At the foot of Maple Mountain, within the borders of the Shadowed Domain's You Kingdom.
On the muddy road leading to Lingbao Temple, a carriage rolled along at an unhurried pace, escorted by five or six armored riders.
Aloeswood incense curled through the luxurious carriage cabin.
An old man and a youth sat facing each other, the atmosphere heavy and stifling.
The old man was Yin Xunshan, the chief steward of Marquis Qinghe's Estate in Qinghe County.
The youth was the third young master of the estate, though merely a concubine-born son.
His features were refined and handsome, with an air of lofty elegance between his brows. He looked about fifteen or sixteen, though his complexion was exceedingly poor.
His youthful, handsome face was sickly pale, without the faintest trace of color.
"Third Young Master, Lingbao Temple is almost here. From now on, you will serve before the Daoist Lord, with only the blue lamp for company. Madam asked this old servant to ask you something: do you harbor any resentment in your heart?"
Yin Xunshan wore splendid robes. His face was pale and shadowy, his eyes gray and unsettling. He looked at Li Qingyun opposite him with a smile that was not quite a smile.
His words carried an unmistakable measure of insolent provocation and pressure.
"Hmm?"
Li Qingyun narrowed his eyes slightly, as though he had not heard him, gently stroking the large black cat with jade-black fur in his arms.
Only the corner of his handsome lips slowly curved into a faint, mocking smile.
"It seems Young Master is still dissatisfied at heart!"
Seeing Li Qingyun narrow his eyes and ignore him, Chief Steward Yin's gaze sharpened slightly. A chilling aura rose from him and pressed toward the youth.
In his eyes, Li Qingyun, who had squandered away more than ten years of painstakingly cultivated essence and his future, was now no different from a milk tiger stripped of teeth and claws—nothing at all!
Still, he got off cheaply. Such a beautiful girl as Wan'er—even the heir had asked for her several times and failed to obtain her... Yin Xunshan thought with some jealousy.
Thinking of how the Third Young Master was now practically being exiled, Yin Xunshan grew even more unrestrained.
"Meow, meow!" The black cat named Yuanbao in Li Qingyun's arms clearly sensed Yin Xunshan's malice and became restless.
Its ink-jade fur stood on end like needles. It gave a low, rumbling growl at the old man, yet was deeply wary of him.
Li Qingyun, already somewhat disheartened, had no desire to respond to Yin Xunshan's coercion.
Scenes from five days ago kept surfacing in his mind.
That night was the sixteenth birthday of the Marquis Estate's Third Young Master, a day of special significance. The estate had deliberately made grand preparations. The matron, Cui, had rarely smiled so kindly, while his usually arrogant elder brother, the heir, had been brimming with warmth as he repeatedly raised cups to toast him.
Everyone in the estate seemed to be celebrating his imminent ignition of the Yang Sha he had nurtured for over ten years, becoming the second true Yang Refining Realm cultivator among Marquis Qinghe's bloodline descendants.
Li Qingyun had secretly taken every precaution. He had tested every cup of wine and every dish with a silver needle, and had even taken medicine beforehand.
Yet an accident still happened.
Slightly drunk, he returned to his room, only for his blood and qi to suddenly surge through his body while the Yang Sha within him ran wild.
The scorching heat became unbearable, and desire sprang up in tangled profusion.
In terror, he did all he could to suppress the rampaging Yang Sha aura.
Yet at that very moment, Cui Wan'er—his cousin, greatly favored by the Marquis Estate's matron Cui and only recently arrived in Qinghe County last month to relax—suddenly came to his door, her enchanting figure swaying.
With a flirtatious smile, she exuded a faint, alluring fragrance and claimed that, at her aunt's command, she had brought him a bowl of sobering soup.
Cui Wan'er was extraordinarily lovely and captivating, seemingly born with seductive bones. Every movement she made appeared to exude a soul-hooking, spirit-seizing charm.
When she had first arrived at the estate, even the heir had been bewitched out of his wits, drooling with desire. He had even disregarded their cousinly relation and begged Cui to let him marry this cousin of his.
At that critical moment, Li Qingyun caught a whiff of an eerie, strange fragrance drifting from Cui Wan'er.
Then, in his eyes, Cui Wan'er seemed to transform into an incomparably gorgeous celestial maiden.
The Yang Sha aura he had been desperately suppressing could no longer be restrained. It burst forth like a mountain flood, like a raging fire that burned away every shred of his will.
