There was just one small issue with Zeng Fei’s strategy of cajoling Chef-bot into purchasing demon beast cores for Pingu to gobble up: it didn’t work, simple as.
Although Pingu ate the core with no issue, a minute later it rolled out of his other end, having failed to latch on inside.
Once this sequence of events had repeated more than a dozen times, Pingu began to wail and thrash his flippers on the ground throwing a hissy fit, forcing Zeng Fei to give up on his genius plan for real this time.
The big question on his mind was why it hadn’t worked. Were ninth layer demon cores indigestible even though Pingu had the capacity points for it?
Or was there a hidden capacity points fee that applied to demon cores beyond a certain strength that hadn’t been accounted for?
Or… as crude as it was, could it be something to do with the fact they hadn’t harvested the core themselves? Something like the freshness of the core, perhaps?
On the face of it, this conjecture made no sense because Zeng Fei had removed the Green-horned Python and Growler Monkey cores and left them lying around in his domain for several days, and they were still usable with no change.
In contrast, the purchased ninth layer demon core had been from a fresh kill, which Chef-bot’s impressively efficient supply chain had delivered from corpse to kitchen within a single day.
So it made no sense, unless… what if it was something to do with his domain?
In the same way different types of produce required different storage conditions to keep them fresh during the delivery, could it be that the domain’s freezing conditions were what was keeping the demon cores stored inside from going off?
To test this theory out, Zeng Fei decided to experiment using the Growler Monkey’s core by taking it out of his domain for a minute, then checking if Pingu could still absorb it - he could.
After repeating this many times, Zeng Fei discovered the critical point: once the core had been outside for ten cumulative minutes, it became no longer usable by Pingu.
The result made a bit of sense as demon cores didn’t deteriorate while inside a beast’s body either, and in a way, being stored in his domain was the same as being inside a functioning and alive body.
Though, there was also obviously more to this than just that. After all, the cores equipped by Pingu went with him whenever he was summoned to the real world, and since Pingu’s form was a qi construct, this meant they’d effectively been out in the open for well over ten minutes already.
Moreover, none of the other Dao Schools that used demon cores, say alchemy or refining, particularly cared about the freshness of the core. So it seemed to be something particular with the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, which at its heart was the domain, that was the issue here.
Regardless, this result proved that Grand Elder Mi Mi had been right all along: something valuable was indeed lost when you got stuff shipped to you as opposed to resourcing it yourself. Couldn’t argue with the wisdom of Grand Elders, it seemed.
Which was also why Zeng Fei, despite having reached the peak of ninth layer, held off from attempting to break through into Foundation Establishment, as his master had advised that he stabilise his cultivation base once he reached this point.
Unlike progressing between layers within Qi Refining, the act of proceeding from one cultivation realm to the next incited heavenly tribulations that were said to be devastatingly violent. Hence the importance of stabilising your cultivation base and getting comfortable with your full capabilities before attempting the ascension ritual.
(Also, Zeng Fei was hoping his master would return before then and give him a pill or something to make the process much simpler and safer, but that didn’t sound as respectful as him choosing to listen to his betters.)
Therefore, he decided to start exploring the Inner Sect.
The reason he’d not done so over the last few days was simple: it took several hours just to get down from the mountain peak…
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The fact that the Treading Infinity Sect was split into the Inner and Outer Sects made it sound like the sect was split evenly, but this couldn’t be further from the truth: in terms of space allocation, the split was closer to 90:10.
Travelling up and down the peaks was a lengthy affair even for Foundation Establishment disciples with flying platforms, let alone a Qi Refiner like him who had to make the journey on foot.
Still, there was much he needed to do off Flat-top Mountain, so there was no helping it.
His first port of call was the Hallowed Treasure Peak, where the Sixth Grand Elder, the one his master called Crooked Cao, resided.
