Chapter 415: The Past of the Fourth Elder and the Valley Master of Seven Emotions Valley

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Shuang Feiyan, the Valley Master of the Seven Emotions Valley, a pinnacle curse master, and one of the few figures in the Barren State whom none dared provoke.

She commanded all manners of bizarre and eccentric curse arts that could penetrate any defense, leaving victims completely defenseless; anyone who crossed her had to be prepared to face an onslaught of curses.

Centuries ago, a certain sect had secretly slandered Shuang Feiyan, and upon discovering this, she inverted the genders of every single member of that sect, a state that persisted for half a year before normalcy returned.

To this day, that sect remained the laughingstock of the Barren State.

Lu Yang knew nothing of Shuang Feiyan's past exploits, but even a fool could deduce that a curse master was absolutely not to be trifled with.

Though he possessed knowledge of ancient dark secrets—especially those of the ancient immortals—and was destined to shoulder great responsibilities in the future, there was no need to face the wrath of a pinnacle curse master right now.

Who could possibly endure that?

"Do not fear, with this Immortal here, I guarantee no curse can harm you!" within his mental space, the source of curses declared with absolute confidence.

Lu Yang only grew significantly more terrified.

Zhao Po also appeared exceedingly tense; unlike Lu Yang, he actually knew exactly what Valley Master Shuang had done, a figure capable of frightening crying children into silence in the dead of night, and even though the Corpse Corpse Sect and the Seven Emotions Valley enjoyed long-standing relations, whether that relationship mattered depended entirely on Valley Master Shuang's mood.

Fortunately, Valley Master Shuang had no intention of making things difficult for the juniors; her expression shifted repeatedly before she finally let out a heavy sigh.

"When Shanren and I first met, we were about your age.

"On that day, Shanren was passing by Mount Cang when he heard cries for help from a bandit raid; he stepped forward righteously to rescue everyone, and that was the occasion where he and I first crossed paths."

Lu Yang nodded secretly, thinking what a splendid tale of a hero saving a beauty, the Fourth Elder certainly enjoyed marvelous romantic luck.

"As the bandit chief, seeing how Shanren possessed such an elegant demeanor and refined bearing, showing every sign of originating from a great sect or a grand clan, I captured him on the spot to make him my captive husband."

Lu Yang: "....."

Why did this story feel entirely wrong?

"My time as a bandit was solely to rob the rich and aid the poor; I never stole a copper from the destitute.

"Mainly, I realized there were too many bandits in the Barren State to ever eradicate completely, so I thought it better to become a bandit myself, expanding my influence step by step to crowd out the other bandits until the real bandits had nowhere left to go, wouldn't they all disappear then?"

"I digress; after capturing Shanren, I wished to marry him, yet he preferred death to submission, leaving me no choice but to temporarily give up."

Lu Yang remarked inwardly that he had long heard of the Barren State's tradition of marriage by abduction, but he never expected to witness a testament to it today.

"I did not completely abandon my designs on Shanren; his cultivation was no weaker than mine, and my success in capturing him relied entirely on a sneak attack, so to prevent him from escaping, I placed a curse upon him.

"Knowing he could not break the curse in a short time, Shanren obediently stayed by my side, and when I shared my carefully formulated bandit-eradication strategy with him, he calculated the odds, found it plausible, and subsequently joined me in robbing the rich to aid the poor, carving out a legendary reputation where the martial world came to know us as the Dual Bandits!

"Of course, during this period, Shanren also attempted to flee and tried to unravel the curse, all of which ended in failure.

"I simply adored Shanren's unyielding spirit of perseverance."

Lu Yang figured that the Fourth Elder's skill in unravelling curses must have been forged during that very period; no wonder the Fourth Elder only knew how to break curses but not how to cast them, as he turned out to be the one who was cursed back then.

