Tian Luo forced herself to smile, and she could swear on her conscience that she truly meant what she said!
Look at this—they were standing on dark clouds, thunderclouds rolling beneath their feet, lightning crackling as it roasted the cultivators below one after another, turning them into glowing purple light sticks. Those purple light sticks were even setting the whole “stage” on fire. The whole scene was incredibly explosive.
If this were a concert, then Lu Qizhi would be the brightest star on stage, and all those purple light sticks below represented just how popular he was.
As for her, she would be the green leaf beside Superstar Lu, existing only to make him shine brighter.
The commotion at Divine Mountain Hall was so huge that lights had begun flaring up all over the rest of Tianyan Sect.
With her sharp instincts as a ten-thousand-year ginseng spirit, Tian Luo could tell—
they were about to be surrounded.
Lu Qizhi stared at her smile, then suddenly sneered.
Tian Luo: “?”
What was wrong? Was her smile not perfect enough?
Lu Qizhi looked like someone who had just gotten a new toy, played with it twice, and gotten bored already.
“You’re satisfied that easily? What a pity. This scenery is far from enough. That old thing, Liu Fulong, isn’t even here.”
Tian Luo immediately said, “It’s okay, it’s okay! You can show me next time! We’ve got plenty of time!”
But Lu Qizhi’s expression turned even worse.
“No. I can’t wait.”
“Alright then… let’s look for him. This place is huge. Maybe he went to another mountain to enjoy the scenery.”
If she could, Tian Luo would have liked to pat his head to comfort him. Like a feline—those kinds of creatures always liked being stroked.
“Fine. Let’s look.”
Lu Qizhi actually agreed. Narrowing his eyes, he swept his gaze over the surroundings.
“Pick a direction.”
Tian Luo hadn’t expected herself to be this useful, and immediately grew nervous.
She hurriedly searched her memory for the descriptions of Tianyan Sect in the book.
Tianyan Sect stretched over a hundred thousand li. Naturally, there was far more than just this one immortal palace. It was only that the central Divine Mountain Hall was the largest and grandest.
The ones living here were all descendants of Patriarch Xuwang—the Liu bloodline.
In the book’s world, the rule was “south honored, north humble.”
The Heavenly Branch occupied the southern upper regions of Tianyan Sect, while the Earthly Branch occupied the northern lower regions.
And Xingluo Sect was one of the lower-ranked small sects even among the Earthly Branch.
So…
Tian Luo pointed toward the northern lower area near the edge of Tianyan Sect.
“Let’s go there!”
Lu Qizhi glanced in that direction.
The northern lower region of Tianyan Sect—
Liu Fulong would never go there.
Or rather, Liu Fulong simply wasn’t here today.
Which meant…
Guo Lin was there.
Lu Qizhi raised his eyes and glanced at Tian Luo, only to meet her eager, expectant gaze.
Tian Luo smiled sweetly.
“Let’s hurry!”
Lu Qizhi withdrew his gaze.
With a turn of his body, he vanished from above Divine Mountain Hall with Tian Luo in tow.
Below, Divine Mountain Hall was already in ruins.
The purple lightning raining down from the storm clouds above had struck without warning. Everyone had assumed it was ordinary heavenly tribulation lightning from someone breaking through, so they had taken it head-on without any preparation.
Who would have thought—
this wasn’t tribulation lightning at all.
It was thunderfire that burned the soul the moment it touched.
The pain of having one’s soul slowly devoured was unbearable.
Even Void Refinement cultivators could not withstand it.
No defensive methods were effective.
“How is it?”
Sect Master Liu Yi of Tianyan Sect lay painfully on his bed, looking at his Dao companion who had just returned.
Fang Qingyue stared at him with tears in her eyes.
“The Patriarch isn’t in the bamboo hall. Husband, what should I do?”
Liu Yi gritted his teeth.
He could not imagine who could silently break through the Spirit-Suppressing Grand Formation and enter Divine Mountain Hall to unleash a Thunder Breath Technique.
“Bring me a sword!”
Fang Qingyue drew her sword.
Liu Yi gripped the blade with both hands, intending to cast a blood curse to notify the Patriarch.
But the instant his blood flowed out, it vanished into thin air.
“How can this be? This Thunder Breath Technique is actually this powerful?!”
Liu Yi lifted his face.
Within the thunderfire, his face could vaguely be seen—
and it was actually fifty percent similar to Lu Qizhi’s.
“It seems… he’s come.”
The moment Fang Qingyue heard that, her heart tightened.
Thinking of the carnage in Divine Mountain Hall today, fear immediately appeared on her face.
“He… still has this kind of power after all this time?”
Hearing the cries and screams of the Liu family descendants around him, Liu Yi closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, determination filled them.
