Reward

In the depths of Wei Yuan's pupils, an emotionless chill surfaced once more. Although the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World could not manifest, boundless Dao power poured from the void into the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, converging from all directions toward the center before flowing into the Yin-Yang Blast Furnace Array. Two thick pillars of spiritual qi erupted from the furnace's eyes, surging straight toward the vault of heaven! With the yin-yang twin qi already swirling around his hands, Wei Yuan reached out and lunged toward the woman. Regardless of whether this woman was Bao Yun or not, in this bizarre domain she was the crux of the array; subduing her was the key to breaking the deadlock. At this very moment, their surroundings shifted once again. Nothing was left of the room except the floor and the bed—the walls and ceiling vanished entirely, replaced by boundless void. That vast, austere will descended. The staggering disparity in their tiers was such that merely sensing its presence left Wei Yuan immobilized. A freezing chill gripped the depths of Wei Yuan's heart—an extraterrestrial fiend! He had no power to stand against such an entity right now. Yet in this moment, useless emotions like despair and fear were completely gone; he struggled with all his might, shattering the icy chill seeping into his body to wrest back control of his physical form. Now, that terrifying will descended from the void, condensing into a four-armed heavenly demon that reached down and seized Bao Yun. In its massive claws, Bao Yun seemed like an exquisite, fragile ragdoll that would break at the slightest touch. One of her embroidered shoes slipped off, revealing a bare foot. It was luminous white, yet drained of all color. Her toenails were dabbed with rouge, glowing so red they seemed about to drip. The heavenly demon's will pierced into Wei Yuan's body like needles of absolute frost, transmitting a thought: "If you offer yourself up, I will return her soul!" "All right!" Wei Yuan answered without a moment's hesitation. The heavenly demon instantly thrust forth a claw, its arm stretching a hundred feet and plunging directly into Wei Yuan's chest! Wei Yuan offered no resistance, letting the fiendish claw sink into his body. Then, he spat a mouthful of fresh blood fiercely onto the demon's arm, his eyes blazing as he snarled, "Got you!" Vast billows of yin-yang twin qi surged from Wei Yuan's body, blending together yet distinct in every aspect, turning into a terrifying tempest of spiritual energy that abruptly exploded, sweeping in every direction! He leapt into the air, driving his body along the demon's arm as he charged straight toward its true body! Wei Yuan was practically skewered on the demon's arm, his wounded flesh grating against the limb and painting the entire arm red with blood! Wei Yuan had long since locked his eyes on two bowl-sized jade bulges embedded in the demon's chest. Reaching the demon, he seized one in a firm clutch, ready to wrench it out and destroy it with all his might. Things resembling crystal cores were typically the locus of a monster's essence, and often its fatal weakness. Yet where his hand landed, this jade turned out to be soft! Immediately afterward, a gasp rang out by Wei Yuan's ear. The scenery shifted, and he was back inside the bedroom. Everything around them had returned to normal; outside the window, the evening glow was still bright, so bright that no lamps or candles were needed in the room. However, the bedroom looked as though it had been struck by a storm. Everything lay smashed and splintered, with hardly an intact piece of furniture left. Wei Yuan stood before the bed, frozen in the posture of a charging strike, his fingers curled into claws. Bao Yun was curled up in the corner of the bed, her arms clamped defensively over her chest, tears glistening in her eyes as if she were on the verge of weeping. The change had come too quickly. For a moment, Wei Yuan could not fathom what had happened, but the one thing he knew for certain was that nearly everything in the bedroom had been destroyed by his storm of spiritual qi. Yet though the Bao Yun before him looked just like her usual self, who could tell what she might turn into the moment she spoke? Wei Yuan lunged with his claws at Bao Yun once more, only for Bao Yun to smack his hand aside. She