The First Demon of the Chan Sect
Chapter 353 - 41 Jiang Clan, Nu Deng

Chapter 353: Chapter 41 Jiang Clan, Nu Deng

While Heavenly Court and the people of Chen Capital were vigorously preparing defenses against Li Qianqiu, the daily life of the Human Clan remained undisturbed, still tranquil and fulfilling.

Near the Wei River in the Northern Continent, there lay a mountain.

Clustered peaks of this mountain pierced through the clouds, and its summit was shrouded in mist all year round. Every day, as the sun rose in the east, breaking through the mist to shine upon the peaks, flames crimson as blood would soar skyward. Hence, this mountain was named Lie Mountain.

At the base of Lie Mountain, there was a medium-sized tribe called Jiang Clan. The people of the tribe were simple and kind-hearted. They hunted at sunrise and returned at sunset. Although the Clan Leader had pledged allegiance to the Sovereign, the tribe remained in the Northern Continent.

In this tribe, there was a woman named Nu Deng. Though not exceptionally beautiful, she had a kind heart, pure as a blooming lotus.

From a young age, she was extraordinarily intelligent. Years ago, an Immortal from the Chan Sect named Guang Chengzi passed through the tribe and noticed Nu Deng’s intelligence and charm, teeming with spiritual energy, and her love for tinkering with plants and herbs. He casually passed down the Hundred Herbs Talisman to her and then gracefully departed.

From then on, Nu Deng became fascinated with the talisman, carrying it with her wherever she went.

This day, as usual, Nu Deng bid her family farewell and headed straight to Lie Mountain.

Though vast, Lie Mountain was covered with dense foliage, scarcely seeing towering, sky-high trees. Thus, there were no ferocious wild animals, mostly just small rabbits and hamsters, and the tribespeople were reassured about Nu Deng’s safety when going up the mountain.

Nu Deng sat alone at the peak, peacefully watching the dawn spilling over the horizon, feeling the revived pulse of all beings, her heart always touched by an indescribable emotion.

"Chirp chirp!"

Several birds with pale yellow feathers twittered above Nu Deng’s head, circling and dancing as if welcoming her.

"You few little rascals are always so mischievous!" Nu Deng looked up and smiled sweetly, extending her arm towards the birds. Her arms were not very fair, but they were healthily tanned, radiating the vigor of youth.

The birds naturally landed on Nu Deng’s arm, affectionately pecking gently at her palm with their beaks. Such skilled motions were clearly not done for the first time.

"Alright, alright! I have to analyze the plants today, so you all fly off elsewhere to play!" Nu Deng’s palm tickled by the pecking birds, she chuckled softly.

"Chirp chirp!"

The birds flapped their wings joyously and flew off toward the distant flowers.

Nu Deng greeted the rising sun with a smile and took out the Hundred Herbs Talisman, made of neither gold nor jade, from her beast-skin pouch and started reading attentively.

Time flew swiftly. Nu Deng felt it was just a moment when the sun had moved from East to slightly West.

Dark clouds densely packed the entirety of Lie Mountain, while threads of cold wind howled at the peak, bending the grasses.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, a muffled thunder exploded, and a silver flash of lightning sliced through the sky in an instant. The endless mass of dark clouds seemed to spring from nowhere, covering the sun high in the sky.

Nu Deng was startled, thinking to herself, "Looks like a heavy rain is about to fall on the mountain! I’d better find somewhere to hide until the rain passes before I hurry back to the tribe!"

Nu Deng, who had grown up running and playing on Lie Mountain, was extremely familiar with it. Although there weren’t any large trees, caves were aplenty.

Nu Deng chose a relatively high location with a dry interior and laid down inside after a quick tidy up, staring with wide eyes at the weather outside the cave.

In a short while, the sky turned completely gloomy. Thick black clouds, layer upon layer, folded in the sky, countless silver snakes of lightning crazily shot through, and massive thunders rumbled louder and louder, reverberating through the Nine Heavens.

"It looks like another downpour!" Nu Deng murmured softly and simply lay down in her clothes inside the cave.

With a gentle breeze, the large beast-skin clothing, made from a spotted leopard, was not only cold-resistant but also had the effect of repelling insects. Hence, within a quarter of an hour, Nu Deng fell into deep sleep.

In a daze, she felt herself freely running through seas of flowers, intoxicated by the pervasive scent.

Suddenly, a little Golden Turtle, glowing like the Great Sun and sprightly in form, caught her eye. It was only palm-sized, but magically, it could stand upright, performing actions uncannily human-like. Its eyes shined with golden light, subtly reflecting an air of supremacy.

Nu Deng reached out curiously, hoping to touch the little Golden Turtle. Just as her hand was about to touch its head, the Golden Turtle suddenly burst forth with a brilliant radiance. In the hazy light, she could see a young man in a green Taoist robe kicking at the Golden Turtle, which was performing a moonwalk.

A ground-shaking "Ao!" resounded from within the golden light.

Then, a burst of golden light shot towards Nu Deng’s belly, where she faintly heard the young man mutter, "Damn show-off! That’s what you get for being pretentious!"

With such an event unfolding, although Nu Deng had a bit of the Pure Yuqing True Essence due to her cultivation, she was still an ordinary woman and couldn’t help but be alarmed.

