I Am Definitely Not Cultivating an Evil Cultivation Technique.

Faced with his master's summons, Li Xingtian naturally rushed over without delay.

Without stopping along the way, he hurriedly arrived in Chizhou and reached the inn where his master had previously stayed.

Li Xingtian pushed open the inn's door.

Sure enough, his master and senior sister were both seated on chairs inside the room.

He stepped forward but soon paused slightly.

The way his master and senior sister were looking at him… seemed a bit off.

Especially senior sister! That scrutinizing gaze of hers was particularly unusual.

Chu Xingchen nodded lightly at Li Xingtian’s hesitant expression and said,

"See? Your junior brother is still suitable, right?"

Li Yingling examined him carefully before nodding in agreement. "Indeed, he is."

Upon hearing this, Li Xingtian immediately turned around—coming to Chizhou was a mistake. He’d have been better off watching that foolish flood dragon blow itself sky-high.

His master was hard to read, but whenever senior sister gave him that appraising look,

nothing good ever came his way.

However, he soon stopped in his tracks because his ever-reliable master called out to him:

"Xingtian, why are you leaving? Come here. I have an excellent task for you."

Though he and his master were on the best of terms, Li Xingtian couldn’t bring himself to believe those words in good conscience.

Still, he reluctantly halted, steeled himself, and took a seat at the table.

Looking at his master and senior sister, he decided to play the emotional card first:

"Master, Senior Sister…"

Li Yingling, as the senior sister, naturally understood her junior brother well. She cut him off:

"I know our sect shares deep bonds. Even if you don’t trust Master, you should trust me. This time, it’s truly a good opportunity."

Li Xingtian hesitated slightly, giving Li Yingling a strange look.

That statement was downright absurd.

If his senior sister hadn’t been here, he might have been able to sit calmly and listen to his master’s words.

But with her present, who knew what kind of wild, fantastical scheme this clever and unpredictable senior sister had concocted?

And it was entirely possible that his master had agreed just for the sake of amusement.

"Hmm…" Li Xingtian responded half-heartedly. "What is it you need me to do this time?"

Li Yingling cleared her throat and began:

"Master and I had a fruitful trip to the capital. We’ve mostly unraveled the thieves’ plans and recovered many of the documents we were seeking."

Li Xingtian nodded along skillfully.

He had some experience dealing with his senior sister. She was distrustful of strangers and extremely wary,

but when it came to their sect members, unless the claims were too outrageous, her first instinct was to believe them.

Moreover, since she was still quite young,

a bit of encouragement from her junior brothers and sisters could lift her spirits—especially if their master chimed in.

Sure enough, Li Yingling seemed pleased and continued:

"The emperor in the capital might have been hiding something—or perhaps he genuinely didn’t know—but Master and I went to Bingzhou to investigate. Turns out, Bingzhou is indeed connected to the previous Demon Kingdom uprising."

"There, we encountered the fox who once served as the Kunshan Demon King’s advisor."

At this point, Li Yingling was about to explain the key figures involved in the Demon Kingdom uprising to Li Xingtian.

After all, he hadn’t participated in that thrilling conflict—what a shame.

The biggest shame was that he hadn’t witnessed her brilliance firsthand. But since he hadn’t, she could at least recount her exploits to him.

However, Li Xingtian nodded knowingly.

"That would be the fox beside the Kunshan Demon King, right? The one who stabbed an owl?"

Li Yingling looked surprised. "How did you know that?"

Li Xingtian explained, "I read Fifth Junior Brother’s summary out of boredom. Though it seemed heavily embellished, the main plot points were quite thorough. It was actually an entertaining read."

Li Yingling had naturally read Cui Hao’s so-called "summary"—after all, the first time she ever beat up a fellow sect member was because of that very document.

Not only did it fail to highlight her outstanding contributions, but it also subtly portrayed her as a whimsical, muddle-headed senior sister whose plans were impractical.

Meanwhile, Cui Hao cast himself as the perceptive junior brother who, despite his limited influence, had to helplessly correct her foolish decisions.

Seeing that Li Xingtian seemed to take that ridiculous summary at face value, Li Yingling made another mental note:

Once they returned, she’d give that clueless Cui Hao another beating!

Suppressing her irritation—there were more pressing matters at hand—she continued:

"Back then, Senior Bai and I went to the main mountain to quell the rebellion. We slaughtered those demons until they scattered in disarray. I suggested cutting off the head of the snake—since those lesser demons were no real threat, eliminating their leaders would cause the rest to flee."

"At the time, we didn’t bother checking if we’d wiped them all out. Who would’ve thought that fox managed to escape?"

Though there were discrepancies between her account and Cui Hao’s dramatized version,

Li Xingtian continued nodding along.

In Cui Hao’s retelling, Senior Bai found the whole affair bothersome. After scanning the area with his divine sense and pinpointing a few Golden Core demon kings,

he proceeded to flatten their mountain strongholds with a single sword strike each, reducing them to massive craters before casually departing.

Before leaving, he even instructed Li Yingling and Cui Hao: "Don’t tell anyone I did this. I’d be embarrassed to admit it."

Cui Hao’s description was filled with admiration for such a top-tier cultivator’s demeanor.

Especially Bai Xuanling’s line—"I’d be embarrassed to admit it."

Now that was peak arrogance!

Clearly, Cui Hao aspired to become a supreme expert like Bai Xuanling, capable of delivering such a line himself.

Comparing the two accounts, Li Xingtian felt Cui Hao’s version was probably closer to reality.

In that case, the fox must have been away from the tiger demon’s side at the time—hence surviving the purge.

Li Xingtian asked, "Did you capture the fox?"

Li Yingling shook her head slightly. "No, we didn’t want to alert the enemy. But Master used the Mirror Flower, Water Moon technique on him and got everything out of him."

"That fox didn’t know much. He joined the rebels and strategized for them, seemingly to avenge the tiger demon."

"Still, he did provide some information. In his memories, there was a black-robed Nascent Soul great demon manipulating events behind the Demon Kingdom uprising."

"After the rebellion ended, this Nascent Soul demon specifically recruited the fox to join the Bingzhou uprising, convincing him that humans were the root of all evil."

"So whether or not this Nascent Soul demon is the true thief, there’s no doubt that both the Demon Kingdom and Bingzhou uprisings were orchestrated to pave the way for the thief’s schemes."

Li Xingtian nodded but remained puzzled—what did this intelligence have to do with him?

Li Yingling cleared her throat again.

"We’ve already cornered the rebels in Bingzhou. And for the thief, Chizhou is likely of critical importance."

"Moreover, the hope of ultimately leveraging the Xuanwu Kingdom lies in Chizhou. Therefore, we need someone to gather intelligence for us."

"Among all these people, you are the most suitable."

Li Xingtian frowned in confusion and asked, "Why?"

Li Yingling replied matter-of-factly, "Out of everyone, only the cultivation technique you practice would make them most likely to recruit you."

Upon hearing this, Li Xingtian immediately understood. He stood up, his tone grave and resolute:

"Senior Sister, I do not cultivate a demonic technique!"

As he spoke, his gaze shifted toward his master, for the cultivation technique had been given to him by his master.

Surely, his master would refute Senior Sister’s insinuation.

Faced with Li Xingtian’s expectant look, Chu Xingchen chose to lower his head and take a sip of tea.

Perhaps... a gift would smooth things over.