ILDV Chapter 19

In front of the palace of the Eighteenth Hell, an eight-foot-tall burly man crouched on the steps, hands covering his face, using his resolute and robust features to vividly demonstrate what it meant to want to cry but have no tears.

He swore that from today onwards, he and Yin Lang were no longer good brothers!

A full one million two hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones—Surnamed Yin, you really dared to ask for that much!

Footsteps approached.

Jiao Yuyu snorted coldly, turned his body, leaving the other party with a view of his large rear end.

Unless Surnamed Yin apologized to him properly and returned eight—seventy—six… right! Six hundred thousand spirit stones, he wouldn’t deign to acknowledge him!

“Venerable Jiao, our Venerable requests your presence.” The visitor stopped three meters behind him, their unfamiliar voice revealing they were not Yin Lang.

Jiao Yuyu sprang up as if his rear was on fire, displeased. “Where’s Yin Lang? Tell him to come invite me himself! If he doesn’t come, I… this Venerable won’t go!”

The visitor was an extremely handsome young man with a pure white mask hanging diagonally on his forehead, inscribed from his brow to his chin with the four characters ‘All Under Heaven at Peace.’ He was one of Yin Lang’s trusted right and left arms, the demonic cultivator with the codename ‘White Impermanence.’

As if he truly were an infernal warden, the young man’s face perpetually bore an unchanging smile. Even Jiao Yuyu’s behavior, so ill-matched to his status, couldn’t alter his expression by even a fraction.

He said, “The Venerable declares: ‘If Venerable Jiao refuses to come, tell him—the Jade Fox has arrived.'”

This time, Jiao Yuyu’s rear truly was on fire.

“That, uh… tell your Venerable I still have some things to take care of. I’ll come find him later!”

Without a moment’s delay after speaking, he turned and ran.

The smile on ‘White Impermanence’s’ face on the steps deepened slightly.

Before Jiao Yuyu could fly a hundred meters, his neck tightened. Two opposing forces clashed, and the enormous impact made him stick out his tongue on the spot.

“You little brat, you dare run?!”

A familiar, sinister voice sounded in his ear. Jiao Yuyu froze.

In that instant, what flashed through his mind wasn’t the ‘Jade Fox’ herself, but the gleaming one million two hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones, and his own soon-to-be-flattened self.

Yin Lang wasn’t the least bit surprised when, half an hour later, he welcomed an enchantingly scantily-clad beauty, along with the unrecognizable poor Yuyu being dragged along.

Hu Yunu tossed Jiao Yuyu aside with a flick of her hand and aggressively slammed her palm on Yin Lang’s table, shattering it into pieces. “Surnamed Yin, you little brat, when this lady left, I entrusted Yuyu to your care, not for you to swindle him like this!”

Yin Lang said, “The table you just shattered was made from a whole piece of Heavenly Star Wood.”

Hu Yunu stiffened.

Yin Lang continued, “This is the Eighteenth Hell, my main base. Jiao Yuyu and Wu Mantuo fought here for a full six hours. How much do you think he destroyed?”

Hu Yunu protested. “But that wasn’t—”

“So considering that Yuyu was entrusted to my care by you, and it was an unintentional mistake due to Chao Liang’s provocation, I’ve already given him a fifty percent discount on compensation.”

Yin Lang interrupted her, black flames flowing between his five fingers. “Senior Hu, you know my wealth. There’s no need to lie about such things. The Eighteenth Hell doesn’t lack these spirit stones.”

Hu Yunu glanced warily at the black flames.

She was left speechless but unwilling to swallow this loss alone. “What about Wu Mantuo then! She has to pay too!”

“Senior, rest assured, no one can escape.” Yin Lang leisurely flicked the black flames at his fingertips, smiling lazily. “In three days, Wu Mantuo will deliver herself to my door. So, why don’t we discuss… why exactly have you returned at this particular time?”

Hu Yunu’s eyelid twitched. “What business is that of yours, boy?”

