Yin Hanjiang had kicked him hard. He restrained his power a bit, as Yao Jiaping was a wandering immortal, so he had to act the part. He didn't really put his heart into the act, though.
Hè Wenzhao was only at Void Boundary, though, and with his guard completely down, there was no way he could withstand an attack with the full force of a wandering immortal. If the Blood Demon hadn't used spiritual energy to protect him, Yin Hanjiang's kick might've destroyed his organs. The Blood Demon did treasure Hè Wenzhao as a host with the potential to ascend, so that he could absorb more powerful people in the immortal realm.
"What are you doing?!" Hè Wenzhao said, climbing back to his feet.
He was close friends with Yao Jiaping. Yao Jiaping had previously saved the Sect Master, and later, touched by Hè Wenzhao's feelings toward Baili Qingmiao, agreed to infiltrate Xuanyuan Sect to rescue her. Yao Jiaping's eccentricities were well-known across the cultivation world, but he had always been loyal to Hè Wenzhao. Hè Wenzhao had never been treated like this before and was furious.
It was too much to ask for Yin Hanjiang to act like Yao Jiaping. Impersonation just wasn't in his nature. Fortunately, after reading God of Annihilation: Volume 2, he had learned Yao Jiaping's catchphrases and manner of speaking, so he recited a line from the book. "Oh, I just can't stand seeing you two act so lovey-dovey with each other."
Yao Jiaping was this kind of twisted person in the book. Every time a pair of lovers begged for his help, he would give them a particularly bad time. He would give them two choices, either for the woman to give her body to him, or for them to give up what was most important. Back when Baili Qingmiao brought Su Huai to him, he wanted her to give over her Nascent Soul or her body. When Hè Wenzhao was traveling, he had also brought the Gongxi mistress to him.
He told him clearly that he and the Gongxi mistress were only acquaintances, and also couldn't let him take a maiden's innocence, so agreed to become a test subject for Yao Jiaping.
After saving the Gongxi mistress, Yao Jiaping tormented Hè Wenzhao for a good month. Hè Wenzhao grit his teeth and bore it the whole time, even getting lucky and achieving a breakthrough, increasing his cultivation because of the medicines Yao Jiaping tested on him. Yao Jiaping's interest in Hè Wenzhao was piqued, and he was also touched by his chivalry, so they became good friends.
Hè Wenzhao got to know Yao Jiaping during Baili Qingmiao's thirty year absence, and they'd been friends for twenty years by now. He never would've imagined that Yao Jiaping would one day say the same words to him as he did to cultivators he didn't like.
Remembering Yao Jiaping's habits, he immediately turned to Baili Qingmiao and said, "Shimei, he didn't do anything to you, did he?"
Thinking about the fees that Yao Jiaping took for his treatment, he saw how healthy Baili Qingmiao looked. She'd been injured so badly at the Blood Hell, yet now she's recovered perfectly...
A very unpleasant notion came to Hè Wenzhao's mind. His face turning pale, he stumbled a few steps back, shaking his head. "No, this can't be."
Yin Hanjiang didn't care about where Hè Wenzhao's thoughts went. He came here for one purpose—capturing Hè Wenzhao. Right now, they were right next to the sect array and Hè Wenzhao was alone, so as long as they subdued the Blood Demon, they could carry him right off. Sect arrays were difficult to enter but easy to leave, so no one would be able to stop him and "Baili Qingmiao".
Yin Hanjiang had no interest in entangling himself within Baili Qingmiao and Hè Wenzhao's relationship. He wanted to grab Hè Wenzhao and leave as soon as possible, so he could be back sooner for his next Soul Communion.
The Army Crushing Spike's power might not be enough to instantly subdue the Blood Demon, so he would need to bring out the Burning Sky Drum. The illusions Yin Hanjiang was seeing were caused not only by his inner demons, but also the Burning Sky Drum. The inner demons were only capable of disrupting Yin Hanjiang's rationality. It was the Burning Sky Drum which made them manifest as phantoms.
Using a top-grade immortal artifact without sufficient power, it was natural that one would suffer backlash. Yin Hanjiang assessed the backlash the Burning Sky Drum would cause and decided he could handle it, so opened his hands secretly, forming the seals to control the drum inside his sleeves.
