Chapter 403: It Seems the Seven Emotions Valley's Strength Is Not Ordinary

Lu Yang, you dog, you stole my chance! This is an unforgivable grudge!

"It's just fate, accept it," Lu Yang said comfortingly.

"Get lost!" Meng Jingzhou fumed. "How is it that all the good things always fall into your lap, Lu Yang?"

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had no intention of fighting at all, rendering Zhao Po's worries completely unfounded.

"Who's this person you brought with you?" Meng Jingzhou asked, indicating with a nod.

Fearing Lu Yang would once again refer to him as 'the second-ranked disciple of the Corpse Driving Sect,' Zhao Po quickly introduced himself: "I am Zhao Po, the second-place winner in the Corpse Driving Sect's grand competition, and I am at the early Golden Core cultivation stage."

Meng Jingzhou was immediately astonished. Zhao Po appeared to be roughly their age, perhaps a year older at most. To think such talent only placed second within the Corpse Driving Sect!

If Zhao Po were to join their Dao Inquiry Sect, he could easily rank among the top six.

"Your skill level only puts you second in the Corpse Driving Sect?"

Bringing up the subject, Zhao Po offered a wry smile. "There's nothing I can do. Though I'm reluctant to admit it, Senior Brother Huang Ming truly is a bit stronger than me, and his combat awareness is vastly superior. Even if we competed again, I wouldn't win. In that fight, I used every trick I had, but Senior Brother Huang Ming remained completely at ease, showing no signs of fatigue. He always seems to have more techniques hidden away."

"Senior Brother Huang Ming has always surpassed me. Whenever we went on missions, he was always far ahead. By the time others were still searching for clues, he would have already taken down the mastermind."

"The only thing is, Senior Brother Huang Ming grew up without parents; he's an orphan. He has a reclusive personality and isn't willing to socialize with others."

Zhao Po shook his head regretfully. He had hoped to discuss cultivation insights with Senior Brother Huang Ming so they could both progress, but unfortunately, Senior Ming wasn't even willing to converse much with him, despite his second-place ranking.

"Now that Senior Brother Huang Ming has become the Sect Master's disciple, it will likely be even harder to see him in the future."

"That strong?" Lu Yang's assessment of Huang Ming's capabilities increased severalfold. He had assumed Huang Ming and Zhao Po were on similar levels, but from Zhao Po's words, it seemed there was a significant disparity between their strengths.

"But enough about me. I heard Senior Brother Meng was cursed and can't be near women?"

Meng Jingzhou mused for a moment, "It seems I couldn't be near women even before I was cursed."

Zhao Po offered comfort: "Senior Brother Meng, don't lose heart. As the sage said: 'When Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility upon a person, it must first make their heart suffer, their sinews and bones weary, their body hungry, and their person empty. It must confuse their actions, so that they will be stimulated to endure, and thus improve what they are not capable of.'"

Meng Jingzhou chuckled, finding Zhao Po more and more agreeable. "Excellent, truly a prodigy from the Corpse Driving Sect! You speak much better than that grandson, Lu Yang. You're my friend now. In the future, if you ever go to Imperial City and worry about not finding enough trouble, just mention my name, Meng Jingzhou!"

Zhao Po was speechless.

He had a nagging feeling that something was off about that last sentence. Had he misheard?

"To be precise, my curse prevents me from getting close to women. I've heard that many cultivators in Barren State are proficient in curse arts, and since the Corpse Driving Sect is a major sect there, I was planning to visit your esteemed sect to ask if there's a way to break this curse."

Zhao Po considered this carefully, then said earnestly, "In that case, I would actually recommend Senior Brother Meng visit the Valley of Seven Emotions."

"The Valley of Seven Emotions?" Like Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou's knowledge of the Valley of Seven Emotions was limited to knowing that such a sect existed.

"Our Corpse Driving Sect specializes in orthodox corpse driving techniques, but when it comes to curses, our expertise is nowhere near that of the Valley of Seven Emotions. In our Barren State, if someone is afflicted by a curse, the immediate suspicion always falls on someone from the Valley of Seven Emotions."

