Daoist Heiyu lounged on the silk cushions, popping another spirit fruit into his mouth as he watched the Sun family's servants scurry about. The sweet juice trickled down his chin, and he made no move to wipe it away, letting it stain his pure white robes.
Let them clean it up - that's what servants were for, after all.
"More wine, Venerable One?" A young servant girl approached with a jade pitcher.
"Ah, yes, yes." He replied with his best wise-elder voice, the one that had fooled countless sects over the centuries. "But remember, young one - wine is like cultivation. One must savor each drop with mindfulness, lest the spirit become clouded."
The girl's eyes widened at his "wisdom," and he had to suppress a snicker. These mortals were all the same - so desperate for profound insights that they'd find deep meaning in absolute nonsense. He could probably tell them that picking their nose was a secret cultivation technique, and they'd do it religiously.
As she poured the wine, he reflected on how absurdly easy this whole situation had been.
A week ago, he'd been laying low in some backwater village, trying to avoid his old "associates" from the Blood Moon Sect. Then the Sun family's representatives had shown up, practically begging for a powerful cultivator to help them deal with their Wei family problem.
It had been almost insulting how simple the task was. Those Elemental Realm cultivators the Wei family had hired might as well have been mortals compared to him. One blast of Stellar Realm qi had been enough to turn them to ash. The "mysterious deaths" had sent exactly the message the Sun family wanted - cross us, and you'll disappear.
And now? Now he was being treated like an immortal descended from the heavens. The finest foods, the most expensive wines, servants attending to his every whim. All for killing a few insects that weren't even worth the effort of drawing his sword.
He reached for another spirit fruit, remembering the day he'd first discovered how profitable playing the "righteous elder" could be. He'd been running from the Blood Moon Sect after a particularly messy betrayal, desperate for somewhere to hide. The idea had struck him when he'd overheard some villagers talking about expecting a famous righteous cultivator to visit.
A quick change of clothes, some rehearsed platitudes about karma and virtue, and suddenly he was being welcomed as an honored guest. It had worked so well that he'd made it his primary scheme. Why rob people directly when you could get them to give you everything willingly?
"Venerable One?" A soft voice interrupted his musings. "Father asks if you would join us for the evening meal?"
Daoist Heiyu turned to find Sun Meiyu, the eldest daughter of the Sun family patriarch, standing at a respectful distance.
"Ah, young mistress!" He stood, adopting his kindly elder persona. "Indeed, indeed. As the ancient wisdom says: 'A meal shared is a blessing doubled.'"
He'd just made that up on the spot, but he saw her eyes light up. These fools were so easy to manipulate.
"Venerable One is truly wise," she bowed. "Would you share more of your insights during the meal? Your words about the relationship between the morning dew and cultivation enlightened us all yesterday."
He chuckled inwardly, remembering the complete nonsense he'd spouted about dew drops containing the essence of heavenly wisdom. He'd been slightly drunk at the time and mostly talking about how wet grass was.
"Of course, of course. Though remember - true wisdom is like a..." he paused, pretending to consider deeply while actually just buying time to think of something suitably cryptic, "...like a butterfly that lands only when we stop chasing it."
Throughout the meal, he carefully played his part - stroking his long beard thoughtfully before speaking, nodding sagely at the simplest statements, and occasionally closing his eyes as if in deep meditation.
The Sun family hung on his every word, even when he was literally just describing how to make soup but replacing normal words with cultivation terms.
"You see," he gestured with his chopsticks, "when refining qi, one must treat their dantian like a simmering cauldron. First, gather the spiritual essence and let it bubble vigorously - just as you would bring a broth to a roiling boil. Then, when the qi begins to froth and surge, you must immediately reduce the spiritual pressure to its lowest point, letting the essence settle into a gentle simmer for precisely the time it takes an incense stick to burn."
"Amazing!" Sun Meiyu's younger brother exclaimed. "This might be what I needed to breakthrough!"
"If he actually tries that, his qi channels will literally explode," Heiyu thought to himself, hiding his smirk behind his wine cup. "I'm literally just telling them how to make soup stock - bring to boil, then simmer. The sudden pressure change would shatter his meridians."
He felt a familiar darkly pleasant sensation as he imagined the boy's cultivation base slowly corrupting itself. This was his true path - the Dao of Corruption he'd stumbled upon centuries ago.
Every cultivator he led astray, every foundation he poisoned, every dream of immortality he twisted into nightmare - they all fed his own power. His inner world literally expanded with each ruined cultivation base, growing stronger as he destroyed the spiritual futures of others.
