Chapter 104: Red Lotus Sect, Great Desire Heaven
In the eyes of most people, the Town Sea Alliance and the Dragon Steed Mansion dividing Linjiang Prefecture, two powers in opposition, were undoubtedly incompatible. Any slight movement would lead to armed conflict, resulting in a fight to the death.
But these are all prejudices of the vulgar.
How could the common folk understand the principle of heroes recognizing heroes and cherishing each other?
In fact, Song Yinglong and Hong Yuan had clashed several times, and they had long since found each other kindred spirits, appreciating each other as confidants.
Otherwise, why wouldn’t Song Yinglong be angry when Hong Yuan, in his recklessness, ‘accidentally’ blasted open the heavy wooden door and knocked Song Yinglong over, worsening his already eight or nine-tenths recovered injuries?
Not only was Song Yinglong not angry, but he only briefly tended to his wound, didn’t even change his clothes, and personally went out to entertain the uninvited guest, Hong Yuan.
Facing Hong Yuan’s many questions, he responded with great understanding and answered almost everything.
All these things, if not for close friends, how could they be explained?
“Thank you for clarifying, Brother Song. You are truly my Zifang.” Hong Yuan sighed.
“Heh!” Song Yinglong forced a smile, not knowing who ‘Zifang’ was, but understanding it was not a compliment.
Within his wide sleeves, his palms were clenched, suppressing his anger.
Even so, veins bulged on his forehead, and bloodstains still appeared on his forehead where he was hit by the heavy door; his body began to bleed again as he tensed up.
The other party had repeatedly challenged his bottom line, treating him, Song Yinglong, as if he were nothing. How could he tolerate this?
But as the old saying goes, those who achieve great things do not quibble over minor details, and all heroes and notables must be able to endure insults that ordinary people cannot.
This time, Song Yinglong endured.
Once his divine skill reaches great accomplishment, he will retaliate tenfold.
Song Yinglong glanced to the side at the Night Roaming God, who had entered not long ago, his eyes flashing.
Even the Codename Assassin from Ghost Fan Tower was dispatched fruitlessly, and worse, was captured alive by the young man named Hong and tied up like a dog. It truly was a case of reputation not matching reality.
“I am very disappointed in you.”
Hong Yuan glanced at the Night Roaming God and shook his head with a sigh. “I treated you so well, worried about the cold, and even fed you pancakes and hot soup this morning. I didn’t expect you to deceive me.”
The Night Roaming God’s face twitched. This was truly a dog’s behavior!
The information from Song Yinglong confirmed that the Ghost Fan Tower’s details basically matched what the Night Roaming God had confessed.
The assassin ranks ranged from the lowest Wandering Souls, then Life-Reaping Ghosts, then Soul-Snatching Emissaries, and at the core level, Codename Assassins.
Day and Night Roaming Gods, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, Black and White Impermanence…
Blood Rakshasa and Underworld Commissioners.
But according to Song Yinglong, in rumor, there was one more person in Ghost Fan Tower who surpassed everyone else: ‘Meng Po’!
The Night Roaming God said, “I didn’t lie to you. The saying about ‘Meng Po’ has been around for a long time, but let alone outsiders, even we have only heard of it and never knew if it was true or false.”
“Your credibility with me is now zero. Think harder about what other secrets you haven’t revealed and regain my trust.”
The Night Roaming God nodded subconsciously, then reacted. Damn it, why should he regain this guy’s trust?
Hong Yuan bowed to Song Yinglong again and said with concern, “Manor Lord Song, I see your injuries have not yet recovered, so I will not disturb you further. We shall catch up another time.”
With that, he stood up.
This Song Yinglong was becoming less and less valuable.
He was too lazy to fight Song Yinglong again.
After two encounters, Hong Yuan had roughly figured out about seventy to eighty percent of the opponent’s martial arts and force techniques. The only thing he was still curious about was the opponent’s Gang Body.
However, during this conversation with Song Yinglong, Hong Yuan’s ‘Net of Other Forces’ had, without Song Yinglong’s awareness, probed and analyzed the marvelous uses of his Gang Body.
