Huo Chongjun's eyes flashed with excitement and greed as he saw the portrait on the wall. If he obtained this inheritance, wouldn't he be even more confident in killing Xiang Wentian?
Five people from the Hehuan Sect arrived. One of them, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, stared wide-eyed at Shi Yunxuan. "Yunxuan? You're alright?" She immediately glared at the man and woman beside her. "Didn't you say Yunxuan was dead?!"
The two were even more shocked, stammering, "She...she didn't escape, we thought...we thought..."
Shi Yunxuan snorted coldly, "Uncle-Master, they deliberately tried to harm me!"
The people outside did not rush in; instead, they were checking for traps. Xu Zifan saw the small characters carved on the table: "To obtain the inheritance, Xu bows three times and kowtows nine times, respecting the master above all else."
He immediately knelt down and kowtowed to the portrait. Huo Chongjun, sensing something was wrong, grabbed Shi Yunxuan's senior sister and threw her through the doorway to test the trap. The senior brother next to him instinctively tried to stop him, but Huo Chongjun simply pushed him through the doorway as well. The two stepped into Shi Yunxuan's formation, and at the same time, Xu Zifan finished his three bows and nine kowtows. The figure in the portrait on the wall appeared as a phantom, and the fourth door quickly closed.
"No!" Huo Chongjun was unwilling to give up and tried to break in, but Xiang Yushuang saw that the stone door was about to close and hurriedly pulled him back.
Huo Chongjun turned around and pushed her to the ground, "What are you doing!"
Xiang Yushuang was startled. "I... the stone gate is closed. You can't get in."
"How will you know if you don't try? You idiot!" Huo Chongjun felt an emptiness and pain at having missed an opportunity, along with a faint sense of fear. He vented all his anger on Xiang Yushuang. How could he possibly have feelings for the daughter of his enemy?
Putting aside the conflict between the couple, the senior uncle of the Hehuan Sect was extremely dissatisfied with Huo Chongjun's behavior. Huo Chongjun was also in the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and the two fought, neither gaining the upper hand for a time, which also hindered Huo Chongjun from breaking through the fourth gate.
The alchemist who appeared from the portrait inside the gate looked at Xu Zifan and said, "It's been almost a thousand years, and someone has actually found this place. It's quite a coincidence. My name is Chu Duan. What is your name?"
Xu Zifan revealed his true appearance and replied sincerely, "Master, my name is Xu Zifan."
Chu Duan extended his palm, and Xu Zifan felt a chill on his forehead. In the blink of an eye, Chu Duan withdrew his hand and nodded with satisfaction, saying, "Your talent in alchemy is excellent, and you are indeed destined to be with me. My wisp of divine consciousness has lingered here for too long, and I do not wish to stay any longer. Today, I will pass on all my knowledge to you. You must swear to devote all your efforts to studying alchemy."
Instead of swearing not to do evil, he swore to study alchemy? It seems this powerful figure is indeed an alchemy fanatic, indifferent to everything else. Xu Zifan swore without hesitation, "Today, I, Xu Zifan, hereby swear that after receiving my master's teachings, I will devote all my abilities to studying alchemy. If I break this oath, may I be forsaken by the gods!"
Chu Duan smiled and stroked his beard. "Good, good!"
Then Xu Zifan was forced to sit cross-legged, his mind filled with many things, and he entered a mysterious state, completely unaware of the outside world. A barrier appeared around him, which was set up by Chu Duan. No one below the Nascent Soul stage could break it, let alone disturb Xu Zifan.
Shi Yunxuan watched this scene quietly from the side. Seeing Xu Zifan begin to receive the inheritance, she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Then, using the power of the formation, she bound her senior brothers and sisters, tore off their sleeves and stuffed them into their mouths, and looked at them with a leisurely smile: "Senior brothers and sisters, you threw me to that toad that day, you didn't expect to see me again, did you?"
Both men were covered in cold sweat, shaking their heads and crying. Having grown up in the Hehuan Sect, how could they not know Shi Yunxuan's personality? She repaid kindness with kindness and revenge with revenge, never letting anyone who bullied her get away with it. Her cultivation wasn't high, but she possessed many valuable items, making her difficult to subdue. This earned her the nickname "Little Demoness," a title secretly given to her by those who disliked her. If they had known she was so lucky, they would have risked serious injury to save her that day!
Shi Yunxuan squatted down in front of them, the dagger in her hand slowly sliding across their faces. They were terrified, utterly terrified. Shi Yunxuan wouldn't give them a chance to explain; they had a thousand ways to save them, but none of them could. Their martial uncle was outside the door; no one could save them. They were finished.
Seeing the two people's terrified expressions, Shi Yunxuan smiled sweetly, "What's wrong? You should be punished for doing wrong, and you shouldn't be afraid of retaliation if you've harmed someone. How could you expect me to let you go after you've harmed me? If you repay evil with kindness, how will you repay kindness? Heaven has its arrangements. Someone like me who hasn't done anything wrong is naturally fortunate to meet someone who saves me. And you people who have done wrong, look, you've fallen into my hands today! I will never let my enemies go. Heaven must know this, which is why it gave me a chance for revenge. Otherwise, why would you two be thrown in here by sheer coincidence?"
