I might truly be ancient, the Patriarch mused numbly as Gu Qingxi looted the last spirit stone. This delicate-looking girl has more demonic potential than my entire old legion.
Footsteps echoed outside. Two voices:
"Elder Yuan, my daughter awaits your... guidance." The sycophantic whine belonged to Gu Qingxi's "father"—a far cry from the tyrant in her memories.
"A Clear Origin Pill shall be yours tomorrow." Elder Yuan's reply oozed false benevolence. "For your... breakthrough."
The door swung open before Gu Qingxi could blink.
Elder Yuan froze.
A girl stood amidst the talisman-scorched ruins—radiant as moonlight, cold as a grave.
Qi Refining Level 1? Where's Gu Wenlian?
"Guess." Gu Qingxi's smile cut like honed jade.
His eyes darted—shattered furniture, talisman ash... blood.
"You killed my cauldron!" Rage choked him. Years of planning—gone!
"Guess." Her smile sharpened.
"A talisman master?!" He stared at the lingering energy threads. Pathetic. "A one-star novice thinks to challenge me?" Contempt warred with greed. But that face...
He drank her in:
Ebony hair against snow-pale skin → living ink painting
Razor-sharp eyes → winter frost given form
Neck arched like a swan's → fragile, breakable... exquisite
Forget healing. I'll enjoy breaking her.
"You're about to die." Her declaration landed like a tombstone.
"Arrogant worm!" Yuan drew his sword, aura exploding—
FOUNDATION ESTABLISHMENT LAYER 3
"FLEE! I'LL HOLD HIM—" The Patriarch's shriek died mid-panic.
"Blind. Stupid. Rotten to the core." Gu Qingxi's mental voice remained bored. "Typical hypocrite."
"I'M STUCK WITH A SUICIDAL MANIAC—"
Elder Yuan never finished his threat.
Black talismans ignited—
—coalescing into a void-black vortex at the room's heart.
"DEMONIC AR—?!"
The vortex yawned open.
It swallowed his consciousness.
His spirit tore like cheap silk. Meridians froze. Agony beyond cultivation erupted—
IMPOSSIBLE! He choked on blood. A Qi Refining ant can't—
"NO—!"
He burned lifeblood, lunging backward—
THUD-CRUNCH!
—body slamming the flimsy, talisman-sealed door.
Darkness. Eternal. Silent.
"E... E-E-E-E!" The Patriarch emitted strangled goose-honks. What. Just. Happened?!
Gu Qingxi stepped over the corpse, toeing Yuan's dropped sword.
"Told you."