136: Death Replay

Mo Ran gently put down the corpse and stared fixedly at Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan thought the other party was about to attack, so he had already gathered a Spell in his hand, ready to strike.

However, Mo Ran's next action was beyond his expectations.

The young man knelt heavily on both knees, his eye sockets reddening.

"I beg Senior to show mercy and spare my Master's remains. I am willing to offer my life savings and my sect's Legacy, and sign a blood contract to follow Senior's orders from now on!"

After saying this, he bowed his head heavily.

"Ah?"

The Wind Blade Zhou Yan had just condensed hung in mid-air, leaving him in a dilemma.

He had no choice but to disperse some of the Wind Blade, instead condensing a comb made of wind to comb his hair, which had become messy from flying rapidly, while he sorted out the situation.

I remember, I'm the victim here, right?

Zhou Yan descended slowly. The moment he landed, his Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivation and Core Formation Stage Divine Sense pressure were released simultaneously.

The powerful pressure caused Mo Ran, who was originally kneeling on the ground, to sink a bit lower.

"Thud, thud, thud."

Zhou Yan's footsteps were very light, yet they sounded exceptionally heavy in Mo Ran's ears.

Just as Zhou Yan was about to walk past him and approach the corpse, Mo Ran, fighting against the pressure, reached out a hand, attempting to grab Zhou Yan's ankle.

Zhou Yan, who had been keeping an eye on his movements, immediately noticed. He added wind pressure on top of his existing pressure, pinning that hand firmly into the soil, causing Mo Ran's entire body to sink into the ground a little.

"Senior, I beg you!"

"I can tell you everything!"

"I will tell you everything—who wants to harm you, where Judge Chen went! I only ask that you don't touch my Master's corpse, I beg you..."

His tears welled up again, his voice choked with sobs.

Zhou Yan only paused slightly when he heard the name "Judge Chen," then continued walking toward the Nascent Soul corpse.

"Acquired: 《Life-Taking Curse》, Mid-Grade Spirit Stone * 23, Damaged Curse Token (Tier 3), Hidden Gray Robe (Tier 3), Curse Nail Crafting Blueprint."

After collecting all the loot, Zhou Yan took out a processed stone stool, sat down in front of Mo Ran, and casually withdrew the wind pressure and Divine Sense pressure.

Mo Ran rushed to the corpse immediately. Only after carefully checking and confirming it was undamaged did he breathe a sigh of relief.

In his mind, Chen Huai no longer had any valuables, and since the other party still approached, the target was likely this Nascent Soul Physical Body.

Thinking of those insane corpse-refining and Alchemy techniques, his heart had gone cold at the time.

Who knew Zhou Yan only approached to touch his Master's corpse and made no other moves.

But Zhou Yan did not give him much time to think.

"It's true that you and your Master share a deep bond, but I am the one who was harmed. It can't just be let go because you shed a few tears."

Zhou Yan was indeed considering how to utilize this Nascent Soul corpse. Although he was a Righteous Path Cultivator and it was inconvenient to refine corpses, it wouldn't hurt to keep it in his inventory as a collection; what if it came in handy someday?

However, at this moment, he was more interested in hearing what conditions the young man could offer that would move him.

If it were just offering money and a Legacy, Zhou Yan could just kill him and loot the body slowly, not to mention that looting the body would yield more.

"What is your name?"

"My name is Mo Ran, and he is my Master, Chen Huai."

"Very well, Mo Ran."

"I will give you the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to convince me."

"Otherwise, your Master's corpse won't be preserved, and neither will your life."

Zhou Yan secretly estimated that the reinforcements would go to the cave first, find he wasn't there, and then follow his aura to find him.

The time it would take for them to reach the cave was roughly the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

This amount of time was enough for him to kill this small fry and pack the Master and disciple together into his inventory.

"My Master was a Curse Master from the West River Myriad Law Domain, specializing in the art of curses."

"His Legacy is all in my mind. I am willing to offer the entire Legacy, plus the one million one hundred and forty-two thousand seven hundred and fifty Spirit Stones I currently have."

"When Master fled with me and Judge Chen, Senior should have heard of this."