That very night, word spread through the estate that the Third Young Master had lost himself to lust in drunkenness...
Afterward, Cui Wan'er wept like pear blossoms drenched in rain and threatened to hang herself.
The matron Cui shouted, "With such a beast in this estate, there can be no him if there is me!" The heir looked on coldly, smugness written across his face.
Marquis Qinghe flew into a rage, repeatedly roaring, "How dare this unfilial son!" His face was filled with disappointment.
With his primal yang lost, the Yang Sha and vital blood he had painstakingly cultivated for more than ten years had all been squandered away. Li Qingyun's future was effectively ruined.
Thus came the present scene.
The dignified Third Young Master of Marquis Qinghe's Estate, Li Qingyun—renowned throughout Qinghe County for his youthful wisdom, generous deeds, and charitable heart—had been "sent away" to the Lingbao Daoist Temple on distant Maple Mountain...
Throughout the journey in the carriage, Li Qingyun had continually replayed everything that had happened. The more he thought, the clearer it became, yet there was nothing he could do.
I suffered a tremendous loss here! Cui Wan'er's origins and motives in this matter are far too suspicious...
In the end, I was still somewhat careless. I failed to lie low! But in this world, where demons run rampant and all kinds of transcendent powers reveal themselves, one must fight for life and fight for opportunities. If I truly kept lying low, it would all come to nothing!
Li Qingyun had a secret he had concealed for several years.
Three years ago, he had crossed over from another world and possessed the body of the Marquis Estate's Third Young Master, who had died under strange circumstances after drowning.
After arriving in this world and learning that demons ran rampant and life was precarious, Li Qingyun had ultimately been unable to keep lying low. He began to reveal his brilliance, displaying astonishing talent, managing affairs skillfully, and performing acts of charity. He won immense renown in Qinghe County and the surrounding areas.
To catch Marquis Qinghe's eye and accumulate cultivation resources, he had no choice but to do so as a concubine-born son.
The inherited Yang Sha Refining was a bottomless pit that required vast quantities of precious resources. If he did not stick his head out somewhat, he would never be able to secure them.
After all, nearly everything entering and leaving the estate was controlled by the matron Cui and the heir.
If he failed to ignite the Yang Sha at the golden age of sixteen, he would completely lose the chance to set foot upon this "unorthodox side path"!
He knew that his "excellence" was a double-edged sword. On one side, it would earn Marquis Qinghe's regard; on the other, it would inevitably draw the jealousy of Cui and the heir. Thus, he had always guarded carefully against that mother and son.
Yet on the night of his sixteenth birthday, he had ultimately fallen into a carefully laid trap.
As scene after scene replayed in his mind, Li Qingyun understood everything as clearly as if looking into a mirror, yet he was powerless to turn things around.
In only a few days, he was no longer the Third Young Master of the Marquis Estate, but a downcast man who had been "demoted."
Qinghe County lay nearly two hundred li from Maple Mountain. Though it sounded better to say he had come from afar to seek the Dao and its teachings, his sincerity worthy of praise, in truth it was little different from exile a thousand miles away.
"Madam said that since the Third Young Master will receive transmission and Daoist registers at Lingbao Temple, entering the Daoist registry that countless people dream of, he should cultivate properly from now on. As for this black cat with such a wild temperament, it should not remain by his side, lest it affect his cultivation..."
Yin Xunshan's gray eyes shifted as he gave a sinister smile. Suddenly, he fixed his gaze upon the large black cat in Li Qingyun's arms, hostility surging in his eyes.
His finger flicked, and a streak of shadowy light instantly landed on Yuanbao.
"Meoww!"
Yuanbao, the large black cat, immediately let out a miserable cry and sprang from Li Qingyun's arms.
It seemed that a cold aura had long been lurking within its body. Now that Yin Xunshan had triggered it, this Lord Cat—who had earned no small reputation in Marquis Qinghe's Estate—immediately became much weaker.
Li Qingyun sighed softly, abruptly rose to his feet, and used his back to block Yin Xunshan, creating a chance for the large black cat to escape.
"Yuanbao, go!"
Yuanbao meowed once, instantly understanding his master's meaning. Her will to survive erupted fiercely. She accelerated in an instant, moving like a mass of black light. One moment, her sharp four claws had just swept over the window ledge; the next, she had already darted into the roadside thicket outside.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Outside the carriage, the guards drew their bows and shot at the cat, but in their haste, not a single arrow struck true.
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