Chapter 3057

Same-sex bonding did exist, but some families would not agree to it.

Ouyang Tianyun hummed in agreement. "We can put this aside for now. Besides, if they truly have the heart, many difficulties can be resolved."

Ouyang Tianyun trusted Zhang Tian and Gu Cheng. If their feelings were genuine, they would surely have a good ending.

"Let’s not talk about them for now. Tonight, you will go out to probe the State Preceptor’s Manor. Do you need to prepare anything?" Yan Xiwan casually took out several bottles of medicine. "Do you want these?"

"Yes, better safe than sorry." Ouyang Tianyun accepted them. He might not need them, but what if he did?

Yan Xiwan had no objections and handed over all the usable medicines. Ouyang Tianyun did not hesitate and took them all.

That night, Yan Xiwan stayed behind while Ouyang Tianyun went out.

Ouyang Tianyun hovered in the air, looking down at the State Preceptor’s Manor.

With a sweep of his divine sense, the situation within the manor became clear to him.

However, this scan also alerted the State Preceptor inside.

The wind and clouds stirred, and petals drifted down. A figure appeared in the sky.

She wore a white brocade robe and held a jade-handled fly-whisk. As she waved it, the strands moved like clouds and mist, carrying an indescribable rhythm, as if summoning something.

A purple belt cinched his waist, and he wore purple boots adorned with green heartless bells.

His dark purple eyes revealed the unfathomable depth of the newcomer.

A gentle smile played on his refined face.

She seemed to embody perfection.

Combined with the charming aura of a superior being, one could not bear to look away from his face.

His beauty blurred the lines between male and female. A mysterious, careless charm graced his handsome features. Such beauty was beyond words.

"Are you the State Preceptor?" Ouyang Tianyun asked calmly.

"Who are you?" The dark purple eyes seemed to try to pierce through Ouyang Tianyun’s origins, but all he saw was a void of confusion.

The State Preceptor was secretly shocked. Since he had entered the world, he had seen through everyone. Yet today, he could not see through the person before him.

"Who I am is not important. What matters is…" A gentle smile appeared on Ouyang Tianyun’s face. "As a cultivator, you first stole someone’s fortune, and now you wish to steal the nation’s fortune. It seems you are not a righteous cultivator, but a complete evil cultivator."

Although he had long confirmed the man was an evil cultivator, Ouyang Tianyun still felt the need to say it aloud.

The State Preceptor did not panic upon hearing this, though a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. "You are a cultivator."

"Quite smart," Ouyang Tianyun said lightly. "But I have been standing in the air this whole time. Unless one is a cultivator, neither a mystic nor a martial artist in this world could do so. Just like you. If you were not an evil cultivator, how could you stand before me?"

"Whether I am evil or not is for future generations to judge. It is not for you to decide." The State Preceptor narrowed his eyes, disagreeing with Ouyang Tianyun’s view.

"If you are not evil, why steal others’ fortune? If you are not evil, why put the fortune’s child of this plane in danger? If you are not evil, why use the people’s faith to cover the Son of Heaven and obscure the Heavenly Dao, making it easier for you to steal the nation’s fortune?"

Ouyang Tianyun looked coldly at the State Preceptor. "Others call you State Preceptor, but to me, you look like a thief."

"So what if I am a thief? Here, my word is the standard." The State Preceptor had his own pride.

"You are wrong." Ouyang Tianyun shook a finger slightly. "Why do you assume your word is the standard? Whether in the cultivation world or in this plane, there is only one rule: the strong are respected."

Ouyang Tianyun added a reminder. "If not for this, why would you steal the nation’s fortune? It is simply to strengthen your cultivation."

"I have not stolen the nation’s fortune yet," the State Preceptor said.

"Because the timing is not right," Ouyang Tianyun stated directly. "The nation’s fortune is given by the Heavenly Dao. What the Heavenly Dao gives is not for just anyone to use. You are not the Son of Heaven recognized by the Heavenly Dao, so you cannot use it. To use it, you must steal it. But ordinary theft would alert the Heavenly Dao, a fact you understand better than anyone."

Ouyang Tianyun stared at the State Preceptor, trying to discern something. "So you can only first gather the people’s momentum, that is, the people’s faith, and then use that faith to obscure the Heavenly Dao. Even if it is only for a day or half a day, as long as it gives you time to steal. Once you succeed in stealing the fortune, you can disguise yourself as the fortune’s child, and the Heavenly Dao will naturally not notice you."

As he spoke, Ouyang Tianyun glanced at his hand, as if holding some secret. "Honestly, your plan is very good. Your intelligence is high. But unfortunately, you met me."

At this moment, Ouyang Tianyun seemed a bit narcissistic again. "Who asked me to be smarter than you? So I saw through your plan. Therefore, your attempt to steal the nation’s fortune will likely fail."

Ouyang Tianyun said lightly, "The Emperor of the Nine Regions Dynasty may only have the ability of a conservative ruler, but he is not incompetent. The Nine Regions Dynasty still has at least three to five hundred years of national fortune. Therefore, I absolutely cannot let you touch the nation’s fortune."

If a country was like a setting sun, declining, stealing its fortune during its decline would incur little punishment from the Heavenly Dao, as its fall was already destined.

But the Nine Regions Dynasty still had three to five hundred years left. It was a time of prosperous national fortune, and absolutely no one was allowed to steal it.

"You cannot stop me," the State Preceptor said, looking at Ouyang Tianyun.

Ouyang Tianyun smiled. "Why do you think I cannot stop you?"

Ouyang Tianyun said lightly, "Even if your current cultivation is at the early stage of the Mahayana realm, can you see through my cultivation?"

Indeed, the State Preceptor before him was at the early stage of the Mahayana realm.

"I cannot see through it, but you will not fight me," the State Preceptor said, looking at Ouyang Tianyun. "If you want to protect this plane, you will not fight me. I cannot see through your cultivation, which means your cultivation is higher than mine. But if you were an Immortal, you would not come here. Since you have not ascended but are here, it means you have not reached the Tribulation Crossing stage, but you are at least at the mid-stage of the Mahayana realm or above."

It had to be said that the State Preceptor’s intelligence was very high. He could infer a lot from small clues. "Regardless of whether you are at the mid-stage of the Mahayana realm or above, you will not fight me. If we two fight, this plane will collapse. If that happens, this world will be erased, and you and I will create karma."