Dual Cultivation System: The Villainous Servant’s Rise

Chapter 237: Little Trash, You’ve Attained the Nascent Soul Stage and Still Don’t Dare to Come Out and Face Me?

“Heh. That only proves how narrow your worldview is.”

“This is nothing more than a standard method for our kind,” Li Qingyu remarked dismissively.

As members of a Demonic Sect, they had no need to consider the gaze or moral judgment of the world. Doing as they pleased, by any means necessary—that was the way of the Demonic Sect. They were not like the hypocritical Immortal Dao Sects, who had to weigh every action against how it might tarnish their precious reputation.

“Cut the crap. I’m here. Where is Zhao Batian? Tell that loser to get his ass out here and face me!” Han Lie said, his face a mask of impatience.

“He is already here.”

Li Qingyu turned her gaze toward the central plaza of the City Lord’s Manor.

Crack! Crack!

Above the plaza, the fabric of space was suddenly torn asunder.

A gaunt figure with hands tucked into his sleeves slowly stepped out from the void.

Who else could it be but Zhao Batian?

Behind him trailed several Sun Moon Sect disciples, looking every bit the part of loyal lackeys.

“Long time no see, Brother Lin. I trust you have been well?” Zhao Batian greeted Han Lie first, a smile on his face that didn’t reach his eyes. Beneath his flat tone, a current of deep-seated hatred surged.

“Little piece of trash, what are you hiding in there for? You’ve finally attained the Nascent Soul Stage and you still don’t dare to come out and face me? Are you afraid of losing to me again and losing what little face you have left?”

Han Lie didn’t bother with pleasantries. He immediately activated his mockery mode, aiming to provoke.

To give credit where it was due, Zhao Batian truly lived up to his reputation as a peerless genius with a Ninth-Grade Spirit Vein. Even without the fated chance from Daoist Star-Sucker, he had successfully broken through to the Nascent Soul Stage.

However…

From his perception, Han Lie noted that Zhao Batian’s aura was fluctuating.

Although the instability was subtle, Han Lie caught it instantly. This indicated that, unlike Han Lie, Zhao Batian had likely relied on some external method to forcibly rush his breakthrough. Hence, the “floating” phenomenon of an unstable foundation.

Of course, given Zhao Batian’s immense talent, a slightly unstable foundation wasn’t fatal. He only needed to spend time consolidating his cultivation to stabilize his Nascent Soul, and it wouldn’t leave any lasting negative effects on his future path.

But right now?

Against a Nascent Soul cultivator like Zhao Batian—who relied on external aids rather than solid accumulation—Han Lie felt confident. Even if Han Lie were still at the early Nascent Soul stage, he could have toyed with this guy with one hand tied behind his back, let alone now that he was at the mid-stage.

Being mocked so openly in front of his subordinates caused the corner of Zhao Batian’s mouth to twitch violently.

However, he managed to keep his composure. “Heh… do you not understand the situation? The initiative is in my hands. If you want to save her, come down here and fight a duel with me—fair and square.”

“Win, and I will let you leave. Lose, and this place becomes your burial ground!”

“Fair and square?” Han Lie sneered. “Stop making your Grandpa Lin laugh. Both you and I are demonic cultivators. Hearing a righteous term like ‘fair and square’ coming from your mouth… are you trying to fool a three-year-old?”

“Besides, why should I listen to you?”

“Because your woman is in my hands!”

Zhao Batian’s palm suddenly thrust forward. The space around the iron cage began to collapse inch by inch, squeezing inward. “If you didn’t want to save her, you wouldn’t be here. I am giving you only one chance, Han Lie!”

“If you don’t want your woman crushed to death like an ant, get down here!”

“Brother! No! Don’t worry about me, run away quickly!”

“The fact that you came today… Little Sister is already so happy. I don’t want to see you die here!”

“If there is a next life, Little Sister wants to meet Brother again!”

At that moment, “Xiao Qingge” shouted hysterically toward Han Lie, her face awash with tears.