Compared to cracking force secret techniques, the difficulty had risen by more than a notch, but at least it allowed him to discern some clues.
Song Yinglong’s Gang Body was achieved by infusing an unknown iron powder into his skin, flesh, and even bones, gradually strengthening his physique, greatly increasing his strength, and making him invulnerable to blades and spears.
It sounds simple, but the Gang Body is a magical transformation, and it’s unknown what kind of sorcery or ritual was used in the process.
As Hong Yuan was about to leave, he suddenly heard Song Yinglong say, “Brother Hong, please wait.”
“Hm?”
“Does Brother Hong still remember what you said before, that if you encounter a troublesome person, you could trade with me and I could ask for your help?”
“Of course!”
A smile appeared on Hong Yuan’s face. “But while I have some acquaintance with you, Little Song, there are no friends in business. If you want me to act, the price is not low…”
A moment later, Hong Yuan left the Dragon Steed Mansion with a wooden box.
Song Yinglong remained seated in the hall, his expression stern, deep in thought.
After a while, a sigh, full of allure and tender sweetness, echoed by his ear.
Immediately after, a woman wearing a loose black robe that couldn’t hide her charm, with charming eyes, appeared beside Song Yinglong.
It was Lady Miaoyun.
The woman’s eyes flickered, and she chuckled, “Heavenly King, if you wish to hire someone, why seek outsiders from afar? Don’t forget that you and my sect are family. If the Heavenly King speaks, who among the sect’s masters would refuse?”
Song Yinglong’s gaze was cold and indifferent as he looked at Lady Miaoyun.
The Red Lotus Sect was a sect that worshipped the ‘Great Desire Bodhisattva of Freedom’.
Its doctrines were ‘All phenomena are impermanent, only desire is eternal’ and ‘After the karmic fire burns out, the red lotus is reborn’.
The Sect Master of the Red Lotus Sect was also known as the ‘Red Lotus Holy Lord’, who claimed to be the earthly incarnation of ‘Great Desire Heaven’.
Below the Red Lotus Holy Lord were the left and right envoys, namely the Nirvana Envoy and the Illuminating Envoy.
Below them were the Four Heavenly Kings!
Song Yinglong was the ‘Vajra Heavenly King’ of the Red Lotus Sect, but he joined the sect midway, seeking benefits from them, not truly selling his lifelong foundation to the Red Lotus Sect.
The Red Lotus Sect treated him very generously, not only bestowing the esteemed position of Heavenly King but also granting him the Mysterious Iron Buddha Skin Gang secret technique and various auxiliary materials, corresponding sorcery, rituals, and so on.
After cultivating this Gang Body, Song Yinglong thought there was no one who could match him in this world, but he repeatedly suffered setbacks at Hong Yuan’s hands, causing his mental state to be somewhat unstable recently.
After repeated defeats, Song Yinglong began to demand the Hundred Poisons Bodhi Gang methods from the Red Lotus Sect.
The Hundred Poisons Bodhi and Mysterious Iron Buddha Skin were meant to be cultivated as an internal and external unity, complementing each other. Once both were achieved, it would be the Poison Buddha Golden Body Gang.
Unfortunately, the Red Lotus Sect also had conditions: he had to conquer the lands of three prefectures before they would provide the secret techniques and materials.
However, under Song Yinglong’s forceful attitude, he had recently obtained the methods in advance, but lacked the crucial main ingredients, ‘Blood Bodhi’ and ‘Sand of Resentment’.
Song Yinglong, with the methods but lacking the ingredients, could only study them in advance but dared not attempt to cultivate them.
To achieve his goal, while Hong Yuan was consolidating and digesting his forces, Song Yinglong had already mobilized troops and attacked his prefectures.
Song Yinglong set his sights on the neighboring Taicang Commandery and Xingqing Prefecture.
Taicang Commandery, being downstream of the Jade Belt River, was prone to flooding year-round, with weak noble clans and Jianghu forces. The Dragon Steed Army advanced like a broken bamboo, encountering little resistance.
Xingqing Prefecture was a bit more troublesome.
The major noble clans felt threatened by Song Yinglong and, abandoning their past feuds, united to resist the Dragon Steed Army.
