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Translator: Tamon
The Daoist paled, gnashing his teeth in anger. He swallowed a pill and went faster, turning into a light as he gave chase.
Xu Hei took a turn as he ran, throwing him off his tail.
The white-bearded Daoist never bothered with him.
“You’re on your own, dog. I’m digesting this in a safer place.”
Xu Hei left the dog to his fate. He wrung the Spirit Tail Chickens’ necks and put them in his storage bag before running for half a day all over the place, only stopping in a deserted area’s natural cave.
He had a feeling that digesting the chickens and the pills he had would make reaching the peak 6th layer Awareness Stage a breeze, just shy of the late level.
[The higher the risk, the bigger the reward] Xu Hei thought.
Two hours later, when the sky grew dark, there was shuffling coming from the cave entrance and a wretched dog staggered inside, panting and sweating buckets with its tongue stuck out.
“You’re not dead?” Xu Hei exclaimed.
“I won’t die that easily, damn it!”
The black dog cussed, showing up empty-handed. “To survive, I had to throw the three Spirit Tail Chickens to get rid of the old coot.”
He was furious and growling.
Xu Hei checked again and again to see if the coast was clear.
He took out the three Spirit Tail Chickens and hesitated, but still offered one.
“Eh?” The dog was stunned.
“Like you said, half-half. I got three, so one is yours.” Xu Hei said dejectedly.
He escaped with his haul because the dog lured the enemy away. Per their agreement, they had to split the kill. Xu Hei was a snake of reason, knowing to keep his word.
The black dog was shellshocked. “Who are you and what did you do to my disciple?”
“I never said I’m your disciple.” Xu Hei retorted.
The old dog chuckled without care and took the chicken. “I’ll just need one, you can keep the other half.”
Xu Hei gulped his on the spot.
The dog had firewood, a wooden rack, and a pot to make stew out of his.
He also got precious ingredients filled with Spiritual Energy ready.
Licking his snout, he grinned to himself. [What a dumb disciple. I ate the three I caught ages ago, yet he still gave me one. How unbearably naive.]
The Demon God Cauldron’s Spiritual Energy drops filled it to the brim as Xu Hei digested his meal.
Only this time, the Spirit Tail Chicken’s digestion lacked any obstruction.
Xu Hei focused.
[Advance!]
The Demon God Cauldron shook and the Spiritual Energy drops quivered and contracted, yet it wasn’t enough. Xu Hei’s many attempts were unable to fully compress them.
He was hasty, having gone through this phase when he tried reaching mid-level.
This showed two chickens weren’t enough.
The dog’s chicken stew was ready, its aroma exploding from the many spiritual herbs.
He noticed Xu Hei’s situation.
“Advance, damn it!”
With bloodshot eyes, Xu Hei refused to accept defeat, especially after he risked his life to get the chickens.
They were spotted on the first hunt, meaning next time was going to be even more dangerous, with a high chance of death.
The Spirit Tail Chickens in his stomach grew smaller, but he was still lacking that one push.
The dog sighed. “Fine, I guess I’ll help.”
The dog couldn’t take it and slapped the pot, sending its ingredients flying. They caught fire and turned into a liquid, blending together.
A round pill slowly took shape under the dog’s fine control. He flicked a paw and the pill scattered, sinking into Xu Hei.
The snake recognized the pill, the rare Carrying Pill, boosting one’s chance of advancing a level in the Qi Refining Stage.
The pill acted like a trigger for the Demon God Cauldron and the drops inside boiled as they shrank by themselves.
…
The Unfettered Sect was in the Chu Kingdom’s southern border.
Elder Zhou returned after a two-day fruitless search and issued a task.
“To all disciples, find this dog! Ten spirit stones for bringing it dead and twenty for catching it alive. Any information of its location shall be rewarded with ten as well.
“It’s suspected to be accompanied by a black snake. Same reward for information about its location.”
