Shi Feiyang brought Jiang Shu to Yellow Mountain and found a place called Purple Gold Waterfall.

The location featured a long creek flowing down from the mountain, with crystal-clear water. On both sides, bizarre rocks and green pines converged, adorned with hundreds of flowers and filled with the chirping of birds. The scenery was exceptionally tranquil and beautiful.

The two followed the creek's banks upstream to its source, where Shi Feiyang took out the Zhou Tianyu Light Disc and calculated to confirm, "There is a treasure beneath us called the Broken Jade Hook. It was forged by Gonggong from ancient times. Although it's not a Flying Sword, it is even more useful than ordinary Flying Swords. I'll help you retrieve it, and then we can go together to seek revenge on the Chuandeng Monk."

Jiang Shu, hearing that it was an ancient treasure, was visibly elated.

The Broken Jade Hook was located under the spring of Purple Gold Waterfall. Shi Feiyang used the second longest Liangyi Needle on his Formation Plate to shoot out Magnetic Essence, sensing and measuring; the hook was three thousand zhang under the ground. Fetching it would require some effort.

"The simplest method," Shi Feiyang said, "is for both of us to use our Flying Sword Magical Treasures to forcibly dig down, all the way to the underground, and bring up the hook. But this will create a large deep pit."

"That would ruin the beautiful scenery of Yellow Mountain, which would be a pity," Jiang Shu replied.

"Not only that," Shi Feiyang said. "The hook has become sentient. If it feels the vibrations, it will burrow into the core of the earth, making it tremendously difficult to find afterward."

Jiang Shu came up with an idea, "We could use the Water Escape Technique, control the water flow, and flush the hook out little by little."

Shi Feiyang shook his head and laughed, "That won't work. Gonggong was an ancient Water God, and the hook he refined is best at cutting through water. Not only will water fail to flush it out, but it would also draw all water to itself, causing disasters."

"I've already thought of a good method on the way here," Shi Feiyang continued. "The techniques of the Demon Path are more suitable for this."

Jiang Shu was slightly shocked, "You know techniques from the Demon Path?"

Shi Feiyang flipped his wrist, and a red light emerged from his palm, revealing four small figures: Wei Fengniang, Zhong Ang, Varnagyin II, and Ka Yin Sabu, all kneeling on one knee in two rows, saluting him, "Your subordinates greet the Dragon Emperor!"

Jiang Shu jumped in shock, "Are these... demons?"

"Not exactly," Shi Feiyang explained, "I have refined them into Divine Demons. It's best if they retrieve the hook. It will not damage the scenery at all and can bring up the hook smoothly."

In a flash, Jiang Shu felt like he didn't recognize the man before him, finding Shi Feiyang strangely unfamiliar, "How do you know the techniques of the Demon Path? And you're keeping Divine Demons?"

"Why can't I know the techniques of the Demon Path? I'll tell you, I am cultivating the most authentic Heavenly Secret Demon Technique from the Demon Cult!"

Shi Feiyang was curious to see how Jiang Shu would react after knowing this.

If he pretended not to care, waited for the hook to be fetched, and then betrayed Shi Feiyang, he would be a despicable hypocrite, and Shi Feiyang would sever his head with his Flying Sword.

If Jiang Shu chose to sever their brotherhood, not wanting the hook, and parted ways for good, Shi Feiyang would respect his integrity, and they would become strangers. If they met in the future, whether as friends or foes, would be determined by later events.

Jiang Shu looked at him and then at the demons in his hand, his expression turning ugly, seemingly unable to believe or accept that such a friend could be a Great Demon.

Shi Feiyang also spoke to the four demons, "This person is Jiang Shu, the True Master of Demon Suppression; quickly, pay your respects to Master Jiang."

The four demons obediently bowed to Jiang Shu, "Greeting Master Jiang!"

Jiang Shu was so upset he couldn't speak and didn't know how to respond.

Shi Feiyang urged him, "Let's use these four demons to fetch the Broken Jade Hook for you, shall we?"

