The Mirror Legacy

Chapter 1193: Purple Mansion (II)

End of the seas.

Fire surged violently within the earth veins, and white vapor billowed wherever water met fire. Li Ximing sat cross-legged in the center as flames streamed outward with his breath.

The longer the Mulberry Concord Ninefold Profound Method lingered within his body, the fiercer the black flames around him became, heating his body until it crackled like glazed glass. Fine fractures spread everywhere. Li Ximing still could not bear to draw the flames into the Juque acupoint, for that would waste all previous work. Thus, he took out some Huiyuan Spirit Water from time to time.

But to his alarm, the longer the Ninefold Profound flames burned, the more resistance they developed toward the Huiyuan Spirit Water, diminishing its effects with every use. Li Ximing could not help thinking, If I were not an alchemist… if I did not understand the extent of my injuries and the nature of these flames, this spell would be nearly impossible to handle. The Douxuan Dao lineage… must be watched carefully in the future.

He suddenly opened his eyes. His spiritual sense shot through the earth, faintly catching sounds of commotion. One particularly soft and serpentine voice stood out, “You with the surname Xia. The boundary is here?”

“Yes, my lord, it is…”

Li Ximing finally grew excited, Good, very good. This one named Xia is indeed useful. A demonic creature from the ends of the earth has no background and cannot possibly recognize all the hidden traps. The Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator has brought a whole group of subordinates over!

Once his excitement passed, he immediately began muttering inwardly and activated the Immortal Mirror’s probing ability. He swept through the great void until he confirmed everything nearby was clear and no Purple Mansion Realm cultivator was lingering in the area. Only then did he look upward.

He saw a swarm of lesser demons, including shrimp, snakes, turtles, and crabs, some humanoid and some not, crowding beneath a soft-spoken man who held a folding fan. He rode a giant turtle and was slowly approaching through the air.

Xia Shouyu looked utterly miserable. Several demons had hung her in midair; her lower legs had been bitten clean off, exposing pale bone. Her hair was disheveled and her body drenched in blood, yet she still forced a flattering smile.

Suppressing the urge to leap out, Li Ximing watched patiently. The soft-faced man glanced at the hot spring. As a Foundation Establishment Realm demonic creature, he immediately displayed his surprise and ordered, “You, and you. Go down and check immediately.”

Two demonic creatures eagerly plunged into the water. Xia Shouyu cried in anguish, “My lord, if the seal beneath can be undone, please spare my life…”

Li Ximing had already pieced most of it together. The demonic creatures clearly did not trust this woman’s words. Who knew how many excuses she had tried before being tortured to this state. When he saw her still shouting, he cursed inwardly, So careless. I am a Daoist Master, not a True Monarch. Restoring your limbs would take me a flick of the wrist, but if you drop dead here, all I can do is erect a tombstone for you…

While Xia Shouyu shouted above, the two lesser demons quickly approached his hiding place. Though he had not communicated with her beforehand, Li Ximing made a decision and revealed the white skeleton and the storage pouch on the ground.

Since Li Ximing was fishing for prey, he naturally could not let the lesser demons seize the items first. He made sure to release a bit of flame.

The two lesser demons could not withstand the heat and scrambled out, shouting, “Great king, it is exactly as she said!”

The demonic creature brightened immediately and hurriedly dismounted the giant turtle. He had lived at the end of the seas with empty pockets. He knew only a handful of spell arts and possessed no dharma artifacts. When he heard that something valuable might lie within the flames, he rushed inside, not forgetting to yank Xia Shouyu down with a flick of his sleeve.

Xia Shouyu’s face turned ashen. The impatient demon said, “Lead the way quickly. If I have to search your soul, your life will not be guaranteed!”

What nonsense. If you could soul-search, would you even need to drag me along?

Xia Shouyu had been afraid from the beginning. This demon was only a native spirit who had gained awareness, so she had deliberately leaked a bit of information earlier. If he could truly soul-search without killing her, she would not have needed to risk her life.

Now inside the flames, he spotted the white bones at once and rejoiced, though suspicion flickered in his eyes. He shouted, “You, go fetch it for me!”

Xia Shouyu cursed furiously in her heart as she was thrown forward. With her legs gone, the flames raging around her, and the winds impossible to maneuver, she fell with a thud halfway through. She looked up blankly at the skeleton and thought, Old man, are you not going to make a move? Don’t tell me this old thing can’t defeat that creature!

Li Ximing fully understood the speechless plea in her eyes. The demon was already trapped like a turtle in a jar. He was still checking whether any other demons outside had run off to eat wild folk.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, he rose to his feet, adjusted his posture, and spoke with a strange smile, “Kekeke… little friend, how did you end up looking like this?”

When the skeletal frame stood up, the soft-faced man reacted as if seeing a ghost. He frantically activated his Immortal Foundation and pulled out a talisman from his sleeve, but his vision flashed white as firelight burst under the falling heavenly light.

He screamed, “Ah!”

In an instant, the man vanished where he stood and turned into a glowing blue marine segmented worm. He fell onto the flames with a plop and writhed in agony. He now fully understood he had run into a terrifying expert.

His true form lacked a mouth, but his wriggling belly slapped the ground like a crying infant, producing cries of mercy. “Little demon… lowly demon did not recognize the Daoist Master’s presence… offended the Daoist Master… please… please…”

It was hard to blame the demonic creature for being foolish. The situation was too unreasonable. Even in the Shallow Sea, not even direct disciples of immortal sects would expect a dignified Purple Mansion Realm cultivator to hide inside a cave for some demon to blunder into.

Li Ximing did not spare the demon a single glance. He lifted the woman and blew another breath. Two fresh white legs sprouted like scallions with a soft swoosh. Xia Shouyu stood firmly but still had not recovered from shock.

She muttered blankly, “You… you…”

Xia Shouyu knew the demon could not stir up waves before him, but the fact remained that it was still a Foundation Establishment Realm demon. It was expected that her Qi Cultivation Realm body was as fragile as tofu before him, but even a Foundation Establishment Realm demon was weaker than a chick. At the very least, catching a chick required extending one’s hand.

Divine ability… so this is what divine ability truly is…

The marine worm bounced on the ground like a lump of flesh. Xia Shouyu’s joy at revenge evaporated instantly, replaced only with terror before a being who could burn her to ash with a single breath.

She fell to her knees with a thud and trembled violently, “Con… congratulations to Daoist Master!”