Translation: Aerial Rain Translation (aerialrain.com) by koffeam

“Fellow Daoist, please confirm the amount.” The Golden Core cultivator handed her a brocade bag with a smile. “According to the rules, ten percent has been deducted by the alliance.”

Meng Qi nodded. She quickly glanced at the spirit stones inside the bag. In fact, this amount wouldn’t help much. But she had only one day more and still couldn’t find another way to make money.

“Shu Qian, these are the inner cores from two third-rank demon cultivators. And also the immortal devouring vines they brought.” When Meng Qi was about to leave, another person came. Even before he walked in, his loud voice already rang: “It’s so strange! Huajiang Manor is far away from the Demon Realm. Why are so many demon cultivators appearing here out of nowhere?! And they even have this kind of weapon, damn it! Fortunately, I was well prepared. Otherwise, those motherf**kers would already get on me—huh? Someone’s here?!”

When his last word fell, the man finally entered the hall. Meng Qi turned her head to take a look. It was a sturdy-looking cultivator, seemingly about 30 years old. His appearance was actually quite handsome, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and short black hair, making him look a little wild. The man had a beard and wore a short martial suit, which matched his brash voice and words just now.

The ‘Su Qian’ this person called was the smiling Golden Core cultivator who had just finished Meng Qi’s order. He was obviously very familiar with this newcomer: “Ji Wenyuan, I have told you before. Be careful with your words when you are in the alliance.”

“Sorry, sorry.” The male cultivator named Ji Wenyuan apologized with a low voice. This apology was for Meng Qi. “Huajiang Manor is a small place. There are very few people here. I don’t know that fellow Daoist is visiting our office. I’ve been rude.” He scratched his head embarrassedly.

Meng Qi shook her head and smiled politely. Her eyes fell on the two immortal devouring vines on the ground. As a weapon, they looked so unusual. Its shape was a vine full of green leaves and blooming flowers with a color corresponding to its strength level. However, the vines before her were halfway turned into ashes, as if being burnt by something.

“Hey, give me the money.” Ji Wenyuan said to Su Qian: “Two third-rank demon cultivators. This time I also brought back their immortal devouring vines. The reward should be more.”

Su Qian shook his head amusedly and threw a brocade bag: “Take it.”

“Let me see…” Ji Wenyuan probed the bag and muttered: “One third-rank demon cultivator is one hundred seventh-grade spirit stones…eh? Four hundred? Wow! Is this immortal devouring vine so valuable? If only you told me earlier, damn—ah, no, if I know it earlier, I would bring it back before!”

“Thanks.” Ji Wenyuan threw the bag into his own storage space. After briefly cupped his hand towards Meng Qi, he turned around and strode out the door.

Meng Qi’s heart suddenly jumped. After Ji Wenyuan left, she took the initiative to ask Su Qian: “Excuse me, fellow Daoist. Does the alliance provides a monetary reward for people who hunt down demon cultivators and immortal devouring vine?”

“Yes.” Su Qian still smiled at Meng Qi, but his eyes squinted. A cultivator still in the Foundation Establishment stage had just recovered a debt of a few ninth-grade spirit stones, but she still didn’t feel enough?

Su Qian was a cultivator who was about to enter the Nascent Soul stage. Even so, he would be very happy after earning a few hundred seventh-grade spirit stones. He was a little surprised but still smiled: “The reward for one third-rank demon cultivator is one hundred seventh-grade spirit stones. For the fourth-rank, it is one hundred eighth-grade spirit stones. If you also bring back the immortal devouring vine, the reward would be doubled.” After a while, he hesitated and paused. “For a second-rank demon cultivator, it is one hundred sixth-grade spirit stones. However, demon cultivators of this rank don’t bring immortal devouring vine into the Three Thousand Worlds.”

“Thank you.” Meng Qi cupped her hands politely. She then turned around and left the alliance building.

Qin Xiumo and Chu Tianfeng, both dressed in black cultivator robes, were leaning against the alliance building’s outer wall, waiting for her. Su Junmo stood on the other side. His expression was normal, but his eyes clearly glared at the other two.

Hearing the footsteps, they turned at Meng Qi simultaneously.

“Ah…” Meng Qi hesitated for a moment. “I want to hunt down the demon cultivators who are attacking people around Huajiang Manor.” She went straight to Qin Xiumo: “The Cultivator Alliance will pay us based on the number of demon inner cores and immortal devouring vine we bring back. Consider me hiring you. In addition, we will split up the rewards equally according to contribution.”

