Demon Sigil Sect

East Sea Demon Talisman Sect, Outer Gate, Dragon Spine Island, North Shore of Falling Star Lake.

A curtain of rain cascaded from the eaves, pounding the lake’s surface until the mist rose in thick, swirling clouds, as if a veil of melting fog had been drawn across the world, dividing the pavilion from what lay beyond into two separate realms.

The gentle patter of rain only heightened the stifling silence within the pavilion.

“This rain… it’s falling as if the sky itself is collapsing,” sighed the young girl in the pale yellow dress within the Star-Picking Pavilion.

Her features were as delicate as a painted scroll, her figure graceful and supple, brimming with the vibrant energy of youth.

The girl turned to the woman beside her, her voice soft: “Sister Qin, do you think Young Master Ning will be able to defeat that Taoist Xu here, a month from now?”

The woman addressed as “Sister Qin” wore a magnificent palace gown. Her beauty was dazzling, her skin fairer than snow, her bearing elegant and serene. Compared to the girl in yellow, she possessed a mature allure that was all the more captivating.

Her eyes shone, and between her brows, a plum blossom mark glimmered with a hint of spiritual light, lending her an air of sanctity and transcendence.

Qin Shuyi smiled gently. “Lian’er, you worry too much. Xu the Taoist is nothing more than an Outer Gate elder. He’s no match for Young Master Ning. The Xu family pushing him forward for this duel is merely sacrificing a pawn to save a more valuable piece. Young Master Ning knows this well; it’s nothing more than a formality.”

Lian’er’s yellow skirt fluttered in the breeze, tracing the line of her long, shapely legs. She pouted slightly. “But I still can’t help feeling uneasy. It is a life-and-death contest, after all. If Young Master Ning loses, you and I will end up belonging to that Taoist Xu…”

In the Demon Sect, private duels among disciples were not forbidden. Such “decisive contests” determined not only victory and defeat, but also life and death.

The loser not only forfeited their life but everything they owned—their status, spirit stones, dwelling, magical artifacts, and even their Dao companions or attendant concubines—all would become the spoils of the victor, to be disposed of at will.

Qin Shuyi was a scion of a declining cultivation clan on the Eastern Sea. Her outstanding talent drew the attention of a True Disciple of the Demon Talisman Sect, who brought her into the sect and raised her from childhood. Now, she was at the ninth level of the Qi Absorption stage.

The True Disciple predicted that within ten years, she would break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

But the art she cultivated, the Phoenix Reversal Essence Technique, destined her to become a vessel for someone else’s advancement.

To put it plainly, in the eyes of that True Disciple, she was nothing more than a peerless beauty with abundant Yin energy, a perfect cauldron.

Naturally, she could not accept such a fate. After much scheming, she was eventually transferred half a year ago to Young Master Ning as a concubine, finally shedding the identity of a mere cauldron.

The status of a concubine, after all, was a step above that of a vessel.

If fortune favored her, it was not out of the question that she might one day become his Dao companion.

Young Master Ning was a disciple of the sect’s Inner Gate. His family, the Ning clan, was a renowned cultivation house within the Demon Talisman Sect. His elder brother was a True Disciple of the Flame Demon Hall, one of the sect’s five great lineages, and had already reached the eighth level of the Foundation Establishment stage before the age of fifty—a prodigy with the potential to achieve the Golden Core!

Since becoming Young Master Ning’s concubine, Qin Shuyi had remained untouched.

This was due to her cultivation method: once she broke through to Foundation Establishment, the Phoenix Reversal Essence Technique would be even more effective in assisting advancement—far more so than at the Qi Absorption stage.

Thus, Young Master Ning was doing everything in his power to help her achieve a breakthrough, even going so far as to purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill for her at great expense.

“Lian’er, you underestimate the Inner Gate disciples. At the same Foundation Establishment third stage,” Qin Shuyi explained with confidence, “if Taoist Xu’s combat strength is one, then an Inner Gate disciple’s is thirty, while a True Disciple’s ranges from eighty to a hundred. And Young Master Ning is among the best of his peers.”

