CHAPTER 604: CHAPTER 589: OUTSMARTING CUIYUN MOUNTAIN!

The Nascent Soul Stage cultivator of the Six Paths Alliance, Master Xuanjian, ultimately did not dare to act stubbornly and chose to compromise.

He was left with no choice but to compromise.

On the battlefield of the Suyun Sect, they had already lost four Golden Core cultivators, and the lives of a Ninth-Layer Golden Core cultivator and a Seventh-Layer Golden Core cultivator were decided by his words.

Moreover, on the battlefield, there were still many Purple Mansion cultivators and Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Six Paths Alliance who had no time to escape. If he insisted on being stubborn, those who could safely return would likely reach less than ten percent.

The most important thing is that if he does not choose to compromise, Zhouyang and Kanli Wanderer and other Golden Core cultivators would immediately be free to support the battlefield on the Qiantian Sect’s side.

With the escape speed of Golden Core Stage cultivators, even if he communicated now for the Six Paths Alliance cultivators to retreat, it would be too late.

This would ultimately result in most of the Six Paths Alliance cultivators who entered Chang Country’s borders, besides the surviving Golden Core cultivators who could escape mostly, leaving their lives here.

And this result is something that Master Xuanjian absolutely does not want to see.

It’s important to note that there were over ten thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators and Purple Mansion cultivators!

The resources consumed to cultivate these cultivators are far more than the two billion Spirit Stones in war reparations demanded by Master Jade Dragon.

Of course, such a large amount of Spirit Stones, the Six Paths Alliance would certainly not pay all in Spirit Stones; it’s likely that some may later be converted into Spirit Mountains and ore veins for payment.

This has also been a usual compensation method in past wars between the two sides.

It’s worth mentioning that Zhouyang’s Chongxuan Mountain was also specifically brought up by Master Jade Dragon, clearly stating that it was originally territory of the Profound Purity Dao Alliance and not within the compensation range.

After the two Nascent Soul Stage cultivators reached an agreement, the two Golden Core cultivators of the Six Paths Alliance surrounded by Zhouyang and others were also lucky to regain their lives, hurriedly leading the remaining Six Paths Alliance cultivators from the battlefield to retreat directly to the north of Chang Country to An Country for reorganization.

Thus, the war on Chang Country’s side was completely over, and the surviving Profound Purity Dao Alliance cultivators could each return home for post-war reconstruction work.

Their original sects may have been destroyed by the flames of war, but as long as the Spirit Mountains remain, reconstruction won’t require much effort, and most of that two billion Spirit Stones for war reparations will be used to assist them in reconstruction.

However, this does not include Zhouyang.

His Chongxuan Mountain has already turned into ruins, the Mountain Protection Array was destroyed, and rebuilding it is not something he can do now. He can only wait until the war is completely over, asking the Yuqing Daoist Sect to send people to help rebuild the Mountain Protection Array.

Moreover, as a Golden Core cultivator, before the wars of the Profound Purity Dao Alliance and the Six Paths Alliance are completely over, they won’t have any rest time.

Once the Chang Country war ended, tasks from the Dao Alliance higher-ups were issued to each Golden Core cultivator through Master Jade Dragon.

Zhouyang and his wife Xiao Ying, however, received different tasks this time.

Xiao Ying was transferred to a safe Immortal City behind the battlefield, specializing in treating the wounded from the front line battlefield. This job was very safe, and Zhouyang did not oppose it.

In contrast, the task he received was extremely dangerous.

Strictly speaking, this was not an ordinary Dao Alliance task but was the price he paid for accepting Chongxuan Mountain.

His task was to infiltrate the Six Paths Alliance’s territory, wait for an opportunity to assassinate the traitor Wang Botong, who betrayed the battlefield before.

This task is not typically dangerous.

Wang Botong, who achieved great success for the Six Paths Alliance in this war, is surely under strict protection now.

If he were easily assassinated by people from the Profound Purity Dao Alliance, who would dare to follow suit in the future?

If it weren’t for Master Jade Dragon and Zhouyang guaranteeing that Nascent Soul Stage cultivators would never protect Wang Botong, he would rather return Chongxuan Mountain than dare to accept this task.

