Surprised? Unexpected?

"Die! For! Me!"

A bestial roar, mixed with blood and fire, erupted from the burly man's mouth.

In the final moment of his life, all the remaining Protective Aura and blood essence within his body detonated, transforming into the purest, most primitive force of strangulation, which swept wildly across Lin Yuan's entire body!

"Crack! Crack, crack, crack!"

That was the crisp sound of bones being crushed inch by inch.

An irresistible, immense force crushed in from all directions. Lin Yuan only felt his chest, spine, limbs... every bone in his body turned into powder in an instant.

The air in his lungs was instantly squeezed out, and his internal organs were ground into a pulp of flesh.

Darkness engulfed his consciousness like a tide.

It was at the exact same moment that Lin Yuan's "vitality" was severed.

The Earth Core Nether Fire finally burned through the burly man's last line of Protective Aura defense.

The ghostly blue flames surged violently, like the waters of the Styx breaking through a dam, completely incinerating that burly body, along with its unwilling Divine Soul, into ashes amidst miserable wails.

Ji Hanyou stood quietly to the side, gripping a crimson Flying Sword in her hand, her stunningly beautiful face cold and expressionless.

She looked at Lin Yuan's collapsed "corpse," which no longer resembled a human form, and the guard who had turned to ashes, before letting out a soft sigh.

"If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for seeing things you shouldn't have."

She strode forward with her long legs, her figure flashing as she arrived before Lin Yuan.

That snow-white, slender hand reached directly for the Storage Pouch at Lin Yuan's waist.

Just as her fingertips were about to touch the Storage Pouch, a sudden change occurred!

That "corpse," whose bones had long been shattered and whose vitality had been extinguished, suddenly opened its eyes!

In those eyes, there was not a trace of Death Qi, only bone-chilling killing intent!

A streak of Sword Light, too fast to react to, flickered without warning. Hum!

The grim, sharp edge of the blade was already steadily pressed against Ji Hanyou's fair, slender neck.

A thread of cold blood slowly seeped out along the blade.

"You..."

Ji Hanyou's beautiful eyes trembled violently, her pupils contracting to needle points in an instant. This was impossible!

Having been fully strangled by the desperate final counterattack of a Golden Body Realm Late Stage Body Cultivator, with all bones shattered, internal organs ruptured, and Divine Soul supposedly scattered, this person... absolutely could not have survived!

Of course, Lin Yuan had not died.

A Puppet that cost fifty thousand Spirit Stones and could substitute for death once at a critical moment was not bought for nothing.

That fatal blow just now was naturally borne by the substitute Puppet he had hidden in his robes, which took all the damage.

"Where does the map point to?"

Lin Yuan spoke, his voice cold.

Ji Hanyou blinked her beautiful eyes, forcibly suppressing the stormy waves in her heart and regaining her composure.

"Didn't I say before? It's the ruins of a heaven-piercing spirit treasure."

"Do you take me for a three-year-old child?"

Lin Yuan's blade pressed forward another inch, the cold sensation causing Ji Hanyou's breath to hitch.

"It really is a heaven-piercing spirit treasure." There was no trace of lying in Ji Hanyou's voice.

Lin Yuan raised his eyelids slightly. He couldn't even drive a real Magic Treasure right now, so he naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to covet something that would attract the pursuit of Nascent Soul old monsters.

He understood the principle of "an innocent man treasuring a jade ring commits a crime" better than anyone. However, learning more information never hurt.

"The poisonous miasma here is thick, and spatial rifts are densely packed. How did you manage to penetrate this deep safely?"

The cold, stinging sensation made Ji Hanyou's body stiffen involuntarily.

"My Yan Yang Kingdom's royal family possesses a Magical Artifact called the Red Sun Bead, which can temporarily isolate the poisonous miasma."

She replied, feigning composure, a flash of despondency passing through her eyes at the right moment. "It's just that this item is not easy to refine, and each one can only last for one day."

Lin Yuan understood; the evil warding divine thunder pill he refined himself could last for a full three days.

The killing intent in his eyes was undisguised. This woman was deep and scheming, and she also knew the secret of the map; Lin Yuan would certainly not commit the foolish act of letting a tiger return to the mountains.

