Born Bad

After opening Yun Wanchu's Life Archive, Su Li accessed the latest information entry.

Then he saw some of Yun Wanchu's current file information.

[Yun Wanchu had met the Heavenly Secrets Master, Su Li, whom Hua Ziyan had mentioned repeatedly. His first impression, however, was extremely poor.]

[Yun Wanchu had many thoughts in mind, even secretly harboring murderous intent, yet he was also deeply conflicted.]

"Light Blue, open the detailed information on Yun Wanchu's current thoughts."

Without a word, Su Li went straight to the bottom of things.

The next moment, more detailed information appeared on the system's glowing panel. Lines of text shot into Su Li's eyes like streaks of light, settling into his thoughts.

[This Su Li is blood-deficient and frail. His bloodline is far weaker than an ordinary person's. He's nothing more than a perfectly ordinary mortal boy.]

[What's strange is that deep within his bloodline, there seems to be a hidden, dreadful power, along with a trace of the ancient aura of the Era of Demise. Perhaps his ancestors truly had some remarkable origins, though they have fallen into complete decline.]

[Moreover, his soul is extremely chaotic, and its strength seems to be constantly changing? This is highly unusual. Could it be that his soul's ever-changing state is precisely why he isn't bound by the power of the Heavenly Dao's laws and traces, and can escape the impact of these auras?]

[Still, since he's seen through the Goddess's secret, if he can truly resolve the Goddess's affliction, then all will be well. If his intentions are sinister, we can make use of him first, then suppress him and hand him over to the Clan Lord to have his soul extracted and his core secrets seized. If we can draw out that trace of bloodline and put it to use, the benefits would be immense!]

[More importantly, the Goddess's secret concerns the inheritance of the Hua Clan's final bloodline! We must not be careless!]

[Of course, if this man truly means to help us, and his origins are extraordinary, then I may as well offer him some benefits and sincerely befriend him...]

[It's just that the odds of that are very low. This man may well have deliberately allied with Yinshang Cave Heaven, investigated everything about me, then deliberately sacrificed several Puppet Death Warriors—even the entire Yinshang Cave Heaven—to gain entry to my Wanli Holy Land. Perhaps he's come for the Goddess, or for the Hua Clan's ultimate inheritance?]

[We can't afford to ignore this possibility. I'll have to test him thoroughly first...]

After carefully reading Yun Wanchu's current state of mind, Su Li's expression immediately turned much more solemn.

Then he carefully reviewed Yun Wanchu's past experiences. In an instant, he understood the man completely.

In fact, he understood Yun Wanchu better than Yun Wanchu understood himself.

"Boy, you say this Holy Lord is short-sighted? Why don't you make a deduction for me, then, and convince me beyond doubt?"

Seeing Su Li's expression shift several times as he sat there in a daze without speaking, Yun Wanchu asked with a faint, amused smile.

Su Li didn't answer right away. Instead, he brought up the Life Archive System, Light Blue, and tried to view Yun Wanchu's "Life Archive" for the next three days.

[This query will consume 5,000 Heavenly Secrets Value. Confirm?]

The message on the system's screen made Su Li's breath catch.

Sorry, never mind.

Steadying himself, Su Li mused, "The highest hear of the Dao and earnestly practice it; those in the middle hear of it and seem to keep it, yet seem to lose it; the lowest hear of it and laugh. If they didn't laugh, it wouldn't be the Dao.

Bright Dao seems dim; advancing Dao seems retreating. Great sound is silent, great form has no shape. The Dao is hidden and nameless.

So, Holy Lord, judging people by appearances and the Dao by bloodline—is that not short-sighted? Surely you know that whatever you see in this world may be exactly what someone else wants you to see?"

Su Li's words held the profound meaning of the Great Dao. They rang like a thunderclap, leaving Yun Wanchu, Hua Ziyan, and Mu Yuxi deeply shaken!

Yun Wanchu's expression grew more solemn. Whether or not Su Li had any real ability, being able to say such things was already extraordinary!

This man truly possessed great wisdom!

Seeing that he'd managed to keep Yun Wanchu at bay for the moment, Su Li's confidence in bluffing him—in making a deduction for him—immediately soared.

"Holy Lord Yun, let's start with some of your past."

"Very well. Let's hear it."

