Martial Arts Crossover: My Wife is the Top Scholar

Chapter 466 Raising Demons, Slaying Demons, Pang Ban's Demon Seed in His Dao Heart

"Huaixiu, I'm really curious, what exactly did your master say? Did he explain the process?"

Li Zhaoting held a skewer of roasted lamb in his left hand and half a cantaloupe in his right. He took a bite of fruit and a bite of meat, circulating his inner energy around the cantaloupe and turning it into an ice-cold one. With one bite, seventy or eighty percent of the summer heat dissipated from his body.

Cheng Huaixiu held a cup of Su Shan, which is yogurt ice cream, sprinkled with various dried fruits. She ate it in small bites, her face full of girlish charm.

"Master didn't say anything!"

"Are you... sure?"

"My master told me that before Meng Chixing passed away, he cleansed Pang Ban's sinews and marrow, eliminating the foundation of the Demonic Sect. Pang Ban used this as a basis to cultivate the Great Demonic Cultivation Method of the Dao Heart."

The Dao Heart Seed of Demons and the Compassionate Sword Manual are two sides of the same coin, requiring a Dao Heart, a Demon Seed, and a Celestial Embryo. Pang Ban is the Demon Seed, I am the Celestial Embryo, and the Dao Heart is your innate spiritual essence.

During the Wu Zhou period, Cihang Jingzhai had a successor named Duanmu Ling, who had dealings with the successor of the Longevity Formula and the Evil Emperor of the Demonic Sect. He recorded the wonders of the Longevity Formula and the Great Demon Seed of the Dao Heart, saying that they could be used to form a group to break through the void.

According to the records left by Master Duanmu, three factors are required to master the Dao Heart Demon Seed Technique.

Practitioner, medium, furnace.

The specific process can be summarized in three parts:

First, cultivators use a medium to plant a demonic seed in a cauldron that has achieved great success in its cultivation. Innate true energy is the best soil for cultivating the demonic seed, and the immortal embryo is the best medium.

Second, the demonic seed is essentially a Yang spirit. It will seek out the spiritual weaknesses of the furnace or cauldron, causing the furnace or cauldron to lose its power. The lost essence and blood will be absorbed by the demonic seed, and it will blossom and bear fruit.

Third, when the energy and blood of the furnace are exhausted, the entire person becomes nourishment for the demonic seed, and dies when the oil runs out and the lamp dies. The cultivator absorbs the demonic seed, and the Dao heart and the demonic seed merge into one.

This is the most extreme method of harming others for personal gain, fully demonstrating the characteristics of the Demonic Sect. I don't know the specific process; my master only told me to accompany you on your mission to the Western Regions and to help you gain experience in the martial world.

I can guess some of my master's thoughts, but I have no clue how to cultivate the Dao Heart Demon Seed.

"Honey, do you have any leads?"

Cihang Jingzhai has been dealing with the two sects of the Demonic Sect and the Six Paths for hundreds of years, winning more often than losing. During the Wu Zhou period, Duanmu Ling, a successor of Jingzhai, became a Daoist couple with the Evil Emperor Long Ying. She gained an understanding of the Dao Heart Demon Seed Great Technique from the inside out and personally witnessed the gestation of the demon seed from nothing to something and from the illusory to the real.

However, the Cihang Sword Manual and the Dao Heart Demon Seed Great Art are two sides of the same coin, with the Immortal Embryo and Demon Seed each going to extremes.

Cihang Jingzhai kept this a closely guarded secret, never mentioning it unless a disciple went to the library to read the books. The phrase "the tribulation of love between immortals and demons" often came up.

Before his death, Duanmu Ling summarized the Jingzhai mental cultivation method, stating that the Cihang Sword Manual was more extreme than the Dao Xin Seed Demon Technique. While there were successful cases of Dao Xin Seed Demon Technique, no one from the Cihang Jingzhai had ever been able to break through the death barrier, indicating that the mental cultivation method must have flaws.

Cheng Huaixiu had many doubts about this. The final level of the Cihang Sword Manual was called "Secluded Death Cultivation." Once one entered seclusion, it was impossible to emerge. One would either exhaust one's lifespan or attain the Vajra Shattering Realm and shatter the void with the Yang Spirit.

If that's the case, how can we prove that the ancestor who went into seclusion was a Vajra of Shattered Souls, or simply had exhausted his lifespan?

Both leave behind a "corpse".

Can anyone see the difference?

The answer is: An unusual phenomenon in the heavens and earth!

