Seeing Xu Ziqing’s expression, Yun Lie said, “Since you have decided, accept the mission.”
Xu Ziqing drew a deep breath and read its conditions.
There were surprisingly few specific requirements.
The description warned at length of the danger and advised prospective applicants to bring several Golden Core Perfected Ones and suitable protective measures. Even well-intentioned people could meet a dreadful end if they acted rashly.
Still, Xu Ziqing decided to accept it.
He was not acting blindly. Most cultivators below Golden Core could not threaten him, and even an early Golden Core opponent could often be defeated with his demonic vine.
Enemies of a higher stage would be more difficult.
But this would not be a solitary mission.
Xu Ziqing knew what Yun Lie intended. His senior brother would confront the half-step Nascent Soul leader, while Xu Ziqing would battle the lesser criminals, perhaps leaving those above middle Golden Core for Yun Lie as well.
Both would have an opportunity to temper their abilities.
Xu Ziqing bit his fingertip and drew a stroke across the golden task inscription.
Yun Lie traced another mark using a strand of true essence.
This illustrated a distinction between Golden Core Perfected Ones and those below that stage. Golden Core cultivators could break the task’s protective restriction with their essence alone. Those beneath Golden Core had to use blood essence to leave their mark.
Once both had marked it, they waited half a quarter of an hour. Nobody else joined, and the assignment was reserved exclusively for them.
When the golden text turned black, they departed.
Other cultivators in the hall had noticed the two martial brothers, and a few recognized them from Little Slaughter Peak.
They went over to see which assignment had been taken.
The result startled them.
“They accepted that one? Has Perfected Yun advanced his cultivation yet again?”
The speaker was a Golden Core Perfected One who looked middle-aged but was much older.
His companion, also at Golden Core, asked, “Do you know him?”
“Fifteen years ago, you were away traveling and missed the sect tournament. You naturally wouldn’t know. Yun Lie formed his Golden Core abruptly, rose to prominence on the Heavenly Dragon Ranking, and distinguished himself in the tournament. He became the foremost of our core disciples.”
His friend looked surprised. “He’s that talented?”
The middle-aged cultivator sighed. “He cultivated the Ruthless Slaughter Sword Dao. We used to mock him for dreaming the impossible, and he really was trapped at peak late Essence Transformation for years. Then he broke through, and now no one at his stage is likely to match him.”
He recounted everything else he knew of Yun Lie.
His friend listened with admiration. “His heart must be as steadfast as a rock. We cannot compare with him.” Then he asked, “And the young man who accompanies him?”
“That’s his personally instructed junior brother. They’re extremely close. It’s said that the one feeling that awakened Yun Lie’s seven emotions was directed at that young man.”
“Wouldn’t the junior brother be a weakness?” the friend asked, frowning.
“He’s only cultivated for a shorter time, not inherently weak. He entered the sect at early Foundation Establishment and reached peak late Essence Transformation in little more than ten years. He even entered the top twenty of the tournament. His potential is tremendous.”
The friend sighed. “What an extraordinary pair of martial brothers.”
“Exactly. Seeing them take such a dangerous assignment startled me, but I don’t think success is impossible.”
The companion looked at the mission and nodded. “I hope they return safely. Perhaps our Wuling Immortal Sect will someday see another immortal ascension!”
The two friends spoke freely, never noticing a man nearby who pretended to read the Merit Pillar while secretly listening.
After they left, the listener lingered, then departed with an expression of disappointment, as though he had failed to find a suitable task.
Once outside the pavilion, he transformed into a streak of light and flew toward a middle peak.
It was Ultimate Bliss Peak.
Ultimate Bliss Peak contained the Ultimate Bliss Residence, the residence of Patriarch Ultimate Bliss.
Patriarch Ultimate Bliss spent his days in debauchery and accepted many disciples, but only his personally transmitted disciples were truly treated as disciples. Most of those merely registered under his name were kept as human cultivation furnaces, used for sexual cultivation so he could drain their essence.
The only real difference between his practices and those of demonic villains was that these human furnaces were not drained to death. Their essence blood and vital energy were depleted according to their constitutions, but the ancestor’s later rewards could replenish what they had lost, and they also received plentiful cultivation resources.
Thus some people willingly sought his patronage.
In recent years, however, Patriarch Ultimate Bliss had repeatedly entered seclusion. His disciples and favored concubines alike no longer dared enter the Ultimate Bliss Residence without permission.
Anyone seeking an audience had to wait outside the Ultimate Bliss Residence.
