At this point, Chen Kuang naturally could not act under his real identity.
So he casually invented a name that sounded impressive enough, spinning a tale of a reclusive master, a convenient identity to support his bluffing.
After finally escaping pursuit and faking his death to vanish from the world, he had a rare chance to keep a low profile and live a peaceful life to cultivate and grow stronger.
There was no way he'd expose himself again and return to that kind of precarious, death-at-every-moment existence.
Since he had to maintain a disguise and also protect himself from trouble, there were naturally two strategies: feigning weakness, or projecting overwhelming strength.
To avoid conflict, you either had to make others think you weren't worth targeting, or make them believe they weren't worthy of becoming your enemy.
Both approaches had their risks. But relatively speaking, the first was easier to manage.
However, Chen Kuang was not someone who liked to suffer injustice, just the last person who made him swallow his pride ended up with a shattered spine, turned into a pile of rotten meat.
And besides, it was the other party who provoked him first, and with such an unfriendly attitude. Naturally, playing the strong card to suppress the opponent was the safer choice.
With the combination of his current passives and abilities, as long as he didn't actually engage in battle, he could easily pass himself off as a Moon-Embracing Realm cultivator without raising suspicion.
And if he spun the lie cleverly enough, even making others think he was a Grandmaster was not impossible.
And if push really came to shove, even if his opponent were a Grandmaster, he'd simply give killing them a try and see how it goes.
As for why the name he used was "White Dragon True Sovereign", there wasn't any particular reason.
First, he had just obtained the Illustrated Canon of the Dragon's Harmonious Offspring, so he instinctively thought of "dragon." Secondly, he simply liked the shade white.
A self-proclaimed title involving "dragon" would most likely make others assume he was a transformed flood dragon or similar demon.
In this world, true dragons were exceedingly rare. Anything with even a trace of dragon blood couldn't possibly be weak, and came with natural deterrent power.
Moreover, once he finished cultivating the Illustrated Canon of the Dragon's Harmonious Offspring and successfully reared a pseudo-dragon, the name might very well become justified in reality.
Upon hearing this, Wu Man's heart trembled, and her face paled a shade further.
To dare take "dragon" as part of one's title,regardless of whether one was a true dragon or not, one had to be closely related to dragons.
As a snake demon, what she longed for most was, naturally, the legendary tale of transforming from a serpent into a flood dragon. Toward dragons, she felt an innate and inherent awe.
But alas, she had long accepted the truth, that such tales were only myths. A snake would never become a flood dragon. All she could do was lie in the shadows, wait for a chance to hunt, and be content simply surviving.
White Dragon True Sovereign... could this really be a major figure?!
After all, the world didn't consist solely of the Mysterious Divine Path Sect and the Wugou Pure Land. Many high-level reclusive rogue cultivators existed in the shadows..
Most of them loved peace and isolation and rarely ever meddled in mortal affairs.
Could she have stumbled into one today?
"Th-thank you, senior, for sparing my life..."
Having just skirted the edge of death, Wu Man's divine sense was still disoriented. She staggered to her feet in a daze, blood still flowing from her seven orifices and dripping onto the floor.
To be able to wield divine sense techniques and related Divine Abilities, this White Dragon True Sovereign was undoubtedly of Middle Third Grade.
Without having opened the Sea of Consciousness, a cultivator's divine sense was feeble and rootless. If one tried to forcibly train divine sense techniques at that stage, they would undoubtedly die from backlash.
Divine sense, that is, the soul's conscious mind, constitutes half of a complete cultivator.
Before breaking through to the Sea-Cleaving Realm, cultivators only trained their bodies, not their divine sense.
Or rather, it simply wasn't possible to train it.
Without forging a Sea of Consciousness from one's physical body to serve as an anchor and vessel, divine sense was like rootless duckweed or a flickering candle, gone at the first gust of wind.
In that state, if one forcibly practiced divine sense arts, the divine sense would balloon like a balloon being endlessly inflated, floating higher and lighter with nothing to tether it.
Eventually, it would detach from both soul and body, drifting into the nether beyond life and death.
Put plainly, divine sense at that point would become what mortals called "a ghost."
