"What the heck?!"
Hearing Hu Liena's astonishingly direct words, Lin Mu froze entirely on the spot, genuinely unable to fully recover his composure for a long time.
Was this little vixen actually in heat?
Although Hu Liena was undeniably very beautiful and naturally had a great, alluring figure, and her every single smile was captivating, Lin Mu genuinely had absolutely no personal interest in her.
Besides, if Lin Mu had even a little bit of genuine interest in Hu Liena, he certainly wouldn't have so direct and permanently crippled her precious cultivation.
In his cynical eyes, Hu Liena wasn't even as good of a prospect as Bibi Dong.
After all, Hu Liena, much like her deeply flawed teacher Bibi Dong, was hopelessly love-struck and often acted foolishly without ever properly considering the long-term consequences, but her actual innate talent was far inferior.
If it were twenty years ago, Bibi Dong might have actually had a small chance to be truly saved, but Hu Liena could realistically only ever be a pretty, decorative face.
Seeing Lin Mu's utterly dumbfounded expression, Hu Liena secretly rejoiced inside.
She arrogantly believed her unique physical charm was absolutely no less than her teacher's, easily enough to manipulate a man like Lin Mu at will.
According to what her teacher had frantically told her, Lin Mu was currently actively participating in a grueling trial to become a god.
If Lin Mu somehow successfully passed the test, he would officially become a legendary god.
He should then theoretically be fully able to miraculously help her fully restore her lost soul power, perhaps even actively making her much stronger than before.
While she was completely lost in her grand, naive fantasies, Lin Mu was just looking down at her like she was a complete fool.
"What exactly gave you the ridiculous illusion that I would ever be personally interested in a pathetic vixen like you?"
As he spoke these harsh words, Lin Mu forcefully pinched Hu Liena's delicate chin again. His deep purple eyes showed absolutely no trace of expected infatuation, but rather a chilling, dismissive glint.
Hearing this blunt rejection, Hu Liena froze completely, staring up at Lin Mu in sheer, unadulterated disbelief.
Was this powerful guy actually just cruelly toying with her?
With her stunning, rare beauty, curvaceous figure, and uniquely alluring natural charm, how could any normal man possibly ever fully refuse her direct advances?
Moreover, Tang San himself had personally, specifically told her she would have to serve Lin Mu.
At this humiliating moment, Hu Liena felt utterly, profoundly humiliated. She had already desperately abandoned all her remaining dignity, yet the other party still openly looked completely down on her.
Seeing that his sister hadn't managed to quickly curry favor with Lin Mu, Xie Yue grew increasingly anxious.
They certainly couldn't blindly rely on Her Majesty the Empress now; if Lin Mu didn't take a genuine liking to Nana, their terrible fate was entirely predictable.
"Your Excellency, if you honestly have any specific complaints about her behavior, she can absolutely change," Xie Yue said highly respectfully, desperately trying to salvage the situation.
Hearing this pathetic attempt, Lin Mu slowly glanced at Xie Yue out of the corner of his eye. This guy actually did have some basic brains.
Objectively speaking, Xie Yue was a highly underestimated, true genius. He was at least much stronger than his sister Hu Liena, yet he unfortunately hadn't ever received Bibi Dong's intensely focused, personal training.
After all, Xie Yue wasn't luckily born with full innate soul power, yet he had still successfully cultivated all the way to the Soul King realm before the young age of twenty and had even brilliantly developed a highly effective, self-created soul skill that perfectly suited him.
This clearly showed that Xie Yue's overall practical abilities were actually much stronger than someone like Feng Xiaotian's.
If Spirit Hall were to genuinely nurture him instead of his sister, reaching Level 95 or higher absolutely wouldn't be a problem for him.
However, all of this immense potential was now completely in vain. Unless a true god personally intervened, it was completely impossible to ever properly restore Xie Yue's ruined cultivation.
"No matter how hard you foolishly try to change her outward behavior, you fundamentally can't change her true, pathetic nature," Lin Mu said perfectly calmly.
He simply had absolutely no interest in keeping a lovestruck, pretty girl around, especially since she would undoubtedly be far too troublesome to properly train.
Seeing Lin Mu's entirely ruthless, uncompromising approach, Xie Yue's absolute last shred of desperate hope vanished completely, and he slumped heavily back against the cold wall, utterly dejected.
He didn't even dare to genuinely think of actively resisting Lin Mu anymore.
Even if his hard-earned cultivation hadn't been permanently abolished, he couldn't possibly hope to actually harm Lin Mu in the absolute slightest; they were simply not playing in the exact same league.
Tang San had easily, completely wiped them all out in a single, brief exchange, let alone facing Lin Mu, who was undeniably far stronger than Tang San.
