"Where is Yuan Zhen?" Perfected One Yuan Mu asked outside the Carefree Valley.
A Core Formation cultivator guarding the entrance at a large tree reported, "Reporting to the Head Senior Uncle, Uncle-Master Yuan Zhen said he is keeping watch inside. If the Head Senior Uncle arrives, just send him a message."
Perfected One Yuan Mu's brows furrowed deeply. While this person said to contact Yuan Zhen, in reality, he had sent a message talisman to Yuan Zhen the moment he arrived, but Yuan Zhen had not received it. The current situation was truly bizarre.
"Senior Brother Yuan Mu." Another mid-stage cultivator with a full beard stepped forward and asked, "Could Junior Brother Yuan Zhen have been dragged into it?"
"No." Perfected One Yuan Mu's expression was heavy. "He was just told to keep watch. It's not a difficult task. Could he really fail at even this?"
Hearing the displeasure in Perfected One Yuan Mu's tone, the bearded cultivator said no more, only asking, "Then what should we do next? Go straight in?"
Perfected One Yuan Mu was also struggling with this question. After thinking for a moment, he slowly said, "Yuan Zhen has always been reliable. It's impossible for him to disappear without reason."
The bearded cultivator understood his implication: "Senior Brother suspects someone has trapped Junior Brother Yuan Zhen?"
Perfected One Yuan Mu nodded. "Yuan Zhen must have encountered a difficult problem. There were three of them, yet they vanished without a trace—someone is definitely targeting them. Perhaps they are targeting us."
"Impossible?" the bearded cultivator said. "Who would dare? Competing for treasure is one thing, but if they deliberately kill our sect's cultivators, aren't they afraid of angering the Jiuyan Sect?"
Perfected One Yuan Mu was clearly not so optimistic. He said, "Senior Brother Iron Face passed away only a few decades ago, and I am injured. It's hard to say if someone thinks their chance to overturn us has come."
The bearded cultivator knew Perfected One Yuan Mu's words made sense and asked, "Since Senior Brother believes Junior Brother Yuan Zhen is in trouble, should we first search for Junior Brother Yuan Zhen, or rescue Junior Brother Ling?"
Perfected One Yuan Mu's brows furrowed repeatedly, clearly very troubled. "Let's find Yuan Zhen first. That kid has always been lucky; he probably won't die for now."
The 'kid' he referred to was Ling Yunhe. The bearded cultivator thought for a moment and said, "Senior Brother Yuan Mu, Yuan Zhen has three people with him. What could they have that others covet? Even if they are temporarily trapped, they likely aren't in mortal danger. On the other hand, Junior Brother Ling... In recent days, Nascent Soul cultivators from all major sects have been rushing here. I fear Junior Brother Ling won't hold out much longer. The God-Restricting Bead cannot be lost. And now he claims to have obtained the Black Tortoise inheritance. Shouldn't we go to him sooner?"
Perfected One Yuan Mu snorted coldly. "Why rescue him sooner? He's becoming more and more outrageous. Knowing full well those people have a great enmity with our sect, he still associates with them. Fine, he associates with them, but when he got news about the Black Tortoise, he didn't notify the sect. Instead, he traveled with those few. Does he even have the sect in his eyes?"
"Senior Brother, please calm your anger," the bearded cultivator hurriedly advised. "Junior Brother Ling is young. After suffering setbacks, it's inevitable he feels displeased and disregards the sect. He doesn't have the courage for that. The Ling family now relies on him to hold things together."
Perfected One Yuan Mu relaxed slightly. "I know that too. Suddenly falling from the heavens would naturally make one feel disheartened. But if he himself doesn't strive, what can be done? The burden of the Jiuyan Sect is too heavy. I don't have the courage to hand it to someone whose actions are too casual."
The bearded cultivator was somewhat dismissive. "In my humble opinion, it's still too early to say that. Historically, the Head Seat has always been of late-Nascent Soul cultivation. Junior Brother Ling formed his Nascent Soul not long ago. Whether he will have the opportunity to reach late-Nascent Soul is still uncertain. If one day he truly advances to late-Nascent Soul, even if Senior Brother dislikes it, you would have no choice but to hand it to him."
Perfected One Yuan Mu knew his words were true and sighed. "Let's find Yuan Zhen first. This matter reeks of strangeness. I have a feeling there's a conspiracy. I won't feel settled until we find Yuan Zhen. As for that kid Ling Yunhe... Hmph, only someone who cultivates the Ice-Fire Art can claim ownership of the God-Restricting Bead. There's no need to worry about that."
Seeing his mind was made up, the bearded cultivator said no more: "Yes, Senior Brother." He sighed inwardly. This senior brother had always been suspicious and meticulous. Once suspicion arose, it was like a thorn stuck in his heart. He wouldn't be able to ease his concerns until he found Yuan Zhen. However, by saying this, he had clearly decided that if it came down to it, he would abandon Ling Yunhe. After all, having lost his status as heir, Ling Yunhe alone was not as important as the three people with Yuan Zhen. Thinking of Ling Shiyu, who had always been on good terms with him, the bearded cultivator sighed secretly. Without Ling Yunhe, the Ling family would truly decline.
Nan Guitian and Daoist Ruyi were flying swiftly. Soon, the two stopped at the end of a stone passageway, revealing expressions of shock and suspicion.
"What's going on?" Nan Guitian looked at the densely piled rubble blocking their path, his brows tightly furrowed.
