Succubus Path

"The cultivation world had always been a place where the weak were prey to the strong. Since you regarded me as an enemy and went to war with me, you should have prepared yourself for the consequences of opposing me." Bai Lan's tone was calm. "You lost your Storage Bag because you lacked the strength, and now you still had the nerve to come ask me for it?"

Long Aotian gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, instinctively reaching for the hilts at his waist. But unfortunately, those two short swords were already inside Bai Lan's Storage Bag.

"Three years ago, you were trash. Three years later, in my eyes, you were still nothing much." Bai Lan stepped forward as she spoke, lowering her voice as though she were looking through Long Aotian and speaking to the soul within him. "A senior as wise as you should naturally understand that, to cultivators, spiritual roots are not the most important thing. With Long Aotian's irascible, impulsive, and suspicious temperament, was he truly worth your painstaking guidance?"

Even the system fell silent.

What was the host doing? Stirring up discord everywhere—first making Long Aotian distrust Elderly Grandfather, and now making Elderly Grandfather question Long Aotian.

But clearly, Elderly Grandfather was much smarter than Long Aotian.

"Little girl, there is no need to use such tactics to sow discord. This boy may be a fool, but this old man is not. I know perfectly well what you are plotting." A deep voice sounded by her ear, transmitted across the air.

Bai Lan gave a soft laugh, but her eyes lit up.

Elderly Grandfather's move was rather good. If she learned it, communicating with the system in the future would be much safer, and she would no longer need to avoid other people.

"Senior Brother Liu! What are you doing?! Those are array flags—you must not touch them recklessly!"

A familiar voice rang out from afar. Bai Lan's expression sharpened, and she instinctively looked up at the barrier overhead and the fireball hanging above, poised to fall.

Sure enough, the instant the words ended, the barrier shattered with a crash, and the fireball suddenly plunged down. Scorching heat rushed at her face once more.

But this time, the fireball did not strike Bai Lan, because she stood behind Long Aotian, and behind her stood another Child of Destiny, Bai Ling.

The whole point was double halos, double safety.

There were screams, roars, and survivors so terrified and flustered that they did not know what to do.

True Person Zi Ling, who was battling the demonic cultivator opposite her high above, naturally noticed what was happening below. Her brows furrowed slightly as a stream of violet spiritual energy swept another array flag into the damaged array eye. In an instant, the formation barrier rose again.

Only then did Bai Lan let out a long breath.

She had avoided it after all. She knew it.

Since the Heavenly Dao Rules decreed that creatures like Children of Destiny could not be killed, then in other words, when this sort of area-of-effect AOE damage occurred, the area around a Child of Destiny was the safest place.

But this rule only applied during area-of-effect attacks. It was not suitable for use in dungeon secret realms.

Based on Bai Lan's experience reading novels—

Generally speaking, when entering a dungeon with Long Aotian, all the brothers died, all the cannon fodder died, and all the supporting women died. Only Long Aotian and his harem survived.

Switching perspectives, when entering a dungeon with Bai Ling, all the sisters died, all the cannon fodder died, and most supporting men had to die saving the female lead. In the end, only the female lead and male lead survived.

Her gaze shifted toward the interior of the flying ship.

The others had not been so fortunate. That fireball had taken at least five or six lives, all of them mortals who had only just tested positive for spiritual roots.

Azure Origin Sect had suffered severe losses this time.

The people aboard this flying ship might appear to be useless mortals, newly recruited outer sect disciples and menial disciples.

But given time, these mortals with spiritual roots would gradually embark upon the path of cultivation. In only a few years, these hundred mortals would become a hundred elite Qi Refining stage cultivators trained by Azure Origin Sect.

The demonic cultivators' actions had nearly wiped out more than half of Azure Origin Sect's fresh blood.

"Hahahahaha." Laughter came from within the black mist. Clearly, their scheme had succeeded.

Their target had never been True Person Zi Ling, but these helpless mortals aboard the flying ship.

They wanted to shake Azure Sect from its very foundations.

The methods of demonic cultivators were indeed sinister and vicious.

First, they used a demonic cultivator of the same Tribulation Crossing stage to hold back True Person Zi Ling, leaving her unable to attend to the other side.

Then, the mole caught them unprepared and opened the barrier outside the flying ship. Once the giant fireball above fell, Azure Sect's fresh blood here would be almost entirely wiped out.

The surrounding demonic cultivators seemed to take that demon cultivator's laughter as an order and gradually withdrew from the encirclement.

True Person Zi Ling's expression was icy, yet she did not step forward to pursue them. Instead, she instructed the other Foundation Establishment stage disciples, "Return to the sect immediately."

Of the original seventy or eighty people in the cabin, only a dozen or so remained. The atmosphere instantly became solemn, and quite a few younger children had already begun trembling as they wiped away their tears.

Only moments ago, they had been marveling at the grandeur and beauty of the cultivation world, imagining all that would come after becoming cultivators.

The next moment, disaster had descended. Countless people had been smashed to death by fireballs before their eyes, while the smell of blood and the acrid stench of scorched flesh spread through the cabin, making its atmosphere even more oppressive.

"I-I want to go back. I don't want to cultivate immortality anymore. I want to go home." Someone spoke in a trembling voice.

Some echoed the sentiment, while others remained silent.

"Being able to enter Azure Sect is your good fortune. If something like this frightened you into such a state, then even if you became cultivators in the future, you would ultimately never amount to much." A Foundation Establishment stage cultivator spoke coldly.

"Becoming cultivators grants you power beyond mortals. In equal measure, if you lack a temperament worthy of that power, then even if you set foot upon the path of cultivation, you will not live long." True Person Zi Ling descended from above and spoke in a deep voice. "If any of you do not wish to enter Azure Sect, we will not force you. Qing Ru, Zhang Zhimian, tomorrow, escort those mortals who wish to return home back."

Two Foundation Establishment stage disciples stepped forward and clasped their fists. "Yes!"

"Investigate every disciple on this journey. Find the mole who secretly destroyed the array flag just now, and issue a Black-grade pursuit order."

"Yes!"

The people around them began whispering among themselves. Those who wanted to return to the mortal world were few in the end; most still yearned for immortal cultivation.

"Hey."

A girl's voice came from behind her.

"Yes, I'm calling you." A girl in pink stepped forward and spoke with a smile. "I recognize you. You are the eldest daughter of the Minister of Personnel's household."

"Who are you?" Bai Lan frowned slightly. She should not know the woman before her.

The girl in pink chuckled. "How interesting. A noble daughter of an Aristocratic Clan actually could not remember this princess's face, even though you attended palace banquets as well."

A princess—could she be a princess of the Southern Kingdom?

Bai Lan swiftly pulled up the plot concerning the girl before her, and her eyes immediately lit up.

What a coincidence. She was the Destined Female Lead's foremost enemy, and this girl before her was likewise an enemy of the Destined Female Lead.

Proud, reserved, and of exalted status, Nan Xianshi was a princess of a mortal kingdom. Even after entering the cultivation world, where the weak were prey to the strong, she still could not change her former way of speaking or her old habits.

Yet her dual spiritual roots and cultivation speed gave her the confidence to remain reserved and arrogant.

But clearly, that sort of temperament did not please the Destined Female Lead. The two clashed repeatedly, and ultimately became irreconcilable enemies because they both fell for True Person Qing Xuan.

Tsk. Looking at it now, that True Person Qing Xuan did not cultivate the Emotionless Dao—he cultivated the Succubus Path.