ragginovel Chapter 23 The Oath of the Inner Demon
Chapter 23 The Oath of the Inner Demon
With the help of the ultra-long-distance teleportation array in the Great Jin Imperial City, Wang Tianlong successfully arrived at Tianxing City, located in the core area of the Chaotic Star Sea.
This city truly lives up to its reputation as the largest city in the Chaotic Star Sea, and is also the headquarters of the dominant Star Palace in this realm. The entire magnificent city is built upon a cluster of enormous islands, with pavilions and palaces standing side by side, their spiritual light piercing the clouds. Its prosperity and bustling activity of cultivators rival even the imperial city of the Great Jin Dynasty. Even more remarkable is its location at the confluence of several giant spiritual veins, where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is so dense it's almost tangible, permeating the air above the city—truly one of the top cultivation holy lands in the human realm.
Wang Tianlong had no interest in appreciating the city's scenery. He found a relatively secluded deserted island with decent spiritual energy among the islands outside the city, built a simple temporary cave dwelling, set up concealment and protection formations, and began his three-month seclusion preparation.
He first spent over a month meticulously crafting more than a dozen high-level talismans of various types. The main one was the "Minor Teleportation Talisman" for survival, supplemented by several powerful offensive talismans, "Heavenly Thunder Strike," and defensive talismans, "Mystic Barrier." With his current cultivation level at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm and his skill as a talisman-making master, these talismans were of extremely high quality and sufficient to handle most dangerous situations.
He then focused his main efforts on refining the newly acquired replica of the spiritual treasure, the "Four Flames Fan." This fan contained the essence of four extraordinary flames: Earth Lung Fire, Celestial Meteorite Flame, Solar True Fire, and Southern Bright Fire, possessing overwhelming power. Although Wang Tianlong primarily cultivated wind-based techniques, he had a profound understanding of the principle of "wind aiding fire." He did not forcibly activate it with fire-based magic, but instead took a different approach, attempting to use his own pure wind spiritual power as a medium and guide to carefully communicate with and nurture the fire spirit within the fan. This process went more smoothly than expected; his wind spiritual power seemed to have unexpected and wonderful effects on harmonizing and stimulating the four different attributes of the flame. After two months, although he had not yet fully refined it, he could already wield it to a basic degree, unleashing eighty to ninety percent of the treasure's power, enough to serve as a decent trump card.
Three months passed in the blink of an eye.
On the day he emerged from seclusion, Wang Tianlong erased all traces in his cave, retrieved the array-setting equipment, and with a flash, transformed into an inconspicuous streak of light, shooting towards the distant Tianxing City.
After entering the city, he strolled along the wide streets, wide enough for ten carriages to travel side by side. People came and went around him; Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators were everywhere, and even Nascent Soul cultivators were not uncommon, demonstrating the flourishing of the cultivation civilization here. He concealed his aura, appearing like an ordinary late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, and followed the route he remembered, walking unhurriedly towards the "Guanhai Pavilion" in the west of the city.
"Guanhai Pavilion" is a nine-story pavilion built by the sea, elegantly decorated. It is a property under the Star Palace and is famous for providing a place for high-level cultivators to rest and hold meetings. The pavilion is equipped with a restriction that prevents divine sense from probing, so even ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators have difficulty seeing what is happening inside the private rooms.
Wang Tianlong stood outside the pavilion, his divine sense spreading out silently like mercury. The pavilion's conventional restrictions were useless to a Nascent Soul cultivator like him. His divine sense deftly avoided the few private restrictions set up by other Nascent Soul cultivators, which had stronger spiritual light, and soon detected the familiar and gentle wood-attribute spiritual energy fluctuations of Master Qingmu in a private room by the sea on the fifth floor. That private room did not have any additional powerful restrictions set up, obviously Master Qingmu had left the door open for him.
A slight smile appeared on Wang Tianlong's lips. He withdrew his divine sense, stepped into the Guanhai Pavilion, went straight to the fifth floor, arrived at the door of the private room, and gently pushed the door open.
There sat Master Qingmu by the window, a pot of steaming spiritual tea before him, gazing at the vast, boundless starry sky outside. Hearing the noise, he turned his head, a knowing smile spreading across his face.
"Fellow Daoist Wang, the time is just right, please have a seat. I have prepared fragrant tea and have been waiting for your arrival."
Wang Tianlong entered the private room and nodded slightly to Master Qingmu: "Thank you for waiting for me, Fellow Daoist Qingmu."
