Mu Bingxin let out a light huff, still sulking and refusing to pay him any mind.
“If you won’t speak, Fairy, then I suppose I’ll have to take the trouble of carrying you back to Goddess Peak on my shoulder.”
Lin Wu tightened his grip on her slender calves, a faint, mocking smile playing on his lips.
“Don’t!”
Mu Bingxin’s gaze turned fierce. She bit her lip and spoke in a low voice.
“The Great Li Dynasty… they have stretched their hands into the Kunlun Ruins. This—this Master needs a sword to hang over everyone’s heads, to warn them not to act out in the Xuelian Sect.”
“Me?”
Lin Wu was slightly taken avoid.
“Indeed. You are the person least likely to be infiltrated by any faction. You harbor a deep-seated hatred for the girls in those so-called demon caves, and more importantly, you are the only person in a century to walk out of the Cold Abyss alive. Are you satisfied now?”
Mu Bingxin crossed her arms, her legs forced into a high split.
Since there was no escaping her fate, she no longer bothered to hide her immaculate form.
Personal grudges aside, Lin Wu’s background was terrifyingly clean. It was impossible for anyone to bribe him.
The moment he dared to expose his identity, he would immediately be captured by the Yaoguang Holy Land to become a stay-at-home dad, or perhaps be kidnapped mid-journey by the Lingxiao Sword Pavilion.
As for who “they” referred to, Lin Wu wasn’t entirely sure.
Was it the two Law-Enforcing Elders, or the Enshrinees of the Ten Halls from the inner and outer peaks?
The Xuelian Sect was teeming with ambitious “talents,” making it truly impossible to entrust anyone with a heavy responsibility.
The position of Sect Master was not an easy one to hold. Mu Bingxin clearly had her own concerns; she wasn’t just guarding against him alone.
“How pitiful. To think the grand Sect Master doesn’t even have a single person she can trust by her side?”
Lin Wu’s smile was wanton. He didn’t care where that “great hand” came from; he only wanted to sink this iceberg once and for all.
Mu Bingxin rolled her eyes at his words. A truly strong person didn’t need companions.
“Is Dongling not one? It is simply that her abilities are not yet sufficient to manage the Ice Prison. Forcing her to hold the sword would do more harm than good.”
Originally, Mengyao could have counted as half a person…
Thinking of this made Mu Bingxin angry all over again.
That little idiot was incompetent at everything else, yet she was an expert at stealing her own master’s man!
“I appreciate the favor, Fairy. But what makes you think I will help you eliminate your enemies and explore the mysteries of the Cold Abyss?”
“Based on the fact that you want to use my Xuelian Sect to contend with the Yaoguang Holy Land and the Lingxiao Sword Pavilion. Is that reason enough?”
Lin Wu curled his lips.
‘The Fairy isn’t just not stupid; she’s actually quite clever. However, you have no capital to bargain with me.’
Mu Bingxin sighed softly and said gloomily, “If it were only for revenge, you could have gone straight back to your fiancée and incited that female Sword Immortal to attack the Xuelian Sect.”
‘Her? Does she even deserve it?’
“But you didn’t. You even returned to my side in this manner. I am actually quite happy… at least in your heart, I am different from them after all.”
Lin Wu scratched his head, finding it even harder to keep a straight face.
‘What the hell are you happy about? You don’t actually think things end here, do you?’
“Whether you admit it or not, you are this Master’s only Dao companion in this life. Once my Snow Face Scripture reaches Great Completion, I will naturally help you rid yourself of the Cangsheng Sword Tripod and the Dao Heart Demonic Seed!”
“Fairy, has anyone ever told you that you are incredibly narcissistic?”
Mu Bingxin’s frost-like face flushed red, but she turned a deaf ear to him.
“What, you don’t believe me? I am willing to swear upon my Dao Heart. As long as you stop debasing yourself and stay by my side, whether you hit me or scold me, I will let my husband deal with me as he wishes!”
The Sect Master looked at him with hope, her attitude sincere. It was a rare moment of her softening.
She had no choice. If she kept being preyed upon by those “vixens,” she really wouldn’t be able to bear it.
However, her sincerity was met with a sharp flick to the forehead!
“Eek!”
The pain nearly brought tears to Mu Bingxin’s eyes. She glared at him in agony.
This external avatar was unprecedentedly fragile, and for some reason, it was extremely sensitive.
