Lin Xinglan froze.
Reveal Yang Xiu's whereabouts?
Not only had she never chosen Yang Cheng, but even if she truly had, she would have told him openly.
With her character, how could she possibly act like she treated Yang Xiu as her disciple on the surface, while secretly joining hands with Yang Cheng to harm her own disciple?
She never imagined her disciple would think of her this way.
At that moment, Lin Xinglan's heart turned completely cold.
From the time Yang Xiu was just one year old, she had begun training him, giving him everything without holding anything back.
Later, even when she saw Yang Cheng's extraordinary talent, far beyond Yang Xiu, she decisively rejected Yang Cheng's request to become her disciple and still chose to remain Yang Xiu's teacher.
After that, Yang Xiu walked into the path of demons, cultivating with the demonic cauldron.
Even then, she gave him chance after chance.
But Yang Xiu only deceived her again and again.
Just now, he had even used demonic arts right in front of her eyes, sucking someone into a dried corpse.
Buzz!
Ripples spread in the void as a peerlessly beautiful figure condensed into form.
It was Lin Xinglan herself.
Her face was stunning yet coldly dignified, like a supreme empress.
"Yang Xiu, so in your heart, I was nothing but this wretched?"
"Mountains may shift, but nature does not change."
"Your mother's sharp and mean character had me worried from the start that it would affect you."
"But I thought as long as I raised you with patience, I could set you on the right path."
"Now it seems, I was only lying to myself."
Her eyes were filled with disappointment and cold indifference.
Yang Xiu panicked, sensing disaster. "Master, I was wrong. This is the last time…"
"No. You have no more chances. You've told me those words far too many times."
Lin Xinglan said, "From today on, the bond between us as master and disciple is over."
"Over?"
The words struck Yang Xiu like a thunderclap.
His face twisted into madness. "Hahaha, over? Lin Xinglan, so you finally dropped the act, finally said what's in your heart."
"An act?"
Lin Xinglan's gaze turned icy.
"Isn't it?"
Yang Xiu howled hysterically. "Ever since you met Yang Cheng, you've grown colder to me, just because you think I can't compare to him."
"And now you don't even bother to hide it, openly helping him harm me."
"It's you who's wrong, yet you act like a whore pretending to be a saint, putting all the blame on me, painting yourself as so noble."
His chest felt like it was ripping apart, his organs about to tear to shreds.
How could this be?
From childhood, Lu Jingshu and his master both told him he was the Heaven's Mandate Son.
Yet first it was the future empress Wei Roujia, then Sister Yun'er, and now even his master.
Every person who mattered most to him betrayed him one after another.
Yes.
Even though Yang Cheng defended Tang Yun'er, he still refused to believe it. In his eyes, Tang Yun'er had also betrayed him.
Yang Cheng widened his eyes in disbelief.
He never expected to witness such a spectacle—a master and disciple tearing each other apart.
The Heaven's Mandate Son against a half-step Martial Ancestor.
This kind of drama, perhaps across all the worlds, only he was lucky enough to see.
Lin Xinglan was truly furious.
She, a dignified half-step Martial Ancestor, was insulted with words like "a whore pretending to be a saint."
And the one saying this was her former disciple.
At this moment, she felt she must have been blind in the past, to ever choose someone like Yang Xiu as her inheriting disciple.
"Sixth Brother, you've misunderstood Senior too deeply."
Yang Cheng shook his head. "Senior's harshness toward you comes from how much she cares for you."
Those words made Lin Xinglan all the more aware of the gap between Yang Xiu and Yang Cheng.
Yang Cheng, an outsider, could clearly see the painstaking care she had given Yang Xiu. Yet Yang Xiu himself repaid her with such venomous words.
Her eyes turned colder with disappointment. "Yang Xiu, let me ask you this. Yang Cheng at least once gave me Xiantian Spirit Liquid. Without it, I could never have manifested my soul outside the body again."
"And you? These years, aside from endlessly taking from me, have you ever once thought about how you could repay me?"
"I…"
Yang Xiu faltered.
He wanted to say he was too young, his ability still lacking, that when he grew up he would naturally repay his master.
But then he thought of Yang Cheng, the same age as him, who had already given her Xiantian Spirit Liquid. The words stuck in his throat.
Lin Xinglan withdrew her gaze and said to Yang Cheng, "From this day on, Yang Xiu and I are no longer master and disciple. As for today's chance, you two will fight for it with your own ability."
"This…"
Yang Cheng hesitated slightly. "If Senior wishes it, I am willing to give you face and let Sixth Brother have the Azure Emperor's inheritance."
The Azure Emperor's inheritance was important, but to him, it wasn't as important as the system's mission.
Now that Lin Xinglan clearly bore him no killing intent, survival was guaranteed.
But knowing the system, if he could over-complete the mission, the reward would increase.
How could he pass up such a chance?
Hearing this, Lin Xinglan's favor toward Yang Cheng deepened.
She had doubted earlier, thinking Yang Cheng might be deliberately sowing discord between her and Yang Xiu.
But hearing him now, she felt ashamed of her suspicion, realizing she had judged a gentleman with a petty heart.
The Azure Emperor's inheritance was unimaginably important.
Yet Yang Cheng was willing to give it up just for her sake.
And then there was Yang Xiu, who for the sake of a demonic cauldron, had defied her again and again, refusing to discard it even now.
