Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

Chapter 718: The Evil Heart Curse

Although Chu Liang had already endured plenty of surprises that day, he was once again astonished when news reached him that Taotie City had been breached by the rebels of Mount Mang.

Taotie City, after all, was one of the Terrestrial Ten. While its cultivation legacy wasn’t particularly strong, the city was home to countless powerful honored allies. How could it have fallen to a mere group of rebels?

If the rebels of Mount Mang were truly that powerful, they could easily rise to become one of the new factions in the Terrestrial Ten. There would be no reason for them to remain mere outlaws.

After all, there was the story of how the outlaws wreaked havoc, killing and burning, until the imperial court could no longer suppress them and was forced to recognize and accept them into its ranks[1].

This story would be a perfect example of how when people were weak, they were labeled a rebel. But if they became strong enough, they would naturally be deemed righteous.

As more detailed information arrived, Chu Liang finally pieced together the full picture.

Taotie City originally had many powerful honored allies. Although no large-scale battles had occurred there for centuries, the city’s immense wealth allowed it to sustain this large but mostly idle force. Typically, these honored allies were only tasked with managing city security, as there was little need for such a massive contingent.

However, after lending a large sum of money to the Penglai Supreme Sect a few days earlier, Taotie City faced financial strain. To sustain its high expenditures and keep the market running, they had to cut costs. After some deliberation, Huyan Dong decided to start with the largely unused honored allies, dismissing most of them.

This was the consequence of having a weak foundation. Those who joined for money would eventually leave for money.

Even so, the forces remaining in the Taotie City were still powerful, allowing the Taotie City to keep its place in the Terrestrial Ten. However, after copying Red Cotton Peak’s delivery service and having Qi Lin’er ambush Red Cotton Peak’s teams, Huyan Dong grew worried. He feared that the Mount Shu Sect wouldn’t dare to provoke the Penglai Supreme Sect but might instead retaliate against Taotie City. Thus, he deployed a large number of additional personnel to escort their teams of couriers.

This act of projecting his own petty mindset onto others only pushed the city further into financial ruin.

Even so, the city’s remaining guard force should have been more than enough to handle an ordinary level of unrest. But the rebels of Mount Mang were no longer the same; they seemed to have gained significant reinforcements.

In the beginning, the rebels of Mount Mang were nothing more than a ragtag group of starving half-demons. However, they somehow managed to acquire cultivation manuals and resources. After a few battles, they even obtained fine weapons and enchanted tools. It was as if everything they needed had fallen from the heavens, and the speed at which their forces grew stronger was utterly bewildering.

Chu Liang couldn’t help but wonder if they possessed a White Pagoda capable of giving rewards and equipment too.

Furthermore, some of the Mount Mang rebels had transformed into demons. Even though such a transformation would result in them progressing slower in their cultivation, they would have even more enhanced physiques, which would give them a significant boost in short-term combat effectiveness.

This team of humans and demons had breached the gates of Taotie City just like that.

After entering the city, the rebels’ strategy was vastly different from the chaotic assault carried out by the diabolical cultivators on Red Cotton Peak.

When the diabolical cultivators attacked Mount Shu, they used indiscriminate slaughter to cause chaos. But that only united the cultivators, who worked together to form a strong resistance and wipe them out.

In contrast, after breaking into the city, the rebels of Mount Mang focused their attacks on the City Lord’s Residence and a few key shops owned by Taotie City. They targeted only the honored allies, leaving the visitors unharmed.

As a result, the city’s customers became bystanders, with many even taking the opportunity to join the rebels, looting and stealing under the guise of a "free-for-all" shopping spree.

Taotie City, which once aspired to compete with the Divine Nine, was truly overrun by the rebels of Mount Mang.

Huyan Dong and his son Huyan Bin went missing, presumed to have been captured by the rebels.

After reading the news, Chu Liang couldn’t help but sigh. Indeed, villains are always subdued by greater villains.

Qi Lin’er is already dead, so the blame for ambushing Red Cotton Peak’s convoy can no longer be pinned on Taotie City. But they ended up facing retribution on their own.

Hmm?

At the thought of Qi Lin’er, Chu Liang suddenly remembered there was still something he hadn’t done.

...

The last time he was in the Sea of Demons, Chu Liang had slain numerous sea demons, but he hadn’t yet taken the time to reward himself.

Upon returning to Mount Shu, he had to go to Penglai for Qi Lin’er’s matter. After killing Qi Lin’er, he had unexpectedly obtained an imprint, which he still hadn’t refined.

Now that everything had settled down, he could finally relax in his small room and properly unbox all the rewards.

And this time, he planned to refine dozens of imprints in one go.

Among the imprints stored in a row of iron cells, Chu Liang first approached the one belonging to Qi Lin’er, which resembled a stubborn, unyielding stone. He was, of course, most curious about what this imprint might yield.

Without hesitation, he raised his hand and pressed the word "Refine."

Boom!

A flash of brilliance appeared, and a talisman-like light floated into the air.

[Evil Heart Curse: It can release the evil within a person’s heart, lasting for fifteen minutes. If used against cultivators whose cultivation level was a full realm higher, it is ineffective and carries the risk of backlash.]

Chu Liang read the description and pondered for a moment. "This..."

It sounded like another divine skill manipulating emotions and desires. He had previously acquired the Evil-Dispelling Spell and the Chain of Resentment, both of which proved incredibly useful when used appropriately.

As for the effectiveness of this Evil Heart Curse, it would depend on the extent of its influence.

He didn’t rush to test it and instead began refining the imprints of the sea demons.

Boom!

The first imprint from a sea demon yielded a perfectly round sphere of brilliance.

[Sea Soul Stone: A top-quality material mined from Sea Soul Mountain, capable of calming storms and quelling waves.]