Opening the Gate of Heaven and Earth will cause extraordinary phenomena in the world. Whether it is shattering the void or breaking through the Vajra, the top martial artists of the world can feel the change in the vital energy.

For example, after Pang Ban and Lang Fanyun fought on the river under the full moon, they each comprehended the ability to shatter the void. Before they shattered the void, they sensed the traces of the Yang God of Ying Yuan, who was far away in Tibet. Ying Yuan then attained the Vajra of Shattering.

If any of the successors of Cihang Jingzhai breaks through the limits of secluded meditation and comprehends the Vajra of Shattering, the disciples of Cihang Jingzhai will surely feel the fluctuations.

If you can't feel it, it means your retreat has failed.

Cheng Huaixiu perused the Cihang Jingzhai classics and found that successors throughout the ages highly praised "Sword Heart Clarity". However, they mostly disagreed with the techniques of releasing the sword and seclusion that followed "Sword Heart Clarity", but they did not directly criticize them.

Yan Jing'an was the same.

Her mind was too cluttered and burdened with too many thoughts, preventing her from even achieving the Sword Heart Clarity, let alone entering seclusion for cultivation.

However, Yan Jing'an took a different approach, bypassing the boundary of Sword Heart Clarity, and directly mastered the Scattering Technique.

Unlike previous generations of successors, this is a unique technique of Yan Jing'an, allowing one to release the dead at any time and place.

Cheng Huaixiu sighed, "My lord, I am really vulnerable right now. I know nothing. I don't know Master's plan, nor can I find any guidance in the notes of our ancestors. If it weren't for you by my side, encouraging me, my sword heart would have shattered long ago."

Li Zhaoting frowned.

The prophetic advantage of a time traveler is limited. Unless they have their own library and search engine, many plot points will become blurry. They can only remember the plot points that gave them the most extreme excitement, such as plot regrets, the protagonist group's stupid actions, and the cool and gorgeous special effects.

Among the characters and martial arts in Huang Yi's works, the most memorable is the "Dao Xin Zhong Mo Da Fa" (Dao Heart Demon Seed Technique).

Xiang Yutian followed the "right path," cultivating his extraordinary skills in the normal order, thus breaking through the limits of lifespan.

Long Ying's fate was "luck." He was originally a furnace cauldron cultivated by the previous Evil Emperor. Just then, Wu Zetian ascended the throne and ordered the extermination of demons, killing the Evil Emperor. Long Ying turned his life around and became the new Evil Emperor.

Han Bai follows the "bed way," turning the Dao Heart Demon Seed Technique into a secret art for picking up girls. He spends far more time in bed than practicing martial arts, resulting in very low personal charm and a far less noticeable presence than Li Ruohai, who only appears in one chapter.

Pang Ban walks the "path of ruthlessness," using extreme emotions as a bond to stimulate the growth of the demonic seed. He appears to be a sentimental person, but in reality, he is a ruthless demon lord.

When Pang Ban was young, he had some feelings for Yan Jing'an. This was the foundation for his training. He first had Yan Jing'an train a disciple who was 90% similar to Yan Jing'an himself. Then he took that disciple as his apprentice. He had to be a direct disciple and pass on all his knowledge to him. Then he fell in love with that disciple and used worldly master-disciple relationships, immortals and demons, good and evil to stimulate his emotions.

Master and disciple, fairy and demon lord, righteous and evil factions—these stimuli weren't enough; he also had to make the other party submit to some blond-haired guy, giving Pang Ban the ultimate stimulation.

In the original storyline, the disciple was Jin Bingyun, and the blond-haired man who served as the furnace was Feng Xinglie. Because this method was too shocking, it was jokingly called the "Green Hat Divine Skill".

This path is blocked.

It wasn't Li Ruohai and Ying Yuan's obstruction that caused the problem; it was Pang Ban's initiative to give up, and Pang Ban discovered the flaw.

Pang Ban realized that no matter how many emotional entanglements he created, he was ultimately a heartless person who cared about nothing except the supreme Heavenly Dao.

How can a ruthless demon lord be bound by emotions?
It's nothing but self-deception!
It's easy to deceive others, but hard to deceive yourself.

It's hard to calculate others' opinions, and it's hard to deceive others' opinions, but it's hard to deceive Heaven's will. If you continue to deceive yourself and others, you will surely die a gruesome death.

From the moment Pang Ban realized the meaning of "ruthlessness," the emotional bond was severed. Without the emotional bond, both the medium and the furnace lose their meaning.

