Record of a Demon's Cultivation Chapter 1231: The False Debt of Gratitude

Translator: CinderTL

Primordial Qi Death Zone.

Song Wen lay prone in a ditch at the base of a mountain, buried deep beneath tens of meters of earth.

Five thousand kilometers lay between him and the mountain valley where Qingming Sanren had indicated the Six Fiends Hall was situated.

He knew better than to venture too close, aware that Wei Gu, the hall master of the Six Fiends Hall, also commanded a void fiend—an entity at the late stage of the seventh tier. Proximity risked immediate detection.

A flicker of impatience crossed Song Wen’s face.

Half a year he had spent here, maintaining this unmoving vigil. Yet, not a single soul had emerged from the valley, fueling his growing frustration.

"Shadow Void, has anyone entered or departed the valley?" Song Wen inquired mentally, projecting his thoughts into his Sea of Consciousness.

"No," Shadow Void responded. "My senses detect no disturbances within the valley. It does not appear to be a cultivator's stronghold. Could Qingming Sanren have misled you?"

Song Wen’s brow furrowed slightly, his fingers unconsciously crushing a nearby pebble.

He replayed the interrogation of Qingming Sanren meticulously in his mind, yet he remained convinced the man had spoken truthfully.

However, if the Six Fiends Hall truly resided here, why had they remained inactive for half a year?

Could they have already relocated?

Or were the members of the Six Fiends Hall concealed within the mountain valley, never venturing out?

Song Wen found himself adrift in uncertainty.

"I cannot continue this waiting game. I must devise a method to probe the situation within the mountain valley," he resolved inwardly.

Despite this decision, Song Wen harbored no intention of approaching the valley himself.

If the Six Fiends Hall members were indeed hidden there, an investigation would be tantamount to walking into certain death.

His mind worked furiously, and suddenly, Song Wen recalled the incident where Xu Mengyu and the other two women were ambushed by two peripheral members of the Six Fiends Hall within the Primordial Qi Death Zone.

An idea sparked instantly in Song Wen’s mind.

He slowly rose from the earth and ascended into the sky, making his way toward the fringes of the Primordial Qi Death Zone.

When he was a mere ten thousand miles from the edge of the Death Zone, Song Wen abruptly altered his course, veering sharply to the left.

After traversing approximately a million miles, Song Wen’s eyes suddenly gleamed as Shadow Void offered a subtle reminder.

Making a slight adjustment to his trajectory, he soon perceived a natural cavern extending dozens of miles beneath the surface.

Within this cavern, a middle-aged male cultivator was diligently chipping away at the rock wall with an iron pickaxe, seemingly in search of some concealed treasure.

To Song Wen’s surprise, the cultivator’s cultivation level was merely at the late stage of the nascent soul realm.

Such a cultivation base would typically be considered foolhardy for venturing ten thousand miles into the Primordial Qi Death Zone.

The cultivator appeared exceedingly cautious, seemingly concerned about damaging any treasure embedded within the rock. Coupled with the rock’s exceptional hardness, his excavation proceeded at a glacial pace. Each swing of the pickaxe only managed to dislodge a chunk of stone roughly the size of a basin.

It was evident he had been digging for a considerable duration, as piles of rubble now littered the cavern floor.

Clang!

The pickaxe struck the rock once more, dislodging several fragments of varying sizes.

A triumphant glint flashed in the cultivator’s eyes.

Embedded in the newly exposed rock face was a crystal, roughly the size of a child’s head.

The crystal was perfectly spherical, its surface as dark as ink, emanating a faint, eerie luminescence.

The cultivator hastily produced a short sword and began meticulously chiseling away the surrounding rock, exhibiting a palpable fear of damaging the precious crystal.

Song Wen, who had been observing this scene from afar with his divine sense, wore a perplexed expression.

His confusion stemmed from the unknown purpose of this crystal.

"Shadow Void, do you recognize this crystal?" Song Wen inquired.

"This crystal is imbued with pure Primordial Qi," Shadow Void replied. "It would hold some value for us Void Clan members or for resentful spirits. However, the reason a human would seek such an item remains a mystery to me."

