Archfiend

Vanessa didn’t waste words and dashed over to the iron maiden. She carefully inspected it for ten-odd minutes, nearly searching the entire object from head to toe. In the end, she heaved a sigh.

“Fortunately neither of you damaged the Holy Relic by a hair. The two of you should be glad… because of this condition you can die a good death.”

But at this time, a black whirlwind appeared at the door, sweeping in with hundreds of bats. In the next second, a bald man stood in front of her.

“I didn’t smell fresh blood…” The man maintained a half-demonized state, his pupils swiftly sweeping the vicinity. “You let them go?!”

Vanessa didn’t have time to reply. In a flash, the man saw the iron maiden in the container, screeching as he rushed over like lightning.

His figure was trembling a fair bit, and stood there for a full five minutes. When he turned his head around, his entire face already fully demonized. Thin and sharp, his white teeth locked together, and his voice carried a glacial coldness to it. “Where are those bastards!”

“Gone,” Vanessa answered, no expression on her face.

“And you just let them leave like that?!” The man bounded over to face her in his partially demonized form. His giant maw, dripping with saliva, directly faced her skull and snarled, “This was the Holy Relic of all vampires houses! Dracula’s iron maiden! Those pigs profaned the Holy Relic… and you just let them go like that?!”

“They were Chinese cultivators,” Vanessa said coldly. “China and America signed an agreement a hundred years that cultivators from both sides wouldn’t cross borders whatsoever. It hasn’t even been a century yet, but people have already openly violated it.”

“They’re still just yellow-skinned monkeys!!!” Right now, the man had fully demonized. He let loose a piercing screech and charged out. “I’ll crush them into smithereens and sprinkle them into the Atlantic to feed the sharks! Their sin of touching the Holy Coffin with their despicable hands cannot be washed away!”

“What are you going to do?!” Just as he was about to charge past the woman, he abruptly stopped because she had grabbed onto his ankle. Vanessa said angrily, “The Decade Holy War is just about here! The Corvinus’ Three Great Doyens are all arriving in New York! The Black Witches Coven, the Diviners, all these groups that aren’t normally seen have all come out! Do you want everyone to find out about this?! Who even knows that we, the Dracul, have retrieved the Primogenitor’s Holy Coffin?!”

“Then do we just let those despicable! Dirty! Stupid Chinese creatures touch the Holy Coffin and leave?! They’ve even seen it with their own eyes! And activated it! How much do they know?! Are they from the other clans?!” The demonized man turned his head back and roared, “Don’t think I don’t know! You fear China! You hear from other people that the Chinese cultivation world is ridiculously strong, and you just think it’s true! Don’t tell me you haven’t seen how evil the world of mortals is?!”

“People like us have no qualifications to call others evil.” The woman yanked with all her strength, brought the bat back, and said lowly, “I’ve already contacted the overseer. They’re getting ready to personally act.”

Peace reigned.

Eventually, the man snickered, “You sure are a poisonous scorpion… First we’ll let them go, and then at night our power will be at peak strength, and we’ll strike like a thunderclap. Your way of thinking is always so bewitching… but do just those two maggots need the mid Marquis overseer to act? I once heard she was infinitely close to that supreme realm, but because of some matter her realm dropped by a lot. In any case though, she’s still a mid Marquis now.”

“That’s not all,” Vanessa said with some irritation. “I invited the ‘Night Bats’. They should act at the same time as the overseer.”

“Why?” Richard said.

Vanessa laughed darkly as she raised two fingers. “Two.”

“Two mid Marquises, and you ask ‘why’?”

The man stared blankly, his explosive rage clearly settling down. On the contrary, his gaze glimmered as he looked at the iron maiden. Several seconds later he said, “That’s good… Since the Night Bats and Her Highness Overseer are acting together, I’ll just wait on your good news. But…”

He stared at Vanessa, long and hard. “Their corpses, give them to me.”

