'Could the both of them have some secret relationship?' This was the first thought that came into Wu Qi's mind when he saw Lao Ai and Lord Long Yang walking abreast into the chamber.
But, he immediately threw the absurd thought away. Who were these two people? There was no way they could have maintained a secret relationship. 'How could these two peerless venomous figures be sleeping on the same bed without ill thoughts against each other? Could they not be afraid that their bedmate would suddenly give them a stab from the back?' Both men knew each other to the bone, and although it was possible for them to collude with one another as partners in crime, there was absolutely impossible for them to have any secret affair.
He smiled while cupping his fist and said, "Fellow Daoist Lao Ai, and this..." Wu Qi rolled his eyes as he looked up into the ceiling, hinting everyone that they should be extra cautious with their words. They were right under the nose of Miao Ying Palace, where there were at least one Primordial Immortal and one Gold Immortal. It was likely that their every move and act was being watched.
Lord Long Yang giggled as he threw the stone door shut backhandedly, then fished out a bone talisman from under his sleeve and stuck it on the door. "Do not worry. King Zhang Qiu has given me this," he told Wu Qi, "It is something incredible produced by the Imperial Elders of Great Yu. With it, nobody can hear our conversation without alerting us, even if that person is a Primordial Immortal! It has an effective area of about one mile in circumference, so we don't have to worry that someone might be eavesdropping on us."
A bright gleam shone from Wu Qi's eyes. He measured Lord Long Yang for a while before suddenly laughing a strange laugh and saying, "My lord, it seems that you are doing pretty well!"
With graceful steps, Lord Long Yang walked to the center of the chamber, where he produced a short-legged table, three hassocks, a tea set, and some other things from his storage ring. After busying himself for a moment, a pot of hot tea was served with fragrance filling the chamber. The three of them sat around the table, each raising up a teacup and proposing a toast. They felt as if they were in a dream, to be able to sit together and enjoy a cup of tea in such a dangerous place. Nothing could be more peculiar than this. They laughed joyfully, though there was an undertone of mockery in their voices.
"My lord has never failed to amaze me!" Wu Qi emptied his teacup with one gulp, then smiled and said, "I supposed that King Zhang Qiu is totally under your control now, eh?"
A spirit item that could block off the peeping from a Primordial Immortal's divine will was rare, and perhaps only a handful of people in Great Yu had the right to own one. It showed that how much affection had King Zhang Qiu devoted to Lord Long Yang. Presumably, it must be a personal item which King Zhang Qiu used to defend himself, yet it had now become Lord Long Yang's personal item. His approach was truly amazing.
He gave them a feminine smile, covering his face with his sleeve and gently finishing the tea in his cup. When he put down the cup, his seductive, charming look of a lady had vanished, replaced by a gallant and manly look. His voice had changed as well, from the soft and delicate voice of a lady to a man's voice that rang like the clashing of metals, "That is nothing worthy of mention. Nevertheless, King Zhang Qiu is easy to control."
With a proud smile on his face, Lord Long Yang shook his head and said, "I think Prince of Changxin is the one who has received the most benefits among us here."
Lao Ai grinned, pointing a finger at his own nose as he said complacently, "After four months of tough battle, I hereby announce that I am the first mighty man who can make a Gold Immortal beg for mercy! I've fought a glorious battle, and bagged myself a thread of Goddess Miao Xin's True Yin energy. That alone has pushed my cultivation base of Thirty-sixth Tier Heaven Immortal up by nine tiers! I can't tell you how great that feeling is!"
Wu Qi sucked in a breath, staring at Lao Ai as if he were staring at a ghost. 'This devil is truly not a good egg!' Wu Qi had thought that Lao Ai was a brave man, as he was able to have sex with Goddess Miao Xin, who looked utterly ugly even in the eyes of a blind man. But to his surprise, not only did Lao Ai manage to do that for four whole months, he even made Goddess Miao Xin surrender and beg for mercy! How could he not have respect for a man like this?