Chu Liang rubbed the stone in his palm. It looked like a smooth and round blue-purple pebble. Upon closer inspection, he detected this hidden, powerful spiritual energy.

It was said that the sea itself possessed a spirit, and its essence gathered to form Sea Soul Mountain, located at the deepest point of the East Sea. However, this was just a legend; no one had ever seen the so-called Sea Soul Mountain.

Judging by the description of the Sea Soul Stone, such a place might actually exist.

Chu Liang then retrieved the Azure Wave Lamp from his belongings. Due to not having enough cultivation power, it had been hard for him to control this enchanted tool that ranked among the top hundred treasures in the Catalog of the Mortal World’s Ten Thousand Treasures. But now, he could handle it with ease.

As he activated the tool with a mere thought, azure waves surged forth, rippling across a space before him. Chu Liang then tossed the Sea Soul Stone into the restless waters.

Plop.

The Azure Wave Lamp was immensely powerful, but as soon as the Sea Soul Stone sank into the waves, the turbulence was instantly suppressed, leaving the surface calm and still.

However, the range that a single Sea Soul Stone could suppress was limited. Once Chu Liang expanded the area covered by the Azure Wave Lamp, the Sea Soul Stone became ineffective.

It seemed the spiritual energy contained within this stone was indeed finite.

With this thought in mind, Chu Liang proceeded to refine another imprint harvested from another sea demon.

Boom!

Once again, a perfectly round sphere of brilliance appeared.

Chu Liang frowned. "Another Sea Soul Stone?"

Just because I said one stone’s spiritual energy was limited doesn’t mean you need to give me another one! Chu Liang complained inwardly. @@novelbin@@

While having an extra stone wasn’t necessarily a problem, this trend was starting to seem a bit concerning...

Sure enough, moments later, Chu Liang found himself holding a large pile of Sea Soul Stones.

This made him fall into deep thought.

Previously, when he slayed a shrimp soldier and a crab general, the rewards he refined from their imprints were different, indicating that sea demons had unique attributes and yielded varied rewards.

However, the sea demons in the Sea of Demons, despite their diverse appearances, all produced identical Sea Soul Stones upon refinement.

If it were before, he might not have understood this, but recalling Daoist Cangsheng’s remarks about the essence of life, he began to faintly grasp the reason.

When the White Pagoda produced identical rewards, it likely indicated that the evil entities shared the same essence of life. For ordinary evil entities with different origins, their essence of life naturally varied.

The identical rewards from the Sea of Demons’ sea demons indicated that their essence of life was the same, suggesting they had most likely been created by someone!

He had once asked Wuzhiqi about the identity of the master of this hidden realm, the Sea of Demons, but Wuzhiqi had remained silent. Whoever had created those sea demons was undoubtedly a being of extraordinary and terrifying power.

Stashing away the pile of relatively useless stones, Chu Liang decided to test the power of the Evil Heart Curse.

As soon as he opened the door, Chu Liang saw Shang Ziliang, along with Lackey A and Lackey B, descending from the sky to report on the cleanup situation at Red Cotton Peak.

"You explain," Shang Ziliang said, gesturing for Lackey A to provide the details as soon as he saw Chu Liang.

"Hehe..." Lackey A chuckled awkwardly and was just about to start.

Chu Liang subtly raised his hand and cast the Evil Heart Curse.

Whoosh!

Lackey A’s expression froze suddenly. A sinister grin crept across his face as a shadow with horns seemed to emerge from behind him.

"Hee-hee-hee! In the end, it’s always me who has to step up, isn’t it? I’ve been saying it all along—one of you just eats, and the other lazes around. When it really counts, I’m the one who shines! Boss, if you can’t handle it, why not just go back to Cloud Horizon Peak and run your family business? Leave Red Cotton Peak to me. From now on, whatever you can’t handle, I’ll take care of it; whoever you can’t deal with, I’ll deal with them; and that Junior Sister Ziqing you can’t win over, I’ll win her over!"

Whoosh!

When the effect of the Evil Heart Curse wore off, Lackey A suddenly clapped his hands over his mouth, his eyes wide with terror. "What... what did I just say?"

"You said it all..." Shang Ziliang’s face darkened. "Forget the rest, but to think you had... feelings for Junior Sister Ziqing? Truly unexpected."

"I... didn’t..." Lackey A stammered, panic written all over his face.

Shang Ziliang was about to say more, but Chu Liang flicked his finger once again.

Whoosh!

This time, it was Shang Ziliang’s turn. His expression froze, and then a sinister smirk crept across his face.

"Hee-hee-hee..." Shang Ziliang sneered. "You think I chose you two as lackeys because I valued you? No! It’s just that no one else wanted to be my lackeys, so I picked the two dumbest guys from Cloud Horizon Peak. Now that I’m bringing you success, you think it’s because of your talent? It’s all thanks to me! If you know what’s good for you, you’ll cling to my coattails obediently. Otherwise, once my influence grows, I can replace lackeys like you by the hundreds at any time!"

Fifteen minutes later, Shang Ziliang suddenly snapped back to his senses. "Huh? What just happened?"

Lackey A’s eyes brimmed with tears as he responded, "Boss, so that’s why you picked us?"

Lackey B tried to say something to mediate, but suddenly, there was another flash of light.

Whoosh!

He trembled all over, and his friendly smile twisted into a sinister grin.

"I’ve always wanted to cook Boss’s mount and eat it! And those spirit birds you raise? I’ve been dying to roast them! I want to turn all the spirit birds on Mount Shu into hot pot... Hee-hee-hee!"

1. To be honest, this line story is conveyed in just five characters 放火受招安 but it is referring to the rebels in the Water Margin. Link. ☜