Red Dragon seeks his position in both realms.

The night grew deeper, but the moon shone even brighter.

The silvery light shone on every corner of Bagua Mountain, and also on Winters and Crow King who flew among the mountains.

The raven flapped its wings in front, followed closely by Winters, one black and one red, the air currents they created sweeping across the treetops, making a rustling sound.

After flying for several miles, Winters accelerated with his dragon wings and stood shoulder to shoulder with Raven, asking:

"So why can fire-elemental spirits help [Pleiades] enter the Dao? And what is that Dao lineage?"

Winters was eager to learn about the cultivation system and rules of this world.

The crow did not turn around, only its voice could be heard:

"Let me give you a crash course in common sense first, so you won't misunderstand my explanation of how the Fire element enters the Pleiades."

According to the cultivation realms divided by humankind, from lowest to highest, they are: Embryonic Breathing, Breath Absorption, Foundation Establishment, Purple Mansion, Golden Core, and Dao Embryo. Each major realm has distinct levels that cannot be skipped.

The crow paused, pulled its left wing to the side, and continued:

"Fetal breathing is just the beginning; absorbing spiritual energy is the real start of cultivation."

As for Foundation Establishment, that's even more extraordinary. One can freely choose any mountain in Hunan to establish a demon stronghold, become king, and live a carefree life.

"As for the Purple Mansion, those are the true immortals, I don't know much about them either... Don't think too far ahead, your cultivation is only at the embryonic stage now."

"It will probably take more than ten years to reach the Qi Conquest Realm."

"If they succeed in subduing Qi, they will be considered top-notch in the demon guild we visited."

Winters listened attentively, memorizing the information about cultivation levels and the Xiang region.

"The lineages of cultivation are divided into Yin and Yang, Five Virtues, Nine Qi, and Three Emptinesses. Among them, the lineage of the Sun is the most domineering, while the lineage of the Moon is the most secretive."

The [Pleiades] you are practicing is the way of the sun!

Using objects associated with the element of fire to aid in entering the Tao is a shortcut. This method has existed for hundreds of years. It borrows the imagery of the element of fire to build a bridge to the Pleiades, thus entering the Pleiades through a false path!

But a false path is a false path, and it is ultimately false. Those who enter the [Pleiades] path using this method will never be able to break through to the Qi Refining stage in their lifetime. Moreover, the spiritual energy of the [Pleiades] path has long since disappeared.

So you'd better change your path and cultivate yourself as soon as possible; it's not too late.

Winters seemed to understand something upon hearing this, and said "Oh," realizing that using fire-element items to break through was merely a false cultivation.

But he didn't build his Pleiades using fire-elemental objects; he was a proper Pleiades cultivator!

With the pure Yang body of the Red Dragon and bathing in the morning sun, he cultivated the [Pleiades] path, which is definitely unique in this world.

So, I'm a genius?

Winters was secretly pleased, but this matter must not be spread. Otherwise, if the people of this world found out, they would probably arrest him and dissect him.

This matter, like his ability to travel between two worlds, is considered his greatest secret, something that cannot be revealed to anyone.

Winters, however, feigned a look of sudden realization:

  

"So that's how it is. What should we do then? And why did you trade this cultivation technique to me? Are you trying to harm me?"

Winters emphasized the last sentence.

Winters suppressed Crow King, speaking as he slowly approached, seemingly about to attack. Crow King swayed in fright.

"No...no! That's not it!"

Seeing that Winters showed no sign of attacking, it steadied itself, swaying in the air for a moment, its tone somewhat aggrieved:

"I'm innocent! I was just greedy for some spiritual items, I had no intention of harming demons!"

Generally speaking, you newly initiated demons do not have cultivation methods, and your entry into the Dao is often due to a fortuitous encounter with a spiritual object.

So (the little demon) naturally wouldn't refuse the cultivation method I gave her, especially since it was the fundamental method of the Great Dao of [Pleiades]. However, after the little demon cultivated for a while, she found that she couldn't even get to the beginning, so she naturally became anxious.

Then, I handed him another cultivation technique, and in exchange, he just wanted to give me more spiritual materials…”

Winters understood; it turned out to be the prototype of a pig butchering scam!

Winters scoffed and said no more, following the crow in flight.

When Crow King saw that the plague god was silent, he was naturally overjoyed. He thought to himself, "I must get rid of this plague god as soon as possible and not get involved with him."

Although it has already reached the third level of the [Wind Qi] embryonic breathing stage, it is definitely no match for this strange lizard that is only at the first level of embryonic breathing.