snapped in annoyance, "Get away! It hurts like hell where you grabbed me!" That slap carried immense force, approaching the level of a Hall of the Bright King dharma idol. It was swift and precise, brimming with profound divine power that dispersed the Dao power on Wei Yuan's hand on impact. From just that single clash, Wei Yuan instantly braced as though facing a formidable foe. This monster before him possessed staggering might and formidable divine powers, not to mention exceptional cunning—its imitation of Bao Yun showed not the slightest flaw. Wei Yuan took a step back, a greatsword already appearing in his grip. Bao Yun said, "All right, all right, I know you're tough! What else do you want—are you trying to beat me to death?" Gripping the sword with both hands, Wei Yuan asked warily, "Are you truly Bao Yun?" Bao Yun retorted, "Of course it's me! I must owe you in my past life—I barely formed my dharma idol, and already I'm getting beaten up by you!" "You formed your dharma idol?" "Didn't you feel the heavenly tribulation just now?" Bao Yun pouted, speaking irritably. Wei Yuan drew closer with caution, still not daring to put away his greatsword. "There was the aura of a heavenly tribulation, but I couldn't pinpoint where it occurred, nor could I trace any karmic connection. It felt as though the tribulation took place outside this world rather than within it." Bao Yun said, "I did undergo the heavenly tribulation outside this world. I was originally in the Nether Cold Realm sensing the aura of extraterrestrial fiends when the tribulation arrived without warning. Once I passed the tribulation and achieved my dharma idol, the very first thing I wanted was to come find you—and look, I got beaten for it!" Seeing her looking ready to cry again, with tears clearly brimming in her eyes though refusing to fall, Wei Yuan finally believed, by at least thirty percent, that the person before him really was Bao Yun. "Then what was all that just now?" A glimmer flashed in Bao Yun's eyes, and their surroundings instantly transformed. Once again, lamps and candles blazed brightly, but this time the candlelight was red as fire, festive and warm—an entirely different feeling from before. Wei Yuan reached out to touch a lantern—an object that had clearly not existed a moment ago. Not only did he make solid contact, but the lantern swayed, its candle flame flickering inside so naturally that even Wei Yuan could not tell illusion from reality. He swept it with his divine sense and detected no oddities either. Only upon probing meticulously could he perceive a peculiar wisp of aura lingering around the lantern. "This... is no illusion." Bao Yun nodded and said, "It's the divine power that came with my dharma idol: Wishing Realm of the Heavenly Demon's Wondrous Manifestation." "Heavenly Demon's Wondrous Manifestation?" Wei Yuan instinctively felt something was off about that name. Ordinary dharma idols could be named at will, but Immortal Tier dharma idols resonated with the Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth and possessed their own true names. Bao Yun's dharma idol could fool Wei Yuan into confusing falsehood with reality, could isolate domain power within Qingming, and could prevent the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World from manifesting. Even if it was effective only within the tiny confines of a single courtyard, it was indisputably an immortal manifestation. An immortal manifestation could not be named arbitrarily; it had an innate name conferred by the Great Dao. A treasure tree appeared before Bao Yun. Among its original seven branches, however, one had undergone a distinct change, turning ethereal and faint, as though woven from several twisting shadows. Suspended from its tip was a fruit, already ripe. The fruit lacked physical substance and exuded an otherworldly aura; its true name was the Wondrous Fruit of the Heavenly Demon. The treasure tree had transformed accordingly, shifting from the Seven Marvels Treasure Tree into the Seven Treasures Tree of the Heavenly Demon's Wondrous Manifestation. The tree came with an inherent dharma idol divine power: the Wishing Realm of the Heavenly Demon's Wondrous Manifestation. When activated, this divine power could open another realm within reality, melding the illusory and the tangible, shifting according to the realm master's desires—hence the name Wishing