Chapter 481 - 475: Pacts Are Made to Be Broken
Chapter 481: Chapter 475: Pacts Are Made to Be Broken
On her end, Ye Rui Master had lost a great expert at Nascent Soul Perfection.
Du Youqian, on the other hand, had lost one hundred and five years of his lifespan.
Both sides felt they had suffered a tremendous loss and wanted to recoup it.
Seeing Little Wukong on the verge of a battlefield breakthrough gave Ye Rui Master a headache. She didn’t want to fight anymore.
Although Du Youqian still had trump cards he hadn’t played—his Inch and Mile Divine Abilities, his Blood Slaughter Sword Intent, and his Heaven and Earth—he wasn’t fully confident he could kill both Ye Rui Master, a Direct Inheritance of a Major Sect, and Chen Hongbo at the same time, even if he went all out. So he didn’t want to continue the fight either.
If he had fully comprehended a certain Divine Ability he was currently trying to master, he might have been willing to try.
But as things stood, there was no need to take the risk.
Thus, both parties had a practical need for a truce.
As for forming an alliance to explore the cavern estate and cooperating sincerely to obtain the Divinity Transformation Spiritual Object, that was, of course, a joke.
’I’ll use Ye Rui Master and Chen Hongbo to clear away some obstacles first,’ Du Youqian thought. ’Then I’ll team up with Zhuge Qing to kill them both and eliminate this problem for good.’
Ye Rui Master surely had a similar plan in mind, intending to deal with Du Youqian inside the cavern estate.
So both sides readily agreed and swore an oath of alliance, calling each other "dear sister" and "little brother" so affectionately one might think they were closer than blood siblings.
Of course, this pact, like most in history, was made only to be broken.
Just as they were about to part ways, Du Youqian suddenly interjected, "Dear sister, since we’ve formed an alliance, shouldn’t you remove the little trick you planted on me?"
A look of confusion appeared in Ye Rui Master’s clear, beautiful eyes. "Little brother, what are you talking about? When did I ever plant any kind of trick on you?"
Du Youqian chuckled. "Sister, you found me with pinpoint accuracy. That couldn’t have been a simple whim. And don’t tell me you used divination. I’m quite confident on this point—not even a Divinity Transformation True Monarch could divine my whereabouts. If you don’t remove this technique, I’ll have no choice but to doubt the sincerity of your alliance, and this fight will have to continue."
In truth, he was only making a logical guess and boldly testing her; he had no actual evidence.
However, Ye Rui Master’s flawless acting, rather than dispelling his suspicions, only confirmed them. He was now certain she had done something.
A flicker of unease crossed Ye Rui Master’s affectionate gaze, and her voice grew even gentler. "Dear little brother, I truly haven’t used any tricks on you."
Du Youqian broke into a wide smile. The Jinhuan sword floated above his head, its sharp Broken Water Sword Intent simmering but not yet unleashed. "If you insist on being stubborn, dear sister, then you can’t blame me for tearing up our pact. After all, you’d be the one breaking it first, wouldn’t you?"
Ye Rui Master bit her luscious lip, her eyes filled with the desolate look of someone deeply wronged. Her voice trembled. "Little brother, if you don’t believe your sister..."
The Jinhuan sword shot toward her.
Only then did Ye Rui Master drop her disguise. "It can’t be removed," she said coldly. "It truly can’t. It’s an unshared secret of the Heavenly Emotions and Oceanic Resentments Sect called ’Endless Sea of Desire,’ and it specifically targets a person’s Nascent Soul. The afflicted will find themselves frequently and uncontrollably sinking into desire, and each time they do, they emit an extremely faint aura that makes them easy to track. This Secret Technique has become entangled with the Nascent Soul and cannot be removed by external force. It can only be slowly purged when the victim’s Divine Sense surpasses that of the caster."
Du Youqian said nothing.
It wasn’t that he was angry—he had long known what kind of person Ye Rui Master was and was mentally prepared for such an indulgent and corrupting technique to be difficult to remove.
He was simply trying to recall when, exactly, he had been afflicted.
He thought for a long time but simply couldn’t remember. The technique was truly impossible to defend against.
Moreover, he was somewhat surprised. He had always been proud of his Divine Sense. Even when he had just entered the Nascent Soul Early Stage, its strength surpassed most in the Nascent Soul Late Stage and was comparable to that of an average Nascent Soul Perfection Cultivator.
And now that he was a Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator, the Divine Sense of most Nascent Soul Perfection Cultivators was far weaker than his.
He hadn’t expected Ye Rui Master’s Divine Sense to actually surpass his own, which was why he was currently unable to purge the indulgent and corrupting mark from his Nascent Soul!
A smile returned to Du Youqian’s face. "In that case, please tell me the method for removing it, sister."
"Of course."
Ye Rui Master transmitted the removal method to Du Youqian via Divine Sense before smiling. "You’re really something else, little brother. Even when the Secret Technique acted up and your desires flared, you never succumbed. That’s what made tracking you so difficult for us."
Du Youqian thought for a moment. "You must have been waiting outside Zhuge City for quite a while."
Ye Rui Master admitted it freely. "That’s right. However, I originally thought you would head back toward the Immortal Dao Alliance from Zhuge City, so I set up an ambush in that direction. I never expected you to double back, which is why it took us several days to catch you."
After a pause, she added, "Since everything’s settled, let’s meet again in eighty years, little brother. I hope you will have advanced diligently and broken through to the Nascent Soul Late Stage by then. It will give us a much greater chance of success."
Du Youqian gave a perfunctory reply. "You mustn’t slack off either, sister. In eighty years, when we join forces, we will certainly seize that Divinity Transformation Spiritual Object."
