Dual Cultivation God Returns

Chapter 713  The image of him in her eyes...

Zhao Xieren stood on the edge of the plateau, watching the Demonic Beasts rush through the distant forests still outside the line of sight of a normal human.

"Hoho, I hope the results were satisfactory, Valley Master", he then turned to Wu Long who came closer while taking off his mask.

"Good work", the latter nodded while stopping next to the old man and joining him in looking into the distance from the cliffside, and then turning back, smiled toward the Frozen Garden Sect Protectors, "You all did great as well, not only your individual skills, but your teamwork. Besides, it is rewarding to see you use actual Ice attribute instead of just Spiritual Qi projections"

"V-Valley Master's words are too kind"

"Yes, we only did as we should"

"A-and the Ice attribute is all thanks to Valley Master helping us advance into Seven Profound Realms!"

"..."

The ladies were still wearing veils, but as soon as they got praised by Wu Long, their body language instantly changed from the cold, distant and silent fighters into bashful maidens.

There was a sense of excitement and pride floating around them as it was the first time Wu Long used their abilities for his own goals. The first time they felt like they were of help directly to him.

"What about me? What about me? Darling~, did I do a good job too?", a figure with black hair and wearing tight black clothes appeared to Wu Long's side, and hugged his forearm as her crimson eyes were slightly glowing. Zhao Xieren slightly shook as something about this beauty always sent cold shivers through his spine. He could not exactly pinpoint what it was, but he noticed that while he always felt at least slightly uncomfortable around her, the feeling intensified whenever she was around Wu Long. It was as if something in her behavior was amplified by his presence. And the look in her eyes when she looked at Wu Long gave the old man goosebumps.

'H-How could Valley Master look into those eyes and not feel at least a bit… I don't know… creeped out? Or at the bare minimum a slight chilling sensation? … Haa~ but then again, he isn't someone exactly normal either… Ah~... how scary… How did I end up with such scary people?', he thought while making small steps away from the couple and trying to be as unnoticeable as possible.

"Haha, of course, Ye'er. You were a great help, thank you", Wu Long chuckled and raised his hand to tuck away Hong Ye's hair from the side of her face, and tracing her soft skin on the side of her face with his fingers downward, gently took off her silver mask while leaning in to give her an affectionate kiss.

Zhao Xieren was not the only pair of eyes that looked at the two with a bit of discomfort though, but the other one had crimson irises, and the uneasiness in them was directed toward Wu Long instead of Hong Ye.

Hong Yue stood a bit further away, looking at the two as Wu Long showered her younger twin with affection.

'Hah! Seriously… there should be a limit to everything! Not only did she volunteer to follow him here as soon as she overheard that Mythical Beast saying he needed people to do something, she then basically forced her way into his plan to be helpful to him… what is it that makes her to go to such lengths for this man?', she narrowed her eyes.

'She even dragged me along saying she'll show me her "Darling's cool side" or something…', the white-haired beauty snorted with incredulousness as she remembered her sister's words, '...well, I must admit, the way everything went exactly as he wanted it to go is a bit impressive… or rather, slightly terrifying'

She remembered the short briefing Wu Long gave before setting things in motion.

'If I recall correctly… his objectives were to sell a small favor to the Silver Wing City and influence the Three Pillars Sect's decision making, at the same time he wanted to create a rift between the two outsider groups and the Silver Wing City, and while doing that, bring the Crystal Wood Sect and Seven Scars Guild closer together', Hong Yue pondered as she looked toward the plateau where Kwon Qianhong was busy collecting loot from the fallen members of the two outsider groups. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

'With one simple move, he changed the situation that wasn't even planned to begin with into an opportunity to achieve all these goals, and managed to do so in one fell swoop', she felt a bit of chill after analyzing the short encounter, 'And he did that all the while remaining relatively unnoticed in the background'

Her crimson eyes passed the figures of the 29 Frozen Garden Palace Sect Protectors, Zhao Xieren and Kwon Qianhong.

She could tell that he only took out the bare minimum of necessary force to execute this move, not showing too much, but also enough to control the situation in a favorable way without the need to step in himself.

Even Hong Ye's involvement, or rather the presence of assassins on their side, which he didn't wish to reveal, was concealed by timing together all the decisive attacks that drew the enemies' attention to their own fights at that precise moment.

Hong Yue then turned her gaze toward the bodies of their enemies lying around, 'And he carefully chose to inflict just enough damage to the two groups…'

She remembered his specific instructions before they even revealed themselves on the plateau, for only one of the Seven Scars Guild squad leader to be eliminated, and for the Sect Elder to receive damage but get away.

