Chapter 9: Bloodline Pact

At this moment, Lu Ning was left a little dumbfounded.

She hadn’t even seen the contents of that final page that was torn out!

Could it be… she’s trying to trick me?

Countless thoughts flashed through Lu Ning’s mind, but her face still maintained that bewildered and aggrieved expression.

“W-What plan? I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

Gu Qinghuan looked at her adorable “adamantly denying” appearance and couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

“Master, just how much longer do you plan to fool me?”

Her tone was no longer as questioning and cold as before, instead tinged with a trace of indulgence and helplessness.

“Did you really think I was that easy to deceive?”

She shook the diary in her hand.

“Even though the last page has been torn out here, still…”

She turned the diary to the last page, pointing to the torn edge.

“These tears are very fresh… And besides, you were the only one to ever touch this before. You probably followed the ‘act pitiful’ tactic written here to deal with your disciple, then destroyed the evidence. Am I wrong?”

“You… never actually lost your memory, did you?”

Lu Ning was so exasperated by this rebellious disciple’s line of thinking that she nearly laughed.

She could tell that no matter how she tried to explain, it would be useless.

So, she simply decided to go along with Gu Qinghuan’s conclusion.

The weakness and grievance vanished from her face in an instant, replaced by the cold arrogance of the Demonic Sect Leader.

Though she was currently wearing an embarrassing pink gauze dress, her eyes had reverted to those of the high and mighty overlord of the demonic path.

“So what if I did?”

She looked coldly at Gu Qinghuan.

“Victory or defeat—that’s the law. Since you’ve seen through me, do what you wish: kill me, skin me, whatever you like.”

She adopted an attitude of complete indifference, like a pig unafraid of boiling water.

Gu Qinghuan paused for a moment, then her smile grew even more delighted.

“That’s more like it.”

Gu Qinghuan stepped forward, gently stroking Lu Ning’s cheek.

“Compared to that crying, pitiful little thing from before, I much prefer… you as you are right now.”

Lu Ning frowned slightly.

She’d deceived her.

Shouldn’t Gu Qinghuan be furious?

Why did she instead look like she was “admiring” her?

“Master, are you wondering why I’m not angry?”

She shook her head, her eyes flickering with a nearly deranged light.

“No, I’m not angry at all.”

“I’m actually quite happy.”

“Because it proves that in your heart, I, Gu Qinghuan, am a disciple worthy of such painstaking schemes and deception.”

“Not just a useless tool to be discarded at any time.”

“To me, that’s the highest honor.”

Lu Ning: “……”

Lu Ning was utterly speechless.

This rebellious disciple’s thoughts had gone completely beyond the scope of normal people.

Gu Qinghuan’s face once again showed that gentle yet obsessive smile.

“So, shall our ‘deal’ continue?”

“What deal?”

Lu Ning eyed her warily.

“I become your medicine.”

“And you become my possession.”

Gu Qinghuan enunciated each word.

“Don’t worry. As long as you agree, I won’t make you take any more of those messy pills, and I’ll do my best to help you recover your cultivation.”

“I’m rather curious—once Master regains her strength, what sort of situation will arise between us?”

“At that time, will you trample this ‘rebellious disciple’ underfoot, or will I truly be able to drag my high and mighty master down from her pedestal?”

Lu Ning listened to her crazy words, finding them increasingly absurd.

But for her, this was undoubtedly wonderful news!

Her greatest fear was that Gu Qinghuan would keep treating her as a cripple and imprison her.

Now, Gu Qinghuan was actually proposing to help her restore her cultivation!

It was as if someone offered her a pillow just when she was dozing off!

Even if this process would surely come with all sorts of humiliating “plays” and battles of will—

As long as she could regain her strength, it would all be worth it!

“Alright.”

Lu Ning hardly hesitated before agreeing.

She looked at Gu Qinghuan, her eyes now burning with fighting spirit.

“Gu Qinghuan, remember what you said today.”

“The day I fully recover my cultivation will be the day you pay the price for what you’ve done.”

“Heh, this disciple eagerly awaits it.”

Gu Qinghuan smiled brightly as a flower.

She loved seeing Lu Ning in this combative state.

It was more exciting than any love confession.

“In that case, as a show of sincerity, shouldn’t we first make a contract?”

A hint of cunning flashed in Gu Qinghuan’s eyes.

“What kind of contract?”

Lu Ning asked.

“A bloodline contract.”

Gu Qinghuan extended her right index finger.

At its tip, a drop of crimson blood, radiating an icy aura, slowly condensed.

“Using our blood as a guide, let’s swear an oath of symbiosis.”

“From this moment on, our lives are linked—one thrives, both thrive; one suffers, both suffer.”

“This way, you won’t have to worry that I’ll poison you halfway through your medicine.”

“And I won’t have to worry that the first thing Master does after regaining her strength is to kill this rebellious disciple.”

“After all, if you kill me, you won’t survive either.”

Lu Ning’s heart skipped a beat.

Once this symbiotic contract was made, it would completely bind her and Gu Qinghuan together.

It would limit her—but it would limit Gu Qinghuan, too.

In a way, it truly was a “fair” contract.

“Fine.”

Lu Ning nodded.

She also stretched out her right index finger, imitating Gu Qinghuan’s attempt to force out a drop of vital blood.

Yet now, with her cultivation lost, she couldn’t even muster a thread of her vital essence.

She strained for a long time, her face turning red, but nothing appeared at her fingertip.

“Pfft.”

Gu Qinghuan watched her embarrassing struggle and couldn’t help laughing again.

“This disciple forgot—Master is still a ‘cripple’ right now.”

She stepped forward and grasped Lu Ning’s hand.

Then, she lowered her head and took Lu Ning’s fingertip into her mouth.

A warm, soft sensation traveled from Lu Ning’s finger.

Her mind instantly went blank.

Then a slight sting followed, and a drop of golden blood, exuding an overbearing aura, slowly seeped from the wound.

Heavenly Demon’s Blood!

Gu Qinghuan raised her head, her own fingertip still bearing that crimson Lunar Blood, and gently touched it to Lu Ning’s drop of golden Heavenly Demon’s Blood.

The two drops, so different in essence, did not repel each other upon contact.

Instead, it was as if some mysterious force drew them together, instantly fusing.

Gold and crimson, shining together, forming an intricate taiji symbol.

“In the name of Gu Qinghuan, by the source of the Lunar, with Lu Ning, Lord of the Heavenly Demons, I form this bond of symbiosis…”

Gu Qinghuan’s voice became solemn and reverent.

As her words ended, the taiji symbol transformed into two beams of light, shooting into the brows of Lu Ning and Gu Qinghuan.

Boom!

Lu Ning felt an indescribable, mysterious connection form between herself and Gu Qinghuan.

“The contract is complete.”

Gu Qinghuan licked her lips, where a trace of gold still lingered.

Her eyes shone with an unprecedented radiance.

“Master, shall we begin our ‘treatment’ now?”

“Let’s start with a contract kiss…”