novelraw Chapter 135
Chapter 135
Atop a three-hundred-meter-tall ancient tree.
Wang Yu looked doubtfully at the cultivators climbing all around. Their robes were uniform, their accessories the same. Without a doubt, they belonged to a single power.
Their cultivation was generally within the mid to late stages of Qi Refining.
At their head was a male cultivator at the mid Foundation Establishment stage, sporting a mustache, flowing robes, and a blue crown that made him stand out clearly.
“Over two hundred people… what are they searching for.”
In principle, he did not want to get involved with them. But their movements were too close to the cave where he secluded himself, so he had no choice but to come out and take a look.
After some thought, Wang Yu abandoned his curiosity.
He turned away from the disciples’ activity area, intending to find another place for cultivation. At this critical moment, he did not want any accidents.
If it does not concern him, he would stay out of it.
Now was not the time for curiosity.Yet fate was unpredictable. On his way back to the cave to pack his belongings, a moon-white sword light suddenly descended before him.
“Which fellow Daoist lurks here, sneaking about to spy on us.”
The voice was clear, though the tone unpleasant.
But the aura was undeniably at the peak of Foundation Establishment, and even saw through his invisibility at a glance. Not an ordinary character.
Wang Yu’s heart sank. Helpless, he released his invisibility.
“Daoist friend, this place is where Wang has long secluded himself. With such great commotion suddenly arising, it was only natural to come out and see.”
“Oh? Has Daoist Wang always lived here.”
From the moon-white sword, a gentle breeze flickered, and suddenly appeared a tall, graceful woman.
Her jade feet stepped into embroidered shoes, her legs plump yet slender and straight. She stood balanced on the sword hilt with one foot, completely stable. Looking upward, her moon-colored gauze dress was adorned with lotus patterns. Half of her snow-white fragrant shoulder was exposed, her neck like frost, her scent lingering and alluring. Truly a peerless beauty of the mortal world.
Her face was hidden behind a hazy veil, a face-concealing artifact, so her true looks could not be seen. Yet from her bearing alone, one could tell her beauty would not be lacking.
Wang Yu’s second brother could not currently rise, so he naturally had no distracting thoughts. His eyes swept over her calmly, without feeling much.
“This Daoist friend, I've resided here for several years and rarely goes out. If you do not believe me, you may follow me to my cave residence to take a look. What do you say.”
He yielded, thinking himself experienced.
The situation was stronger than himself. It was no shame to bow in such circumstances.
“Very well, since I am free, Daoist Wang proving himself is best.
But I will put ugly words first. The aura on your body truly does not resemble that of a good person. If you dare deceive Chang Xi, then as a Sword Sect Envoy, I will be sure to personally exchange a few moves with you.”
It was a naked threat. But Sword Sect Envoy? Wang Yu was not a fool. Before coming here he had looked into the situation of the Taihu cultivation world. Not too deeply, but he knew at least a little of what a Sword Sect Envoy was.
“Daoist Chang, please.”
Wang Yu touched his left arm. After breaking through, he had once again attached the divine corpse arm.
In the righteous territories, corpse refinement and ghost enslaving were considered side paths. Not strictly forbidden, but rarely practiced. For those who walked this path, it was all too easy to fall into evil thoughts and wicked methods.
This was tied to the environment of the Taihu Spiritual Domain. Without corresponding resources and markets, cultivators who stumbled into such a path easily developed twisted ways.
So although not banned, they were discriminated against, viewed as potential criminals.
The corpse aura of his left arm was obvious. He could never conceal it from Chang Xi, who had seen through his invisibility.
If he had known earlier, he would not have come out.
But such thinking was meaningless now.
Helpless, he led the way, while also probing for information.
“Daoist Chang, for the Sword Sect to suddenly send so many people here, has something happened outside? Or has some extraordinary treasure emerged in this place.”
Chang Xi’s brows furrowed as she fixed her wary gaze upon Wang Yu.
“You do not know.”
“I do not.”
Silence again.
For a long while there was no immediate answer to Wang Yu’s question. Instead, the other party continued asking in order to confirm his identity.
“Fellow Daoist Wang, could you tell me where your immortal hometown is and which sect you hail from? If I can confirm your identity, I will tell you the news you want to know. How about it?”
“I can.”
Wang Yu nodded. He was a native-born of the Taihu Spiritual Domain, of legitimate origin, with nothing to hide. He only needed to adjust the order slightly.
“I am Wang Yu, born in a small city thousands of miles away, called Stone Lake. Fellow Daoist should not have heard of it. Decades ago on the day of the Spiritual Root Testing, I was framed by villains and sold to the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain as a spirit slave.”
“Wait… a spirit slave?”
“Yes.”
“Continue.”
Chang Xi’s gaze was strange. She cultivated one of the seventy-two methods of the Heavenly Void Sword Sect, the Sword Heart Enlightenment Secret Record, a first-class divine secret art under heaven.
It was still a little lacking to fully peer into the human heart and distinguish truth from falsehood, but seeing through a body cultivator at Foundation Establishment was easy. This secret record not only tempered her divine sense but also aided in sword cultivation.
In her eyes, Wang Yu looked like a walking furnace of evil qi.
Corpse qi entangled him, gray mixed with black, faintly carrying traces of death. His flourishing blood energy lacked the usual blazing and masculine force, instead cold and baleful, not the aura of a good person.
Although his appearance was incomparably handsome, everywhere revealed traits different from ordinary men.
A head of silver-white hair added to the aura of gloom.
As for what this sword sect envoy thought of him, Wang Yu did not know. But the situation was stronger than the person, and his greatest strength was his sense of tact.
So he narrated obediently.
For the part that happened in the Taihu Spiritual Domain, Wang Yu did not need to conceal anything, speaking truthfully. For the part that happened in the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain, he began to fabricate.
“After the Spiritual Root Testing, on the way I was transported to the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain, not long after passing Black Mountain Pass, we encountered a group of vicious men. They killed those demonic cultivators and took us captive to a mountain stronghold.
“That stronghold was on the far side of Black Mountain Demonic Lands, called Blackwind Stronghold. I was forced to cultivate the Lifespan-Burning Demonic Technique and produce spirit sand for those bandit cultivators.”
After spinning this web of lies, Wang Yu sighed.
“Through some chance encounters, I risked crossing the Black Mountain Demonic Lands, by luck obtained strange treasures and opportunities, and only recently broke through to Foundation Establishment with a Body-refining method. I was planning to return to Stone Lake City to find my family, when I happened to meet Fellow Daoist.”
This half-true, half-false story was hard for Chang Xi to judge. But she had the Heavenly Void Sword Sect’s intelligence network.
While following Wang Yu to the cave dwelling, she also used messaging methods to send her subordinates to investigate the Wang clan of Stone Lake City to verify his identity. This would take some time.
Thus, on the road to the Cracked Cliff Cavern, both remained silent.
Not long after.
As the Cracked Cliff came into view, their destination had arrived.
“It is here. Fellow Daoist, please.”
Wang Yu deliberately withdrew the Eight Direction Bewilderment Spirit Formation in front of her, dispelling some of her doubts.
Inside the cavern, the stone chamber he had used for Wang Wu had already been destroyed. Only the small pool he had dug during his breakthrough remained on the open ground.
Chang Xi circled a few times, her divine sense sweeping repeatedly. She found no problems. The place did indeed bear the traces of someone living there for several years.