The next morning, at the hour of Chen.
Chen Jinshu was awakened by the glow from the token at her waist. Eight sound-transmitting messages had suddenly appeared before her. She activated them and listened—her senior brothers, senior sisters, and master had already set out to investigate the demonic aura in various locations.
She immediately became alert.
"Master and the others sure move fast."
Yesterday, after they had each reported their findings, it turned out that the abandoned rice field she had investigated was the closest location, only about a hundred li from the market town. It was also uniquely situated—located on flat land in front of Moon River Peak, with the famous Crescent River flowing through Qingping Market Town.
Over the past century, the Crescent River had retained spiritual energy, which nourished a small rice field. However, for reasons unknown, five years ago, the river's spiritual energy abruptly ceased. The cultivated spiritual field gradually reverted to ordinary farmland and was abandoned by the town's managers.
The Crescent River had once been home to moon spirit fish, rich in spiritual energy and known for their delicious meat. For a while, this brought fame to Qingping Market Town—until the fish were overharvested and disappeared entirely.
As a result, the town fell into decline.
Now, the Crescent River had become a taboo topic among the cultivators living in Qingping Market Town. The location wasn't hard to find—just fly north from the market town until reaching a crescent-shaped mountain peak. After getting up, Chen Jinshu quickly freshened up and left the Qingping Inn.
Exiting the market town, she found a secluded spot and activated her Gale Gourd to fly toward Moon River Peak. But she had overestimated her sense of direction—and got lost in the forest.
"I'm sure it's this direction—just keep heading north. A crescent-shaped mountain…"
She had flown over ninety li but hadn't seen a single tall peak, let alone one shaped like a crescent moon. So, she released Xiao Yin.
"Help me confirm the direction where you smelled that aura yesterday," she said to it.
Once freed, the sparrow visibly perked up. It flitted around joyfully in the air, relishing its freedom.
"Master, it's really uncomfortable inside the spirit beast bag," Xiao Yin said in a sweet voice.
"Alright! I'll try not to keep you in there again."
Chen Jinshu had seen the spirit beast bag's interior—just a vast expanse of white, with nothing to do but stare blankly. It truly did seem unpleasant. Given the sparrow's high intelligence, it made sense it couldn't stand the confinement. Xiao Yin quickly confirmed the direction.
"Master, I found the scent again! Follow me."
Flapping its wings, it headed northwest.
Chen Jinshu suddenly realized:
"So, it's not exactly one hundred li north of the market town—it's a bit northwest after heading out for some distance. No wonder I couldn't find it."
She had mistakenly gone northeast instead. The northeast terrain gradually leveled out, and the mountains became sparse. Under Xiao Yin's guidance, she arrived at a crescent-shaped mountain peak within a quarter of an hour.
Ahead was a rice field, about six mu in size. However, very few spiritual rice plants remained—fewer than a hundred clumped together amidst dense, chaotic weeds. Strangely, both the weeds and the rice were a dull yellow, as if malnourished, and faint black energy lingered among them. A three-zhang-wide river flowed nearby. The water was clear, but eerily lifeless—there was no trace of beastly aura.
"If the Crescent River hadn't lost its spiritual energy, this place would still be thriving."
'Gua gua!'
'Ji ji!'
Suddenly, odd cries from spirit insects and frog beasts echoed around her.
"I'd better focus on the mission first. I'll examine the Crescent River later."
She was curious about the moon spirit fish—if she could catch a few, she'd love to taste them. Quickly moving to the front of the field, she examined the soil.
"Uneven moisture… way too sandy… almost no spiritual energy… seriously lacking in nutrients…"
After a cursory inspection, she shook her head slightly. No wonder the spiritual rice grown here was of such poor quality—not even low-tier rogue cultivators would bother with it. Still, there were faint traces of spiritual energy in the soil, making it a decent environment for spirit insects or small demon beasts.
"There's no sign of demonic aura at the edges. Could it be inside the field?"
Her gaze fell on a section of the field closest to the river, where several clumps of healthy spiritual rice were growing.
"Xiao Yin, check the area for any traces of the demonic aura you found yesterday. Be careful!"
She gave the order and moved toward the rice patch.
Just as she approached, a dark green frog demon—roughly the size of a human head—leaped out from the weeds.
'Gua gua!'
The frog demon was covered in black warts and emitted a faint demonic aura. Its eyes were blood-red, and its tongue was a dark purple—clearly poisonous.
"Even a weak little thing like you dares guard its nest?"
Chen Jinshu scoffed and drew her Azure Frost Sword, thrusting it at the demon.
'Shhh!'
The startled frog spat out several globs of black saliva. Her expression remained calm as the black goo corroded the ground.
'Whoosh whoosh!'
Several green sword lights flashed, and the frog demon collapsed under her blade.
'Gua!'
Its blood was also tinged black.
"That's a lot of demonic qi."
As it died, the demon released wisps of black gas. She casually cast a Demon-Repelling Talisman and collected its body. Her plan was to eliminate all frog demons in the field and burn them afterward. She swept her sword across the weeds and rice stalks in front of her, cleaving them in half. Immediately, thin threads of demonic qi seeped from the soil.
"From underground? Don't tell me someone buried demon remains here…"
She was just about to play the Five Mountains Demon Sealing Melody on her Lüqi Zither when the Genesis Alchemy Furnace in her consciousness began to heat up and spin. It shot out of her sea of consciousness and hovered above the field, glowing with a faint green light. To her surprise, it began absorbing the leaking demonic qi.
"The Genesis Alchemy Furnace can absorb demonic qi?" she muttered, astonished.
Then she thought back—she had rarely encountered demonic qi before. The Frost Pool medicinal garden's aura had been cleansed by spirit vines, and the Green Pine Garden had none at all.
"Is that… a demon bone?"
The cauldron absorbed qi so quickly that bones buried deep in the field were unearthed. Chen Jinshu quickly grabbed one to keep as evidence. The cauldron continued to absorb the remaining qi across several mu of the field until it was nearly all gone.
"That saved me a lot of effort. I wonder what effect absorbing demonic qi has on the cauldron…"
After finishing, the cauldron shrank and returned to her sea of consciousness.
"Now that the demonic qi is cleared, time to eliminate the demon beasts."
Just as she raised her Lüqi zither to play—
Several purple potato demons crawled out of the grass!