But in Cangyuan, ordinary people, and even many cultivators, had no such thing as reincarnation.
To enter the Bardo Realm didn't mean Ox-Head and Horse-Face would come drag you to the underworld. It meant only one thing, death.
The Bardo realm was a space between life and death, where only soul-consciousness could exist.
Once a soul entered without a body to anchor it, it would become blind and senseless, enveloped in utter darkness, and soon lose all direction, eventually dissolving into nothingness.
The physical body would then become an animated corpse, never to awaken again.
And in time, it too would die.
Conversely, to those who had never practiced divine sense techniques, facing an opponent who had was like being crushed by a higher-dimensional force. There was no defense at all.
This was why Middle Third Grade usually crushed Lower Third Grade with ease.
As for someone like Chen Kuang, who didn't play by the rules and could use divine sense attacks to reverse-kill a Middle Third Grade enemy, well, such an anomaly might not appear even once in a few thousand years.
No one would ever guess in such a bizarre direction.
Wu Man, consumed by fear, immediately concluded that the other party's strength was at least Moon-Embracing Realm!
As for exactly what level this White Dragon True Sovereign was, she had no way of knowing, he hadn't shown himself, only spoken from the shadows.
Chen Kuang asked, "Just now, you said you serve Chief Constable Wang Yangbo? But as I recall, he's a disciple of the Department of Shennong, shouldn't he be our enemy? Why would he take a demon as a subordinate?"
"'Our'...?" Wu Man's heart jolted. So this White Dragon True Sovereign was also a demon!
And thinking back to his earlier mention of an old friend calling him this name eight hundred years ago, it seemed this elder had been in seclusion for a very long time and had only recently emerged into the world again.
Wu Man's eyes flickered. She took a deep breath and said, "Senior has long been secluded and might not know, the Department of Shennong today is no longer the same as the one that once treated demons as mortal enemies. Perhaps the very top still adheres to the creed of 'shepherding demons to preserve order,' but more often than not, many secretly collaborate with demons to pursue their own interests..."
A trace of mocking curled at her lips: "As long as they let us break the rules, and they come in afterward to act like guardians of order, they can maintain their righteous image and keep receiving the admiration of the people."
"Otherwise, in today's Yang Kingdom, do you think demons want to come out every day to commit evil, only to be hunted?"
So that's how it is... Chen Kuang rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
It made sense. This was the Yang Kingdom, home turf of the Department of Shennong.
While they didn't rival the Mysterious Divine Path Sect or the Wugou Pure Land, they were still a major sect of indisputable strength.
If they couldn't even control demons in their own base territory, what was the point of cultivating at all? They might as well go home and plant sweet potatoes.
Leaving demons to run wild in the Yang Kingdom served one purpose:
If there are no villains, who will revere the heroes?
Only by letting demons run rampant could the Department of Shennong maintain its legitimacy and its place of worship. That way, mortals would willingly, and even eagerly, offer up tribute.
This world had no spiritual stones or other unique currencies for cultivators. Whether mortal or immortal, all used gold, silver, and copper.
Most cultivators only gained the ability to fast, living on wind and dew without eating, after reaching Moon-Embracing Realm.
Before that, they still had to solve food, drink, and excretion.
And running a massive sect required money, lots of it. Arguably, money was the most important factor of all.
The vast number of low-grade cultivators needed to be supported.
Otherwise, who would join your sect if doing so meant going hungry every day?
For example, the Mysterious Divine Path Sect occupied an entire continent, the Floating Dusk Continent, functioning like a nation-state. Its citizens worshiped the sect.
In return, those citizens were protected under the sect's rule.
This was the standard ecosystem between cultivators and mortals in Cangyuan.
Even in other nations, sects would usually establish ties with the court and collaborate with the authorities.
As for Wu Man, and demons like her who lived in Zangfeng Prefecture, they had long discovered their own way to survive, by working for Chief Constable Wang Yangbo.
They had become part of Zangfeng Prefecture's "ecosystem."
Chen Kuang plucked a few strings on the Zither and asked with curiosity, "So Wang Yangbo embezzled official silver for personal gain?"