Of course, the higher the risk of the task, the greater the rewards also.

As long as he completes this task, kills Wang Botong the traitor, Chongxuan Mountain will completely belong to him forever.

This means that neither the Profound Sun Immortal Sect nor the Yuqing Daoist Sect can demand back Chongxuan Mountain under the pretext of him not executing tasks and require him to compensate corresponding losses; he will regain freedom and be allowed to freely choose to do what he wants.

Just for this reason, it’s worth him taking the risk.

Moreover, to increase his success rate, Master Jade Dragon personally sponsored him with a "Yuqing Immortal Talisman" as a life-saving object, as well as a special spirit talisman that can disrupt the "Circular Light Retrospect" divine technique of Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.

The "Yuqing Immortal Talisman" can help a cultivator neutralize a deadly attack once, making it the top life-saving object. Zhouyang was fortunate to have this protection back in the Dome Heaven Immortal Realm, which allowed him to escape disaster.

With this object in his possession, even if he encounters Wang Botong pulling out a treasure like the "Profound Sun Purple Sky Divine Thunder" jade talisman, he can still escape unscathed.

Therefore, Zhouyang ostensibly escorted his Dao Companion Xiao Ying and a group of disciples to rest and recuperate in a certain immortal city at the rear. In reality, after reaching that immortal city, he quietly left and headed towards the core area of the Six Paths Alliance.

To avoid drawing attention, he even left behind the two Tier Five spirit birds, the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle and the Five-Colored Peacock, outside the cave mansion in that immortal city, venturing alone deep into enemy territory.

According to information from an insider, shortly after Wang Botong betrayed and defected to the enemy on the Qiantian Sect battlefield, he was transferred to the core area of the Six Paths Alliance.

It was only then that the Profound Purity Dao Alliance learned the true reason for his betrayal and defection.

It turned out that Wang Botong had earlier become romantically involved with a Purple Mansion Stage female cultivator from the top sect "Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers" within the Six Paths Alliance during his travels, forming a Dao companion relationship with her.

The female cultivator from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers was able to successfully form a core thanks to Wang Botong’s promise to act as an inside man during the war, receiving many spiritual objects from the high-ranking members of the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers to aid in her core formation.

After Wang Botong betrayed and defected in front of the enemy, he was sent to the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers territory to reunite with his Dao companion.

Since the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers is a sect exclusively for female cultivators, no male cultivators are allowed to stay long-term within the mountain gate. Wang Botong and his Dao companion settled on a picturesque Tier Five Spirit Mountain called "Cuiyun Mountain" outside.

Besides the two of them, there is also a Late-Stage Golden Core cultivator elder from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers stationed there long-term. Whether there are others secretly protecting them is beyond what the insider can know.

But even with just the known power, Zhouyang was already frowning.

The Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers is a major sect with two Nascent Soul Stage cultivators stationed, and the Tier Five Spirit Mountain where Wang Botong resides is likely connected to the sect’s mountain gate via a teleportation array.

If that’s truly the case, as long as the teleportation array isn’t destroyed, the cultivators from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers can instantly support through the array.

At that time, let alone one Zhouyang, even ten Zhouyangs couldn’t make a splash.

"A frontal assault is definitely out of the question. Even if Wang Botong has no extra protection from the Six Paths Alliance, he surely has defensive treasures they rewarded him after his betrayal. With the Late-Stage Golden Core cultivator from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers stationed at Cuiyun Mountain, even if I can find a way to infiltrate, it’s unlikely I could kill him face to face, let alone escape after killing him from the opened Mountain Protection Array at Cuiyun Mountain."

"Therefore, to complete the mission, I’ll have to rely on wit."

Zhouyang’s eyes glinted sharply as he quickly used the method taught by Master Jade Dragon to contact the insiders planted by the Profound Pure Immortal Alliance in the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers, obtaining information about the Late-Stage Golden Core cultivator from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers at Cuiyun Mountain and Wang Botong and his Dao companion.

In order to outwit Wang Botong, he first needed to understand what kind of person Wang Botong was, learn about his Dao companion and those currently around him, and then formulate a plan based on the situation.

