Ch. 459 - Beyond Expectation

In the ears of the few people surrounding the pill stall, the noisy conversations on the street seemed to disappear after Ye Anping's joke.

The air was almost stagnant.

Elder Cao grasped the horsetail whisk in her left hand, and her eyes were like sharp swords as she sized up the two people in front of her. However, seeing that there were many pedestrians around them, her heart was troubled.

Among the two people, the older one was calm, but the younger male cultivator's face turned pale and his feet were shaky.

Calm down!

The demonic cultivator uncle threw a warning glare at his follower and then laughed at  Ye Anping. "Young man, please don't talk nonsense. My nephew and I were born in Snow Gate City in the Northern Region. We traveled to the Southern Region to sell some pills in exchange for spirit stones. How could we be demonic cultivators..."

To be able to sneak into the Southern Region stealthily and lie so calmly to a Bright Star Sect Nascent Soul Elder, this person was definitely not some low-ranking demonic cultivator.

Ye Anping glanced at the slightly panicked young demonic cultivator on the side. He raised his hand and a golden spiritual light flew out of his storage bag.

He took out a copper coin that circulated among ordinary people that did not have any special spiritual energy. He held it in his palm and reached out to the young demonic cultivator. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "This is the 'Spiritual Ingot', a magical instrument given to me by the Grand Elder Lei of the Black Star Sect. Demonic cultivators below the Deification stage will expose their true level in front of this item no matter what magic tool they use to hide their cultivation."

"Spiritual Ingot..."

When 'Uncle' heard that this was given by a Deification-stage cultivator, his heart skipped a beat. However, when he turned to look, he realized that there was no spiritual energy on the copper coin in Ye Anping's hand...

Right now, the Nascent Soul-stage Elder of the Bright Star Sect was already checking them with her spiritual sense.

Their method of hiding their aura was also their Elder's Parasite Energy Concealing. As long as they did not use spiritual energy, it would not be a problem to hide it, but since one of them was only in Core Formation and the other was only in Foundation Building, the pressure would be extraordinary if they were investigated by the spiritual sense of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

The demonic cultivator uncle's eyebrows trembled slightly. He stared at the copper coin for two breaths and immediately realized that this was a trick.

However, just as he was about to remind his nephew, Ye Anping suddenly raised his voice. "Come on! You can tell if it's an immortal or a demonic cultivator at a touch."

The younger demonic cultivator trembled, then immediately threw a poisonous insect at Cao Yan'er's face before turning around and trying to escape.

"Ahhhhhh---!"

"Damn! This idiot!!"

Seeing this, the older demonic cultivator quickly cast a spell, preparing to take the pedestrians on this street as hostages. After all, they were facing a Nascent Soul Elder of the Bright Star Sect.

Pei Lianxue narrowed her eyes and was about to pull out her sword to stop them, but before she could do so, Elder Cao waved her horsetail whisk. Before the two of them could cast their spells, she used the whisk to bind them into two white fur balls.

Seeing that the two of them could not hurt the pedestrians on the road, Elder Cao heaved a sigh of relief and asked, "How did you figure it out, Young Master Ye?"

Ye Anping smiled faintly. "I didn't expect it to be true either. It seems that I guessed it right?"

Guessed it? This kid...

Elder Cao raised his eyebrows slightly and did not intend to continue asking. After all, the previous incident in the Water Dragon River was already confusing enough.

She actually saw Ye Anping's secretiveness, but he was also an immortal cultivator, so it wasn't a big deal.

Elder Cao was glad that she had brought Zu Lingzhi with her, who was considered a prodigy in the Bright Star Sect. Be it her aptitudes or cultivation speed, she far surpassed cultivators of the same age. However, she had not had many opportunities to gain experience in the past.

She glanced at Zu Lingzhi and found that she also seemed to have noticed that Ye Anping was playing dumb, and her face did not look very good.

On the way, Zu Lingzhi didn't think much of Ye Anping, thinking that he was just a womanizer...

"How did you know? Even Elder Cao didn't realize that these two people were demonic cultivators."

"..."

"Hey, I'm asking you a question?!"

"Oh? Is Big Sis calling me? My surname is Ye, my name is Anping, and I am the Young Master of the Hundred Lotus Sect."

Zu Lingzhi's expression was a little ugly, but she understood what he meant. She took a deep breath, cupped her hands, and asked again, "Then, Young Master Ye, can you tell me how you figured out their identities?"