Wu Man nodded. She understood it was best to comply with the times, and no longer had any thought of resistance:
"Yes... Over the years, he's profited immensely by instructing us to do such things, then deliberately letting us escape afterward."
Her words, of course, painted her as clean and uninvolved.
Chen Kuang inwardly sneered.
Such obvious rhetoric, if he hadn't witnessed Wu Man's earlier arrogance, he might have believed her.
Given her attitude, she had clearly profited greatly. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so enthusiastic, or treated Wang Yangbo like her patron deity.
So perhaps, the situation for demons in the Yang Kingdom wasn't as miserable as he thought. A significant portion had likely already been co-opted by the court.
But the constables who came earlier were definitely serious about their search.
Which meant the lower-level cultivators were unaware of this hidden layer.
If Wu Man were really caught, Wang Yangbo probably wouldn't protect them.
Chen Kuang asked, "How many demons like you are there?"
Wu Man replied, "Not many. Not all demons are useful, and not all are willing to take such risks."
"Most just want to live."
But in her heart, she mocked them.
Those demons would never understand, if you merely wanted to survive in human territory... then you wouldn't survive.
Chen Kuang asked again, "Then... there must be a third kind of demon, right?"
Wu Man was silent for a while. Chen Kuang was asking a lot, but she assumed this senior had just entered the world and was trying to understand the current state of the demon race.
"There is."
"The demons who are truly hostile to humanity have formed the Mountain-Sea Alliance. It's not just in the Yang Kingdom, other nations' demons have joined too."
This was the first time Chen Kuang had heard of a large-scale demon organization.
But it made sense. Demons banding together was natural.
Chen Kuang thought for a moment, narrowed his eyes, and suddenly asked, "What about you? Are you a member?"
Wu Man hesitated, then answered, "I'm a rogue cultivator..."
Before she finished speaking, the invisible Sword of the Mind struck again.
"Ugh!" Wu Man let out a muffled groan and dropped to her knees. Scales instantly emerged on her body. Her face became covered in purple reptilian marks, and she was so weak that she couldn't even scream.
Since Chen Kuang had been communicating via divine sense, Liu Qingcheng didn't know what had happened at all. She just stared in confusion as the woman who had been speaking normally a moment ago suddenly turned into a complete wreck.
But she could guess...
She must have angered Chen Kuang, again.
Liu Qingcheng was inwardly startled, secretly thankful she hadn't truly treated Chen Kuang as a dangerous person. Although Chen Kuang had not shown her any hostility, judging from his current methods, he was clearly not a kind soul.
His kindness, perhaps, only extended toward the ignorant and weak.
That Wu Man hadn't even raised a hand, yet was already tormented to this extent by him...
After a long while, Wu Man finally collapsed entirely to the ground. Her face was deathly pale, her breathing more exhalation than inhalation, and her lower body had already transformed into a violet serpent's tail, which writhed weakly on the floor.
Chen Kuang retracted the Sword of the Mind and said blandly, "Don't try to lie again."
His [Piercing Insight] passive allowed him to determine whether what someone said was true or false.
Just now, Wu Man had been lying.
She was not a rogue cultivator.
"Y-yes..."
Wu Man answered with a trembling voice, not even daring to try crawling. She only prostrated herself on the ground, her heart filled with unspeakable fear.
That was not merely a divine sense technique, the Sword of the Mind was saturated with a terrifying degree of Vicious Qi and violent karmic intent.
Only now did she realize, the first sword had only been a light warning, not even used in full force.
Whereas the second sword, Chen Kuang had struck with true intent.
That sword brought with it a vision: countless wailing vengeful spirits, mountains of corpses, seas of blood, layer upon layer of rotting bodies stacked like soggy, filling-stuffed dough skins... all collapsing toward her, engulfing her world in a suffocating crush.
It was enough to make one's sanity collapse..
Just how many had this White Dragon True Sovereign killed, to cultivate such horrifying Vicious Qi?
Wu Man had completely misjudged him. She had assumed he was a reclusive demon elder, aloof from worldly affairs, never realizing this was actually an ancient monster who killed without blinking.
Worse still... he could see into her thoughts!
Chen Kuang's voice was still ethereal and emotionless:
"You are a member of the Mountain-Sea Alliance."