Unable to ascertain the crystal’s significance, Song Wen decided not to dwell on it.

His primary objective in exploring the outskirts of the Primordial Qi Death Zone was to locate an individual willing to investigate the mountain valley.

However, this male cultivator possessed too low a cultivation level; he would never dare to venture 100,000 li deep into the Primordial Qi Death Zone to reach the valley. Even if he did, it was unlikely he would uncover anything substantial.

Still, the man was not entirely without utility. At the very least, Song Wen could extract some information from him.

Song Wen was on the verge of approaching when he abruptly halted his advance after traveling only a few dozen meters.

"Shadow Void, are there any void fiends in our vicinity?"

"Master, there are no void fiends within a 50,000-li radius," Shadow Void reported. "However, a fifth-tier early-stage resentful spirit is located about 30,000 li to the south."

"A resentful spirit will suffice. Guide me there immediately."

Under the Shadow Void’s guidance, Song Wen swiftly pinpointed the resentful spirit—a beast bearing a resemblance to a ferocious canine.

Upon perceiving Song Wen, the spirit immediately launched itself toward him.

But Song Wen casually discharged a bolt of lightning, subduing it in an instant.

Then, at Song Wen’s command, the resentful spirit was directed towards the underground cavern where the male cultivator had concealed himself.

As the spirit forced its way through a narrow crevice and into the cavern, the cultivator finally comprehended his predicament. His countenance contorted in sheer panic as he desperately scrambled deeper into the subterranean darkness.

Yet, his haste was no match for a fifth-tier resentful spirit. Before he could retreat a significant distance, the spirit was already in hot pursuit.

He could even feel the frigid, despair-inducing Primordial Qi emanating from the dog’s maw, washing over the back of his neck.

Facing imminent demise, he desperately activated his short sword, lashing out behind him with the speed of a shooting star.

However, prior to the sword’s light even nearing the spirit, it was violently repelled by a surging torrent of Primordial Qi.

The sword spun through the air with a resonant clang before embedding itself in the distant rock face, its hilt still quivering erratically.

The cultivator’s pupils contracted to mere specks, his face turning ashen pale.

At that critical juncture, a blinding silver luminescence illuminated the entirety of the cavern, as if all the Primordial Qi within had been forcefully purged.

It manifested as a bolt of pure silver lightning.

Boom!

Thunderous energy struck the resentful spirit.

Before it could even utter a single wail, the spirit was annihilated, disintegrating into mere ashes and vanishing completely along with the Thunderlight.

The male cultivator’s features instantly brightened with the unbridled joy of having narrowly escaped death.

"May I inquire which esteemed senior intervened to offer salvation? This humble junior, Feng Xin, shall remain eternally grateful," he proclaimed, inclining his body slightly and offering a fist clasp salute towards the origin of the thunderous strike.

Song Wen gracefully descended into the cavern, positioning himself before Feng Xin.

"I was merely passing through this area and happened upon you. There is no need for such lofty formalities."

The man who introduced himself as Feng Xin gazed at Song Wen, his eyes brimming with profound gratitude.

"A life-saving debt cannot go unrecognized. Might I be so bold as to ask for the senior’s esteemed name?"

"Ji Lin," Song Wen replied with nonchalance, subsequently inquiring, "Did you excavate all this rubble within the cavern? What exactly were you searching for?"

Feng Xin’s expression faltered momentarily. He hesitated, appearing to guard some deeply buried secret.

"Does this matter pertain to some hidden clandestine affair?" Song Wen probed further.

"No," Feng Xin responded, shaking his head, yet still evading a direct answer to Song Wen’s query.

"Could these meticulously unearthed items be some sort of artifact unfit for the light of day? A sinister relic, perhaps?" Song Wen’s lips curled into a subtle smile, his gaze sharp and clear. "My young friend, you may set your mind at ease. I am but a wandering cultivator, not some self-righteous adherent of the Orthodox Path. You are free to speak without reservation. I shall not cause you any undue distress."

(End of the Chapter)

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