“First of all, I don’t believe a single word of your nonsense. Secondly, whether I’m debasing myself or not won’t be known until you’re in the pot.”
Eh?
Lin Wu withdrew his finger. His heart stirred as he suddenly sensed a familiar aura calling out to him from below.
“Hey! Where are you going now!?”
They were already at the entrance of the Ice Prison, yet Mu Bingxin was being carried by her leg as he leaped and bounded away. she shrieked in frustration.
Following a black stone path next to the underground palace, Lin Wu discovered a small mound at the end of a cliff.
Below was a vast expanse of white mist and bone-chilling cold.
A tombstone stood upon the mound, and the grave looked several years old.
Mu Bingxin’s face turned bright red in an instant. She flailed her arms and legs, trying to block Lin Wu’s line of sight out of sheer shame.
But Lin Wu still saw it, clear as day.
[To my forever lost love, the tomb of my late husband, Cang Wu] — Dao Companion, Mu Bingxin.
So this was the real reason the Ice Prison had been sealed?
Lin Wu’s expression turned strange. “A Cenotaph?” he asked irritably.
“Is—is that not allowed? Or would you like to go inside and lie down for a while to feel this Master’s deep love personally?”
‘Still acting tough?’
*Smack!*
A white jade ruler appeared out of nowhere and struck the Fairy hard.
“Waaah! You did it again!”
Mu Bingxin stood on her tiptoes, clutching her tender form and howling in pain, while her other leg kicked up even higher.
“Unnecessary trouble.”
Lin Wu cursed under his breath. With a loud *bang*, he kicked his own grave apart. What he had sensed was a burial object.
The spiritual energy in his palm contracted, and something buried deep underground broke through the soil, flying toward him like a streak of light.
It was an unsheathed flying sword, silver and sharp, humming softly with light. Even after 3 years, its edge remained as keen as ever.
A Grade 3 Earth rank treasure, a product of the Lingxiao Sword Pavilion.
“Old friend, long time no see. I thought I had lost you in there, but it turns out you were picked up by this stinking Fairy.”
Lin Wu’s gaze was nostalgic as he wiped the dust from the blade and stored it in his Spatial Object.
“Humph!”
Mu Bingxin’s icy eyes were watery. Her entire body felt numb and tingly, her breathing hurried as if an electric current were coursing through her.
The situation was worse than she had imagined. Her external avatar’s cultivation was weak, so it was the first to be affected. She couldn’t handle even a bit of stimulation.
***
When she was finally able to put her aching leg down, Mu Bingxin let out a muffled groan. Before she could catch her breath, she collapsed heavily onto the ground.
The depths of the Ice Prison were eerie and terrifying, devoid of any sign of life.
His familiar “workstation” was filled with the fertile soil of the spirit meridian, like a living potted plant, day and night replenishing the necessary nutrients for the Flesh Lingzhi, continuously supplying the Xuelian Sect with fresh blood.
On the other side, the wall was hollowed out, leading to the bottomless Kunlun Cold Abyss below the cliff.
Lin Wu stood at the edge of the “greenhouse.” His limbs could still recall the numbness of that time.
Feeling the warmth slowly drain from his heart—that feeling was called having nothing left to live for.
Until a fox tail appeared.
“What—what do you want to do to me? I’m warning you, this Master’s true body can arrive in a single moment!”
Mu Bingxin shrank into a corner. Reflected in the light of the floating white dust, her exquisite face turned slightly pale. She was annoyed by her momentary carelessness.
After being away for 3 years, they had returned here, but their roles were reversed.
The hanging sword had not yet been sharpened, but the Sect Master had already reaped the consequences, becoming the first prisoner of the Red Lotus Holy Son.
*Clank!*
Lin Wu rubbed his face, revealing a “kind” smile. He casually placed cold iron shackles on the Fairy’s slender wrists and jade-like ankles.
“That would save some trouble then. I can catch you all in one go.”
“Humph, this Master won’t fall for your tricks.”
Mu Bingxin curled up her jade-like legs. She simply closed her eyes and began silently reciting the Ice Heart Incantation, her skin taking on a crystal-like luster.
She wasn’t afraid of Lin Wu acting recklessly; she would just treat it as an early wedding night.
She only feared that her true body’s Dao Heart would be affected and that this physical form would be eroded by his strange techniques.