"Heavenly Dao told me."

"Huh?"

Elder Cao looked at them, shook her head slightly, and raised her horsetail whisk, interrupting them. "Alright, let's find a place to stay in first. I'll bring these two along later..."

The words came to an abrupt end here, and Elder Cao frowned slightly. She immediately waved the whisk again, dispersing the horsetail that was wrapped around the two demonic cultivators.

The stench of blood instantly wafted out. The two were now a mass of rotten flesh, with countless maggots crawling and twisting inside...

Zu Lingzhi unconsciously covered her mouth and averted her gaze. Even Ye Anping and Pei Lianxue couldn't help but frown, but Elder Cao quickly took out a bottle of Jade Liquid and poured it over, covering the disgusting smell of blood with the fragrance of flowers.

"Young Master Ye, let's go to the City Lord's Office. There are three Nascent Soul cultivators guarding there..."

"I am a guest, so I will follow your instructions."

Elder Cao glanced around cautiously, then raised her hand to signal.

Ye Anping nodded and followed Elder Cao toward the twelve-story pavilion in the center of the city.

The group of four walked along the center of the street, paying attention to passersby on both sides. After traveling three streets, they arrived in front of the City Lord's Office.

Due to Elder Cao's presence, after the guard at the City Lord's Office gate came in to report, the Lord of City of Dreams immediately came to greet them with two other Nascent Soul cultivators from the city.

After hearing Elder Cao's story about the confrontation on the street, he led everyone to his office, came to an exquisite sand table with the map of the city, and told them about the demonic cultivators in the city.

"In fact, the city guards found many traces of toxic parasites in the city before, but City of Dreams is the hinterland of the Immortal Family. I was afraid of causing panic among the itinerant cultivators, so I didn't dare to make it public. That demonic cultivator is quite cunning. He used the canals and rivers in the city to spread toxic parasites everywhere to hide his aura. I, Master Xu, and Senior Qin have been searching for at least ten days, but we still haven't found any traces of him."

Elder Cao revealed a troubled expression when she heard this. "A cunning rabbit has three burrows. It would be easy to deal with if it was a Dharma or a Sword cultivator. Toxic parasite cultivators are good at hiding their aura, and they also have many transformation methods. If they really wanted to hide, they couldn't be found unless we dug three feet into the ground."

"Indeed. It would be easy to turn the ground over three feet if it was in the forest. However, this is an immortal city. There are hundreds of thousands of cultivators and tourists in the city. It's not good for us to make too big a move."

"But, how could there be a Nascent Soul demonic cultivator so deep into the Southern Region? What is the gatekeeper at the Sword Gate Pass doing?"

"There is more than one way from the Eastern to the Southern Region. Let's discuss this matter first. Let's find a way to force the demonic cultivators out of the city first and then discuss where they come from..."

...

While Elder Cao was discussing with the three Nascent Soul cultivators of the city, on the other side of the room, Ye Anping and Pei Lianxue were sitting at a table in a corner, drinking tea and eating pastries.

Zu Lingzhi presented each cake to Pei Lianxue. "Sister Pei, this is the Red Osmanthus Cake. The red color in the middle is from the date. Try it..."

"Oh..."

Ye Anping did not pay attention to the two of them. While drinking tea calmly, he was listening carefully to Elder Cao and the others' conversation, thinking about a more effective way to lure out that Toxic parasite cultivator.

He now felt that a feasible way was to use himself as bait to lure that demonic cultivator into action, and then Elder Cao and the other three Nascent Soul cultivators would join forces to trap him.

However, he did not know the exact identity of that demonic cultivator, and it was indeed dangerous to expose himself as bait in front of a Nascent Soul Toxic parasite cultivator.

Elder Cao had already sent a message to the Bright Star Sect, so it would be better to wait for the Great Elder of the Bright Star Sect to arrive in a few days before dealing with him.

Coincidentally, Ye Anping had to wait for the right moment. A few days more or less until he reached the Bright Star Sect wouldn't make a difference.

Ye Anping raised his teacup and turned to look at the window. After entering the City Lord's Office, he asked Xiao Tian to contact Feng Yu Die and ask them to come to this place to meet him as soon as possible.

However, when he asked Xiao Tian to look for those two, the sun had just touched the horizon in the distance. Now, the sun had completely sunk below the horizon, and Xiao Tian had not returned yet.

