Chapter 63: Golden Eyes

The Iron Rod Divine Weapon far surpassed ordinary martial arms. Though Six Ugly’s Fire Raising Heaven attack was not at its full strength, it nevertheless shattered a piece of copper armor on the monster’s abdomen. As the automaton rose, fragments clattered to the ground, and the entire millstone-sized armor plate dropped away from its stomach.

The monster shook its head and roared in fury. Then an astonishing sight appeared: the red-black petrified wood within its wound began to squirm as if alive. Countless tiny wood sprouts grew densely, gradually forming anew and recreating a copper plate that covered the injured spot. Though its color differed slightly from the original, the wound was healed in a blink, and the monster once more chased after Six Ugly with reckless abandon.

This creature possessed enormous strength and speed, but likely due to its long neglect, its body was not as resilient as it once was. After that strike, Six Ugly immediately sensed the automaton’s aura had diminished significantly; its reactions slowed compared to when it first awoke.

“It seems repairing its body takes a great toll on it,” Six Ugly mused, slowing his pace to close the distance with the monster.

Sure enough, when they drew near, the automaton launched another sudden assault, closing in behind Six Ugly with astonishing swiftness and biting down hard.

A trap sprung, just as intended.

Six Ugly’s figure flashed like lightning; he leapt into the air, and with a fierce swing, smashed his iron rod down onto the monster’s head. Copper fragments flew everywhere as its head armor shattered again. The monster turned in pain, but Six Ugly appeared behind its back like a phantom, landing two more blows that broke another piece of armor off its back.

After several such exchanges, Six Ugly had destroyed most of the automaton’s copper armor. Withdrawing his rod, he stood at a distance, coldly watching and waiting for it to repair itself, wondering if it would exhaust its spiritual essence and be rendered powerless.

The monster’s body was riddled with wounds, as though countless gaping mouths had opened and squirmed. All the wood sprouts thrashed wildly, rapidly regrowing the copper plates to repair its shell. Yet its aura faded just as quickly, and by the time its wounds were mostly healed, it was nearly depleted, collapsing to the ground like a dying beast, no longer daring to pursue.

Six Ugly sneered, raised his rod, and approached the monster.

He had no intention of dismantling it entirely, but neither could he leave it in the Gourd Realm—if it damaged the Demon Refining Gourd, he would only bring trouble upon himself. So Six Ugly planned to remove a few more armor plates to render the creature completely dormant, ensuring safety.

He had barely drawn near before the monster suddenly howled and, to his surprise, spoke in human tongue:

“Spare me! Spare me, Immortal! I did not recognize your divine power and foolishly raised arms against you—please forgive me…”

Six Ugly was momentarily taken aback. From its previous behavior, the monster seemed only to possess the intelligence of a beast, yet now it spoke fluently and logically. This was good; if it could communicate, it was far superior to a mere automaton.

“You are not an automaton beast?” Six Ugly stood firm and asked coldly, “What is your origin? Speak truthfully!”

The automaton cried out, “Immortal! I am Zhenying, a relic beast from ancient times. Later, I submitted to my master Chi You, but fell in battle against the Yellow Emperor. My master then collected divine wood and forged copper and iron to rebuild my body, soaking it in the pool of Tianshan for eighty-one days before awakening. Yet when I awoke, my master had already been slain at Zhuolu, his body severed. I searched high and low, but exhausted my spiritual essence and perished, only to awaken now.”

Six Ugly drew a sharp breath. “You mean you were once a living creature, and only your body was remade?”

The monster nodded vigorously, “That is so. At the core of my torso lies a Tianshan divine stone preserving my organs and mind. Without it, I could not have been revived.”

Six Ugly secretly marveled. Such feats existed only in science fiction of later ages: brains preserved in cultivation vats, cyborgs, half-man half-machine beings. To think that in ancient times such things had already been accomplished, and had lasted all these years without decay—a testament to the craft.

As for Zhenying, Six Ugly only recalled it as a legendary beast of antiquity, but knew little else.

“Why did you attack me upon waking?” Six Ugly asked after a moment’s thought.

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Zhenying wailed, “I am forged from divine wood and copper iron, and long ago lost the ability to draw spiritual essence from the world. Now I can only absorb demon cores or inner pills to replenish myself. When I awoke, I knew my essence was insufficient, and you, Immortal, appeared before me in your true demon form, so…”

“You can see through my demon form?” Six Ugly was startled. He had used the Divine Form technique many times, always fooling lesser demons, but had never been seen through—yet this automaton beast of only fifth or sixth tier had discerned his nature. It was remarkable.

Zhenying replied, “Your divine powers are vast, far beyond ordinary transformation arts, but not fully cultivated. I can see through them, as can any immortal ascendant. Only when you pass the heavenly tribulation and become a monster immortal can you conceal yourself from ordinary immortals. But to deceive true immortals or golden immortals, your rank must be higher.”

Six Ugly now understood: Divine Form, like ordinary transformation, required rank to support it. It could perfectly mimic speech, mannerisms, and thoughts—an advanced skill compared to basic transformations—but hiding from those of much higher rank was still impossible.

