Chapter 10: Charming Ghost

The leader appropriately halted the argument between the two individuals. He then scanned the other nine people and asked calmly, "Who will deal with Old Ancestor Xu?" A faint divine light flickered in his eyes. Clearly, he preferred not to handle such matters personally, finding it convenient to delegate the task to them.

Within the various states under Tianwu Prefecture, there were roughly a hundred Golden Core cultivators. These more than one hundred Golden Core cultivators were either affiliated with the Tianwu Prefecture Lord's Residence or had signed a contract of some kind with it. This concentration meant that the high-tier cultivators of Tianwu Prefecture were effectively unified. Almost every one of them was subject to the management and deployment of the Tianwu Prefecture Lord's Residence under specific conditions.

"I'll go!"

Yu Sanniang gazed at Xu Yang's portrait, licked her dry lips, and felt a burning excitement within her. In that moment, numerous images flashed through her mind.

The leader, however, completely ignored Yu Sanniang's eager offer. He furrowed his brows and continued to survey the others. The man who had been arguing with Yu Sanniang chuckled heartily upon witnessing this.

"Yu Sanniang, it looks like the boss is worried you'll drain that pretty boy to death."

"Of course not! I'm very gentle with attractive men. With such a handsome young man, I'll definitely enjoy his company many times over."

The man stopped responding. Flirting with Yu Sanniang was one thing, but if things got serious, even a Nascent Soul cultivator might fall victim to her charms in bed. He had no desire to become a lecherous ghost, dying at her hands. This woman's cultivation absorption technique was truly astounding in its power.

Seeing that no one else was willing to take on the task, the Golden Core cultivator, whom the man called "boss," no longer pressed the issue. Since Yu Sanniang wished to go, he let her. He had a feeling that Xu Yang was no ordinary Golden Core cultivator, but seeing Yu Sanniang immediately turn and depart, he held his tongue.

***

Three days later, in Qizhou City, a woman with a seductive figure swayed as she walked along the city's main thoroughfares. The woman was strikingly beautiful, and every movement exuded a captivating charm. Numerous rogue cultivators, harboring ill intentions, discreetly trailed the woman. When they saw her leave the city alone, the eyes of those following rogue cultivators lit up. Unbeknownst to them, their minds were gradually fading as they followed her. After that day, none of these rogue cultivators ever returned to Qizhou City.

Over an hour later, the woman set off on the path toward Tianlan Sect. Had anyone observed closely, they would have noticed that her face appeared subtly younger than when she had first departed the city. This woman was indeed Yu Sanniang, from Tianwu Prefecture City. As for the rogue cultivators who had trailed her, they had, naturally, been reduced to piles of white bones.

Yu Sanniang arrived at the Tianlan Sect's mountain gate and was slightly surprised to see the corpse of a Golden Core expert displayed there, hung like a banner. Not out of fear, but because she found it rather amusing. Yu Sanniang mused whether she should emulate this in the future, perhaps displaying the skeletal remains of the cultivators she had drained.

She proceeded all the way to the Tianlan Sect's main hall, and remarkably, not a single person attempted to impede her progress. This was due to the cultivation technique Yu Sanniang practiced; in addition to her cultivation absorption art, she had also mastered an illusion technique. An illusion technique cast by a Golden Core realm cultivator was, naturally, beyond the perception of the Tianlan Sect disciples, who were currently only at the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment stages.

Yu Sanniang entered the Tianlan Sect's main hall, where she found a young man meditating. His face, she noted, was even more handsome than in the portrait. Upon seeing him, Yu Sanniang's eyes immediately filled with desire.

She walked gracefully, and with each step, a peculiar aura emanated from her. Concurrently, with every step, a piece of her clothing slipped away. By the time she stood near Xu Yang, she was clad only in a thin layer of sheer gauze. The enchanting and alluring aura had already permeated the entire hall.

Yu Sanniang parted her lips, exhaling a fragrant breath, and softly murmured, "Old Ancestor Xu?"

As her words reached his ears, Xu Yang opened his eyes to a scene filled with alluring beauty. Yu Sanniang's sheer gauze seemed poised to slip away at any moment, and a fragrant, musky breath wafted across Xu Yang's face.

"Old Ancestor Xu, don't you think Sanniang is beautiful?"

Yu Sanniang swayed her body, and invisible streams of energy began to infiltrate Xu Yang's system. Based on Yu Sanniang's experience, in a short while, Xu Yang would transform into a beast consumed by desire. He would cast aside all defenses and wildly pounce on her, throwing her to the ground. The thought of Xu Yang's handsome face pressing down on her made Yu Sanniang's eyes grow even more glazed with anticipation. For her, once this stage was reached, Xu Yang would become her beast of desire, completely under her control. Following this, every action of Xu Yang's would be entirely at her command.

"Old Ancestor Xu, am I beautiful?" Yu Sanniang's figure grew even more seductive. In her mind, Xu Yang's eyes should have already been ablaze with the flames of desire.

However, reality proved otherwise.

"Are you done with your performance?"

Xu Yang's eyes were perfectly clear, devoid of any hint of lust. "Your illusion technique is decent, but it has no effect on me." With a slight circulation of his true qi, Xu Yang completely isolated the enchanting and alluring aura outside his body.

At his words, the hazy allure in Yu Sanniang's eyes vanished instantly. She hadn't anticipated that a technique with an eighty percent chance of success against a Nascent Soul realm cultivator would utterly fail against Xu Yang.

"If you have nothing further to do, please distance yourself from me. I find you repulsive."

The moment these words left his lips, Yu Sanniang's expression abruptly shifted. The sheer gauze that had moments ago swayed alluringly with her movements now shot towards Xu Yang like a sharp blade. Xu Yang raised a hand and unleashed a fireball directly at it. The flames engulfed Yu Sanniang's sheer gauze, yet surprisingly, the fabric remained completely unharmed.

In reality, Xu Yang had detected Yu Sanniang the moment she stepped into the Tianlan Sect. Along the way, if Yu Sanniang had shown even a trace of murderous intent towards any Tianlan Sect disciple, Xu Yang would have intervened. However, he hadn't anticipated that Yu Sanniang would come all the way to the main hall and attempt to cast an illusion on him. If Xu Yang's true age were actually seventeen or eighteen, as he appeared, he might well have fallen victim to it. But Xu Yang had lived for a hundred thousand years; there was nothing he hadn't experienced in that span of time. How could a mere illusion technique possibly affect Xu Yang? The reason he had not acted sooner was simply because he wanted to see what Yu Sanniang was truly up to. The confrontation between them had actually begun the moment Yu Sanniang stepped into the Tianlan Sect. The outcome, however, was clear: Yu Sanniang's illusion technique had absolutely no effect on Xu Yang. And with a single move, Xu Yang could very well end Yu Sanniang's life.

"Old Ancestor Xu, why are you so crude to me?"