After descending the mountain, my aloof fiancée became completely devoted to me.

Lin Ping stepped forward slowly, his gaze sweeping indifferently over Zheng Yan's flustered face: "Whether it was stolen or not, you and I both know the truth."

Zheng Yan's expression changed drastically, and he instantly looked up: "Sir! What do you mean? I am truly ashamed, there is absolutely no falsehood in my words!"

"Feigning generosity, secretly hiding jade, setting a trap to manipulate me, trying to force me to compromise with a jade pendant in exchange for control of the earth's veins."

Lin Ping approached step by step, his aura suddenly spreading out and overwhelming the entire scene.

"The Zheng family has a very clever plan."

Zheng Yan was forced to retreat by the terrifying aura, his face turning pale. He could no longer pretend, and the fear in his eyes turned into ruthlessness.

"Since you've seen through me, then I'll speak frankly!"

He dropped his pretense, his tone instantly hardening: "The Earth-Suppressing Jade is in the hands of my Zheng family! If you want to save people, if you want to protect Shen Aoxue's life, it's simple!"

"Relinquish control of the earth's veins, submit to the Zheng family, and admit your mistakes! From this day forward, serve the Zheng family, and I will offer you the Spirit Jade with both hands!"

"Otherwise, without the spirit jade to suppress the evil spirits, Shen Aoxue will be completely possessed by the ancient evil spirits within seven days! You can only watch helplessly as the person you care about most becomes a puppet of the evil spirits!"

The cards are laid bare, a naked threat, utterly unbridled.

Zheng Yan stared intently at Lin Ping, his face full of certainty.

He knew Lin Ping's weakness, that he would never give up on Shen Aoxue, and that the other party had no choice but to compromise.

In his view, holding the spirit jade in his hands meant controlling the lifeline, and victory was assured.

Available in the next second.

boom!

A terrifying, invisible force suddenly erupted!

Zheng Yan was crushed to the ground, his bones cracking, his blood and qi flowing backward, and excruciating pain engulfing his entire body.

He screamed in agony, his face contorted with terror as he roared, "You dare to lay a hand on me?! Aren't you afraid I'll completely destroy the Spirit Jade, leaving Shen Aoxue utterly helpless?!"

"Destroy the jade?"

Lin Ping looked down at him with a cold, indifferent gaze, exuding an overwhelming sense of dominance.

"Your Zheng family hid the jade and set a trap to blackmail me. Do you really think you can control my life with just a jade pendant?"

"I'm keeping you here to talk not because I have no other choice, but to give the Zheng family one last chance to admit their mistakes."

"Since you don't appreciate it and instead make things worse, there's no need to maintain this semblance of dignity."

As soon as he finished speaking, a cold, aged laugh suddenly came from outside the pavilion.

"Arrogant brat! Do you really think that just because you're invincible in battle, you can run rampant in the southern borderlands?"

The white-haired patriarch slowly stepped out, his powerful martial arts aura sweeping across the pavilion, the air currents turbulent, his imposing presence awe-inspiring.

"By hiding the spirit jade, I have sealed your fate! If you dare harm the Zheng family in the slightest today, I will destroy the jade immediately! I will annihilate Shen Aoxue's soul and spirit, leaving you with lifelong regret!"

The old man exuded an aura of power, his imposing presence dominating the entire pavilion, giving him an air of complete control.

All of Zheng's hidden guards appeared and surrounded the pavilion's exit, seemingly setting up an inescapable trap.

Zheng Yan lay on the ground, enduring excruciating pain as he laughed wildly: "Lin Ping! You're in dire straits! Surrender and submit to the Zheng family, and you might have a sliver of hope!"

The grandfather and grandson worked in unison, confident that they had Lin Ping cornered.

But Lin Ping merely raised his eyes slightly, his gaze unwavering.

"A frog at the bottom of a well knows not the vastness of the world."

"You think that hiding the spirit jade is a way to control your survival? Little do you know, what you can control is always the worst possible escape route."

He did need the spirit jade to keep Shen Aoxue calm, but it was by no means the only solution.

The Spirit Jade is a shortcut, but not a dead end.

