The Useless Xiao Yi Xian

Xiao Yi Xian's pupils contracted at the sight.

After killing the Rock Snake, Ning Chen's hand gave a soft pop, and a flame sprang up, its deep hue flickering as it radiated a faint, violent heat.

It was the fifth-grade Beast Flame, Chi Xin Fire, which he had drawn from the system earlier.

Holding the Beast Flame aloft like a lamp, Ning Chen walked straight into the pitch-black cave, his face expressionless.

He never looked back, nor said a word to Xiao Yi Xian.

Xiao Yi Xian stood where she was, struggling with herself for a moment.

Run?

With a Dou Wang expert who could fly through the sky and burrow through the earth, and this deep in the Magic Beast Mountain Range, where could she possibly run?

She bit her lower lip and finally followed Ning Chen into the cave, treading carefully.

After walking through the cave for more than ten minutes, the two of them stopped before a stone door glowing with a pale yellow light.

Ning Chen glanced around and quickly spotted an inconspicuous bump at the bottom of the door. He stepped on it, and the stone door rumbled heavily as it slowly rose.

Before long, it had opened completely, revealing what lay beyond.

It was a vast stone chamber, empty and desolate. Moonlight Stones embedded in the surrounding walls lit it brightly.

In the middle of the chamber, a stark-white skeleton sat facing the entrance in a broad chair, a rather chilling sight.

Seeing this, Xiao Yi Xian instinctively edged closer to Ning Chen, but when she came to her senses, she quickly retreated several steps.

Compared to the skeleton, Ning Chen somehow seemed even more frightening.

Ning Chen pursed his lips and surveyed the chamber, his gaze finally settling on the rectangular Bluestone Platform in front of the chair.

More precisely, he was looking at the three locked stone boxes on the platform.

He didn't even glance at the piles of gold coins and valuables stacked in the corners around the chamber.

But when Xiao Yi Xian spotted the many medicinal herbs growing in the flowerbeds around the room, her eyes lit up. Despite her fear of Ning Chen, she couldn't help edging toward them, worry making her movements cautious.

"Heh..." Ning Chen found the sight rather amusing.

He didn't bother scaring her any further, and went straight to the three stone boxes.

The first box contained a blue scroll.

"High-grade Profound Tier Dou Technique, Mad Lion Roar. Hmm, a sound-wave Dou Technique. I can keep it and learn it sometime."

Speaking of sound-wave Dou Techniques, Ning Chen suddenly remembered a major faction that had appeared in the original story but had never been described in detail.

Sound Valley, one of the Three Valleys.

He could visit someday. The forums he'd read in his previous life said Sound Valley had once produced a Dou Di expert. If that was true, what was that Dou Di called?

The... Sound Emperor?

Ning Chen chuckled at the thought. He put away the scroll and opened the second stone box, which also contained a scroll.

"Mid-grade Profound Tier Flying Dou Technique, Eagle Wings. It can rival a high-grade technique, and Dou Wangs can stack it with other techniques to gain even more speed."

But... the problem was, anyone weaker than Ning Chen didn't need to run, and anyone stronger than him... didn't seem to need to run either.

Still, he could keep it for now. Even if something was free and completely useless, he'd take it.

"As for the last one..." Ning Chen opened the final stone box. Inside was an ancient-looking, multicolored scroll.

"The Seven-Colored Poison Scripture..."

Ning Chen's gaze sharpened. He glanced around the chamber at Xiao Yi Xian, who was crouched beside a flowerbed, excitedly inspecting the herbs.

After a moment's thought, he set the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture on the Bluestone Platform. Then he stirred his Dou Qi and dug a large grave in front of the chair. As he buried the skeleton, he also took the Purifying Lotus Demonic Flame Fragment Map hidden inside its arm bone.

Ning Chen's digging made quite a racket, naturally drawing Xiao Yi Xian's attention.

The brief delight the herbs had brought her faded, and she belatedly remembered that a moody Dou Wang expert was standing right beside her.