The psychological fear was the most tormenting. Shi Yunxuan wasn't in a hurry to kill them. She took out two cages used to confine demonic beasts, which could suppress spiritual power, leaving cultivators helpless once trapped inside. She locked her senior brother and sister inside, then watched them, occasionally saying a few words to scare them, and sometimes pondering how to kill them, leaving the two trembling with fear.
Shi Yunxuan found it somewhat amusing. This person had the guts to do it, but not the guts to bear the consequences; he almost killed her! She was truly unlucky. Thinking of Xu Zifan, she glanced in that direction and suddenly felt that this bad luck might actually be considered good luck, because she had been saved and had met the only man she had found interesting in all these years—a particularly mysterious and fascinating man. Of course, this could be considered good luck.
Now that the two men were in her hands and at her mercy, she felt no excitement, only a sense of boredom. She knew that sooner or later she would take her revenge.
Yes, if not today, then someday in the future, I'll kill them eventually. Having no expectations for it means I feel no sense of accomplishment. It's not as fulfilling as the sense of accomplishment I get from guiding Xu Zifan to obtain the inheritance. But those two actually wanted that male cultivator to humiliate her; simply eliminating them would be too easy. Since she can't focus on healing right now anyway, she'll let them tremble with fear for a while before someone breaches the stone gate outside.
A day and a night passed, and Xu Zifan still hadn't finished receiving the inheritance. Outside, Huo Chongjun and the Hehuan Sect's senior uncle were both severely injured and had temporarily stopped fighting. Huo Chongjun wanted to break down the stone gate and rush in, but the Hehuan Sect's senior uncle naturally stopped him. She had seen Shi Yunxuan and Xu Zifan together, and Xu Zifan, having received the inheritance, certainly couldn't let Huo Chongjun go in and cause trouble. The other two disciples of the Hehuan Sect were both at the Foundation Establishment stage, and were that senior uncle's apprentices. However, Xiang Yushuang, due to her pure Yin body and daily dual cultivation, had already advanced to the late Golden Core stage. If the couple joined forces, they would definitely be able to defeat the three disciples of the Hehuan Sect.
Huo Chongjun ordered Xiang Yushuang to make her move. Xiang Yushuang looked distraught, her eyes darting away as she looked at him. Huo Chongjun felt a pang of guilt, but he put on a gentle expression and said, "Shuang'er, come and help me. If I obtain the inheritance, I will be more legitimate in the sect, and Master won't have to be in such a difficult position."
Xiang Yushuang's expression shifted slightly. The Dao Couple Ceremony had indeed had some impact on them. The most obvious impact was that many people in the sect were dissatisfied with Huo Chongjun replacing Xu Zifan, and Huo Chongjun needed stronger strength to prove himself. She couldn't help but ask, "Were you in such a hurry just now to become stronger and relieve my father's burden?"
"Of course, everything I do is for our future."
"Okay, let's do it together." Xiang Yushuang believed that he had only lost control in his anxiety. After defeating the two disciples, he attacked the Hehuan Sect's senior uncle together with Huo Chongjun.
The senior disciple of the Hehuan Sect said angrily, "The Xuantian Sect is the number one sect, yet its successors are so shameless. Someone inside has already received the inheritance, and you are trying to forcibly take it? How are you any different from the demons? Fairy Yu Shuang, I don't believe that this is how Sect Leader Xiang teaches you."
Xiang Yushuang felt a little ashamed, but only a little. She and Huo Chongjun were husband and wife, while the person receiving the inheritance inside was a stranger. Of course, she had to help Huo Chongjun. As for fighting over it, wasn't the cultivation world a dog-eat-dog world? She could forgive not fighting Shi Yunxuan and the others for that demonic beast before—they weren't that short-sighted—but such an opportunity left behind by a powerful being was rare in the entire cultivation world. How could she give it to someone else? Besides, Huo Chongjun was doing it for their future. As for Shi Yunxuan's previous humiliation, Shi Yunxuan's friends must not be good people either. Like the Hehuan Sect, their behavior was frivolous and they weren't good people. She hadn't done anything wrong.
With these thoughts in mind, Xiang Yushuang's eyes grew increasingly resolute, and her attacks became ever stronger. An hour later, the couple defeated the Hehuan Sect's senior uncle. Huo Chongjun, realizing they knew about his plan to steal someone's opportunity, couldn't leave any survivors to tarnish his reputation, and ruthlessly killed them. The Hehuan Sect's senior uncle used a substitution spell to escape, but was still injured. He grabbed his two disciples and quickly fled out the door. She was still worried about Shi Yunxuan inside, but it wasn't the right time for a direct confrontation; she had to think of another way.
Huo Chongjun chased after them out the door, but couldn't see them. He grabbed Xiang Yushuang and said, "Shuang'er, we can't let others know that we stole their opportunity. Go find them. They're injured, so you must kill them. I'll go destroy the stone gate." He hugged Xiang Yushuang and said gently, "Shuang'er, when I become a master alchemist, everyone will respect me. Then we won't be afraid of gossip anymore."
Xiang Yushuang smiled and nodded, "Okay, I'll listen to you."