After exchanging a few more empty pleasantries, Du Youqian placed Little Wukong on his shoulder, turned, and left.
Little Wukong looked back and made several faces at Chen Hongbo. Naturally, Chen Hongbo wouldn’t lower himself to the Little Monkey’s level by making faces back. He simply sent a cold glare that seemed to say, ’Next time we meet, I’ll take your life.’
"Squeak squeak squeak! Squeak squeak!"
’I’m a monkey! I have a monkey’s life, not a dog’s life!’
After a full day of travel, Du Youqian finally stopped to inspect his spoils.
The withered old man had truly been worthy of his status as Ye Rui Master’s senior brother and a True Inheritor of the Heavenly Emotions and Oceanic Resentments Sect; his personal fortune was substantial.
He had four Tier Four Treasures, more than a dozen Tier Three Treasures—likely kept as potential rewards for disciples—and a variety of precious materials, Spirit Medicines, and Elixirs. Most of these were Tier Four, but there were even a few Tier Five items.
There were also Talismans, combat-support Puppets, and other assorted items.
Though there was nothing uniquely precious, the total value was quite high.
If he sold everything, he could get at least seven or eight million Spiritual Jade.
For Du Youqian, however, the most valuable items were the dozen or so Jade Scrolls inside the withered old man’s Storage Treasure Pouch. Some recorded strange anecdotes and ancient legends, while others contained maps of the Human World. Though not exceptionally detailed, they were the most comprehensive versions Du Youqian had ever seen.
There were also Jade Scrolls cataloging rare Exotic Beasts, mystical plants, and precious gems, but Du Youqian’s education at the Momenan Saint Blood Sect had been quite thorough. To him, these were just useful supplements, not exceptionally valuable.
What truly delighted Du Youqian were the few Jade Scrolls that recorded Secret Techniques. One or two of them, if cultivated to a high enough level, could even be transformed into Divine Abilities.
Since the withered old man hadn’t had time to use any Divine Abilities or Secret Techniques, Du Youqian didn’t know if he had cultivated them. However, judging from the descriptions in the Jade Scrolls, these techniques all shared one prominent feature: they were eminently practical.
Of these, Du Youqian was certain the withered old man had cultivated only one: the Withering and Flourishing Art.
It sounded rather unremarkable, certainly no match for the Holy Blood Sect’s exclusive Secret Technique, the Red Blood Seven Transitions Technique. The latter, after all, was renowned as the world’s number one life-risking Demon Skill.
But the description of the Withering and Flourishing Art truly stirred Du Youqian’s heart. By comprehending the mysteries of the transition between withering and flourishing, a cultivator could slightly reduce the cost of using Secret Techniques that involved Burning Essence Blood and lifespan. It even had the potential to be transformed into a Divine Ability in the future. Furthermore, having a Cosmic Spirit Root and practicing a Cosmic Attribute Cultivation Method greatly aided in cultivating this Secret Technique and would reduce the costs even more significantly.
He figured the withered old man must have burned too much of his Essence Blood and lifespan in his youth and, after learning a painful lesson, sought out this particular Secret Technique.
After all, this Secret Technique was not part of the Heavenly Emotions and Oceanic Resentments Sect’s Inheritance.
’If I successfully cultivate this Withering and Flourishing Art and manage to transform it into a Divine Ability,’ Du Youqian calculated, ’won’t I be able to use my All Living Beings Are Equal Divine Ability to slash away at people’s lifespans however I please, without having to worry about the cost to myself? I’d even dare to drain the life from a Divinity Transformation True Monarch!’
As things stood now, he wouldn’t dare try such a thing.
To deal with a Divinity Transformation True Monarch, who was a full Tier above him, Du Youqian would have to pay a ten-to-one ratio of his own lifespan.
Even with his Cosmic Spirit Root and Cosmic Attribute Cultivation Method, which reduced the actual cost to a five-to-one ratio...
...a Divinity Transformation True Monarch’s lifespan was far longer than a Nascent Soul Cultivator’s. He couldn’t even use All Living Beings Are Equal to risk his life in a fight against one.
For instance, say a Divinity Transformation True Monarch only had three hundred years of life left.
To drain him of that life, Du Youqian would need to pay one thousand five hundred years of his own...
A Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivator’s lifespan is twelve hundred years, a Middle Stage cultivator’s is fifteen hundred years, and a Late Stage cultivator’s is eighteen hundred years...
He couldn’t drain them. He really couldn’t.
But if he successfully cultivated the Withering and Flourishing Art, it would be a completely different story.
All in all, Du Youqian was extremely satisfied with the rewards from this battle.
Even though it had cost him one hundred and five years of his lifespan, in the long run, it was well worth it!
"Little Wukong, what kind of environment do you need for your breakthrough?" Du Youqian patted the somewhat listless Little Wukong on his shoulder.
The monkey had temporarily halted its breakthrough, which was why it seemed listless. It wasn’t injured; its Essence, Qi, and Spirit were merely retracted inward.
"Squeak squeak squeak!"
’Nothing special, just somewhere with abundant Spiritual Qi.’
"Squeak squeak squeak squeak!"
’I want peaches! Lots and lots of peaches!’
’Alright, peaches are easy enough to get.’
After a moment’s thought, Du Youqian stuck to his original plan and, bringing Little Wukong with him, sped back toward the Four Principles Sect.
When everyone at the Four Principles Sect saw Du Youqian return unharmed after little more than a year, they were naturally overjoyed.
After all, before he left, it had truly seemed as if he were settling his final affairs.
Du Youqian didn’t say much to them. He collected Li Fei’s soul, left Little Wukong to attempt its breakthrough, and then headed for the Ghost Belly Cat’s territory.