A Confrontation, A Revelation, and a Fiery Past

Yan Yun was currently controlled by the Evil Emperor’s power, a malevolent force infused within the poison.

The aura radiating from her was utterly terrifying, eclipsing even that of Chen Yingtian.

This was the sheer might of a Great Perfection Divine Venerable at the Heavenly Tier, yet it represented only a fraction of his true power, as his main body was not personally present.

Even so, it was more than enough to instill dread in all who witnessed it.

“Hahahaha, my esteemed fellow Daoists, there is no need for alarm. This Venerable One has not come to wage war, but simply to meet the disciple of an old acquaintance. While the method of my arrival was perhaps less than ideal, I truly had no other recourse.” With those words, the Evil Emperor abruptly reabsorbed his oppressive aura.

The moment that formidable aura vanished, the suffocating pressure that had gripped everyone slowly dissipated.

“You?! Fiend! Is it you who poisoned my grand-disciple, then exploited this young girl to manifest here?” The Jinyang Sect Old Ancestor demanded, his voice seething with rage.

Yet, he struggled to comprehend how such a feat was accomplished, especially since Ji Yunfei had never once left their watchful gaze.

The Evil Emperor merely let out a soft chuckle.

“Old man Jinguang, there’s no need to pry. This Venerable One naturally possesses my own methods. Rest assured, had this girl not truly been the inheritor of my old acquaintance, your grand-disciple would undoubtedly be dead.”

“You?!” The Jinyang Sect Old Ancestor was utterly incensed.

Chen Yingtian swiftly intervened, holding him back and cautioning him against impulsive action.

“Do not act rashly.”

“Very well, this Venerable One shall depart for a short while. You needn’t concern yourselves with this young girl; she is the disciple of my old friend, and I assure you, no harm will befall her. I simply have a few matters to discuss with her.”

With those words, he vanished from their midst, taking Yan Yun with him.

“Yan Yun!”

“Yun’er!”

Jiang Yao and Su Muyu were utterly aghast; from their perspective, being possessed by a formidable fiend from the Demonic Dao Alliance was an undeniably perilous predicament.

The Evil Emperor had vanished seemingly into thin air, leaving Jiang Yao and the others bewildered, with no idea where to even begin their search. They could only stand there, consumed by helpless anxiety.

Meanwhile, the Evil Emperor, having taken Yan Yun, had already materialized in an exceedingly tranquil and concealed locale within Mount Liuyang. The instant he landed, he swept his hand, utilizing his profound power to instantly seal off the entire area, thereby thwarting any attempts at detection.

Only after confirming the location’s security did the Evil Emperor’s power, which had resided within Yan Yun, willingly detach itself from her, subsequently coalescing into the form of an extraordinarily handsome young man with flowing white hair and robes of imperial purple.

Yan Yun, in that same instant, regained her full consciousness.

“What? I… what exactly happened to me just now?” Yan Yun murmured, her expression utterly bewildered.

‘Stop staring, you were possessed. Look ahead,’ Yan Lingyun’s voice echoed in her mind.

Yan Yun then directed her gaze forward, and there, she saw a man of exquisite beauty, possessing an exceptionally elegant and refined demeanor.

The striking young man, clad in purple and with white hair, was staring directly at her.

“Eh? You… who might you be?” Yan Yun instinctively recoiled a step.

Though the figure before her didn’t outwardly resemble a malevolent fiend, the intensely predatory gleam in his eyes sent an unnerving chill down her spine.

“Mm, the resemblance… it’s truly striking. As expected of her inheritor. Little girl, do you, by chance, know who I am?” After a brief moment of apparent reverie, the Evil Emperor suddenly graced her with a genuinely benevolent smile.

Yan Yun found herself utterly perplexed.

“Ah? You… I… I apologize, but I truly don’t know who you are, esteemed senior?”

Hearing her words, the Evil Emperor instantly appeared rather disheartened.

“Alas! She truly didn’t speak of me to you. Is she still resentful that I couldn’t assist her back then? Yet, I was in crucial seclusion at the time, and by the time I emerged, word reached me that she had already been ambushed and slain by formidable experts from the Upper Realm.” The Evil Emperor let out a bitter, helpless laugh.

The moment Yan Yun heard this, she immediately grasped that the individual before her shared an extraordinary connection with Yan Lingyun.

