Why are all of us who transmigrated at the same time demons?

"Fellow villager, do I look more like a man or a god?"

These words sounded familiar. Huang Wulang turned his head blankly and saw a young man with a pale face, exuding yin energy and showing fangs in the moonlight. He grinned at it with his terrifying mouth.

The weasel's fur stood on end. It let out a shriek and then fled for its life in a panic.

"Great-grandfather, great-grandmother, human skin... no, it's a zombie demanding an apology!"

However, the youth who resembled a zombie simply stretched out his right hand, which was like blue armor, and suddenly grabbed, a terrifying suction force enveloping the weasel.

It involuntarily flew back towards the youth, and it discovered that under the influence of this strange suction force, all its magical power seemed to have fallen silent, and it could not cast any spells.

And so, it was firmly grasped by the young man's right hand.

Seeing the terrifying presence so close at hand, Huang Wulang's head lolled to the side and he fainted.

The zombie youth reverted to his original form, revealing himself to be Loran in disguise. He shook the unconscious weasel in his hand, looking somewhat disgusted.

You dared to defy the will of Heaven and take the evil path of seeking burial, how can you be so cowardly?

If it falls into the hands of the Heavenly Heart Sect, wouldn't they skin it alive and tear it apart to intimidate the world?

At least, I can offer a painless death. See how merciful that is!

From Loran's right hand emerged a strange beast, about the length of a finger, resembling both an insect and a dragon, shrouded in dark purple aura.

The strange beast burrowed into the weasel's body and devoured the entire weasel's flesh, blood, essence, and soul in an instant before leisurely returning to Loran's body.

Tossing aside the shriveled weasel pelt, Loran set off on his journey once more, only to find himself...

"Young master, save me! I was attacked by bandits, my whole family was killed, and I was the only survivor. Please, young master, save my life, and I will repay you with my own body..."

With a flash of the insect dragon, the female ghost's soul was instantly devoured.

"The wolf in front feigns sleep to lure the enemy, while the wolf behind..."

With a flash, the insect dragon devoured the entire wolf pack, including its leader.

"The Weng family's lodging was full... At that time, the Weng family had a son and daughter-in-law who had just died, and their bodies were lying in the room..."

With a flash, the insect dragon transformed the female corpse into pure corpse demons, which were then devoured.

"You scoundrel, how have you lived up to my master's teachings? Prepare to die!"

The insect dragon flashed—no, this is an old acquaintance, I can't dodge it.

Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash!

Along the way, Loran felt as if his insect dragon was turning into an Ultra Bracelet, flashing incessantly.

"Damn it! What are those insects from Tianxin Dao doing? How did this place become such a mess?"

Chapter 134 Ancient Chen Realm: A Strange Taoist Priest Arrives in Qinghe

Some say that among all the states, the State of Yu was the most beautiful.

For the State of Yu, Jiangnan was the most dazzling pearl on the head of a beautiful woman.

The Jiangnan region, named for its location south of the Xun River, boasts fertile land and a pleasant climate, which has fostered a thriving agricultural sector and abundant produce. Its high-quality agricultural products, such as silk, tea, and rice, are renowned far and wide. The dense network of waterways provides convenient transportation, attracting merchants from all over the world. Therefore, this place was called "paradise on earth" by the people of the six kingdoms.

But even in paradise, not everyone is necessarily wealthy. For example, in the southern part of Jiangning Prefecture, the westernmost part of Jiangnan, there is Xuanli County, named after a special delicious fish called Xuanli that is produced in the streams there.

Surrounded by mountains, this place has historically suffered from poor transportation, a lack of education, and the presence of many mountain spirits and monsters, making it a rare impoverished area in the Jiangnan region.

Among the mountains is a mountain range called Yinbai Mountain, which is full of cypress trees and beautiful jade.

At the foot of the mountain lies a county called Qinghe County. This county is relatively wealthy, thanks to the jade mines in Yinbai Mountain. Although the people there are not extremely rich, they are far from the turmoil of war and, thanks to Yinbai Mountain, they can make a decent living.