“By blaspheming our God, I’ll mince up those two wild dogs, squeeze out every drop of their blood, and feed them to actual wild dogs.

“And only wild dogs can compare to those who disrespect God. I’ll use their lowly lives to warn every Chinese cultivator that America isn’t a place so easy to stay in. In provoking the House of Dracul, their bones can only be cheaply buried in the bellies of stray dogs.”

Xu Yangyi and Moonless were none the wiser to all the events happening on the Normandy. They were presently busy stealing.

If a man walked into a shopping mall and stole a suit, it was naturally the kind he didn’t need to pay money for. 

Like so, Moonless and Xu Yangyi were strolling through the mall with great interest.

They both concealed their qi. The only thing that passersby saw was a normal, young man and an old man. As the country with the fourth largest area of land in the world, America had about a thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators. Moreover, Xu Yangyi dared to confirmed that America also had an ‘Inside World’. The number of central hubs left on Earth could be counted on one’s fingers. He didn’t believe that a late Foundation Establishment cultivator would jump out and recognize them as cultivators.

“Fellow Daoist Wolfbane, what are you planning to do later?” In a high-end coffee shop, Moonless asked, “Now that we’re here, we might take separate paths. I want to go find a friend. If he’s still in the world of the living, I should be able to see him. How about…”

“Not necessary,” Xu Yangyi refused without the slightest consideration. He thought to himself and asked, “We’ll leave a talisman with each other so we can get in touch. I’m going to explore the power and foundation of America’s cultivation world. Maybe I’ll choose to join some families that are involved with pretty expansive cultivation businesses.”

“Involved with pretty expansive cultivation businesses…” Moonless murmured to himself and snapped his head up. His eyes seemed to radiate fire. “You’re thinking of…”

He remembered!

Xu Yangyi was also a Pill Dao disciple!

He… wanted to use the Dao of Pills to make his fortune in America? Yes… that’s how it surely was. When the demon slayer was Qi Condensation in the past, the pills he could concoct at that time definitely didn’t provoke the interest of Foundation Establishment cultivators, China’s cornerstone. But… now was different!

If Xu Yangyi set to task… perhaps it wouldn’t just be Foundation Establishment cultivators interested anymore. Even Core Formation cultivators might be interested!

Once the pill-elixir market suffered a shock, there would be some who would want to make a move on him. However, there would also be some in support of medicinal pills, who would ask whether or not a promise could be made. And on top of that… Xu Yangyi would possibly agree to weave this net of benefits!

Sometimes… such benefit could be so great that it wouldn’t span just one nation!

“Good idea!” he couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration. “If you can succeed, even if you are wanted, it might as well just be in name! Maybe China will even secretly protect you! But what if you’re discovered before this?”

“I won’t.” Xu Yangyi suddenly took out a little bug.

“Thousand Illusions?” Moonless’s gaze brightened, and he laughed, “This won’t be a problem at all, then.”

“Still, if I’m going to do this, I’ll have to seize balance,” Xu Yangyi uttered, “Choosing a date isn’t as good as letting things happen organically. Let’s go our own ways for now. The world’s a big place. We’ll definitely see each other again.”

The two of them weren’t the kind to beat around the bush. For cultivators, wanting to meet up was too simple and so was casually having a few quick words. Xu Yangyi and Moonless ate dinner together and finally split up in the Bronx. [1]

Xu Yangyi stepped out of the coffee shop. The stars and the moon were already out.

New York was one of the world’s largest cities, emitting its own unique and flourishing charm. Soaring neon lights shot right into the sky, and bright street lamps illuminated the night. All kinds of people of different ethnicities came and went. Occasionally, he even saw asians. The roads were busy with heavy traffic.

He turned into a dark alley and fastened on the Thousand Illusions, already in the guise of a middle-aged man. In the alley, a few youths who were talking with each other shot him a wary look. Acting as if no one was present, he walked away and stepped into another dark alley. With an invisibility technique and the revolution of spiritual force, he instantly flew onto a roof.

