Who Let Him Cultivate?!

Tao Yaoye asked, “Since the Demon Bird is looking for Zhang Guanjia, have you tried letting the Demon Bird meet Zhang Guanjia?”

The Village Chief gave a deep sigh, “There’s no need for us to let the Demon Bird meet Zhang Guanjia, a few days ago, the Demon Bird came to Zhang Guanjia’s house directly and shouted ‘monster! monster!’, then flew out of the window, heading to some other houses.”

“We didn’t know what to do when both of you, the immortals, arrived.”

Tao Yaoye speculated after a moment of contemplation: “Is Zhang Guanjia a monster? Is the Demon bird warning you to be careful of Zhang Guanjia?”

Among the Demon Race, there were many benevolent creatures that would transform into human form or reveal their true form to warn humans about the impending disaster.

For instance, the great demon Zhuyan. According to folklore, wherever Zhuyan appears, chaos ensues, thus, Zhuyan is considered an ill-omened Demon Beast.

The Immortal Sects knew that the truth was quite the opposite. It wasn’t Zhuyan who brought chaos, instead, Zhuyan was predicting the forthcoming disorder, he came from the Demon Territory to the Central Continent to warn the human race; he had nothing but good intentions.

Of course, Zhuyan being misunderstood by the public was his fault too—he was socially anxious, too shy to speak up.

A silent creature from Demon Race, coupled with a ferocious face, made it hard for humans to believe it was an amicable Demon Beast.

Maybe this Demon Bird is the same, coming to warn the people of Taiping Village that Zhang Guanjia is a great demon in disguise.

Upon hearing this, the Village Chief found himself in a tough spot. He didn’t want to contradict this beautiful fairy from the Immortal Sect, but he couldn’t deny the truth and say that Zhang Guanjia was a demon either.

“Zhang Guanjia grew up in Taiping Village since childhood, the elders can testify for him. He has two younger brothers, Zhang Guanyi and Zhang Guanbing. The brothers are very close-knit. He now runs a private school, teaching children Confucianism and cultivation practices. He’s one of the very few teachers in Taiping Village.”

“If you say he’s a monster, I’m afraid…”

Tao Yaoye disagreed with the Village Chief’s viewpoint: “Demons are long-lived. Many immortal beings would often stay at certain places for decades, aging slowly like ordinary people. Once they’ve seen enough of a place, they’d stage their deaths and, stepping out from their graves, move on to a new location to start anew.”

The Village Chief was speechless. He didn’t have the experience and knowledge that Tao Yaoye had, so he didn’t know how to respond.

Lu Yang gently shook his head, pointing out the loophole in Tao Yaoye’s conjecture: “If Zhang Guanjia is a monster, he must be a great demon in disguise. How could a great demon tolerate the ramblings of a small Demon Bird? I’m afraid the Demon Bird would have been killed by Zhang Guanjia before it could even speak.”

Tao Yaoye did not rebut; Lu Yang was indeed stating the facts.

Lu Yang stood up, “Having said that, we still need to meet Zhang Guanjia.”

The Village Chief quickly led the way: “Please follow me, Immortal Masters.”

Along the way, Lu Yang corrected the Village Chief’s form of address: “We are all cultivators, aiming to become immortals. Not to mention that both of us are merely at the Foundation Establishment Stage, even the Unification True Monarchs, those who Pass the Tribulation, or the cultivators who are the closest to becoming the immortals, do not have the qualifications to be called ‘Immortal Master’.”

“You can call us Dao Masters.”

The Village Chief smiled awkwardly, not daring to treat Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye as run-of-the-mill Foundation Establishment Stage practitioners; only a small fraction of cultivators can advance to the Golden Core Stage, normal cultivators that is. The disciples of the Seek Dao Sect are undoubtedly destined for the Golden Core Stage; their future achievements were beyond his imagination.

“Isn’t it that no one has ever become an immortal, or are just mere legends of immortals?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang just smiled, not saying much.

