Becoming a leader of the immortal path begins with sowing the seeds of inner demons.

"Stop pretending, I know you're awake."

You are formless and invisible, so the Mind-Clearing Mirror of the Jade Flower Sect cannot reflect you at all.

"Get up, Lu Ming."

The voice was a gentle female voice, but upon closer listening, it wasn't coming from just one person; it was like a harmony of all the beautiful memories in my mind.

The words he uttered left Lu Ming's mind blank.

The pressure surging in his heart was even heavier than when Li Quan first called him out.

He quickly opened his eyes and found Zhou Jiangyuan lying unconscious beside him. A few steps away was a rushing stream, and in the splashing water, a person sat lazily on a blue stone.

When Lu Ming saw the person's face clearly, he paused for a moment while flipping through the "Guide," and asked in disbelief, "Chai Yan?"

That guest elder who hasn't appeared since entering the Zhou residence?!

How could it be him?!

Upon hearing the voice, Chai Yan sat up slightly and spoke in the same female voice as before, "Lu Ming, a native of Fulin County, comes from a family that has practiced medicine for generations, and has admired Xuan since childhood..."

Chai Yan spoke slowly, and Lu Ming's expression gradually returned to normal.

He had long anticipated the worst outcome, but he never expected it to come so soon.

But when the time comes, fear and worry are just a waste of energy.

Do everything in your power, either live or die.

However, these are the only two possible outcomes.

Thinking of this, Lu Ming cleared his mind of all distractions and, imitating Chai Yan, sat cross-legged on the ground, propped his head up, and listened expressionlessly as the other party recounted his identity.

Seeing this, Chai Yan paused for a moment, then used her delicate fingers to brush aside her not-so-disheveled hair and smiled, "Aren't you surprised?"

"A little." Lu Ming pressed his legs and let out a long breath.

"So you're admitting it?"

"What difference does it make whether I acknowledge it or not?" Lu Ming looked up and calmly met the other person's gaze.

Chai Yan laughed heartily, and after a long while, she wiped her eyes and said happily, "Your personality is truly superb. I made the right choice coming today. Yu Hua Sect is indeed not suitable for you. Come along with us."

I made the right choice coming here today. Jade Flower Sect is indeed not suitable for you. Come and join us.

"You killed Lu Ming; Li Quan will not tolerate you."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ming's eyes began to ripple. If he hadn't prepared in advance, he probably would have lost his composure and been speechless.

"I killed Lu Ming?" Lu Ming tried his best to keep his words steady as he said softly, "Why do you say that?"

"No need to pretend, we are the same kind." As Chai Yan spoke, black water slowly flowed from his seven orifices, surging and swirling upwards to form a head on top of him that was neither male nor female.

"We are all true spirits born of heaven and earth, why should we wrong ourselves and be bound by this human world?"

As the head spoke, the black water churned violently, and it stretched out a hand, extending it towards Lu Ming.

"Your talent shouldn't be wasted on those qi cultivation techniques and martial arts practice."

The Nine Provinces will not tolerate you; only the Qi Dao Sect can grant you boundless freedom.

Lu Ming stared at the hand dripping black water before him, remained silent for a moment, and then said calmly, "You'll die if you don't leave?"

"It's no different from death." Chai Yan said with great interest, "If the moral guardians of the Nine Provinces, especially the Central Province, knew you were here, they would definitely imprison you in the Heavenly Abyss."

If you regret it later, there will be no way I can save you.

Think about it carefully; we both know how difficult it is for a true spirit to develop intelligence in this world.

True spirits like you, possessing formless talents, only appear once every few thousand years.

The path of immortality values ​​life. Why forsake the freedom and future that are within reach, and instead choose to be bound by rules, thus courting destruction?

True Spirit? Formless Talent?

Lu Ming secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

I thought I had been exposed, but it turned out that the process was all correct, but the result was all wrong.

But the crisis is not over yet.

The other party's words sounded nice, but judging from the meaning behind them, the so-called Qi Yi Dao should be a completely opposite existence to sects like Yu Hua Zong.

A free and promising future? That sounds nice.

Does Lu Ming's freedom mean others are not free?

In the end, it's still the same old survival of the fittest.

His inner demons need to develop, and a stable environment is very important. Only someone with a screw loose would try to compete with a pack of mad dogs for food.

Having considered this, Lu Ming made his decision, and asked calmly, "What are the benefits?"

"Benefits?" Chai Yan's voice became even more playful. "What do you want?"

"I want them all." Lu Ming stood up, patted his clothes, and said, "You should understand that with my talent, where in this Nine Provinces can't I go?"

"No matter how great your Qiyi Dao is, can it be greater than the Nine Provinces?"

"Quite an appetite." Chai Yan narrowed his eyes, seemingly assessing Lu Ming's worth. "Do you know what Qi Yidao is doing?"

"Of course I know," Lu Ming said without hesitation, glancing at Zhou Jiangyuan, who was still unconscious. "That's why I'm going to make the decision."

Chai Yan fell silent for the first time, which surprised Lu Ming. To his surprise, the other party was actually seriously considering his words.

He originally only intended to buy time in this way, hoping that the other party would reveal a weakness in their anger.

