Chapter 233

“Damn it, you nearly got me killed!” Murong Yun’s emotions were like a tumultuous sea, the waves exceptionally violent. She hated her father to the core.

By this point, she had figured out what was going on.

The old man had used her to sound Gu Suihan out. But regardless of whether she succeeded or failed, she wasn’t going to meet a good end. Gu Suihan was a Nascent Change cultivator for crying out loud. Not just some random fellow on the street. He could quash her with just one finger if he wanted.

“Looks like you really don’t know anything.” Gu Suihan was a little surprised as he looked at Murong Yun, who had collapsed weakly onto the floor and looked out of sorts. But he didn’t dwell too much on it. To him, these so-called saintesses and the like were just ants he could crush anytime he wanted.

He wasn’t afraid that others would seek revenge if he killed them. At most, he would just wipe out the Equal Spirit Order. As his internal injuries healed faster and faster, his indifferent, domineering, and cruel nature became more and more obvious.

Once he got the 30% of the Dongfang family resources, he could stabilize his physical body and reach Divine Soul immediately. After that, he just needed to consume a large amount of resources, make a seal on the laws of nature, restore his heart-soul, and he’d be back at the Immortal stage.

And once that happened, he wouldn’t need to worry about anything in the world. That would be the time he went to war for real with Ying Zheng.

“Senior, please forgive me.” Murong Yun opened and closed her mouth several times before finally bowing her proud head and asking for forgiveness with a terrified look on her face.

“Before this…I struck a deal with another saintess of the order, Xia Yun. In exchange, she agreed to give me all the ancient records and books belonging to the Order. Would you be interested in striking a deal with me?” Gu Suihan was like a little devil who played with the hearts of humans. His voice and words were so enticing, so tempting.

“Wh-what do you want from me?” asked Murong Yun. Her heart instantly tensed up when she heard Xia Yun’s name.

“Find a cultivator named You Hantian and tell him that I’ll be looking him up.”

Gu Suihan narrowed his eyes, and his lips curled into a murderous smile. He had been too weak to raise that matter back then. But now, he didn’t have to worry about anything.

“That’s it?” Murong Yun was a little stunned. She couldn’t understand why Gu Suihan would want her to do something that didn’t seem difficult at all. He was powerful enough to calculate where this person would be. Why did he need her to do this?

“He’s someone who works directly for the empire. You mean that’s not difficult?” said Gu Suihan with a faint smile.

Murong Yun’s heart skipped a beat in fear. The relaxed feeling she had felt for just a moment instantly disappeared and was replaced with disappointment.

“Since it’s a deal, it means I’ll pay you for doing this. So…what would you like?”

Gu Suihan stared straight at her dark red eyes and chuckled. He then tapped his fingers on his chair, and Murong Yun felt her body moving slowly out of the room.

“Your turn.” He took two leisurely sips of tea, then turned to look calmly at the young man who had remained silent all this time.

“I have been commanded to go to the 39th domain at my family’s request. They need someone from the Ouyang family to enter into a marriage of convenience with the Dongfang family. It’s not much, but it’s a good opportunity for a family like mine that doesn’t belong to the main family line. So, my father got me to go,” explained Ouyang Duan in a low voice after he had calmed himself down.

“This could be a chance for you as well, no? Why do you look so reluctant?” The mention of the Dongfang family piqued Gu Suihan’s interest.

“I suppose you may not know – the Dongfang family cultivates in a yin-yang dual cultivation technique.” A venomous look flashed in Ouyang Duan’s eyes, revealing his hatred for them.

“Interesting, interesting.” Gu Suihan paused for a moment as he suddenly thought about Su Yuqing’s situation, and his lips curled into a smile. No wonder Su Yuqing had made this choice in the end. So, this was the real reason.

He probably wasn’t sure if Shuang’er was really his own daughter or not either.

Yin yang dual cultivation sounded fancy, but to put it simply, it was no different from how Gu Suihan absorbed the souls and essence of bodies to strengthen his own. The only difference was that Gu Suihan’s method was one that worked with any living creature and had a better payoff. Dual cultivation was a little better, but not that much better. Either way, these were methods that benefitted oneself at the expense of others.

