298: Chapter 298 Overestimating One's Abilities!

The middle-aged man's coarse and lewd "proposal" was like a basin of dirty water mixed with mud and ice shards, splashed directly onto Fairy Ziling's heart.

That naked possessiveness and undisguised threat made her delicate body tremble uncontrollably, and the stunning face beneath her veil, now drained of all color, instantly tensed up; in her limpid eyes, rage, humiliation, disgust, and deep fear intertwined and collided like boiling magma!

She clenched her fair hands tightly within her wide sleeves, her fingernails digging deep into her palms once more, bringing a sharp stinging pain that could not, however, dispel the monstrous chill and despair in her heart.

She knew that in this Void Heaven Palace, where the Law of the jungle prevailed and there were no rules to speak of, and in this desolate, perilous Land of Ghost Grievances, facing a Late Core Formation Stage Cultivator whose cultivation far exceeded her own and whose Heart-Nature was clearly vicious and lecherous, her own False Core cultivation and status as the Young Lord of the Miaoyin Sect were merely a joke, possessing no deterrent power at all!

Since the other party dared to speak so unscrupulously, it meant he was certain she was isolated, helpless, and unable to resist!

She could not provoke him!

Absolutely not!

Provoking a desperate thug with no bottom line would only make her die faster and more miserably!

Fairy Ziling forcibly suppressed the angry rebukes and screams that were about to burst from her throat, forcing herself to calm down, and calm down further.

She took a deep breath of the cold and foul air, striving to make her voice sound calm, even carrying a hint of well-measured aloofness and composure, and as she faced the middle-aged man who was pressing in step by step, she bowed slightly, her tone clear and firm:

"Senior... you are joking."

She raised her eyes, which remained clear but were now filled with determination and vigilance, and looked straight into the man's lewd gaze, speaking slowly:

"Since this Junior had the courage to step into the infamous Void Heaven Palace, naturally... I have made preparations. I dare not say they are foolproof, but relying on my own meager skills and the methods I have prepared, I believe... I should still be able to make it through this first trial, the Land of Ghost Grievances. There is no need for Senior to trouble yourself with 'protecting' me."

She deliberately emphasized the word "protecting," pointing out the other party's ill intentions and also indicating her stance that she was not entirely without the power to protect herself.

At the same time, she moved her feet half a step back to the side without leaving a trace, her internal magic power silently accelerating, and the cold jade pendant in her sleeve was already gripped in her palm, ready to be activated at any moment!

That was a life-saving item left to her by her mother, Sect Mistress Zhou, before she passed away; it could instantly erupt with power comparable to a full-force strike from a Middle Core Formation Stage Cultivator, and form a brief protective and concealment barrier.

Perhaps, it could buy her a slim chance to escape!

However, Fairy Ziling's refusal, hidden within silk, and her subtle posture of vigilance, sounded like the funniest joke in the world to the ears of the middle-aged man!

"Preparations? Methods? Hahaha!"

The hypocritical "sincerity" on the middle-aged man's face vanished instantly, replaced by a sullen, watery malevolence and undisguised mockery!

Fierce light exploded from his long, narrow triangular eyes as he stared fixedly at Fairy Ziling, his voice suddenly rising, filled with sarcasm and threats:

"Fairy Ziling! You wouldn't be so naive as to really think that just because of a few farting words from those two old immortals at the Star Palace, I wouldn't dare lay a hand on you in this ghost of a place, would you?!"

"Hmm?!"

The fierce Aura of his Late Core Formation Stage cultivation erupted completely and violently!

No longer hiding anything at all!

A violent, chaotic Spiritual Pressure, filled with blood and Evil Qi, like a flood breaking its banks, mixed with naked killing intent, crushed down upon Fairy Ziling, covering the sky and earth!

The dry, cracked black soil on the ground was whipped up by this Aura, forming a small sandstorm!

"You don't know what's good for you!"

The middle-aged man grinned hideously, raising the door-sized ghost-head blade in his hand with a "hum," and a blinding blood-red light suddenly flared on the dark red blade, as a nauseating, bloody stench permeated the air!

He took a heavy step forward, and the ground shook!

"I'll ask you one last time!" His voice was like a cold wind blowing from the Nine Hells, icy and bone-chilling:

"Will you submit, or not?!"

"If you don't know what's good for you and insist on being difficult..."

A cruel pleasure flashed in the middle-aged man's eyes as he licked his chapped lips, pronouncing each word slowly, as if passing a death sentence:

"Then don't blame me for... destroying... this... flower!!"

"Anyway, in this Land of Ghost Grievances, it's perfectly normal for a person or two to die! Getting rid of the corpse and destroying the evidence is easy! Hahaha!"

