【You came back to life, but the price is one Yangqi Pill every month.】
【After this lesson, you understood that the local cultivators here had no discipline. Political struggles were one thing, but hiring assassins? Even the Huayuan Federation wouldn’t stoop to such uncivilized tactics.】
【Though it was unclear whether it was you who struck the blow, you knew the real culprit had to be among the Elder Faction. In this world, everyone’s fighting for profit—those who become your enemies must have conflicting interests with you.】
【With a grand gesture, you dispatched half of the Elder Faction’s cultivators to undertake Xian Alliance missions—missions with over a fifty percent mortality rate. As for the other half, you didn’t let them idle either; their original ten-year posting was extended to twenty years. You intended to squeeze every last drop of value from them.】
【Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, ten years had passed.】
【Simulated fifty-six years.】
“Hmm, the quality of the Yangqi this time is quite good. The little pet must have broken through again.”
Inside Qingyang Hall, a bright Qingyang orb hung high above. Su Bai toyed with the pill bottle in her hand, smacking her lips a few times. Warm streams of Yangqi flowed into her dantian, bringing a comforting heat—oddly reminiscent of eating spicy croton seed.
After praising the rapid progress of her little pet’s cultivation, she picked up a document on disputes over resource points outside the sect and frowned slightly. “The Wanfa Sect Master still refuses to agree to the joint development treaty for the Jinyan Mountains. Their Sect Master is mid-Jindan—troublesome.”
A year ago, a large metal ore vein was discovered at the border between Sanjian Sect and Wanfa Sect, rich with metals suitable for artifact refining. Moreover, Foundation Establishment Cultivators had detected a deep mining cavern inside, housing Jinyan Crystal Stones.
In theory, by the principle that unclaimed resources belong to whoever first exploits them, the Jinyan Mountains should belong to Sanjian Sect. But the Wandao Sect suddenly intervened, inflaming tensions. Currently, five Foundation Establishment Cultivators from both sides stood at a standoff on the border, with a clear tendency to break out into violence at the slightest provocation.
Her slender fingers tapped rhythmically on the table made from superior spirit wood, the “thud thud” echoing through the quiet room.
“The Wanfa Sect has a rival sect—the Po Fa Sect. Their Sect Master is a mid-Jindan expert in corporeal cultivation. Perhaps that can be exploited.”
Su Bai muttered to herself.
“I recall the Po Fa Sect Master recently had a daughter he dotes on, but she’s unruly and difficult to manage. The Po Fa Sect Master has been troubled by this for years. A few years ago, they even held a martial contest to find a husband who could control her. That might be the key.”
The tapping stopped as she began searching for suitable candidates within her sect with matching status and age. But either the candidates were too old or their cultivation insufficient.
The only one close in age and cultivation was Gong Shuxue, a Kunxiu cultivator and the only top-tier prodigy in Su Bai’s cohort.
However, Su Bai had never heard of any courtship involving the Po Fa Sect Master’s daughter.
Once again, the situation fell into a deadlock.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Su Bai spotted the pill on the table. Her eyes lit up. Judging by the purity of the Yangqi Pill, the cultivator’s level should be late Foundation Establishment or Foundation Establishment Complete.
After so many years, it was time for the little pet to make some sacrifices—no, as a member of the sect, he should contribute to the sect.
It had to be admitted, after ten years of immersion, Su Bai’s political instincts had sharpened.
Everything in her hands could become a bargaining chip.
…
Donghai, the shattered and desolate Chiyan Dragon Domain.
Corpses littered the ground; the scene was utterly grim.
“Demonic Lord Zhou Xuan, surrender the Dragon Blood! We’ll give you a clean death!”
“Demonic Lord Zhou Xuan, don’t even think of resisting! Today, the Youth League of Donghai has formed an allied force to slay you—the unparalleled demon!”
“Demonic Lord Zhou Xuan, there’s no way out for you now. Surrender!”
“Demonic Lord Zhou Xuan, you dared destroy my Xia Family’s Chiyan Dragon Domain! I swear I’ll scatter your soul to the winds, never to reincarnate.”
