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"Luo Ciao?!" Fairy Lith's voice cracked like a whip. She's caught off guard as a brutal slam crashed into her skull, made her mind reeled, and a blurry haze swamped her senses. Lucky for her, that creepy wind chime at her waist jangled sharp and fast, a desperate clang that forcibly expelled the icy beam right outta her sea of consciousness!

She snapped her focus back, eyes flashing like twin daggers as she scanned the surroundings. That frigid light, forced outta her head, was still hovering midair, prowling like a stubborn predator refusing to dissipate away. And inside it? A murky face flickered into view, none other than Luo Ciao, one of Abyss Pit Sect's outer Elders who'd supposedly "perished" not long ago!

Her expression darkened, a storm brewing behind her icy glare. "You skulk a shred of soul here?!"

"Fairy Lith?" Luo Ciao's soul, tucked sneaky-like in that jade slip, had been blind to the outside world, only jumping out to ambush when someone dared peek at the technique. Now, seeing her, his ghostly mug twisted with shock. "What's a big shot like you doing sniffing after the Six Desires Secret Tomes?"

Fairy Lith let out a frosty snort, her breath practically freezing the air. "A path to Nascent Soul, who'd turn their nose up at that? Cut the chatter and surrender now, and I'll make your end quick!"

"Fairy Lith, you must be joking," Luo Ciao's soul zipped around the sky, letting out a dark, guttural chuckle. "Us Holy Sect folks don't just roll over and die, ya know! Besides, you've got a shiny future ahead. Me? I'm a dead soul floating. You really wanna risk your pretty neck going all out with a cornered rat like me?"

"How about I hand over the cultivation technique, and your highness show your mercy?" 

As Luo Ciao spoke, he held the jade slip right up to Fairy Lith.

Just as her gaze fell upon it, Luo Ciao's face twisted into a vicious grin, and he let out a piercing soul-shriek.

Fairy Lith, however, laughed coldly. "Think I'd fall for that twice?!" She'd already tasted the sting of carelessness once, no way was she letting this snake catch her again! 

Since when the skulls on her wind chime had all opened their mouths as if screaming, though no sound came out.

Luo Ciao's soul was cut as if by an invisible blade, and his shriek attack was abrupt! 

At the same time, purple sparks danced at Fairy Lith fingertips, the spirit energy twisting like a living serpent, leaping into the air to bind Luo!

"Soul-Binding Grasp?!" Luo Ciao, same sect roots as Lith, knew that technique all too well, a spell made to restrain souls and remnants. Even though he had been a Core Formation stage cultivator in life, he instinctively feared this purple light. His thoughts raced, and he shot a venomous glare at Fairy Lith before suddenly splitting into two, then four, then eight soul fragments, scattering in all directions to escape.

Not surprised, Fairy Lith sneered, "Run?"

She thrust out her pale, slender hand, fingers splaying wide in the air, then clenched them tightly. 

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! 

The wind went wild, spirit energy whipping into a frenzy. The sky darkened as five faintly visible barriers rose around Fairy Lith, forming a prison-like enclosure.

Luo Ciao's soul fragments, which had already scattered far and wide, were forcibly pulled back by an unseen leash. He panicked yelp echoing loud, "Five-Fingered Dragon Prison! You've mastered this divine ability?!"

Before Fairy Lith could respond, he let out a vicious laugh. "If I'm going down today, you ain't getting the Six Desires Secret Tomes neither!"

"How dare you!" Fairy Lith's voice thundered. 

She was a titan of the Abyss Pit Sect! She'd burned through days and nights, trekked a thousand grueling miles to Deerspring, all for this one prize: the cultivation technique that could ascend her to the Nascent Soul stage. How could she allow all her efforts to go to waste?

Though she knew the self-destruction of a Core Formation cultivator's soul was lethal, but she didn't flinch. Instead, she lunged forward, charging straight into the blast like a storm breaking loose!

Right then, the wind chimes on Fairy Lith's waist rang madly! Her pale skin lit up, with layers of intricate runes crawling over it like some ancient curse busting loose. Her dainty hand shot out, slicing through Luo Ciao's soul and grasped that jade slip!

The moment she clenched the jade slip in her palm, Luo Ciao's soul exploded.

!!!

After the dust settled, that little hill was just gone, like it'd never been there. Down below, and the three locust trees that had served as landmarks were reduced to three gaping holes. The surrounding lands, spanning several miles, was left destroyed in scorched with some places even exposing burnt rocks.

Terrifying! This was the power of soul self-destruction of a Core Formation Cultivator.

"Cough… hack, hack!..." Fairy Li descended from the sky slowly and shakilly. The second her heels hit dirt, she couldn't help but cough, covering her mouth with her robe sleeve as she spat out a mouthful of blood.

She didn't fuss over it much. With Luo Ciao gone, there's nothing in this podunk Deerspring could threaten her. Instead, she quickly inspected the jade slip.

Sure enough, even with her cautious shielding from explosion, Fairy Lith saw a crack snaking across the slip.