Ye Anping was now worried that the two of them had encountered some trouble, so he took out the bandaged Snow Jade Spirit Sword from his storage bag.

"Sister."

"Yes."

"Take the sword and go to the street to look for the hornet nest you just saw."

?

Pei Lianxue frowned as if she just realized what the hornet's nest was, and she asked, "Is that Yunluo?"

Ye Anping had seen that she hadn't mentioned it all this while and thought that she had already known about it. However, seeing this reaction now, he was a bit at a loss for words. He sighed and nodded. "Yes."

Zu Lingzhi, who was drinking tea and eating cakes, looked at the sword in Ye Anping's hand. "Why is the sword wrapped in bandages? And what's with the hornet's nest and who's Yunluo? What are you and sister Pei talking about?"

"Nothing."

"...So secretive." Zu Lingzhi rolled her eyes at him. "Then, Young Master Ye, tell me how you knew those two were demonic cultivators."

"I guessed it."

"Really, you guessed?"

"Yep." Ye Anping shrugged. "Sister, go ahead."

Pei Lianxue nodded, took the sword, and walked toward the door.

However, when she reached the wooden door of the room, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps from the stairs outside.

Tap-tap-tap--

"Report!!!"

The guard's voice came from outside the door. Elder Cao and the others who were at the innermost end of the room heard it and turned to look at the door.

"Come in!"

After receiving the City Lord's response, the guard pushed open the door and entered.

But it wasn't just the city guard who came in.

Two girls painted with blood instead of rouge and whose clothes were stained with blood and disgusting slime followed.

Pei Lianxue, who was near the door, did not recognize them for a moment, but seeing the hornet's nest wrapped around the head of one of them, she called out tentatively. "Yunluo?"

Xiao Yunluo nodded with a resentful expression.  "...Yes, it's me."

Because when the two first entered the room, Ye Anping saw Xiao Tian holding her nose while floating above their heads, he immediately recognized their identity.

However, seeing Feng Yu Die's black hair and the blood stains on both of them, he was a little uncertain for a moment, so he didn't say anything.

Feng Yu Die looked at Pei Lianxue, then raised her chest and looked up at Ye Anping with a smug face, like a dog wanting to be praised.

"Hehe~~"

Ye Anping had no idea what they could have done to end up like this.

At this moment, the four Nascent Soul cultivators got up from the sand table and came over as well.

Elder Cao sized them up and asked, "Well, what can I do for you?"

"Hmm~ hehe."

Feng Yu Die raised her hand with a smile and threw a storage bag with an embroidered scorpion from her sleeve. She wiped her nose with her right thumb, replying, "We just killed a mid-stage Nascent Soul demonic cultivator hiding in the city."

"..."

The City Lord hurriedly lifted the storage bag that Feng Yu Die had thrown to the ground with spiritual energy, then used his spiritual sense to check the inside.

This was a high-grade storage bag. The embroidery was also the symbol of the Magical Poison Sect, but it was empty inside. There was only a seal and a jade token engraved with identity and cultivation level.

He took out the jade token and looked up.

---Grand Master of the Magical Poison Sect, "Head Insect".

Ye Anping glanced at the jade token in the City Lord's hand and raised his eyebrows slightly.

To be honest, he did not expect this. Just as he was thinking about what to do, these two had already found that Toxic parasite cultivator and finished him off.

The City Lord frowned. "Where are the other things inside?"

"In my storage bag." Feng Yu Die replied with a nod. "We killed the man, so his things belong to us! Young Master Ye? Don't you think that's right?"

Hearing this, all eyes shifted to Ye Anping, who was drinking tea.

Feeling a little helpless, Ye Anping put down his teacup, stood up, cupped his hands, and made the introductions. "Elders, these two are my cultivation partners, Feng Yunluo and Xiao Yu Die... They were probably worried about my safety, so they followed me from the Black Star Sect."

Elder Cao raised her eyebrows and looked at Pei Lianxue, but before they could ask, Ye Anping quickly added, "Miss Pei is also my cultivation partner. I have many cultivation partners."

"..."

Seeing Ye Anping say these words casually, Elder Cao and the three Nascent Soul cultivators had mixed feelings. Zu Lingzhi rolled her eyes and smacked her tongue.

"Tsk---"

Ye Anping saw them, but he didn't care. He sat down calmly, picked up the teacup again as if it had nothing to do with him, and continued drinking tea...

"Slurp..."

However, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

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