It was a starry night, with the moon shining bright.
The silvery moonlight spilled across the land, cloaking it in a cold, frosty sheen.
Five hundred miles outside Crimson Rock City lay a desolate wasteland.
The cold wind swept up the lingering snow, keening mournfully like lonely ghosts whispering in the dark.
Suddenly, an ocher light flared. As the earth's leyline energy surged violently, a graceful figure stumbled to the ground in a wretched heap.
"Pfft..."
Mei Yuening groaned. Her alluring face was now a sorry sight, and blood poured from her severed arm, staining half her clothes red. The sight was ghastly.
But she had no time to worry about the agony in her right arm, nor to staunch the bleeding with her cultivation. She hurriedly pulled a Thousand Mile Divine Movement Talisman from her robes and activated it again.
The next moment, she vanished once more, leaving behind only a pool of bright red blood that stood out starkly in the moonlight.
Across the wilderness, through the mountains and forests, over rivers...
Mei Yuening's figure flickered from place to place, each arrival accompanied by a faint surge of leyline energy, as if she were locked in a race for her life.
At last, after using the Thousand Mile Divine Movement Talisman for the fifth time, she arrived deep in an ancient forest, who knew how many thousand miles away.
Towering old trees surrounded her, their branches and leaves interlacing as mottled moonlight filtered through the gaps.
Mei Yuening leaned against a massive boulder and slowly slid to the ground. Her face was as pale as paper; she was clearly nearing her limit.
The Thousand Mile Divine Movement Talisman drew upon leyline energy to move a thousand miles in an instant. It was the ultimate escape tool.
But how could a talisman so precious possibly be easy to activate?
Not only was it extremely difficult to control, but each use was like traveling through the earth's leylines, placing an immense strain on the user's body and mind.
Mei Yuening was gravely wounded and missing an arm, and she had been forced to activate the Thousand Mile Divine Movement Talisman again and again.
Even with her profound cultivation and Half-demon body, her vision was going black. She nearly passed out on the spot.
"Spit! What rotten luck!"
Mei Yuening spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and used her cultivation to stop the bleeding from her severed arm. A trace of venom flashed in her scarlet demon eyes.
"I never imagined that 'Gu Cheng' was actually a Flood Dragon in disguise!
With strength that terrifying, he must be a Spirit Sea Realm Demon Lord! I wonder which of Old Flood Dragon King's children he is..."
She took a deep breath, and all she knew about the Flood Dragon Palace came to mind.
As far as she knew, the Flood Dragon Palace had a Spirit Sea Demon Lord who was also skilled at disguises and transformations.
Could he have intercepted Gu Cheng along the way, secretly switched places with him, and pulled off a grand trick of swapping the heavens for the sun?
But what was the Flood Dragon Palace plotting, going to all this trouble?
As thoughts raced through her mind like lanterns on a turning wheel, a stabbing pain shot through her severed arm once more.
Mei Yuening clenched her teeth, her expression growing more twisted as fury blazed in her eyes.
"Whatever your goal is, I don't care! The Flood Dragon Palace may be powerful, but the Hundred Saints Valley isn't afraid of you!
Once my cousin Yin Lie arrives, that damned loach will pay for this in blood!"
Mei Yuening glanced down at her severed arm and pulled a glowing green fruit from her robes.
The fruit gave off a faint, sweet fragrance, as if it could soothe any pain. Her mind settled a little.
Mei Yuening opened her little mouth, about to swallow the fruit and heal her wounds.
Suddenly, a low, icy voice came from the boulder behind her.
"Hm? A Life Fruit? You actually still have something that precious on you? And who exactly is this 'cousin Yin Lie' you mentioned?"
"????"
Mei Yuening stiffened. The fruit nearly slipped from her hand as she hurriedly turned around.
A handsome young man in a black robe stood atop the boulder, gazing at her at his leisure.
Moonlight draped him in a silvery veil. Combined with his already striking features, it made him seem all the more extraordinary.
On any other day, Mei Yuening might have felt her heart flutter. Right now, though, he seemed more terrifying than the King of Hell himself.
"H-how is this possible? You caught up with me so quickly?"
Mei Yuening's pupils contracted, and her cat tail shot straight up. Turmoil surged through her heart, and her mind went blank.
"Did you use a Thousand Mile Divine Movement Talisman too? But you're a demon. How could you activate a human talisman?"
"Ah, don't answer people's questions with questions..."
Gu Cheng said nothing more. He simply raised a hand, and an invisible pressure poured down like mountains and seas, engulfing Mei Yuening in an instant.
The force was as heavy as a thousand-jun boulder, crushing her until she could barely breathe, as if even the air around her had been sucked away.
Mei Yuening's breath caught. It felt as if an invisible hand had clamped around her chest, and despair surged through her like a rising tide.
She gritted her teeth, swallowed a pill, and activated the pendant around her neck.
In an instant, the pendant blazed with dazzling light.
The cat-eared beauty vanished into a cloud of black smoke, splitting into nine illusory doubles that darted off in every direction like ghosts.
As a descendant of the Phantom Spirit Cat, Mei Yuening was naturally skilled at speed and disguise.
Under the moonlight, she was as quick as a specter. With those doubles to buy her time, she might yet escape!
But just as she threw everything into fleeing...
Whoosh—
Several pitch-black chains, wreathed in countless vengeful spirits, burst from the void and swiftly coiled around every fleeing figure like venomous snakes.
The chains snapped tight. The nine doubles shattered like bubbles and vanished into the night wind, leaving only Mei Yuening's true body, bound fast.
"I've got you!"
Su Jiuer hovered in the night sky. With a graceful wave of her hand, she controlled the Wuchang Ghost Lock, binding Mei Yuening from head to toe and bringing her before Gu Cheng.
She gave a slight bow, her voice cool and respectful.
"Master, I have not failed you."
"Mm, well done."
Gu Cheng nodded in approval. The Wuchang Ghost Lock wasn't much for killing, but when it came to restraining and capturing people, it was second to none.
His gaze fell on Mei Yuening, a hint of amusement and appraisal in his eyes.
Mei Yuening stared at Su Jiuer's black robes, then lowered her eyes to the dark chains wrapped around her. Her face turned as pale as paper.
"The Wuchang Ghost Lock?! You... You're the Ninth Destiny of the Evil King Pavilion?
How is this possible? Is the Evil King Pavilion joining forces with the Flood Dragon Palace?!"
Her overwhelming terror even eclipsed the pain of her severed arm. The bizarre pairing before her left her completely shaken, her mind in chaos.
Gu Cheng couldn't care less what the cat-eared beauty was thinking. He simply gave Su Jiuer an order.
"Jiuer, she's yours. Get all the information you can out of her. Be careful—don't kill her."
"As you command!"
Su Jiuer accepted the order at once. A cold glint flashed across her enchanting, beautiful face as she looked at Mei Yuening.
At last, all those "punishment" techniques she'd learned from the Seventh Elder would come in handy.
Before long, a series of shrill screams rang out from the depths of the forest, continuing without pause.
They added an eerie note of terror to what had been a peaceful moonlit night.
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