Daoist Ruyi stepped forward to examine it, his face gloomy. "The path has been blocked."
The two exchanged a glance, remaining silent.
This path was the small trail Demon Lord Yueying had led them in through. It was said that the Starfall City had discovered it years ago while searching for demonic ore, accidentally sensing an eerie aura and spending many years digging it out. Without this secret passage, entering would be difficult. They had personally witnessed the terror of the black water taking form.
Now this path was blocked. They extended their spiritual sense and found it was completely sealed. Even as Nascent Soul cultivators, they couldn't clear it.
"How could this happen?" After thinking for a while, Nan Guitian asked, "Brother Ruyi, in your opinion, who blocked this path? And for what purpose?"
Daoist Ruyi pondered for a moment. "Since they blocked the path, they either don't want us to leave for now, or don't want others to enter. Not wanting others to enter is easy to explain—simply that more and more people have been coming these days, making competition harder. But if they don't want us to leave..."
Seeing him remain silent for a long moment, Nan Guitian pressed, "If they don't want us to leave, then what?"
After a good while, Daoist Ruyi let out a breath. "That person must have sinister intentions."
Nan Guitian narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
Daoist Ruyi said, "Why would we want to leave? Besides the treasure being claimed, there's also..."
Nan Guitian thought for a moment and was startled. "To escape!"
Daoist Ruyi nodded gravely.
The two fell silent again. After a long time, Nan Guitian said, "Maybe it's to prevent those few from escaping?"
Daoist Ruyi smiled bitterly. "Brother Nan, when did you learn to deceive yourself?"
Nan Guitian also smiled bitterly. "Yes, I shouldn't deceive myself. With so many of us, how could they escape so easily? Such measures wouldn't be necessary. It's just... I really can't believe who would make such a grand move." He was only grateful that the people from the Danxia Sect and the Five Elements Valley hadn't arrived yet, sparing them from this calamity.
"Whoever it is, we only have two choices." Daoist Ruyi had already considered the consequences. "First, return immediately and have them temporarily set aside the competition, join forces, and fight their way out. Second, pledge allegiance to the other side."
Before Nan Guitian could speak, clear applause echoed through the silent mountain interior.
"Clap, clap, clap." With the sound, Demon Lord Yueying approached silently, stopping not far from them. "You two fellow Daoists are indeed clever people. I wonder which choice you will make?"
Hearing the voice, the two had already turned around. Seeing Demon Lord Yueying approach without their spiritual sense detecting him at all, they were horrified. Had this old ghost become this terrifying?
However, they were old monsters who had lived for hundreds, nearly a thousand years. A thought flashed through their minds, and they recovered. Given the situation, what couldn't they guess?
"Fellow Daoist Yueying." Daoist Ruyi said gravely. "So all your scheming wasn't for some technique after all."
"No." Demon Lord Yueying said. "At first, I truly was after that junior's technique. I just didn't expect that junior could call in those helpers, rendering all my efforts futile. I knew they would definitely come here. A thought occurred to me—this is truly a good place!"
"Even if you thought of it later, Fellow Daoist must have long harbored killing intent, right?" Nan Guitian stared at him. "Why? What benefit do you gain from killing us? You are a demonic cultivator, controlling only a single city. Even if you want to unify the Demonic Domain, there's no need to kill us all."
Demon Lord Yueying chuckled lightly. "Fellow Daoist Nan seems to think unifying the Demonic Domain is simple?"
Nan Guitian didn't speak.
Demon Lord Yueying continued, "Not to mention how troublesome that old hag Night Frost is, the current situation is that the Dao cultivators have been too strong for too long. Even if I unified the Demonic Domain, I couldn't restore the glorious era when the Demon Sovereign was alive."
"So, Fellow Daoist Yueying wants to be the second Demon Sovereign." Daoist Ruyi said expressionlessly, slowly. "Trapping and killing all of us here, leaving the Dao, Buddhist, and Confucian sects all crippled, and even the only demonic path fellow Daoist who can rival you, Fellow Daoist Night Frost, unable to escape. Then you could unify the Demonic Domain, even dominate Yunzhong."
Thinking of this, he frowned slightly. "No, this isn't something you could do alone. You must have helpers, right?"
"Naturally." Demon Lord Yueying's gaze flickered on his blurred face. "Fellow Daoist Ruyi overestimates me. I do want to be the second Demon Sovereign, but I'm not arrogant enough to want to dominate Yunzhong." So many late-Nascent Soul cultivators—were they easy to exterminate? As long as he eliminated those few who had always been at odds with him here, it would be enough. He only wanted to create an unprecedented, vast Demonic Domain, not become the master of Yunzhong. He knew his limits well. Even when the Demon Sovereign was alive, there were the Four Sages like Fuzi suppressing him, let alone him?
"Then," Nan Guitian sighed, "how does Fellow Daoist Yueying plan to deal with us?"
Demon Lord Yueying stared at them for a long time before saying, "Killing you two wouldn't be too difficult, but that would be a pity. As you just said, I give you two choices: defeat me and escape, or join us."
He used 'us,' not 'me.'
"Well, have you decided?" On that blurred face, Nan Guitian and Daoist Ruyi seemed to see a confident smile.
The two exchanged a glance and spoke in unison: "We'll join."
"Good!" Demon Lord Yueying truly smiled now. Turning, he said, "Follow me."
The next moment, his footsteps halted.
A figure in purple robes emerged from a corner, equally silent. She sighed and said, "Yueying, so this was your plan all along."