Donggua sat on a relatively flat stone, the confidence long gone from her face, replaced by impatience and doubt.
The reason was simple — Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao had been gone for far too long.
Even setting aside the fact that Cui Hao was only pretending, it still should not have taken this long.
Could it be that those two were actually playing themselves? Grabbed the goods and ran?
Just as Donggua was growing restless, the soft sound of Xigua's snoring drifted over from beside her.
Unable to hold back, Donggua casually picked up a small stone and hurled it at Xigua's head.
SMACK!
Yet another crisp, satisfying thwack against a ripe melon.
"I will call you Big Sis, alright? Can you not just talk to me normally instead of communicating like this?"
Xigua gently rubbed the spot that had just been struck, looking at Donggua with a helpless expression.
"They haven't come back yet — maybe something held them up. Besides, even if they did run, we could just go our separate ways. That is fine too."
Donggua casually picked up another small stone, her tone perfectly calm.
"That is true enough. But what if I just want to throw stones at you to blow off some steam?"
Xigua spread her hands at that, her face wearing an expression of utter despair.
"Then do as you please."
Donggua did not hold back. She hurled the stone in her hand at Xigua, then picked up another one.
But before she could throw it, she stopped and looked outward.
"Ah, Cui Hao is back again!"
Cui Hao came strolling over with a spring in his step, though the expression on Lin Luoyu behind him was far less cheerful.
Donggua did not respond. Her gaze fixed directly on the two of them as her divine sense reached out toward them as covertly as possible.
In just a moment, after confirming that both of them bore the marks of having used the trial product, Donggua finally let her smile show without restraint.
Cui Hao strode forward eagerly, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.
"Not bad stuff at all — the effects are truly remarkable. But Donggua, my friend, you look a little too smug."
Donggua raised her brows, her smile growing even wider.
"You do not like it?"
Cui Hao frowned, his expression souring.
"I prefer women who smile more subtly."
"Subtly?" Donggua scoffed. "Do not worry — you will have plenty to enjoy later."
Cui Hao's expression suddenly turned grave.
"What do you mean by that?"
Donggua rose to her feet with an air of total leisure.
"This stuff works well, does it not? You can feel that pure energy coursing through your body, cannot you?"
At these words, the Haoran Sword at Lin Luoyu's waist was already drawn, its righteous sword energy surging forth.
Donggua faced the biting Haoran Qi without a trace of fear.
"That thing is not something you can just stop using whenever you want. If you do not continue using it within a certain timeframe, the meridians you forced open and the parts you strengthened will all collapse from the lack of that power."
"And what I gave you was only a consumable. If there is no continued supply—"
Before Donggua could finish, the Haoran Sword before Lin Luoyu had already arrived in a blink.
Terrorous might swept forward. Donggua's injuries were still unhealed, but fortunately, Lin Luoyu was only at the Golden Core realm.
She needed only a fraction of her instinctive power to block this strike.
A black-gray energy that inspired instinctive revulsion pushed back against the Haoran Sword.
"You are the true evil cultivators!" Lin Luoyu's gaze was utterly calm. "I misjudged you. Today, I shall rid the world of you."
Donggua ignored Lin Luoyu entirely and fixed her gaze on Cui Hao instead.
Lin Luoyu was steeped in Haoran Qi — she did not respond to threats and was not afraid of death. That was only natural.
But was there not a supposedly powerful cultivator beside her who would only hold her back?
Donggua's smile turned fierce, her tone equally unyielding.
"Little Cui Hao — your senior sister is not afraid of death. Are you? This product is the only one of its kind, you know."
Cui Hao's face turned iron-gray, but after only a moment, he finally spoke.
"Senior Sister... let us talk first."
"What is there to discuss with a tiger? I would rather go down swinging than live the rest of my life as someone's lapdog!"
"But I want to live... My father only has me as his child. Do you want him left with no heir?"
"At the very least, let me have a kid first before we turn on them — how about that?"
Lin Luoyu's expression grew strained at these words as she turned to look at Cui Hao.
Cui Hao's face took on a pitiful look.
"Let us just talk first..."
Lin Luoyu raised her hand and sheathed the Haoran Sword, then immediately kicked Cui Hao.
Even though she knew it was an act, the performance was simply too convincing — it made it genuinely hard to resist kicking him.
Donggua steadied her breathing and suppressed the churning blood energy within her body.
Looking at Lin Luoyu's resolute stance, she could only change her tune.
"I am no evil cultivator either. I am just an ordinary cultivator who got dragged down by this stuff."