In a short while, the three of them arrived at Zhang Guanjia’s residence.

“Old Zhang, there are visitors, open the door.”

With a creak, the wooden door opened. Zhang Guanjia, with a woebegone expression, stood behind the door.

“Let me introduce you, these two are disciples of the Seek Dao Sect, they have come to help us get rid of the Demon Bird.”

Hearing the words “Seek Dao Sect”, Zhang Guanjia’s expression changed. He said helplessly, “I am not a monster, you can’t just believe whatever the Demon Bird shouts. The Demon Bird also shouts ‘grandpa, come play’, why don’t you send some grandpas to play with the Demon Bird?”

The Village Chief gave an awkward smile: “We are just passing by, and happened to be directed towards your house.”

The Village Chief was earnest and diligent, anyone would say he was a good official. After hearing his elaborate explanation, Zhang Guanjia could only relent and welcome the three of them into his house.

Zhang Guanjia’s house was a spacious, two-story dwelling, but it felt rather empty being occupied by a single occupant.

Zhang Guanjia was over forty years old and still unmarried.

The conversation inevitably revolved around the Demon Bird. Zhang Guanjia, obviously irritated, said: “I have never seen that Demon Bird before and God only knows why it always calls out my name.”

“I have never left Taiping Village in my entire life, the furthest I’ve ever been to is just Quhe County. How the hell would I know a Demon Bird?”

“Every day, students ask me, ‘Teacher, are you a monster?’ Some students are even afraid of being eaten by me and submit their homework on time every day!”

“Even my neighbor came to me and said he has a mortal enemy who’s a Foundation Establishment cultivator residing in Quhe County, he asked if I could secretly kill the person for him, with negotiable pricing!” Zhang Guanjia was gnashing his teeth while saying this, he would love nothing more than to duel with the Demon Bird and clear his own name.

Being an ordinary human, he was deemed as one of the Demon Race just because the Demon Bird blurted it out, it was simply preposterous!

After what seemed like two hours of conversation, the three of them did not get any useful information, Zhang Guanjia simply complained about how greatly the Demon Bird has affected his life.

Luckily, Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye promptly assured that they would exterminate the demon for the common good, eliminate the Demon Bird, and regain Zhang Guanjia’s reputation. Only then did Zhang Guanjia stop complaining satisfactorily.

“The Demon Bird is here again!” Someone started shouting outside the house, running away in fear from the Demon Bird.

Upon hearing the commotion, Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye instantly put aside their casual attitude, equipped their magic artifacts, stepped outside the courtyard, and prepared to battle the Demon Bird.

“Daomasters, please be careful!” The Village Chief told the villagers to keep quiet and stay away from where the Demon Bird appeared.

Lu Yang gripped his sword, ready to split the Demon Bird in two the moment it showed any sign of a threat to humans.

Tao Yaoye took out a red paper umbrella, her life-bound magical treasure, the Thousand Illusion Umbrella. The umbrella opened out, creating a dream-like illusion in which the enemy would become submerged, dying unawares.

Lu Yang subtly signaled that he would scout ahead. Tao Yaoye nodded in response.

The Demon Bird landed on a civilian’s house. Like a cat, Lu Yang moved stealthily and silently, gradually closing in on his prey.

Lu Yang was on high alert, his muscles tensed up, ready to unsheath his sword and engage in battle anytime.

He optimistically assessed that the Demon Bird was at the late stage of Qi Refinement, this was the best-case scenario. The worst one being that the Demon Bird was at the late stage of Foundation Establishment as a Demon Beast, it wouldn’t be easy to fight, let alone defeat.

Finally, he saw the Demon Bird that had been plaguing Taiping Village for twenty days.

Its deep green feathers were vibrant and glossy, with a large expanse of red from its eye corner to the neck, the red and green contrast was quite striking.

Lu Yang recognized the Demon Bird’s background at once. The Demon Bird came from a dense jungle, lived on figs and berries, and was good at mimicking human speech.

It was a parrot.