The last fig leaf was completely torn away! The naked killing intent, like a physical ice cone, pierced fiercely into Fairy Ziling's already frozen heart!

It's over...

Fairy Ziling's delicate body swayed violently, her vision darkened, and despair, like the deepest cold tide, instantly swallowed and submerged her completely.

The cold touch of the jade pendant in her palm was felt, but at this moment, this only hope appeared so pale and weak in the face of the other party's full-force eruption of Late Core Formation Stage power and his merciless killing intent!

Activating the jade pendant might block the first strike, but what about afterwards?

In this desolate Land of Ghost Grievances, where could she escape to?

And how long could she run?

Beneath her veil, two lines of clear tears fell silently.

They were for her own impending tragic fate, for her mother who had died miserably and the precarious Miaoyin Sect, and also for this cold, cruel world of cultivation where the strong preyed on the weak.

She slowly closed her eyes, as if she had resigned herself to her fate. Her internal magic power surged madly toward the jade pendant in her palm, while her other hand quietly reached for a hidden Storage Pouch at her waist.

Inside was the final means of mutual destruction that her mother had left for her!

Even if she had to die, she would never let this beast defile her!

Even if she had to die, she would drag him down to Hell with her!

Just at this critical moment, the instant Fairy Ziling was about to detonate the jade pendant and perish together with him—

A calm, indifferent voice, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, like a barely perceptible breeze, suddenly rang out softly above this desolate land filled with killing intent:

"I have taken a fancy to this woman."

The voice was not loud, but it was exceptionally clear, precisely reaching the ears of the middle-aged man and Fairy Ziling, breaking the suffocating silence of the place.

"Who?!"

The middle-aged man was shocked, turning around abruptly, his fierce gaze, like two unsheathed blades, instantly locking onto the direction from which the voice came.

It was precisely that grey-robed middle-aged Cultivator who had been standing in the distance, his Aura steady, appearing to be merely passing by, with no intention of intervening!

Fairy Ziling's delicate body also trembled, and she suddenly opened her tear-blurred eyes, looking toward that direction in disbelief.

The hope of survival in a desperate situation, like a glimmer of light suddenly shining in the darkness, made her heart, which was almost suffocating, beat wildly!

Someone had spoken up!

Although the tone was equally ambiguous, at least... perhaps... there was a glimmer of a variable?

Lu Qiu walked slowly out of the shadows, his steps calm, his expression serene, as if he were merely stating a most ordinary fact.

His gaze swept indifferently over the middle-aged man who was acting as if facing a formidable enemy, and finally, it rested for a moment on Fairy Ziling, whose face was pale, whose tearstains were not yet dry, and whose eyes were filled with shock, suspicion, and a faint glimmer of hope, before moving away.

"What... did you say?"

The middle-aged man's face was so sullen it seemed it could drip water, and he stared fixedly at Lu Qiu, his tone filled with shock, anger, and unbelievable violence: "You want to snatch her from me?!"

He never expected that this grey-robed Cultivator, who had been "cowering" in the distance, with an Aura of only the Late Core Formation Stage, and who looked completely unremarkable, would dare to jump out at this moment and try to snatch the person from him?!

Moreover, his tone was so flat, as if he were discussing the ownership of a piece of cargo, completely disregarding him!

"Snatch?"

Lu Qiu shook his head slightly, the corners of his mouth curling into a barely perceptible arc of mockery: "I wouldn't call it that. It's just that I happened to be passing by, and I happened to feel that this young lady and I are fated. Therefore, I don't want to see her ruined by some overestimating cats and dogs."

"You—!!" The middle-aged man was furious, the veins on his forehead throbbing!

Cats and dogs?! Overestimating oneself?!

He, a Late Core Formation Stage Cultivator, was actually being so despised and humiliated by a Cultivator of the same rank?!

"Good! Good! Good!"

The middle-aged man said the word "good" three times, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, filled with monstrous killing intent!

"Your Excellency certainly has a big mouth! I don't know which deity you are, or which sect you come from, to dare to disregard me, 'Blood Blade' He Biao, like this?!"

As he sternly questioned him, attempting to probe Lu Qiu's background, the fierce Aura on his body climbed once more, and the blood-red light on the ghost-head blade in his hand grew even brighter, with faint, shrill ghost cries emitting from it; it was clearly a formidable, bloodthirsty weapon!

He was threatening him, and also testing him.

If the other party was just bluffing, hearing his name, "Blood Blade He Biao," might make him retreat in the face of difficulties.

"He Biao?"

