Locust Flower Old Lane, Ge Family Courtyard.
A pair of lovers arrived abruptly, wrapped around each other.
The fox woman called Qiu Niang looked around and immediately furrowed her brow. As Yelü Yuyan's maidservant, she had enjoyed wealth and luxury since childhood. This shabby courtyard was certainly beneath her.
So she immediately gave her goods-peddler younger brother a rather heartbroken look and said:
"You poor thing. How could anyone live in a place like this?"
"Leave everything to your big sister. For now, you can share my bed for a few days. In a few days, I'll find you a fine mansion."
Ge Xian hadn't expected the fox woman to offer him a house right off the bat.
The condition was that he sleep with her for a few days, but it was still generous enough.
He looked at her and sighed inwardly:
My Qi Fragrance is truly terrifying. Good thing I didn't increase the dosage any further, or something dreadful would have happened.
Now I've got a bit of a problem, too!
This fox woman has fallen under my charm and only wants to cling to me, intent on getting tangled up in bed. I doubt she'll give me a chance to slip quietly out of Qiantang County. But I can't simply kill her, either. If the maidservant doesn't return for half a day, Yelü Yuyan will quickly catch on. By then, she'll come after me, and I won't get far.
I'll have to waste another Strange Object to subdue this woman completely and turn her into my "Soul Slave Puppet," letting her cover for me. I can also use the opportunity to squeeze out that last bit of secret intelligence.
It's no loss at all. If that Immortal Lord Yinglong Scroll were leaked, it would drive any Dragon Race cultivator of the same rank or even at Foundation Establishment Realm into a frenzy. Even those in Mortal Transformation Realm would be tempted.
Tonight, I can look it over to my heart's content.
These thoughts sounded complicated, but in truth, they had passed in the time it took to draw a single breath.
Ge Huolang didn't pick up the thread. Instead, he gazed at Qiu Niang with deep affection and smiled mysteriously. "Big sister, wait here a moment. My home's a bit of a mess. Let me tidy things up, then you can come inside and make love with me."
With that, the fellow left the fox woman behind and hurried into the house first.
Poor Qiu Niang still hadn't noticed anything amiss. She thought the goods-peddler boy was just playing at being coy.
How could she have guessed?
As soon as he entered, the fellow didn't waste a moment. He went straight to the wooden chest guarded by the pretty young widow.
He took out the Gray Pottery Soul Bottle, didn't even give it a second glance, and started the whole process: charm, then Cai Bu.
With a shudder, this Jin Dynasty Antique Ghostly Object—which had already killed quite a few people through its perverse games—turned to ash in the blink of an eye.
Inside Ge Xian, a gray, eye-shaped mass of Dao Qi had appeared.
As soon as he circulated it, his black pupils turned gray.
Within them seemed to swirl an eerie vortex, capable of capturing the souls of living beings and bewitching them into obedience.
"Outer Sky Gray Eye!"
"Huh. This one lasts longer. It'll take forty-eight hours to dissipate completely."
After sensing the result, Ge Xian immediately sent a voice transmission, calling the fox woman into the room.
As soon as Qiu Niang pushed the door open, her tall, alluring figure was pulled into the arms of a lean, muscular young man. An enticing whisper sounded in her ear:
"Big sister Qiu Niang, since you're a fox woman, could you show me your Fox Clan True Form while we make love?"
"I didn't know you were so wild, little brother. Big sister will do whatever you say."
The fox woman was blinded by lust. Whenever it came to such matters, she obeyed Ge Xian almost without question.
When he asked her to reveal her true form, she didn't hesitate for even a breath.
Thus, Ge Xian first saw the fox woman's clothes tear away, revealing a shapely, snowy-white body with alluring curves. Then her skin sac turned inside out, and bloody fox fur emerged. A massive flesh tail slowly shifted aside, revealing what lay beneath: a body much more exaggerated than a human woman's, yet covered in fur.
It was bloody, yet possessed a startling, unusual allure.
An ordinary man who saw it might feel fear, but his lust would rise all the same.
Ge Xian, too, stared fixedly at her chest. In Qiu Niang's eyes, this meant the goods-peddler boy had fallen under her spell.
How could she know that Ge Huolang was checking something?
His senses hadn't been wrong!
