Chapter 250: Fellow Daoist, Please Do As You Wish

"Everyone pursues the Great Dao, each striving to rise higher. But ultimately, is it man cultivating the Dao, or the Dao cultivating man?"

Yunhe held a red jade gourd in one hand, watching the lively 'family banquet' disperse, and muttered to himself.

As for the question he himself had raised, he could not answer it.

But one thing was certain: his resolve was absolutely firm.

"Whether man cultivates the Dao or the Dao cultivates man, I only know that what I seek is immortality. If this Dao can grant immortality, I will cultivate it; if it cannot, I will forge my own 'Dao'!"

He took a sip of the spiritual liquid from the gourd, and its spicy flavor instantly filled his mouth.

As the spiritual liquid entered his belly, he felt a warmth rising from his whole body; with digestion and absorption, Yunhe sensed his body grow just a little stronger.

Day after day, this would surely let his body undergo another transformation.

Thereafter, he returned to his original diligent cultivation.

In his spare time, he studied formations, pondered the Dragon Scale Pattern, refined a few batches of elixirs when inspired, or crafted treasures, making his days fulfilling and orderly.

That day.

While cultivating, Yunhe's expression shifted slightly as he looked toward the south of the He clan.

The He clan already lay at the southernmost tip of South Lodging Island; further south stretched an endless expanse of cloud sea.

But Yunhe's powerful divine sense caught an abnormal fluctuation of spiritual power rapidly approaching.

His powerful divine sense is Yunhe's most obvious advantage; an ordinary late Golden Core cultivator's divine sense limit of fifty li is already impressive.

Yet his divine sense limit now reaches a hundred li!

This is comparable to a Nascent Soul cultivator's divine sense, allowing him to detect enemies earlier and seize the initiative in battle.

More importantly, with his current divine sense strength, even if he swept over a Golden Core cultivator, they might not notice him, for his advantage is simply too great.

At this moment he discovered a mid Golden Core cultivator fleeing, pursued behind him by a third-stage mid Cloud Beast!

"'This direction is pretty clear. It seems headed for the He clan.'"

Yunhe set down what he held, turned into a streak of earth-colored light, and shot toward the pursuer and beast.

Above the cloud sea.

A streak of Golden Core light flashed by swiftly.

This streak of light flickered in brightness, its speed alternating fast and slow, suggesting its condition was not good.

Within the light, a mid Golden Core cultivator with a pale visage and sturdy build held two iron balls—it was Wang Lou of the Wang clan, a Golden Core cultivator!

Behind Wang Lou in the cloud sea, a giant snake with two heads tumbled rapidly, bearing a pair of bird-like wings on its back; as it flapped, its speed surged, and it seemed about to overtake Wang Lou.

"'Damn it!'"

Wang Lou's eye sockets reddened, blood threads intertwining, his heart filled with extreme vexation.

He never expected that a casual outing would lead him to encounter this third-stage mid Cloud Beast Winged Twin-headed Snake, fall into its ambush, be invaded by its toxin, and leave his condition terribly poor.

If it were in the Cloud Outside Realm, the odds of meeting a third-stage Cloud Beast would still be not small, but here in the Cloud Middle Realm, the chance of running into a mid-third-stage demon beast upon leaving is not much lower than encountering a secret realm.

Fortunately, his line of sight could already see South Lodging Island.

"'This place must be the He clan's station, right?'"

In Wang Lou's mind flashed the image of the He clan elder, He Wen, holding the defensive treasure 'Thick Earth Cauldron,' and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The He clan elder was famed for defense, also a mid Golden Core; if he could hold the beast long enough for a breather, the two could join forces to slay it here.

"'Hiss——!!'"

The winged twin-headed snake behind Wang Lou let out a long cry; one head snapped its jaws open, releasing a surge of dark-green mist that pressed toward Wang Lou.

Seeing this, Wang Lou instantly stirred his spiritual power, gritted his teeth, and surged his speed, barely dodging the poisonous mist.

But his complexion grew ever paler, his breath ever more feeble because of it.

However.