She frowned. With her knowledge, Fairy Lith knew that such damage would inevitably affect the cultivation technique inside. While it wasn't completely ruined, it would require repairs back at the sect before she could access the Six Desires Secret Tomes.

Though this was more troublesome than she expected had nabbed her main prize. Fairy Lith hacked up a couple more couths, carefully stored the jade slip, and with a flare of her black gauze gown, she vanished in the wind.

-------------------

A short while later, Evergreen Courtyard.

Fairy Lith reappeared just as suddenly as she had left.

Took the full damage of a Core Formation cultivator's soul explosion, and rushed back to the Pay Manor, even she, a top-tier genius disciple of the Abyss Pit Sect, felt her blood churning unsteady in her chest..

She landed the ground coughing again, flicking her hand casual-like to hang that wind chime back under the eaves, then strode into the cottage quickly.

No wind, but the door slammed shut on its own.

Inside, Fairy Lith slumped onto the cloud bed, swallowed a pill, and began to heal her injuries.

In her haste to stabilize her wounds and return to the Abyss Pit Sect to repair the jade slip, Fairy Lith had completely forgotten about Pay Ling. After all, he was just a minor branch disciple of the Pay Clan.

Even the clan heir, Pay Honine, was nothing more than a speck of dust in her eyes, less useful as a mortal dog.

After all, someone like Kinson Zheng could at least be considered a proper minion.

Pay Honine? He was barely fit to lick Kinson Zheng's boot.

As for Pay Ling, in Fairy Li's eyes, he wasn't even worth mentioning like a flea.

Thus, even if her forgettancce doomed him to perish under the Bone Raksha Painting's relentless gaze, what of it? Such an end could only be chalked up to the cruel whims of fate, hardly a blemish on her conscience.

--------------------------

At the same time, Pay Ling had also forgotten about Fairy Lith. Just as he lost in the groove of the cultivation method of the new technique, the system suddenly chimed.

~ Ding! *System Notification Chime*

[AllFullOS: Version 1.0.0]

> ANALYSIS COMPLETED: [Nameless Technique].

> Classification: Dual Cultivation Technique type.

> Detected a lack of Cultivation Partner: Dao Spouse. (Error: 404) Pending... 

> Pending…

~ Ding! *System Notification Chime*

[AllFullOS: Version 1.0.0]

> Executing optimal solution...

> All-Smart Full-Host Cultivation System™ has decided to be *GENEROUS* today!

> Dao Spouse x1 will be gifted to the host for FREE.

> Processing... 

The next moment, Pay Ling watched helplessly as his body stopped cultivating, grabbed the nearby bullet, stood up, and marched over to fling the door open. Moving at a speed far beyond his current cultivation level, he began to sprint.

"System?!" Pay Ling's brain near exploded, and he roared in his mind, "Stop, you dumbass pile of junk! Do you even know where we are?" The only potential cultivation spouse partners here are either his sisters or the wives of his brothers and uncles!

He finally got it. This artificial idiotic system wouldn't rest until it got him killed!

As he racked his brain for how to deal with him be caught in some incestuous scandal, a gut-sinking terror hit him.

He dashed back to the Evergreen Courtyard! 

He stormed into the Courtyard! Ignoring the main guest rooms and the servants' quarters, he followed the same path Pay Xuan had taken him earlier, heading straight for the rear lodge!

The wind chime under the eaves suddenly rang urgently.

Inside, Fairy Lith, sensing the disturbance, a flicker of annoyance crossing her face. With a quick scan, she detected Pay Ling sprinting toward the lodge.

"Almost forgot!" Fairy Lith suddenly realized. She had promised to remove the threat of the Bone Raksha Painting for this Clan branch disciple but had been too preoccupied with breaking Luo Ciao's seal to follow through.

Now, Pay Ling was barging in without any regard for propriety, banging on the door as if his life depended on it. He must be on the verge of collapse.

Thinking this, Fairy Li paused her healing, 

"I…"

But before she could say something, the lodge door was kicked open with a loud crash!

Pay Ling stormed in, eyes blazing with a wild mix of fury and panic, face weirdly remained eerily calm. 

Fairy Li figured he was desperate, which explained his audacity. She was about to chew him out, without warning, Pay Ling chucked a bullet right at her face.

Mid-air, the thing went pop, bursting into a cloud of powder that swallowed the room whole!

Seven Ends Soul-Suppressing Powder!

Fairy Lith's mind jolted. This was one of Luo Ciao's trump cards. She had thought it had been used up during his disciples' escape. How'd it end up in Pay Ling's hands?

Normally, such cheap trick wouldn't harmed her, but after tanking that Core Formation soul blast head-on damage, her body and soul were severely weakened! She though Pay Ling came as a dying dog begging for live, never in a million years did she reckon this mere third-layer Qi Refining disciple to dare attack her.

Shock and rage flashed in her eyes, but before she could utter a single word, she collapsed limply to the ground.