Chapter 66: The Suppressed Great Demon
The story of spirits seeking enfeoffment was something Hua Changxi had heard of in her past life.
However, she never expected such a thing to actually exist in the world, let alone happen to her. Staring at the fair-skinned, plump baby before her, she was momentarily stunned into silence.
Seeing Hua Changxi staring at him, the plump baby squirmed as if a little embarrassed, then suddenly darted away with a ‘swoosh’. A few breaths later, he ‘swooshed’ back.
At this moment, a leafy vine had appeared around the plump baby’s waist.
Upon seeing this, Hua Changxi’s eyelids twitched. She finally snapped back to reality, her expression immediately turning stern as she looked at the baby: “What exactly are you?”
Seeing Hua Changxi’s change in expression, the plump baby blinked his dark, gem-like deer eyes and cautiously replied, “Fairy, I am the Spirit of Five Finger Mountain.”
Hua Changxi looked surprised. She had thought the baby was a mountain spirit, but she hadn’t expected him to be a mountain spirit. “Mountain God, I’ve heard of that. What’s your relationship with the Mountain God?”
The plump baby said, “I have no relation to the previous Mountain God. I was born of heaven and earth.” He then puffed out his chest and crossed his arms indignantly.
“The previous Mountain God died a very, very long time ago and left me no inheritance. That’s why I know nothing and was almost captured by that scruffy old Daoist.”
Hua Changxi’s gaze flickered. “The previous Mountain God died? Mountain Gods can die?”
This question seemed to touch upon the plump baby’s blind spot. His bun-like face scrunched up. “I don’t know. The Spiritual Energy disappeared, the Divine Appointment Order vanished, and all the deities are gone.”
The information in these words was quite significant, and it all fell within Hua Changxi’s knowledge blind spots.
The disappearance of Spiritual Energy – setting aside the reason, she understood the literal meaning.
But what was this Divine Appointment Order?
“What is the Divine Appointment Order?”
The plump baby replied, “It’s the order to enfeoff a Mountain God.”
Hua Changxi asked, “Mountain Gods need enfeoffment? Who enfeoffs them?”
The plump baby pouted. “I don’t know. The previous Mountain God didn’t leave me much inheritance, so I only know a tiny bit.”
Seeing the plump baby’s resistance, Hua Changxi decisively changed the subject. “The Mountain God is dead, so why are you still here?”
The plump baby gave her a ‘you’re so dumb’ look. “Because the Spiritual Energy reappeared! And it’s getting more and more potent. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have cultivated a Spirit Body so quickly.”
Hua Changxi thought: The Spiritual Energy disappeared for a while, and now it’s back. Is this a Spiritual Energy Revival?
The plump baby happily hopped a few more times. “And I’m so lucky! I met a fairy, received the fairy’s enfeoffment, and instantly gained a human form.”
Hearing this, Hua Changxi wasn’t so happy. Enfeoffing spirits seemed to be something that couldn’t be done casually; the one who enfeoffed would pay a price.
“Do you know that many people outside want to seize Five Finger Mountain?”
The plump baby nodded indignantly.
Hua Changxi asked curiously, “There are so many people outside, and they’ve been here for months. Why didn’t you go to them for enfeoffment? Why did you come to me?”
The plump baby’s eyes darted around. “Because your aura smells the best.”
Hua Changxi eyed him, not entirely believing him. “Did you try asking others, and they ignored you?”
The plump baby seemed to get angry, hands on his hips. “How could that be? I’m the Spirit of Five Finger Mountain! It’s I who didn’t want them to enfeoff me.”
Hua Changxi said, “When you seek someone to enfeoff you, there must be a standard, right? Not just anyone can enfeoff you?”
The plump baby lifted his chin. “Of course. I am the Spirit of Five Finger Mountain. How could someone with shallow fortune possibly enfeoff me?”
Hua Changxi raised an eyebrow. “So my fortune is very deep?”
The plump baby nodded repeatedly, spreading his arms. “Fairy’s fortune is the deeeeepest.”
Hua Changxi’s lips curved upwards, then she quickly asked, “Deeper than everyone else outside?”
The plump baby fell silent.
Hua Changxi asked, “Since there are people with deeper fortune than me, why didn’t you go to them?”
The plump baby pouted. “A few people were like you, with a good aura. But the people around them were very bad. They actually tried to capture me, so I had to run.”
Hua Changxi asked, “Why would they want to capture you?”
The plump baby paused, then looked at Hua Changxi, thinking that this fairy wasn’t very bright.
He was the Spirit of Five Finger Mountain. If they captured him and refined him, Five Finger Mountain would become their dojo. How could she not even know something so obvious? She was too foolish.
However, it was precisely because this fairy was not very bright that he could so easily get enfeoffed.
Thinking this, the plump baby patted his chest with a sense of lingering fear.
Fortunately, fortunately, heaven still favored him, sending him such a foolish fairy.
