Retreating II

"Alright... I agree!!"

Cloud Fragrance Hall Master gritted her teeth, her eyes nearly reddening as she agreed to Lin Xin's demand.

"Good. Take me to get the antidote."

Lin Xin spoke directly.

"Yes!"

Cloud Fragrance Hall Master suppressed the grief and indignation in her heart. She actually knew that achieving this much was already the limit.

But she had no choice.

For the safety of the entire Cloud Fragrance Hall, and also for... that person.

Lin Xin did not allow the others to enter. He went into the main hall alone, accompanied only by Cloud Fragrance Hall Master and another beautiful female pill master.

After passing through the main hall, they reached a Pill King Hall behind it, where a statue of the Origin Chaos Golden Core Holy King was enshrined.

Lin Xin could not help taking a few extra looks at the statue.

The bronze-black sculpture, over three meters tall, sat quietly at the highest point of Pill King Hall.

Its appearance was strange. It depicted an enormously fat giant whose body was shaped like a ball.

His face bore an ear-to-ear grin like Maitreya Buddha's.

His round belly was bare, exposing his chest and nipples, and a large pill character could be seen at his navel.

"This is the Origin Chaos Golden Core Holy King?"

he asked curiously.

"Yes." Cloud Fragrance Hall Master answered coldly, saying nothing further. Clearly, she did not wish to speak with him.

They arrived at a side hall. Its walls were covered in dense rows of thousands of black drawers, each marked with a corresponding number.

Cloud Fragrance Hall Master beckoned, and the top three drawers opened at once. A great quantity of tiny granular pills flew out from within.

All the pills flew into the air before her in their proper proportions, rapidly melting and merging together. They condensed into a glossy black pill the size of a fist.

"This is the antidote. After taking it, please place it beneath the poisoned person's head as a pillow. After sleeping for three days, the poison will be cured.

"Once it has been used, please return it. Only the Cloud Fragrance unique to our Cloud Fragrance Hall can nourish and sustain its miraculous effects. If placed anywhere else, it will rapidly lose efficacy and disappear."

Cloud Fragrance Hall Master spoke solemnly.

"How many branches of Cloud Fragrance Hall are there in the Shadow World?"

Lin Xin suddenly asked.

"Ninety-eight."

Cloud Fragrance Hall Master answered at once.

"The pill masters you recruit are mainly women? Where do they come from?"

"There are ninety-eight main cities in the Shadow World, of which Shadow City is the strongest force. The other main cities are controlled by their respective factions and clans. Each city contains passages linked to countless void worlds. Though they nominally obey Shadow City, they are actually independent powers. Our pill masters are gathered from those places."

Cloud Fragrance Hall Master replied coldly.

She knew that she had to cooperate now. Otherwise, she would drag the entire Cloud Fragrance Hall down to be buried with her.

"Later, I will directly open a passage from the Netherworld into the Shadow World. Cloud Fragrance Hall will relocate into the Netherworld."

Lin Xin ordered.

"Why!?"

Cloud Fragrance Hall Master immediately bristled.

"You clearly promised before that you would not interfere with us...!!"

"You may choose not to move. Does Shadow City still have the strength to protect you now? Or do you intend to remain independently in the Shadow World, without the protection of any faction?

"Or do you think that, since I am away all year round, I will make a special trip to stand guard for your Cloud Fragrance Hall?"

Lin Xin's gaze turned cold and sinister.

Cloud Fragrance Hall Master froze at once.

That was right. These were not ordinary times. Even Shadow City had been destroyed. What place could possibly be safer?

With Dao Ancestors nowhere to be seen, the safest places were clearly those under the protection of Great Sages.

And Lin Xin was one of Azure Lake Mountain's strongest Great Sages at present. Taking shelter under his command was undoubtedly the wise choice.

But once they relocated into the Netherworld, the entire Cloud Fragrance Hall would ultimately be assimilated by it, becoming part of it and sharing Sun Snatcher Divine Lord's fate.

That was not the outcome she wanted.

But seeing the increasingly dangerous look in Lin Xin's eyes, Cloud Fragrance Hall Master knew that if she uttered even a single word of refusal,

the result would definitely be worse than death!

They had long since carefully studied intelligence on Sun Snatcher Divine Lord's personality.

They knew that this man's word was law, and that he tolerated no disobedience from anyone.

Blood had flowed into seas beneath his command, and none knew how many souls had died beneath his sword. Even Heavenly Venerable incarnations—no fewer than two dozen had perished at his hands!

Before such a terrifying existence, they were not much stronger than ants.

"Divine Lord, what if we are willing to offer a price that moves your heart in exchange?"

she suddenly said.

"A price that moves my heart?"

Lin Xin narrowed his eyes.

"Tell me."

Cloud Fragrance Hall Master fell silent for a moment.

"Four Great Sages Xing Pengfei is in our hall."

Lin Xin's heart jolted.

He had previously experienced Four Great Sages Xing Pengfei's strength. Though Xing Pengfei was inferior to him and Fang Yu, once he unleashed his full power, he was undoubtedly at a terrifying level approaching stellar rank.

Lin Xin had never expected him to be in Cloud Fragrance Hall.

"Xing Pengfei was severely injured by Fang Yu. He is currently unconscious and may perish at any time. We have been doing everything possible to treat him, but can only barely stabilize his injuries."

Cloud Fragrance Hall Master explained.

"In truth, Xing Pengfei is one of the few people in Shadow City with a straightforward temperament. He has always taken great care of our Cloud Fragrance Hall. Furthermore, he is actually my biological elder brother.

"Treating injuries is not our specialty. If possible, Divine Lord may be able to sign a True Name Contract with him and use the power of Azure Lake Mountain's Heavenly Alliance to save his life. It may also count as Cloud Fragrance Hall's final condition."

