39: Chapter 39 Relentless Pursuit, Survival from a Deadly Situation

Three days... Kunlun Ruins...

He wanted to let that 'Heavenly Dao Chess Player' who was manipulating everything from behind the scenes know what it meant to... flip the chessboard!

The air in the main hall, which had eased slightly due to the Sect Master's words, 'Fine, this Seat agrees to your request!', was shattered again. Nangong Xuan, the arrogant Special Envoy regarded by the Family as their hope and bestowed with 'compensation' by the Heavenly Dao, had no intention of letting it end there.

His scarlet eyes stared fixedly at Shen Xiao, his gaze like a venomous snake locking onto its prey, filled with unwillingness and madness.

"Shen Xiao! Don't you dare!" Nangong Xuan roared, his voice raspy and twisted with the struggle of a dying man.

His eyes instantly became bloodshot, and the Qi in his body surged in reverse like a bursting dam. A scorched smell exploded around him along with a powerful aura—this was the sign of burning his essence blood!

He was actually planning to fight to the death!

The Sect Master's expression changed; the Qi fluctuation that had previously restrained Nangong Xuan was only meant to limit his movement, not seal his cultivation.

At this moment, as his essence blood burned, he forcibly broke through that restraint!

"Bastard!" The Sect Master shouted in anger, about to strike again.

However, Nangong Xuan's movements were faster than he had imagined.

At the moment his blood burned, his withered fingertips condensed a thumb-sized, pitch-black short nail that exuded extreme cold and poisonous aura—the "Blood-Transforming Nail"!

Once this Magical Artifact appeared, the air in the main hall seemed to freeze, and an indescribable aura of decay and death gripped everyone's throats like a cold palm.

"Go to hell!" He roared, shooting the Blood-Transforming Nail at Shen Xiao at a speed invisible to the naked eye!

The target was his throat!

The sound of it breaking through the air carried a determination to tear everything apart.

Shen Xiao stood where he was, unmoving.

It wasn't because he was stupid or arrogant, but because of the System's precise calculations and his absolute trust in the crazy woman in his arms, Xia Lengbai!

[Ding! Target's attack trajectory locked: throat vital point.]

[Estimated time of impact: 0.3 seconds.]

[Estimated time for Host's body defense activation: 0.2 seconds.]

[Qi fluctuation from the 'Energy Container' in the rear is intense; interception expected within 0.15 seconds.]

In his mind, the System's cold data flowed, and the corner of Shen Xiao's mouth curled up in a way that was hard to detect.

He even deliberately withdrew the Qi shield he had formed after his Breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Stage (Middle Stage), completely exposing his fair throat to that fatal blow.

He was betting on Xia Lengbai.

Betting on her morbid and extreme possessiveness, which would not allow anyone to touch even a single hair of his.

Sure enough!

The sharp whistling sound of the Blood-Transforming Nail piercing the air sounded like a demonic noise piercing her heart to Xia Lengbai.

Her pupils instantly shrank into two cold, vertical needles. A morbid flush appeared on her already pale face—a color intertwined with extreme anger and fear.

"You... dare!"

Without any hesitation, Xia Lengbai reached out with her left hand, catching the poisonous Magical Artifact before it could pierce Shen Xiao's flesh!

"Hiss..."

"Sizzle..."

Cold and flame erupted explosively in Xia Lengbai's palm!

The extreme cold almost instantly froze the Blood-Transforming Nail, and the following scorching flames melted it even faster!

Only a shrill, twisted sound was heard, as if the Blood-Transforming Nail were wailing. Afterward, it turned into a puddle of pitch-black scrap iron, dripping onto the hard bluestone floor, corroding a tiny, imperceptible black spot before disappearing in a wisp of green smoke.

Everyone was stunned.

This woman, she actually caught an attack from a Golden Core Late Stage powerhouse burning their essence blood with her bare hand?

And it was a poisonous Magical Artifact?

Is she not afraid of death?!

However, Xia Lengbai's level of madness was far beyond everyone's imagination.

Her palm was corroded and scorched; black blood beads were dripping from it, and the flesh was rolled back, looking terrifying.

Yet, she felt no pain at all. Instead, like a mother beast thoroughly provoked, she locked onto the Origin of Nangong Xuan by following the residual aura of the Blood-Transforming Nail!

"You... are courting death!"

Xia Lengbai's delicate face was completely twisted by anger and morbid paranoia. Without any hesitation, she forcibly overspent the power of the Ice and Fire dual Spiritual Roots she had just obtained!

"BOOM!"

With a thunderous sound, the entire main hall trembled!

Extreme frost and scorching flames erupted toward both sides, centered on Xia Lengbai!

