"System, you just said you could help me temporarily boost my cultivation level?"
【Um. 】
Chu Xinxin put away her casual attitude: "What level can you reach, and how long can you maintain it?"
[It can raise your cultivation to the maximum allowed by this world. The time required depends on the level of cultivation being raised. If you want to reach Xiao Linyi's level, it will take a maximum of two hours.]
Two hours? That's enough.
"Let's see who it is first..."
The two men who kidnapped Chu Xinxin didn't say a word the whole way, they just kept urging their spiritual power to travel.
The system said she had been kidnapped overnight and was now at the border of Dongzhou. No sooner had the system finished speaking than Chu Xinxin was thrown heavily to the ground.
Fortunately, the system activated the defensive array on her clothes beforehand, preventing her from getting hurt. However, immediately afterward, a bowl of ice water was poured over her head, causing Chu Xinxin to shiver involuntarily before slowly opening her eyes.
She first saw a floral blue dress, then looked up and a face with a gentle smile came into view—
Who else could it be but Chu Shu?
"Sister Xinxin, you've come all the way from Siyin Pavilion, you must be very tired." Chu Shu greeted her with Emperor Liang's words from last night, clearly still bothered by the fact that she had been made a musician to play last night.
She pinched Chu Xinxin's chin and continued, "Sister specially prepared some good tea for her younger sister. How is it? Are you satisfied, younger sister?"
Water droplets slid down Chu Xinxin's cheeks, and her already messy hair clung to her face, making her look even more disheveled.
The anger that had been building up in Chu Shu's heart finally dissipated somewhat.
"Not very satisfied." Chu Xinxin said with a smile, "If you could play another song for me, I might just end up in your bedchamber tonight."
Chu Shu's feigned smile vanished instantly, replaced by hatred as she glared at Chu Xinxin. Her fingers clenched, her long nails digging into Chu Xinxin's smooth, delicate skin: "Still being stubborn even when you're about to die. Let's see how long you can hold out. Take her storage ring."
A maid took the storage ring off Chu Xinxin's hand and handed it to Chu Shu.
Chu Shu released Chu Xinxin: "I've heard that the Shengjing Wang family's Earth-grade spiritual treasure, the Three-Section Whip, is incredibly powerful. Xinxin, why don't you try it for me?"
After saying that, he erased Chu Xinxin's mark on the storage ring, and probed inside with his spiritual sense, only to find it empty.
"Where's the item?!" Chu Shu threw the storage ring in front of Chu Xinxin.
The system had already transferred the items, Chu Xinxin said with sarcasm, "What items? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Stop pretending, search me."
Chu Xinxin was bound and had no power to resist. The maid quickly found the Sumeru Ring on her neck.
Chu Shu's eyes gleamed with greed when she saw the Sumeru Ring: "The Sumeru Ring is indeed in your hands."
The Sumeru Ring has recognized Chu Xinxin as its master, and no one else can use it unless she voluntarily erases the mark or she dies.
With the treasures already in hand and Chu Xinxin destined to die, Chu Shu wasn't in a hurry.
She carefully hid the Sumeru Ring in her bosom and said to Chu Xinxin in a good mood, "For the sake of the Sumeru Ring, I'll leave you alone for now."
Chu Xinxin looked at her coldly: "What exactly do you want?"
"What do you want to do..." Chu Shu touched her still throbbing wound. "Fine, I'll let you die knowing why."
Chu Shu slowly recalled: "You have no roots or connections, your cultivation is shallow, you possess a great treasure yet don't know how to keep your wealth hidden, so don't blame others for coveting your possessions. If it's not the Chu family, it will be some other family..."
"Later, you found Master Zichen as your backer. We misjudged the relationship between you, and the attempt to establish a family ties failed. My father was slapped by Master Zichen, and he blamed it all on me. After the victory banquet that day, he changed his strategy and asked me to imitate you and seduce Master Zichen, hoping to use Master Zichen's influence to elevate the Chu family to a higher level..."
