Kao Dao Ji's blood grew cold.
"What is happening? Did he mention Bai Lin Hua?"
"But how? How does he know?" Suddenly, his eyes narrowed.
"Wait. Crimson Soul Patriarch, is he a Soul Cultivator? If so, perhaps Bai Lin Hua was his disciple or…
Daughter?"
He gulped inwardly.
What was he supposed to say?
Hey, I may have kidnapped and sent your disciple, daughter, to the Clan so she would get tortured?
But what happened if he lied?
What happened if he lied and was later discovered, once he rescued her?
With his strength, rescuing her seemed quite likely.
And once he did, he would know the full tale by then; he would know that the Land Spirit had no master, and yet had lied.
His situation would grow unbelievably dangerous by then.
…
Crimson Soul patriarch squinted his eyes before replying.
"That silence of yours. It does give me the answer. You saw her, didn't you?"
Kao Dao Ji paused.
After some more consideration, he finally sighed.
"I have."
Crimson Soul patriarch nodded slightly, a tiny smile on his face, and pressed his hand to his shoulder and said.
"Go on. Do tell me the rest of the tale?"
"W-Well…Huh…." Kao Dao Ji coughed awkwardly before explaining everything that happened.
As the Crimson Soul Patriarch listened, he nodded several times.
"I see…" He raised his eyebrows.
"In the end, it was her own recklessness that put her in her current predicament." He shook his head.
Listening to Kao Dao Ji's words, he figured out Bai Lin Hua's complete plan.
But in his opinion, it was rather foolish.
Even if she used Immortal Gu to enslave Kao Dao Ji, it was basically impossible to keep that under wraps for long.
Especially because the Kao Clan had a Wisdom Gu Master under their control.
In reality, her approach would only have worked in the faint chance that Kao Dao Ji was a Soul Cultivator; had he been one, her attack would have some meaning.
If Crimson Soul Patriarch had been in her position, he would have immediately turned around the second he figured he was not a Soul Gu Master.
Because by then, the chances of that being a trap would have been too great, and the benefits too elusive to be worth it.
Upon thinking of this, Crimson Soul patriarch turned his eyes towards Kao Dao Ji. There was vague expectation and appreciation in his gaze.
"While her plan was foolish, it was not without merit. Her actions enabled me to find you."
He chuckled widely.
"While you may not be a Wisdom Path Gu Master, you received plenty of information on one.
And as it happens to be, the thing I lack the most is a Wisdom Path inheritance."
Kao Dao Ji gulped down.
The implications were obvious.
If he forced him to hand over the inheritance, the backlash of the spiritual contract he made would kill him.
But if he did not, then he could simply read his memories through Will Search Gu!
There was no winning position.
Crimson Soul patriarch noticed his fear, and he laughed.
"Worry not. I have no intention of killing you; you have proven yourself to be rather capable.
While I heavily doubt you will be able to complete your project, it does interest me.
Similarly, I do not want to kill the producer of Clouded Thoughts Gu.
Apart from that, what good do I gain from killing you?
To kill you would only reveal that I met you.
They would know that all information you have is exposed, and they would prepare accordingly.
Wouldn't it be much more convenient if the information I had was not only not leaked, but also kept updating depending on the situation?"
Kao Dao Ji's pupils shrank.
"You mean-"
"You will act as a spy for me." Crimson Soul patriarch spoke firmly and decisively.
Kao Dao Ji's eyelids trembled; as quickly as he could muster, he replied.
"B-But enslaving me would not help you either. I am sure they will figure out if you used any Enslavement Path Gu on me."
"They will." Crimson Soul patriarch nodded.
"That is why I have another method in mind." He said calmly.
"I can plant a Blood Path Killer Move deeply on the core of your aperture, if you ever dare to betray me. The Killer Move will activate. It will propagate wildly until it consumes the foundation of your aperture."
Crimson Soul patriarch kept explaining and explaining every step of his goals and plans.
