"Have you ever heard of an undercover agent making herself so infamous?"
"N-no... if I wasn't notorious, how could I go undercover?"
"You're a Demoness with the blood of countless Righteous Path cultivators on your hands, and you're calling yourself an undercover agent. Do you think I'm going to believe that?"
"I've killed plenty of people, so what? Are all the people of the Righteous Path good?"
"So you're saying you only killed scum who deserved it?"
"Mhm!"
"Come here. Let me make sure."
Li Ye stared at Flower Demon. She shook her little head like a rattle drum.
Who knew what questions he might ask after taking control of her?
Unfortunately, Flower Demon had no choice. If she wanted to kill Mad Devil, she had to get Li Ye's help.
In the end, Flower Demon lost the standoff and gave in.
"You can't ask just anything. Don't ask me which sect I'm from. I don't know myself. Some things were subjected to mysterious methods before I joined the Devil Sect."
"Only one informant has been in contact with me."
Flower Demon said.
"I see."
Li Ye was slightly surprised.
Then he used Words Manifest Reality to verify the truth of what Flower Demon had said.
The results confirmed her story.
She was an undercover agent from some mysterious great sect and had been infiltrating the Devil Sect for many years.
By now, she had gathered a great deal of information about the Devil Sect.
Once the time was right, they could uproot the Devil Sect and wipe it out completely.
At last, Li Ye had no more doubts:
"So the Righteous Path is actually making such a stunning move. I wonder which major sect is leading the charge."
"What a grand undertaking."
He asked curiously:
"With all those clothes you own, do you even have time to wear them all?"
"Of course. I wear three to five outfits a day. If I sweat, I bathe; once I'm out of the bath, I change. That's why I hate going out and hate practicing my cultivation."
This woman had a cleanliness obsession.
Li Ye thought.
After all, he was a young man with blood racing through his veins.
When he thought of Flower Demon, a girl in the bloom of youth, risking her life for so many years for the sake of all living beings, he couldn't help but admire her from the bottom of his heart.
So he asked after her and got to know her better from every angle.
For example, which bellyband Flower Demon liked best (the green peacock one), which pair of short pants she liked best (the pink peony ones), and whether she sat in front of the mirror to admire herself after bathing (every time, and for a long while).
What did she do when the weather was too hot? Did she still wear all those complicated ancient-style garments?
Did she ever go without clothes in her room?
Did she have any good habits when she slept, and so on.
A moment later, a murderous scream rang through Li Ye's room.
Flower Demon had broken free of Words Manifest Reality and come to her senses.
She was completely frantic and wanted to tear Li Ye to pieces.
"How long until Mad Devil breaks through?"
"A month at the earliest, three months at the latest."
"Find a way to keep him occupied until I finish refining the Golden Ginseng."
"...I doubt I can."
"I don't care. You have to hold him off."
"Al... all right."
"Also, after we kill Mad Devil, whatever he has on him is mine."
"That's fine."
Li Ye agreed to Flower Demon's request after all and decided to join forces with her to kill Mad Devil.
Never mind how much cultivation his corpse might yield. Flower Demon had revealed her identity as an undercover agent, and Li Ye felt he ought to do something for all living beings.
"I hope you can do it soon. This is a Jade Talisman I've refined. It can send messages. Pour in Spiritual Power and trace the message you want to send; it will appear at the same time on the other one I have."
Before leaving, Flower Demon handed Li Ye a crystal-clear Jade Talisman.
In the cultivation world, this kind of talisman was called a Communication Talisman.
"You're not holding back your cultivation and refusing to break through, are you?"
"You can try breaking through before facing Mad Devil. Every bit of strength gives us a better chance."
Li Ye said.
When he had been 'questioning' Flower Demon just now, she'd admitted that she hated cultivation.
That meant this beauty slacked off whenever she could.
Even so, at her age she'd already reached the Object Manipulation Realm First Layer.
Her talent was astonishing.
Flower Demon left.
At dusk:
A knock sounded at the door.
Li Ye knew someone had come to deliver his meal.
As expected, it was probably Beef and Scallion Buns again.
Old Wu had said he'd take care of Li Ye's meals for three days.
Three days, but in reality, that only meant the afternoons—a single meal each day.
