One sword pierces through the beauty's skin!

It could be seen that her right cheek was covered by a dark cyan birthmark that occupied nearly half of her face; the edges of the birthmark twisted and extended like a centipede, hideous and terrifying.

Seeming to notice his gaze, the female Cultivator slowly raised her head.

The moment their eyes met, a surge of uncontrollable, ice-cold, bone-chilling killing intent suddenly erupted from her eyes, which should have been dull and lifeless!

That killing intent was like a tangible sharp blade, flashing and vanishing, so fast that it seemed like it was just Lin Yuan's imagination.

The next instant, she lowered her eyelids, returning to that lifeless appearance, as if everything that had just happened had never occurred.

But a layer of fine cold sweat instantly broke out on Lin Yuan's back.

He was absolutely certain that he had not seen wrong.

"Damn, that look... does she want to grind my bones to dust? Big sister, do we have a grudge?"

Something is wrong, definitely wrong!

Lin Yuan frowned slightly, alarm bells ringing in his heart, as his thoughts raced, piecing together fragments of long-forgotten memories.

Yin Corpse Sect... auction... Han Shuang... the incredibly ugly female Cultivator who also came from the Misty Immortal Sect...

A fragment deeply buried in the corner of his memory suddenly surfaced!

Back at the auction in the Yin Corpse Sect where he bought Han Shuang to be his maid, there had been a female Cultivator from the Misty Immortal Sect with a birthmark on her face, who was bought by a guy named Shi Tong, saying he wanted to take her back to make a Refined Corpse.

As it turned out, the next day, Shi Tong died mysteriously. Later, Lin Yuan vaguely guessed that the female Cultivator was Yue Qingyao, who had infiltrated the Yin Corpse Sect to rescue Su Qinghan!

"Damn! Could this woman be Yue Qingyao?!"

Calm down, calm down!

Lin Yuan's internal alarm bells were ringing, but his face remained calm, and he even took a few more interested looks at the female Cultivator, as if merely curious about her ugliness.

Deep in his eyes, a glimmer of cunning flashed by.

He feigned casualness and asked Gu Zheng, his tone carrying a hint of gossip: "Senior Sister, I heard that the proud daughter of heaven from the Misty Immortal Sect, Su Qinghan, was also captured this time?"

While he was asking, his peripheral vision was locked tightly onto the ugly female Cultivator in the corner.

Sure enough, the moment the words "Su Qinghan" were spoken, the female Cultivator's body went stiff for an almost imperceptible instant, her lowered eyelids trembled slightly, and the Death Qi surrounding her body experienced a trace of extremely subtle disturbance.

Although she immediately returned to her original state, all of this did not escape Lin Yuan's eyes.

That's it!

Lin Yuan's heart sank, and his last shred of luck vanished. This ugly woman was definitely Yue Qingyao!

If he wasn't mistaken, her infiltration into Black Stone City this time likely involved a massive scheme.

Thinking of a Nascent Soul Stage big shot lurking by his side, ready to attack at any moment, Lin Yuan felt a chill behind his neck.

He had to strike first; while she was caught off guard, he had to finish her off!

A crazy idea instantly formed in Lin Yuan's mind.

"Su Qinghan? That precious daughter of Yue Qingyao?" Gu Zheng heard this, her willow eyebrows furrowed, and a trace of doubt flashed in her clear phoenix eyes, "Why don't I know that she was captured too? Where did you hear this gossip?"

"Oh, I just heard it through the grapevine." Lin Yuan replied, but his eyes were already icy cold.

The instant his voice fell!

He swung his hand, and the essence binding rope wrapped around his wrist suddenly erupted with blinding spiritual light, like a primeval venomous python that had been lurking for a long time, breaking free of its restraints and shooting out like lightning!

This sudden scene caught everyone off guard.

Before Gu Zheng and the young Disciple leading the way could make any move, the essence binding rope had already turned into a streak of light, passing through the iron bars of the cage in an instant, and binding the ugly female Cultivator tightly from head to toe!

"Slay!"

An icy word burst from Lin Yuan's mouth, his eyes cold and devoid of any emotion.

The frost sword turned into a shrill white rainbow in response, cold air permeating the sword body, as if it could freeze the Soul, arriving first despite being launched later, carrying bone-chilling killing intent, and without the slightest hesitation, it pierced straight at the female Cultivator's Dantian position.

"Puchi!"

A muffled sound of a sharp blade entering flesh.

The Flying Sword accurately pierced through her Dantian, and the terrifying cold air contained within the sword body instantly erupted, completely crushing the vitality and Meridians within her body.

The entire process was swift and sudden, fast enough to be suffocating.

"So smooth?"

Lin Yuan's heart skipped a beat instead; could it be that his prediction was wrong? Was she really just an ordinary Foundation Establishment Stage Disciple?

"Lin Yuan! What are you doing!"

Gu Zheng finally reacted, both shocked and angry, and sternly rebuked him.

However, before her voice had even faded, the ugly female Cultivator in the cage, who should have been dead, suddenly raised her head.

Her unfocused eyes glared fixedly at Lin Yuan, her mouth opening and closing silently.

No sound came out, but from the lip movements, Lin Yuan clearly read three words.

"You — are — dead!"

As the words fell, the aura on the female Cultivator suddenly dissipated, and her whole body fell straight backward.

But just at the moment she fell to the ground, a bizarre scene occurred.

A flash of spiritual light appeared on her body, and her flesh and blood peeled away inch by inch like a sand sculpture, revealing a humanoid Puppet that shone with the luster of countless mysterious runes, resembling a wood carving!

With a "clang," the Puppet fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

Gu Zheng, who was just about to continue rebuking Lin Yuan, stopped abruptly. Her pretty face, usually covered in frost, was instantly replaced by deep shock and disbelief. Her heart felt as if it had been gripped by an invisible hand at this moment, and her breathing stalled.

"Transformation... Substitute Puppet!" She exclaimed, her voice carrying a trace of trembling she hadn't even noticed, "This is something only a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator is capable of!"

With her Late Core Formation Stage Cultivation and Divine Sense, from beginning to end, she hadn't been able to see a single flaw!

He not only saw it, but in an instant, he made the most decisive and correct response!

For a moment, the look in Gu Zheng's eyes when she looked at Lin Yuan completely changed.

It was a complex light mixed with shock, confusion, and... a trace of admiration that she herself hadn't even noticed. How many more secrets was this man hiding?

She grabbed at the air, pulling the Puppet fragments from the cage.

Gu Zheng picked up the largest piece and examined it carefully for a moment, her expression becoming increasingly grave, even carrying a trace of lingering fear.

"The aura remaining on this... it should be Yue Qingyao's!"

"If she had really used this Puppet to sneak into Black Stone City and discover our military deployment... the consequences would be unimaginable!"

Gu Zheng's voice carried a trace of relief; she looked at Lin Yuan with an extremely complex gaze, "Thanks to you, Junior Brother Lin. This time, you have rendered a massive service."

She took a deep breath, suppressing the turbulent waves in her heart, and asked the question that puzzled her: "However... how did you discover it? Even I... couldn't tell."

Lin Yuan retracted the frost sword, looked at Gu Zheng's eyes filled with inquiry, and the playful, wicked smile reappeared on his face.

He leaned in closer, lowered his voice, and whispered into her ear with a hint of ambiguity: "That's a secret. If Senior Sister really wants to know, you can come to my room tonight, we'll close the door, light a candle, and I'll tell you slowly, how about that?"