"There can't be too much purple qi."
"It can't be too flirtatious either; it needs to be a bit cold and aloof. Make him feel that he's special—that the purple qi has some interest in him, but is too reserved to seek him out proactively."
"Before he encounters the purple qi, there must be trials and tribulations. If it's too easy to obtain, he'll grow suspicious and might even think the Gate of Ultimate Principle behind it is a honey trap."
"Adding some difficulty will make him feel that this is what he earned, the reward of his own hard work and perseverance. He'll move himself to tears."
In a desolate, uninhabited expanse, Qi Yuan's figure appeared.
"Inversion of the five elements!"
The aura around Qi Yuan receded, then erupted outward.
Back in the Wangyue Continent, he had re-established his Qi Refinement using the five elements qi of the Five Ancestors, laying the very foundation of five-elements Qi Refinement.
Now, with a casual gesture, he threw the local five elements into complete disorder.
Inverting the five elements was effortless for Qi Yuan, but for other Yang Gods, it was exceedingly difficult.
Unless it was a Yang God who specialized in the five elements and had comprehended their ultimate principle, of course.
Thus, Qi Yuan's artificial weathering was astonishingly authentic; even if an Ultimate Principle Yang God arrived, they wouldn't spot a single flaw.
"Now to set up a few broken ancient formations..."
Qi Yuan hadn't studied formations extensively.
Even so, with his eyes capable of discerning hidden information, modifying formations until even their creators wouldn't recognize them was child's play.
Half a day slipped by. Qi Yuan surveyed his handiwork with great satisfaction.
"To think I wasted half a day just chumming the waters."
"Still, now that I have the experience, next time I chum the waters I can just copy and paste!"
"A pity my purple qi is so scarce and I only have one Gate of Ultimate Principle. Otherwise... wouldn't it be wonderful to chum a few more spots?"
"Without batch production and industrialization, the efficiency is simply too low."
Looking at the baited nest he had prepared, Qi Yuan wore a pleased smile.
"I should give it a little push. What if that Yang God is a shut-in who refuses to step outside?"
As he spoke, he gently pressed down with a finger.
In an instant, the spiritual energy in the baited nest surged in turmoil, radiating straight into the vault of heaven.
"All right, time to head back."
Qi Yuan dusted off his hands, and his figure vanished into thin air.
"I need to be careful during this period. My front door is gone, so I have to keep watch. It wouldn't do if a thief snuck in."
***
Inside the Moluo Sacred Tower.
Heavenly Venerable Mochi sat upright in his immortal cave, dressed in loose, sweeping robes faintly tinged with the color of blood.
He glared at the written order before him, a savage glint flashing in his eyes.
"This Venerable was cultivating in peace, yet they insist I go to that godforsaken Demonic Abyss battlefield!
"I can't slaughter the ants, and I'm forced to clash with peers. How utterly tedious!"
Not long ago, Heavenly Venerable Mochi had received an order from the Council of Elders to relieve Heavenly Venerable Mocan and guard the Demonic Abyss.
Heavenly Venerable Mochi was thoroughly unwilling to take on such a chore.
After all, he would be facing the Heavenly Venerables of the Moon Goddess Palace.
In terms of combat prowess, he was outmatched.
He would have no choice but to endure being pushed around.
Worse yet, due to the wartime ban, he was forbidden from making unprovoked moves against lower-realm cultivators.
In other words, this assignment was nothing more than an exercise in frustration.
He couldn't beat the Yang Gods, wasn't allowed to kill the Yin Gods, and couldn't even vent his anger.
"I must depart within a month... Dammit!"
Heavenly Venerable Mochi naturally loathed going to the front lines.
This guarding duty would likely last ten thousand years.
Yet he had no power to refuse the Council of Elders' appointment.
"To think that even as a Heavenly Venerable, life is still so fraught with hardship. Sigh."
Heavenly Venerable Mochi sighed heavily.
Suddenly, his brow twitched.
"Hmm?"
He caught wind of an unusual aura.
It was extremely faint, yet he had detected it nonetheless.
