Chapter 1300: He Brought It on Himself. What's the Hurry?

That was true enough.

Wu Chang glanced over the metal scroll. There was no room on it for much more.

And although many things in Li Ge's notes were left unexplained, one could still tell she had said what she intended to say. There was probably not much more content missing.

There was little need to keep questioning whether the thing was genuine.

Even the limited material it contained was already enough for someone in the cultivation world, who knew nothing of the true depths of Shang Song and Li Ge, to glimpse the whole leopard from a single spot.

Shang Song had remembered matters from the past and shattered the void to leave?

That one sentence alone contained far too much.

It almost made Wu Chang want to raise his head and stare into the stars.

Then there were the eight so-called State-Protecting Divine Artifacts left behind by the Wu Dynasty.

The Nine Saints had never understood what sort of treasures they truly were.

Now, at last, he knew.

His sense that the Demon Canon was somewhat tasteless came from one thing above all:

He had not found any supreme secret art that would let him rapidly suppress the other eight Saints.

Naturally, that left him disappointed.

The greater his expectations had been, the greater the disappointment.

Once he stopped hoping for such a thing, however, his mind calmed.

Thinking about it, Zhao Xiongge was right.

If the Demon Canon truly contained some miraculous art capable of overwhelming the other eight Saints, how could the Nine Saints ever have risen to their present arrogance?

The Saintess who founded the Demonic Sect would probably have unified the entire world long ago.

Still, the scroll was not entirely disappointing.

Wu Chang pulled it open again and fixed his attention on the secret method for refining Crow Generals.

Now he could confirm it.

The Crow General refinement method once held by the Demonic Sect's Sect Leader was rubbish by comparison.

This was the genuine, orthodox method.

If a large enough force of Crow Generals could be refined successfully, their power would become so great that even Nascent Soul cultivators would have to treat them with caution.

But reaching that level required scale.

It also required the Crow Generals to accumulate enough energy.

That would take a very long time.

Time itself was not something Wu Chang lacked.

His lifespan was long enough to wait.

The problem was that waiting for so many years would be difficult to endure.

But the moment he imagined what would happen once the Crow Generals had been refined successfully, excitement rose in him again.

For that result, he would endure however long it took.

Whoosh!

He released his grip, and the scroll rolled itself closed.

Holding it in one hand, Wu Chang stared coldly at Zhao Xiongge.

"The secret method for refining Crow Generals is recorded here. Are you telling me none of you ever tried it?"

"You know what kind of people the Saintesses through the generations were," Zhao Xiongge replied. "Do you think they would casually refine such evil things without cause?"

"The Demon Canon has been in your hands for a great many years."

Zhao Xiongge gave a cold laugh. "I would have liked to try. Why don't you find me somewhere to do it?"

"Refining Crow Generals requires a place where yin gathers."

"The whole world is under your control. Where beneath Heaven could I do something like that without it eventually reaching your eyes?"

That was not an empty excuse.

Even Zhao Xiongge had no idea where Dong Guo Haoran had found a place to carry out such work.

If he had known, he and Niu Youdao would not have spent so much time guessing at possible locations like men solving riddles.

One could imagine that Dong Guo Haoran and the others must have found somewhere extraordinarily hidden, a place not easily discovered.

Otherwise, a secret of that magnitude could never have remained concealed.

And precisely because of that, Niu Youdao would probably find it very difficult to locate Dong Guo Haoran's Crow General refinement site.

"You've seen what the notes say," Zhao Xiongge continued. "Li Ge left instructions that if cultivators ever brought calamity to the world, the inheritor of the notes could sever the Five Domains."

"This method for refining Crow Generals was probably one of the powers and tools she left behind for that purpose."

"But did the Saintesses through the generations ever manage it?"

"They couldn't even find a place hidden enough to escape your notice."

"If none of the Saintesses through the generations could accomplish it, then you truly think too highly of me."

Wu Chang raised one brow slightly and lifted the metal scroll in his hand.

"I do not want anyone else knowing what is written in here."

"If word spreads, you, Yuan Gang, Shangqing Sect, and the entire Demonic Sect will all pay the price!"

