Chapter 17 – The Matter Settled

After hearing this tale, Xiao Xianyu was filled with sorrow for the woman’s pitiful fate and anger for the villagers’ cruelty and ignorance. The reason Master Withered Wood knew the matter so well was that he arrived in the village precisely when the woman died and turned into a fiend. As she sought vengeance upon the villagers, Master Withered Wood, unwilling to see more suffering, intervened to stop her.

The woman recounted her story to Master Withered Wood, telling him not to meddle—since the villagers had sown evil, they deserved to reap its bitter fruit. Though Master Withered Wood sympathized with her plight and understood that her vengeance was only just retribution, once he witnessed these events, he could not remain aloof.

Thus, he only hindered her, preventing her from unleashing her vengeance on the villagers. Yet, this led to an even more terrifying consequence: as time passed, the woman’s demonic nature grew, her power increasing rapidly, far surpassing the pace of Master Withered Wood’s own cultivation. In just a little over a decade, this corpse fiend’s power had caught up to what had taken Master Withered Wood decades to attain.

Now, Master Withered Wood knew he could no longer contain the fiend. Thus, he planted wild grass along the village streets, warning the people to leave. Unfortunately, the villagers dismissed him as a madman and ignored his warnings. It was not until Xiao Xianyu’s arrival that everything changed.

...

After fully understanding the course of events, Xiao Xianyu gazed at the corpse fiend, lost in thought. Master Withered Wood sat beside him, not disturbing his contemplation.

After a while, Xiao Xianyu seemed to make up his mind and glanced at Master Withered Wood. The latter smiled gently and asked, "Have you decided?"

Xiao Xianyu nodded.

Master Withered Wood said, "That’s why I have kept her until now. Though she has taken many lives, it is not without reason. Whatever you choose to do will be a release for her."

Xiao Xianyu smiled, then walked to the corpse fiend. With a swift motion of his right hand across his left wrist, two silver needles appeared between his fingers.

Master Withered Wood’s expression grew solemn at this sight.

Xiao Xianyu squatted down and guided the two silver needles, piercing them into the shade’s forehead and chest. Then, he channeled his pure immortal energy into the needles. The needles glimmered and vibrated gently, as immortal energy flowed through them into the corpse fiend’s body.

Before their eyes, the fiend’s body turned from pitch black to transparent, finally taking on the faint form of a woman.

Xiao Xianyu exhaled a long breath, and the two silver needles flew back into his left wrist. Master Withered Wood’s eyes widened in shock. Based on his own calculations, he had thought Xiao Xianyu would need at least an hour to accomplish this, but he had not even used a quarter of that time.

Master Withered Wood could not help but sigh sincerely, "There is truly no comparing people to one another. When I was his age, I had no such skills. And now, by a twist of fate, he has absorbed the spiritual energy summoned by the corpse fiend, building his foundation in one stroke—if this is not the will of heaven, what else could it be?"

As Master Withered Wood marveled, Xiao Xianyu had already stood up. The purified corpse fiend also rose, her eyes clouded with confusion as she looked at him and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Xiao Xianyu," he answered.

"Oh," she replied, then asked, "And who am I?"

Xiao Xianyu glanced back at Master Withered Wood, who said, "Her original name was Lingfu."

So Xiao Xianyu said to her, "You are Lingfu."

She smiled, saying, "So I’m Lingfu. You’re Xiao Xianyu. Lingfu, Xiao Xianyu..."

Xiao Xianyu smiled gently. "Lingfu, your spirit is not yet fully stable. For now, let me keep you in my gourd, so you can recover."

As he spoke, he took out his small black gourd and aimed its mouth at Lingfu. A gentle force drew her into the gourd.

...

Seeing Xiao Xianyu had settled everything, Master Withered Wood smiled and approached.

"Senior..."

Master Withered Wood chuckled. "There’s no need to call me ‘senior.’ When it comes to the Way, those who grasp it first are the elders. Though I am a few years older, you reached enlightenment before me—I should call you ‘senior!’"

Xiao Xianyu laughed. "Master, you must be joking."

He thought Master Withered Wood was teasing, but the latter solemnly bowed to him. Xiao Xianyu hurried to support him, saying, "Master, what are you doing?"

Master Withered Wood replied, "On the path of immortality, the accomplished are the teachers. Your cultivation now surpasses mine; you are my senior, my teacher."

Xiao Xianyu asked, "Master, what is your current cultivation level?"

Master Withered Wood answered, "I am at the ninth level of Qi Refinement. The corpse fiend you destroyed was also at the ninth level."

"Now that you have established your foundation, your cultivation already exceeds mine."

Xiao Xianyu remembered his master’s words: establishing one’s foundation meant forging a jade-like immortal platform within the sea of consciousness. When he turned his awareness inward, he indeed saw a floating white jade platform there—a sign of success. The formation of the platform marks the first level of Foundation Establishment; with each advance, the platform ascends another level.

"So, Master, you are but a step away from Foundation Establishment yourself?"

Master Withered Wood smiled. "You’re not thinking of helping me ascend, are you?"

Xiao Xianyu nodded. "That was my intention. Master, you—"

Before he could finish, Master Withered Wood raised a hand to stop him. "Thank you for your kindness, but it’s unnecessary. By ridding us of the corpse fiend, you’ve already done me a great favor. I know I will break through soon enough!"

With that, Master Withered Wood bowed low and then flew away.

The corpse fiend had been his heart’s demon, her ever-growing power trapping his own progress. Now that she was gone, so too was his inner demon, and the improvement of his cultivation was merely a matter of time.