Villain Cultivator

After the danger had passed, Miaomiao reverted to his human form, so nobody could mistake him as a demon.

Miaomiao, Sun Jing, and Gan Ning descended the mountain peak and entered the central part of the mountain. There, a large village was located. Many one-story buildings were next to the main road, but most of them had no fence or garden.

As Sun Jing led the group into the town, they found bigger buildings, tall walls, and more luxurious cement houses.

Sun Jing noticed the two youngsters looking at the city in awe, he chuckled and taught them.

"This is the sect residential zone. Only the sect elders and senior workers of the sect can live in those luxurious manors. The outer parts are for workers or legacy disciples of elders. As for inner disciples and outer disciples, they stay at the foot of the mountain."

Sun Jing's feet stopped in front of a bronze gate and a long 3-meter-tall wall. He nonchalantly opened the doors and invited everyone inside.

"Come! This is my manor. Let's talk inside. You, too. You must be Cao Mao's friend, right? You can also join us!"

The gang entered the courtyard of Sun Jing. Miaomiao had expected to have a long talk with Sun Yun's parents while Gan Ning was looking forward to chow some delicious food.

…

A black-clothed young man, who had been laying prone on top of Sun Jing's Manor, had been observing Miaomiao and Sun Jing. He took out his phone and silently snapped a picture of the trio, after which he texted to a group chat.

"Cao Mao and Gan Ning have entered Sun Jing's courtyard. What's your next order?"

A few seconds later, the young man got a reply. The sender had the nickname "Gongjin".

[Zhou Tai, try to listen to their conversation and find out what they are up to. Lu Su, I want you to investigate Cao Mao's background from the local city. Lu Meng, go and visit the Gan Family at Xiangyang. Bribe them and have them move their family to Jianye!]

Zhou Tai, the black-clothed young man, who was a 5th-stage cultivator and an inner disciple of Jiangdong White Tiger Sect, texted back and acknowledged the command of his relative.

"I shall infiltrate the courtyard and record the conversation!"

[Don't spook them, Zhou Tai. I don't want to become Cao Mao's enemy. I want to befriend him, but I need more intel about his motive for being here!]

"I'll be careful."

…

Although it was already 1 AM, Sun Jing, his wife, and their subordinates held a banquet to celebrate Miaomiao's arrival. They even called Sun Yun, so they could talk with her while they partied.

Bands of zither players, dancers, and performers made the banquet more colorful. Sun Jing's men brought in various high-grade meat, wine, vegetables, and herbs to cook the best food for the guests.

The performers were outer disciples, who were a part of Sun Jing's faction. They had been summoned here to work for their mentors in exchange for the sect's contribution points.

As for the rest of them, they were minor elders and servants in the area. They came here to join in for the fun.

Sun Yun's mother couldn't let go of Sun Jing's phone, talking while crying in joy as she talked to her daughter. As for Sun Jing, he kept pouring drinks for Miaomiao and asked him about their adventure from Mountain Goose City to Red Sun City, Yeet City, and Siren City.

Being careful about his secrets, Miaomiao only revealed his journey story.

Sun Jing and his men enjoyed the part. However, one of them asked Miaomiao an awkward question.

"Sir Cao, how did you cure our young miss? If I remember correctly, no pill can heal a mental patient."

Sun Jing, his wife, and Miaomiao's expression darkened. As Sun Yun had talked with her parents in private and revealed Miaomiao's skill, the dual-cultivation techniques, they were aware of the shameful process. However, the others didn't know about this detail.

The parents looked at Miaomiao, hoping for the latter to come up with an alternative explanation. Even if it was a lie, they were willing to improvise.

Fortunately, Miaomiao had plenty of excuses and had mastered the art of bullshitting.

"We discovered the source of holy water source in Siren City," Miaomiao brought out a glass bottle of unified element spring water to prove his claim.

Despite the water being sealed in the bottle, the medicinal properties and smell leaked out from the cork. The bitter scent soothed everyone in the banquet. Even the drunk got sobered.

"Wow," Sun Jing was astonished. "What's that?"

Miaomiao laughed and uncorked the bottle, after which he poured a cup and passed it to Sun Jing, "This is the holy water that cured Sun Yun! Try it. This is Siren City's specialty! It purifies your essence and meridians. No matter what internal injury you have, this elixir can cure it. Also, it contains tamed element Qi that you can digest even if you have never comprehended the element Qi before."

"W-WHAT!?"

The music stopped, and the crowd was silent. The disciples, performers, and banquet participants dropped their zithers, pins, chopsticks, or whatever they had in their hands and looked at Miaomiao.

To everyone in Jiangdong White Tiger Sect, comprehending element Qi was a big deal.

If any essence gathering realm disciple managed to condense a primary crystal early, their promotion would be guaranteed as the condition to become inner disciples was to have at least one primary element crystal in their dantian.

For elders, who were stronger than the foundation establishment realm, obtaining an additional element power was like doubling or tripling their fighting capabilities. Some of them might even be able to form an additional essence sea.

In summary, the medicinal water with elemental Qi was worth more than essence cores! This didn't include the value of healing properties!

And Miaomiao gave it to Sun Jing for free!

Sun Jing was in tears. He was glad that Sun Yun picked Miaomiao as her husband.

"Thanks. Thank you, son."

"No problem, father-in-law. Now, you should drink this and purify your meridians first. Don't think about getting a new element power yet."

"But that is wasteful! I need to savor every drop of this elixir or I-"

Miaomiao chuckled as he brought out more spring water bottles from his spatial ring. A total of 100 two-liter-size bottles lined in rows and columns, stunning everyone in the banquet.