The Zheng family thought they had the trump card, but in reality they were just clowns, trying to be clever in front of him.

Lin Ping's gaze swept coldly over the two of them, his voice icy: "Today, I only intended to retrieve the jade to save people, and I will not concern myself with the juniors."

"But you took this opportunity to blackmail me, and you are courting disaster at every turn, trying to exploit my weaknesses and scheme against my lover."

"Then let's settle old scores and new grudges."

boom!

The purest and most potent earth vein protective power exploded!

The pavilion's formation shattered instantly, and all the guards were blasted away and severely injured, their cries of agony filling the air.

The white-haired patriarch's pupils shrank suddenly, his face filled with horror. He desperately urged all his true energy to resist, but it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot!

"Impossible! How can you be so strong! You clearly have weaknesses and constraints, how could you act so recklessly!"

"My weaknesses have never been my dead end, but rather the bottom line that I am unwilling to confront."

Lin Ping's tone was indifferent, overwhelming.

"Those who cross my bottom line will be annihilated."

A light press of the palm unleashes immense power!

The white-haired patriarch's protective aura was instantly shattered, he coughed up blood, and crashed heavily to the ground, completely losing his ability to resist.

In a mere instant, all of the Zheng family's reliance collapsed.

Zheng Yan was dumbfounded, utterly desperate, and felt a chill run through his body.

He schemed and plotted meticulously, thinking he had the game in his grasp, but in the end, he only brought shame upon himself.

Lin Ping slowly walked to the old ancestor and looked down at the old man who had collapsed on the ground.

"Where is the Spirit Jade?"

The old man, enduring excruciating pain, a glint of madness and determination flashing in his eyes, gritted his teeth and growled, "Don't even think about it! Even if I die, I will never tell you the whereabouts of the Spirit Jade! I want to watch Shen Aoxue be devoured by the evil spirit, so that you will lose your beloved and suffer lifelong pain!"

He would rather die than submit, attempting to take revenge on Lin Ping with his last shred of stubbornness.

Lin Ping's gaze darkened slightly, showing no surprise whatsoever.

He knew the mindset of these stubborn old men: they would rather die than bend.

Since you can't get an answer from them, there's no need to ask anymore.

"Since you won't tell me, I'll find it myself."

His body was filled with spiritual light, and his invisible divine sense instantly covered the entire Zheng family ancestral home, scanning and probing inch by inch, instantly penetrating all the secret rooms, hidden chambers, and mezzanines!

But in the next instant, Lin Ping's expression suddenly changed slightly.

The entire Zheng family ancestral home had no trace of the earth-suppressing spirit jade.

There were no signs of sealing, no residual spiritual energy, and no hidden fluctuations.

Lingyu is not in the Zheng family at all!

The Zheng family patriarch's claims of hiding and destroying the jade were all lies from beginning to end!

They never controlled the Spirit Jade at all!

The earth-suppressing spirit jade had already been stolen several days ago!

Who will make the first move?

Who secretly orchestrated this, seizing the only treasure capable of suppressing the ancient evil spirits ahead of time?

Countless figures flashed through Lin Ping's mind in an instant: the remnants of Mo Qi's forces, the fleeing Xiao Yu'er, the remaining forces hidden in the secret realm...

A deeper chill crept into my heart.

Meanwhile, in a secluded valley a thousand miles away, a slender and eerie figure held a piece of warm white jade, a dark smile playing on her lips.

The person was dressed in light gauze, with gentle eyebrows and eyes, but there was an eternal coldness in their eyes—it was Shen Aoxue, another personality!

The real crisis was never the Zheng family's scheme.

Instead, it was a mysterious contingency plan that lurked in the shadows, laid a deadly trap in advance, stole the life-saving jade, and gradually led everyone into the game!

A shocking conspiracy targeting Lin Ping, Shen Aoxue, and the entire Southern Xinjiang region has only just begun to surface!

Inside the Zheng family's treasure pavilion, a deathly silence instantly enveloped the entire area.

The white-haired patriarch lay paralyzed in a pool of blood, his meridians shattered. Looking at Lin Ping, whose expression was slightly solemn, his eyes were filled with mad resentment. He gritted his teeth, looking like he would rather die than submit.