"Oh, Imperial Advisor, what's your plan?"
"I possess a demonic technique. With just one item that Elder Gu touched with his spiritual power, I can trace its origins and find Elder Gu."
Everyone was immediately shocked, not knowing that this national advisor, a demonic cultivator, would possess such demonic techniques.
"I heard that Elder Gu gave the sect five Earth-rank cultivation techniques before. I only need one. But don't worry, I will return it to the sect later," the demonic cultivator said.
"No, Sect Master, we can't give them the cultivation techniques. It will harm Master!" Liu Yin shouted.
The Southern Barbarian King waved his hand outwards.
Another tremendous dragon roar erupted.
Xiao Yin, undeterred, continued to persuade the sect leader not to hand over their master. But the sect leader remained thoughtful. There were too many things to consider. However, for the safety of the entire sect, the sect leader ultimately decided to hand over Gu Baizhi.
"Alas, I'm sorry, Xiaoyin, and your master too. Zhou Qianqian, go to the sect's manual and retrieve the manual that Fellow Daoist Gu gave you back then," the sect leader said.
"Sect Master, are you really going to hand Elder Gu over to that Southern Barbarian King?" Zhou Qianqian said indignantly.
"Alas, Xiaoqian, this is a matter of no choice. For the sake of our sect, we have no choice but to hand over Fellow Daoist Gu."
"Elder Jiang, is there really no other way?" Zhou Qianqian asked Jiang Dianrou.
Jiang Dianrou could only shake her head helplessly. Although she didn't want to hand her best friend over to the ruthless Southern Barbarian King, she had to choose the latter for the sake of her sect's safety. She could only hope that Gu Baizhi could find a way to break the demonic art so that they could join forces with the Southern Kingdom's army to rescue Gu Baizhi.
For Liu Yin, she had completely lost faith in the sect. She hated the sect's inaction, so cowardly handing over her master to the arrogant and rude Southern Barbarian King. She also hated her own weakness; her master had once protected her, and now she saw her master in trouble but was powerless to help. A desire to become stronger was planted in her heart.
"Sigh..." Zhou Qianqian sighed and went to get the cultivation manual.
Before long, the local-grade cultivation technique was brought over. Even after four years, the technique was still surrounded by golden energy.
"This is it..." Before Zhou Qianqian could finish speaking, the local-level cultivation technique was taken away by the demonic cultivator using demonic power.
He closed his eyes and cast a spell. A moment later, a chilling smile appeared on his face. "Your Majesty, I know where she is."
"Good! Imperial Advisor, you've done a great service this time. Let's go, I'm going to find that hiding 'kitten' right now."
With that, they waved their hand, and the enormous dragon charged in, terrifying everyone from the Heavenly Sword Sect. They climbed onto the dragon's back, and the demonic cultivator casually tossed the Earth-Rank cultivation technique to the ground. The dragon soared into the sky, leaving behind only the still-shaken members of the Heavenly Sword Sect and the dilapidated council hall.
"Sect Master, they're so arrogant, are we really going to hand Elder Gu over to them?" someone asked.
The sect leader sighed.
"There's nothing we can do about it."
At this moment, Gu Baizhi was unaware that the Southern Barbarian King had come to propose marriage. She had been in this small cell for quite some time. She had long since finished reading the books on the table. She lay on the bed, bored out of her mind. She got up and wandered around the small cell, eventually entering the changing room. She saw the clothes that her traitorous disciple Liu Yin had prepared for her, and hesitated for a moment as she looked at them.
"Anyway, there's no one else here. I should change into something more fancy. Yes, I'll just wear it for a little while and then take it off. That traitor won't notice," she thought.
So she changed out of her simple clothes and into a gorgeous dress, the hem of which was adorned with touches of gold. The dress was a pale blue, making it both luxurious and dignified. The upper part was strapless, revealing her ample breasts, which were further enhanced by a sheer veil. The lower part was designed like a formal gown, with a long skirt in the back and a short skirt in the front, showcasing Gu Baizhi's alluring legs.
She also wore a pair of gorgeous high heels to match, similar to modern Valentino shoes, but simple and elegant, with gemstones inlaid on them making them look dignified and grand.
Gu Baizhi came out of the dressing room after changing her clothes. She didn't look in the mirror, so she had no idea how captivating she looked.
She sat back on the bed, glanced at the window, then at her legs. Suddenly, a loud bang snapped her back to reality. Looking towards the sound, she saw a large hole had appeared in the wall. Two figures emerged from the hole and approached her. Gu Baizhi instinctively circulated her spiritual energy, and this time she succeeded. This was because Liu Yin had already released the seal on Gu Baizhi's spiritual energy.
Gu Baizhi suddenly realized this as well, but she didn't have time to care about the reason, because the two people in front of her were clearly not good people.
"Who is it?" Gu Baizhi asked.
"Your husband," the leader said jokingly.
While Gu Baizhi was still in a daze, a binding rope had already tightly bound her.
Gu Baizhi tried to break free, but the Immortal Binding Rope was not so easy to break. No matter how hard Gu Baizhi tried, the Immortal Binding Rope did not budge. So she simply gave up struggling.
"Who are you?" Gu Baizhi asked, but no one answered. At this moment, the Southern Barbarian King and the demonic cultivator beside him stared at her, their eyes wide. They had never seen a fairy with such exquisite beauty and figure as Gu Baizhi in their lives. Coupled with her magnificent and beautiful clothes, Gu Baizhi was even more dazzling. Moreover, she was a top-grade cultivation vessel. The Southern Barbarian King was now overjoyed.
They looked at it for a while before answering Gu Baizhi's question.
"I am Manhuang, the ruler of the Southern Barbarian Kingdom, and your husband," he said arrogantly.
Only then did Gu Baizhi remember that she still had a marriage alliance to attend to. Looking at the Southern Barbarian King, Gu Baizhi felt disgusted, not only because he spoke to her in a rude tone, but more importantly because of his lecherous gaze that kept staring at her.
"I'm not going!" Gu Baizhi still wanted to try, because she really didn't want to be the wife of this kind of person.
"Do you think you have the right to disobey my orders? Grand Preceptor, give her some pain, but remember, don't kill her."
"Yes, my king." With that, the demonic cultivator poured demonic energy into Gu Baizhi. The demonic energy began to clash with the spiritual energy within Gu Baizhi's body. Gu Baizhi was in great discomfort, and the little girl sat on the ground.
Seeing that Gu Baizhi's complexion was getting worse and worse, the Southern Barbarian King laughed loudly.
"Alright, Grand Preceptor, stop killing her! Quickly take her back to the Southern Barbarian Kingdom. I can't wait to taste her anymore."