2: Chapter 2: Turning the tables and making the chosen one the "great hero".

An Opportunity!

Shen Xiao's heart skipped a beat; he instinctively seized this fleeting window of Opportunity.

This woman wasn't stupid; she had simply been blinded by the settings of the Heavenly Dao.

Now that a piece of her memory had been stripped away by him, it was like a key part of a painting being gouged out—the entire Concept of the painting had changed.

When she looked at Lin Yun, she could no longer see the upright and honorable fiancé; she only saw a hideous, furious stranger.

"Lin... Senior Brother Lin?" Xia Lengbai's voice carried the weakness and trembling of her injuries. Subconsciously, she shrank back, moving closer to Shen Xiao, the "bloodied man," and further away from Lin Yun.

Lin Yun was so angry he felt as if his lungs were about to explode.

He watched helplessly as his Opportunity was snatched away and his fiancée was pulled behind a cannon fodder who was supposed to be dead. And she—she was actually looking at him with the eyes of a stranger!

"Shen Xiao! You despicable villain! How dare you steal my Opportunity!" Lin Yun roared, the spiritual light of the long sword in his hand flickering as he pointed it directly at Shen Xiao's throat. "You are courting death!"

Steal yours? Did you write your name on this thing, Lin Yun?

Shen Xiao sneered inwardly, but on his face, he forced an expression of grief, indignation, and swaying instability.

He did not retort, nor did he even look at Lin Yun. Instead, he stumbled, as if he could no longer support the injuries within his body.

Under Xia Lengbai's concerned gaze, he fished a small porcelain bottle from his robes. It was the last bottle of inferior-quality Medicinal Pill he had, which, in the original story, was supposed to be taken by Lin Yun as spoils of war.

He did not consume it; instead, amidst the stunned gazes of Lin Yun and Xia Lengbai, he violently crushed the porcelain bottle!

"Crack!"

A few dusty Medicinal Pills mixed with porcelain shards scattered onto the cold ground, making a crisp, desperate sound.

"It's useless..." Shen Xiao's voice was as hoarse as a broken gong. He raised his head, his bloodshot eyes staring fixedly at Lin Yun. "Junior Brother Lin, I only have one question for you... Didn't we agree to lure the Black Crow away together and then join forces to take the treasure? Why did you... why did you sprinkle beast-attracting powder on me!"

He suddenly raised his hand, pointing at Lin Yun's cuff.

There, a trace of inconspicuous grayish-white powder stood out starkly against the dark-colored Sect attire.

That was the residue of the beast-attracting powder!

It was the "insurance" Lin Yun had deliberately sprinkled earlier to ensure the Black Crow would prioritize attacking Shen Xiao.

Xia Lengbai's gaze, as if pulled by an invisible thread, instantly shifted from Shen Xiao's grief-stricken face to Lin Yun's cuff.

Her pupils contracted sharply.

The hollowed-out fragments of memory in her mind seemed to find their corresponding gaps.

She could not remember how Lin Yun had "sacrificed himself" to save her, but she clearly remembered that before she lost consciousness, a cloying, sweet scent had lured the terrifying Spirit Beast toward Shen Xiao's direction... And that scent was exactly the same as the faint odor currently emanating from Lin Yun's cuff!

So... was that how it was?

So, it wasn't that Lin Yun was protecting her and Shen Xiao, but rather that Lin Yun... used Shen Xiao as bait?

A bone-chilling cold, even worse than the wind of the North Sea Ice Abyss, instantly surged from the bottom of Xia Lengbai's heart, freezing the last shred of trust she had left for Lin Yun.

"I..." Lin Yun opened his mouth, his mind in complete chaos.

How could he explain?

Say that he was acting for the greater good, sacrificing an insignificant fellow disciple?

In front of Xia Lengbai, if he said such things, his persona would completely collapse!

"Caw—!"

Just in this deadlocked confrontation, an even more violent cry exploded!

The Black Crow, having been toyed with by the Dragon-Trapping Array for so long, finally used brute force to smash the fragile ice rocks. Its massive body, carrying Demonic Qi that seemed capable of destroying the heavens and the earth, dove toward the trio's location like a black meteorite!

Its target was clear: it was Shen Xiao, who had the strongest scent of beast-attracting powder on him.

Seeing this, Lin Yun...

Want to leave? Not a chance!

Shen Xiao watched Lin Yun's small movements with cold eyes. The moment he dodged the Black Crow's pounce, he flipped his wrist. Using his body as cover, he silently slapped a "Gravity Talisman," which he had just exchanged for 1 point of destiny value from the System store, onto Lin Yun's back!

Lin Yun, who was just about to gather his Qi and dash away, suddenly felt his back sink violently, as if he were instantly carrying a small mountain. His speed plummeted sharply!

"What?!"

He was horrified, his body stumbling, which caused him to miss the optimal moment to dodge.

"Bang!"

The Black Crow's steel-like wings slammed solidly into his chest.

"Pfft—!" Lin Yun felt as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer. He was sent flying, crashing into the ice wall behind him with a dull, heavy thud.

His throat tasted sweet, and he couldn't stop a mouthful of blood from spraying out.

"Shen! Xiao!"

Lin Yun struggled to get up, his eyes blood-red. His reason was completely burned away by rage.

He didn't care about anything else; he raised his sword and slashed madly toward Shen Xiao, Sword Qi raging, swearing to tear the bastard who had ruined everything for him into ten thousand pieces!

However, before his sword could reach, a crystal-clear ice shield appeared out of thin air with a "clang" in front of Shen Xiao, steadily blocking the furious strike.

It was Xia Lengbai!

Her face was pale, but her eyes were as cold as ice as she stared fixedly at Lin Yun. "Senior Brother Lin, have you lost your mind?!"

