After all, he really didn’t want to die.

But the Female Daoist acted as if she had seen right through him, completely unconcerned with his thoughts.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, when the atmosphere had grown chillingly tense, Tang Yun could no longer bear it and finally spoke up.

"What exactly do you want? Why would I do something that has no upside for me, only drawbacks?"

The Female Daoist chuckled lightly. "You’re good at playing these little games, but you need to know when and where to play them. With me, such petty cleverness isn’t amusing in the slightest."

"But I’m a benevolent person. Since you’re so keen on being clever, I don’t mind indulging you and just telling you."

With that, the Female Daoist stopped wasting words. She reached into her sleeve, fumbled around for a moment, and then pulled out a strange object.

The object was spherical and covered with a network of fine cracks.

But the cracks were so fine that it was impossible to see what was inside.

Furthermore, the sphere was jet-black and emanated a cold, sinister aura.

Tang Yun’s eyes widened. "A Deceitful Object!"

The Female Daoist nodded. "We’ve paid a hefty price to kill Shen Bai this time—far more than you have. This is called an Evil Thought Pearl. It can amplify the evil thoughts in a person’s heart."

"Of course, it’s not effective against true masters. For those with great power, the Evil Thought Pearl can, at most, momentarily destabilize their minds. But that is enough."

"’Destabilize their minds?’ What are you planning?" Tang Yun couldn’t hold back any longer, his hands clenching into fists. "Can we stop beating around the bush? Just tell me straight."

The Female Daoist tapped the table. "We will use a Nightmare as the supernatural medium, gather the resentment of the masses, and then use the Evil Thought Pearl as a catalyst to amplify the Nightmare’s power and control another’s evil thoughts."

"What do you think?"

"Who do you plan to control?" Tang Yun pressed.

The Female Daoist shook her head. "You don’t need to concern yourself with that. We intend to control someone capable of killing Shen Bai. Shen Bai will die, and you will be cleared of all suspicion. The way it works is this: after we use that person to kill Shen Bai, we will weaken the Evil Thought Pearl’s power. The person will then abruptly awaken and realize they have been afflicted by a Nightmare and trapped within a dream." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"He will kill the Nightmare, perhaps even perishing along with it. When that happens, no one will know it was a Nightmare, much less that you were pulling the strings."

At this point, everything that needed to be said had been laid bare.

Tang Yun fell silent. After mentally reviewing the entire plan, he nodded. "Fine."

He agreed. He had no other choice.

His earlier defiance had just been an act to negotiate and learn the details of their plan.

He was, in truth, terrified of death.

The Female Daoist put the Evil Thought Pearl away and said no more, preparing to dismantle the barrier around them.

As she was about to leave, Tang Yun asked another question.

"I saw you hired assassins from the Dark Hall to make continuous attempts on Shen Bai’s life. What’s the point of all that useless effort?"

He had only asked on impulse, not really expecting an answer.

But to his surprise, the Female Daoist actually replied.

"Shen Bai is too uncanny. Anything he gets involved in has a way of turning from good to bad. So, we’re using the Dark Hall to keep him occupied for now."

"Besides, the Wild Taoist Sect secretly founded the Dark Hall anyway. It doesn’t matter if every last one of them dies at Shen Bai’s hands, as long as he stays out of this affair."

Tang Yun swallowed hard. "Are you really that wary of him? Is he that uncanny?"

The Female Daoist recalled the various legends about him from Fenglin State, and the wariness in her eyes deepened. "It’s not just that he’s uncanny. Since his rise from Shengyun County, that man has never known defeat. He has never lost, even when fighting those in the Meridian Realm while only at the Five Organ Realm himself. That alone is reason enough to nip him in the bud."

The invisible barrier around them vanished.

The Female Daoist said nothing more, simply turning and leaving the room.

Soon, Tang Yun was the only one left in the room.

Tang Yun clenched his fists, thinking, ’If I can pull this off, the Peach Opera Garden will hold an even greater place in Marquis Fengjiang’s esteem.’

Before long, the room fell completely silent.

...

Time passed gradually. In the blink of an eye, several more days had gone by.

During this period, Shen Bai had once again settled back into a regular routine.

However, his routine was constantly interrupted by a few annoying mosquitoes.

Every now and then, someone from the Dark Hall would come to harass him, only to be swatted to death by Shen Bai with a casual slap. He would then hand the bodies over to the Government Office.

Other than that, things were remarkably quiet.

As for clues, he had found none.

The Dark Hall’s assassins would either commit suicide or be killed by Shen Bai, making it extremely difficult to capture one alive.

Fortunately, although the assassins were numerous, they didn’t disrupt Shen Bai’s progress in grinding his Skill Level.

After all, dealing with them took a few breaths at most.

And after so much intense grinding, Shen Bai’s Poison Avoidance and Rejuvenation Skill had reached Level 4, just as he had hoped.

The familiar smoke appeared before his eyes. It swirled gracefully, forming lines of text that floated in front of him.

[Poison Avoidance and Rejuvenation Skill Level 4 (Healing +8, Recovery +8, Antitoxic +8, Poison Attachment +8): 0/10000]

Shen Bai closed his eyes and absorbed all the Information, completely mastering the Level 4 Poison Avoidance and Rejuvenation Skill.

Just then, a glint flashed in Shen Bai’s eyes.

’The gold in my lungs has covered most of the area. As long as I grind the remaining two Divine Powers to Level 4, I can advance to the next stage.’

Shen Bai thought to himself.

’But before that, I think I’ve found a way to get a lead on the Dark Hall.’

Looking at this new Divine Power ability, the corners of Shen Bai’s mouth turned up slightly.