Chapter 532: Golden Core Self-Detonation, Promise Destroyed
“Madam, last night the Young Sect Master suddenly hung up a closed-door cultivation plaque and has been cultivating in seclusion inside his cave.”
The next day, Madam Jin heard from her subordinates about Wei Tu’s seclusion.
“He just came back to the sect and suddenly shut himself in? This Fu Daoist must be trying to avoid me and my daughter.”
The more Madam Jin thought, the more convinced she became that this was the only possible reason Wei Tu had gone into seclusion.
After all, which normal cultivator would suddenly shut himself away without any reason? Wei Tu also didn’t seem like the kind who would randomly gain some stroke of fortune and immediately go into seclusion.
“We’ll see after one month.”
She remembered the promise Wei Tu had made to her earlier. Her brows furrowed slightly, but she forced down her doubts and displeasure.
In one month, it would be the time Wei Tu had agreed to marry Wang Sutai.
…
In the Myriad Yin Sect, another person who knew of Wei Tu’s seclusion was Duan Changjing.
Just as Madam Jin suspected, this Vice Sect Master already had thoughts of betrayal. He was only waiting for the right opportunity to defect from the sect.
“But before I leave, how could I possibly let you off so easily, Madam?”
Inside a grand hall, Duan Changjing stood with hands clasped behind his back, a playful smile tugging at his lips as he stared at a portrait of a beautiful woman hanging on a screen.
Any Myriad Yin Sect cultivator who saw it would instantly recognize the woman—it was none other than Madam Jin, Duan’s sworn enemy.
Yet at this moment, the look on Duan Changjing’s face was unlike what they usually saw.
Alongside the coldness in his expression, there was also an overwhelming desire, as if he was lusting after Madam Jin’s body.
“The only real problem in dealing with Madam Jin is that Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin of hers. Without that escape treasure, she’ll be dead for sure.”
Duan Changjing let out a cold snort, then reached for a jade slip on the desk before him. After glancing a few times at the words “Fu Daoist” recorded inside, he released his magic power and crushed it into powder.
He didn’t know if Madam Jin would one day pass that dowry treasure down to her daughter Wang Sutai.
But he was sure that once he made his move, as long as Madam Jin couldn’t bear to see her own daughter die, giving that treasure to Wang Sutai was only a matter of time.
“Sect Master…”
Just then, a white-haired elder walked in from behind the screen. After glancing toward Duan Changjing standing within, he bowed respectfully.
“Elder Yuan, how have I treated you?”
In a blink, Duan Changjing moved forward, his lips curling into a faint smile as he chuckled softly.
“The Sect Master has treated me with great kindness.”
At those words, Elder Yuan’s heart skipped a beat. Cold sweat dripped down his back, his face paling. He quickly declared his loyalty.
“In that case, I’ll have you carry out a task for me.”
As the cold, detached words fell into his ears, Elder Yuan lifted his gaze in shock. Somehow, Duan Changjing had already circled around behind him and was patting his shoulder lightly.
“Duanhun Seal!”
With just a sweep of his divine sense, Elder Yuan saw two eerie black soul marks suddenly bloom across his shoulder.
“Th-thank you… Sect Master.”
His voice trembled, his whole body shaking.
The Duanhun Seal was one of the most sinister control methods of the Myriad Yin Sect.
Once struck by it, a cultivator’s life and death would forever hang on the whim of the one who placed it.
“One month from now, you will…”
Duan Changjing nodded in satisfaction, his expression easing as he began to explain his plan.
…
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, one month had passed.
Elder Yuan, bound by the Duanhun Seal, forced himself to stay calm as he flew toward Wei Tu’s cave.
“Madam Jin?”
Halfway there, he spotted the ceremonial carriage of Madam Jin and her daughter. Shocked, he quickly dodged to the side, hiding away until their procession passed.
Only after their group disappeared into the distance did Elder Yuan gather his courage again and continue on.
Half an incense stick later, he arrived near Wei Tu’s cave. Standing behind the ceremonial entourage of Madam Jin and her daughter, he quietly observed their actions.
But after watching for a while, Elder Yuan couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
This Young Sect Master was far too bold. He actually dared to keep Madam Jin and her daughter waiting outside, refusing to let them in.
“If even Madam Jin herself can’t make him open the door, then how am I supposed to act as a mediator between Vice Sect Master Duan and the Fu Daoist…?”
Elder Yuan wiped the sweat from his brow, speechless.
Just as Elder Yuan had this thought, he suddenly felt his body fall out of his own control.
