Whispers of Treachery and the Descent

Seeing him approach once more, Su Mo extended a hand, pointing at him as she cried out:

“Xu Qingzhu! I’m never following you again!”

“Click…” Xu Qingzhu halted, lowering his gaze to retrieve a set of azure men’s robes from his belongings.

He tossed them to Su Mo, offering a soft apology.

“My apologies, I hadn’t anticipated such a blunder.”

Clutching the pristine azure robes, Su Mo fumed.

“You think this can make up for it?! A mere apology? I never knew Sir Xu possessed such a sense of humor!”

Shaking his head with a sigh, Xu Qingzhu leaned against the same stone wall as she, maintaining a significant and restrained distance.

With a rare gentleness, he lowered his head, his gaze fixed on the patterns in the ground as he spoke.

“This is indeed my failing, and regardless, I will compensate you in the future.”

He offered no concession, clearly intending to prevent Su Mo’s departure.

His current tenderness was nothing more than a deception.

What exactly was the Path of Ruthlessness? He had always believed it meant sealing off one’s heart, remaining indifferent to all emotions, especially love.

But he was wrong; the Path of Ruthlessness was certainly not so superficial.

Nor had he ever imagined a day when he would feel regret.

“Su Mo, stay by my side from now on. I will no longer interfere with your other matters,” Xu Qingzhu promised.

Donning the azure robes, Su Mo kept her head bowed, allowing the atmosphere to grow heavy.

She was not acquiescing, not silently agreeing, but rather contemplating the possibility of escape.

Undeniably, this world within the book held no truly safe havens, nor any genuinely good people.

Did those so-called ‘righteous’ sects, with their twisted principles, truly not know that the Su family had been slandered?

They knew, but they had always pursued self-interest, vying with one another. They believed this to be truth, ludicrously engraving it into their very bones.

The Su family’s Old Ancestor was a Red Dust Daoist, and their cultivation philosophy clashed with those sects who rigidly adhered to their established techniques.

Over the hundreds of years since joining the sects, despite continuous attempts at integration, they were still deemed ‘heterodox’.

‘To escape, she must evade the sphere of influence of all sects.

‘To escape, she must avoid all places where specters appear.

‘To escape, she must vanish entirely from the eyes of the world.

‘Did such a place even exist?’

“The Floral Immortal Realm.” Su Mo recalled.

It was a secret realm created by true immortals and gods, a world inhabited only by innocent Floral Immortals, all devoid of gender consciousness.

There, she could escape malice, cultivate without worry, and ultimately return to the world’s gaze, armed with immense power.

Yet, it was quite distant. If Xu Qingzhu’s claim that they were near Dangyang County was true, then she would have to traverse more than half the realm’s mountains and rivers.

“I’m going, and not even Jesus himself could stop me.” Su Mo clenched her small fists.

But first, she needed to temporarily trick Xu Qingzhu into leading the way.

This was akin to snatching chestnuts from the fire, but for the sake of descending the cliff and temporarily escaping her pursuers…

And to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, gaining the ability to fly and travel, she had to do it.

“Xu Qingzhu… I don’t trust you.” Su Mo whispered, her crimson lips barely moving.

“…” After a moment of stalemate, Xu Qingzhu produced a dark, longbow, slowly placing it between them.

He moved away, allowing Su Mo to retrieve the bow.

Head bowed, stepping cautiously like a kitten, Su Mo bent down and picked up the longbow.

This was the Su family’s clan-suppressing treasure, entrusted to Su Mo at the brink of their annihilation.

It was the Yin Thunder Bow, a high-grade magical artifact with the potential to ascend to a true magic treasure. Crafted from Yin Thunderwood found beneath the Heavenly Thunder Purgatory, and combined with the unique techniques of an artifact master, it was engraved with various lightning-attributed spirit beasts.

A mere touch to the bowstring would summon a self-condensing lightning arrow, which, upon the release of a finger, could pierce through most defenses.

Even against Foundation Establishment cultivators, Su Mo could unleash all her spiritual power to erupt and slay them.

The longbow, capable of threatening Xu Qingzhu himself, had been handed over, clearly demonstrating his sincerity.

‘But… was it enough?’

‘Considering you saved my life, I won’t kill you, but from this moment forward, our paths diverge,’ Su Mo thought to herself, her fingers unconsciously resting on the bowstring.

She feared that a moment of relaxation would plunge her into danger once more.

Perhaps only when she transcended all power would she find a sliver of peace.

“I must cultivate quickly.” Su Mo resolved.

