Chapter 1 Secret Contact

The secret contact with Yuan Jia began when Ye Chu Xiao was setting up formations in the eight prefectures of Yunmeng Marsh, taking the time to connect.

However, stabilizing Yuan Jia was at most a secondary objective, a convenient side task.

Ye Chu Xiao didn't plan to bet heavily on him.

The stability of the situation in the eight prefectures of Yunmeng relied mainly on the local powerhouses.

While Ye Chu Xiao was smoothing the earth's energy and regulating the water vapor, he also focused on improving fertile land and building new water conservancy projects.

Once these were all done, even if some people in the imperial court had the idea of rearranging the management of the Yunmeng Marsh water tribe in the eight prefectures, returning to the past, they would be strongly opposed by the local people.

Yuan Jia closed the communication with Ye Chu Xiao with a heavy heart. He hadn't told Ye Chu Xiao the truth.

In fact, he had already noticed that Yuan Meng was acting strangely.

Recently, Yuan Meng had not only been constantly inquiring about the layout of the naval formations, but also intentionally taking over some of the naval training. Her control over the Dragon Palace formation also seemed to be constantly intervening, and she had arranged for many of her close aquatic relatives.

This made Yuan Jia feel uneasy, but he still trusted Yuan Meng and their relationship, and didn't want to think about the worst possible outcome.

The reason for not telling Ye Chu Xiao was to keep this line open.

He would talk to Yuan Meng first. If someone was really using the princess to threaten her, then Yuan Jia planned to further 'cooperate' with Ye Chu Xiao.

In order to ask Ye Chu Xiao to bring the princess out and send her to Yunmeng Marsh.

Of course, Ye Chu Xiao didn't know Yuan Jia's plan. He wasn't a Da Luo deity who could calculate everything.

Apart from using existing information to make reasonable deductions, the biggest variable was the uncontrollable emotion of life.

"I always feel uneasy, like I'm walking on cotton." Ye Chu Xiao scratched his head as he watched the water ripples disappear after Yuan Jia left.

"After returning, although I had planned ahead and set up a package of plans in advance, catching the other side off guard, this step-by-step approach to suppressing Jin Buyi still seems a bit too smooth. Some of the backup plans I had prepared didn't play their due role, and some of the forces I had originally planned to involve weren't implicated as a result."

"Although he also fought back, and because he didn't understand me well enough, his counterattacks all ended in failure, I just feel… something's not right."

"Chen Wang Xiao Chi, a former Wuding realm cultivator, is he really that simple?"

"Although realm isn't the same as wisdom, let alone the ability to plan, Jin Buyi clearly shouldn't be a purely person who has reached this point by relying on his dedication to the Dao."

"He is a person with greater ambitions and also possesses the ability to execute them."

Ye Chu Xiao put down the teacup in his hand and saw a figure skillfully flipping over the wall.

"My dear brother, you've been in the limelight lately! So, have you thought of your dear little brother? Do you have any benefits that you can take care of me with?" Ye Chuqi stepped on the water ripples, walking flamboyantly in front of Ye Chu Xiao. This brazen, shameless demeanor had no resemblance to Ye Chu Xiao at all, and they didn't seem like brothers.

"You've come at the right time. Tell me again in more detail about Jin Buyi's subsequent actions, paying attention to every detail you know, along with your guesses. I want to re-examine and deduce it again." Ye Chu Xiao grabbed Ye Chuqi and said.

Ye Chuqi put down the wine gourd in his hand, spread his hands, and sighed helplessly, "Seeing your recent performance, I know that you're preparing for a rainy day, planning to deal with Jin Buyi."

"But brother! I really only know that much. Based on my last experience, both Jin Buyi and Ying Shu are too far away from me, as distant as stars. What could I possibly know?"

Ye Chu Xiao said, "Then don't talk about them. Talk about whether any abnormalities appeared in the world before and after Jin Buyi refined the world."

Ye Chuqi thought carefully and then said, "I seem to remember that not long after Jin Buyi ascended the throne, the sky was purple day and night for several days in a row. Later, some elders of the Original Decree Church mentioned that the stars had shifted."

"After that, when I left Da Heng and took the Fortune Ship, I also searched for the coordinates of Da Heng, but the Fortune Ship couldn't display the location of Da Heng."

"It's like it has been hidden from the heavens."

"Hidden?" Ye Chu Xiao was slightly stunned, feeling a bit touched, but not much, unable to grasp that inspiration.

"If you want to truly understand Jin Buyi's plot, you must first figure out the motives and reasons for him doing all this."

"And this reason must be very crucial and very important." Thinking of this, Ye Chu Xiao suddenly looked up at Ye Chuqi.