Like "Chun Niang," who had died at his hands earlier, Qiu Niang also cultivated the Fox Woman Plain Heart Stealing Yuan Art.
Her cultivation was far higher than Chun Niang's. On her fox heart, there were likely already the anguished faces of nine women and ninety-nine men embedded in it.
"Big sister Qiu Niang, look at my eyes."
"Look? I'll look at whatever you want me to..."
The fox woman was enjoying herself and obediently looked into Ge Xian's eyes.
She'd expected to see a pair of burning eyes filled with lust. Who could have known that what met her gaze the next instant would be a pair of cold, gloomy eyes, gray as dust from a grave.
The origin of those Gray Eyes was uncanny.
If caught unawares, even someone at Foundation Establishment Realm could fall prey to them, let alone a fox woman at the peak of the Dao Entry Realm.
First, she looked startled. In the blink of an eye, she became dazed. Then her expression turned to extreme delight and pleasure, as if all her desires had been fulfilled.
She couldn't help murmuring:
"I, Qiu Niang, belong to my goods-peddler little brother."
"Whatever my master wants me to do, I'll do it."
Even though Ge Xian himself had done this, he still couldn't help shuddering as he watched the uncanny scene and the fox woman Qiu Niang's terrifying transformation with his own eyes.
He felt a little spooked himself and thought in alarm:
What an evil Divine Ability!
My Qi Fragrance is already bizarre enough. If I pair it with these Outer Sky Gray Eyes, then aside from those in Mortal Transformation Realm, whom I still can't handle, I doubt cultivators at Foundation Establishment Realm could withstand my sneak attack at all.
Once I reach Foundation Establishment Realm, if I can get my hands on more divine powers like the Gray Eyes or other demonic Dao Qi, wouldn't even someone at Mortal Transformation Realm fall into my trap if they let their guard down?
After a few thoughts, Ge Xian clearly saw another shortcut to winning battles and killing his foes.
Ge Huolang was deeply unsettled, but he committed it all to memory.
Then he began taking care of business.
He could have forcibly used Soul Searching to peer through every memory Qiu Niang had ever had.
But if he did, the fox woman would turn into an imbecile. He was counting on her to return to Willow Oriole Alley "normally" and cover for him, so he wouldn't give himself away. That made Soul Searching out of the question.
It was no big deal, though. It would only take a bit more talking and a few extra questions.
Ge Xian didn't bother with pleasantries. He first ordered the fox woman to hand over the Immortal Lord Yinglong Scroll, then asked where the treasure scroll had come from.
The next moment, Qiu Niang opened her mouth and "vomited" up the scroll. Ge Xian didn't mind how disgusting it was and snatched it up eagerly.
As he opened it to look through it, he heard the fox woman say:
"This scroll was among the books in my master's study. Before the young miss moved to Qiantang, she ransacked my master's study, treasury, and other places. This scroll was one of the things she took."
"But it isn't the original, nor is it complete. It's just a fragment."
"It contains an Immortal Lord Yinglong Visualization Diagram and two demonic arts. One is called the Water Summoning Incantation, and the other is the Mist Summoning Incantation."
"Even as a fragment, it came from the Dragon Race Secret Canon. For cultivators below Mortal Transformation Realm, it's a Supreme Scroll worth risking their lives to seize... Those above Mortal Transformation Realm have already cultivated other Meditation Methods. Though they can't switch to a new one, they can still use this for reference. The two demonic arts are also quite powerful."
When he heard that it was a fragment, Ge Xian was a little disappointed.
But as he listened to the rest, he could hardly hide his excitement.
A Meditation Method!
It was just what he'd needed, arriving as if a pillow had appeared the moment he felt sleepy.
He'd only just set his sights on this secret art, and now he'd obtained it with ease.
Once again, Ge Xian wanted to praise his Charm Talent. It was simply too useful.
Worried that looking at the Visualization Diagram too hastily might trigger some change, he flipped straight to the next few pages and examined the two demonic arts.
Their names were plain, so Ge Xian had assumed that even if they were quite powerful, their power would be limited.
But he soon realized he was wrong.
"Water Summoning Incantation: No matter where you are, as long as you chant the name of the Yinglong Spirit God and recite the secret incantation, you can summon vast waters. Rivers and marshes, Heavy Rain, or even Underground Springs—all are within its reach. It can even provide more than enough water for Dragon Race cultivators performing the Dragon Transformation Technique."