“Go fetch that Soul Pearl!”
The Patriarch must have had something extremely important to do today, or he would never have abandoned the Liu bloodline and left.
As Sect Master, Liu Yi had to make a decision.
As long as that man remained inside the Spirit-Suppressing Grand Formation, then with that Soul Pearl, they would definitely be able to restrain him—
though it would require all Liu bloodline members above Void Refinement to activate it together.
Fang Qingyue bit her lip and nodded.
“Alright!”
Tian Luo kept holding the villain’s hand, fulfilling her role as a qualified tool.
After all, every smaller sect under Tianyan Sect was layered with barriers.
Without her, getting through them would take at least some effort.
Though…
she sharply noticed that the villain’s hand was freezing cold.
So cold it felt like a chunk of ice that could never melt.
It made her desperately want to shake it off.
He had always been cold before, but never this cold.
Tian Luo tilted her head to study him.
His face was still covered in the green light she had coated him with, making his entire face glow green.
That made it easy to miss just how much paler his complexion had become.
Then she thought of that attack earlier.
And considering the villain’s physical condition, her gaze drifted toward his chest.
Sure enough—
she saw fresh red blood spreading from his chest.
His whole robe there had been soaked crimson.
One glance.
Then another.
There was no way to ignore it.
After thinking for a moment, Tian Luo asked, “Want a jar of spirit brew?”
Tianyan Sect was already in chaos.
The atmosphere everywhere was tense.
Yet no one noticed them moving like ghosts through the northern lower region.
Lu Qizhi glanced at the clay jar in Tian Luo’s hand, then at his chest.
Even his voice sounded a little hoarse.
“This useless body.”
As expected of a villain.
He could even insult himself when angry.
He took the clay jar from her.
Tian Luo had been about to say this jar was free—a friendship sponsorship, no charge, as an advance celebration for killing Guo Lin.
But after Lu Qizhi drank the foot-soaking water in one gulp, he asked:
“Any more?”
Tian Luo immediately looked at his chest.
Even in the dim light, she could see that the huge, mangled hole in his flesh was healing very, very slowly.
Much slower than before.
Alright.
Showing off came at a price.
She looked around.
Tianyan Sect was clearly mobilizing.
Who knew how long it would take before they were discovered?
And she was basically useless—just dead weight.
If Patriarch Xuwang, Liu Fulong, arrived…
with the villain in his current condition, he probably wouldn’t be able to handle it.
So she raised her arm.
“Come on!”
Lu Qizhi frowned.
“?”
Tian Luo looked heroic, like she was facing death with dignity.
“I’ll let you bite me once. But only once! You can’t bite too much, I’m scared of pain. You’d better be quick. My flesh works better than spirit brew. It’s okay, I heal fast. And if you’re moved by this, then when we run into danger, don’t throw me away. Protect me a little.”
A ten-thousand-year ginseng spirit’s flesh—
it had to be far more useful than her foot-soaking water!
In the book, Guo Lin had sliced off pieces of her flesh to eat every day.
And besides, this way she wouldn’t owe the villain anything.
Because based on her many years of novel-reading experience—
the one thing you should never owe was a villain’s favor.
Lu Qizhi’s dark pupils reflected the green light as he stared straight at her.
Then his eyes dropped to her arm.
Tian Luo also felt her arm looked white and tender.
Very biteable.
But this was like the agonizing wait before an execution.
If you’re gonna bite, hurry up!
Time is money, okay?!
“What do you take me for?”
Lu Qizhi’s temper was truly awful.
He shoved her arm away.
Take you for…?
A villain.
A bodyguard.
A driver.
A fighter.
Or maybe…
a friend?
Lu Qizhi seemed to think of something, his eyes turning even more irritable.
His tone was vicious.
“You think I eat people?”
Strictly speaking, I’m not human either, Tian Luo thought.
I’m a ten-thousand-year ginseng. Even if I can’t turn back into my original form.
But really—
weren’t you the one trying to sink your teeth into my neck the first time we met? Trying to eat my flesh and drink my blood?
Fine.
That was in the past.
She wouldn’t bring up old grudges.
Watching Tian Luo withdraw her hand and the changing expressions on her face, Lu Qizhi suddenly got angry again.
“Give me spirit brew.”
The villain couldn’t recognize quality goods.
He insisted on drinking her foot-soaking water.
What could she do?
Helplessly, Tian Luo took out two more clay jars from her storage pouch.
“That’s four thousand spirit stones on credit.”
Lu Qizhi said nothing.
He took the jars and tilted his head back to drink.
Honestly—
the way his throat moved when he swallowed was pretty sexy.
Tian Luo felt his body must really be in terrible shape.
Because he drank all of her stored foot-soaking water in one go.
