Wait a minute, where is my master?

"You..."

Senior Sister Mi opened her mouth in anger, but the next moment she suddenly stopped short.

Upon closer reflection, it seemed that over the years, this junior sister had indeed only been involved in some procurement tasks.

Even when their master had ordered an attack on that group of Shui Clan cultivators,

she was blasted away by a spell at the very first exchange, and afterwards she just lingered on the fringes without really joining back into the fray.

Senior Sister Mi was not a pedantic person; once she realized this, she instinctively wanted to fabricate some information to smear upon the person before her.

But as she slightly turned her head and noticed the astonished gazes of Jin Xu and the others on the ice floe, her heart couldn't help but sink.

Senior Sister Mi knew that her brief hesitation had already convinced the people before her to believe three parts of what Junior Sister Zhou had said.

And Junior Sister Zhou, who now revealed her physical body, wore a passionate and spirited expression, while secretly feeling a hint of schadenfreude in her heart.

All the words she had spoken earlier, including the passionate emotions, the deliberate slandering of their sect and master, were all designed to bait this foolish sister who was heart and soul to the sect.

Now she had finally coaxed a momentary hesitation from her.

"Heh, the people before me must believe some of the words I said just now. With this, my chances of surviving must be about twenty percent," Junior Sister Zhou muttered to herself.

The reason she had behaved this way in front of Jin Xu

was first due to the incredible water pressure caused by the golden light sphere from the seabed on two occasions, and second, when she personally came into contact with those spiritual power tentacles, the heaviness of her watery body was nullified.

This made her vaguely surmise that their ancestor might not be a match in combat strength to this mysterious little Taoist.

But these two points alone were not enough for Zhou Shuling to openly defect from the White Emperor Pavilion; at most, she would just feign cooperation and wait as long as possible for the ancestor to come to their aid.

After all, they were right at the entrance to the Deep Sea Abyss.

But once she saw Jin Xu and the few people beside him clearly on the sea's ice floe,

Zhou Shuling hardly hesitated at all.

A plan formed in her heart to induce her senior sister to pause, proving that her words were not false.

There was an eighty to ninety percent probability that the person before her was the brother-in-law of Great Xia!

While executing some procurement tasks recently, she had seen Tingfeng Building's broadcasts across the Nine Provinces. At that time, Zhou Shuling had been deeply impressed by the Great Xia's brother-in-law, who wore a faceless mask and struck down the Four Elders of the Demon Sect with a golden thunderbolt.

Later, she heard that he was powerful; not only did he initiate a demon-eradication movement in the Nine Provinces Realm, but he also easily killed the Second Elder of the Demon Sect in Qing State with just two moves.

This made Zhou Shuling's impression of him even stronger.

Even in her midnight reveries, she secretly fantasized about... the appearance of the little Taoist.

"Little Taoist, if you don't trust me, I can swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao that I have never harmed any ordinary mortal in the Nine Provinces Realm, nor have I taken the life of any cultivator of the Righteous Path," Zhou Shuling assured Jin Xu with passionate and fervent words as Senior Sister Mi stood completely stunned and speechless.

After saying this, she paused for a moment, but seeing that he remained silent, a hint of sadness flashed in her eyes, and then, with a somewhat choked but firm tone, she said.

"Little Taoist, if you still don't believe what I've said, I am willing to kill myself right here to prove my innocence.

"However, before I die, I have one last unreasonable request.

"Before I was captured and taken into the Demon Sect's White Emperor Pavilion, I vaguely remember living in Ling State as a child. When winter came, there would occasionally be snow that covered the earth. As a child, I went hungry and cold; every time it snowed, I would feel as if I were about to freeze to death. I abhorred it intensely.

"But now, I haven't returned to my hometown for many years, nor have I seen such heavy snow in Yu State again. Just before death, I suddenly miss it terribly.

"So, I boldly ask the Taoist, after I take my own life, could you please keep my remains and bury them within Ling State's territory. At least then I could often gaze upon the snowfall of my homeland."

After Zhou Shuling finished speaking, her face was a mask of despondence.

In her heart, though, she prayed silently and incessantly.

"I, a beautiful female cultivator, have spoken to this extent. Even if this young Taoist seems indifferent to women, he should at least give me a chance to prove myself, right?

"I remember the female cultivator in the pink gauze dress who fought with the Ancestor earlier employed Confucian techniques, so she must surely know the Truth-Telling Skill.

"As long as the other party could use the Truth-Telling Skill on me, then my chances of survival might be three... no, forty percent."

Her body quivering faintly, she suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with an unwavering gaze, looking directly at Jin Xu.

The little Taoist who had been watching the drama unfold silently saw her looking at him this way, and suddenly a dazzling smile appeared on his previously expressionless face.

His voice light and cheerful, he said, "Alright, go ahead and take your own life. I'll find the time to bury you in Ling State."

Upon hearing his words, Zhou Shuling's face retained its righteousness.

She was stupefied.

At her side, Senior Sister Mi, who had been wondering why her junior sister, despite seemingly having caught a glimpse of hope for survival, suddenly brought up the matter of self-determination.

But then, hearing Jin Xu agree to her request, she couldn't hold back.

She inappropriately burst out laughing.

Jin Xu's gaze shifted to the left, and the "cocococo" laughter abruptly stopped.

The two women beside him huddled together, seemingly exchanging words about something, obviously disinterested in what the little Taoist had said.

Behind them, the Shui Clan Elder, clad in green leather armor with snow-white legs, looked at Jin Xu's retreating figure with a hint of surprise and admiration in his eyes.

Zhou Shuling had also come to her senses by this point, her facial expression indiscernible as her mind raced to figure out what to say to rectify the words she had spoken before.

"Damn it, shouldn't these righteous path cultivators hold benevolence and strive to guide those who strayed back to the proper path? What's with this Taoist agreeing so readily to my request to end my own life?"

Failing to come up with a remedy, Zhou Shuling began to curse silently in her heart once more.

Yet Jin Xu, with a smile tugging at his lips and a hint of icy intent in his eyes, stared silently at the woman who first played the victim, then pretended to be righteous.

He wasn't looking at her facial expressions, he was focusing on the Qi above her head.

According to her story, she was powerless to resist when captured and forced onto the path of evil, secretly adhering to her principles for many years, dealing insincerely with her sect members—indeed worthy of salvation.

But the Qi above your head is so red it's almost black, clearly the sign of someone with blood on their hands.

What's with the act of righteousness!

Although the young Taoist didn't understand why she was so convinced she had never harmed anyone, and the behavior of the woman she called her 'senior sister' seemed to corroborate the truth of her words,

Qi is something that cannot be faked.

"Miss Zhou, please go ahead."

Jin Xu spoke with a light tone, loosening his spiritual power restraints and placing Zhou Shuling, who was bound in a spread-eagle position, onto the floating ice, ready to see how she would end her own life.

"..."