At dawn, the county gates opened wide, and a strangely dressed young man rushed in, looking travel-worn. The young man was quite handsome; everyone who came would call him a dashing young man, especially his phoenix eyes, which added a unique charm to his appearance.

The reason he was considered strange was mainly because he was wearing a dark blue-black outfit that was usually worn by martial arts practitioners, but on his head he wore a peculiar Taoist crown inlaid with brightly colored dragon horn-like ornaments, and the old belt he wore was mottled and patterned, like a bunch of dragons and snakes coiled together, making him look incongruous.

The young man had the city gate guards check his pass before hurriedly entering the city. Yu Guo respected the Dao, and Daoists did not need to pay any fees to enter the city.

"I'm starving! Let's find a place to get a good meal quickly."

Lorraine, who had been awake all night, muttered to himself as he carried his bag and sack, leaning on his cane, and walked briskly. He sniffed, catching a tantalizing aroma.

"Wow, this smells amazing! It must be from a wonton stall. I'm in for a treat!"

Loran quickly arrived at the newly set-up wonton stall by the roadside and called out to the busy old man who owned the stall.

"Old man, could you please make me five ounces of wontons? And if you have any fried dough sticks, could you also give me three?"

The old man glanced at Loran, picked up three fried dough sticks and placed them on the table, while also pouring Loran a bowl of water.

He chatted idly as he quickly put the wontons into the pan.

"Sir, you have a good appetite. Judging from your accent, you're not from Qinghe. Did you travel all night?"

Loran put down his cane and bundle, but the apricot-yellow Tai Chi cloth bag hanging beside him remained with him. He picked up his chopsticks and began to eat the fragrant, steaming hot fried dough sticks with plain water.

Hearing the old stall owner's question, Loran finished eating a fried dough stick before answering, "Your ears are sharp, old man. I am indeed from the neighboring county. I am out visiting an old friend and I am passing through here."

The old man glanced at Loran's Taoist hat and Tai Chi bag, and asked curiously, "Are you a Taoist priest?"

Loran replied, "You have a discerning eye, sir. I became a Taoist priest when I was eight years old."

"Judging from your attire and self-identification, you don't look like a Taoist priest at all."

Loran smiled, not annoyed. He said, "I come from a small sect and have never even had the opportunity to study the Daoist scriptures. Apart from this ordination certificate, I don't have much contact with the Daoists in the temple."

The old man smiled and didn't say anything more, but simply brought over the large bowl of wontons to Loran.

Before he turned around, the old man said, "If you're just passing through, I advise you to eat this bowl of wontons and leave quickly. Qinghe County has been quite unsettled lately."

"Not peaceful? How so?"

Loran looked up and asked a question.

The old man straightened his back, stamped his feet a few times, and said slowly, "You should be less curious. Listen to an old man's advice; it's always a good thing."

Upon hearing this, Lorraine simply thanked him and focused on eating without saying another word.

The vendors fell silent, except for a few people dressed as officials who walked by without saying a word, picked up a few bowls of wontons and left.

Loran understood perfectly. After finishing his wontons, he paid and left with his hands clasped in a fist salute.

Loran hadn't planned to stay in Qinghe County for long, but since things had been rather unsettled there lately, he decided to... stay there for a while. He wasn't exactly a proper Taoist priest.

A commotion arose from the city gate as a group of hunter-like men hurriedly carried a stretcher stained with blood into the city. The guards at the gate paid no attention to them and instead moved away with expressions of fear.

As the hunters entered the town, the once quiet county town suddenly became noisy, as if someone had pressed the horn button.

The hunters carried the stretcher to a large courtyard and knocked on the gate.

A middle-aged couple came out of the door. Looking at the blood-stained stretcher, the couple glanced helplessly at the hunters, as if asking something with their eyes.

The hunters' leader nodded helplessly and said, "Brother Shen, Aunt Su, please accept my condolences."

The woman, known as Aunt Su, rushed frantically to the stretcher, lifted the blood-soaked white cloth, and revealed the gruesome corpse beneath.

The body was decapitated and torn apart, covered with bite marks from wild animals, revealing stark white bones. It was clear the victim had been disemboweled by some large predator, its internal organs ripped out.