Song Yinglong merely found this troublesome, but unexpectedly, these noble clans managed to persuade the ‘Zhongyu Sect’ to intervene.
This Zhongyu Sect had a history of nearly two hundred years, was deeply rooted in Xingqing Prefecture, and had immense influence, once ranking among the top three sects in Mingzhou.
It was only decades ago, after an incident within the sect, that it was replaced by the newly risen Flower Stream Sword Sect.
But given that Zhongyu Sect was once a top three sect, it undoubtedly had a profound foundation. Who knew what hidden masters it possessed after decades?
Song Yinglong’s Gang Body had not yet recovered, and after much deliberation, he dared not act rashly, which is why he humbled himself to ask Hong Yuan for help.
As for seeking aid from the Red Lotus Sect?
This thought only flickered through Song Yinglong’s mind before he dismissed it. If he owed the Red Lotus Sect a favor, they would have an excuse to interfere in his Dragon Steed Army’s affairs.
Over time, would this Dragon Steed Army belong to him, Song Yinglong, or the Red Lotus Sect?
Seeing Song Yinglong’s indifferent attitude, Lady Miaoyun smiled slightly, changing the subject, “Miaoyun has come on the orders of the Sect Master, bringing good news for the Heavenly King.”
Song Yinglong said indifferently, “What instructions does the Holy Lord have?”
This Lady Miaoyun was a sorceress serving ‘Great Desire Heaven’ within the Red Lotus Sect, holding a very special position.
Since the Red Lotus Holy Lord was also the living incarnation of ‘Great Desire Heaven’, Lady Miaoyun, to a certain extent, represented the Red Lotus Holy Lord.
“The Sect Master’s decree is to bring the ‘Blood Bodhi’ and ‘Sand of Resentment’ in advance, and sorcerers have already been dispatched to assist the Heavenly King in completing the organ refining ritual and cultivating the ‘Hundred Poisons Bodhi Gang’!”
Lady Miaoyun said softly.
Her tone was gentle, but it caused Song Yinglong’s cold, stern face to change drastically. He abruptly stood up, his gaze fixed on Lady Miaoyun. “Is this true?”
Lady Miaoyun’s charming eyes glistened, and she smiled without speaking.
Tao Mansion.
Hong Yuan tied up the Night Roaming God and sent a servant to prepare the finest polished rice for feeding. Only then, under the speechless gaze of the Night Roaming God, did he return to the inner courtyard.
“Young Master!”
Tao Xiyue smiled before she spoke, two adorable dimples appearing at the corners of her mouth. She ran forward and took Hong Yuan’s arm.
The recently favored girl felt like a long time had passed after not seeing her lover for two days. She immediately clung to him, but as her small face pressed against him, her little nose twitched, and she sniffed him. She immediately pouted.
Hong Yuan noticed this and offered no explanation. He took Tao Xiyue’s tender little hand with his other large palm and headed towards the library.
Tao Xiyue noticed the wooden box in Hong Yuan’s other hand and curiously asked, “Young Master, what is that?”
“A gift from Manor Lord Song.”
“Oh!” Tao Xiyue nodded, a mischievous smile appearing on her face, knowing that Hong Yuan had gone to bully Song Yinglong again.
In the library, Xu Qingjing was still organizing various classics. Knowing that their Alliance Leader, Hong Yuan, loved books, his subordinates naturally collected them in large quantities, and many were delivered daily.
Compared to Tao Xiyue, Xu Qingjing was more composed, but she had clearly heard the commotion outside. She kept glancing outside while organizing books until Hong Yuan returned.
Seeing Hong Yuan enter, she finally showed a smile and stepped forward to meet him.
Tao Xiyue lit incense, Xu Qingjing poured Hong Yuan a full cup of fine wine, and Hong Yuan sat down at the table and opened the wooden box.
“Xingqing Prefecture… Zhongyu Sect?!”
Hong Yuan recalled Song Yinglong’s account and looked into the wooden box, which contained two books.
One was a microscopic level force technique called ‘Turtle Breath False Death Force’.
