Yu Qingtang clutched his neck, grimacing in pain. Candle Nine Yin clearly had not been exaggerating when he said the medicinal bath was fiercely potent. Even a single drop felt as though something had taken a bite out of his neck.
He hurriedly rubbed the spot, then pointed at Ye Chenyan in furious outrage. “You!”
Ye Chenyan closed his eyes and slumped over the rim of the bathtub. “Ow. My back hurts.”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
He remembered the palm strike Ye Chenyan had taken directly to the back during the trial.
His indignation promptly fizzled out. Muttering under his breath, he sat down again. “I’ll let you off this once because you’re injured.”
He stuffed Ye Chenyan’s hands, which were resting over the rim, back into the water. “Don’t leave your hands sticking out. Maybe sink all the way down and hold your breath for a while, so everything soaks evenly.”
Then he asked curiously, “Can you feel that demonic energy yet?”
“Mm.” Ye Chenyan nodded lightly and lowered his hands as instructed. “I can feel the medicinal bath drawing it toward me.”
“Maybe because it was mine to begin with, it’s extremely obedient. It doesn’t feel uncomfortable at all.”
“That’s good.” Yu Qingtang thought for a moment, then turned around and brought out the Dragon-Crane Zither. “How about I play something for you?”
Ye Chenyan looked interested. “What will you play?”
“You’re not wearing a dress today. Will it behave?”
“Back in Jinzhou, I always played it while dressed as a man.” Yu Qingtang plucked one of the strings. “Its performance was only mediocre. About what you’d expect from an ordinary spiritual artifact.”
“But when I wear women’s clothes, it exceeds its normal limits.”
He waved a hand. “Besides, I’m only playing a little celebratory tune today. It doesn’t need any special effect. Would you rather hear ‘Good Days’ or ‘Unforgettable Tonight’...”
Ye Chenyan looked puzzled. “What songs are those? I haven’t heard of either one.”
“Of course you haven’t. It would be a problem if you had.” Yu Qingtang muttered, “Too bad I only have a guqin. It won’t have enough impact—and I’d be embarrassed to sing.”
Propping his chin on one hand, Ye Chenyan smiled. “But I want to hear the Battle-Entering Melody, followed by the Heart-Cleansing Melody, and then the Heart-Questioning Melody...”
Yu Qingtang blinked. “Huh? I understand wanting the Heart-Cleansing Melody, but why do you want the Battle-Entering Melody too?”
“You forgot?” Ye Chenyan laughed softly. “The first time you supported me in battle, that was what you played.”
“Oh.” Certain memories returned, and Yu Qingtang sighed wistfully. “I think that was also the first time I realized something was wrong with this zither.”
He was about to continue when a loud crack sounded.
He turned his head in confusion. “Huh? What was that? Who’s making popcorn in here?”
Ye Chenyan: “...”
Yu Qingtang slowly turned toward him. “You?”
Ye Chenyan’s eyebrow twitched.
Another explosive crack came from inside his body.
Understanding dawned on Yu Qingtang. “Oh—”
So this was what those classic descriptions meant when Long Aotian underwent a complete physical transformation and “his body crackled and popped.”
It was actually that loud!
Ye Chenyan stared at him speechlessly. “Popcorn?”
“Have you ever eaten popcorn?” Yu Qingtang gestured. “You make it with corn—”
Ye Chenyan gave him a long,幽幽 look.
Yu Qingtang laughed awkwardly. “It’s a good thing! When your body starts crackling, it means you’re growing!”
“You focus on healing...”
He placed his hands solemnly on the zither. “The Heart-Cleansing Melody is more appropriate while you recover. I’ll save the celebratory tune for next time.”
...
“No wonder that old snake didn’t hold back at all.” Ye Chenyan changed into fresh clothes and rolled his shoulders. “He had such an incredible medicinal bath prepared.”
“You’re completely healed?” No matter how many times he saw it, Yu Qingtang was still astonished by cultivators’ extraordinary physical constitutions. Even a qin cultivator like him was incomparably stronger than an ordinary person.
Pain still hurt just the same, though.
That was why Yu Qingtang always maintained the proper respect for body-tempering cultivators.
“Mm. More than that—my physical strength has increased considerably too.” Ye Chenyan experimentally swung a fist.
Even an ordinary punch produced the faint sound of air being torn apart. The moment he applied a little more force, demonic markings spread over his fist and demonic energy poured outward. His punch struck the tower hard enough to make the entire structure tremble slightly.
“Whoa—” Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened. “No wonder they say the demon race is born with exceptionally powerful bodies.”
