This cat had some kind of unusual blood flowing through its veins; it was far from ordinary. Li Qingyun had happened to acquire him from an old hunter three years ago and named him Yuanbao.
According to the old hunter, he had found him while hunting in the mountains.
Having loved petting cats in his previous life, and now having come to another world with the means to do so, Li Qingyun naturally had to get himself one.
After the black cat Yuanbao reached adulthood, he became increasingly mysterious. He seemed able to detect and intimidate ghosts, and he was strong and swift—leaping walls, scaling roofs, climbing beams, tearing off tiles, and coming and going through the Marquis's residence as though it were empty.
He even came with the aura of a "Fortune Cat," occasionally bringing Li Qingyun all sorts of strange and varied items.
For instance, jewelry belonging to Cui, the Marquis's principal wife; erotic books treasured by his eldest brother, the Heir Apparent; bizarre, gloomy jars from Yin Xunshan; and even Cui Wan'er's hairpins.
He had also brought back genuine treasures: the Qingyang Fish, the most precious produce of the Qingyang River.
He could resist a cat's innate love of fish and deliver spirit fish to Li Qingyun. He was exceptionally devoted to his poop-scooping servant.
It was precisely thanks to those two Qingyang Spirit Fish that Li Qingyun had greatly accelerated his cultivation of Qi and Blood Yang Fiend.
Unfortunately...
At present, Yin Xunshan—or perhaps Cui and the Heir Apparent behind him—did not even intend to spare this Big Black Cat.
Watching Yuanbao flee right beneath his nose, Yin Xunshan immediately found it hard to save face and glared angrily at Li Qingyun, who had gotten in his way.
"A mere beast!"
He abruptly raised his hand, and a White Bone Nail flew from his sleeve.
A flicker of sinister light flashed, then shot into the forest with a whoosh in pursuit.
"Meow!"
Yuanbao's mournful cry suddenly rang out from deep within the forest, accompanied by what seemed to be a flash of blood.
Then the White Bone Nail, trailing wisps of blood qi, returned along its original path and vanished back into Yin Xunshan's sleeve.
"This old man has long found that beast displeasing! My apologies, Third Young Master. I failed to rein in my hand just now. That beast was struck by my artifact—he likely does not have long to live!"
Yin Xunshan wore a smug expression as he looked provocatively at Li Qingyun.
"The Cui family of Hejian truly is domineering. Even a mere servant beneath their gate dares to be so rampant!"
An almost imperceptible sharpness passed over Li Qingyun's handsome face, but in the end, it only turned into two soft sighs.
He then slowly closed his eyes again, returning to his silent, wordless state.
"Yuanbao is likely doomed. As your master, I could not protect you..."
Along the way, he had already witnessed Yin Xunshan's capabilities.
That old schemer was quite formidable. They had encountered wandering ghosts and demonic beasts on the road, yet he dispatched them all in a few strokes.
In this world, demons, monsters, ghosts, and fiends ran rampant. Cultivation sects stood high above all others, while ordinary people could only obtain relatively stable lives under the protection of extraordinary powers.
Between mortals and the lofty sects, there arose all kinds of "castrated versions" of extraordinary aristocratic clans, along with the so-called unorthodox paths and heterodox factions.
In the territory of the You Kingdom, where Li Qingyun lived, its royal family was effectively the most powerful aristocratic clan in the mortal realm.
These forces entrenched themselves among mortals, willingly gathering and supplying every kind of resource for the sects large and small that stood behind them.
The Cui family of Hejian was one such vast aristocratic clan.
After Cui married Marquis Qinghe, Yin Xunshan at her side soon became the chief steward of the Marquis's residence.
In the past, this Steward Yin had kept himself well hidden. Li Qingyun had never known he was also an expert capable of driving away ghosts and subduing demons!
"Third Young Master, some people think themselves noble and cannot see reality clearly. How could they know that, like this kitten, they are actually not worth mentioning? Hahahaha..."
Seeing Li Qingyun remain silent, Yin Xunshan could not help laughing wantonly.
Li Qingyun neither opened his eyes nor became angry, but he remembered the vicious servant's face at this moment.
His features were cool and indifferent, yet laced with faint threads of loneliness.
It was as though all his rage, unwillingness, and regret had sunk into the deep sea within his heart.
As though he had truly resigned himself to fate.
"Hahaha, Third Young Master, this is more like it. Had you known it would come to this, why act that way in the first place..."