As the name suggests, this force technique had little use for increasing combat power, but it could induce a state of suspended animation. According to the book, after mastering it, the heartbeat could even drop to one beat per breath.
Hong Yuan, observing from above, naturally saw that this was an exaggeration, but if cultivated to its limit, one beat per minute might not be impossible.
Could the ‘Turtle Breath False Death Force’, when cultivated to great accomplishment, be used to… extend life?
The other book was an outer Gang method that only trained the eyes, Cave-Penetrating Eyes. Besides the main ingredients, Night Owl Tears Crystal and Magnetic Light Sand, it also required the assistance of a sorcery called ‘Blood Bat Technique’.
“Take thirty male bats and thirty female bats, pound them into a paste, and smear it all over the body…”
Hong Yuan frowned as he read, but the Cave-Penetrating Eyes, once cultivated, could see a thousand paces at night and discern the patterns on a mosquito’s wings, which was not inferior to his Clear Eyes and Penetrating talent.
Of course, the Cave-Penetrating Eyes had immense side effects. Over time, not only would one become blind, but one’s humanity would also gradually dissipate, inclining towards that of a bat or night owl.
Overall, by offering these two methods in exchange for his help against the Zhongyu Sect, Hong Yuan had actually been at a disadvantage.
The reason he agreed was entirely due to his interest in the Zhongyu Sect. A formerly top-tier sect, its foundation was worth Hong Yuan’s trip.
But there was no need to rush. He first needed to squeeze out the Night Roaming God’s value.
After spending half an hour in the library, a maidservant came to report, “Master, someone from the Dragon Steed Mansion has come to visit.”
“Oh? Who is it?” Hong Yuan raised an eyebrow. He always visited Song Yinglong as a friend. Did he finally realize that friends should reciprocate visits?
“It is a woman. She did not state her name.”
In the reception hall, the lights were bright.
As Hong Yuan strode in, a woman wearing a heavy veil swayed and rose, her posture alluring, and her voice charming, “Young Master Hong, we meet again!”
Hong Yuan chuckled, leisurely took a seat, and said indifferently, “What do you mean ‘again’? When I was conversing with Manor Lord Song, weren’t you listening from behind?”
The woman, whose face was covered by the heavy veil, was Lady Miaoyun. Hearing this, she wasn’t embarrassed and said softly, “Young Master Hong indeed has vast supernatural powers. How could my meager tricks hide from your eyes and ears?”
Hong Yuan didn’t waste time with pleasantries. He stared at Lady Miaoyun’s charming eyes. The outline of her face under the heavy veil gave him a sense of familiarity, but these eyes were extremely strange.
“What is your name, Lady? And why have you come here?” Hong Yuan got straight to the point.
Lady Miaoyun smiled faintly and said, “Young Master can call me Hong Lian…”
“Hong Lian?” Hong Yuan’s brow twitched.
Lady Miaoyun stroked her hanging hair with a slender hand, slowly combing it. She said, “Indeed, Hong Lian of the Red Lotus Sect.”
“The Red Lotus Sect is looking for me. What advice do you have?” Hong Yuan’s interest piqued.
He had seen the name ‘Red Lotus Sect’ in the Yin Book. It was a sect that worshipped ‘Great Desire Heaven’, advocating the indulgence of desires and unrestrained pleasure. Hundreds of years ago, a certain Sect Master even concealed his identity and entered the court as an official, becoming friends with the then Great Yin Emperor, which indirectly influenced the Great Yin’s decadent atmosphere.
For hundreds of years, the Red Lotus Sect had repeatedly opposed the Great Yin.
They had also played a part in the Great Yin rebellion over a hundred years ago.
“I presume Young Master has already guessed, Song Yinglong is one of our sect’s Heavenly Kings.” Lady Miaoyun said with a smile, “I have come specifically for you this time. Our sect eagerly seeks talented individuals, and your extraordinary talent is rarely seen in this era. You are precisely the talent our Red Lotus Sect desires. If Young Master is willing to join our sect, Hong Lian will recommend you as the ‘Holy Son’!”
“Holy Son? Isn’t that being someone’s son? I have no interest in that. Do you have a ‘Holy Father’ position? I might consider that.”
