Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Chapter 373 197: The Demon Circles! The World Is Just a Makeshift Troupe

Jiangbei Province, Zhenwu Mountain.

The sun was hanging high. Within Qingwei Palace, an old man, looking much like a farmer, was sitting cross-legged, basking lazily in the sunlight at the stone steps before the Pure Yang Hall.

He rubbed his palms together, kept his gaze lowered to the ground, eyes intent and focused; deep within those eyes flickered sparks, as if he'd discovered some unfathomable mystery.

"Master, what are you looking at?"

At this moment, Taoist Pojie walked over, his face brimming with deep curiosity.

For the foremost expert under heaven, the living Zhenren of this age, to be so focused, there must be some hidden secret of cultivation involved.

"I'm watching ants move house," Chu Chaoran murmured, voice low and steady.

"Ants moving house!?"

Taoist Pojie paused a moment, then couldn't help but look at the ground. Within his field of vision, it was empty as could be—where were the ants moving house?

"Master, it's already winter, and we're in the mountains. Where would ants come from?" Taoist Pojie couldn't help asking.

"Pojie…" Chu Chaoran didn't even lift his head, suddenly speaking out.

"Disciple is here…"

"The ink on the desk has gone bad. Take it to the back hill and feed it to the dog."

"Huh?" Taoist Pojie was a bit stunned, then his expression grew odd. "Master, dogs don't eat that stuff."

"Do dogs nowadays not like to eat sour ink anymore?" Chu Chaoran slowly pulled back his gaze, his voice deep and gentle.

"Dogs never liked it—not even in the old days," Taoist Pojie reminded him.

"Is that so?"

Chu Chaoran fell into thoughtful silence. Suddenly, he lifted his head to gaze at the brilliant sunshine—yet it didn't seem blinding. His eyes, deep as an abyss, at that moment gleamed with a unique and unusual light.

"Master, what's wrong?" Taoist Pojie sensed something amiss and couldn't help but ask.

"It's nothing. Just some old memories resurfacing."

Chu Chaoran murmured softly, his voice lingering as he slowly rose to his feet, turning to stride into the ancient, austere Pure Yang Hall.

...

Jiangnan Province, Yujing City.

Inside Tan Residence.

Zhang Fan listened to Su Shiyu and Shi Shougong chatting about anecdotes from the demon circle.

This circle isn't that small, nor is it overwhelmingly huge; after the founding of the nation, the number of demons plummeted precipitously.

During the first nationwide demon population census, not counting unregistered ones, there were still some eighty or ninety thousand demons.

Last year, the ninth census—excluding the unregistered—across all provinces, cities, and regions, there are only a little over ten thousand demons left.

After the nation's founding, becoming a demon was forbidden. Even if there were the occasional rule-breakers like Su Shiyu and Shi Shougong, the rate of demonization was far too low.

The rate dropped, the old demonification accelerated—should full demonization be reopened to all? It's a long-term social issue to be debated.

"In the demon census, none of those Great Demons or Old Demons hidden in mountain and sea desperate realms are counted," Shi Shougong said quietly.

Like King Yan, known as the foremost demon under heaven—he's lived deep within the Wuwei Sect Ancestral Court Daoist Temple for years. Which census worker would dare knock on his door?

This isn't like accepting the census so people can collect eggs and milk, crowds rushing in at once.

"King Yan… An ordinary-looking big black dog can actually become the number one demon under heaven!?" Zhang Fan grew thoughtful.

Regarding demons, he'd read many records in the Dao Secret Record, and heard Jiang Hu, Wen He, and others mention all sorts of rumors and hidden tales.

The world is vast, with famed mountains and desperate realms hiding unknown breeds, especially within the many rivers, lakes, and seas—some say there are even Flood Dragons…

A few years back, during Dongguang Province's Humen Bridge incident, something tried to enter the sea and undergo tribulation, causing quite a stir—even the masters of White Crane Temple went to handle it.

Jiang Hu said that thing was far fiercer than most Flood Dragons.

And besides, places like Changbai Mountain, Kunlun Mountain, Ailao Mountain, Eight Hundred Li Qinling, all conceal fearsome Great Demons, some with ancient, unbroken lineages, their heritage no less than that of the Ten Great Daoist Mountains.

In such a hidden demon circle, for an utterly unremarkable black dog to become number one is almost too absurd to believe!

"King Yan once followed the Three Corpses Daoist—that was the number one expert in the world back in the day," Su Shiyu said softly.

When that big black dog is mentioned, even the youngsters in the demon circle instinctively use an honorific, always addressing him as King Yan.

"Sixty years ago, Chu Chaoran performed the Jiazi Demon-Vanquishing; the Three Corpses Daoist attained the Dao atop the East Peak of Mount Tai. Since then, King Yan returned to the Wuwei Sect Ancestral Court Daoist Temple, never again setting foot in the mundane red dust," Shi Shougong couldn't help but sigh.

To possess such power to suppress all demonic ghosts, to stride across mountains and rivers—yet to seal oneself within a Daoist temple is undeniably a kind of sorrow.

If Shi Shougong had such cultivation, he'd be strutting across this bustling red dust for sure.

"A mind at that level isn't for us to speculate," Su Shiyu shook his head.

In fact, never mind King Yan—even the demons in those mountain and sea desperate realms look down on the likes of Su Shiyu and Shi Shougong.

The Mountain and Sea Demon Circle and the Urban Demon Circle operate on entirely different levels; it's rare for the two to mix.

"So there's a whole hierarchy of disdain?" Zhang Fan couldn't help asking.

"Of course… Just like among humans, city elites sometimes can't resist feeling a bit superior to small-town overachievers," Shi Shougong replied lightly.

"It's innate and immutable."

Any demon surviving the mountain and sea desperate realms is no ordinary being. Their cultivation runs deep, their skills are ruthless and fierce, their demon techniques can shake the sky and earth.

Never mind Ailao Mountain, Kunlun Mountain, or Changbai Mountain—just the Deserted Mountain outside Yujing City can produce demons far stronger than those mingling in the urban circle.

By any comparison, they're naturally above the others.

It's said immortals don't mingle with mortals, and dragons don't share dens with snakes.

Demons of the Mountain and Sea Demon Circle, deep down, simply look down upon those in the Urban Demon Circle.