Ye Chuqi is a time-space traveler.

He returned to the past from the future.

And he, Ye Chu Xiao, also experienced a brief, unique time-space journey by purchasing it with Dao rhymes.

It can be said that at the current point in time, there are actually two 'Ye Chu Xiaos'.

"Then… what about Jin Buyi?"

"Did Xiao Chi come first, then Jin Buyi, or did Jin Buyi come first, then Xiao Chi?" Ye Chu Xiao was stopped by his sudden thought.

Time travel is feasible, so there's no reason why Jin Buyi can't do what Ye Chu Xiao and Ye Chuqi can do.

But if he were to get entangled in this question, Ye Chu Xiao's brain would explode.

The depth of time and space surpasses the end of thought.

The cognition of mortals is limited, while the information of time and space is always infinite.

Who can really say for sure?

"No, no, there is a paradox here. Don't think in a more mysterious direction. Try to keep your thinking simple. Don't deliberately complicate things, and don't make endless conjectures without evidence. That's unreliable." Ye Chu Xiao thought again, but still couldn't figure it out.

He simply said to Ye Chuqi, "I plan to meet Ying Shu. Do you want to come with me?"

Ye Chuqi was stunned, then curious, with a hint of eagerness, "You want to take me to see her? It's not impossible, but… do you have the right to do that?"

"Isn't she imprisoned on the fifth level of the dungeon?"

"Many people from the Original Decree Church have been trying to save her, racking their brains for so long, but they can't think of a way."

"If I go down to see her, I'm afraid there will be constant trouble afterwards."

Ye Chuqi said that there would be constant trouble, but the expression on his face was clearly not afraid of trouble.

For those who are willing to be mediocre, trouble is just trouble.

But for ambitious cultivators like Ye Chuqi, some trouble is not necessarily just trouble, but also chips and opportunities.

Relying on his foresight, he had been doing well in the Original Decree Church, and his status was not low.

If he could further touch the core of the Original Decree Church and gain greater power through the 'rescue' of Ying Shu, many of his plans and ambitions could be brought forward.

"Stop talking nonsense! Never mind what method I use, are you going or not?" Ye Chu Xiao asked.

Bringing Ye Chuqi to see Ying Shu had a certain necessity.

Ye Chu Xiao planned to have a more 'sincere' conversation with Ying Shu face-to-face.

"Go! Of course, I'll go!"

"But, give me five days… no! Three days to prepare."

"That woman is very cunning. If I don't have enough preparation, I'm afraid I won't be able to handle her." Ye Chuqi said with self-awareness.

Ye Chuqi didn't know why his brother had become so proactive and active in dealing with the problems of the Heart Pill, after not seeing him for only a short time.

It was as if he wasn't worried about facing Jin Buyi and Ying Shu head-on.

But if he was just accompanying Ye Chu Xiao to see Ying Shu, who was imprisoned on the fifth level of the dungeon, then he was willing to go 'adventure' with him.

"Okay! I'll wait for you three days." Ye Chu Xiao said.

Three days later, Ye Chu Xiao took Ye Chuqi, who already had complete employment documents and had obtained the qualification of a jailer in the Ministry of Justice's dungeon, to the dungeon.

They went all the way without hindrance, and the two descended to the fifth level of the dungeon.

Opening the door to Ying Shu's cell, both Ye Chu Xiao and Ye Chuqi saw Ying Shu at this moment.

The originally dark and damp cell was now, in the eyes of the brothers, clearly a warm, ambiguous boudoir for a woman.

The boudoir had a fragrance that was not strong, but very pleasant, intoxicating and addictive.

At the same time, some hanging clothes, half-drawn curtains, a Dongxiao flute placed on the table, a half-open book, and the floral calligraphy spread on the table were all creating an atmosphere.

A woman in red, with her back to them, was sitting in front of the dressing table, combing her head of black and shiny hair. The graceful figure was vaguely outlined, and the perfect arc of her sitting on the stool was so captivating.

Even though only her slender, long, and fair neck was revealed, they both felt their hearts beating faster, as if they had seen something secret and unmentionable.

Their eyes involuntarily gathered, but then subconsciously dodged.

As if falling into a youthful shyness.

"Break!" With the blessing of the Yuanyang Treasure Mirror, Ye Chu Xiao, who had instantly calmed down, snorted coldly, and his voice was like muffled thunder, exploding in the room.

In an instant, all the warm and ambiguous scenes disappeared.

Looking again, Ying Shu was still hung on the stone wall by thick vines, her pale face without a trace of blood, with a strong sense of broken beauty.