On top of that, he had even seized a thread of True Yin energy from Goddess Miao Xin and pushed his own cultivation base up by nine tiers! 'He... this Lao Ai was born to live off women!'
Jealous of what Lao Ai had achieved, Wu Qi muttered a few curse words in his mind. With his lips grinning, he cupped his fist and said, "Congratulations! A single thread of energy essence from a Gold Immortal has actually provided our Prince of Changxin so much of benefits. I wonder if... ah, haha!"
The corner of Lao Ai's lips twitched a little. He hesitated for a brief while, then shook his head and said with a frown, "It only took her a few years of effort to produce a single thread of energy essence. Indeed, it is something of a great value for a Heaven Immortal, but a few years of effort is considered nothing for a Gold Immortal. Mm, with my current standing in her heart, perhaps it is still insufficient for me to obtain more benefits from her."
Thoughts were tumbling in Wu Qi's mind. After spending some time on pondering silently, he finally made a decision. 'It is just a mere worldly possession. No matter how magical it can be, my own cultivation base is always more useful than any other thing! For the sake of that thread of innate Yang energy, I'm willing to sacrifice anything!'
He exercised a bit of will, controlling the Dark Yin Energy Vase to pour out a great amount of True Yin Water, inside of which hovered the Ganoderma Horse and Ganoderma Liquid, making them stay in his spiritual ocean. After that, the vase flew slowly out of his forehead amidst a wave of water. He scooped up the vase, turned to smile at Lao Ai, and said, "Able to spend a few months fighting against Goddess Miao Xin, a woman with such an unusual appearance, Prince of Changxin, you are truly a man with an extraordinary innate talent. I am far too inferior to bear comparison."
Lord Long Yang burst into a loud laughter, slapping the table with his hands and nearly choking himself. He pointed a finger at Lao Ai's livid face and said, "Goddess Miao Xin's long, flexible tongue has commanded my great admiration. I suppose Prince of Changxin must have experienced the pleasures brought by it during these few months?"
Lao Ai's facial muscles trembled with rage. The mocking remark made him want to draw his sword and challenge Lord Long Yang for a duel. But, Wu Qi hastily shoved the vase into his hand and said, "This is the Dark Yin Energy Vase. As long as you provide it with enough water-element energy stone, you can control it with an incantation to produce the Ling Yi True Water."
Fearing that Lao Ai did not know what Ling Yi True Water was, he quickly told him about its magical effect.
After hearing the explanation, Lao Ai's eyes shone with a bright gleam. He grabbed Wu Qi's arm excitedly and asked, "You mean Goddess Miao Xin was once a peerless beauty? And the reason she looks like this now is all because of that Nasty Shape Spell? So, this Ling Yi True Water can restore her original appearance?"
"Exactly," Wu Qi answered with a nod.
"With this treasure, it goes without even asking where Goddess Miao Xin will place Prince of Changxin in her heart." Wu Qi said with a smile as he pointed at the vase. "Even though she is a Gold Immortal, she is still a woman. All women care deeply about their own appearances. So long as Prince of Changxin can help her restore her original look... Hahaha, I hope you can assist me more in all the matters I'm going to do in the future."
Lao Ai squinted and gave Wu Qi a heavy slap on the shoulder, "Good brother, with this treasure, doesn't that mean I can have all the beauties I want? Even if they are Yakshas or demons, I can always transform them into peerless beauties? Remarkable! It is indeed a very useful treasure for me! Well, for the sake of this treasure, it's time we wrote off all our old scores! We will be good brothers from now on, and we ought to support each other on this Pangu Continent!"
Looking at each other, Wu Qi and Lao Ai roared with laughter together. Wu Qi knew that he had won Lao Ai's true friendship with the Dark Yin Energy Vase. In the past, Lao Ai had surrendered under Wu Qi because of either interest or forced by the circumstances. But this time, he had taken the initiative to show his friendliness.
