Shuang Feiyan, the Valley Master of the Seven Emotions Valley, was a top-tier curse master and one of the most perilous figures to provoke in all of Huangzhou.
She commanded all manner of bizarre curses—insidious, inescapable, and virtually impossible to defend against. Anyone who dared cross her had to prepare themselves to face a barrage of relentless hexes.
Centuries ago, a certain sect had secretly bad-mouthed Shuang Feiyan. Upon finding out, she inverted the gender of every single member of the sect, and it took half a year before they returned to normal.
To this day, that sect remained the laughingstock of Huangzhou.
Lu Yang had never heard of Shuang Feiyan’s past exploits, but even with half a brain, he knew one should never provoke a curse master.
Even though he was privy to ancient dark history—especially the scandalous secrets of ancient immortals—and was destined for greatness, there was no need to invite the wrath of a top-tier curse master right now.
Who could possibly survive that?
"Don't you worry! With this Immortal here, I guarantee no curse can harm you!" the source of curses declared solemnly from within his spiritual space.
Lu Yang panicked even more.
Zhao Po was visibly on edge as well. Unlike Lu Yang, he knew full well what Valley Master Shuang had done in her day. She was the kind of figure whose name alone could stop a crying child in the night. Even though the Corpse Driving Sect and the Seven Emotions Valley had long-standing ties, whether those ties were worth anything depended entirely on Valley Master Shuang's mood.
Fortunately, Valley Master Shuang had no intention of taking things out on the juniors. Her expression shifted several times before she finally let out a heavy sigh.
"When Shanren and I first met, we were about your age.
"That day, Shanren was passing by Cangshan when he heard shouting. A gang of mountain bandits was causing trouble, so he stepped forward bravely to rescue the victims. That was how he and I met."
Lu Yang nodded inwardly. *What a classic hero-saves-the-beauty tale. The Fourth Elder sure had his share of romantic luck.*
"As the bandit chief, I saw how handsome and dashing Shanren was, carrying himself with extraordinary grace. One look and I could tell he hailed from a great sect or an eminent clan, so I captured him to be my trophy bandit husband."
Lu Yang: "..."
*Why does something feel completely off here?*
"As a bandit, I always robbed the rich to give to the poor; I never took a copper from poor folk.
"Mainly, I realized there were simply too many bandits in Huangzhou to wipe out through ordinary means. So I figured, why not become a bandit myself? If I gradually expanded my territory and crowded out all the other bandits until they had nowhere left to go, wouldn't all the real bandits be gone?"
"I digress. After capturing Shanren, I wanted to marry him, but he swore he would rather die than submit. Left with no choice, I had to drop the idea for the time being."
Lu Yang mused that he had long heard of Huangzhou’s tradition of bride kidnapping, but he never expected to witness a groom kidnapping today.
"Of course, I didn't give up on Shanren entirely. His cultivation was on par with mine, and I had only managed to capture him through a sneak attack. To keep him from running away, I placed a curse on him.
"Knowing he couldn't break the curse anytime soon, Shanren stayed dutifully by my side. Once I explained my carefully crafted bandit-suppression strategy, he thought it over, decided it was sound, and joined me in robbing the rich to help the poor. Together, we carved out a formidable reputation—the martial world called us the Twin Bandits!
"Naturally, during that time, Shanren also tried to escape and attempted to dispel the curse, but he failed every single time.
"I simply loved his persistent spirit."
Lu Yang realized that the Fourth Elder's curse-breaking expertise had probably been forged back then. No wonder the Fourth Elder only knew how to break curses and never how to cast them—turns out he was the one on the receiving end the entire time.
"Cangshan was truly a wonderful place. Several cultivators who had made names for themselves at a young age were captured by Shanren and me. For instance, the current Sect Master of the Corpse Driving Sect and the Patriarch of the Barbarian clan were both ambushed and captured by the two of us. Once I explained my plan to them, they both agreed it was a brilliant idea, so we swore a blood oath of alliance. They joined my bandit stronghold and respectfully called me Big Boss!
"With the three of them helping out, our Cangshan bandit forces expanded rapidly. The surrounding bandit dens all bent the knee to us. I gave the defeated bandits two options: either be refined into living corpses, or let me plant a curse on them. They all wisely chose the latter and became my subordinates.
"Using this method, we expanded our influence even further, until dozens of mountain peaks were filled with our people.
"In the end, we controlled nearly half of Huangzhou's underworld. Anyone walking the path knew the name of the Four Dragons of Cangshan!
"Back then, the head of the largest bandit force was known as the Mountain-Suppressing Tiger. Seeing our rapid expansion, he took the initiative to strike, hoping to crush our momentum before our wings were fully grown.
"The Mountain-Suppressing Tiger was at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage. In a one-on-one fight, none of us was a match for him, but by joining forces, the four of us managed to defeat him!
"After his defeat, the Mountain-Suppressing Tiger fled in panic, hurling threats that he was backed by a mighty independent cultivator at the Body Integration stage. He shouted that offending him was the same as offending that Body Integration expert, and that we should just sit and wait for death—or something along those lines. I don't recall the exact words.
"Seeing that, we knew this was beyond our reach. We couldn't take on someone at the Body Integration stage, so we had no choice but to call upon our respective elders.
"When that Body Integration independent cultivator showed up, looking to flaunt his might before us, the Valley Master of the Seven Emotions Valley, the Grand Elder of the Corpse Driving Sect, and the Grand Elder of the Barbarian clan all stepped forward at once.
"He was so terrified he turned and bolted for his life. But no matter how fast he ran, how could he outrun our elders? He was merely at early Body Integration, while our elders were all at late Body Integration. What's more, the elders had already laid an inescapable net, waiting for him to walk right into the trap."
Lu Yang felt a wave of despair just imagining the scene. *Imagine being an early Body Integration cultivator just trying to help your underling wipe out rival factions, only to find yourself ambushed by one supreme figure after another from behind the enemy lines.*
"That Body Integration rogue possessed astounding escape arts. Knowing that getting caught meant certain death, he burned his essence blood to break through the net and flee.
"Right then, a child blocked that Body Integration cultivator's path. It was your Grandmaster, the Sect Master of the Dao Seeking Sect at the time. His combat prowess was the highest among all the elders. The moment he intervened, that rogue couldn't have escaped even if he burned away every last drop of his life.
"With that, we unified the bandit factions across Huangzhou. Afterward, we were each dragged back by our elders and placed under confinement.
"Originally, Shanren was supposed to be taken back for confinement as well, but your Grandmaster claimed there was no room left at Repentance Cliff, so he locked Shanren up alongside me in the Seven Emotions Valley's confinement chamber."
Lu Yang had heard of Repentance Cliff. It was the place where the Dao Seeking Sect sent disciples to reflect on their misdeeds behind closed doors. However, he had always been a well-behaved, obedient disciple who never got penalized, so he had never needed to visit such a place.
Originally, Eldest Senior Sister had wanted to lock their master up at Repentance Cliff for slacking off on his cultivation. Unfortunately, their master's cultivation was too profound, and he had spent so much time at Repentance Cliff that reflecting there achieved nothing, which was why she ended up confining him right at their front door instead.
"Who was locked up at Repentance Cliff back then?"
"Your master and his seven fellow disciples. Apparently, your master led his seven senior brothers and sisters to raise absolute hell in the imperial capital, tormenting the scions of the nobility until they wept bitter tears. If you ever visit the imperial capital, you had better never mention that you are Daoist Buyu's disciple."
Lu Yang: "..."
*Other people have elders who back them up. How did it end up that my elders only draw aggro for me?*
Chapter 415