Ch 138: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

Mu Xing stepped into the grand hall, lifted his head, and froze for a moment.

Sitting in the main seat was Yao Wushi—yet no longer in the childlike form Mu Xing had seen before. Instead, he was a handsome young man in plain blue robes, hair loose over his shoulders. His figure was lean, his demeanor gentle, a jade flute hanging at his waist. At first glance, he looked more like a frail scholar from the mortal world than an immortal master.

“Master?” Mu Xing called out uncertainly.

The peak masters who knew the truth chuckled.

Xue Wuya retracted his gaze from Mu Xing and remarked, “Senior brother, see what you’ve done—your little disciple almost didn’t recognize you.”

Yao Wushi’s face darkened as he glared at Xue Wuya, silencing him.

He turned to Mu Xing. “Let’s begin.”

The formal initiation ceremony was ordinarily an intricate affair. Yao Wushi skimmed the ritual sequence handed to him, drew a casual line through most of it, and left only the essentials—witnessing by the other peak masters.

After that, he led Mu Xing to the sacred place where past Medicine Peak patriarchs had once gone into seclusion. They were to offer respect to the lineage. In the cultivation world, kneeling rites were rare, and Yao Wushi disdained pointless formalities. Seeing that Mu Xing was still a child, he spared him the heavy kowtows, asking only that he present a cup of tea.

Yao Wushi accepted it and drained it in one gulp. With a smiling glance around the hall, he reached into his sleeve and produced a pearl wreathed in drifting white mist.

The moment it appeared, several peak masters stiffened.

With a flick of his fingers, Yao Wushi drew a thread of spiritual power, strung the pearl, and gestured for Mu Xing to come closer.

The boy obeyed. Yao Wushi rose to his feet and personally hung it around Mu Xing’s neck.

“I have only three personal disciples. It has been over thirty years since I accepted your second senior sister. I thought I would never take another… yet fate brought me to you.”

“This is an upper-grade spiritual vein. When you return, have your senior brother set up a gathering array with it—it will greatly aid your cultivation.”

The words sent ripples through the hall. The peak masters remained composed, but the disciples behind them were visibly shaken.

A spiritual vein?
An upper-grade one?

Such a treasure was the very foundation of a sect’s prosperity, determining whether spiritual energy flowed abundantly enough for cultivation. Many mid-tier sects couldn’t even dream of owning one. Yet Yao Shishu had just handed one to a six-year-old child?

The looks directed at Mu Xing were filled with envy, awe, and complexity. Many disciples sneaked glances at Li Xuanyao, wondering if their master’s blatant favoritism wouldn’t stir resentment.

But then Mu Xing, after thanking his master, scampered over to Li Xuanyao and said sweetly, “Senior brother, let’s cultivate together! And all the other brothers and sisters too!”

Li Xuanyao’s chest warmed. He ruffled the boy’s hair. “Thank you, Xingxing. But your senior brother already has one.”

The disciples from other peaks: “…”
Sorry to bother.

As expected, once Yao Wushi gave something as momentous as an upper-grade vein, the other peak masters could not present anything mundane. By the end of the circuit of greetings, little Mu Xing’s storage pouch bulged with treasures, making him one of the wealthiest children in the entire cultivation world.

The seasoned peak masters only sighed at Medicine Peak’s extravagance and Yao Wushi’s indulgence. Their disciples, however, could hardly suppress their envy. Some itched to be reborn as children just to bow under Medicine Peak’s gate.

No one was struck harder than the two senior brothers of Crescent Moon Peak.

They watched as Mu Xing was doted on by Yao Wushi, cherished by Li Xuanyao, and warmly praised by all the peak masters. Never before had they felt so sharply:

Mu Xing was not Xiao Yu.
He was not a substitute.

At Medicine Peak, he was his own person, the little junior loved by everyone.

Their past insistence—that his resemblance to Xiao Yu was some kind of honor—now felt utterly ridiculous.

When Mu Xing had said he was unhappy on Crescent Moon Peak, he had spoken the truth.

The realization hit like a thunderclap. Though they restrained themselves in the main hall, once outside, both coughed up mouthfuls of blood, half-kneeling to the ground.

Startled, Xue Wuya rushed to support them. “What happened?”

Qi Xiubai’s face was pale, but his eyes seemed lighter, almost relieved. “Disciple was long lost in the fog of grief, blinded by obsession over our junior’s death. At last, the haze has lifted.”

He straightened, ignoring the pain in his mind, and bowed solemnly. “I was deluded before. Once I recover, I will go to Medicine Peak and apologize to Junior Brother Xiao Yu.”

