Cultivation: I Can Traverse Otherworlds

Chapter 218: Chapter 204: Backstab

Lurching!

Trembling!

Space inverting!

...

A wave of nausea washed over them. After a blur of vision, the two had left Wind Moon Valley and appeared within the Dazhou Territory.

"A Teleportation Array?"

Zhu Ju took a deep breath, suppressing the restless Qi Blood roiling within him from the nausea.

"This is completely different from what I imagined."

He had originally thought an Immortal Family’s Teleportation Array would achieve Void Shifting in an instant, and that those within wouldn’t feel a thing.

Just like when he traveled to the Otherworld; the round trip happened in the span of a single thought.

He never expected this.

The Joyful Sect’s Teleportation Array was like being tossed around in an overturned gourd, enough to make someone vomit up last night’s dinner.

Fortunately,

they were finally out.

"Random teleportation out, fixed point for return. No wonder no one has known the exact location of Wind Moon Valley for so many years." His gaze swept over the vast, desolate surroundings as Zhu Ju formed a Sword Pointing and activated the Sword Qi of his Cross and Vertical Saber.

"Yuann Tong, let’s find a spot to get our bearings first."

"SWOOSH!"

A beam of saber light enveloped the two of them, shooting straight into the sky and streaking toward a distant mountain peak.

"What’s wrong?"

Zhu Ju glanced to the side, asking with feigned confusion,

"We finally managed to escape, so we should be happy. You’ve been gloomy this whole time. Are you worried about being hunted by Joyful Sect Disciples?"

"...No." Zhou Yuantong’s expression was stiff, her voice wooden, as if she had lost her Soul.

"I was just thinking about Ding Gui."

"Ding Gui?" Zhu Ju lowered their Tunneling Light, determined their direction, and said,

"Her original name is Songx Zhi. Her husband’s surname was Ding."

"She was originally an Outer Sect Disciple of the Profound Clarity Sect. After being captured by the Joyful Sect, she changed her name to Ding Gui to avoid trouble."

"Songx Zhi was exceptionally beautiful and had a Mastery in Artifact Refining. She disfigured her face and body and hid herself in the Wind Moon Valley’s Artifact Refining Hall..."

"And she’s closely connected to the deaths of several Sect Disciples."

They had already learned all this information about Ding Gui, or rather Songx Zhi, before they even left Wind Moon Valley.

"Yuann Tong."

Landing on the mountain peak, Zhu Ju spoke,

"Ding Gui has fled all the way to the East Sea. The Demon Dao’s influence is weak there, so we can also use this as an opportunity to get far away from the Joyful Sect."

"What I mean is, we can try to complete the mission first. We’ll figure out the rest once we’re closer to the East Sea."

"Mmm." Zhou Yuantong nodded slowly, then suddenly said in a low voice,

"Husband, what if we had just stayed in Wind Moon Valley?"

"All those years in Wind Moon Valley... our lives weren’t so bad. Maybe we should have had a child..."

She seemed to be trying to salvage something.

"Yuann Tong." Zhu Ju stood facing the wind and said slowly,

"What you’re saying is unrealistic. Senior Princess Consort Yuann would never let us go, and besides, Wind Moon Valley is ultimately not a good place."

"Let’s go."

"First, let’s find out where Ding Gui went."

He gently wrapped his arm around Zhou Yuantong’s waist, feigning ignorance of her unusual stiffness, and took to the sky on his Artifact.

「A few days later.」

In a Mortal city.

Zhu Ju and Zhou Yuantong had changed into Daoist Robes and were now knocking on the door of a courtyard home.

"CREAK..."

A stooped old woman pulled open the door, her eyes cloudy as she looked them over.

"Can I help you two?"

"Wuliang Celestial Venerable." Zhu Ju performed a ritual bow and spoke slowly,

"Ma’am, I am a Daoist from the Wuliang Temple on Dragon Head Peak of the Mingxu Mountain Gate. I’ve heard that a Fellow Daoist Songx has come to this place, so I came especially to pay a visit."

"You’re looking for Songx Zhi?" The old woman first nodded, then shook her head.

"She was here, but she’s already left."

"Left?" Zhu Ju frowned. The Joyful Sect’s trail ended here; it would be troublesome if they lost it.

"Ma’am, do you know where Fellow Daoist Songx went?"

"She didn’t say." The old woman shook her head, then added,

"But she probably went to Tianhui Mountain to the east. Besides, there’s nowhere else for her to go."

’Tianhui Mountain?’

Zhu Ju nodded slowly.

Beside him, Zhou Yuantong’s eyes were vacant. The scene she had witnessed in Princess Consort Yuann’s hall before they left flashed through her mind.

...

「Several years ago.」

Zhou Yuantong had left Wind Moon Valley to carry out a mission. Princess Consort Yuann kept Zhu Ju behind to tell him about the Yin Yang Seed Secret Technique.

The mountain wind blew.

Zhu Ju’s long hair fluttered and his robes billowed. His handsome features were as if carved by a knife, exuding a masculine, virile aura.

But this was different from the man in Zhou Yuantong’s memory.

This face showed none of his usual kindness, gentleness, or smiles. Instead, there was only greed and endless desire.

And the ruthlessness of one who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

"Is what you’ve said true, Senior?"

Zhu Ju looked directly at Princess Consort Yuann and asked in a grave voice,

"If I can win Yuann Tong’s true heart, I can also cause the Yin Yang Seed to mature and then backlash against its master to perfect myself?"

"And even advance to the Dao Foundation Realm?"

"Indeed." Princess Consort Yuann chuckled lightly.

"In the millennia of the Joyful Sect’s history, there have been very few instances of a Furnace Tripod’s backlash, but there are always exceptions."

"One of the Sect’s current Dao Foundation Cultivators was once the Furnace Tripod for a Core True Inheritance disciple. He achieved his Dao Foundation by turning the tables and killing his master."

"Of course, you need to ensure that Yuann Tong truly sees you as her one true love, to the point she would willingly die for you."

"This..." Zhu Ju’s face showed hesitation.

"What?" Princess Consort Yuann chuckled lightly.

"Can’t you do it?"

"The human heart is difficult to fathom. I am truly not confident," Zhu Ju admitted frankly.

"Although Yuann Tong and I get along very well, I have never been completely unguarded with her. I’m always on the alert."

"Hee hee..." Princess Consort Yuann covered her mouth and giggled.

"What a heartless man you are. But just because you can’t do it doesn’t mean others can’t. Especially Yuann Tong. She is innocent and pure-hearted. For you, she was even willing to give up the Dao Foundation Realm that was right within her grasp."

"You must understand, a Dao Foundation Cultivator can live for three to four hundred years."

"As long as you put in a little more effort, she will surely become completely devoted to you. At that time, you can act according to the method..."

"Seizing her Primordial Spirit, wouldn’t that be as easy as turning over your hand?"

"I see..." Zhu Ju said, looking thoughtful.

"I’m just worried about the ’what ifs’."

"You’re such a coward." Princess Consort Yuann rolled her eyes and, with a flick of her hand, tossed out a Spirit Talisman.

"This talisman is called a Substitute Death Talisman. Find an opportunity to put Yuann Tong in a perilous situation, then sacrifice yourself to save her."