He remembered that according to the novel’s description, Ye Chenyan’s body alone was now comparable to a magical artifact.
Yu Qingtang looked him up and down, rubbing his chin. “But just looking at you, there doesn’t seem to be much difference.”
Ye Chenyan paused in the middle of fastening his belt. “Then...”
Yu Qingtang took a solemn step backward. “I have no intention of looking, nor do I have any intention of touching.”
“Benefactor, conduct yourself with dignity.”
Ye Chenyan laughed. “Where did you learn that act? Have you been spending a lot of time with Baoshan lately?”
“Not really,” Yu Qingtang answered seriously. “I see him often, but Pretty Butterfly chases him from one end of the street to the other every time. I don’t think that counts as him playing with us. It’s more like he’s the one being played with.”
Ye Chenyan muffled a laugh. “Sounds lively. I want to see it too.”
“You’ll get to tomorrow.” Yu Qingtang excitedly pointed deeper into the tower. “Come on! Let’s go see the demonic weapon your father left you!”
Ye Chenyan froze at the word. “My father...”
Yu Qingtang looked back. “What is it?”
Ye Chenyan lowered his eyes and laughed softly. “Nothing. It’s just... I haven’t told you yet.”
“Back at that wall, I saw what they looked like.”
“They must have... they must have...”
His gaze flickered, but he could not quite get the words out.
Yu Qingtang leaned into his field of vision with a grin. “They must have loved you very much.”
Ye Chenyan fell silent for a moment, then pinched his cheek with a smile. “How did you figure it out again?”
He took Yu Qingtang by the hand and turned around. “Tell me, if I bring you to see the demonic weapon he left behind, does that count as...”
Yu Qingtang’s eyes flew wide. He nearly bolted on the spot. “I just remembered I have something to do!”
Ye Chenyan had clearly anticipated this. He scooped Yu Qingtang up and slung him over his shoulder. “Too late to run now.”
Deeper inside the Demon-Suppressing Tower, Candle Nine Yin stood silently before the sword.
Only when he heard the commotion behind him did he give a slight nod. “You’re here.”
“Mm,” Ye Chenyan replied.
His gaze fell upon the sword.
Just as expected, it possessed an aura similar to that of the man in the recorded image—arrogant, untamed, and disdainful of all beneath heaven.
He did not step forward immediately.
Candle Nine Yin glanced sideways at him. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” Ye Chenyan looked away. “I was only thinking that the spear I already have is pretty good.”
Candle Nine Yin’s expression remained unchanged. “Sooner or later, it will fail to keep pace with your cultivation.”
“I know.” Ye Chenyan exhaled and stared at the sword before him, his expression complicated. “You said this demonic weapon can change its form according to its wielder’s wishes.”
“This is the sword he left behind. If it becomes my spear...”
He lowered his eyes. “Then his sword will disappear from this world forever.”
Candle Nine Yin watched him and gently shook his head. “As long as you exist, they still exist.”
Ye Chenyan fell silent for a moment, then laughed. “That’s true.”
He stepped forward. “Sentimentality doesn’t suit me anyway. If he ever manages to come back...”
Light flashed in his eyes. “I’ll compensate him with a better one.”
Ye Chenyan seized the sword hilt.
As the demonic weapon was drawn out inch by inch, the entire Demon-Suppressing Tower thundered and shook.
Candle Nine Yin’s gaze sharpened. He reached out, grabbed Yu Qingtang, and pulled him back to a safe distance.
The demonic weapon was suddenly wrenched free.
Ye Chenyan held it in one hand and swung it behind him. The longsword transformed into a spear. He casually spun it, scattering a dense wave of demonic energy.
The pitch-black spear was ancient and restrained in appearance, yet its killing aura had nearly condensed into tangible form.
After setting Yu Qingtang down somewhere safe, Candle Nine Yin strode quickly toward Ye Chenyan. For once, urgency entered his voice.
“Did it work?”
Ye Chenyan lowered his eyes to the spear in his hand, then looked up at Yu Qingtang. A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Mm.”
“It truly recognizes you.” Candle Nine Yin could not stop himself from nodding. Then, as though remembering something, he said, “Right. Tianji Zi also told me to pass something on to you once you obtained the demonic weapon.”
“‘Sword Valley does not hold your sword, but somewhere else will. Even if it is not a sword, something is still waiting for you.’”
He paused. “That was more or less what he meant.”
Yu Qingtang stood where he was, too afraid to approach, but he had not remained idle. With immense seriousness, he was imitating Ye Chenyan’s movements from moments ago and raising an eyebrow at him.
Ye Chenyan could not help laughing softly. “That old man and his deliberately cryptic nonsense.”
