You Have to Swear!
"Little loser. No wonder you refused my help—turns out you already had a plan of your own."
Just as Zhang Lingxiao circulated the Devouring Heaven Demon Art, absorbing and refining Zhang Yuntao's Blood Qi, that cold voice rang out once more.
"Cut the nonsense," Zhang Lingxiao replied calmly. "No matter who you are, you definitely don't have good intentions toward me. You're hiding inside this ring, aren't you?"
Still circulating the art, he removed the silver ring from his finger and held it up.
Earlier, he had noticed Su Qing repeatedly glancing at the ring without explaining why—then inexplicably calling him Master's husband. That alone had set off alarm bells.
From Su Qing's behavior, Zhang Lingxiao had long sensed something unusual about the ring, though he hadn't known the truth.
So there really was a powerful female Soul sealed inside it—and she was Su Qing's Master.
But then… what exactly did Su Qing mean by calling him Master's husband?
Did this ancient powerhouse… fancy him?
The woman's voice was pleasant, but as the Master of a Tianwu Realm expert like Su Qing, she had to be an old monster who'd lived for at least seventy or eighty years, right?
The thought alone made Zhang Lingxiao shiver, goosebumps crawling up his arms.
Sensing him remove the ring, the cold voice suddenly turned anxious.
"Zhang Lingxiao! What are you doing?!"
"What am I doing?" Zhang Lingxiao snorted. "Obviously throwing you away. You harbor ill intentions toward me—should I just sit around and wait for you to possess my body?"
"Firstly, I have no idea why you think I'd want to possess you," the voice snapped back, irritation seeping through. "Secondly, what would I, a woman, gain from possessing a man's physical body? Can you at least think before you speak?"
"Cough… cough…"
Zhang Lingxiao scratched his head awkwardly. "Fine, you have a point."
Then his gaze sharpened.
"But you wouldn't help me for no reason, would you? There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."
The voice fell silent for a moment before replying, hesitantly:
"You're right. I do need your help."
"I cultivated an ancient secret art, but I can no longer operate it myself. In the future, I will pass it on to you. With it, you'll help me reshape my physical body."
Zhang Lingxiao frowned. "I'm just a Qi Wu Realm cultivator. Why would you choose me?"
"Rather than saying I chose you," the woman replied leisurely, "why not say you chose me? If I remember correctly, wasn't it you who dripped blood onto the ring, acknowledged me as Master, and awakened my soul?"
As her words fell, a phantom figure drifted out of the ring in Zhang Cheng's hand.
He froze.
His mouth opened, yet no sound came out.
Only one thought echoed in his mind—
Too beautiful.
Snow-white hair cascaded down her back to her waist. Her figure was perfectly proportioned—full where it should be, slender where it mattered. Long, graceful legs crossed casually in the air, their pale brilliance almost dazzling.
Yes—despite being a Soul body, she had legs.
What stunned Zhang Lingxiao most wasn't just her beauty, but her eyes.
They were pure white—pupil and sclera alike—like flawless jade. Gazing into them stirred an instinctive sense of reverence.
Not the Human Race… Yao Race? Or something else entirely?
On the Kyushu Continent, myriad races coexisted. When Zhang Lingxiao was young and had traveled to the capital with his father, he had once seen a half-Yao with fox ears.
Half-Yao were born from unions between powerful Yao who had taken human form and Human Race cultivators.
His father had told him that the fox-eared girl was the Tianhuo Country's current Human Emperor's biological daughter—her mother a Yao Race princess from a mighty clan beyond the nation's borders.
That revelation had once shaken his childhood worldview.
"Big beauty," Zhang Lingxiao blurted out without thinking, "what race are you?"
Only after speaking did he realize his form of address had completely changed.
The mysterious woman observed his reaction, faint amusement flickering through her heart.
As expected—no man could remain unmoved upon seeing her true form.
Yet that thought quickly turned bittersweet.
If not for this peerless beauty, she would never have drawn such calamity upon herself.
She had chosen death over submission, her body destroyed and her Dao shattered. Only by relying on an ancient secret art had her Divine Soul survived, sealed within this ring.
Beauty… really is a curse.
She had remained pure her entire life, yet even after death, she was forced to rely on a man to regain her body.
Still—
This little fellow wasn't bad.
Though his strength was low, his temperament was genuine. With her guidance, he could grow into a true powerhouse. At the very least, he was far more pleasing than that hypocritical wretch from her past.
If he's going to be my man, she thought calmly, then I'll cultivate him myself.
With that decision made, Zhang Lingxia somehow began to look far more agreeable.
"You guessed correctly," she said at last. "I am not of the Human Race."
"I am of the God Race."
God Race?!
Zhang Cheng's mind exploded.
He knew the Kyushu Continent housed countless races—but a God Race?
Just how vast and mysterious was this world?!
After a long pause, Zhang Lingxiao spoke firmly:
"I'll help you."
"But you must never harbor any malicious intent toward me."
Better safe than sorry. She claimed to mean no harm, but who knew whether this was some sinister secret art designed to ruin him?
He needed insurance.
"You're a peerless expert," Zhang Lingxiao continued. "You should possess oath-binding techniques."
"I want you to swear an oath."
"Otherwise, I will never agree."
---