Qn Xiumo hesitated: “How much the reward is?”

“One hundred seventh-grade spirit stones for one third-rank demon cultivator.” Meng Qi said. She was just a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and Qin Xiumo has not been fully healed yet. His cultivation level was just the third or fourth realm of the Golden Core stage. Hunting third-rank demon cultivator was their limit.

Qin Xiumo hesitated. If he wasn’t careful, could it be possible that his debt would be paid off in one go? This wasn’t good.

“Hey? You want to hunt down demon cultivators and immortal devouring vines?” Chu Tianfeng saw Qin Xiumo’s hesitation and sneered inwardly. He knew very well what this guy was thinking. It’s nothing more than being afraid of accidentally overdoing it and paying back his debt in one go. Seeing that Meng Qi didn’t even look at himself, Chu Tianfeng stepped forward and said: “If he is afraid, I’ll go with you!”

During this period, Chu Tianfeng also learned a few things about Meng Qi’s temperament: “Of course, after the alliance pays us the rewards, we will distribute the spirit stones fairly according to the level of contribution.”

Chu Tianfeng could see that Meng Qi was short of spirit stones recently. As Fentian Palace’s young master, he naturally received an abundance of resources from his sect. However, even though Chu Tianfeng didn’t lack any cultivation resources, it didn’t mean that he raked in money either. The number of spirit stones he had was not that many. He still had many valuable magic tools given by his sect, but those couldn’t be exchanged for spirit stones at will. Meng Qi took back Lu Qingran’s debt, which was a huge amount on the scale of ninth-grade spirit stones. Yet, she still lacked money…

Chu Tianfeng really didn’t dare to pat his chest and say that he would make up for the rest. At most, he could only take out a few hundred eighth-grade spirit stones. But Meng Qi would definitely refuse to accept for nothing. Not to mention that this amount probably was not enough.

After some thinking, Chu Tianfeng made up his mind in an instant and said solemnly: “Huajiang Manor is so close to Fentian City. If we don’t solve these demon cultivators, they might run into Fentian City and attacking people there. I will go with you!”

“Okay.” Meng Qi nodded.

“Who said I’m afraid?!” Qin Xiumo snorted at Chu Tianfeng coldly. “I was thinking that hunting one by one is too troublesome. I want to find a way to gather them in one place and annihilate them in one swoop.”

“Heh—” Chu Tianfeng sneered, “Then, have you figured out a way?”

“…Go and take a look first.”

When these two attacked Su Junmo or other people, they were particularly united. However, once the outside problem was resolved, they didn’t even bat an eyelid to beat each other immediately.

“Meng Qi, let’s go.” Qin Xiumo said: “The demon cultivators should not dare to enter the city. After all, there is a protective array here. Without a token from Cultivators Alliance, they are unable to enter…”

“Mm.” Meng Qi nodded. She knew this. If demon or devil cultivators wanted to come and go freely in Three Thousand World, they must get an identity token from Cultivator Alliance as Su Junmo did. Otherwise, although they could still roam freely in the wild, the city’s protective array would be triggered to attack once they entered a city.

“That’s not necessarily true.” Chu Tianfeng said, “I heard from my father that both demon and devil cultivators have ways to hide their aura from the array formation. Unless the city has a higher method of detection, it’s impossible to find out.”

“Those who can enter Three Thousand Worlds via the crack in the boundary are fourth-rank at the highest, which is equivalent with Nascent Soul stage in human cultivation. Can they still hide from the city’s protective array? Don’t forget, all the places that can be called a city in Three Thousand World had their defensive mechanism built by the top weapon refinery sects from the Cultivator Alliance.” Refusing to give up, Qin Xiumo argued.

“The method of hiding one’s aura isn’t necessarily restrictive to cultivation base.” Chu Tianfeng didn’t back off. “Perhaps low-level demon cultivators can train some specific spells to an extreme proficiency, allowing them to disguise themselves. Isn’t Meng Qiqi the best example here? Some spells can be trained far beyond the level of the cultivation base and become a life-saving method. Have you forgotten?”

Qin Xiumo’s lips raised slightly, and his eyes became cold: “You compare the demon with Meng Qiqi?”

Damn! Chu Tianfeng was furious. He obviously didn’t mean it, but he was too hasty. Chu Tianfeng opened his mouth. His brain was spinning rapidly, trying to find a rebuttal.

