Talks Broke Down!

Bai Ze chuckled, returning to his usual frivolous grin:

"Wasn't this junior driven into a corner by you, Senior?

But as long as Senior needs it, I can be anything you want.

All I can do is ease Senior's burdens and analyze the current situation!"

Jieyin Daoist sneered and looked at Bai Ze.

"Ease my burdens? Heh! How laughable!

Do you truly think I cannot see that after this, whether I release you two or not, the Three Pure Ones will target me?"

Bai Ze helplessly shrugged and spread his hands. "But at least, Senior can obtain the Dream Orchid you want, and you will not be harmed by the Celestial Venerable's backup measures because of it."

Jieyin Daoist narrowed his eyes. "You are giving me this item—aren't you afraid Guang Chengzi will punish you?"

"A treasure may be good, but one must live long enough to use it. Otherwise, everything is empty!" Bai Ze shrugged, glancing at the Fishing Drum, which had already accumulated spiritual power to the brim.

Jieyin Daoist fell silent for a moment, withdrew his pressure, and looked at Bai Ze.

"I agree to your demand. But the Dream Orchid alone is not enough. You must hand over the backup measure the Three Pure Ones left for you as well!"

Bai Ze's gaze turned strange. He had long expected Jieyin Daoist to say this, but he had already prepared a response.

Haggling was what he did best!

"The Dream Orchid can be given to Senior. But as for that backup measure, forgive this junior, but I cannot give it to you."

The moment Bai Ze finished speaking, Jieyin Daoist's eyes hardened, and a wave of pressure burst forth.

Seeing this, Bai Ze hurriedly soothed him. "Senior misunderstands. It is not that this junior is unwilling. It is simply that this junior is powerless to do so.

If not for Senior today, this junior would not even have known that the Celestial Venerable had left something on me."

For a moment, Jieyin Daoist could not tell whether Bai Ze's earnest expression was genuine or a deception.

After a long silence, he said, "I do not trust you."

Bai Ze sneered inwardly. As if anyone would trust you.

"What a coincidence. This junior happens to feel the same way about Senior!"

Jieyin Daoist stared at Bai Ze. Bai Ze did not avoid his gaze in the slightest, merely looking back at him calmly.

For a time, the air seemed to sink into silence.

Yet beneath that surface calm, Bai Ze was panicking terribly.

Because he was almost unable to suppress the spiritual power within the Fishing Drum!!!

But having endured the brutal battering of society in his previous life, he knew this well.

The more urgent the moment, the more one had to keep one's composure.

Especially in a situation like this, where he was seeking a tiger's hide and killing intent lurked in the shadows.

Whoever spoke first would lose the initiative!

Second by second, time slipped away.

Bai Ze's back was already drenched in cold sweat. He did not know how much longer he would have to wait, but if he truly could not suppress it any longer, he could only detonate the Fishing Drum ahead of time.

But if he did that, the effect would be far worse. It might not even be enough to injure Jieyin Daoist!

He knew very clearly that against a mighty expert who was cautious by nature and powerful in strength, he had only one chance!

Once he failed, what awaited him would surely be utter catastrophe!

Time slowly passed. Only when the sun had risen three poles high did Jieyin Daoist finally look at Bai Ze and say expressionlessly:

"Give me the item, and you may leave."

Bai Ze did not move. Instead, he rubbed his hands together, looked at Jieyin Daoist, and smiled. "Let me make this clear first—it is not that I trust Senior.

It is merely that... could Senior swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao?"

Jieyin Daoist narrowed his eyes. In an instant, pressure erupted from his body. Heaven and earth changed color, and the surrounding trees instantly crumbled into dust!

"Are you toying with me?!"

Bai Ze repeatedly waved his hands, though he sighed inwardly. What a pity. It would naturally have been best if he could make the other party swear an oath!

But even without it, it would not affect the plan to come.

Of course, he did not dare push Jieyin Daoist too hard either. If this old bastard simply flipped the table, then they would truly be finished!

"Senior, this item shall be given to you. But Senior, please do not forget your promise. Spare the two of us and leave us a path to live."

