It was already noon, and Chen Xuance grilled another meal. The newly joined White Feather was exceptionally content. So content that, in front of Lv Chonglou and Wang Qingzhi, he insisted on becoming sworn brothers with Chen Xuance. He even said that in the future, in the East Sea, he would have Chen's back, and in the East Sea, Chen's word would be law. He kept blabbering on and on, which annoyed Lv Chonglou enough to give him a smack and then scold him: "You think your words hold sway in the East Sea? Have you forgotten how you were beaten to a pulp by the Thousand Chariot Dragon King before? Who came crying to me to help him get revenge? Wasn't it you?"

Finally, White Feather quieted down and revealed his true form, carrying the group straight towards Kyoto.

...

The journey back was relatively smooth. At sunset, the group landed in the center of a desolate cemetery forty miles east of Kyoto City.

It had to be said that White Feather was very fast; the group had even stopped for an hour midway.

Mainly because White Feather and Black Guard, the two little ones, were extremely excited when they first ascended to the sky, but halfway through, they began to vomit violently. They ended up regurgitating the barbecue they had for lunch all over White Feather.

White Feather was fastidious and, disregarding Lv Chonglou's threats, forced a landing. After setting everyone down, it took him more than half an hour to wash in the celestial waters before coming ashore.

There was no choice but for Chen Xuance to fashion a cage for White Feather and Black Guard out of reeds and cover their eyes with straw paper. Only then did the group take to the skies again.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have had to wait until sunset.

Looking at the desolate cemetery before him, Chen Xuance's expression was inexplicable.

It was here that he obtained the Demon Suppression Record.

Stopping here was a consideration to avoid causing panic by flying too close to Kyoto City. With a population of over a million for eight hundred years, most were ordinary people. Suddenly seeing such monstrous demons might prompt the city's garrison to string up the God-Slaying Crossbows and rain arrows down on them.

White Feather, now in human form, was no longer in the glaring white robe, nor did he reveal his ugly face. He wore a blue shirt and a straw hat, with a slender figure.

Lv Chonglou had demanded that until Xiaogu entered the Buddhist sect, White Feather must not reveal his face.

Just as the group was about to leave the desolate cemetery and head towards Kyoto City, Chen Qianqian whispered quietly to Chen Xuance: "Brother Chen, there's corpse qi here."

Chen Xuance replied irritably, "In a desolate cemetery, how could there not be corpse qi?"

"I mean... zombies."

"Where?"

"To the east, southeast, west, northwest, northeast, southwest—each direction has one. There's corpse qi half a meter deep under your feet, but there's nothing there."

Chen Qianqian's voice was very soft, but Wang Qingzhi still heard it clearly.

"Uncle Lv, could it be remnants of the Eight Corpse Sect?"

Lv Chonglou nodded, his eyes flickering uncertainly. After a while, he said, "Close enough. I'll look into it. The Eight Corpse Sect should have been eradicated. There shouldn't be anyone still practicing their necromantic arts."

As he spoke, eight shadows of spears flashed by. Corpse qi surged from the eight directions Chen Qianqian had mentioned, dissolving under the sunlight.

The desolate and sinister aura that pervaded the entire cemetery vanished into thin air.

Chen Xuance estimated that this desolate cemetery wouldn't have any supernatural occurrences for the next three to five years.

Although Lv Chonglou appeared casual, he had actually cut off the underground Yin energy when he slew the eight corpses. As long as no one intentionally gathered Yin energy here, it would take at least three to five years for the area to recover naturally.

The aftermath was that any corpses buried here would turn to ashes within three days.

This was the result of the reversal of Yin and Yang in the world. With extreme Yin destroyed, extreme Yang would naturally emerge.

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...

Back at the Demon Suppression Bureau, Chen Xiaogu followed Lv Chonglou into the depths of the bureau. She went to observe the spear techniques stored in the bureau, while whatever Wang Qingzhi and Lv Chonglou privately instructed her about would naturally be known to Chen Xuance when she returned.

Unexpectedly, White Feather followed behind Chen Xuance step by step.

Old Man Lv despised him and didn't let him follow. He could only trail behind Chen Xuance, hoping to snag some of that delicious barbecue later in the evening.

"Birds of a feather flock together. Like seeks like. This demon following Lv Chonglou is definitely a glutton," Chen Xuance silently complained. During dinner in the cafeteria, White Feather had only taken one bite before vomiting it out. And that wasn't all—he insisted on beating up the chef.

Finally, Chen Xuance threatened him, saying that if he laid a hand on anyone, he could forget about ever eating cumin barbecue again in his life. This managed to deter the violent-minded White Feather.

Li Gou and the others were out on a mission and hadn't returned, so they weren't seen in the cafeteria.

After dinner, after sending off White Feather to rest in any empty room, Chen Xuance took Wang Qingxuan and San Zang to the stables to check on their mounts.

