23: Chapter 23 A scapegoat is needed for the escape; Lin Yun, you take the fall for now.

This f***ing Heavenly Dao, can't play fair anymore? Just flipping the table now?

Shen Xiao's brain was buzzing, but his heart felt as if it were being gripped by a cold hand, forcibly suppressing all panic.

The Aura outside the Scripture Pavilion was like a tangible, extreme cold storm, raging wildly.

Inside the pavilion, those weathered wooden beams and bookshelves emitted "creaking" groans of being unable to bear the burden, as if they would be crushed into powder by this terrifying pressure in the next second.

The stale, moldy smell and the scent of old books in the air were swept away, replaced by an aloof coldness capable of freezing the Soul.

Confronting it head-on? That's purely 'lighting a lantern in a latrine'—looking for death.

The current Xia Lengbai, under the "super multiplier" of the Heavenly Dao, was nothing but a walking, humanoid natural disaster.

Let alone that he had just reached Foundation Establishment; even if someone at the Golden Core Stage came, they would have their ashes scattered by her sword.

In the blink of an eye, Shen Xiao's survival instinct overcame everything.

Without the slightest hesitation, with a thought, the Counter-flow Step Mind-Cultivation Technique he had just mastered began to operate within his body in an unprecedented, extreme manner!

This was not for movement, but for "death"!

The Spiritual Qi in his body, which had been surging like a river, was forcibly reversed by a brutal force; it no longer nourished his Physical Body but instead converged and collapsed inward.

His vigorously beating heart suddenly dropped in frequency, plummeting from seventy or eighty beats per breath to almost a standstill.

The flow of his warm blood in his vessels slowed drastically, becoming like river water about to freeze in deep winter.

A Aura of deathly silence and coldness began to permeate from his body.

Within the perception of Xia Lengbai's overbearing Aura, inside the already mottled and chaotic Spiritual Qi field within the Scripture Pavilion, the breath of the "destiny-defier" that had just been as scorching as a small sun suddenly extinguished like a snuffed-out candle, turning into a cold stone indistinguishable from the surrounding ambient temperature.

Perfectly hidden.

His entire being seemed to merge into the shadows of the Scripture Pavilion, blending in with the remnants of Spiritual Qi stirred up by the Aura, devoid of any trace of life.

However, Shen Xiao did not take the Opportunity to slip towards the main gate, which was already tottering under the pressure.

He knew very well that this state of extreme turtle-breathing was like holding one's breath while diving; it couldn't be sustained for too long.

Once Xia Lengbai began a carpet search, it wouldn't take more than a few breaths for his "stone" to be ferreted out.

He had to find a scapegoat and pin this blame firmly on them.

His gaze pierced through layers of bookshelves and fell toward a side hall on the second floor, a cold glimmer of calculation flashing in his eyes.

Lin Yun, it's time for you to take the stage.

Using the heavy shadows cast by the bookshelves, Shen Xiao's figure glided towards the second-floor staircase like a ghost, without making a sound.

The extreme control brought by the Counter-flow Step allowed him to move without disturbing even a speck of dust under his feet.

He quickly fished a Jade Slip out of the tattered Storage Pouch in his bosom.

This Jade Slip looked ancient and rustic, its surface covered in fine cracks left by the passage of time; it was an antique he had specially hunted down from the market a few days ago, just for today.

What was recorded in the Jade Slip was the "Pseudo-Counter-flow Step" cultivation route he had meticulously concocted. He had tampered with it beyond recognition; at first glance, it seemed incredibly profound, but in reality, it was a lethal scheme that guided Spiritual Qi to fight itself within the Dantian and cause the Meridians to explode.

He arrived at the second-floor staircase and found a node of the defensive Formation that had been somewhat eroded by time.

He carefully placed the Jade Slip at the gap in the Formation, then forced out a trace of imperceptible Aura from his fingertip and attached it to it.

That Aura was none other than the residual Soul Origin of Xuan Chenzi, which he had just plundered and absorbed!

After finishing all this, his figure flashed, and he clung like a gecko to the shadows of a thick beam above a side hall, lowering his presence to the minimum, like a lifeless sculpture.

"Creak..."

A moment later, an inconspicuous hidden window in the corner of the side hall was silently pushed open a crack from the outside.

A figure snuck in, their movements light, yet they could not hide the impatience and excitement between their brows.

It was Lin Yun.

His face, which was originally quite handsome, was now slightly flushed with excitement, and fine beads of sweat had even seeped from his forehead.

As soon as he landed, before he could even catch his breath, his gaze was fixated on the Jade Slip emitting a faint halo at the staircase.

Almost the instant he saw the Jade Slip, Lin Yun felt that the innate "destiny" Luck deep within his Bloodline seemed to be pulled by some force, emitting a joyful hum!

It can't be wrong! It must be a massive Opportunity!

The ancient Aura swirling around the Jade Slip, that lingering trace of Soul Power belonging to an ancient powerhouse—to him, it was like a firefly in the dark night, flashy and eye-catching!

His heart pounded wildly, almost ready to jump out of his throat.

This is the Opportunity that belongs to me, Lin Yun!

So what if that waste Shen Xiao snatched the millennium cold marrow?

I, Lin Yun, am the one destined by heaven; I can just walk into any Scripture Pavilion and pick up an ancient Secret Manual!