Yin Lang acted as if he hadn’t heard, the black flames flowing faster at his fingertips. “I suspect that whether it’s you, Wu Mantuo, or…” He deliberately skipped over a name. “…the purpose of coming to find me is the same for all of you.”

Hu Yunu’s fingers, pressed against the Heavenly Star Wood table remnants, twitched. “Stop talking nonsense. This lady just came back to check on the silly boy. In just a few years of not seeing him, he’s been swindled out of over a million spirit stones by you. In a few more years, won’t he even sell himself?”

“It seems Senior isn’t sincere about cooperating with this junior.” Yin Lang said slowly. He said ‘Senior,’ but Hu Yunu couldn’t detect even a hint of respect in his words.

But she didn’t dare lose her temper.

Yin Lang was wary of her strength, and she was wary of Yin Lang’s black flames, not to mention that fool was firmly in the other’s grasp.

Thinking this, Hu Yunu glared at Jiao Yuyu with a look of disappointment.

Jiao Yuyu shrank back. Just as he was wondering what he’d done to anger this adoptive mother, he heard Hu Yunu scold. “Get your ass over here!”

“Calling me like a dog…” Jiao Yuyu muttered, but his feet didn’t dare delay. He quickly moved before the two, was pressed down by Hu Yunu’s hand, and sat face-to-face with Yin Lang.

Before he could figure out what was happening, he heard Hu Yunu say, “You negotiate with him. This lady will listen.”

Jiao Yuyu couldn’t understand and even wanted to retreat. “Adoptive Mother, Yin Lang is too cunning. I can’t outplay him. Just tell me what to do after you finish talking…Hiss! Why’d you hit me!”

“Are you the Demon Venerable or is this lady the Demon Venerable?” Hu Yunu struck him hard, then looked at the opposite side, almost wishing she could go back hundreds of years to when she never picked up this fool.

Jiao Yuyu finally sat down obediently.

“I see Senior’s sincerity.” The black flames at Yin Lang’s fingertips finally retracted as he smiled lightly. “Then this junior will reciprocate and gift Senior a piece of information for free.”

He raised his eyes and said only one sentence. “The First Venerable’s advancement failed. He’ll die soon.”

Hu Yunu: !!!

She exclaimed in shock. “So that rumor is actually true?”

However, being an old monster of several thousand years, Hu Yunu quickly calmed down. “Yin Lang, why should I believe you’re not talking nonsense, casually fabricating false information to deceive us?”

“This junior naturally has evidence.”

Yin Lang raised his hand, and a thumb-sized irregular fragment appeared, emanating a faint purple glow.

The instant this fragment appeared, the entire hall was filled with violent demonic qi. If Yin Lang hadn’t activated a protective barrier beforehand, the entire Eighteenth Hell would likely have been affected.

If Tu Feng were here, he would immediately recognize that this fragment’s aura was identical to the three demonic core fragments dug up on Tianji Peak that time.

Hu Yunu, with her Tribulation Crossing late-stage cultivation, felt instantly oppressed the moment the fragment appeared, immediately believing in the identity of its owner.

“This lady recognizes Yan Guihe’s demonic qi, but the other aura mixed in this demonic core…”

Hu Yunu nearly pressed his face to the fragment. The beautiful face conjured pointed fluffy features at the nose and mouth positions. After sniffing for a while, his eyes suddenly widened. “It really is the First Venerable!”

As if thinking of something, when she looked at Yin Lang again, her gaze contained undisguised shock, so shocked her words became jumbled. “This lady… I… you… it’s not…”

She took a deep breath. The last few words were squeezed out through clenched teeth, that feeling of being absolutely horrified yet forcibly suppressing it made Hu Yunu’s face flush red.

“…Was it you who did it?”

This statement was cryptic, leaving Jiao Yuyu scratching his head in confusion. “What? What did he do?”

Hu Yunu couldn’t be bothered with this fool. A pair of enchanting, seductive peach blossom eyes stared intently at Yin Lang’s every move. She completely forgot her so-called fox demon posture, looking as if she wanted to climb onto Yin Lang and examine him from head to toe.

Yin Lang smiled slightly, neither confirming nor denying.

