Chance to Escape

The temptation was simply too great!

"Senior Sister... are you serious?" Ye Xuan's voice was trembling.

"I never lie."

Xia Lengyue withdrew her hand and leaned back in her chair like a queen in absolute control. "However, there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Ye Xuan, what can you give me?"

Ye Xuan froze.

What did he have?

His very life was currently held in her hands; what else could she possibly want?

"As your Junior Brother... I have nothing." Ye Xuan gave a dry laugh. "If Senior Sister wants this life..."

"What would I do with your life?"

Xia Lengyue interrupted him, a trace of terrifying madness flashing in her eyes. "Ye Xuan, I want you to marry me!"

Ye Xuan was completely dumbfounded.

"Marry... marry you?"

"That's right."

Xia Lengyue stood up and walked step by step until she was right in front of him. Parting her red lips, she enunciated every word clearly: "I want you to formally marry me and become my Dao Companion. I want to announce it to the world, letting the entire sect and even the entire Qingzhou cultivation world know that you, Ye Xuan, are Xia Lengyue's man."

Looking at the breathtakingly beautiful yet dangerous woman before him, Ye Xuan felt a chill run down his spine.

If he agreed, he would be permanently branded as Xia Lengyue's property and could forget about ever escaping her clutches in this lifetime!

Furthermore, once he became her Dao Companion, given her obsessively possessive personality, would he have any freedom left?

He would probably have his eyes gouged out just for glancing at another woman!

"No! Absolutely not!"

Ye Xuan roared inwardly.

But looking at Xia Lengyue's narrowing phoenix eyes that gleamed with danger, and feeling the icy aura of coercion subtly radiating from her...

Ye Xuan knew that if he dared to say the word "no", he would likely not walk out of here alive today.

She had laid her cards on the table.

Refusal meant death, or a fate worse than death.

What should he do?

Ye Xuan's mind raced.

Refusal was a death sentence; agreeing was life imprisonment.

Wait a minute...

Agree?

A flash of inspiration suddenly hit Ye Xuan.

Agreeing was one thing, but actually following through was another!

As long as he tricked her into giving him the resources to successfully reach Foundation Establishment and greatly boost his strength, his legs were his own. Wouldn't it be up to him whether he ran away or not?

Besides, with the power of a Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, even if she wanted to catch him, it wouldn't be that easy!

Having figured this out, the terror on Ye Xuan's face vanished instantly.

He raised his head, a look of wild ecstasy appearing on his face, and spoke incoherently out of excitement:

"Senior Sister... no, Lengyue! Are... are you telling the truth? Are you really willing to... lower yourself to marry me?"

Seeing his reaction, Xia Lengyue paused slightly, a trace of suspicion flashing in her eyes. "Are you unwilling?"

"How could I be unwilling!"

Ye Xuan stood up abruptly and looked at her with deep affection. "Being able to marry Senior Sister is a blessing I must have cultivated for eight lifetimes! It's an absolute miracle for my ancestors! I wouldn't even dare to dream of such a thing!"

"It's just that..."

Ye Xuan's tone suddenly shifted, and the joy on his face turned into deep inferiority and loneliness.

He lowered his head and sighed. "It's just that... the current me is not worthy of you."

"You are a lofty personal disciple, a Foundation Establishment genius, and a future pillar of the sect. While I... am just a useless outer sect disciple who hasn't even reached Foundation Establishment."

"If we announce our relationship now, what would others say? They would say you are blind, and they would call me a kept man living off a woman!"

"It's fine if I suffer a little grievance, but... I can't let you be pointed at and gossiped about. I can't let your reputation be damaged!"

These words were spoken with such sincerity and profound emotion.

Even Ye Xuan himself was almost moved by his own performance.

Hearing these words, the chill in Xia Lengyue's eyes gradually melted away.

So... this was what he cared about?

Was he resisting all this time for the sake of my reputation?