"My son, how could you be so foolish? Why did you have to fall in love with that wretched child?"

Aunt Su wailed helplessly, while the middle-aged man known as Brother Shen had red eyes. He forced back his grief and thanked the hunters, saying, "Brothers, thank you so much for collecting my son's body. I, Old Shen, will repay this kindness with my life."

Upon hearing this, Hunter Xin quickly waved his hand and said, "Brother Shen, you're too kind. We've all watched Xiao Yan grow up, and it's heartbreaking to see him suffer such misfortune. We are grateful for your kindness and care, Brother Shen. There's no need to mention repaying him."

After another round of profuse thanks, the hunters even helped carry the couple's body into the yard and comforted them for a while before leaving.

People gathered around, pointing and whispering with sorrowful expressions. The Shen couple's courtyard was not far from the shop where the Taoist priest bought his provisions. The shop owner, a short, middle-aged man with a large belly, had also witnessed the whole scene.

The shop owner slammed his fist on the counter and sighed, "This is simply outrageous! Mountain god, mountain god, you're practically driving people to their deaths! What kind of god is this?"

Suddenly, he saw Loran, who was watching the commotion next to the shop. His face turned pale. Loran's presence seemed extremely faint, and he hadn't even noticed him.

Loran nodded and tilted his head to indicate that he hadn't heard anything.

The shop owner's smile was forced. He respectfully stuffed another bag of flatbread into Loran's arms. These flatbreads were made from the finest flour in his shop, and they were quite expensive!

Loran held the hush money from her boss, her eyes slightly lowered. It seemed that Qinghe County was anything but peaceful.

Mountain god? More like some kind of mountain spirit or demon.

Chapter 135 Ancient Chen Realm: Five Dragons Secret Cult

After watching the excitement, Luo Lan arrived at a small courtyard located in the western corner of the county town. To outsiders, it was just an ordinary residence.

However, for members of the Five Dragons Secret Sect, an inconspicuous corner of this courtyard contained cryptic patterns that hinted at their identity as members of the Five Dragons Secret Sect, known only to the core followers.

Loran pushed open the door and went inside.

Loran walked into the house, touched the furniture, and looked at the thick layer of dust that had accumulated on it, indicating that the stronghold had been abandoned for a long time.

"Interesting. The stronghold in the county has changed location but the marks left by the old stronghold have not been erased. Those coded messages declare that this place is the stronghold."

"Is it really a case of the congregation being careless?"

"I think someone killed the followers here, but because they didn't know the secrets of our religion, they were completely unaware that there were coded messages left behind!"

Loran waved his sleeve, and numerous traces appeared under the effect of the Five Dragons Secret Technique, recreating the events that had occurred in the same spot.

"Hmm, they were indeed killed, those useless trash!" Loran was slightly annoyed as he watched his followers being slaughtered without any resistance in the scene created by the Manifestation Technique.

"I, the master of this altar, will have to take action myself."

Loran is now the head of an ancient sect in this world called the Five Dragons Secret Sect. This sect is actually divided into five altars, each dedicated to one of the five dragons.

The five dragons are the ape dragon, the insect dragon, the dog dragon, the phoenix dragon, and the poison dragon. Loran is the master of the insect dragon altar, and his status in the sect is only below the sect leader Ashudha Dragon King and the elder Nanda Dragon King.

The Five Dragons lineage split into two hundreds of years ago: one is the Five Dragons Secret Sect, which is clearly not a legitimate force, and the other is the Five Dragons Taoist Sect. The Five Dragons worshipped by the Five Dragons Taoist Sect are different from those worshipped by the Five Dragons Secret Sect. The "Five Dragon True Lords" they worship are the five dragons representing the five elements: red, blue, black, white, and yellow.

Loran is both the head of the Five Dragons Secret Sect's Insect Dragon Altar and the thirteenth generation leader of the Five Dragons Taoist Sect. In the Five Dragons Secret Sect, Loran has a nickname "Dragon-Swallowing Master" (in fact, many people call him "Dragon-Swallowing Demon"), while in the Five Dragons Taoist Sect, his Taoist name is "Jade Dragon Child".