Information on Wang Botong was relatively easy to obtain, as many individuals who had associated with him over the centuries in the Profound Purity Dao Alliance were there, providing a general overview of his life.

However, obtaining information on his Dao companion and the Late-Stage Golden Core cultivator from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers at Cuiyun Mountain was more challenging, and Zhouyang waited nearly three months before acquiring detailed information.

After days of contemplating and weighing multiple pieces of information, Zhouyang finally thought of a feasible plan.

The plan was simple: first lure the tiger away from the mountain, then swap the sky with the sun.

Luring the tiger away meant luring the Late-Stage Golden Core cultivator from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers at Cuiyun Mountain out.

Then Zhouyang would disguise himself as the cultivator, using the swap-the-sky-with-the-sun tactic, openly returning to Cuiyun Mountain to kill Wang Botong on the mountain.

The catalyst for this plan was a preference of the Late-Stage Golden Core cultivator from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers at Cuiyun Mountain.

The Late-Stage Golden Core cultivator from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers at Cuiyun Mountain was named Shi Yulian, with Seventh-Layer Golden Core cultivation, and highly fond of collecting various spiritual lotus seeds for transplanting.

In fact, this preference was common among many high-tier cultivators in the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers due to the subtle influence of their cultivation technique.

Cultivators from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers would choose a flower as their lifebound spirit flower and could collect the essence of spiritual qi from their lifebound spirit flower through their cultivation technique to enhance their cultivation. Shi Yulian’s lifebound spirit flower was the lotus.

For Shi Yulian, the more varieties of spiritual lotus she collected and cultivated, the more effective her cultivation through collecting the essence of spiritual qi from these spiritual lotuses would be.

At Cuiyun Mountain, she opened a large alpine lake with dozens of different species of spiritual lotuses planted.

According to the data Zhouyang obtained, every time there is news of a new species of Spiritual Lotus, Shi Yulian personally rushes over to buy and verify it.

Of course, if someone gives her a new species of Spiritual Lotus, she will also generously reward them.

Zhouyang planned to use a Tier Four Spiritual Lotus seed from the Land of the Far West to lure Shi Yulian away from Cuiyun Mountain, then disguise himself as her to infiltrate Cuiyun Mountain and assassinate Wang Botong.

This plan is bold and risky.

But precisely because of this, it can catch people off guard and unprepared.

To make this plan successful, Zhouyang needs to accomplish three things: obtain a token for the array around Cuiyun Mountain, simulate Shi Yulian’s aura, and prevent the cultivators of the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers from reinforcing Cuiyun Mountain through the teleportation array.

The first point is easier to manage, as there are not only Shi Yulian and Wang Botong at Cuiyun Mountain but also numerous disciples of the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers, as well as Shi Yulian’s own disciples.

Those disciples of the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers may need to have their identities verified by the cultivators guarding the array to enter and exit, but Shi Yulian’s disciples have a special token that allows them free access.

Zhouyang only needs to employ a minor trick to deceive one of Shi Yulian’s disciples into being captured to temporarily obtain the token and then draw Shi Yulian out of Cuiyun Mountain before she discovers her disciple is in trouble.

However, the most troublesome issues lie with the latter two points.

A cultivator’s appearance can be easily altered, but their aura is difficult to simulate. Zhouyang, by himself, cannot mimic Shi Yulian’s aura and must seek help from the Yuqing Daoist Sect.

To prevent the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers cultivators from using the teleportation array to reinforce Cuiyun Mountain, only a top-tier sect like the Yuqing Daoist Sect could have a solution.

He used the "Immortal Spirit Jade Book" to contact Master Jade Dragon, informing him of his plan and difficulties, and sought his assistance.

Master Jade Dragon appreciated Zhouyang’s bold plan and proposed a solution to his difficulties.

In the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, there is a middle-level sect called the "Illusion Sect," which possesses a heritage treasure called the [Illusory Cloak]. By wearing this [Illusory Cloak] and using an item with someone’s aura as a medium, one can simulate and mimic that person’s aura.

What’s most clever is that when the [Illusory Cloak] simulates an aura, the cultivator can adjust the strength of the aura.

In other words, even if Zhouyang has Fifth-Layer Golden Core cultivation, once he puts on the [Illusory Cloak], he can simulate an aura as strong as Shi Yulian’s own.