If Han Lie hadn’t known beforehand that the real Xiao Qingge was safely under Chi Lian’s protection, he probably wouldn’t have harbored any suspicion toward the woman before him.

He could only say: As expected of Elder Sha Zui. This is a true veteran actor!

“Tsk… what a touching tragedy.” Li Qingyu sneered from the side. “This old woman loves watching these bitter, melodramatic scenes between Dao Companions.”

Han Lie glared at her coldly, then shouted in a deep voice, “Zhao Batian! Let her go, and I’ll come down right now!”

“I said, defeat me first, then I will release you both. You do not have the qualification to negotiate terms,” Zhao Batian refused to yield an inch.

“Fine… Very good!”

“I want to see what a loser like you can do to me, even with a home-field advantage!”

As the words fell, Han Lie took a single step forward. He traversed the spatial distance instantly, appearing directly on the plaza of the City Lord’s Manor.

“Heh…”

Seeing this, Zhao Batian didn’t waste a second.

His hands moved in a blur, rapidly forming a series of complex seals. A mysterious force rippled out, vanishing into the void.

Instantly, Han Lie and “Xiao Qingge” saw countless silver runes manifest in the air simultaneously. Each rune pulsed with a violent, thunderous aura.

Under Zhao Batian’s control, the densely packed silver runes constructed a massive, terrifying Formation within a few short breaths, enveloping the entirety of Dragon City.

Zhao Batian stood in the void, positioned at the eye of the array, violent arcs of silver lightning swirling around him like dragons.

“Han Lie! Old grudges and new debts—I will settle them all with you today!”

Zhao Batian wore a confident smirk, as if victory were already assured. “Kneel down now and kowtow three times to me, and perhaps I will leave you with an intact corpse.”

Han Lie stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his demeanor calm and unhurried. “Little trash, I really want to know… who leaked Xiao Qingge’s whereabouts to you?”

“You want to settle accounts with me, but don’t I want to settle accounts with you, too? If you wanted a life-and-death duel between real men, you could have just sent a challenge letter. Why go through all this trouble?”

Inside the iron cage, “Xiao Qingge” remained patient.

The mission Grand Elder Chi Lian gave her wasn’t just to kill Zhao Batian. It was also to flush out the biggest fish hiding within the Heavenly Void Sect. Without a mole tipping him off, it would have been nearly impossible for Zhao Batian to pinpoint “Xiao Qingge’s” location among 100,000 Inner Disciples.

“Do you think… such clumsy attempts to extract information will work on me?”

Zhao Batian scoffed. “My Sun Moon Sect has ghosts in your Heavenly Void Sect, and your sect has ghosts in mine. This is a tacit understanding between us.”

“You want to know who the ghost is? Find out with your own abilities.”

Hearing this, Han Lie gave a strange smile. “Refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit? When I have you under my boot later, your Grandpa Lin won’t be as easy to talk to.”

“Although we are both at the Nascent Soul Stage, I admit, Han Lie, that I am not your match in a fair fight.”

Zhao Batian looked down with disdain. “But by the same token, I cannot imagine how you can contend with me while I am empowered by the Nine Heavens Silver Lightning Array! If I wish it, I can make you vanish into ash in an instant!”

“Is that so? But I don’t think you can do it.”

The corner of Han Lie’s mouth suddenly lifted into a strange, eerie curve that made Zhao Batian’s skin crawl.

What happened next made Zhao Batian frown, a sudden sense of foreboding gripping his heart.

“An ant hoisting a pebble thinks it can rival the heavens, unaware that…”

“…in the face of a true powerhouse, an ant is always just an ant. The tragedy is that the ant never realizes its own insignificance.”

The “Xiao Qingge” who, just moments ago, was weeping in the cage, suddenly underwent a drastic change in tone.

Then, “Xiao Qingge” took a step forward.

She walked straight through the spatial prison Zhao Batian had set up, shattering it as effortlessly as passing through a cobweb.