"Sister Xue!"

Seeing Sister Xue lying motionless behind the transparent man, Ruan Xiaoyue wanted to step forward to check on her. However, she hesitated upon noticing the strange things around her.

'Wait, I can't be careless. Something’s off here. Who is that transparent man? Judging by his translucent body, he’s a cultivator, right? And why is Sister Xue behind him? Could he be the one who moved us from near the ruins to this wide, dim space after I heard a man's voice in my ear before being transported? Seeing Long Linglu trembling in fear, it seems like he's dangerous. I need to figure out what he wants first.'

"Respected cultivator, do you know where we are? The horned girl beside me and I were suddenly moved here from a place not far from the ruins. I also want to ask, is the woman behind you still alive? She's a friend of mine, and we’ve been searching for her for quite a while. I didn't expect to find her here, where we were just relocated."

After speaking, Ruan Xiaoyue waited in silence for the transparent man to answer her questions. She wanted to see if his voice matched the one she heard earlier and to figure out whether he was an enemy or not. It didn’t take long for him to respond.

"I did not expect this. Just as my soul had recently awakened, three very special guests entered the alternate realm I created. How fascinating it is to see a cultivator with a legendary divine physical body arrive here, accompanied by someone from the ancient divine dragon race, to rescue a cultivator with a pure yin physical body."

‘T-this transparent man said he created this alternate realm? D-damn, he must be incredibly powerful! And we entered his realm without permission! How are we going to get out of here? It’s clear now that he moved us here. He said his soul just woke up—could it be from that dead body in the coffin beside him? Is he planning to use our bodies as vessels? Damn it! That must be it! We have to escape! But how? Long Linglu’s been frozen in fear all this time. What should I do?’

As Ruan Xiaoyue racked her brain to find a way out, her thoughts were interrupted when the transparent man did something to Long Linglu.

"Akh! My finger!"

"Hmm, even though the storage ring on this severed finger is trash, the divine fruit inside is truly absurd. It’s a pity I can’t eat it since I’m now just a soul, but I’ll keep it anyway. Now, tell me—who is your master, and where did they find so many divine fruits?"

'This bastard stole our treasure! How did he know the fruits were inside Long Linglu’s ring? Has he been spying on us from the start? What now? How can we escape when I couldn’t even see his move that cut off Long Linglu’s finger? Should I ask Long Linglu—'

"Why are you silent? Stop thinking and answer my question."

Before Ruan Xiaoyue could finish her thought, the transparent man gave her no time, unleashing a powerful aura that pressed down on both her and Long Linglu, forcing them to their knees in pain.

"Ugh!" "Ghak!"

'My body feels like it's being crushed by a huge boulder! Damn it! This bastard isn’t giving us any time!'

"Little girl, it's fascinating to see you withstand the pressure of my aura, while your divine dragon friend is coughing up blood. As expected of someone with a legendary divine body—their resilience is simply unreasonable."

'It hurts so much! I can't think for too long—Long Linglu is vomiting too much blood. I have to try apologizing for entering his realm. Hopefully, he’ll listen.'

"Honored cultivator, I'm sorry for trespassing into the realm you created. Please, release us. You’ve already taken our divine treasures; we have nothing left. I beg you, just let us go."

Ruan Xiaoyue attempted to apologize and plead for their release, but the transparent man didn’t respond. Instead, he intensified the pressure on her, causing her to collapse completely.

Thud!

"Guugh!"

"Don’t speak unless it’s to answer my question. Now, where did your master find these divine fruits? It’s impossible to find this many in the qi-poor Fellow Sun Continent. Even on larger continents, divine fruits are extremely rare. So tell me—who is your master, and where did they find these fruits?"

Seeing Ruan Xiaoyue in agony, unable to move, Long Linglu, trembling with fear, took the initiative to try negotiating with the transparent man to save them.

"H-h-honored cultivator! I-I'm L-long Linglu of the ancient divine dragon race, as you said. P-please let the two of us go! I-I am the daughter of the leader of the divine dragon race. Y-you don’t want to be hunted by my entire race, do you? So please—aghh! My right hand is severed! Hiks, hiks…”

"Silence! How dare you threaten me? Do you think I’m afraid of your divine dragon race? As long as you’re in the alternate realm I created, your race can’t reach you to help. Speak again, and next time, it’ll be your neck that’s severed."

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“Hiks, hiks…”

“Long Linglu! Damn you! You were supposed to be strong! How can you intimidate children like us and steal our treasures? Just let us go! We’ve already apologized! Where’s your honor?”

“Hahaha! You naive little girl, you’re like someone who’s just become a cultivator. Don’t you know that stealing another cultivator’s treasures is normal if they can’t protect what’s theirs? Cultivators wouldn’t even care if a baby were turned into a pill if it could enhance their cultivation. So, intimidating and taking precious treasures from weak little kids like you is perfectly normal.”

"Enough of this lesson. Little girl, I have an intriguing offer for you. How about becoming my disciple? Judging by your refusal to mention your master, it seems they’re weak. So, if you accept, I’ll spare your life. It would be a shame to kill someone with a legendary divine body here. What do you say—are you interested?"

‘This bastard dares insult my master! If I didn’t want to burden my master with my problems, I would’ve told her so this bastard could die miserably! But I can’t involve my master in this. I’ll have to handle it myself. He says if I become his disciple, he won’t kill me. Does that also mean he’ll let Long Linglu and Sister Xue go? I should ask him.’

