Chapter 20: The Little Demon Babies Are Born!

Of all the puppets Wen Tingshu had sent out, after several months, only eighty-one remained.

There had always been extremely wicked, extremely vicious people in the world—people who killed and stole cores, then roamed free beyond the law.

There were also all kinds of misfortunes, impossible to tell whether what lay ahead was a dead end or hope.

Meng Fuguang had prepared multiple burrows like a cunning rabbit. The entrances to Guiye City were both real and false. Most cultivators who wanted to find the demonic sect’s nest fell into illusions and traps.

After testing several times, Wen Tingshu finally confirmed the true entrance to Guiye City.

The spiritual power of one puppet was not enough to open a gap. Wen Tingshu immediately gathered the remaining eighty-one puppets.

No one could have imagined that a mere eighty-one Foundation Establishment puppets could, through an array, become one producing two, two producing four, heaven’s derivations endlessly multiplying, and shake the great gate of Guiye City.

A thin line of heavenly light appeared before them.

Suddenly, inside his main body on Hengxue Mountain, spiritual power drained away all at once.

Even Wen Tingshu could not have predicted such a change. It came without warning, forceful and overbearing.

Wen Tingshu immediately judged that the heavenly pillar had continued collapsing. As the one standing in place of the heavenly pillar, the spiritual power he had left behind was insufficient, and the collapse had swept away his spiritual power in an instant with irresistible force.

If that was the case, he had to immediately withdraw all spiritual power to protect Hengxue Mountain, lest the mountain’s collapse become irreversible.

Between opening Guiye City’s gate and guarding the heavenly pillar, there was no need to hesitate over which was more important.

Almost the instant he sensed his spiritual power emptying, Wen Tingshu immediately abandoned the attack on the city and sent all his spiritual power back to his main body.

The puppets gathered in formation lost their spiritual qi. Under Guiye City’s forbidden array, they turned to dust in the blink of an eye.

The Immortal Venerable who had slept beneath Hengxue Mountain for months opened his eyes. On his cold, moonlike face, blood slowly seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Controlling eighty-one puppets had consumed all his mental strength. Withdrawing them in an instant caused a tremendous backlash to his main body.

Wen Tingshu lowered his eyes and watched as strands of his black hair turned white, piece by piece.

All the puppets were dead.

He could no longer go out to find Lanshe.

The Immortal Venerable, who would not change expression even if a mountain collapsed before him, held a strand of white hair. His distinct, bony fingers tightened slightly as he remembered Meng Baixu’s instruction: “You’re not allowed to turn any whiter.”

He smiled regretfully.

Shizun had truly grown old this time.

Wen Tingshu had sat beneath the cold pond for several months, frost staining his brows. Now, with white hair and white clothes, he stood among a whole tree of pear-blossom white. Only his handsome, banished-immortal face remained unchanged.

He came out from beneath the cold pond and patrolled Hengxue Mountain amid the ice and snow.

The two blue oxen were still leisurely eating grass, showing no sign at all that they had experienced the turbulence of a heavenly pillar collapse.

Wen Tingshu stood beneath the viburnum tree with his hands behind his back and thought carefully.

Had he judged wrongly?

But where had the lost spiritual power gone?

Nothing had happened.

If he had known this, why make his whole head turn white?

Wen Tingshu smiled helplessly.

Even if it happened again, he would still choose to protect Hengxue Mountain.

The violent loss of spiritual power just now would have been a calamity of annihilation for any cultivator. But to Wen Tingshu, it did not damage his foundation. He still sat firmly at the peak of the cultivation world. He only needed a few years to recover to full strength.

Cultivating again was also a kind of pleasure.

It was just a pity about those puppets.

***

The Sect Master who had said he would enter seclusion for three years came out after only a few months.

Zhongli Yun thought he had let go.

But facing the white-haired version of the Sect Master, he could not speak for a full quarter of an hour.

A thousand strands of worry, all turned white for one person.

Was this master-disciple affection?

Zhongli Yun suddenly understood.

It was not that at all. If changed to Dao companions, everything made sense.

“Sect Master, you are not a saint. You are a saint of love.”

Wen Tingshu said lightly, “You are the head of a sect. Do not create verbal karma.”

Even now, he still insisted on calling it master-disciple affection. If one spoke of heart and temperament, everyone in the world combined could not compare to Wen Tingshu. His disciple had made his hair turn white overnight, yet he remained so calm, as if nothing had ever happened.

Zhongli Yun sighed in admiration. “Sect Master, why did you call me here?”

Wen Tingshu pondered. “I think the Hengxue Sect can hold a cultivation conference. Invite all sects under heaven and rogue cultivators. Do not ask about origin, do not distinguish between righteous and evil. Let all worthy people discuss the cultivation order together. I am willing to answer everyone’s questions and discuss the heavens with them.”

