With her Qi rushing through her limbs like a bomb cyclone, Liu Xueli descended past the beast pile and past the thin rock layer separating the cavern from the outside world. Slipping past Xiao Feng and Yuan Muyun, Xueli erased her Qi presence, taking cover.
Yuan Muyun, likewise, erased her Qi presence and slipped to a different area of the cave. The goal was to get some information and be potential backup as Xiao Feng acted as the frontline, face-first combatant.
After all, Xiao Feng was young! He still had enough youth within him to fight all-day everyday with glee. By contrast, Xueli, at her age, could still fight all day, but it... really wore on the nerves! She’d really rather sit back, kick her feet up, and feed some koi while drinking some tea.
Yuan Muyun, on the other hand, was already on the tail-end, her combat prowess decreasing even if her realm was high. No need to make the esteemed elder too much work, she still had a disciple to raise after all.
Expelling and being as flamboyant with his Qi as possible, Xiao Feng landed in the center of the cavern expecting a rush of monsters to come crashing down onto him. With his arms spread, eyes sharp, and body tense, Xiao Feng’s expression fell as he saw... practically nothing.
With a pulsing crystal the size of a watermelon in the center of the cavern, there was just a small group of mindless demons, mulling around the crystal, feeding off the Qi it expelled.
Pulling his sword back, Xiao Feng let out a short exhale as he swung his swords, his body disappearing and reappearing on the other side of the room. Flicking his sword to the side to fling the blood off, Xiao Feng pushed his hair back and stored his sword in his spatial storage ring as the demons fell to the ground, heads now ‘freed’ from their mortal chains.
In Xiao Feng’s not so humble opinion, it was a little anticlimactic in all honesty. Just a few pipsqueaks getting plowed over. His little disciple, Han Youhong, probably could’ve beaten one after a grueling fight.
Since the cavern was in total isolation from any of the other nearby cave systems, Xiao Feng pulled back his Qi presence as Xueli and Yuan Muyun revealed themselves once more. Waving them over to the center crystal, Xiao Feng crossed his arms. “Should we just destroy this? It’s one of those Life to Qi converters, right?”
“Yeah, destroy it,” Yuan Muyun agreed, walking over while taking a look. “There seems to be no difference from the ones used in war. All the big powers on our side used to experiment with these to see if they had any redeeming effects that could be used elsewhere... and... nope. Nothing. Just bring the pieces back to the sect as proof. Give some to Xueli as well.”
“What exactly do they do then? The sect never told me since I was ‘too young’ and ‘wouldn’t run into them in my lifetime,’ but I should probably know if we’re running into them again,” Xiao Feng laughed, giving a mental middle-finger to the overconfident ancestors who were still in the sect. Their expressions of shock and horror alone would make the grueling trip back to the western continent worth it. He could even run a few errands while he was back there! A true triple-win situation.
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“Well,” Xueli tapped her foot, trying to remember all the findings of the more intellectually-inclined sect elders. “Pretty much, these are nicknamed demon crystals and they originate in the demon realm. Anyone of sufficient power can attune them to themselves, another person, or a group. Like, any lower level elder could probably do it.”
“That’s what makes them so annoying. Because those are the people who fall to its temptations the most,” Yuan Muyun interjected with a derisive snort.
“Yeah, it’s annoying, you start to have to do a lot of purging.” Xueli agreed with a laugh, “Anyway, once attuned to an owner or group, they brainwash everything else to kill themselves. The crystal at that point does all the work, it naturally expels the life force as super dense Qi that’s good for cultivating. It will even help overcome barriers with natural talent.”
“So, I assume there’s a cost? Other than the whole, ‘gotta kill a lot of people’ part.” Xiao Feng raised an eyebrow, karate chopping the crystal, shattering it into about ten different pieces.
Storing a few pieces into her spatial storage ring, Xueli tapped her chin, squinting her eyes into the distance as she tried to remember everything she could. “Well, its brainwashing powers become more potent as it gets more life-force. So it eventually can make humans and cultivators come under risk. It also does some psychological things, making the user protect it at all costs.”
“Sounds like one of those fantasy movies...” Xiao Feng chuckled to himself, storing a few of the crystal pieces and dead bodies in his spatial storage ring.
“Yeah, it’s honestly a very parasitic relationship.” Xueli agreed, floating back upwards and out of the cave now they were done with the cavern. “Because the Qi it expels isn’t natural Qi! Processing the demon crystal’s Qi actually uses bits of your lifespan, that’s how it gives the effect of ‘helping people overcome their talent barriers.’ More than that though, after imbibing too much of it, I think around when there’s more demon crystal Qi than natural Qi in a user’s body, they’ll go into cultivation deviation.”
“Ahh... yeah, that’s not great,” Xiao Feng murmured, inhaling as he imagined the sight while following Xueli out as they continued to fly towards their original goal—the other side of the plateau. “Is that how the crystal propagates then?”
“Yeah, it’s an ugly sight, people will burst into massive clumps of crystal that can then be processed to make more demon crystals.” Xueli shook her head. “It’s just painful because they’ll start wearing necklaces with the crystal and everything, treating it like their baby they need to protect at all costs.”
“Don’t lose sight of your morals, your personal path, or your own connection to the heavens, Feng. It will only lead to your doom,” Yuan Muyun advised with a grimace, following behind the two younger elders.
“Thank you for the advice.” Xiao Feng thanked with a light bow mid-air, “I will keep your words in mind as I learn more in the future.”
“You have a good head on your shoulders. When you become a major player in the sect one day, lead it well.” Yuan Muyun pat Xiao Feng on the back. “If only all the elders in the sect were as respectful and smart as you.”
“Yeah, I know, right?” Xiao Feng laughed, looking over towards Xueli. “Too many big leaders in the sects these days are brawlers who have fists for brains! All they want to do is fight, and like... I don’t know, feed koi! They’re not even caught up with the times, they still read newspapers!”
Dodging a spinning kick from Xueli while cackling, Xiao Feng concentrated his Qi into foot, kicking off the air to propel himself further forward. “You’re getting old! You could’ve totally hit me in the past!”
“Oh shut up,” Xueli retorted, accelerating to catch up to Xiao Feng. “Concentrate on the job we have to do.”
Yuan Muyun, on the other hand, could only sigh, pondering to herself where young people got all their energy from. Couldn’t they fly just a little slower to accommodate the elderly?