Here, Zeng Fei intended to pick up his magical artefact - even if he couldn’t use it until Foundation Establishment - and also ask the Sixth Grand Elder for assistance breaking into the spirit adviser’s cave, as this was what his master had recommended he do when he’d mentioned the topic to her.
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The Sect Leader glanced up at the officer from the intelligence wing who’d come to find him. “Hmm, what is it?”
“Our reports indicate that Inner Sect Disciple Zeng Fei has been placed on the Divine Truth Scouring Abode’s list of targets that are of apocalypse-level interest. And not just theirs: every information brokerage has done the same.”
The Sect Leader raised a quizzical eyebrow. “So?”
Of course the brokerages had preemptively placed Disciple Zeng Fei on their watchlists, that much was a given when Little Eighth and all her other disciples were already on either that list or worse!
Those watchlists weren’t just a recognition of power either - there were separate trackers for benign and inactive powerhouses, which is how most of the other Grand Elders were seen. Rather, the watchlists were explicitly for people who were likely to cause large-scale havoc wherever they went, hence why the majority of names on there belonged to cults and devilish sects.
Although the Grand Elders had known from the start that this would happen, they had still pushed for Little Eighth to become his master, not out of cruelty or (purely) laziness but because Seventh’s prophecy had made it crystal clear that Zeng Fei was destined to end up on the watchlists anyway!
The officer clarified: “This was deemed worthy of your attention because of the timing when Vice Chief Cai Ling of the Divine Truth Scouring Abode sent out his orders: it was after the names of which disciples would be entering the Inner Sect had been made public, but well before we’d released anything about who their masters would be. In fact, the monthly Grand Cultivator meeting had just wrapped up when he gave the orders.”
Face creasing into a frown, the Sect Leader dismissed the intelligence officer and closed his eyes to ponder.
Obviously none of the eight had leaked the information in advance to those brokerages, that didn’t need any consideration.
As for Ma, they’d all been aware of his sneaky manoeuvring, but nonetheless had been willing to let him become the master of the child since he was so eager for it.
Or at least, that had been until Seventh had spoken, at which point it’d become clear that dumping that child on Ma would no longer be a reward for saving them the effort, but rather a cruel and unusual punishment if anything.
But even if he’d been discontent with the outcome, Ma was also someone absolutely loyal to the sect and therefore could be crossed out from having leaked any information. And there was no one else who could have done it.
Maybe Gu, being the first one to notice the child, had leaked something long ago, and…
The Sect Leader broke off chuckling before finishing the thought.
That reticent guy hadn’t even bothered to tell the people within the sect that he was supposed to tell for matters like this - and that was despite multiple Grand Elders speaking to him over that period, providing ample opportunity! - so there was no chance in hell he’d mentioned a thing about it to anyone outside.
Nor had Gu been possessed by any greater spirits over that period, which could have had him acting contrary to his ordinary behaviour. So he too could be crossed out as a suspect.
Which left behind only one option: nobody had leaked information about Disciple Zeng Fei’s master in advance. This was to say that someone must have requested Disciple Zeng Fei to be placed on that watchlist not because of anything linked to Little Eighth or the Treading Infinity Sect, but because of news regarding himself!
The timing implied that it was his performance in the tournament that had caught this mysterious admirer’s eye, and the sole part worthy of intrigue within his performance had been the ancient cultivation technique he’d showcased.
Stroking his beard, a wily smile broke out over the Sect Leader’s cast of concentration.
Well, wasn’t that just curious? Although none out of them eight had ever heard of this Heavenly Demon Emperor or his Heavenly Demon Divine Art, there was apparently someone else out there in the world who not only had heard of the ancient cultivator but evidently bore a deep interest in the figure as well.
As it so happened, this made the Sect Leader awfully curious about them too.
The Sect Leader took out a jade slip from his storage pouch, filled it out, and attached it to a dove.
“To the Vice Chief of the Divine Truth Scouring Abode you go.”
He released the dove and watched for a moment as it soared into the distance.