“Pat pat…” Even the slightest sound could startle a fawn. Su Mo quickly looked over to see him patting his robes.

He walked ahead, shaking his head with a bitter smile.

“Let’s go. Once we retrieve the last item, we’ll never return here again.”

Offering no reply, Su Mo simply gripped the longbow, lingering far behind him.

Seeing him approach the center of the coffin once more, delving into the ancient tomb of the female corpse, Su Mo held her breath, narrowing her eyes to observe.

The female corpse’s throat pulsed, and a spiritual plant emerged, its main stem bearing nine pure white flowers that appeared white due to their soft fuzz.

It seemed to possess a magical allure, drawing Su Mo to pluck and then consume it.

Involuntarily swallowing, Su Mo retreated a few steps, attempting to break free from its eerie influence.

‘He’s unaffected?’ She watched Xu Qingzhu, his expression unchanged, pluck the spiritual plant and casually toy with it. To Su Mo, everything seemed like a conspiracy.

At this, he explained.

“This is the Nine-Tailed Velvet Fox Flower. Its consumer may obtain the Nine-Tailed bloodline; it is a rare and invaluable treasure.”

He strolled closer, gazing at the spiritual plant.

“However, its greatest effect is to purify the constitution of someone with the Nine-Tailed bloodline, allowing them to wield even greater bloodline power.”

Having finished speaking, Xu Qingzhu extended a hand, presenting the Nine-Tailed Velvet Fox Flower before her.

“I…” Every cell in Su Mo’s body yearned for it, yet hesitation caught in her throat.

She couldn’t help but suspect Xu Qingzhu’s true purpose in coming here.

‘Perhaps, he’s considering my well-being?’

“No! Don’t gaslight yourself!” Su Mo hastily dismissed the thought.

Nevertheless, she accepted it, intending to verify the item’s authenticity sooner or later.

Seeing her take it but not consume it, Xu Qingzhu sighed softly, then waved for her to follow.

“To the cliff.”

Arriving at the edge of the pool once more, Xu Qingzhu asked.

“Can you hold onto me tightly?”

“…Alright.” Su Mo struggled for a moment before replying.

Carefully grasping his wrist, Su Mo kept her body drawn far back. Her other hand never released the longbow, even though it was practically unusable with one hand.

Nodding, Xu Qingzhu’s spiritual power surged.

“Boom!”

The spiritual power of the Foundation Establishment stage was far more potent than that of the Qi Condensation stage.

It had already condensed from gas into a liquid, almost tangible, capable of supporting a cultivator in flight.

“Whoosh~” A gentle breeze hummed past their ears, and the two floated gracefully upwards.

After passing through a cave wall, they abruptly appeared beside a sheer cliff.

Outside, darkness had already fallen, the setting sun long gone.

From her aerial vantage point, in the dim light, she saw only a surging sea of clouds, writhing like some unknown, monstrous organism.

This chilling sensation emanated from the specters lurking below.

Under the influence of that demonic aura, it had reached a point where even cultivators, upon seeing it, would have to repeatedly weigh their own strength.

“This way is faster. Dangyang County is over there.” Xu Qingzhu’s sleeves fluttered as he pointed to a corner of the sky, saying.

“Alright…” Su Mo murmured thoughtfully.

Borne by the evening breeze, the two floated downwards, gradually discerning the forest below, permeated by an oppressive, dark, and eerie qi.

Flying through here at this moment would undoubtedly be perilous.

However, if they didn’t approach too closely, the specters might simply turn a blind eye and let them pass.

“Something’s wrong, there’s someone here.” Xu Qingzhu’s eyes narrowed. As his spiritual power surged, the two rapidly ‘fell’ downwards.

Before Su Mo could even grasp the situation, Xu Qingzhu cut his wrist, allowing his blood to float into the air and condense into ancient script.

A crimson light enveloped them, but from the outside, Su Mo and Xu Qingzhu were completely invisible.

There was nothing there.

Just as Su Mo intended to speak, the sky stirred.

A ghostly carriage, raising an eerie wind, swept past. The ferocious old man seated within it cast his gaze downwards.

He surveyed left and right, brazenly unleashing a terrifying aura.

“ROAR—!” The ghost king, slumbering in this vicinity, awakened, sensing the affront from above.

It roared as it ascended, obscuring the bright moon with a wave of dark clouds, and charged forth with countless specters.

With a casual glance, the old man on the ghost carriage sneered.

“Ridiculous!”

He brought a palm down, shaking the very mountaintop.