The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

Upon hearing the change in conditions, Gu Yunyan flew into a rage. "What do you take me for? You think you can just do whatever you want? What right do you have to negotiate with me!"

"Sect Master, don't be anxious. I'm not saying the conditions should be raised, I mean lowered. Free, completely free. Thirty-seven top-grade demon pills, I won't take a single spirit stone."

Gu Yunyan stared at him for a long time, her lips twitching a few times. "What do you want?"

"I want Mount Cangwu."

Gu Yunyan raised her hand, black energy surging in her palm. "I'll kill you first!"

Shen Yifei took a half step back. "Sect Master, please let me finish. What I want is Cangwu Mountain. You can remain your Sect Master, and I will become your Sect Leader. We can form an alliance and share resources."

"You, a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stages, want to form an alliance with me, a Tribulation Transcending cultivator in the early stages?"

"I have the Qingyun Sect, the Hehuan Sect, two mid-stage Mahayana demon kings, and the Blood Soul Sect behind me. Are these enough to form an alliance with you?"

Gu Yunyan lowered her hand, and the black energy in her palm dissipated.

"You've laid bare your entire fortune. Aren't you afraid I'll devour you?"

"Sect Master, you can't devour me. Your junior sisters still need me to cure their cold poison, and you also need me to cure the remaining cold poison in your body. If you devour me, who will refine top-grade demonic pills for you? Who will expel the cold poison from your body?"

Gu Yunyan narrowed her eyes. "Are you threatening me?"

"This is not a threat, but a matter of reason. Cooperation benefits both sides, while division harms both. The Pavilion Master is a wise man; he understands this clearly."

Gu Yunyan stared at him for a full ten breaths, then suddenly laughed.

"Tell me the truth, what are your plans? It can't be as simple as just a merger, can it?"

Shen Yifei looked into Gu Yunyan's eyes and said, word by word, "I want to rebuild the Tianyan Sect."

Upon hearing the words "Tianyan Sect," Gu Yunyan's expression changed slightly. "This is the former site of the Tianyan Sect. Who is Shen Changtian to you?"

"He's my dad!"

"No wonder." Gu Yunyan said with a look of realization, "I felt something was off as soon as you came up the mountain. The aura you had was somewhat similar to Shen Changtian's back then. I thought it was just my imagination."

"Do you know my father?"

"I don't know them. But on the night the Tianyan Sect was wiped out, I was watching from a mountain three hundred miles away from Cangwu Mountain."

"What did you see?"

"I saw the flames, heard the screams, and sensed the black flames of the Golden Crow Sect, the sword intent of the Ten Thousand Swords Manor, and the icy true energy of the Profound Ice Palace. The three sects joined forces and wiped out more than two thousand members of the Heavenly Evolution Sect. However..."

"But what?" Shen Yifei's eyes widened in anger, as if he could see the terrible scene Gu Yunyan had described!

Gu Yunyan was startled by Shen Yifei's appearance. "Don't scare me like that! It has nothing to do with me!"

"I know it has nothing to do with you, but tell me, what else did you see?"

"Hmm... there's a fourth force, lurking in the shadows. They're even more powerful; I suspect it's the demons!"

"What? Demons? Just like you?"

"Don't drag us into this hatred. We are demonic cultivators, while they are true demons! Demons of the devil!"

Shen Yifei had heard of the Demon Clan, but those were just things the disciples used to joke and scare each other when they were in the outer sect!

As for whether such a thing even exists, he didn't know!

Gu Wuyou continued, "The Demon Clan is the oldest and most mysterious legend in the cultivation world. It is said that they were sealed away in a certain place by the righteous alliance in ancient times and have not shown their faces for tens of thousands of years."

"Having not shown your face for tens of thousands of years, how can you be so sure you're a demon?"

Gu Wuyou glanced at him. "The demonic energy on demons is different from ours. It's mentioned in our cultivation techniques that their demonic energy has the smell of raw meat, while ours doesn't!"

"So, those three sects are being supported by the demon race?"

Gu Yunyan chuckled and said, "I guess so, but I can promise you I'll help you investigate this matter!"

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Pavilion Master." Shen Yifei was unusually serious for once, and bowed respectfully.

"Alright, deal. You can use the Cangwu Mountain territory as you please, I'll do whatever you say, as long as you give me thirty-seven top-grade magic pills!"

Shen Yifei chuckled upon hearing this. This guy wanted to exchange his pills for such a small price. What a cunning scheme! He's practically throwing pearls at his own face.

"Sect Master, what you said isn't impossible. Thirty-seven pills are enough? Those female disciples can use top-grade pills to cure their ailments, but how many do you, at the Tribulation Transcending stage, need? The yang energy in your body has been almost depleted in three hundred years, hasn't it?"

Gu Yunyan understood what Shen Yifei meant: "You really want to sleep with me that badly?"

"Sect Master, it is my blessing to be able to cultivate with someone at the Tribulation Transcending Realm. It also solves a lifelong problem for you. Why not?"

"Heh, you really dare to say that. Aren't you afraid I'll slap you to death?"

"The Pavilion Master can't bear to part with her!" Shen Yifei didn't stand on ceremony, stepped forward, and picked up Gu Yunyan in his arms!

Gu Yunyan didn't struggle. "If I overload your dantian, don't blame me for not warning you!"

"It's still uncertain who will burst!"

Gu Wuyou was thrown onto the bed, and soon the two of them were naked and exposed to each other.

In fact, Gu Wuyou had already thought it through. For the sake of more than thirty people, and for her own sake, what did it matter if she had to give up this physical body?

Besides, this kid really can refine top-grade items, and after dual cultivation, he can indeed eliminate the root cause, so she no longer doubts this.

Otherwise, how could Shen Yifei be allowed to do whatever he wants?

……

……

Gu Yunyan's statement about "bursting the dantian" was not meant to scare people.

When the cultivation power of the Tribulation Transcending stage surged into Shen Yifei's meridians, he only lasted three breaths before feeling as if his dantian was about to explode.

"Master," Shen Yifei said through gritted teeth, "could you perhaps tone it down a bit?"

"We can't accept it."

"Ah..." Shen Yifei couldn't help but exclaim.

"Bear with it." Gu Yunyan finally opened her eyes, glanced at him, and said, "Your dantian hasn't cracked yet, which means you can hold on. Don't give up halfway."

Shen Yifei took a deep breath and focused his attention on cultivation.

The demonic energy washed over the meridians, layer by layer, clearing away the blockages.

Gu Yunyan's demonic energy finally subsided. Shen Yifei let out a long breath.

He endured it!

Gu Yunyan tried circulating her internal energy, her brows furrowing slightly. "The cold poison has indeed been mostly eliminated. The rest will be expelled slowly."

She paused, "You've surprised me. The life essence of a cultivator in the Tribulation Transcending stage would cause an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator to explode after just three breaths."

Shen Yifei smiled, "I have extraordinary talent."

Gu Yunyan didn't believe her, but she didn't press the matter. She sat up, picked up her clothes and put them on, "When will you give me the thirty-seven top-grade demon pills?"

Shen Yifei countered directly, "How about merging with the Tianyan Sect?"

Gu Yunyan snorted and pushed open the door to leave. She stopped at the doorway, then said, "You'd better hurry up and refine the pills. My junior sisters won't last much longer."

Shen Yifei watched Gu Yunyan's retreating figure, secretly amused, "This time is different; no refusal means agreement!"