"I don't care what others think," Xia Lengyue said, her tone softening a bit. "As long as we care about each other, that is enough."

"But I care!"

Ye Xuan jerked his head up, his eyes incredibly firm. "Lengyue, I am a man! A man must have his dignity! I don't want to live under your wings for the rest of my life, being called your dependent!"

"Therefore..."

Ye Xuan took a deep breath, looked at Xia Lengyue, and proposed his conditions:

"I agree to this marriage! It is my honor!"

"However, I have one request!"

"Please let me reach Foundation Establishment first! And it must be Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment!"

"Once I successfully reach Foundation Establishment and have even the slightest qualification to stand by your side, you won't even need to ask. I will personally propose to the sect and marry you openly and honorably!"

"I want you... to be my bride in all your glory, rather than having you compromise to take me in."

These words hit Xia Lengyue's soft spot like a heavy hammer.

In her previous life, although Ye Xuan loved her, his cowardly nature meant he always lived in a subservient manner.

Yet in this life, he actually had the ambition to stand properly by her side?

Wasn't this exactly what she had dreamed of?

Xia Lengyue looked into Ye Xuan's sincere eyes, and the last shred of doubt in her heart was washed away by this display of manly responsibility.

The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, revealing a long-lost, stunning smile that came straight from her heart.

"Alright."

"You have ambition."

With a flip of her palm, a jade box radiating a rich aura of the Five Elements appeared in her hand, and she handed it directly to Ye Xuan.

"These are the pills I'm giving you to advance to the peak of Qi Condensation. As for the pills and materials needed for Foundation Establishment, I will prepare them separately."

"It's that easy?"

Overjoyed, Ye Xuan's hands trembled slightly as he hurriedly accepted the jade box.

"Thank you... thank you, Senior Sister!"

"However."

Xia Lengyue leaned in close and whispered softly in his ear. Her voice was so tender it could melt bones, yet it carried a deadly chill. "Ye Xuan, do not disappoint me."

"I have given you the items, and as for you... I have already claimed you."

"If you dare to deceive me, or if you dare to run..."

"Whether you flee to the highest heavens or the deepest underworld, I will drag you back."

"When that happens, I will break your legs and chain you to my bed, so that for the rest of your life... you can only look at me."

Ye Xuan felt a rush of cold air shoot straight from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

Suppressing his palpitations, he forced a bright smile and promised solemnly:

"Rest assured! My heart for you can be witnessed by heaven and earth!"

The moment he walked out of Lengyue Peak, Ye Xuan felt the clothes on his back were soaked through.

Looking back at the mist-shrouded mountain peak, the deep affection in Ye Xuan's eyes instantly vanished, replaced by coldness and determination.

"Witnessed by heaven and earth?"

"Heh, even God knows I was lying to you."

"Not run? Why wouldn't I run? Am I supposed to stay here for the holidays?"

Ye Xuan walked briskly down the mountain, his pace growing faster and faster.

Cultivation!

He had to go into secluded cultivation right this instant!

At the summit of Lengyue Peak.

Xia Lengyue stood by the edge of the cliff, watching Ye Xuan's retreating figure, a complex light flickering in her eyes.

"Junior Brother, did you really think I wouldn't know what you were plotting?"

She gently stroked a red string bracelet on her wrist. The other end of the red string was faintly pointing in the direction Ye Xuan had left.

That was the Concentric Knot, a tracking mark she had silently planted in his soul the moment she handed him the jade box.

Unless his cultivation surpassed hers, or she voluntarily removed it, even if he fled to the ends of the earth, she could sense his location with a single thought.

"You want to run, then run."

A morbid smile curled the corners of Xia Lengyue's lips, yet a single crystal teardrop slipped from the corner of her eye.

"When you get tired of running, and realize that no matter where you flee, you can never escape the palm of my hand..."

"You will have no choice but to... obediently accept your fate."

"In this life, you are destined to be mine."

Three months later.