Lord Long Yang too was fixing his eyes on the Dark Yin Energy Vase. At last, he breathed out a faint sigh and said in a bitter tone, "Ling Yi True Water? There is actually such an extraordinary treasure under the heaven? But why does it only work on women?"
Wu Qi thought it was best to ignore Lord Long Yang's question. "My lord, why are you here? Is there anything we can help you with?"
With his fingers lightly tapping on the table, Wu Qi said thoughtfully, "Many years ago, my lord and I had agreed to help each other. We are allies!"
A faint smile emerged on Lord Long Yang's face. He gave the Dark Yin Energy Vase another gaze, then said with a nod, "Long Yang is never a man who will violate an oath. I am here because of His Majesty of Great Wei's command, to be the pathfinder on Pangu Continent with a group of our men. His Majesty has asked me to find out if there are any opportunities for us here. I am very lucky, as I met King Zhang Qiu not long after I arrived, and he has treated me well."
"I don't really have a plan right now other than earning money," Lord Long Yang said with a sigh, "Without money, how and when can His Majesty send Great Wei's ministers and generals here?"
He was here only to earn money?
Wu Qi suddenly recalled what Yan Bugui had told him, that Great Yan could only afford to send one thousand elites to Pangu Continent because of the high traveling expenses.
The more he pondered, the more he found something was amiss. Wu Qi frowned and weighed their words for a while, then turned to look at Lord Long Yang and said, "My lord... when I came here from the outer heavenly realm, I had ten thousand Long Bo men in my Spirit Breeding Ring!"
Lord Long Yang was taken aback. In a few quick words, he and Wu Qi exchanged the situations related to when they arrived at Pangu Continent. After that, he spread his arms and said with a bitter smile, "I see. When I arrived with my men, those Immortal Officials of the Heaven had given us a thorough examination. They ignored all our storage rings, but instead, they kept going through my Spirit Breeding Ring over and over again, inside of which are just a few spirit beasts I brought with me."
"You were in a special situation," said Lao Ai smilingly, "The heavenly thunders triggered by you had killed all the officials from both the Heaven and Great Yu who were there. Hehe, if not because of that, you would have to face a hard time because of those ten thousand Long Bo men!"
"So, you really have to earn and save a lot of money, and only then could you bring them here from outer heavenly realms?" Wu Qi asked with a bitter smile.
Lord Long Yang sighed and said, "If we are allowed to use a Spirit Breeding Ring like this, how are they going to deal with the situation when some almighty expert suddenly brings several hundred formidable Immortals to Pangu Continent, slaughters an entire city, and swaggers off?"
The trio looked at each other without saying a word. But after all, as it was not something that concerned Wu Qi, he just shook his head and threw away the topic, shifting his attention back to his own urgent issue. "If you could, please help me find something. I am urgently in need of the formation maps of Miao Ying Palace's fiend formations. I hope you can help me gathering them, the more the better!"
Upon hearing his words, Lord Long Yang covered his mouth and giggled.
Smilingly, he fished out a jade scroll from under his sleeve and gave it to Wu Qi. "Consider this as a big favor from me, and don't forget to pay me back in the future! King Zhang Qiu is cooperating with Miao Ying Palace, and he has the operation manual of many Miao Ying Palace's fiend formations. For the sake of pleasing me, he has given me a copy!"
Wu Qi's face beamed with rapturous delight as he snatched the scroll and briefly went through the content with his divine will. Sure enough, all of the countless records he found in there were the detail explanations to the formations maps of Miao Ying Palace's fiend formations.
But, then a question suddenly leaped into his mind, and he could not help but ask it with terror, "King Zhang Qiu has the formation maps of all Miao Ying Palace's fiend formations? Why is he in a cooperation with Miao Ying Palace in the first place?"
A King from the human race was in a cooperation with a Primordial Immortal?
Why did he feel a strange chill upon thinking about that?