Li Zhaoting had secretly probed, and found that Yan Jing'an did not have a disciple named "Jin Bingyun". Her only successors were her personal disciple Qin Mengyao and her nominal disciple Cheng Huaixiu.

Li Zhaoting originally thought that Cheng Huaixiu had replaced Jin Bingyun and he had replaced Feng Xinglie, but judging from the current situation, it seems that both of them had misunderstood.

Cheng Huaixiu was like a headless fly, rushing around aimlessly, his mind in utter turmoil, trapped in endless mental exhaustion.

Li Zhaoting lowered his head and took a bite of the cantaloupe, using the chilled fruit to refresh himself. He sighed, "I don't know what Pang Ban is thinking. I can only guarantee one thing: Pang Ban will definitely make his move before I leave the Western Regions."

"Would you be killed?"

"What's the point of killing me? The one who wants to kill me the most is Li Chimei. Pang Ban doesn't have such thoughts. He just wants a good fight. Is he willing to fight alongside me?"

"Do you intend to abandon me?"

"Let's go! Let's go back to Sword Forging City!"

"My lord, stop keeping me in suspense! I'll agree to anything you ask, just give me a hint!"

"I am not the furnace chosen by Pang Ban."

"Is there anyone more suitable than the head of the household?"

"Unless you use emotions to scheme against the two of us, you can't plant the seed of demonic power in my heart. Pang Ban is a cold and ruthless demon lord. His so-called emotions are nothing but self-deception. This path is destined to fail!"

"So what? Honey, have you been doing too many fortune telling on the street? You've gotten into the habit of keeping people in suspense!"

"If I'm not mistaken, Pang Ban chose the seven emotions and six desires as the furnace, or more precisely, he chose people with different emotions as the furnace, and then eliminated them one by one. This is not to refine the demon seed, but to defeat the demon seed head-on."

"why?"

"Pang Ban wants to break through the limits of the two sects and six paths of the demonic sect in his own way. He needs the stimulation of the immortal embryo and the true energy of longevity, which will indeed cause me harm."

I don't want to use you as a medium to cultivate my demonic seed, but rather to use the power of both of us to sever chaotic thoughts and solidify an immortal demonic heart.

Huai Xiu, what's with that expression?
Do you feel very relaxed?
This is a life-or-death ordeal for both of us. Pang Ban will go all out. If we can't withstand him, he will shatter us and absorb the immortal embryo and the true energy of longevity.

Selfishness at the expense of others is the true nature of the Demonic Sect.

Devouring true essence is also a form of harming others for personal gain.

Don't have any expectations of Pang Ban.

Pang Ban will definitely not show any mercy.

Of course, Huai Xiu cannot commit suicide by sword, nor can she sacrifice herself to fulfill my wishes, because that would cause my sword heart to collapse, just like the warning your master gave.

Unable to live, yet unable to die, they struggle between life and death, and are tempered in the turbulent world.

Success! Like a fish leaping over the dragon gate.

If you fail, you will die and your spirit will perish.

This is a true situation of neither life nor death!

Li Zhaoting took Cheng Huaixiu's hand and said, "In this life-or-death situation, we must fight side by side!"

Cheng Huaixiu sighed, "Honey! Wipe the oil off your hands before you say those sweet nothings!"

"Huai Xiu is such a spoilsport!" "I learned this from you!"

"Ok?"

"One who stays near ink gets stained black!"

"Would Huaixiu like to try the family discipline?"

"Humph!"

"Master, you just said that Pang Ban needs different furnaces to cultivate demonic seeds. Do you have any targets? Let's go kill the furnace first and break one level of his cultivation technique."

"Can't do it!"

"why?"

"Yi Shuihan has already run away!"

"Is Yi Shuihan Pang Ban's furnace?"

"With the little bit of demonic skill he practiced, even if he went mad, he wouldn't go insane like that! At the time, it was just a guess, until Huaixiu gave me a hint, and I connected Yi Shuihan's changes with Pang Ban."

"How did Yi Shuihan manage to run away?"

"The Demonic Tribulation Chapter: Fake Death to Escape"

"You're so cunning, sir."

"I think Huaixiu was more slippery!"

……

Sword Forging City.

Li Zhaoting and Cheng Huaixiu returned together.

Wang Shenglan glanced at Cheng Huaixiu, her face full of frustration: "Sigh! I thought we'd have another sister in the family, but my husband has turned out to be a scoundrel!"