Realm. Moreover, this realm was of an exceedingly high tier, as Wei Yuan had just experienced firsthand. In the end, he had only breached the Heavenly Demon's Wishing Realm by washing it with vast torrents of yin-yang twin qi. Naturally, Wei Yuan's yin-yang twin qi could only be said to carry a trace of true yin-yang intent, still a hundred thousand li removed from true yin-yang qi born of primordial chaos. Yet even carrying merely a trace of true yin-yang intent, it required the cooperation of Maiden Yin-Yang to unleash. And whenever Maiden Yin-Yang made a move, it consumed karmic luck. At the thought of this, Wei Yuan felt an unbearable pang of heartache. Glaring at Bao Yun with vexation, he said, "Why did you have to go and scare me like that? You cost me a good deal of karmic luck for nothing!" Bao Yun rolled her eyes at him and huffed, "I only planned to give you a little scare, and then reward you. Who would've thought you'd jump right in and beat me up!" "There was a reward? What reward?" Wei Yuan felt an unexpected flutter in his heart. Bao Yun said, "Heavenly Demon's Wondrous Manifestation—think carefully about the name. What kind of reward do you suppose that would be? Though now that I've been beaten, I'm completely out of the mood! Beating your wife before she's even married in—won't I be getting beaten every single day from now on?" Wei Yuan felt deeply wronged and protested, "Your Heavenly Demon's Wishing Realm was just too formidable! I genuinely thought you had fallen into the hands of an extraterrestrial fiend and only wanted to avenge you. Besides, all I did was blast the surroundings with Dao power—when did I hit you?" Bao Yun's eyes widened in outrage. "You beat me, and now you want to deny it?!" With that, she untied her sash and pulled down her collar, baring almost her entire left breast. Upon that soft, jade-like mound, a clear claw mark was imprinted—the exact match of Wei Yuan's clawed grasp, without the slightest discrepancy. Bao Yun took Wei Yuan's hand and pressed it onto the mark. Sure enough, it was a perfect fit, proving beyond doubt that she had not wronged him. With ironclad proof before him, Wei Yuan had nothing left to say in his defense. Bao Yun leaned close to his ear, her breath fragrant as orchids, and whispered softly, "You've had your reward. Now you can... scram!" With a sudden, forceful shove, the scenery before Wei Yuan's eyes shifted in a flash, and he was already pushed outside Dingshan City. Yet Bao Yun's voice still seemed to echo beside his ear: "I'm entering secluded cultivation to consolidate my dharma idol. See you in three months!" Her voice lingered not just beside his ear; Wei Yuan could even feel the faint puffs of her warm breath. And yet, he was unmistakably outside Dingshan City. The Heavenly Demon's Wondrous Manifestation was truly boundlessly potent. Still, Wei Yuan could not help feeling a trace of melancholy. Bao Yun had always been elusive and difficult to fathom, often leaving him at his wits' end in the past. Now that she possessed the Heavenly Demon's Wondrous Manifestation, it was like adding wings to a tiger—how was he ever supposed to resist her? At the same time, a hidden concern surfaced in Wei Yuan's heart. The Heavenly Demon's Wondrous Manifestation bore almost no relation to anything Bao Yun had studied in the past, and it was likely connected to those extraterrestrial fiends. Such creatures occupied an exceptionally high tier, perhaps even above the immortals of this world; becoming entangled in karmic ties with them was probably not a good omen. This was not a problem that could be resolved right now. Setting his worries aside for the moment, Wei Yuan gave orders to reinforce the guards at the city lord's manor and then took his leave. Yet the sensation on his hand still lingered, incomparably wondrous. Wei Yuan had long since ceased to be an inexperienced youth, so he found this subconscious lingering sensation rather strange. Aside from bristling with sword qi inside and out—enough to strike fear into anyone—Zhang Sheng was second to none in any part of her figure. Consort Yuan, too, was a peerless beauty of the world, radiating allure in every inch and millimeter. Why, then, was he so fixated on the feeling from just now? This question had puzzled Wei Yuan for a long time. Now, a sudden thought sprang into his mind: Could it be simply because he hadn't tasted it yet?