"You Gongquan?"
Hearing the name, Wei Tu silently thought, 'As expected.'
He'd never dealt with You Gongquan personally, but as a former cultivator of the Zheng Kingdom, he was long familiar with this Golden Core True Lord from the Blood God Sect.
Moreover, You Gongquan's cultivation was at the peak of the Golden Core stage, which perfectly matched his earlier deduction.
—Bai Zhi and the Wind Cleaving Eagle were forced into the Cloud Ze Secret Realm by a powerful Golden Core cultivator.
The two hadn't entered to search for treasure but to escape danger.
Next, Wei Tu asked Ni Meixian about some other intel she knew—like the so-called "Ancient Fragment Talisman" that Ni Shihuang once mentioned she'd be willing to offer him.
After thoroughly questioning her, Wei Tu was about to stop and remove the illusion technique he had cast on Ni Meixian.
But just then, he realized something—if he simply released the illusion now, he'd have a hard time explaining to Ni Meixian or the Ni family's Ancestor why he had knocked her out in the first place.
'Forget it. I'll just let her have the cheap win.'
After a moment of thought, Wei Tu pulled out a Jade Marrow Pill from his sleeve and stuffed it into the sleeping Ni Meixian's mouth.
Then he flicked his sleeve and used Nascent Soul magic to cleanse Ni Meixian's cultivation body.
However, just as Wei Tu was about to withdraw his power, Ni Meixian stirred halfway awake. Her pale arms wrapped tightly around his thigh as her soft, boneless body rubbed against him.
At some point, Ni Meixian had slipped off her outer robes. Her rosy face was hazy, lips slightly parted, gently licking like a kitten.
Moments later, her lips brushed against Wei Tu's fingers, which hung beside his waist. She began to lightly suck on them.
"No wonder she's a demonic path cultivator—really knows how to seize the moment," Wei Tu murmured with a click of his tongue.
With his cultivation level, it was easy to see that Ni Meixian was fully awake. She was pretending to still be out cold, clearly trying to seduce him.
But Wei Tu didn't stop her right away. He wrapped an arm around her, letting his hands slip into her dress, slowly roaming over her curves.
After a while, he patted Ni Meixian's fragrant shoulder, signaling her to stop.
"If I were to take your Yuan Yin today, I'd be short-changing myself. Wait until you reach the Golden Core stage—then taking your Yuan Yin will be most effective for me," Wei Tu said coldly.
He didn't mind the occasional wild encounter outdoors.
But with his personality, he couldn't casually discard a female cultivator who had been intimate with him. That'd be too heartless.
Besides, the excuse he planned to give for knocking Ni Meixian out was that he wanted to rebuild her root foundation and train her as a furnace vessel.
So for the sake of his plan, he had to suppress his desire—didn't want to expose his real goal.
Between ambition and lust, Wei Tu knew how to choose.
Hearing this, the dazed look on Ni Meixian's face instantly froze. She realized Wei Tu had seen through her little scheme.
But soon, understanding the meaning behind his words, a trace of joy flashed in her eyes.
If she had to choose, of course she'd rather wait until she became a Golden Core True Lord before serving Wei Tu, instead of losing her virginity now and being disqualified from becoming a proper furnace vessel.
"I was too greedy… craving a night with Senior Fu… It was my mistake," Ni Meixian said.
She quickly dressed again, arranged her robes neatly, and bowed respectfully to Wei Tu to apologize.
"It's fine," Wei Tu snorted, as if forgiving her little offense.
"But, I did promise your family's ancestor that I'd guide you a bit, help you deal with the Cloud Ze Secret Realm's opportunities…"
"So that promise still needs to be kept."
Wei Tu paused for a second, then spoke.
He intended to use Ni Meixian to make contact with Bai Zhi and the Wind Cleaving Eagle inside the Cloud Ze Secret Realm.
That was also another reason he hadn't taken Ni Meixian's Yuan Yin.
A female cultivator who loses her Yuan Yin suffers a short-term hit to her cultivation and combat power.
"What? I still have to enter the Cloud Ze Secret Realm?"
Ni Meixian sounded slightly disappointed. She'd thought Wei Tu was going to directly bestow her a chance to form a core. She didn't expect he'd send her back in there.
After all, per the major families' agreement, killing wasn't forbidden inside the Cloud Ze Secret Realm.
But soon, Ni Meixian realized her status had completely changed.
With Wei Tu watching her, who would dare touch her—a Nascent Soul-level concubine?
Entering the Cloud Ze Secret Realm to snatch Golden Core-grade spirit herbs… wouldn't that be as easy as picking them up?
Thinking of this, Ni Meixian's face lit up with joy. All her worries vanished.
Now, she truly understood what it meant to have the backing of a Nascent Soul-stage concubine identity.
…
Seven days later.
It was almost time for the Cloud Ze Secret Realm to open.
Wei Tu descended swiftly from high in the sky, bringing Ni Meixian to the side of the Ni family's ancestor.
"Still a virgin?"
Seeing Ni Meixian, the Ni family's ancestor—who had been grinning nonstop for days—froze, his face stiff with unease.
