Inside the Shenwu Mountain Range.
Lu Ning felt the emptiness in her meridians and the faint silver glow of the “Spirit Lock Talisman” plastered on her body.
Her heart turned to ice.
She had miscalculated.
She had planned for everything, but she hadn’t accounted for Bai Su being this cautious and cunning.
While using that precious Greater Teleportation Talisman, the woman had also silently slapped this even more vicious “Spirit Lock Talisman” on her.
Her cultivation was sealed, no different from a mortal.
Now, in this perilous primeval forest, she was truly a fish on the chopping block, at the mercy of others.
Bai Su, standing nearby, looked at Lu Ning’s pale little face, her expression growing increasingly smug.
She slowly extended her jade-white hand and once again lightly hooked Lu Ning’s chin.
“Let me ask you one more time,” her voice was slightly hoarse, like a demon’s whisper, slowly echoing in Lu Ning’s ear.
“Now, who is the maid?”
Lu Ning slowly raised her head, meeting Bai Su’s gaze full of mockery.
Though a trace of panic still lingered in her originally clear eyes, there was more of an unexpectedly calm look.
Lu Ning knew that the more critical the moment, the more she must not lose her composure.
‘It seems I have to drag out Master’s tiger skin and wave it around again.’
Lu Ning’s thoughts raced, but her face remained impassive.
She pushed away Bai Su’s frivolous hand, then straightened her somewhat disheveled robes.
Her dark eyes swept over Bai Su with indifference.
“Bai Su, you don’t really think you’ve won, do you?”
“Oh?” Bai Su raised an eyebrow, looking at her with interest.
“Isn’t that the case?”
“You’ve lost all your cultivation, you’re no different from a mortal. And although I’ve only recovered one-tenth of my strength, killing you would be easier than crushing an ant.”
“In this desolate, uninhabited forest, do you really think you still have a chance to turn the tables?”
Bai Su’s words were full of confidence.
In her view, victory in this contest was already firmly in her grasp.
However, after listening to her, Lu Ning merely shook her head gently.
“You’re too naive.”
A faint curve slowly appeared at the corner of Lu Ning’s mouth, a smile carrying an unfathomable depth.
“You think my esteemed Master would really let me leave the Forbidden Land alone so easily?”
Hearing the words “esteemed Master,” Bai Su’s expression changed slightly.
She remembered that palace-attired woman who had suppressed her, an envoy of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, without any chance to fight back, with just a single thought.
That woman’s power far exceeded her understanding.
She was likely a terrifying existence capable of shaking the entire Central Region.
“You… what do you mean by that?”
Bai Su’s voice held a trace of wariness.
“Nothing much,” Lu Ning said lightly.
“I just want to remind you of one thing.”
“My Master left a Soul Mark on me.”
“Although this mark has no offensive capabilities, it allows her to sense my location and everything I experience the moment it happens.”
“That is to say…”
Lu Ning paused, a flicker of mockery in her eyes.
“Every single move we make right now might be seen clearly by my esteemed Master.”
As these words fell, Bai Su’s body trembled violently.
She instinctively looked around, her beautiful eyes filled with apprehension.
Although she didn’t sense any feeling of being watched, the mere thought of that woman’s terrifying power sent a chill through her heart.
That woman absolutely had the capability.
“You’re lying to me!” Bai Su’s voice held a false bravado.
“Whether I’m lying or not, you’ll know soon enough,” Lu Ning’s tone remained as calm and indifferent as ever.
“Bai Su, I advise you to remove the Spirit Lock Talisman from me now, and then, honestly fulfill your duty as a maid.”
“Otherwise, when my Master comes looking for you in person, your fate will likely be quite miserable.”
Lu Ning’s words were firm and resounding, that aura of a demonic overlord once again enveloping her entire being.
Even though she was just a mortal at this moment, the confidence emanating from her very bones caused a flicker of doubt to arise in Bai Su’s heart.
Could it be… she’s telling the truth?
Is that terrifying woman really watching everything here from the shadows?
This thought flashed through Bai Su’s mind, instantly chilling the heart that had just been filled with triumph.
She wasn’t afraid of Gu Qinghuan, Ji Linglong, or that ancient ferocious beast, the Dark Qilin.
