Villainous Junior Chapter 18
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 18: Demonic Cultivator
The disciples were startled. Although they hadn't yet grasped what was happening, they immediately followed Meng Chen's order, holding their breath and quickly reciting the Clear Mind Incantation.
The Clear Mind Incantation was a basic incantation that every Taixuan Sect disciple had to master. It had the effect of clearing the mind and awakening the spirit. After reciting it, the disciples indeed felt their minds become much clearer. It was then that they noticed the dark shadows hidden behind the layers of mist.
One disciple recognized the entity and cried out in horror. "It's... Thorn Demons!"
Those who had heard this name before all turned pale with fear. Thorn Demons were a type of demonic creature, only about half a palm in size, but covered all over with sharp, poisonous spines. Though not high-level, they often appeared in swarms and were extremely difficult to deal with.
"Xue Lang, lead them in forming a protective formation!" In the dark night, Meng Chen's voice was as calm as ever, carrying a strange power that settled people's hearts. It quickly calmed the panicked new disciples. "Don't be afraid. Thorn Demons don't have high attack power. As long as the protective formation doesn't break, there won't be any danger."
Xue Lang responded gravely, swiftly directing the other nine disciples to form a circle, back to back. Following their daily training, they silently recited incantations while forming hand seals. Soon, a milky white circular halo gradually took shape, tightly enclosing them inside. The Thorn Demons charged in swarms, but upon contact with the halo, they were forcefully repelled, their limbs twitching as they could no longer get up. Seeing how effective the formation was, the disciples' hearts completely settled, and they focused even more on channeling their spiritual power to maintain the formation.
Standing within the protective formation, Xue Lang saw that Meng Chen showed no intention of coming in. He anxiously shouted. "What are you standing there for? Come over here! There are too many of them. Even for you, getting stung isn't a joke!!"
Meng Chen didn't respond to him, but stared fixedly behind the mist and spoke. "Are you hiding in the mist because you can't show your face?"
Xue Lang was slightly startled. He diverted some attention to look and saw the mist and Thorn Demons gradually parting to the sides as a man in black robes walked out casually.
It was a demonic cultivator!
In fact, both immortal cultivation and demonic cultivation were paths of cultivation, just different routes. However, the mental techniques and martial arts of the demonic path were generally more cruel and vicious than those of the righteous path. Therefore, although demonic cultivators weren't necessarily all evil people, there was a high probability that they were.
Like the one before them.
"My pets are hungry. It would be a shame to waste such a group of tender young friends," the demonic cultivator said sincerely. "Foundation Establishment cultivation won't last long. You'd better give up early."
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you," Meng Chen drew the long sword at his waist. The blade was bright, gradually enveloped by a dazzling cold light in the night. "The disciples trained by my Taixuan Sect are not meant to be food for your pets."
"Taixuan Sect?" The demonic cultivator raised an eyebrow, looking at Meng Chen with interest for a while. "I see, you must be that cultivation prodigy who's rumored to have broken through to the Nascent Soul stage in your twenties?"
His tone seemed to contain admiration, but in the next moment, it suddenly turned icy: "But what does being a prodigy matter? What determines fate are only two words: strength—"
Before his words faded, his form suddenly became a mere afterimage. The next moment, he appeared less than ten feet in front of Meng Chen, his palm striking fiercely towards the young man's chest!
He had been holding back until now, suddenly attacking without warning. Only then did everyone present realize that this demonic cultivator was actually a master at the fifth level of the Nascent Soul stage!
"Senior Brother Meng!!"
A disciple couldn't help but cry out in alarm. They all knew Meng Chen was formidable, but he had only broken through to the Nascent Soul stage barely a year ago, and was now only stable at the first level. Moreover, due to their different cultivation methods, demonic cultivators were typically one to two levels stronger than righteous cultivators of the same realm. How could Meng Chen possibly deal with this demonic cultivator!
Xue Lang was even more anxious, wishing he could rush over immediately. But seeing the Thorn Demons stirring around them, and remembering Meng Chen's earlier instructions, he forcefully suppressed his impulse. While channeling spiritual power to maintain the formation, he stared intently at the scene before him.
Although the demonic cultivator's sneak attack came fast, Meng Chen seemed to have anticipated it. His form moved, his footwork light and mysterious, clearly a "Treading Flowing Waves" technique. He lightly avoided the demonic cultivator's palm strike, while simultaneously turning his wrist. In an instant, a sword light swept horizontally, chopping towards the demonic cultivator's neck!
The demonic cultivator let out a light "Oh?", somewhat surprised and somewhat regretful — indeed worthy of the name genius, but unfortunately, no matter how outstanding his talent, today it would end here.
He had no patience to play with this junior any longer. Demonic energy suddenly surged around him, blocking the young man's escape routes from all directions. At the same time, a black light shone brightly from his palm as he used eighty percent of his strength to strike at the top of the young man's head!
The demonic energy was thick and rampant, like a vast ocean, with Meng Chen like a lone boat upon it, seemingly frail and helpless, as if he could be submerged at any moment. His moon-white robes fluttered loudly in the wind, his black hair dancing in the breeze, yet the young man stood firmly, his eyes as calm as distant winter stars.