Cultivation was divided into Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Wuchen, Golden Core, Tribulation Crossing, Transformation, and Asking Heaven.

What lay above Asking Heaven, no one knew. In the current cultivation world, only Wen Tingshu had entered the Asking Heaven realm. If he did not say, everyone could only guess.

Zhongli Yun was speechless.

The usually taciturn Wen Tingshu now had such a desire to share. In order to see his disciple, he truly persevered, using both public and private means, trying every possible method.

“Especially send an invitation to the Fuguang Sect and invite the Sect Leader to honor us with his presence?”

Wen Tingshu slowly gave an “Mn.”

Zhongli Yun asked, “A righteous path conference, and we invite the demonic path to stir up trouble?”

Wen Tingshu said, “The righteous path has some misunderstandings about the Fuguang Sect.”

Zhongli Yun thought inwardly: Sect Master, your determination to eliminate secret realms seems to have wavered.

“But the Fuguang Sect calls itself a demonic sect. They disdain associating with the righteous path.”

In other words, even if you invite them, they will not come.

Wen Tingshu was silent for a while. “Let’s try.”

Zhongli Yun said, “All right.”

A white-haired empty-nest elder bitterly waiting for his faraway disciple to come back and visit.

He was rather pitiful.

Out of sympathy, Zhongli Yun spared no effort and sent out the invitations a quarter of an hour later.

With the Hengxue Sect taking the lead, this would be a grand event for the entire cultivation world. He would be very busy.

“The Hengxue Sect invited this sect leader to attend a cultivation conference?”

Meng Baixu touched his slightly rounded belly.

How was he supposed to attend with a pregnant belly?

The others also disagreed. Pregnancy was the most vulnerable stage for a cultivator. They might even be injured by a lower-level cultivator. Who knew what the Hengxue Sect’s intentions were in holding a conference at this time?

“Eighty percent chance this is a Hongmen Banquet targeting our Sect Leader. Don’t go, don’t go.”

“Why does the righteous path love holding meetings so much? Even I, someone who grinds tofu pudding, have attended several.”

“The world is peaceful, so they go looking for trouble.”

“Then how should we reply so it looks like the Fuguang Sect isn’t afraid to go, but disdains going?”

“Say the Sect Leader is planning a joyous event and has no time.”

“That’s good.”

The Left Protector lifted his brush and was just about to write when the brush in his hand vanished from thin air.

Meng Baixu tightly gripped the brush. “What joyous event? What if Wen Tingshu says ‘one day as a teacher, a lifetime as a father’ and wants to come witness it?”

Liu Xishi fanned the flames. “Exactly. Left Protector, what kind of brain do you have? If you say we’re holding a joyous event, maybe tomorrow the Hengxue Sect’s army will arrive at the city gates. Don’t think Guiye City is that safe. Last time, it was almost pried open by some unknown force.”

The Left Protector said, “Such a serious matter, and you’re only saying it now?”

Liu Xishi said, “Wasn’t the problem not that big? I reinforced it…”

While the two of them bickered, Meng Baixu snatched the invitation. After thinking for a moment, he flicked the brush and arrogantly wrote five words on it:

This sect leader has no time.

He was busy raising babies.

Wen Tingshu still had the leisure to hold a cultivation conference, so his body should not have any problems, right?

Meng Baixu had been born at the early Golden Core stage. After cultivating for twenty years, he had broken through to the Transformation stage.

After carrying twins for several months, Meng Baixu had been pulled directly from the late Transformation stage back down to the early stage. If not for the Fusang tree sap sustaining him, he might already have fallen back to Tribulation Crossing.

Once a cultivator’s realm fell, climbing back up again was several times harder than reaching it the first time.

Fortunately, the little cubs had stopped in time, leaving Meng Baixu stuck at the edge of Transformation.

Before Meng Fuguang died, he had been close to Asking Heaven. The child he left behind had been at Golden Core when born.

Meng Baixu estimated that he was about the same as his father, but he had two cubs. Averaged out, the two little demons should be a little weaker than he had been at birth, most likely at Wuchen.

Once he raised the little demons to Golden Core, he would send them to Hengxue Mountain to torment Wen Tingshu.

Would Wen Tingshu’s cultivation fall from Asking Heaven to Transformation?

Wouldn’t that mean he would be in the same realm as this sect leader?

Then next time, he would not need to rely on secret realms and aphrodisiacs. When equal-level cultivators fought, he would not be suppressed to the point that he could not move. He only needed to bring magic treasures, while Wen Tingshu would be empty-handed, and then he could casually sleep with him.

***

“He is unwilling to come?” Wen Tingshu asked calmly.

Zhongli Yun’s expression had already made the result clear.