Ji Hanyou's heart tightened, and she immediately sensed that biting killing intent, hurriedly speaking:

"You cannot kill me! All members of the Yan Yang Kingdom's royal Bloodline have a Secret Technique branded upon them. If you kill me, the Golden Crow Soul-Chasing Curse will attach itself to your Divine Soul. No matter where you flee to the ends of the earth, our royal experts will be able to find you!"

"How about... you spare my life, and I will gift all the treasures in my Storage Pouch to you, Fellow Daoist?"

A tracking curse? Lin Yuan raised his brows slightly. He did know of such curses, so what she said should be true.

This woman was from the Yan Yang Kingdom royal family; if she died at his hands, he would likely be hunted by Nascent Soul Stage old monsters.

"If you want to live, that's possible." Lin Yuan's tone softened slightly. "Open up your Divine Soul and let me plant a Restriction."

Ji Hanyou's expression instantly became extremely ugly, and her beautiful eyes flashed with intense humiliation and unwillingness.

Letting a Cultivator plant a Restriction within one's own Divine Soul meant that one's life and death would be in the other person's hands with a single thought.

But the grim chill radiating from the Flying Sword at her neck reminded her that she had no room for choice.

Finally, she gritted her teeth, as if using all her strength, and squeezed two words out from between them: "...Fine!"

After speaking, she slowly closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly, looking as if she were offering her neck to be slaughtered.

Lin Yuan extended his Divine Sense, pressed one hand onto the crown of her head, and separated a wisp of his Divine Soul, carefully probing into her Sea of Consciousness.

But just at the moment his Divine Soul brand was about to be planted! A change occurred again!

Ji Hanyou's tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open, filled with cold killing intent and triumphant mockery!

"Royal Soul as the guide, Divine Restriction backlash!"

Deep within her Sea of Consciousness, a ball of golden light erupted, transforming into a lifelike phantom of a three-legged Golden Crow. It spread its sharp claws and lunged fiercely towards Lin Yuan's wisp of Divine Soul!

A sinister and vicious force of backlash followed the connection of the Divine Souls and ruthlessly slammed into Lin Yuan's mind!

At the same time, the crimson Flying Sword in her hand, which had been suppressed all along, thrust from bottom to top at an extremely tricky angle, aiming straight for Lin Yuan's heart!

This series of counterattacks was as fast as a startled swan and extremely ruthless!

"Did you really think this princess would just sit back and be captured!"

A look of vengeful satisfaction appeared on Ji Hanyou's face.

However, the scene she had anticipated—of Lin Yuan clutching his head in pain and looking dazed—did not appear.

That force of backlash did indeed make Lin Yuan's mind sting, but that was all. His Divine Soul was far more resilient than she had imagined.

"Clang!" Lin Yuan's frost sword arrived later but struck first. The blade turned horizontally, accurately and precisely tapping onto the tip of the crimson Flying Sword. Amidst the crisp sound of impact, he neutralized this fatal strike.

Ji Hanyou's pupils shrank, and she was just about to activate a spell again. Suddenly, her expression changed drastically.

The thick, yellow-green poisonous miasma surrounding them seemed to have found an outlet, crazily surging into her mouth and nose.

The Red Sun Bead on her body had already exhausted its final power and quietly shattered!

She subconsciously reached for the Storage Pouch at her waist, wanting to take out a new anti-miasma bead.

"Snap!" Her wrist tightened; it had already been firmly grasped by Lin Yuan's large hand, rendering her unable to move.

Lin Yuan looked down at her from above, his eyes cold, as if looking at a dead thing.

This woman's schemes and methods were far superior to her peers; if not for his many trump cards today, he would have likely already fallen. She must not be left alive!

"You cannot kill me!" The shadow of death loomed over her, and Ji Hanyou completely lost her composure, struggling violently. "If I die... the Yan Yang Kingdom will never let you go!"

Lin Yuan turned a deaf ear, his five fingers like iron tongs, letting her struggle.

Seeing her vitality rapidly slipping away, a flash of determination crossed Ji Hanyou's eyes, and she bit down hard on the tip of her tongue.

"Pfft!" A mouthful of essence blood sprayed out, transforming into a complex golden rune in the air.

"Golden Crow Soul-Chasing Curse! I use royal essence blood as a guide; this curse will be permanently attached to your Divine Soul! In heaven or on earth, my Yan Yang Kingdom will surely tear you to pieces!"

The golden rune flashed and instantly branded itself onto the center of Lin Yuan's forehead.