Primordial Heaven-Measuring Ruler! Qiongxiao Regrets It!

[Ding! God-Tier Selection Task successfully refreshed!]

[Option One: Forgive the Interception Sect and follow Qiongxiao back to Kunlun Mountain. Reward: one mouthful of Innate Cowardly Qi.]

[Option Two: Humiliate Qiongxiao, ravage and kill her. Reward: top-grade Xiantian Spiritual Treasure, Abyss-Suppressing Sword.]

[Option Three: Ignore Qiongxiao and treat her as air. Reward: acquired merit supreme treasure, Primordial Heaven-Measuring Ruler.]

The cold system voice echoed through his mind, and joy flashed in Lingxiao's heart.

"Primordial Heaven-Measuring Ruler—a supreme offensive treasure. Killing with it incurs no karma, and its slaughtering might is second only to the Heaven's Dao baleful treasure, the Godslaying Spear. This treasure is fated with me!"

"System, this Daoist chooses Option Three!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Lingxiao made his choice.

Too lazy to speak—she was not worth hearing!

Qiongxiao's ugly face disgusted Lingxiao, and her heaven-defying remarks left him speechless. Rather than argue with her or suppress her, he would rather treat her like a fart and let her go.

And as for becoming Dao companions—was Qiongxiao worthy?

[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining the Primordial Heaven-Measuring Ruler!]

As the system's voice rang out again, strange phenomena arose within the system space.

Purple-gold radiance shone, its Dao might resplendent.

Great Dao divine patterns flickered in and out of sight, while golden merit light blazed brilliantly. It was dense, as though it weighed a thousand jun, its Dao charm vast and ethereal, seemingly possessing the power to create the cosmos and destroy the myriad heavens.

"For countless ages, this Daoist has risked life and limb for the Interception Sect."

"From now on, I will live for myself. The Primordial Heaven-Measuring Ruler will become my ultimate trump card. In the coming Investiture of the Gods Calamity, this acquired merit supreme treasure will keep me safe."

The corners of Lingxiao's lips lifted as he made up his mind at once.

As for the affairs of the Interception Sect, Lingxiao chose to lie flat. He would not care about them in the least.

But when it came to cultivation and plotting for the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, he was serious!

"Junior Brother Lingxiao, what are you still hesitating over?"

"I know you feel wronged, but you must not rashly sever your karma with the Interception Sect. I've already given you a way out—what more do you want from me?"

Seeing Lingxiao remain silent, the shyness on Qiongxiao's face vanished.

In its place was a trace of frost!

As a Xiantian being, Qiongxiao had her own pride. Being forced by circumstances to lower her head to Lingxiao was already an enormous humiliation and concession for her.

Yet Lingxiao had actually disregarded her feelings and still acted so high and mighty even now.

How had that once warm, considerate, and understanding junior brother become so psychologically twisted?

Her fury surged unceasingly, leaving Qiongxiao with words stuck in her throat.

She did not dare say those words aloud. After all, Zhenyuanzi and Daoist Hongyun were watching from the side.

Yet the icy aura she emitted exposed her current mood!

"You don't actually think this Daoist would be touched, do you?"

Lingxiao did not even raise his eyelids, mocking her with breezy indifference.

Then, changing the subject, he raised his wine cup.

"Great Immortal Zhenyuan, Senior Hongyun, there is no need for us to pay attention to this clown who capers on the stage! Come, drink!"

Cups clinked back and forth, and the atmosphere was merry.

Lingxiao treated Qiongxiao as air. He had no desire even to acknowledge her.

Seated cross-legged atop a meditation cushion, his brows carried warmth and refinement. As for the farce just now, he had never taken it to heart.

Qiongxiao, meanwhile, stood frozen where she was, her vermilion lips trembling slightly.

First, she had taken the initiative to show goodwill to Lingxiao; afterward, she had tried to provoke him with taunts. Yet it was like punching cotton—nothing stirred in the slightest.

An inexplicable heartache drained the color from her face.

"Since Senior Brother Lingxiao is unwilling to return to Kunlun Mountain with you, Fairy, you should leave Five Estate Temple. Otherwise, if you offend Senior Brother Lingxiao and the two masters, we will not be able to bear the consequences."

Breeze looked at Qiongxiao, suppressing the corners of his mouth that were about to split all the way to his ears.

With a light sweep of his jade sleeve, he assumed the posture of seeing a guest out.

Bright Moon beside him gave a soft snort. Today had truly broadened his horizons.

Interception Sect disciples were actually this sort of trash. It was utterly laughable.

"Lingxiao, are you truly unwilling to return to Kunlun Mountain with me?"

At this point, Qiongxiao stopped pretending.

Clenching her silver teeth, the grievance and fury in her heart erupted. Pointing at Lingxiao's nose, she began interrogating him, the imposing aura of a peak Primordial Unity Golden Immortal pressing toward him.

But in the next instant, Daoist Hongyun frowned. Boundless red sand flew from the gourd at his waist, swallowing Qiongxiao in the blink of an eye.

