553: Collect information on demonic cultivators

He squeezed out the question in a breathy whisper, as if those four words were coated in potent poison, and he suddenly looked left and right!

It was as if he were checking to see if the invisible ears of a Devil Head were eavesdropping!

After confirming the environment was still "safe," he stared fixedly at Yao Delong's disguised face, his gaze so sharp it seemed like it wanted to bore two holes into it:

"Fellow Daoist... are you inquiring about this person? Is it that you need... their whereabouts? Or... their past background?"

Yao Delong was expressionless: "I want both. The latest."

The manager's throat bobbed violently, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead, almost visible to the naked eye.

This Late Nascent Soul Stage cultivator before him... could he be tired of living and want to pull the tiger's teeth?!

He dared not ask more, nor did he dare to think too much. He made an extremely respectful "please wait a moment" gesture to Yao Delong and, moving almost in a stiff, uncoordinated gait, rushed upstairs!

Before his figure disappeared, it was visibly trembling!

A moment later, the manager came down holding a scroll forged from Profound Ice Crystal Jade, covered in layers of Seal runes.

Even his walk carried a hint of desperate caution. When the scroll was placed on the soundproof jade table and pushed in front of Yao Delong,

the courtesy on the manager's face had turned into a complex expression mixed with fear and curiosity.

"Fellow Daoist... this is the... most detailed scroll... our chamber of commerce has obtained. It records this scoundrel's century-long path to becoming a devil, his fierce reputation and battle record... as well as... his most recent... exact whereabouts!"

He finished speaking with heavy emphasis, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and stated the price: "The price is... one hundred... Mid-Grade Spirit Stone."

This price was absolutely inflated.

Yao Delong didn't even look; an inconspicuous grey Spirit Stone bag appeared out of thin air on the jade table, containing exactly one hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stone, no more, no less.

Yao Delong's Divine Thought swept over it. The scroll was as detailed as he remembered:

[Hundred Refinements Devil Venerable · Slaughtered cities to refine Nascent Souls · Old-school Void Refining Devil Venerable · Cunning and deceitful · Escaped Immortal Sect encirclements multiple times · Secret spies spread across various sects · Suspected to be with Moyang Sect...]

All kinds of shocking descriptions. [Latest update: A shocking battle in the Northern Territory between the profound fire ancient mirror and the mysterious Soul Transformation Sword Cultivator of the Yin Yang Sect! The devil formation was broken! Afterward, he was tracked and ambushed by three Void Refining powerhouses! Severely injured! Rescued by mysterious forces! Hidden without a trace!]

Every word was a bloodstain! This Hundred Refinements Devil Venerable was actually connected to the Moyang Sect? A flash of cold light flitted across Yao Delong's eyes.

However, there was no specific hiding address at the end of the scroll, only a few ominous deductions.

"Not enough." Yao Delong closed the scroll, energy fluctuations condensing at his fingertips. In an instant, he pierced through the Seal to activate it, completely crushing the scroll along with the jade box's sealed information into ashes, leaving no trace behind! He said coldly,

"This Devil Head has entrenched himself in several places in Hegemonic Summer. What is his most recent stronghold? Do you have a way to find out?"

The manager's heart gave a jolt at this sudden method of destroying the scroll!

He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the ashes on the ground; if the information had leaked, it would have caused no small amount of trouble for the chamber of commerce!

He steadied himself, gritted his teeth, and simply lowered his voice to do a favor:

"Yes...! East of Jinling City, on the edge of the Burial God Ridge... about a hundred miles away! There is a devil nest! According to reports, Golden Core Devil Heads often patrol the perimeter, and there may be... Nascent Soul-level ones guarding the inside! Consider this information... a bonus!"

He wiped his sweat and added, "Fellow Daoist... if you intend to go... you must... be very careful!"

Yao Delong nodded, his grey-robed figure flashed, and he vanished from the hall.

The manager stood where he was, looking at the empty light between the window lattices. His whole body felt like it had just been fished out of water, and he let out a long, shivering breath of cold air: "My mother... a Nascent Soul going to that devil's den, isn't that just seeking death..."

In the backyard of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion.

Qiong Shuang sat boredly on top of the white jade Pill Furnace in the courtyard, swinging her silver-bright calves.

