Chapter Twenty-Five: The Demon Within

PS: Making up for the previous day’s missing update, a three-thousand-word chapter—more to come. The pace is accelerating, so where are my brothers' recommendation votes? Cast them now!

The Infinite Continent, as its name suggests, is boundless. No one has ever reached its edge, nor does anyone know where its boundaries lie. This was the information Qin Shuang gleaned from the soul of Swordmaster Situ. Lotus City, predominantly inhabited by mortals and cultivators, used to have only a few dozen celestial immortals and two golden immortals—but those numbers are now outdated. At present, Lotus City has only one golden immortal left: Bai Wan.

Qin Shuang carefully stored the bodies of the men from Thunder Mountain, paid Bai Wan no heed, and vanished instantly.

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"Brother Shen, I must confess my shame—it was my own greed that brought about all this. I hope you won't hold it against me." In a mansion within Lotus City, Ling Yufei bowed deeply with a cup of wine, apologizing personally to Shen Kai. Now that the matter was clear, and the other party so magnanimous, as the leader of a sect, he could not refuse such courtesy.

"Brother Ling..." Shen Kai hurriedly helped Ling Yufei up, responding politely, "As the saying goes, fighting breeds acquaintance. If not for this misunderstanding, I would never have had the pleasure of meeting you and all your friends." Within less than half a drink, Shen Kai had already begun to call Ling Yufei and his companions brothers.

"Xiao Wu, come, accompany the elder in a drink and apologize." At Shen Kai’s call, the young man whose nascent soul had been sealed by Ling Yufei came forward with wine, awkward but not shy. He drained his cup, face flushed, and said, "Elder, I meant no disrespect at the time. Now that the misunderstanding is cleared, about my nascent soul..."

Ling Yufei laughed heartily, waved his hand lightly across the youth, dissolving the seal he’d placed, "I must admit, it was petty of me to squabble with the younger generation. I hope you won’t hold it against me."

"Yanling, you come as well." Shen Kai summoned his daughter, Shen Yanling, to his side. "Hurry and apologize to Uncle Ling."

"Hmph, I won’t!" Yanling snorted, her face colored with indignation.

Ling Yufei laughed again, "No need, no need. She’s not at fault. It was indeed my greed that got the better of me, faced with so many fine materials—I simply couldn’t resist..."

"Brother Ling, if you keep dwelling on this, you’ll be denying me my dignity," Shen Kai said seriously.

"Of course not. Then let us—!"

Ling Yufei’s words were cut short as he froze, along with everyone else in the room. Qin Shuang’s furious roar startled Shen Kai, but to Ling Yufei and the others, it was sheer terror.

"What is this?" Meng Jun’s face was pale; he was most familiar with Qin Shuang, and was the first to recognize his voice, a roar laden with boundless rage and sorrow.

"What is Senior Qin doing?" Yang Qingtian’s face had gone white as well. They all sensed Qin Shuang’s unfathomable power, and the hatred in that roar was unmistakable.

"What immense power!" Only after the sound had faded did Shen Kai manage to utter a sentence, looking at Yang Qingtian and the others in confusion.

"Brother Shen, I believe something has happened!" Ling Yufei, the most perceptive of them, sensed from Qin Shuang’s fury a loss of control.

"What could have happened for Senior Qin to be so enraged?" Yang Dingtian interjected. Suddenly, Meng Jun, Ling Yufei, and Yang Qingtian’s faces changed again.

In unison, the three exclaimed in shock, "The Kuya!"

Everyone from Su Yuxing immediately understood. Qin Shuang’s strength was unfathomable, certainly at the level of an immortal. They had only just left recently, and now Qin Shuang had emitted such a furious roar. There was only one possibility—that the six Kuya they’d left behind had met with disaster, or perhaps Thunder Mountain had suffered.

"You all seem to be enjoying yourselves here!" Before the group could unravel the problem, Qin Shuang’s voice suddenly thundered in the hall, startling everyone.

Qin Shuang’s figure appeared abruptly; Shen Kai, who had never met him before, was thoroughly frightened.

Ling Yufei and Meng Jun exchanged wry smiles, respectfully approaching Qin Shuang. "Senior... You’ve arrived!"

"I have." Qin Shuang’s face was gloomy; those three words struck the thirteen from Su Yuxing like three great hammers. Upon witnessing Thunder Mountain’s tragic fate, Qin Shuang truly wanted to hunt them all down and kill them.

Had Ling Yufei and his companions not abandoned Thunder Mountain, with their collective strength—thirteen cultivators all above the Tribulation stage—they could have resisted Swordmaster Situ. Thunder Mountain would not have died, nor would the six Kuya.

