Chapter 470 - 281: The Might of the Curse Seal, Controlling a Late Stage (Part 2)
Chapter 470: Chapter 281: The Might of the Curse Seal, Controlling a Late Stage (Part 2)
Lin Changheng’s expression was grim as he watched Ye Qingwu prostrate herself in submission. He gave no reaction.
Time slowly trickled by, yet there was still no response...
To the side, Mo Zhaoli quietly watched the scene unfold. Her beautiful eyes were fixed on Lin Changheng, her adoration for him on full display—an expression unchanged from eighty years prior.
As for Ye Qingwu, still prostrate on the ground, every second felt like an eternity. Her new Master, she thought, was truly cold to the bone, his mind profound and unfathomable.
Her mind raced, desperately trying to discern his true intentions.
She was terrified that a single wrong guess would spell her doom, instantly wiping away a century of her hard-earned Cultivation.
This was an outcome she could not accept.
’I have to live!’
This became her most fundamental thought and the driving force behind her submission.
A moment later, she bit her lower lip, evidently accepting the humiliation. With a trembling hand, she slit her fair right arm. A bloody gash appeared instantly, and she pulsed it with her Magical Power.
PUFFT!
With a faint, muffled sound, as if something had burst forth from her body, the flesh around the gash curled back slightly. A Gu Insect—about the length of a pinky finger, its body transparent save for the eerie, blood-red lines tracing patterns within—slowly poked out its head.
The Gu Insect resembled a centipede but possessed cicada wings. Its body was composed of countless tiny segments that shimmered with a metallic luster, and a faint red glow pulsed between them.
Its head was eyeless, featuring only a circular maw filled with spiraling, sharp teeth. It constantly opened and closed, emitting a barely audible HISS that seemed to pierce one’s very Divine Soul. The creature radiated an ancient, savage, and yet cryptic aura.
What was even more striking—and what did not escape Lin Changheng’s perception—was the close, almost tangible connection between the bizarre Gu Insect and Ye Qingwu.
Fine, blood-red threads extended from the Gu Insect, their other ends buried deep within Ye Qingwu’s flesh and Divine Soul, making it seem like a part of her very being.
"This... is my Lifebound Unity Gu..." Ye Qingwu’s voice was hoarse, thick with indescribable heartache and despair. "This Gu was cultivated alongside my own life; our Divine Souls are linked. We live and die as one. If it is harmed, I will be grievously injured. If it dies, my Divine Soul will be shattered, and there will be no hope of survival for me."
She painstakingly maneuvered the bizarre Gu Insect until it fully detached from her arm and hovered in mid-air. The blood-red threads connecting them pulsed with a weak light, broadcasting the immense pain the separation caused her. Offering it forward with both hands, she bowed her head low.
"Now... Qingwu delivers this Gu into Master’s hands... From now on, my every thought will be yours to command... I only beg... that Master can trust me, even a little."
Her action was tantamount to placing her life in Lin Changheng’s hands without any reservation. Compared to the Divine Blood Curse Seal she had been forced to accept before, surrendering her Lifebound Unity Gu was a far more absolute—and therefore, more reassuring—act of submission.
A sufficiently powerful Cultivator might be able to remove or suppress a Curse Seal, but once a Lifebound Gu Insect fell under another’s control, one’s life and death were truly no longer their own. There was no room left for chance.
More importantly, by controlling the Gu Insect, Lin Changheng could perceive her every thought. He would no longer have to worry about her feigning obedience while secretly plotting to betray him. For the ever-cautious Lin Changheng, this was crucial.
Lin Changheng looked at the Gu Insect, radiating its savage and cryptic aura, and then at Ye Qingwu, her face pale, all dignity and resistance abandoned. He knew that to save her own life, the woman had paid the highest possible price. With a beckoning motion of his hand, he drew the Gu Insect into his palm, feeling the life force within it—a force intrinsically linked to Ye Qingwu’s life and her Divine Soul.
"Acceptable." He spoke the single word flatly before putting the Gu Insect away.
Upon hearing his word, Ye Qingwu’s tense Heart and Spirit finally relaxed. At the same time, a storm of conflicting emotions washed over her; she didn’t know whether to feel relieved that her life was spared for the moment, or to despair at having lost her freedom forever.
But what she didn’t know was that everything Lin Changheng had just done was a bluff.
If she had truly been determined to fight to the death, he had no foolproof method of controlling her.
’So, I might as well let her be the one to agonize over it. If you want to live, you have to give me something that will earn my trust.’
Sure enough, Ye Qingwu had surrendered her greatest secret, and in doing so, had eliminated all of Lin Changheng’s doubts.
It was killing two birds with one stone.
"Get up."
As if granted a royal pardon, Ye Qingwu scrambled to her feet. Still not daring to look directly at Lin Changheng, she stood to the side with her eyes downcast in a posture of complete submission.
Lin Changheng watched her, a thoughtful glint in his eye. ’This woman may be devious,’ he mused, ’but she is a genuine Late Stage Foundation Establishment expert. She also has a deep understanding of the Purple Extreme Sect’s inner workings and holds a certain status there. If I can control her completely, she’ll make a decent pawn.’
"Remember what you said today."
Lin Changheng said flatly, "If you develop a disloyal heart, you know the consequences. But if you obey me and serve me wholeheartedly, I will not treat you poorly."
"Qingwu would not dare! I swear I will never betray you, Master! Whatever your command, I will see it done, even if it costs me my life!" Ye Qingwu hastily pledged her allegiance.
"Right. That group of Foundation Establishment and above cultivators the Purple Extreme Sect dispatched some time ago—do you know what their mission was, or where they were sent?"
Lin Changheng said no more aloud. Instead, he transmitted the question directly into Ye Qingwu’s sea of consciousness with a strand of his Divine Thought.
’Master actually knows about this...’
Ye Qingwu froze. When she saw Lin Changheng’s impassive gaze land on her, she hesitated no longer and began to reply via voice transmission, "Although I was not on that list, my name is on the roster for the next deployment, so I am privy to some general information."