At that moment, the Shangqing Sect Master arrived and, upon seeing Yao Jiaping, greeted him enthusiastically. "When I saw Wenzhao open the sect array, I guessed it was for Sir Yao's return. Sir Yao's timing is flawless. Please, come this way."
Upon seeing the Sect Master, the skin over Yin Hanjiang's face twitched. His two enemies were both before him. He was wildly delighted, nearly unable to keep the skin he wore in place.
Wenren È quickly grabbed Yin Hanjiang's hand, afraid he would act without thinking. Back when he infiltrated Shangqing Sect last time, using Liu Xinye's body, he could endure it and hold back his disgust to meet Hè Wenzhao. If Hè Wenzhao was alone here, he and Yin Hanjiang could just work together to capture him and leave quickly.
But now the Sect Master had arrived, and they were in enemy territory and didn't know how many cards the Shangqing Sect had up their sleeves, so they couldn't act recklessly at this time.
Seeing "Baili Qingmiao" voluntarily reach for "Yao Jiaping's" hand, Hè Wenzhao was so mad he nearly bled from the eyes. Yet Yao Jiaping threw her hand off, glancing at her haughtily and reciting another line from God of Annihilation 2. "You think you could possibly be equal to my Xiao Yi?"
At the same time, he transmitted, "I know what you meant. This Lord has other uses for the Shangqing Sect Master, so this isn't a suitable time to wipe both out at once."
He took a deep breath and, managing to calm down, stiffened his expression and looked at the Sect Master. "Seeing as you're so anxious, I assume you have a patient for me?"
"Yes, precisely." The Sect Master paid no mind to the strained atmosphere between Baili Qingmiao, Yao Jiaping, and Hè Wenzhao. He felt ashamed for his actions toward Baili Qingmiao and didn't want to involve himself in his juniors' relationships, so he could only play blind. He said to Yao Jiaping, "Shangqing Sect already owes an immeasurable debt to Sir Yao for rescuing one of its disciples from Xuanyuan Sect, so we're really not in a position to ask more favors, but Qingyue's life is in danger right now! No one but Sir Yao could save him! No matter whether or not you succeed, as long as you're willing to help him, Shangqing Sect will go through heaven and hell to carry out any request of Sir Yao's in the future, as long as it doesn't betray our principles."
Yin Hanjiang raised an eyebrow slightly. Forget the future, he would have a request for Shangqing Sect very soon, and they would neither have to betray their principles nor go through heaven and hell—it was a very minor request.
In that case, there was no reason he couldn't fool around for a while.
Yin Hanjiang nodded. "Sure. Take me there."
He sat obediently on a flying boat with the Sect Master, Baili Qingmiao following close behind. Seeing his shimei follow Yao Jiaping everywhere without even sparing him a glance, Hè Wenzhao was so mad he nearly gave himself internal injuries.
The Sect Master gave Hè Wenzhao a look of warning. "Hurry up."
His disciple was good in every way, just he was too free with women. He was perfectly aware of how, though Hè Wenzhao was married to Liu Xinye, he acted heartfelt with the Gongxi mistress, was close with several of his shimei, and still had his heart set on Baili Qingmiao.
If he hadn't kept all those women happy and prevented any trouble from starting, as well as being strong enough to be Shangqing Sect's future pillar, the Sect Master would've long since reprimanded him.
Right now, he could only look the other way.
The Shangqing Sect owed a debt to Yao Jiaping, who had once treated the Sect Master and now was being asked to treat Elder Qingyue, so how could Hè Wenzhao antagonise him over a woman?
With his master's admonishment, Hè Wenzhao held back his dissatisfaction, clenching his fists and swearing he wouldn't forget how Yao Jiaping stole his girl. After this treatment was done, he was going to confront him. Promising to rescue his beloved, and then ending up with her—how was that good brotherly behavior? He and his shimei were childhood sweethearts, having grown up together, so how could Yao Jiaping get between them?
Yin Hanjiang obviously didn't know medicine. He planned to just play along, though he did know what kind of injury this Qingyue had sustained.