He interlaced his ten fingers beneath his chin, drawling, “So now, is Senior willing to continue discussing cooperation with me?”

****

Jiuyou Court was the territory of the Demonic Path’s Third Venerable, Venerable Yan Guihe. Jiuyou City, where Jiuyou Court’s main base was located, was also the third most prosperous city in the Demonic Path.

This place wasn’t at all like the terrifying and sinister descriptions given by righteous cultivators, and didn’t even restrict the entry and exit of righteous cultivators. At first glance, aside from everyone coming and going possessing spiritual power or demonic qi, it was no different from an ordinary city in the mortal realm.

Qin Xun and the others made simple disguises, pretending to be demonic rogue cultivators as they mixed into the city with the crowd.

The leader of their group was a Spirit Transformation stage cultivator. Too strong would easily attract Jiuyou Court’s attention; too weak would make it difficult to ensure everyone’s safety. Along the way, he and Qin Xun were basically the ones discussing matters.

“…Everyone remember, we’re only here to surveil. Hiding our tracks is the top priority. Don’t let greed expose your identities! And thereby implicate the sect!” The leader was repeating words he’d said countless times along the way.

“Junior Brother Feng, what are you looking at?” He suddenly noticed Qin Xun’s gaze fixed on a secluded alley and quietly reminded him.

Qin Xun came back to his senses and smiled. “Nothing, just saw something interesting. Thought I’d bring one back for Master.”

Everyone immediately teased him, praising Qin Xun for being such a devoted disciple.

They soon dispersed to infiltrate the city.

Qin Xun walked together with a Golden Core stage cultivator. When passing an alley, he suddenly said, “Junior Brother, I think I just saw someone in Jiuyou Court inner disciple robes sneaking over there. Wait here for me, I’ll follow and take a look.”

The Golden Core stage cultivator who admired his senior brother obediently agreed. Qin Xun moved like a ghost, disappearing in the blink of an eye into the crisscrossing alleyways.

After turning through several filthy alleys.

“It really is you. At the city gate earlier, I thought I was seeing things.”

Under a canopy, a person dressed as a peddler with a shoulder pole looked him up and down, focusing on that false face. “Hey! This spell technique is quite novel, haven’t seen it before. Did Yin Lang create it for you?”

Qin Xun rarely appeared outside Taihua Immortal Sect using Feng Lan’s face, so this was the first time being caught by this peddler.

“Don’t disrespect my master!” He frowned in disgust and said coldly, “The usual arrangement?”

The peddler shrugged. “Fine, fine, won’t say if you don’t want me to. The usual arrangement—see you tonight.”

That night.

In the inn where the Taihua Immortal Sect group was staying, three light taps sounded on Qin Xun’s window. After a few seconds’ pause, the paper window was pushed open a tiny crack, and a palm-sized paper figure floated in. Landing on the ground, it transformed into human form—the very peddler seen during the day.

Now without his shoulder pole, his gait appeared much lighter. Circling around the screen, Qin Xun revealed his true face, sitting at the table waiting for him.

The peddler sat across from him. “You, the dignified Young Venerable of the Eighteenth Hell, disguised like this and running to Jiuyou Court’s territory—what for? Don’t you know Yan Guihe’s greatest hatred in this life is for people surnamed Yin?”

“Naturally I have my own business.” Qin Xun glossed over it, producing three finger-sized pure black crystals and pushing them forward. “Speak. I hope you’ve brought the information I want to know.”

“You’re always so generous!” The peddler’s eyes lit up. Without beating around the bush, he grabbed the crystals and poured out information.

Qin Xun frowned as he listened, simultaneously organizing the chaotic, disordered information in his mind, extracting what was currently useful.

The two sat facing each other for nearly a quarter hour before the peddler got up to leave. Before departing, he held the window frame and looked back, stroking his chin. “For the sake of our many years’ relationship, I’ll give you one more piece of information for free. Remember to promptly inform your master.”

“The Demonic Path’s First Venerable has already begun to suspect that his failed advancement back then was deliberately orchestrated by someone.”