The north wind, laden with yellow sand, swept in, engulfing the entire mountain in a rustling shower of grit.
Langtu Mountain was like this all year round; only on rare rainy days was it spared from the sky filled with yellow sand.
No one knew when it started, but the yellow sand here always carried a strange black aura. Once contaminated, mortals would die instantly, and even cultivators would be corroded.
Many cultivators in the Tianji Region knew that Langtu Mountain was one of the three great perilous lands of the far west, but almost no one knew that this was the location of the cave abode of the Tianji Region's number one cultivator.
Amidst the sky full of sand and rain, a figure in black leisurely stepped onto Langtu Mountain, treating the yellow sand as if it were nothing, walking step by step towards the mountain's interior.
There was a place deep within the mountain, buried by yellow sand, yet Nascent Soul cultivators could sense a different fluctuation of aura emanating from there.
The black-clad figure stopped, their hands forming a complex series of hand seals, and with a final gentle push, a deep, dark cave entrance abruptly appeared. They then walked inside.
"Who is it?" A gloomy shout came from the darkness of the cave abode.
The black-clad figure halted and let out a soft sigh. "You're truly confident in yourself, Master. You haven't even changed the door-opening hand seal."
The clear, pleasant voice was completely different from the hoarse one of the past. Venerable Songfeng paused. Within the dark cave abode, Demonic Qi suddenly surged, vast and powerful.
"It's you..." The tense voice was filled with anger in every word.
"It's me." Nie Wushang lightly flicked her sleeve, and the surrounding Demonic Qi calmed and settled.
Sensing the aura on her body, Venerable Songfeng was shocked and furious. "You've actually reached Mid-Nascent Soul? How long has it been? Where did you get the technique?" Unconsciously, he touched the Qiankun Bag at his waist—the Origin Demon stone tablet was still inside.
"The world doesn't only have the Origin Demon technique in your possession," Nie Wushang said calmly. "Master, you've been domineering for too long. It seems you've even forgotten to be vigilant."
Venerable Songfeng certainly hadn't forgotten. Decades ago in Fengsha City, several great cultivators had besieged him, forcing him to abandon his physical body. Returning to Langtu Mountain, he had been constantly on guard. But he never, ever expected that this wretch would have the guts to return.
"You think just because you're Mid-Nascent Soul, you can challenge me?"
"I wouldn't dare," Nie Wushang's tone was indifferent. "That's precisely why I've returned while Master hasn't fully recovered yet."
"You are clever," Venerable Songfeng sneered. "Just too confident."
"Is that so?" Nie Wushang didn't care about his attitude in the slightest. Suddenly, she asked, "Master, would you like to know where I got my Origin Demon Great Art?"
Venerable Songfeng didn't answer immediately. After a moment, a cold snort came from within the Demonic Qi. "What are you scheming?"
Nie Wushang smiled slightly. "I just want to tell you how much you've been like a frog in a well."
As soon as her words fell, the Demonic Qi in the cave abode seemed to sense Venerable Songfeng's emotions, fluctuating erratically. Yet, this Demonic Qi could never get close to her body.
Venerable Songfeng seemed to sense this, so the Demonic Qi took on a slight pressure, slowly advancing towards Nie Wushang.
"It's useless." Nie Wushang wore a smile on her face, her head slightly tilted back with a casual arrogance she would never have shown before. "Master, don't you understand yet? I am no longer that Nie Wushang who endured your bullying, not daring to say an extra word, not daring to do an extra thing, not daring to show an extra expression."
The dark cave abode and the pitch-black Demonic Qi made her fair skin and snow-like features stand out all the more. For a moment, Venerable Songfeng was dazed, as if he saw traces of another person on her face, and his teeth clenched.
After a long time, he asked in a low voice, "Where did your Origin Demon Great Art come from?"
Nie Wushang let out a light laugh. "You finally asked, Master." She paused, then said, "Master, have you ever thought that since there is a White Tiger Sacrificial Temple, might there not also be Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise temples?"
Venerable Songfeng was taken aback. He had thought of this back in the day, but finding one sacrificial temple was already a stroke of immense fortune. Where would one go to find the others? Could it be that this wretch truly had such fortune? Thinking of this possibility, Venerable Songfeng felt a deep sense of bitterness.
"You are not the only one in this world cultivating the Origin Demon Great Art. As far as I know, besides us, there are two others." One was Yang Chengji, and the other was that unlucky, annihilated Starfall City Lord, Mei Feng. "Master, you are indeed a rare cultivation genius seldom seen in the world. But unfortunately, you started on the wrong path. By the time you comprehended the true Origin Demon Great Art, it was already too late."
Nie Wushang's tone remained gentle and calm, her pace unhurried, as if she didn't take him seriously at all. This made Venerable Songfeng extremely displeased. When had that timid girl by his side become like this, daring to challenge him, becoming someone he could no longer control?
"Are you trying to say you took the right path?"
The corner of Nie Wushang's mouth lifted. "I don't know if I took the right path. But you certainly took the wrong one." She paused. "Does it feel unfair? Both cultivating the Origin Demon Great Art, yet you had to abandon your physical body, perform a possession, and still couldn't obtain a complete form, while I remain completely unaffected?"
"Hmph!" Venerable Songfeng's heart stirred slightly, but he only snorted coldly.