Coming to a side room, he glanced at Elder Qingyue, with white hair and his face covered with wrinkles and age spots, and pretended to take his pulse as the Sect Master explained everything to him. "A year and a half ago, during the battle at the Blood Hell, the new Sect Leader of Xuanyuan Sect threw away his life and faced a heavenly tribulation to use an immortal artifact, chasing Wenzhao and I back to the sect. We made it behind the wards in time, but that man tried to use the Burning Sky Drum to break the array. In order to protect Shangqing Sect, Qingyue-shidi used our defensive immortal artifact, the Moon Pool Bell, having his spiritual essence drained and suffering backlash. Now he's suffering the five declines, and though we've used elixirs and medicines to prolong his life, it's no longer enough and his life is about to burn out."
So it was him who had gotten in Yin Hanjiang's way that day... Yin Hanjiang looked down at Qingyue's face, thinking karma worked in mysterious ways. About to burn out? Don't worry, he would make him burn very brightly indeed, once he turned him into lamp oil.
This trip to Shangqing Sect felt like entering a treasure trove. Everyone he ran into was someone he bore a grudge against—it was simply too lucky.
The skin on "Yao Jiaping's" face twisted again. It looked as if the muscles underneath were smiling while the skin didn't move, creating a chilling effect.
Seeing his expression, the Sect Master became anxious. "It can't be that not even Sir Yao can treat this? Oh, shidi, your shixiong has harmed you!"
In order to display the dignity of a Sect Master, he purposefully appeared like a middle-aged man, with black hair and a long beard like a poor official, a popular look in the mortal world. Tears fell from his eyes as he kneeled at Qingyue's side, silently sobbing.
Baili Qingmiao took a glance at Qingyue and transmitted to Yin Hanjiang, "There's a way."
Since Wenren È was using Baili Qingmiao's body to send the transmission, the voice was still Baili Qingmiao's. He had previously taken in Yao Jiaping's memories, so he knew there was a cure. "A Mahayana cultivator must be willing to transfer over all of their spiritual essence, after which elixirs are administered, capable of returning the patient to Body Unity. However, they will always remain at Body Unity, and never be able to advance. There's also a second method, finding the Five Aggregates Herb. The five declines affect all beings, from ascended gods to the smallest insects, and all things are destined to undergo this trial aside from the primordial gods, born with the cosmos. Cultivation is only able to delay this fate. Only the Five Aggregates Herb, nurtured by the heavens and earth, can treat the five declines, but that's a treasure of the divine realm and many ascended gods want to get their hands on it."
Yin Hanjiang gave Baili Qingmiao a look. What use was there in mentioning something they couldn't get?
"I have it," Baili Qingmiao transmitted.
In the original plot, Baili Qingmiao stumbled into a small primordial realm and obtained it, naturally giving it to Hè Wenzhao. The Five Aggregates Herb was drawn to her primordial divinity, so this time, even though Hè Wenzhao didn't need it, she still found it in her thirty years of travel. She, Zhongli Qian, Qiu Congxue, and Su Huai were all unable to identify it, only knowing it was something belonging to the divine realm, so they had kept it hidden all this time.
"Don't ruin my plans," Yin Hanjiang transmitted.
He turned to look at Shangqing Sect's only Mahayana cultivator, the Sect Master, and smiled pleasantly. "There's a way."
He never mentioned the Five Aggregates Herb, only saying the first method. He then said, "I can teach you the transfer method and refine the supplemental elixirs for you. Whether or not you want to trade a Mahayana cultivator for a Body Unity one who will never advance and still experience the five declines after five hundred years, that's up to you."
"This..." The Shangqing Sect Master was shaken. "Isn't there any other way?"
"Even ascended gods can't avoid the five declines, so what can I as a wandering immortal do?" Yin Hanjiang sat casually in a chair and gave the Sect Master an uncaring look. "It's your decision whether or not you want to save him.
"As for my fee, no need to wait for the future." Yin Hanjiang glanced at Hè Wenzhao and smiled gleefully. After putting on a glove, he grabbed the back of Baili Qingmiao's neck and addressed Hè Wenzhao, "How about giving her to me?"