Even the taunt that Zhao Xieren threw at their backs as they were fleeing was specifically instructed.

"Indeed, what can bring two such groups together better than a common grudge?", she chuckled at the fact that she agreed with his thinking.

Three bodies of the Crystal Wood Sect's Sect Protectors then were caught in her line of sight, 'heh, though excessive casualties from both groups were not exactly planned, but they made such lousy enemies that it would have been unnatural if they weren't killed'

Hong Yue recalled watching the skirmish before, remembering that those Disciples and subordinates who did survive in the end were too timid to try and turn the tables, mostly being on the defensive while those lying dead here were eager to engage in battle, and thus left openings to be attacked and killed.

'A fun paradox, the weaker they were, the more likely they were to survive… if they only thought of surviving and defended, most of them would be alive, since the goal of the Frozen Garden Palace members was not to kill but stall for time…', she thought, however, there was no pity in her eyes as she looked at the bodies.

But since they were clearly fighting recklessly, it would have felt unnatural for them to survive. They would have surely felt that the Frozen Garden Palace members were intentionally staying their attacks. If not them, it would at least have been noticed by the Elder of the Crystal Wood Sect who had to be left alive for Wu Long's intended outcome to happen.

After all, what Wu Long wanted is for them to feel like the unfolding situation and their casualties, as well as injuries, and perhaps even more importantly, their survival, were natural, and not something planned.

Otherwise they would have caught on to the fact they were pushed to have common goals, and that the intensity of this sentiment was intentionally amplified as much as it was possible so that they would carry it back with them when they returned to their respective groups.

'I can clearly see his intent, his thought process through all of what happened and the traces left, and yet I would be completely oblivious if I didn't hear this from him directly and was one of those who ran away… but… there's one thing I can't figure out…', Hong Yue's eyes returned to Wu Long who was standing with her twin little sister in his arms, "How did you know that City Lord's son would act that way?"

"I wasn't certain", he smiled as he half-turned his face toward her, "For the most part, it was just simple calculation of benefits for him"

Hong Ye in Wu Long's embrace smiled mysteriously as she listened to them, while her older twin looked at him with an attentive gaze that could not hide her curiosity.

"He likely knew that we were doing a favor to him and by extension his father", Wu Long continued his explanation urged by her gaze.

Hong Yue snickered at that statement, "Well, if you made it so blatant as to tell that old man to mention the Silver Wing City"

Wu Long's smile grew wider as he acknowledged that his hint was perhaps a bit too obvious, "From there he just had to decide whether he wanted to reject our favor or not. Only fools cut off possibilities without knowing anything about them, besides we've shown him an impressive force making us potentially valuable allies, and it wasn't a favor that would land him in trouble…"

"So he would likely chose to accept… was your prediction", she nodded as she could see his argument.

"Yes, but since he's building a connection with an unknown force for the future, wouldn't it be better to at least return a small favor? So… he was bound to try and at least help us with the local cultivators who were under his control. After all, it wasn't that hard for him to do, and he didn't lose much by doing that", Wu Long shrugged his shoulders with a smile.

"But didn't he think there might be a natural treasure here?", she pointed out that he would have given up something quite valuable for the sake of an uncertain connection.

"Haha, he wouldn't have been able to profit here no matter who won, and he knew that. After all, he assembled that faction of local cultivators not in hopes of getting his hands on the 'natural treasure' which existence was not even confirmed, but he did so in order to just survive, that was the case for all those locals. At a point where a predator like those two outsider groups appeared, they all gave up and only thought of how to get away from here", Wu Long lightly laughed while shaking his head.

At this point, the first few of the Demonic Beasts ran past the edge of the forest and came out to the hilly area around the plateau, quickly followed by more of them.

"Heh, you really know how to create work for me", another beautiful voice resounded as orange-brown hair fluttered in the wind, Lian Zhiqiu emerging from the crevasse with a smile on her face.

"Haha, you simply picked the wrong profession for someone wanting to slack off, Zhiqiu", Wu Long chuckled, since Formation Master's skills were something highly sought after, "Is it ready?"

"You're asking as if you don't already know that most of them were ready a while ago. You took off your mask only when the first one was up and running anyway… besides, why would I come out if it was not?", she smiled with a confident and haughty look, waving her flagpole with an intricate array flag, "With this the final one you asked for will be set up"

Hong Yue could feel a fluctuation of a Formation being activated, signifying that the last one of the several layers of concealing formations and barriers that obscured prying eyes was now in place.