Are There Only Demonesses Left in the Cultivation Realm?

Xiao Qingfeng recalled something the Chang’an Daoist once said, a phrase that had circulated through the Cultivation Realm since his early days of cultivation.

"Some old fossils love to feign weakness to trick people."

’It’s best to be careful.’

’Better safe than sorry.’

But Lu Changyuan had stopped right at the border of the East and West Cities. He didn’t move, even sitting down directly at the foot of the stone stele.

’He’s looking at me?’

Xiao Qingfeng felt a jolt of alarm.

Lu Changyuan was, indeed, looking right where he was.

"Come on out."

Xiao Qingfeng thought long and hard, but still couldn’t see through Lu Changyuan. Even when he used the Sun and Moon Gnomon to take a reading, he came up with nothing.

So, he emerged from the darkness.

"Yu, I believe we can talk."

Lu Changyuan scoffed. "Talk about what? You don’t want to kill me anymore?"

’No matter how I look at him, his Cultivation is only at the edge of the Fifth Realm. He shouldn’t be able to last a single round against me.’

’He’s far too calm.’

’What is he relying on?’

As Xiao Qingfeng pondered this, his expression grew increasingly grave. "Why have you come to the Netherworld?" he asked.

Lu Changyuan said lightly, "To look for the Sun and Moon Gnomon, and see the Nether River while I’m here."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

Xiao Qingfeng breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, "Are you from the Sun and Moon Palace? Only someone from the Palace would know the Sun and Moon Gnomon is in the Netherworld."

Lu Changyuan waved his hand dismissively. "I left the Sun and Moon Palace many years ago."

Xiao Qingfeng breathed another sigh of relief. He took out the Sun and Moon Gnomon. "If you’ve come for the Sun and Moon Gnomon, I can give it to you."

He had already used the Sun and Moon Gnomon to deceive the Celestial Dao and reverse his fate from the brink of death. Now, the artifact was of little use to him.

Lu Changyuan, still smiling, asked, "And then?"

"As long as you renounce the title of Yu."

Renounce the title of Yu, allowing Xiao Qingfeng to fully step into Yao Guang and devour the entire Netherworld.

And Lu Changyuan would have achieved his purpose for coming to the Netherworld.

It seemed like a good deal.

But Lu Changyuan merely leaned against the stone stele and said, "You want me to give up my title, letting you ascend to Yao Guang. Then, once you’ve ascended, you’ll kill me. Is that the plan?"

Only three living people remained in the Netherworld, and none of them were his subjects.

Xiao Qingfeng’s eyes narrowed. The Sun and Moon Gnomon in his hand floated in front of Lu Changyuan. "We have no deep-seated grudge. You and your two women can leave the Netherworld. As a show of good faith, I’ll even give you the Sun and Moon Gnomon first."

’He’s surprisingly willing to part with it.’

Lu Changyuan gazed at the familiar magical artifact before him, and his thoughts turned to the Sun and Moon Palace Master.

Then he spoke softly, "If you don’t kill the three of us, your ascension to Yao Guang will be imperfect. Can you really live with that?"

Xiao Qingfeng said matter-of-factly, "I don’t dare kill her. Since it’s already imperfect, a few more flaws won’t matter. I’ll find a way to make it whole in the future."

He was, of course, talking about Su Youwan.

The Little Ancestor of the Compassionate Palace. If he killed her, heaven knew what the Compassionate Palace would do.

That sounded reasonable enough.

But let’s not forget.

The Xiao Qingfeng before him wasn’t some merchant striking a deal. He was a man who had schemed for hundreds of years, a man who had become a Spirit in the Netherworld yet retained his sanity, who was defying fate itself to ascend to Yao Guang.

’Would a man like that truly be content with imperfection? Would he really be afraid of the Compassionate Palace?’

’Once he ascends to Yao Guang, what could even the Sun and Moon Palace Master do to him?’

For all those who ascend to Yao Guang, temperament, opportunity, and talent are all indispensable.

Su Wuxiang had only glimpsed the landscape of Yao Guang, and Han Ze Master had not even seen that much. Yet Xiao Qingfeng had obtained the true Yao Guang Technique.

’A man like that claims he’ll accept imperfection. Would Lu Changyuan believe him?’

Of course not.

From the very beginning.

It was always going to be a life-or-death struggle between Lu Changyuan and Xiao Qingfeng.

"Sounds tempting."