For dual cultivation, you had to find someone of the opposite sex with a high level of giftedness. During intercourse, you had to plant a dao seed in the other party’s soul and slowly groom it. It was the same as rearing a pig – once it was fat enough, it would get slaughtered. In the same way, once the seed matured, it was time to harvest the fruit.

And once the fruit was harvested, the cultivator that had been serving as the human cauldron would have their hun and po completely broken and scattered. They would not even be able to remain as an incapacitated person or a non-cultivator.

“Do you know how long the Dongfang family has been around?” Gu Suihan asked suddenly.

“Apparently, the Dongfang family already existed before the empire went on a conquest. The family was allowed to remain because they were the first family in their world to surrender. They have been around for at least a few thousand years, I think,” said Ouyang Duan as he frowned and thought hard. He wasn’t too sure.

“Su Yuqing, no wonder you made this choice.” Gu Suihan suddenly burst out laughing. It didn’t him long to understand what a difficult situation Su Yuqing was in.

The technique of using an item to gather his spirit was something he learned from the Dongfang family. The family was clearly using him as a dao weapon and refining him. Once his spirit was completely stable, it would be time for him to die.

He was in such a hurry to look for Gu Suihan clearly because he was afraid that the fact that he broke his will and formed a domain would be discovered by the family. That was something that reduced the value of his life, so if they found out, he wouldn’t have much longer to live.

As for how he supposedly risked his future to save Shuang’er…when Gu Suihan thought about it in this context, he realized that that was bullshit. Su Yuqing probably wanted to do that a long time ago and had deliberately seized the opportunity to do so.

“Su Yuqing? Are you talking about the one at Divine Soul?” said Ouyang Duan with some surprise. He had definitely heard a thing or two about Su Yuqing before.

“You know him?” asked Gu Suihan.

Ouyang Duan’s lips twitched as he said with some admiration, “He’s one of the few men who married into the Dongfang family and has survived this long.”

Gu Suihan didn’t know what to say to that. Who knew how long more Su Yuqing would live for? If something went wrong with Su Yuqing, then…he would have to pin his hopes on Ouyang Duan.

With that thought in mind, Gu Suihan decided that it was better not to put all his eggs in one basket. It was still very necessary to keep Ouyang Duan as a secret pawn.

“This will keep you alive. As for how to repay me…when I need something, I’ll look for you.” Gu Suihan carved a cultivation technique into a jade slip and threw it to him. The tone of those words was more of a warning than anything else.

“Thank you, senior.” Ouyang Duan was so grateful he could cry. He kept the jade slip and bowed profusely before scurrying out of the room.

“A strong background doesn’t mean you’re actually powerful. The Dongfang family…seems to have angered a lot of people.” Gu Suihan’s pretty features flickered in the dim room, which made him look eerie and terrifying at the same time.

It was only natural for a powerful family that had existed for thousands of years, like the Dongfang family to be filled with complex relationships and broken parts. Everyone had their own plans, so their hearts were definitely not united too.

Just like the concepts of so-called justice and righteousness on Earth – those were just nice names commonly used by everybody to justify gloating at others’ misfortunes or kicking others when they were down.

Su Yuqing’s family had chosen to sacrifice him in order to tie themselves to the more powerful Dongfang family. And now, the Ouyang family was doing the same thing. They were making Ouyang Duan, the chain that linked their family to the Dongfang family.

But…nobody cared about Su Yuqing and Ouyang Duan themselves, even as they were put into a position destined for death.

To the family, such people were doing this for the good of their family and sacrifices were inevitable. After all, they weren’t the ones who were going to die.

But unfortunately for them, an anomaly named Gu Suihan had appeared. An ancient monster who had ill intentions and used malicious and sinister methods to get what he wanted.

On top of that, the two men who were originally destined to die, Su Yuqing and Ouyang Duan, had been lucky enough to run into him.

And the unluckiest of unluckiest was that…the Dongfang was an ancient power that had been around for a really long time, so they had plenty of resources and enticing treasures. While Gu Suihan had reached the stage where he needed a huge amount of resources in order to quench his body and strengthen his meridians. He might find something in the Dongfang family…

It was a series of coincidences that were too many for anybody to trace. The ancient Dongfang family was like a huge fortress that now had a tiny, barely visible crack.

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