"Can't see evil beings?" Ember heard Xingqiu's words and carefully observed Chongyun in front of him.
Hmm, he was a young man with a strong inner fire.
Ember nodded. The vibrant, life-specific aura flowing around Chongyun was much more intense than that of ordinary people, almost overflowing.
This aura, which he called vitality, should be called 'Pure Yang Body' in Liyue.
"Hehe, don't let Chongyun's mastery of exorcism fool you. He's never even seen what an evil being looks like!" Xingqiu's face showed mischief. He often teased Chongyun about this.
"Senior, you haven't seen Chongyun's 'the family record of demonic oddities'. It's all about..."
"You talk too much!" Before Xingqiu could finish, Chongyun lunged forward and covered Xingqiu's mouth.
Chongyun had no secrets, but if he had to name one, it would be this 'the family record of demonic oddities'.
This wasn't because the book contained some earth-shattering secret or recorded some super-powerful spell.
'the family record of demonic oddities' was a family heirloom, a catalog of evil beings. Each successive inheritor meticulously documented the evil beings they had subdued within its pages.
From Nameless minor monsters to great demons active in strange tales, all were recorded. In addition to detailed textual descriptions, previous inheritors also included illustrations.
It could be said that Chongyun's greatest aid on his path of subduing demons and eliminating evil was this all-encompassing family book.
However, a small problem arose when this 'the family record of demonic oddities' was passed down to Chongyun: he simply couldn't see what evil beings looked like.
Consequently, the artistic style of the 'the family record of demonic oddities' became increasingly peculiar. Fierce beasts with seven wings and five legs, half-fish, half-Hilichurl-like monsters—it's best not to delve too deeply.
"Hmm..., an Exorcist who can't see evil beings. That's certainly new," Ember mused for a moment, then chuckled.
"It's not new at all," Chongyun shook his head expressionlessly.
"Senior, do you know what it feels like to go out with high hopes and return disappointed every single time? Every single time!!!"
Chongyun clenched his fists. Every time rumors of a fierce ghost or similar appeared, he was the first to arrive.
But each time he arrived, those supposedly powerful ghosts from the rumors were burned to ashes by his Pure Yang Body. This even made him waver slightly in his path of subduing demons and eliminating evil.
Was he truly suited for this path?
"Is there a solution?" Ember raised an eyebrow. It seemed Chongyun had a lot of resentment about not being able to see evil beings.
If it could make such a quiet young man so agitated, how could that resentment not be great?
"No. Chongyun initially thought about suppressing his Pure Yang Body. Later, at my persuasion, he shifted to searching for evil beings that wouldn't be scared away by his Pure Yang Body," Xingqiu shook his head.
"It seems there's still no effect, then?" Ember saw Chongyun's hair, which had stood up, soften again, and he smacked his lips.
"Such evil beings simply can't be found," Chongyun spread his hands. The threat of the Pure Yang Body to evil beings was too great; evil beings unafraid of the Pure Yang Body simply couldn't be found.
"Haha, are you two busy?" Ember saw Chongyun and Xingqiu in this state and knew it was his turn to make an appearance!
Liyue's underground was not lacking in evil beings.
"Not busy."
"If we were busy, we wouldn't be strolling through Night Market."
Xingqiu and Chongyun replied. Performing heroic deeds and subduing demons and eliminating evil knew no holidays.
They were currently strolling through Liyue because the Lantern Rite was approaching, villains had reined themselves in, evil beings had retreated, and they had nothing to do.
"That's good. Follow me! I'll take you to see some evil beings."
"Hmm..., very powerful evil beings, ones that even the Pure Yang Body can't dispel!"
Ember gave a mysterious smile to Xingqiu and Chongyun behind him, then turned and walked against the flow of people.
Xingqiu and Chongyun exchanged glances, then shouted and followed him.
"Senior, wait for me!" x2
...Cuijue Slope, located west of Guili Plains and north of Luhua Pool, was geographically just another ordinary depression in Liyue.