The original owner of this body was named "Qi Xuanzong". He was born into a wealthy family in the Yu Kingdom. When he was eight years old, his mansion was haunted, and Qi Xuanzong's master, Zheng Yangzi, was invited to exorcise the ghost.

Afterwards, for some unknown reason, the Qi family actually gave themselves to the old Taoist Zhengyangzi as payment for exorcising the ghost. The Five Dragons Taoist Sect had been in decline for a long time, so eight-year-old Qi Xuanzong went from being a rich young master to a wandering Taoist priest with no fixed abode overnight.

Qi Xuanzong didn't hate him too much. He could guess that the reason he was sent to be Zheng Yangzi's disciple was not because of the reward for exorcising ghosts, but because there were more complicated factors involved.

Over the years, he has traveled all over the country and gained more experience. He probably realized that the haunting incident that affected the whole town back then was probably related to him.

The Qi family sent him to the old Taoist priest, less as a reward and more as a way to get rid of a potential troublemaker. As a result, Qi Xuanzong felt that he had no affinity with his parents anymore, and from then on, he devoted himself to following Zhengyangzi in cultivating Taoism. However, this good fortune did not last long, and Zhengyangzi also passed away a few years later.

Because the Five Dragons Sect has been in decline for a long time and its lineage has been lost, the "Supreme Mysterious Origin Five Dragons Taiji Golden Book," which is the fundamental method, is now incomplete. In fact, the complete Five Dragons Golden Book should have originally included the Foundation Building Chapter, Qi Refining Chapter, Alchemy Chapter, Deity Transformation Chapter, and Tribulation Crossing Chapter, which could be cultivated all the way to the immortal realm of Refining the Spirit and Returning to Emptiness.

However, the core Dan Ding chapter has been completely lost, the Hua Shen chapter is now reduced to a single Yuan Shen technique, and the Du Jie chapter has long been lost.

The Qi Refining chapter is incomplete. Of the Five Dragon Qi cultivation methods, only the Earth Dragon Qi of the Spleen Palace and the Fire Dragon Qi of the Heart Palace are still intact. The Water Dragon Qi of the Kidney Palace is incomplete, and the Metal Dragon Qi of the Lung Palace and the Wood Dragon Qi of the Liver Palace have long been lost. It was only by later generations who repaired it by referring to various classics that the perfect state of the Five Dragons Entering the Heavenly Pool could not be reproduced, and its exquisiteness was greatly reduced. Only the Foundation Building chapter is complete.

Qi Xuanzong has now completed his Foundation Establishment, but is stuck on the Qi Refining stage. He has already perfected the Earth Dragon Qi and Fire Dragon Qi, and the Water Dragon Qi is quite good after his own and his ancestors' repairs and tinkering. Only the remaining Wood Dragon Qi in the Liver Palace and Metal Dragon Qi in the Lung Palace are too crude.

Qi Xuanzong was quite ambitious in his cultivation. If he could not perfect these two energies, he would not be able to achieve the perfect state of "Five Dragons Entering the Heavenly Pool" as recorded in the classics, and his foundation would inevitably be incomplete, affecting his path in the future. Therefore, he specially sought out profound methods for cultivating the metal and wood energies, attempting to fill the gaps in the Qi Refining Chapter of the Five Dragons Golden Book.

Of course, this process involved contributions from many ill-intentioned rogue cultivators and disciples of various sects. The valuable items these fellow cultivators cherished were thoroughly unearthed by Qi Xuanzong. However, they were ultimately too incomplete. Rogue cultivators and unorthodox practitioners rarely possess complete and profound lineages; most of the valuable items Qi Xuanzong obtained were fragments. As for the sect disciples…?

Very few true disciples could run into Qi Xuanzong. Unlike the protagonists in other novels who could casually go out and kill a true disciple of a major sect and obtain a complete sect manual, Qi Xuanzong never encountered such a scenario.

