In The Cultivation World, Are There Only Demonesses Left?

Chapter 15: Courtesan Queen’s Yin-Yang Path

Su Luoqiu was inwardly horrified.

That ancestor had long since severed ties with their Glazed Dynasty.

It was only because of Su Luoqiu’s good luck that he had caught that ancestor’s eye by chance, and thus was able to come help at the noodle shop.

That ancestor had warned him over and over again—he must be respectful when he came.

For someone who could make that ancestor so solemn... this boy with red lips and white teeth before him was most likely an old monster who had crawled out of some grave.

Lu Changyuan, however, had no idea what Su Luoqiu was thinking.

He simply said: “What’s the situation in the city right now? How did it even threaten the safety of a prince like you? And what’s this about the Heaven-Mending Pill?”

Su Luoqiu said: “I’m not clear about the Heaven-Mending Pill either. It was as if the rumor suddenly appeared, and then everyone started coming here to Upper Jade Capital. From what I know, there are now more than fifty sects large and small in the city. Nearly five of the Nine Gates and Twelve Palaces have arrived. For now it’s barely stable only because the Heaven-Mending Pill hasn’t surfaced yet. Once the pill appears, the entire imperial city will be thrown into chaos.”

“So what? Even if everyone goes mad over the Heaven-Mending Pill, as long as you don’t get involved, it shouldn’t have anything to do with you, right?”

After all, he was the Fourth Prince.

If he didn’t interfere, no one should have any reason to want his life.

Su Luoqiu sighed: “It was supposed to be like that, but Mister Lu, my imperial father passed away a few days ago.”

The emperor was dead!?

“He passed away. Because the situation is urgent, the news has been kept secret. Right now, the court is being led by several senior ministers.”

Lu Changyuan frowned: “What about the Crown Prince?”

Su Luoqiu let out a bitter smile: “That’s the problem. My elder brother is not in court. Before the Heaven-Mending Pill rumors appeared, he had already gone south on an inspection tour. By calculation, it will still take half a month before he can return to Upper Jade Capital.”

The Crown Prince was not in court.

The emperor had passed away.

And just at this time, rumors of the Heaven-Mending Pill appeared.

The entire matter reeked of strangeness.

Su Luoqiu’s expression grew heavy: “What worries me more is that a few cultivators from the Blood Demon Palace visited my Second Royal Brother’s residence a few days ago.”

Blood Demon Palace.

Lu Changyuan suddenly asked: “Does your Second Royal Brother know that the emperor has passed?”

“He probably doesn’t. Only three senior ministers of the court know of this. But my imperial father’s health had already been poor for years, sustained only by the pills refined by the National Preceptor. He hasn’t attended court for several days. My Second Brother is likely suspicious by now.”

So only three senior ministers knew? Then how did this brat know his father had died?

And how did he know Blood Demon Palace cultivators had gone to his Second Brother’s house?

This brat wasn’t simple either.

Lu Changyuan looked Su Luoqiu up and down: “About this Heaven-Mending Pill rumor, it’s said that Daoist Chang’an left it to your ancestors?”

“Not only that, it’s also rumored that the pill is right here beneath the Lake of Lingering Affection.”

No wonder so many people were flocking to the lake.

It seemed the lantern festival to cover up the lake’s commotion was just the senior ministers’ last resort.

Bang!

A crisp explosion cut off their conversation.

Brilliant fireworks lit up the sky.

Noisy commotion suddenly arose not far away.

Su Luoqiu said: “Then let’s watch the singing and dancing first. Mister Lu, the Courtesan Queen should be arriving soon. I’m quite curious too. I’ve heard she’s as beautiful as peach blossoms. Several young masters of Upper Jade Capital, after seeing her once, couldn’t even eat their meals.”

Courtesan Queen... could she be more beautiful than the fallen fairy beside me?

Lu Changyuan asked doubtfully: “You haven’t seen her either? Isn’t the Courtesan Queen from Upper Jade Capital?”

Su Luoqiu shook his head: “Never seen her. The Courtesan Queen suddenly appeared in Upper Jade Capital a month ago. Probably here for the pill as well. The ancestor told me to stay far away from her.”

Xia Lianxue suddenly interjected: “Could she be from the Pleasure Sect? Only the Pleasure Sect has such enchantments, making people lose their appetite after just one glance.”

