Survival is always the most basic instinct of everyone. No matter how much Xu Lin wanted to hide, under external pressure, the power he had concealed by some unknown means would subconsciously protect him.
If it were really as Xu Lin said, that he had no cultivation base, then Xi Ranchen’s attack just now would have made him kneel directly. Yet he can still hold on.
“Young Master Xu, your bones are just as hard as your mouth. Even now, you refuse to tell the truth.”
Xi Ranchen carefully examined Xu Lin. After confirming his hidden strength, she was quite surprised.
“At such a young age, you’ve already entered the Heavenly Firmament Realm. I truly am ignorant.”
Xi Ranchen didn’t pay much attention to matters of the younger generation. She never expected that among this generation, there was a youth who had already entered the Heavenly Firmament Realm, yet she had never heard of him.
The True Mystery Realm is a watershed. Whether one can pass the True Mystery Realm is the difference between clouds and mud.
For someone like Xu Lin, any sect would focus on nurturing him. Yet now he had left the sect. This was truly curious.
“Heavenly Firmament Realm?”
Yang Yao, hidden in the shadows of the hall, showed surprise.
She had originally come on her master’s orders to probe Xu Lin’s background together. Unexpectedly, she learned that Xu Lin did not lack cultivation—he was already at the Heavenly Firmament Realm.
Yang Yao knew that Xu Lin’s realm at this time was not lower than hers, but she hadn’t expected him to have already entered the Heavenly Firmament Realm.
Beyond her surprise, Yang Yao stared intently at Xu Lin, subconsciously clenching her fists.
‘Having lived another life, how could I fail again? Even more impossible to lose to those guys.’
Xu Lin withstood the pressure. ‘He was inwardly cursing the entire Sunset Sect from top to bottom.’
‘When Xi Ranchen didn’t let me leave, I should have expected this situation.’
‘But if I had directly revealed my cultivation last night and left, the current situation would have happened last night instead.’
‘This old thing is truly terrifying.’
Xi Ranchen’s pressure did not recede. She stepped down the stairs step by step. “And these eyes of yours—I see they are not ordinary eyes.”
Being able to easily sort out the Chaotic Energy within Yang Yao’s body, and even discover the strange poison that had already penetrated deep into her Root Bone—this had long surpassed the scope of ordinary medical arts.
“Is that so?”
Xu Lin forced a smile.
‘I need to figure out how to get out of this.’
“Sect Master Xi is truly curious about me.”
‘If this keeps up, all my secrets will be uncovered.’
Xi Ranchen ignored Xu Lin’s glib tongue and continued on her own.
“Being able to see the order of the Chaotic Energy and trace its source—I think you should be capable of more than this.”
The world has strange eyes and extraordinary pupils, each with different abilities.
Some can spy on the trajectories of stars, the destiny of heaven; others can cross the boundary of yin and yang, showing gods and ghosts in their eyes…
However, these pupils are extremely difficult to cultivate, and may even inversely affect the cultivator’s realm advancement.
The fact that Xu Lin could so easily reveal Yang Yao’s condition should also be a kind of strange eye or extraordinary pupil. Which kind exactly required careful verification.
When she reached Xu Lin, Xi Ranchen stopped.
“I am interested in you. As long as you cooperate well, even here in the Sunset Sect, your situation will only be better than in the Vast Dao Sect. How about it?”
Faced with the olive branch Xi Ranchen extended, Xu Lin hesitated for a moment, then sighed as if resigned.
“Then I thank Sect Master Xi for your kind regard.”
Having received a response, Xi Ranchen’s pressure withdrew, and the force pressing on Xu Lin also dissipated.
Just as she was about to turn around, a surge of energy erupted behind her.
“One Sword Returns Heaven!”
A familiar sword strike came. Xi Ranchen was not flustered. She raised her arm and casually caught the Sword Qi, shattering it in the blink of an eye.
“Second Sword Soars Wind!”