At the center of the Chiyan Dragon Domain, a huge purple banner billowed in the wind, linking into the local Ling Arrays.
A shockingly handsome white-robed man sat cross-legged beside it. He paid no heed to the righteous faction’s shouts, instead focusing intently on extracting drop after drop of crystal-clear, scorching-hot blood.
Those besieging him were either young prodigies of Donghai’s great families or mid-Jindan lone cultivator island masters who had carved out some fame in Donghai’s cultivation world. Far on the horizon, a few Yuanying True Lords appeared intermittently, cutting off all escape routes.
Surrounded by enemies, it seemed he had no path to survival.
The overall situation was clear—any struggle was like a trapped frog in a well.
Only after the last drop of Chiyan Dragon Blood was sealed in a jade bottle did the extraordinarily handsome white-robed man slowly rise. The righteous faction’s heroes erupted into commotion and retreated a large step.
The white-robed man stepped forward one step; the righteous faction stepped back one step.
He stepped forward two steps; they retreated two steps.
“Young generation of Donghai.” The white-robed man stopped, his expression indifferent as he glanced around, shaking his head—a look part regret, part nostalgia.
“So weak.”
With that, before the righteous faction could react, a Purple-gold Talisman appeared in his hand. In an instant, golden light flashed, and the white-robed man along with the massive banner vanished, leaving only a white robe fluttering gently in the air.
The golden light flickered again, and when it reappeared, he was inside a cave fortified with multiple Ling Arrays designed for detection and concealment.
The handsome man was naked, holding the banner, and expertly retrieved a robe from the cave’s storage pouch and put it on. Then he ripped off a human-skin mask from his face, revealing a somewhat youthful yet mature face that belied his years.
Here and now, there was no trace of the peerless demon Zhou Xuan, whose hands were stained with blood and was under siege by Donghai’s righteous faction.
Only Su Xiaohei remained—he was the true-blooded personal disciple of Qingyang Sect Master from Sanjian Sect in Zhongzhou.
“Tsk~ Su little devil, and you still say you’re not a demonic cultivator.”
“Heheh, prison lord, you’re impressive. I wasn’t wrong about you—you really have the demonic cultivator aura!”
“Planned for three years, crossed two hundred million li, challenged countless prodigies, raided Chiyan Dragon Domain—countless have died because of you. Su little devil, I just have one question for you: Do you feel any guilt in your heart?”
The voices of the Old Ghosts inside the Soul Prison echoed relentlessly in his spirit sea.
His slender fingers carefully grasped the jade bottle containing the Chiyan Dragon Blood and stowed it away. Blood energy flowed faintly along the Long Banner beside him, and the cries of ten thousand souls wailed in anguish.
Su Xiaohei raised his head slightly, his expression cold as frost. His thin lips parted slightly: “What does it have to do with me?”
What does it have to do with me.
What does it have to do with me.
What does it have to do with me.
Those four words echoed through the silent cave. The Old Ghosts in the Soul Prison suddenly paused, then burst out into uproarious laughter.
“What does it have to do with me, what does it have to do with me, what does it have to do with me! What a phrase!”
“Su little devil—no, Su Demon Lord—you’re growing more to my taste!”
“Jiejiejie! Su Demon Lord, it’s been over ten years, haven’t tasted a woman’s touch yet, right? You have a ‘fondness’ for your girl, huh? When you go back, just have your way with her. With your current body strength, fighting mid-Jindan cultivators is easy as pie.”
“Hehehe~ Old Ghost Liu, go away. Don’t you know our prison lord is longing for love? If you ask me, just mix some Jing Yuan into those monthly Yangqi Pills, combine it with Soul Enchantment Technique, and within three years, that girl will be submissive to you with love bordering on madness.”
Su Xiaohei ignored the Old Ghosts’ mockery and teasing, instead lowering his head to look at the storage pouch in his hand, a silent smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
With the Chiyan Dragon Blood as the main ingredient to refine the Wanling Pill, Mother’s hidden injuries from her Jindan stage should finally be completely healed.
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