Pay-to-Win Cultivation: I Get 10,000x Returns

Chapter 241: Good Heavens, They Were All His Lovers

Zhang Xian took a deep breath and asked the most crucial question.

“Senior Drifting King… did he ever have any dealings with the Guiyuan Sect? Specifically, a man named Song Taichu? Or perhaps Lin Jianyuan of the Heavenly Abyss Alliance?”

The Half-Demon King shook her head. “In those days, the Guiyuan Sect was nothing more than an insignificant, third-rate faction in the Central Continent. Their strongest Elder was merely a junior at the early Nascent Soul stage. How could such a place catch his eye? As for the others you mentioned, I have never even heard of them.”

“Then, did Senior Drifting King have any close friends?”

“Friends?”

Hearing that word, the Half-Demon King seemed to recall something incredibly absurd. Her fox tail swayed lazily behind her, and her tone dripped with mockery.

“I knew all of his ‘friends.’ Eventually, they all became my sisters. Hah. For a wild mountain spirit, he certainly had a lustful heart. He fell in love with every woman he laid eyes on.”

Zhang Xian felt a drop of sweat slide down his temple.

Good heavens. They were all his lovers?

Well, that certainly aligned with the traditional skill set of a transmigrator.

With the clue snapping abruptly, Zhang Xian was naturally unwilling to give up. He proceeded to recount the events of recent days—the calamity of the [Seven Emotions Evil Thoughts] plaguing the Western Region and Central Continent, the destruction of the Animal Crossing Association, the Stone Gate of Fate, Grandmaster Taichu, and the massive conspiracy potentially brewing within the Guiyuan Sect.

As he spoke, the Half-Demon King fell into a long silence. The halo of light surrounding her fluctuated, betraying the turmoil within her soul.

Zhang Xian struck while the iron was hot. His voice deepened. “I strongly suspect that the people who killed Senior Drifting King back then are the same ones spreading the Seven Emotions Evil Thoughts and stirring up chaos today. At the very least, Grandmaster Taichu, a half-step Soul Formation cultivator, is highly suspicious.”

“Senior, if you have any crucial clues, please tell me. This concerns the survival of the entire cultivation world—and perhaps the truth behind Senior Drifting King’s death.”

The Half-Demon King murmured to herself, “Could the scattered Seven Emotions from cultivating the Severing the Dao technique really cause such a terrifying catastrophe?”

As she spoke, her gaze seemed to drift, almost inadvertently, over the silent, motionless Metal Puppet standing nearby.

Then, she slowly shook her head, her tone turning firm. “No. A cultivator capable of such a feat does not exist in this realm. Even at the peak of our power, neither he nor I could have achieved that.”

Suddenly, she shifted the subject, clearly unwilling to dwell on it further. “Enough. Dwelling on ancient history is pointless. The third trial can begin now.”

Zhang Xian frowned.

He could feel it—she was hiding something. Something vital.

They had reached this point, and she was merely a wisp of residual Divine Sense. What secret could still require such strict guarding?

But seeing the Half-Demon King’s closed-off expression, he knew further questioning would be futile. He suppressed his doubts and focused his attention on the arena.

In the center of the hall, Lin Liuli had finished regulating her breath. She stood up, her aura condensed and sharp.

The Half-Demon King floated down from her throne, landing beside the towering Metal Puppet. She extended a slender finger and tapped the puppet’s back, right over its heart.

Hum!

The puppet’s eyes flared with crimson light once more.

Lin Liuli flinched, instinctively taking a half-step back and raising her guard.

“No need to be nervous,” the Half-Demon King said indifferently. “It will not attack you again. This third trial is the Heart Barrier. I require its power to activate the illusion.”

Watching from the sidelines, Zhang Xian’s internal alarm bells began to ring louder. “Senior Half-Demon King, may I ask… did you personally create this trial realm and this peculiar puppet? Or was it the work of Senior Drifting King?”

The phantom figure paused for a fraction of a second. Her tone remained flat. “Naturally, I arranged it all myself.”

As she spoke, she manipulated the puppet. The construct slowly raised its right arm, its massive metal palm facing downward, hovering over empty space.

“Girl, come here,” the Half-Demon King commanded Lin Liuli. “Stand beneath its palm. This is the final trial. I wish you success.”

Lin Liuli stared at the massive hand that had nearly beaten her to death moments ago. A flicker of fear and hesitation passed through her eyes. Asking her to voluntarily walk into the grasp of that killing machine was asking a lot of her psychological endurance.

The Half-Demon King’s lips curled into a meaningful smile. “Afraid? Rest assured, it is completely under my control. Unless, of course, I wish to harm you.”

“Wait!”

Zhang Xian suddenly interjected.

He raised his hand, swiftly condensing a pure white light seal. The seal transformed into a streak of brilliance, shooting across the room and vanishing into the center of Lin Liuli’s forehead, wrapping a protective layer around the core of her Sea of Consciousness.

“Senior, you don’t mind if I add an extra layer of insurance, do you?”

The Half-Demon King’s phantom let out a light, helpless laugh. “You suspect me? Fine. If it puts your mind at ease.”

Feeling the warmth of Zhang Xian’s protective charm, Lin Liuli’s trembling subsided. The anxiety in her heart dissipated significantly. She took a deep breath and walked, step by step, toward the puppet. She didn’t stop until the cold metal palm was hovering mere inches above her head.

“Begin,” the Half-Demon King said, her voice turning solemn.

She opened her delicate hand, tracing several complex runes in the air and driving them into the puppet’s spinal hub. Simultaneously, a soft, pale yellow light ignited in the center of the puppet’s palm, slowly cascading down to envelop Lin Liuli.

Lin Liuli felt an irresistible wave of drowsiness crash over her. The world blurred instantly. Her consciousness sank rapidly into the dark, and her eyes fluttered shut.

“She has entered the Heart Barrier illusion,” the Half-Demon King stated calmly. “Whether she can guard her true heart and break through the delusions depends entirely on her own fortune.”

Even after speaking, the Half-Demon King did not relax. She maintained her casting stance, continuously channeling Spiritual Qi into the puppet. It seemed that sustaining this illusion was taxing, even for her.

Zhang Xian slowly sat down, his Divine Sense tuned to a razor’s edge.

Through the link of his charm seal, he could sense that Lin Liuli’s Primordial Spirit was stable. There were no signs of external corrosion or any attempt at Body Seizing. The rest was truly up to her.

However, the ominous premonition in his mind did not fade. Instead, it grew more intense with every passing second, gnawing at his nerves. It felt as though something terrible was inevitably approaching.

Time slipped by quietly. Before they knew it, more than half an hour had passed.

The three figures in the arena remained frozen in a tableau: Lin Liuli unconscious beneath the puppet’s light; the Half-Demon King maintaining the spell; and Zhang Xian acting as Dharma Protector, with Wang Meng watching nervously from the side.

Suddenly, the Half-Demon King’s phantom spoke, her voice laced with a trace of urgency.

“Someone is coming. The aura is strong.”

“I’ll go check!” Wang Meng sprang up, staring warily toward the entrance of the secret realm.

“No need.” Zhang Xian raised a hand to stop him. “It’s most likely Palace Master Xuanzhao. I will handle it.”

He didn’t even stand up.

Instead, the air around him warped. Flashes of light flickered, and in an instant, five puppet doppelgangers—identical to his main body—materialized from thin air.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the five doppelgangers turned and transformed into five streaks of light, rushing out of the secret realm’s entrance with blinding speed.