Since the other party kidnapped him from the bottom of the valley, it proves that they are unwilling to have a direct conflict with Liquan.

What he needed to do was to disable any potential shielding methods in this area and attract the attention of Liquan.

With Li Quan's cultivation level, arriving here should only take a moment.

But Chai Yan's current behavior left Lu Ming somewhat uncertain.

After a long silence, Chai Yan shook his head and said seriously, "I can't make the decision on this matter; you need to persuade those people."

If they agree, I have no objection.

After saying that, the black water fell to the ground and quickly spread towards Zhou Jiangyuan and Lu Ming, seemingly intending to take them away directly.

Lu Ming's heart tightened, and he quickly took a step back, coldly shouting, "Wait!"

"We can talk on the way. We only have the time it takes for an incense stick to burn." Chai Yan wasn't annoyed at all, clearly treating Lu Ming as one of his own.

"Are we taking this person away too?" Lu Ming pointed at Zhou Jiangyuan, his brows furrowed slightly.

"Otherwise what?" Chai Yan looked at Lu Ming strangely. "A rare talent with a natural Dao heart, a reverse-cultivation soul, a supremely Yang consciousness, and a pure Yang physique."

"Wouldn't it be a waste not to bring such a top-quality Pure Yang Elixir?"

That makes sense.

As the black water drew closer, Lu Ming crouched down and reached out to touch Zhou Jiangyuan's neck.

He appeared to be examining it out of curiosity, but in reality, he took out the Yin-Yang Reversal Fruit.

Li Quan once said that this substance should not be used lightly except in life-or-death situations.

Now is the time!

At this moment, the black water had already climbed up Lu Ming's calves.

Chai Yan noticed Lu Ming's little trick but didn't stop him. Instead, he laughed and said, "Greedy."

They can't even let go of this small benefit.

Lu Ming smiled back and threw the Yin-Yang Reversal Fruit into his mouth without hesitation.

Under Chai Yan's gaze, his face was slowly covered by black water.

Chai Yan clapped his hands and walked quickly into the distance. After taking only a few steps, he suddenly looked into the distance, slapped his forehead and muttered, "I almost forgot, there's still one fruit I haven't collected."

Although it's not quite there yet... well, I'll go anyway.

Just then, a childish voice suddenly rang out from the black water.

"Since you're here, don't leave."

As soon as she finished speaking, a familiar aura enveloped her entire body.

Chai Yan's expression changed drastically. He immediately severed his connection with the Black Water and was about to fly away when he suddenly realized something was wrong.

Turning his head, he saw Lu Ming, transformed into the form of a sweet spring, carrying Zhou Jiangyuan on his back and running frantically into the distance, shouting as he ran, "Qi Yidao, that demon, is here!"

"Interesting." Chai Yan wasn't annoyed at all. Instead, he watched Lu Ming leave with great appreciation.

"Talking nonsense and using any means necessary... I'm increasingly convinced that you're capable of succeeding."

As he said this, Chai Yan was already standing in front of Lu Ming.

Lu Ming had anticipated this, and without any hesitation, he pushed off the ground and flew in the opposite direction.

"Naughty." Chai Yan waved her hand charmingly, and Lu Ming's neck appeared in her palm.

"Once or twice is acceptable, but a third time is not. We've had our fun, let's go..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chai Yan froze on the spot, looking past the Lu Ming in his hand at the sweet spring that had appeared on the rock behind him at some unknown time.

"Wasn't it supposed to be able to trap an incense stick?" Chai Yan said with a wry smile, "You're just fooling me again."

Li Quan remained expressionless and said softly, "Disperse."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chai Yan's body disintegrated and scattered in all directions like snowflakes.

As he disappeared, Chai Yan revealed a look of realization and murmured, "Chunyang Daojun?"

No wonder...

Before he could finish speaking, he vanished completely.

Li Quan jumped off the rock, looked at Lu Ming, who was lying on the ground and looked exactly like him, from appearance to aura, and sighed softly, "Come with me."

......

at the same time.

In a secluded cave deep in the mountains of Chenzhou.

A skeleton dressed in a Taoist robe, sitting cross-legged with its head bowed, suddenly came back to life with flesh and blood.

In a few breaths, he transformed into a young Taoist priest.

The moment the Taoist opened his eyes, his face showed terror, and he knelt on the ground, sweating profusely.

He never wanted to experience that feeling of slowly fading away again in his life.

"Look at your pathetic self." An androgynous voice came from the depths of the cave. "I told you, you won't die."

"You're supposed to be a Golden Core cultivator, how come you're so useless?"

Having narrowly escaped death, Chai Yan dared not refute, kneeling on the ground and respectfully saying, "Your Excellency is right to teach me a lesson."

"The plan has changed." As soon as he finished speaking, Chai Yan's cultivation level plummeted, barely reaching the initial stage of Foundation Establishment.

"Li Quan was already mentally unstable, and now he's gone even further, making him difficult to deal with."

I will handle the matter of Yuhua Prefecture personally.

Go to Tianxuan Path.

Once I've settled down there, I'll come find you.

"Yes."

Chai Yan respectfully kowtowed several times, then left the deep mountains. After determining the direction, he flew away...