"However, the Valley of Seven Emotions maintains a semi-reclusive status, so people from other regions know very little about them."

Lu Yang nodded, confirming his own deduction. "It appears the Valley of Seven Emotions is exceptionally powerful; they should be comparable to your Corpse Driving Sect, wouldn't you say?"

Zhao Po was surprised. How did Senior Brother Lu know this? Even he himself only learned it from the elders after winning second place in the sect's grand competition and achieving a higher status.

"Any sect with less power would have been wiped out long ago."

Zhao Po conceded that Senior Brother Lu's observation was very astute.

"Then let's head to the Valley of Seven Emotions; it's quite close," Lu Yang said, checking the map. At Old Horse's pace, they could reach it in less than half a day.

"It's right here," Lu Yang said, pointing to the location on the map for Old Horse, who snorted in response.

Zhao Po was astonished by this scene. In his estimation, Old Horse was just an ordinary horse, yet it displayed such remarkable human-like understanding.

This might involve secrets of the two senior brothers, so he chose not to probe further.

He wasn't one to pry. It was quite normal for cultivators to have secrets. For instance, during their journey, he sensed something was off with Brother Ye and Brother Wenren but refrained from asking, which ultimately led to the scene where they, disguised as men, secretly harbored affection for each other while teasing an unsuspecting honest person.

The three traveled by carriage, with Zhao Po positioning the living corpse on top to observe their surroundings and deter any petty criminals.

Corpse drivers held a very high status in Barren State. When individuals died far from home, it was the corpse drivers who escorted their bodies back to their hometowns for proper burial. Upon seeing a living corpse, mountain bandits and ruthless thugs would immediately realize a corpse driver was present in the carriage and would proactively abandon any plans of attack.

Inside the carriage, Lu Yang and his companion asked several questions about corpse driving techniques.

"I've long wondered: living corpses have no sentience and are essentially objects, so why aren't they transported in storage rings instead of staying in inns?"

"While it's true that living corpses are technically objects and can be placed in storage rings, we corpse drivers believe they possess a form of life, albeit in a state undetectable by ordinary cultivators. Since they are living beings, we must treat them with the same dignity: allowing them to eat, live, and travel alongside us. Even when we command them to fight, we phrase it as a 'request.'"

Zhao Po offered a wry smile. "It's precisely because of our unique philosophy on life and death that outsiders spread rumors claiming the founder of the Nine Nether Sect originated from our Corpse Driving Sect."

Zhao Po then proceeded to explain various aspects of corpse driving to the two of them, offering a far more authentic account than they would ever hear from others.

In just under half a day, the three individuals and one living corpse successfully reached the Valley of Seven Emotions.

"I have a friend in the Valley of Seven Emotions, a true disciple, who is exceptionally skilled at dispelling curses. Whenever I'm cursed, I go to my friend for help. Senior Brother Meng, what level is your curse? My friend can resolve any curse below the Nascent Soul stage. For Spirit Transformation stage curses, there's a chance they can be dispelled, and even if not, they can certainly be alleviated."

Meng Jingzhou hesitated for a moment before replying, "Conservatively speaking, it's at the half-step Tribulation Transcendence level."

After all, he had shared the curse with Sect Master Qiu, so its power had diminished somewhat.

Zhao Po leaned back slightly, his expression one of profound respect.

When he ventured out and made enemies, they were typically Golden Core stage ancestors. The likelihood of encountering a Nascent Soul stage expert was minimal, and a Spirit Transformation stage cultivator was simply unheard of for him.

He truly lived up to his reputation as a peerless prodigy of the Dao Inquiry Sect; even the curses he incurred were of the half-step Tribulation Transcendence level.

What on earth did he do to warrant a curse of that magnitude?

Even if he were to slap the Valley Master of Seven Emotions twice, he likely wouldn't incur a half-step Tribulation Transcendence level curse.

Lu Yang thought to himself, "This is hardly anything. The enemies my brother and I make typically start at the Integration stage. Anyone below that level isn't even worth our attention."