"Yang Cheng, don't put on this fake show."
"You might fool Master, but you can't fool me. You think I don't see through your act of pretending to be a good man, deliberately making Master despise me?"
Yang Xiu's face twisted. "I don't believe you'd really give up the Azure Emperor's inheritance. You're only acting like that because you know Master won't do such a thing, so you can easily use this trick to fool her. You're nothing but a hypocrite, a complete and utter hypocrite!"
Yang Cheng shook his head. "Sixth Brother, you've lost yourself to madness. We're just a few years old, while Senior has lived for countless years. The salt she's eaten is more than the rice we've ever eaten. Do you think if my heart weren't sincere, I could fool her?"
He knew well how terrifying Lin Xinglan's insight was. Someone like her could never be deceived by lies.
That's why he spoke only the truth.
Forget the system mission—just this situation before him was the result of years of careful planning.
To deal with Yang Xiu, he had to drive a wedge between Yang Xiu and Lin Xinglan. With a half-step Martial Ancestor's remnant soul guarding him, killing Yang Xiu otherwise was impossible.
Compared to this chessboard and the mission, the Azure Emperor's inheritance meant nothing.
Besides, the true treasure of the Azure Emperor's Tomb wasn't the inheritance, but the young Azure Dragon within.
"Hahaha, no matter what you say, I won't believe it, unless you really abandon the Azure Emperor's inheritance."
Yang Xiu laughed wildly.
"Sixth Brother, Sixth Brother, you really can't see the mountain before your eyes."
Yang Cheng's tone was one of disappointment. "Having a teacher like Senior, in my eyes, is worth more than any so-called inheritance. Why must you cling so desperately to it?"
"A teacher like her is the true great fortune others can only dream of."
"Back then, I came to her with true sincerity, yet Senior still rejected me. And you—Senior has selflessly taught you for nine years, and you never knew how to cherish it."
These words deeply moved Lin Xinglan.
She had seen much in her life, but she had rarely seen someone with such a pure and sincere heart as Yang Cheng.
If she had known earlier, she would never have bothered choosing the so-called Heaven's Mandate Son. Choosing Yang Cheng directly would have been the right choice.
Why, then, had she rejected him when he wished to be her disciple last time?
At this moment, regret stirred in her heart.
She had overlooked the fact that in the beginning, she hadn't even considered Yang Cheng, believing he wasn't qualified to stand alongside Yang Xiu, the chosen Heaven's Mandate Son.
Even the last time, she had clung to the vain hope that Yang Xiu might someday rise.
But Yang Xiu's performance had only disappointed her more and more.
"Shut up! Who says I don't know how to cherish it?"
Yang Xiu's eyes turned red. "For nine years, I have cultivated every day according to Master's instructions, never daring to slack for even a moment."
"Never daring to slack?"
Yang Cheng's tone went cold. "And by that, you mean using demonic arts to suck the life essence of others, taking what you did not earn? You think that's worthy of Senior's upright righteousness, her transcendent purity?"
"I…I…"
Yang Xiu's anger and fear tangled. He couldn't find a reply.
"Senior, for your sake, I will abandon this Azure Emperor inheritance. I hope you'll see the sincerity of my heart."
With that, Yang Cheng didn't give Yang Xiu another glance. He turned decisively and walked away.
Yang Xiu stood frozen.
Never had he imagined Yang Cheng would truly give up this chance.
The Azure Emperor was a being who became a god in mere thousands of years.
Such an inheritance was priceless.
How could Yang Cheng abandon it?
"Yang Xiu, do you think everyone is as false as you?"
Lin Xinglan's voice lashed him like a whip. At the same time, she was completely moved by Yang Cheng.
Then she actually stepped forward to follow Yang Cheng. "Yang Cheng, I feel your sincerity. If you are truly willing to take me as your teacher, then from this moment on, you will be my personal disciple."
Yang Xiu's world shattered. He nearly spat blood.
Lin Xinglan had just cut ties with him, and now she was fawning over Yang Cheng? She was nothing but a shameless wretch!
Yang Cheng stopped in his tracks, surprise flashing across his face. "Senior, it means much to me that you see my sincerity. But I only hope this isn't a decision made in the heat of the moment. So I will give you three days to think it over."
"If after three days you still wish this, then I will welcome you with the grandest rites."
As he spoke, he drew out a drop of Xiantian Spirit Liquid. "Senior, this is another drop of Xiantian Spirit Liquid I painstakingly acquired over the years. Please accept it first."
Lin Xinglan's heart was filled with satisfaction.
She should have been grieving deeply after cutting ties with Yang Xiu.
But gaining Yang Cheng, a disciple countless times greater, felt to her like fortune instead of loss.
That joy and ease quickly washed away her sorrow.
"Yang Cheng, I'll kill you!"
This sight drove Yang Xiu past his breaking point.
As Lin Xinglan moved toward Yang Cheng, a chilling clarity struck Yang Xiu—he might have made a grave mistake.
The Heaven-Devouring Divine Cauldron, the Azure Emperor's inheritance—none of them mattered compared to Lin Xinglan.
Having just absorbed Chu Chen, his strength was at its peak.
In that instant, his power was nearly equal to a Martial Saint.
In a flash, he appeared behind Yang Cheng, stabbing his sword viciously toward Yang Cheng's back.