Chapter 140 Grand Ambitions
The "awakening" that Ma Hongshuo mentioned involved scooping up a ladle of warm corpse oil and splashing it directly onto Yan Lingxuan's face.
Thick, sticky oil streamed down her face, congealing into dark yellow wax tears on her wedding dress. She was thrown onto the wedding bed covered with a brocade quilt adorned with mandarin ducks, the room filled with a strange, sweet, metallic scent.
She tried to summon her natal Gu in the Miao language, but only felt a deathly silence in her blood. The black dog hair's restriction not only sealed her natal Gu, but also built an invisible wall in her meridians, preventing her from even using the most basic Gu techniques.
Ma Yuankui pushed open the door and entered.
He lifted the red veil from Yan Lingxuan's head.
His face was so ugly that Yan Lingxuan turned her face away, but her gaze inadvertently fell on the antique shelf. There, five skulls were neatly arranged, their crowns meticulously carved into lamps, with eerie green flames flickering inside.
When Ma Yuankui noticed that she had taken a liking to the five skulls, he chuckled and began to introduce her to his five ex-wives.
"Come on, meet your sisters."
He gently stroked the first skull.
His first wife was his childhood sweetheart. After she grew up, she went to university and found a boyfriend there. The Ma family used their power to force her to return and marry Ma Yuankui. She died of depression a year after the marriage.
The second wife was the cousin of the first wife. Her family wanted to maintain good relations with the Ma family, so they sent her to be their second wife. After seeing her cousin's skull, she was so frightened that she died.
His third wife was a struggling actress who aspired to fame. She was of average talent and appearance, but after taking the "Beauty Pill" given to her by Ma Yuankui, she became increasingly beautiful. She married Ma Yuankui for the endless supply of the pills, but since the pills were made from corpse oil, she soon succumbed to the poison and died.
The fourth...
The fifth...
Yan Lingxuan is the sixth one.
"You jinxed womanizer!" Yan Lingxuan cursed angrily.
Instead of getting angry, Ma Yuankui smiled, the dagger gleaming eerily in the candlelight. His fingers traced Yan Lingxuan's carotid artery, the cool back of the blade gently patting the bride's cheek.
“Year of Wuyin, Month of Guihai, Day of Dingmao, Hour of Gengzi…” He softly recited Yan Lingxuan’s birth chart, the tip of his knife lifting the first button of her wedding dress. “Do you know why I chose you? A born corpse-refining cauldron, a once-in-a-century talent.”
The dagger slowly moved down, stopping at his heart: "I'll take three drops of your heart's blood and mix them with a century-old corpse's oil..."
His breathing suddenly quickened. "In this degenerate age where spiritual energy is depleted, only this method can help me achieve the Golden Core Dao!"
Yan Lingxuan felt a sharp pain as the knife tip pierced her skin, but amidst the excruciating pain, a sudden idea struck her.
She suddenly shouted behind Ma Yuankui, "The older sisters are watching you!"
Ma Yuankui turned around reflexively.
The five skulls on the display shelf had all turned towards him at some point, black tear tracks streaming from their empty eye sockets…
In the instant he was stunned, the carved window frame suddenly shattered.
Splinters of wood shot out like arrows, grazing his cheeks and leaving several bloody streaks.
Lu Yao gracefully entered, stepping through a flurry of flying wood chips, the moonlight leaving a silver trail behind her.
"Incompetent good-for-nothing, I reached the Golden Core stage at the age of twelve." Lu Yao's lips curled into a mocking smile. "You're practically half-buried in the ground, and you're still dreaming of achieving the Golden Core stage?"
Ma Yuankui's eyes were bloodshot, and he let out a low growl like a wild beast.
He suddenly crushed the jade pendant at his waist, and the ground outside the courtyard immediately cracked!
Twelve blue-faced corpses burst from the ground, their rotting claws reaching for Lu Yao's clothes.
Lu Yao snorted coldly, her wide sleeves fluttering as seventy-two ancient bronze coins shot out, forming a pre-heaven Bagua formation upon landing.
