The Simple Choice

"The Righteous Path? The Demonic Path?"

Ye Guhong sneered, a flash of disdain in his eyes.

"If you die here, who will know it was me who killed you? The world will only know that the demoness of the Hehuan Sect was slain by me, Ye Guhong, ridding the world of evil and promoting the divine might of the Righteous Path!"

Right at this moment.

"Space-Fixing Talisman, activate!"

A cruel curve formed at the corner of Ye Guhong's mouth as his left hand abruptly crushed the pale gold talisman hidden in his sleeve.

As long as Su Wanyin was immobilized for a single breath.

Even if it was just for one breath, the Dragon-Severing Sword in his hand would be able to chop off the arm this woman had pressed against the array disc.

When that happened, both the person and the treasure would be his.

However.

One breath passed.

Two breaths passed.

That Space-Fixing Talisman turned into specks of golden light and dissipated into the damp air, but the expected sensation of space solidifying did not occur.

Su Wanyin was still pressing firmly on the array disc, her face full of absolute determination.

Instead, it was Ye Guhong himself.

"What is going on?"

The sinister smile on Ye Guhong's face instantly froze, replaced by a trace of terror seeping out from his very marrow.

When he tried to mobilize the spiritual energy in his dantian to activate his sword art, he was horrified to discover that his liquid spiritual energy, which normally surged like a mighty river, was now like a pool of stagnant water—so heavy that he could not summon even the slightest bit of it!

It was not just his spiritual energy.

An unprecedented sense of weakness frantically spread through his limbs and bones.

Clang—

The Dragon-Severing Sword in his hand, a weapon capable of slicing through iron as if it were mud, heavily dropped onto the slippery rocks due to his powerless wrist, splashing up a puddle of muddy water.

Ye Guhong's knees gave way, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

"Su Wanyin! You... you venomous woman!"

With bloodshot eyes, Ye Guhong glared fixedly at the woman in red across from him, his voice hoarse. "You actually... used poison?"

Other than the underhanded methods of the Hehuan Sect, he could not think of anything else that could make a Late Foundation Establishment cultivator fall for a trap without the slightest realization.

"Poison?"

In the corner, Su Wanyin was taken aback at first, but then a look of wild, desperate joy appeared on her face.

"Ha... Ye Guhong, it seems even the heavens are helping me!"

She assumed that Ye Guhong had suffered a cultivation deviation, or that their recent fierce battle had triggered an old injury.

Since that was the case...

A cold light flashed in Su Wanyin's beautiful eyes, and she was just about to activate the array disc to directly blast this scoundrel to death.

But the very next second.

The smile on her face also froze.

"Ugh..."

Su Wanyin's delicate body trembled violently as that same familiar, despair-inducing weakness erupted within her.

The hand she had pressed against the array disc slipped off limply, as if it had lost all sensation.

Thud.

The Mutual Destruction Array disc, which held the power to decide life and death, rolled into a nearby puddle, flashed with red light twice, and then completely went out.

Su Wanyin felt as if her bones had been extracted. She slumped down along the rough rock wall, collapsing onto the ground.

Her torn red dress spread out in the black mud, looking like a red lotus that had been ravaged to death by a violent storm.

"You... you poisoned me too?"

Su Wanyin looked in disbelief at Ye Guhong, who was similarly paralyzed on the ground, her breath as weak as a gossamer thread.

"The thief cries thief..." Ye Guhong's face turned purple as he gritted his teeth.

An eerie, deathly silence spread through the depths of the limestone cave.

The two of them were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered, staring wide-eyed at each other from ten paces away.

Both saw the exact same fear in each other's eyes.

If it was not the other person who planted the poison, then who was it?

There was a third person in this Howling Ghost Cave!

Tap, tap, tap.

The crisp sound of footsteps echoed abruptly from the shadows at the entrance of the cave.

Every step felt as if it were stomping directly on their hearts.

"Fellow Daoists, what a fine mood you are in."

