Clear-Vein Senior Sister, Righteous and Evil Paths Divide

Jiang Yuan's decision to play along left Guo Hongtao utterly confused, but Guo Hongtao had blind faith in him. Since Brother Yuan said they were putting on an act, then they would act.

Thus, over the next day, the entire outer sect outpost of the Harmonious Union Sect witnessed a strange sight.

Jiang Yuan, the "top-grade cultivation vessel" who had been ferocious yesterday and injured four guards, seemed to have had his backbone completely removed today.

He shut himself in his room all day, pale-faced and listless. He accepted every kind of "nourishing" medicinal soup delivered by the female disciples and drank them one by one.

Guo Hongtao was even worse. He spent the whole day grinning foolishly at the flowers, grass, and trees in the courtyard, endlessly muttering, "Fairy sister." He looked exactly like an idiot whose mind had been bewitched.

Naturally, all of this fell into the eyes of Steward He and the watchers.

"Hmph. What backbone? Before the elder's methods and the sect's secret medicine, didn't he still obediently turn into a weakling?"

Listening to her subordinates' report, Steward He wore a disdainful sneer.

"Pass down the order. Activate the Bewitching Yin-Yang Formation again tonight, and have the second batch of disciples prepare themselves. This time, I'll make sure that brat doesn't even have the strength to stand!"

Night fell once more.

The pink mist arrived as expected, beginning to spread toward the side courtyard where Jiang Yuan was staying.

But just as the mist was about to envelop the entire courtyard, a cold sword light descended from the sky like lightning in the night!

Rip!

Where the sword light passed, the seemingly intangible pink mist was sliced in two like cloth cut by a sharp blade, then swiftly dispersed into the air!

A young woman dressed in a plain white gown, holding a three-foot-long green-edged sword, landed soundlessly atop the courtyard wall.

She was breathtakingly beautiful, with a cool and aloof bearing, like a moon palace immortal untouched by mortal dust.

"Su Yan! How dare you ruin my plans!"

Steward He's furious voice came from nearby. She had brought a large group of disciples and completely surrounded the small courtyard.

The woman called Su Yan did not even spare her a glance. She merely took a green token engraved with the character "Patrol" from her robes and raised it high.

"The Pure Cultivation Academy's Patrol Token is here! Steward He, you secretly established an evil formation and forcibly abducted outsiders to use as cultivation vessels. You have seriously violated the sect's ancestral teachings! Stop immediately, and I can pretend none of this ever happened!"

Seeing the token, Steward He's expression changed repeatedly.

The internal division within the Harmonious Union Sect had long ceased to be a secret.

Her faction advocated taking and replenishing as a shortcut to rapidly increase one's strength, and was known as the Evil Union Sect.

The faction led by the Pure Cultivation Academy, meanwhile, adhered to the ancestral teachings. It advocated that both yin and yang parties harmonize willingly and advance together, and was known as the Pure Union Sect.

The two factions had fought for over a century, and neither had been able to overcome the other.

This Patrol Token represented the will of the Pure Cultivation Academy. Openly defying it could very likely trigger a full-scale conflict between the two factions.

"Su Yan, stop using the ancestral teachings to pressure me!" Steward He shouted fiercely despite her inward fear. "These two are spies who trespassed into our sect's forbidden grounds. I am merely questioning them according to the rules!"

"Questioning?" Su Yan sneered. Her figure flashed, and she appeared within the courtyard, arriving directly before Jiang Yuan's door.

"Young Master Jiang Yuan, would you come out for a moment?"

The door opened, and Jiang Yuan stepped out. He looked at the woman who had suddenly appeared before him, then at Steward He and the others outside, their swords drawn and tension high. He roughly understood what was happening.

Su Yan gave Jiang Yuan a slight nod, then got straight to the point.

"I know where you came from, and I know your situation. How about we make a deal?"

"What deal?" Jiang Yuan asked.

"I'll help you leave this place. I can even help you find the wreckage of your crashed spaceship."

Su Yan's words stirred Jiang Yuan's heart.

"And what I need is for you to help me kill someone." Su Yan's tone turned icy. "That gray-veiled elder who took your Yang Essence last night."

"Her cultivation art is extremely yin and cold. Only someone like you, who cultivates a pure-yang technique and possesses a powerful body, can deliver her a fatal blow at close range."

Seeming to know what Jiang Yuan was thinking, she added, "You needn't worry that our Pure Cultivation Academy covets your constitution. We are not like them. We seek only the Great Dao and do not follow evil paths."

Su Yan's gaze was utterly frank.

"We can take responsibility for protecting your companion until you leave safely." Su Yan finally presented her bargaining chip.

"Fine. I accept this deal." Jiang Yuan agreed with unusual decisiveness.

However, just as their deal was reached, a terrifying pressure descended from the sky!

The gray-veiled elder appeared atop the courtyard wall like a ghost.

Her aura was even stronger than it had been last night. Clearly, after absorbing Jiang Yuan's Yang Essence, her cultivation had advanced further.

Behind her, Steward He watched Su Yan and Jiang Yuan with a smug expression, as if to say: Your time to die has come.

"Hehehe..."

The gray-veiled elder let out a chilling laugh.

"Junior niece Su Yan, you truly made this elder wait."

"I thought you would wait until I had thoroughly drained this cultivation vessel before you were willing to show yourself."

Su Yan's expression became incomparably grave. She shielded Jiang Yuan behind her and tightened her grip on her sword.

"Elder Gu! You cultivate an evil art and harm the innocent. Today, I will uphold justice on behalf of Heaven!"

"Uphold justice on behalf of Heaven?" The gray-veiled elder seemed to have heard the greatest joke in the world. "In this Harmonious Union Sect, I am Heaven! I am the Dao!"

Her gaze passed over Su Yan and fell upon Jiang Yuan. The possessiveness and greed in her eyes were completely undisguised.

"Little one, your Yang Essence tasted truly exquisite. I'm almost reluctant to share you with those mediocre women."

She stuck out her tongue and licked her lips, the movement brimming with sinister seduction.

"How about this? For serving me so well last night, I'll give you a choice."

The gray-veiled elder slowly extended one hand toward Su Yan and Jiang Yuan in an inviting gesture.

"The two of you can come with me and become cultivation vessels for my sole enjoyment."

"Or I'll refine both of you into living corpses, condemned never to be reborn!"

As her words fell, dozens of Evil Union Sect disciples behind her simultaneously drew their weapons. Their powerful auras instantly sealed off the entire small courtyard!

The situation escalated in an instant from a standoff into a direct conflict with no possibility of reconciliation!

Cold sweat beaded on Su Yan's forehead. She knew that today would likely not end peacefully.

Just as she was preparing to fight to the death, Jiang Yuan behind her suddenly patted her shoulder.

"Senior Sister, step back."

Jiang Yuan slowly stepped forward, facing the gray-veiled elder and the dozens of evil cultivators glaring at him behind her all by himself.

There was not the slightest trace of fear on his face. Instead, a playful smile appeared.

"You want me as a cultivation vessel?"

"With so many of you... will there be enough to go around?"