Lu Changyuan thought of something and chuckled: “So the Pleasure Sect still exists?”

That sect was quite sinister.

Its members never hid their intent to drain people dry—it was outright demonic.

Yet victims still kept falling for them in endless numbers.

Later, when Lu Changyuan cracked down on demonic cultivators, he gave the Pleasure Sect a good beating, and they became honest for a while.

The sect master he knew at that time had changed the rules—only absorbing cultivation, not killing.

Not only that, but the method had changed.

Before, they absorbed directly.

Later, they would first cultivate feelings with you, and then drain you.

That way, it was mutual consent.

Even Daoist Chang’an had no grounds to intervene.

In theory, this was a good thing.

Yet in practice, even more honest cultivators died tragically at the hands of those crafty men and women of the sect.

Lu Changyuan never understood.

They said it was because those honest cultivators, failing to win the affection of the Pleasure Sect’s tricksters, ended up tainted by Desire Demons and finally perished under heavenly tribulation.

There were really people in this world who believed the Pleasure Sect could truly love them.

“They still exist, but in recent years they seem to prefer dual cultivation methods.” Xia Lianxue tucked a lock of hair and tightened her white dress: “One of my junior sisters had her soul hooked away by a male cultivator from the Pleasure Sect and ended up betraying the sect.”

As the fairy’s soft words fell—

Another firework burst in the sky.

Borrowing its light, Lu Changyuan clearly saw that in the center of the lake, on a painted barge, a graceful figure was dancing.

Silks and satins dreamy as mist.

A dance of phoenix and luan.

Then the Courtesan Queen sang softly:

“Plum wine.

Peach-blossom pier.

White-robed nobles sit among honored guests.

Lanterns fall at the first feast of night.

True love lost time and again.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.”

Under the lantern light, the Courtesan Queen in a crimson dress danced to the pipa by her side.

Like wind passing over the lake, she sent ripples spreading out.

She was beautiful indeed—but still not as lovely as the well-behaved fairy beside him, especially in figure, far inferior to Xia Lianxue.

Lu Changyuan asked in surprise: “Fairy, look closely—male or female?”

Xia Lianxue tilted her head toward him: “Judging by that figure, naturally a woman.”

“Seems male yet female, seems female yet male—then that makes him a man.”

Su Luoqiu was staring in fascination at the figure.

Startled by the words, his chopsticks fell onto the table: “Mister Lu, what did you say?”

Lu Changyuan looked at Su Luoqiu with a teasing smile: “That’s a man.”

Su Luoqiu cried out sharply: “A man!? Impossible! How could that possibly be a man?”

Xia Lianxue seemed to think of something, her brows furrowing: “Young Master means... the Yin-Yang Path?”

Lu Changyuan sipped his tea to moisten his throat: “Yes, the Yin-Yang Path. Even now, someone dares to take such a crooked path... truly courageous. And from what I see, he seems to have touched the threshold of the Fifth Realm. His dance alone can already disturb yin and yang. Look, the qi of yin and yang swirls around him.”

Yin and yang—endless and interwoven.

You within me, and I within you.

When the two merge as one, that is reincarnation.

This was undoubtedly a great Dao.

But it was a most sinister one.

Of those who cultivated it, nine out of ten died, and the other went mad.

Generally speaking, it was a forbidden path.

Lu Changyuan explained quietly: “The last one to cultivate this path and reach the Seventh Realm was a cultivator with dual souls of male and female in one body, born genderless. Without that talent, one can only cultivate step by step.”

Su Luoqiu forced his eyes away with difficulty: “What do you mean by step by step?”

Xia Lianxue lifted her slender hand, refilling his tea: “It’s said that those who cultivate this path—if they are women, must cultivate themselves into men; if they are men, they must cultivate themselves into women.”

Lu Changyuan let out a mocking laugh: “The marvel of this path lies in how easily one forgets their own gender while cultivating. But if you truly forget, then your Dao collapses and you perish. This contradiction—needing to cultivate it, yet being unable to fully embrace it—is the very essence of the Yin-Yang Path.”

From what Lu Changyuan knew—

At least fifteen hundred years had passed since anyone had successfully cultivated this path.

And today, he had encountered one.

The cultivation world was indeed a garden of a hundred flowers—someone cultivated everything.