Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

The boy pouted and stretched.

"What's there not to know? Anyone with a bit of common sense knows about this mess."

Qin Shishi immediately placed all her hopes on the boy, "You know, so can you stop him?"

The boy spread his hands, his face full of helplessness. "Stopping him is something I can't do. Killing him is a good way, don't you think?"

“…Killing him…won’t work either.”

Considering the young monk's status within the Painting Sect and his identity as an envoy from the Painting Sect, Qin Shishi did not want the young monk to die here.

The boy hung his head helplessly. "Then it's none of my business. Figure it out yourself."

……

Qin Shishi gazed at the boy and finally sighed.

Yes, this matter had nothing to do with the boy. He had no reason to help her. He neither knew Ye Yuchan nor had any deep relationship with Qin Shishi.

For the boy, it was just a fight.

"Um, Sister Shishi?"

Lin Yuan's voice came from beside her.

Qin Shishi turned around blankly and looked at the petite girl with a delicate nose and jade eyes, who was as lovely as a work of art sculpted by the gods.

The little girl's face was full of confusion as she pointed to the martial arts arena in the distance. "Sister Shishi, why did Master go up on stage? Is he going to fight Junior Sister Yuchan?"

"Uh……"

For a moment, Qin Shishi didn't know how to answer Lin Yuan.

She paused for a moment, then reached out, forcing a smile, and patted Yuan'er's head twice. "It's alright, Yuan'er, Miss Ye will be fine."

"Really? Did they have a fight?"

"No, it's okay. Trust your sister, everything will be alright."

She stroked Lin Yuan, comforting the little girl while also comforting herself.

It's alright... nothing will happen. As long as Miss Ye surrenders in time, those cultivators at the Transcendental Stage will protect her.

Everything will be alright.

……

Inside the venue.

Ye Yuchan stared at the little monk in front of her, her face particularly unpleasant.

She didn't know why the next person to fight her wasn't the eldest member of the Huo family (she still remembered what the eldest member's name was), nor did she know why Zhuang Hai suddenly went on stage to become her opponent in the next fight.

This doesn't make sense, or rather, it's too bizarre.

Zhuang Hai did not offer any explanation for his actions. His lips were tightly closed, and an indescribable chill lingered between his brows. At the same time, the young monk who should have converted to Buddhism was now like a ruthless killer. A surging wave of killing intent accompanied by intermittent fluctuations of spiritual energy rippled around him, and his eyes were filled with hatred and loathing.

This inexplicable tension clearly ignited the enthusiasm of the surrounding audience. Little did they know what was happening on stage, they saw it as a truly spectacular showdown!

"Hey, that little monk looks fierce, and his cultivation level is quite high... I think I'll bet on him to win."

"Damn, are you stupid? You don't know Zhuang Hai? He's a monster who once achieved four consecutive victories, with a cultivation level as high as the peak of the Transformation Realm. This little girl is pretty strong, but I doubt she can beat Zhuang Hai, right?"

"I don't think so. I don't care, just blindly bet on the girl, you're guaranteed to win!"

"That's right, Miss Ye is bound to win! She's already helped me win so much money, this time I'm betting on her without hesitation!"

"Tch, a bunch of idiotic men with lust in their brains."

"..."

Inside the arena, murmurs rose and fell, almost everyone anticipating an epic battle between the powerful young girl and the young monk.

Ye Yuchan was confused. What had she done to deserve this? This little monk had only gotten a bad experience with the old rogue, and then tricked her and Lin Yuan into coming here. Now he was showing hostility towards her on stage. What did he mean by this? Was he going to use her as a scapegoat to get revenge on the old rogue?

"Hey little monk, what are you really up to? Are you really that unhappy with me and my senior sister Lin Yuan?"

"hehe."

When Ye Yuchan's words reached Zhuang Hai's ears, the latter slowly curled up the corners of his mouth, and a wicked smile, like that of a demon from the abyss, suddenly bloomed.

"I don't need you to say anything about what I do, and if anyone is to blame, it's your master!"

"You old rogue, all you did was make a bet with me. You just accepted the loss, didn't you? Why are you so petty, you monk?"

"Just a bet?"

A cold light flashed in Zhuang Hai's eyes, his fists clenched, and his killing intent surged once more.

At this moment, his cultivation level of the Lesser Completion of the Transformation Peak completely suppressed Ye Yuchan, who was only at the Beginning of the Spirit Platform Stage. The maid girl felt as if a heavy mountain was pressing down on her back, and her throat was being choked by a certain force, making it difficult for her to breathe.

Zhuang Hai stared intently at Ye Yuchan and spoke each word carefully.

"Do you know the significance of the Divine Sea Golden Feather Scripture to this old monk?! That scoundrel clearly knows the secret of the Divine Sea Golden Feather Scripture, yet he refuses to tell this old monk... and even humiliated this old monk in the painting gallery, forcing this old monk to kneel and kowtow!"