Yet, after killing the six, much of Qin Shuang’s hatred dissipated. Kuya and Su Yuxing cultivators were natural enemies; it was understandable that the Su Yuxing cultivators would not protect the Kuya, letting them leave alone. In truth, Qin Shuang himself should not have entrusted Thunder Mountain’s safety to them so heavily, knowing full well the many dangers present, and foolishly leaving them behind. Had Swordmaster Situ possessed immortal-level power, Thunder Mountain wouldn’t have had time to crush his jade stone.

"From now on, take care of yourselves. This is a new place; how you return is your own concern." Qin Shuang’s expression relaxed slightly, but his tone remained low.

"Perhaps, for you, this place is paradise. You might not want to leave at all." Qin Shuang shook his head, murmured softly, and paid no further heed to those in the room, striding out the door.

"Senior!" Only after Qin Shuang had gone did Ling Yufei and the others come to their senses, recalling his words and growing more confused. But one thing was clear: Qin Shuang would pay them no more mind. From now on, they had to find their own way home.

The streets of Lotus City bustled with mortals, unaffected by Qin Shuang’s roar. For those incapable of cultivation, any loud voice from a cultivator could be heard by all, but it was nothing unusual.

Thunder Mountain, and the five Kuya squad leaders whose names Qin Shuang still did not know, their bodies now lay quietly within Qin Shuang’s ring.

They were mortals as well, but Thunder Mountain and his companions had suffered far more than the ordinary mortals of Lotus City. Seeing the contented smiles on the faces of Lotus City’s people, Qin Shuang felt only greater sorrow.

"Thunder Mountain, though I do not know where your homeland lies, rest assured—I, Qin Shuang, swear upon my soul that I will see you and your people safely returned!"

With this silent vow in his heart, Qin Shuang’s figure faded from the street, unnoticed by any mortal nearby, as if he had never existed at all.

Elsewhere, in a forest, Qin Shuang’s abrupt departure left over twenty immortals from Frank Star in the Heavenly Heart Realm at a loss, forced to wait quietly for his return.

As for the people of Frank Star, Qin Shuang had lost all interest, or rather, he had lost all interest in this continent itself. His greatest wish now was to leave this place and devote himself to helping the Kuya find their homeland.

"Senior!"

Qin Shuang’s sudden reappearance finally calmed the hearts of the Frank Star group.

"Listen well: this continent is vast. Mortals, cultivators, and immortals all live upon it. Here, immortals cultivate slowly; reaching the level of golden immortal makes one a master, able to govern a city. As long as you avoid provoking those with immense power, you will not be in danger. I have other matters, so this is where we part ways."

Without giving the Frank Star group time to react, Qin Shuang delivered these words and vanished once more—never to meet them again.

The Infinite Continent: from the original twenty, only Qin Shuang remained to explore. Ling Yufei and the other cultivators, apart from abandoning their sects and assimilating into the Infinite Continent, had no other choice. On their own, it would be impossible to leave.

Qin Shuang had never imagined, nor ever expected, to find himself so desolate. When he left home, it was merely to clear his mind and seek a place for self-cultivation, to prove his strength by ascending through his own tribulation. Yet, upon emerging, he discovered that things were far more complex than he’d ever thought.

In Misty City, though Qin Shuang’s cultivation was the lowest, it was still his home. No one ever belittled him for his lack of power. Though most attention went to his genius elder brother, he was not unloved. Uncle Hou Fei’s two wives doted on Qin Shuang, and Hou Fei’s sons were close to him as well.

And his father—busy though he was, whenever he was with Qin Shuang and his brother, he always looked to Qin Shuang first. That small gesture brought untold warmth to Qin Shuang’s heart. It could even be said that part of his reason for leaving home was his longing to prove himself before Qin Yu.

After leaving, Qin Shuang encountered no setbacks in the mortal realm; his strength was unmatched. But he never expected that, upon arriving in a strange environment, his own negligence and error would lead to Thunder Mountain’s tragic death. A cultivator only at the Integration stage, not an immortal, was slain right under his eyes.

After avenging Thunder Mountain, a fire had been burning in Qin Shuang’s heart. Having parted with the Frank Star group, that fire only grew. Always living a peaceful, gentle life, Qin Shuang, after Thunder Mountain’s death, found himself plagued by a heart demon.

The heart demon came swiftly and fiercely. Just after teleporting into the sky, Qin Shuang suddenly spat a mouthful of blood and crashed straight to the earth.

PS: Highly recommended, a new book by my good brother—Infernal Flames (Book ID: 1128486) by Guang Wu Era.

Qin Feng, a peerless genius with a mind nearly as sharp as a computer. In July 2003, his father Qin Tian was inexplicably caught up in a murder case. A two-million yuan check, fingerprints on the murder weapon—every piece of evidence pointed to Qin Tian. Yet, in reality, it was nothing more than a vast conspiracy, and his father was merely a discarded pawn. After the final judgment, Qin Feng, lost in grief and despair, embarked on a path of no return. Meanwhile, another ancient, lingering soul within him began to awaken...