"Holy Lord Yun, you're 671 years old, in the late sixth stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. Your Nascent Soul is a three-star Spiritual Infant, your talent is Vast Cloud Court, and your constitution is Vast Cloud Spirit Body."

Su Li paused briefly, then spoke.

Yun Wanchu's expression didn't change at all. He clearly wasn't surprised that Su Li could state such basic information.

Of course, Su Li didn't expect these facts to impress Yun Wanchu again.

He gave Hua Ziyan and Mu Yuxi a thoughtful glance, then looked toward Yun Wanchu.

Yun Wanchu understood his meaning and said indifferently, "Speak freely. There's nothing I can't reveal."

The corner of Su Li's mouth curved slightly as he began. "671 years ago, Holy Lord Yun, you were just born. There was a prodigy in the Hua Clan named Yun Dechu. Your parents hoped you would make something of yourself, so they named you Yun Chu after him.

"Unfortunately, you were still mischievous and unruly at the age of seven, always fond of playing all sorts of pranks.

"At eight, you took this 'detestable' talent to its absolute peak, to the point where your clansmen said behind your back that you could never become another Yun Dechu. You were born 'lacking virtue'; your fate was to be without virtue.

"Later, the Hua Clan suffered a calamity, and Yun Dechu perished. You were branded an ill omen and deliberately driven out of the Hua Clan because of the Chaos Plan.

"At the same time, you renamed yourself Yun Wanchu and founded Wanli Holy Land. The 'Li' in Wanli Holy Land actually came from the Chaos Leaving Fire Plan. That is also why Hua Ziyan is known as Fairy Li..."

Su Li spoke with calm composure, neither servile nor overbearing.

He wasn't worried in the slightest that Yun Wanchu would kill him to keep him quiet.

At present, only Hua Ziyan's father and Yun Wanchu knew of this plan.

Even Hua Ziyan didn't know. She only vaguely understood that her father had established Wanli Holy Land for her.

Su Li's ability to reveal such a secret in a single breath couldn't possibly be explained by the sort of "playing the victim" Yun Wanchu suspected.

What's more, Su Li already understood Yun Wanchu's character completely. Though he seemed like an old Nascent Soul monster of unfathomable strength, he was, in truth, excessively cautious!

Without a sure thing, Yun Wanchu would never act lightly!

Furthermore, Su Li kept the Life Archive System open at all times, tracking Yun Wanchu's thoughts in his most current state, just in case.

At Su Li's words, Yun Wanchu's expression shifted between light and shadow. The look he gave Su Li grew more complicated than ever.

Su Li met Yun Wanchu's gaze head-on, without the slightest hint of avoidance. From Yun Wanchu's thoughts, Su Li had already figured out that, as a transmigrator, he seemed unaffected by certain "laws of heaven and earth" in this world.

He had three souls and seven spirits, while cultivators in this world seemed to have only one soul and one spirit. That was also why Yun Wanchu had earlier thought his "soul" was in a state of "constant change."

"Holy Lord Yun, seventy-three years ago, when you made that move, you spent sixteen days preparing for it. You knew the odds were slim, so you secretly wrote your own last words and arranged for your legacy to be passed on.

"But during that attempt, you met a mysterious White-clothed Woman. She saved you, and your Nascent Soul grade finally transformed from nine-star Profound grade to three-star Spiritual grade.

"Before that, you'd always felt inferior and couldn't hold your head high.

"Moreover, you'd secretly fallen in love with her, but she vanished during that crisis.

"This is the deepest secret in your heart, your greatest knot, and no one knows about it!

"Even she doesn't know you loved her...

"Do you think that's enough to convince you?"

"Holy Lord Yun, I know that before this, you even suspected I, Su Li, had sinister intentions. But since I dared invite you to the Silent Ancient Temple on Luoxia Mountain, naturally I'm confident I can win your trust!

"Given your nature, you spent more than three hundred breaths getting here, most of which you used to lay deadly traps outside the mountain, just in case. I've deduced that as well."

"Holy Lord Yun, there are plenty of other things you'd rather not bring up—shameful memories you've buried deep. For instance, when you were three, you saw a puppy eagerly eating that stuff from the cycle of the five grains, and it looked so delicious that you could barely resist. So you boldly gave it a taste yourself—"