He looked composed but nonchalant; clearly, it was so trivial to deal with a mere Rank 6 Gu Master.
Kao Dao Ji gritted his teeth and clenched his fists; he felt so powerless.
"Now that I have laid all the cards on the table, I will give you one chance. Would you rather have your mind read and your body destroyed, or would you rather pledge your allegiance to me?"
"I-I am willing to." Kao Dao Ji muttered; he kneeled before the old man, who merely smirked in response.
"Good. Now, regarding that inheritance I spoke of before. Whilst I can sense there is a contract in your soul that binds you, is not very hard for me to alter.
I can nullify some clauses temporarily.
During this period, you will give me the inheritance.
Once I do, the contract will be restored to its original state."
Suddenly.
His expression changed.
He turned his gaze away as he muttered.
"Oh? There seems to be somebody lurking nearby."
His gaze returned to meet the one of Kao Dao Ji, and he smirked.
"Regardless, this will not be the last time we meet. Farewell, Kao Dao Ji. I will be seeing you soon."
As those words were spoken, the clone vanished into red boiling mist.
Followed by this.
4 minutes later.
Kao Yu Hun appeared.
"Kao Dao Ji, the next batch of Soul Path resources has arrived."
…
A few days ago.
The Supreme Leader of the Kao Clan remained meditating.
The insights he had accrued, upon learning more and more about Soul Path, were steadily gathering.
He felt that he was on the verge of a great change.
Before the inspiration could slip by, he decided to try to grasp it.
He lifted his right arm.
From which steam slowly came out.
It was nothing special, just your common Steam Gu usage.
Regardless.
The steam slowly took the shape of a cloud set in place.
Followed by this on his left arm.
There were several drops of a strange, dark-blue, viscous liquid coming out.
The man gritted his teeth; he felt a pulling and ripping sensation across his soul.
Using several Gu, he ripped a very shallow part of his soul before rapidly healing it.
In reality.
Whilst people say that Spectral Soul invented Soul Path, it was not entirely accurate, Soul Path as a whole had existed since Immemorial times and had been used by countless of Gu Masters.
But it was mostly related to shallow applications, such as how to heal the soul, how to refine it, and how to increase the soul foundation.
The soul foundation was merely treated as the basis to refine Immortal Gu or to Cultivate Enslavement or Wisdom Path, nothing more, nothing less.
Due to this, even the Kao Clan itself contained countless recipes and methods to heal the soul itself.
Regardless.
A soft celeste blue light emerged, whilst his soul was slowly repaired.
More and more of this liquid came out of his left arm.
Until his whole hand had been filled with such a thick liquid reeking of Soul Essence.
Once this happened.
The liquid slowly began to fly out of his hand, whereas the cloud also moved towards the left.
The two forces, like yin and yang, are mixed beautifully.
The transformation was not instantaneous; the two looked like two different colors of paint forcefully put together.
But as the artist who was managing this operation.
Kao Zha Ji slowly took control over the two; slowly, the two colors mixed together.
Until it became a soft, bright celeste.
He smirked.
The soft, bright celeste light expanded until it became as vast as a mountain range; by then, its color became infinitely clearer, turning almost transparent.
Then.
He clenched his fist, and the clouds got compressed by a tenfold, turning into a royal blue.
Then.
Tiny drops of water descended and were shot out like a myriad of tiny bullets.
Then, with a mere gesture, they returned back to their original position and mixed again with the clouds.
Followed by this, Kao Zha Ji used another Gu Worm.
'Soul Needle.'
And tested its endurance against the clouds themselves.
As the needle hit the clouds, there was a ripple spreading through its surface.
His eyes shone widely.
"Soul Needle can evade most defenses, but by coating my clouds with this. I am able to block the attack. In other words, this is an anti-Soul Path Killer Move."
He smirked.
The countless hours of research and investigation were finally taking their fruits.
By this point, he felt confident.
'As long as I am given two more months, my weakness against Soul Path will be completely gone.'