Today was the second day.
Li Ye opened the door and stepped outside. Sure enough, an Oil Paper Bundle lay on the ground. Inside were five steaming hot buns.
He picked them up and started eating with relish.
It was an era of war and suffering, but the people at the very top were barely affected.
If they wanted delicacies from land and sea, getting them was as easy as turning over a hand.
Li Ye had hundreds of thousands of taels of silver now, but he hadn't gone out to feast and drink.
He could enjoy delicacies from land and sea, but he could also stomach a Steamed Corn Bun that was hard to swallow.
That was the kind of person Li Ye was. When life was good, he enjoyed it; when times were hard, he made do with a Steamed Corn Bun, sprinkled with cumin and chili powder.
The five Beef and Scallion Buns soon disappeared into his stomach.
Li Ye stretched, looking utterly satisfied.
Suddenly, his expression changed. "My cultivation is disappearing."
Li Ye's cultivation was now formidable. Few below the Object Manipulation Realm could stand against him.
He had reached a considerable level of mastery, and was keenly aware of every change in his body.
He hurriedly examined himself inwardly, checking and rechecking.
At last, he confirmed that in the brief time he'd spent eating the buns, he'd lost roughly twenty jin of strength.
How could his cultivation disappear for no reason?
There was something wrong with the buns!
Li Ye's expression darkened in an instant. "It's the same poison the Saint Son was hit with."
Li Ye, the Saint Son of the Divine Concealment Sect and the Southern Region's greatest prodigy, had been dazzlingly brilliant. He'd been remarkable in every way.
But after someone had ambushed him with a strange poison, his cultivation had gradually weakened until he'd faded into the crowd and died in despair.
Now the one who'd poisoned him had struck again.
And this time, the target was Li Ye, who had crossed over into his body.
Who?
Who exactly was it?
Li Ye's heart burned with rage.
He'd crossed into this world and worked so hard to train the Saint Son's frail body into its present state.
He was on the verge of rising to greatness.
Then his enemy had poisoned him again, trying to cripple him too.
The audacity!
No, the enemy definitely didn't know the Saint Son was dead. They thought the Saint Son was still the Saint Son.
Seeing that the Saint Son was still alive, this person had grown impatient and added another dose of the potent poison, hoping to make him disappear for good.
"So there's been a pair of eyes watching me from the shadows all along."
"Too bad I'm going to disappoint you."
Li Ye said coldly, silently circulating the Nine Heavens Crimson Thunder Art.
He'd already noticed that once he realized he'd been poisoned, he'd instinctively drawn on some of his cultivation as his thoughts shifted. Now, the speed at which his strength was draining had slowed considerably.
Li Ye guessed that this body-tempering Cultivation Method might make him immune to all poisons.
Boom!
The next moment, red Electric Arcs burst from Li Ye's body and raced through him. Before long, he forced faint black wisps of qi out of his body.
A quarter of an hour later, all the poison had been purged.
"Good. Let's see who you are!"
Li Ye's expression was terribly grim as he silently recited Daily Divination.
He'd used 'Daily Divination' in the Great Barren Forest last night, in the first half of the night. It was now the following afternoon.
The skill had 'refreshed'.
But this time, it failed.
Li Ye stood there, stunned for a long while. "I almost forgot. Daily Divination can't divine my own Heavenly Secrets."
"Damn it! If I can't find out who did it, tracking this person down will be difficult."
When Li Ye had obtained Daily Divination, the information it came with had said that he could divine all Heavenly Secrets except his own.
The person had targeted Li Ye. Using Daily Divination to figure out who had poisoned him meant divining his own Heavenly Secrets.
So the Divine Ability had failed.
"In that case, I'll divine who came into contact with the Beef and Scallion Buns."
Li Ye murmured.
The Divine Ability had failed, so he should be able to use it once more.
So Li Ye silently recited the 'Daily Divination' incantation.
Hum!
The next moment, the Heavenly Secrets about the five Beef and Scallion Buns appeared out of nowhere in Li Ye's mind.
He saw which shop had sold the buns, who had kneaded the dough, who had seasoned the filling, who had steamed them, who had sold them, and who had bought them.
Everyone connected to the five Beef and Scallion Buns appeared in Li Ye's mind.
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