Soft and Hard, an Overt Scheme

Her voice was so soft and seductive, it seemed to carry nothing but the air of the pleasure quarters, enough to make one's bones go weak at the seams.

Yet Liu Dongqing stood rooted to the spot without moving an inch.

In a flash of thought, a hoarse crow's cry rang through the world of his body and soul, the lingering echoes of savage beastly nature and furious intent surging straight toward the heavens.

Swept by that blaze of anger, every ripple of desire vanished utterly from Liu Dongqing's mind.

After only a night and more of studying the Little Thought Primordial Furnace Fire-Nurturing Art, Liu Dongqing had already worked out many interesting applications for the path of Seven Emotions Enter the Flame.

At this moment, his mind was utterly clear, leaving behind only pure confusion.

"Business?"

"Senior Sister, Liu is no peddler in the Dao Academy market. I have never done business with anyone before, nor do I have any plans to do so now."

"Could it be that Senior Sister has found the wrong person?"

The woman answered him with a string of coquettish laughs.

"Oh my... Junior Brother, how could you brush me off like that? Since I call you Junior Brother Liu, you should know I have not found the wrong person.

"It does not matter if you have never done business before. Everything has a first time..."

As she spoke, that exceedingly seductive voice suddenly paused.

"Will Junior Brother really speak to me through a door? Why not open the courtyard gate? We can speak face-to-face. If Junior Brother can see me, it will be easier to discuss certain private matters..."

Liu Dongqing's voice remained calm and composed.

"I would rather not. Liu has no leisure for this.

"Even if everything has a first time, it will not be with someone I do not know.

"Senior Sister, the gate will not be opened. If there is nothing else, please leave."

His words had barely fallen when the person outside, utterly lacking the sense to take a hint, continued speaking on her own.

"Why are you so impossible to tease? I have business. Serious business...

"It does not matter if Junior Brother will not open the gate. Once you hear me out, you will understand the benefits of this deal.

"I entered the sect a year before you. Now, I stand at the peak of the sixth level of Qi Refining, only one step away—just one step away—from the late Qi Refining stage.

"But I have been stuck at the threshold of the seventh level of Qi Refining for far too long. Like most people, I have run into the bottleneck of breaking through to the late stage, and for now, I cannot see any hope of entering Rising Mist Dao Academy.

"Yet in another four or five months, the Dao Registry Hall will assess the cultivation of disciples from each Dao Academy and begin arranging their promotions and demotions.

"This little time for cultivation is the crucial of crucial matters for me—the utmost priority.

"By chance, I recently obtained a Pill Formula. It only requires Jade Cloud Fruit as its primary ingredient. Once the precious pill is refined, it can eliminate most of the bottleneck.

"The better the medicinal efficacy, the more of the bottleneck it can eliminate.

"That was why I thought of Junior Brother's great name. I also heard that Junior Brother has recently been tending Jade Cloud Fruit. After several generations of cultivation, the excellence of its bearing has already surpassed everything nearby. That is why I came to your door to seek medicine.

"I only ask that Junior Brother give me some of the Jade Cloud Fruit you are currently growing. If they have not ripened yet, I would be willing to ask for a single plant to transplant back with me.

"If Junior Brother agrees..."

Before she could finish, Liu Dongqing's increasingly cold voice interrupted her.

"Senior Sister, Liu has never grown excess Jade Cloud Fruit for himself. All these years, I have only grown them on behalf of others. Every single plant in these fields has an owner.

"Liu does not wish to make this deal, nor can I make this deal.

"There is no need to say any more. Senior Sister, please leave again..."

As his words fell, the senior sister outside gave the gate a heavy knock.

"Look at you, getting anxious again!

"Can you not at least hear what I am offering in exchange for the Jade Cloud Fruit plants?

"If the deal is made, I will first give this Pill Formula to Junior Brother. I am facing the difficulty of this bottleneck today—does Junior Brother not think of his own future? Are you truly going to sink into obscurity like this, without even the desire to enter Rising Mist Dao Academy?

"This Pill Formula will be of great use to you!

"Furthermore, there are precious cultivation medicines such as Azure Flame Spirit Pills, Daoist texts and handwritten notes from Qi Refining cultivators who broke through to Foundation Establishment, auxiliary Dao Merit techniques that can strengthen azure light and reinforce one's natal candle flame...

