Demon Emperor's Defiant Love

“Is there anything unique about this secret realm?” Yun Jiuge asked.

“It is extremely dangerous, and it’s an environment that is most unwelcoming to outsiders. Ferocious beasts lurk around every corner. Furthermore, only cultivators who are at the fifth level of the Qi Refining Stage or below can enter…”

Little Fatty began dramatically, but before he could finish his sentence, Yun Jiuge interrupted him.

“Isn’t Su Junqing’s cultivation level currently at the Foundation Establishment Stage?” she demanded. “How is he able to set foot inside this secret realm?”

“The Yin Corpse Sect has a secret technique to suppress his cultivation and make his level appear lower so that he can enter the secret realm. However, even if the secret technique can mask a cultivator’s true abilities, the number of people who can go into the realm at once remains the same. Normally, they do not select more than five members per team for this mission. Otherwise, the secret realm would fall apart,” Little Fatty explained in detail.

The Human-faced Peaches fed on Spiritual Energy from throughout the entire secret realm. Therefore, the place was volatile, and the mere presence of a high-level cultivator could cause it to collapse.

These Human-faced Peaches were valuable because they contained abundant Yin Qi. They also emanated the same aura as creatures of flesh and blood. The Human-faced Peach was an excellent food source for the Yin Corpses, so the Yin Corpse Sect’s members fed them to their Corpses.

Additionally, the Yin Corpse Sect’s members prepared the Human-faced Peaches as a vital supplement for Yin Corpse during its transformation to make it more powerful. Accordingly, the Yin Corpse Sect sent its less advanced disciples on an expedition to the secret realm every year to gather these Human-faced Peaches.

Although Elder Mo Hua gave Su Junqing preferential treatment over the other disciples, the object of desire would not fall into his lap automatically. He still needed to make an effort to acquire them himself.

When Yun Jiuge heard this, her hands trembled slightly.

At first, she thought that Su Junqing would enter the secret realm as a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage. When the time came, she would have no choice but to ask Zi Shang to kill him on her behalf.

She’d never expected that he would seal some of his cultivation energy to reduce his cultivation level and enter the secret realm. If this were indeed the case, then she would have an opportunity to destroy him herself.

Yun Jiuge tried to stifle her excitement. She continued questioning Little Fatty, “Is there anything about the secret realm that is important for me to know?”

“There are a lot of noteworthy things. However, you should know that disciples from each Peak will become swept up in a confrontation during the expedition, and the disciples from the Peak that gathers the most Human-headed Peach will emerge victoriously. At that time, the winning team will be awarded prizes. Therefore, tensions between the disciples from each Peak will be very intense.

“I have a list of the expedition’s participants here. Take a look at it later so that you can get a clearer picture of the whole situation. Other than that, our team leader, who is our Senior, will assign us tasks. Because of that, we must get into his good books.” As Little Fatty spoke, he handed a copy of the list of names to Yun Jiuge.

“How many Contribution Points should I pay you for the information this time?” Yun Jiuge took the name list from him and scanned through it. Su Junqing’s name was written at the top of the list in bold.

Yun Jiuge saw Broom Eyebrows Chen and his underling’s names below Su Junqing, followed by the Liu Sisters, Little Fatty, and other few hundred disciples from the bottom of the totem pole. The names were all squeezed together on a single piece of paper.

Although she did not know most of these disciples, the name list would undoubtedly come in handy.

“I will not charge you anything for the information this time,” Little Fatty Jin Lin replied and shook his head. After that, he smiled ingratiatingly and added, “I just need Senior Yun Jiu to look after me during the expedition to the secret realm.”

“I can’t promise you that. You should just accept the Contribution Points instead!” When the time came, Yun Jiuge would be so preoccupied with murdering Su Junqing that she would scarcely have the time to take care of Little Fatty.

“Senior Yun Jiu, you can rest assured that I have my own backup plan for emergency purposes. I do not need you to stick with me constantly. However, if you need to team up with someone, I hope that I will be your first choice,” Little Fatty quickly clarified.

He knew that he could not rely on Yun Jiuge to come to his rescue all the time.

“Very well, then!” Yun Jiuge did not have many acquaintances within the Yin Corpse Sect. Little Fatty was one of the few. If she ever needed to join forces with someone, she would definitely think of him first.

“The expedition to the secret realm will take place three months from now. Senior Yun Jiu, you should take this opportunity to advance your cultivation to the next stage!” Little Fatty said.

Since Yun Jiuge had concealed her real Cultivation Level, Little Fatty thought that she was still at the third level of the Qi Refining Stage.