Sword light burst through the air.
The rolling demonic energy in the air suddenly solidified. The next instant, countless sword lights pierced through the heavy demonic energy, then reunited into a dazzling cold light, striking towards the demonic cultivator with an unparalleled, domineering aura!
This time, the demonic cultivator was truly shocked. He hurriedly raised his hand to block, his long sleeve clumsily cut at the corner, his arm gaining a deep gash that exposed the bone. After his momentary stupor came great anger. This time, he held nothing back, using his full strength to strike at Meng Chen. To his shock, the young man didn't even try to dodge this time, and didn't even use his sword. Instead, he simply struck out with his palm, meeting the demonic cultivator's palm head-on!
Even Xue Lang thought he had gone mad, his forehead veins pulsing frantically. "Meng Chen--!!"
However, in the next second, a shocking scene unfolded.
The young man's wrist, seemingly so thin it could be broken with a single strike, steadily received the demonic cultivator's full-force attack. The air froze for an instant, as if the entire world had fallen silent for a moment. In the next second, a tremendous energy burst forth where the two palms met. The demonic cultivator fell backwards, forcefully blown away!
Xue Lang was dumbfounded.
Meng Chen didn't pause. His entire body rose like a white crane soaring to the sky, the sword light in his right hand blazing brilliantly, like the Milky Way falling. In mid-air, he precisely and fiercely pierced through the demonic cultivator's body.
Even as he crashed heavily to the ground, the demonic cultivator still stared with shocked, wide eyes at the young man before him, seemingly unable to comprehend how this result came to be.
"It's simple. Just as you said earlier," the young man seemed to see through his confusion. He pulled the long sword from the cultivator's chest, flicking off the blood droplets, and said softly, "What determines fate are only two words: strength."
The demonic cultivator suddenly opened his mouth, but before he could utter a sound, he was dead.
The Thorn Demons, originally controlled by the demonic cultivator, stopped their attack once he died. They scattered and fled like flowing water. Meng Chen sheathed his sword and turned to walk towards the group.
"Senior Brother Meng is too strong!!"
"Senior Brother Meng, you actually killed a Nascent Soul stage demonic cultivator so easily? Has your cultivation advanced again!?"
"Could it be that Senior Brother Meng's cultivation has also reached the fifth level of Nascent Soul? This cultivation speed... is truly terrifying!"
All the disciples were excited, their faces flushed red, exclaiming in disbelief. Only Xue Lang's heart was racing. He grabbed Meng Chen's arm with a tense face, pulling him aside to urgently ask in a low voice. "What's going on with your cultivation level!?"
Meng Chen blinked slowly. "Hmm?"
"Stop pretending! You're clearly only at the first level of Nascent Soul, how could you kill that demonic cultivator so easily!?" Xue Lang gritted his teeth, holding Meng Chen's wrist to check his spiritual energy. "Did you practice some evil technique!?"
Meng Chen's expression seemed somewhat helpless. "Accusing me of releasing a blood demon was one thing, now you're accusing me of practicing evil methods. Junior Brother, it seems you really dislike me."
Xue Lang realized that this person usually called him by his full name, only addressing him as "Junior Brother" when being teased.
Suppressing the slight tingling in his chest, Xue Lang focused on feeling the pulse under his fingers. To his surprise, the pulse was normal, the breathing steady, and there were no signs of the spiritual energy going astray. He was stunned and carefully examined Meng Chen's face again, finding nothing unusual. He began to doubt his earlier judgment. "You... really didn't practice any evil techniques?"
"Practicing evil techniques means falling into the demonic path. The spiritual energy would carry demonic energy. If I had gone down an evil path, how could the many elders of our sect not have noticed?" Meng Chen withdrew his wrist and tapped Xue Lang's forehead. "Stop overthinking."
Xue Lang was still very worried. "Then why..."
Meng Chen: "That demonic cultivator only had the realm but was probably lazy for a long time. His strength had regressed considerably and wasn't as formidable as he appeared on the surface."
This was indeed a possibility. Xue Lang finally dispelled his doubts and felt somewhat relieved.
At this moment, he realized that his earlier attitude might have shown excessive concern for this person. Inwardly cursing himself, he quickly tried to cover it up. "Don't misunderstand, we're both from Tianji Peak. If you went down an evil path, I wouldn't be able to escape responsibility. I don't want to go to the Disciplinary Hall again, so you'd better not cause me any trouble!"
He was clearly the one who was good at causing trouble and making mistakes, yet now he was blaming others, not even blushing as he did so. Oddly enough, the person being accused indulged him, smilingly saying "Alright." Only then did Xue Lang let out another heavy "Hmph," leaving Meng Chen behind as he walked away.
Meng Chen fell behind, watching Xue Lang's back. He discreetly hid his slightly trembling hand in his sleeve, enduring the tearing pain in his chest, and silently swallowed the sweet, metallic taste in his throat.