He couldn't even mentally muster the absolute slightest, fleeting thought of physical resistance.
In just a few short years, they had successfully cultivated to the impressive Soul Saint realm, making them true one-in-a-million top geniuses.
And yet, their primary opponent had simply been Tang San.
Judging solely from the terrifying speed of his soul power increase, Tang San was honestly even more exaggerated than Lin Mu, wildly leaping directly from a mere Soul King to a true Titled Douluo.
The exact level he was at currently was completely unclear, but it had undoubtedly already far exceeded their wildest imaginations.
After a brief, tense pause, Lin Mu looked back down at the completely bewildered Hu Liena and finally returned to his main, core point:
"I'll generously give you two stark choices: either permanently betray Bibi Dong right now, or foolishly choose to stay here in this cell. If you stubbornly choose the latter, I absolutely cannot, and will not, guarantee your personal safety from the soldiers outside."
From the very beginning, he had never genuinely intended to take Hu Liena in; he only wanted to cruelly force her to permanently betray Bibi Dong.
Since Bibi Dong was completely determined to stubbornly be an enemy of the entire world, he would deliberately have her absolute only remaining beloved disciple brutally betray her, completely destroying the absolute last shred of emotional solace in her twisted heart.
"You actually want me to betray my beloved teacher?!"
Hu Liena's pale face changed drastically, and she immediately resisted fiercely: "That is completely impossible! I am absolutely, unconditionally loyal to my teacher and would never, ever betray her."
If Lin Mu hadn't so coldly and completely rejected her desperate advances earlier, she might have actually hesitated for a moment.
However, Lin Mu's unequivocal, humiliating rejection completely shattered her beautiful, naive illusions. Since she was already just a useless cripple without any cultivation, she might as well just tragically die here.
Just as Xie Yue was about to frantically try and persuade her otherwise, Yan spoke up first:
"Nana, since Bibi Dong has already been completely unjust to us by abandoning us, why should we continue to be blindly loyal to her? Besides, our precious cultivation has already been completely crippled. That can easily be considered a fair way of finally repaying Spirit Hall for their years of nurturing."
In his deeply desperate eyes, Nana's physical safety was infinitely more important than absolutely anything else.
Most importantly, he desperately didn't want to actually see Nana being eagerly lined up by sweaty soldiers while he could only watch completely helplessly from his own cell.
"Yan, you're actually this kind of spineless person!"
Hu Liena was genuinely incredulous at Yan's sudden, complete betrayal. She had truly thought that Yan would at least stubbornly stand proudly by her side, but his moral stance was honestly even less firm than her own older brother's.
"Nana, Yan is actually entirely right for once. Anyway, we're completely, totally useless now. Preserving our actual lives is far more important."
Xie Yue absolutely didn't want to miserably die here, nor did he want to horrifyingly see his beautiful sister being brutally violated by common soldiers.
Although his initial plan to cleverly curry favor with Lin Mu hadn't succeeded yet, with his sister's stunning looks, there might still be some actual opportunities in the uncertain future.
Under their combined, desperate persuasion, Hu Liena clearly visibly wavered a little.
At this exact moment, two very familiar figures suddenly appeared silently right behind Lin Mu, namely Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo.
"Your loyal subordinates pay their deepest respects to the Sect Master."
The two powerful Titled Douluos knelt respectfully on one knee and said in perfect, practiced unison.
"Rise." Lin Mu casually waved his hand perfectly calmly.
Seeing the former Elder Chrysanthemum and Elder Ghost, Hu Liena and the other two felt extremely, deeply complicated.
They genuinely never expected that the powerful elders they once deeply respected would ever become their bitter enemies.
What profoundly puzzled them the most was that both Elder Chrysanthemum and Elder Ghost clearly, genuinely deeply respected Lin Mu.
"Sect Master, please generously give me some brief time alone with them. I am highly confident that I can successfully persuade her."
Elder Chrysanthemum bowed slightly and eagerly volunteered for the task.
If he could successfully get Hu Liena to permanently betray Bibi Dong, he would not only happily fulfill one of his own deep desires but also completely infuriate Bibi Dong, perfectly killing two birds with one stone.
"Very well, this specific matter is formally entrusted to you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Mu's figure flashed once and he completely disappeared from everyone's sight.
After Lin Mu finally left, the highly tense nerves of Hu Liena and the other two finally, slightly relaxed.
"Elder Chrysanthemum, Elder Ghost, have you two truly sided completely with Lin Mu?" Yan boldly asked, still clearly unwilling to give up hope.
Chrysanthemum Douluo completely didn't bother to verbally reply, but instead just violently slapped him brutally away.