“Alright. By the way, please notify me if you find a good quality Spiritual Bone,” Yun Jiuge said, before adding silently to herself, “There’s no harm in creating another set of Magical Weapons.”

“No problem,” Little Fatty replied with a nod then took his leave.

After Yun Jiuge saw off Little Fatty, she went to see the Liu Sisters and gave them the Earth Spiritual Bones and Yin Gathering Pills. After that, she recounted everything that Little Fatty had told her.

“So, should we continue to perform Enclosed Cultivation or kill Yin Moths next?” Liu Tian’er felt like they had limited time on their hands.

She wanted to stock up on Yin Gathering Pills for future use, but also spend more time on cultivation.

“We require another trip to the Yin Graveyard to replenish our supply. Our priority right now is to get ready for the expedition to the secret realm. We need to prepare things that can restore our Spiritual Energy, neutralize poison, ward off evil spirits, and make us immune to miasma, which can otherwise infect us with diseases.” Since Yun Jiuge had prior experience infiltrating the Bloodthirsty Sect, she knew that they had to equip themselves with these essentials.

“Senior Yun Jiu, please give us a checklist. We will make preparations based on the items on your list!” Liu Mei’er said.

At first, she was slightly apprehensive about the campaign. However, when she saw that Senior Yun Jiu was laying out his plan in a balanced way, she felt calmer.

“I will give you the checklist later. In the meantime, I want the two of you to kill more Yin Ghosts and earn more Contribution Points.” The items that Yun Jiuge wanted were hardly cheap. If they did not have sufficient Contribution Points, they would not be able to exchange for them.

Over the next few days, Yun Jiuge and the Liu Sisters killed Yin Ghosts like crazy. After they amassed a lot of Contribution Points, they started to purchase the things that they needed.

A few disciples with insider information also started making preparations. The atmosphere tensed across the entire Peak.

After two months, the Liu Sisters successfully managed to progress to the third level of the Qi Refining Stage.

Yun Jiuge advanced to the fifth level.

She’d managed to reach the fifth level just five months after her acceptance into the Yin Corpse Sect. Among the Secondary Disciples, her cultivation speed was shockingly fast.

To maintain a low profile, Yun Jiuge only revealed her cultivation level to others in the Sect as being at the third level of the Qi Refining Stage.

The Liu Sisters had also chosen to hide their true cultivation level. To others, they appeared to be only at the second level of the Qi Refining Stage.

While Yun Jiuge and others were busy preparing for the expedition, all five Outer Peaks finalized the names of the expedition’s team leaders.

Su Junqing was Number Two Peak’s team leader.

Bai Lan was named as the team leader for the Number Three Peak. She was a female disciple from Mo Hua Peak and Su Junqing’s Senior.

The team leaders of the Number Four and Five Peaks were a pair of siblings. The older brother was Han Xiaodong, while the younger brother was Han Xiaoxi.

Although the two of them were at the final level of the Qi Refining Stage, they were both trusted aids of Ya Ziqing, the Sect Leader.

Since the Han Brothers were partners, an alliance, naturally, was formed between Number Four and Five Peaks. No one would dare underestimate them.

Once the expedition team leaders were announced, everyone was shocked when Lang Ya was elected as the leader for the Number One Peak.

Elder Bai Gu has personally chosen Lang Ya as his Main Disciple. Lang Ya’s cultivation level had reached the Foundation Establishment Stage two months ago. After performing Enclosed Cultivation for two months to stabilize the cultivation energy in his body, he’d asked Elder Bai Gu to let him lead the Number One Peak’s team for this expedition.

Since Elder Bai Gu had high hopes for this disciple, he had agreed immediately without any hesitation. The person who had initially been nominated as the team leader was immediately replaced by Lang Ya.

“Five thousand disciples from five different peaks thronging in the secret realm and plucking peaches. Why does this sound so odd to me?” Yun Jiuge had a hunch that this secret realm was not as simple as it had been made out to be to the disciples.

“Even if there is something fishy about it, that is none of your concern. Don’t you plan to kill Su Junqing? Do you want to check out his Yin Corpse before we go?” If it was within Yun Jiuge’s abilities, Zi Shang hoped that she could murder Su Junqing without his help.

“Of course. Let’s go to his cave-dwelling tonight. Little Fatty told me that Su Junqing spends the night in someone else’s bed on the first and fifteenth day of every lunar month. His Yin Corpse will definitely be alone in his cave-dwelling during that time.”

Yun Jiuge has been itching to learn more about Su Junqing. She also wanted to see if Ye Yunzhi had really transformed into a Yin Corpse.

Unfortunately, Zi Shang was afraid that she would lose her head when she saw Su Junqing and act rashly, and he had so far stopped her from going to his cave-dwelling.