Chapter 631
Two voices echoed simultaneously from the depths of two dark tides:
“If we were to fight with all our might, I would naturally retreat a hundred paces. But alas, you have your reservations. I’ve heard that the speed of the Shang clan leader is unmatched in the world. I wonder if you can manage both the front and the back?”
Though the words were spoken, the dark tides had already enveloped their respective targets.
Shang Qinqing did not respond to the question, but the answer was evident.
Suddenly, she flickered and appeared above the Qiu Shui Pavilion.
As she shielded the pavilion, the Yinyuan Tree, which was in the process of reviving, hesitated for a moment, sinking into darkness.
In that instant, Yu Wen Cuojin’s figure re-emerged before the Yinyuan Tree.
Gazing at the towering tree, its leaves swaying with an enchanting rhythm that tugged at his heart, he momentarily lost focus, but instinct compelled him to act.
Puff———
The Yinyuan Tree shook violently, leaves cascading down, and a handprint appeared at the center of its trunk.
With the handprint, a foul, decaying aura spread, quickly causing the entire tree to wither and decay.
“Hahaha, it’s a pity you’ve just returned to the seventh realm. I won’t be able to witness the many wonders of the Yinyuan Dao!”
Amidst the chaotic sound of the zither, Yu Wen Cuojin regained his senses. While he laughed, a hint of regret lingered.
According to the records in the scriptures of the sect, while the Yinyuan Dao may not excel in combat, in other aspects, it was truly terrifying!
For instance, before Shang Qinqing, the Yinyuan Tree was controlled by a predecessor of the Huàn Mó Sect named Yun Lu, who nearly altered the world’s landscape.
After mastering the Dao, that predecessor used the characteristics of the Yinyuan Dao to make many fall in love with him, turning them into...
Slaves of love.
At that time, the Huàn Mó Sect had five halls, three of which were led by hall masters, along with many powerful merchants, a significant portion of whom were men, all obedient to Yun Lu.
Those who fell for him were willing to brave fire and water, unconditionally doing anything for him, their loyalty eclipsing even the most devoted warriors, disregarding any moral transgressions.
Thus, Yun Lu grew arrogant, even planning to establish a new divine sect!
Clearly, Yun Lu ultimately failed; otherwise, the Huàn Mó Sect wouldn’t exist today.
The reasons for his failure were not recorded in the sect, likely erased by the powerful beings who quelled the Yun Lu Rebellion, leaving behind only the phrase, “Loyal dogs are truly impressive.”
The specifics of the process were unknown even to a deputy leader like him.
At that moment, as Yu Wen Cuojin read this, curiosity mingled with a reckless thought in his heart.
If he could master the Yinyuan Dao, wouldn’t he be able to do as he pleased, to act freely?
A new divine sect?
A new Da Yu!
This was a normal thought; anyone would have it.
Unfortunately, after the Yun Lu Rebellion, the Yinyuan Dao faded into obscurity, until today...
“Hm?”
Suddenly, Yu Wen Cuojin spotted something glimmering within the withered Yinyuan Tree. He raised his hand to draw it closer, and it fell into his palm, revealing...
A seed?
“Could it be... if I nurture and refine this, I could obtain a new Yinyuan Tree and master the Yinyuan Dao?”
Yu Wen Cuojin gasped, an uncontrollable surge of joy flooding his heart.
If this were true, abandoning his own Dao wouldn’t be out of the question!
To hell with the decaying path; whoever wants it can have it!
Little did he know...
“Another one who thinks I’m a fool.”
Watching Yu Wen Cuojin standing before the Yinyuan Tree, lost in thought and drooling, Shang Qinqing sighed.
Love can ensnare one, but it can also lead to delusions.
Shang Qinqing had been waiting for this opportunity from the start.
Having just regained her realm, and knowing the Yinyuan Dao was not suited for direct confrontation, she couldn’t match him in strength. However, in the realm of consciousness manipulation, she had a plan, confident in her success.
---
**Chapter 736: The Death of Yu Wen Cuojin and the Secret of Yun Lu**
After obtaining the Yinyuan Tree seed, Yu Wen Cuojin kept it to himself, pretending nothing had happened as he made his way to the Great Shang Imperial Tomb.
Thanks to meticulous planning, they successfully seized the Cycle of Life and Death formation, using it to reverse life and death, resurrecting an ancient beast from the Hundred Beasts Hall.
From then on, everything progressed unusually smoothly. The Qingyuan Sect was destroyed, and he attributed all the credit to Situ Ding.