Over two thousand years ago, a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator from the Yuqing Daoist Sect once did a favor for the "Illusion Sect." Although that Nascent Soul Stage cultivator has since passed away, the Yuqing Daoist Sect remains, and it is believed that the "Illusion Sect" would be too afraid to deny this favor, making it not difficult to borrow the "Illusory Cloak."

As for preventing the cultivators of the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers from using the teleportation array to reinforce Cuiyun Mountain, that’s even simpler. The Yuqing Daoist Sect, being founded on talismanic techniques, possesses a spirit talisman known as the "Chaotic Sky Spirit Talisman." When activated, it releases a special power that disrupts the space in a certain area, temporarily disabling those small and medium-sized teleportation arrays.

After reading Master Jade Dragon’s response, Zhouyang couldn’t help but marvel at how deep the foundations of these major sects are, making them enviable.

Take the "Illusion Sect" for example. Perhaps the Yuqing Daoist Sect cultivator who helped them initially did so effortlessly, viewing it as a casual move to foster goodwill, which does no harm if reciprocated but isn’t crucial.

This is apparent since the favor was never called upon even until the cultivator’s death.

Yet, a favor remains a favor; the Yuqing Daoist Sect might not use it, but the "Illusion Sect" cannot forget it without serious consequences.

A favor must be remembered for a thousand years; ingratitude leads to self-destruction.

Debts of gratitude between cultivators are the hardest to repay, especially from a top-tier sect like the Yuqing Daoist Sect.

Isn’t Zhouyang himself experiencing the same now?

He is tasked with this dangerous mission to assassinate Wang Botong because he received great kindness from the Profound Sun Immortal Sect and the benefits offered by the Yuqing Daoist Sect.

Sects like the Profound Sun Immortal Sect and the Yuqing Daoist Sect manage to survive for ten millennia because, in addition to never having a break in Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, they "receive help from many sources," gathering a large number of allies in times of danger.

Zhouyang greatly envies the deep foundations of the Yuqing Daoist Sect but understands that such things take generations of accumulated effort and cannot be achieved overnight.

Moreover, to succeed in such endeavors, a crucial prerequisite is that one must be strong enough.

The Yuqing Daoist Sect is exceedingly strong, so even if the cultivator who rendered favors has died, the "Illusion Sect" dares not ignore the obligation.

If the roles were reversed, whether the "Illusion Sect" would still want to repay that favor is uncertain.

Subsequently, Zhouyang found a secluded place near Cuiyun Mountain to go into hiding, patiently waiting for Master Jade Dragon to deliver the necessary items.

During this time, he also contacted the inside cultivators of the Yuqing Daoist Sect, asking them to help investigate the disciples of Shi Yulian on Cuiyun Mountain, and looked for opportunities to lure them out and capture them.

After more than two months, the things he wanted were finally delivered to him.

As soon as he got the items, Zhouyang refined the "Illusory Cloak" magical artifact first, then tried to replicate the aura of his Dao companion, Xiao Ying, using it.

Indeed, this artifact was worthy of being praised by even a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator like Master Jade Dragon. The replicated aura of Xiao Ying was so authentic that even Zhouyang, who had been with her for hundreds of years, couldn’t detect any difference just from the aura.

However, being Dao companions who shared their primordial spirits, he and Xiao Ying had a special connection. If anyone tried to use the "Illusory Cloak" to mimic Xiao Ying’s aura to deceive him, they’d likely find themselves eating their own bitter fruit and falling into his counter-trap.

But since Shi Yulian had not formed a Dao companionship with anyone, and Wang Botong and his Dao companion on Cuiyun Mountain were not particularly familiar with Shi Yulian herself, Zhouyang disguising himself as her to infiltrate Cuiyun Mountain was unlikely to be discovered through aura or appearance.

So, once he confirmed that the "Illusory Cloak" was indeed functional, Zhouyang began to formally execute his plan.

He first went to the cultivation clan of Shi Yulian’s fifth disciple, secretly infiltrated it, and controlled the clan’s upper echelons, then had someone send a message to Shi Yulian’s fifth disciple asking her to return to the clan.

