Chapter 58 — Demon of Demons, Part One

"I still can't figure out where that old Taoist Kuang Jun came from. To wield talismanic arts to such a degree—truly, neither god nor ghost could stand against him!" Zhou Xuan trailed behind King Xuan Yuan Fa, steering a flying sword with what little strength he had left. King Xuan Yuan Fa

rode the wind on his qi, his great sleeves fluttering, floating at a height of a thousand zhang without the aid of any external thing. The night was like water, and the clear moonlight made King Xuan Yuan Fa's golden-yellow Taoist robe gleam so brightly that he had something of the air of an immortal descended to the mortal world. Hearing Zhou Xuan muttering, King Xuan Yuan Fa halted and pondered a moment. "I never imagined there could be such a master in the Taoist sect, one who could force me to this pass. It seems my great undertaking truly must be reconsidered at length. Well? Have you thought it over?" King Xuan Yuan Fa suddenly turned his head and asked Zhou Xuan.

"At most, it's like this: I'll help you subdue the demons and monsters of the world, but I won't lift a finger against the Taoist sect. One old Taoist pops out and you're so scared you run off at once, not even willing to linger a moment longer. I still wanted to stay a while with that Ling Fei and wring a few scraps of news about the Kunlun Sect out of him. Heaven knows how many more masters like that there are in the Taoist sect!" Zhou Xuan thought it no good to keep trading pleasantries with this old monster, so he might as well lay his cards on the table.

"Hmph!" Hearing Zhou Xuan say this, King Xuan Yuan Fa gave a cold snort. "That old Taoist's cultivation—I don't take it to heart. It's only that his talismanic formations were applied with such cunning: in the midst of conversation, he could secretly lay down a hundred and eight formations, pressing me so hard I could scarcely speak smoothly, until at last I had to invoke the life-force of the Blood-Congealing Prime Pearl to break them in one stroke! Next time we meet, I'll blast him to bits with the first blow and have done with it! Men like that are the most troublesome of all!"

Zhou Xuan saw the light all at once: so at the time King Xuan Yuan Fa had not been trading cryptic barbs with the old Taoist—he had been forced by old Taoist Kuang Jun into silence! No doubt the old Taoist, seeing his formations broken, had promptly conceded defeat; he too was a seasoned old hand. Zhou Xuan carefully reviewed old Taoist Kuang Jun's every move, from the first flicker of the yellow talisman to that whole scene of talking with King Xuan Yuan Fa, and one by one they flashed through his mind. "Laying formations in the formless!" A sudden glimmer of understanding came to Zhou Xuan, yet he could not put it into words, and it lodged in his heart most uncomfortably.

Blood-light flickered in King Xuan Yuan Fa's eyes as he went on: "No matter. So long as you do me one favor, not only will I not make trouble for you, I'll give you something as well! How about it?" Zhou Xuan started. *This old monster so generous? Give me something? Just what is this matter? It must be no small thing. Trying to scheme against me? Well, let's see.* King Xuan Yuan Fa rummaged about on his own for a while, and a thing appeared in his hand, wreathed in five-colored clouds and mist, the size of a palm, shaped like a罩 canopy. "In those years my true body was destroyed, and all my magic treasures were lost; only this Aurora罩 can canopy remained. Do not disdain this treasure—it was wrought by the Old Ancestor of the Pit from the Pit-Empty Island, master of the Northern Pole Light Realm, who gathered the northern aurora to withstand the Ninefold Heavenly Tribulation. With it for protection, even the Purple and Green Twin Swords could not break it for a good while, let alone ordinary flying swords and magic treasures. Well? This thing is passable enough, isn't it?"

"The Aurora罩!" Zhou Xuan saw that this small, unremarkable-looking thing had such a mighty pedigree. The polar light, its magnetic force exceedingly strong, could not only draw in the five metals but attract any object in the world that had form and trace to be found; moreover it was surpassingly tough, so that even thunderfire and meteors could not shatter it—truly a fearsome thing. In ancient times, cultivators who knew the ferocity of the polar light all schemed to gather it and forge it into a protective treasure, yet few succeeded. To say nothing of the aurora being at the high altitudes of the polar regions, where gathering it meant at the very least enduring the buffeting of the ninefold heavenly罡 winds—without the realm of refining spirit and returning to void, one need not even think of it. And the unrefined aurora was itself vicious in the extreme, dissolving soul and corroding bone, its drawing power immense: however formidable you might be, touch but a trace of it and both spirit and form are annihilated. To withstand the aurora's vast attractive force, and endure the ninefold heavenly winds, and moreover face the thunderfire meteors that fell from the ninth heaven from time to time—to gather the polar light under such conditions, the difficulty can well be imagined. Yet once gathered and forged into a magic treasure, the benefits were many. Take this Aurora罩: any flying sword or magic treasure that struck it would at once be drawn fast, and the aurora would forcibly sever the primal bond within the treasure or sword, and it would tamely become one's own. In this it somewhat resembled that perverse treasure of remote antiquity, the Coin That Drops Treasures, from the Investiture of the Gods—only one waited for the rabbit to come to the stump, while the other sallied forth to strike. Such a magic treasure—to say Zhou Xuan was unmoved would be false.

But there is no such thing as a free meal in this world. Zhou Xuan drew back his gaze. "It's a fine thing, all right, but just what is this matter? If it's too difficult, or dangerous, I won't do it. Lose my life, and even if you gave me Pangu's Heaven-Opening Axe, I'd have no fortune to enjoy it." Zhou Xuan pondered: *A thousand-year-old demon indeed, to possess such a magic treasure. This is just the one defensive treasure I lack! The Blood-Transforming Divine Saber for attack, the Aurora罩 for defense—that is the way of balance between offense and defense. With this treasure, my strength would more than double.*

King Xuan Yuan Fa chuckled. "It's nothing so very great. I am a formless body; a defensive treasure is of no use to me, so I may as well give it to you. Use your Great Array of the Heavenly Capital and Earthly Malevolence to do me a favor—gather more yin-souls, that I may forge a somewhat formidable demonic weapon, and dealing with the Taoist folk will be much easier. Your Blood-Transforming Divine Saber was originally a demonic weapon of the first order, and I could have asked you to lend it to me, but I fear you would not consent, so I must needs grasp at the lesser."

"Demon's talk! Do you take me for an idiot who knows nothing of artifact-forging?" Zhou Xuan cursed inwardly, then spoke: "Spells and formations for gathering yin-souls—if there are not a thousand kinds among demons and monsters, there are eight hundred. Why must it be my Great Array of the Heavenly Capital and Earthly Malevolence? I don't believe you, senior, are ignorant of such means—you have a thousand-odd living souls right there, enough to forge any demonic artifact. Is there some other design?"

"Ignorant whelp, what do you know?" King Xuan Yuan Fa barked. "Follow me!" With a flicker he turned into a streak of yellow light and shot forward. Zhou Xuan hastily summoned all his true qi and followed close. The two flew at speed for about two hours, when King Xuan Yuan Fa suddenly stopped, and Zhou Xuan nearly failed to halt and crashed into him. Utterly unable to fathom what King Xuan Yuan Fa meant to do, Zhou Xuan could only keep silent and wait for him to speak.