The Gold and Jade Dragon Staff was now an ownerless object. It was too far away from its owner, and the relationship between them had been severed on the Taigu Immortal Path.

Wu Yu could not care too much about this. He immediately activated his Swift Art, and also summoned a few clones to scatter their concentration.

After all, such a huge fight had caused a commotion, and many people were already in the vicinity. He could escape, but only by the skin of his teeth.

Wu Yu had just left when a familiar person showed up. It was Jiang Qijun, with a face like thunder. In the white clouds, this femme fatale in golden robes and flying hair looked like a goddess.

She truly had teeth as white as ground ivory, and her eyebrows were as elegant as if two moths graced them. Her face blushing like a blooming lotus, her unblemished skin youthful and rouged. A woman of many charms, and who carried herself with grace. An unmatched beauty who could bring nations to ruin.

Compared to other girls that Wu Yu knew, Jiang Qijun came from a kingly bloodline, and she had a dominating presence to her. Whether in terms of her looks or her will, she was a dominating presence. The rightful Golden Luan Region Lord, and also a person who many wanted to get close to in the Yan Huang Ancient Country. 

She did not find Wu Yu, but met one of his doppelgangers. Her eyes were filled with detest. She wanted to destroy it, but she had lost news of Gongshu Ku. Seeing Wu Yu here, she could only suppress her seething anger and spit out, "Scum! Where is Gongshu Ku!"

Seeing her, Wu Yu's doppelganger was completely unfazed. He clasped his hands behind his back in the mist, and his mouth twitched slightly upwards. "Who is the scum you are referring to?" he enquired. 

"Demon Sealing Continent, a barren land. What difference is there between you and scum?"

"Oh, so ‘scum’ refers to me." Wu Yu laughed involuntarily.

Unfortunately, Jiang Qijun was a little dense. She did not understand Wu Yu's trap, and did not react much to his words. Instead, she raised her voice and asked again. "I asked you, where is Gongshu Ku?"

Wu Yu waved a hand, saying, "You came late. I tortured him, and he couldn't take it. He crushed his Taigu Immortal Talisman and scooted back home."

Jiang Qijun scoffed, her red lips turning upwards. "You are worthless before him. Trash. You? Defeat him? What a joke."

"Well, if you don't believe me, you had best ask him yourself. Besides, don't forget who it was who broke your petite little hands." This person was much more confident now. He would no longer be suppressed by the Golden Luan Region Lord.

On this point, the anger in Jiang Qijun's breast flared. She blinked and moved up to wring the neck of Wu Yu's clone. She thrust her fingers into his flesh as she cruelly said, "Very proud of yourself, aren't you! The fact that you escaped from Prince Le's clutches was truly unimaginable. Perhaps not even you imagined you could pull it off! That's why you're so ecstatic! But I think you have yet to comprehend how laughable your deeds have been! Do you know who you have set yourself against? The whole of the Yan Huang Ancient Country! This is a crime that your death a billion times over would not be able to pay for! Do you know who Prince Le is? Wu Yu, you dare to laugh. Do you know how tragic your end will be?"

Her outburst had been vehement. She had ranted on, the fire from her eyes burning Wu Yu.

She clutched and clung at Wu Yu. A pity this was Wu Yu's clone, and he could not smell her sweet scent.

"I'm no fool. Stop throwing smoke at me. The only one who hates me right now is you. The rest just want a share of the ancient crystals. Jiang Qijun. It's just that useless ego of yours wreaking havoc right now. You disdain me, but I will make you gnash your teeth in frustration, and you can do nothing about it. This doesn't sit well with you. But in the end, I paid my price for the ancient crystals as well. That is my right, and I have not the slightest bit of wrong. The wrongness is with the arrogance in yourself."

Wu Yu said with a slight smile. He spoke calmly till the end.

"You think you understand me well? You are right. I do not see you as worthy of regard, and your deeds have shamed and angered me. But there is one thing that is absolute. You are not even fit to polish my shoes! In the Yan Huang Ancient Country, I am the owner of the vast Golden Sunflower Palace! My hand covers the sky, and you are but a side character of the Demon Sealing Continent! Your bloodline is pathetic! The people there were originally criminals exiled by the Yan Huang Ancient Country! You are the progeny of criminals! On the Taigu Immortal Path, you can use these cheap tricks on me. Once we are out, a single word from me will see you dead a thousand times over! You, the get of the criminals of the Demon Sealing Continent, do you know the status of the Yan Huang Ancient Region?!" Jiang Qijun's eyes bore deeply into Wu Yu's own. Her own face was plastered close to him as she laid on the pressure.

Perhaps her words made sense. Once out of the Taigu Immortal Path, it was not only ability, but one's influence and status, one's background and parents that mattered. But that was definitely no reason for Wu Yu to lower his head to her.