It was unclear what kind of feed the stablekeeper at the Demon Suppression Bureau had given to the Green Horse, Green Ox, and White Donkey, but all three animals had undergone a remarkable transformation.

Little Green was fine, with no change in size, and its green fur gleamed like green satin.

Wang Qingxuan's Green Ox, on the other hand, was different. Its muscles were like grinding discs, taller than Little Green by a head.

San Zang's donkey had undergone the most drastic change. The scraggly fur had disappeared, replaced by a snowy white coat. If it had a horse's face instead of a donkey's, with this white coat alone, it could fetch at least three thousand taels of silver.

Using his palm to retrieve some leftover water demon organs from his pocket, Chen Xuance threw them into the fodder trough. These three beasts wasted no time in gobbling them up greedily.

After inspecting their mounts, the three men returned to their respective rooms.

By now, it was getting dark. Chen Xuance leaped to the rooftop to begin practicing the Nine Transformations of the Stars.

Just as he was about to cross his legs and begin, a dark shadow leaped to his side. "Xuance, my brother, working so diligently? I just got some good wine; your barbecue should pair nicely with it. Let's have a drink."

Chen Xuance opened his eyes to see White Feather holding a sealed wine jar, presumably containing five catties.

The aroma of the wine wafted over, proving to be excellent.

"Where did you get this?" Chen Xuance asked.

Having been in this world for more than four months, he had yet to smell such a rich aroma of wine. The glutton inside him was salivating.

Such good wine couldn't be ordinary; he had to ask.

"This rascal, Hai Dongqing, did he happen to uncover some secrets from Old Lv?"

"Darn it, I'll go all out! Even if it's Master Wang's treasured wine, I'm drinking it today!"

As if knowing what Chen Xuance was thinking, White Feather shook the wine jar in his hand, making the aroma even stronger.

"I just went around and found it at a wealthy household. Don't worry, I know the rules. I left a feather for them, and they made a killing!"

Chen Xuance was relieved and used his Daoist techniques to take out a dozen or so silver notes and handed them to White Feather. "Brother, from now on, I'll have to rely on you to take care of Xiaogu. Take this little money. A real man can't be without wealth for a day."

White Feather didn't hold back and took it. He had lived in the East Sea for several years, and in his earlier years, he had roamed the land of the Nine Provinces as a demon. He naturally understood the importance of money.

"This brother is generous and trustworthy, much better than Old Lv."

After coming down from the rooftop, Chen Xuance quickly grilled some meat and sat in his room with White Feather, eating and drinking.

After a couple of drinks, White Feather became talkative. "Brother, I'm not bragging, but I was afraid you guys couldn't handle it today. Otherwise, why wait until dark to fly? Back in the day, I could travel three thousand miles in a day without breaking a sweat."

White Feather's true form was forty to fifty meters tall, but his tolerance for alcohol was poor.

Seeing that White Feather was already getting talkative after just a couple of drinks, Chen Xuance asked, "Brother White, how did you meet Elder Lv?"

At this point, White Feather's rationality still held sway, and he shook his head. "Chen, my friend, we hit it off, so I shouldn't hide it from you. But you understand the rules of the Demon Suppression Bureau better than me. I really can't talk about this."

Chen Xuance nodded. What he was curious about was how Lv Chonglou managed to make Wang Qingzhi faint. White Feather might not know either.

"However, I can tell you about some less important matters."

Having just dispelled his curiosity, Chen Xuance knew that this matter was now settled.

After drinking, there are only two types of people: those who say everything and those who are tight-lipped. Those who can say half and keep half are either immortal or not drunk.

"Elder Lv is from the Green Robes Sect. It's not a big place, but it has a heritage. Although I dare to confront Elder Lv on the surface, in my heart, I truly respect him. If you knew what Elder Lv has done, you'd definitely give him a thumbs up. But, um, I can't say why exactly."

"When the Green Robes Sect was still around, they had a saying: 'If the Sword Pavilion doesn't come out, the Green Robes will rule the world with their swords.' Pretty impressive, right?"

Chen Xuance raised his glass and clinked it with White Feather's, saying, "Impressive."

He downed the wine in one gulp and then asked, "Brother White, are you saying that the Green Robes Sect is no longer around?"

White Feather nodded and poured himself another cup, downing it in one go.

Letting out a long sigh, his eyes became distant, as if reminiscing about the past.

In his eyes, there was admiration, resentment, and gratitude.

Chen Xuance knew then that he had succeeded.

Sure enough, White Feather didn't say how Lv Chonglou had made Wang Qingzhi faint. Maybe he didn't know either.

But, how Lv Chonglou rose to the second rank, and why the Green Robes Sect disappeared, White Feather had made it clear.

Because these were White Feather's own experiences.