Going Up Black Mountain

The next morning, Zhao Fengnian descended the mountain into the city, stepping through the morning dew, and headed straight for the City God Temple. The temple keeper had just opened the temple door and was placing freshly steamed rice cakes as offerings on the incense table when he saw Zhao Fengnian stride across the threshold, take out a letter sealed with sealing wax from his pocket, and hand it to him with both hands.

The letter was written by Liu Jin himself. It was concise and stated that Sanyi Temple would attack Black Mountain at noon today. He requested that the City God lead his troops to reinforce the city at sunset, when the Black Mountain Demon would be exhausted and the city could be captured in one fell swoop.

The temple keeper took the letter and turned to enter the inner hall. A moment later, the candlelight before the statue flickered simultaneously, and the letter vanished in a golden light. The temple keeper emerged from the inner hall, clasped his hands in a respectful bow to Zhao Fengnian, and said, "The City God has mustered his troops and will arrive at sunset. Please, you two Taoist priests, proceed with caution." Zhao Fengnian returned the bow, turned, and left the temple.

At noon, when the sun was at its strongest, there wasn't a breath of wind in the pine forest at the foot of Black Mountain. Zhao Fengnian walked alone on the gravel path leading to the mountain pass, a bulging burlap sack hanging from his waist, containing several spare talismans and a jug of water. He walked quickly, his footsteps echoing through the forest, deliberately snapping a few dry branches with a crisp cracking sound.

Fiery scales spread from the back of his hand to his forearm, gleaming with a warm metallic sheen in the midday sun. Each scale resembled a miniature solar panel, automatically absorbing the surrounding heat. Thirty paces behind him, Liu Jin's aura was completely concealed beneath his Yin-Yang Gauze Robe; only those who possessed the Samadhi True Fire of the same origin could sense the extremely subtle fluctuation of blue flames.

The first obstacle at the mountain pass was a pack of wolf demons. Seven or eight human-bodied, wolf-headed monsters emerged from behind a pile of rocks, larger than the pack the escort agency had ambushed last time, their spiked clubs coated with a dark red demonic aura. Zhao Fengnian sidestepped the attack of the lead wolf demon, flipped his right hand, and three deep red fireballs simultaneously appeared in his palm. With a flick of his wrist, the three fireballs flew out, trailing long flames, and accurately struck the densest part of the wolf pack.

The shockwave from the exploding fireball sent debris flying, blasting two wolf demons away. The remaining ones howled angrily, brandishing their spiked clubs and charging at him. Zhao Fengnian didn't retreat. His leg muscles bulged slightly, scales spreading from his arms to his shoulders, and he slammed a punch squarely into the club of the foremost wolf demon. The combined power of his refined fire body tempering, dragon muscle enhancement, and Qi fire boost caused the club to fly out of the wolf demon's hand, leaving its entire arm numb.

He conjured another fireball with his left hand and pressed it against the wolf demon's chest. The fireball exploded on the demon's chest, sending it flying backward with a scream, a charred patch appearing on its chest. The remaining wolf demons, seeing the situation was dire, tried to flee, but he caught up with them one by one, using the Gluttony Seal to drain their life essence. As the dark red threads retracted from his fingertips, he felt the Qi fire in his dantian solidify slightly, and the luster on his scales brightened even more.

The density of monsters halfway up the mountain was more than twice that at the mountain pass. Rat demons, snake demons, and centipede demons swarmed out of the caves, some carrying crude weapons, others baring their sharp teeth and claws. Zhao Fengnian took three talismans from his sack and scattered them into the air. The talismans automatically stuck to the monsters attacking from three directions, and the cinnabar runes lit up. Three loud explosions blasted the three rat demons into a bloody mess.

His right arm scales were fully unfurled as he smashed a snake demon's vital spot with a single punch. His left hand conjured a fireball, repelling a centipede demon that lunged from the side. Simultaneously, he kicked away two smaller demons attempting to ambush him from behind. As he ascended, the number of demons increased, and he fought with increasing ferocity. The Mark of Gluttony continuously absorbed demon blood, nourishing himself. The fire on his scales grew brighter, changing from pale red to deep red, with a faint blue glow emanating from the edges—the color of Samadhi True Fire.

He could feel himself getting stronger, not in the qualitative way of breaking through a realm, but in the way his body was constantly refining new power in actual combat. The coordination between his scales and muscles was becoming more and more tacit, his control of fireballs was becoming more and more precise, and the absorption efficiency of the Gluttony Seal was also getting higher and higher.

Several bird and rabbit demons, sensing the danger, flapped their wings and burrowed into holes, fleeing wildly towards the mountaintop. Zhao Fengnian didn't deliberately chase after them; Liu Jin had instructed them to deliver a message.

At the mountaintop, the Black Mountain Demon stood at the entrance to his cave, beneath his feet a black stone slab brought from the underworld, covered with densely packed dark characters. He appeared to be only in his forties, with a burly build, wearing a pure black cloak, a sinister face, and deep-set eyes with two clusters of dark red light faintly visible in his pupils.

He leaned on a long, jet-black spear in his right hand. The spear shaft was forged from Netherworld Cold Iron, and a dark red flame clung to its tip—the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire, a punishing fire in the underworld used to burn away sins and specifically suppress the yang energy and merit of the mortal realm. He had spent a hundred years collecting Netherworld Cold Iron and another two hundred years nurturing it with his own natal demonic energy to cultivate this Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire at its tip.

The demons he sent to test the Sanyi Temple last time were all wiped out, with only a few bird demons escaping back. He had them recount in detail the scene of Liu Jin lighting up the city lights several times, ultimately concluding that this outsider cultivator's most powerful ability was some kind of supernatural power that could control the lights of the human world. The Red Lotus Karmic Fire specifically burns away merit and yang energy; even the brightest lights in ten thousand homes are still human affairs, nothing more than dry tinder in the face of the karmic fire.

He had waited a long time. He had endured far too long since the day the tree demon was killed. Now that the Crimson Lotus Spear was complete, his patience was about to run out. Even if the people from the Three Ones Temple hadn't come, he would have gone to them anyway. Now that they had delivered themselves to him, it saved him the trouble of traveling.

The Black Mountain Demon emerged from his cave, spear in hand, but did not immediately join the battle. He concealed himself behind a steep cliff, suppressing his aura and waiting for his opportunity. The sounds of fighting on the mountain path grew closer. The boy covered in fiery scales was being besieged by dozens of demons. Although he had the upper hand, his attention was entirely focused on the enemy directly in front of him.

"Now!" The Black Mountain Demon suddenly sprang up from behind the rock wall, his black cloak unfurling in the air like a pair of giant bat wings. He transformed into a black meteor, the karmic fire on the tip of his Red Lotus Spear leaving a dark red arc as it pierced straight into Zhao Fenghou's back.

When the spear tip was still three feet from Zhao Fenghou's heart, a hand reached out from the void and pressed down on the spear shaft.

It was a hand. The five fingers were long and slender, the skin a translucent pale gold, and the palm was wrapped in a layer of eerie blue flames. The moment the fingers closed, the spear shaft, forged from Netherworld Cold Iron, emitted a sharp metallic groan, and the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire shook violently the instant it came into contact with the Samadhi True Fire, as if it had been doused with a bucket of ice water.

The Black Mountain Demon's pupils constricted. He recognized the hand's owner: a young man shrouded in a silver-white robe, a faint blue flame mark slowly glowing between his brows. His eyes were calmly fixed on him, as if he were looking at meat on a chopping board. Before he could retract his spear, another hand, bathed in the pale golden light of countless lights, slammed into his chest.