Just as he gritted his teeth and persisted, he spotted, far off, an old man in ornate robes standing with hands behind his back.

The He clan elder!

Wang Lou instantly rejoiced, hastily sending a mental transmission: 'He Dao Friend, please lend me a hand! I will be deeply grateful, and my Wang clan will surely reward you handsomely!'

Hearing Wang Lou's words, Yunhe gave a light chuckle.

All this talk of generous rewards and repayments—he had heard it far too often.

His ears were practically growing calluses.

"'Wang Dao Friend, what's the situation?'"

Wang Lou's face darkened.

"'What time is this? Not to act now is bad enough, yet you still ask for details?'"

"'A Cloud Beast chasing a cultivator—is this really so hard to understand?'"

But since he had a request, Wang Lou hurriedly summarized the matter, then quickly sent: 'It's just this; please, He Dao Friend, for the sake of my Wang clan, temporarily hold off this beast so I can recover, then we'll join forces to slay it, after which we'll split the spoils evenly!'

"'Hah.'"

"'What a fine idea of splitting the loot.'"

Yunhe was left speechless.

Although the materials of a third-stage mid demon beast weren't much to him, he found the notion of 'splitting evenly' absurd—didn't he know his own condition?

And still he clung to his Wang clan identity to take advantage?

Yet Yunhe still moved.

He raised his hand, and a great banner fell into his grasp, the flag snapping loudly in the strong wind.

As the banner appeared, the surrounding white cloud sea instantly turned ink-dark; within the roiling black clouds, shadows echoed with beasts' roars and howls.

Beast Soul Banner!

Seeing this, Wang Lou showed delight; he had seen Yunhe's Beast Soul Banner before, so he knew this was Yunhe making his move.

However, what surprised Wang Lou somewhat was that the yin qi released by this banner seemed to also envelop him, covering an extremely large area.

Yunhe didn't even glance at Wang Lou, ignored the feathered double-headed snake chasing him, and instead gazed toward a point in the distance, asking with a smile:

"Why don't you come out and meet me, fellow Daoist?"

"Fellow Daoist?"

Wang Lou was startled.

He immediately reacted, eyes wide as he looked at Yunhe, his gaze filled with disbelief and astonishment.

"Late Jie Dan Stage!!"

Only then did he finally realize that the cultivation base of this "He Jia Lao Zu" before him was no longer Middle Jie Dan Stage, but Late Jie Dan Stage!

This truly exceeded his understanding.

"Isn't He Jia Lao Zu He Wen about to die?"

"How could he break through to Middle Jie Dan Stage just a moment before dying, and now even break through to Late Jie Dan Stage?"

"His cultivation base used to be weaker than mine, but now after two leaps it's actually higher than mine?"

Wang Lou hovered in midair, staring blankly at Yunhe, seemingly unable to accept it.

But he quickly turned his gaze toward the direction Yunhe was looking.

"There's still someone?"

"Hehehe—"

"Suddenly."

A laugh full of charm, like a decadent melody, came over, making Wang Lou feel his heart go soft; the toxin inside his body, which he had been gradually gaining control of, suddenly seemed about to lose control again.

"Fellow Daoist, your spiritual sense is incredibly strong!"

Su Wan Ning appeared in their view, wearing sheer black gauze that only covered some key parts; her fair long legs, jade feet, lotus-root-like arms, and towering chest made one's mouth dry just looking at her.

Wang Lou stared, eyes wide, his earlier shock completely gone.

Even Yunhe felt his heart heat up; if not for his strong spiritual sense keeping his will clear at all times, he too would have fallen under her spell.

In fact, Su Wan Ning was quite surprised herself—she had hidden far away, yet was discovered; she seemed unable to sense Yunhe's spiritual sense, and her seductive arts appeared ineffective against him.

"A cultivator of the Union Joy Sect?" Yunhe ignored Su Wan Ning's praise and countered.

Because of his voice, Wang Lou also shuddered, reacted, hurriedly lowered his head, and exclaimed, "Senior disciple under the Smoke Moon Fairy of the Union Joy Sect, Su Wan Ning?!"

Su Wan Ning hadn't even spoken her name yet, but Wang Lou had already recognized her.