Xue Wuya froze. “You mean… you’ve seen through it? How? Have you forgotten your junior?”

Qi Xiubai shook his head. A glint of killing intent flashed across his face. “No. I will cultivate diligently. One day, I will storm the demon realm and avenge Junior Brother Xiao Yu.”

Beside him, Shi Zhizhu stayed silent, but his expression betrayed the same resolve.

Xue Wuya let out a long sigh. “If you two can truly let go, I am relieved. Now, return and rest well.”

*

In the Demon Realm—

Xue Zhongyu’s face suddenly turned pale, a sharp pain stabbing between his brows, and he couldn’t help but cry out.

Beside him, a beautifully dressed little girl looked at him in worry. “Brother Xiao Yu, what’s wrong?”

She didn’t notice that the cinnabar mark between his brows was glowing red, as if it were about to ignite.

Xue Zhongyu, face white, endured the burning pain and said softly, “It’s nothing, I just bit my tongue while speaking.”

The little girl burst into laughter, teasing him. “Then you’d better be more careful.”

At the moment, Xue Zhongyu had no time to coax her. He said gently, “Ah Ling, I’m a bit tired, I want to rest for a while. I’ll play with you again tomorrow, alright?”

This little girl was none other than the Demon Clan’s princess, Jiang Ling. Hearing this, she was reluctant, but seeing that his expression was truly not good, her heart softened.

“Then I’ll go back. You rest well.”

“Mm.”

*

Only after Jiang Ling left did Xue Zhongyu finally let the ferocity show on his face.

“Youhuo, what is going on?”

From the cinnabar mark between his brows, a cluster of blood-red flames emerged and floated in the air.

“There seems to be some trouble over at Tai Xu Sect,” the flame spoke, its voice eerie and unsettling.

“What trouble?” With the flame outside, Xue Zhongyu seemed to feel much better.

Coldly, he said, “Didn’t you say Xue Wuya found a child who looks like me and kept him at Crescent Moon Peak? I already used that karmic tie to steal his fortune, forcing the backlash onto Crescent Moon Peak. But lately, my cultivation hasn’t advanced as quickly as before.”

When he mentioned Xue Wuya, he not only called him by name but spoke with lofty indifference and disdain—nothing like how a son should address his father.

The blood-red flame flickered, voice chilling. “The problem lies there. I heard that Tai Xu Sect’s Medicine Peak just accepted a new personal disciple. Six years old, rescued from the mortal realm and brought back by Xue Wuya.”

“He actually sent that child away?” Xue Zhongyu was both shocked and enraged. “Impossible! I planted the heart-demon in them already. I left so tragically, they couldn’t possibly let go. How could they bear to let a child who looks so much like Xue Zhongyu leave?”

Youhuo hissed, “Who knows? I told you long ago, my dear little master, don’t be so eager to come to the Demon Realm. Lay the foundation in Tai Xu Sect first. But you craved this meager demonic energy here. Something went wrong with that child, and now it seems Crescent Moon Peak has people slowly waking up.”

The truth was, Xue Zhongyu was not truly Xue Zhongyu.

He was the reincarnation of an innate demon seed.

Back then, Xue Wuya’s dao-companion exhausted her vitality giving birth to him and perished. Xue Wuya pitied the child, motherless at birth, and doted on him endlessly.

But it was precisely because this, demon seed had greedily consumed too much of the mother’s essence in the womb that she died.

He was born with memory, already aware of human emotions, adept at sensing desire, and could effortlessly take on whatever guise others liked most.

He controlled the seven emotions and six desires, playing with people in the palm of his hand.

Everyone on Crescent Moon Peak had been his first whetstone.

Yet he was a demon. Tai Xu Sect’s abundant spiritual energy could never satisfy him. Only the filth and chaos of the Demon Realm’s desires could feed him.

When the Demon Clan attacked Crescent Moon Peak, he went along with it, allowing himself to be “captured.”

He easily gained audience with the Demon Lord and even won the fondness of the Demon Princess, Jiang Ling.

Within just over a month in the Demon Palace, he had charmed everyone. Even the lowest servants greeted him warmly as Young Master Xiao Yu.

Xue Zhongyu was intoxicated with this control over people’s hearts.

He had never imagined he would one day falter.

In disbelief, he muttered, “Could human affection be so fleeting? I’ve only been gone a month, and they’ve forgotten me?”

“No,” his tone sank, “that’s impossible.”

“That child Xue Wuya rescued, the one who looks so much like me—there must be something wrong with him.”

Youhuo flickered darkly. “And what do you plan to do, my little master? You are still just a child, not yet fully grown. And right now, you remain imprisoned in the Demon Realm.”

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