The Demon Lord's persona must not be ruined!

Gu Chen turned to look at him, his tone indifferent:

"You asked me to test the waters, and I have done so. This gentleman is none other than Chu Yuan, the Demon Lord and leader of my Xuantian Sect."

He paused, his voice turning cold:

"And you, you dare to hire someone to test my Xuan Tian Sect Leader... Mo Chan, is this the sincerity of your Ten Thousand Poisons Sect?!"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the elders of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect changed drastically.

The portly elder quickly stepped forward, bowed, and said:

"Demon Lord, please forgive me! This was all the work of Mo Chan alone, and has nothing to do with my Ten Thousand Poisons Sect!"

"Yes, yes, we had absolutely no idea!"

The tall, thin elder also quickly distanced himself from the matter.

Yin Jiuqi's face darkened, and he paused, his snake staff thumping.

"Ink Toad! What exactly do you want to do?!"

The black toad lay on the ground, its eyes vacant, and murmured:

"Impossible... How could this be..."

He had planned everything perfectly.

Use the Spirit Wood Heart to hire a strange expert to test the Demon Lord's true strength.

If the Demon Lord is truly crippled, then expose him on the spot, and let the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect seize the opportunity to rise again.

If the Demon Lord is alright...

That would only mean losing one Spirit Wood Heart.

But now...

The expert is a subordinate of the Demon Lord.

The Spirit Wood Heart returned to the Demon Lord's hands.

He himself became the sinner who hired someone to test the Demon Lord.

"How could this happen..."

Mo Chan murmured, his eyes growing increasingly vacant.

Suddenly, his body trembled violently!

A strange surge of spiritual energy erupted from his body!

The spiritual power that was originally locked up actually broke free of its restraints!

"Be careful!"

Youyue was the first to react, drawing her curved sword and slashing down!

The blade flashed like the moon, slicing across the neck of the black toad.

Mo Chan froze, his face still bearing that bewildered expression.

The next moment, the head rolled off.

Fresh blood gushed out.

Qianji's figure flashed and he appeared next to the corpse of the Ink Toad.

He crouched down, ran his finger along the corpse's neck, smeared some blood on it, and smelled it.

He then used his spiritual power to probe for a while longer.

Qianji stood up, his black robe fluttering slightly, his voice solemn:

"Master, Mo Chan's intelligence has long been corrupted. The traces of spiritual energy remaining in his body... are the bewitching incense of the righteous path."

"Bewitching incense?" Li Tu frowned. "What's that?"

"The methods of Hundred Flowers Valley."

Qianji slowly said:

"A secret technique that can subtly influence people's minds. Those who are affected will be controlled without their knowledge."

Upon hearing this, Yin Jiuqi's expression turned even more unpleasant.

He stepped forward and bowed deeply to Chu Yuan:

"Demon Lord, regarding this matter... our Ten Thousand Poisons Sect will definitely investigate thoroughly and give our leader an explanation!"

"Zhong Ling!"

As soon as Yin Jiuqi finished speaking, a young disciple stood up from the ranks. He had a handsome face but sharp eyes.

"Master, your disciple is here!"

"You shall lead a thorough investigation into this matter. No one within the sect who has had contact with Mo Chan shall be overlooked."

"yes!"

Yun Zhongling accepted the order and withdrew swiftly.

Chu Yuan was not interested in these things.

Holding the cold jade box containing the spirit wood heart, he felt much more at ease.

With the goods in hand, the trip wasn't a waste of time. He was preparing to conduct a symbolic inspection before leaving.

"Demon Lord".

Yin Jiuqi suddenly spoke, his dim, yellowish eyes looking over:

"Could I... speak with you alone?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Youyue, Litu, and Qianji all fixed their gazes on Yin Jiuqi.

Yin Jiuqi seemed not to see it, and simply raised his hand and waved it.

A pale green light curtain emerged from his sleeve, quickly unfolding to separate the two of them from the outside world.

"We can set up a soundproof barrier right here," he said calmly. "It won't take up the Demon Lord's time for too long."

