Chapter Eighteen: Turning the Tables

The burly man wore an expression of utter resignation as he spoke, "Thank you, Senior Brother, for speaking on my behalf. Over the past year, I've come to understand—if it means the utter eradication of Ten Thousand Demons Mountain for the sake of humanity, I am willing to sacrifice everything!"

Li Qing’s handsome face was contorted with grief and indignation. He reached out to pat the man’s broad shoulder. "Xie Jiu, I know this is difficult for you. Take this token for the dungeon's formation. The rest is up to you."

Xie Jiu accepted the token and replied, "Very well, I’ll go at once. Once this is done, I’ll enter a life-and-death seclusion. I won’t emerge unless I reach the peak of the Infant Transformation stage."

“Good. I wish you a smooth breakthrough, Junior Brother. Once this matter is settled, I too will enter seclusion to break through my bottleneck. When the time comes, let’s enter the Spirit Cultivation stage together. You can go on your own—I won’t accompany you,” said Li Qing.

Xie Jiu cupped his hands in salute, turned, and strode straight toward the dungeon.

Li Qing watched his retreating figure, a slow, sinister smile fading from his lips as he murmured, “Break through to the Spirit Cultivation stage? Dream on. I’ll see you all turn against one another, shattering your very hearts and souls.”

Xie Jiu, a late-stage Infant Transformation cultivator, felt a suffocating oppression as soon as he entered the dungeon, as if some primordial beast lay hidden in its depths. His Nascent Soul within his dantian shivered with inexplicable dread.

He arrived at Cell Number One, waved his token, and massive runes flickered onto the cell door, merging within as spiritual light blazed forth.

A temporary teleportation array appeared beneath Xie Jiu’s feet; with a twist of space, he vanished.

Inside a chamber alive with shifting runes, Xie Jiu reappeared, laying eyes on Xiao Yue, whose hands and feet were bound in the shape of a great cross by Heavenly Steel Threads, fixing her to the wall.

Xiao Yue had resumed her humanoid form, appearing as the alluring Moth Enchantress.

Throughout her imprisonment, she had seen no one—Li Qing and Huiming seemed to have vanished. She discovered her demon infant was suppressed by some strange talisman, rendering her utterly powerless.

She had tried countless ways to escape, all to no avail. She was not afraid of death; what terrified her was being refined into a puppet, forever at another’s mercy. The prideful heart of a celestial fox could not bear such humiliation. “Sister, you’ll be fine. With the demon clan’s sacred artifact, that bald monk can’t hurt you.” She’d thought this not a hundred but a thousand times.

Now, seeing Xie Jiu approach—a towering, dark-skinned giant, like half a black iron tower, with yellow eyes like bronze bells, a flat nose, and a wide mouth, unspeakably ugly—she judged at a glance from his spiritual pressure that he was far more formidable than Li Qing, likely Huiming’s equal.

Xiao Yue sensed ill intent—was this the start of her transformation into a puppet? She spat out venomously, “You ugly brute, what do you want? If you have any guts, let me go, or just kill me! I’ve never seen anyone as hideous as you. Was your mother struck by lightning when she gave birth to you?”

Xie Jiu was unmoved. He scrutinized her, then sat cross-legged. “You are the reason I became like this, yet I haven’t cursed you—why do you curse me?”

“Lies! You captured me with such foul methods, and now you say I harmed you? Shameless!” Xiao Yue snapped.

Xie Jiu sighed. “You and I are both pawns, sacrificed in the games of Spirit Cultivation cultivators. We’re like discarded chess pieces in their match. From the very start, our fates were sealed. Whether to resist to the end or to live humbly—it’s a choice we must make.”

“You humans speak as though your words are as empty as the wind. Do you think I believe you?” Xiao Yue turned her face away in disdain.

