All are enslaved under the spell of the Forbidden God.

“Pah!”

Sang Zhi spat on the ground, her eyes filled with only disdain and resolve as she looked at Zhou Waner.

“Zhou Waner! I, Sang Zhi, do not have a Junior Sister like you! From now on, I am no longer your Senior Sister! And I don't need a traitor like you to bear anything for me!”

“Noisy.”

Lin Yuan didn't even lift an eyelid; before his words finished, he flipped his palm, and the frost sword was already in his hand.

“Pfft!”

A pale white sword light tore through the air.

The sharp blade grazed Sang Zhi's fair, slender neck, taking with it a strand of broken black hair, and finally plunged fiercely into the stone wall behind her!

Most of the sword body was embedded, leaving only the hilt outside, humming and vibrating.

An bone-chilling coldness instantly spread throughout Sang Zhi's body along the sword's edge.

She could clearly feel the cold, sharp blade pressed against the skin of her neck; if the other party's thought had deviated even a hair's breadth, her head would have already moved.

Sang Zhi's beautiful eyes instantly widened, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks from fear. She dared not move, only watching the Flying Sword, radiating the aura of death, so close at hand.

Cold sweat dripped down her temples.

“You have no bargaining chips with me. Tell me, why didn't your Master come?” Lin Yuan's voice was calm and unperturbed, betraying no emotion.

Zhou Waner tightly pursed her lips, the struggle on her exquisite face growing more intense.

On one side was her benevolent Master who taught her, and on the other was a devil who controlled her life and death; no matter which she chose, it was an abyss.

“It seems you don't care about your own life. However... if you don't speak, it will be your Senior Sister who dies.”

Bound by the immortal binding net, Sang Zhi's delicate body instinctively flinched. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something defiant, but feeling the icy Sword Intent at her neck, which almost seemed to freeze her skin, she wisely closed her mouth in the end.

Zhou Waner looked at her Senior Sister's pale and helpless face, and her mental defenses finally completely crumbled.

“Reporting to Master, Master... she had other important matters, which is why she sent us two to capture you.” Her voice was uncontrollably trembling.

“Don't beat around the bush; give me the details.”

“Master... Master led more than half of Lanyue City's experts to ambush the main force of the Yin Corpse Sect returning from the Blood River Spirit Mine.”

This news did not shock Lin Yuan.

Besieging a point to draw out reinforcements is an overt military strategy; if it were him, he would do the same.

He silently calculated the time in his mind: Black Stone City was breached, news reached the spirit mine, and then the main force returned for reinforcements. The round trip and the time delayed on the road were enough for Yue Qingyao to set up an inescapable net.

Even if he wanted to send a warning now, it was already too late.

He could only hope that Old Ancestor Xuan Yin, that old monster, had a backup plan, so he wouldn't fall straight into the trap and be wiped out.

“Half the experts ambushing, the other half attacking the city. The Misty Immortal Sect really went all out.”

Lin Yuan shook his head, his gaze falling back on Sang Zhi.

“Do you want to die, or do you want to live?”

Sang Zhi's body trembled slightly.

She could feel that if she uttered the word “die,” the man before her would undoubtedly let that sword slice across her neck without hesitation.

In the depths of her eyes, a hint of profound coldness and humiliation flashed by.

For now, she would submit to him, but when she found an opportunity in the future, she would repay the humiliation suffered today a thousandfold!

“I... want to live.” Sang Zhi squeezed these three words out of her throat with difficulty.

“Open your Divine Soul; I will plant the God-Sealing Technique in you.”

Upon hearing this, Sang Zhi abruptly looked at Zhou Waner, who was bowing her head in silence, and instantly understood.

So Junior Sister had already... it was laughable that she and Master knew nothing about this, and even sent them to their deaths.

Sang Zhi's delicate body trembled violently.

“If you don't cooperate, I don't mind giving you something else, for example... the Nether Soul Slave Seal?” Lin Yuan's voice carried a malicious tease.

Upon hearing the four words “Nether Soul Slave Seal,” the last trace of hope and struggle in Sang Zhi's eyes completely turned into despair.

That was a hundred times more terrifying than the God-Sealing Technique; once planted, it would breed servility from the depths of the Soul, leading to eternal damnation.

She closed her eyes and slowly knelt before Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan was expressionless, placing one hand gently on her smooth head.

A cold and overbearing Divine Soul power, like a red-hot steel needle, brutally pierced through the barrier of her Sea of Consciousness!

Sang Zhi felt as if her Soul was seized by an invisible large hand, wantonly tearing and violating it. All her secrets, all her thoughts, were violently exposed at this moment, branded with the mark of another person.

The pain of her self being stripped away and her will being forcibly twisted almost made her faint.

After an unknown period, when that power receded like a tide, Sang Zhi was drenched in cold sweat, collapsing weakly to the ground.

She raised her head, and the look in her eyes towards Lin Yuan no longer held any trace of resentment or unwillingness, only bone-deep fear and slavish obedience.

“Sang Zhi... greets Master.”

“Mm.” Lin Yuan nodded in satisfaction. “Wan'er, guard the entrance. If there's any unusual movement, report it immediately. I have some matters to confirm privately with your Senior Sister.”

“Yes, Master.” Zhou Waner bowed respectfully and turned to walk towards the cave entrance.

Looking at her Senior Sister's desperate and numb face, her heart was filled with mixed emotions. It seemed her Senior Sister was about to experience everything she herself had gone through, unchanged... As dawn broke, Lin Yuan strode out of the Immortal Cave.

Zhou Waner, who was guarding the entrance, immediately came forward and respectfully asked, “Master, what shall we do next...”

Before she could finish speaking, Lin Yuan's figure suddenly magnified in her pupils.

A hand, as fast as lightning, with a skillful force, lightly chopped her on the back of her neck.

Zhou Waner's vision went black, and before she could even let out a whimper, she softly collapsed.

Lin Yuan caught her, his face showing no ripple of emotion.

Now that Black Stone City was breached, the front line of the Blood River Spirit Mine had a high probability of having collapsed as well.

According to the Sect's emergency plan, Disciples who managed to escape would most likely gather at the nearest stronghold — Tianyuan City.

Bringing these two women would make them too conspicuous and quite troublesome.

Just release them? What if they went back to report, and his whereabouts were exposed?

Kill them? There was no need for that, after all, they were two supreme grade furnaces... enforcers, perhaps still useful in the future.

After much thought, it was better to simply knock them out.

By the time they woke up, he would already be a thousand li away; this was the most secure Dao of “lying low.”

He entered the Immortal Cave and placed the unconscious Zhou Waner next to Sang Zhi, who was also in a deep sleep, curled up in a corner, her clothes a bit disheveled.

Having done all this, Lin Yuan no longer lingered. His figure transformed into an inconspicuous gray light, soaring into the sky and speeding towards Tianyuan City.