She was like a delicate doll stained with dirt, making people feel pity, but also afraid to touch it.

"I just wanted to keep the last bit of dignity for a woman. Why are you so aggressive, you hateful person, and have to expose me?" Ying Shu's tone and manner were deeply resentful, and coupled with her current pitiful situation, the effect was excellent.

Ye Chuqi, who had just woken up from the illusion, was quickly infected by this strong emotion, and unconsciously looked at Ye Chu Xiao with angry eyes.

As if blaming Ye Chu Xiao for being harsh.

"Calm your mind, gather your Qi, and circulate the mental formula according to the formula I taught you!" Ye Chu Xiao said to Ye Chuqi.

In fact, he had already opened his domain, enveloping Ye Chuqi, and at the same time, the characteristics of the Yuanyang Treasure Mirror were also arranged in the domain, shared with Ye Chuqi.

Ye Chuqi finally 'woke up', revealing a look of fear.

He knew Ying Shu's cruelty, but just now, he unconsciously began to sympathize with her, understand her, and even blame Ye Chu Xiao for her, and all these emotions actually came from his 'sincerity'.

Such bewitching ability was simply too terrifying.

Even this great charm was exerted by Ying Shu while she was under multiple restraints, so how strong would the effect be if she used such methods in her prime?

How many people could resist it?

Ye Chuqi had made full preparations before coming to the dungeon.

But after arriving, he found that all these preparations seemed to be ineffective.

If it weren't for Ye Chu Xiao, he would have surrendered long ago.

"Stop using your tricks on me."

"You should know very well that these are useless to me."

"Speaking of which… your situation seems to have improved a lot. Is it because the Heart Pill was given to me and Jin Buyi?"

"Our progress and accumulation have been fed back to you."

"In this struggle, you have actually been in the upper hand all along, the one who has taken the most advantage." Ye Chu Xiao said to Ying Shu.

This series of rhetoric was actually cpu-ing Ying Shu, quietly laying the groundwork for some subsequent conversations.

After all, the Heart Pill belonged to Ying Shu. She was the master of the Heart Pill. From a definitional point of view, Ye Chu Xiao and Jin Buyi were both cauldrons of the Heart Pill.

Therefore, most of the convenience brought by the Heart Pill was more inclined to and acted on Ying Shu.

This was a fact, which should not be ignored, let alone overlooked.

After being planted with the Heart Pill.

What Ye Chu Xiao and Jin Buyi felt and understood was Ying Shu's understanding.

Of course, this effect could not be 100%.

It should be based on the proportion of the Heart Pill.

For example, Ye Chu Xiao's current Heart Pill ratio was only one and a half percent, then the understanding he actually shared with Ying Shu was at most one and a half percent.

After Ye Chu Xiao used various methods to block it, dismantling and reducing it, Ying Shu might have taken about 10%.

Ying Shu smiled charmingly and said, "I still have to thank you. The progress was so fast and suddenly so turbulent that it didn't give me any mental preparation at all, making me unable to bear it!"

After saying that, her pale cheeks flushed, her suspended small feet curled up shyly, and her slightly drooping eyes were filled with glittering water.

There was a clear teasing tone in Ying Shu's voice.

Ye Chuqi, who was standing aside, suddenly looked embarrassed, and then bent over.

The words themselves were not too explicit.

The key was that the infection was too strong.

If Ye Chu Xiao hadn't isolated 99% of the influence, it wouldn't be as simple as Ye Chuqi making a fool of himself.

It was certain that his pants would have been wet and he would have lost too much blood.

"Little brother! Have some backbone. You fought hard in Pingliang Fang for three days. What haven't you seen?" Ye Chu Xiao slapped Ye Chuqi on the body, secretly using a knife force, and temporarily sealed part of his meridians with the extremely cold knife force.

Thoughts are sometimes controlled by the body.

If Ye Chu Xiao couldn't solve Ye Chuqi's ideological problems, couldn't he first make his body unable to act?

"Is this your younger brother?"

"Eh, he seems to be a disciple of our Original Decree Church."

"Which elder are you under? At such a young age… you are so excellent!" Ying Shu said.

Ye Chuqi reluctantly clasped his fists, "Disciple Ye Chuqi, under Elder Qiongqi, pays respects to the Holy Maiden."

Ye Chu Xiao said, "Okay, little brother! Let's talk about the friendship between fellow disciples after you rescue your Holy Maiden. Now let's talk about your dream."

"Now swear to Ancestor Yu Shen that everything you are about to say is true."

Ye Chu Xiao put a hand on Ye Chuqi's shoulder, and the power of the Yuanyang Treasure Mirror had fully enveloped him.