"Crack!"

"Rumble!"

The hard bluestone floor cracked inch by inch, and the heavy hall walls were covered in frost and then scorched by high temperatures. In the blink of an eye, a shocking ice-and-fire crack, over several zhang wide, spread across the hall at a speed visible to the naked eye, heading straight for Nangong Xuan!

That violent energy even made the Sect Master, who was in the Harmony Integration Stage, look grave, because that power was completely self-destructive, carrying a madness of perishing together!

"Pfft!"

Nangong Xuan was backlashed by this violent Qi. Combined with the destruction of his Magical Artifact, he spat out a mouthful of old blood as if it were worthless, flying backward in a sorry state and slamming heavily against the hall wall with a jarring thud.

He fell to the ground, his face ashen like paper, his lips trembling, his eyes filled with terror and disbelief.

"Sect Master! Save me! I am the Special Envoy of the Nangong Family! You cannot... cannot just watch me die here!"

He struggled, pointing at Xia Lengbai, then looking at the Sect Master, trying to use his Family background to seek protection.

The Sect Master frowned, his face livid.

He looked at Xia Lengbai's eyes, which were almost spitting fire, and felt a chill in his heart.

This woman... she really is crazy!

He was about to intervene, but another figure beat him to it.

Shen Xiao walked slowly to the fallen Nangong Xuan and looked down at him condescendingly.

In those deep eyes, there was not a trace of pity, only cold calculation.

He crouched down, leaned into Nangong Xuan's ear, and whispered a string of strange syllables in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"... The first page of the Incomplete Manual of the 'Ten Thousand Transformations Heart Sutra', 'Three Phases Returning to Origin'... The second page, 'Divine Soul Tempering'..."

Shen Xiao's voice was not loud, but it exploded in Nangong Xuan's Sea of Consciousness like thunder from the Nine Heavens!

Nangong Xuan's pupils trembled violently like an earthquake at that moment. He stared fixedly at Shen Xiao, his eyes filled with horror and despair.

It wasn't fear, but the naked feeling of being seen through, the collapse of having the most hidden taboos in the depths of his Soul exposed to the public!

The 'Ten Thousand Transformations Heart Sutra'!

That was the true treasure of the Nangong Family!

And it was the most core taboo Incomplete Manual that only the successive Family Heads and Elders could possibly have access to!

The parts about 'Three Phases Returning to Origin' and 'Divine Soul Tempering' were never mentioned to outsiders, and even within the Family, few knew about them!

How could Shen Xiao know?!

Wasn't he just an ordinary Inner Sect Disciple of the Qingming Sect?!

In an instant, Nangong Xuan's mind went blank. He slumped to the ground as if his spine had been pulled out.

A terrifying thought spread like a plague—Possession!

This Shen Xiao in front of him was definitely not the original Shen Xiao!

He must be some old monster who had undergone Possession and Rebirth, or some ancient existence with a blood feud against the Nangong Family!

"You... who exactly are you..." Nangong Xuan's voice was barely audible, and all the blood in his body seemed to freeze.

This sudden mental blow completely crushed Nangong Xuan's state of mind.

His cultivation, which had been forcibly improved by 'Heavenly Dao compensation' but had an unstable Foundation, began to fluctuate violently the moment his state of mind collapsed, like a punctured balloon, with Qi leaking out, as if he would explode and die at any moment!

The Sect Master noticed the violent anomaly in Nangong Xuan's body, and his expression changed again.

If Nangong Xuan died in the main hall, the Nangong Family would never let it go!

Just as he was about to intervene to prevent the Special Envoy from self-destructing within the Sect, Shen Xiao was one step faster than him!

"Sect Master, do not panic. Shen will 'control the Qi' for him!"

Shen Xiao rose abruptly. The moment the Sect Master was about to strike, his right hand moved as fast as lightning and pressed onto Nangong Xuan's crown!

[Ding! Target's Qi detected to be spiraling out of control, meeting looting conditions!]

[Do you wish to activate the looting function?]

"Loot!" Shen Xiao thought silently, but on the surface, he looked serious and cautious, as if he were performing some unfathomable secret technique.

A mysterious and domineering force surged from Shen Xiao's palm into Nangong Xuan's body.

He did not kill him, but activated the System's [Loot] function, extracting the violent, out-of-control Qi in Nangong Xuan's body like a whale swallowing water!

Nangong Xuan's body stiffened violently. He felt an irresistible force extracting everything from him!

That was a kind of deprivation more terrifying than death!

[Looting successful! Obtained 10% of the target's cultivation!]

[Target's memories are being looted...]

