"Chu Gang, stop wasting your energy. That Golden Bell Shield is beyond your current cultivation level to break," Chu Meng said, resting his broadsword on his shoulder as he waved off the hammer-wielding cultivator.
Inside the shield, Jian Dan clasped her hands and bowed slightly.
"Esteemed seniors, this lowly one was blind to your greatness. Please overlook my ignorance. The beast core I obtained earlier—I'm willing to offer it as a gesture of sincerity for joining your team. Would that be acceptable?"
The group burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Smart girl! We accept your tribute," Chu Meng sneered. "From now on, you're one of us. Serve us well, and you'll be rewarded."
"Scatter and clean up the battlefield!"
The others dispersed, looting the fallen cultivators' storage pouches. Jian Dan recalled her Golden Bell Shield and stood aside, not joining the frenzy.
"Boss! There's a lot of Redleaf Fish over here. If we take the eyes separately and sell the bodies to Xianshi Pavilion, we'll earn a decent sum."
"Good, good! Get to work!"
A small crowd began turning the five dead cultivators' belongings inside out, piling and sorting the loot.
One scholarly-looking man picked up a red parasol-shaped artifact and walked over to Jian Dan.
"Here, take this umbrella. Consider it your formal welcome gift."
Jian Dan hesitated. A faint demonic aura lingered on the umbrella's surface, and as it neared, a subtle fragrance wafted toward her.
"Xiao Zhuzi, hold your breath—now!" Brother Parrot's urgent voice rang out in her mind.
Too late.
A wave of dizziness washed over her. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the ground. She tried to circulate her spiritual power—but nothing moved. Her qi felt frozen in her meridians, sealed tight.
"You…"
"Hahaha! How's the effect of the Spirit-Sealing Powder?"
"I agreed to join you. Why go this far?"
"Hmph. Who knows if your promise was genuine or just a ploy? But dead, your beast cores and treasures all belong to us."
"And that talking bird—looks like it's the one you smuggled out of Qianwen Pavilion. Chu Gang, stuff it in a spirit beast pouch."
Chu Gang had been eyeing the parrot since the start. At his boss's command, he snatched the parrot from Jian Dan's arms.
"Let me go! Xiao Zhuzi, help—"
His voice cut off as he was stuffed into the pouch.
"Boss, it's my turn this time!" The scholar licked his lips. "After I drain her, I'll break through to Foundation Establishment!"
"Tch. A measly Qi Condensation girl isn't worth the fuss. Do what you want." Chu Meng waved dismissively.
"AHHH—!"
A bloodcurdling scream tore through the air. The group whirled around to see the scholar staring in horror at the smoking hole in his dantian. Then he toppled over, lifeless—revealing Jian Dan standing behind him.
But this was no longer the meek girl they had cornered.
Clad in black robes embroidered with crimson Manjushahua. Her long black hair flowed loose, a golden butterfly-shaped artifact clipped to her temple. Her qi surged—half a step into the Golden Core realm.
Chu Meng reacted instantly. He crushed a teleportation talisman, and his figure began to blur, dissolving into spatial mist.
But before his escape could complete, a curved blade tore through the teleportation space—cleaving him clean in two. Blood sprayed in all directions.
Jian Dan didn't pause.
With a flick of her fingers, Mo Yue Zhan spun through the air. In one swift motion, it pierced the dantian of the remaining three cultivators. Then it whirled back, transforming into an elegant earring before vanishing into her dantian.
A single fireball spell reduced the bodies to ash.
Jian Dan knelt beside the heap of ten storage pouches, eyes gleaming as she sorted through her harvest.
She had known.
Back when the two groups were squabbling over her, she had already sensed the faint mark Chu Meng had secretly branded on the hem of her robe. But she'd said nothing.
During the sea beast hunt, they'd treated her as expendable. When conflict erupted, they left her defenseless.
Still, Jian Dan had fallen for their Spirit-Sealing Powder. With her qi sealed, she was briefly no different from a mortal.
But she cultivated both Dao and Demon paths.
When her qi locked, her demonic energy surged from her upper dantian.
By the time they decided her "fate," she had already switched to her Heavenly Demon Art. No mercy. No hesitation.
The loot was substantial.
Among the spoils were over 60,000 low-grade spirit stones, 2,000 mid-grade ones, and—as expected—no high-grade spirit stones. Rogue cultivators like them rarely got their hands on such treasures.
But the crimson umbrella intrigued her most. Its demonic aura had masked the poison—a mistake she wouldn't repeat.
As her Primordial Chaos Art slowly reactivated, cycling qi through her dantian, her aura shifted back to that of a Dao cultivator.
From the spirit beast pouch, a muffled voice gasped:
"You—you're a… demon cultivator? Or a Dao cultivator?!"
~Secrets always surface. Transformations require caution.~