‘Ancestor, what is your relationship with this individual?’ Yan Yun queried without hesitation.

‘No relation, not at all familiar,’ Yan Lingyun responded without the slightest pause.

Nevertheless, Yan Yun immediately discerned that Yan Lingyun’s words were imbued with a distinct emotional undertone.

Consequently, she could only direct her question to the man.

“Esteemed Senior, what is the nature of your relationship with my Ancestor?”

The Evil Emperor pondered for a moment before offering his reply.

“Hmm, a Dao Companion, wouldn’t you say? Yes, I believe that’s an apt description.”

When Yan Yun heard this revelation, her jaw quite literally dropped in astonishment.

‘My heavens! Ancestor, did you not claim to have no romantic partner? What… what exactly is going on here?’

Observing Yan Lingyun’s reaction, it became clear that she could no longer maintain her composure.

‘Nonsense! When did this old woman ever become his Dao Companion? When did I ever agree to such a thing? Back then, I simply found him agreeable and spent some time adventuring with him. How has that been twisted into us being Dao Companions? Don’t listen to a word he says; this imbecile undoubtedly believes I’m dead and is attempting to deceive you!’

Yan Lingyun was practically spitting fire.

Yan Lingyun’s vehement denial left Yan Yun utterly bewildered as to the true state of affairs.

“Eh? A Dao… a Dao Companion? How is it that I’ve never heard Ancestor speak of this?” Yan Yun countered, feigning confusion.

However, that one sentence instantly ignited a spark of excitement in the Evil Emperor.

“Little girl, your… your Ancestor isn’t entirely deceased?”

Witnessing the Evil Emperor suddenly take a step closer, Yan Yun instinctively recoiled, simultaneously realizing her words had been ill-chosen.

“I… Senior, please don’t get so agitated. Let’s speak calmly. I meant to say that my Ancestor’s legacy made no mention of such a matter, did it?”

Yan Yun offered a sheepish smile.

For a moment, the Evil Emperor’s face fell into disappointment once more.

“Alas! She truly still harbors resentment towards me. I, myself, once vowed to protect her with my very life, yet tragically, I was ultimately a single step too late.”

The Evil Emperor spoke, his voice filled with profound dejection.

‘I swore that if she faced any peril, I would brave it alongside her, even at the cost of my own life. But who could have foreseen that she would seek out opportunities and clash with others while I was in seclusion, ultimately drawing down formidable experts from the Upper Realm? I was utterly helpless to intervene.’ The Evil Emperor’s face was a mask of utter despair.

Yan Yun studied his expression, finding it far too earnest to be a jest.

‘Ancestor, are you certain you’re not familiar with him, that you share no connection? As someone who has experienced much, I can discern that this esteemed senior before us is not speaking in jest.’

Yan Lingyun visibly squirmed, her face clearly tinged with a blush.

‘Adult matters are not for children to meddle in. I’m stepping out for a moment.’

After uttering her complaint, Yan Lingyun abruptly drifted out from within Yan Yun’s body.

The instant Yan Lingyun materialized, she became akin to a raging tigress, unleashing a torrent of scathing curses upon the Evil Emperor.

“You, surnamed Qi, do you take me for dead? Who, pray tell, is your Dao Companion?!”

The Evil Emperor, who had still been lost in his lamentations, froze completely upon hearing that voice.

His face etched with disbelief, he turned towards the source of the sound, and in that moment, he beheld the very person he had yearned for day and night.

“Lingyun, Lingyun? You… I… I’m not dreaming, am I?” The Evil Emperor stammered, his gaze utterly vacant.

In that state, he bore no resemblance to a Demonic Dao Supremacy; rather, he appeared as a bewildered, lovestruck youth.

“Look at you, still as utterly foolish as you were back then. Those people just now called you the Evil Emperor, the foremost figure of the Demonic Dao? It seems your cultivation must have soared after my demise, didn’t it? Confound it! Had I not perished, I would undoubtedly be the number one cultivator on the Tianchen Continent!” Yan Lingyun huffed, her face alight with indignation.

The Evil Emperor, overcome with emotion, yearned to give Yan Lingyun a long-overdue embrace.

However, no sooner had he moved closer to Yan Lingyun than she immediately swung her fist, delivering a forceful blow directly to the Evil Emperor’s face, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Had Chen Yingtian and the others witnessed this scene, they would have been utterly dumbfounded, perhaps even questioning their sanity.

