You… Your Head is Full of Dual Cultivation

Cao Xueyan wore a strained smile on her face.

What are you saying.

Lu Qingyun gave a light snort.
“You know very well what I’m talking about.”

Jealous?

No way, over something like this?

For a moment, Cao Xueyan found it a little unbelievable.

No matter what, Lu Qingyun was a dignified Holy Maiden of the Demonic Path.

How was she acting like a child throwing a tantrum right now?

“Holy Maiden, Yue’er was merely forced by the situation just now.”

With no other choice, Cao Xueyan could only explain like this.

However, looking at Lu Qingyun’s expression, she clearly did not believe it.

Or rather, she was still angry and not listening at all.

“Don’t forget.”
Lu Qingyun stared directly at Cao Xueyan.
“The real purpose of us coming here.
We can take nothing from this cave-heaven.
But Qin Ximo is our greatest threat.
She must either die here, or become a puppet who only listens to us!”

These words, Lu Qingyun spoke through sound transmission.

Cao Xueyan blinked and began to speak nonsense with a serious face.

“Holy Maiden, Yue’er has always kept your plans in mind.
I only regret that my cultivation is low and I cannot help you more.
However, Qin Ximo told me privately that I resemble someone she once knew.
Someone who held a very important place in her heart.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so protective of me along the way.”

Hearing this, Lu Qingyun frowned slightly.

She seemed somewhat doubtful.

Her eyes drifted toward Qin Ximo, who was meditating silently nearby.

Normally, this was when a cultivator would be at their most relaxed.

But even though Qin Ximo appeared to have countless openings,

She still emitted an aura that made people hesitate to approach.

As if warning anyone with ill intent to give up.

Such a person.

A top sword cultivator who roamed the Xuan Iron Immortal Dynasty for hundreds of years.
And she actually had such a weakness?

How had she never heard of this?

Well, that made sense.

Those who truly knew Qin Ximo were from the Qingyun Sword Sect.

Everyone else was either dead or too afraid to speak.

Lu Qingyun was neither.

The only information she had came from rumor and old documents.

Thinking about it, she realized her understanding of this enemy was indeed shallow.

“She truly said that to you herself?”
Lu Qingyun asked again, still uncertain.

“Absolutely!”
Cao Xueyan’s expression was earnest.
She didn’t look like she was lying at all.

It was said that the highest form of lying was mixing truth with falsehood.

But actually, the most skillful lies were spoken with nothing but the truth—just not the whole truth.

Everything Cao Xueyan said had been true.

She simply did not mention the simulator.

“So you were only pretending to get close to Qin Ximo so she would lower her guard?”

“You are clever, Holy Maiden. Yue’er’s petty tricks cannot deceive you.”

Cao Xueyan quietly flattered her.

With the perfect amount of devotion and submission in her expression.

Lu Qingyun’s mood visibly improved.

The shadow on her face from earlier faded.

“Mm, you have some brains.
And you know how to share my burdens.”
Lu Qingyun lifted her chin proudly, arms crossed.
Like a little peacock in full display.

But soon her expression darkened again.

She reached out and tapped Cao Xueyan on the forehead—not too hard, not too soft.

“You foolish Shen Yuemian.
Do you know what kind of person Qin Ximo is?
That woman cultivated the Supreme Path of Forgetting Emotions for hundreds of years.
Even if you resemble someone she once knew, she could not possibly let down her guard so quickly.
Don’t forget—you are someone at my side.
Those self-proclaimed righteous sects look down on us demonic cultivators the most.”

Cao Xueyan immediately acted remorseful.

“My apologies, Holy Maiden.
I did act on my own.
It’s just that traveling alongside Qin Ximo, I’ve witnessed her power firsthand…”

Lu Qingyun’s brows tightened.

“You think there is no chance to strike, don’t you.”

Yue’er did not mean that.

But Qin Ximo was indeed a Ninth-Turn Golden Core cultivator.

A top-tier master of the current era.

Top-tier master?
Lu Qingyun let out a short laugh.

“A mere Golden Core.
Even if she breaks through and reached Nascent Soul here, so what?
She has yet to see the true horrors hidden in this Bihua Cave-Heaven.
Once she ascends the Celestial Mountain, she will never return.”

Cao Xueyan could not help but ask, curious.

“Holy Maiden, Yue’er is truly curious—what exactly is that Celestial Mountain above us…”

“I am not entirely sure.”

Lu Qingyun answered.

“I only know that the mountain is enveloped by a grand formation.
Those who enter, if they do not cultivate the techniques of my Hehuan Sect, their minds will be subtly influenced.”

Influenced?

“Yes.”
Lu Qingyun continued.
“According to records, in ancient times, a great cultivator once lost her hometown to the aftermath of a battle.
After achieving the Dao, she used a formation to envelop an entire city.
Before long, the scenery and the people within it transformed into the likeness of her memories.
Even their appearances, habits, and bloodlines changed.”

Cao Xueyan was stunned.

This sounded unbelievable.

Like something out of fantasy.

Lu Qingyun spoke calmly.

“I reacted the same when I first read it.
But the methods of true experts are beyond imagination.
Just as mortals cannot comprehend cultivators, no matter how hard they try.”

Cao Xueyan forced down her unease and asked.

“Then… what happens to those whose minds are influenced?”

“What else?”

Lu Qingyun said, as if it was obvious.

“Even the most chaste woman, after staying in that formation for a few hours, will have her mind filled only with desire.
Their hidden cravings will be magnified endlessly, turning them into bottomless voids of hunger.
If they do not cultivate my Hehuan Sect’s dual cultivation methods, they will never find satisfaction—not even if their essence is completely drained.”

“Two months of draining would not be enough.”

“At that time, that woman will have no choice but to kneel before me, crying and begging me for even a single moment of pleasure.”

As Lu Qingyun fell deeper into her fantasies again,
Cao Xueyan quietly looked toward Qin Ximo, who remained calm and unaware.

She had unknowingly extracted quite a lot of information.

Things Lu Qingyun had never mentioned back at Zuixian Tower.

Perhaps because she now believed success was near, she no longer minded speaking in front of someone she thought insignificant.

“By the way…”
Lu Qingyun suddenly fixed her gaze on her.

“Yue’er, you didn’t say anything you shouldn’t have to Qin Ximo, did you?”

“How could I!”
Cao Xueyan shook her head hard.
“My body and soul belong entirely to the Holy Maiden.
I would never betray you!”

Lu Qingyun lifted Cao Xueyan’s chin with a single finger.

Her bright red nails gently brushing her skin.

Her tone soft, but the meaning chilling.

“Good.
After all, you’ve been taking the Yin-Yang Twin Life Pill for quite some time now.
By now, the medicinal power should have merged with your body.
If, when your physique matures, you do not dual cultivate with me…
I cannot say what will happen.”

Cao Xueyan’s body trembled.
So the pills she’d been taking…
Were that kind of pills?

She thought they were only meant to awaken her physique.

But she could continue taking them without concern.

Because this was only a simulation.

Life and death were not real.

Whatever “bad outcome” Lu Qingyun spoke of—
So what?
At worst, she would simply die.

And as long as she could pull Qin Ximo out of this trap before the simulation ended—

Even if the identity of “Shen Yuemian” were to shatter into dust—
She would not hesitate.