The moment Ye Yong saw the female cultivator, he immediately sensed something was off. When she claimed to have been attacked by a spirit beast, it confirmed his suspicion.
First of all, the tears in her clothes were way too clean, cleanly cut to deliberately show skin and attract attention. More importantly, she didn’t even have a scratch on her, so the cuts were obviously self-inflicted with a sword.
Then there was the faint trace of seduction in her eyes- undoubtedly someone trained in charm techniques. She likely feared her cultivation wasn’t strong enough to enchant Ye Yong outright, so instead, she subtly boosted her attractiveness rather than resorting to direct mental manipulation.
And finally, their entire journey had been far too quiet- no signs of battle anywhere.
These cheap tricks might fool some naive young master from a noble clan who’s never tasted the dark side of the world, but Ye Yong? Please. He’d read way too many novels and had a “rich” life experience. Don’t insult him.
From the moment the formation activated and he was surrounded, Ye Yong maintained a completely calm demeanor, which surprised the 14 cultivators surrounding him.
“Still keeping your cool in this situation- should I say you’re good at pretending, or just insanely bold, Young Master Ye?” sneered the lead cultivator, who was at the 1st layer of the Crystallization Realm, as he casually twirled a dagger to apply psychological pressure.
Ye Yong smiled. “So, who exactly are you people?”
“Has Young Master Ye ever heard of the Blood Flame Sect?”
“Nope. Must be some garbage sect.”
Veins bulged on the man’s forehead. “Our Blood Flame Sect may not be as famous as the major demonic sects, but at least-”
“Just get to the point. Stop yapping.”
The man’s eyes flickered with visible anger. “Since you like to get straight to things, I’ll cut the crap. Two choices: One, die here. Two, join us.”
Ye Yong didn’t show much emotion, but inside, he was absolutely thrilled.
After a month of cultivating by gulping down pills, he was bored to death. It had been 4 months since he had transmigrated, and aside from one run-in with that energetic lad Ye Mao, nobody- whether from his clan, his sect, or the streets- had dared to caused him trouble.
Who didn’t love show-off and face-slapping? The problem was that he never got the chance to do so!
If he wasn’t worried that looking too happy would scare them off, Ye Yong would’ve already started dancing, firing off confetti, and shouting, “someone finally came to mess with me!”
“You’d better think carefully, Young Master Ye- life only comes once,” the lead man said, trying to increase the pressure. “Don’t even bother resisting. Inside this formation, you can’t use spiritual power. Your sword intent is sealed; the sect-issued emergency teleportation and transmission stones won’t work either. You’re completely isolated and at our mercy.”
“I see.” Ye Yong tapped his chin with his fan. “Let me guess- you’re carrying some kind of special poison or a mind-controlling artifact?”
“You’re smart, Young Master Ye. I’m sure you’ll choose wisely.” The group raised their weapons. One of them held out a vial- their intentions crystal clear. If he picked option one, they’d kill him. If he pick option two, he’d swallow the pill and join their demonic sect.
“Before I choose, let me ask a question.” Ye Yong glanced around at the young cultivators. “Why did you join a demonic sect anyway? Logically speaking, demonic sects are hated by the world, and their internal competition is vicious. You’re all so young- why walk such a dark path?”
“Life in the cultivation world isn’t our choice. Don’t try to sway our loyalty to the sect.”
“Let me guess. Some of you were orphans, raised by the sect since birth. Some of you were poisoned and need their antidote to survive…”
The Crystallization Realm leader grew impatient. “Enough! Stop wasting time and choose already!”
Ye Yong smiled faintly. “I’ve already made my choice. Now it’s your turn.”
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you notice that you can’t use your spiritual energy?”
At those words, the demonic cultivators realized that they indeed couldn’t use their spiritual energy. Looking down, they saw they were now standing inside a formation- one that extended from Ye Yong’s position. But Ye Yong himself stood in the one spot unaffected by it, like the eye of the storm.
Put simply, for some unknown reason, the formation had expanded to trap them inside, while Ye Yong had somehow slipped out of its influence.
“Impossible!” The 3 Crystallization Realm cultivators immediately took out the tools to control the formation, trying to retract it- only to find it completely unresponsive.
“What did you do!?” the demonic cultivators shouted in shock. This array was a treasure given to them by their elders- a multi-layered, level 4 formation that could even trap Nascent Soul cultivators.
“I just made a few adjustments to the formation’s logic arrays. Nothing to freak out over.”
“B- but these are all level 4 formations…” The confidence from earlier vanished. Ye Yong, who had been their prey, had suddenly turned the tables and become the hunter.
One of them tried to dash out of the formation, only to be violently bounced back. It wasn’t an illusion; this was all real.
“How could you possibly know formations!? Level 4 formation master? No- only a level 5 formation master could take control in such a short time without us noticing!”
“Nah, I’m barely at level 4.” Ye Yong enjoyed their stunned and fearful stares- finally feeling the joy of a proper flex. If only there were an audience to praise him, it would’ve been perfect.
“Young Master Ye, I was actually forced into this! I don’t like the Blood Flame Sect at all, please spare me.” The only female cultivator of the group dropped to her knees, pushing up her chest. “I’ll do anything you want…”
“You’re not some demonic sect saintess, and you’re not pretty enough. Get lost.” Ye Yong had already seen the dagger she had hidden in her sleeve. If he’d fallen for her act and let her get close, she definitely would’ve tried to stab him.
Her eyes flashed with shame and anger, but with her spiritual power sealed, she couldn’t use any charm techniques. Attacking the formation was pointless, as even if she had her spiritual energy, level 4 formations weren’t something a little Foundation Establishment Realm or Crystallization Realm cultivator could break through.
Where had it all gone wrong? Why had such a foolproof plan collapsed like this? When did Ye Yong become some kind of formation genius!?
“You all know the rules,” said one of the Crystallization Realm cultivators. Seeing no way out, he ordered his comrades to commit suicide.
Better to die cleanly than be captured by righteous sects and tortured for information- only to end up dead anyway.
Just as they prepared to kill themselves, a strange scent hit their noses, and their strength suddenly drained away as if their bodies were hollowed out.
“H- how…” Their weapons clattered to the ground as they collapsed one after another.
“Why did you think I talked so much? It’s because I want to capture you alive.” Ye Yong dispelled the formation, then bought over ten spiritual ropes from the system shop. With a single thought, the ropes flew out and tightly bound the demonic cultivators. “But you guys are so unprofessional. Real pros keep poison in their teeth so they can bite down and die the moment they get caught.”
“Ye Yong… you’ll die a horrible death…” The Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators had already passed out, but the three Crystallization Realm cultivators struggled to raise their heads and glared at him.
“I’m not a simp.”
“?” They had no idea why he responded like that,¹ and they passed out in the next second.
Translator’s Notes:
¹ There’s a common saying, 舔狗不得好死, which roughly translates to “simps will die a horrible death” which is why Ye Yong said he isn’t a simp when the demonic cultivators said he will die a horrible death. I don’t think “simp” is exactly the right translation, but it’s the closest thing I can think of.