“Heh, it’s nothing much, just embedded a ‘Plague Bone-Dissolving Array’ into the arena’s formation.”
Ling Xiao said with a smile.
His tone was casual, but the listeners were stunned.
Especially Shangguan Lei, who had experienced the terror of the Plague Bone-Dissolving Array firsthand.
“This lad is so vicious!” Elder Jin couldn’t help but say.
“Elder Jin, you’re mistaken. The Plague Bone-Dissolving Array is a fearsome formation from the Plague Demon King. If Ling Xiao were truly vicious, he could’ve killed Bai Feifei. He didn’t, which shows his heart is still kind,” Jin Guang Tianzun retorted.
In truth, he was wrong. Ling Xiao spared Bai Feifei only to bring her to Master Bai Yun. Otherwise, given her attitude, he’d have killed her already.
“Hmph, your array can’t be that strong!” Bai Feifei said, trying to force the toxin out with her true essence.
“You’re right. Due to limited materials, I could only set up a simplified version. If you’d noticed early, you might’ve been fine. If you hadn’t been injured or bled, it wouldn’t have been a big deal either,” Ling Xiao said with a smile. “But it’s been half an hour since the fight started. The toxin entered through your wound, and your heavy use of true essence spread it faster. Don’t believe me? Try circulating your true essence again, Senior Sister. I guarantee you’ll collapse!”
Bai Feifei refused to believe him, but as she circulated her true essence, she realised the toxin had seeped into her marrow.
Thankfully, as a half-step Tianzun, she could still stand. A weaker cultivator would be immobilised by now.
“You! Give me the antidote!” she demanded, panicking.
“Don’t worry. As Jin Guang Tianzun said, I won’t take your life. The antidote is simple—just concede,” Ling Xiao said with a smile.
“Never!” Bai Feifei roared, furious.
“Fine, then we’ll keep at it. I’m not the one who’ll suffer,” Ling Xiao shrugged, smiling.
“You could’ve defeated me outright. Why not do it?” Bai Feifei snapped.
“Tch, tch, tch, Senior Sister, that’s amateur talk. If I attacked you now, wouldn’t people say I took advantage of your weakness?” Ling Xiao grinned. “Besides, I love seeing a proud woman like you bow before me!”
“He said it!”
“Bloody hell, he actually said it.”
“I’ve thought it too, but I’d never dare say it.”
Many disciples shared Ling Xiao’s sentiment.
Watching those lofty female disciples who scorned them, they’d all had similar thoughts.
But they only fantasised, while Ling Xiao boldly acted and was steadily succeeding.
“I’ll never concede, not even in death!” Bai Feifei roared, her face twisted.
“Don’t worry, this plague toxin won’t kill you. It’ll slowly erode your skin, cracking it inch by inch until you’re hideously ugly,” Ling Xiao said with a smile. “Then it’ll destroy your martial veins, ruining all nine until your cultivation is gone, leaving you a cripple.
But you won’t die. You won’t even be able to kill yourself, because this toxin has a soul—it’ll stop you.
What’s that called? Oh, right—living hell, unable to die.”
“No! No! I don’t want that! Please, give me the antidote! I concede! I concede!” Bai Feifei broke down.
She might not fear death, brainwashed to accept it.
But as a woman, she dreaded losing her heavenly beauty.
As a martial artist, she feared becoming a powerless cripple.
She knew if that happened, she’d have no place in Yuehua Sect, and even her master, Chang Yue Li, would abandon her.
She had to concede!
But she wouldn’t let Ling Xiao off. She’d kill him after getting the antidote!
“Heh, that’s more like it. Concede, and everything’s fine,” Ling Xiao said with a smile, tossing her a paper packet with a few pills.
Bai Feifei glanced at it, hesitated briefly, then swallowed them.
“Supreme Leader, Ling Xiao has won this match. Our bet still stands, right?” Jin Guang Tianzun asked Chang Yue Li with a smile.
“Am I the type to go back on my word? Name your request,” Chang Yue Li replied.
“If someone tries to kill Ling Xiao, I ask you to kill them. That’s my request,” Jin Guang Tianzun said.
He’d considered many requests but ultimately bet on Ling Xiao.
He believed if Ling Xiao could rise, his disciple Leng Hao could too, and his own status in Yuehua Sect would grow.
“What kind of request is that?” Chang Yue Li was stunned.
She’d anticipated many possibilities, but not this.
Was Jin Guang Tianzun trying to curry favour with the Moon Lady?
“You won’t agree?” Jin Guang Tianzun asked.
“Hmph, it’s a small matter. But I’m often in secluded cultivation. If he’s harmed outside, I can’t act,” Chang Yue Li said coldly. “And you can’t expect me to protect him forever.”
“Simple. You only need to protect him until he reaches the Heavenly Realm,” Jin Guang Tianzun said, easing off. “If he faces trouble outside, we’ll track the culprit. You just need to act.”
“Fine,” Chang Yue Li agreed, glancing at the auspicious cloud in the sky.
Ultimately, she feared the Moon Lady, or she might not have agreed.
On the arena, Bai Feifei was dumbfounded.
She’d planned to kill Ling Xiao after taking the antidote, but now her master had agreed to this request.
If she acted, wouldn’t her master kill her?
No!
She couldn’t!
No matter how furious she was, she didn’t dare act now.
Since Ling Xiao was joining the Tower Ascension Ceremony, she’d kill him there!
Ling Xiao looked at the woman before him, sneering inwardly, “You’d better not plot against me. Otherwise, the antidote you took will turn into a deadlier poison. Behave yourself.”