Heavenly Venerable Mochi rose at once, his gaze seemingly piercing through the clouds to reach ten thousand li away.
"This is..."
Squinting, the scene ten thousand li away unfolded before his eyes.
In an uninhabited expanse far in the distance, spiritual energy churned in chaos, and the five elements were in utter turmoil.
"This is..."
Without the slightest hesitation, Heavenly Venerable Mochi cloaked his form and flew toward the desolate wasteland.
He reined in his aura, appearing no different from an ordinary Mythological cultivator.
"When the qi of the five elements falls into chaos, it either heralds the emergence of a supreme treasure or signifies an extraordinary anomaly."
Heavenly Venerable Mochi's eyes blazed, attempting to see through the scene ahead.
"An ancient formation blocking the way?"
His eyes lit up.
"If it can even hinder me, could it be..."
There was definitely a supreme treasure here!
Perhaps it was even the dwelling of some ancient powerhouse.
"Something isn't right. It's far too coincidental." Heavenly Venerable Mochi instinctively caught the scent of danger.
It was as though an ordinary person sleeping in a room was suddenly awoken by a loud noise, stepped outside, and found a hole in the ground with a sign planted in front of it reading:
*Supreme Treasure Within.*
It sounded exaggerated, but to Heavenly Venerable Mochi, that was precisely how it felt.
A treasure capable of tempting even a Yang God was exceedingly rare, and the odds of stumbling upon one were vanishingly low.
Yet with the five elements inverted before him, it had to conceal something that would entice even a Yang God.
"Seal!"
Heavenly Venerable Mochi extended a palm, instantly cloaking the heavens and earth across this entire area.
Regardless of the truth, he needed to mask the aura first.
Otherwise, if the chaotic qi of the five elements continued to disperse, other Yang God Heavenly Venerables might sense it within a few years.
"This is the core territory of my Moluo Clan. There shouldn't be any danger. I might as well venture in and investigate."
With that, Heavenly Venerable Mochi moved forward.
A broken ancient formation materialized before him, exuding a faint aura of primeval profundity.
"Such formation-crafting techniques are unheard of. It must be a lost art from ancient times."
After a brief thought, Heavenly Venerable Mochi plunged into the ancient formation without hesitation.
Several hundred breaths later, he pressed deeper inside.
He breathed a sigh of relief. "Fortunately, this ancient formation is too old. Otherwise, breaking it would have taken at least a hundred days."
A hundred days was merely the snap of a finger to a Yang God.
However, he was required to report for duty in the Sixth Heaven within a month; he could not afford any delay.
"There are more ancient formations ahead. Inside, there must surely be... Huh? Purple qi?"
Suddenly, Heavenly Venerable Mochi's mind trembled, his eyes blazing with excitement. "It really is purple qi, the foremost qi of the Immortal Realm! No wonder the five elements were thrown into turmoil!"
He grew thoroughly thrilled.
He could smell the scent of purple qi.
Purple qi was the premier qi of the Immortal Realm, representing chaos and the primordial origin.
For a Yang God, its utility was immense.
For instance, if one's past body remained in the Mythological realm, obtaining purple qi could elevate it to the Yang God realm.
Furthermore, for ordinary Heavenly Position Realm experts, advancements in cultivation were generally reflected in the stars projected across the heavens.
Those stellar projections that shone across the heavens did not manifest out of thin air; they required purple qi.
The more purple qi a Yang God possessed, the more formidable their condensed stellar projections became, the stronger their projection across the heavens, and the faster their strength would rise.
This was precisely why all the Yang God Heavenly Venerables had been astonished when Ten Suns Heavenly Venerable dared to challenge the Great Sun Venerable Position.
First, Ten Suns Heavenly Venerable undoubtedly possessed vast amounts of purple qi.
Second, his talent was exceptionally monstrous to allow ten suns to soar in the sky.
Naturally, those Yang God Heavenly Venerables had no idea that their stellar projections were nothing like Qi Yuan's.
Qi Yuan's... were projections of true stars!
"Heaven's mandate rests with me! To think that I, Mochi, would also have such a day!"