Xiao Qingfeng watched as Lu Changyuan stood up, dusting himself off. The young man’s voice was placid. "But I have a bad habit. I love saying ’no’ to self-righteous people."

The words had barely left Lu Changyuan’s lips.

The sound of tearing air instantly followed.

It wasn’t Lu Changyuan who had struck. It was Xiao Qingfeng, attacking him directly with the Sun and Moon Gnomon.

Lu Changyuan was decisive, but Xiao Qingfeng was just as swift. Seeing that negotiations had failed, he wasted no more words.

This, too, was a test.

Until Lu Changyuan revealed his hand, Xiao Qingfeng had no intention of getting too close.

But to his great surprise...

The blow sent Lu Changyuan flying. Blood trickled from his mouth as his back slammed against the stone stele.

With a RUMBLE, both Lu Changyuan and the stele crashed to the ground.

Xiao Qingfeng stared at Lu Changyuan, stunned.

’How can he be this weak?’

’So he really is just at the Fifth Realm.’

’This is Yu? The same Yu who spent a century in the Netherworld and cultivated to the Kai Yang level?’

Xiao Qingfeng let out a vicious laugh. "So, you were just bluffing after all?"

Leaning on the fractured stele, Lu Changyuan slowly got to his feet and swallowed the bitter blood in his mouth.

[You are about to die]

"Xiao Qingfeng, you’ve been in the Netherworld for over three hundred years. Have you no attachment to this place at all?"

Xiao Qingfeng froze for only an instant. Then, with a sharp wave of his hand, the stele exploded into dust. Lu Changyuan’s body was slowly lifted into the air, and Broken Thought fell to the ground with a CLANG.

Lu Changyuan’s body shot through the air, right into Xiao Qingfeng’s grasp as he seized him by the throat.

"Attachment? This place tormented me for three hundred years, and you think I feel attached to it?" Xiao Qingfeng sneered. "Attachment is not something a Cultivator should indulge in. You, of all people, should understand that."

Xiao Qingfeng let out a cold laugh. "I was being too cautious. To think I actually believed you had an ace up your sleeve. Your bluff was quite convincing, I’ll admit."

With that, he moved to snap Lu Changyuan’s neck and crush him completely.

Yet, he saw not a single trace of fear on Lu Changyuan’s face.

’This man... he isn’t afraid to die? A terrible premonition bloomed in Xiao Qingfeng’s heart.’

’Lu Changyuan is definitely Yu.’

’Wait.’

’What about the other one? Where is she?’

Drawing upon his partial authority over the realm, Xiao Qingfeng sensed her. She was in the Royal Palace.

’What is she doing in the Royal Palace?’

Xiao Qingfeng slammed Lu Changyuan to the ground. "What are you really scheming? Are you trying to bring back the Nether Monarch?"

’At least seven broken bones,’ Lu Changyuan thought.

He smiled.

Blood trickled into his windpipe, choking him.

Lu Changyuan’s face was pale as he spoke, "The Nether Monarch isn’t coming back. I never planned for him to return. Honestly, I have nothing to do with him. I don’t even know why he gave me his title."

Xiao Qingfeng’s head snapped up. He heard a sound that made his heart shudder. He tried to kill Lu Changyuan then and there but found he was utterly unable to extinguish his life force.

’Why?’

DONG!

A clear, crisp chime rang out, a sound that seemed to echo from Ancient Times.

The very earth began to tremble, as if it had developed a pulse.

THUMP!

It was the beat of a drum!

Xiao Qingfeng saw Lu Changyuan break into a wider smile.

His pupils contracted violently as he heard Lu Changyuan say in a light, cheerful tone, "I accept the title of Yu."

Until now, only the Spirits of the Netherworld had called him by that name, but Lu Changyuan himself had never acknowledged it.

Besides, accepting it rashly would have instantly made him something like the Crown Prince of the Netherworld. That would have risked tipping his hand, and Xiao Qingfeng would never have come here.

The wind stopped.

It was followed by a rushing sound so violent it threatened to tear the eardrums.

A fissure suddenly tore across the sky, like a colossal, dark eye opening in the night. In the next instant, the Nether River, which had been held back by Xiao Qingfeng’s magic, finally broke free of its bonds.

It was as if the weight of the entire Netherworld was concentrated in its current. The dark water, carrying with it an absolute will to destroy everything, let out a heaven-and-earth-shaking roar.

And came crashing down!