Upon the return of the Purple Mansion Stage female cultivator, Zhouyang used the same method to subdue her into the "Qianyang Golden Tower", extracting the token for entering and leaving Cuiyun Mountain and items with Shi Yulian’s aura from her.

Meanwhile, an inside cultivator from the Profound Purity Dao Alliance took the fourth-tier spiritual lotus seed provided by Zhouyang, appeared in an Immortal City tens of thousands of miles away from Cuiyun Mountain, and deliberately let a cultivation clan with ties to Shi Yulian know about it, luring them to report the information to her for merit.

Everything was going smoothly at this point in the plan.

As the information described, Shi Yulian indeed valued exotic spiritual lotuses that she didn’t possess. Upon receiving the message, she quickly left Cuiyun Mountain and flew towards the Immortal City.

After she flew three to four thousand miles away, Zhouyang, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately disguised himself as her and flew back to Cuiyun Mountain.

"Didn’t Master go to handle matters in Yulan Immortal City? Why did she return so soon?"

Shi Yulian’s second disciple, who was guarding the Mountain Protection Array of Cuiyun Mountain, was puzzled to see "Master" return, but did not stop Zhouyang from entering the mountain.

Zhouyang activated the token he obtained from Shi Yulian’s fifth disciple to enter the array while mimicking Shi Yulian’s voice, slowly saying, "Thinking it over the way, I still feel uneasy here, so I sent a message asking Junior Sister He in Yulan City to help purchase that kind of spiritual lotus seed."

Unexpectedly, Shi Yulian’s second disciple grew more suspicious upon hearing this, asking in a tone filled with surprise, "Junior Martial Uncle He has always had some disagreements with you, Master. Would she really help you with this?"

Damn!

Zhouyang thought silently that he had not anticipated such a relationship here.

His mind raced quickly, and soon he coldly snorted, "Hmph, why are you so talkative today? To question your teacher is a grave offense. It seems I’ve been too lax with you all, to the point where you disregard the sect rules!"

"Forgive me, Master, I realize my mistake. I should not have presumptuously discussed your matters with Junior Martial Uncle He. I beg you to forgive me this time, Master."

Sure enough, Zhouyang’s stern words intimidated Shi Yulian’s second disciple, who immediately flew out of the array to Zhouyang, pleading for mercy.

Zhouyang, seeing this opportunity, definitely wouldn’t let it go. He swiftly acted to restrain this female disciple, seizing the control array banner of the Mountain Protection Array from her.

Then he knocked her unconscious and hid her in a secluded spot. Scanning the entire Spirit Mountain with his divine sense, he swiftly located Wang Botong and his spouse.

To Zhouyang’s delight, besides Wang Botong and his spouse, there was not another Golden Core Stage cultivator from the Six Paths Alliance on Cuiyun Mountain.

Wang Botong himself was just at the fourth-layer Golden Core cultivation, having advanced to this level for less than ten years, and his Dao companion had just formed her core less than a hundred years ago, with her cultivation still at the first-layer Golden Core.

Such a pair was no match for the likes of Zhouyang.

He first lured the couple out of their cave dwelling using Shi Yulian’s voice, then used a "Chaotic Sky Spirit Talisman" given by Master Jade Dragon to disrupt the space laws on Cuiyun Mountain, disabling the teleportation array that led directly to the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers sect gates. He then revealed his true form and launched a surprise attack.

As Zhouyang expected, Wang Botong indeed carried a treasure similar to a "Profound Sun Purple Sky Divine Thunder" jade talisman. Realizing that Shi Yulian was actually Zhouyang in disguise, he used this treasure without hesitation.

However, with the protection of the "Yuqing Immortal Talisman", Zhouyang was unfazed by his attack, actively activating this life-saving artifact to withstand it.

Subsequently, without such life-saving artifacts, Wang Botong and his spouse were naturally no match for Zhouyang’s fierce hands. They both perished under Zhouyang’s hands in less than two quarters of an hour of battle.

After killing the couple, Zhouyang merely collected their corpses and spoils of war and fled from Cuiyun Mountain directly, without troubling the ordinary disciples from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers on the mountain, nor did he kill any of the captured disciples of Shi Yulian.