"Mist Summoning Incantation: Much like the Water Summoning Incantation, chant the name of the Spirit God and recite the secret incantation to summon Dark Clouds and Sea Mist. They cover the sky and sun, snuff out light, and silence sound. All living things shrouded in the Spirit Mist lose their senses and can no longer tell east from west."
"What a Divine Ability!"
"What a demonic art!"
Ge Xian was practically beside himself with joy.
He wanted nothing more than to find a suitable place at once, perform the Dragon Transformation Technique, and unleash the demonic arts.
Fortunately, he was fairly restrained and knew he had more than one important matter to attend to.
He carefully put the scroll away. It could cause some trouble, but with Yelü Yuyan's maidservant helping him cover things up, he could keep it in his hands for a while longer.
After thinking for a moment, Ge Xian suddenly returned to his earlier question.
"Who exactly did Yelü Tianzheng sell Jiangzhe Province to?"
"The Eternal Life Cult!"
Qiu Niang answered without hesitation.
Back in Willow Oriole Alley, when she had only been under Ge Xian's Charm, she still had her reason and wouldn't reveal truly important secrets.
Now that she had been thoroughly hypnotized and bewitched, she had no self of her own before Ge Huolang and regarded him as her master. Whatever he wanted to do, she wouldn't resist.
She could now reveal any secret.
Ge Xian questioned her in detail, and she replied in even greater detail, laying out everything she knew:
"My master is a powerful cultivator at Spirit Connection Realm, and he has cultivated many Innate Divine Abilities. Among the many spirit officials in Jiangzhe Province, only Bao Hanzhang, the Minister of State of Jiangzhe Province who serves Straight and Curved Spirit God, can restrain him to some extent."
"It was Bao Hanzhang who realized that my master had been trapped in Spirit Connection Realm for too long, causing his soul and mind to change. His temperament had deteriorated, and his Vicious Habit Resurgence had begun... So, through Straight and Curved Spirit God, he secretly filed a complaint against my master with the Myriad Laws Celestial Pivot Supreme Minister Spirit God. My master was inspected by his own Spirit God and nearly exposed. Worse, he completely lost the chance to deceive his Spirit God and reach Manifestation Realm."
"My master had no choice but to switch to another Dao Lineage. After making connections in many places, he finally reached an agreement with the Eternal Life Cult."
"My master will secretly help the Eternal Life Cult establish Eternal Life Altars in various places and refine a demonic army called the Red Pill Army. Once the plan succeeds, they'll be able to swallow up all of Jiangzhe Province in a single night. That will make up for the Eternal Life Cult's late start in the struggle for control of the realm."
"In return, with the Eternal Life Cult's help, my master will advance to Manifestation Realm and become one of the Spirit Desire Great Priests of the Eternal Life Cult."
Hearing this, Ge Xian felt that his horizons had broadened—and that the whole thing was absurd.
He'd glimpsed the secrets of the upper echelons of the Cultivation World, and he'd also caught sight of the Dayuan Dynasty's bureaucratic system.
The Myriad Laws Celestial Pivot Prime Minister whom Yelü Tianzheng served was apparently Bai Ze, who was said to know all things concerning spirits and ghosts.
And the high official called Bao Hanzhang served the legendary Xie Zhi.
Bao Hanzhang had noticed that Yelü Tianzheng had "fallen into depravity," so through his own Spirit God, he'd secretly filed a complaint with Bai Ze. As a result, Yelü Tianzheng had lost both his Dao Path and his career in office.
So he'd simply changed allegiances.
They could actually play it like this?
Wage a battle of wits in the government and strike from the shadows?
A fusion of state and religion?
A powerful sense of déjà vu welled up in Ge Xian's heart.
His curiosity surged even more.
While he still had time, he continued firing questions at her:
"Is Li Wa, the head of the Ancient Tomb Sect, really with the Eternal Life Cult? How does she plan to build the Flesh Altar and refine the Red Pill Rebel Army?"
"Li Wa isn't merely with the Eternal Life Cult. I heard the young miss say that this wretch is the daughter of a certain Spirit Desire Great Priest in the Eternal Life Cult. Her status is extremely high. Even my master doesn't dare offend her lightly."