Seeing that Ning Chen had finished tidying up and seemed to be looking her way, her heart leapt into her throat. She had no idea what he was going to do next.

But Ning Chen's next move made her feel as if she'd fallen into an icy abyss, her blood almost freezing in her veins!

Ning Chen dusted off hands that weren't even dirty, looked over Xiao Yi Xian's slender figure, and clicked his tongue. In a voice pitched just loud enough for her to hear, he muttered,

"Tsk, finally got everything done..."

As he spoke, he actually began undoing the buttons on his blue robe!

"Now it's time to get down to business..."

Before he'd even finished speaking, he casually took off the robe and draped it over his arm.

With a "lecherous grin" that looked unbearably sinister to Xiao Yi Xian, he walked straight toward her.

"Y-You... don't come any closer!"

Xiao Yi Xian's mind went blank. In that instant, it seemed every one of her terrifying suspicions had been confirmed.

Boundless terror, the anguish of imminent humiliation, and a fierce, desperate fury erupted within her like a volcano!

She screamed and sprang backward like a startled fawn, slamming into the cold stone wall. There was nowhere left to retreat.

In desperation, she yanked out the sharp dagger she had kept hidden in her sleeve for protection.

A flash of cold light appeared. She instinctively pointed it at Ning Chen as he advanced, but immediately realized how pointless it was.

Despair washed over her like a freezing tide. She clenched her teeth, a look of resolve flashing through her eyes.

With a twist of her wrist, she pressed the cold blade hard against her own pale, fragile throat!

"Stop! Come any closer... and I'll die right here!"

Xiao Yi Xian's voice trembled violently. Her eyes reddened at once, tears welling up, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

"I'd rather die than let you have your way!"

Ning Chen paused, the "lecherous grin" on his face seeming to deepen.

He shook his head and sighed.

"Why bother?"

Before he'd finished speaking, he simply and casually crooked a finger in Xiao Yi Xian's direction.

Hum!

An invisible but mountain-like surge of Dou Qi pressure descended in an instant, enveloping Xiao Yi Xian precisely.

She felt the air around her suddenly solidify into unbreakable shackles. She couldn't move a hand, let alone a single finger!

The dagger against her throat could neither press any farther nor fall away.

The overwhelming difference in strength had robbed her even of the right to end her own life.

At last, her tears broke free and streamed down Xiao Yi Xian's pale cheeks.

Her eyes were filled with resentment, despair, anger, and the deepest helplessness.

She closed her eyes. Her long lashes were soaked with tears and stuck to her skin, while her body trembled with utter terror and grief.

It's over... It's all over...

She could feel the man drawing near, even sense the warmth radiating from his body.

A sense of humiliation she had never known before and an icy dread enveloped her, almost suffocating her.

The brutal assault she had expected never came.

The next moment, she felt a sudden lightness in her hand. The dagger she'd gripped tightly had been taken from her with ease.

Then the despairing restraint around her ebbed away like a tide. Her legs gave way at the sudden release, and she slid down the wall to the floor.

A soft blue robe, still warm from its wearer, was gently—almost tenderly—draped over her trembling shoulders, covering her body, clad only in a thin dress.

Xiao Yi Xian opened her tear-blurred eyes in astonishment. Ning Chen's face held no trace of a lecherous grin. Instead, he wore a warm, kindly smile that would put anyone at ease.

"Keeping up the act for so long was exhausting."

Ning Chen shook his head lightly, took out the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture, and placed it in the hands of the still-dazed Xiao Yi Xian.

"This contains a detailed account of everything about your constitution. Once you've read it, you'll understand."

"As for everything I did earlier..."

Ning Chen paused, gently wiped the tears from Xiao Yi Xian's cheek, and smiled.

"I was only teasing you. After all, if I hadn't done this, it might have taken you a long time to realize that in the Dou Qi Continent, strength is the only means of survival. Without it, everything you feared today could happen."

"Alright, take your time reading. I'll go have a look at the herbs."