation method of these corpse ghosts should be to cultivate a dragon body—collect the magical treasures of the Thirty-Six Sects, transform into a dragon body, and then their cultivation will be complete, and they will become human, which is very similar to what Senior Sister Mei told her to do.

Animals in this world also cultivate themselves by gradually refining their internal meridians to resemble those of humans, and then transforming into human form to facilitate their subsequent cultivation.

Ultimately, this resembles an advanced version of a demon's cultivation method. What they call "becoming an immortal" should be interpreted as "becoming a spirit," specifically a "dragon spirit."

The crocodile demon said that the corpse demon he saw was like a human, sometimes it was one person, and sometimes it was like several people. He was probably referring to Cui Daocheng's situation. No matter if the corpse demon he saw was at the Qi Refining, Golden Core, or Nascent Soul stage, and no matter if it was a true artifact or a treasure artifact, that corpse demon should have already collected all the magic treasures of the Thirty-Six Sects.

As he was thinking, Xue Baoping took a few steps closer and asked the crocodile demon, "Why do you always sigh and say 'sigh'?"

The crocodile demon peered at her through its claws, and suddenly forgot its fear because of this question. It said smugly, "Someone taught me that before. Sigh!"

"Huh? Why am I teaching you to sigh?"

"Sigh! That person said I'm too stupid, not human enough, and that people will see through me! They said that once I become human, I should talk less and pretend... sigh, pretend... um... that..."

"Be more experienced and composed?"

"Sigh! Yes! I heard later that old people tend to sigh a lot! Sigh!"

Xue Baoping couldn't help but laugh, and imitated him: "Being old and being experienced are not the same thing, sigh!"

Li Wuxiang patted the crocodile demon again: "What's your name? Do you have a name?"

When the Aquarius asked him about his troubles, the crocodile demon became even calmer. So, at this point, she asked him his name. Asking his name meant they were already acquainted, and this sense of closeness would likely help him remain calm.

The crocodile demon lowered its front paws, blinking its pair of black eyes: "Huh? I don't know either, I don't have a name, sigh! I don't even know what my name is! Sigh!"

"How about I give you a name?"

The crocodile demon stared blankly for a moment, as if trying to figure out what "give it a name" meant. But it finally understood and clicked its lips a few times: "Okay!"

"But are you male or female?"

"Huh? What are male and female?"

"What a silly thing." Li Wuxiang said patiently, "Have you ever given birth? Have you ever laid eggs? They're round little things that come out of your belly."

But after asking, I realized that my question was unnecessary.

Humans are the essence of heaven and earth. To cultivate and build a foundation, one must abstain from sexual activity and maintain one's original yang or yin body for the best results.

Animal cultivation is inherently difficult; once they've reproduced, all hope is lost. Only a very small number, for various reasons, have not mated, escaped from predators, lived beyond their natural lifespan, and happened to find a blessed land rich in spiritual energy, have a slim chance of developing sentience and beginning cultivation. Therefore, since this crocodile demon is a crocodile demon, it must have never laid eggs.

He said, "Show me your true form and expose your belly."

The crocodile demon was very obedient and immediately revealed its enormous body, lying on its back with its head tilted back to ask, "Can I name it now?"

Li Wuxiang glanced at his stomach, his eyes darting around before he smiled. "Alright, turn him over. Your name... well, do you like to eat fish?"

"Great! Fish is good! As long as there's fish, that's fine! I don't like to eat anything else, I don't like to eat people! They're all hard and tough! As long as there's fish, that's fine! Sigh!"

Li Wuxiang laughed again: "As long as there are fish, that's fine, right? Fish is all that matters, right? Alright, your name will be E Meifeng."

Xue Baoping frowned: "Which three characters? It sounds like a girl's name."

"The edge of a sword, the plum blossom, the sharp edge—that is her."

"Huh?" Xue Baoping was stunned, finding it hard to connect this giant crocodile demon with "girl". But then she smiled, "This name is quite nice, the surname is E, it has the character Mei from Senior Sister Mei, and Feng... um, her claws look quite sharp."

"Alright, E Meifeng, now I'm asking you, where did you see the ghost?"