Following his gaze, Candle Nine Yin looked over as well. “Have you decided?”
Ye Chenyan’s footsteps paused. “Decided what?”
“Tianji Zi told me about it.” Candle Nine Yin stood with his hands behind his back. “His origins are unusual, and the Esoteric Sect has set its sights on him. He is a troublesome person.”
Ye Chenyan rested the spear over his shoulder and laughed. “I’ve decided.”
Candle Nine Yin turned his head. “You have not thought about it at all.”
Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow. “When you chose to spend your life with Elder Green Snake, did you think it through?”
Candle Nine Yin did not hesitate. “Naturally.”
Ye Chenyan scoffed. “You didn’t think about it either.”
Candle Nine Yin fell silent.
Ye Chenyan looked steadily at Yu Qingtang and laughed softly. “Maybe I was born competitive. I like winning, and I like the exhilaration that comes with breaking through to a new realm.”
“Whenever I broke through, surpassed someone, or made progress, I never knew where else to look, so I always looked at the sky.”
His gaze did not waver.
“Now I only need to look at him.”
He could not help laughing again. “He clearly causes plenty of trouble too, but when he is behind me, I feel at ease.”
Candle Nine Yin remained silent.
“I have thought it through, and I have made my choice.” Ye Chenyan gave him a warning look and raised the spear slightly. “Don’t give him trouble.”
Candle Nine Yin nodded faintly. “Then I will go.”
Ye Chenyan looked puzzled. “Go where?”
“To deliver the Demonic Sovereign’s first verbal decree.” Candle Nine Yin strode away and pointed at Yu Qingtang. “No one among the demon race’s seventy-two divisions is permitted to give him trouble.”
Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened. He pointed at himself. “Huh?”
“What were you two talking about? Wait, you’re really going? There’s no need! This is way too high-profile! Hey—”
“Ahem.” Ye Chenyan cleared his throat, his eyes drifting away. “We didn’t... didn’t talk about anything.”
Yu Qingtang looked at him suspiciously.
Ye Chenyan held up the spear to distract him. “Right. Do you want to try holding it? Maybe it’ll turn into a qin.”
“No way. It’s the Demonic Sovereign’s weapon. It can’t possibly be that good-tempered and transform for anyone who touches it.” Yu Qingtang said it casually, but still held out his hand.
Halfway there, he looked up warily. “It won’t bite me, will it?”
Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow. “It wouldn’t dare—”
“Go ahead.”
Somewhat curious, Yu Qingtang reached out and poked the spear.
Ye Chenyan laughed and handed it over. “Hold it.”
Since nothing had happened when he touched it, Yu Qingtang confidently accepted the spear.
Then he cried out, “Ow!” and nearly toppled to the floor under its weight.
“Careful!” Ye Chenyan hurriedly caught him, bracing the spear in astonishment. “Did it bite you?”
“No.” Yu Qingtang awkwardly rubbed his nose and guiltily looked away. “It’s just...”
“A little heavy.”
Ye Chenyan: “...”
He slowly looked at the spear, then at Yu Qingtang.
“What!” Yu Qingtang squeezed his eyes shut and abandoned all dignity. “We qin cultivators are delicate and incapable of caring for ourselves! Do you have a problem with that?”
Ye Chenyan muffled a laugh.
Yu Qingtang’s eyes snapped open in shock. “You laughed at me!”
“I did not.” Ye Chenyan immediately denied it. “Ahem. There’s something strange about this spear...”
Yu Qingtang sneered. “Changing the subject won’t work now!”
“There really is something strange!” Ye Chenyan widened his eyes. “I tried putting it into my storage ring just now, but it resisted fiercely. No matter what I did, it refused to go in.”
“Huh?” Yu Qingtang scratched his head and found the problem insignificant. “Then carry it on your back. It’s not as though you find it heavy.”
“It’s a powerful demonic weapon. It’s normal for an impressive weapon to have a few quirks. Compared with mine, it’s practically normal.”
He added casually, “Maybe it was shut up alone in this tower for too long and got so bored that now it doesn’t want to enter another enclosed space.”
He paused after saying it.
“That actually makes a lot of sense.”
“It does.” Ye Chenyan nodded in agreement. “Carrying it on my back won’t be any trouble anyway.”
“Oh, right!” Inspiration struck Yu Qingtang. “An ancient demonic weapon sounds even more powerful than an ordinary first-rank spiritual artifact. Could you...”
Ye Chenyan looked curious. “Could I what?”
Smiling, Yu Qingtang brought out his own zither.
“Help me threaten it.”
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