"That wretch is ambitious. Relying on her noble status, she's completely ignored the rule that the construction of altars and the refining of the Red Pill Army must be kept strictly secret. Instead, she's making a huge spectacle of her Martial Arts Competition for Marriage and Guǐ Wǔ Tournament."
"Heh. Those Guǐ Wǔ cultivators are fools, too. If the Guǐ Wǔ methods that the lowly human race has painstakingly developed over the years could break through the ceiling and reach Mortal Transformation Realm, if such a secret art really existed, then never mind the Eternal Life Cult and other Evil God Dao Lineages—even the great Holy Lands and the Myriad Laws Sect wouldn't allow it."
"That scene from the other day was nothing but a show. That vile Li Wa was already a cultivator at Mortal Transformation Realm. Her so-called Mortal Transformation method was actually the Eternal Life Cult's secret art for stealing lifespans."
"As for that White Snake demon, she was a Buddhist Cultivator from the Song Dynasty. She once received favors from the Eternal Life Cult and survived beneath Leifeng Pagoda until now. Li Wa simply dragged her out to repay the debt."
"She came up with a good excuse. An enormous number of Guǐ Wǔ cultivators have volunteered to join her. Once they've all been refined into Red Pill Soldiers, they'll surely become elite among the elite. Li Wa can take first place, and after that, my master might even have to value her and hand over a large share of the benefits."
"I don't know the exact method for refining them. I only know that this wretch's recklessness ruined the plan for the young miss and Lu Hualong to sell Qiantang County together. They had no choice but to stop bringing in refugees, lest Li Wa notice. If she filed a complaint as well, my master might be implicated."
"Lu Hualong, that Green Turtle, is the most ridiculous of all. He'd only just stabilized his Mortal Transformation Realm cultivation when he was forced to switch over to the Eternal Life Cult with the young miss and my master. He'll have to endure Soul Shattering Pain then, so he's been acting up lately and picking fights with the young miss again and again... She simply can't be bothered to deal with him. Once the dust settles, he'll have a hard time ahead."
Hearing every word, Ge Xian's doubts vanished.
At the same time, he felt a chill run down his spine.
His initial premonition had been right. That damned Li Wa was no good woman.
How utterly shameless!
So vicious!
Ge Xian cursed her a few times in his heart, then asked:
"What kind of organization is the Eternal Life Cult? How dare it tempt a Border Governor to switch sides? Isn't it afraid of offending the Myriad Laws Sect?"
"Reporting to master, the Eternal Life Cult is an Evil God Dharma Lineage. Its history is so long that it is almost as old as the Myriad Laws Sect. Over the ages, it has fought the Myriad Laws Sect again and again. It has lost more often than it has won, but it has had a few victories as well."
"Once, I saw a page from the Myriad Laws History Book in the young miss's study. It said that, at the end of the Late Western Zhou Dynasty, the Eternal Life Cult bewitched the ruler of the time, King You, into lighting warning beacons to fool the feudal lords. The ruler lost the people's trust, and the rebel armies under the Eternal Life Cult seized the opportunity to capture Haojing and kill King You. The Saintess of the Qingqiu Fox Clan was made the scapegoat, and her reputation was ruined."
That familiar title of a secret book stoked Ge Xian's interest even more.
The Myriad Laws History Book!
He'd already grown intensely curious about this history book, which wasn't a cultivation manual.
A single page casually plucked from it contained secrets like these.
If he ever got the chance, it would be best to find the complete book.
As Ge Xian pondered, he kept asking questions, clearly intending to wring every last secret from the fox woman's heart, leaving not a single drop behind.
But as he learned more and more, he gradually sensed something was wrong, and his expression darkened.
It seemed he'd thought of something. He stopped questioning her, then went to the wooden chest and took out the secret manual that Yang Bi, the Chief Spy under Zhu Hongwu, had given him.
He opened it and skimmed through it quickly, comparing it with what the fox woman had told him. Before long, he confirmed something:
Even if I'm lucky enough to escape Jiangzhe Province safely within two or three days, I'll still run straight into the schemes and upheavals of other provinces.
There isn't a single peaceful place anywhere in the Dayuan Dynasty right now.
At least, not for human cultivators.
Before you continue