He waved it off. "Alright. I concede that your family is amazing. But I'm sorry to say that I've used up all the ancient crystals. It's thanks to them that I could defeat Gongshu Ku. Hear my honest words: I advise you two to give up on this. You cannot possibly get the ancient crystals. I feel that you should devote your efforts elsewhere. There are many boons on the Taigu Immortal Path, and yet you continue to tunnel-vision on the ancient crystals. Isn't that a little low of you?"

"The ancient crystals are not the point! The point is that you stole them before us, and it is our pride that is lost!" Jiang Qijun screamed, her tendons straining with her outburst.

"And why should martial cultivators care about their pride? Dao is what is most important."

Wu Yu knew what she was thinking, as well as her logic. But he did not agree. His understanding of dao was very pure. And to Jiang Qijun, it was more complicated than that.

"You are a mere fifth tier Violent Kingdom of the Inner Sea cultivator. You dare to speak to a third tier Primordial Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator like myself about what dao means? The dao that I know is 1,000 - 10,000 times that of yours. Stop disgracing yourself before me. Let me tell you this: you are finished. I don't care if you can produce the ancient crystals. You offended me, and I will have your life!"

"Will my life win you back your pride? Haha!" Wu Yu could not help but laugh.

"You're asking to die! It's not just me. You offended Prince Le! Prince Le went in to find you, and you actually escaped. You have already made Prince Le unhappy. To dare to cross Prince Le in the Jambu Realm - that is the height of idiocy! If I were you, I would be attending to my final affairs. Still causing a nuisance in the Taigu Immortal Path? Pfft!"

The more Jiang Qijun spoke, the more worked up she got. In her argument with Wu Yu, she was hard pressed to answer everything he said.

Wu Yu did not know about Prince Le, but he knew that he was someone important in the Yan Huang Ancient Country. His influence had to be great.

"You still don't know why Prince Le went in to find you! He was about to use his secret arts to scry your memories and carefully inspect every one of your experiences from birth. That way, he need not even go to the Demon Sealing Continent to see if the affair of the Heaven Devouring Evil Lord is real. And at that time, you will have no more value. Pray tell, do you think Prince Le cares about you termites on a barren land?"

Saying thus, she laughed, on the verge of hysteria.

"Scry."

This phrase made Wu Yu's hair stand on end.

"So I have been seeing this world of dao too simply."

He had underestimated these people, and also Prince Le. He did not know such a person would appear, but scrying.... What did they think he was....

If he succeeded, then his immortal's legacy, such as the Ruyi Jingu Bang, would all be completely exposed. He would know that the matter of the Heaven Devouring Evil Lord was real, but the exposure of the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal would definitely be fatal to himself. Wu Yu believed that the people of the Jambu Realm would go crazy over his immortal's legacy.

"Good that you know it. Never underestimate others, especially at the Yan Huang Ancient Region. Don't forget how I died - it was to this bunch of people ganging up on me. And for what? For my legacy."

Wu Yu felt a little shaken.

This was delayed fear.

If he had not mastered the Sun Vessel back then, and had not been prepared, he would not have been able to escape when Prince Le had come in. He would definitely have been caught, and if Prince Le had scryed his memories, would he even still be alive?

This path of cultivation was fraught with dangers!

"Martial cultivation is plunder. Only the strongest rule!"

Wu Yu gained an even deeper understanding, especially of the first half. Each time he recalled these words, he felt them even more deeply.

Plunder, scrying!

"Prince Le will be here soon. Wait for your death, Wu Yu. I am very curious. What is within your memory?" Jiang Qijun suddenly released him as she cackled. She had won, because she saw that she had managed to put a scare into Wu Yu now.

"You have no chance, and you will never find out."

After learning of Prince Le's plan, he had no heart to banter with her here. Because he knew what the most important next step was. No matter what, he could not go anywhere near Prince Le.

"This world of cultivation is full of perils. In the end, the one that can become immortal is one in a billion. You think that an immortal's legacy is enough for you to succeed? Even if 10,000 people had the legacies of immortals, only a mere few would succeed on their path. Back then, I also died along the way because I was not prudent enough." Ming Long sighed.

Truly not easy.

But this did not daunt him.

"Are you scared?" Ming Long asked.

Wu Yu shook his head, saying, "Actually, I have to thank Jiang Qijun. Otherwise, I would still be oblivious to the danger. But I am definitely not scared of this. Rather... my goals, my will, my courage! One day, I will make them feel this fear instead."

He felt that fear and terror were different. Fear was timidity, while terror was a response from within. This news indeed made him quail, but it was not enough to undo him. Instead, it elevated his wariness a level.

"Go and die!" Jiang Qijun's golden bangle lashed out, dissipating Wu Yu's clone.

Of course, this was merely her venting her anger.

The real show had yet to begin.