Seeing this, the Evil Emperor smiled.
"Hahaha, truly worthy of being Bai Shengjun's disciple. Your good disciple's true form has finally returned!"
At this moment, Ouyang Qinglin, who was being torn apart by the demonic spirit beast.
His blurred consciousness suddenly cleared upon seeing the scene within the spirit pearl.
That was… that was Gu Qianying?
Shock in his heart erupted with immense pain within his body.
Gu Qianying within the spirit pearl seemed to be in great distress.
What had happened to her?
Why had she become like this?
It wasn't surprise at her appearance, but rather heartache at her suffering.
At this moment, the old man with white hair flicked his sleeve.
The scene in the spirit pearl vanished.
He retrieved the spirit pearl.
Facing the Evil Emperor, he spoke calmly, "You lost our bet. Next, you will follow my plan."
"Alright! A bet is a bet. This Emperor will obey you. However… Bai Shengjun, she is your disciple. Can you truly bear to let her become a female demon within the Evil Emperor Realm?"
"Her fate was always thus. This Saint Monarch is merely following the will of heaven."
"This Emperor shall say no more. However, regarding the conditions between us, this Emperor only desires the heart of the Lotus Emperor. For anything else, this Emperor can lend you a hand."
"That is excellent. This Saint Monarch believes that Your Majesty the Evil Emperor is a person of his word. To ensure smoother cooperation between us, I have come here and, coincidentally, to deliver two people."
As he spoke,
The white-haired elder snapped his fingers outside.
Two men dressed in black robes entered.
They had expressionless faces. As they approached, they knelt at the white-haired elder's feet. "Master."
The white-haired elder raised his palm, drawing a surge of spiritual energy from them, and commanded, "Duan Xifeng, Bai Qi, from today onwards, you shall remain here and obey His Majesty the Evil Emperor. From now on, he is your master!"
Duan Xifeng and Bai Qi had vacant eyes and expressionless, stiff faces.
They nodded in unison. "Yes, Master."
At this moment, Ouyang Qinglin, still being torn by the demonic spirit beast, heard the names "Duan Xifeng, Bai Qi" in his last moments of consciousness.
His weak consciousness was once again jolted awake.
"Hiss…"
With difficulty, he raised his hand and clutched the demonic spirit beast's eye, using all his strength to gouge out its right eye.
Blood sprayed into his face.
In his palm, he held the still-warm eyeball.
At this moment, he suddenly gained the will to live.
Not for anything else, but solely to protect the woman he wished to protect – Gu Qianying!
Duan Xifeng and Bai Qi were controlled, and this white-haired elder before him seemed to be Gu Qianying's master.
He felt as if he had met this person before.
It was precisely because of this that he felt Gu Qianying was definitely in danger.
It was like a grand conspiracy, waiting for that foolish woman Gu Qianying to fall into it step by step.
At this moment, he had to do something.
He absolutely could not let that foolish woman Gu Qianying be harmed in any way!
"Hoo…"
The demonic spirit beast growled and roared.
It instinctively flung Ouyang Qinglin far away.
Ouyang Qinglin flew a great distance, blood still flowing from his neck.
The moment he landed, he pulled out a dagger hidden on his person.
Holding the dagger, he swiftly cut down an ugly-looking man.
With his extraordinary willpower, he escaped.
Blood flowed along the path he took.
Watching Ouyang Qinglin's retreating figure,
The Evil Emperor's dark eyes ignited with bloodthirsty killing intent.
"What are you waiting for? Chase him, kill him."
The white-haired elder finally noticed that the person who had escaped was the Grand Tutor of the Eastern Victory Kingdom, the Prince of the Xia Dynasty, Ouyang Qinglin.
"How did you capture him?"
"If I hadn't captured him, how could I have lured your good disciple?"
The Evil Emperor turned to the old man with white hair, his gaze icy. "Bai Shengjun, to train your good disciple into the female demon you desire, you must sever her emotional ties. She must become cold-blooded; the people around her are a poison to her, a poison that seeps into the bone marrow, to achieve the desired effect. You know this better than this Emperor, Bai Shengjun."
In the Ghostly Forbidden Land, the black flame still burned.
The surrounding Yin energy was gradually growing.
The white-haired elder's gaze swept over the twisted and deformed human bones within the transparent ice coffin.
A trace of ruthlessness dyed his sharp eyes.
"Your Majesty the Evil Emperor speaks truly. My good disciple was destined to sever her emotional ties. Being emotionless and cold-blooded is her fate; she cannot escape it!"
"Since Bai Shengjun says so, then why do you still keep Gu Qianying's mother? If it were up to this Emperor, I would have turned her to ashes, making Gu Qianying give up."
"Although she is dead, this Saint Monarch still has use for her. Do not forget, Gu Qianying's mother requires the Lotus Emperor's heart to be resurrected. Guess, does my good disciple want her mother to live, or does she want her own husband to live?"
"Hahaha, Bai Shengjun, you have a good plan. This Emperor admires you."
…
Within a pitch-black cave in the Demonic Mountain.
Ouyang Qinglin leaned weakly in a corner of the cave wall.
In the darkness, his bewitching phoenix eyes emitted a bloodthirsty glow.
His crimson python robe was torn beyond recognition.
His flesh-and-blood-covered arm was connected by bone, and the uneven tooth marks on his neck were particularly obvious.
His handsome face was covered in streaks of blood.
Blood continuously overflowed from the corners of his mouth, and he swallowed several mouthfuls.
In his hand, he still held the dagger he had escaped with.
At this moment, the cave entrance was filled with strangely shaped corpses.
He had lost count of how many strangely shaped men he had killed.
He only knew that if he didn't carve out a bloody path, he wouldn't be able to escape this place and return to that foolish woman Gu Qianying's side.
Having not eaten a single piece of flesh, he didn't want to become like the beasts outside the cave.
For several hours, he had been drinking his own blood and eating wild grass and fruits for sustenance.
Gu Qianying, wait for me. I won't let you suffer any harm. I must wait for you!"
Looking at the moonlight, the only source of light hanging in the sky outside the cave.
A tear dripped from Ouyang Qinglin's eye.
At the point of exhaustion, he did not give up; he was enduring, holding on.
Now, his only thought was to tell that foolish woman Gu Qianying personally.
To tell her that her master was not a good person.
At the same time.
Within the Yi Jing Pavilion.
With Gu Qianying's true form exposed, the scene was chaotic.
Meng Zhiyuan, considering Meng Qinghua's collusion with demonic beings a grave offense, ordered all the Yi people of the Yi Jing Pavilion, including the other Yi people on this island, to surround and eliminate Meng Qinghua and his sister.
The Yi Jing Pavilion had always been an enemy of demonic beings.
Therefore, Meng Qinghua and his sister became sinners within the Yi Jing Pavilion.
"Nephew Meng, I never imagined that you would collude with demonic beings. You also know our Yi Jing Pavilion's rules. Today, I, leading all the Yi people, shall punish the Yi Jing Pavilion sinners Meng Qinghua and Meng Xiangxiang, brother and sister. Everyone, follow me and send these siblings to the execution ground, to atone for our Yi Jing Pavilion!"
Led by Meng Zhiyuan, numerous Yi people surrounded Meng Qinghua, who held a long sword.
Meng Xiangxiang, terrified, hid behind Meng Qinghua.
"Brother, what's going on? How can Gu Qianying be a demonic person? Are we really going to the execution ground?"