Because although they were powerful, they ultimately couldn’t compare to her at her peak.
But that woman was different.
That woman’s power was strong enough to make her feel despair.
Bai Su’s face shifted between dark and light, her eyes filled with struggle and hesitation.
Looking at Lu Ning before her, who had lost all cultivation but still acted without fear, a hint of retreat emerged in her heart.
However, just as she was about to make a decision.
A thought suddenly surfaced in her mind.
Wait!
If that woman was really watching everything from the shadows, why hadn’t she made a move?
With her power, saving Lu Ning would be as easy as snapping her fingers.
Yet she hadn’t appeared from beginning to end.
What did that mean?
It meant Lu Ning was lying to her!
Lu Ning had been bluffing with her so-called “Master” all along!
This realization instantly replaced the wariness in Bai Su’s heart with boundless fury.
“Lu Ning!”
The hesitation on Bai Su’s face vanished, leaving only icy coldness.
“You really have some nerve!”
“At death’s door, you still dare to use your so-called ‘Master’ to scare me?”
“Do you really take me for a three-year-old child?”
“However, you did remind me.”
“Since your so-called Master dotes on you so much.”
“Then, if I turn her most beloved disciple into a maid belonging only to me, right in front of her…”
“Would she be so angry she’d vomit blood on the spot?”
Bai Su’s tone was full of mockery.
“Oh, right, speaking of which, when I was imprisoned in the Phoenix Palace by that Grand Princess of Dahuang, I also served as a maid for several months.”
“Since I can’t take revenge on that woman, it’s only natural that you should repay that debt for her.”
Hearing this, Lu Ning was completely dumbfounded.
She stared blankly at Bai Su, who wore an expression of utter reasonableness, her mind a complete blank.
‘Is this right?’
‘This isn’t right!’
‘That lunatic Ji Linglong imprisoned you, what does that have to do with me?’
‘Go take revenge on her! What’s the point of bullying me!’
Lu Ning screamed internally.
However, Bai Su gave her no chance to argue.
She took a step forward, and under Lu Ning’s stunned gaze, she slowly lowered her head and gently kissed Lu Ning’s pale cheek.
The warm, soft sensation was fleeting, but it made Lu Ning’s body stiffen violently.
“From today on, you are my personal maid,” Bai Su’s voice sounded in her ear, carrying a hint of domineering force.
“You’d better behave.”
“Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind letting you experience what true despair feels like.”
Yet, as soon as her words fell.
A sudden change occurred!
A power even more terrifying than the seal Liu Ningshuang had placed earlier erupted from Bai Su’s body without any warning!
BOOM—!
Bai Su felt that the one-tenth of cultivation she had just recovered was utterly insignificant before this overwhelming force.
PFFT—!
A mouthful of blood sprayed from her lips.
She was sent flying backward, crashing heavily against a towering ancient tree in the distance.
And under her gaze, now filled with shock and terror.
An ethereal, immortal-like white figure slowly materialized from behind Lu Ning.
The figure was somewhat illusory, but that icy, transcendent aura made Bai Su feel a bone-chilling cold.
It was her!
That terrifying woman!
She had actually left a contingency on Lu Ning!
The gaze of the illusory figure fell upon Lu Ning, who was still in a daze.
“Ning’er, you are truly disobedient.”
“How long has your Master been gone, and you’ve already sneaked out of the Forbidden Land?”
Liu Ningshuang’s phantom sighed softly, her tone carrying a hint of helplessness and doting affection.
“Oh well.”
“Since you’re so eager to come out and play, your Master will give you another helping hand.”
“Come find your Master in the Central Region once you’ve broken through to the Tribulation Transcendence stage.”
As her voice faded, the illusory figure transformed into a brilliant, multicolored glow, slowly merging into Lu Ning’s body.
In the next moment, the “Spirit Lock Talisman” on Lu Ning’s body, which had been emitting a faint silver light, suddenly shone brightly.
Then, with a series of crisp cracking sounds, it turned into countless points of light, dissipating into the air.
And Lu Ning’s cultivation within her body began to surge wildly at this moment!
Mid-stage Great Ascension…
Late-stage Great Ascension!
In the span of a single breath, Lu Ning’s cultivation broke through a minor realm, successfully stepping into the late-stage Great Ascension!