"So ignorant of propriety, yet you dare bark like a dog within Five Estate Temple? It seems Lord Tongtian has spoiled the Interception Sect disciples rotten. If I did not respect him as a Heaven's Dao Saint, I would surely cast you into a place of eternal damnation."

"Wound your foundation, damage your Primordial Spirit, sever your cultivation! Consider this a small punishment from me, and let you taste the pain little friend Lingxiao suffered!"

"If you refuse to accept it, you may go find Lord Tongtian to back you up. I am someone who nearly died once; I do not mind detonating my foundation and cultivation, dragging the Interception Sect down into destruction with me."

As his words fell, the red sand dispersed.

Blood trickled from the corner of Qiongxiao's lips, and her aura became utterly listless.

Cracks spread across her skin. The Five Qi within her chest and the Three Flowers above her head were both affected. In that instant, an entire level of her cultivation was severed, dropping her to the late stage of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal Realm.

"Red Cloud Daoist, why bring up self-detonation out of nowhere?"

"If this Qiongxiao and Lord Tongtian refuse to accept it, I can simply detonate the eastern earth veins. Let us see how Lord Tongtian intends to clean up that mess then."

"They dared scheme against and bully little friend Lingxiao. I will be the first to refuse!"

Zhenyuanzi smiled helplessly and turned to stare at Qiongxiao.

His tone was calm, his eyes still as an ancient well.

Yet the heaven-defying killing intent he exuded was not in the slightest inferior to Red Cloud Daoist's.

Seeing this, Lingxiao casually glanced at Qiongxiao and slowly said, "The Interception Sect's luck has been tainted by karmic slaughter. The Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation is in turmoil. What does any of this have to do with me?"

"Get lost!"

The moment those words emerged, before Qiongxiao could even be shocked—

Breeze and Bright Moon seized Qiongxiao and directly threw her out of Five Estate Temple.

Filthy and bedraggled, tears filled her eyes.

Qiongxiao had never suffered such humiliation before. Her Dao heart could not help but tremble. Her jade-like hands clenched tightly into fists, her nails cutting open her palms as blood continually dripped down.

It hurt!

It hurt too much!

"Junior Brother Lingxiao must have succumbed to qi deviation. Otherwise, he would not be so heartless and unfeeling. Even when my demands were harsh in the past, he would greet me with a smile and fulfill them."

"Now, he actually told me to get lost. Impossible..."

"I must hurry back to Kunlun Mountain and tell Master what happened, so he can remove the demonic seed from Junior Brother Lingxiao's body..."

An intangible obsession arose from the depths of Qiongxiao's heart.

Regret, vexation, grievance!

Little did she know.

The instant that thought emerged, the Sha Qi between heaven and earth and the laws of the calamity enshrouded her Primordial Spirit. Even the true spirit within the River of Life became entwined with a thread of black qi.

Clearly, Qiongxiao had entered the calamity!

Boom!

Dao chimes rolled through the air, immortal music rang in unison.

Beyond the horizon, crimson-gold radiance blazed brilliantly. Heavenly soldiers and generals strode upon the void, the cold gleam of their armor flashing in every direction and drawing Qiongxiao's attention.

"Why have people from the Heavenly Court come?"

Qiongxiao circulated her mana, intending to change her disheveled appearance. Yet before she could make herself presentable, a slender figure descended before her.

The heavenly soldiers and generals also took up guard several hundred li beyond Five Estate Temple.

"Immortal Qiongxiao, what exactly are you playing at?"

Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden saw Qiongxiao's embarrassment. But she had come under Queen Mother Yaochi's decree to show goodwill toward Lingxiao, so naturally she would not let slip an opportunity to vent Lingxiao's anger for him.

As she looked Qiongxiao over and took in her miserable state, Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden was slightly startled inwardly.

"The aura of Red Cloud's Nine-Nine Soul-Scattering Gourd. It seems Qiongxiao enraged Red Cloud Daoist and was taught a lesson for it. The Queen Mother and the Jade Emperor guessed correctly—Red Cloud Daoist and Zhenyuanzi place extreme importance on Lingxiao."

Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden was perceptive and saw through the entire sequence of events.

"I would rather ask you: why has the Heavenly Court sent you to Five Estate Temple?"

Qiongxiao circulated her mana and finally washed away the filth staining her body. Yet her deathly pale pretty face and swaying, unsteady frame both showed that she was already an arrow at the end of its flight.

If she could not heal her injuries in time, her foundation would surely be damaged.

Hearing this, Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden said leisurely, "The Heavenly Court governs the Primordial World and the Three Realms. By rights, I have no need to explain anything to you. But seeing you in such a state, I shall mercifully tell you."

"By order of the Queen Mother and the Jade Emperor, I have come to visit Daoist friend Lingxiao and present him with some gifts."

With that said!

Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden withdrew her gaze and walked straight toward the gates of Five Estate Temple.

Breeze and Bright Moon hurried forward to welcome her.

Compared with Qiongxiao's treatment, it was truly the difference between heaven and earth.

"That female immortal looks like a dog..."

A heavenly general pointed at Qiongxiao and made mocking remarks.

At that moment!

The tears in Qiongxiao's eyes slid down her cheeks. Carrying unwillingness and regret, she flew toward Kunlun Mountain...