Su Junmo, who had been dumbfounded on the side, suddenly opened his mouth: “Are you going to hunt down the demon cultivators who bring immortal devouring vine here? Then I must also go!”

“Meng Qiqi, take me with you!”

Chu Tianfeng closed his mouth and glanced at Qin Xiumo, who nodded slowly. “Even if you go, what can you do?” Chu Tianfeng asked: “There are three of us. Me with spell, Qin Xiumo with sword dual cultivation, and Meng Qiqi with her medical skills. It’s enough.”

Qin Xiumo added: “Yes. And we are only going to hunt down third-rank demon cultivators, so don’t need to bother you. Three people are enough. Adding the fourth one will only lower the number of spirit stones each person gets.”

“Didn’t you just say that you want to gather all those guys together and solve them all in one go?” Su Junmo said. “I have a way. You three can cooperate with me, and we can also kill the fourth-rank demon cultivators. This way, everyone will get more spirit stones.”

Qin Xiumo and Chu Tianfeng looked at each other. But they had no choice but to look at Meng Qi.

“Okay.” Meng Qi nodded, “The term will be the same as I said just now. We will get even distribution according to contribution.” She didn’t care who she cooperated with. If Su Junmo joined them and increased the number of spirit stones each person got, it was a good deal.

Chu Tianfeng gritted his teeth and asked unwillingly, “What is your method?”

“I also have an idea.” Meng Qi said, “Let’s talk on the way.” She took out a bamboo slip, quickly wrote something on it, and handed the slip to Su Junmo.

“Huh?” Su Junmo opened his eyes in surprise. “This is feasible, but this great array…” He was a bit frightened. The method proposed by Meng Qi was very simple. He and the others would lure the enemy in, using Meng Qi as bait to activate the Four Poles Great Array and trapped the demon cultivators that got lured in.

But it was the Four Poles Great Array, ah!

Su Junmo didn’t know what expression he should make at this moment. This array was a true secret of the celestial demon’s white tiger clan. Not every clan member was eligible to learn it. Even after following his Lord for so many years, Su Junmo only heard about this array mostly in passing, and even the Lord only used it a handful of times. As for how to set up the array, he didn’t have the slightest clue. He didn’t know, and should never know!

“This great array…” Su Jun Mo murmured and glanced at Meng Qi, half tentatively and half surprisedly. His mind was full of doubts. However, not even the Lord could break the celestial demon’s rules. In other words…

“I cannot…”

Su Junmo subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief when Meng Qi began to speak. Sure enough, Meng Qi didn’t know how to set up the array. Otherwise, he didn’t know whether he should really kneel down and bow before her highness Demon Queen.

“…set up the complete formation of the array.” Meng Qi finished her sentence.

Su Junmo’s knees softened. He really wanted to kneel!!! He had imagined many possibilities before. Although he secretly felt that Meng Qi might be the future Demon Queen, after all, it was still the ‘future.’ A more probable possibility was that this little Foundation Establishment woman was just the Lord’s lover in Three Thousand Worlds. Even if the Lord’s return to the peak in the future, it would be difficult to bring her back to the Demon Realm. Not to mention that people from the Celestial Demon Council of Elders would oppose, but there was also the Lord’s great uncle from the white tiger clan. Even if the Lord favored Meng Qi, the possibility of her becoming the Demon Queen was slim.

But the Four Poles Great Array…this was strictly only passed on to the white tiger clan members, and not even everybody had the chance to learn it. Presently, the number of a white tiger clan member who could use Four Poles Great Array could be counted with the fingers of one hand: Lord’s great uncle, uncle, Lord himself, a white tiger’s elder, and Lord’s cousin.

And now, he had to add a Meng Qi!

Su Junmo looked at Meng Qi with some despair——should he kneel? Or not?

He decided to struggle a bit: “Can you tell me exactly what do you mean? Does it mean that you can only set up the array partially?”

Meng Qi glanced at Su Junmo. The fox’s expression was so strange. Despair mixed with heartbreak, and there was also unwillingness and struggle…was it because of the Four Poles Great Formation?

Meng Qi was somewhat unsure. When Master taught her this array, he said that it was useful for trapping enemy, but didn’t say anything special. The complete Four Poles Great Array could even trap a cultivator three stages higher than herself. Of course, a cultivator with such a wide disparity of power would be too strong for Meng Qi to trap. Still, it would give her a chance to escape.

However, a lot of materials were needed to set up Four Poles Great Array, and the requirement for the cultivator themselves was also very high. Namely, spiritual aura.