He made a mental note and asked Zhenying, “When you were inert, could you see or hear what happened outside? Do you know?”

Zhenying replied, “I did know at first, but it grew fuzzy over time, as if drunk. Even if I saw or heard something, I barely remember.”

“That’s enough,” Six Ugly nodded. “Now, what do you intend? If you wish to leave, you may, but stay a few days so I can ask what I need. Then you are free…”

As he spoke, Six Ugly watched Zhenying’s movements and saw hesitation in its eyes. He continued, “But you must know, the world now belongs to the Yellow Emperor’s descendants. With your current identity, you would not survive outside. Without demon cores or pills, you would perish again!”

Zhenying shuddered, struck directly by Six Ugly’s words, which voiced its greatest fear. The reason it had just risked attacking Six Ugly was for a demon core; now that the truth was laid bare, it hesitated and felt lost.

Six Ugly observed Zhenying’s terror and spoke plainly, “If you are willing to submit, I can take you as a servant, shelter you here until it’s safe, then release you as a companion. I will also help you obtain demon cores and pills as needed. What do you say?”

Unlike other dynasties, the Great Zhou was rife with slavery, making things much simpler. Six Ugly spoke his mind without twisting words.

Zhenying was overjoyed. Though he knew Six Ugly’s strength was not overwhelming, given his situation, this was the best option. He immediately knelt before Six Ugly and bowed, “Zhenying is willing to become your servant, Immortal. Please take me in.”

As Zhenying submitted, a warm current surged in Six Ugly’s mind, and he sensed Zhenying’s thoughts. Zhenying’s face showed astonishment, but in an instant, an intangible mental link formed between them.

It seemed this was a property of the Gourd Realm: here, oaths and submissions gained a force of confirmation and supervision.

Though it was only a simple mental link, unable to probe memories or knowledge, it saved much trouble.

“Excellent!”

To have gained a beast who knew thousands of years before and after the Great Zhou was like acquiring a living encyclopedia—far more useful than mere raw material for refining, and it could be hidden in the Gourd Realm as a helper. Only the matter of demon cores was troublesome, as funds were lacking.

Six Ugly was pleased with his unexpected gain, and set aside the demon core issue for now. Suddenly remembering something, he asked, “Now that you are my servant, you should have a new name. What was your former name?”

Zhenying, feeling the change and fearing the little demon before him was not as simple as he appeared—especially since the realm itself was rare—replied honestly, “My master once named me Red Eye, for my crimson gaze. Now that I serve a new master, please grant me a new name.”

Six Ugly pondered and smiled, “That name is apt, but you are right. ‘Red Eye’ does not sound well. Let me give you a new name—from now on, you shall be called Golden Eyes.”

“Thank you, master!” Golden Eyes replied.

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Having tamed the automaton beast, Six Ugly was about to depart when he paused, pointing to an object in the corner of the courtyard. “Let me ask—does that item serve any use for you?”

Golden Eyes looked and saw it was a human corpse, devoid of spiritual essence. He replied, “I require only demon cores or inner pills, or the golden core or nascent soul of humans, demons, or immortals. Ordinary flesh or vegetables are useless to me.”

“Good,” Six Ugly nodded. “In that case, remember—do not damage or defile it and spoil my affairs.”

“Yes, master.”

***

Having acquired Golden Eyes, Six Ugly urgently needed demon cores. Unable to find clues to any demons for the moment, he lingered a while until recalling what he had seen at Eagle’s Unmoored purchasing shop that day.

The servant had said that if clues were reported and confirmed, they would pay for them. This meant he had some knowledge of demon whereabouts. Since Six Ugly could not find any himself, why not cooperate and hunt a few to tide things over?

Decision made, Six Ugly soon arrived at the shop. The servant who had greeted him before quickly put on a bright smile and bowed, “Greetings, sir. What brings you back?”

Six Ugly nodded casually—his status suited such. “I do have business. Is the steward present?”

The servant’s delight grew. He respectfully led Six Ugly to a rear suite, served him water, and departed. Not long after, an old man with a receding hairline, dressed in coarse robes and with wrinkled face, walked in with a cheerful smile, bowing, “Ah, greetings, greetings! The lad said you had business; I am late, forgive me, forgive me.”

Though he apologized, there was not a hint of guilt on his face. He strode in boldly. Six Ugly cared little for such formalities and went straight to the point, “Are you the steward here?”

“I am,” the old man replied. “What do you require?”

“I hear you buy demon information. Can you make decisions on such?”

“Oh? Do you have demon information to sell?” The old man’s face lit up. “If the information is true, our society will certainly pay for it.”

“Not to sell, but to buy.” Six Ugly said lazily, “Any demon in the city—give me the information and I will hunt and sell it to you.”

The old man’s eyes narrowed, his smile fading. For a moment, his murky gaze seemed to flash with a sharp gleam. Six Ugly was briefly confused, but on closer look, the old man’s eyes were as cloudy as before—it must have been an illusion.

The old man said nothing, merely picked up a small cup and slowly drank its water.

Six Ugly also remained silent, waiting patiently.

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