Chapter Thirty-Six: The Blood Demon...

"So it was about this!" Lu Changsheng exclaimed in astonishment. "Go back and inform Master Li that I am already aware of this matter." He waved his hand to dismiss the messenger. Lu Changsheng summoned a young attendant and instructed, "Notify all elders, stewards, and hall masters to convene for a meeting."

Ten days later, on the training grounds of the Rapid Cultivation Academy at Divine Peak of Mount Changbai.

"Haha, it's finally a success! Now let's see who can escape the grasp of my hand," Tang Yi laughed heartily.

"Congratulations, Brother Tang, a great achievement!" Hua Shaojie and the others congratulated him.

"Enough with the flattery! You were all terrified, weren't you? Well, that's what happens when you're my buddies! Haha..."

Tang Yi had been asking Hua Shaojie, Zhang Qiang, and the others to help him find loopholes in the rapid cultivation method, so he could come up with a solution. With their help, Tang Yi devised a way to solve the problem. He had come across something called a spatial house in Wang Chu Yi's notes on artifact refining—the very same kind he had seen at the Not White Auction House. Tang Yi had always focused on the auction of rings and hadn't truly explored their principles, which left him frustrated for quite some time. Upon seeing the spatial house, Tang Yi sought advice from Wang Chu Yi and gained much from it; his understanding of artifact refining rose to a new level.

As for Tang Yi's current cultivation, he excelled in both formations and artifact refining, making him one of the top practitioners in those fields. Yet he had a glaring weakness: a lack of creativity, a consequence of his long reliance on supernatural abilities.

After absorbing Wang Chu Yi's theories, Tang Yi created a retractable spatial house. Built to resemble a villa, when fully expanded it could accommodate a thousand people for a grand assembly. When minimized, it could be worn at the waist like a badge. The spatial house could also be placed in a storage ring, provided there were no living beings inside. It boasted defensive formations—not only preventing destruction from outside, but also featuring a trap formation that kept those inside from leaving. Tang Yi had specially designed this formation for safety.

Earlier, Hua Shaojie and the others had been tricked by Tang Yi into entering the spatial house in its expanded state. Although the house couldn't forcibly absorb people or objects yet, Tang Yi activated the external formation, shrunk the house, and held it in his palm. From inside, Hua Shaojie and the others saw Tang Yi's giant eye looming outside, terrifying them!

"Old Lu, I have good news for you. The Rapid Cultivation Academy can start classes now," Tang Yi said, taking out his communicator to contact Lu Changsheng.

"Oh, that is indeed good news, but I have bad news for you. The Blood Demon is attacking the seal!" Lu Changsheng replied, his face filled with worry.

"Blood Demon? What exactly is that?" Tang Yi was thoroughly confused by the world of cultivation.

"Well, I'll come over and discuss it with you in detail. There are other matters to consult you about," Lu Changsheng said, ending the call.

Soon after, Lu Changsheng arrived at the Rapid Cultivation Academy via the newly built teleportation array. Tang Yi had personally constructed these new arrays, unwilling to use the old, nausea-inducing ones.

"The Blood Demon is about to emerge?" Tang Yi exclaimed after hearing Lu Changsheng's explanation.

"Why was it only sealed? Why not just kill it outright?" Tang Yi asked.

"Ah, if it could be killed, it would have been dealt with long ago. There'd be no need to seal it again and again. The Blood Demon feeds on evil energy; as long as evil energy remains in the world, it will not die," Lu Changsheng sighed.

"Evil energy? What exactly is that?" Tang Yi blinked in confusion at Lu Changsheng.

"Evil energy is hard to define precisely. Generally speaking, it encompasses all negative thoughts and emotions in the world—anger, rage, sorrow, grief, hatred, and so on."

"Damn, every human has those. No wonder the Blood Demon is so powerful," Tang Yi said helplessly.

"But this time is odd. Usually, the Blood Demon doesn't attack the seal until it has absorbed enough energy. How many years has it been? How did it gather enough energy so quickly?" Lu Changsheng wondered aloud.

"Wait, you're saying the Blood Demon feeds on negative thoughts and emotions. Could something have happened in the mortal world to increase its energy intake?" Tang Yi asked.

"Of course. Turmoil and unrest in the mortal world are most likely to breed negative emotions. But the Song Dynasty is stable right now, so this shouldn't be happening," Lu Changsheng replied.

"Hmm, what about lustful thoughts and emotions? Do those count as evil energy?" Tang Yi suddenly realized something crucial.

"Of course they do, and for the Blood Demon, they're especially nourishing. Don't tell me you know what's causing this?" Lu Changsheng eyed Tang Yi with suspicion.

"Ahem... I think I know why!" Tang Yi confessed. "I set up the Tang Group in the mortal world, and it started with communications technology. As communication became more widespread, so did the dissemination of lustful material, which must have accelerated the effect. That's what allowed the Blood Demon to feed so quickly." Just as in modern times, with TV and movies everywhere, children see all sorts of things, good and bad; even kids born after 2000 kiss on the streets, French style...

"Oh, so that's it. Heh, does this mean you bear the main responsibility?" Lu Changsheng grinned mischievously. He regarded Tang Yi as unfathomable, believing he might have a way to deal with the Blood Demon. Even Yanluo Wan, who had reached the Great Ascension stage, said Tang Yi was too terrifying—because the unknown is the most frightening, and Tang Yi was just that to them.

"Uh, of course, I won't shirk my responsibility. Let's put the Rapid Cultivation Academy aside for now. Why don't you take me to see the Blood Demon? Maybe there's a way to remedy this. Is that alright?" Tang Yi asked.

"That's best. Shall we go now?" Lu Changsheng nodded.

"I'll just say goodbye to everyone and we can leave," Tang Yi said, taking out his communicator. "Ruoxue, I have some urgent matters to attend to with Old Lu, so don't wait for me for dinner tonight. Tell Zhang Qiang and the others for me; I won't say goodbye to each individually." He hurriedly finished and hung up.

Together with Lu Changsheng, Tang Yi soared into the air, heading for the place where the Blood Demon was sealed.

As Tang Yi approached the sealed site, he frowned—for he discovered that the Blood Demon was...