The illustrious foremost figure of the Demonic Dao had been felled by a single punch from a woman.

Yan Yun, standing nearby, watched in stunned silence, a thought forming in her mind: ‘My Ancestor truly possesses a volatile temper.’

“Ouch, Lingyun! This sensation… it’s a soul body. You… you truly weren’t entirely dead after all,” the Evil Emperor complained, rubbing his cheek with a pained, aggrieved expression.

Yan Yun was left utterly speechless by his remark.

‘Is that an appropriate thing to say?’

‘Merely a remnant soul. The path to full resurrection is fraught with immense difficulty, making it virtually indistinguishable from being truly dead,’ Yan Lingyun responded, her arms crossed.

The Evil Emperor let out a hearty laugh.

“I knew it! With your personality, how could you possibly lack a contingency plan? If my suspicions are correct, you must have separated a remnant soul and concealed it before you embarked on that fateful quest for opportunity.”

The Evil Emperor truly understood Yan Lingyun’s nature, a fact that underscored the undeniably complex and unusual relationship between the two.

“Heh heh, your guess is remarkably precise. When you used the poison I provided to contaminate that Ji Country disciple, you must have already surmised that I wasn’t entirely deceased, correct?” Yan Lingyun retorted, a wry edge to her voice.

The Evil Emperor responded with another knowing chuckle.

“That’s because I refused to believe you were dead. After you were ambushed and disappeared all those years ago, I searched the Nine Nether Sea Abyss for a long time but couldn’t find your body. Of course, there was one place I couldn’t enter, and I suspected you might have fallen into its depths.”

But Yan Lingyun sighed deeply once more.

“Alas! Whether my main body is dead or not no longer matters; it’s even better if it is, then I can become the main body. Oh, and you’ve caused this young girl a great deal of trouble. The Righteous Dao Alliance already harbored prejudice against her identity, and now that she’s connected to you, I fear she won’t be able to remain within the sphere of influence of the Righteous Dao Alliance.” Yan Lingyun complained.

However, the Evil Emperor appeared entirely unconcerned.

“What’s so good about staying with the Righteous Dao Alliance? Let her come to the Demonic Dao Alliance. Conveniently, I intend to integrate several major sects of the Demonic Dao to establish a super-force called the Demonic Sect. Let this young girl join me here. The Demonic Sect Master’s strength isn’t sufficient for now, but she can certainly serve as a Demonic Sect Saintess. Moreover, with me here, she can move freely within the Demonic Dao Alliance.” The Evil Emperor stated directly.

Yet, the moment Yan Yun heard this, she outright refused.

“Senior, that simply won’t do. My wife, my mother, my siblings, my friends — they are all cultivators of the Righteous Dao Alliance. If I go to the Demonic Dao, wouldn’t I become their enemy?”

The Evil Emperor paused, startled.

“Wife? Ahem? You, aren’t you a girl? Oh, wait. I recall that the Heavenly Poison Sutra has some side effects that might cause bodily transformation. Could this young girl have been a man before, and cultivating poison arts led to side effects that transformed her into a woman?” The Evil Emperor quickly realized what had happened to Yan Yun’s body.

Yan Lingyun readily admitted it.

“Indeed, that is the case. Therefore, this junior cannot join the Demonic Dao Alliance. There are times when I would easily lose control of myself.”

The Evil Emperor contemplated this, then nodded.

“Alas! You speak truly. I am about to ascend to the Upper Realm via the Path to Heaven. Once I am gone, should war erupt between the righteous and demonic factions, you would indeed find yourself unable to act freely. However, little girl, to my knowledge, the Righteous Dao Alliance does not hold you in high regard. Staying within their sphere of influence is hardly a solution either.”

The Evil Emperor conveyed.

At this, Yan Lingyun smiled.

“Precisely! I’ve already made plans. I intend to establish my own power within the Dao Alliance’s territory. I plan to create a Poison Sect, specifically recruiting poison cultivators.”

The Evil Emperor smiled upon hearing this.

“That must be your idea, right? You always wanted to create a sect focused on poison, but unfortunately, you never had the chance.”

This was indeed Yan Lingyun’s suggestion, but Yan Yun also shared this ambition.