Chu Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

Want to talk privately?

What are we talking about?

He remained outwardly calm, but his mind was racing.

The True Eye of Truth could only see that this guy's fate was flashing back and forth, making it impossible to read the whole thing.

Suddenly, we need to talk alone...

Is this a scam?

But if he refused in front of everyone, he would seem guilty.

Chu Yuan suddenly laughed, flicking his sleeve:

"Can."

He stepped into the barrier.

Youyue and the other two watched from a few steps away. The barrier wasn't thick, and they could even see the movements of the two people inside, but not a single sound could be heard.

Li Tu tried to probe with his divine sense and clicked his tongue:

"This barrier... it's quite something."

Qianji nodded slightly:

"Yin Jiuqi is quite skilled in formations. This barrier is not very strong; a Void Refinement Realm cultivator could break it with a single blow. However, if it is not forcibly broken, the sounds from inside and outside will be completely isolated."

He paused, a rare hint of appreciation in his tone:

"clever!"

Li Tu scratched his head:

"So what exactly did he want to say to the cult leader?"

Youyue didn't speak, her hand remaining on the hilt of the sword.

Inside the barrier.

Chu Yuan stopped and looked at Yin Jiuqi:

"Lord Yin, is there anything you need to discuss privately?"

Yin Jiuqi remained silent for a moment, his dead fish eyes fixed on Chu Yuan, then suddenly sighed:

"Since the Demon Lord has already seen through it, I will no longer hide it from him."

Chu Yuan: "...?"

What have I seen through?

He subconsciously activated his True Eye of Truth again.

A golden glint flashed in his eyes as he looked at Yin Jiuqi.

[Target: Yin Jiuqi]

[Cultivation Level: Early Stage of Tribulation Transcending]

[Fate's trajectory: ...]

The writing started flickering again, as if there was a problem with the connection, its brightness fluctuating.

Chu Yuan cursed inwardly.

Why do these eyes always fail me at crucial moments?!

Yin Jiuqi, however, seemed to have made up his mind, and lowered his voice to say:

"Regarding my true identity... I beg the Demon Lord to keep it a secret."

Chu Yuan was taken aback.

The real body?

The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect all possesses its own signature poison...

Each type of life-destroying poison begins to be cultivated when the disciple embarks on the path of cultivation.

Could it be that...

Chu Yuan's gaze inadvertently swept over the small, green snake wrapped around Yin Jiuqi's wrist.

next moment!

[Target: Yin Jiuqi]

[Cultivation Level: Early Stage of Tribulation Transcending]

[Fate's Trajectory: He sighed again at the Demon Lord's terrifying power, yet held onto hope, intending to later inquire of the Demon Lord's opinion regarding this body-swapping technique.]

Chu Yuan: "!!!"

He suddenly looked up and then at Yin Jiuqi's human form.

The writing disappeared again.

So... this body is the real body, but the snake is the true form?

That's not right!

In Chu Yuan's memory, Yin Jiuqi was clearly a human cultivator who had been an elder of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect five hundred years ago. How could he possibly be a demon?

The display made by the True Eye of Truth just now was absolutely correct.

Chu Yuan's mind raced, but his expression remained inscrutable, and he simply gave a faint "hmm."

"I understand."

Upon hearing this, Yin Jiuqi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and his tense shoulders relaxed slightly.

But then, a near-fanatical smile suddenly appeared on his face, a smile that was completely different from his usual cold and silent demeanor, and even a little creepy.

"As expected, the Demon Lord had already seen through it all."

He took a half step forward, lowering his voice even further, yet it carried an barely suppressed excitement:

"Since that's the case... I have another request."

Alarm bells rang in Chu Yuan's mind.

Wait, something's not right with your expression, is it?

"What is it?"

Yin Jiuqi took a deep breath and asked:

"I've heard that after the sect leader and the Daoist master discussed the Dao, their divine skills reached a great level, even reaching the legendary immortal realm. Could you please instruct me on the method of dual-body cultivation?"