42: Chapter 42 You want my life? Swallow the Dao Seed first.

He spoke with absolute self-righteousness, even tinged with a hint of condescending pity.

As soon as the words fell, an icy, bone-chilling killing intent struck from his side, nearly freezing Shen Xiao's Soul.

Xia Lengbai's eyes, which had just been narrowed in fanaticism, had now transformed into two bottomless pools of cold water.

She gazed blankly at the golden Guiyuan Dao Seed in Shen Xiao's palm, which was constantly contracting and condensing into the size of a walnut. Her voice was as light as a snowflake, yet carried a chill capable of freezing metal and stone: "Brother Shen, you lied to me... You promised that you wouldn't take what belongs to me."

She took a step forward and reached out with her slender, pale hand, seemingly wanting to touch the Dao Seed: "Give it to me, okay? Just half... no, just a little bit, so I can feel your aura... and I will help you kill everyone."

Shen Xiao could feel that, as her words rose and fell, countless ice crystal spikes, invisible to the naked eye, had already formed three inches around his body, their sharp points aimed directly at every vital point of his.

This madwoman; one second she was fighting for her life for him, and the next, she was turning against him over a dead object.

Facing this threat at such close range, Shen Xiao did not withdraw the Guiyuan Dao Seed; instead, he grinned.

His right hand, still stained with his own blood, struck out like lightning. It wasn't to defend, but to precisely grip Xia Lengbai's pretty face as she tried to lean in to lick his wounds. Applying force with his five fingers, he forcibly lifted her chin, compelling her to meet his gaze.

The distance closed to less than a finger's width, their breaths mingling on each other's faces.

"You want my life? And you want my things?" Shen Xiao's pupils reflected Xia Lengbai's face, which had frozen in astonishment. His tone was cold and stern: "Fine, take a look first at what the Heavenly Dao originally intended to 'share' with you."

[Ding! Memory transfer function activated!]

An icy, bone-chilling Spiritual Qi, mixed with a sequence of malicious and calculating scenes that did not belong to her, surged brutally from Shen Xiao's fingertips into Xia Lengbai's Sea of Consciousness!

In the vision, Lin Yun was sitting cross-legged inside a secret room, his eyes flashing with greed and excitement.

A blurry voice echoed in his ear: "Once you finish the Fusion of the Source of Ten Thousand Laws, this Xia Lengbai will be your best Cauldron. The Nine Nether Ice Soul within her is compatible with your Cultivation Technique. After harvesting her, it will help you charge directly to the Nascent Soul Realm, saving you a hundred years of bitter cultivation..."

And in the vision, Lin Yun revealed a smile of absolute agreement.

This was the "destiny sharing" she was originally meant to receive.

"Boom!" Xia Lengbai's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpricks!

That incredibly realistic vision was like a red-hot iron brand, searing fiercely into her Divine Soul.

A freezing Spiritual Qi, a hundred times more intense than before, erupted violently, instantly spiraling out of control!

"Puff! Puff! Puff!" Those ice crystal spikes that had been hovering around Shen Xiao suddenly turned in the midst of Xia Lengbai's overwhelming anger and sense of betrayal, stabbing fiercely into the ground like a torrential storm!

Within a ten-meter radius, the hard frozen earth was riddled with holes, as if plowed by thousands of sharp blades.

Now! Shen Xiao took advantage of the moment her mind was unguarded to seize the initiative.

The Guiyuan Dao Seed tightly gripped in his left hand flared with brilliant light, and he slammed his palm against Xia Lengbai's Dantian!

"Since you want it so much, I'll share half with you!"

A vast and immense core energy, giving Xia Lengbai no chance to refine it, forced its way into her Meridians in a manner that felt like it was tearing her apart!

"Ugh!" Xia Lengbai let out a pained grunt, feeling as if her body were a skin bag being forcibly stretched, ready to burst at any moment.

But this was not a gift; it was a mark.

[Ding! System command executed: Living container conversion in progress...]

[Target: Xia Lengbai. Binding successful!]

[Host and target have achieved "Luck Symbiosis" status. In the Heavenly Dao's judgment, the 'Source of Ten Thousand Laws' Dao Seed is now jointly held by the two, and the threat of a single-target plunderer has been temporarily avoided!]