Outside the Azure Cloud Sect, in a thatched cottage's seclusion room.

Ye Xuan sat cross-legged, five-colored light flowing and shifting around him, inhaling and exhaling the surrounding spiritual energy as naturally as breathing.

The veins on his forehead bulged, and his clothes were already soaked with sweat. He was clearly at the critical moment of a breakthrough.

These past three months had been a hellish torment for him.

In order to gain the capital to escape, and to control the massive energy of the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, he had practiced the Five Elements Chaos Sutra day and night. The agony of his meridians being torn apart and reconstructed was something he had endured through sheer willpower and gritted teeth.

"Break... for me!"

With a furious roar from the bottom of Ye Xuan's heart, a barrier within his body seemed to be violently smashed apart.

Boom!

His Qi sea churned, and spiritual energy, like a river bursting its banks, rapidly filled his limbs and bones.

Half-step Foundation Establishment!

Ye Xuan suddenly opened his eyes. A sharp light shot out, and the air in the entire room vibrated.

"Finally... I've reached it."

Ye Xuan let out a long sigh of relief. Feeling the vast power within his body, he didn't feel much joy, only a deep sense of exhaustion and urgency.

Three months.

During these three months, the outside world had undergone earth-shaking changes.

The most eye-catching of them all was Xia Lengyue.

After returning to the sect, her cultivation soared like a rocket. In just three short months, she had actually broken through several realms in succession, directly charging to the eighth level of Foundation Establishment!

This was simply an appalling speed!

One must know that for an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator to raise their realm by a single level, even with a pile of resources, it would take at least several years of effort. But for her, it was as easy as eating and drinking.

The current Xia Lengyue was already the undisputed number one prodigy of the Azure Cloud Sect. She was even regarded by the Sect Master and the Grand Elders as the future hope of the sect. Her power and influence were unmatched among the younger generation.

As the saying goes, when a man attains the Dao, even his poultry and dogs rise to heaven.

As the person handpicked by Xia Lengyue, over these three months, even though Ye Xuan was only an outer sect disciple, his status within the sect had risen along with hers.

Let alone outer sect disciples, even those senior brothers and sisters from the inner sect had to politely call him Junior Brother Ye when they saw him.

The deacons who had once made things difficult for him were lining up to give gifts and apologize.

No one dared to disturb his seclusion.

Because everyone knew that disturbing Ye Xuan was slapping Xia Lengyue in the face.

And as for those who slapped Xia Lengyue's face... the grass on their graves was already three yards high.

"Phew..."

Ye Xuan stood up and stretched his stiff muscles and bones.

He walked to the table and picked up the jade box containing the materials for the Five Elements Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.

This was a supreme treasure that countless cultivators dreamed of, but in Ye Xuan's eyes, it was both a stepping stone to becoming a powerhouse and a golden shackle placed on him by Xia Lengyue.

"If I establish my foundation right here, the commotion will definitely be huge, and Xia Lengyue will sense it instantly."

"Moreover, just having strength is not enough."

Ye Xuan put down the jade box and took out a yellowed parchment map from his robe, spreading it on the table.

His finger slowly traced across the map, his brows tightly furrowed.

"Xia Lengyue must have planted a tracking mark in my divine soul. That thing is formed from her origin soul power. Unless my cultivation surpasses hers, there is absolutely no way to remove it."

"The only way to shake off the tracking is to rely on external forces."

His finger finally stopped at the far western edge of the Azure Continent, an area marked in black—the Ten Thousand Burials Ghost Ridge.

That was a corner of an ancient battlefield, soaring with resentment and overrun by ghosts. It was a forbidden zone for human cultivators.

But in Ye Xuan's game memories, hidden in a secret ruin there was an ancient spiritual talisman—the Ten Thousand Mile Traceless Talisman.

Once activated, this talisman could make one instantly vanish from their current location, randomly teleporting them ten thousand miles away, and completely isolating all karma, aura, and divine soul tracking!