Li Zhaoting laughed and said, "Sheng Lan! If I were a despicable person who took advantage of others in their time of need, would you fall in love with me?"

Wang Shenglan rolled her eyes at Li Zhaoting: "Wasn't I the one you dragged onto this pirate ship by taking advantage of me? I served you day and night, and you still took advantage of me. You're a wicked man, and now you want to pretend to be a gentleman?"

"It seems Sheng Lan wants to try out the family discipline!"

"Try it then, I'm not afraid of you! Without Meizhu taking care of you, you'd probably starve to death, wouldn't you?"

"Can't I buy food with money?"

"Do you have any money on you?"

"Uh... I asked a few friends, and they generously donated several thousand taels of silver. They are so kind."

"You have such friends in the Western Regions?"

"Hehe! Hehe! My wife is wise!"

Since Mei Zhu and Jiang Yuyan entered the family, Li Zhaoting no longer had the habit of carrying money when he went out. A few days ago, he was worried that Cheng Huaixiu would have a mental breakdown, so he left in a hurry and didn't have a single copper coin on him. He had no choice but to borrow money from Hei Sha.

The local Black Sand Bandits were very generous, opening their treasure vaults and allowing Li Zhaoting to take whatever he wanted.

Li Zhaoting was grateful for their friendship and, not wanting them to continue suffering from the wind and sun, found them a beautiful, secluded spot where they could get a good night's sleep.

It was in that very spot that a tomb, which had just been built, was discovered to have been blown up. Judging from the marks, it was not destroyed from the outside, but rather blown open from the inside.

Based on the news from Kucha, this was clearly Yi Shuihan's tomb. Afterwards, he opened up to Cheng Huaixiu about the Demon Seed in the Dao Heart and finally guessed the truth.

Yi Shuihan is one of Pang Ban's furnace cauldrons.

Yi Shuihan, this extraordinary being, is not one of the Seven Deadly Sins, possessing only one type of sin. Rather, he embodies a multitude of negative emotions, with jealousy, hatred, and resentment filling his mind, rapidly maturing his demonic seed.

However, in essence, Yi Shuihan's deepest desire was neither jealousy nor hatred, but the lust for power; he was pursuing power.

The jealousy and hatred towards Yuan Xiaotian was not because Yuan Xiaotian was highly skilled in martial arts, but because Yuan Xiaotian blocked his path. If Yuan Xiaotian were just an ordinary person who had nothing to do with Yi Shuihan, even if Yuan Xiaotian was the number one master in the world, what was there to be jealous of?
Who would be jealous of Zhang Sanfeng for no reason?
The danger of refining the spirit lies in this: even the martial artist himself does not know what his true nature is!
With the doubts resolved, Cheng Huaixiu was full of fighting spirit and prepared to fight alongside Li Zhaoting to the death. Pang Ban asked Fang Yeyu and Zhao Min to make plans. Yan Jing'an and Li Nanxing were far away in the capital, but they had already made their moves twenty years ago.

The most unhappy person was Wang Shenglan.

He thought he could get Cheng Huaixiu to join a group and see how different the body of the most beautiful woman in the world was, but unexpectedly, Li Zhaoting acted like a gentleman for several days.

When you were pursuing me, it didn't seem like this at all!

Could it be that my husband's health...?

Wang Shenglan felt a chill run down her spine.

……

As the Ling Shuang Sword was nearing completion, the dawn of a five-hundred-year prayer appeared. Guan Yutian could no longer hold back and took Ren Qianxing to the Sword Forging City. The elders of the Demon Sword Clan followed, forming a large group of over a hundred people.

There was no Murong Hua, no pretense, just a direct use of his main account to show that he was the head of the Demon Sword Clan. Any talk of faking death or escaping was completely unfounded.

The martial arts world in the original story is a world full of absurd and mind-boggling antics, where few people have the intelligence to fake their death and escape.

In the world of martial arts, especially in the mixed world of ancient and warm styles, intelligence is an important factor. You must be careful when you make a move. If you want to kill someone, you either have to cut off their head or blast them to ashes.

The act of stabbing someone in the heart with a sword and then turning around and walking away is a common mistake in the beginner village.

Once you leave the starting village, be careful not to make any mistakes.

If it's a "chasing and jumping off a cliff," it can barely be considered a way to fake death and escape. In a head-on duel, there is no chance of faking death to escape, especially since the martial artists from the Western Regions are far more ruthless than those from the Central Plains. The consequence of faking death is that you will be turned into a real death, which is the most frustrating way to die.

