The City Lord’s Manor.

To celebrate bringing back a cauldron vessel with a Heavenly Yin physique, the Ghost Domain City Lord held a banquet to entertain his subordinates. Yuan Jingzhi was also present.

“If this medicine cauldron physique is properly nurtured, it will be greatly beneficial. Wouldn’t killing her be a waste?”

“Once I use her to heal my injuries, I will spread news of her. The other two cities will naturally be tempted. Rather than that, better to send her to the auction house and wait for the highest bidder.”

…

Shu Tiantian clenched her palms tightly, but after being pushed twice by the maidservant, she had no choice but to brace herself and step out.

She had an astonishingly beautiful face. Her eyes were like two pools of distinct black and white ink pellets, clear and bright as if washed by water. A small mole at the tip of her nose added a lively, naive charm to what was already a delicately pretty, doll-like face. Though dressed in dull, ashen clothing, she was still as beautiful as a lingxiao (trumpet creeper) flower that blooms once in ten thousand years in the cultivation world.

A flash of amazement passed through the evil cultivators’ eyes, and their gazes grew even more undisguised. Even the ever profit-driven Ghost Domain City Lord swallowed a mouthful of saliva and beckoned to the beauty. “Come here.”

Shu Tiantian had been looking at Yuan Jingzhi the whole time, but his gloomy gaze was fixed on her now, and he said nothing.

If the City Lord had not come, Yuan Jingzhi might have still taken Ling Ruoshui into account and let Shu Tiantian go once; but in the current situation, Yuan Jingzhi would never help her.

Shu Tiantian understood this as well and took a deep breath.

When she was pushed toward the City Lord, she pretended to stumble, but in truth secretly formed a hand seal.

In the silent night sky, a bell sound of piercing clarity rang out.

The silent crowd instantly erupted in an uproar. Faces turned pale, bodies trembling, all looking toward the source of the sound — the small bell on Yuan Jingzhi’s wrist.

This bell had naturally been taken from Shu Tiantian’s hand the first time she was captured. Yuan Jingzhi had vaguely sensed that the small bell was likely no ordinary object, so he kept it.

Thus Yuan Jingzhi reacted the fastest. He stepped forward two paces and suddenly grabbed Shu Tiantian’s hand, biting out in alarm, “Are you crazy?!”

Shu Tiantian was knocked to the ground by the sudden burst of his spiritual power and almost spat out blood. But she gritted her teeth and looked at Yuan Jingzhi coldly.

When Yuan Jingzhi had grabbed her wrist at the Transfer Office, she had already seen the small bell in his hand. Her little bell had a rather useless function — once a hand seal was formed, it would ring, roughly the same as a rubber duck in the cultivation world.

Shu Tiantian was certainly not crazy. Little Doctor Shu was no desperate gambler. Because of her exceptional medical talent, her mentor in her previous life had personally recommended her to the research institute. In this life, she had been well protected by the Tianji Sect, so the environments she lived in both lifetimes were simple. Aside from doing research, what she loved most was lying flat like salted fish and counting money.

But that did not mean she was a lump of dough to be kneaded. If she truly had to choose a way to die, compared to being tortured to death by this so-called City Lord and sold off again and again, being cleanly killed by Ancestor of Void Abyss would be far more straightforward — and if she could drag them along to die together, wouldn’t that conveniently count as revenge?

Moreover, she felt that in front of the great devil, she was not necessarily doomed to die.

The City Lord’s expression changed as well. He abruptly stood up and transformed into a mass of black mist, about to flee.

However, just as Shu Tiantian pushed herself up, she saw that the City Lord who had just vanished seemed to be rebounded by something invisible in midair and slammed viciously onto the ground.

Amid the dead silence, Shu Tiantian heard once more the unforgettable footsteps she had heard last time in the Niangniang Temple.

It was like an icy snake sliding across the tip of her heart, bringing a chilling sensation that seized the mind with an indescribable terror.