Lu Qiu's tone remained as flat as ever, as if he were recalling an insignificant name, and then he shook his head gently: "Never heard of you."

"You—!" He Biao's expression changed once again, and the shock and suspicion in his eyes deepened.

This reaction from the other party meant they were either truly ignorant, or... they simply didn't take him seriously at all!

"However."

He Biao forcefully suppressed his anger, a flash of cunning in his eyes, and continued in a sinister tone: "Your Excellency may not know this, but although I, He Biao, am a Loose Cultivator, I do have some connections with Old Ancestor Jiyin of 'Xuan Yin Island'!"

"Old Ancestor Jiyin is a Senior at the Nascent Soul Stage!"

"If Your Excellency insists on making things difficult for me today and ruins my plans, I fear... it will not be easy for you to answer to Old Ancestor Jiyin, will it?"

He had brought up the reputation of Jiyin Island and even dragged out a "Nascent Soul Stage" backer!

This was both a threat and his final attempt at probing and intimidation!

Inside the Void Heaven Palace, a Nascent Soul Cultivator was heaven itself!

He did not believe that the other party could remain so calm after hearing the words "Nascent Soul"!

Sure enough, upon hearing "Xuan Yin Island" and "Old Ancestor Jiyin", Fairy Ziling's delicate body trembled once more, and the sliver of hope that had just risen was instantly shrouded in a heavy shadow again!

Jiyin Island!

It was Jiyin Island again!

Her mother had died at the hands of Young Lord Wu Chou of Jiyin Island!

She had not expected that this villain before her would also be connected to Jiyin Island!

Could it be... that the heavens truly wanted to destroy my Miaoyin Sect and destroy me, Ziling?

However, Lu Qiu's reaction once again exceeded both of their expectations.

"Xuan Yin Island? Elder Wu?" Lu Qiu raised an eyebrow slightly, and his tone finally carried a distinct emotion.

It was undisguised mockery and disdain!

"Heh."

He let out a light scoff, and looking at the blustering He Biao as if he were an idiot, he said slowly:

"I thought you were some impressive figure, but it turns out... you are nothing more than a guard dog under that old demon, Jiyin."

"Don't even talk about having 'connections' with some Old Ancestor Jiyin." Lu Qiu's tone suddenly turned cold, and he enunciated every word with perfect clarity:

"Even if Old Ancestor Jiyin himself were here, the woman he has set his sights on—I will have her!"

"You—!!!" He Biao's pupils suddenly contracted to pinpricks! The rage and ferocity on his face instantly froze, replaced by a look of incredulous shock and... fear!

Arrogant!

Too arrogant!

He actually dared to address Old Ancestor Jiyin by name, and even dared to say something like "the woman he has set his sights on, I will have her"!

This was no longer a matter of not taking him, He Biao, seriously; this was a blatant slap in the face to Old Ancestor Jiyin and the entire Jiyin Island!

Either this grey-robed Cultivator before him was a complete madman and a death-seeking idiot!

Or...

A terrifying thought, like a venomous snake, suddenly slithered into He Biao's mind, making the blood in his entire body seem to freeze in that instant!

Could it be... could it be...

As if to confirm the most terrifying conjecture in his heart, the next instant—

"Hum—!"

An immense, majestic, and terrifying Aura, as deep and boundless as the starry sky, yet as scorching and violent as a volcano, erupted without warning from that seemingly ordinary middle-aged grey-robed Cultivator! It surged into the sky!

The strength of this Aura far exceeded the boundaries of the Core Formation Stage!

It was a total suppression of life levels!

It was the absolute Dominator of Law and power!

Nascent Soul Stage!

Furthermore, it was by no means the unstable, floating kind of someone who had just entered the Nascent Soul Stage!

This Aura was as condensed as substance, as vast as an ocean, and carried a scorching, majestic heavenly might capable of burning the eight wildernesses. Even just the residual waves naturally emitted caused the cold Qi within several hundred zhang to melt and evaporate rapidly, like snow encountering a scorching sun, making "hissing" sounds!

The black soil on the ground cracked and charred! The layer of hazy, dim light in the sky seemed to tremble and distort!

"Nas... Nascent Soul Senior!!!"

The color on He Biao's face completely drained away in that instant!

He was as pale as a dead man!

His eyes were wide open, filled with boundless fear and despair!

His mouth was wide open, but he could not make a sound, only a "he-he" wheezing noise like a broken bellows coming from his throat!

He... he was actually a Nascent Soul Old Monster! And, judging by this Aura, his cultivation was definitely at the peak of the Nascent Soul Early Stage, or perhaps... even the Middle Stage!

No wonder!