She smiled, her words full of faith in Young Master Ning’s prowess.

This understanding came from her upbringing among the True Disciples, absorbing all she could about the Demon Talisman Sect.

Lian’er was puzzled. “But Taoist Xu is an Outer Gate elder. If he’s an elder, how can he be so weak?”

Qin Shuyi glanced at her attendant, who was as dear as a sister, and patiently explained, “The difference between the Outer and Inner Gates is like heaven and earth. Outer Gate elders are little more than tools to manage the lower ranks of the sect. Their path is already at a dead end, and they have no access to the true, profound legacies of the sect.”

She paused, a slight smile on her lips. “To be blunt, an Outer Gate Foundation Establishment elder is practically synonymous with being useless.”

“Oh, I see…” Lian’er’s eyes widened in disbelief, then understanding dawned.

Qin Shuyi gazed through the curtain of rain toward a mountaintop on the southern shore of Falling Star Lake and sighed softly. “The Ning and Xu families are bitter rivals. Every ten years, each sends a descendant to duel. The Xu family’s promising talents haven’t matured yet, so they sent Taoist Xu to meet his fate. In great houses, one’s destiny is often not one’s own.”

She could not help but feel a touch of melancholy.

Lian’er nodded. “Still, that’s better than if Young Master Ning lost. If we were handed over to Taoist Xu, we’d spend the rest of our lives at the mercy of another…”

“That won’t happen. I’ve already investigated Taoist Xu’s background these past few days. Tomorrow, we’ll return and report everything to Young Master Ning.”

Qin Shuyi glanced at Falling Star Lake, as if she could already envision Taoist Xu falling on its surface.

...

Southern shore of Falling Star Lake.

Ancient pavilions with sweeping eaves and ornate brackets were scattered among the mountains and by the lakeside.

Within a quiet chamber at the mountain’s summit, a long sigh drifted out.

“All life is but a fleeting dream; how many times does autumn’s chill return?”

Pang Yue sat cross-legged in the quiet room, his expression shifting, a bitter smile playing upon his lips.

Who could have imagined that he would transmigrate in such a bizarre fashion?

And not just transmigrate, but have his soul cross over!

One moment, he was in a gaming pod, immersed in the hottest VR xianxia game of Blue Star’s 2035—Dusit Heaven.

The next, the world collapsed and shrank. His soul was swept away, and when he awoke, he found himself inhabiting the body of a cultivator called Xu Liming.

This Taoist Xu had lived for more than two centuries, and a flood of tangled memories threatened to overwhelm Pang Yue’s mind.

After “reading” through Taoist Xu’s life, Pang Yue felt a touch of world-weariness, as if his past life were nothing but a fleeting dream, dissipating like smoke.

The scant twenty-odd years before his transmigration now seemed as insubstantial as the dream of Zhuangzi turning into a butterfly, or the butterfly dreaming it was Zhuangzi.

What comforted him was that while this world differed from the game, the cultivation system was much the same.

Qi Absorption.
Foundation Establishment.
Golden Core.
Nascent Soul.

In his previous life, he had already reached the Nascent Soul stage in the game, and the insights he’d gained were deeply etched into his mind.

Moreover, the nine natal treasures he’d crafted in the game were imprinted in his memory—their blueprints, materials, restrictions, and forging methods, all clear as day.

But the rest of his skills had crossed over only in name, utterly useless.

With a shrug, he accepted this. After all, those skills had been leveled up with experience points, never truly “cultivated.”

But the nine natal treasures—each forged by his own hand—were different.

According to the iron law that every transmigrator has a golden finger, the memories of these nine treasures would be his greatest trump card in this world.

