Deterrence

Inside, the sound of reading had not ceased for an entire night. Yet, it seemed steady, without any major fluctuations—nothing to suggest something was wrong.

So Yuan Bi and Yuan Qing could only wait patiently outside.

Unbeknownst to them, within the cave, Liao Pantu, who was observing through the Soul-Nurturing Pendant, stared in shock and worry at Lin Xiao, who hadn’t stopped reading, and at the Yuan Family Ancestor, whose body was already clearing away nearly half of the dark aura.

Jiang Youfu, however, remained unaware that anything was amiss.

All he knew was that he had been reading all night, to the point his mouth felt numb and dry. If it weren’t for his constant use of spiritual power to relieve the pressure on his lips, they might have peeled.

Fortunately, the Yuan Family Ancestor seemed to be improving, which meant Brother Xiao’s spell was definitely working.

So Jiang Youfu, who had been numbed from reading for so long, suddenly perked up again.

Nearby, Lin Xiao, still with his eyes closed, was fully immersed in his spellwork, steadily erasing the dark aura as he purified the Yuan Family Ancestor’s heart demons.

Suddenly, a voice filled with anger shot directly into his consciousness:

“Who dares ruin my good work?!”

Lin Xiao’s mind was shaken.

The heart demon of a Nascent Soul cultivator was indeed extraordinary—strong enough to suppress its host.

Lin Xiao almost lost control, his mind on the verge of collapsing.

Thankfully, Jiang Youfu’s steady voice reading aloud never faltered. Just as Lin Xiao’s mind began to waver, the clear, crisp sound of reading reached his ears, instantly pulling his scattered focus back together.

With renewed concentration, he intensified his purification spell.

The Yuan Family Ancestor’s heart demon was powerless against this.

It was only the Ancestor’s heart demon—it couldn’t affect others. Its ability to intimidate Lin Xiao came solely from the fact that Lin Xiao was actively engaging it with his spell, giving the demon a fleeting opportunity.

But it hadn’t expected such resilience. Despite its overwhelming pressure, Lin Xiao remained steadfast.

So the heart demon could only watch as it was slowly eradicated, helpless.

In a fit of rage, it turned its full fury to tormenting the Yuan Family Ancestor even more brutally.

Its goal was clear: before it was completely wiped out, it would drag its host into the abyss...

Yet now, the demon had already lost a third of its strength to Lin Xiao’s efforts.

Perhaps sensing its diminishing power, the Yuan Family Ancestor’s will to survive flared fiercely. He fought back desperately against the heart demon.

Faced with such internal and external pressure, and having lost much of its hard-earned power over the years, the demon grew weaker by the moment.

Jiang Youfu watched as the dark aura around the Yuan Family Ancestor dissipated greatly, revealing the old man beneath the black mist.

Only then did Jiang Youfu see clearly: the old man’s face and body were covered in festering sores.

Thick, black blood oozed from them like viscous ink—an unsettling sight.

His heart trembled at the thought.

If they ever suffered from cultivation gone wrong, would they end up like this old man?

But as the dark aura around the Yuan Family Ancestor faded, the sores and black patches on his body seemed to stop spreading.

The flow of the black blood also slowed considerably.

Seeing this, Jiang Youfu muttered silently in his heart, "Brother Xiao is really amazing!"

Suddenly, he heard a "plop" beside him. Turning his head, he saw Lin Xiao had fainted and collapsed to the ground.

"Brother Xiao!"

Liao Pantu, no longer caring whether Yuan’s family would discover him being out, quickly extended a hand from his Soul-Nurturing Pendant. After tossing two items onto the ground, he immediately withdrew his hand back inside.

Then he said to Jiang Youfu, who had rushed over to help Lin Xiao up:

"He’s fine, just overexerted his spiritual power and is a bit exhausted. Little Fatty, use the mini spirit boat and the invisibility talisman on the ground when you leave later."

Jiang Youfu didn’t ask any more questions. He picked up the palm-sized mini spirit boat and invisibility talisman, tucked them into his bosom, then half-carried, half-supported the unconscious Lin Xiao off the ground.

The sound of reading suddenly stopped. Coupled with Jiang Youfu’s anxious shout of "Brother Xiao" just now, Yuan Bi and Yuan Qing outside immediately knew something was wrong inside.

Without hesitation, Yuan Bi formed a hand seal and opened the massive stone door. Before stepping inside, he saw Jiang Youfu carrying Lin Xiao out.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, what happened to you?" Yuan Bi asked hurriedly.

Jiang Youfu shook his head, worry evident in his voice:

"Maybe he overexerted his spiritual power. Uncle Yuan, I have to take him back to rest first. We’ll talk about everything else later."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Bi took a closer look and found that Lin Xiao was indeed fine—just drained and faint from using too much spiritual energy.

He had no reason to refuse. After all, Lin Xiao had exhausted himself to help their patriarch. Yuan Bi immediately nodded:

"I’ll escort you back."

Without waiting for Jiang Youfu to respond, he pulled out his flying artifact—a spirit boat.

Then he added:

"Don’t worry, Jiang Daoist, I’ll use the spirit boat to send you out. No one will know you’re on board."

Hearing this, Jiang Youfu silently swallowed the thought, "We could have gone back on our own."

If someone else was sending them, then Senior Liao’s invisibility talisman could be saved, right?

These talismans were painstakingly made by Elder Liu and, as Senior Liao had mentioned before, there weren’t many left.

So when Jiang Youfu heard Yuan Bi offer to send them, he thought it would save a talisman.

He had no choice. Baldy and Brother Xiao often discussed sect matters in front of him, even calculating how to economize and make the best use of disciples without affecting everyone’s cultivation.

He didn’t know much about other things, but when it came to talismans, Elder Liu was currently the only one in their sect capable of making such high-level ones. So Jiang Youfu knew it was best to save them whenever possible.

Yuan Bi then turned to close the massive stone door.

Since Lin Xiao had exhausted himself helping their patriarch, Yuan Bi didn’t feel it was right to enter first and inspect before escorting them out while Lin Xiao was unconscious.

He only gave a quick scan with his divine sense, confirming their patriarch seemed fine, then immediately shut the stone door, opened his spirit boat, and set off with Jiang Youfu and Lin Xiao toward their lodging place.

However, after the Spirit Vessel had taken off, Yuan Bi suddenly realized something—when the massive stone door was opened just now, it seemed... there wasn’t the usual overwhelming aura of Heart Demons spilling out?

Moreover, when he scanned with his divine sense, the dark energy surrounding the ancestor appeared to have diminished significantly...

With this in mind, Yuan Bi was utterly astonished.

The dark aura enveloping their ancestor had dissipated by more than just a little!

Could it be that this was the result of these two young disciples?

At first, he had thought what Lin Xiao said would only help to slightly ease the burden—maybe just offset a tiny bit. But judging from the brief glance at their ancestor just now, it seemed far from being merely ‘a little’!

If that’s truly the case, then this is... incredibly impressive!