No wonder he dared to be so unscrupulous! No wonder he didn't take Jiyin Island or Old Ancestor Jiyin seriously at all!

He had actually... actually been threatening a Nascent Soul Old Monster just now?! And even brought out Jiyin Island to suppress him?!

Stupid!

Utterly stupid!

It was simply seeking his own death!

Boundless regret and fear engulfed He Biao like a tidal wave.

His entire body began to tremble violently, and the ghost-headed blade in his hand, which had been brimming with Evil Qi, now felt as if it weighed ten thousand jin, making him almost unable to hold onto it!

His legs went weak, and he almost fell to his knees!

"Sen... Senior! Senior, spare me! Senior, please spare my life!"

He Biao finally regained his voice, which was sharp and shrill, filled with humble pleading and a crying tone!

With a "thump", he actually fell directly to his knees, kowtowing desperately to Lu Qiu. His forehead slammed heavily against the hard, charred earth, making dull "thudding" sounds. Blood instantly flowed profusely, but he was completely unaware of it!

"This Junior has no eyes! This Junior was incredibly bold and presumptuous! I have offended Senior's heavenly might! I beg Senior, in your great magnanimity, to treat this Junior as a fart and let me go!"

"This Junior is willing to offer up all my treasures! I am willing to work like an ox or horse for Senior! I only ask that Senior spare this dog's life!"

He was weeping and kowtowing like he was pounding garlic, his posture humbled to the dust, making him a completely different person from the arrogant and overbearing figure he had been just moments ago!

Fairy Ziling watched this dramatic scene in a daze, her mind completely blank.

The massive shock of finding life in a desperate situation left her unable to think for a moment.

The pretty face beneath her veil remained pale, but those autumn-water-bright eyes were staring blankly at the grey-robed figure standing with hands behind his back, his Aura as vast as an abyss. Her eyes were filled with disbelief, confusion, and a trace of... complex light that even she herself had not noticed.

He... was actually a Nascent Soul Senior?

He said just now... "I have set my sights on"?

He... was it to save me? Or... was there another motive?

Countless questions, like a tangled mess, swirled in Fairy Ziling's heart. But at this moment, the clearest feeling was the exhaustion of surviving a disaster and an indescribable sense of relief.

At least, for now, she was safe.

Lu Qiu's expression was calm, as if he did not see He Biao's ugly, groveling state and did not hear his shrill pleas for mercy.

He just glanced indifferently at He Biao, who was kneeling on the ground and trembling like a sieve, and slowly raised his right hand, extending one finger.

"Seeking your own death." He said softly, his tone as indifferent as if he were commenting on the weather.

Immediately, at the tip of his raised finger, a grain-sized spark of scarlet gold light, as brilliant as a concentrated miniature sun and emitting a terrifying high temperature capable of burning the sky and boiling the seas, along with an extremely Yang and rigid Aura, suddenly lit up!

"Go." Lu Qiu's lips moved slightly, and he softly spat out a single word.

"Swish—!"

That spark of scarlet gold, as if teleporting, ignored the distance of space, and under the gaze of He Biao, whose pupils were dilated in extreme terror, it instantly appeared before his glabella!

"No—!!!" He Biao let out the final, shrill scream of his life, filled with despair and unwillingness!

"Pfft."

A sound extremely faint, like a water bubble popping.

That spark of scarlet gold easily pierced through the pitifully weak protective Spiritual Light that He Biao had hastily activated, pierced through his forehead, and submerged into the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

The expression on He Biao's face was forever frozen in that moment of terror, despair, and unwillingness.

His wide-open eyes rapidly lost all luster, becoming hollow and deathly grey.

The next instant—

"Boom!!!"

A mass of scorching, pure, and impurity-free scarlet gold flames violently erupted from He Biao's seven orifices and pores!

His body, like a human torch being ignited, completely turned into a wisp of blue smoke and drifted away with the wind within half a breath under that terrifying high temperature!

Not even a speck of ash or a shred of remnant soul remained!

Only at the location where he had originally stood, a charred pit several feet deep with glassified edges remained on the ground, along with the scorching, oppressive high temperature lingering in the air, proving that a Late Core Formation Stage Cultivator had once existed here.

Lu Qiu slowly withdrew his hand; the scarlet gold spark at his fingertip had long since vanished.

The Nascent Soul Aura around him, which had been as vast as an abyss, quietly retracted, and he returned to that unremarkable, Late Core Formation Stage appearance.

He turned around, and his gaze once again fell upon Fairy Ziling, who was still standing dazed in place, as if she had not yet recovered from the lightning-fast upheaval that had just occurred.