Ignoring him, Nie Wushang continued, "Firstly, Master, you took a detour at the beginning. Secondly, perhaps you never even noticed that the Origin Demon Great Art isn't only for cultivating Origin Demonic Qi."
The dark cave abode was silent, no one knowing what Venerable Songfeng was feeling at this moment.
Nie Wushang's voice sounded quietly. "Master, you've been at Late-Nascent Soul for so many years. Why have you never broken through? Is it insufficient cultivation, or is it simply that you cannot break through?"
Venerable Songfeng in the darkness was greatly shaken. "What are you saying?"
With a light laugh, Nie Wushang said, "I didn't understand before. Over these years, cultivating the Origin Demon Great Art and slowly thinking back on past events, I finally realized." Her gaze shifted, looking at the figure in the darkness. "Master, was it after reaching Late-Nascent Soul that your physical body could no longer bear the burden, so you cultivated the Origin Demonic Qi Cloud, attempting to replace your flesh?"
Her voice was very calm, yet it made Venerable Songfeng feel a sharp, aggressive edge. And the content of her words made his heart tremble even more. When had that girl by his side, carefully grasping for a sliver of life, become like this?
"It seems I guessed correctly." Receiving no answer after a long wait, Nie Wushang smiled. "Master, you comprehended the technique incorrectly from the start, allowing Death Qi to seize the opportunity and corrode your flesh. If you had decisively performed a possession and started anew, you could have severed all hidden dangers. Unfortunately, you didn't know back then. By the time you realized something was wrong, it was already too late. The Death Qi had even corroded your Primordial Spirit."
"..."
A smile hung on Nie Wushang's face, but her gaze grew increasingly sharp. "...So, even after you performed the possession, you're still just a skeleton."
As her words fell, the Demonic Qi suddenly flared out, pushing away the original aura and revealing a figure sitting cross-legged on a stone platform. The figure was emaciated, its clothes almost hanging loose. The raised face was a nauseating mix of bloody, rotting flesh and stark white bone fragments.
"Master, long time no see." Only then did Nie Wushang speak.
"Hmph!" Origin Demonic Qi surged wildly again, attaching to the skeleton. Before long, it transformed back into a mass of black cloud, no different from Venerable Songfeng's usual appearance. Immediately after, a powerful pressure radiated out, pressing down on Nie Wushang.
Nie Wushang's gaze was cold and deep. She formed a hand seal with both hands, mobilizing Demonic Qi to resist Venerable Songfeng's pressure.
"You really are her daughter," Venerable Songfeng said hoarsely. "I underestimated you too much."
Nie Wushang's heart stirred. Slowly, she asked, "Master, all these years, have you ever thought of my mother?"
The Origin Demonic Qi in the cave abode fluctuated almost imperceptibly.
Nie Wushang continued, "When you beat me, when you tortured me, were you thinking of my mother?"
"...Shut up!" Venerable Songfeng growled lowly. "If you want to die faster, keep talking!"
Nie Wushang laughed. "Do I look a bit like my mother? So every time you tortured me, Master, you would curse me as a wretch. Unfortunately, you can't curse my mother anymore. Do you regret a little, killing her so cleanly back then?"
The Demonic Qi churned even more violently. Venerable Songfeng's voice sounded low and dark. "What do I have to regret? That wretch got her retribution long ago, betraying me with another man. Unfortunately, that man had no backbone at all. Do you know how I found you and your mother? That man told me himself!"
Nie Wushang's gaze changed, her smile completely vanishing.
"But don't worry, I've already killed him. A man like that deserves to die! Haha, hahaha..." Venerable Songfeng laughed loudly. The sound from the skeleton, along with that sinister tone, was like a malevolent ghost crawling up from hell, chilling to the bone.
Nie Wushang suddenly curled her lip in a smile—a mannerism clearly learned from Jing Xingzhi. She said mockingly, "Then I truly must thank you. A man like that indeed deserves to die. If he were alive today, I would take his life with my own hands." Her gaze returned to Venerable Songfeng. "Master, why bother, really? In this state of yours, neither human nor ghost, despised by both, unable to break through Late-Nascent Soul and advance to Soul Transformation to merge Primordial Spirit and flesh and escape the encroachment of Death Qi, unable to freely take revenge and slaughter all your enemies... what are you living for? Your enemies are all growing stronger. Only you are slowly losing vitality. Even if I hadn't returned, in a few hundred more years, your lifespan would be exhausted... Your life has no hope."
"What, you think this can shake me?" Venerable Songfeng remained unmoved. "Wretch, you're still too green!"
"I'm just stating a fact," Nie Wushang said, putting on a pair of gauntlets in a leisurely manner. "Master, your sun is setting, you're approaching your end. Accept your fate."
With that, Origin Demonic Qi gathered around her fists, and she threw a punch.
Origin Demonic Qi surged like raging waves in the cave abode, indistinguishable as to whose it was. Venerable Songfeng had already transformed back into a black cloud, snorting coldly, "Naive!"
From within the black cloud, Venerable Songfeng raised a small flag. "Boldly running into another's cave abode and still thinking of killing?"
The small flag waved once, but there was not the slightest reaction. Venerable Songfeng was stunned, looking at the flag in his hand. It was indeed an array flag, and it hadn't failed. Why would...
"You're right. Since I dared to come in, how could I not be prepared?" Nie Wushang said. Several demonic crystals saturated with Death Qi flickered at the array's eye positions.