After transmigrating into the body of the protagonist's childhood friend, he was targeted by a

He shakily raised his hand, using the last of his strength to activate the incantation, trying to control Lin Zhixu once again.

Lin Zhixu's eyes suddenly turned brighter, and he lunged toward Yu Linzhou.

Yu Linzhou didn't even blink. He gently raised his hand, and a golden light descended, binding Lin Zhixu tightly.

"You really know how to make me angry."

Yu Linzhou bent down, his fingers like claws, and plunged straight into the Grand Preceptor's chest.

The Imperial Advisor's eyes widened suddenly.

Yu Linzhou hooked his finger inside the other person's chest cavity, as if searching for something.

A moment later, he suddenly pulled, forcibly ripping out a swirling cloud of black mist from the location of the Grand Preceptor's heart.

After leaving its body, the black mist emitted a piercing shriek and twisted desperately, trying to escape from Yu Linzhou's palm.

Yu Linzhou lowered his eyes and raised an eyebrow slightly: "So it was you."

The demonic energy clearly recognized him, struggling even more violently, a shrill voice emanating from the black mist: "Yu Linzhou! Release me! Otherwise, I will not spare you!"

Yu Linzhou scoffed, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world: "Fine. I'd like to see how you're going to not let me off the hook."

Seeing that it could do nothing to him, the demonic energy suddenly changed direction and pounced on Lin Zhixu, who was not far away, like a venomous snake.

The demonic energy shrieked as it was about to burrow into Lin Zhixu's brow when, at the critical moment, a golden light pierced through the air and enveloped him completely from head to toe.

Yu Linzhou stared at the ball of demonic energy in his hand, his eyes darkening: "You're courting death!"

The moment he finished speaking, he clenched his fist tightly.

"No--!"

The demonic energy let out a final, piercing scream before being crushed.

Countless black wisps of energy seeped out from between Yu Linzhou's fingers, dissipating rapidly in the air as if scorched by the sun, eventually turning into nothingness.

The Imperial Advisor's head lolled to the side, and he fell completely silent.

At the same moment, Lin Zhixu also lost all his strength, his vision went black, and he collapsed limply to the ground.

Yu Linzhou flashed forward and caught the person steadily in his arms.

He looked at the person in his arms, whose face was pale, brows were furrowed, and even in unconsciousness, the person seemed extremely uneasy.

Yu Linzhou brushed aside a strand of damp hair covering his forehead, gently touched his brow with his fingertip, and channeled a gentle stream of spiritual energy into it.

The black mist receded like a tide, and the manipulated people collapsed to the ground like puppets with broken strings.

The altar was in a mess.

Manager Liu ran over, panting, and knelt on one knee: "Master, please forgive me. It was my dereliction of duty that I failed to protect the young master."

Yu Linzhou pulled Lin Zhixu closer to him, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger: "It's not your fault. The demons are cunning; even I didn't detect their presence."

Manager Liu hesitated and asked, "Master, what should we do next?"

Yu Linzhou picked Lin Zhixu up in his arms and turned to walk outside: "I'm leaving this place to you. Someone will come to clean up the mess soon. You stay here to hand over the work. I'll take him away first."

Steward Liu bowed and accepted the order: "Yes, Master, rest assured."

……

Shortly after Yu Linzhou left, several sword lights appeared on the horizon.

Luo Yiyan landed on the ground first, and her pupils contracted sharply when she saw the devastated altar before her.

The ground was littered with rubble and broken stone pillars. It was impossible to tell whether the people lying on the ground were dead or alive. The air was thick with the stench of blood and a nauseating smell of burning.

The scene was so horrific it was shocking.

He had just finished dealing with a group of troublesome evil cultivators and rushed back to Tianheng Sect to hand in his mission when he heard that something big had happened here, so he immediately led his men over.

But it was too late.

He looked around and his gaze quickly locked onto the only person still standing in front of the altar, as if he had been waiting there for a long time.