Seeing this, the last stone in Shen Xiao's heart fell to the ground.

It was settled.

He did not hesitate any longer, forcibly driving the cold marrow spiritual power he had just absorbed, which was still incredibly violent, within his Dantian.

This was the Cultivation System of the Nine Heavens Continent, from Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul... every step was extremely perilous.

And the Heavenly Dao was the biggest dealer; everyone was its chess piece.

To jump out of the chessboard, one had to have the power to flip the table.

This millennium cold marrow was his first trump card!

A cold and sharp "Ice Soul Sword Intent" flowed through his Meridians. He did not use it to attack but instead reached out and grabbed Xia Lengbai's arm.

"Ugh!" Xia Lengbai felt a gentle yet domineering force enter her body, forcibly draining out the cold energy that was running rampant due to the cold poison attacking her heart and nearly tearing apart her Meridians.

The cold energy surged madly along her arm and into Shen Xiao's body.

Shen Xiao's entire right arm was covered in a layer of white frost at a speed visible to the naked eye. The intense pain made him grunt, his face instantly turning as pale as paper.

He was... saving me? Using his own body to help me draw out the cold poison?

Xia Lengbai was completely stunned.

"Senior Sister Xia! Run!" Shen Xiao, acting as if he were fine, used his left hand to pull a signal talisman from his robes and violently threw it into the sky. "I'll cover the retreat!"

"Whoosh—!"

A dazzling cyan flare shot into the sky and exploded above the Ice Abyss, forming the unique distress signal of the Qingming Sect.

At this very moment, the Black Crow adjusted its posture and launched another attack.

Dozens of ice-cone-like feathers came raining down!

Shen Xiao's eyes narrowed. While pulling Xia Lengbai back, he deliberately slowed down by half a beat.

"Pfft!"

A sharp ice cone accurately pierced through his back, bringing up a spray of blood.

His body shook violently, but he still stood firmly in front of Xia Lengbai, using his own back to take the brunt of the attacks for her.

This scene perfectly entered the eyes of a figure who had just arrived through the air.

The person wore the attire of a Qingming Sect deacon; his aura was deep, and he was clearly at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage.

The moment he landed, what he saw was a highly impactful scene:

Shen Xiao was covered in blood with an ice cone stuck in his back, yet he still stood like a guardian deity in front of Xia Lengbai; Xia Lengbai was full of shock and moved emotion; and the Sect Prodigy Lin Yun was brandishing his sword with a hideous expression, the tip pointing toward the two of them like an irreconcilable enemy.

The person who arrived was the outer Sect deacon who had received the distress signal, Zhao Dezhu.

His brows instantly knitted into a knot.

Before he could ask, Shen Xiao had already seen him and immediately used his last bit of strength to weakly shout toward Lin Yun: "Junior Brother Lin... don't worry about me! Take Senior Sister Xia and go... I will stay here to cover the retreat for you and Senior Sister!"

This shout was heroic and soul-stirring.

The words "He stole my cold marrow" that Lin Yun was about to utter were forcibly choked back into his throat by this shout.

He was completely dumbfounded.

Cover the retreat? Cover the retreat for me?

What the hell... how am I supposed to explain this?!

Zhao Dezhu's expression sank completely.

Although he was rigid, he was not stupid.

With the scene before him, paired with Shen Xiao's shout that sounded like "last words," the truth was self-evident.

"Vile beast, stop your insolence!" Zhao Dezhu let out a low shout and flicked his finger. A sharp gust of wind from his finger instantly struck the Black Crow's head, causing it to let out a mournful cry as it tumbled backward through the air.

"Deacon Zhao!" Lin Yun was both shocked and angry, hurriedly defending himself. "It's not what you see! It's Shen Xiao! He swallowed the millennium cold marrow that should have been mine!"

"Oh?" Zhao Dezhu turned his head, his eyes sharp as a hawk's. He stepped in front of Shen Xiao and reached out to check his pulse.

Lin Yun felt a surge of joy. Shen Xiao had just forcibly broken through to Foundation Establishment, so his aura was unstable; one check would reveal it!

However, Zhao Dezhu's brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

What he detected was not the surging spiritual power after a Breakthrough, but a mess of shattered Meridians and a cultivation level that was almost exhausted to the point of falling back to the Qi Refinement Stage.

This... this was the sign of having exhausted spiritual power and forcibly activating a secret technique!

There was absolutely no sign of having swallowed a Heaven And Earth Treasure!

[Ding! Target Lin Yun's Luck has been thwarted, destiny value -5!]

[Host has successfully misled a key character and gained "Zhao Dezhu's initial trust"!]

The System's notification sounded in Shen Xiao's mind, and he sneered inwardly.

It was just a "Breath-Concealing Pill"; anything produced by the System was high quality.

It was specifically used to disguise injuries and mask fluctuations in cultivation level.

"Lin Yun!" Zhao Dezhu turned back abruptly, his voice filled with suppressed anger. "When fellow disciples are in danger, you do not think to rescue them, but instead, you are here twisting the truth and slandering a severely injured fellow disciple?!"

"I didn't! I..."

Lin Yun was unable to defend himself. He watched helplessly as Zhao Dezhu carefully helped Shen Xiao up, and watched as Xia Lengbai took the collapsing body of Shen Xiao without hesitation, holding him tightly in her arms.

It was over.

Everything was over.

Leaning in Xia Lengbai's soft yet cold embrace, smelling the faint fragrance on her, Shen Xiao took one last look at Lin Yun with the corner of his eye before his consciousness completely "faded" away.

He noticed that the gaze Xia Lengbai cast toward Lin Yun was no longer one of strangeness and confusion.

It was a gaze mixed with disgust, coldness, and... a bone-deep hatred, like that toward the murderer of one's father.