Demonic Cultivator: Immune To Common Side Effects - Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Flower Street Courtesan vs. Shadow Fiend—Can Seven Star Needles Counter Him?!

Daoist Xuan Ye stared in disbelief. Li Yan had inhaled a massive cloud of insect egg powder, yet stood before her completely unharmed, without even a hint of discomfort.

Her eyes darted wildly. How could a flesh-and-blood cultivator swallow such a quantity of insect powder and still manage a smile? Shouldn’t he be writhing in agony, his heart devoured by a thousand insects, begging for mercy on his knees?

The host has inhaled insect powder, causing Blood Qi to surge and breaking through to the seventh layer of the Blood Shifting Realm.

The host has inhaled insect powder, causing Blood Qi to surge and breaking through to the eighth layer of the Blood Shifting Realm.

Li Yan relished the reversal of the side effects, a continuous stream of warmth pouring into his Dantian.

By now, Daoist Xuan Ye sensed something was amiss. As she tried to flee, she discovered something even more terrifying: three pairs of Shadow Hands had wrapped around her feet, pinning her firmly in place.

Only then did she realize she had fallen into Li Yan’s trap long ago. While releasing the insect egg powder, he had silently manipulated his shadows to bind her feet!

After all, the disparity in their strength was undeniable. If Daoist Xuan Ye couldn’t defeat Li Yan, she would inevitably attempt to escape.

Li Yan offered Xuan Ye a sliver of hope, lulled her into complacency, and finally bound her with shadows.

Throughout the entire process, Li Yan proceeded with meticulous caution.

He couldn’t afford to let anyone who knew his secret escape, nor could he afford to fail!

Once she was restrained, Li Yan raised two fingers and silently chanted, “Burning Lamp Technique.”

The three shadows beneath Xuan Ye’s feet ignited with golden light, illuminating her entirely.

With a desperate wail, the searing golden flames began to consume Daoist Xuan Ye.

The Insect Gu within her body panicked, countless larvae wriggling frantically to escape her flesh. They burrowed through every orifice, only to be purified into ashes by the golden light.

The youthful beauty of Daoist Xuan Ye withered rapidly.

She transformed from a voluptuous young woman into a frail crone of eighty or ninety years.

Stripped of the Insect Gu’s enhancement, she lost vast amounts of Blood Qi, her skin shriveling like dried parchment.

In the end, she was reduced to a decrepit, white-haired hag on the verge of death.

This!

This was Xuan Ye’s true appearance. Without the Insect Gu, she had fallen from a Cultivator to a mere mortal.

Gazing at her withered, wrinkled hands, Xuan Ye wailed, “No… no, no! My beauty… my…”

Her words trailed off as she breathed her last.

The largest Insect Gu at her heart vanished like smoke, along with her.

Her entire body melted like a candle, dissolving into a puddle of muddy sludge on the ground.

Her so-called beauty had been built on a false foundation of borrowed power.

In Insect Gu Cultivation, once the Insect Gu within her body were exhausted, she would revert to her true form.

“Cultivating external forces like this will never truly become one’s own strength,” Li Yan muttered. “What does it matter how much power these Insect Gu grant?”

He stared at the muddy sludge. Who could imagine that moments before, she had been a Daoist Nun Fairy as beautiful as a blooming flower?

From a white-haired crone to dust, it had taken only a few breaths.

Shaking his head, Li Yan sighed, “Insect Gu Cultivation, Shadow Cultivation… Of all the cultivators I’ve seen, none rely on their own Inner Strength.”

Kneeling down, Li Yan retrieved an Insect Pill from the sludge.

This remnant from Daoist Xuan Ye’s Dantian, Li Yan pinched between two fingers and held over the Lotus Lamp to refine it.

Using the same techniques he used to refine the Nethergod Pill, he purified it and swallowed it whole.

Instantly, a surge of Blood Qi flooded into Li Yan’s Dantian, and Daoist Xuan Ye’s memories surged into his mind.