Wu Man dared not deflect any longer. "Yes."
Chen Kuang continued, "But the other members of the Mountain-Sea Alliance... do not know that you work for Wang Yangbo."
Wu Man's voice was hoarse, "Yes..."
Chen Kuang said coldly, "You are at the Tower Ascension Realm. Within the Mountain-Sea Alliance, your status should not be low. At the very least, you likely have a group of demons following your command. You deceived them, making them act openly under the Mountain-Sea Alliance's name, confronting the Department of Shennong."
"In this way, nothing would seem amiss. No matter who investigates, no one would suspect that demons from the Mountain-Sea Alliance are secretly connected to the Chief Constable of the Department of Shennong."
"But in truth, you sold them out. The spoils gained, you split with Wang Yangbo."
This was his deduction, but he was almost certain it was correct.
Wu Man worked for Wang Yangbo and was also part of the Mountain-Sea Alliance. She had to be betraying one side.
Judging by her attitude, she was most likely not a spy for the Alliance, rather, she was Wang Yangbo's embedded agent.
Wu Man's heart clenched.
It was exactly as he'd said.
That Akan... had only just died by her hand.
She had thrown him out as a scapegoat.
That way, Wang Yangbo could catch the "culprit" and close the case, while the missing official silver ended up in their hands.
From Wu Man's silence, Chen Kuang already had his answer. He sneered inwardly.
A perfect little scheme.
Wu Man worried whether this White Dragon True Sovereign would strike her down for betraying her kin, but to her surprise, he merely brushed past the issue and didn't pursue it further.
Chen Kuang changed the subject and asked, "What was the original use of this official silver?"
He asked this because when he'd first discovered the silver boxes, two of them still bore seals, not from the prefectural office of the Yang Kingdom, but stamped with the signature of the Ministry of Revenue of the imperial court.
Which meant this batch of official silver had been issued by the central government.
Wu Man was briefly stunned, then murmured,
"Disaster relief."
Chen Kuang frowned. "Disaster relief?"
Wu Man, recovering slightly, propped herself up using her serpent's tail, licked the dried blood from her lips, and nodded.
"Yes."
She thought to herself: this old monster really has been out of touch, he didn't even know about this recent event.
She explained, "Since the beginning of autumn last month, continuous rain has fallen over neighboring Yongan Prefecture, causing the dike of the Yang Kingdom's largest river, the main course of the Yongan River, to collapse. Floodwaters spread for hundreds of miles, affecting no less than several million civilians."
"The Yang Kingdom's court only began disaster relief this month. These ten boxes of silver were part of the aid funds."
Chen Kuang fell silent.
He had originally been marveling at how much "free" silver had landed in his hands.
Now that he knew it was relief money, his entire perspective flipped 180 degrees.
This wasn't "a lot", it was insultingly little.
A flood affecting millions, and only ten boxes of silver were sent?
On the surface, the Yang Kingdom looked prosperous and magnificent... but it was apparently even more absurd than the Liang Kingdom.
He blurted out, "Didn't any cultivators intervene?"
Wu Man was baffled. "Cultivators? Why would they?"
Chen Kuang was momentarily speechless.
Right, how could he forget?
In this world, cultivators were not compassionate Buddhas.
True cultivators of merit were perhaps one in ten thousand, and most of those were probably bald-headed monks in the far-off Wugou Pure Land.
Even the Mysterious Divine Path Sect didn't cultivate merit, they cultivated virtue.
Merit is external; virtue is internal.
His original body's family nearly died thirteen years ago during the drought at the Eastern Court Lake.
Did any cultivator lift a hand then?
No.
It was only afterward, once a Demon Sword was discovered to be the cause, that people bothered to investigate.
Clearly, when it came to natural disasters, cultivators generally did not interfere.
Chen Kuang said nothing.
Wu Man, however, took his silence as a cue to curry favor.
"Senior suspects that the flood might have been caused by cultivators? That's... not impossible."
Trying to prove her worth, she revealed a bit more.
"A few months ago, the Department of Shennong secretly dispatched many disciples to Yongan Prefecture, including two Grandmasters. But we never learned what they were there for. Supposedly, some miraculous Spiritual Treasure was about to be born, though I can't confirm if that's true."