Therefore, in order to truly perfect the Qi Refining Chapter of the Five Dragons Golden Book and make the Qi Refining Chapter a complete system, he needed to see the complete true teachings of a major sect, and Songhe Temple came into his view during his search.

Songhe Temple, founded by the Venerable Songhe, is an unofficial branch of the Tianxin Dao, the official religion of the Yu Kingdom. It is one of the unorthodox sects recognized by Tianxin Dao and is quite famous in Jingshui County, which is adjacent to Xuanli County. It is a well-known cultivation sect in the area. Songhe Temple is most skilled in two techniques: health cultivation and sword energy. The former corresponds to the pine tree in Songhe Temple, and the latter corresponds to the crane.

Legend has it that the founder of Songhe Temple, Master Songhe, attained enlightenment by observing cranes and created the White Crane Sword Technique. This sword technique skillfully gathers the golden energy of heaven and earth, forging it into a White Crane Sword Qi that can cut through anything and is exceptionally sharp. It even created the White Crane Sword Pill, representing the true skill of a sword immortal. At the same time, Songhe Temple also has the "Green Pine Longevity Technique," which is adept at gathering the energy of herbs and trees to nourish life, prolong life, and strengthen the physical body.

Upon hearing about the methods of Songhe Temple, Emperor Qi Xuanzong became very interested. Wasn't this the perfect person to learn from... no, to study?

Therefore, during that period, Qi Xuanzong went to great lengths, even abandoning his own cultivation, retaining only his Dao foundation, and joined Songhe Temple, just to learn the profound methods of cultivating metal and wood energies at Songhe Temple.

At that time, Qi Xuanzong became a disciple of Master Miaozhen. Because he deliberately concealed his identity, he only became an outer disciple. However, because he had traveled all over the country, was experienced and knowledgeable, and was also exceptionally handsome, he quickly established good relationships with everyone in Songhe Temple.

The Songhe Temple had a good reputation, and the relationship between the true disciples and the outer disciples was not so strained, which allowed Qi Xuanzong to get a glimpse of the true teachings. However, this good fortune did not last long. After Qi Xuanzong painstakingly gleaned some of the secrets of the "White Crane Sword" and the "Green Pine Longevity Technique," his actions were discovered.

For an outer disciple to steal the sect's true teachings is a serious crime punishable by having their Dao foundation destroyed and being expelled from the sect.

Left with no other choice, Qi Xuanzong had to flee. Fortunately, the methods of the Golden Dragon Qi of the Lung Palace and the Wood Dragon Qi of the Liver Palace had been almost perfected. As for the other three Qi, Qi Xuanzong quickly mastered them due to his experience. The Five Dragons were about to enter the Heavenly Pool in perfect harmony.

However, Songhe Temple was a very large organization. Qi Xuanzong, a minor Taoist cultivator from a declining sect with no background, was quickly captured by the experts of Songhe Temple. Originally, Songhe Temple wanted to kill him.

But at this moment, Master Miaozhen stepped forward and crippled his cultivation to apologize to the abbot of Songhe Temple. Out of respect for Master Miaozhen, Songhe Temple was able to show leniency, only making Qi Xuanzong swear a solemn oath not to reveal the stolen Songhe secrets for any reason before letting him go.

The Daoist Master Miaozhen was already very old. After losing her cultivation, she had almost lost half her life and was not far from her end. This kind and amiable female Daoist allowed Qi Xuanzong, who had been abandoned by his parents since childhood, to experience the taste of love. Qi Xuanzong, who had been struggling in the martial arts world for many years and thought himself to be cold-hearted and thick-skinned, experienced the first time that shame gave rise to inner demons.

After caring for the devastated Daoist Miaozhen at Songhe Temple for three years, like a son serving his mother, Daoist Miaozhen passed away. Qi Xuanzong was expelled from Songhe Temple and returned to wandering the martial world. However, the matter remained a thorn in his side, causing him great unease. Furthermore, the "Five Dragons Qi Cultivation Manual" that Qi Xuanzong had painstakingly cobbled together was still lacking in refinement. Under these combined influences, Qi Xuanzong failed to break through his cultivation barrier and was on the verge of death. Then, Luo Lan arrived.