That cultivator wasted a considerable amount of time before finally pressing forward.
After him, two more cultivators arrived one after another. Both sensed a distinct feeling of being watched, and after spending some time searching, each found a monitoring magical artifact accompanied by a stone. Neither understood what the stone was for, but judging by its placement, it was clearly part of a set with the artifact.
As they ventured deeper into the secret realm, they experienced that same feeling of being spied upon several more times, each accompanied by an artifact and a matching stone. After several occurrences, the cultivators grew somewhat numb to it; whenever that watched feeling recurred, some simply stopped bothering to look.
Different methods of spying produced different sensations, and cultivators with keen spiritual senses could discern the subtle differences. These instances of being watched clearly originated from the same monitoring magical artifact, so some cultivators could not be bothered to care and focused solely on exploring deeper.
Yet where there were careless souls, there were also those who refused to let things go. At an intersection leading into the central reaches of the secret realm, several cultivators felt themselves being watched. The first three looked straight past it and ignored it, but the fourth insisted on flying up to the cavern ceiling to search.
This time, she found no monitoring artifact, nor did she find a matching stone—only a storm of flying swords hurtling right into her face!
The assault came far too abruptly. Along with the explosion erupted a blinding flash and soul-jarring demonic noise. It snagged her movements, and in the end, she failed to dodge the flurry of flying swords. Four or five bloody holes were gouged into her dharma body, leaving her severely wounded.
She scrambled to her feet, hastily swallowed medicinal pills, and fled as fast as she could. A commotion this massive was bound to draw nearby cultivators, and within this secret realm, slaughter was permitted.
By this time, Wei Yuan was already far from the area, having moved into another zone. He surveyed the terrain, chose a cavern, and buried a box of directional flying-sword bombs deep at the back of the cave, hanging a white-light bomb and a demonic-noise bomb above it. Once his preparations were complete, he left swiftly for his next destination.
Within Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, another set of markers was added to the edge of the secret realm's projection—four heads in total, three bearing the mark of the Bao family and one bearing the mark of Qiongshan Immortal Island.
Not long after Wei Yuan departed, an explosion suddenly roared behind him, followed by furious curses and a sudden surge of sword qi. From a shadow on the cavern ceiling, a stone quietly recorded everything.
The victim was a swordsman whose garments indicated he was from the islands of the Eastern Sea, though not Qiongshan Immortal Island—most likely an Eastern Sea rogue cultivator. Blood stained half his body, and his dharma idol wavered unstably; he was clearly gravely injured.
Wei Yuan had laid this trap at the dead end of a blind cave. The cultivator had entered to trace the source of the surveillance, only to trigger the trap at the cave's bottom. With nowhere to flee, he had been blasted into critical condition.
He staggered out of the cave, cursing bitterly, when a soft white light suddenly shone behind him. A slender hand reached out and rested atop his head.
Endless Buddhist chants resonated by the Eastern Sea rogue cultivator's ears. His expression gradually turned peaceful and serene, and after a moment, a joyful smile surfaced on his face, as if he had attained the true meaning of the Dharma. Yet with his face bathed in blood, that smile appeared utterly bizarre.
Behind the man appeared a monk clad in a cyan robe, with eyes of amber. The monk's features were both delicate and resolute, making it impossible to tell whether the figure was male or female.
The man bowed to the monk and then followed behind him, heading deeper into the secret realm. As he walked, every strand of long hair upon his head fell away.
Within Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, the mortals added another humanoid marker, but beneath this head was an annotation: heavily injured, converted. Over a dozen people immediately detached themselves from other tasks to begin analyzing the development.
Far away, Wei Yuan frowned faintly. He felt as though he had seen that monk before. Moreover, upon appearing, the monk had cast a seemingly deliberate glance toward the stone Wei Yuan had left behind.
That stone was not one of the decoys intentionally radiating a spying presence; it had been inscribed with concealment arts. Up until now, no one had been able to detect it except for this monk.
Wei Yuan quickened his pace and vanished into the shadows. He now possessed supplies taken from four people, which would prove immensely useful in his final arrangements. This was especially true of the three Bao family cultivators; they seemed to have prepared specifically to fight the Sea Li, carrying solely supplies meant for combat and warfare. Now, all of it had fallen into Wei Yuan's hands.
Wei Yuan could only offer an apology in his heart, resolving to kill a few more Sea Li later to win back some goodwill with the elders.