Yuan Jingzhi had still been clutching Shu Tiantian’s hand tightly, until a pale, slender hand rested on his shoulder —

The next moment, thin wisps of green smoke rose from Yuan Jingzhi’s arm. He let out a silent scream, clutching his arm as he rolled on the ground in pain.

Shu Tiantian instinctively wanted to retreat, but it was as if her mind was seized in an instant. She could no longer control her body, and could only follow as the young man approached step by step. In a daze, she followed behind the tall young man in the gilded black robe.

The long-haired young man sat down in the highest seat at the banquet, and Shu Tiantian’s body obediently sat beside him — although her mind was screaming ‘don’t go near, don’t go near’, her body simply would not obey her.

Shu Tiantian knew that the Ancestor of Void Abyss likely possessed some ability to control others’ bodies.

Everyone present, without exception, fell into a strange, deathly silence. All lowered their heads uncontrollably. Even the Ghost Domain City Lord knelt submissively — no one could look directly at him.

Shu Tiantian could only be drawn by an invisible force, meeting the long-haired man’s half-smiling gaze.

She had a deep impression of those golden pupils, yet this was the first time she was forced to examine him closely. He was very good-looking — ink-black long hair, narrow phoenix eyes, white eyelashes, golden pupils. When he looked at her without speaking, smiling faintly, there was almost a kind of divine beauty about him.

He did not look at the people below, only leaned slightly closer to Shu Tiantian. Because he was very tall, even while seated, when he turned to look at her, he still seemed to cast a shadow over her. Though beautiful as some god or Buddha, there was a kind of oppressive force that seized the heart.

At this moment, the long-haired youth’s voice was so pleasant it was almost bewitchingly gentle as he asked her,

“Why did you make a sound?”

“The second time.”

“When the bell rings, I come over. What does that make me like?”

The long-haired youth smiled, tilting his head. His voice was so gorgeous it seemed to carry its own echo.

“Like a dog?”

Shu Tiantian: … qaq

She swallowed, and found that she could finally move — but clearly, this was not a good thing.

Because the long-haired youth stepped forward one step, and she stepped back one step, until her back pressed against a pillar.

She had nowhere to retreat, and could only hear her own heartbeat, too loud.

Ambiguous? Shu Tiantian only felt as though she were being stared at by a man-eating evil ghost. Goosebumps rose, her fingers turned ice-cold. Her heart beat loudly because she knew that this very good-looking person was not some god who granted every request, but an evil ghost who was not easy to talk to.

She swallowed the saliva produced by fear, her voice trembling slightly.

“N-no, I-I-I was looking for you because I have something to discuss…!”

Shu Tiantian trembled as she took out a fragment of a Scarlet Flame Flower from her medicine box, spreading it in her palm. Her voice was a little shaky.

“I came to tell you that I have a way to keep it from going out.”

“The Scarlet Flame Flower is formed from your fresh blood, but it can only last two hours before losing its vitality, just like the vitality in your body keeps flowing away. As long as we find a way to sustain life, we can extend the time!”

Perhaps because she had entered her familiar field, Shu Tiantian’s trembling voice gradually steadied.

Although the person opposite did not speak, Shu Tiantian knew that she had gambled correctly.

“For thousands of years no one has found a way to keep it from extinguishing, because anyone who gets close is burned to ashes, let alone trying to think of a way to sustain its vitality. But I am different…”

Shu Tiantian did not know where her courage came from. Suddenly, she extended her slender, soft white hand and grabbed his dry, slender fingers, interlocking their fingers.

The fresh blood that constantly flowed from his body slid down his fingers, dripping onto Shu Tiantian’s hand, yet obediently bloomed into small red flowers, like delicate ornaments on her wrist.

She looked at him. Her eyes were astonishingly bright, like stars.

“I am the only person who can approach the Scarlet Flame Flower, and I am a very capable medical cultivator. As long as you give me half a year, I will definitely find a way!”