Both to set up and activate an array formation, the spiritual aura was absolutely essential. Some key parts of a big array had to be done in one go and would fail if stopped middle way to wait for the cultivator’s aura to recover. Meng Qi’s current cultivation base and spiritual aura in her body were far from enough to use the complete Four Poles Great Array. At most, only ten percent of the original.

Fortunately, Meng Qi’s cultivation in her previous life was also not so high. So Master taught her several modifications of the Four Poles Great Array. These modifications made the array much simpler, but also weakened its effect. With Su Junmo, Qin Xiumo, and Chu Tianfeng, Meng Qi calculated that half an incense stick of time would be enough.

“I don’t have enough cultivation base to deploy the complete version of the array.” Meng Qi said. “So for now, I will only use the modified version.”

“Momomo…modified?!” Su Junmo stuttered. He had never seen the Four Poles Great Array, but instead met a cultivator who said she couldn’t use the complete array for the time being because of her insufficient cultivation base.

What the hell?!

“Yeah.” Meng Qi nodded. “Wait for me.” They had just passed the Cloud Immortal Pavilion. Meng Qi walked inside: “I’m going to buy something.”

This time, she spent five hundred eighth-grade spirit stones and bought the materials needed for the Four Poles Great Array. In fact, Meng Qi never cared much about money and never hesitated to spend it before. But today, she couldn’t help but feel distressed whenever she thought of the Blazing Feather. Therefore, they must hunt more demon cultivators and immortal devouring vine. Otherwise, after splitting the rewards, she might even lose money here.

Meng Qi clenched her fist and became more determined. Since Su Junmo joined them, they would have a way to hunt down the fourth-rank demon cultivators. And she was willing to risk the danger.

Outside the Cloud Immortal Pavilion, Su Junmo looked at Qin Xiumo and Chu Tianfeng sluggishly. “You two…” He took a deep breath, and for a moment, even wondering whether it was simply two different arrays with the same name. After all, among the cultivators in Three Thousand World, there were some who specialized in the tool and weapon refinery. They were also experts in the array formation. In the past two to three hundred years, this field developed well and seemed to be on the rise once again.

Su Junmo passed the bamboo slips to the two in silence and watched their expression without blinking.

“What is this?” Chu Tianfeng finished reading first, feeling a bit at a loss, “Meng Qiqi seems to be really good with arrays.”

“Yeah.” Qin Xiumo nodded.

“Have you never heard of this array?” Su Junmo asked again.

“No.” Chu Tianfeng shook his head, “Fentian Palace is a spell sect. We don’t specialize in arrays and never heard about this one.”

“Neither do I.” Qin Xiumo shook his head.

“…” Su Junmo suddenly felt a little frightened. If Meng Qi really used the Four Poles Great Array, did it mean that the Lord has already admitted that she was…

“Let’s go.” Meng Qi came out of Cloud Immortal Pavilion. She walked towards the three: “Su Junmo, based on your opinion, where should we go first?” Since the four have decided to work together to earn spirit stones, they were a team. Therefore, Meng Qi didn’t hold back and directly asked Su Junmo, who was the most familiar with demon cultivators.

“Huh?” Su Junmo was still a bit dazed. He turned his head to look at Meng Qi. In his eyes now, this girl’s identity has changed once again. After a while, he met Meng Qi’s clear and calm eyes, and his gaze instantly quivered: “…yes…attribute…”

Meng Qi: “???” What attribute?

“…it should be the red fox clan again.” Su Junmo was also a bit vexed, and said quickly: “Their species’ attribute is fire, and they like to stay in the east.” He pointed at the east gate. “Let’s go to the east first.”

“Okay.” Meng Qi nodded.

The four quickly walked towards the east gate. Huajiang Manor was also considered a prosperous city. Although it wasn’t as good as Fentian City, it was far better than Qingfeng Town. The news that demon cultivators used immortal devouring vines to attack people was suppressed by Xuanyun Villa, and ordinary residents of the city still didn’t know. However, Xuanyun Villa put out a request to Cultivator Alliance, issuing a mission to hunt down the demon cultivators in exchange for spirit stones.

All the way to the east gate, the atmosphere was still normal. Immortal devouring vine generally didn’t harm ordinary people. After all, they wanted spiritual aura for nourishment.

After leaving the east city gate, there was a continuous mountain range in the distance. Coupled with lush forest, the scenery was full of greenery.

“Those guys like to hide in the dense forest, but…” Su Jun pondered, not sure what to say.