Intense ecstasy clouded his judgment; he rushed over in two or three steps and grabbed the warm Jade Slip in his hand!

However, at the very instant his fingertips touched the Jade Slip...

BOOM CRACK!!!!

With a deafening roar, the heavy main door of the Scripture Pavilion was shattered from the center by a terrifying Sword Qi carrying endless frost!

Wood splinters flew everywhere, accompanied by a biting cold, like a cold snowstorm.

A stunningly beautiful figure stepped on the frozen frost and walked in slowly.

Xia Lengbai.

She wore white clothes whiter than snow, her dark hair like a waterfall, but on that breathtakingly beautiful face, there was a layer of frost that kept people thousands of miles away.

Her eyes were colder than the profound ice at the deepest part of the North Sea Ice Abyss, with not a trace of human emotion.

Her gaze, like lightning, instantly pierced through layers of bookshelves and locked precisely onto Lin Yun at the staircase on the second floor, who was holding the Jade Slip, his breath chaotic due to the resonance of Spiritual Qi.

"Hand over the secret treasure within the pavilion, and I will leave your corpse intact."

Xia Lengbai's voice rang out, not loud, but it clearly entered Lin Yun's ears, like ten-thousand-year profound ice rubbing against each other, carrying an aloof judgment and indifference.

Lin Yun's ecstasy was instantly doused by this icy water, making him shiver.

He looked up and saw the person who had arrived.

Xia Lengbai? His "fiancée"?

A strong sense of humiliation and anger at being offended instantly rushed to his head.

Why?

Why do you look at me with such eyes, as if looking at an ant?

The shame of having his Opportunity snatched away by Shen Xiao face-to-face at the North Sea Ice Abyss a few days ago had not yet dissipated, and now, being so despised by his nominal fiancée, Lin Yun's self-esteem, which had been inflated by his Luck, exploded on the spot.

Hand it over? What a joke!

Not only was he not going to hand it over, but he also wanted to prove who the real Prodigy was in front of this woman who looked down on him!

"Heh." Lin Yun let out a cold laugh, bracing himself against Xia Lengbai's Aura, a wild and arrogant smile appearing on his face. "Why should I give my Opportunity to you? Open your eyes and see clearly—who is the man who will stand at the pinnacle of this world in the future!"

Before the words had even faded, he actually sat cross-legged and began to activate the Cultivation Technique he had just probed from the Jade Slip on the spot!

He wanted to use this mysterious and peerless movement technique to break through Xia Lengbai's Aura lock in one go and let her know that she had misjudged him!

Shen Xiao, hiding in the shadows of the beams, saw this scene, and the corners of his mouth curled into an extremely cruel arc.

Good lad, I don't even need to force your head down; you're lying on the guillotine yourself. You really are a thoughtful little leek.

In the Sea of Consciousness, the weak Soul body of Xuan Chenzi saw the Spiritual Qi route Lin Yun was running and was almost scared to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering on the spot, emitting a terrified mental fluctuation: "Stop! Junior! That route is... that is a dead end!!"

It was too late.

The Spiritual Qi within Lin Yun's body was already surging wildly in reverse, following that forged Counter-flow Step route!

An astonishing Aura, far exceeding his own Realm, suddenly erupted from his body!

The airflow around him was instantly disrupted, and a faint afterimage of his figure appeared on the spot!

A look of ecstasy appeared on Lin Yun's face; it worked!

However, this ecstasy lasted less than three breaths.

That reversing Spiritual Qi, like a wild dog off its leash, collided violently with the originally flowing Spiritual Qi in his Dantian at the core position!

It was just like two dump trucks crashing into each other at high speed.

"Pfft, waah!!"

The ecstasy on Lin Yun's face instantly froze, then turned a weird, dark purple.

He suddenly opened his mouth, and a mouthful of pitch-black blood mixed with fragments of internal organs sprayed out like a high-pressure water gun!

His whole body, like a kite with its string cut and all its bones removed, flew backward limply, finally hitting the frost at Xia Lengbai's feet with a "splat." His Meridians were torn over a large area, and after twitching twice, he passed out completely.

Socially dead on the spot, plus paralyzed from the waist down.

Perfect.

Shen Xiao watched this good show, feeling secretly delighted, and was just preparing to take advantage of the moment when Xia Lengbai's attention was all on Lin Yun to slip away through the hidden window.

However, just as he was about to put his plan into action, the pale blue System panel before his eyes suddenly began to flash with a blinding blood-red warning!

[Warning! Warning! Target "Lin Yun" is in critical condition, triggering the Heavenly Dao's forced compensation mechanism!]

[The heart blood of the Child of Destiny has accidentally activated the 'Ancient Blood Demon Formation' sealed beneath the Scripture Pavilion!]

[Warning! An unknown ferocious entity is about to awaken! Host, please escape immediately!]

Shen Xiao's pupils suddenly contracted.

Almost at the same time the System prompt sounded, the ground beneath his feet began to shake violently!

"Rumble..."

A dull, massive roar came from the depths of the ground, and the entire Scripture Pavilion was shaking.

The pool of black blood that Lin Yun had sprayed out seemed to have been endowed with life, squirming on the ground and converging into eerie blood-colored patterns.

All the floor tiles inside the Scripture Pavilion actually began to slowly seep out blinding, viscous blood-red light from the cracks!