Her words inexplicably carried a firm, decisive persuasiveness.

In the dead silence, the Ghost Domain City Lord, on the verge of death, suddenly said fiercely, “Your Excellency may not know, this is the legendary supreme Heavenly Yin physique. If one dual cultivates with her once, all illnesses will be cured!”

Shu Tiantian: …..

She took a deep breath, so angry she wanted to beat that damned City Lord to death, while her heart also lifted into her throat—

However, the youth remained silent for a long time. It was hard to discern any emotion from that overly handsome face, yet Shu Tiantian suddenly had the illusion that he seemed to be distracted…?

Indeed, Ji Wushu had not heard what the Ghost Domain City Lord was saying at all, and was extremely absent-minded.

She followed his line of sight — they were still maintaining the posture of interlocked fingers.

The youth carried a certain sharp, icy edge. His beautiful exterior wrapped hidden darkness, making him appear beautiful and divine, yet always with an indescribable sense of danger. But his fingers were warm and dry.

Shu Tiantian froze, her face reddening as she quickly released his hand.

Ji Wushu seemed to come back to his senses only then and asked the Ghost Domain City Lord, “So, you intend to capture her to serve as a cauldron vessel?”

There was no discernible emotion in his voice. Shu Tiantian’s heart gradually sank. Her dantian, shaken earlier by Yuan Jingzhi’s spiritual power, throbbed faintly in pain, and she could not help clenching her palms.

“Precisely. You may not know, this little medical cultivator is the legendary medicine cauldron. If one were to…”

She fell silent. With a constitution like Tang Seng’s flesh, how could she expect anyone to give up such readily available benefits?

Downcast, Shu Tiantian only heard the sound of a sword leaving its sheath. She looked up in astonishment, only to see a sharp blade that had already pierced through the Ghost Domain City Lord’s heart. His filthy words had not even finished before they ended.

He lowered his head and saw only that a cold, gleaming sword had stabbed through his chest.

Shu Tiantian’s mind went blank, somewhat dazed.

Eh? Did he stab the wrong person?

But before she could turn around to ask the long-haired youth, a metallic sweetness suddenly surged up her throat. Accompanied by the sweeping sword qi of the Dragon Bone Sword, had Ji Wushu not grabbed the back of her collar, she would have collapsed onto the ground.

The Dragon Bone Sword flew over to observe, stunned. “Didn’t I just restrain my sword qi?”

A Qi Refinement stage cultivation was truly terrifyingly low. The Dragon Bone Sword had already restrained its sword qi considerably, but because the distance was too close, once the sword qi swept out, the already internally injured little medical cultivator — injured by Yuan Jingzhi — tilted her head and fainted. A line of blood flowed fittingly from the corner of her mouth.

For thousands of years, neither the Sinful Dragon nor the sword had encountered cultivators below the Golden Core stage — below Golden Core were all cannon fodder. A great devil who could grab a Deity Transformation stage cultivator and smash him against a mountain, how could he possibly notice little ants?

The Sinful Dragon frowned and reached out to probe her meridians, discovering that the little girl actually showed signs of ruptured meridians. Even her heartbeat was gradually weakening.

Dragon: …..

Sword: …..

Sensing that her heart meridian was faintly unstable and that she might be shaken to death at any moment, the youth was silent for a while, then placed his hand on her brow.

A surging torrent of spiritual energy rushed in violently, charging straight into Shu Tiantian’s dantian. The little girl did not even mount a proper resistance, allowing the domineering and blazing spiritual energy to completely occupy her dantian.

The spiritual energy instantly repaired the faintly cracked meridians, forcefully protected her heart meridian, and in an instant pulled her precarious body back from the brink.

But the spiritual energy rushed too fiercely. Shu Tiantian, her head tilted and looking half-dead, was struck again and coughed up two mouthfuls of blood, appearing even more on the verge of death than before.