The crocodile demon seemed quite satisfied and pleased with the name. It chased its tail around on the ground for a while, until blood started oozing from its wound, before quickly stopping: "It's on the mountain!"

"On Dapan Mountain?"

"Yeah, sigh!"

Li Wuxiang continued to patiently ask. E Meifeng's speech was incoherent, and she didn't understand the meaning of many words, making it extremely difficult for her to get answers. However, Xue Baoping helped fill in the gaps and carefully guided her, and after a quarter of an hour, she finally understood. The Shangchi Sect's Daoist temple, located atop Dapan Mountain, has a Heavenly Pool. Beneath the Heavenly Pool is an underground river that connects to the nearby Mo River. It's likely that when this crocodile demon was young, it accidentally swam into the underground river and thus hid there to avoid its predators.

When she grew a little bigger, the opening connecting the underground river and the Mo River collapsed halfway, and she could no longer get out. Fortunately, there were fish and shrimp in the underground river, and she survived on them.

Since the Shangchi Sect had previously established its sect on Dapan Mountain, it must have explored both inside and outside the mountain, and thus knew of the existence of this underground river. The water of the underground river was cold and could be used for alchemy. So, when the Shangchi Sect built its alchemy room, it dug a well that was connected to this underground river, drawing water from upstream and discharging alchemical residue from downstream.

For thousands of years, alchemy has been carried out in the river, and the residue from the alchemy has slowly nourished the fish and shrimp in the river, so the river is full of spiritual energy. E Meifeng was trapped in that underground river, eating these fish and shrimp, and there was no male to mate with. In addition, Dapan Mountain is a proper blessed land, so he gained intelligence and became a demon.

After becoming a demon, she often hid in the well and listened to the people talking in the alchemy room. When the cultivators from the Shangchi Sect who refined pills came to the alchemy room, they would inevitably talk about cultivation. She listened to their words and gradually accumulated knowledge. She even learned some methods of circulating qi without a teacher and thus gained some cultivation.

Finally, the collapsed rock between the Mohe River and the underground river was broken, and they were free.

She didn't leave after that, and even used the underground river beneath the alchemy room as her lair. A demon had emerged beneath Mount Dapan; ordinary disciples were unaware, but it couldn't escape the notice of Nascent Soul cultivators. According to her, over a hundred years ago, the previous sect leader of the Shangchi Sect learned of her existence through his Yin Spirit.

But she was a female sect leader, and her temperament was naturally gentler. It was also said that she was a pig-dragon who had become a demon, so her temperament should also be docile. In addition, she had never done anything bad since becoming a demon, so she was not banished and was left in the dark river. The one who told her to be mature, calm and speak less in the future was that previous sect leader.

When Li Wuxiang asked this question, he thought to himself, "Oh." Isn't the pig dragon just a Yangtze alligator? No wonder it looks so clumsy and timid; it truly lives up to its name as a swamp dog.

The Shangchi Sect survived this cataclysmic earthquake thanks to its mountain-protecting formation. E Meifeng also survived thanks to the protection of this formation.

But just a few days ago, she said a corpse demon came to the alchemy room and spoke with some people from the Shangchi Sect. When they spoke, they mentioned the Shangchi Sect's "original weapon" and "true weapon". E Meifeng couldn't remember what they said, but she only knew that three or four days after the corpse demon arrived, the people from the Shangchi Sect came to arrest her.

Speaking of the Shangchi Sect, it seems even more useless than Li Wuxiang imagined. Of its more than four hundred members, only three are at the Nascent Soul stage. One is the sect leader, who remained at Dapan Mountain. Two are elders; one led his disciples to Dajie Mountain, where he either died or became part of a corpse demon. The remaining elder is also on the mountain.

There are about a dozen Golden Core cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage, which E Meifeng said she was afraid of. The rest are all Qi Refining cultivators.

When the question reached this point, Li Wuxiang asked E Meifeng, "Do you have a pill in your belly? You mean... something round, like—"

He didn't know how to describe the demon core either. But while E Meifeng might not understand other things, he understood this. He immediately said, "Almost there, almost there! Alas, sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not; sometimes there are few, sometimes there are many, alas!"