He worried that Ni Meixian had somehow offended Wei Tu, which would explain why Wei Tu hadn't slept with her.
'Looks like I really should've had Shihuang personally attend to him.'
The Ni ancestor silently cursed.
Within the Ni family, whether in talent, beauty, or intelligence, the eldest daughter Ni Shihuang far surpassed the other female cultivators.
If that weren't the case, she wouldn't have been known as the phoenix of the Heshan Ni family.
"Fellow Daoist Ni, don't worry. Meixian didn't offend me… I didn't touch her simply because her aptitude is decent—she's suitable to cultivate a furnace technique I have."
Seeing this, Wei Tu gave a small smile and spoke the excuse he'd already prepared.
As soon as the words landed, the anxious expression on the Ni family's ancestor finally relaxed. He let out a long breath of relief.
"I said before, I only meant to guide Meixian a little," Wei Tu repeated.
"Exactly! Exactly!"
"I was overthinking it," the Ni ancestor said with a look of apology.
"After this trip, I'll host a banquet at Yunhe Mountain to apologize to Senior Fu."
Once the Ni family's elder was reassured, Wei Tu didn't waste time. He waved his sleeve, summoning Golden Core cultivators from other families, and instructed them to take care of Ni Meixian when she entered the Cloud Ze Secret Realm.
"If anything happens to Meixian, your families might as well disappear."
"I don't care if your people did it on purpose, by accident, or weren't involved at all. If Meixian dies, I won't show mercy."
Wei Tu's gaze was cold as it swept across the ancestors of the various clans.
"Yes, Senior Fu."
At his words, cold sweat instantly broke out on those family elders' foreheads. They nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Sure, their clans had some Nascent Soul ties, but those connections couldn't compare to a real Nascent Soul cultivator.
If Wei Tu truly lost his temper and acted as he threatened, their clans would be wiped out. Other than a few juniors who'd joined the five major demonic sects, the rest of the family probably wouldn't even have time to react before they were dead and gone.
After hearing their promises, Wei Tu looked satisfied. He flicked his sleeve and took a seat above them all, sitting cross-legged in meditation.
Half a day later.
Under the direction of the Heshan Ni family, the spatial gate to the Cloud Ze Secret Realm was forcibly opened using formation power.
The gate itself was a black portal covered in silver tadpole-shaped script. It only stabilized under the pressure of multicolored formation light.
At that moment, Wei Tu sensed Bai Zhi's aura much more clearly than before.
"Enter!" came the orders from the elders of each clan, instructing their disciples to flood into the gate.
In an instant, streaks of light from the various family cultivators surged toward the black portal like schools of fish crossing a river.
Ni Meixian's light was among them.
…
Elsewhere.
Inside the Cloud Ze Secret Realm, in a stone hall.
In a secret chamber, Bai Zhi sat cross-legged, circulating the Rakshasa Yin Art to restore her spiritual power.
But just then, a blood-red line suddenly appeared on her ghost body, burning through her pure ghost energy like a branding iron.
A few breaths later, the blood line thickened, like dark red molten lava slowly flowing across her ghostly body.
"That damn You Gongquan actually used 'Purple Flame Poison Blood' on me."
After several breaths, Bai Zhi opened her eyes, pain flickering across her jade-like face.
The Purple Flame Poison Blood was a blood-path divine ability from the Blood God Sect.
It wasn't very effective against ordinary Golden Core cultivators, but it specifically countered ghost-path cultivators like her.
Since being hit with it, she'd tried various methods to dispel it. But the poison clung to her original ghost energy like a parasite, completely impossible to shake off.
'If only Fellow Daoist Wei were here.'
'Too bad he's still in the Great Void Realm, preparing to break through to the Nascent Soul stage.'
Bai Zhi sighed to herself.
If Wei Tu were available, she wouldn't have had to resort to the risky move of entering the Cloud Ze Secret Realm to escape You Gongquan's pursuit.
She had forced her way in using a spatial formation, but now the restriction power within the secret realm constantly gnawed at her cultivation.
And if she weren't a ghost cultivator, she probably wouldn't have been able to enter at all, even after sacrificing cultivation.
'But it's one thing for me to enter… how did the Wind Cleaving Eagle get in too?'
Bai Zhi turned her head and frowned slightly at the large dark-green eagle lying unconscious nearby.
When she first fled to the Cloud Ze Secret Realm, her plan had been to let the Wind Cleaving Eagle go—not bring it along.
But to her surprise, the secret realm's rejection of this third-tier great demon was even weaker than its rejection of her as a ghost cultivator.
Thinking of this, Bai Zhi walked over and checked the Wind Cleaving Eagle's condition using her spiritual power.
But suddenly, as if startled awake, the eagle spat out a blast of Profound Nether Yin Fire at her.
Seeing the flame, Bai Zhi's face changed instantly. She teleported to the side, narrowly dodging the demonic flame.
As a ghost cultivator, she had little resistance to Profound Nether Yin Fire.
Thankfully, after spitting the fire, the eagle fell back into deep sleep.
"That black finger bone…?"
After inspecting the eagle more closely, Bai Zhi couldn't help but mutter in surprise.