The youth withdrew his hand, clicked his tongue lightly, and lifted Shu Tiantian by the back of her neck as if carrying a kettle. But as soon as he grabbed her collar, as if remembering that this little ant was very easy to kill, he frowned and changed to carrying her horizontally in his arms.

Just before stepping out the door, his indifferent gaze shifted, casually pointing at a trembling Nascent Soul stage protector.

“From today onward, you are the new Ghost Domain City Lord.”

Yuan Jingzhi had thought he had escaped disaster. Seeing the man’s back disappear, he had just let out a sigh of relief when, amid a shrill scream, the divine soul that belonged to the ghost cultivator was burned by Scarlet Flame Fire and quickly vanished.

After all, the little medical cultivator had ended up so miserable because of Yuan Jingzhi’s first palm strike that had shaken her — he deserved to die.

Until his death, Yuan Jingzhi did not have the chance to send even the slightest message to the Ling Ruoshui he had been thinking of day and night.

After returning to the center of the Void Abyss and walking into the Scarlet Flame Flower fields, the youth originally intended, out of habit, to casually toss the person in his arms aside—

But his movement suddenly paused, and instead he bent down and placed her on the ground.

However, the youth’s steps halted.

A strange fragrance hooked at the senses, carrying an indescribable sweetness.

The scent grew stronger and stronger. The Sinful Dragon stopped and asked the Dragon Bone Sword, “Do you smell that?”

The Dragon Bone Sword spun around in confusion. “Smell what?”

Then it saw the Sinful Dragon lower his head, his gaze fixed on Shu Tiantian.

The Dragon Bone Sword watched as its master extended his slender fingers, touched the corner of Shu Tiantian’s mouth, and as if tempted, suddenly tasted the trace of blood there.

Then he narrowed those golden eyes.

Dragon Bone Sword: …..

The youth seemed to have found some new kind of food. His slender fingers lifted her chin, studying her for a moment before leaning closer and licking clean the blood at the corner of her lips.

The fresh scent of blood enticed him, clamoring for him to continue drawing in that sweet flavor.

But just as he pried open her soft, pale lips, he regretfully discovered — it was gone. That small trace of blood had already been consumed.

Desire clamored within him. For thousands of years, the Sinful Dragon had felt no appetite, no other desire — only the urge to kill. Now that he had tasted sweetness, he used immense restraint before finally releasing her.

The Dragon Bone Sword heard its master murmur, almost in admiration, “She is very clever.”

The Dragon Bone Sword was originally one of the Sinful Dragon’s ribs, so it naturally understood its master’s thoughts —

If not for that half-year agreement, the master would probably not have cared how the little spy lived. As long as she did not die, it had nothing to do with him.

But her bargaining chip had indeed piqued his interest: she was the first medical cultivator to accurately identify the reason the Scarlet Flame Flower withered.

She tried her best to place her bargaining chips on the table. Though like a small stone facing a great mountain, it still made that mountain look at her.

And Shu Tiantian only needed that one glance.

Once the small stone made the great mountain look at it, it was no longer insignificant.

No one knew whether the little spy could truly find a way to extend the Scarlet Flame Flower’s blooming period, but at least for the next half year, she would be safe.

By coincidence, the half-year agreement also indirectly proved that she truly knew nothing about the Heaven and Earth Contract.

After all, if she really knew she held in her hands the Heaven and Earth Contract that the entire cultivation world coveted, who would not be tempted? She would not need to trouble herself with making a half-year agreement — she could simply use it to threaten him directly.

At this moment, the Dragon Bone Sword naturally did not know that when the youth left, he had even stared at those cherry-red, soft lips, licked his back molars, and thought with malice and deep regret — why didn’t she threaten him?

After all, she tasted quite good.

He even imagined the little spy threatening him, using him, like the Tianji Sect and those so-called righteous path people and then he could reluctantly, mercifully… eat her.