Agonizing pain surged like a tidal wave, tearing through Xie Zhaolin's mind. It felt as if her sea of consciousness had been split open by a blade, and an unfamiliar mark seared itself deep into her Primordial Soul, making her vision go black.
"This is a Soul Chasing Seal," the man said calmly as he withdrew his hand. His voice was terrifyingly steady. "Within a month, if you don't retrieve the Rebirth Flower, this seal will devour your Primordial Soul."
He crooked his finger, and the mark inside her soul suddenly lit up. A soul-wrenching agony ripped through her body in an instant.
"Ahhh—!"
Xie Zhaolin curled on the ground in pain, blood trickling from her seven orifices. Her consciousness wavered, almost slipping into darkness.
"This is just a little punishment," the man said, withdrawing the force as he looked down at her half-dead figure.
Biting down on her tongue to stay conscious, she gasped out, "Why should I trust you? Even if I bring back the flower, what if you still don't let me go…"
"Do you even have a choice?" His soft voice carried a bone-chilling coldness.
In the tense silence, Xie Zhaolin suddenly laughed. "You're right, I don't." Her gaze dropped onto the jade slip. "But I've got one condition."
His brows lifted slightly.
"I want to see your sincerity first." She locked eyes with him, her voice hoarse but steady. "Lift the binding on me."
A flicker of surprise flashed through his eyes, then he chuckled. "Interesting."
With a snap of his fingers, her body suddenly felt light and free again.
"One month from now, meet me at the bottom of Blackwater Abyss."
Before the words even faded, his figure vanished as if he had never existed.
Xie Zhaolin stood where she was, her face calm as water, but her clenched fists betrayed the storm raging inside. Even his clone had Golden Core strength. His true body had to be at least late Nascent Soul… maybe even a Divine Transformation monster!
Why would such an existence fix his eyes on a minor cultivator like her?
Taking a deep breath, she forced down the soul-deep pain and picked up the jade slip.
The moment her consciousness entered, a flood of information poured into her mind—the exact location of the abyss, the method to break the restrictions, the traits of the Rebirth Flower, and how to harvest it safely…
There was even a remnant cultivation method titled Netherwater Art, clearly designed to resist the yin aura at the abyss's depths.
"Heh…"
She sneered and tucked the jade slip into her robes.
The man's preparations were far too thorough. It was obvious he was determined to obtain the Rebirth Flower. As for her, she was just a pawn chosen by chance. Her fingers brushed her brow. The Soul Chasing Seal still pulsed faintly with searing pain, but her heart was already set.
If he was so sure she'd bow her head and obey, then fine. She'd play along… but by her rules.
Her fingers flicked, sending an invisible ripple through the air.
Moments later, faint wingbeats reached her ears. The queen bee led the surviving drones through the forest, their translucent wings shimmering with a ghostly blue under the moonlight. She immediately noticed the queen bee's left wing was cracked, and three drones had broken stingers. The interception had cost them dearly.
"Don't come closer." Her lips barely moved as her divine sense carried the command to the swarm.
Even though the gray-robed man had vanished, that suffocating feeling of being watched still clung to her spine. If he could send a Golden Core clone walking around, his divine sense probably covered ten miles at least.
The queen bee hovered before her, its compound eyes reflecting her bloodless face.
Xie Zhaolin suddenly grabbed its abdomen, channeling a strand of pure Yinsha into it. Black mist curled from her fingertips—this was a new feature she'd realized from the Netherwater Art, a method to transform Blackwater Abyss's baleful qi into nourishment for yin creatures.
The queen bee shuddered violently, and its broken wing began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
But Xie Zhaolin coughed up blood, her meridians screaming in protest. Forcing baleful qi through her damaged body was like pouring salt into open wounds. Still, she had no other choice. In this deadly abyss, the swarm was her only support. Even if it cost her dearly, she had to ensure they could still fight.
"Let's go, back to the hive."
She wiped the blood from her lips and followed the swarm into the forest.
Every three steps, she changed her direction, sometimes leaving false traces at forks. By the seventh false trail, she suddenly formed a hand seal. The blood on her robe burst into three blood crows, which flew off in different directions.
Three quarters of an hour later, Xie Zhaolin crouched before a withered hemlock.
The tree looked ordinary, but its heart had long been hollowed by the bees. Her fingers tapped a certain point on the bark, and the trunk split soundlessly, revealing a narrow passage just wide enough for one person.
Inside, the hive was far more spacious than expected. Thousands of hexagonal cells climbed the tree walls, and at the very back was a chamber several meters across. The moment she stepped in, the heavy fragrance of medicine hit her. Several central cells brimmed with dark purple honey, brewed from Blackwater Abyss's toxic dragonflower pollen.
"You really know how to pick a spot." She stroked the queen bee's carapace and pulled out a petal of Nine Nether Ice Lotus from her storage ring. The moment it touched the air, the hive's temperature plummeted, frost crystallizing across the walls.
The queen bee trembled violently, greed flashing in its eyes.
But she held the petal three inches above its head. "Remember, this is your reward for protecting me." Her divine sense amplified her voice throughout the hive. "If you see that man again… you run."
The petal floated into the queen bee's mandibles, radiating a warm glow as its pure energy seeped into its body.
Her eyes narrowed. So the swarm's toxic dragonflower honey resonated with the lotus's nature. That was a lucky surprise.
Once the queen bee entered a cultivation state, she finally sat cross-legged in the chamber's center. She placed three array flags around her and activated a basic isolation formation. Only then did she pull out a jade bottle from her storage ring.
"Good thing he didn't notice this ring."
Her fingers brushed the ring's dark engravings, relief flickering in her eyes. Those lofty high-ranked cultivators were always arrogant. To them, a mere Qi Refining cultivator couldn't even afford a storage bag, much less a hidden storage ring. They never imagined she'd have something like this.
Losing the Xuanyin Grass and Water Spirit Crystal was regrettable, but because she'd always used an ordinary bag as a decoy, this true treasure had slipped by unnoticed.
The ring carried three layers of restrictions. Unless a Nascent Soul expert examined it carefully, they'd never notice. She took out a Rejuvenation Pill and let it melt on her tongue. A cool stream flowed down her throat, spreading through her body.
Her torn meridians drank it in like parched soil absorbing spring rain. Closing her eyes, she guided the healing energy to circulate through her body.
"This Soul Chasing Seal…"
Looking inward, she saw the skeletal mark clearly within her sea of consciousness. It squatted deep inside her divine sense, pulsing faintly, as if reminding her that her time was running out. But as long as she didn't touch it directly, it stayed in a strange dormant state.
"So it seems…"
The man didn't believe a Qi Refining cultivator could even wield divine sense.
That arrogance… might be her key to breaking free.
She carefully inserted her mind into the jade slip containing the Netherwater Art.
As new information surged into her, her eyes glinted.
This really was a heaven-sent opportunity.