Now can you take an oath

In the courtyard, the wind howled, sweeping up the dust from the ground.

Zhao Tianyang stared dead at Su Ji.

A fire called ambition burned in his eyes.

"As long as we snatch that true inheritance before they do!"

"When the time comes, let alone a mere Zhao family, even that True Immortal outside... we might not be entirely without the power to fight back!"

Zhao Tianyang kept his voice extremely low.

"Now, tell me."

"This path... do you dare to walk it with me?!"

"Hurry up, our time is limited. If I stay any longer, the Zhao family patriarch will get suspicious."

The air suddenly froze.

Su Ji leaned against the doorframe, his frail appearance, as if he might collapse at any moment, remaining completely unchanged.

He looked at the seemingly crazed old man before him, and the perfectly feigned bewilderment on his face was slowly replaced by a touch of mockery.

"Heh."

Su Ji twitched the corners of his mouth.

"Elder Zhao, this story of yours... is quite moving."

He leaned weakly against the wall, but those eyes that should have been dim were now terrifyingly clear.

"But why should I believe you?"

"One moment you're painting me a beautiful picture, saying I could reach the heavens in a single bound if I cooperated, and the next you turn around and say it's actually a deadly poison."

"And now, you're serving up another pie in the sky."

Su Ji's voice wasn't loud, but every word pierced the heart.

"You change your face faster than the actors I've seen in the lower realm."

"Why should I believe that what you're saying now is the truth, and that you aren't just using me to retrieve the Immortal Venerable's relics?"

"And why should you believe that after I get the Immortal Venerable's relics, I won't turn around and immediately slaughter you, you... backstabbing old dog?"

The fanaticism on Zhao Tianyang's face instantly froze.

His gaze locked onto Su Ji's face.

For a long time.

His gaunt body slowly relaxed.

That manic energy dissipated as well, replaced by a deep, sinister gloom.

"Boy, you really aren't a simple character."

Zhao Tianyang's voice returned to normal.

"You're right."

"There is no trust to speak of between us."

He looked at Su Ji, his eyes as if he were looking at another version of himself.

"You and I both crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. What we trust has never been the human heart."

Zhao Tianyang slowly stood up and paced two steps in the courtyard.

"Since that's the case, there is only one thing we can trust between us."

He stopped, turned around, and in those cloudy eyes, there was no longer a shred of emotion.

"A Dao Heart Oath."

As soon as these four words came out, Su Jiu's voice immediately rang out in Su Ji's mind.

"Senior Brother, don't agree too quickly!"

"The Heavenly Dao of the Great Xia is flawed and cannot witness oaths."

"But it's different here."

"A Dao Heart Oath is no small matter. It is a contract made with heaven and earth using one's own Dao foundation. Only those above the True Immortal realm can withstand the backlash of breaking it. For anyone below True Immortal, a light consequence means a shattered Dao Heart and completely ruined cultivation, while a severe one means dying on the spot, with body and soul entirely destroyed!"

Su Jiu's voice carried an unprecedented solemnity.

Su Ji did not respond.

He just looked at Zhao Tianyang, his face showing a bewildered expression of what the hell are you talking about.

Seeing this look, Zhao Tianyang realized it.

A country bumpkin from the lower realm; he had no idea what this was.

Zhao Tianyang's voice took on an inexplicable sense of superiority.

"A Dao Heart Oath can only be sworn once a century by each cultivator. It is the highest level of contract between cultivators. Once sworn, it is supervised by the laws of heaven and earth. No one can break it, and no one dares to violate it."

"You and I will swear an oath to share the inheritance and not harm each other."

"If either party violates it, they will surely suffer heavenly condemnation and die without a burial place."

Zhao Tianyang's voice was cold and sinister.

"This is the only sincerity I can offer."

"It is also the only way out for us."

After Su Ji finished listening, the bewilderment on his face slowly faded, replaced by a perfectly calibrated, complex expression mixed with greed and vigilance.

He licked his dry lips, his voice hoarse.

"Sounds... not bad."

He rubbed his hands together.

"Then... after we get our hands on the inheritance, how do we split it?"

Hearing this, a barely noticeable flash of disdain crossed Zhao Tianyang's eyes.

Sure enough, he's still just an inexperienced brat who hasn't seen the world.

"Naturally, fifty-fifty."

He answered without a second thought.

"Fifty-fifty?" Su Ji's voice instantly rose eight octaves. He stared wide-eyed with an expression that said, are you fucking kidding me.

"Old man, you must be mistaken, right?"

"The one entering the tomb is me!"

"The one resisting the evil aura is me!"

"The one grabbing the inheritance is still me!"

Su Ji held up three fingers and waved them in front of Zhao Tianyang.

"From beginning to end, all you do is flap your lips and lead the way. What gives you the right to split it fifty-fifty with me?"

He looked as if he wouldn't yield an inch.

"I get seventy, you get thirty!"

"You... you arrogant brat who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth!"

"Without me, would you know that map is fake?!"

"Without me, would you know where the true inheritance is buried?!"

"Without me, you would have already followed Zhao Wuji down that dead end to throw your life away!"

Zhao Tianyang trembled with anger.

"This old man risked his life and cultivation to tell you this monumental secret, and you actually dare to haggle with me?!"

"Forty-sixty at most!" Zhao Tianyang gritted his teeth, squeezing the words out. "You get sixty, I get forty! That is my bottom line!"

"No!" Su Ji rejected him flat out, his attitude unyielding. "Seventy-thirty, not a penny less!"

"If you don't agree, I'll call for help."

"Anyway, I'm the crucial piece. There's absolutely no way I die right now."

"But the same can't be said for you."

"You..."

"Me what?" Su Ji crossed his arms, looking at him sideways. "Old man, get a clear grasp of the current situation."

"It's you who needs me."

"Not me insisting on cooperating with you."

"Worst comes to worst, I'll fucking walk right out there now and repeat everything you just said, word for word, to those two outside."

Su Ji's face bore the ruthless determination of someone who had nothing to lose.

"I'd like to see who dies faster then, you or me!"

These words were like a basin of ice water, instantly extinguishing all the anger in Zhao Tianyang's heart.

He stared blankly at Su Ji, all the color draining from his old face.

This kid... is a lunatic!

He was actually gambling with his own life!

The courtyard fell into a dead silence once more.

The two just stood there in a standoff, neither willing to back down.

A moment later.

Zhao Tianyang deflated like a punctured balloon, his already hunched body hunching even further.

"Fine..."

He squeezed the word through his teeth.

"Seventy-thirty, then."

Hearing this, a radiant smile immediately bloomed on Su Ji's face. He stepped forward and affectionately patted Zhao Tianyang's shoulder.

"Old Man Zhao, now that's more like it!"

"We're grasshoppers tied to the same string now, so let's not bicker over so much."

The speed at which his face changed made Zhao Tianyang's eyelids twitch.

"Then... can we swear the oath now?" Zhao Tianyang's voice was hoarse.

"Of course!" Su Ji answered briskly.

Zhao Tianyang hesitated no longer. Forming his fingers into a blade, he gently sliced across his wrinkled palm.

Crimson blood slowly seeped out.

Using his blood as ink, he began to trace a profound and intricate pattern in mid-air.

"For our upcoming journey into the mining region, I swear to advance and retreat alongside the man before me, and to share everything I know. I shall harbor no thoughts of harming or betraying him. Should I violate this oath, may my body perish and my Dao be erased."

"Your turn."

"Just do exactly as I did. It shouldn't be difficult for you."