A slightly hoarse voice drifted over.

Immediately after, a scar-faced rogue cultivator with a sallow complexion slowly strolled out of the darkness.

He wore the cheapest gray cloth Dharma robe and was toying with an empty dark green medicine bottle in his hand. His gaze was so indifferent that it seemed as if he were looking at two corpses.

It was none other than Gu Yang in disguise.

"It is you..."

Ye Guhong struggled to lift his head. The normally aloof and supreme genius of the Righteous Path was now forced to look up at this ant-like Qi Condensation rogue cultivator.

"What... what kind of poison is this?"

Gu Yang casually tossed the empty bottle into a nearby puddle, producing a dull plop.

"Tier-3 Low-grade, Spirit-Scattering Powder."

Gu Yang's tone carried a hint of heartache. "Three hundred low-grade spirit stones a bottle. Colorless and odorless, it specifically breaks the protective spiritual shields of the Foundation Establishment stage. Those poisoned will lose all spiritual energy and become entirely limp for half an hour."

"To deal with the two of you, I have emptied my entire fortune."

This Spirit-Scattering Powder was a lethal sneak-attack weapon he had scavenged from the black market.

Although it was a one-time consumable and absurdly expensive, looking at the two great Late Foundation Establishment cultivators acting like weak-legged shrimp before him...

It was worth it.

"Rogue cultivator... what do you want?"

Ye Guhong had seen big scenes after all. Forcibly suppressing the panic in his heart, he tried to use words to stall the other party.

"I am Ye Guhong, a core disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect! I have two thousand spirit stones in my storage bag, as well as high-grade magical artifacts... As long as you give me the antidote, not only will I give all of this to you, but I will also owe you a favor!"

"I can even... recommend you to join the Heavenly Sword Sect!"

"You must know that if you kill me, the Heavenly Sword Sect's soul lamp will record your aura. You will not be able to escape!"

Coercion and bribery, using both the carrot and the stick.

It had to be said that Ye Guhong's mind worked very fast.

Unfortunately for him, the person he met was Gu Yang.

Gu Yang merely gave him a cold glance.

Seeing Gu Yang remain unmoved, a trace of fear surfaced in Ye Guhong's eyes. He turned his head and pointed at Su Wanyin in the corner.

"Fellow Daoist! Look at her! Look at her!"

Ye Guhong's voice became sharp and piercing due to his desperation. Where was the slightest bit of his previous elegant demeanor?

"She is the Holy Maiden of the Hehuan Sect! A top-grade cultivation cauldron that the demonic sect has put great effort into nurturing! I checked just now, her Primal Yin is intact; she is still a virgin!"

He spoke at a rapid-fire pace, as if pitching a piece of merchandise, terrified that Gu Yang would not be interested.

"If Fellow Daoist wants the Great Sun Heaven-Burning Sutra, you can still get it by killing her! Moreover... as long as Fellow Daoist is willing to let me off, I can help you set up an array! I can even help you drug her!"

Ye Guhong squeezed out a nauseating, flattering smile on his face. Ignoring the bloodstains at the corner of his mouth, he continued to beg without any bottom line:

"I have a Yin-Locking Secret Art here that can keep her conscious but unable to resist, leaving her at Fellow Daoist's mercy to be harvested! That kind of experience... is absolutely a top-tier pleasure in this world!"

"Fellow Daoist! I am a genius of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Killing me will bring endless trouble! But she is different! She is just a demoness of a demonic cult, a mere plaything! If you kill her, or play with her, not only will no one pursue the matter, but if word gets out, you will even earn the good name of acting on behalf of heaven!"

"Trading a demoness's life for a favor from the Heavenly Sword Sect and the enjoyment of a top-grade cauldron... Fellow Daoist, surely you know how to do this math, right?"

In order to survive, this genius of a prestigious righteous sect had thrown his bottom line beyond the highest heavens. That face of his was several degrees filthier than the mud in this limestone cave.