Dao Slave

There stood a peerlessly beautiful woman clad in snow-white robes, her ethereal gown stained with streaks of blood, as if marred by an untimely flow. Though slightly disheveled, her body shimmered with a divine radiance, mist-like and ever-shifting, casting her skin in a glow as flawless as jade, akin to a celestial maiden.

Faced with such a goddess-like woman—who had just stabbed him in the back—Gu Qingfeng concluded that nothing would repay her "kindness" better than smashing her exquisite skull with a single punch.

So beautiful… I bet even her splattered brains would bloom in an equally gorgeous pattern.

Gu Qingfeng adored beauties, but when it came to enemies who sought his life, gender made no difference—except that dealing with women required one extra step.

Roar!

Amidst the cries of dragons and elephants, the Prison-Suppressing Demon Dragon and Divine Elephant surged from his body, instantly blotting out the sky. Simultaneously, the elemental forces of the world raged wildly, converging into a swirling vortex of opposing energies behind him. Yin and Yang manifested, coalescing into a grand Taiji diagram.

Boom!

A single punch erupted.

The air shattered in layers, the earth cracked apart, and trees were uprooted and flung aside. This strike embodied the combined might of his Primordial Sacred Body and Prison-Suppressing Dragon-Elephant Physique.

Yet, the woman remained expressionless, her eyes hollow. With a simple thrust of her black sword—devoid of any mystical fluctuations or divine techniques—she countered.

To Gu Qingfeng’s shock, his Seven-Apertures Exquisite Body perceived the terrifying truth hidden within that seemingly rudimentary strike.

The sword was a flawless extension of the Dao’s trajectory, its power perfectly contained, not a wisp leaking out—utterly impervious.

This one move proves she’s stronger than even Heaven’s Zenith experts like Tianxiang Patriarch… She must be a Heavenly Monarch!

No chance of winning—time to flee!

In a flash, Gu Qingfeng vanished.

The moment he disappeared, the unassuming sword pierced through the dragon-elephant phantom and Taiji diagram like a red-hot iron.

Hiss!

The illusions boiled violently before disintegrating into nothingness.

Truly, one sword to sever all laws.

After this, the woman stood motionless, indifferent to Gu Qingfeng’s escape. Instead, she trudged to the side of the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Nurturing Flower and stared blankly at it.

Frozen. Statue-like.

---

Within the Palm World

Gu Qingfeng’s face darkened. He hadn’t expected to be forced back so soon after venturing out.

Damn it!

What kind of rotten luck is this?!

The Cangming Realm is no place for humans.

First, monstrous barbarians. Now, a woman likely at the Heavenly Monarch realm. The dangers here were absurd.

But he’d misunderstood one thing—it wasn’t the Cangming Realm that was deadly. It was the Taichu Forbidden Land, one of its most ancient and perilous zones. The title "Forbidden Land" wasn’t earned lightly—it was forged by the blood of countless mighty experts throughout history.

Even Heaven’s Zenith cultivators dared not enter.

None could roam freely like Gu Qingfeng, slipping in and out twice while casually plucking rare herbs.

---

An Hour Later

Gu Qingfeng cautiously opened a hair-thin spatial rift to peek into the Cangming Realm.

To his horror, the bloodstained woman still stood there. Unmoving.

He snapped the rift shut, terrified she might chase him into the Palm World.

Another Hour Passed

He tried again.

Damn it! Still there!

Just as he prepared to close the rift, he paused.

Wait… She’s been frozen in the same pose this whole time, fixated on that flower. Petrified?

He kept watching, even spitting through the rift into the Forbidden Land as a test. No reaction.

The woman’s hollow eyes held no spark of life—only the stillness of death.

"Could she be a Dao Slave, her soul eroded by the curse?"

From the Elephant Demon’s intel, only supreme talents of immense power could become Dao Slaves. Their bodies, infused with Dao Rhyme, turned into puppets under the Heavenly Dao’s curse after their souls scattered.

"But if Dao Slaves lack consciousness, why is she obsessed with the Soul Nurturing Flower?"

Soul Nurturing Flower… Soul…

A realization struck him.

What one lacks, one craves.

This Dao Slave might have undergone a mutation, retaining a sliver of awareness. That sliver now yearned for soul energy, explaining her fixation on the flower.

A mindless rock wouldn’t crave anything.

But staring won’t do squat. Why not eat it?

Perhaps her intelligence was too feeble to grasp the concept of consumption. She merely lingered, drawn to the flower’s aura.

---

Back in the Taichu Forbidden Land

As predicted, the woman ignored Gu Qingfeng’s return, her attention wholly consumed by the flower.

She only attacked earlier because I tried taking it.

Relieved, Gu Qingfeng prepared to leave—until indignation flared.

Hell no! I lost the flower AND took a free stab. Unacceptable!

What, pretty privilege lets you do whatever you want?

Not on my watch. I never leave empty-handed.

Maybe… a quick grope before leaving?

Stealthily, he crept within ten meters of her. Still no reaction.

Odd. Dao Slaves attack all intruders. Why ignore me?

Is it the Heavenly Dao’s influence?

Both bore traces of the Dao—her from the curse, him from his connection.

If we’re kin… a little touch shouldn’t hurt, right?

Summoning the Body-Sizing Art and Invisibility Spell (though likely futile), he inched closer.

Three meters away—

Clang!

The woman’s hand snapped to her black sword, the blade partially unsheathed.

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