"I can keep the secret," Zhao Xiongge said. "But you'd better not move recklessly against them either."

"If you corner us until we have no path left, then we'll simply smash the fish and shatter the net. The others will learn everything as well!"

"If there is anything wrong with this thing, remember this: if I can save your son, I can kill your son too."

With a cold snort, Wu Chang shot upward through the narrow strip of sky and disappeared.

Zhao Xiongge raised his head.

He knew the demon had most likely gone to verify the Demon Canon's authenticity.

The object itself was unquestionably genuine.

What Niu Youdao had handed over was the real thing.

Only a few characters had been altered.

It could withstand Wu Chang's attempts to verify it one item at a time.

There was nothing to worry about there.

Even so, Zhao Xiongge had to admit he was impressed by Niu Youdao.

He had discovered that Niu Youdao's way of thinking was different from his.

Truly different.

Far too different.

Generations of Demonic Sect Saintesses had guarded the Demon Canon with their lives.

Zhao Xiongge himself had endured loneliness and hardship for years in order to protect it.

But once such a treasure reached Niu Youdao's hands, it became no different from rotten melons and wilted vegetables.

He simply handed it over.

So many people had paid with their lives rather than let Wu Chang obtain it.

Yet Niu Youdao had taken it, read through it, and then turned around and gave it to Wu Chang almost immediately.

What was that supposed to mean?

For a moment, Zhao Xiongge felt almost as though the sacrifices of all those generations of Saintesses had been wasted.

Even his own years of effort suddenly felt somewhat meaningless.

But after another thought, was Niu Youdao not exactly this kind of person?

Take the Shang Mirror.

How many people had lost their lives fighting over it?

Niu Youdao had never treated it as something sacred.

His master Dong Guo Haoran had exchanged his life for it and left it to him.

Yet Niu Youdao had handed it to Yucang just as easily.

And then there were the Wuliang Fruits.

Those were treasures the entire cultivation world dreamed of obtaining.

Yet Niu Youdao had casually tossed one to Zhao Xiongge.

Who knew how many more he had secretly given away?

Under normal circumstances, anyone who obtained a treasure wanted nothing more than to hide it quietly in his own hands.

But Niu Youdao?

One after another, things that countless others treated as priceless treasures passed through his hands.

What were such objects in his eyes?

"Haa..."

Zhao Xiongge lifted his face toward the sky and released a long breath.

Whatever else could be said, the burden he had carried for so many years was finally gone.

And especially now that the Demon Canon had been given to Wu Chang, he suddenly realized he truly was free.

He no longer needed to worry constantly about what methods Wu Chang might use against him.

Looked at from that angle, Zhao Xiongge was no longer certain whether Niu Youdao's behavior might actually be the wiser choice.

Only by letting go could one be free.

Old rights and wrongs.

Old grudges and affections.

After one final sigh, Zhao Xiongge launched himself into the air, landed atop the ravine, and began flying back toward his cave.

Halfway there, a figure suddenly flashed from one of the gullies ahead and landed precisely where Zhao Xiongge was about to touch down.

Zhao Xiongge landed and immediately went on guard.

The newcomer spoke.

"It's me."

Niu Youdao!

Zhao Xiongge froze.

The man had changed his face again, so Zhao Xiongge had failed to recognize him.

"Why are you here?"

"I received word that Wu Chang took Yuan Gang out of Wentian City," Niu Youdao said. "I knew he would come here, so I came too. I've been waiting nearby."

He looked straight at Zhao Xiongge.

"Did Wu Chang take the thing?"

Zhao Xiongge sighed. "He took it."

"What are you sighing for?" Niu Youdao said. "If he took it, he took it. We already know what was written inside. It's just a chunk of broken metal. What's there to feel reluctant about?"

Zhao Xiongge did not know whether to laugh or cry.

"Do you know how many people died for that thing?"

"And in your eyes it's nothing but broken metal?"

"So many people protected it with their lives before it finally reached your hands..."

That was enough to make Niu Youdao angry.

He swept one hand through the air and cut him off.

"Don't give me that."

"What did I ever need it for?"