Hua Changxi looked at the baby’s strange reaction, a look of confusion on her face. “What are you doing?”
The plump baby opened his innocent big eyes and spread his hands. “I don’t know why they want to capture me either.”
Hua Changxi frowned, guessing. Those people outside were here to seize Five Finger Mountain. If they captured the mountain spirit, could they take possession of Five Finger Mountain without a fight?
Seeing Hua Changxi’s gaze towards him change slightly, the plump baby quickly rushed over and hugged her thigh, acting spoiled. “Fairy, fairy, what are you thinking about?”
Hua Changxi withdrew her thoughts, reached out, and poked the baby. He was quite soft. “I’m asking you, if I enfeoff you, do I have to pay something?”
Upon hearing this, the plump baby’s face turned red, and he grinned at Hua Changxi obsequiously.
Seeing his expression, Hua Changxi had a bad premonition. “Little plump baby, tell me quickly, what price did I pay?”
The plump baby extended his right hand, pinching his thumb and little finger. “Just a tiny bit of fortune.”
Seeing Hua Changxi’s darkened face, the plump baby quickly comforted her. “Fairy, your fortune is deep. It’s fine to spend a little on me. Really, you have to believe me.”
After speaking, he nodded his round head affirmatively.
Although Hua Changxi found the concept of fortune a bit mystical, with this world undergoing a Spiritual Energy Revival and the possibility of cultivation, she dared not disbelieve.
Moreover, she knew without even thinking that enfeoffing a mountain spirit would consume far more than just a little fortune.
Hua Changxi wanted to scold the baby, but looking at his pure, clear eyes that perfectly reflected her own, her heart softened, and she couldn’t bring herself to reprimand him.
“If I enfeoff you, will I have bad luck?”
The plump baby got angry, his bun-like face furrowed. “How could that be? I am the Spirit of Five Finger Mountain. If you enfeoff me, you will receive blessings.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Hua Changxi’s expression drastically changed. A dangerous aura washed over her.
Hua Changxi scooped up the baby from her leg and fled the spot at top speed.
After running for a kilometer, Hua Changxi glanced back. She saw the spot where they had been standing was now covered by a giant net emitting Spiritual Light.
The plump baby clutched Hua Changxi’s clothes tightly, his voice trembling. “Fairy, it’s the scruffy old Daoist. He’s come to catch me again.”
Hua Changxi didn’t slow down. Her expression was grave. The spiritual energy fluctuations behind them were incredibly strong, far beyond anything she could handle. The pursuer’s cultivation was definitely much higher than hers.
“Plump baby, I can’t defeat that old Daoist. If you stay with me, you’ll be caught more easily.”
“Aren’t you a mountain spirit? Quickly find a hidden place to hide. That old Daoist definitely won’t find you.”
The plump baby heard Hua Changxi’s intention to abandon him and clutched her even tighter. “Fairy, I don’t know what’s going on, but no matter where I run, that old Daoist can find me.”
“Fairy, don’t leave me. I’m so scared. That scruffy old Daoist wants to eat me, sob sob sob~”
Feeling her clothes getting wet with tears, Hua Changxi felt a headache coming on. She couldn’t bear to abandon the baby, so she continued to run with him in her arms. However, the spiritual energy fluctuations behind them were getting closer, and she was getting anxious.
“Which part of Five Finger Mountain is the safest? Quickly tell me the way.”
“The safest place… the mountain is pretty much the same everywhere.”
“Then what about the most dangerous place? The kind of place no one dares to approach lightly. Is there such a place?”
The plump baby immediately thought of the stone cave where Great Demons were imprisoned. The Mountain God’s inheritance had told him that the only place on Five Finger Mountain that should not be approached casually was the Monkey Cave.
Should they go there?
After cultivating a Spirit Body, he had explored all of Five Finger Mountain and had been to the Monkey Cave several times. But that place exuded a terrifying aura that made his Spirit Body unstable.
The plump baby secretly glanced ahead and saw the old Daoist getting closer and closer. He shivered in fear. “Monkey Cave. Let’s go to the Monkey Cave.”
Following the plump baby’s guidance, Hua Changxi exerted all her strength and sped towards the Monkey Cave.
After an hour of frantic running, Hua Changxi burst into the central area of the middle peak of Five Finger Mountain. The surrounding vegetation gradually thinned out. When there was no vegetation left, at the bottom of a bare stone wall, a stone cave appeared.
“Is that the stone cave?”
Feeling the whistling sound behind them getting closer, the fluctuations of spiritual energy in the air were already hindering her flight. Hua Changxi knew that the pursuer was very, very close. Without waiting for the baby’s answer, she rushed into the stone cave.
The plump baby cried out anxiously, “Don’t go in!”
Before he could even finish his words, they were already inside.
The moment Hua Changxi rushed into the stone cave with the baby, Jiang Guanyun, a Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator from the Jiang Family Old Ancestor, swung his whisk, which was over a hundred meters long.