Luo Yiyan felt a chill run down her spine. To survive this chaos and remain so calm while waiting for them, this person was definitely not simple.

He winked at his disciples behind him, signaling them to spread out and check if the person on the ground was still breathing.

A disciple whispered, "Senior Brother Luo, should we... take that person?"

Luo Yiyan shook his head: "You guys go and rescue them first, I'll handle things over there."

The disciple nodded and went to check if the person on the ground was still breathing.

Luo Yiyan stepped forward and stopped a few steps away from Steward Liu, bowing respectfully.

"Senior, I am Luo Yiyan, a disciple of the Tianheng Sect. May I ask what happened here? Why is it so tragic?"

Manager Liu glanced at him.

The young man was handsome, his moon-white disciple's robe slightly dusty, but his back was straight, his eyes were bright, and he had a certain air about him.

It's obvious at a glance that he's a disciple from a righteous sect.

Steward Liu slowly began, "This is a long story..."

……

Yu Linzhou brought Lin Zhixu back to Qiyue Peak.

With some secret thoughts in mind, he entered his own courtyard.

He carefully placed Lin Zhixu on his bed, pulled the quilt over him, and then sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at the pale and quiet face.

He sighed, reached out, and gently rubbed Lin Zhixu's cheek with the back of his fingers. "Do you think this year is going to be a disastrous year for us, master and disciple? I just woke up, and you're already lying down again?"

Yu Linzhou sat by the bed for a moment, then took out a small, jet-black box from his sleeve.

The box was no bigger than the palm of your hand, and its surface was covered with densely packed seal marks.

He lightly tapped the lid of the box with his fingertip, the seal lit up and then dimmed, and the lid slid open silently.

Inside was a black ant with six legs like silk, lying quietly at the bottom of the box, as if it had fallen into a deep sleep.

It was the same Devouring Ant that the Wen family head had back then.

"Fortunately, I had the foresight to prepare a backup plan. Otherwise, what would you have done?"

Yu Linzhou reached out and gently touched the box with his fingertip, sending a thin stream of spiritual energy into the Devouring Ant.

The Devouring Ant stirred, slowly unfurling its six legs, its wings fluttering gently as it flew out of the box.

It circled twice in mid-air, as if it had smelled something, and flew straight toward Lin Zhixu, finally landing lightly on the back of his bare hand.

"Don't be afraid." Yu Linzhou looked at the unconscious Lin Zhixu and unconsciously softened his voice. "Just bear with it, it will be over soon."

The mind-eating ant perched on the back of Lin Zhixu's hand, its tentacles gently touching his skin.

A moment later, it suddenly took a bite.

Lin Zhixu's hand trembled violently.

As if finding an entrance, the Devouring Ants gradually emitted a faint silver light.

A few wisps of black energy, as thin as gossamer, emerged from beneath Lin Zhixu's skin, as if being pulled by some force, and slowly surged toward the Devouring Ants.

The Devouring Ants accepted everything that came their way, swallowing all the black energy into their bellies, which quickly swelled up.

Yu Linzhou stared intently, his fingertips already forming a magic seal.

He was ready to act at any time if the Devouring Ants could not be swallowed.

But the little insect was more resilient than he had imagined, managing to swallow most of the wisps of demonic energy. Then, with a flap of its wings, it fell off Lin Zhixu's hand and lay sprawled on the brocade quilt, looking as if it was too weak to fly.

"You've worked hard." Yu Linzhou rarely spoke human language to an insect, so he put it back in the box and looked at Lin Zhixu.

The young man's face was still pale, but his brows gradually relaxed and his breathing became much more steady.

The faint layer of black mist that had been floating on the surface also disappeared.

Yu Linzhou leaned down, gently pressing his forehead against Lin Zhixu's, and closed his eyes.

"Alright, you've suffered enough. Now, get a good night's sleep," he said softly. "When you wake up, it will be a new day."