Killing with a borrowed knife.
Ye Guhong bore the soul mark of the Heavenly Sword Sect. If Gu Yang killed him, he would be relentlessly hunted down.
But if he was killed by the Hehuan Sect demoness who had "luckily" managed to counterattack...
Then it would merely be a grudge between the righteous and demonic factions. What did that have to do with a passing rogue cultivator like him?
What a ruthless calculation.
What a venomous mind.
But... she liked it.
"I accept this grand gift," Su Wanyin said, her eyes flashing as she looked at Gu Yang. "I will harvest Ye Guhong's life for you."
Gu Yang did not look back; he merely waved his hand casually.
"We are just taking what we need."
His figure slipped into the darkness. His dusty gray back was about to blend completely into the shadows of the karst cave.
"Wait!"
Behind him, Su Wanyin suddenly shouted with all her remaining strength.
Gu Yang did not stop his steps.
"What is your name?"
Her voice carried a trace of unprecedented stubbornness and anticipation, echoing endlessly in the deathly silent Ghost Wail Cave.
Gu Yang's figure paused slightly, but ultimately, he did not look back, completely disappearing around the corner of the cave entrance.
Only the empty echoes remained, accompanied by the sound of dripping water.
...
Fifteen minutes.
For him, these short fifteen minutes were more agonizing than a long lifetime.
He lay paralyzed in the mud, his eyes darting frantically, staring fixedly at Su Wanyin not far away.
He was gambling—gambling that the rogue cultivator had given her a fake antidote, gambling that Su Wanyin was just as immobilized as he was.
However, ten breaths later.
"Heh..."
A very soft, cold sneer echoed in the spacious cave.
Su Wanyin slowly stood up from the ground.
Although her red dress was torn, revealing large patches of snow-white skin and dried blood, she was no longer the helpless lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
Instead, she was a demonic cultivator with hands drenched in blood.
"You... don't come over here!"
Ye Guhong's pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks. His voice became shrill and distorted out of extreme fear, sounding like a rooster being strangled by the neck.
"Su... Su Wanyin! Fairy Su! We can talk this out!"
He tried desperately to shift his body backward, but the medicinal power of the Spirit-Scattering Powder was like a massive mountain, pressing down on him so heavily that he couldn't even lift a finger. He could only squirm in the muddy water like a maggot.
"My master is the Great Elder of the Heavenly Sword Sect! If you kill me, you won't survive either!"
"I have magical treasures in my storage bag! I have spirit stones! I'll give them all to you! All of them!"
"I beg you..."
"The righteous path?"
Barefoot, Su Wanyin stepped through the cold puddles step by step, walking up to Ye Guhong.
She looked down upon this heaven-chosen genius of the righteous path, who just moments ago had been insufferably arrogant and spouting morality and justice.
Now, his face was covered in mud, snot, and tears. Where was there even a hint of his former suave and elegant demeanor?
"Ye Guhong, it would have been better if you hadn't mentioned the righteous path."
Su Wanyin slowly crouched down, extending her slender fingers to gently trace Ye Guhong's face, which was twisted in terror.
Her fingertips were ice-cold, carrying a lingering scent of blood.
"The moment you bring up the righteous path, I just feel..."
"Disgusted."
Squelch!
Without any warning.
Su Wanyin's fingers suddenly exerted force, plunging directly into Ye Guhong's throat!
Blood gushed out like a fountain, splattering all over her face and body.
"Gurgle... gurgle..."
Ye Guhong's eyes widened. His hands clawed vainly at the mud as his body convulsed violently.
He wanted to scream, but his vocal cords had been completely severed. He could only let out a wheezing sound like a broken bellows.
The light in his eyes was rapidly fading.
He was unwilling to accept this.
He was a chosen son of heaven, a future Core Formation Adept, and even possessed the hope of reaching the Nascent Soul Great Dao.
How could he die here?
Die at the hands of a demonic sect demoness?