Still unruffled, Xie Jiu continued, “Li Qing’s plan is to have me use the Hehuan Powder to drug you, violate you, and, once you bear a child, he’ll raise it to use against you. He’ll exploit your mother’s love to make you willingly surrender all resistance, only then refining you into a sentient puppet to use against the Myriad Demon King. Once he achieves his goal, he won’t spare your child—he’ll teach him the Dao and send him to kill his own grandfather, or let him die at the hands of the Myriad Demon King.”

“Despicable! To think you could conceive of something so utterly depraved!” Xiao Yue trembled with rage, her gaze murderous. “Don’t forget, that would be your child too!”

“This plan should have been carried out a year ago, but I delayed it under the pretext of a crucial seclusion—so I could refine a Blood Soul Pearl and a Bloodline Transfer Talisman. With these two treasures, we have a chance to defy fate and carve an escape for ourselves,” Xie Jiu said quietly.

Xiao Yue, half believing, half doubting, asked, “You mean, we escape together?”

“My Bloodline Transfer Talisman can only teleport a baby over a short distance. We must play along and turn pretense into reality. If you place a wisp of your bloodline soul into the Blood Soul Pearl, then even if you are refined into a puppet, you can regain yourself by swallowing it. When you give birth, you transfer the baby to me; I’ll use another child to swap him out, then send him somewhere safe. Once you’re free of this torment, we’ll be reunited,” Xie Jiu explained.

Xiao Yue’s mind was a storm. “Why are you doing this?”

“For myself. Li Qing’s plan kills two birds with one stone—he’ll refine you into a puppet and shatter my Dao heart. Don’t forget, your child is mine too. He wants me to live in perpetual guilt, undermining my confidence, and when he advances, that will be my end. He’s always envied me for being better than him in everything—his only pride is his looks.”

“But this is a Spirit Cultivation-level prison. If we tamper with it, won’t the teleportation process harm the child?” Xiao Yue asked.

“You need not worry. This dungeon was crafted from the corpse of a Silver Flood Dragon who perished failing its Tribulation. Once its soul was destroyed, only the body remained, which our master refined into this dungeon. The Silver Flood Dragon contained a trace of dragon blood—faint, but present. I bear Evil Dragon blood myself, and can resonate with it. Even a Spirit Cultivation master would not detect this bloodline power. That’s why I dare risk this—otherwise, I could only accept my fate,” Xie Jiu said, raising a single palm. Instantly, dragon scales rippled across his hand, his arm swelling with power.

Xiao Yue nodded, realizing that such a natural transformation was only possible with true bloodline. Xie Jiu dismissed the scales and said, “I understand the principle that a man’s virtue can be his undoing—bearing Evil Dragon blood makes me a treasure. If the day comes when our master has use for me, that will be my final hour. Rather than live in fear, I choose to fight for my fate. If I pledge allegiance to the Myriad Demon King, I’ll be considered part of the demon race. I hope you, Princess, will allow it.”

Xiao Yue’s thoughts raced. Without such a plan, she could never escape her fate, and her child would be doomed too. Her sister’s fate was uncertain. For now, she would endure—only by surviving could she one day take her revenge.

After a long silence, she said, “Very well. But you must promise me—when the time comes, kill Li Qing and Huiming. Swear a Heart Demon Oath!”

Xie Jiu immediately raised his hand to the heavens and swore, “I, Xie Jiu, will kill Li Qing and Huiming in this lifetime. If I break this oath, may the heavens strike me down!”

Xiao Yue closed her eyes. “Do it quickly.”

Xie Jiu’s pupils contracted. Xiao Yue closed her eyes, appearing even more delicate and pitiful—her towering curves, slender waist, skin like flawless jade tinged with rose. A wild fire ignited within him. With a wave of his token, the Heavenly Steel Threads binding her vanished; with a suppression of spiritual power, her clothes burst apart.

Xiao Yue, still pondering whether she could escape, was suddenly seized and her clothes torn off with rough hands. As Xie Jiu pressed forward, she bit her lip, enduring the pain. As his frenzy mounted, her tears fell without end.

Mortal Path to Immortality, Chapter Eighteen: Turning the Trap—end of update.