Not a drop left.
“That’s all. I’ll have to brew more after we get back to Zixu Sword Sect.”
As she spoke, she looked at his chest.
The giant hole had improved a little.
It was nearly healed.
But not fully.
Honestly, biting her would still be the better option.
But villains had their principles.
He refused.
And while drinking the foot-soaking water, he hadn’t stopped moving.
Like a ghost, he circled through several small sects below.
The alert cultivators running around were right beside them.
Yet every single time, he avoided them safely.
Tian Luo’s heart remained tightly clenched.
It felt like walking on a tightrope.
Even though she knew Lu Qizhi could crush them all with a single hand, it was still thrilling.
The villain did not attack these Earthly Branch sects at random.
But his face remained ugly.
So irritable that veins were bulging on his forehead.
Even so—
they still couldn’t find Guo Lin.
Xingluo Sect occupied a small mountain.
There was a giant stone at the top, and on it were the words “Xingluo Sect” scrawled by someone whose handwriting looked like chicken scratches.
So in the end—
the villain hadn’t found the Patriarch Xuwang he wanted to kill.
And she hadn’t found Guo Lin.
Was this the villain’s luck?
Tian Luo understood now.
Next time, maybe she should drag Senior Sister Nan or that straight-laced Tian guy along.
Maybe their luck would be better.
Lu Qizhi stopped on an inconspicuous mountaintop.
Looking at the tense atmosphere spreading outward from Divine Mountain Hall, he suddenly asked Tian Luo:
“What did Guo Lin do to you?”
Tian Luo felt that the villain must have truly started treating her as a friend.
That was why he cared about what she had gone through.
Even though Guo Lin hadn’t actually had the chance to slice her flesh and drink her blood yet, that didn’t stop Tian Luo from suddenly wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand and tearfully smearing poison into his ear.
“Wah! He sliced my flesh, drank my blood, imprisoned me in an underground dungeon, and tortured me every day! I was so miserable! My past is too painful to look back on! Only killing him can ease my hatred!”
Lu Qizhi’s harsh voice ordered:
“No crying.”
The obedient and sensible Tian Luo immediately lowered her hand.
Suddenly, the villain flew off with her again.
Lu Qizhi flew into Xingluo Sect and dragged out a man.
At the time, the man had been in the middle of doing unspeakable things with one of his favored concubines.
When he was dragged out, he was completely naked and screaming.
“Cut him. This is Guo Lin’s only bloodline.”
Lu Qizhi said expressionlessly.
Yes.
Guo Lin did have a son.
A useless waste.
He had only been pushed to Nascent Soul through piles of pills.
Debauched and indulgent.
Guo Lin didn’t value him much, but since he was his bloodline, he kept him around.
This was Tian Luo’s first time facing something like this.
Beating someone up and truly hurting them were very different things.
Lu Qizhi glanced at her.
Holding her sword, he moved with dazzling sword forms so fast he became a white blur.
Tian Luo only heard the man on the ground screaming miserably.
In the blink of an eye, his pale body was mangled and bloody.
Tian Luo felt nauseous.
But when she remembered that this guy had eaten plenty of her flesh and blood in the book, she forced the nausea back down.
The villain returned the sword to her.
Well.
Since they were already here…
Smiling brightly, she said to the bloody lump below:
“It might hurt a little, but just endure it and it’ll be over soon.”
Tian Luo raised her hand.
Swung her sword.
And chopped off the bit of flesh between his legs.
Yes.
At most one liang.
Not even two liang.
Far inferior to the villain’s.
The man’s scream was even more miserable than before.
Tian Luo realized she might be a little twisted.
Hearing him scream like that made her feel extremely satisfied.
So satisfying!
Then Tian Luo realized the villain had already grabbed her and flashed thousands of li away, heading straight out of Tianyan Sect.
Curious, she asked,
“Not searching anymore?”
“Don’t you think it’s interesting, watching them panic helplessly while still being unable to find me?”
The villain let out a sinister laugh.
Tian Luo: But your earlier attitude looked like you’d burn yourself out just to kill them all tonight…
They were about to leave the Spirit-Suppressing Grand Formation.
At Lu Qizhi’s speed, they would probably be out in another ten minutes.
Ten minutes was fast.
But Tian Luo still couldn’t help asking:
“Then where are we going now?”
The villain replied in a puzzled tone:
“Weren’t you hungry?”
Tian Luo was so moved she nearly cried tears of gratitude.
According to the usual plot, this was where the villain should be taking her to some restaurant or tavern for food!
Three minutes later—
the villain had killed some unknown ferocious beast in Tianyan Sect’s Beast Forest, skinned it, and thrown it in front of Tian Luo.
“Eat.”