Chapter 57: Opening the Acupoint

After the weasel demon let out its foul wind in the distance, it was desperate to escape, completely unaware that behind it, Feng Yuan had already made his move.

A streak of golden light flashed through the night sky—the dagger, swift as a shooting star, sliced across the darkness and struck the weasel demon’s back, piercing straight through.

A wet, sickening sound rang out.

The weasel demon collapsed to the ground with a wretched scream, blood spurting everywhere. The dagger had punched through its body, leaving a bowl-sized gaping wound, the attack utterly savage.

Already grievously wounded by Hu Xiao earlier, the weasel demon could not withstand this penetrating blow. It lay on the ground, barely breathing, tormented by agony.

Feng Yuan, having unleashed this attack, had exhausted all the golden energy in his dantian, unable to strike again. He called out to Hu Xiao, “Xiao Xiao, finish it! It’s too badly hurt to escape now!”

Hu Xiao had already noticed and darted swiftly toward the weasel demon, Feng Yuan following close behind. The two stood before the creature, which gazed at them in pain, begging for mercy. “Immortal masters, spare me! Cultivation is so hard for me, please, don’t kill me—I’ll never do evil again, I swear! Please, immortal masters, have mercy!”

The path of demon cultivation was a thousand times harsher than that of humans, for the laws of heaven decreed that demons could not become human unless they endured tribulation. Every hundred years, a demon must face a lightning calamity, ten in succession, each harder than the last. Only after surviving ten can one take human form, so for a demon to become human means enduring millennia of hardship and suffering.

Having struggled so bitterly to reach its current form, the weasel demon was naturally unwilling to die.

Feng Yuan looked at the weasel demon and sneered. “Let you go? Do you really think that’s possible? Xiao Xiao, kill it!”

“Yes, young master!”

“No—!”

With a thunderous blow, Hu Xiao shattered the weasel demon’s skull with a single palmstrike, ending its life completely.

Feng Yuan could never believe this demon would truly stop harming others. Besides, so many people had died in the Sage’s Temple—Feng Yuan was in no position to forgive the weasel demon on their behalf. Killing it was the only way to bring peace to those souls beneath the Nine Springs.

“Young master, take this—it will help your cultivation and your wounds.” Hu Xiao reached into the weasel demon’s corpse and retrieved a yellowish orb, handing it to Feng Yuan. This was the demon’s inner core, about the same size as the wolf demon’s from last time, indicating similar strength.

Feng Yuan quickly stowed it away, and the two turned back toward the Sage’s Temple to check on the scholars.

With the weasel demon dead, the temple had changed—it was no longer grand and pristine, but had reverted to its previous state: a collapsed, ruined shrine. The earlier splendor was all an illusion conjured by the demon.

Inside, a heap of corpses lay rotting, the stench unbearable. The scholars were among the dead, but Feng Yuan and Hu Xiao checked them and found they were merely unconscious, not dead. Having been under the demon’s control, and later overcome by its foul wind, they were fortunate to have survived.

“Let’s go, we should return to the village and notify everyone,” Feng Yuan said to Hu Xiao.

The two descended the mountain and informed the villagers, though they did not mention that they had slain the weasel demon—only that they had discovered anomalies at the Sage’s Temple and went to investigate.

After the villagers went up the mountain, Feng Yuan and Hu Xiao did not involve themselves further. Feng Yuan returned home and examined his injuries—there was a deep gash on the lower part of his back, with a large area bruised and tender to the touch.

Feng Yuan counted himself lucky—had he not reacted quickly, and had the weasel demon’s attack struck him directly instead of just being hit by splinters from the beam, he might have been cut in half.

The thought left Feng Yuan with lingering dread.

After Hu Xiao finished bandaging Feng Yuan’s wound, he took out the weasel demon’s inner core and began absorbing its energy—this was the essence of the demon’s cultivation, immensely powerful.

As Feng Yuan absorbed it, streams of earthy yellow light emerged from the core, entering his body and transforming into golden energy, gathering in his dantian.

This golden energy then began to heal Feng Yuan’s wounds and dispel his fatigue.

A few hours later, the energy in the inner core was spent, and Feng Yuan’s wounds had healed, the gash closed and the bruising vanished. He was well on his way to recovery.

Inside Feng Yuan’s dantian, golden light blazed brilliantly. After absorbing the core, this mass of golden energy enlarged, about the size of a soybean now. Feng Yuan felt a surge of power throughout his body and could clearly sense his cultivation had advanced.

If he could obtain a few more of these inner cores, perhaps he would soon become strong enough not to fear Master Zhang or Magistrate Liu.

As Feng Yuan pondered this, the golden energy in his dantian surged, as usual, rushing toward the acupoint in his chest, but this time much faster, violently battering the acupoint. The acupoint began to glow, and the figure inside grew clearer.

As time passed, the acupoint shone brighter, and the figure within became increasingly distinct—now Feng Yuan could clearly see its movements, as if it were performing some kind of spell.

Feng Yuan was overjoyed. He checked the golden energy in his dantian—there was still plenty left. It seemed that today, he might finally break through and manifest the figure in this acupoint.

Indeed, after more than an hour, the golden energy was depleted, but the acupoint in Feng Yuan’s chest had been completely opened and was now clear.

The figure inside the acupoint was fully revealed; to Feng Yuan’s astonishment, it looked exactly like himself, though unclothed.

At this moment, the figure was performing a series of gestures, akin to the movements Feng Yuan used to cast sword techniques and manipulate the golden energy in his dantian. Feng Yuan was delighted—this acupoint, opened by the golden energy, seemed to contain a new spell.

To confirm, Feng Yuan immediately began to imitate the gestures shown by the figure in the acupoint, eager to learn.

Soon, he mastered the series of movements, but after completing them, nothing happened, leaving him puzzled—was this not a spell?

“Ah, there’s no golden energy left in my dantian. Casting spells requires golden energy—I need to cultivate and absorb some first!” Feng Yuan thought to himself. He quickly began to act; above his head there remained plenty of golden light, not as much as yesterday, but still several hundred strands—enough for now.