"Haha, Fellow Daoist Wang, you flatter me. I have only just arrived myself. I am relieved that you have arrived as promised." Master Qingmu smiled warmly, stood up to greet him, invited Wang Tianlong to sit down opposite him, and personally poured him a cup of fragrant tea filled with spiritual energy.
After exchanging a few pleasantries over tea, the two quickly returned to business.
Wang Tianlong put down his teacup, looked directly at Qingmu Shangren, and went straight to the point: "Fellow Daoist Qingmu, now that the appointed time has arrived, could you please tell me the specific location of that Qinglan Fruit Tree and the details of its surroundings?"
Upon hearing this, Master Qingmu's smile faded, and his expression became solemn. He did not answer immediately, but sighed softly and said, "Fellow Daoist Wang, it is not that I intentionally delay. It is simply... the Qinglan Fruit is of paramount importance, concerning the paths of both of us, and is a tremendous opportunity that could lead to our deaths. Before we act, it is best to establish some rules, so that we can truly work together to overcome this perilous situation."
As he spoke, he flicked his sleeve, and a beam of dark light landed on the table, transforming into a black page that was neither gold nor wood, cool to the touch, and emitting a faint, eerie glow. On the page, countless fine, tadpole-like dark red runes flowed, emanating a strange power that directly targeted the heart and restrained the soul.
"A Vow of Inner Demons?" Wang Tianlong's gaze sharpened as he recognized the item. This was an extremely special contract treasure in the cultivation world, used to make a vow by one's own inner demons and the path to the Great Dao. Once broken, the power of the vow would transform into shackles of the inner demons, easily triggering a backlash during future cultivation, especially when breaking through major realms, with unimaginable consequences. This item was usually only used in extremely important collaborations requiring absolute trust.
He instantly understood Master Qingmu's concerns. His cultivation was superior, and his escape techniques were unparalleled among his peers. If Master Qingmu became greedy after taking the treasure and used his speed advantage to run away with it, Master Qingmu would be helpless. This oath was the guarantee that the other party sought.
Wang Tianlong had no intention of breaking the agreement and was determined to obtain the Azure Orchid Fruit, but he was always cautious in his actions. After a moment's thought, he nodded and said, "Fellow Daoist Qingmu's considerations are thorough, and this action is justified. By making the oath against our inner demons, we can both feel at ease. However…"
He abruptly changed the subject, his gaze sharpening as he looked at Master Qingmu: "I, Wang, must also add a clause to my oath: Fellow Daoist, you must guarantee that the source of your information regarding the Qinglan Fruit is true and accurate, and that you have not informed any third party or set any traps for anyone other than the two of us. Otherwise, the oath will be void, and the breaching party will bear the consequences."
Master Qingmu seemed to have expected this, and readily replied, "That's only right! I can swear to my inner demons that this matter is absolutely true. If there is even a single falsehood or any secret plot, I am willing to suffer the backlash of my inner demons and have my Great Dao collapse!" He paused, then added, "In return, I ask Fellow Daoist Wang to swear that after obtaining the treasure, you must distribute the Azure Mist Fruits as agreed, and you must not be blinded by greed, steal them, or plot against them."
"Okay," Wang Tianlong readily agreed.
Without another word, the two forced out a drop of their essence blood and dripped it onto the black oath book. As the blood fell, the dark red runes on the pages suddenly lit up, moving as if alive.
With solemn expressions, the two swore an oath using their real names and Taoist titles, clearly inscribing the key terms of their agreement—the truthfulness of information, no harm to each other, and fair distribution (Wang Tianlong would receive two, and Qingmu Shangren would receive one for alchemy)—onto the oath book.
As the oath was completed, the black pages spontaneously combusted without wind, transforming into two thin streams of black and red runes that disappeared into the brows of Wang Tianlong and Qingmu Shangren respectively. An invisible binding force quietly entwined itself deep within their souls.
Thus, the oath made by the inner demons was sworn. The two exchanged a glance; although they couldn't be said to be completely open with each other, they at least had the most basic foundation for cooperation, and the atmosphere eased considerably.
A relieved smile appeared on Master Qingmu's face. He took out a jade slip that he had prepared beforehand from his robes and pushed it in front of Wang Tianlong:
"Fellow Daoist Wang, this is the sea chart and route that I painstakingly drew, as well as detailed information about the eye of the storm. Please take a look. Next, we need to carefully plan our specific action plan."
Wang Tianlong took the jade slip and immersed his consciousness into it.