The informant was not from Ultimate Bliss Peak. He was an ordinary inner disciple still without a master, who had cultivated ties with one of the ancestor’s personally transmitted disciples. Through years of gathering information, he had earned an important secret assignment: learn the movements of the two martial brothers of Little Slaughter Peak. Their extended seclusion had frustrated him until now.
At last he had learned something, so he hurried to report it. The importance of the information might even earn him an audience with the ancestor.
He found the relevant direct disciple first and explained everything.
The disciple’s response was severe. “Is your information true? If you speak falsely before the ancestor, I won’t be able to save you!”
The informant assured him repeatedly that he had personally witnessed it and had hidden nothing.
The direct disciple knew how much the ancestor cared about this matter. He led the informant to the entrance of the Ultimate Bliss Residence.
The disciple sent a voice transmission inward. “Ancestor, your disciple has an important matter to report. Please grant us an audience.”
After a long wait, a languid male voice sounded from within.
“Who’s disturbing my peace?”
Both visitors’ expressions changed.
The direct disciple hurriedly explained, “We would never disturb you without good reason. It’s the investigation you assigned us. There has finally been a development.”
“Oh?” The voice rose, becoming unusually delicate. “Then come inside.”
The mist concealing the entrance dispersed and revealed a passage.
A barefoot man stood within wearing only a thin robe, his chest largely exposed. His skin was pale as porcelain and seemed faintly luminous, his thin lips a vivid red. He looked almost delicately beautiful.
Although the visitors came from a peak whose people appreciated beauty, neither dared stare.
Patriarch Ultimate Bliss asked, “What news do you have? Tell me everything.”
The direct disciple pushed the informant forward. “This man overheard it. I brought him here immediately rather than delay.”
The informant bowed even lower and repeated the conversation between the two Golden Core Perfected Ones without omission.
After thinking it over, Patriarch Ultimate Bliss waved his hand. “Go claim your rewards.”
They withdrew in delight.
Once alone, Patriarch Ultimate Bliss sealed his residence and entered a hidden chamber.
Red light glowed there, and blood-colored energy steamed above a pool.
A naked, powerfully built man with very pale skin sat cross-legged above the churning water. Red light flowed over his body, with fiery serpents seeming to writhe beneath his skin. A flush of red moved across his face, while a thread of black qi coiled between his brows, lending him an uncanny appearance.
He was nevertheless strikingly handsome, with the bearing of an exceptional man.
Patriarch Ultimate Bliss looked at him affectionately.
Sensing his arrival, the man opened his eyes and asked with great familiarity, “My darling, why are you so happy?”
Patriarch Ultimate Bliss smiled. “I have found those two juniors again. Will you come with me to kill them?”
The man laughed. “Of course. I wouldn’t enjoy a single day without you. I couldn’t bear even half a day’s separation.”
Patriarch Ultimate Bliss flushed with delight. “Those two brats disgraced me. Until they’re eliminated, I cannot recover my pride. You’ve now advanced to Nascent Soul, and I’ve cultivated for so long. Our success should be certain.”
Red light flashed across the man’s face and his aura settled as he finished a cycle of cultivation. He walked across the pool, wrapped an arm around Patriarch Ultimate Bliss and gently nipped his earlobe. “That’s a small matter, hardly worth mentioning. Right now…” His hand moved suggestively inside the opening of Patriarch Ultimate Bliss’s loose robe, and he continued in a coaxing voice, “Right now, having a little pleasure with you is what really matters.”
Patriarch Ultimate Bliss let out a moan, his body going limp as he fell into the man’s arms.
What followed was a passionate encounter, the whole room suffused with the allure of lovemaking, and was not for outsiders to hear about.
Meanwhile, Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie had returned to Little Slaughter Peak to prepare for their mission. They did not know an old enemy had already discovered their route and intended to ambush them.
Xu Ziqing visited his own cave first. Chonghua, the other beast companions, and his attendants were diligently cultivating. They noticed his arrival almost at once.
Chonghua had grown larger and much stronger, his demonic energy surging far beyond what Xu Ziqing remembered.
At the sight of his master, he rushed over with excited cries.
Xu Ziqing smiled. “You’re already a third-rank demonic beast. Of course I can take you along this time.”
Chonghua was delighted, nuzzling him repeatedly.
Hu Xue’er had also grown. Her first long tail was supple, and the beginnings of a second could almost be seen.
Evidently she had not neglected her cultivation.
Xu Ziqing approved and inspected Yuehua and Yanhua. Both plant spirits spent their days cultivating diligently within the twin lotus and returned there after greeting him. Once he had looked after them all, he felt reassured.
After explaining that he was leaving on another journey, he took Chonghua with him to find Yun Lie at the summit.
As for supplies, apart from the Cold Jade Pool, anything they might need was already in one of their storage rings.