She added, "This month, the Department of Shennong hasn't made many moves. In fact, one was recalled. They even sent three Grandmasters from the bureau to the border to intercept someone, but all three died under mysterious circumstances."
Chen Kuang raised an eyebrow.
So in just two days, word had already reached the interior of the Yang Kingdom.
Before his "death," he had sensed four Grandmasters on the edge of the battlefield. One of them was Shen Xingzhu, and the other three were likely from the Department of Shennong.
Those three Grandmasters... were probably slain by his senior brother.
"I also know many things about the Department of Shennong's inner workings. If senior wishes to hear, I will speak without reservation!"
Wu Man sensed Chen Kuang's interest and eagerly offered.
Chen Kuang neither confirmed nor denied it.
"Oh? Affairs of the Department of Shennong must be classified. If you tell me... what will you say to Wang Yangbo?"
"Are you going to betray him?"
Wu Man's breath caught, but she still feigned composure and said, "I merely serve Wang Yangbo for profit. That doesn't count as betrayal."
Chen Kuang asked:
"And this silver?"
Wu Man immediately replied:
"A gift for senior! I even know where the rest of the silver is. I can tell you everything!"
She opened her mouth, and spat out three more boxes of silver, dropping them to the floor.
Chen Kuang couldn't help but think: So it's true, money really does attract more money. It just keeps coming!
He said, "Very well, then. Lead the way."
This senior is letting me keep me keep my life!
Wu Man exhaled a huge sigh of relief. "Of course!"
"Just..." She hesitated. "Will senior not reveal his form?"
Chen Kuang said indifferently, "Just walk out the door, you'll see me."
Wu Man swallowed a mouthful of blood foam, cautiously glanced at Liu Qingcheng, who had watched the entire scene as if she were watching a one-woman play, and turned to exit the room.
Outside in the corridor, it was completely deserted. Only the shimmering light of the Rouge River glimmered under the moonlight. The distant Zither music had already ceased.
Wu Man, nervous, took two steps forward and tried:
"Senior?"
Chen Kuang's voice suddenly sounded directly behind her, very close.
"I'm here."
Wu Man's heart lurched. Before she could even turn around, she felt a sudden warmth in her throat.
She looked down and saw blood gushing from her neck. Her vision went dark, and she collapsed face-first onto the floor.
Chen Kuang narrowed his eyes and retrieved the sword in his hand, casually twirling it once.
The blade was limp and dull, with not a trace of forge-work on it, just a strip of soft iron, without edges, and a rounded tip.
Liu Qingcheng cried out in surprise, "My performance sword!"
Yes, this was the practice prop sword from Liu Qingcheng's room, originally used for stage dance performances. It had no killing power... or so it should have.
Chen Kuang glanced over, casually tossed it back to her.
"Just borrowed it for a bit. Don't worry, no blood."
The Sword of the Mind consumed too much focus, it was far easier to sneak attack instead.
The passive [Sword Heart] was indeed powerful. So long as it was a sword, it could be wielded perfectly to achieve the desired result.
Liu Qingcheng fumbled to catch it. Sure enough, when she looked closely, the slick, gleaming sword was entirely unstained, there was not a single drop of blood.
She stood there dumbstruck.
Never in her life had she imagined this soft, prop-like sword could one day be used to kill!
To pluck a flower, to flick a leaf, both could become weapons. It was nothing more than this.
Chen Kuang waved his hand. The summoned Myriad Tribulation Enduring Fire wrapped around Wu Man's corpse, reducing it to drifting ash.
It was a long while before Liu Qingcheng regained her composure. Staring at that pile of ash, she asked cautiously:
"You... you just killed her like that? Then what about the rest of the silver? The intel? You don't want it anymore?"
Chen Kuang narrowed his eyes.
"Someone will come and tell me voluntarily."
In his status panel, two notifications appeared for the first time.
One was not a passive.
[You persuaded the serpent demon Wu Man to believe your lie. You have acquired the passive: "Reasoned and Convincing" -So long as your words follow internal logic, they are highly likely to be believed.]
[You have gained 1 Evil Karma, and 1 Good Karma.]