Xiang Ning glanced at the boy who had a calm expression on him. "Feign courage all you want; you're going to die here, Xiang Yi."
Xiang Yi looked at her with boredom and ignored her. Instead, he kept his gaze on Long Xiaoqi as a complicated glint flashed across his eyes.
"Xiang Ning, let me out! I'll give everything I have, please! What do you need? I promise the sect will provide. I'm willing to sign a blood contract!" Wei Zhang begged, his face red and wrinkled from tears, with mucus dripping from his nose.
The sound of sobbing filled the shrine.
Xiang Ning smiled, enjoying every moment of her torture while relaxing on her throne. After the three were almost fully drained, Xiang Ning stood up and went to the altar. She bit her hand, and her blood came out. She used this blood to form a strange mark on the altar and started chanting runes.
"Eyin anujournu aye yi, egba ebo ti mo muwa fun yi, mope yin ke wa, eyin iya mi ninu aye oohhhhhhh..."
Suddenly, the mist from the ruins began to gather in the shrine, and Xiang Ning's blood was absorbed by it. The mist started taking form until it turned into a dark shadow of an old woman with glowing red eyes.
The old woman let out a cackle. "Crac haha hahaha!" She became more material-like and turned to look at Xiang Ning.
Xiang Ning bowed when she saw the old woman. "Greetings, respected Demon Saint Lei Xinyi."
Long Xiaoqi's eyes spread wide when she saw the old woman. She almost screamed but held herself back, stopped sobbing altogether, and became still suddenly.
Wei Zhang and Xiang Yi, who had normal expressions before, felt a chill. Their instincts screamed at them to get away from this being. Their blood ran cold, and an intense fear settled in their hearts.
"Ohh, you're my inheritor?" Lei Xinyi said with her hoarse voice. She looked at Xiang Ning from head to toe with her arms crossed, then looked behind Xiang Ning and squinted her eyes a little. She nodded. "Hmm, not bad. Are you ready to carry on my mantle, young child?"
"Yes, Saint Lei Xinyi, I won't let you down," Xiang Ning responded a little too fast, her hands shaking just a little.
Lei Xinyi nodded again, and her gaze wandered to the three helpless people on the ground. Her eyes flashed as she stared at them for a while. "Ohh, I see. These are the sacrifices?" she asked Xiang Ning.
"Yes, Senior. I've sacrificed some others before, and the Heart of Malignance will soon be full," Xiang Ning responded.
"These seedlings look delicious. They all have extraordinary foundational spirits and talents," Lei Xinyi licked her lips.
"They do, especially the two boys," Xiang Ning pointed at the two males.
Lei Xinyi looked around the shrine, searching all corners. Her brows wrinkled a bit. "Where's my pet?" She looked a bit worried and pissed.
Xiang Ning flinched a little when she saw her expression. "It's in the ruins, devouring the bodies of the used sacrifices." She raised her hands and summoned a little bit of Qi that sped out of the shrine through the mural door.
Lei Xinyi calmed down visibly, and her brows relaxed. She calmly floated to the throne. "Let's begin the ritual of transference, then. Or do you still need to make any preparations?"
"No, Senior. I'm ready to start the ritual."
"You do realize I will reside in your mental sea from now on until you form your Psyche Palace?"
Xiang Ning nodded with a determined glint in her eyes. "I am aware, Senior, and it's my honor to have you reside with me and guide me." She waved her hands, and a knife appeared from her storage ring. She used it to cut her wrist and sprinkled the blood on the floor of the shrine.
Whoosh!
Something flashed through the air to Lei Xinyi. It was the strange monster, and it seemed excited and started purring. It was a strange sight, and Xiang Ning watched the fearsome creature look at Lei Xinyi with excitement, its tail wagging.
"My beloved pet, ohh, how I have missed you. Are you excited to see mother??"
"Purr, purr!" It waved its tail excitedly.
"Good pet. Now, who's a good boy?"
"Purr, purr!" The pet jumped up and waved its tail.
All four youths—Xiang Ning, Long Xiaoqi, Wei Zhang, and Xiang Yi—watched the scene with wide eyes. What was wrong with this senior? Wasn't she supposed to be evil? Why was she acting motherly towards this dog?? they all thought.
"Why did you stop the ritual??" Lei Xinyi frowned and stopped playing with her pet.
"Ohh, not... nothing, Se... Senior. I'll continue right away," Xiang Ning stammered.
Lei Xinyi nodded and continued playing with her pet while the chained people's expressions returned to despair. Xiang Ning summoned a talisman from her storage ring and placed it on the sprinkled blood. She then got naked, sat two meters away from it, crossed her legs, got into a meditating pose, and closed her eyes.
She remained in the position for a while before taking a deep breath, lifting her hands, and making some complicated movements with them. Her Qi flowed, and her eyes shot open; they had turned into a pure white color without a single shade of any other color.
"Oya eyin aye ten be ninu afefemofe kebami sishenisinyi, oya gbogbo ogo awon tonwaninu ibube nimofe..."
She continued her incantations, and after a while, her hand movements formed a seal that flew towards the talisman soaked in blood.
The talisman began to release a shine, and a faint hum sounded from it. The hum sounded like thunder in the ears of everyone in the room, and all of them except Xiang Ning and Lei Xinyi vomited blood upon hearing it, their faces pale.
The talisman started levitating, and some red, glowing threads began to come out from it. These threads rapidly expanded and flew to Xiang Ning, who wrapped her fingers around them and sent them towards the three chained cultivators.
The threads began absorbing their foundational spirits, mental sea, and special talents while their Qi still went to the heart on the altar.
Long Xiaoqi screamed and wailed, a sound pure and unfiltered, wei Zhang coughed up blood continuously and continued sobbing through it, and xing yi just fainted immediately.
Lei Xinyi's eyes flashed at this scene.
The extracted talents flew to Xiang Ning, and she opened her Qi sea to absorb them, but when the red threads entered her Qi sea, they didn't transfer the talents but began to absorb her own talents, too.
"Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrggghhhhhhh! Stooooopppp itttt!" Xiang Ning screamed. Her body shriveled at a rate obvious to the naked eye, and her glowing skin began to turn lackluster. The pain of having her talents extracted was horrific, and she felt it at this moment.
Her eyes returned to their normal color, and she looked at Lei Xinyi. "Senior... what is this??" she asked.
"Hahahaha, you're so naive, little child," Lei Xinyi laughed with scorn. She flew away from her throne. "You didn't honestly think I was going to give you all this talent, did you?"
Xiang Ning opened her mouth to talk, but only blood came out. Her eyes, however, told the answer.
Lei Xinyi laughed. "Cra haha! Cra haha! You couldn't possibly be this stupid and unaware," she said with disgust.