"How can we not repay such humiliation?!"

Hearing Zhuang Hai angrily confront the old rogue, Ye Yuchan was also furious. She sneered, "Ha, you made the bet yourself, and you can't even honor your bet? Even if the old rogue did humiliate you, you asked for it. Please understand the meaning of 'self-inflicted humiliation'?"

"Further words are useless." A cold, bloodthirsty black light flashed in Zhuang Hai's eyes. "This old monk will take you, now a cripple, to threaten that bastard and force him to hand over the second half of the Divine Sea Golden Feather Scripture."

Upon hearing this, Ye Yuchan finally understood what the little monk was up to.

So they're just using Ye Yuchan to threaten the old rogue into revealing the secret of that Divine Sea Golden Feather Scripture? Trading a human life for the second half of the scripture?

Upon thinking of this, Ye Yuchan felt a surge of anger, and her initial dissatisfaction with the little monk turned into utter disgust.

Is that so...?

So it turns out... he was just using Ye Yuchan and Lin Yuan as props!

Ye Yuchan hated this feeling the most.

Anger became the only thing remaining in Ye Yuchan's mind at that moment.

—Knock knock!

What is pulsating?

Ye Yuchan suddenly felt as if a raging fire was burning in her heart, and every meridian in her body began to heat up.

At the same time, a faint black mist, almost invisible to the naked eye, slowly rose from her body and swirled around the girl.

—Knock knock!

It was as if the earth was trembling, and Ye Yuchan's ears were filled with chaotic, muffled sounds.

That was her heart.

The next instant, darkness engulfed her eyes, turning them into an absolute, pure black.

An aura of despair surged from Ye Yuchan's body.

It's so hot...

Ye Yuchan's palms were sweating. She felt as if she were in a desert, with the black sun scorching her body in the sky.

It's so hot... so hot...

She began to tremble incessantly, from her legs to her hands and then to her limbs.

It's here, that thing...it's out.

Ye Yuchan might not have felt anything before, but now she is very clear that there is something in her body, and it is a terrible thing that she cannot control.

—The abyss is filled with terrifying ice.

From the deepest despair, the darkest darkness, the Abyss Fear Ice, one of the twenty-one extremes, was awakened at this moment by Ye Yuchan's boundless rage.

And in the instant Ye Yuchan lost her mind due to anger, she made her move and began to assimilate Ye Yuchan's body with herself!

It—the abyssal ice—has long coveted this body.

"Ok?"

The boy, who had been planning to stay out of the situation and watch the show, suddenly jumped up from his stool, his face extremely solemn and serious, even showing a hint of fear.

This was the first time he had shown such an expression.

He frowned, staring intently at Ye Yuchan, as if trying to deny his discovery, but no matter how she looked at him, his heart couldn't stop pounding with fear.

Qin Shishi also noticed Ye Yuchan's change, and she subconsciously thought of the wisp of black mist that had appeared behind Ye Yuchan earlier...

Could it be some kind of unique secret technique?

As for Zhuang Hai, who was standing in the fighting arena, he was closest to Ye Yuchan and could best understand that feeling.

That feeling of despair, that feeling of extreme terror... Zhuang Hai trembled all over, but the corners of his mouth kept turning up, and a terrifying and chilling maniacal laugh kept spreading across his face.

Because the inner demon really likes this feeling.

The more fearful, terrified, and desperate Zhuang Hai's soul was, the more his inner demons liked it, the stronger they became, and the more unstoppable they were!

Negative emotions are his best source of sustenance.

But Ye Yuchan was unaware of all this; all she wanted to do right now was tear off her clothes, and then…

She suddenly raised her head, her pure black eyes fixed on Zhuang Hai.

In that instant, Zhuang Hai's soul trembled violently to the point of near collapse, and boundless fear almost crushed his soul and consciousness!

Even Zhuang Hai's inner demon was dumbfounded. The fear that arose in that instant was like a million waves crashing down on his head. The inner demon himself was almost crushed into dust by his favorite fear.

What was that...? That look, that girl...? What's going on?

Just as Zhuang Hai's soul was about to be crushed by fear, and his inner demons began to doubt and even panic, the black energy constantly emanating from Ye Yuchan's body suddenly disappeared, and her expressionless, exquisite face also trembled violently.

Immediately, the black in the eyeball slowly faded, and the white of the eye reappeared.

And for some reason, that terrifying, suffocating despair and fear were rapidly diminishing.

All of this was because a strange voice suddenly popped into Ye Yuchan's mind, forcibly pulling her consciousness back from the brink of darkness.

It was a very familiar, yet surprising, voice.

"Holy crap, I've only been gone a short while and you've already whipped up this huge thing?!"

—The voice of a certain old rogue.