Many years later, Zhu Xianyao would ask Su Chen why he had thought to throw her far away and risk his life to save her. Su Chen would reply with the following: “If two people both fight to the death simultaneously, then the outcome will be their deaths. But if I fight as hard as I can just to delay for time, you can come back with reinforcements, and that would give us at least a sliver of hope. In terms of battle tactics, this is absolutely the correct way to do things.”
After hearing this, Zhu Xianyao would become very angry. She believed that Su Chen was purposefully trying to make her angry.
He was always doing that.
Just as he would never admit that he had also fallen for her.
This was what Zhu Xianyao thought to herself.
However, Su Chen himself knew that that was simply the way he thought about these things.
Back then, this was the only way he could have possibly ensured their survival. In addition, if Zhu Xianyao were to escape, she would definitely draw away a portion of the soldiers. That would also make it a bit easier for Su Chen to hold on longer.
There was no way he could defeat two Light Shaking Realm cultivators by himself, but through the a.s.sistance of medicines, the Algae Thread Coral Robe, and all the other tricks and cards he had up his sleeve, he would at least be able to hold on for a certain period of time.
That was all he was thinking about at the time.
However, he hadn’t expected two sudden changes to suddenly take place.
First of all, he hadn’t expected one of the Light Shaking Realm cultivators to personally pursue Zhu Xianyao, and he was worried for her. He wanted to go back and save her, but the other Light Shaking Realm cultivators kept him tied down and wouldn’t let him get away.
The second change was that the Light Shaking Realm cultivator suddenly returned again, this time in a much different fas.h.i.+on..
He returned, full of energy and vigor, leaping at the Light Shaking Realm cultivator that Su Chen was fighting. He immediately opened with his killing blow: Explosive Sand Hand. The other Light Shaking Realm cultivator howled, “Gron, are you crazy? You’re attacking me!”
The other party didn’t respond at all. He continued to unleash palm strike after palm strike, sending four of the Sand Race soldiers attacking Su Chen flying with broken bones.
The tables had turned so quickly and suddenly that even Su Chen wasn’t able to fully seize the opportunity.
He turned around, looking for an explanation and found Zhu Xianyao striding forward boldly.
The wind was fluttering through her hair and her long dress was billowing, giving her quite the heroic aura.
Flames of cold anger burned in her eyes as she spat out ruthlessly, “Don’t let a single one of them get away!”
The Light Shaking Realm cultivator named Gron began to fly into a frenzy, not even sparing the Sand Race peddlers who weren’t a part of the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt. All of them were enveloped in a dense wave of sand.
“Bewitching technique! It’s a bewitching technique!” That Sand Race Light Shaking Realm cultivator finally understood. “How could this be? How did you do that? You’re only in the Yang Opening Realm; how is it possible for you to control a Light Shaking Realm cultivator? Gron, wake up! Dammit, hurry and wake up!”
But no matter how loudly he yelled, Gron continued his furious onslaught. One Sand Race a.s.sailant after another fell to his blade. Su Chen didn’t even need to do anything himself; the Mountain-Beheading Blade autonomously flew through the air and picked off targets to make up for any deficit.
Gron’s strength was obviously not enough to suppress all of the Sand Race a.s.sailants present, but Zhu Xianyao’s absolute control over him shocked everyone present to their core.
The pressure that came from a former comrade who had suddenly become an enemy intrinsically meant that the other Sand Race Light Shaking Realm cultivator wasn’t able to display his full strength. As such, he was genuinely being suppressed.
By the time he recovered and wanted to fight with his full strength, it was already far too late.
Gron’s aura was at its peak, but most of his subordinates were already dead. Su Chen’s flying blade was also supporting him.
Su Chen himself also had yet to attack. All he did was use a Fata Morgana to freeze that Light Shaking Realm cultivator in place for a moment.
Yet another Origin Skill that could ignore cultivation tier gaps. When used with a Light Shaking Realm cultivator there to follow up, it was exceptionally effective.
That Light Shaking Realm cultivator suddenly froze in place. An instant later, Gron’s palm slammed into his chest, destroying his protective magic barrier. The Mountain-Beheading Blade surged forward, slas.h.i.+ng down at his forehead.