Li Wuxiang understood that she was about to form her demon core.

When a demon forms its demon core, it's equivalent to a human forming their golden core. Reaching this level of cultivation is considered the peak of Qi Refining in human cultivation.

Even at such a level, let alone a Nascent Soul cultivator, capturing her would be a piece of cake, even if a Golden Core cultivator were to be sent out at random.

"But the Shangchi Sect only sent several groups of Qi Refining disciples to capture her, and she killed more than a dozen of them?" Xue Baoping frowned. "Why is that?"

Li Wuxiang already had some guesses in his mind, but he still smiled and asked her, "Yes, what do you think is the reason?"

Xue Baoping thought about it seriously: "She said that the corpse demon always stayed in the alchemy room and never went out... That means the corpse demon came to the Shangchi Sect, but didn't want others to know. So, the Shangchi Sect can make decisions... Sect Master Li Yin doesn't want to submit to the Blood God Sect?"

“I think so too, please continue.”

"The Corpse Demon has been staying in the alchemy room, but the alchemy room should be a place that is frequently used in the sect, right? That means that when the Corpse Demon is in there, no one comes in or out of the alchemy room... Could it be that someone of high status in the Shangchi Sect could do something like this?"

Li Wuxiang laughed: "That's right. So it should be another Nascent Soul cultivator from the Shangchi Sect, Elder Xie Qi. What do you think that corpse demon's cultivation level is?"

"Golden Core, perhaps."

"why?"

“If it’s a Nascent Soul level corpse demon, its cultivation level is about the same as our Sword Sect’s—E Meifeng said they mentioned the original artifact and the true artifact… The sect leader of Shangchi Sect didn’t go to the Great Calamity Mountain, so the Nascent Soul elder who went to the Great Calamity Mountain must have brought a true artifact magic weapon. That means the Blood God Sect’s corpse demons have also come to Shangchi Sect to find an original artifact backer. If it’s a Nascent Soul level corpse demon, they should directly attack the mountain, or sneak in and kill people.”

"But it's been hiding in the alchemy room for so long without making a move, it can't beat a Nascent Soul cultivator. At most, it's a Golden Core cultivator." Xue Baoping thought for a moment, "Then I understand. The sect leader of Shangchi Sect doesn't want to submit to the Blood God Sect, only Elder Xie Qi does. Why... do they want E Meifeng's demon core? But she's also considered a spiritual object in the sect, and Xie Qi doesn't want the sect leader to know, so he doesn't make a move himself?"

"That's not right. If he wanted to handle things cleanly, he should have taken action himself. Or he could have sent a Golden Core disciple. Why send a Qi Refining disciple to arrest her? Isn't that just making things worse?"

Li Wuxiang nodded: "It is very strange. There is also a possibility that Xie Qi's disciples do not have Golden Core, but only Qi Refining, and all those he sent are his own people. That is to say, his entire lineage is full of useless people. Useless people are not successful and are ostracized in the sect, so they want to join the Blood God Sect."

"As for the deaths... out of more than four hundred people, a dozen or so of her own men died, which can be kept quiet for a while. Because she's not very..." Li Wuxiang glanced at the crocodile demon who was listening in a daze, "not very experienced, so she didn't know how to report it, nor was she willing to leave her old nest—"

"Hey! No! Hey! I want to eat fish, hey!" E Meifeng suddenly spoke up, as if she could say anything else but disagree with being called inexperienced.

Li Wuxiang's eyes lit up: "There are fish in Dapan Mountain? Oh, right, right, I must have been stupid. Tianchi is definitely inside the sect's grand formation, not to mention there's an underground river. Oh, so you won't leave because there are fish here?"

"Yes, sigh!"

"Alright, you're really experienced." Li Wuxiang praised her, then continued talking to Xue Baoping, "Actually, there's another possibility—Xie Qi is no longer Xie Qi. He's dead, become part of a corpse demon, or for some other reason, he can't take action anymore."

Xue Baoping nodded: "But why kill her?"

Li Wuxiang glanced at the crocodile demon and frowned slightly: "I have an idea, but I really hope it's true."