"As long as Junior Brother is willing to trade, all of these can be discussed!

"Even if the plants in the fields belong to others, it is not as though they need to see Jade Cloud Fruit today or tomorrow, is it? Once there are matters of urgency and priority, Junior Brother will have room to maneuver.

"Taking others' plants in exchange for your own benefits—would Junior Brother truly still refuse such a thing?"

At this point in her speech.

Where he stood.

Liu Dongqing, who had remained silent all along and whose expression had gradually turned cold, instead let out a soft laugh.

"Senior Sister says I am anxious, but why do I feel that Senior Sister is the anxious one?

"You have never deceived anyone before, have you?

"Or have you truly taken Liu for a fool to toy with and mock?

"Pill Formula, precious medicines, handwritten notes, cultivation techniques...

"Of the four things Senior Sister just mentioned, which one looks like something an ordinary disciple of Sunward Dao Academy could possess?

"Speak plainly, Senior Sister. Who sent you to probe Liu's background? Who stands behind you?

"I would guess... a Senior Brother Zhao from Rising Mist Dao Academy. Am I right?"

At once.

A suffocating silence spread beyond the courtyard gate.

When she spoke again, her voice no longer carried any deliberately feigned seduction. Beneath its calmness was the anger and embarrassment of having been exposed.

"The matters of those above, fighting to the death, are truly too far removed from us. Why must Junior Brother dig so deeply into them?

"Since you believe someone stands behind me, then you should know these benefits can all be delivered.

"As long as you agree, you will certainly have them!

"Besides...

"The one who just left Junior Brother's courtyard was the steward of Senior Sister Zhang from Rising Mist Dao Academy, was he not? He has not gone far. He happened to see me standing outside your gate, speaking with Junior Brother for all this time.

"Even if you are truly unwaveringly loyal to Senior Sister Zhang, with that steward watching from the mountain road, how could he not become suspicious of you?

"Once the seed of suspicion has been planted, no matter how much effort you spend afterward trying to patch things up, you will only make the picture darker with every stroke, instead urging that seed to take root and sprout.

"From the moment I timed my arrival and stood outside your gate, Junior Brother, whether you opened this gate or not, you had already fallen into my overt scheme.

"You might as well go all the way...

"What Senior Sister Zhang can give you, Senior Brother Zhao can give you more of!"

At that moment, Liu Dongqing's laughter even sounded rather hearty.

"Senior Sister, do you think you have Liu completely in your grasp?"

The person's voice carried a trace of smugness.

"I would not put it that way. I am merely pointing Junior Brother toward a clear road in these circumstances."

Liu Dongqing smiled even more brilliantly.

"But why do I feel that I can still unravel the snare of this overt scheme?

"It is simply not a method that can be spoken aloud.

"Good Senior Sister, come closer. Lean over by the crack in the gate, and Junior Brother will tell you in a whisper—"

Before he could finish.

The reply Liu Dongqing received was the hurried sound of the person outside repeatedly backing away.

Clearly, she had already anticipated something.

And almost at the same instant.

Liu Dongqing formed a sword-finger seal, and blazing azure light shot through the gap in the courtyard gate toward the outside.

In an instant.

That beam of azure light swelled beyond the gate into a surging blaze of wrath.

The scorching heat wave unleashed by his full-force strike immediately blew the tightly shut gates wide open.

Yet beneath the illumination of the pure azure flames, what Liu Dongqing saw was only the person's hurriedly fleeing back.

And the steward standing on the mountain road, openly and unobstructedly gazing in this direction.

Once the seed of suspicion had been planted...

That seed had not only been planted in the steward's heart. In truth, it had also been planted in Liu Dongqing's heart.

He could not help beginning to wonder whether the steward had started suspecting him.

A tangle of thoughts surged into his mind, only to be separated one after another by Liu Dongqing's upright intent.

'What benefit did Senior Brother Zhao offer her to make her do something that would offend Senior Sister Zhang?'

'It must have been a benefit she could not refuse.'

'That is it—the advancement to the late Qi Refining stage.'

'Then she will come again. Yes, she will definitely come again!'