With the Yinyuan Dao seed in hand, the fame, fortune, and power struggles within the sect were mere fleeting moments.
As long as he refined it, what in the world could he not obtain?
Yu Wen Cuojin even feigned injury, abandoning his own Dao, falling in realm, and resigning from his position as deputy leader to retreat into the mountains.
Years passed.
The Yinyuan Tree seed remained dormant, as if it had lost all vitality. If not for the fact that the Dao does not perish, Yu Wen Cuojin would have doubted whether it was already dead.
During this time, the initially desolate forest gradually saw refugees fleeing from war, eventually developing into a village.
Perhaps the days of seclusion were too dull, or perhaps after not being part of the demonic sect for many years, he found that the ordinary life of common people held its own unique charm?
After settling in the small town, several more years went by.
One day, amidst the light rain and blooming apricot flowers, Yu Wen Cuojin, while drinking, happened to see a woman crossing a bridge with an umbrella. At that moment, a voice in his heart asked, “Would you be willing to become the stone bridge, enduring five hundred years of wind and rain, just to have her walk across once?”
Without hesitation, he replied, “I would!”
Upon returning home, he discovered that the Yinyuan Tree seed had sprouted green shoots.
A realization dawned upon him: to master the Yinyuan Dao, one must have a lover.
After this discovery, he was overjoyed, thinking that his self-imposed limitation had been lifted, and he could once again aspire to the heights of the Dao.
He pursued the woman, but unfortunately, having only known killing and destruction, he was utterly clueless about matters of love.
Though the woman regarded him as an ordinary friend, those days became the brightest scenery of his life.
Three more years passed.
As usual, he brought apricot blossom wine to the small bridge where they first met. This time, the woman suddenly drank the wine in one go and said she was returning to Penglai.
“I hope to see you again when I revisit the old place,” she said.
She probably thought of him as an ordinary person, believing that mountain birds and fish were on different paths?
Though it was a misunderstanding, it made little difference.
Once one enters the Huàn Mó Sect, they are a part of it for life. The distant Penglai rarely concerns itself with the affairs of the world, and its attitude towards the Huàn Mó Sect is even more resolute than that of other righteous paths.
However, Yu Wen Cuojin did not give up; he still had a trump card—the Yinyuan Dao.
“Once I reach the seventh realm of the Yinyuan Dao, won’t that be enough?”
The woman left, and the growth of the Yinyuan Tree stagnated, but he had already gleaned new methods from the Dao seed.
The love of others could also nourish its growth.
Yet, after leaving the small town, he discovered that true love was hard to find in the world.
“They’re together every day, yet there’s no love? What a couple of dogs!”
“How can this young girl’s affection be divided into so many parts? Each part given to a different person.”
“He promised to marry her after passing the imperial examination, yet his love has vanished... oh no, wait, it’s been transferred? Ugh!”
“You two have been parents for eight years, and still no love?”
At first, Yu Wen Cuojin was shocked; it seemed that ordinary people played the game of love even more frivolously than those in the demonic sect.
But what troubled him more was that his progress was becoming increasingly slow.
“Such a worldly woman will probably never understand what love truly is…”
One day, as Yu Wen Cuojin passed by a brothel, shaking his head and preparing to leave, he stumbled upon a revelation.
He seemed to be able to draw the threads of others’ fates to himself...
Especially those affections that were already weak.
After his “intervention,” even a worldly woman would develop a love for him that was as strong as gold.
And it didn’t necessarily have to be a woman.
He had found a shortcut to mastering the Yinyuan Dao.
At first, it was merely the indecisive affections of ordinary people that fell for him, then it escalated to warriors, and the targets’ realms kept rising, until even the upper echelons of several major sects were utterly devoted to him.
Unbeknownst to him, his influence had already rivaled that of the Huàn Mó Sect, and he was just a step away from the seventh realm, basking in the adoration of many.
He saw nothing wrong with this.
People who truly love are rare; he was merely giving those who didn’t understand love a chance to experience it.
Yet, after tasting the pinnacle of his predecessors’ lives, he soon found it dull.
Those he controlled loved him, but what about him?
Faintly, he recalled that small town, that little bridge, that year of apricot blossoms and light rain...
That woman with the umbrella.
Transformed, Yu Wen Cuojin went to Penglai to propose. The speed at which the woman agreed surprised even him; he didn’t even need to invoke the wonders of the Yinyuan Tree.
Even if he had, it wouldn’t have mattered; firstly, she was already deeply in love.
Secondly, the one she loved was him.
On the day of the wedding, during the bridal chamber night, he finally voiced his lingering question.
“When did you...”
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