Another sword strike came. Sword wind suddenly rose, sweeping through the entire hall. Tables and chairs shattered, leaving a mess.
This move was not intended for attack. Taking advantage of Xi Ranchen being distracted for a moment by the sword technique, Xu Lin used the momentum of the sword wind to retreat and exit the hall.
His figure was swift, quickly tracing a trajectory through the air, about to flee far away.
“My fate is mine to decide, not heaven’s. How could I listen to the arrangements of a demoness like you?”
Under the Heavenly Firmament Realm, a distance of a thousand miles is but an instant.
As long as there was enough time, relying on his hard-trained escape technique, fleeing here should not be a big problem.
‘I thought I had hidden it well, but I didn’t expect Xi Ranchen to be so shrewd. She even directly exerted pressure on me, a junior, without holding back. The Demon Sect truly is the Demon Sect.’
“I didn’t expect you to know Wang Cangling’s sword technique. It seems that old fellow thinks highly of you.”
Xi Ranchen’s voice lingered in his ears. He heard the sound but couldn’t see her.
“Then I’m even more determined to keep you here.”
Vast Dao Sect Sect Master Wang Cangling, her old rival—how could Xi Ranchen not recognize his sword technique?
“I’ve also studied this sword technique a bit. Let me show you something, kid.”
As the words fell, the sword technique continued.
“Third Sword Forbids Martial Arts.”
A sword strike that had its form but a degraded intent, yet with a completely different aura. Demonic Aura played as Sword Qi, striking directly at Xu Lin.
Unable to dodge, it struck his chest. Xu Lin flew backward, crashing into the hall with an unending clamor.
Sword Qi churned through his internal organs. Xu Lin fell to the ground, coughing incessantly.
Xi Ranchen before him walked over slowly, as if she had never left this spot.
“My sword technique—how is it?”
Xi Ranchen looked at Xu Lin mockingly.
Using Wang Cangling’s sword technique to stop his valued disciple—truly ironic.
Xu Lin glared at her resentfully, his whole body aching.
‘I barely convinced Wang Cangling to let me leave the sect, to seclude myself and escape the storyline. I never thought I would fall into the hands of this demoness now.’
‘Is it really impossible to escape this dead end?’
Xi Ranchen shook her head. This Xu Lin was truly different.
That phrase “Kill me or flay me, do as you please”—wasn’t that what those righteous path disciples loved to say? Yet she didn’t hear it from this kid’s mouth.
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. At least not now.”
Xi Ranchen finally answered that phrase, a cold smile growing on her face.
Xu Lin clutched his chest, glancing sideways in vigilance.
‘The more she says that, the more my back feels cold.’
“I don’t know how Wang Cangling was willing to let you leave the sect, but since our Sunset Sect has such a seedling, we won’t let go easily.”
“What exactly do you want?” Xu Lin had never seen through Xi Ranchen from beginning to end.
“The Sunset Sect already has Yao’er as the Saintess, but the Saint position has been vacant. I think you are a good candidate.”
“Ah?”
Xu Lin was stunned.
He had thought he would become a prisoner, but unexpectedly, he was to become the Saint of the Sunset Sect. He couldn’t quite comprehend it.
“But you are too slippery. Ordinary disciples really can’t handle you. I need to control you a bit.”
Xi Ranchen raised her hand. Demonic Aura coiled around her fingertips. As she traced, a law resembling a rune appeared. Without giving Xu Lin a chance to struggle, it instantly fell into his abdomen.
As the Demonic Aura entered his body, Xu Lin felt as if a red-hot branding iron had attached to him. It was extremely uncomfortable for a moment, but the feeling quickly dissipated.
Having done all this, Xi Ranchen no longer suppressed Xu Lin. She lightly waved a hand, allowing Xu Lin to move.
If she hadn’t been cautious just now, with this kid’s sudden initiative, as well as his sword technique and movement art, it might have been possible for him to snatch a sliver of hope to escape from someone at the Life and Death Realm. But now, it’s different.