The secrets of her Master, Daoist Tranquil Void, her own hidden origins… A chaotic flood of images swirled through his consciousness.

My name is Yu Xiaojing. I was once a courtesan on Flower Street, but as I aged and my beauty faded, my patrons’ favor waned.

One day, an old Daoist came to the mountains, calling himself Daoist Tranquil Void. He told me that if I took his Medicine Pills, I could regain my youth and my beauty would be eternally preserved.

I believed him. It was my last hope. If I grew old, how would my young daughter and drunken husband survive?

Though the pills felt strange, wriggling inside my stomach after I swallowed them, I could visibly see myself growing younger, returning to my youthful appearance.

Since regaining my youth, more patrons have sought me out. Once I save enough money, I can escape this hellhole with my daughter, Xiao Yin!

Recently, a strange disease has been spreading in town. The bodies of the afflicted grow maggots, and their wounds fester until they die. Corpses are dragged to the mass grave in batches, and many of the dead are my former patrons… Could this be because of me?

That day, I saw Daoist Tranquil Void at the mass grave. The old Daoist smiled at the corpses… praising me for being a “good woman.”

What do other people’s deaths have to do with me? All I want is to save enough money and escape this den of iniquity with my daughter, far away from that drunken husband! I feel so at peace when I hold Xiao Yin in my arms as we sleep.

Xiao Yin seems to have fallen ill… She kissed me goodnight last night, and since then, she’s been burning with a fever. I’ve hired the best physicians, sparing no expense! But… but nothing can cure her. In desperation, I took her to the Daoist Temple and begged Daoist Tranquil Void for help.

A few days later, Tranquil Void told me he had refined Xiao Yin into a Medicine Pill.

He urged me to swallow it, promising that my daughter and I would be together forever. Xiao Yin would never be sold to a brothel; she would remain safe within her mother’s womb for eternity…

I fled Flower Street with Xiao Yin. I did nothing wrong. I must have done nothing wrong.

The memories that followed dissolved into chaos. Fragments remained, like Xuan Ye had been struck by lightning, leaving her a living ghost.

Yet within this fractured narrative, Li Yan gleaned crucial information.

“Tranquil Void’s hideout…”

“That old Daoist truly has twisted methods, manipulating hearts and minds, turning cause and effect on their head.”

“If Daoist Tranquil Void doesn’t die, I won’t have a moment’s peace.”

“Wait… the Seven Star Needles? Hmm?”

Li Yan suddenly shuddered.

A fragment of memory surfaced—a Magic Artifact! One that could suppress shadows!

“That old ghost Tranquil Void… he has the Seven Star Needles, an artifact that counters shadows?”

“Why didn’t he use them earlier?”

Li Yan instantly grasped the gravity of the situation. The old ghost had been holding back!

He swiftly formed hand seals, activating the Blood Shadow Art. He released one of his shadows to scout ahead.

There, in the very spot they had been, the Blood Shadow Eldest Daughter and Daoist Tranquil Void were locked in a fierce battle, trading blows back and forth!

Daoist Tranquil Void darted across the sky on his flying sword, dodging and weaving with practiced agility.

The Eldest Daughter unleashed her Thousand Shadow Hands, relentlessly pursuing the old ghost.

On the surface, the Eldest Daughter seemed to have the upper hand.

Her shadow force overwhelmed the old Daoist, forcing the crane-haired, youthful-faced man to desperately evade.

But what was truly happening beneath the surface?

After reviewing Daoist Nun Xuan Ye’s memories, Li Yan knew the old Daoist had a hidden trump card.

Seeing Daoist Tranquil Void cornered with no escape, the Eldest Daughter sneered, “Old Daoist, stop struggling! Just surrender and become my Shadow Puppet!”

“Heh heh heh.”

The usually benevolent-looking Daoist Tranquil Void let out a sinister laugh.

With a delicate orchid finger gesture, he suddenly revealed several Seven Star Needles in his hand!