"Hehe, Brother Lin, you're so naughty~"
"You think this is naughty, Mei'er?"
"Hmph, you hurt me."
After their passionate intimacy, the two embraced, enjoying the lingering warmth.
"Lately, you seem to have gotten a little too close to that boy who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth."
"Brother Lin, what are you saying? My heart has always only belonged to you. Gu Yuan is nothing more than a convenient tool."
"Hmph, I already had someone teach him a lesson. If he still doesn't learn, then don't blame me for disregarding our Student relationship!"
Lin Ao sneered, "The clan elders at home often inspect me. My cultivation cannot suffer any losses, otherwise... I would definitely take out more time to accompany you, Mei'er."
"Mm, I know."
As he spoke, Lin Ao's hands began to wander again. Xiao Mei, sensing this, cooperatively let out a soft moan, which made Lin Ao's heart surge with desire. Just as he was about to do something more... a cold light flashed, and Lin Ao was unable to dodge, getting stabbed by a sharp blade!
Blood overflowed from Lin Ao's neck.
"Brother Lin!"
Xiao Mei was stunned at first, then screamed hysterically.
Lin Ao, however, was not so panicked. As the Cultivator Seed of the wealthy Lin Family in Wuxin City, facing assassination was not a first for him.
But this time... the killer's intent was hidden very well. Coupled with the fact that this was inside the academy, Lin Ao never dreamed he would suddenly encounter an assassination attempt.
"Although the wound is deep, it avoided the vital points..."
Lin Ao touched his incessantly bleeding neck. The attacker didn't seem intent on taking his life; otherwise, that strike just now would have been enough to kill him.
What exactly was... Before Lin Ao could think further, the entire ground suddenly shook violently.
Lin Ao stumbled again, falling flat on his face. When he got up, his face was filled with rage.
But the surroundings remained dead silent, and he had no idea where the assassin was hiding... "Who dares to cause trouble in the important grounds of the academy? Get out here!"
Lin Ao roared in anger, looking around, but everything remained silent. Gu Yuan, the instigator of all this, had long since fled, retreating all the way from the dense woods back to the intersection.
Quite a few people had already gathered here. The shaking just now clearly hadn't scared this group of Students. In their view, with Cultivator mentors stationed here, few people could attack this place, especially since Wuxin City was inherently a peaceful location.
How could anyone launch a large-scale invasion?
It was probably just a terrestrial tremor. Such things often happen in the Eastern Continent. Whenever the earth shakes, it usually means a Heaven And Earth Treasure is appearing... Most people came to the forest garden wanting to catch a glimpse of Xiao Mei's beauty, and incidentally, to see who the champion of this month's literary ranking list, Gu Yuan, truly was.
As the "protagonist," Gu Yuan naturally took a long detour, emerging from the other side, standing in place and waiting, still holding that tacky bouquet of red flowers. As for the carved knife, it had naturally been used as the "weapon" to attack Lin Ao.
But relying solely on that knife, Lin Ao probably wouldn't be able to find anything.
That single strike was not meant to take Lin Ao's life; it was merely meant to make him "bleed and be injured."
As for its purpose, that would remain unsaid for now.
At this moment, the surrounding people began to cheer.
"Champion, are you waiting for Miss Xiao Mei? When we attend the banquet later, you must let us brothers have a good look!"
"Gu Yuan, don't embarrass us!"
Although Gu Yuan smiled, his heart was full of coldness.
Because... the greatest catastrophe was about to descend.
This was the event that nearly changed his entire life and caused him to fall into the Demonic Path!
"If I remember correctly... it will happen in another minute."
Gu Yuan ignored the chatter of the people around him, quietly counting down the time.
In his past life, he had recalled this exact moment countless times in his dreams. If his ignorant self back then could have done more, or done less, or even died in that Death Prison.
Perhaps his life wouldn't have been filled with so many regrets... As the memory ended, a new round of tremors struck. This time, it was far more intense than the first, so much so that several people lost their balance and fell to the ground.
"What... what is happening?"
"No, I don't know."
"Could it be that some rare treasure has appeared?"
The surrounding Students were still chatting idly.
But only Gu Yuan knew that the Death Prison... it had arrived!
In the last second of Gu Yuan's mental countdown, everyone felt a sudden darkness and instantly fainted!
Several academy forest gardens in the vicinity were enveloped by a layer of "black membrane."
All the Cultivator mentors in the entire academy felt a strong threat at this moment, rushing out of their houses and staring dumbfounded as the giant black membrane covered a small portion of the academy.
"This is unprecedented. Why would the Death Prison descend within the territory of the Lower Eight Sects? This... has never been recorded before!"
An elder with a grizzled beard walked out of a small courtyard. The surrounding Cultivators, seeing the elder appear, rushed forward, "Dean, what should we do next..."
"Write to the City Lord and have him communicate with the Tianyan Martial Sect envoy. We can no longer handle this matter!"
Once the black membrane forms and the Death Prison descends.