"...If I accept you as my master, what will happen to my two friends?"

"Hmm… well, your friends will die here. The little dragon is useless to me; her cultivation is too weak to serve as my guardian. Keeping her alive would be dangerous if her race finds out. And making her my pet is impossible—divine dragons are known for their pride. As for the girl behind me, she’ll serve as a furnace for me to break through. So I’ll keep her for now. I’ve told you their fate. What will you choose, little girl?"

‘This damned bastard is so cruel! He wouldn’t even spare Long Linglu and Sister Xue if I accepted him as my master. Damn it! I have no other choice, I’ll have to pretend to accept him as my master. Forgive me, Master, for pretending to accept someone else as my master, but I have no choice. I’m doing this to help Long Linglu and Sister Xue escape from here.’

"...I’ll accept you as my master."

"Hmm, a wise choice. Now come closer and perform the ritual of respect."

After the translucent man approved her choice, Ruan Xiaoyue felt the heavy pressure on her lift. Standing up despite the pain, she walked slowly towards the translucent man and then knelt down when she was close to him. Not long after kneeling, Ruan Xiaoyue heard the translucent man speak kindly to her.

"Very good, my disciple. You no longer need to kneel. Stand up. After I kill your friend and take her whole body to use as material so you can cultivate faster, I will teach you a powerful cultivation technique."

Hearing the cruel translucent man say he would kill Long Linglu, Ruan Xiaoyue hid her furious expression while following his command and stood up slowly. But unexpectedly, Ruan Xiaoyue suddenly threw a powerful punch wrapped in qi toward him. Seeing her strike blocked by a solid transparent wall, Ruan Xiaoyue didn’t stop. She quickly ran behind the translucent man, approached Sister Xue, and lifted her body while throwing punch after punch at the translucent man to buy herself some time to get closer to Long Linglu, so the three of them could escape.

She hadn’t run very far from the translucent man when suddenly, she fell while carrying Sister Xue, tumbling and feeling intense pain in her legs. After rolling to a stop on the ground, holding onto Sister Xue to prevent them from being separated, Ruan Xiaoyue, overwhelmed by the pain, tried to look at her legs and saw that both of them had been severed.

"Argh! My legs are gone! Urgh! Long Linglu! Stop crying! Take Sister Xue and get out of here!"

“Hiks, hiks… I-I caught her, but what about you, Ruan Xiaoyue?”

“Leave me behind! You have to escape!”

“But I can’t leave you! We have to escape together!”

"Don't be stupid, damn it! Go! If you manage to escape, bring Master here so this bastard can die! Hurry!"

“Enough playing around."

"Argh!"

"Ruan Xiaoyue! Damn it! Let her go! Urgh!"

After the translucent man spoke, a large hand made of qi appeared in the air, moving toward Ruan Xiaoyue to grab and squeeze her tightly, causing her to scream. Shifting his gaze to Long Linglu, who had insulted him, the translucent man became irritated. He conjured a massive spear made of qi in the air and shot it toward Long Linglu, impaling her. Ignoring whether she was alive or dead, he turned his attention back to Ruan Xiaoyue.

"Little girl, I gave you a chance to become my disciple, yet you deceived me and even attacked when I was slightly off guard. Luckily, I deflected it in time, or your strange technique could have damaged my soul. I intended to train you to become as strong as I am, so that when I absorb your soul and take your body, my cultivation would skyrocket."

Still angry at Ruan Xiaoyue’s betrayal, the translucent man made a slight squeezing motion with his hand, causing the giant qi hand to mimic his action, squeezing Ruan Xiaoyue harder and making her scream even louder. He continued speaking to the bloodied, near-death Ruan Xiaoyue.

"ARGHH!"

"Since you’ve refused me, I will now absorb your soul. Your earlier technique and all the information you possess will become mine. Once you die, I’ll use your divine body as my new vessel. Despite the drawbacks, like the gender difference which might cause some rejection of my soul, it shouldn’t be an issue if I can obtain a divine body as my vessel. Even though my cultivation will decrease after using your body, I’ll be able to overcome that weakness after absorbing that pure yin furnace woman. Hahaha! Even the heavens favor me by bestowing so much fortune! Hahaha! Now I’ll absorb your soul, die, little girl—what!"

As the translucent man moved his fingers in a complex manner to unleash a mysterious technique that could absorb Long Linglu’s soul, he suddenly felt a strange sensation. He turned his gaze and was shocked to see Long Linglu, whom he had ignored, assuming he was dead after being pierced by a spear. Long Linglu had transformed into a massive and lengthy white dragon, her entire body covered in a yellow, smoke-like light. The dragon, or Long Linglu, was so enormous that the ceiling above them collapsed because it couldn’t contain her.

GRAAAAAHH!

Long Linglu, now a dragon, roared, destroying many surrounding walls before unleashing a massive concentrated beam of light from her mouth, sending a barrage of powerful beams toward the translucent man.

Seeing the incoming attack, the translucent man was forced to defend himself from the countless beams of light. Long Linglu took advantage of his distraction, flying swiftly with Xue Lanting in her hand, and bit down on the large qi hand that was gripping Ruan Xiaoyue.

Since the translucent man was preoccupied with defending himself from the light barrage, the qi hand he conjured weakened. Long Linglu managed to destroy it with her bite and escaped, carrying Ruan Xiaoyue in her mouth, flying upward through the crumbling walls above.