"No way!" Jiang Shu shouted, releasing his Flying Sword, his voice tinged with sobs, "All four of them were obviously cultivators in their earlier lives. Why did you kill them to refine Divine Demons? As far as I know, the methods of refining demons in the Evil Demon Path are extremely cruel, involving capturing people to torture and torment them to death in the cruelest ways, then extracting their souls to repeatedly make them suffer the agony of soul refinement! How can you be such a ruthlessly cruel person?"

Seeing his reaction, Shi Feiyang simply laughed, "Why do I treat them like this? Because they wanted to treat me the same way!"

"What?" Jiang Shu was baffled and then said, "Even if they were your enemies, killing them would have been enough. Even obliterating their souls and spirits would have sufficed, but to go this far..."

"Yes, this far!" Shi Feiyang's expression turned serious. "My style has always been: if no one offends me, I do not offend anyone. If someone tries to harm me, I give back doubly! These two monks are also from the Western Demon Cult, just not as authentic as the Chuandeng Monk. When I passed through Qingluo Valley, they forced my descent to the ground in front of their followers and attempted to kill me and refine my soul into a demon.

Then I killed them, learned their 'Red Lotus Secret Manual,' and used their methods to refine them into two Divine Demons. Isn't that appropriate? Varnagyin II, Ka Yin Sabu! Tell me, was it right to refine you into Divine Demons this way? Does it make sense?"

"It does! Absolutely!" The two monks quickly answered. They were slippery figures in the Demon Cult even before and after their death, clasping their hands together and continuously praising, "The Dragon Emperor is truly kind-hearted. What we have suffered at your hands is but a fraction of what we in the Demon Cult would have done."

"We harmed him first, he killed us afterwards; it was indeed a case of tit for tat. Now that we have all had a great awakening, we ought to repay this evil fate. Even if he hadn't killed us at that time, we would have travelled over mountains and rivers, no matter the distance, to present ourselves before him and ask him to take our heads, to end this tribulation."

"Although we have become Divine Demons now, this is what we originally wanted. True Master Jiang, you do not know about the cultivation methods of our Demon Cult. Our lifelong wish has been to refine our Primordial Spirits into Divine Demons. His Majesty the Dragon Emperor has indeed fulfilled our wish. We are immensely grateful, and cannot thank him enough!"

"Now that we have become Divine Demons as we wished, we usually meditate quietly within His Majesty's Flower Evil Divine Gang, only occasionally emerging to help with some trivial tasks, and we often have the fortune to listen to His Majesty talk about the Dao. It truly is good fortune accumulated over several lifetimes..."

Jiang Shu was stunned by their words, realizing that being refined into a Divine Demon not only had no drawbacks but also brought a plethora of benefits, so much so that it seemed almost comparable to ascension!

Shi Feiyang then asked Wei Fengniang, "What about you?"

Wei Fengniang declared loudly, "I was blinded by greed back then, and during the critical moment of His Majesty's tribulation, I attempted to murder him to seize the Heavenly Book. Little did I expect His Majesty's divine powers and boundless mana to strike me down instead, which was the retribution I deserved."

"I thought I would be completely destroyed—both body and soul annihilated, never to be reborn. However, I never imagined that His Majesty, with his merciful heart capable of redeeming heaven and earth, would take me out from confinement and even spend a great deal of effort to help me cultivate into a Divine Demon body. It is truly admirable and indeed makes me ashamed."

"Whenever I recall the past, I deeply regret my actions. Fortunately, His Majesty disregarded my previous offenses, allowing me to stay and cultivate within the Flower Evil Divine Gang, even occasionally feeding me with his own essence blood to nourish my Divine Demon body. Hereafter, I can only serve His Majesty loyally to express my gratitude!"

Zhong Ang, without needing Shi Feiyang's reminder, volunteered, "I was the Sect Hierarch of Golden Flower Sect in Qingtian, Zhejiang, and committed numerous atrocities, killing thousands and dishonoring many female disciples, nearly a personification of evil. It was only after His Majesty enlightened me that I renounced my evil ways and willingly dissolved into servitude by His Majesty's side, to atone for my past sins."