"Mount Cang was a fine place; young cultivators who achieved fame early on would be captured by Shanren and me, such as the current Sect Master of the Corpse Corpse Sect and the Patriarch of the Barbarian Tribe, both of whom were captured by our joint efforts, and after I explained my plan to them, they too felt it was an excellent approach, taking a blood oath of alliance to join my bandit den, respectfully addressing me as Big Sister!

"With the assistance of the three of them, our Mount Cang bandit force expanded rapidly, causing the surrounding bandits to submit to us; I offered the defeated bandits two choices: either be refined into living corpses, or have my curses planted within them, and they all wisely chose the latter, becoming my subordinates.

"We utilized this method to further expand our influence, until dozens of mountain peaks were populated by our people.

"In the end, we commanded nearly half of the factions in the Barren State, and who among those walking the underworld did not know the name of the Four Dragons of Mount Cang?

"The leader of the largest bandit faction at the time was called the Mountain-Suppressing Tiger; seeing our rapid expansion, he launched a preemptive strike, intending to sever our momentum before our wings were fully fledged.

"The Mountain-Suppressing Tiger possessed a cultivation at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, and none of us could match him in single combat, but the four of us working together could defeat him!

"After the Mountain-Suppressing Tiger was defeated, he fled in panic, leaving behind harsh threats claiming he had a rogue cultivator of the Body Integration stage backing him, and that offending him was equivalent to offending that great expert, warning us to wait for our deaths—I cannot recall the exact words, but it was roughly that sort of threat."

"We realized this would not do, as we could not defeat a Body Integration stage expert, so we had no choice but to request our respective elders to intervene.

"When that rogue cultivator of the Body Integration stage appeared, intending to flaunt his might before us, the Valley Master of the Seven Emotions Valley, the Grand Elder of the Corpse Corpse Sect, and the Grand Elder of the Barbarian Tribe of that era all manifested at once.

"The opponent was merely in the early Body Integration stage, while our elders were all in the late Body Integration stage, and they had long since laid a dragnet, simply waiting for the target to walk into the trap.

"He was so terrified that he turned tail and fled on the spot, but no matter how fast he ran, how could he outrun our elders?

Lu Yang imagined that scene and felt a wave of despair; the poor man was merely an early Body Integration stage cultivator helping his subordinates eliminate a rival force, yet who could have anticipated that one colossal figure after another would emerge from behind the opposing side.

"That rogue cultivator possessed extraordinary escape arts, and knowing that capture meant certain death, he paid the price of burning his essence blood to break through the dragnet and flee."

"At that moment, a young child blocked the path of that rogue cultivator; it was your grand-master, the Sect Master of the Asking Daost Sect at the time, whose combat prowess was the highest among all the elders, and the moment he struck, that rogue cultivator could not have escaped even if he burned his life entirely dry.

"From then on, we unified the bandit forces of the Barren State, and were subsequently taken back by our elders to our respective factions to be placed in solitary confinement.

"Originally, Shanren was also supposed to be taken back for confinement, but your grand-master claimed there was no space left at the Reflection Cliff, so he confined Shanren together with me in the confinement room of the Seven Emotions Valley."

Lu Yang had heard of the Reflection Cliff; it was the place where the Asking Daost Sect sent members to contemplate their errors, though as a consistently obedient and honest child who had never been punished, he had no need to visit such a place.

Originally, the Eldest Senior Sister wanted to confine their Master—who neglected his cultivation—to the Reflection Cliff, but unfortunately, Master's cultivation was too high, and he frequented the Reflection Cliff so often that reflecting there achieved nothing, which was why he was confined right at his own doorstep instead.

"Who was confined at the Reflection Cliff at that time?"

"Your master and his seven peers; apparently, your master took his seven senior brothers and sisters to cause a massive upheaval in the Imperial Capital, teaching the scions of the nobility a lesson they would never forget, so if you ever visit the Imperial Capital, do not mention that you are a disciple of the Daoist Inquiring Silence."

Lu Yang: "......"

While other people had elders to back them up, why did it turn into his elders drawing enmity upon him instead?