If it were at the Qi Refining stage, it might be able to suppress the opponent's level, but the level suppression in the Nascent Soul stage isn't that scary.

Even an elephant at the first level of fetal breathing can still crush a tiny ant at the complete level of fetal breathing.

But this strange lizard is also incredibly clever.

It should be noted that apart from some naturally intelligent or special demonic beasts, ordinary demonic beasts can only develop intelligence when they reach the Qi Refining stage; otherwise, they are just idiots who don't understand anything.

That's why Lord Crow has been able to succeed time and time again, fooling fools for so many years without ever failing.

The two demons flew for another quarter of an hour, and then faint lights appeared on the mountainside ahead.

"We're here, right here."

Crow landed first, followed closely by Winders, who quickly stopped.

Before me lay a scattered market built against the mountainside, seemingly originally a human marketplace. There were no orderly streets; it was utterly chaotic, with earthen platforms, stone caves, and abandoned houses piled together in disarray.

The spiritual energy was mixed and there was a foul smell. This environment was far from the ethereal and misty spiritual realm that Winters had imagined.

They went in along the road without any guards stopping them, clearly indicating that they could come and go as they pleased.

The wild demons here are not picky; most of them sit on the ground, while the more particular ones cover themselves with a straw mat. Only some shops are slightly more particular.

There was a general store run by a gray rat demon. Inside, there were rice, flour, cooking oil, and a lot of clothing and jewelry, all human items. The rat-headed shopkeeper huddled in the shadows, constantly sizing up potential customers with his green eyes.

There was a powder shop run by a red fox spirit. The fragrance of the spirit powder filled the air, and the business was quite good. Most of the customers were fox-woman.

A giant tortoise was resting by the stream, and its shell was covered with the goods it was selling: glowing snails and shellfish, a pile of unremarkable black sand, and a bundle of dry water plants.

All transactions were barter, with no specific currency, or rather, anything could become currency: a broken, glowing crystal, an unknown scale, or some ordinary grain.

Crow was clearly a regular customer; he greeted several acquaintances and exchanged a few pleasantries.

But none of these were what Crow Lord and Winters were after; their destination was the bookstore at the end of the Demon Market.

After a long while, we finally arrived.

At the end was a carved stone cave, with a plaque hanging above the entrance. Winters couldn't read the characters, but he guessed it was probably a name like a bookstore or shop.

The cave was filled with books—animal skin scrolls, bamboo slips, feather scrolls, all sorts of things. At first glance, they seemed quite messy, but upon closer inspection, they were arranged in a pleasing and orderly manner.

A large blue ox with a broken horn lay on a straw mat outside the cave. When it saw Lord Crow and Winters approaching, it knew that guests had arrived.

He immediately got up and transformed into a half-beast, half-human form, then put on the half-beast skin from the straw mat, and had a string of Bodhi beads in his hand.

Winters sensed that the aura was much stronger than that of Crow King, and there was a faint sense of danger, which meant that he couldn't afford to provoke him now.

"Niu Er, let's do some business."

The crow seemed to be very familiar with the green ox demon, and with a flap of its wings, it landed on a tall stack of books.

"Oh? Mr. Crow, what kind of book do you want to buy?"

I have everything here: cultivation techniques, spells, formation diagrams, travelogues, and folk tales. Buy a lot, and I can give you a discount.

The Green Ox Demon smiled and greeted them warmly.

"I'll use the money I left with you before as payment for a second-grade Fire Virtue cultivation technique."

The crow cawed at the green ox demon and even flapped its wings.

Upon hearing this, the Green Ox Demon's face immediately darkened, and he said irritably:

"Then you can choose yourselves! The third row from the far left is all about Fire Virtue Techniques, don't ruin my other books."

After saying that, it sat back down on the straw mat, not wanting to pay any attention to Lord Crow and Winters.

Crow King didn't care at all, cawed and chuckled, and beckoned Winters to go in and choose a cultivation technique.

Winters, however, had a question:

"Why is it a fire-based cultivation method? Can't I choose another one?"

"Of course not. You entered the Dao by consuming a fire-elemental spiritual object, so you can only cultivate fire-elemental techniques. Cultivating other Daos would be more harmful than beneficial."

"Alright, I have a senior feathered creature in this demon workshop. I'm going to catch up with him. You can go by yourself."

After saying that, Lord Crow flapped his wings and flew away.

Winters went in alone and began to choose a free cultivation technique.