"Is that what 'Three Yang Power' means? Why does it feel different from what I remember?" Daoist Xiantian was puzzled, but upon thinking it over carefully, Lu Yang's explanation seemed quite reasonable.
"Other sects come up with wildly exaggerated names for their pills, but our sect is rather traditional. We don't bother with flashy nonsense and always seek truth from facts. Whatever effect a pill has, that's what it's named. In the past, I even used a Ten-Ox-Strength Pill—and it summoned ten ox demons."
Lu Yang used himself as an example, drawing on personal experience to prove that the Three Yang Power Pill was indeed a summoning-type pill, and certainly not just the two of them lurking nearby and sneaking over the moment the pill started smoking.
"So that's how it is." Daoist Xiantian nodded, deeply gratified. He hadn't expected the Dao Seeking Sect to be so traditional.
An old-timer like him had rigid thinking; tradition was his favorite thing.
Though, in his era, there had never been a pill quite so "truth-seeking."
"Monsters, surrender without a fight!" Meng Jingzhou thundered. Two Nascent Souls brimful of pure yang qi flew out, radiating waves of surging heat.
"N-Nascent Soul stage?!" The snake demoness sisters cried in shock, frozen in terror and not daring to twitch.
Even if Great Xia had countless cultivators, it wasn't as if one could bump into Nascent Soul cultivators just anywhere, right?
And why on earth did he have two Nascent Souls?
Lu Yang felt a twinge of regret. That shameless Old Meng had beaten him to the punch in stealing the spotlight, even though the Three Yang Power Pill scheme had been his idea in the first place. Then again, he couldn't let his Nascent Soul out to stand watch at will the way Old Meng did.
The snake demoness sisters soon regained their composure. "Don't think you're the only ones with backing! We have someone too!"
They were definitely no match for Nascent Soul cultivators, but it wasn't like they lacked a background of their own.
The elder snake demoness produced a snake scale and snapped it with force.
Before long, a rumbling sound echoed from deep within the mountain forest, like some colossal beast tearing through the trees and colliding with giant boulders, sending them rolling.
"Who dares bully my daughters!" A colossal snake head blocked the cave entrance, its cold, vertical pupils glaring fixedly at Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.
"We are from the Dao Seeking Sect. Your two daughters have broken the law and need to come with us." Lu Yang flashed his identity jade token and stated their business.
The gigantic white serpent flashed an all-too-human sneer. *Is the Dao Seeking Sect supposed to be impressive? Even if I can't beat you, can't I just run?*
With a bang, she transformed into an alluring, mature woman in white and darted into the cave mouth, intending to rely on her early Soul Formation stage cultivation to rescue her two daughters and flee!
An early Soul Formation cultivation was far from enough before Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou. Meng Jingzhou deployed Three Heads and Six Arms, his six powerful arms pinning the woman in white directly to the ground.
"Please, show mercy!" Another snake demon arrived belatedly; it was the woman in white's husband.
"Fellow Daoists, please, be lenient." Taking human form, this snake demon bowed and smiled obsequiously. He knew this was Great Xia territory, and crossing the Dao Seeking Sect never ended well.
"A humble token of goodwill, please accept it." This snake demon knew the ropes. Understanding that force was out of the question, he produced a storage ring containing three hundred thousand spirit stones.
"Father, don't give them any spirit stones! They have no grounds to arrest us! The two of us never forced these men!" The snake demoness sisters had clearly lived in Great Xia for a long time and knew its rules: you couldn't just arrest people without cause.
"You didn't force them?" Daoist Xiantian pointed at the men sprawled haphazardly around the cave. Even after such fierce combat just now, none of them had reacted in the slightest, clearly having their senses clouded and losing all perception of the outside world.
"That was merely roleplay to spice things up."
The snake demoness sisters cast a demonic art, lifting their control over the men and restoring their lucidity.
Their minds cleared, yet the moment they laid eyes on the snake sisters, their faces still showed utter infatuation. When Daoist Xiantian questioned them on whether they had been forced by the snake demons, they all insisted it was voluntary.
"Then your harvesting yin to replenish yang also violates the penal code!" Daoist Xiantian thought of another ground. Predatory dual cultivation was a demonic method, which also violated the penal law.
Mutual replenishment of yin and yang was the righteous path, but how could snake demonesses at the early Golden Core stage mutually complement mortals?
"Who said we were harvesting anyone?" The snake demoness sisters seemed to have anticipated Daoist Xiantian's question all along.
Daoist Xiantian carefully checked the condition of the men, only to find that their essence had indeed not been harvested. Their frail appearance was merely due to excessive debauchery over the past few days.
Kidney deficiency from excessive debauchery wasn't illegal.
"Then why did the two of you sleep with so many men?" Daoist Xiantian asked, bewildered.
"High sex drive."
"..."
"Then you entered the country illegally."
"Ridiculous! We went through the proper paperwork before coming here!"
Just because their family lived in the mountains didn't mean they had sneaked into Great Xia; they were simply accustomed to living in the wilderness.
This truly stumped Daoist Xiantian. Kidnapping was out of the question—these men clearly had come voluntarily; at most, they hadn't informed their fellow villagers when leaving.
Were they really innocent?
The snake demoness sisters sneered. Don't think they didn't know the law just because they were demons. They had studied it thoroughly. They didn't even charge money, so it couldn't even be considered prostitution.
Lu Yang took out chains and, without a word of discussion, bound the snake demoness sisters, throwing them into a panic.
"On what grounds are you tying us up?!"
Lu Yang curled his lip. "You talk as if you're guiltless. Isn't this textbook group licentiousness?"
Once they delivered the snake demons to the nearby yamen and the yamen issued a receipt voucher, the mission would be complete.
Meng Jingzhou proceeded to tie up the group of men. Group licentiousness only punished the organizers, but as participants, even though it didn't constitute a criminal offense for these men, they couldn't escape administrative penalties—at the very least, ten days in detention.
"And you—you're coming with us to the yamen too."
Lu Yang bound the woman in white with chains.
"Why tie me up? I didn't sleep with these men! Even if you're from the Dao Seeking Sect, you can't just arrest people indiscriminately!" the woman in white fumed.
Lu Yang rolled his eyes, hardly bothering with such legal illiterates. "I already stated we are from the Dao Seeking Sect carrying out official duties, yet you tried to snatch suspects right in front of us. Isn't that pure obstruction of official duties?"
Lu Yang turned his head toward the husband of the woman in white. "Are you planning on walking with us on your own, or do you want us to tie you up?"
"What did I do?" The male snake demon was baffled; from start to finish, he hadn't even shown the slightest intention of fighting.
"Attempted bribery."
Lu Yang then looked over at Daoist Xiantian, who stood frozen in place. "And you..."
Lu Yang had suddenly remembered that the snake demoness named Shuang'er had tried to force the Patriarch into being her kept boy. When the Patriarch refused, Shuang'er had attacked him, which likely constituted attempted rape or attempted molestation. Lu Yang intended to remind the Patriarch not to be surprised if the yamen called on him to give a victim's statement.
Having watched Lu Yang indict everyone one by one, Daoist Xiantian instantly tensed up when Lu Yang turned his gaze on him. Trembling, he stammered, "Is... is it too late for me to turn myself in?"
Chapter 888