Resting her delicate chin on her knees, the flowing light of her silver hair accentuating her ice-beauty face, she muttered in the spring day with full disdain:

"Big Brother disappears and can't be seen for ages... and this big sister is also dazing off like a wooden person... Boring! Too boring!"

She glanced at Luo Yan, who was standing beside the herb garden, her eyes vacant as she stared at the courtyard wall, yet a trace of an unconscious, gentle smile remained at the corners of her mouth.

Thinking again of the mountains of delicious food and fun things isolated outside the barrier... Qiong Shuang felt that she, a dignified Ninth-Rank Yao Beast, watching a little girl daze off was simply beneath her!

Yao Delong happened to step out of a spatial ripple.

A dim green shadow flashed.

The artifact spirit You Yuan instantly appeared on Yao Delong's shoulder, holding out her short little hands to Yao Delong with an expression of taking it for granted, and said crisply: "Kid, give me some Spirit Stone. We're leaving tomorrow, I'm going to go look around some more!"

Yao Delong directly tossed a heavy Spirit Stone bag over.

You Yuan caught it precisely and hovered. Her green dress swayed slightly, and seemingly confirming the thickness, she bared her teeth and made a face at Yao Delong.

With a "Ying!", she hugged the Spirit Stone bag that was bigger than her and happily dashed straight toward the food street outside the barrier!

"All you know is eating! Share half with me!" Qiong Shuang's eyes lit up, silver light flickered, and with a "whoosh," she chased after her. Two powerful and joyful auras instantly disappeared into the distance.

The courtyard quieted down.

The entire Myriad Medicine Pavilion courtyard was so quiet that only the faint rustling of the night wind brushing over the herb garden remained. The barrier filtered out the noise of the distant night market's lights and voices, sifting down only a hazy halo of light and an intoxicating peace.

The faint fragrance of some bitter herbs had not yet dissipated from the air, mixed with a kind of indescribable... warmth that belonged only to this moment, almost stagnant.

Luo Yan stood two steps away, her gaze like tangible spider silk, sticking to the green-robed back that had finally appeared.

The gentle smile that had just climbed onto her brow and eyes had already faded, replaced by a kind of scalding torrent that piled up like ocean waves, surging into her heart layer by layer, no longer able to be blocked by the dam of reason!

Reason? Scruples? Humility? All of them were burned to ashes in her Sea of Consciousness by that lava-like, scorching one hundred favorability rating!

Those eyes, which were always calm and even carried a bit of timid gentleness, now only had flames flickering in their depths, like someone burning their bridges!

Whoosh— It was as if a determination that had been accumulating for hundreds of thousands of years suddenly erupted at this moment!

Just as Yao Delong turned around, that voluptuous body, carrying the faint, bitter scent of herbs, slammed into his chest with unhesitating force!

Her arms tightly coiled around his lean waist and back, as if she wanted to crush herself into his bones! The force was so great that it even pulled tiny wrinkles into that tough green robe, which could withstand the bombardment of Soul Transformation Sword Qi without leaving a scratch!

The force was unlike the gentle Luo Yan; it was more like the final embrace of someone dying! Her face was buried deep in his chest, which carried his powerful Spiritual Pressure and unique, cold aura!

Yao Delong's figure did not move a single inch, as if what she had crashed into was not a body of flesh and blood, but an eternal, sacred mountain.

He lowered his eyes slightly, his gaze falling on the ink-colored hair top in his arms, which was trembling slightly due to intense emotion.

After a moment of hesitation, his broad hands slowly raised, and with an indescribable force—as if stroking peerless spirit jade, containing not a shred of profanity, yet incomparably heavy—gently landed on her back.

One pat, then another. The movements were slow and powerful, as if smoothing the feathers of a startled bird that had finally returned to its nest after being severely wounded.

Where his palm landed, he could clearly feel every inch of her spine through her thin clothing, the arc of her back tense and trembling from the extreme release of emotion. No one spoke.

Only the rustling of the wind blowing through the medicinal herb leaves remained, along with her sobbing, suppressed deep in her throat, faint and intermittent like a small beast licking its wounds.

Half an hour? Or longer? Time was meaningless at this moment. The world was left with only this courtyard, and the two Souls embracing within it.