"Although I and Sun Yun haven't had a proper marriage ceremony yet, consider these elixirs as my dowry gifts."

"!!!"

Sun Jing dropped the cup in his hand and stared at the bottles of the precious elixir in shock. The others also dropped their jaws and widened their eyes.

Gan Ning crawled toward Miaomiao and groveled, kissing the latter's feet.

"Daddy, can dis zervant haz one of doz? Dis zervant needz love."

Miaomiao pulled back his feet and shooed Gan Ning in disgust, "Get off me, shitty brat! You're fucking drunk! What in the 7 hells is wrong with your accent?"

"Please?"

Gan Ning sat on his legs and straightened his back properly. He held his hands together and showed Miaomiao his innocent bright puppy eyes.

Unfortunately, it didn't work against Miaomiao. The latter poked Gan Ning's eyes with his fingers.

"MY EYES!!"

"SHUT IT! HERE!!"

Miaomiao brought out another bottle and shoved it to Gan Ning's face.

Gan Ning slightly opened his eyes to peek at the item. Upon discovering what in front of him was, he prostrated on the ground, "I, GAN XINGBA, SWEAR BY MY DAO OATH THAT YOU WILL BE FOREVER MY LORD! I SHALL SERVE YOU UNTIL DEATH!"

The air around Gan Ning vibrated as he had just made a critical dao oath that he couldn't easily withdraw without Miaomiao's consent.

"Yeah, yeah. Now, store that bottle away and mind your manner. Don't make me lose face with your silly antics."

"YES, MY LORD!!"

Gan Ning retreated and sat at a corner while he hugged the bottle of spring water as if it was a precious golden ring from Mount Doom. Fortunately, he didn't mutter, "My precious", or Miaomiao would have skinned him as a punishment for following Gollum's path.

The banquet participants stared at Gan Ning in envy. Then, they turned to Miaomiao.

As if everyone had the same thought, they copied Gan Ning's deed. Some even came up with other excuses.

"Young master, can tis servant haz it, too?"

"Sir Cao, could dis elder haz a bottle as well?"

"Young master Cao, you're so handsome. Could this lady have a bottle, and you can have me?

"Great Sir! Good Sir! Do you need extra hands? Could you hire me as one of your loyal servants as well? I can cook, I can run errands, I can hide dead bodies, and I can share my stealth techniques with you!"

The banquet was thrown into an uproar as everyone competed to win Miaomiao's favor and one of the elixir bottles. Nobody noticed that one of the crowd was an uninvited black-clothed young man.

Zhou Tai, aka Zhou Gongjin's servant, couldn't resist and join the crowd by instinct.

Miaomiao had a pokerface for a moment. Then, he coughed, "Please control yourself, seniors and fellow Daoists. The bottle that I gave my servant was the last one. All my precious elixirs now belong to my father-in-law."

The crowd was crestfallen. They sighed and lamented for their bad luck while they gazed at Sun Jing in envy and jealousy.

Zhou Tai snapped back to his senses and sweated profusely. He sneakily moved away from the crowd and hid behind a large pillar, blending behind the shadow before he crept out of the building.

The spy's action didn't escape Gan Ning's eyes. The silly servant smirked as he stored the precious elixir bottle in his robe and followed the ninja, leaving the banquet building.

After the peace was restored, Miaomiao continued explaining the elixir's effects and the usage to Sun Jing. The crowd returned to their seat and listened to Miaomiao in earnest as if they were listening to a lecture.

10 minutes later, Miaomiao finished his class, and everyone was enlightened.

Sun Jing and his wife were interested in the source of this water, "I see. So this elixir comes from Siren City! Now I understand why that bastard Yuan Shaoqing declares war on you! They want the source of water for themselves!"

Miaomiao nodded and looked at the crowd, "Exactly. We weren't even there when Red Sun City was razed to the ground. We rescued the child emperor from Yuan Shaoqing's goons, and they framed us to cover for their crimes. They just use it as an excuse to steal the source of elixir and kill the owners!"

"WHAT!?"

Sun Jing and everyone in the banquet hall was enraged.

Seeing that the crowd had been successfully misled and incited, Miaomiao added fuel to the fire.

"Think about it, father-in-law. The Yuan Clan is already so strong and rich that they can employ 7th-stage or 8th-stage cultivators from the Holy Land Continent easily! Why did they even bother asking other factions or sects for help? Obviously, they are using other organizations as sacrificial pawns! I bet he contacted Wei Huang and other demons, and they are setting up a trap to kill everybody during the chaos!"

Sun Jing, whose face was flushed in red from the swelling anger, stood up and bellowed, "And they are trying to harm my daughter!"

Miaomiao nodded, "Not just your daughter, many refugees and innocent people got caught in this predicament. That's why I've come here to negotiate for a truce or an alliance with the Jiangdong White Tiger Sect, hoping that an honorable sect of yours wouldn't be used by a vile man like Yuan Shaoqing. Unfortunately, your sect master and I couldn't come to an agreement…"

"I shall go talk with my brother, right now!!"

Sun Jing stored all the elixir bottles into his spatial ring and stormed out of the banquet hall. Several servants and sobered elders rushed out and followed their superior officer to talk with the sect master as well.

Just like that, half of the banquet participants left the building, leaving only outer disciples and workers, who had no power in the sect.

Miaomiao took a deep breath and rubbed his chin, feeling proud of himself.

'All according to Keikaku!'