Dual Cultivation System: The Villainous Servant’s Rise

Chapter 242: Liu Tianxing: The Clown Was Me All Along

BOOM!

The world didn’t just shake; it screamed.

In a fraction of a second, the void ahead fractured like a dam collapsing under the weight of an ocean. Reality shattered. Shockwaves of annihilation rippled outward, atomizing everything in their path. A bottomless chasm, stretching for miles, tore Dragon City asunder, leaving a jagged scar across the earth.

At the epicenter of the devastation, an energy barrier materialized, negating the apocalyptic force with casual ease.

Han Lie steadied himself, his heart hammering against his ribs as he stared into the dust-choked abyss. Before him stood a tall, slender silhouette clad in imperial purple. Her back was to him, yet her presence alone dictated safety.

Who else could command such power but Ye Qingxuan?

“Status?” Ye Qingxuan asked, her voice flat, betraying no exertion.

“I’m intact. Thank you, Sect Leader.” Han Lie offered a tight smile, the adrenaline still coursing through his veins.

“Give him to me.”

“Understood.”

Without hesitation, Han Lie shoved the captive Liu Tianxing toward her.

Liu Tianxing stumbled forward, his mind a blank slate of shock. He was a veteran of the Sun Moon Sect, a man who had bled for them, yet Old Ghost Yin Mei had struck to kill him without a flicker of hesitation. If Ye Qingxuan hadn’t intervened, he wouldn’t just be dead—he would have been reduced to a fine red mist.

Across the chasm, Old Ghost Yin Mei’s face darkened. The ambush had failed. Worse, he sensed a terrifying depth to Ye Qingxuan’s cultivation—she was far stronger than she had been during their duel a decade ago.

“Still resorting to such petty machinations in front of me?”

Ye Qingxuan’s voice cut through the dust, dripping with regal mockery. “Are you capable, Old Ghost? You weren’t then, and you aren’t now.”

Old Ghost Yin Mei ignored the taunt, his voice dropping to a gravelly growl. “Gui Zhan Zi. You will submit yourself for punishment upon our return.”

“Yes… Sect Leader.” Behind him, Gui Zhan Zi grimaced. He hadn’t expected that sacrificing a teammate would result in such a catastrophic failure.

Beside him, Zhao Batian’s expression had turned a sickly shade of green. His meticulous planning, his grand ambush—all unraveled because of a single loose end: Liu Tianxing.

“Old Ghost Yin Mei!”

Liu Tianxing’s roar tore from his throat, vibrating with the fury of a betrayed man. “Since you have no benevolence, do not blame me for my lack of righteousness! Sect Leader Ye, listen closely! The Sun Moon Sect’s greatest secret is—Mmmph!”

Just as the words formed on his tongue, an invisible force clamped around his throat like a vice.

“Silence.” Ye Qingxuan glanced at him, her eyes cold and bored. “Speak now, and you lose all value.”

“Mmm… Mmm!”

Liu Tianxing’s face flushed purple. He clawed at his throat, eyes bulging with terror and confusion as he looked at the woman who had just saved him.

“Hah.”

Han Lie and Chi Lian couldn’t help but sneer. Liu Tianxing actually thought he mattered. He didn’t understand the game. To Ye Qingxuan, he was nothing more than a bargaining chip.

A secret kept is a weapon; a secret revealed is gossip. As long as the information remained locked in his skull, he was leverage against Old Ghost Yin Mei. The moment he spoke, he became worthless trash.

And in this world, dead men were often more useful than the living. For the Old Ghost, a dead Liu Tianxing was optimal—corpses don’t leak secrets.

The realization hit Liu Tianxing like a physical blow. He wasn’t a player. He wasn’t even a pawn. He was the ball in a game between titans. He was the clown.

“Old Ghost,” Ye Qingxuan called out, her hand still clamping Liu Tianxing’s jaw shut with her power. “A simple question. Do you want these two worthless hostages of yours, or do you want to secure the secrets of your Sect?”

Old Ghost Yin Mei’s eyes narrowed. He knew the calculus.

To Ye Qingxuan, Han Zhentian and Li Susu were irrelevant dust. She was only negotiating for them to secure Han Lie’s loyalty. But that in itself was a revelation. It proved that Han Lie’s value to the Heavenly Void Sect was immense—perhaps even exceeding Zhao Batian’s value to the Sun Moon Sect.

Man proposes, Heaven disposes.

“Luck will not always favor you, Ye Qingxuan,” Old Ghost Yin Mei spat, conceding the point.

Keeping the hostages would achieve nothing. He couldn’t threaten Ye Qingxuan with them, and using them to torment Han Lie was a luxury he couldn’t afford when the Sect’s foundational secrets were at risk. If Liu Tianxing hadn’t been captured alive, the dynamic would be different. But now? The integrity of the Sun Moon Sect took priority.

“Luck is the prayer of the weak,” Ye Qingxuan replied imperiously. “I rely only on strength. Make the trade.”

Hearing the agreement, Liu Tianxing’s legs gave out. His eyes, once burning with rage, turned dead and grey. He was being sent back. Back to the man who had just tried to vaporize him.

He was mute, swallowing bitter poison with no way to scream. He was a dead man walking.

Neither side pulled any tricks during the exchange. At this level of power, with stakes this high, sleight of hand was meaningless.

Ye Qingxuan flicked her sleeve, sending Liu Tianxing flying across the chasm. Simultaneously, Han Zhentian and Li Susu were tossed through the air, landing softly before Han Lie.

They were unconscious, their breathing shallow and ragged, clinging to life by a thread.

Chi Lian moved instantly, slipping a jade-green pill between each of their lips. Han Lie dropped to his knees, gripping their hands. He channeled pure Yang energy into their meridians, shielding their hearts and guiding the medicinal efficacy.

As the color slowly returned to their ashen faces, the crushing weight on Han Lie’s chest finally lifted.

He stood up slowly.

His gaze cut across the divide, locking onto Zhao Batian.

As if sensing the weight of the stare, Zhao Batian’s eyes snapped open.

Lock.

In Han Lie’s pitch-black pupils, Zhao Batian saw an abyss of icy, concentrated murder. It wasn’t the heat of anger; it was the cold certainty of an executioner. Despite his own power, a chill crawled down Zhao Batian’s spine.

On the other side, Liu Tianxing stood amidst his former allies, his face as pale as parchment. He didn’t need to be told his fate.

“Old Ghost,” Ye Qingxuan’s voice floated back as she turned to leave. “Try to be more inventive next time. Boredom does not suit me.”

With that final, stinging insult, she swept Han Lie and the others away in a streak of light.

Beneath his hood, Old Ghost Yin Mei’s face contorted through a spectrum of fury. He said nothing, but the air around him began to solidify, heavy with a suffocating pressure. Grand Elder Bing He, Gui Zhan Zi, and even Zhao Batian held their breath, terrified to make a sound.

Slowly, deliberately, Old Ghost Yin Mei turned around.

His eyes, burning with the malice of a hell-spawned demon, fixed upon Liu Tianxing.

……..