The nine treasures were—

The Invisible Sword
The Two Realms Banner
The Demon Refining Urn
The Mirror of Tranquility
The Divine Sun Furnace
The Chaos Thunder Seal
The Genesis Gold Ark
The Innate Infinity Stele
The Nine Heavens Myriad Pagoda

With these nine treasures, he had earned a famous nickname in his previous life’s game—The Daoist of Many Treasures.

Countless high-level players had tasted defeat at his hands; when his name was spoken, there was always a mix of admiration, envy, and hatred.

Pang Yue was adaptable by nature. Even faced with the extraordinary circumstance of transmigrating to another world, he quickly calmed his mind.

“A game is just a game. To pursue the great Dao and seek immortality in a real world of cultivation—now that’s interesting.”

He laughed quietly, his heart as calm as a placid lake.

“For now, my most pressing concern is the duel set for next month.”

The original owner, Taoist Xu, knew he was no match for Young Master Ning of the Inner Gate, but was unwilling to simply die. He tried to cultivate a secret technique and ended up suffering a qi deviation, leaving Pang Yue to inherit the consequences.

With a wave, Pang Yue conjured a water mirror and examined his new appearance.

In the mirror, he saw a tall, handsome young Taoist in gray robes, streaked with a touch of silver at the temples, his bearing refined but tinged with weariness, and his eyes carrying a deep-seated fatigue.

Taoist Xu was born to a cultivation clan, began training at seven, drew talismans at ten, reached the ninth level of Qi Absorption at eighty, and broke through to Foundation Establishment at a hundred.

In the century since, his cultivation advanced slowly, reaching only the third stage of Foundation Establishment. With less than a hundred years of life remaining and his progress stalled, he abandoned hopes of the Dao, instead finding solace in music, chess, painting, poetry, flowers, wine, and tea—living as a leisurely elder in the Demon Talisman Sect’s Outer Gate, raising a thousand Seven-Star Koi in Falling Star Lake.

Yet a man’s fate is seldom his own. As his family’s status declined, others manipulated events behind the scenes, and he was pushed forward as the sacrificial pawn for this decade’s duel.

Ten years ago, the Ning family lost.

This year, the Ning family fielded a master from the Flame Demon Hall, Ning Daoyu—a prodigy who reached Foundation Establishment before fifty!

The Xu family, unwilling to clash head-on, opted to sacrifice a pawn to save the core.

In truth, the original Xu’s temperament was much like Pang Yue’s.

Cultivation was not for killing and strife, but for the pursuit and comprehension of the great Dao, to seek one’s true self, transcend limitations, and roam freely between heaven and earth.

Ning Daoyu was likewise at the third stage of Foundation Establishment, but cultivated the sect’s signature legacy—the True Record of the Flame Demon. With firepower that could burn the heavens and boil the seas, Pang Yue knew he was no match.

“What strategy should I pursue?”

Pang Yue paced the quiet room.

Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he checked the storage pouch at his waist.

After two centuries, Taoist Xu had not accumulated many treasures. The pouch held mostly odds and ends: a zither, paintings, spirit wine, spirit tea, wooden root carvings, jade stones…

But one unremarkable gray stone caught Pang Yue’s attention.

In Taoist Xu’s memory, he’d found the stone in an ancient secret realm. It was incredibly hard, contained a faint trace of Dao aura, but had no other noteworthy features.

Taoist Xu was a master of carving and jade-working, fond of collecting various stones. He’d picked this one up casually, never learning its name.

With a tap of his finger, Pang Yue summoned the three-foot square gray rock into the room.

Natural veins ran across its surface, exuding Dao energy; though rough and unassuming at first glance, the stone was exceptionally hard.

After a moment’s inspection, Pang Yue exclaimed with delight, “It truly is the Cangpan Divine Stone!”

The Cangpan Divine Stone—also known as the Primordial Dao Stone.

A fossil formed from the primordial chaos fragments scattered at the dawn of time, condensed with ordinary stone.

To most cultivators, it was merely ornamental.

But for Pang Yue, it was a priceless treasure.

For his Innate Infinity Stele was forged from precisely this stone!