"Do you think I wanted the damned thing?"

"If you people hadn't been so useless, would Li Ge have dragged me into this place to risk my life?"

"And now you want me to praise you for it?"

Zhao Xiongge stared suspiciously.

"Li Ge dragged you here? What does that mean?"

Niu Youdao had no intention of discussing that with him.

He pulled the conversation back.

"My dear Martial Uncle Zhao, no matter how fine something is, if it sits in your hands and you can't use it to create value, then what is it but broken metal?"

"Only when you take it out and let it produce the value it ought to have does it become a treasure."

"I truly don't understand the way you people think."

"Enough. Stop looking at me like that."

"I'll handle the rest. You don't need to worry about it."

"Where is Yuan Gang?"

"Don't tell me you handed over the Demon Canon before Wu Chang brought him here."

Zhao Xiongge's expression immediately became serious.

"He came."

"Wu Chang threw him outside my cave."

"He's badly injured."

At the words badly injured, something tightened faintly inside Niu Youdao.

He turned his head toward the direction of Zhao Xiongge's cave and stared for a while.

Then he slowly shook his head.

"Come," Zhao Xiongge said. "He was thrown there alone. If we leave him too long, something may happen."

"Wait."

Niu Youdao raised one hand, signaling him to hold.

Then he flashed away and disappeared into the high walls of the ravine.

When he emerged again, he was carrying what appeared to be an unconscious woman.

She too wore a false face.

"Let's go."

The two began flying back together.

On the way, Zhao Xiongge asked, "Who is she?"

"Who?" Niu Youdao gave a cold laugh. "The root cause of this whole disaster. Feng Guan'er, the woman Yuan Gang was willing to risk his head and spill his blood for!"

Zhao Xiongge truly could not understand this man's way of doing things.

He also had to admit that he simply could not keep up with the direction Niu Youdao's mind moved.

"What did you bring her here for?"

"To clean up that idiot's mess."

"..."

Zhao Xiongge still did not understand.

The two reached the base of the cliff, shot upward, and landed on the exposed terrace halfway up.

The first thing they saw was Yuan Gang, lying there like a dead dog.

He was barely breathing.

He seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness.

The sight was horrifying.

Wounds covered his body.

Steel needles remained embedded in him.

Every strand of hair had been pulled from his head.

The bones of his fingers were exposed.

Even through the false face, Zhao Xiongge could see Niu Youdao's cheek twitch violently.

Zhao Xiongge bent down to remove the steel needles.

A hand caught his shoulder and stopped him.

He turned in confusion toward Niu Youdao.

"What is it?"

"He brought it on himself. What's the hurry?"

Niu Youdao gestured for him to move aside.

Then he lifted the woman in his other hand and began kneading the back of Feng Guan'er's neck with magical force.

A short while later, Feng Guan'er released a faint sigh and slowly opened her eyes.

After being shoved twice, she managed to steady herself on her feet.

She looked around after waking, saw Niu Youdao, and struggled faintly.

"Where is this?"

"Where?" Niu Youdao released her and pointed toward the man on the ground. "Does that matter? Don't you want to see what happened to him?"

Feng Guan'er lowered her head.

The sight startled her badly.

Only after she saw the man's red skin clearly did she realize who it was.

At the sight of Yuan Gang's miserable condition, both hands flew up to cover her mouth.

Something inside Niu Youdao suddenly snapped.

He seized the back of her neck again and forced her violently down onto her knees beside Yuan Gang.

Then he shoved her face close to his.

"Look."

"Look carefully."

"Look at what you reduced him to!"

"Open your eyes wide and take a good look!"

He grabbed Yuan Gang's hand and seized one of the fingers where white bone lay exposed.

Then he thrust it directly in front of Feng Guan'er's eyes.

"Do you see it?"

"Does it look good?"

"Do you want to touch it and feel it for yourself?"

"Do you want to know how much pain he endured because he went to help you?"

"Bitch!"

"Listen to me."

"From this day onward, he owes you nothing!"

"If you ever dare coax him into doing something dangerous for you again, I'll skin you alive!"

[End of Chapter 1300]