As he spoke, Bai Ze sent the box containing the Dream Orchid into the air.

Jieyin Daoist looked at the box without any suspicion. It was precisely the box he had seen Bai Ze use to pluck Dream Orchid petals and feed them to Duobao when he traced back into the past.

As the Dream Orchid drew nearer, Jieyin Daoist's eyes gradually grew feverish.

Bai Ze, meanwhile, clenched the Celestial Venerable Dharma Body tightly, remaining alert for any danger that might arise as he quietly retreated.

Yet his gaze remained fixed on the box approaching Jieyin Daoist.

At this moment, time seemed to stretch endlessly. Bai Ze was incomparably tense, his heart full of unease.

There was only one chance!

As the box drew closer and closer to Jieyin Daoist, Bai Ze's eyes sharpened.

Just then, Jieyin Daoist suddenly looked at Bai Ze. With a savage grin, he abruptly struck!

Bai Ze's pupils shrank sharply. Not daring to delay, he instantly formed a hand seal!

"Explode!"

The next moment, the Fishing Drum inside the box instantly detonated.

A blinding sphere of light erupted in an instant!

At that very moment, Jieyin Daoist's attack also reached Bai Ze.

Bai Ze instantly took out the Celestial Venerable Dharma Body to defend himself.

But the power of a Tracing Origin realm cultivator was simply beyond imagination. Even a casual sneeze could alter the environment of an entire region.

Let alone Jieyin Daoist's all-out strike.

In an instant, the Celestial Venerable Dharma Body, a supreme-grade Acquired Spirit Treasure, snapped into two pieces. Although it blocked most of the attack, the remaining shockwave still made sweetness rise in Bai Ze's throat and caused his eyes to bulge!

For a moment, he felt as though his five viscera and six bowels had been ground into minced meat!

The Fleshly Body Inscriptions on his arms were also on the verge of collapse, cracks spreading across them one after another!

His aura and vitality were rapidly dissipating as well!

Yet even as the terrifying shockwave sent him flying, his eyes remained fixed on Jieyin Daoist at the center of the explosion!

Though this Fishing Drum was not a supreme-grade Innate Spirit Treasure like its original body, it was still a supreme-grade Acquired Spirit Treasure.

Combined with the spiritual power he had continuously poured into it, its self-destruction would kill even someone at True Form Stage Great Perfection!

But Jieyin Daoist was, after all, in the Tracing Origin realm. Even if he was only at the initial stage, there was still a gulf between him and True Form Realm Great Perfection as vast as heaven and earth!

Bai Ze could not be certain whether this strike would take Jieyin Daoist's life!

But this was all the time he could buy for Duobao!

He leaned against a chunk of shattered rock. At this point, his breath was faint as a thread, and he was holding on entirely by a single breath.

When faced with that terrifying sneak attack earlier, the Celestial Venerable Dharma Body had still been able to withstand most of the force. But against the shockwave from the Spirit Treasure's explosion, he could only protect Duobao as best he could and serve as a human shield for him.

As a result, he could not even maintain his divine ability and had been beaten back into his original form.

Even the flame of his life now resembled a candle flickering in the wind, swaying on the brink of extinction.

But he did not regret it. In terms of loyalty, he could not possibly abandon Duobao and let the heavily injured Duobao take the blow for him.

From a rational standpoint, preserving Duobao and waiting for him to awaken gave Bai Ze a better chance of survival than relying on himself, a worthless weakling at the initial stage of the True Form Realm!

Whether out of loyalty or reason, given the current circumstances, preserving Duobao was the best choice!

Still, he felt somewhat melancholy. He had anticipated the shockwave from the self-destruction. With the defensive power of the Celestial Venerable Dharma Body, even if it could not block everything, it should not have left him unable to move!

He had even prepared for the possibility that Jieyin Daoist might attack them.

But he had never imagined that Jieyin Daoist would be so underhanded!

While he had been preparing to ambush Jieyin Daoist, Jieyin Daoist had been preparing to ambush him as well!