"In my opinion, the Blood God Sect's cultivation method is similar to that of demon cultivators. Demon cultivation is very difficult; they must first form a core and then transform into human form—she is currently in the process of forming her core. Once her demon core is formed, she will be able to transform into human form."

"For demons, cultivation officially begins at this stage—they become human, possess human meridians, making cultivation much easier. So you see, when humans cultivate to the point of forming the Golden Core, they are already very strong. Demons, on the other hand, have only just begun to stand at the starting line of the human realm, the essence of heaven and earth."

"However, it's not without its advantages. Xiao E is now incredibly strong, and can even shoot water arrows, right? She's already acquired some supernatural powers. So, even though demons cultivate very slowly after forming their demon cores, they are still more powerful than humans. If a demon were to cultivate into a Yang God, even if Senior Sister Mei were practicing the Lesser Tribulation Sword Scripture, she might not be a match for that demon. It's just that demons undergo tribulations more fiercely and it's more difficult for them. So far, at least in the Central Continent, we haven't heard of any demon cultivators who have achieved a Yang God."

"Ah...wasn't the former leader of the Cui sect a demon cultivator?"

"That's right. But Master Cui practices the True Immortal Body Dao Chapter, while Senior Sister Mei practices the Lesser Tribulation Sword Scripture. I guess Master Cui didn't practice this because he is a demon cultivator. If he had practiced the Lesser Tribulation Sword Scripture, it would have been like an old man eating poison."

"So I guess the Blood God Cult follows this path, but it's even more ruthless. I would say they cultivate a human-demon hybrid—using the magic treasures of the Thirty-Six Sects to stick people together, and once they're all together, they become a human-demon hybrid with a dragon's body. It's like this human-demon hybrid formed a human core and then transformed into a human. However, this person is a human who became a demon, and then they cultivate, which is terrifying."

"So, when thirty-six Golden Core cultivators are gathered together, they are roughly equivalent to the Golden Core cultivators of the Sword Sect. This is because they were originally human who transformed into demons."

"However, this isn't without its downsides. First, the calamity will definitely be more intense. But with the True Lord of Fate there, perhaps he can resolve this. Second, they need to use the magical treasures of the Thirty-Six Sects to bind themselves together. The magical treasures of the Thirty-Six Sects—the treasures used by ordinary disciples are forged from true artifacts, and true artifacts are forged from the original artifact. The original artifact, in particular, was forged from the dragon body of the Ninth Prince, this demon king—"

Upon hearing the words "Ninth Young Master," Xue Baoping's heart skipped a beat.

"Even if the Ninth Prince was strong back then, there was a limit, right? So the true artifacts and treasures of the Thirty-Six Sects are actually borrowed from the magic power of their own artifacts, and their number is definitely limited. Since the number of magic treasures is limited, the number of corpse ghosts is also limited. Judging from the scale of the former Giant Que Sect, there are at most more than 30,000 corpse ghosts of various realms."

“But the Ninth Prince is a demon king, belonging to the dragon category. If it were me, I would think that if the magical treasures refined from the Ninth Prince's corpse were not enough, we could get some substitutes, such as those aquatic demons that can transform into dragons.”

“If our previous idea is true, that corpse demon came to Dapan Mountain to get the Mirror of Backing Mountain… The Mirror of Backing Mountain was formed from the scales of the Ninth Prince, and there just happens to be a little E here who looks like she’s about to form a demon core and transform into a dragon—” Li Wuxiang sighed, “Does that corpse demon want Xie Qi to kill her, skin her, and see if he can refine something similar to the Mirror of Backing Mountain?”

"If this is true, and if it is really feasible, then I'm afraid we can find low-end alternatives for the magic weapons of the thirty-six sects, and the corpse demons will be in for a world of trouble."

Xue Baoping hesitated for a moment: "Then...we can't wait any longer, let's hurry up the mountain and check. The Shangchi Sect has a corpse demon, so should we cross the underground river? Oh no, we alerted them last night, I bet that corpse demon knows we're here now! Otherwise—"

Li Wuxiang smiled and said, "No need. Let's go through the main gate. As the Sect Master of my Sword Sect, Li Wuxiang, is here at Dapan Mountain, how can we sneak around?"

(End of this chapter)