According to China’s customs, each city had at least a couple archdemons. However, he didn’t see any in New York.

No… there was something. From Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, an extremely powerful demonic aura rose up form each borough. Among the boroughs, the strongest demonic aura was coming from Manhattan, New York’s most lively borough. In the same vein, it was middle Foundation Establishment!

As for the other two, they were both initial Foundation Establishment. The one from Queens had even just entered Foundation Establishment, its aura still somewhat unsteady.

“If I killed you I wouldn’t even need ten moves,” Xu Yangyi muttered under his breath. At the same time, Zhao Ziqi’s voice echoed in his mind.

Big bro, I think one move is enough from you. The enemies you’ve fought are a lot more serious than these Americans.

Xu Yangyi laughed noncommittally.

Zhao Ziqi’s spirit seemed to be much better. He surveyed the area and mumbled, Big bro, so this is America, huh. There’s really nothing good about it. There are only about two or three cats and kittens to fill the tabletop. There are at least late Foundation Establishment cultivators in any major provincial capital you randomly go to in China. There might even be half-step Core Formation cultivators. Here, though… tsk, tsk…

There aren’t even a lot of Qi Condensation cultivators, but they like hanging out together. There are a couple streets where a lot of people gathered.

“I was just about to start there,” Xu Yangyi laughed and looked to a place crowded with a couple obvious cultivators. “Americans loves to party; it’ll be easy for me to find people.” [2]

Finished with what he had to say, his figure flickered away. Ten-odd minutes later, he had already crossed half the city and reached the place with the most people.

Outside of reason but within his expectations, there was a bar. It obviously wasn’t quiet, though, as the music inside slipped through the extremely well-sealed door. The beat of the music caused one’s heart to faintly speed up.

But what made this establishment a slight exception to ordinary bars was the supermarket inside. At the door, the bar’s sign was hanging.

With his realm, Xu Yangyi made out in a glance that all the people in the supermarket were cultivators. In spite of this though, their realms were low. These blond-haired, blue-eyed guys were at most nothing more than initial Qi Condensation.

At the very center of the supermarket, there was a door. At the door, there was a long bench with two men in black clothes that didn’t fit in. One of them black and the other white, they read newspapers, resembling gate deities.

As Xu Yangyi walked in, only three sets of eyes looked over.

Only stealing a few glances, the people at the door wordlessly lowered their heads and read their newspapers. Likewise, the supermarket salesman boredly flipped over his phone. He treated Xu Yangyi, a living human being, as if he hadn’t seen him, and merely said without much thought, “Sorry, nothing’s for sale here.”

Xu Yangyi paid him no attention. If a Qi Condensation cultivator dared to speak this way to a Foundation Establishment cultivator in China, a slap to the face was considered light.

“Hey? Did you hear me?” The salesman watched Xu Yangyi continue to walk straight ahead to a little door. He couldn’t help but put down his cell phone and knit his brows. “Sir, that’s not the bathroom.”

“Get out the way.” Xu Yangyi reach the door and said in an apathetic voice.

In the room, the salesman and the two men in black clothes were all calm.

The black-clothed people stood up and carefully did a once-over of Xu Yangyi. That was right… they didn’t sense a trace of Xu Yangyi’s qi!

“Downstairs isn’t a place an ordinary person like you can go,” the black guy said, his voice ice-cold. 

The white guy spoke even more frankly, and sneered as he waved his hand. “A kid like you should go back home to your momma’s tits. This place isn’t for you.”

“Oh?” Xu Yangyi laughed, “and if I insist on going in?”

“Then come and try.” As if he was mounted on a great horse and a blade in his hand, the black guy squared up at the door. Unconcealable contempt flashed through his eyes. “I’m not looking down on you, yellow monkey, but if you can make me move back half a step…”