Dual Cultivation System: The Villainous Servant’s Rise

“This aura…” Han Lie and Zhuo Hongyi exchanged a sharp, wary glance.

They both felt it. The owner of this formidable pressure was at least at the peak of the Golden Core Stage. Zhuo Hongyi’s face paled visibly; even before the source arrived, the sheer weight of the presence felt like a suffocating shroud pressing against her chest.

“It seems… this is likely Cang Ying,” Zhuo Hongyi said, her voice grave. “The guest elder of the Sun Moon Sect who led the assault on Mine No. 9.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Retreat!” Han Lie wasn’t arrogant enough to believe he could trade blows with a peak Golden Core cultivator.

They were only a little over a thousand li from the Heavenly Void Sect’s mountain gate. For a Golden Core cultivator, that distance was nothing. At full speed, Han Lie estimated they could reach safety in under ten minutes. Without a second thought, he grabbed Zhuo Hongyi’s hand, and the two ignited their spiritual power, leaving a trail of sonic booms and blurred afterimages in their wake.

“Thinking of running after slaughtering my people? Leave your lives behind!”

Cang Ying’s speed was terrifying, far outstripping their own. In less than two minutes, his silhouette loomed behind them. He clenched his weathered hand, seizing the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth to manifest a massive curtain of power that descended upon them like a collapsing sky.

Han Lie’s eyes narrowed to slits. He unleashed another Soul-Severing Slash, pouring every ounce of his strength into the strike. Only with this full-power effort did he manage to barely neutralize Cang Ying’s casual wave.

In that brief moment of friction, Cang Ying bypassed them and blocked their path. He was an elderly man with a venerable, almost sage-like appearance, yet he emanated a chillingly eerie and sinister aura.

“A mere early Golden Core and a mid Golden Core managed to finish off Yang Tian’s group?” Cang Ying scrutinized them, his expression one of pure disbelief. “This Senior does not know how you managed such a feat, but today… you will not escape your end.”

Han Lie mirrored the elder’s posture, clasping his hands behind his back with an indifferent expression. He met Cang Ying’s gaze without a flicker of panic.

“Heh, your Sun Moon Sect is only good at these lowly, childish tricks,” Han Lie said calmly. “You think you can kill us and still walk away?” He glanced toward the horizon, in the direction of the sect. “We are on the doorstep of my mountain gate. Unless you finish this instantly, you won’t be keeping us here. Once our reinforcements arrive, how exactly do you plan to escape?”

Cang Ying stroked his pale beard and smiled thinly. “Trying to intimidate This Senior? It is true that I would be in danger if your elders arrived. I do not deny that. But dealing with the two of you is as simple as snapping my fingers. In my eyes, you are nothing but small fry, incapable of even the slightest resistance.”

Han Lie shrugged noncommittally, a sharp glint flickering in his dark eyes as he tightened his grip on the black blade. “If that’s the case, then come. This Senior is an early Golden Core Stage cultivator; trading my life for a peak Golden Core expert is a bargain I’ll gladly take.”

Zhuo Hongyi abandoned all hope of flight, fully mobilizing her spiritual power for a desperate, final stand.

“Hmph! An ant trying to shake a tree—overestimating its own strength!” Cang Ying snorted with disdain, raising his hand to snuff them out.

However, at that very moment—

“Since when do mere ants at the Golden Core Stage dare to boast so brazenly at the gates of my Heavenly Void Sect?”

An ethereal female voice, carrying an unparalleled, world-crushing pressure, suddenly echoed from the void! Han Lie and Zhuo Hongyi froze, their terror instantly replaced by a surge of wild joy.

“Senior Sister Qin Lan?” Zhuo Hongyi gasped, recognizing the voice.

While the two felt relief, Cang Ying felt his soul shudder. Every pore on his body stood on end, and his scalp felt as if it were splitting open under the sudden weight of the atmosphere. He looked around in a frantic terror, searching for the source.

Then, before their eyes, an elegant and graceful figure slowly descended from the heavens. At that exact moment, the first ray of dawn broke over the horizon, bathing the figure in golden light.

Han Lie could finally see her clearly. She wore a pure white, form-fitting gauze dress that, despite its airy nature, could not hide her stunning, statuesque figure. The morning sun highlighted a profile that was beautiful yet aloof, radiating majesty and absolute power.

Without a word, the woman Zhuo Hongyi called Senior Sister Qin Lan slowly extended a jade-like hand and made a simple grasping motion toward Cang Ying.

Crack! Crack!

The space around Cang Ying began to fracture and collapse inch by inch! The very fabric of reality buckled, forming a spatial cage that pinned him in place.

“Spatial power! An old monster at the Nascent Soul Stage?!” Cang Ying’s pupils contracted into pinpricks as a tide of overwhelming horror washed over him. “Exalted One! Immortal!”

“Spare me! I swear I will never set foot within ten thousand li of the Heavenly Void Sect again!” His voice trembled, his dignity discarded in a desperate bid for survival.

“My Heavenly Void Sect and your Sun Moon Sect have been mortal enemies since time immemorial,” Qin Lan said, her beautiful eyes cold and indifferent. “What talk is there of sparing you?”

Her jade hand gently clenched.

Cang Ying didn’t even have time to scream before the collapsing space crushed him into nothingness. Not a single speck of dust remained of the peak Golden Core expert.

“So this is a Nascent Soul Stage old monster… truly terrifying beyond measure,” Han Lie muttered, swallowing hard. He felt a cold sweat prickle his back; had Qin Lan been an enemy, there would have been no escape.

Having dealt with the intruder, Qin Lan slowly turned her gaze toward them. Her eyes first landed on Zhuo Hongyi. “Are you Junior Sister Zhuo Hongyi? It hasn’t been long since we last met, yet you’ve already reached the Golden Core.”

“It’s me, Senior Sister Qin Lan!” Zhuo Hongyi flew forward eagerly, her face radiant with admiration.

After a brief exchange between the two women, Zhuo Hongyi beckoned Han Lie forward. “Let me introduce him to you, Senior Sister. This is Han Lie. He is… well, he is one of our sect’s Servant Disciples.”

“Servant Disciple Han Lie greets Senior Sister Qin Lan,” Han Lie said, cupping his fists with respectful composure.

“Mmm.” Qin Lan nodded slightly, her eyes finally taking his measure. A hint of curiosity flickered in her gaze. “Tell me… do all Servant Disciples in our sect now possess a cultivation at the Golden Core Stage?”