[Ding! Successfully looted Nangong Xuan's memory regarding the 'Layout of the Nangong Family Forbidden Ground'!]

As memory fragments flooded into Shen Xiao's Sea of Consciousness like a tide, Nangong Xuan's pupils rapidly dilated, and his eyes became hollow and dull.

His Divine Soul suffered heavy damage, his Qi was extracted, and he was like someone whose bone marrow had been sucked out, instantly falling into a state of dementia, drooling and murmuring unintelligible gibberish.

To others, Shen Xiao looked like a benevolent person returning good for evil.

He withdrew his hand with a solemn expression. The violent Qi around Nangong Xuan instantly calmed down, the crisis was resolved, but he had completely become a useless person.

"Sect Master, Special Envoy Nangong is no longer in danger. It is just that his Divine Soul is damaged, and he will need to rest for a hundred years to recover." Shen Xiao stood up, his tone calm, as if he had just done a trivial thing.

In the main hall, there was silence.

Everyone was shocked beyond measure by Shen Xiao's god-like 'Qi control' method!

Was this controlling Qi?

It was clearly sucking a Golden Core Late Stage powerhouse into an idiot in public!

And the process was smooth and flawless, completely fitting the explanation of 'treatment'!

The Sect Master stared at Shen Xiao, and the wariness and scrutiny in his eyes reached their peak.

He had originally intended to sacrifice Shen Xiao to appease the anger of the Nangong Family, but now it seemed... this young man was definitely not a pawn that could be sacrificed at will!

His potential and his methods were far beyond the Sect's cognition!

Finally, the Sect Master took a deep breath and ordered: "Someone, take Nangong Xuan down and take good care of him. Without this Seat's permission, no one is allowed to approach him without authorization!"

This implication was to place Nangong Xuan under house arrest, which was both a compromise to Shen Xiao and a deterrent to the Nangong Family.

"Shen Xiao!"

The Sect Master's voice sounded again, carrying an unprecedented dignity and unquestionable authority.

"This Seat acknowledges your Divine Soul contract with Xia Lengbai. But the Kunlun Ruins are filled with dangers; you two must be extremely careful!"

Once the Sect Master said this, the gazes of everyone in the main hall toward Shen Xiao, besides awe, added a hint of indescribable complexity.

This Disciple who had just entered the Inner Sect had actually relied on his own strength to make the Sect Master break the rules, not only marrying a Personal Disciple but also gaining the qualification to enter the Forbidden Ground, and even more, turning the Nangong Family's Special Envoy into a fool in front of everyone!

Shen Xiao did not say much, just walked calmly to Xia Lengbai's side.

He reached out and gently held her hand, which was covered in Nangong Xuan's blood and had rolled-back flesh.

The touch was cold and sticky.

Xia Lengbai shuddered violently. Her morbidly obsessed eyes stared fixedly at Shen Xiao. Instead of struggling, she acted as if she had obtained some supreme treasure, slowly raising that blood-stained hand to her lips and gently licking the blood on the back of her hand with the tip of her tongue.

"Mmm..." She let out a satisfied moan, her eyes flashing with heart-stopping possessiveness and madness.

She looked like some bloodthirsty monster, enjoying the most delicious prey.

Shen Xiao turned a blind eye to this. He simply held the hand of this woman who had just shown extreme madness in front of everyone and walked out of the main hall with a calm gait.

The sunlight outside the hall fell on them but could not dispel the morbid aura lingering around Xia Lengbai.

Just as the two stepped out of the hall door, a rapid System notification sounded in Shen Xiao's Sea of Consciousness:

[Ding! Emergency alert! Child of Destiny Lin Yun has appeared at the entrance of the Kunlun Ruins!]

[Warning! The target is condensing the 'Heavenly Dao Ultimate Gift' capable of rewriting the continent's destiny!]

[Please, Host, proceed to the Kunlun Ruins immediately to prevent the Child of Destiny from obtaining this gift!]

Shen Xiao paused, and the corner of his mouth slowly curled into a cold arc.

Ultimate Gift?

It seems the Heavenly Dao is truly anxious, actually giving Lin Yun a cheat directly!

But he, Shen Xiao, was not a marionette to be manipulated by the Heavenly Dao.

"Lin Yun, you have come just in time." He whispered, his eyes flashing with excitement and madness, "You can enter these Kunlun Ruins, and naturally, I can too. However, who is the hunter and who is the prey, that is hard to say!"

He turned his head to look at Xia Lengbai beside him, feeling the still violent ice and fire power in her palm, as well as the intense, almost tangible possessiveness in her eyes when she looked at him.

"Let's go." Shen Xiao said softly, with a hint of unquestionable command.

"To the Kunlun Ruins."