The corpses, upon entering the formation, scurried about like headless flies. The largest one suddenly tore at its companion's arm, sending rotten flesh flying like tattered cotton.
"Ah! My hand!" Ma Yuankui suddenly screamed.
Lu Yao's peach wood sword was faster than the wind.
Just as he was stamping his feet in frustration at the infighting among the undead, he was suddenly attacked.
First, he severed the tendons in his hands, then with a flick of the sword tip, he precisely cut the tendons in his feet.
He writhed on the ground like a maggot, watching helplessly as Lu Yao used the tip of her sword to lift his collar.
"You like corpse oil?" Her voice was terrifyingly soft. "Then try your own cooking."
With a flash of sword light, Ma Yuankui's body traced an arc before crashing heavily into the corpse-refining pool.
The boiling corpse oil instantly engulfed his struggling figure, and a series of eerie bubbles rose from the surface of the pool.
Lu Yao turned to Yan Lingxuan, a golden light condensing at her fingertips.
The moment the talisman entered her body, Yan Lingxuan trembled, and power awakened in her blood.
Her pale cheeks gradually regained color, and the skin burned by the corpse oil healed at a visible speed.
"Can we walk?"
Lu Yao reached out and wiped the cold sweat from Yan Lingxuan's temples.
Yan Lingxuan bit her lip and nodded.
"Lord Fruit, you've really come..."
She murmured, her words still filled with disbelief.
Lu Yao gently touched her brow with her fingertip.
Amidst the shimmering golden light, the mark of the Thousand Life Gu appeared and disappeared.
"You've done a good job during this time."
Yan Lingxuan's eyes suddenly reddened.
She opened her mouth, but in the end, she could only choke out two words: "Thank you."
These two words carry immense weight; they express gratitude for being saved and are a response to that trust.
The two arrived at the Ma family hall, where Ma Hongshuo and Yan Xiucheng were still drinking and chatting happily.
"Star Awakening failed, what a pity. We originally wanted to sign the champion as the spokesperson for Corpse Oil Essence at the last minute, given how high the hype was..."
It turns out that the evil array that triggered the Star Pupil Awakening was a scheme devised by these two together.
"It's alright, there will be another Star Awakening." Ma Hongshuo said, his eyes blurry with drunkenness. "Talent shows are popping up everywhere, there are plenty of aspiring stars, and the next one will be even more obedient..."
Yan Xiucheng poured wine for Ma Hongshuo with a fawning tone, "That's right, all the top celebrities have used our corpse oil essence..."
He suddenly caught sight of a figure at the door, and a wine cup clattered to the ground.
"You unfilial daughter!" He stood up abruptly, his face turning from red to green and then to white. "How could you..."
His voice stopped abruptly when his gaze fell on the figure behind Yan Lingxuan.
Yan Lingxuan stood silently, coldly staring at the man she had once called her father.
Her gaze reminded Yan Xiucheng of the most poisonous bamboo viper from Miao territory.
Cold and calm, yet carrying a deadly killing intent.
Lu Yao walked in slowly, her skirt, embroidered with the Big Dipper pattern, sweeping across the wine stains on the floor: "What a grand plan!"
Lu Yao's voice was soft, yet it caused the temperature in the entire auditorium to plummet. "Using the blood of fangirls to raise Gu? Making top celebrities the spokespeople for corpse oil? The Ma family head's business acumen is far superior to his cultivation."
Ma Hongshuo, his eyes blurry with drunkenness, slammed his hand on the table and stood up: "Where did this little blonde girl come from?"
Before she could finish speaking, Lu Yao pointed her sword and made a sweeping motion.
Three hundred jars of corpse oil on the display shelf exploded simultaneously, and the viscous oil spread across the ground like a black tide.
Twisted human faces emerged from each pool of corpse oil: the desperate cries of young girls, the heart-wrenching wails of infants, and the hoarse curses of old men.
These faces floated in the grease, black foam constantly escaping from their opening and closing mouths.
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