"I can inform you of Judge Chen's current whereabouts and movements."

"I can also tell you who issued the order to kill you with a curse."

Zhou Yan sat on the stone stool, pondering for a moment, then spoke.

"Everything you've said, I could obtain just as easily by capturing you and searching your soul, so why should I spare you?"

The young man remained kneeling on the ground, but his back was straight.

"As I said before, I am willing to sign a contract and follow Senior's orders from now on."

"Because my Master studied the Dao of Curses and was a Loose Cultivator, the value of his corpse is far lower than an ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivator."

"And the value I can create will far exceed a single corpse. Master once said that my talent for curses is even greater than his."

"By giving up one corpse, Senior will gain much more and avoid the backlash cost of a soul search. All of this..."

"For all of this, I only ask that Senior allow me to bury my Master!"

After saying this, he kowtowed heavily again.

Zhou Yan's expression remained unchanged, but he couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Why does it feel like I'm becoming more and more like the villain?

Looking at the young man in front of him, it would be a lie to say he had no intention to kill. Since the other party struck first, if he didn't fight back, it would be too stifling. But with the other party kneeling and begging like this, it made it hard for him to strike.

If he had known, he should have used his skills and then made his threats, not giving him a chance to kneel, so he could have acted more decisively.

However, letting him go just like that, Zhou Yan was ultimately unwilling.

Ah! Zhou Yan suddenly remembered something.

He had almost forgotten that item, and it just so happened that there was an excellent test subject right now. And Zhou Yan's upcoming experiment could just determine how to deal with them next.

"You say that as long as I allow you to bury your Master, you are willing to follow my orders and create value for me?"

Zhou Yan's golden eyes flashed with a faint red light, and the Third Elder's signature illusion technique was quietly activated.

Although he had not mastered this technique and his Realm was not high, under the dual influence of the cultivation gap and Mo Ran's intense emotional fluctuations, it worked in one hit.

Mo Ran, who was facing his eyes, froze and fell into a daze.

Taking this opportunity, Zhou Yan stepped forward quickly, took out the Dim Dawn Scissors, and began operating on the corpse.

He held the scissors in his left hand and opened the blades.

A translucent fluctuation formed by special power appeared between the two blades, stable like blue water ripples.

When Zhou Yan pointed the blades at the corpse, the fluctuation changed abruptly, turning from translucent blue to deep blue, and it was no longer transparent.

Immediately after, images of the corpse and its current state began to appear on the surface of the fluctuation.

Death, Old Age, Nascent Soul Stage, Curse, Karma punishment.

These images and keywords quickly solidified, shrank, and aligned on the far left of the fluctuation screen.

Zhou Yan then channeled his magic power into Dim Dawn.

The images on the fluctuation began to reveal the scene Chen Huai saw before he died, but there was only that one scene, with no other content.

But as he applied 18 times time-reversal to Dim Dawn, the screen began to flow like a reversed film, presenting everything Chen Huai experienced before his death.

His vitality was severely damaged because he cast the Life-Taking Curse, yet for some reason, the connection that had been established suddenly could not lock onto the target.

The connection was interrupted, and after losing the recipient, that violent curse power regarded him, the caster, as the only target.

Sensing something was wrong, he tried his best to control it, desperately attempting to re-establish the connection before the power backfired.

But no matter how he tried, he could never connect to Zhou Yan, only feeling that Zhou Yan's true name was incorrect.

Therefore, he even used a secret technique, squeezing out his remaining vitality again, attempting to detect Zhou Yan's true name.

However, the detection result showed that Zhou Yan was indeed named Zhou Yan, but the connection simply could not be established.

Finally, his magic power was exhausted, he was unable to control that power, and he was ultimately completely devoured by the backlashed power.

Before he died, he saw the young man rushing back, leaving only one sentence, "Don't worry about me, go." The scene ended there.

Zhou Yan sensed that his remaining magic power of over 500,000 was now almost gone, and he was secretly startled.

But he did not stop his actions, swallowed a pile of mana-restoring potions, closed the scissors, and a photo-like lens popped out.

【Chen Huai Silhouette】

【Editing Elements: Old Age, Curse】