To Yin Xunshan, Li Qingyun's change in reaction meant that his proud bones had finally been ground away.
His scornful laughter echoed through the carriage.
Every sound seemed intent on trampling the last shred of the youth's dignity into mud, crushing those proud bones inch by inch until he became a homeless dog that could only howl in grief, no longer able to resist!
"Madam said that if you are going to cultivate the Dao, then cultivate it properly. In the future, unless something happens, there will be no need for you to return to the Marquis's residence."
"Yes, Madam also said that although cultivation is important, Third Young Master, you must still write a letter home each month. Report your safety to the Marquis and Madam, and at the same time give a detailed account of your cultivation progress."
Yin Xunshan stared brazenly at the youth and slowly spoke words of extreme humiliation:
"After all, your body also carries the Marquis's blood. Even if you were a dog or a cat, Madam has always been kind-hearted. She would still show some concern..."
Under that pressing gaze, Li Qingyun, whose eyes were slightly narrowed, finally nodded slowly.
Only then did Yin Xunshan reveal a satisfied smile.
At that moment, Steward Yin thought disdainfully, What outstanding bearing? What brilliant talent for strategy? In Madam's and the Heir Apparent's eyes, he is merely a bastard son who can be suppressed with a casual hand!
What was laughable was that this Third Young Master, so naively endearing, had truly believed in earlier years that he might receive the Marquis's Yang Fiend transmission and perhaps even have a chance to inherit the title in the future.
Little did he know that, in Madam's and the Heir Apparent's eyes, he was nothing but a joke!
The Heir Apparent had lost his virginity in his early years and had no hope of entering the Yang Sha Refining path. How could a mere bastard son dare harbor such wishful hopes!
Maple Mountain blazed like fire, its layered forests fully dyed, crimson spreading across the mountains.
At the lofty mountain peak stood an imposing Daoist temple, towering in solemn majesty.
Its flying eaves curved upward, its golden roof gleamed, and amid the mountain's fiery maple leaves, it stood out all the more.
Several thick streams of incense smoke spiraled upward from below like wolf smoke, displaying the temple's thriving popularity.
At the foot of the mountain.
"Honored guests, please stop. Those offering incense to the Dao, seeking protection against demons and apparitions, praying sincerely for children, or coming to visit and sightsee, please take the temple road to the side. The road behind me is for the temple's disciples to enter and leave..."
A young Daoist priest in blue robes, with a longsword on his back, slightly raised his thick brows and lifted a hand to stop the approaching luxurious carriage.
The carriage came to a halt, and Yin Xunshan, dressed in splendid robes, jumped down first.
"Daoist Yu Zhen, we are not incense pilgrims. We have come to send a young master of our household into the temple to cultivate the Dao."
Before the young Daoist priest, Yin Xunshan unconsciously showed a measure of humility. He cupped his hands respectfully, then casually pulled open the curtain and urged with a frivolous smile:
"Third Young Master, it is time to go up the mountain!"
Under everyone's gaze, Li Qingyun, pale-faced and nearly bloodless, slowly stepped down from the carriage with a large bundle hanging from his arm.
The instant his feet touched the ground, Li Qingyun looked up toward the mountain path behind the young Daoist priest.
A thin white mist drifted over the path. Even sunlight seemed unable to pierce it, while crimson maple leaves adorned both sides, making it quiet, secluded, and empty, carrying a natural air of an immortal beyond the dust of the world.
This gave Li Qingyun a little hope.
In terms of power and mystery, these Daoist temples and mountain-gate forces stood far above the secular world.
He even suspected that the temples built in the mortal realm were merely the outer appearances of those mysterious cultivation sects.
The true sects should lie in blessed grotto-heavens beyond the reach of mortal footsteps.
Although his primal yang was gone and he had lost his chance to enter the Dao through an unorthodox path, by joining Lingbao Temple this time, he at least still had a sliver of a chance to touch extraordinary power again.
Yet shortly after this body was born, Marquis Qinghe had invited an expert to feel out his Dao bones and test his so-called spiritual roots, only to regretfully declare that he lacked the aptitude to cultivate immortality and comprehend the Dao.
This was likely one of the chief reasons Cui and the Heir Apparent could rest assured in allowing him to enter the Daoist temple.
In this world, cultivating immortality and comprehending the Dao had an extremely high threshold. That was why so many unorthodox paths and heterodox arts had arisen, such as Li Qingyun's family's own "Yang Sha Refining."
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