Beside himself with excitement, Heavenly Venerable Mochi hesitated no longer and charged into the next ancient formation.
***
Ji Buping returned from afar, subconsciously glancing toward the distant tent.
Immediately, he caught sight of that familiar figure.
After a moment's consideration, he flew over and asked casually, "I noticed Brother was away yesterday. Could it be that you made a new discovery?"
Harvesting Miluo Light depended partly on luck and partly on technique.
Ji Buping was terrified that Qi Yuan might get lucky and harvest some, which would make him terribly jealous and aggrieved.
After all, within the Black Demon Abyss, bloodline meant everything.
Qi Yuan possessed no bloodline, so on what grounds did he enjoy higher status than Ji Buping?
If the fellow had good luck on top of that and managed to gather Miluo Light, Ji Buping's heart would be even more unbalanced.
For a bumpkin from the humble Second Heaven to enjoy such miraculous fortunes was infuriating!
"A discovery... I indeed made one," Qi Yuan said softly, looking at Ji Buping.
Ji Buping's heart skipped a beat, a sour pang rising within him. "Brother's luck is truly enviable. To think you actually found Miluo Light."
"It isn't Miluo Light." Qi Yuan shook his head, gazing at Ji Buping as he said mildly, "Brother, seeing that you could bring yourself to stomach even that old woman, you must be quite ambitious, wouldn't you say?"
"You... you!" Ji Buping's expression twisted violently, his face dripping with murderous rage. "Impudent brat, how dare you humiliate me like this! Even if a core figure of the Black Demon Abyss took a liking to you, this old man will slaughter you today!"
He was genuinely enraged.
Of course, preparing to strike was merely an act.
Seeing this, Qi Yuan remained completely calm. "Why must Brother react like this? I truly admire you!"
After all, put in Qi Yuan's shoes, he could never bring himself to stomach an old woman.
Granted, his white moonlights were also old men and grandmothers who rarely bathed, but... those were white moonlights, beings that existed purely in fantasy.
"Humph!" The murderous intent in Ji Buping's eyes was genuine, yet he stayed his hand.
After all, he had no collar around his neck; if someone had slipped a leash over him, he really would have lashed out.
"Precisely because I recognize your ambition, I have a lucrative opportunity to share with you," Qi Yuan remarked casually.
He had decided to act as a talent scout today.
Ji Buping blinked, asking suspiciously, "What opportunity?"
"When I left yesterday, I actually set my sights on a fat sheep. He's very wealthy, loaded with money." Mentioning this, Qi Yuan's eyes shone brightly.
"You..." Ji Buping's expression remained steady. "A robber cultivator?"
He had been a robber cultivator himself and was intimately familiar with the trade.
"How could you call it a robber cultivator? I strongly suggest renaming robber cultivators to vagrant cultivators."
Even homeless vagrants could be renamed to reduce the homeless count in cities, so what was wrong with giving robber cultivators a new name?
Ji Buping narrowed his eyes. "Very wealthy?"
Though he couldn't stand Qi Yuan, there was nothing wrong with striking it rich together.
In the cultivation world, such arrangements were common.
"Extremely wealthy, though his strength is just a tiny bit high," Qi Yuan said. "That's why I invited you to strike it rich with me."
Ji Buping sneered inwardly.
Qi Yuan's cultivation was at most at the entry level of a Great Venerable.
When he claimed the target's strength was a tiny bit high, it would be at the Four Steps of Sky Treading at the very most.
Ji Buping was at the Six Steps of Sky Treading; he didn't care in the slightest.
Even so, he asked, "Are you sure the two of us together can handle him?"
"Don't worry. He's very old, already decrepit and decaying. The two of us are young and vigorous; beating up an old man will be no problem at all.
"By the way, he's a high-ranking member of the Moluo Clan.
"We belong to the Black Demon Abyss—the Moluo Clan's masters!
"So if we kill him and keep our hands clean, nothing will happen.
"Well... are you in or not?
"We'll split the spoils according to our contributions."
As Qi Yuan spoke, he activated the Great Oblivion Heart Scripture.