Nu Deng, who was taking a brief rest, suddenly screamed, her body flipping over as she abruptly awoke, cold sweat streaming down her face.

She looked around but saw neither the Golden Turtle nor the figure of the young man. Lifting her hand, she touched her delicate chest—breathing heavily, she wiped the sweat from her forehead. Noticing the clear weather outside the cave, she took a deep breath and sighed, "Phew! It was just a dream! The sky has cleared; it’s time for me to go home!"

Meanwhile, as Nu Deng was secretly puzzled, Yang Mei and Hong Jun, seated opposite each other in the Chaos Outer Heaven, suddenly felt a throbbing in their hearts. The two furrowed their brows and calculated with their fingers, soon understanding the cause of the matter and couldn’t help but exchange smiles.

"Old Loach, you sure have a good disciple!" Yang Mei twirled his snowy beard and then lifted the teapot to drink its contents in one gulp.

Hong Jun’s eyes twitched slightly, "Old Liu Tiao, can you be any more shameless? This is the tea my disciple reverently offered to me. How could you guzzle it all at once!"

Yang Mei laughed heartily, "You don’t know, that little panda cub gives me such a small ration of Purple Bamboo Tea every day. It’s nothing compared to what you have. If I don’t drink your tea, whose shall I drink?"

"You..." Hong Jun looked at his old friend in front of him and could only smile helplessly.

At the same time, All Saints also felt a premonition. However, after careful calculation, they found the secrets of heaven to be utterly chaotic, gaining no insights, which led to boundless confusion.

In East Kunlun Mountain, at the Three Pure Ones Hall.

"Eldest brother, could it be that something big is about to happen in the lands of Shen Zhou?" Tongtian was always the most restless one. At this moment, he looked at Laozi with an excited face, hoping for a satisfactory answer.

"I too cannot discern the answer, but I speculate that it must involve the Human Clan!" Laozi furrowed his brows and sighed heavily after a long silence, finally making his statement.

Primordial Venerable touched the Jade Ruyi in his hand, saying, "Compared to these concerns, I’m more worried about Qinglingzi’s situation!"

Laozi gave a bitter smile, "Who knows what Qingmingzi is thinking! To actually arrange his own younger brother to become a Great Demon and even to fight against the reincarnated Fu Xi. Alas, the more I see of this chess game, the less I understand!"

Primordial chuckled lightly, "Since we’ve decided to walk the path of the Human Emperor, no matter how challenging, we must continue!"

Tongtian looked at his two brothers speaking in riddles, feeling extremely conflicted. He silently swore in his heart that he would study the Innate calculation arts more in-depth to avoid embarrassment in the future.

At the Western Great Leiyin Temple, by the Eight Treasures Merit Pool.

Xuanhu, dressed in white, sat quietly under the Bodhi Tree, with a Go game played to one-third completion in front of him. The white pieces were advancing step by step, and though the black stones appeared slightly dispirited, they did not give up the slightest ground.

Zhunti, who always wore a gloomy expression, asked Xuanhu lightly after noticing something, "Master, just now I felt a sudden throb in my heart. Despite my calculations, I could come to no conclusion. May I know the reason for this?"

Next to him, Zhunti also looked puzzledly towards Xuanhu.

Xuanhu ignored the two of them and calmly picked up a black stone, placing it on an apparently useless position on the right-down seventy-second spot. As this black stone landed, it was as if by adding the finishing touch to a dragon painting, enlivening the entire board of black pieces, which started radiating with boundless vitality.

Xuanhu smiled thinly, "With this stone’s fall, the siege is broken. The chance for our Buddhist Sect has come!"

"Oh?" Zhunti and the other asked each other with a glance, "What do you mean, Master?"

Xuanhu played with the Innate Bodhi Seed in his hand, chuckling lightly, "Ha ha, the time is not yet right! When it comes, you will know!"

...

Nu Deng, since descending the mountain that day, resumed her previous life. However, she remained half-convinced about the recent events, caught between the crevices of dream and reality.

A month later, Nu Deng was feeding poultry at home when suddenly, she saw a person hastily stepping inside.

The person had thick eyebrows and big eyes, a robust build, and appeared to be around forty years old—it was Jiang Wei, the Clan Leader of the Jiang Clan.

Nu Deng, seeing the panting Jiang Wei, curiously asked, "Clan Leader, what has you so panicked?"

Before he could catch his breath, Jiang Wei grabbed Nu Deng and made straight for the clan’s council hall.

As they moved, he spoke, "Nu Deng, you’ve stumbled upon great fortune! Right now, in our clan’s council hall, Human Ancestor Sui Ren is waiting to see you!"

Upon hearing this, Nu Deng’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, thinking to herself: "Human Clan, Sui Ren... why do these names sound so familiar?"

After a moment of reflection, Nu Deng was completely stunned, exclaiming in her heart: "Heavens! Human Ancestor Sui Ren! It’s actually the forefather of our Human Clan!"

In no time, the two arrived at the council hall.

At this moment, in the main hall, a young man who was dressed in Beast Skin Clothing and held a dry branch in his hand, sat upright.

Nu Deng had seen depictions of the eight Human Ancestors on ancient murals within the tribe and recognized Sui Ren. She promptly prostrated on the ground and cried out, "Nu Deng pays her respects to the Ancestor!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)