"Heart demon?!" the others who were hiding exclaimed in shock as they looked at Shu Mu. 

Cheng Sheng looked at Shu Mu before he flipped in the air and landed on the floor smoothly. "Heart demon and qi deviation can make a righteous cultivator turn to a demonic cultivator." he said. "It is due to the demonic qi poison present in both of them." he explained. 

Shu Mu controlled his emotions and also jumped down, following Cheng Sheng but not to attack him. He sheathed his sword as he looked at Cheng Sheng. "You're really good to notice I have a heart demon." he told him.

Cheng Sheng just shrugged his shoulders. "Excessive stress can easily give birth to a heart demon." He said.

"How can I remove the demonic qi poison in my body?" Shu Mu asked.

Cheng Sheng looked at the magic pills in his hand. "This magic pill must be specifically made. I can't even guess its ingredients." He said.

Shu Mu looked at the magic pills that he felt his salvation before. Now, he only felt disgust towards it. He knocked the bottle off Cheng Sheng's hand and it broke when it fell on the floor. Then, disregarding the pain on his feet, he crushed each pill together with the broken pieces of the bottle. "Then how did you know why I suddenly became temperamental?" he asked.

"Because I also felt irritation when I sniffed it." Cheng Sheng answered as he looked at the magic pills that turned into fine powders. He immediately took out a Fire talisman and burned them. Then, he took out a magic pill and crushed it. The calming scent of the magic pill replaced the disgusting burnt smell from the magic pills of Shu Mu.

"You – " Shu Mu said and stared at him.

"I guessed it acts as your maintenance." Cheng Sheng said. "It had to be taken regularly, without a miss." he said. "That's one way I guessed you took one of those magic pills today." he explained. 

"You're right." Shu Mu said. "I take one each day." he explained.

"What will you do now?" Cheng Sheng asked. "It acts as a drug for you. If you'll stop taking it, you'll have a withdrawal." He told him.

"I'll just endure it." Shu Mu answered. "But, I have to remove the demonic qi poison from my body." he said. 

Cheng Sheng nodded. "Yes. It'll make your withdrawal become worse." He told him. "I won't advise you with your heart demon, though." He said as he took out the new magic pills he made – the Cleansing Meridian Pills. "This can only cleanse the demonic qi poison. Since your meridians will be cleansed, your withdrawal from those pills will also be relieved." He explained as he threw the bottle to Shu Mu. Shu Mu caught the bottle. "Helping you solve your problem is one matter. My magic pills are another matter." He suddenly said and reached out his hand.

"Huh?" Shu Mu said as he looked at Cheng Sheng's hand. He was confused by his action. What does this mean? He thought. 

"Your pay in exchange for my magic pills." Cheng Sheng explained as he waved his hand at him.

Shu Mu's face darkened as he silently took out his coin purse.

Cheng Sheng immediately grabbed it and he counted the gold ingots inside. "Alright! I knew being a mage will bring me money! Sword will grant me glory!1 Hahahahaha!" he laughed as he skipped around, ignoring Shu Mu after he finished his business with him. 

The solemn atmosphere before was gone. Suddenly, they can't help but pity Shu Mu who was used as a cannon fodder again.

"What's the matter with Qian Lin?" Li Tian asked as they went out of hiding and approached Shu Mu. Now that they knew the story behind Shu Mu's excessive attitude, their indifference towards him is gone. 

Hearing Qian Lin's name, Shu Mu frowned. "I was just brainwashed by my father." He said. Before they could ask, he continued. "I was too young at that time. Being constantly brainwashed to be used as his weapon for revenge…" he clicked his tongue as he took out a magic pill from Cheng Sheng and ate it. Suddenly, his complexion turned better and his body felt lighter. Cheng Sheng's magic pills are really effective. "I'll apologize with Qian Lin in the future." He added.

They blankly stared at him. … his character really changed. So his hatred towards Qian Lin is due to the demonic qi poison and those magic pills? They thought.

"These magic pills are really good." Shu Mu said as he stared at the high-quality magic pills he bought from Cheng Sheng.

"… you're being used as a test subject." Lei Qing reminded him.