Zhongli Yun’s eyes showed sympathy. “There is good news. The storybook your good disciple ordered for you in Yongzhou City arrived. Use it for some comfort.”

He also could not understand it. Meng Baixu had clearly seemed to care about Wen Tingshu. Sure enough, young people changed their hearts easily.

Wen Tingshu looked at the storybook placed on the table. His face was cold and clear, with no sign of disappointment.

“My cultivation has declined. I need to enter seclusion. I will trouble you with all matters.”

Zhongli Yun: “…”

So I alone am responsible for the cultivation conference?

Seriously. His hair turned white, and he could still remain calm and composed. But the moment he found out his disciple did not want to see him, his Dao heart shattered, right?

***

Meng Baixu imagined winning against Wen Tingshu, so even during pregnancy, he did not neglect cultivation at all. For a period of time, he rose early and worked late.

Wang Mingyue thought the Sect Leader felt distressed over his evaporated cultivation and was therefore cultivating in revenge. She earnestly advised, “Sect Leader, now that you’re pregnant, rest a little.”

Who understood? One time, she woke up in the middle of the night and saw the Sect Leader practicing how to control that East Wind Dance Sword. When he got hungry, he pulled a cold steamed bun from his qiankun pouch and gnawed on it.

Several months later, with twins, his belly had already begun to show. The Sect Leader had a slender figure, and only his belly was round and bulging. He really looked pitiful.

Meng Baixu said, “Auntie, you don’t understand.”

Wang Mingyue said, “I don’t understand cultivation.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

Meng Baixu stuffed the remaining corner of steamed bun into his mouth, cheeks puffed, and said, “Next time we meet, I want to be evenly matched with that old thing!”

Everyone in the sect knew that their Sect Leader was ambitious.

At five months pregnant, it was truly no longer suitable for him to ride a sword.

The moment Meng Baixu stood on East Wind Dance Sword, he became dizzy and wanted to vomit. Wen Tingshu had said he still could not control this sword properly, but he refused to accept it. Even after throwing up twice, his little face pale, he still gritted his teeth.

The Left Protector offered treacherous advice. “A Sect Leader who rises at the rooster’s crow to practice sword dancing cannot give birth to a prodigal son.”

Meng Baixu was startled awake. His competitive spirit was too strong, and he had almost forgotten the proper matter. He immediately obediently started nurturing the pregnancy, idling around, doing nothing. He only looked at evil-path secret arts, wanting to figure out exactly what was going on with Wen Tingshu’s puppets.

Unfortunately, the Fuguang Sect’s records only had a few words about puppets.

A dignified demonic sect actually did not even have this kind of secret art.

After finishing the evil-path secret arts, Meng Baixu invited a storyteller to carry out prenatal education.

The storyteller specialized in stories about great rebellion, deceiving teachers and destroying ancestors, talking back to parents, and refusing to acknowledge relatives.

Meng Baixu listened until he grew drowsy.

He could feel two small but not weak yuan cores inside his body, one on the left and one on the right.

When the storyteller told bad stories, his fair, beautiful palm secretly covered the left side of his belly.

Mm. It was enough for one baby to listen.

Wang Mingyue was amused by the Sect Leader. Silly child. After thinking it over, she still reminded him, “Sect Leader, yesterday you covered the right side.”

What? Yesterday’s arrangement was to let the baby on the left become the prodigal child?

Meng Baixu lost color in his beautiful face and hurriedly had the storyteller make up for it by adding a story about a very filial child obediently listening to his elders, for the baby on the right to hear.

Wang Mingyue said, “Sect Leader, don’t let the one on the left hear the good-person-good-deed story.”

“Oh!”

The demonic sect leader was flustered just listening to a story.

Over the next two months, Meng Baixu’s pregnant belly became more and more obvious. Wang Mingyue was reluctant to let the Sect Leader eat even one bite less, but also afraid the babies would grow too big. Every day, she was caught in this struggle.

Little cultivator babies were unlike mortals, whose flesh and blood weighed heavily. What mattered more were the two yuan cores. It did not matter if they weighed a little less.

A cultivator who had undergone bigu and became pregnant might not even need to eat for the entire pregnancy, relying only on spiritual power to nourish the fetus.

However, only by eating meat and eggs would one give birth to soft, milky babies instead of babies as thin as monkeys.

Meng Baixu still hoped the children would be a little cuter.

Every meal, he had to eat one bun made by Shizun. One day, he counted how many were left and discovered that eating one per day would not last, so he changed to eating one every two days.

Later, it became one every three days.

The demonic sect leader was very good at arithmetic and knew how to save food so it could last several more years.

The cultivation world was peaceful and uneventful. The secret realms were also stable as usual, and there was no need for the Sect Leader to step forward and handle matters.