Without warning, he flew straight toward where Madam Jin and her daughter were.
At the same time, the Golden Core inside him began to rupture uncontrollably.
“It’s Duan Changjing, it’s him! He’s scheming against me!” Elder Yuan shouted, wanting to warn Madam Jin and her daughter while also hoping to break free of the Duanhun Seal.
But no matter how he shouted or released his divine sense, his voice twisted into nothing but insults directed at them.
“Wretched woman! Vice Sect Master Duan is loyal, yet you dare suspect him of betrayal. Today I, Yuan, will carry out Heaven’s justice and kill you, you vile woman!”
His roar shook the entire scene.
“What? Wretched woman?”
Madam Jin, who had been about to knock on the door, froze when she heard this. But before she could react, Elder Yuan had already rushed up to her and self-detonated.
In the next instant, a rain of blood fell, mixed with chunks of flesh that hadn’t fully been destroyed.
“Golden Core self-detonation?”
Beneath the blood rain, Madam Jin raised one hand and spread a shield of magic to block the shockwave. Her face turned cold as ice.
Even though a mere Golden Core self-detonation couldn’t harm her, a Nascent Soul mid-stage cultivator, the meaning behind it couldn’t have been clearer.
—Duan Changjing was striking back!
If she let her guard slip for even a moment, both she and her daughter Wang Sutai would suffer more of these suicide attacks.
And the next one wouldn’t be Elder Yuan. It might be Duan Changjing himself.
Facing him one on one didn’t scare her. Against a cultivator of equal realm, she had no fear.
But the problem wasn’t herself.
She wasn’t afraid. Her daughter Wang Sutai was.
And so was the so-called Fu Daoist.
Wang Sutai could be protected if she stayed close by her side.
But what about the Fu Daoist?
How could a man possibly stay by her side every moment of the day?
Whether Wei Tu lived or died, Madam Jin didn’t care.
But she did worry that if Duan Changjing captured him alive, secrets about his master, Ancestor Chilong, might be revealed—or worse, her true identity exposed.
If that happened, no matter the outcome, she would fall into a dangerous, passive position.
“The Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin…”
Once again, Madam Jin thought of the dowry she had planned to give her daughter a month ago.
Only that palanquin could perfectly solve Duan Changjing’s threat toward Wang Sutai and the Fu Daoist.
Of course, that depended on the Fu Daoist being nothing more than who he claimed to be, and not Wang Sutai’s real father as she once suspected.
“Sutai, knock on the door. Call out the Fu Daoist.”
With that thought, Madam Jin didn’t hesitate. She looked at her daughter and ordered quickly.
But this time, things weren’t as easy as their last visit.
The two of them knocked several times, but no one inside the cave responded.
“I, Fu, am in seclusion. Please wait, Madam, Junior Sister Wang. We shall meet again in half a year.”
After some time, a slow, delayed voice finally came from within the cave.
“Sutai, let’s go! I want to see how your good husband manages to survive.”
Hearing this, Madam Jin’s anger surged. Wei Tu’s behavior was far too disrespectful.
No longer caring about Duan Changjing’s looming threat, she gathered Wang Sutai and left, returning directly to her own cave residence.
…
Inside the cave, Wei Tu hadn’t refused Madam Jin and her daughter out of spite. He was simply at a critical stage in cultivating the Nine Secrets of Life Preservation.
He was only one step away from forming the Essence Vitality Seal.
But truthfully, even if he had been free, he wouldn’t have come out just to keep his word from a month ago—that if Wang Sutai didn’t mind, he would marry her.
Back then, before joining the Myriad Yin Sect, he hadn’t cared much about accepting Wang Sutai as a political marriage partner.
But after all that had happened…
Even with his tolerance, it was hard to immediately accept a partner who had once harbored killing intent toward him.
—Understanding her motives was not the same as letting her become the person closest to him.
Besides, her change of heart had been far too sudden. That alone put him on guard.
Until he understood that clearly, he wouldn’t foolishly take her into his bed.
What’s more, he had already agreed with Ancestor Chilong that they would reassess the matter in two years. Whether to marry or not wasn’t something that needed to be rushed.
Compared to Ancestor Chilong’s words, what weight did Madam Jin’s so-called promise hold?
“As for… Duan Changjing…”
Wei Tu sneered inwardly.
If Duan dared to come, he couldn’t guarantee killing him outright, but crippling him in one or two ways wouldn’t be hard.
Why? Because with both the Soul Refining Banner and the Essence Vitality Seal in his hands, his strength had already stepped onto a new level.