He remembered the day he'd discovered this path. He'd been teaching deliberately flawed techniques to a young sect member under the disguise of a righteous old man, obviously planning to rob them once their guard was down.
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But as their meridians began to twist and their qi turned volatile, he'd felt it - his own cultivation surging forward, his inner world expanding as it absorbed the remnants of their shattered spiritual essence. Their suffering hadn't just pleased him - it had empowered him.
Since then, he'd refined this approach into an art form. The look of betrayal in their eyes when they finally realized their "master" had led them down a path of destruction? That moment when hope turned to despair? Each one was like a feast for his cultivation, far more potent than any mere spirit herb or pill.
But something about the Sun family nagged at his instincts. They claimed to be mere merchants who'd struck it rich in the Southern Provinces before moving to Myriad City five years ago. A common enough tale - the city attracted ambitious traders like honey drew flies. But Heiyu hadn't survived centuries of cultivation politics by taking things at face value.
Their movements were too practiced, their servants too well-trained. He'd noticed how the guards maintained perfect formations during their patrols, the kind that spoke of military - or perhaps martial sect - training. And then there were the warding formations he'd glimpsed around their compound. Subtle things, carefully hidden beneath more obvious merchant's protection arrays, but unmistakable to someone of his experience.
No, these weren't simple merchants. The question was - what were they hiding? And more importantly, was there some ancient monster sleeping in their basement who might take offense to his planned activities?
He'd seen it before - powerful cultivation families going "merchant" for a generation or two when politics got too hot, letting everyone forget their true nature before re-emerging. The last thing he needed was to start looting the place only to wake up some hibernating Life Realm grandfather who'd turn him into paste.
So he watched and waited, teaching them harmful cultivation techniques not just out of spite, but to probe their reactions. A true cultivation family would spot the flaws in his teachings immediately. Their continued enthusiasm either meant they were genuine merchants playing at cultivation... or they were very, very good at maintaining their cover.
He smiled benevolently as Sun Meiyu offered him another cup of wine. "Remember, young one, the path to immortality requires patience above all else."
The irony of his words made him want to laugh. He would be patient indeed - patient enough to ensure he wasn't walking into a trap. And if they really were just merchants who'd stumbled upon some cultivation resources? Well, then he would take great pleasure in stripping them of everything valuable before destroying their cultivation foundations entirely.
"Venerable One," Lin Yue, one of the guests of the Sun Family, shyly approached him after the meal. "There's a beautiful lake just beyond the compound. They say the moonlight there has special properties for cultivation. Would... would you consider viewing it? Perhaps you could explain its significance?"
Heiyu stroked his beard thoughtfully, hiding his smirk. Another fool eager to destroy themselves with his teachings. It would be amusing to corrupt her cultivation along with the rest of the Sun family.
"Ah, the moon's wisdom does indeed shine brightest when properly appreciated," he said solemnly. "Your spiritual sensitivity in noticing this shows promise. Perhaps..." he paused for effect, watching her lean forward eagerly, "perhaps you are worthy of receiving some special instruction."
Liu Yue's face lit up with joy. "Truly? I... I would be honored to learn from Venerable One! I've studied all the basic arts, but I know I have so much more to learn."
"Yes, yes," he nodded as they walked toward the lake. "I sense great potential in you. The kind that, if properly guided, could reach heights few dare dream of."
All lies, of course. The techniques he planned to teach her would ensure she never advanced beyond the mortal realm.
The lake came into view, its surface like black glass under the moonlight. Liu Yue walked slightly ahead, earnestly pointing out the spiritual formations she'd noticed in the area.
"Do you see how the moonlight reflects?" she asked. "I've always felt there was something special about it, but I never knew how to properly understand it."
But before Heiyu could reply, he noticed something odd. There was someone else there - a hooded figure standing at the lake's edge, perfectly still, like a statue carved from shadow.
Something about the figure set off warning bells in his mind. He couldn't sense any qi at all from it - not even the basic life force all humans had. That wasn't normal. That wasn't possible. Every instinct honed over a millennia of cultivation screamed at him to retreat, to analyze the situation more carefully.
But his greed and arrogance drowned out those warnings. What did it matter? He was a Stellar Realm cultivator. Nothing in this backwater city could possibly threaten him.
"You there!" he called out, letting a trace of his Stellar Realm aura leak into his voice. "This area is reserved for private meditation. Leave now."
The figure didn't move. Didn't even seem to acknowledge his presence. The lack of a response pricked at Heiyu's ego.
How dare this nobody ignore him?