This was not the first time Lu Yang had heard of the Nine Scions of the Dao Seeking Sect. The title was a double-edged sword: against weaker cultivators—such as those at the Soul Formation or Void Refining stages—invoking the name of the Dao Seeking Sect was enough to intimidate them.
However, if the opponent was a Body Integration powerhouse holding a high post in a major faction, they were practically guaranteed to have karmic entanglements with the Nine Scions. There was an eighty percent chance they bore a grudge.
And if he went to the imperial capital, that eighty percent would become a hundred percent.
When Meng Jingzhou returned to the imperial capital, he at least had the backing of the Meng Family, which should keep him safe.
Lu Yang, on the other hand, had Daoist Buyu as his master and Meng Jingzhou as his good brother. With both identities stacked on top of each other, how was going to the imperial capital any different from knocking on the Gates of Hell?
As the heart of the Central Continent, the Imperial City was the seat of a hundred thousand years of the Great Xia Dynasty’s heritage and the mightiest city of cultivation in the present age. Not only did people across the Central Continent yearn to visit and admire the scenery, but even denizens of the Demon Domain, the Golden Buddhist Kingdom, and the Sea Clan all wanted to travel there.
Only Lu Yang had no desire to go.
As if struck by a sudden realization, Lu Yang began counting on his fingers. "Why does it feel like I have so many enemies? I know the scandalous secrets of the Four Ancient Celestials, so they definitely won't let me off. Master stirs up trouble everywhere, and all of it gets pinned on my head. Put that way, am I making enemies of mighty figures across all of past and present?!
"That doesn't make sense! I joined the most powerful sect of the current age, became the Sect Master's youngest disciple, and house the strongest ancient celestial inside my body. Shouldn't I be mowing down gods and Buddhas alike, surrounded by beautiful women and living the dream? How did all of this end up bringing nothing but negative repercussions?"
Lu Yang counted his blessings that his destiny was tough enough to weather so much danger.
"After placing us in solitary confinement, Master sealed both Shanren's and my magic power," Valley Master Shuang recounted. "We were locked in two adjacent confinement cells, able to see each other only through a small iron grate in the wall.
"We sat in our cells discussing the Dao. I explained the principles of cursing techniques, and he expounded on the sayings of the sages. We spurred each other on and improved together."
*Weren't you two just talking past each other?* Lu Yang thought to himself.
Valley Master Shuang's tone had softened, and knowing that loose lips sink ships, Lu Yang refrained from courting trouble.
At the end of her tale, Valley Master Shuang let out a wistful sigh. "In the end, Shanren still refused to accept my love. After reaching the Body Integration stage, I went into seclusion to develop a curse that would make Shanren fall hopelessly, unconditionally in love with me. Alas, he has never come to see me."
Lu Yang shuddered. He had long heard that reading the books of the sages taught one how to pursue fortune and avoid calamity. The saying was truly spot-on.
"Very well. You and your Dao Seeking Sect share a bond of fate with me, so I shall lend a hand."
Before Lu Yang could even celebrate on Meng Jingzhou's behalf, Valley Master Shuang continued, "However, based on the situation described in Shanren's letter, the level of your companion's curse is exceedingly high and beyond my ability to fully resolve. Furthermore, this is a karmic backlash, which does not entirely fall under the domain of curses."
"Then should we seek someone else's help?"
"No need for that just yet. Since you have come to my Seven Emotions Valley, we cannot let you leave empty-handed. If word got out, how could the Seven Emotions Valley continue to claim mastery over curse arts? Though I cannot break the curse entirely, mitigating a portion of it is well within my power."
"For instance?"
"For instance, I could alter your companion's curse from being unable to approach women to having any woman he contacts feel utter disgust toward him."
Lu Yang: "..."
Why did that sound even worse?
"What do you say? Shall I proceed?"
"I should ask for his opinion first." Lu Yang was not Meng Jingzhou and could not make such a decision for him.
"Fair point. I will go ask him in person."
Hesitation showed on Lu Yang's face, prompting Valley Master Shuang to ask, "What is it?"
"Old Meng's curse makes him unable to approach any female. Valley Master, you..."
Valley Master Shuang smiled faintly. "I wondered what had you worried. While he is cursed, as a top-tier curse master, I am immune to all curses. His curse cannot possibly affect me. Let us go together."
Valley Master Shuang told Luo Yu and Zhao Po to remain where they were, stating that she and Lu Yang would be right back.
She carried Lu Yang as they flew out of Seven Emotions Valley, heading in the direction Lu Yang indicated to find Meng Jingzhou.
When they arrived at the spot where Meng Jingzhou had been left, they found that he and the old horse had vanished without a trace. All that remained was a circle drawn on the ground.
"What is this circle?" Valley Master Shuang asked, puzzled.
"I drew it. I was worried Old Meng might wander off, so I drew a circle and told him not to leave its boundary. I have no idea where he could have gone."
Valley Master Shuang possessed some knowledge of karmic divination. She pinched her fingers to calculate, then pointed in a direction. "He should be that way. Let us search for him."
The two resumed their search, flying along the calculated trajectory for quite some time, yet they did not spot even a trace of Meng Jingzhou.
"How strange. At my flying speed, I should have caught up to him almost immediately."
Valley Master Shuang pinched her fingers to divine once more and reached a different result. "I see. He changed direction midway. This way."
"Let's go."
Following the new result, the two flew swiftly, searching for Meng Jingzhou over and over, yet repeatedly coming up empty-handed.
Just as Valley Master Shuang was preparing to calculate Meng Jingzhou's location yet again, Lu Yang offered an understanding smile. "How about you calculate his location, and I go look for Old Meng on my own?"
If they kept chasing him like this, they would fly right out of Huangzhou.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Valley Master Shuang nodded. "Very well. He is to the west."
Lu Yang headed west alone. In a desolate, uninhabited mountain forest, he found Meng Jingzhou slumped limp on the ground, while the old horse leisurely drank from a nearby spring.
"Are you all right?"
Meng Jingzhou wheezed weakly, "Do I look all right to you?"
He erupted in frustrated fury. "I have no clue what happened just now, but a tornado suddenly formed, and I was right smack in the middle of it! The tornado sucked me up into the sky, and that damned old horse just trotted leisurely behind!
"As soon as the tornado died down, an out-of-control living corpse appeared and chased after me! One glance told me its cultivation while alive was far too high for me to beat, so I turned tail and sprinted for my life. It nearly ran me to death! Fortunately, I had plenty of spiritual energy and managed to run the corpse ragged until its power was completely exhausted. And the old horse just stood there watching without lifting a hoof to help!
"Before I could even catch my breath and celebrate escaping the living corpse, something went wrong with the spiritual energy in my body—probably because I circulated it too fast while running. My body started sprinting uncontrollably! I ran for who knows how long before the rampaging spiritual energy finally subsided.
"I didn't even have time to take a Great Restoration Pill before two Soul Formation experts started dueling right above my head! Their battlefield was massive and was bound to hit me. Thank goodness I'm a body cultivator and can sprint fast without needing spiritual energy. I kept running west all the way here before I finally got a chance to catch my breath—and then you showed up.
"What rotten luck... By the way, I ran so far, how did you manage to find me?"
Lu Yang felt too awkward to admit that Valley Master Shuang had been chasing him from behind the entire time, so he casually brushed the question aside.
"I found some help in the Seven Emotions Valley. She can alleviate your curse to a certain extent."
"How so?"
"Do you like the idea of women looking at you with utter disgust?"
"?"
Chapter 416