"Of course I don't want to. Who do you think you are?"
Chu Shu took a deep breath and smiled gently again: "I went to find him and told him that it's better to rely on yourself than on others. Waiting for others to give you something when they're happy, and then slap you in front of everyone when they're not, and you still have to kneel down and apologize, is not as good as... making all those things your own."
"So...you want to kill me and steal my treasure?" Chu Xinxin's eyes were as cold as an icy pool.
"Is there a problem? Since ancient times, haven't treasures always been obtained by those with the ability?" Chu Shu's smile grew even more smug. "Look, someone like you, even if you get it, you'll lose it immediately."
Chu Xinxin: "Where do you get the confidence that you can kill him?"
"Do you know where this is?" Chu Shu pointed to the stone tablet not far away. "Beyond that stone tablet is the Qiangze Secret Realm. In the secret realm, as long as you use spiritual power, your dantian will be like a gaping hole, and all the spiritual power in your body will be quickly absorbed by the secret realm. The higher your cultivation level, the faster it will be. The Chu family has already set up a great formation and is just waiting for True Person Zichen to test it."
"Sister, I've discovered that there are approximately one hundred members of the Chu family deep within the secret realm."
The system suddenly spoke.
Chu Xinxin roughly understood that the Chu family probably wanted to use a human wave tactic to drag things out until Xiao Linyi's spiritual power was drained by the secret realm, and then kill him and seize the treasure.
[Sister, shall we start improving your cultivation now? Don't worry, as long as your cultivation improves quickly enough, the secret realm won't drain you dry.]
Cultivation advancement means absorbing enough spiritual energy to rise from a lower realm to a higher realm. Chu Xinxin is like a container. As this container grows larger, if the spiritual energy entering is greater than the spiritual energy exiting plus the rate at which the container grows, then Chu Xinxin's spiritual energy will be full.
"Let's not alert them yet. Chu Shu will definitely lead me to the formation." Chu Xinxin's voice was filled with killing intent. "None of the Chu family members will escape."
......
On the other side.
As soon as Xiao Linyi returned to Zichen Palace, he locked himself in his study and flipped through the ancient books that he had already read and become familiar with, but still found nothing.
He felt increasingly depressed, and when he came out of the study, it was almost dawn.
When he reached Chu Xinxin's door, he suddenly realized that he could not sense Chu Xinxin's presence. Xiao Linyi's left eyelid twitched violently. He pushed open the door and saw that there was no one in the room. The bedding on the bed was neatly arranged, indicating that the owner had not returned home all night.
Xiao Linyi's aura was terrifyingly low, and he immediately turned and left.
Just as he stepped out of the gate of Zichen Palace, a little girl dressed as a beggar ran over and blocked his way, holding up a light blue outer garment.
Xiao Linyi immediately recognized that it was what Chu Xinxin had worn last night.
Thinking of what might happen, a bone-chilling cold instantly seeped into his limbs and bones. Xiao Linyi grabbed the little beggar's hand tightly and asked sternly, "Who gave you this!"
The little beggar was hurt by his grip and struggled constantly. Finally, a piece of paper fell out of his pocket, which read: "Qiang Ze, come alone, or I will kill you!"
Xiao Linyi's oppressive aura could no longer be suppressed, and it instantly soared into the sky. The people of Shengjing all looked up at the direction of Zichen Palace, wondering what had happened.
The young boy from Tianji Tower also saw it. He remembered his master's instructions to report immediately if there was any unusual activity from Zichen Palace or Zichen Zhenren. The boy hurriedly went to find Tianji, but found the stone gate locked and there was no response no matter how he called.
Left with no other option, Xiao Tong went to Zichen Palace to investigate on his own, but he arrived too late. Xiao Linyi had already summoned the black dragon and headed to the Qiangze Secret Realm.
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