It worked! Shen Xiao felt a weight lift from his heart, and the crazy smile on his lips deepened.

On the other side, Lin Yun watched helplessly as the Dao Seed that should have belonged to him was "divided as spoils" by the two on the spot. His own Realm plummeted from the heights of the Half-step Golden Core like a slide, falling back to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, Middle Stage... until finally, even his Foundation Establishment Initial Stage Foundation began to shake.

"Ahhh—mine! My Dao Seed!" He appeared frantic, suddenly biting his tongue tip and spitting a large mouthful of heart blood onto the ancient altar beneath him.

"With thirty percent of my Lifespan as a sacrifice... I respectfully summon... Heaven's Punishment!!!"

Hum! The entire Kunlun Ruins trembled violently. The runes on the altar were instantly illuminated by the blood, and a destructive aura that would make even old Nascent Soul monsters' scalps tingle locked down from above the Nine Heavens.

The Heaven's Punishment Array, activated!

[Warning! Mahayana Realm power lock detected! System simulation in progress...]

Shen Xiao looked up to see thick Tribulation clouds gathering crazily above his head. Three purple-black lightning pillars, thicker than water buckets, loomed in the clouds. That aura, specifically targeting otherworldly Souls and traitors to the Heavenly Dao, made the hair on his entire body stand on end.

On the System's light screen, the attack trajectories of the three lightning pillars were clearly marked in red. Two were locked onto him, and one was locked onto Xia Lengbai in his arms.

Run? It was too late. Defend? A strike from the Mahayana Realm, how could he possibly defend against that?

Instead of commanding Xia Lengbai to defend, he grabbed the woman, who was still digesting her pain and anger, and held her tightly in his arms. Using the newly established "Luck Symbiosis" link, he forcibly dragged her, charging forward instead of retreating, rushing like a mad dog toward the weak Lin Yun on the altar!

"Boom!!!" The lightning pillars tore through the sky, crashing down with the power to destroy the world!

Just as the lightning was about to touch his body, Shen Xiao dissipated all the Spiritual Qi defenses around his body, relying solely on his Physical Body to withstand the terrifying shockwave capable of tearing space apart.

Severe pain struck, and his back instantly split open, dripping with blood.

But he was smiling.

He used the violent, unrefined energy of the Dao Seed within Xia Lengbai as a fuse and detonated it fiercely!

"Borrowing your Heavenly Dao power to kill your Child of Destiny—that's fair, right!"

That energy belonging to the Guiyuan Dao Seed originated from the same source as the Heaven's Punishment Lightning Tribulation; detonating it at this moment was like adding fuel to the fire!

The three lightning pillars twisted strangely in mid-air, unexpectedly attracted by this homologous energy, and struck with absolute precision onto the residual Luck shadow of Lin Yun, which had not yet completely severed its connection with the Heavenly Dao!

The lightning faded. The altar was charred black.

The light from several life-saving Magic Treasures on Lin Yun's body flashed and vanished. His entire body collapsed onto the ground like charcoal, falling into a deep coma. The golden Luck Dragon above his head, representing the Child of Destiny, let out a mournful cry and shattered inch by inch.

Dragging his severely injured body, Shen Xiao walked step by step toward Lin Yun, preparing to deliver the final blow.

Suddenly, the System's sharp red alarms flooded his vision.

[Warning! Child of Destiny Lin Yun's destiny value has fallen below the threshold! 'heavenly dao chessboard' backup plan activated!]

[Warning! Detected that the 'Child of Luck' weight in the current area is undergoing a forced transfer... The Heavenly Dao has randomly selected a backup host within a thousand meters!]

A backup host? Alarm bells rang in Shen Xiao's mind. Within a thousand meters, besides him and Xia Lengbai, who else could there be?

Just then, the woman in his arms, who had been silent all this time, suddenly let out a low laugh that made one's scalp tingle.

"Hehe... Hehehe..."

Xia Lengbai slowly raised her head. In her bloodshot eyes, the anger and pain had faded, replaced by a hollow and eerie calmness.

She extended a finger and gently tapped the location of her heart. There, a faint golden speck of light was stubbornly pulsing.

She looked at Shen Xiao, her tone soft and hollow, as if stating a predetermined fact: "Brother Shen, it... it just told me... If I kill you, I will be the next destiny."