"The effects are naturally outstanding, but it is still in the research phase. Why do we not work together to solve this problem once and for all, and share the Great Dao?"
Cui Hao nodded vigorously at these words.
"Senior Sister, listen — does that not sound perfectly reasonable? I think Donggua is absolutely right."
Lin Luoyu shot a sharp glare at Cui Hao.
"She has been lying to us this entire journey! Are you really going to fall for one or two pretty words?"
"Whether I am lying or not, you will know soon enough if you work with us, Lin Luoyu." Donggua's eyes lifted slightly.
"And if my words prove false... does not Senior Sister Lin still have that sword in her hand?"
Cui Hao immediately chimed in, offering more persuasion and playing every emotional card he could.
In the end, Lin Luoyu sheathed her sword, though her expression remained iron-gray and her eyes grew distant.
Donggua felt a surge of satisfaction at the sight.
Now, control was back in her hands.
But before she could savor the thrill of turning the tables, Cui Hao's grating voice sounded once more.
"Donggua, stop looking so smug. What is the deal with this stuff — give it to us straight."
Donggua shot him a sideways glare, remembering his earlier jabs.
Her voice turned slightly cold, the threat unmistakable.
"You do not like it?"
If she could not keep Lin Luoyu in check, she certainly could keep a coward like Cui Hao under her thumb.
Cui Hao's expression shifted the moment he heard those words.
"Are you threatening me?"
Donggua said nothing. She simply looked at him with faint contempt — the meaning all too clear.
"Senior Sister! I am done for!" Cui Hao quickly retreated behind Lin Luoyu, playing the part of someone hiding behind their protector to the hilt.
He pointed a finger at Donggua.
"I have not been wronged my entire life! Senior Sister — trade with them!"
The Haoran Sword within its sheath was drawn once more by Lin Luoyu.
Donggua stared hard at Cui Hao, who truly looked as though he would rather die than suffer the slightest indignity.
Then she looked at Lin Luoyu, who wore the expression of someone about to purge evil from the world.
She took a deep breath, reined in her smile, and silently reminded herself that business came first.
Her tone was calm.
"If you do not like it, I simply will not smile."
Xigua, watching from the side, could barely hide the grin spreading across her face.
What on earth was wrong with Donggua? Had she been infected by Cui Hao?
Cui Hao nodded in satisfaction at these words.
"Now can you talk to me properly?"
Donggua took a deep breath and gave a firm nod.
East Victory Divine Continent, Fuyao Immortal Pavilion.
Chu Xingchen had already made all the necessary arrangements. Ning Qianqian had entered Tianyan Sect.
Though Tianyan Sect's rules were strict, Chu Xingchen had arranged for Qing He to accompany Ning Qianqian for a time, just to be safe.
This was to ensure Tianyan Sect understood Ning Qianqian's foundational background — Zhuji Peak.
Qing He had no objections to this. In fact, she seemed rather enthusiastic about it.
Perhaps it was the prospect of showing off the prestige and status of Tianyan Sect's rising star before Ning Qianqian.
She accepted with evident pride.
Besides Ning Qianqian, Chu Xingchen had also brought along the sect's only Outer Elder — Zhang Miaoyu.
This was not to assist Chu Xingchen himself, but rather to help Li Yingling.
It was unclear whether Li Yingling found her convenient or whether Zhang Miaoyu simply wanted to be near her sect leader.
Either way, as long as both of them were comfortable, it was fine.
Zhang Miaoyu followed behind Chu Xingchen.
She was a native of the East Victory Divine Continent, so she understood better than anyone the sheer weight that the upper echelons of Fuyao Immortal Pavilion carried.
When Chu Xingchen pushed open the door, her gaze cautiously peered inside.
Chu Xingchen pushed the door open and froze for a moment.
Inside the room, besides Daozi Yuyang, there sat a core disciple of the Eighteen Immortal Sects.
He asked in surprise.
"Brother Xu — what are you doing here?"
"If you can be here, why cannot I?"
Zhang Miaoyu's curious gaze followed, and her first sight fell upon Daozi Yuyang, whose expression carried a hint of helplessness.
Her heart skipped a beat.
She had never met Xu Jin, but she had seen Daozi Yuyang — the invincible Nascent Soul cultivator who once dominated the East Victory Divine Continent's Taidao Sect.
Though what she had seen was only a portrait.
To Zhang Miaoyu, Daozi Yuyang was purely a figure of legend.
Was her usually easygoing sect master... always dealing with legendary figures?
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