Overwhelmed by his own emotions, Niu Chang felt like he had been left behind by the enchanting shrine maiden. His mind was still dreamy after reciting the poem and he was unable to think clearly.

As his words fell, the two shrine maidens clinging to Feng Ning and Huang Zhi suddenly turned their heads towards Niu Chang.

The mist that clouded his thoughts suddenly parted, and a pair of hidden eyes appeared in the back of his mind. The eyes were shut, but slowly they opened.

The drunkenness of love was still present, but not as potent as before. The sound of a beating heart became more apparent in his ears.

Badump, badump, badump.

It felt strangely familiar to him, as if he had heard this sound before.

The eyelids began to roll back, revealing the blurry orbs within. It was hard to discern the eyes, but the feeling of their piercing gaze was very realistic.

Unconsciously, Niu Chang also turned his head to check the strange feeling on the back of his head, only to find a red phantom of a lady slowly materializing on his back.

For now, it was only the head without any facial details.

It was then that Niu Chang realized the sound of the beating heart in his ears was not his imagination; it was true that he had heard such a sound before.

‘Well, well, well. If it isn't the consequence of my own actions,' Niu Chang lamented his bad luck with his risky cultivation path.

Avoiding the glaring eyes from the pair of hidden eyes in the back of his mind, as well as from the incomplete phantom on his back, Niu Chang started to think of a way to escape his predicament.

He was the creator and caster of this skill, but he knew very little about it, except for its potential use. His highest expectation was for the skill to successfully activate, which is why he openly recited his poem instead of keeping it in his heart.

He needed the anticipation and excitement of being watched by others, the sensation he felt when watching an epic battle scene in his previous life, where his hair stood on end and he was immersed in the beautiful animation on the screen.

‘How do I escape this predicament of mine?' Niu Chang scanned his surroundings and noticed that Huang Zhi was taking steps back while fighting against the phantom lady on her back.

"What kind of ridiculous technique did you use?" Huang Zhi exclaimed in astonishment and hatred, realizing Niu Chang was looking at her.

Niu Chang was like a paper tiger with a great amount of qi but without a solid foundation, a sandcastle without support.

Due to the invasion of the red qi, Huang Zhi was unable to circulate her qi properly, resulting in a significant decline in her battle strength.

The technique of the Demonic Embrace of the Lady in White and Red wasn't great or powerful enough for Niu Chang's current abilities. It mainly relied on its deep profundity and the ridiculous endless supply of his qi to maintain and strengthen the shrine maiden phantoms.

The red qi, brimming with affection, continued to project images that enveloped the five senses. Unless the source was halted, it became challenging to fend off the shrine maiden phantoms.

The fleeting cherry blossom petals in the distant time and place bloomed.

Observing how Huang Zhi forcefully pushed back the corroding red qi from the shrine maiden phantom, Niu Chang realized that this method was wrong, or rather, inefficient.

He wanted to look at Feng Ning, but he was afraid of the shrine maiden phantom on his back.

His heart was restless, caught between the pulling force of lust and the pushing force of fear. He was both horny and scared, and his body was confused about what to do. However, feeling that his pants were getting tight, it seemed he enjoyed such conflicting feelings.

‘Well, this is still better than being fully immersed in the skill itself. It's just a scratch compared to completely losing myself.'

Refusing the urge to delve into the strange emotions in his heart, Niu Chang tried his best to detach himself from the world, cutting off any mundane connection. He became otherworldly and detached.

But as he attempted to do so, he could sense two additional gazes fixated on him, bringing the total to four: one in front, one in the back of his mind, and two from behind.

Drops of sweat drenched his back.

He quickly stopped his machine mode, realizing it was wrong. 'The core concept of Demonic Embrace of the Lady in White and Red is to make the shrine maiden chase after the enemies. So if the enemies try to escape, it will only arouse the shrine maiden even more.'

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Deducing the reason for the previous horror, Niu Chang felt the other two eyes slowly leaving his body.

Exhaling a mouthful of turbid air, he chose to think more thoroughly before acting. He didn't want any unwanted consequences.

While pondering, Niu Chang felt his body slowly falling down, and then he heard a scream from Feng Ning.

Floating in the air, Feng Ning, with a pair of arms on his back, was holding his head and screaming in frustration.

The two shrine maiden phantoms of Huang Zhi and Niu Chang turned their heads towards Feng Ning.

Feng Ning had already noticed that the technique Niu Chang used was heavily affecting his emotions, so he chose to cut off his emotions. Being an old man himself, he was naturally able to do such simple things to calm himself from negative thoughts that followed his pitiful life.

As he started to cut off his emotions to defend himself from the invasion of the red qi, he found that the red qi was greatly aroused and became more aggressive. Feng Ning's mind was greatly affected, and he lost his composure and became mad.