Even worse... the chief culprit who caused his death, the rogue cultivator who had taken everything from him, had not even left a name.
Su Wanyin watched him struggle in agony expressionlessly until that final trace of life force was completely severed.
She pulled her hand out and wiped the blood off on Ye Guhong's snow-white Daoist robe in disgust.
Afterward, she skillfully untied the storage bag from Ye Guhong's waist, set his corpse ablaze with a handful of fire, and conveniently destroyed all surrounding traces.
Only after finishing all this did she lean against the rock wall as if drained of all strength, panting slightly.
Outside the cave, the wind whimpered.
Su Wanyin subconsciously touched her own lips.
There, she seemed to still feel the rough touch of that man's fingertips from earlier, as well as that faint, lingering warmth.
She took a deep look into the depths of the darkness, in the direction Gu Yang had left.
"We will meet again."
...
...
Falling Cloud Sect, Cold Moon Peak.
The night was deep.
Inside his cave dwelling, Gu Yang sat cross-legged.
He casually dispelled the disguise of the Withered Wood Breath Concealment Art. That sallow, withered face of a rogue cultivator melted away like wax, revealing his true appearance once more—handsome, yet exuding a chilling aloofness.
The air still carried that stale, musty smell, but Gu Yang's eyes right now were more dazzling than the starry sky outside.
This trip to the Ghost Wail Cave was a true masterstroke of catching a white wolf empty-handed—reaping all the benefits without taking any of the risks.
"System."
Gu Yang willed it in his mind.
A faint blue light screen silently unfolded in the darkness.
The reward text that he hadn't examined closely before now leaped into the air.
[Cultivation Method Name: Great Sun Heaven-Burning Scripture (Upper Volume - True Fire Chapter)]
[Compatibility: Perfect
Evaluation: This cultivation method seems custom-tailored for you. It is the gunpowder, and your Desolate Ancient Extreme Yang Physique is the fuse that ignites the world. When the two are combined, the power is not just additive, but a qualitative leap.]
[Prerequisites for Cultivation (Harsh)
Physique Lock: Requires a Fire Heavenly Spirit Root with a purity of over ninety percent, or a rare Yang-attribute physique such as the Desolate Ancient Extreme Yang Physique or the Nine Yang Divine Physique. If a mortal body forcibly cultivates this method, they will suffer a backlash from the true fire and be reduced to ashes.
Flame Seed Lock: The first step to initiation requires swallowing a Heaven and Earth Exotic Fire raw to serve as the origin flame seed, feeding the fire with one's own body. The host has already fused with the Golden Crow Origin Fire, satisfying the initiation condition.]
Gu Yang's eyes brightened.
Had it not been for his narrow escape from death at the bottom of the Sword Cleansing Pool that night, where he intercepted the Golden Crow Fire, this Heaven-tier cultivation method would be nothing more than a piece of waste paper to him—something he could only look at but never practice.
Opportunities were linked one after another; not a single link could be missing.
His gaze continued to move down.
[Exclusive Cultivation Method Effects]
Effect 1: Submission of All Fires.
Those who cultivate this method will have the spiritual energy in their bodies transformed into the high-tier Great Sun True Fire.
When facing Fire-attribute cultivators of the same realm, you will possess absolute suppression. Before the enemy's Fire-attribute spells can even get close, they will be devoured and assimilated by the True Fire, inversely becoming nourishing fuel for the host.
Effect 2: Scorch.
Every spiritual energy attack from the host will no longer deal simple high-temperature damage, but will carry continuous erosion. Once ignited, ordinary Water-attribute spells cannot extinguish it; the fire will flow backward along the meridians, burning the enemy through from the inside out.
[Reward: 50 Destiny Points.]
[Current Destiny Points: 160.]
The light screen slowly dissipated.
The cave dwelling returned to a deathly silence.
Gu Yang sat on the stone bed, remaining motionless for a long time.
"Submission of all fires, inextinguishable scorch..."