Chapter 84: Sacrificing the Body for Life

“If you’re returning, then hand over the Yanmeng Wanderer’s insignia to your junior disciple,” the elder said calmly.

“Yes, sir.” Yan Yunfei immediately took a golden token from his waist, its brilliance dazzling, and handed it to Chu Yuwei.

This golden token signified the status of a Yanmeng Wanderer, granting its bearer access to many of Yanmeng’s earthly powers.

Chu Yuwei grasped the token, his eyes shining with joy. He turned to the elder and said, “Thank you, Master.”

The elder nodded, and with a simple gesture, a flame appeared in the air, seemingly eternal and unquenchable.

He then performed a mysterious technique, and the flame pierced through space and time, suddenly enveloping a wisp of candlelight.

That candlelight struggled desperately—it was the very same one that the locust demon had carried toward the mountain earlier.

Once impervious to wind, the candle now flickered violently.

Yet, for all its resistance, it was ultimately devoured by the flame.

The elder then handed the flame to Chu Yuwei and said, “I’ve retrieved the locust demon’s life-lamp for you. Take it and refine it first.”

“When you’ve fully refined it, I’ll use the alchemical furnace to cleanse and strip away its vitality, extracting the power of its cursed artifact. Then, with a single transcendent pill, I’ll transform it—thus creating a bronze-level cursed artifact.”

“With such a cursed artifact, few in the mortal realm will be able to rival your strength. Do you know how to refine it?”

Chu Yuwei replied in a solemn tone, “Thank you for your generosity, Master. I will use the methods of skinning, piercing the soul, and extracting the bones, then place it within the flames, employing the eighteen-boil technique. Within thirty days, I will have it fully refined.”

The elder nodded and said, “Excellent. All demons must be treated thus.” At that moment, his gaze swept over Jiangxue and Wen Ji, but found them too weak to warrant concern.

Hearing this, Chu Youcai’s heart burned with anger.

The locust demon indeed deserved its fate, but the Yanmeng method of refining was so cruel—how was it any different from the demons themselves? If there were harmless demons, would they be treated the same way?

Just then, Chu Youcai felt a sudden chill beside him. Looking down, he discovered that the Willow God had ceased breathing.

The Willow God’s body had turned to jade, refined and translucent, but its vitality was gone.

Although Chu Youcai had not known the Willow God long, the spirit had treated him as a disciple. It was a sorrowful loss, so early and unexpected.

A wave of indescribable sadness welled up inside him.

At that moment, the elder fixed his gaze on the Willow God lying on the ground and said, “Though this willow demon possesses innate Dao and virtue, it is still a demon. It harbors a life-lamp within, hidden and undispersed. Yuwei, retrieve its life-lamp. If you combine the willow demon’s and locust demon’s life-lamps, your cursed artifact will become even more powerful. Then, in the Yanmeng Nine Provinces Sacred Trial, you will have a sixty percent chance of becoming the martial champion.”

Upon hearing this, Chu Yuwei’s eyes flashed with excitement. “Yes, Master.”

He slowly approached the Willow God’s corpse.

Seeing this, Chu Youcai’s face changed dramatically. His heart pounded fiercely; he had not expected the other to demand the Willow God’s life-lamp as well, and it seemed he would tear open the body to extract it.

Instinctively, Chu Youcai stood, took his fish-scale blade in hand, and blocked the corpse.

No matter what, he would defend the Willow God’s body.

Chu Yuwei’s gaze darkened—he hadn’t expected Chu Youcai to step in so boldly.

A cruel expression flickered across his face. Without a word, his hand glowed, and a radiant immortal sword shot from his fingertip, shimmering with seven colors, aiming straight for Chu Youcai’s heart.

For an instant, the world seemed frozen; even the air grew rigid.

Chu Youcai felt his breath suffocated, and the immortal sword reached his chest.

In that critical moment, the sunrise within him brought a wave of warmth, restoring his clarity. He reversed his grip, placing the fish-scale blade between himself and the sword, blocking its brilliance.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Chu Yuwei sneered coldly. With a twist of his wrist, the seven-colored light intensified, knocking the fish-scale blade aside, and the sword struck Chu Youcai’s chest directly!

Chu Youcai had not expected such ferocity. If not for the snowy mountain peak within him summoning ice to shield his heart at the last moment, his heart would have been pierced through.

Even so, his chest was slashed deeply, blood gushing forth as he fell heavily to the ground, his body soaked in blood.

Chu Yuwei looked at the fish-scale blade lying on the ground, his gaze burning. He turned coldly to Chu Youcai and said, “Though we share kinship, your heart is aligned with demons. Slaying demons is the very foundation of Yanmeng! If you fall to the Underworld, do not blame me for my ruthlessness!”

In that instant, his hand glowed again, and another immortal sword shot from his fingertip, gathering all the Dao of heaven and earth, ready to slay Chu Youcai.

The world dimmed, save for the dazzling light of the immortal sword.

Chu Youcai felt a terrifying power bind his entire body; his limbs were immobilized, and he could only watch as the sword approached his heart again.

The snowy mountain peak and the sunrise within him desperately shielded his body, but the sword’s brilliance shattered them with a mere touch.

Chu Youcai was on the brink of death.

At that critical moment, a sound like dragon and serpent rang out, and a Dragon-Serpent Sword rose from the wilds to the sky, its forms swirling, blocking the attack.

Chu Yuwei’s sword was stopped.

The one who wielded the sword was Yan Yunfei.

Seeing Yan Yunfei intervene, Chu Yuwei’s gaze turned icy. “Brother Yunfei, do you defy Master’s orders as well? Are you intent on betraying the sect?”

Yan Yunfei’s eyes were steely. “Your arrogance knows no bounds. I merely blocked your sword—do you truly speak for the sect?”

“You—” Chu Yuwei was furious.

Yan Yunfei then rested the Dragon-Serpent Sword across his shoulder, its blade breaking the skin, blood seeping onto the sword, flames flickering—a testament to his iron resolve.

He turned to the elder and said, “Master, Lord Chu is no demon. I pledge my life for him. He is grounded in Daoist virtue, unmatched in poetry and scholarship, and fought the locust demon for Yanzhou’s sake. If Junior Brother Yuwei wishes to slay him, I would rather give my life, strike the Bell of Heaven, and defend Lord Chu!”

Yan Yunfei’s voice rang like metal, unwavering, his whole being shining with blood—like a god or demon arisen, proud and peerless.

At this moment, nothing could halt him; he would cut through all obstacles, never wavering.

Chu Yuwei felt as if confronted by a fierce lion, ready to devour him, a chill creeping down his spine.