"This is a bit tricky," Lu Yang clicked his tongue, sensing something was wrong.
Everyone else from the Yanjiang Branch had already left in a hurry to commit evil deeds, leaving just the three of them behind.
If given free rein, if the three of them really let loose and stirred up trouble, they could turn all of Feixian City upside down.
Unfortunately, their true natures would not permit it. They were here as undercover agents in a demonic cult, surrounded by many genuine demonic cultivators.
"No wonder we've never heard of anyone successfully infiltrating the Immortal Cult as an undercover agent. There's actually a test like this." Meng Jingzhou also found the situation extraordinarily thorny.
"What's the worst bad thing you guys want to do?" Lu Yang asked.
Meng Jingzhou thought for a long time before saying uncertainly, "Does going to a brothel count?"
Since childhood, his clan had forbidden him from visiting places like brothels. All his uncles who had been to brothels claimed that brothels were terrifying places where children shouldn't go.
Meng Jingzhou had seen the pathetic sight of his uncles kneeling on washboards upon returning home, and he truly believed brothels were terrifying places.
Now, as a bachelor... oh wait, as a Pure Yang Spiritual Root, he was even less allowed to go.
To Meng Jingzhou, a rebellious act like visiting a brothel was the worst evil deed he could imagine.
Man Gu couldn't even think of anything.
"Forget it. We still have a full day anyway, so let's head to a brothel to unwind," Lu Yang suggested. He already had an idea. What a joke—as if a rule like this could hold him back?
It was still early, so there was no need to act right away. Opportunities like this didn't come often, so why not satisfy Meng Jingzhou's wish first?
Meng Jingzhou's eyes lit up. *Right, this isn't my real body anyway, so going once won't hurt.*
"Let's go, let's go," Meng Jingzhou urged the other two to come along.
Going to a place like that alone made him feel uneasy.
The two couldn't dissuade Meng Jingzhou, so they had no choice but to accompany him.
The brothel stood in a conspicuous spot, and the three found it easily.
Gorgeously dressed courtesans stood at the entrance waving handkerchiefs to solicit customers, beckoning with their delicate hands and ensnaring the souls of passersby.
Upon reaching the brothel's entrance, Man Gu got cold feet and backed away repeatedly. "I am a scholar. This is no place for a scholar."
"The sages said: rouge-cheeked beauties are but skeletons, and kingdom-toppling beauties turn to white bones. I must not commit an error."
The two tried to persuade him for a long time, talking until their lips were parched, but couldn't sway him and finally gave up.
Lu Yang showed great loyalty: "Since you're unwilling to go to the brothel, I'll go in your stead."
Man Gu breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Brother Lu was reliable after all.
Then, right before his eyes, he watched as Lu Yang unleashed a set of Imitation Fist, transforming into Man Gu's exact likeness.
Man Gu: "!!!"
Lu Yang patted the stunned Man Gu, signaling him to relax. "I'm going."
Man Gu hurriedly grabbed his other self. "You can't go! Even if you go, you can't go looking like me!"
"I'm kindly taking your place! What a pity it would be if you missed out," Lu Yang said with utmost sincerity.
Man Gu adamantly refused.
"Don't be shy," Lu Yang urged.
In truth, Lu Yang was nervous too. He had never been to a place like this before. What if something went wrong? Meng Jingzhou would laugh at him for the rest of his life. Naturally, Lu Yang thought of turning into Man Gu so that if any embarrassment occurred, it wouldn't happen under his own face.
Of course, he couldn't say this out loud.
While the three were bickering, a loud boom echoed from the brothel, followed by women's screams and men's arrogant laughter.
The three jerked their heads around and saw over a dozen cultivators running amok inside the brothel, clutching respectable women abducted from who-knew-where in their arms.
These cultivators didn't bother concealing their cultivation at all—every single one was in the Foundation Establishment stage, and two or three of them even possessed auras no weaker than the earlier tiger demon!
All of them were cultivators participating in the trial.
"Scoundrels!"
A towering fury surged from the depths of their hearts, and they wanted to step forward to stop them.
Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu moved to attack, but Lu Yang stopped them.
"Don't be rash. There are only three of us; we can't defeat them."
"Then what do you propose we do?" Meng Jingzhou asked anxiously.
Lu Yang waved his hand. "I have a way to temporarily boost my combat prowess. You two wait for me."
Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu were curious. They didn't have any Ten-Ox-Strength Pills on them—could Lu Yang have learned some secret art that temporarily elevated cultivation?
Lu Yang took a deep breath. His movements softened, and his lively gaze turned cold and indifferent. His face became expressionless, his demeanor aloof and icy.
Meng Jingzhou narrowed his eyes, then suddenly widened them.
This mannerism was the spitting image of Eldest Senior Sister Yun Zhi!
Lu Yang was practicing the Lu Clan Imitation Fist, transforming into Eldest Senior Sister's likeness.
He had previously joked that the Lu Clan Imitation Fist had nine layers, and upon reaching the ninth heaven, one could transform into a Tribulation Transcendence mighty figure with a single thought.
The reason he had said that was because he had discovered that when he transformed into Man Gu, his physical toughness was slightly greater than his actual self's.
The Lu Clan Imitation Fist could obtain a portion of the transformed subject's power!
This power was surely subject to limitations and couldn't increase indefinitely, but even so, it was formidable.
Lu Yang wanted to transform into Eldest Senior Sister's likeness to see how much power he could gain, and whether it would be enough to defeat these people!
*Eldest Senior Sister, forgive me.*
A woman of breathtaking beauty appeared. Her gaze held dazzling brilliance, yet between her brows lay frost unmelted for ten thousand years.
Seeing this stunning woman, Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu subconsciously held their breath, their legs trembling.
Lu Yang had successfully transformed into Eldest Senior Sister!
Lu Yang felt a torrential surge of power descend from the heavens, flooding into his body!
...
Dao Seeking Sect, Tianmen Peak.
At the summit of the mountain peak, Yun Zhi sat cross-legged. She opened her eyes and looked up at the sky, as if able to gaze across to the boundless sea of stars on the distant shore.
Her aura was retracted to the absolute extreme; anyone looking at her would think she was merely a mortal.
Yet mortals did not hover above mountain peaks, nor did their eyes hold brilliant galaxies.
"Hmm? Who borrowed my power?"
Yun Zhi withdrew her gaze, sensing a wisp of power separate from her body and fly off toward infinite distance.
"I'd like to see who has such audacity!"
Yun Zhi had never encountered such a brazen thief!
She shed her mortal facade, releasing her aura. Like a fierce halberd piercing the clouds, she fully displayed the magnificent bearing of Dao Seeking Sect's Eldest Senior Sister!
Yun Zhi's divine soul left her body, turning into a streak of fierce light as she chased after that wisp of power separated from her body.
...
"Cough!" Lu Yang couldn't endure even a single wisp of Eldest Senior Sister's power and reverted to his original appearance.
Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu breathed sighs of relief as well; the pressure Lu Yang exuded in Eldest Senior Sister's form had been suffocating.
*Crack—*
A crisp sound came from overhead.
Whether it was the demonic rogue cultivators in the midst of burning, killing, looting, and committing every atrocity, or the three preparing to act righteously, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared open-mouthed at the sky above.
A crack had actually appeared in the originally boundless space, as though struck by something.
*Crack, crack, crack...*
The fissures spread like a dried-up riverbed, growing wider and wider. Then, with a crash, the cracks turned into a gaping breach, as though a giant hole had opened in the heavens.
A striking figure appeared at the breach, her brows slightly furrowed.
"This aura... a demonic cult?"
Chapter 74