Rather than adding unnecessary details, it's better to be upright and honest.

Guan Yutian, dressed in a python robe, rode a fine horse to lead the way, followed by two neat rows of black-robed swordsmen. These were the elite of the Demon Sword Clan, and all of them had arrived.

Given the current situation, Guan Yutian continuing to conceal his strength would be irresponsible towards his own life and fortune. He's going all in, it's either win or die.

The Sword Master led the Four Dragon Sword Masters out to greet them.

"Distinguished guest, I have failed to greet you properly. Official... should I address you as Alliance Leader or Head of the Household?"

"I am Guan Yutian, the leader of the Supreme Alliance, and Murong Hua, the patriarch of the Demon Sword Clan. Today, I am here to complete the Jiazi Transaction. Please call me Patriarch Murong."

"Patriarch Murong... Murong..."

Is this a strange way of addressing someone?

"Patriarch Murong, to be honest, I really want to fulfill the promise made by our ancestors. However, if Patriarch Murong is killed by my son-in-law because his name is too strange, don't blame me for ruining my reputation. My son-in-law's fate is somewhat strange, and he is born to be incompatible with ancient families, especially the Murong family!"

Sword Master smiled, but his tone was full of sarcasm, as if he had Guan Yutian completely under his thumb.

Guan Yutian sneered: "If we're talking about long-standing traditions, the Sword Forging City has been around for hundreds of years. It doesn't seem to be that much different from my Demon Sword Clan. I've long heard of the fearsome reputation of Master Li's Jiazi Tai Sui. If we're going to kill someone else, it would be more advantageous for Master Li to kill you first."

Sword Master stroked his beard: "My son-in-law has one very obvious characteristic: he never brings bad luck to the family."

Guan Yutian scoffed, “Jian Xiong is a member of Master Li’s family, but it seems that Sword City Lord is not. If he were to bring about the death of your father-in-law, all of Sword City’s centuries-old foundation would belong to Master Li. Sword City Lord, you must be wary!”

Ren Qianxing pointed to the city gate: "Sword City Lord, I think this place shouldn't be called 'Sword Inquiry Gate,' it should be renamed Xuanwu Gate, since Hero Li happens to have the surname Li!"

Sword Master smiled calmly. If Li Zhaoting were on par with Sword Master, Sword Master would definitely be wary of Li Zhaoting. But the gap between the two was too great, so there was no need for any precautions.

What's the point of being on guard?

Can it block Li Zhaoting's Supreme Heavenly Sword?

The Sword Master said calmly, "Patriarch Murong, the Frost Sword will be unveiled in three days. In order to fulfill this sixty-year contract, please wait a few more days. The safety of the accompanying personnel will be the responsibility of the Sword Casting City."

"Thank you, Lord Jian."

Guan Yutian's face lit up with joy upon hearing this.

Clearly, the Sword Master did not want to break the contract and wanted to hand over the Frost Sword to the Demon Sword Clan, using this lucrative business that had lasted for sixty years to build the Sword Forging City's prestigious reputation.

As long as the fighting doesn't cross the line, Swordcaster City is an ally most of the time, before the situation completely collapses, and the alliance benefits both sides.

Some people are asking: Guan Yutian went from being the leader of the Supreme Alliance to the head of the Demon Sword Clan. Didn't the members of the Supreme Alliance have any objections to him? Wasn't he worried about his subordinates rebelling?

of course not!

To reiterate, the management structure of large forces in the Western Regions is extremely distorted. Taking the Supreme Alliance as an example, Guan Yutian occupies 80% of the combat power, Ren Qianxing occupies 10%, and the remaining hall masters and branch masters barely occupy 10%.

In the original storyline, the Supreme Alliance and the Sea Shark Palace had been locked in a fierce struggle for many years, each wanting to annex the other. The underlings on both sides hardly ever made a move; it was always the leaders who fought head-on.

Guan Yutian lost to Helian Ba, the Supreme Alliance was annexed by the Sea Shark Palace, Murong Hua killed Helian Ba, the Sea Shark Palace was merged into the Supreme Alliance, and the other members were just lackeys.

As long as Guan Yutian keeps winning, whether he is Guan Yutian or Murong Hua, his lackeys will be loyal to him. If Guan Yutian loses, these lackeys who are just there for a living will betray him without hesitation. What difference does it make who they eat with?

I'm just trying to make a living, don't overthink it.

Guan Yutian never cared!
(End of this chapter)