Elder Zhou stuck the black dog’s picture on the most eye-catching spot at the sect entrance.
He also had the nearby towns and villages look out for it.
As he didn’t catch sight of the black snake, he had no image, only knowing its color, but very treacherous to also steal three of his Spirit Tail Chickens.
The disciples and people were in uproar. Those demons had to be damn smart to steal a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s chickens.
…
Days later, Xu Hei finally reached the 6th layer with the black dog’s help.
He swallowed two more vials of Qi Pills, reaching its peak.
Next was the late Awareness Stage.
His advancement needed two weeks to finalize, faster than Xu Hei imagined.
“Ha-ha, what did I tell you? Follow me and you’ll get to the late level in a month!” The dog laughed.
Xu Hei nodded.
Thinking it over, besides the Mountain God act he played him a fool for, the dog had no malice towards him, helping instead.
“We were spotted the last time. I won’t be stealing more chickens even if you kill me.” Xu Hei vowed.
“Take it easy, I’m no idiot, and know we can’t go to the same spot every time. We’ll change targets.” The black dog snickered.
Xu Hei hesitated. “There’s no need to rush it this month. I plan on solidifying my cultivation before attempting another advancement. Half a year is nothing.”
The close call he had in this advancement warned Xu Hei. His cultivation might be fast, but there was a limit to improving his body’s strength. For the first time, his body didn’t change with his cultivation.
The scales on his tail only had one extra, highly abnormal.
Cultivators trained their True Qi, while demons trained their bodies.
Xu Hei didn’t put the cart before the horse, imitating human’s pursuit for True Qi. He wanted his body to reach perfection.
The black dog rubbed his chin, nodding. “Makes sense. Then let’s rest for now. Might as well teach you something in the meantime.”
“Mm.” Xu Hei nodded.
There was one more reason—it got too noisy around here and wanted to lay low.
Xu Hei spent his days training his body.
He would use Earthen Motion to burrow deep and resist the high pressure.
It was what the dog taught him, but he was to control the amount and time, to not be too spent to come out.
Unfettered Sect sent many cultivators scouring the forest, but the dog’s sharp nose spotted them a mile away, avoiding the search parties with ease.
On their way back, Xu Hei asked the dog for his name.
He stood on his hind legs, put his paws on his hips, and looked the smuggest possible. “Yours truly’s name rings high and low. In those days, on this wide earth and vast sky, not a man hasn’t heard it. It made the powerful cower, the children stop crying, unstoppable and relentless. To be honest…”
He was about to say Wandering Heavenly Devil but knew its meaning was wasted on Xu Hei’s narrow mind.
He said instead, “Since I’m black, call me Hei Di.”(Tamon: lit. black emperor.)
“Hei bro?”
“The monarch kind!”(Tamon: play on words, emperor and younger brother have the same intonation.)
“No way, calling you emperor is like undermining myself. Since you’re so big, you’ll be Da Hei.”
“Blast it, that’s a dog’s name?”
“Aren’t you one?”
After some back and forth, the black dog compromised on Hei Huang, but Xu Hei wouldn’t budge and the dog had to give up huang for huang—the yellow kind.(Tamon: first huang is monarch)
Xu Hei dropped it.
“You asked me if I heard of Wandering Heavenly Devil. I think that’s a better name, so evil, so backstabbing. Next time we’re up to no good, we’ll drop that name, while using Xu Hei and Hei Huang when we’re nice.” Xu Hei smiled.
The dog was stumped.
…
Xu Hei returned to his turf.
As he reached his lair, Xu Hei saw thick smoke rising behind the mountain and graying the sky.
“What is that?” Xu Hei cranked his head high.
Hei Huang climbed on a branch and jumped high.
As he landed he said, “Fire, what else.”
Xu Hei darted like an arrow as he finished, gone like the wind.
Hei Huang blinked. “What’s there to be so nervous about a simple wildfire?”
But even he found it off, rushing after him.
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