True Master Jiang, do not misunderstand His Majesty. Those who kill and refine demons are not necessarily evil. As long as they are combating evil with evil, and repaying tooth for tooth, only then can the fearful be deterred, and more righteousness flourish with reduced evil in this world."

Jiang Shu was rendered speechless by the eloquence of these four, not knowing how to respond, "They... they... they are under your control, and must speak this way, right?"

"No, not at all! Absolutely not!" The four hurriedly interjected, "These are heartfelt words! Absolutely no falsehood!"

Jiang Shu looked at Shi Feiyang, whose gaze shifted elsewhere, not meeting his. He then looked at the four Divine Demons in his palm, these four fellows continuously talked about their wicked and brutal past lives, and how fortunate they had been to be enlightened by His Majesty the Dragon Emperor, thereby repenting and stepping onto the path of righteousness.

Jiang Shu wasn't naive; though he hadn't been through many experiences in this lifetime, he had encountered demon practitioners a few times, and was aware of their methods and styles.

He concentrated and observed closely. Varnagyin II and the other obviously Barbarian Monk in appearance shared a great resemblance with the evildoers of the Western Demon Cult. Wei Fengniang and Zhong Ang's speech and movements also carried many minutiae, reeking of evil.

Originally, he thought they had been refined into demons, their bodies enveloped in Demon Light, but now, they seemed different from those Demon Monks and demon practitioners whom he had encountered in the past, who had used good human souls to create demons.

After much contemplation, he sheathed his Flying Sword and knelt on one knee before Shi Feiyang, "Younger brother has wronged you, elder brother! Please, punish me!"

Shi Feiyang hadn't expected him to admit his fault like this, "You don't blame me for practicing the Demon Path Great Technique anymore?"

Jiang Shu bit his lip and thought for a moment, "I still feel it's not right. Demons are merely trials along the path of cultivation; since they are trials, we should avoid them if possible. Daoist books say there are many types of demons, using various means to lead cultivators to fall; we must not provoke them."

"That day, elder brother, you explained the Dao to me, and seemed like a person who's almost a Heavenly Immortal. You have plenty of methods to achieve your goals; why must you still practice magic? And to carry these demons with you, I have seen many practitioners of the Demon Path nurturing demons and fierce ghosts, relying on them to harm others, but I struck them back with a single Taiyin Divine Thunder, and they immediately turned and devoured their masters."

"What if... if one day, by any oversight, they turn against you, you might be beyond salvation!"

"So you think that I essentially belong to the Mysterious Sect of the Righteous Path, simply dabbling in the skills of the Demonic Path, not truly a demon intent on cultivating the Mysterious Sect's techniques as a guise to harm the world?"

"Ah?" Jiang Shu was slightly baffled; he had never considered the latter possibility, "Which demon can cultivate the Formless Immortal Escape in less than a teatime? When all things converge, akin to Great Communication, if a demon could reach such a realm, would he still be a demon?"

"Hmm, it's good that you think this way." Shi Feiyang helped him up, "Since you don't mind, I'll use these four Divine Demons to retrieve the hook."

Having said that, he threw up the four small figures, which transformed into four red lights and dove into the spring.

Jiang Shu approached and whispered, "Elder brother, do you have other Divine Demons? Are there only these four?"

"There are three more, one is the Great Demon of Antarctica from ancient times, and the other two are Feng Wu and Bi Xi, whom we killed a few days ago. However, I haven't started refining them yet; it's just an idea."

"Those two?" Jiang Shu recalled the two practitioners of the Demon Path, speaking vehemently, "Those two utterly conscienceless demons! Turning them straight into soulless entities was too lenient for them! They indeed deserve to be brutally refined into such demons!"

Shi Feiyang chuckled, "Why are you suddenly saying this?"

Jiang Shu spoke indignantly, "Do you know how many innocents those two evil paths have harmed? They tortured them to death with their nefarious methods, and after their deaths, they even extracted their souls to sacrificially refine demons. You saw those souls too, didn't you? A thousand cuts wouldn't be too much for them!"

"Right, then later..." He initially wanted to say, later you join me in refining those two, then quickly reconsidered, as Jiang Shu practicing magic now might lead him into tribulation...

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