He suffered from social anxiety, had terrible eloquence, and was poor at expressing himself.
Consequently, he often relied on the Great Oblivion Heart Scripture.
"Once we pull off this score, you might gather enough merit points to ascend to the Sixth Heaven!" Qi Yuan coaxed.
Ji Buping's expression shifted, his mind reeling. "The Sixth Heaven?"
"Yes, the Sixth Heaven. Do you want in or not?"
"I'm in!" Ji Buping nodded vigorously.
Wasn't it just a high-ranking member of the Moluo Clan?
If Blood Robe dared to commit murder, what did he have to fear?
He possessed a fourth-grade bloodline!
Besides, an unfair split? Deceit and schemes? As a dignified expert of the Five Steps of Sky Treading, would he fear someone at the fourth step?
Who would cultivate immortality if they were cowardly?
"Splendid!" Hearing this, Qi Yuan was delighted. "Come, let's go set an ambush for him. If this partnership goes smoothly, we can collaborate again next time.
"I've set my sights on quite a few Moluo Clan executives. Every single one is a prime, top-tier fat sheep!
"Far wealthier than that old woman of yours."
At these words, Ji Buping drew a deep breath. "Truly?"
"Would I ever deceive you? I'm the most honest and trustworthy person there is; I never tell lies," Qi Yuan replied.
Ji Buping glanced at Qi Yuan. "You're quite an interesting fellow. I misjudged you before."
He looked at Qi Yuan as though looking at a fat sheep himself. "Where is your Dao companion?"
Ji Buping recalled the woman who had accompanied Qi Yuan.
At a glance, that woman had clearly never been cleansed by immortal spiritual energy and likely hadn't even attained the Yin God realm.
Thus, Qi Yuan's strength was bound to be ordinary as well.
"My Dao companion is in the Sixth Heaven. I have another on the sun." Mentioning this, a touch of melancholy crossed Qi Yuan's expression.
Ji Buping stared blankly, then snapped, "Didn't Brother just claim you never tell lies? How can you spout such nonsense?"
"I didn't lie." Qi Yuan couldn't be bothered to explain. Remembering something, he asked, "Where is Brother's family?"
When dealing with enemies, Qi Yuan always made sure to investigate thoroughly.
What concerned him most was whether they had family.
"I am all alone, without family."
"Oh! Brother, let's hurry. The fish has taken the bait; it's just waiting for us to pull in the net."
"Let's go!" Ji Buping felt a rush of excitement, eager to pull off a massive score.
So what if the target was a Moluo Clan executive?
He was a man of the Black Demon Abyss, standing a cut above the Moluo Clan!
"Let's move."
Qi Yuan took Ji Buping with him, both transforming into a streak of flowing light that vanished.
When they reappeared, they had emerged from the Miluo Realm.
A look of astonishment surfaced in Ji Buping's eyes. "How did you bypass the Moluo Clan cultivators to get out?"
The Moluo Clan had stationed cultivators at every entrance and exit of the Miluo Realm.
Yet Qi Yuan had strutted right past them with him, as if those guards couldn't see them at all.
"Because... we're from the Black Demon Abyss. They can't see us!" To avoid exposing his innate divine ability, Qi Yuan selectively told a few white lies.
"Is that so?" Ji Buping looked at Qi Yuan with slight suspicion.
Now that they had left the Miluo Realm, a hint of retreat crept into his mind.
If the robbery took place inside the Miluo Realm, any clash would go unnoticed by the Moluo Clan.
Outside the Miluo Realm, however, a large commotion would likely alert the clan's powerhouses.
Still, remembering that even Blood Robe dared to go, backing out now would be utterly humiliating.
If things went south, he could simply flee on his own and leave Blood Robe behind.
With his superior strength, he wasn't afraid of unexpected mishaps.
"Hurry, we're almost there. That old fellow is right inside the trap!"
Qi Yuan said merrily.
If one were to ask why he brought Ji Buping along: first, he was a talent scout who recognized Ji Buping's ambition; second, life was dull, so one had to find some amusement, right? And third, to share some of the karmic burden.
Chapter 410