In the distance, beyond the Silent Bone Forest.
"As expected of Senior Brother Chu's disciple. Just from these two glances, even I almost mistook your second disciple for a true Blood Qi evil cultivator."
Daozi Yuyang sighed with genuine admiration, gazing at the surging, sky-reaching bloody aura ahead.
Chu Xingchen spoke with righteous conviction.
"Say less of such things. My second disciple cultivates a righteous path of the Profound Gate. He does not care to hear that."
"Tell me, which sect's righteous path technique produces such vivid colors?"
"Mine."
"Your second disciple doesn't eat people, does he?"
"What kind of righteous cultivator eats people? My disciple merely looks fierce. Your Taixu Sect has the Heart-Reading Art — surely you can tell whether my disciple's heart is good or bad?"
Chu Xingchen shot him a sidelong glance.
"Keep talking nonsense and I'll have my second disciple eat you."
Daozi Yuyang shrugged. The Taixu Sect did indeed possess the Heart-Reading Art, capable of gauging a person's subjective倾向 toward good or evil.
However, it only worked on cultivators whose cultivation was below one's own.
In his eyes, this technique was rather lackluster.
It was generally used for screening prospective disciples.
The problem was that subjective morality tended to be murky — after all, no one was a perfectly pure paragon of virtue.
But for those who refined their Blood Qi using living people, the distinction remained painfully obvious.
A glance was all it took — evil that dark was like spilled ink, impossible to miss.
Yet in Daozi Yuyang's perception, Li Xingtian — wrapped in that bloody aura — did not appear dark at all.
If anything, he leaned slightly toward the light.
With just those two glances, even if Li Xingtian truly did eat people, Daozi Yuyang would have assumed his victims deserved it.
It was simply that opportunities to tease Chu Xingchen were few and far between. Ordinarily, he was the one being teased.
Naturally, Daozi Yuyang was not about to let this golden chance slip away.
He continued, "Your second disciple is an excellent actor. Playing the villain, he's captured quite a bit of your essence."
Chu Xingchen did not even look up. He was watching a streak of rainbow light shatter his second disciple's Blood Qi Spirit Blade.
Along with that bizarre creature who had claimed his second disciple smelled delicious — a figure that scarcely looked human.
Chu Xingchen spoke calmly.
"Here they come. Now it's your turn to play the villain. They won't come alone — we can't alert them. You go first, and I'll cover your rear."
"Me?" Daozi Yuyang turned to stare at Chu Xingchen.
Chu Xingchen clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"This is Taixu Sect territory. Your showing up is perfectly reasonable. If Xu Jin were to appear instead, they'd recognize the trap immediately and scatter. Why else do you think I arranged for you and me to come here together?"
"The same logic applies to me — so you're the most suitable choice. Stand beside my second disciple in a moment. Let them feel what it's like when the referee steps onto the field and blows a biased whistle."
"Show them just how crooked the world really is."
"What are you even talking about…"
Daozi Yuyang let out a soft sigh. He did not fully understand Chu Xingchen's words, but he grasped the general idea.
He could not help but worry that the Taixu Sect's reputation might not be quite so spotless after today.
With that, Daozi Yuyang's form dissolved into a streak of rainbow light, speeding toward Li Xingtian's position.
———
"I wondered why you'd rush here to die. Turns out you called in this kind of trash."
Li Xingtian stood poised in midair. Even though the masked cultivator's aura was overwhelmingly powerful — at the very least, his cultivation was at the Deity Transformation stage or above — and he was no sham like Donggua.
Li Xingtian's tone remained iron-hard.
The reason was simple.
At this moment, the ones who were surrounded were not him, but Donggua and her people.
And it was not just Donggua who had backing — he, Li Xingtian, had backing too.
His was considerably stronger.
The eerie masked man wasted no words. In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance to Li Xingtian, pressing down with a tide of murky, pitch-black Primal Source power.
Li Xingtian did not move. He had already sensed a force behind him, faster than the masked man before him.
"Delicious? Your tastes are rather peculiar."
Donggua had just hauled half a Watermelon out of a deep crater when she witnessed the scene.
Daozi Yuyang hurled a single punch, sending the masked man flying. Then, with a casual raise of his hand, crackling bolts of lightning erupted and slammed down.
The terrifying power, paired with the weighty pressure of profound spiritual force — all of it confirmed that this was the genuine Daozi Yuyang.
Daozi Yuyang hovered in the air. As his words landed, the battlefield fell instantly silent.
Donggua's eyes went wide, her face a mask of sheer disbelief.
She naturally recognized Daozi Yuyang.
But what was he doing here?
Her mind went blank for an instant. Then she snapped her head around toward Cui Hao in the distance.
Among everyone present, the only person who could possibly have a connection to Daozi Yuyang was Cui Hao.
In Donggua's gaze, Cui Hao's face no longer wore that aggravating smirk from before.
Instead, his expression was gentle and composed — which, at this moment, somehow looked even more infuriating.
There was no doubt about it. Cui Hao had betrayed her.
She had lied to her superiors, and Cui Hao had lied to Daozi Yuyang?
Donggua's features twisted with malice. In that instant, she had no interest in figuring out why Cui Hao had turned.
She wanted only one thing — for Cui Hao to die.
"Kill him!"
Donggua sent a voice transmission to the Golden Core cultivator standing beside Cui Hao — a hidden blade she had personally planted.
This man was one of Donggua's trusted subordinates, a little surprise she had arranged specifically for Cui Hao.
The moment she sensed something was off with Cui Hao, this operative was to act on her command and eliminate him on the spot.
The transmission ended.
But the Golden Core cultivator did not move.
Instead, he turned to Donggua with the exact same infuriating smile.
He was taking orders from Cui Hao?
Could it be that none of her people were actually loyal to her?
The fury in Donggua's heart could no longer be contained. It surged straight into her Sea of Consciousness.
"Run. Now."
Watermelon's voice came from beside her. Donggua snapped back to reality and turned.
Half a Watermelon — barely any good flesh left on him — glared with a ferocious expression.
"Forget about everything else. If we run now, we still have a chance."
Donggua's emotions stabilized with practiced speed. She glanced back toward Daozi Yuyang.
With Daozi Yuyang here in person, fighting on was pointless.
Setting aside whether the people sent from above could defeat Daozi Yuyang — even if they could, they would never risk tearing face with one of the Eighteen Immortal Sects, the Taixu Sect, at a time like this.
Donggua glanced at Watermelon, who had warned her at the critical moment. After a moment's thought, she reached out and grabbed his arm, preparing to make another escape.
But the very next moment, over a dozen dense, oppressive auras closed in from all sides.
More than ten cultivators wearing similar eerie masks materialized, thick black Primal Source power churning around their bodies.
Their leader stepped slightly forward. He wore a mask resembling a goat, and his combined-stage cultivation was no longer concealed.
The Goat Mask drew the long sword at his waist — its blade dripping with murky Primal Source power — and spoke in a muffled voice.
"I never expected that the great Daozi Yuyang would start consorting with Blood Qi evil cultivators."
"Our brothers here aren't the sharpest minds. We might not recognize faces. If our hands slip and we strike too hard, that would be most unfortunate."
"Daozi Yuyang, why not withdraw today? We can all walk away in peace."
Daozi Yuyang let out a contemptuous sneer.
"When did you get the impression that any low-down piece of trash is qualified to negotiate terms with me?"
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