The whisk did not ensnare Hua Changxi and the baby. Instead, it struck the cave wall with a ‘bang’.
Jiang Guanyun, who was rapidly flying towards the stone cave, his expression drastically changed, and he stopped abruptly.
There was a Reversal Array on the cave wall, reversing the damage.
Whatever force the whisk used was returned tenfold.
Since his goal was to capture the mountain spirit, not kill it, the force he used was not great. The returned force was easily dispersed by Jiang Guanyun with a single palm strike.
However, looking at the stone cave, Jiang Guanyun’s brow furrowed. The aura emanating from within made him uneasy, and he dared not approach easily.
“How dare that girl go in?”
“Could it be because of the mountain spirit?”
Jiang Guanyun’s mood was somewhat gloomy at this moment.
Where did that Core Formation Realm girl who took the mountain spirit come from? If it weren’t for her, he would have already captured the mountain spirit.
As long as he obtained the mountain spirit, Five Finger Mountain would belong to the Jiang family.
Then, the Jiang family could use Five Finger Mountain as their dojo, spread benevolence across the world, and quickly accumulate Merit and Fortune.
But all of this was ruined by that girl who appeared out of nowhere!
Jiang Guanyun was in a very bad mood, not only because he hadn’t obtained the mountain spirit but also because a young cultivator at the Core Formation Realm had appeared so quickly.
For major powers like the Imperial Court and Sanqing Palace, it was understandable that they had a few Core Formation old monsters.
But that girl was only about fourteen or fifteen years old, likely having started cultivating only a few years ago, and had already reached the Core Formation Realm so quickly. Her cultivation talent seemed even higher than the most outstanding disciples chosen from Sanqing Palace and Taisu Palace across the land.
This gave him a strong sense of crisis.
The resources of a Realm were finite, and the paths that could be cultivated were also limited. The further one went, the more crowded the paths became. He had seized the opportune moment, the favorable terrain, and the human support, yet if he still lost to a native cultivator, he would truly develop a heart demon.
He had to ascertain the origin of that girl. Her rapid cultivation and ability to enfeoff a mountain spirit indicated powerful fortune as well. If such a person could not be used for his benefit, then there was no need for her to continue living.
As Jiang Guanyun was lost in thought, inside the stone cave, Hua Changxi had collapsed onto the ground without any regard for her appearance, gasping for breath.
The frantic run had consumed eighty percent of her Spiritual Power.
“That was close. I almost got caught.”
Hua Changxi’s face still showed lingering fear. The old Daoist’s cultivation was far above hers. Even if her Spiritual Power hadn’t been depleted, she doubted she could last even one round in a real fight.
“Plump baby, what are you doing?”
After entering the stone cave, the plump baby had been quiet.
What was the mountain spirit doing?
He was examining his Spirit Body, touching his head, then his arms and legs. Seeing that his body hadn’t dissipated, he looked astonished.
“Why hasn’t it dissipated?”
Hua Changxi looked at him. “Dissipated what?”
The mountain spirit said, “That’s strange. When I came here before, my Spirit Body would become unstable. Now, it’s fine.”
Hua Changxi couldn’t help but poke the baby’s soft cheek. “You’ve taken human form now, haven’t you? You’re solid, so your Spirit Body won’t be unstable anymore.”
The mountain spirit tilted his head. “Really?” But he felt that wasn’t the reason.
“By the way, fairy, why aren’t you scared?”
Hua Changxi was puzzled. “Why should I be scared?” As she spoke, she stood up with a ‘whoosh’ and warily scanned the stone cave. “Is there any danger in here?”
The mountain spirit shook his head. “No. It’s just that a Great Demon was once imprisoned in this stone cave. Although the Great Demon is dead, his remains have merged with the terrain, forming a terrifying domain.”
“After Spiritual Energy appeared in Five Finger Mountain, this domain was further stimulated and is becoming stronger and stronger. Even the living creatures in the mountain dare not approach.”
Safe now, Hua Changxi’s mind could finally clear to think. “Wait, wait a moment. You said this was what kind of cave?”
The mountain spirit replied, “Monkey Cave.”
Upon hearing “Monkey Cave,” Hua Changxi’s eyes widened. “Plump baby, don’t tell me the Great Demon imprisoned in this cave was a monkey, right?”
The mountain spirit nodded. “Yes, yes! It was a monkey! And the king of the monkey tribe, too. He was incredibly powerful, comparable to a deity.”
Hua Changxi was stunned. “. That monkey wouldn’t happen to be called Sun Wukong, would he?”
The mountain spirit shook his head. “I don’t know. My inherited knowledge didn’t mention that. Anyway, the Monkey King died in the stone cave.”
Hua Changxi breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the Monkey King died. It was good it wasn’t Sun Wukong. If it were Sun Wukong, then she would have transmigrated into the world of Journey to the West.