The fame of the Smoke Moon Fairy of the Union Joy Sect was naturally known to Yunhe, after all, one of her male favorites, Fei Ling, was killed by Yunhe.

As a senior disciple of a Yuan Ying Cultivator, Su Wan Ning was clearly no ordinary Late Jie Dan Stage cultivator.

Though all are Jie Dan cultivators, the gap between loners, family cultivators, sect cultivators, core disciples, and the direct disciples of Yuan Ying Cultivators is still huge.

At the moment Wang Lou shouted out his name, the feathered double-headed snake that had been chasing him stopped, flew back to Su Wan Ning's side, and, coiling around her, wrapped her up.

If Wang Lou still couldn't see that the one truly chasing—or rather, toying with—him was Su Wan Ning, then he had no business being a Jie Dan cultivator.

"I, the young lady, have met both fellow Daoists." Su Wan Ning gave a graceful salute; a surge of turbulent waves made the indignant Wang Lou dare not look.

Yunhe, however, enjoyed it immensely.

"I, the young lady, have heard of Fellow Daoist He, never expecting that his cultivation base is also Late Jie Dan Stage." Su Wan Ning's eyes, like a pool of autumn water, stared straight at Yunhe as she licked her lips, her seductive intent evident.

Yunhe merely smiled in response, not taking the bait.

"Fellow Daoist Su, what do you mean? Our Wang family has no grudge against the Union Joy Sect, we're not—" Wang Lou lowered his head but shouted at Su Wan Ning, his appearance rather strange.

Upon hearing this, Su Wan Ning ignored Wang Lou, merely bending her crescent-moon eyes to look at Yunhe, speaking sweetly:

"Fellow Daoist He, the young lady has yet to find a dual cultivation partner, I don't know if—"

Hearing this, Yunhe was stunned.

He was currently staring at He Wen's corpse, which looked exactly like an old man's; although cultivators don't care about appearance, her inviting him to become a dual cultivation partner upon meeting was the first time Yunhe had seen such a thing.

No need to think; this so-called dual cultivation is certainly "capturing Yang to supplement Yin," making oneself her subordinate.

"Cough, thank you for the kindness, fellow Daoist, but He Mou has little interest; fellow Daoist, you might consider Wang Lou instead." Yunhe stared into her eyes and laughed.

"Hehehe." Su Wan Ning burst into another wave of turbulent laughter, laughing for a while before slowly stopping, pouting as she said: "Fellow Daoist He, you're far more interesting than the rumors suggest. Since you're not interested in becoming a dual cultivation partner with the young lady, would you be interested in teaming up with her to take down this person? As far as I know, the Wang family and the He family you belong to are not on good terms, right? The Wang family is actually backed by the Blood Demon Sect."

"Oh?"

"The Wang family is backed by the Blood Demon Sect?"

That was something Yunhe didn't know.

"Corpse Evil Hall, Hundred Ghost Sect, Union Joy Sect, Blood Demon Sect, Myriad Control Sect, and Six Paths Palace—together known as the Six Great Demonic Sects, with the Six Paths Palace as their leader."

Although the Six Demonic Sects are a collective term, their relations are not particularly harmonious.

This at least partly explains why Su Wan Ning would act against Wang Lou.

But why does Yunhe feel that Su Wan Ning's true target is himself?

Otherwise, why would a senior disciple of a Yuan Ying Cultivator pay attention to an elderly family cultivator at Middle Jie Dan Stage?

Moreover, if Su Wan Ning really wanted to kill Wang Lou, why would she merely let her feathered double-headed snake "toy" with him, all the way to the vicinity of the He family's base, just for amusement?

Therefore, Yunhe has reason to believe that her target is himself.

Thus, when he first unfurled the Beast Soul Banner, he also enclosed Su Wan Ning within its effect.

Yunhe stretched out his hand, making a "please" gesture.

"Please, fellow Daoist, do as you wish."

Today I've resumed three chapters, presenting ten thousand words; I'll wait a few days, see if I can find a chance to repay a bit of what I owe.

(End of chapter)