Chapter 123: Master and Servant (Please Vote for Me with Your Monthly and Recommendation Tickets ^_^!)

As Liang Yan and Zhao Xunzhen stood in a standoff, a sudden intuition struck him. A quick glance at the empty ground beside him prompted an immediate internal alarm: "This is bad!"

The ghost-headed dagger Zhao Xunzhen had used to ambush him had vanished from the floor, completely out of sight.

His guard spiked. Liang Yan summoned a small black shield and pushed off the ground, leaping high into the air. Almost the moment he took flight, the surface of the stone platform where he had been standing churned, and several black vines erupted from the earth. These vines were as dark as ink and covered in countless tiny barbs, twisting and writhing in mid-air like the tentacles of a giant octopus.

With no leverage in mid-air, Liang Yan turned and pointed two fingers downward. Two thick bolts of blue lightning flashed, shattering the two vines that were about to coil around his ankles. Taking advantage of the momentary respite, he retreated rapidly, shifting his hand seal to position the black shield between himself and the encroaching vines.

Seeing this, Zhao Xunzhen frowned. She altered her own hand seal and shouted, "Evil Ghost Vines, strike!"

As she pointed, a beam of black light struck the ground where Liang Yan had stood. The vines in the air seemed to consume a potent stimulant; from the tip of each vine, new ones sprouted. This cycle repeated—one becoming three, three becoming nine—and within a few breaths, the entire stone platform was blanketed by her Evil Ghost Vines.

"To possess such a technique!" Liang Yan was stunned, but in the heat of a life-or-death struggle, he had no time for distraction.

Facing the sea of writhing black vines, a blue light swirled in Liang Yan's eyes as he pushed his "Qi-Seeing Technique" to its limit. His right fist glowed with brilliant gold, and disregarding the drain on his spiritual energy, he unleashed the "One-Fist Aspect."

Having cultivated two different arts with the "Dual-Fish Twin-Birth Formation" as his core, his spiritual energy was far purer and more abundant than that of his peers, even without having crossed the second threshold of the Qi Refining stage. With his energy fully unleashed, Zhao Xunzhen finally realized the true terror of her opponent.

Strength could overcome ten thousand techniques. Though the vines were troublesome, every move Liang Yan made carried immense power, and the vines could not come within three feet of him. Crucially, it was as if he possessed a pair of clairvoyant eyes; every punch landed precisely on the weakest point of the vines' spiritual resonance, like a cold, calculated vandal.

Seeing Liang Yan display such divine power, and realizing her bloodline ability, the "Evil Ghost Vines," could not hinder him in the slightest, Zhao Xunzhen finally felt a sliver of dread. She watched him stride forward, as if foreseeing that heavy, golden fist-shadow eventually crushing her skull.

"Is this the end of my path?" Zhao Xunzhen murmured with a bitter smile. "But... I am not reconciled to this!"

She spoke in a voice only she could hear. Immediately, the weakness in her eyes vanished, replaced by newfound resolve. She held her hands out before her chest, where eerie blue flames—the Nether Ghost Fire she had previously assimilated—began to burn.

"I cannot wait to refine you completely!" The ghostly flames cast a miserable, pale blue hue over her face. Her voice remained chillingly calm: "If I succumb to demonic obsession today and become a vengeful spirit, then so be it. It is my fate!"

As she finished speaking, she spat a stream of blood into the Nether Ghost Fire. Fueled by her tongue-blood, the fire roared to life, its flames brushing against her face as if encouraging her. Zhao Xunzhen did not hesitate; she bit her right index finger, preparing to offer its blood as a sacrifice.

Suddenly, a strange change occurred!

A burst of purple-gold light erupted from the storage bag at Liang Yan’s waist. The bag's mouth loosened, and an object flew out on its own, hovering above Zhao Xunzhen’s head in the blink of an eye. It emitted a scorching golden radiance, casting down streams of light that formed a golden curtain, completely shrouding her.

Liang Yan focused his eyes. The object was none other than the Purple-Gold Glazed Lamp he had obtained from Blood Mad, whose wick he had ignited within the "Heaven-Earth Inversion Formation." The golden light flowed like water, quiet and serene.

As soon as the blue ghost fire in Zhao Xunzhen’s hands touched the golden light, it recoiled as if facing a formidable enemy, retreating back into her palms and cowering within her body.

"The Six-Dusts Annihilation Lamp!" Zhao Xunzhen looked up at the scorching golden glow and gasped.

Liang Yan immediately retracted his power and stopped three yards away. He did not attack, but stared at the young woman with a furrowed brow. The black vines covering the platform had already collapsed and vanished.

"You recognize this artifact?" Liang Yan asked.

Zhao Xunzhen offered a bitter smile. "The Six-Dusts Annihilation Lamp originates from the great Buddhist sect, the Luo Tian Sect. How could I not know it? Since Brother Liang possesses such a treasure, how could I ever be your match?"

Liang Yan glanced at her, his expression strange. "To tell you the truth, I cannot even control this treasure. Everything that just happened was its own doing."

"Enough," Zhao Xunzhen sighed. "Life and death are determined by fate. If I die at your hands today, I have no complaints. Do it." She closed her eyes and tilted her head, truly baring her neck for the strike.

Liang Yan watched her for a long time, then spoke slowly, "Actually, there might be another way."

At these words, Zhao Xunzhen opened her eyes. She glanced at him, then smiled bitterly. "What other way could there be? Unless one of us is dead, the restrictions on the teleportation array will never open."

"I have thought of a path to survival, though it may be humiliating for you."

"You truly have a way?" Hope flickered in her eyes once more.

Liang Yan pondered for a long time, carefully choosing his words. "The array likely detects when only one person is present before opening. I was thinking, if a beast-taming cultivator were to pass through, even with countless spirit pets, they would still count as only one person, would they not?"

"What! You want me to be your spirit pet!" Zhao Xunzhen’s expression changed drastically. A blush spread from her neck to her earlobes, and her entire face turned fiery red in an instant. "Impossible! Not to mention whether I would agree, the master of this place is incredibly powerful. How could the sensing array he set up fail to distinguish between a human and a spirit beast?"

Liang Yan smiled slightly. "I naturally have my methods."

He formed a hand seal, and a black-and-white bead flew from his dantian, hovering between them. "This object is called the Heavenly Secret Bead. It has the ability to obscure the heavens. If I exert my full power, I should be able to mask your aura as a cultivator. But you must let me cast the spell and acknowledge me as your master; only then can you accompany me as my servant and escape this trap."

Zhao Xunzhen was stunned. She turned to stare at the bead, muttering to herself, "This... could let me survive..."