Then even if a Seventh-rank Immortal personally arrived, they would be helpless!
As for the Death Prison... it is an extraterrestrial demon peering into this Cultivation world, a monster called the "Evil Immortal" by the people of the world.
They are formless and silent, capable of projecting their Incarnation into various corners of this world, forming a Death Prison.
Inside the Death Prison, evil demons run rampant, causing heavy losses to the entire Cultivation world.
It wasn't until the appearance of the founder of the Upper Three Sects, the world's first Venerable, and the one who achieved Major Achievement in the Dao of Space, the "World-Opening Venerable," that the terrifying certainty of death for those who entered the Death Prison was reversed.
Only the power of a Venerable could change the rules within the Death Prison.
This is also why the descendants of Cultivators in the Eastern Continent consider joining the Upper Three Sects or Lower Eight Sects an honor, after all, the only two Venerables in the world today both originated from them!
It was also after the World-Opening Venerable that Cultivators began to more proactively explore and crack the Death Prison, bringing back insights and Heaven And Earth Treasure from within to expand the Sect's foundation.
However... before the World-Opening Venerable passed away, he left behind several spatial taboos, making it difficult for extraterrestrial demons to descend the Death Prison within the Eastern Continent.
These taboos have existed for thousands of years without incident.
But now... a Death Prison had descended before countless people, swallowing countless Students into it... "If nothing goes wrong, the Cultivator Seeds swallowed inside are likely doomed."
The old Dean felt as if he had aged considerably, not even having time to count the missing people, and quickly went to notify the Tianyan Martial Sect disciples within the city... "Awoo..."
Drip... A drop of cool liquid fell onto Gu Yuan's face.
Gu Yuan instantly woke up, looking at the pitch-black surroundings.
Gu Yuan felt no fear; instead, he felt a strange excitement!
That's right, everything was exactly the same as his previous life, even the time the Death Prison descended was identical... As his eyes gradually adjusted to the dark environment, Gu Yuan found the place very familiar. This was the bottom of a cliff inside the "Gray Death Prison."
His previous self had also awakened here. Not far away was a stone door that had not yet opened, seemingly carved with figures.
Gu Yuan smiled coldly. Sure enough, besides himself, two other people lay beside him. These two were also familiar to him.
One was Shangguan Changqing, the son of the Wuxin City Lord. He was also considered a Cultivator Seed, possessing a supreme Fire Spiritual Root. In his previous life, his ability to leave alive was largely due to his care.
As for the other person... Gu Yuan smiled as he looked at the bloody figure lying on the ground, already lifeless.
This person was none other than Lin Ao, who had recently threatened to continue teaching Gu Yuan a lesson!
Lin Ao was currently being gnawed on by a pack of grayish-green Rotten Wolves that smelled of decay. There were six Rotten Wolves in total; besides the four that were actively feeding, two others were still watching from a distance.
However, Rotten Wolves have extremely low intelligence; those two might just be isolated there, afraid to approach.
In Lin Ao's current state, he was probably beyond saving.
"Hmm, sure enough, there's a pack of Rotten Wolves around here that are highly sensitive to the smell of blood."
Seeing this scene, Gu Yuan couldn't help but recall events from his previous life... In his previous life, the three of them woke up simultaneously. After waking up, although Gu Yuan didn't know the relationship between Lin Ao and Xiao Mei, he knew that Xiao Mei often referred to Lin Ao as her elder brother, so he naturally leaned more toward Lin Ao.
He never expected that Lin Ao harbored malicious intent. After wandering around and attracting a pack of Rotten Wolves, he still tried to frame Gu Yuan.
He wanted Gu Yuan to be bitten by the Rotten Wolves while he took the opportunity to slaughter them. After all, killing evil demons in the Death Prison allowed one to absorb the evil Qi within them, converting it into pure Spiritual Qi, thereby strengthening oneself.
As the saying goes, if a man is not for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him.
When Gu Yuan was trapped within the pack of Rotten Wolves, it was Shangguan Changqing, who had remained silent the entire time, who stepped in to help.
After rescuing Gu Yuan, Shangguan Changqing was also injured. The Rotten Wolves' sharp teeth carried toxins that caused the entire body to go numb. Throughout the whole ordeal, Lin Ao only cared about killing the Rotten Wolves and absorbing the evil Qi for himself.
Before the three could rest further, the stone door nearby suddenly opened, emitting a faint golden light from behind it.
This was the only way to "escape"!
Moreover, this door... could only be passed by one person and opened randomly, one of the methods left behind by the World-Opening Venerable.
Because of this, Lin Ao naturally wanted to rush inside, but Shangguan Changqing insisted that the heavily injured Gu Yuan should go first.
Conflict flared up between the two, leading to a fierce fight. As his injuries became increasingly severe, an intense desire for survival drove Gu Yuan to crawl desperately towards the golden door, eventually surviving alone and miserably...
As the recollection ended, Gu Yuan looked indifferently at the deceased Lin Ao and immediately moved to attack the few Rotten Wolves that were still feeding.