Chapter 43:
Brothel
SPIRIT BEASTS that had signed a blood pact—in other words, soul beasts—were known as soul companions by the orthodox sects and demonic companions by those from the unorthodox sects. Unlike with spiritual artifacts, of which they could possess several, a cultivator could only form a blood pact with a spirit beast once in their lifetime. As the saying went, rarity bred value. As the demonic companion of a demon lord, the lion held a prestigious position in the demon palace.
Emotionally hurt, the lion retreated to the foot of a tree to lick his mental wounds. Meanwhile, Mo Tianliao carried the cat back to his guest room to wait for their meal, but before they could eat, Shidi sent for them.
“Besides the divine artifact, what else do you need to complete the work?” Shidi sat on his throne with a jade slip in hand—Mo Tianliao assumed it was a message he’d just received.
“A Primordial Stone,” Mo Tianliao answered succinctly.
Primordial Stone was an exceedingly precious material left over from primeval times. Even a small piece cost far more than Meteorfall Stone. The primordial beginning is the origin of spiritual energy.8 Unlike the typical magical treasures that consumed the user’s spiritual energy, artifacts forged with Primordial Stone could absorb the spiritual energy of the natural world on their own, making them effectively inexhaustible.
Shidi frowned. “That’s all?” Although Primordial Stone was precious, it was hardly unobtainable. In fact, Shidi had some in his demon palace. But if it was this simple, why hadn’t anyone completed the forging for all these years? Hadn’t that useless Ding asshole from Liuyun Sect spent over a century researching it?
“And the seventy-two spell arrays my father passed on to me,” Mo Tianliao added with an innocent smile.
At the mention of spell arrays, Shidi could feel a headache coming on. He’d always believed brute force and raw strength were all that mattered. There was no need to waste time or energy researching those scribbles. He could put all that time drawing squiggles to better use mastering hundreds of martial arts moves to beat his opponent. Whenever he watched Duantian draw spell arrays, his head hurt, but the guy really liked to draw them in his presence.
“This one just needs another defensive spell array.” Lord Duantian pointed to the newly forged treasure artifact. “You can go back and draw it yourself.”
“Nah, you draw it.” Shidi felt dizzy at the sight of those complicated patterns.
Lord Duantian raised an eyebrow. “That will cost you extra.”
“Then so be it.” Shidi thumped his chest. “You think I can’t afford it?”
And that was how Lord Shidi had become Lord Duantian’s regular customer. Shidi found it fantastic that Duantian could make whatever he wanted as long as he paid for it. Duantian thought it marvelous that he could simply make up any item description, and Shidi would pay without question…
Seventy-two spell arrays that were the exclusive technique of array master Duantian—no one could learn all that even if you gave them a decade to do it. Shidi promptly abandoned any idea of studying them himself and patted his “nephew” on the shoulder. “There’s an auction in two days at Bahuang City. We should leave now.”
“Wait.” Mo Tianliao stopped Shidi from taking out a flying ship right there and then. “We need to make some preparations.”
The journey from Shidi’s demon palace to Bahuang City would take a day by flying ship. Shidi and his subordinates practiced inedia, but Mo Tianliao and His Feline Lordship hadn’t eaten yet.
And so, Lord Shidi sat in his luxurious flying ship and had the maidservants pour wine while he looked at these two undignified figures sitting across from him.
Mo Tianliao had the demon palace maidservants prepare a feast consisting of roasted chicken, fried fish, boiled shrimp, steamed crabs, and various snacks. Man and cat both stuffed themselves with food, while the lion opposite them kept licking his nose as he watched them. As a high-level soul beast, he’d always eaten animal-feed pills. His master insisted that was more refined, and gorging on large chunks of meat every day was what wild beasts did. But…even a noble spirit beast like Pawpaw was eating meat. Why couldn’t he?
Gimme, gimme, gimme…
The lion swallowed his drool. He inched forward a little when his master wasn’t looking. Then a little more.
Mo Tianliao cracked open a crab, heated it with fire from his palm, peeled off the crab meat, and fed it to the little ball of fur on his lap. He finished up the crab leg and turned to take the roast chicken, but his arm knocked against something furry. Startled, he turned and saw a massive lion head looming beside him, drooling over the roasted chicken.
“Get back here!” Shidi shouted when he realized his demonic companion had gone over to beg for food when he wasn’t looking. How embarrassing! Raising a hand in the form of a claw, he used a phantom palm to haul Nightmare back through the air.
The lion flailed as he flew back to his master’s hand. He bared his fangs at him in displeasure.
Shidi tossed the lion an animal-feed pill. The lion batted it away and continued baring his fangs at his master.
Feed me meat! Feed me meat! Feed me meat!
“Feed me meat” echoed in Shidi’s consciousness—a message conveyed from pet to master through the blood pact. Shidi’s face twisted in anger. Was this how a blood pact was supposed to be used?!
Ignoring the bickering master and servant across from them, Mo Tianliao fed His Feline Lordship, then cradled him in his arms and stroked his fur to lull him to sleep. He could honestly spend the entire journey stroking that sleek fur and never get bored. Once His Feline Lordship fell asleep, though, he took out his knife and started carving. His inventory bracelet contained some small magical artifacts that required only minor modifications and an array or two to boost their power significantly.