Mo Dao Zu Shi: Astray

Bloom, Part Two

"Pan Wukun. I need to speak with you."

Kang Xieren reappeared to meet with Pan Wukun now that she had fully recovered from the spider demon venom.

"I found something inside the boss spider demon." Kang Xieren took a piece of iron out from his coat's inner pocket. "This is a piece of the mystical Yin Iron Yanling Daoren used when he was still alive."

Pan Wukun's eyes widened. "What?" - No, please, no. Please don't make me go through the convoluted plot point of the Yin Iron Quest from CQL.

Kang Xieren explained further. "A regular spider must've absorbed the Yin Iron, transforming it into an eight-legged spider demon, one bigger and more powerful than regular eight-legged spider demons."

"Why didn't anyone else notice it?" Pan Wukun asked.

Kang Xieren smiled. "I suppose most people were too worried about the injured to spot it. I took it before the wrong person could. I don't trust the sects not to misuse it."

"Because it used to be Yanling Daoren's?" Pan Wukun asked.

"Yes. Precisely."

Pan Wukun remembered the passages she read from the book she found in the Library Pavilion, Legendary Cultivators Throughout the Ages.

"As Yanling Daoren traveled the world, cultivators immediately took notice of him since no one had heard from Baoshan Sanren in ages. He was greatly admired for his skills as a cultivator. But one day, Yanling Daoren suddenly changed, becoming violent. He killed without mercy. He controlled living people like puppets with a piece of mystical iron. Some even said his cultivation methods were...demonic. Yanling Daoren made the fields and oceans run red with blood. His reign of terror was finally brought to an end when he fell to thousands of swords by an army of noble cultivators."

Did she get a glimpse into Yanling Daoren's final moments?

"I think I dreamt about the moment Yanling Daoren was killed," Pan Wukun said.

Interest sparked in Kang Xieren's eyes. "Really? Yanling Daoren did imbue the Yin Iron with his qi so that's not too surprising that such a moment with powerful emotions would appear in your dreams."

Pan Wukun agreed. "That's our best explanation, so I think you're probably right."

Kang Xieren held up the Yin Iron, examining it from different angles. "Yanling Daoren was a frugal man. Why expend your own qi when you can just steal it from another?"

Chills shot down Pan Wukun's spine. Lan Qiren's words echoed in her mind.

"To steal qi from another cultivator is to kill them. It's a form of demonic cultivation one must never do. That path lies in evil and darkness."

"Yanling Daoren dabbled in dark rituals from time to time. To him, the possibilities beyond the orthodox path of cultivation were endless."

Pan Wukun took out the mysterious spirit-trapping pouch. Years ago, she and Pan Heng discovered that some cultivator had performed a dark ritual to transport her into this world. But she couldn't tell Kang Xieren the entire truth. "This spirit-trapping pouch was used in a dark ritual. I showed it to you years ago. Have you found out who this belonged to?"

Kang Xieren inspected the spirit-trapping pouch closely. "Really? How interesting. Unfortunately, I still don't know whose sect emblem this is."

Pan Wukun was disappointed. "Do you think it might've been used in one of Yanling Daoren's dark rituals?"

Kang Xieren laughed. "Don't be ridiculous! Yanling Daoren is dead!"

"What I mean is did some sect cultivator happen to find one of his dark rituals and use it?"