Driven by the will to survive, Feng Ning unleashed his dark purple qi without restraint, fighting against the red qi with all his might.

The pair of arms on his back moved erratically, sometimes clawing and sometimes punching. The dark purple qi blazed like a fire roaring at the sky, but the red qi tried to conquer it through subtle infiltration.

Without any specific investigation technique, everyone could tell that the red qi was aggressively invading the dark purple qi because the only thing slowing down the invasion was the continuous pump of new dark purple qi from Feng Ning's body.

Huang Zhi watched the mad Feng Ning for a moment, and her eyes lit up. She realized that Niu Chang had also caught the attention of the shrine maiden phantoms before, but it quickly disappeared. Then she saw Feng Ning's reaction this time, and she had a guess.

She turned her gaze to Niu Chang, who was on the ground, looking at her with a bored expression and tranquil eyes.

Niu Chang slightly shook his head, raised the corner of his mouth, and instantly the red qi imagery on his body reacted.

Captivating Smile Under the Shade and Red.

This was a crucial moment for Niu Chang. He knew that if he messed up this chance, his journey would truly end here.

Left without any choice, he braced himself and smiled at his enemies.

‘It is now a battle of attrition, either I'm devoured by the shrine maiden phantom first or they,' thought Niu Chang.

The cherry blossom petals that fell around him energized and danced happily in the air.

The incomplete shrine maiden phantom on Niu Chang's back loosened her hold, but at the same time, the pair of eyes inside his mind slowly transformed.

From a pair of eyes, a round shadow of a head emerged, followed by other details such as hair, nose, mouth, and neck.

Exiting the tiger's mouth and entering the lion's maw.

Huang Zhi's eyes constricted at that moment when she realized she had just made the biggest mistake of her life. She regretted her foolish choice to look at Niu Chang.

She knew about the beguiling smile of Niu Chang, but she seemed ignorant about its power. The reason why she was able to swiftly respond when Niu Chang recited his poem was because the poem itself described the exact detail of that same beguiling smile.

A wave of the sweet scent of blooming cherry blossoms hit her nostrils, and her heart was heavily affected, as if being hammered by a powerful force. The shrine maiden phantom on her back slowly lifted the corners of her mouth.

The shrine maiden phantom was incomplete, having only an upper body and blurry facial textures. Transparent hair and a robe that was hard to discern.

The red qi surged with great momentum and successfully bypassed Huang Zhi's defenses.

Petrified on the spot for a very brief moment, she regained her focus once again and pushed back the invading red qi, but she quickly lost her mind once again.

Niu Chang successively activated the Captivating Smile Under the Shade and Red, not giving Huang Zhi any chance to recover.

"AAA!!!"

Suddenly, a scream, like that of a wild beast, could be heard from where Feng Ning was standing. Niu Chang glanced at him and saw that Feng Ning was also affected by his Captivating Smile Under the Shade and Red.

‘It seems that as long as the enemies are affected by the shrine maiden phantom from Demonic Embrace of the Lady in White and Red, they will be vulnerable to the Smile Under the Shade and Red within a certain distance, even if they didn't directly see the smile.'

Niu Chang quickly made this assumption and cast his smile once again to observe the difference in effect on Huang Zhi, estimating its effectiveness.

Watching the slightly dazed expression on Huang Zhi's face, Niu Chang noted this down and then looked at Feng Ning with his peripheral vision.

Captivating Smile Under the Shade and Red.

Feng Ning's body suddenly shuddered, and the blazing dark purple qi around him became more ferocious than before, returning to its previous state.

‘Those who directly see the smile will have their minds emptied, while those who don't see it directly will only become more agitated and have uncontrollable emotions.'

Thanks to the sudden burst of emotion from Niu Chang's testing, Feng Ning was able to regain his mind for a moment. Driven by his instinct to survive, he chose to leave this damned place first.

The pair of arms on his back clenched their fists and swung uncontrollably due to the invading red qi that had stained them. Feng Ning gritted his teeth to regain control and forcefully detonated the extra arms on his back, propelling himself away from this place.

Niu Chang slightly frowned when he saw this but ultimately did nothing. His methods were very limited at the moment, and his condition was not at its peak.

Making a decision, Niu Chang recognized that his primary focus should be on dealing with one opponent rather than chasing after the fleeing Feng Ning and abandoning Huang Zhi. This way, he could achieve something substantial.

Based on the previous battle, it was evident that Huang Zhi possessed greater battle strength than Feng Ning. By eliminating Huang Zhi, gaining karma points, and enhancing the proficiency of the Closed Loop Protection, Niu Chang believed he could withstand any attack from Feng Ning.