***
In the ancestral lands of the Bao family, inside a secluded courtyard, Bao Yun sat facing a man.
The man possessed a magnificent, resolute visage, like a colossal battle-ax capable of cleaving through any obstacle that barred his path. The spiritual brilliance in his eyes was completely unshielded, frighteningly bright, and an exotic mark rested between his brows.
He was exceptionally tall—an ordinary tall man would barely reach his shoulders—yet the lines of his frame and limbs were sleek and elongated, without the slightest hint of clumsiness.
His presence was like an impending volcanic eruption. Compared to him, Bao Yun resembled a slender sapling at the foot of a mountain.
The man looked at Bao Yun, the light in his eyes growing brighter by the second. "Miss Yun is truly a fine match for me. Once I deal with that half-man, half-woman Peacock fellow, I will come to take you as my bride!"
Bao Yun said, "You seem to have never asked for my opinion, nor do you intend to."
The man laughed heartily. "Once you marry into my house, we will comprehend the Floating World Dragon Diagram together. By then, I will have at least a seventy percent chance of achieving Unity, and you, too, might step onto that final summit. With such an immortal path to heaven laid before your eyes, who would refuse?"
"Even if an immortal path to heaven lies before one's eyes, there are those who would refuse to take it. Besides, the Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land can also offer me an immortal path."
The man frowned slightly. "What kind of crooked, perverse heresy is the Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land? Once you enter, will you even remain yourself? What is more, once you join them, you will have none of the joy found in the sacred union of dual cultivation. What meaning is there in living then?"
"If the Young Island Lord only knows how to speak of such things, then please take your leave."
The man showed no annoyance. Suddenly, an unrivaled force of will descended from above, pinning Bao Yun in place!
He slowly reached out, cupped her chin, and tilted it upward slightly. "I say whatever I please, and I do whatever I wish! You probably still do not realize the dread of the Floating World Dragon Diagram, but people in your Bao family do. Why not ask yourself why not a single elder has stepped forward to stop me even now?
"Even if I took you right here and now, no one would stop me. At most, they would just hold a grander ceremony afterward. I hear you are an exceptionally clever woman, and I happen to like clever women. So do not do foolish things that will disappoint me."
He withdrew his will and returned to his seat, his gaze wandering over Bao Yun's form without the slightest restraint.
Bao Yun's face was slightly pale, but there was no stir around them—only the sound of wind and birdsong, devoid of any human voice.
She steadied her composure and asked, "The Grand Elders have agreed to your proposal?"
"Short by one. But convincing one more elder is not difficult; I could manage it even without touching Peacock. It is just that I find that androgynous creature an eyesore. He harbors ill intent toward you, so I must teach him a lesson."
"Ill intent?"
"Indeed. That fellow's mind is crooked; the light in his eyes when he looks at you is off. He clearly lusts after your body."
Bao Yun fell silent for a moment before speaking. "You have the nerve to say that?"
The man gave a hearty laugh. "I, Zhao, have always acted openly and aboveboard. Not only do I lust after your body, but I also crave your primordial spirit, your karmic luck, and your providence—I crave every bit of you! And whatever I take, I will only give more in return. Why else would your Bao family elders tacitly allow me to visit you, if not because what I offered was grand enough?"
Bao Yun said coolly, "Yet I do not like you."
The man brushed it aside. "We will spend thousands of years together in the future; whether you like me now does not matter. Oh, and if you have someone else in your heart, you had best sever ties immediately. Tell him not to pester you, and never to appear before us. Otherwise, in my eyes, that would be obstructing my immortal path. A struggle over the Grand Dao ends only in death. Guess how many years I would torment him right before your eyes?"
He continued, "Our Qiongshan Immortal Island wants to break the deadlock, and your Bao family wants to break it just as much. The key to breaking that deadlock lies with the two of us. If we cannot master the Floating World Dragon Diagram, both our families will remain trapped where we are, who knows for how much longer.
"Yet now the Immortal Island has me, and we have the Floating World Dragon Diagram. Perhaps a century from now, I will find a second woman capable of dual cultivating the diagram with me. When that time comes, why not guess how I will treat you, and how I will treat your Bao family?"
Bao Yun said, "Are you threatening me?"
The man grinned. "I suppose I am!"
He rose to his full height. "I will go meet that Peacock first. Once that is settled, I will come back for you. And by the way, what you said just now was not very clever. I did not like it."
Chapter 396