Everything went smoothly.

At the beginning of June, Meng Baixu gave birth to a pair of little cultivator babies!

The entire sect rejoiced.

He Shangxian was so excited that he wanted to hold a grand full-month banquet, but the Left Protector calmly reminded him: their demonic sect had poor interpersonal relations. They had not attended the previous cultivation conference, and even now, no one would come.

The Great Elder could only helplessly give up.

The two little cultivator babies were especially tiny, identical to each other. Their brows and eyes vaguely showed a blend of the Sect Leader and Wen Tingshu.

It was just… they did not look like demons.

No matter, no matter. Man is good by nature at birth. Raise them a little, and they would turn bad.

Meng Baixu was somewhat weak after giving birth. After recovering for a while, he finally looked seriously at his children, and his brows and eyes curved.

“One look and you can tell they’re little demons. They take after me.”

Meng Baixu declared this solemnly, then discovered no one echoed him. His eyes swept sharply around.

“You tell me. Who do the children look like?”

The Left Protector bragged, “The saint children were carved from the same mold as Sect Leader. One look and you can tell they’re little demons.”

Oh?

After Meng Baixu heard this, he frowned again. “You mean the children don’t look like Wen Tingshu at all?”

Before the Left Protector could figure out the Sect Leader’s thoughts, the Great Elder rushed to answer. “Naturally. These are the saint children of our Fuguang Sect.”

Meng Baixu pursed his lips.

Then after all his effort, it would not do if they did not look like Wen Tingshu at all.

He lifted the two little cubs one by one to inspect them, injecting spiritual power between their brows to observe their yuan cores.

They were actually late Golden Core!

A whole realm stronger than he had expected!

On the path of cultivation, one realm could block countless talented cultivators. Just how much spiritual power had these two little cubs sucked away from Wen Tingshu?

“Is there… any news about Wen Tingshu?”

Liu Xishi had his own channels for gathering information about the Hengxue Sect. He replied, “Sect Master Wen is still in seclusion. Zhongli Yun is the same as always. It doesn’t seem like anything happened.”

“This sect leader isn’t worried about him.”

The moment he imagined Wen Tingshu waking up one day and discovering that most of his cultivation had been lost, that calm, cold face turning pale with shock, Meng Baixu could not help whistling.

One day, Wen Tingshu would also discover he could no longer beat his disciple. Shizun’s unchanging iceberg face would definitely crack.

Meng Baixu stared at the two little cubs sleeping side by side.

Did they really not look like Wen Tingshu?

What if Wen Tingshu refused to acknowledge them in the future?

The cultivation world still had no very good method to prove father-son relationships. He had to think of a way to make Wen Tingshu unable to deny it.

He Shangxian said, “Sect Leader, give the saint children—the little demons—a name.”

These were a pair of little cultivators born at late Golden Core. If they were raised casually, they could break through to Tribulation Crossing. He Shangxian rubbed his hands, impatient with excitement.

As expected of the seed of the cultivation world’s number one person. He was starting to admire Wen Tingshu a little. Being able to raise the Sect Leader and Wen Tingshu’s cubs left him with no regrets in this life.

“Names?”

A flash of inspiration struck Meng Baixu.

He wanted to give them names that would make Wen Tingshu so ashamed he would have nowhere to hide. From the names alone, Wen Tingshu would know these were his cubs.

Thinking of the way Wen Tingshu pretended to lose his memory, erased memories, and cowardly denied sleeping with his disciple after coming out of the Renxu secret realm, Meng Baixu wanted to laugh.

“Here. Then one will be called Wowo, and the other Nangnang.”

Let Wen Tingshu know exactly how cowardly he was.

He Shangxian, the Left Protector, and Liu Xishi: “…………”

He Shangxian said, “Sect Leader, think twice! How can our promising saint children use names like Wowo and Nangnang?”

As the Sect Leader, naturally, he should act willfully. Meng Baixu looked at his subordinates and slightly compromised.

“Fine, fine. One will be called Meng Wowo, and the other Meng Nangnang.”

The “wo” from cornmeal bun, and the “nang” from naan flatbread.

He loved eating wheat foods the most. Cornmeal buns and naan flatbread had both been made by Wen Tingshu. When Wen Tingshu saw these names, he would remember that he owed Meng Baixu ninety steamed buns!

Back then, Meng Baixu had not known he was carrying twins and had asked for too few, causing him to have to save them carefully now.

He Shangxian instantly accepted the new meaning.

Soft little cornmeal buns, fragrant little naan breads—just as cute as the saint babies.

The Left Protector needed to write the heirs’ names into the sect’s jade genealogy. He asked for instructions. “Sect Leader, then what about their formal names?”

“Formal names…”

“Formal names can be chosen later.”