"Xing Pengfei..."

Lin Xin's thoughts raced, and he swiftly made a decision.

"He alone is not enough. A severely injured Shadow Demon Great Saint is useless to me. Why should I spend power and resources to save him?"

"Then what if we add Holy Master Fang Yu's Origin Free Peaceful Tranquility Art?"

Cloud Fragrance Hall Master made a shocking declaration.

The moment those words left her mouth, not only was the beautiful pill master beside her startled, but even Lin Xin's heart trembled.

"Is that true?"

Lin Xin waved his hand, scattering a ring of invisible ripples that layered around them and prevented the probing of mighty divine senses.

"It is true!"

Cloud Fragrance Hall Master nodded solemnly.

"Fang Yu once sought a strange pill, and recorded the Origin Free Peaceful Tranquility Art as payment, handing it to me in exchange. Moreover, because it is a unique Dao art, he could only inscribe this one copy. A second copy of the art can never appear in this world."

"Why do you not cultivate it?"

Lin Xin asked in a deep voice.

"We cannot cultivate it." The Hall Master sighed helplessly.

"The Origin Free Peaceful Tranquility Art cultivates an absolute body-tempering path. It also requires a special Dao body known as the Free Body Constitution. We searched countless regions but never found such a strange Dao body."

"Where is the art?"

Lin Xin was tempted.

He had always felt that Fang Yu would not perish so easily. It was an inexplicable, faint spiritual intuition.

"Divine Lord, have you agreed to my condition?"

the Hall Master pressed.

"Yes."

"Will you swear upon your true name?"

"Even if I swore upon my true name, could you restrain me?" Lin Xin laughed.

Indeed, the Hall Master fell silent.

Even if an ant were given a pistol, it still could not kill an ordinary adult. The gap between her and Lin Xin was even greater than that comparison.

A true name was equivalent to that pistol.

"Come. I will take you to see Xing Pengfei."

After a moment of silence, the Hall Master spoke.

Lin Xin followed her as they twisted and turned through passage after passage. Before long, they entered a tunnel and traveled over a thousand meters, finally arriving at an oval hall of purple crystal.

At the center of the hall, a young man lay quietly within a purple lotus flower.

It was precisely Xing Pengfei, whom Lin Xin had seen before.

Lin Xin stepped forward and waved his hand. The purple lotus immediately dispersed naturally and faded away.

He pressed a hand against Xing Pengfei's forehead. True essence entered his body as Lin Xin closed his eyes.

After a moment, he opened them.

"It carries Fang Yu's aura. He was severely injured by Fang Yu."

"Can he be treated?" Cloud Fragrance Hall Master grew tense. After all, this was her biological elder brother.

"Yes."

Lin Xin also felt a sense of ease. If he could form a contract with Xing Pengfei, then they would gain another chance of survival in the Great Calamity.

After all, every Great Sage was a chance for survival.

This was already universally acknowledged.

"However, we must form a contract first."

Countless contract methods flashed through Lin Xin's mind, and he quickly settled on one.

For a proud and unyielding Great Sage like Xing Pengfei, it was absolutely impossible for him to accept a Master-Servant Contract. Such a man would rather die than become someone's servant.

And the best, indeed the only, method to heal him was to use attribute points to transfer and strengthen his constitution.

But without a Master-Servant Contract, attribute points could not be transferred.

The only way was to use that contract.

Lin Xin casually reached into the void, immediately retrieving an ancient pale-yellow parchment scroll from the Space Ring on his body.

It was covered in strange symbols and writing that could not be understood, along with bizarre runic patterns in the style of an evil god.

"This is a Soul Transaction Contract. Xing Pengfei, I can heal your injuries, but as the price of this transaction, you must serve me for five thousand years.

"If you agree, I will sign it directly with your blood. If you refuse, I will turn around and leave, allowing you to fend for yourself."

Lin Xin transmitted directly through divine sense.

Though Xing Pengfei was unconscious, as a Great Sage, he could not possibly lose all awareness even while unconscious.

Thus, so long as divine sense was transmitted, he could still sense the circumstances outside.

Lin Xin could not be bothered to say more. He let the parchment float in midair, forced out a drop of silver-red blood, and sent it flying onto the parchment, where it seeped in.

With a slash of his hand, he cut open the skin of Xing Pengfei's finger. A drop of black-red blood flew out and likewise fell onto the parchment.

For a Soul Contract, if the signer did not agree from the depths of his soul, then even a forced signing could not take effect.

Thus, after explaining his intentions, Lin Xin kept his gaze fixed tightly on the parchment.

The two drops of blood fell onto the parchment.

Lin Xin's blood swiftly seeped into it.

Xing Pengfei's blood, however, remained in the shape of a droplet even after touching the parchment.

But that state did not last long before rapidly changing.

The drop of blood also seeped into the parchment. Clearly, Xing Pengfei had agreed as well.

Cloud Fragrance Hall Master let out a long breath of relief.

No matter what, Xing Pengfei had to sign this contract.

Sun Snatcher Divine Lord's terms were already exceedingly generous. If he still refused to sign, then his body, after falling unconscious, would become an experimental subject for Azure Lake Mountain of the Heavenly Alliance. He would have no means to resist.

Even Lin Xin would no longer have any reason to preserve him.

Therefore, in this matter, the brother and sister had actually received a great favor from Lin Xin.

And this was precisely the result Lin Xin wanted.

During the Great Calamity, there were very few chances to make a Great Sage owe one a favor.

Next, it was time to see just what mysteries Fang Yu's Origin Free Peaceful Tranquility Art contained.

Perhaps Lin Xin could uncover exactly where the sense of unease he had felt before came from.