A beautiful one-two punch, claiming a life in a single combo!
The a.s.sa.s.sination attempt was stifled just like that.
At this point in time, news of the battle that had occurred probably hadn’t spread yet. Most likely, it hadn’t reached Zhu Baiyu and the others’ ears yet.
Su Chen and Zhu Xianyao didn’t waste any time and immediately got out of there, the Sand Race cultivator named Gron following closely behind them.
Su Chen glanced at her and asked, “Eternal enslavement?”
Zhu Xianyao lowered her head and mumbled, “Yes.”
Eternal Enslavement was a unique control skill possessed by the Zhu Clan. Once a target was enslaved, there was no way of reverting it. This was different from the Bewitching b.u.t.terfly bloodline, and one of the reasons why a Demonic Emperor Bloodline was so powerful.
However, activating Eternal Enslavement required the user to pay an incredibly high price. The user’s cultivation base would regress and would require around three years of time to recover.
The Zhu Clan’s bloodline originally didn’t allow them to control anyone with a cultivation base higher than the user, so to them, wasting their precious cultivation base on controlling Yang Opening Realm and below cultivators wasn’t worth it. As such, Zhu Xianyao had never used Eternal Enslavement on any target before. She would need to wait to at least the Light Shaking Realm before feeling a need to use it.
However, Su Chen’s Bewitching Origin Substance had given her the ability to break through cultivation barriers and use it on targets with a higher cultivation base than hers. This also greatly increased the success rate of usage. The end result was that Zhu Xianyao was able to control a Light Shaking Realm cultivator.
Despite such a happy occasion, no trace of happiness could be seen on Zhu Xianyao’s face.
She lowered her head, her expression that of a guilty child, as if she were waiting for Su Chen to berate her.
Su Chen sighed and said, “So the issue of the Bewitching Origin Substance affecting the user was solved a long time ago, right?”
Yes.
Su Chen had finally discovered the truth.
This d.a.m.ned broad had used Eternal Enslavement but showed no signs of being in the throes of pa.s.sion. She hadn’t been affected at all.
This meant that she had been lying to him the whole time.
No wonder!
No wonder he had found a theoretical solution that should have worked but just wouldn’t.
Because she was pretending the whole time!
He stared at Zhu Xianyao.
Zhu Xianyao’s eyes were filled with tears. “Yes, I lied to you. You managed to solve the problem by the end of the first month, but I didn’t want to say anything…… because I knew that if I told you the problem was resolved, you would give up on me. You would feel like you didn’t owe me anything anymore, and you would send me away. Then, you would continue your research in peace and go to Longxi to look for Gu Qingluo. I didn’t want that to happen……”
Su Chen sighed. “I’m not blaming you.”
“Bang!” Su Chen received a slap.
Zhu Xianyao yelled hysterically, “Why would you blame me? Do you think that your saying that is very generous of you? Meaning that you forgive me? I love you, I want to be with you, I want to be in the same bed with you, but you want to forgive me!? You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
Su Chen was stunned.
He just felt like what she said was quite logical.
But just as he was about to apologize, Zhu Xianyao leapt into his arms and hugged him tightly. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have hit you. The moment you threw me to safety, I was extremely moved and happy…… You still care about me, right? You were willing to die for me, so why can’t you be a little warmer and gentler with me?”
She stared at Su Chen, her eyes filled with tears.
……
Can you not be so fl.u.s.tered about everything?
Su Chen swallowed hard and was unable to carry out his plan in the end.
In that instant, when he saw Zhu Xianyao’s pitiful appearance, his heart inadvertently softened a level.
Zhu Xianyao continued to hug him as she said, “Forget about it. I know that I’m hoping for too much. You are only you; you don’t understand what it means to be gentle, or even if you do you won’t show that side to me. So now that you know I lied to you, are you going to chase me away?”
Su Chen finally reacted a bit.
He thought for a moment, then said, “All that succeeded was the medicine, so the bewitching effect is only temporary. It still hasn’t become a bloodline you can pa.s.s on yet. I promised to strengthen your bloodline, not to give you a stronger medicine. So I think that you should continue to stay here for a bit.”
A sweet smile appeared on Zhu Xianyao’s face.