Such places were countless in Liyue. It was said that the giant depressions scattered across Liyue's land were all caused by Lord Rex Lapis's rock spears during the Archon War. As for whether it was true or false, no one could verify it anymore.
Upon entering Cuijue Slope, everyone noticed the difference there.
Although the weather had been bright and sunny just moments before, as soon as they entered Cuijue Slope, it became overcast.
Thick dark clouds blocked out all light, making the entire Cuijue Slope incredibly dim.
In the dimness, however, a glimmer of light existed.
Aside from the flames emitted by the commonly growing flame flowers, the most striking feature of Cuijue Slope was the nine colossal stone pillars standing in the depression.
noctilucous jade seemed to be embedded in the stone pillars, emitting a faint, warm yellow glow in the dimness.
"Ah... Achoo!" Standing on the hillside, Xingqiu felt the cold wind blowing towards him and, uncharacteristically, sneezed.
His body had been strengthened by his Vision; neither scorching summer nor deep winter would cause him any discomfort. He hadn't expected to feel cold here.
"This place... is somewhat unusual." As an Exorcist, Chongyun was much more sensitive than Xingqiu when it came to detecting evil beings.
He could sense the difference, but he couldn't articulate what it was.
"No, as people of Liyue, haven't you been here before?" Ember saw Xingqiu and Chongyun's bewildered expressions upon seeing the place for the first time and immediately complained.
He, who had only been in Liyue for a few months, had already traveled all over Liyue, yet these two locals had never been to Cuijue Slope?
"Who would come to such a desolate place for no reason? To perform heroic deeds for Hilichurls and Slimes?"
"Precisely. I can't even see evil beings, so in such an uninhabited place, even if there were demons, I couldn't get rid of them."
Xingqiu and Chongyun nodded in unison. How vast was Liyue? To truly traverse it all would take an incredibly long time.
Only someone like Ember, who was ridiculously fast and had no serious business to attend to all day, could travel all over Liyue in such a short time.
"Is this the dwelling place of the great demon Senior spoke of?" Chongyun stepped forward and carefully examined Cuijue Slope below.
Scattered rubble, weathered and decayed remains, Hilichurls chasing who knew what... If one ignored the abnormal weather and the giant stone pillars nearby, Cuijue Slope was no different from other desolate areas in Liyue.
"Yes, this is it." Ember's gaze fell upon a tightly closed stone door within Cuijue Slope.
"Demonic winds howl, captivating the soul. This place is definitely where a great demon resides!" Before Chongyun could say anything, Xingqiu started muttering a few lines, shaking his head.
"When did you learn the art of identifying demons and seeking evil?" Chongyun was somewhat surprised to hear Xingqiu speak so eloquently.
Could it be that his close friend had been secretly studying exorcism on his own?
"I learned it from storytellers." As expected, Xingqiu hadn't learned any exorcism arts; he was just spouting nonsense.
"Tsk, you're no good at this. We need a professional." Ember waved his hand at Xingqiu, then patted Chongyun's shoulder and asked:
"Well, what have you figured out?"
Chongyun remained silent. At this moment, his hands were clasped together, and between his palms, a yellow talisman stood upright.
The talisman was as stiff as steel. Despite the biting cold wind on the hillside, the paper talisman showed no movement.
"Clap, clap, clap!"
The talisman in Chongyun's hand emitted crisp cracking sounds. The talisman split into tiny strips from the middle, and each strip pointed in a specific direction.
"Nine realms aligned, to appease demonic grievances."
"The nine cardinal directions, that is the heart of the formation."
"The position of the formation's eye is right here!"
The talisman in Chongyun's hand spontaneously combusted, and amidst a pile of ashes, he understood the extraordinary nature of this place.
The location of these nine stone pillars was a formation point found by a highly skilled individual to suppress a God.
With the nine pillars connected, the entire Cuijue Slope, using the nine pillars as positions and heaven and earth as a diagram, formed a great demon-suppressing array.
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