"What's the plan?" Ling Yun already knew the answer.
"In truth, I've been stuck at the Divine Soul realm for decades. I was severely injured in the past, leaving a hidden injury that has prevented my breakthrough," Li Rou explained.
"Now, only the Yang energy within you can help me break through and escape this place."
Li Rou looked at Ling Yun with hopeful eyes. "Disciple, I wonder if you are willing to help me."
As expected, it was finally happening.
What puzzled Ling Yun was that the timing seemed to have shifted slightly in this life. The whole incident with the City Lord's Mansion attacking the Ling Residence didn't happen in his previous life.
It seemed that some of his actions had altered the course of events.
"Master... we are teacher and student..." Ling Yun stammered, his face "flushed with embarrassment," as if unsure of what to do.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures, disciple. Forgive me," Li Rou said, unable to wait any longer as she caught the sweet scent of Ling Yun and pounced on him, her hands moving up and down his body.
"System, isn't my Yang energy supposed to be inexhaustible? Why was I drained to death in my previous life?" Ling Yun asked in his mind.
"Ding! If the cultivator extracting the host's Yang energy has a cultivation more than two realms higher, it will drain completely, endangering the host's life."
"So that's how it works."
Just as history was about to repeat itself, Ling Yun quickly tried to activate the Random Teleportation Talisman.
"Goodbye, Master."
Huh? Where's my spiritual energy?
It turned out that Li Rou, ever cautious, had temporarily suppressed his spiritual energy.
Panic set in, and Ling Yun began to struggle frantically.
Li Rou looked up, her bright eyes filled with confusion. He had been cooperative just a moment ago—why was he suddenly resisting?
Had she been too rough?
Suddenly, Li Rou sensed that the array she had set up was under attack. Reluctantly, she stopped her actions.
"Disciple, wait here for me. I'll be right back," Li Rou said as she quickly dressed and dashed out of the room, leaving Ling Yun in a state of bewilderment.
Could it be... Li Rou isn't up to it?
Ling Yun quickly dressed himself, feeling relieved as his spiritual energy slowly began to return.
...
Outside the residence, Jingxin was wielding her staff, attacking the array.
"Who would've thought a small place like Cloud Sea City would have an array master."
Boom!
With a final strike, the array shattered into pieces.
Seeing the array broken, the guards rushed toward Jingxin.
"A bunch of corpse puppets dares to challenge me?" Jingxin evaded a sword strike, then pressed her hands together.
"Buddha's Radiance!"
A dazzling golden light burst forth, and all the corpse puppets touched by it instantly melted into pools of corpse water.
The golden light of the Buddhist Sect was the nemesis of all evil creatures.
"Such a simple trick," Jingxin scoffed.
"Oh, really?" Li Rou descended from the sky, her face livid, her eyes filled with the intent to kill.
Being interrupted at such a critical moment had put her in a foul mood.
"Amitabha. You are cruel beyond measure, refining living beings into corpse puppets. Today, I, Jingxin, will act on behalf of the heavens and rid the world of you."
Jingxin was brimming with confidence. Buddhist techniques were highly effective against evil cultivators like Li Rou. Not to mention, she had previously slain enemies far above her own level.
"Jingxin, what is your relation to Hui Ji?" Li Rou asked, the name stirring memories of an old acquaintance.
"Hui Ji is my senior sister. Who are you?" Jingxin was taken aback.
"Hehe, you'll find out soon enough."
Li Rou pulled out her ghost banner. "The Evil Spirits of the Hellish Pagoda, heed my call! Release!"
Suddenly, a mass of vengeful spirits surged out from the banner, charging toward Jingxin.
"Peak of the ninth level of the Divine Soul Realm!"
Jingxin's pupils shrank in horror. Li Rou's strength far exceeded her expectations.
She had originally thought Li Rou was only at the fifth level of the Divine Soul Realm at best, but she had underestimated her.
"Vajra's Indestructible Body!"
Jingxin's body was enveloped in golden light, and the shadow of a Vajra protector slowly emerged behind her.
Seeing this, Li Rou's lips curled into a smirk.
Roar!
The next second, the vengeful spirits bypassed the golden light, leaving dark claw marks on Jingxin's body.
"How... how is this possible!"
Jingxin was utterly terrified, frantically pouring her spiritual energy into trying to dispel the vengeful spirits.
In an instant, the Vajra shadow behind her turned pitch black, an eerie sight.
"Who... who are you?" Jingxin asked, her eyes locked on Li Rou. With such power, this woman was no ordinary cultivator.
Even among the hidden families, she would be considered a prodigy.
"What do you think?" Li Rou taunted.
At that moment, Jingxin's attention was drawn to the ghost banner in Li Rou's hands. "The Hellish Pagoda Banner! Li Rou, you're still alive!"
"Correct. But there's no reward for getting it right. Kill her," Li Rou commanded coldly.
From the ghost banner emerged a vengeful spirit in the form of a nun.
"Master Hui Jue!"
Jingxin recognized the spirit as a renowned Buddhist elder who had disappeared long ago. She never imagined that Hui Jue had been turned into one of Li Rou's soul puppets.
Swipe!
With a single swipe, the nun spirit dismembered Jingxin, blood flowing freely from her body.
"Please... spare me..." Jingxin, now devoid of her earlier confidence, knelt and begged for her life.
The vengeful spirits swarmed her, tearing her apart piece by piece.
"Ahh... Hui Ji will avenge me..." Jingxin's voice soon faded, and all that remained were her bones.
"Don't worry. She'll be joining you soon enough," Li Rou said coldly.
Once she absorbed Ling Yun's immense Yang energy, she wouldn't just break her seal—she would also break through to the Core Formation realm.
And then, she would have her revenge.
Recalling Ling Yun's soft, pale body, a wave of heat surged in Li Rou's abdomen.
...
"My dear disciple, I've returned. Hm? Where is he?"
Li Rou pushed open the door, but the room was empty.
"Who's there?"
She thought someone might have kidnapped Ling Yun, but she noticed that the array she had set up remained undisturbed.
Her eyes fell on a letter left on the table.
"Master, I have no interest in becoming an old woman's cultivation furnace. I've left. Don't miss me. Signed, Ling Yun, who refuses to be an RBQ."
"Well, well, well! Who would have thought that I, Li Rou, would one day be outsmarted?"
"All these years, hunting prey only to be pecked by one."
Li Rou's eyes burned with rage, her Divine Soul realm aura exploding uncontrollably, reducing the entire Ling Residence to rubble.
"Ling Yun, one day we will meet again. And when we do, you'll regret it."
With that, Li Rou shot into the sky, disappearing into the night.
...
In the midst of a dense forest, Ling Yun's figure slowly materialized.
"Where am I?" Ling Yun cautiously surveyed his surroundings.
After some investigation, it seemed he had been teleported to a forest. Where exactly? He would only know once he left.
He found a tree hollow, curled up inside, and fell asleep.
The next morning, Ling Yun awoke to something licking him. Opening his eyes, he found a spotted deer with no cultivation nudging him.
"Shoo, shoo!"
Ling Yun chased the deer away and set off to find water to wash his face.
Fortunately, his luck held, and he soon found a spring.
"Now, it's time to switch techniques."
Breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage would greatly enhance his strength, increasing his chances of surviving in the wild.
Right now, his top priority was breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage.
"System, switch techniques."