How to Bring Common Sense to Xianxia World

Chapter 265: Sneaking out

Song Wan quickly helped Ximen Ren follow Dream Butterfly, who led them toward the private tents that her servants had quickly set up.

As he departed, Ximen Ren took one last glance at Wei Chen.

The moment he was far enough away from Wei Chen, his strength returned.

That meant this bastard Wei Chen must possess some kind of artifact capable of suppressing demons.

This was one of the drawbacks of possessing a demonic body. It was highly susceptible to artifacts and demon-sealing formations of this nature. Even so, a demonic body was far stronger than an ordinary physique, and it was much easier to cultivate than even the simplest body cultivation techniques.

With enough blood sacrifices, a demonic body cultivator could easily strengthen their physique to whatever level they desired.

"Hmph! If it weren’t for the force behind you, this lord, Ximen Ren, wouldn’t even want to associate with a classless hooligan like you!"

Ximen Ren took one last glance at Dream Butterfly before feigning exhaustion and closing his eyes.

At least, he had already found a potential cultivation furnace.

The greatest advantage of the Thousand Demon Scripture was that it could transform a cultivator’s body into one of countless demonic forms, each possessing different abilities depending on the type of demon.

For example, if he could transform his body into that of a lust demon, then no matter how strong-willed this goddess-like woman was, she would quickly become his cultivation furnace.

Unfortunately... he still needed just a little more blood as an offering to his demonic cultivation before he could break through to the Soul Transformation Realm. Once he reached that realm, he would obtain a complete demonic body.

Even though the breakthrough was only a small step away, he could already use a pseudo-demonic body. It allowed him to transform into anyone he had seen, although the transformed body’s strength was not much different from his original one.

Inside Ximen Ren’s mind, the suppressed demonic lust began gnawing at his reason. He used every ounce of his rationality to suppress it, but...

Dream Butterfly, the owner of the Voidless Divine Physique, was simply too tempting.

Ximen Ren didn’t know why, but every instinct within him screamed that he had to make her his cultivation furnace. It was an instinct born from the very demonic cultivation he practiced.

He sensed her cultivation, and the response was completely blank.

One had to understand that his demonic body possessed extraordinarily sharp spiritual perception. He could sense another person’s cultivation even if they practiced concealment techniques or were two major realms above him.

As such, he trusted his senses completely.

And the lack of any response could only mean one thing.

The woman named Yu’er was an ordinary mortal.

Alas, that conclusion was born from ignorance.

The supplementary cultivation technique Dream Butterfly practiced, the Traceless Return to Simplicity Art, was not given that name without reason.

It could conceal even her heaven-defying nature from the Laws of Heaven and Earth, let alone from a demonic cultivator like Ximen Ren.

The ambitions of the demon within him became increasingly difficult to suppress.

As a result, a crack formed in the wall of his rationality.

And with that crack came a sinister plan.

Making a move against the woman named Yu’er right now would be outright suicide, even if she truly were a mortal.

But he could...

He could make use of the other women in this camp to cultivate himself and achieve his breakthrough first.

After that...

He would kidnap the woman named Yu’er and make her his personal cultivation furnace.

— Night —

Ximen Ren finally woke up. He was lying on a soft bed inside a luxurious tent produced by the Thousand Treasure Pavilion.

He had to admit, this artifact was incredibly convenient. The tent contained everything necessary to make one’s life comfortable, even in the middle of nowhere. Since he had to maintain the facade of a frugal and wise lord, he couldn’t openly purchase such a luxury.

But no matter. After he ruled the Ximen Clan, he would order the Thousand Treasure Pavilion to make a custom one for his own use. He had heard that the bastard Ximen Hao had already ordered one. As the future Patriarch of the Ximen Clan, how could he be inferior to that good-for-nothing bastard?

Ximen Ren slowly climbed out of bed, feeling somewhat reluctant to leave the luxurious, soft, and warm mattress behind.