However, Shu Mu just shrugged. "He's really great as a mage. He should just be a mage. He'll become rich overnight." He said and then took out a talisman. "Tell Cheng Sheng, if he finally decided what favor he'll ask of me, just burn this talisman and I'll immediately arrive." He said and gave the talisman to Fei Yin. Then, he stared at Fei Yin before he patted him on the shoulder. "Don't stare at me like that." he said. "Even though Cheng Sheng's a great person, but I'm not into men." He told him before he left.

"… that's really unexpected." You Rou said as they watched Shu Mu left. 

"Ah Sheng's greed1 isn't, though." Chen Han said, then looked upstairs when they heard Cheng Sheng's laughter from the roof. 

Cheng Sheng approached Shu Mu just to make a business out of Shu Mu's condition. He gained a favor from helping him, and also gained money! Hitting two birds with one stone, Cheng Sheng is really good in grasping opportunities!

Righteous Alliance.

"This is really worrying." Zheng Fu Gong sighed.

"Yeah." Jing Cheng nodded. "For the demonic cultivators to suddenly become silent…" he said.

"It's highly unlikely they retreated." Xie Lan said as he lazily laid his back on his seat.

"There's still no report from the scouting disciples and elders?" Jing Xian asked.

"No." Wu Yuan answered. "It's like they had vanished into thin air." He frowned.

"Elder Pai. There's still no reaction from your barriers?" one of the sect leaders asked.

A vein popped in Pai Lie's head. "No." he gritted his teeth. "This is why I said to make Cheng Sheng become my apprentice – " he muttered.

"Elder Pai, you can't disregard the competition's rule." Qi Ling told him.

Pai Lie frowned. "Don't worry. We'll see his performance tomorrow." Jing Xian told him.

Only then was Pai Lie pacified. Tomorrow, he'll be the one picking the contestants to be matched. Cheng Sheng, you just wait! I'll definitely make you my apprentice! He thought in excitement. 

Yunxiao Inn.

"ACHOO!" Cheng Sheng sneezed.

"That's what you get from staying in the roof this late." Chen Han told him as Li Tian handed him warm tea.

"No… someone definitely is talking behind my back!" Cheng Sheng said.

Then, definitely you will sneeze a hundred1 times tonight. They thought.

"Sun-shixiong, Cheng-shixiong, Jing Bai and Gong Xian are the only ones left we know who still has yet to have their match." Lei Ling said. "The first day, Li-shixiong fought against Xi Shi and won. Jing Cheng and Xi Ming also had their matched during the first day. There's also that crazily dangerous rogue cultivator who's dressed up like a demonic cultivator at the last match." He said. He was referring to Wu Xi. "The second day, da shixiong won his match with just one cool kick. There's also Yu Sheng and Jing Kang." he said as he forced himself not to grimace when he mentioned Jing Kang. "Then there's me, who made the first loss of our sect… QAQ" he said and cried. "Fortunately, Xi Xing from the Shanliangde Sect released me from my suffering. On-stage is too scary. TTATT" he said and covered his face. 

You Rou and Lei Qing patted his back to comfort him. 

"Then, the third day, Feng-shixiong fought in a thrilling manner!" Lei Ling continued and looked at Feng Mo with shining eyes filled with admiration. "Jing Hei also had his match, then Xi Ning who had accidentally poisoned Shan Lu." He said and grimaced. He still remember the Sundry Leaf juice Cheng Sheng was planning to make them drink. He hopes Cheng Sheng wouldn't remember it. 

"Then, there's me who unwittingly fell off the stage… wuwwuwu…" You Rou cried.

Lei Ling and Lei Qing patted her back in comfort.

"Then, today, Chen-shixiong is very handsome! That awesome spin in the air - !" Lei Ling continued as he looked at Chen Han who proudly raised his chin and secretly looked at Li Tian. Li Tian just giggled. "Qian Lin also fought with Shu Mu. I really thought Shu Mu would win, but who would expect that reversal?!" he exclaimed. Shu Mu had left earlier. He hopes Shu Mu could apologize to Qian Lin. 

"Then, there's me who had gotten excited and lost sight of Tang Zhe, then jumped off the stage, sending myself to my defeat. I'm so stupid!" Lei Qing face palmed. Lei Ling and You Rou patted her back to comfort her.

They looked at the three. "Lei-shidi. Shijie. Shimei. Thank you for the recap!"

Wow. I just love him. Agree with me? XDnot unexpected because they're talking behind his back, too XD