After Jiang Yun cleared Tianfu Peak in less than ten breaths, everyone basically lost interest in the performance of the other Disciples challenging the peaks.
The final result was that only Jiang Yun successfully cleared the peak.
This naturally made Jiang Yun's already rising reputation completely resound throughout Wen Dao Sect, even surpassing Fang Yuxuan's fame back then.
Jiang Yun didn't care about fame at all; he had long since returned to his small house to prepare for tomorrow's peak challenge.
Tomorrow, Hundred Beast Peak would be opened, which made Jiang Yun involuntarily think of Lu Xiaoyu.
"Xiaoyu has been gone for more than half a year. I wonder how she's doing now, and if she's reached the Road of No Return at the Boundary Sea."
As he muttered to himself, Jiang Yun suddenly remembered the brush Lu Xiaoyu had entrusted to him for safekeeping before she left, and he casually took it out.
Back then, due to his grief and indignation, Jiang Yun hadn't examined it closely, but now, taking out the brush, he found it incredibly heavy in his hand, which made him look at it a few more times.
Upon closer inspection, he couldn't help but frown.
Although it looked like an ordinary brush, its body was not made of wood but from some kind of beast bone, and what was most peculiar was that the brush tip only had eight hairs!
Moreover, the eight hairs were not even the same color; each was a different color, distinct from the others.
Jiang Yun brought the brush to his nose, sniffed it carefully for a moment, and then said, "What kind of brush is this? Although I don't know what kind of beasts the brush body and hairs come from, it's not hard to guess that they should belong to nine different types of beasts."
While in Mang Mountain, Jiang Yun had used brushes, which were basically made of wood with wolf hair, rabbit hair, and other animal hairs. He had never seen a brush like the one before him.
Although he found it strange, Jiang Yun didn't think too much about it, after all, it belonged to Lu Xiaoyu. Driven by curiosity, he channeled a trace of Spiritual Qi into the brush.
At the same time, the hundreds of scars covering Jiang Yun's Physical Body suddenly trembled slightly.
"Boom!"
Accompanied by an earth-shattering roar in his ears, Jiang Yun felt his vision blur, and he found himself in an unfamiliar place.
This place had no sky, no ground; looking around, everything was void, but in front of Jiang Yun, there was a black shadow ten thousand feet tall!
Standing before this black shadow, Jiang Yun was as tiny as an ant, so small that he couldn't even see the full extent of the black shadow, nor did he know what it truly was.
"Is this... inside that brush?"
Jiang Yun had now seen a bit of the world and knew that the insides of some Magical Artifacts could form their own world, like Storage Rings, but the space within a Storage Ring was worlds apart from this place.
Just as Jiang Yun was bewildered, two balls of light suddenly lit up on the giant black shadow in front of him, followed by a scorching aura blowing towards him.
Under the impact of this aura, Jiang Yun's powerful Physical Body was like a small pebble, constantly recoiling backward until he barely managed to stop a hundred feet away.
Immediately after, a hoarse but thunderous voice suddenly boomed from above: "The smell of a human!"
Jiang Yun finally understood that the voice came from the giant black shadow, and the two balls of light were its eyes.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Yun asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"
"Your aura is so weak, you are not a Demon Refiner, yet you can enter this Demon Refining Brush..." The two balls of light suddenly expanded, like two small suns, shining on Jiang Yun: "A Hearing Dao Demon, no wonder, no wonder!"
Demon Refining Brush, Demon Refiner!
These two unfamiliar terms made Jiang Yun vaguely understand that the Demon Refining Brush should refer to that brush, and a Demon Refiner should be a Cultivator specializing in Demon Refining, much like an Artifact Refiner.
But how does one refine a Demon? And what is the use of Demon Refining?
"Could it be that Xiaoyu and her grandfather are Demon Refiners? And this black shadow before me is some kind of Demon, sealed into this Demon Refining Brush by Xiaoyu's grandfather? But what is a Hearing Dao Demon?"
Several questions flashed quickly through Jiang Yun's mind. He looked at the black shadow and asked again, "Are you a Demon?"
The black shadow did not answer immediately, instead, it stared at Jiang Yun with its massive eyes. After a moment, it spoke again: "I am a Demon. My name is Baize, little human, how about we make a deal?"
"What deal?" Jiang Yun narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "If you want me to release you from this brush, I cannot agree."
Since Jiang Yun had already deduced that this Demon named Baize was sealed within this Demon Refining Brush, the purpose of its deal with him was nothing more than to escape and gain freedom.
Jiang Yun had no aversion to Demons. If this brush were his, he might agree, but the owner of this brush was Lu Xiaoyu, so he had no right to make the decision.
Baize shook its massive body and said, "I don't need you to release me; besides, with your meager Dao cultivation, you can't release me anyway. I only need you to help me find that Hearing Dao Demon! In return, I can grant you one wish."
Jiang Yun shook his head and said, "I don't know what a Hearing Dao Demon is!"
Baize fell into thought again, and after a long time, it continued, "Then who is closest to you, or who have you lived with the longest?"
"Grandfather!" Without even thinking, Jiang Yun blurted out immediately.
"Then help me find your Grandfather!"
Hearing this, Jiang Yun's heart suddenly stirred. He already knew that his Grandfather was also of the Yao Race, so could it be that the Hearing Dao Demon Baize spoke of was his own Grandfather?
If the other party merely wished to see his Grandfather, he could agree. Therefore, Jiang Yun pondered, "I can, but not now. Also, I don't need you to grant me any wish!"
Although Jiang Yun knew that the wish Baize spoke of might be an opportunity for him, this Demon Refining Brush belonged to Lu Xiaoyu, so this opportunity should also belong to Lu Xiaoyu, and he could not claim it for himself under any circumstances.
"Oh?" Baize was clearly a bit surprised and said, "Do you really have no wish?"
"No!"
Baize blinked and said, "What if I could help you open your twelfth Meridian!"
"Boom!"
This sentence immediately stirred up a monstrous wave in Jiang Yun's heart.
Only Gu Bu Lao and Dao Tianyou knew that he had opened eleven Meridians; even Dongfang Bo and the others were unaware. Yet, this Baize had revealed it in one breath, and could even help him open the final Meridian.
"Don't believe it? I forgot to tell you just now, my name is Baize, Heavenly Yao Baize! The Heaven I belong to is not the Heaven of this realm, therefore, my power is not among those of this realm!"
Although Baize's words were full of temptation, and Jiang Yun truly wanted to open the last Meridian, and even believed that Baize could do it, he ultimately gritted his teeth and shook his head, saying, "No need!"
Baize didn't insist, chuckling strangely, "Alright, since I've already awakened, there will be plenty of time in the future. Whenever you change your mind, you can come find me!"
Amidst Baize's strange laughter, Jiang Yun's consciousness gradually blurred until it completely disappeared. When he regained consciousness, he found himself still in his small house, still holding the Demon Refining Brush in his hand.
However, compared to before, one of the eight white hairs on the brush tip now had a faint glow.
Jiang Yun did not try to infuse Spiritual Qi into the brush again; he quickly put it into his Storage Ring, because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of opening the twelve Meridians.
At the same same time, Gu Bu Lao, who was at the peak of Hidden Peak, suddenly opened his eyes, a hint of suspicion flashing within them as he looked towards Jiang Yun's small house, but then he closed them again and softly said, "The aura of a Heavenly Yao..."