But the moment he stepped out of the bedroom section of the tent, he saw the familiar face of that naive woman.

Song Wan, the young mistress of the Song Clan.

It had to be said that the Song Clan had been incredibly fortunate. Originally, it had merely been a subordinate clan serving under the Murong Clan, the family that oversaw the military of the Vermilion Bird Empire.

But after the fall of the Murong Clan, when its patriarch, main heir, and most of its forces were annihilated by the might of the Underworld Palace and its young master, Wei Chen...

The Murong Clan descended into fierce internal conflict. It had already been weakened by the destruction of most of its forces, and the infighting only made matters worse.

On top of that, in the eyes of Emperor Zhu Liehuang, the Murong Clan had squandered three battleships, national assets, over a petty conflict. Their standing fell even further because of it.

Thus... the rise of the Song Clan became inevitable. The relationship between ruler and subordinate had completely reversed.

The Song Clan’s rise had been something Ximen Ren predicted the moment he heard about the annihilation of the Murong Clan’s army in Azure River Province.

That was why he had chosen to confess to Song Wan, this naive girl who was intoxicated by tales of righteous heroes.

Yes... he truly wanted to take her maidenhood and make her his personal cultivation furnace.

But he needed the Song Clan’s trust to secure his rise after taking control of the Ximen Clan.

Besides, Song Lei, this girl’s elder brother who had lost to Wei Chen, was still alive.

So he couldn’t make a move on her if he wanted his long-term plans to succeed.

She was like a fish placed right in front of a starving cat, yet completely out of reach.

That thought made him angry and frustrated every single time he looked at the face of this foolish, naive girl.

"Ximen Ren! You’re awake!"

Song Wan immediately stood up from the table and hurried over to him.

Ximen Ren’s knees suddenly buckled. The act came naturally, and Song Wan quickly rushed over to support him with her shoulder, not even noticing that her ample chest was pressed against his side.

"Why are you getting up!? Do you want to die?" Song Wan scolded.

Ximen Ren forced out a weary smile.

"This little bit of exhaustion is nothing. I still need to read and approve many proposals from the people under me. The granary burned because of me. If I don’t hurry, many people will go hungry again," Ximen Ren said with calm righteousness.

"Look, Ximen Ren. I know you love your people, but you need to take better care of yourself! If anything happens to you, the one who would celebrate your death would be that good-for-nothing bastard, Ximen Hao! Do you really want your people to be ruled by someone like him?" Song Wan admonished.

Ximen Ren remained silent for a moment before letting out a long sigh.

"You’re right. For the sake of the people, I’ll take better care of myself."

"Good! That’s my... I mean... our Ximen Ren." Song Wan smiled before gently pushing him back toward the bedroom. After making sure he lay down, she returned to the table and sat there as though standing guard over him.

Ximen Ren had no choice but to lie back down. He closed his eyes.

But his demonic senses never slept.

He spread them throughout the entire camp, searching for suitable prey to hunt that night.

And he found it.

There were many mortals in the camp. Most of them appeared to be servants.

But three people stood out like sore thumbs.

His demonic instincts told him that either he needed to be extremely wary of them, or they were worth far more than ordinary mortals.

The first was staying beside someone whose physical aura was overwhelmingly powerful.

The second was staying with an existence so terrifying that every hair on his body stood on end, as though he had encountered his natural predator.

This had to be Wei Chen.

And the mortal staying beside him had to be the woman named Yu’er.

As for the third...

The third was another mortal staying inside the largest tent, guarded by numerous powerful cultivators.

He didn’t know who this person was, but judging from the circumstances, this mortal was probably someone important within the Underworld Palace who couldn’t cultivate, or perhaps someone with an unawakened physique.

He’s decided. If he gets the chance, he’ll aim for this one!

Sacrificing a mortal with an unawakened special physique would definitely help him break through in one go. It was far better than sacrificing an ordinary mortal.