To Be Finished

Without thinking, Xiao Yu immediately chose Option Two. But there was a problem.

“System, did you forget something? I’m tied up right now. Even if I ignore whether Li Yunshang will notice or not and start cutting the ropes with all my strength, by the time I cut through, she’d have already smashed my legs to pieces.”

Xiao Yu said helplessly. As expected, the system had its limits.

“Heh. Host, you’re truly an idiot. You’ve been bound this whole time without realizing it—Kunling Rope works on cultivators, but it’s completely ineffective against martial artists.”

“Even if you say that, I’m not—” Xiao Yu paused. Wait. Besides his Mud Embryo cultivation, he was also a newly entered First-Rank Martial Artist.

He’d been a martial artist for such a short time, he’d nearly forgotten about it.

Though First-Rank didn’t provide the massive physical enhancement of Fourth or Fifth Ranks, the ropes were already mostly cut. With his martial strength, he could definitely break free.

Good.

Xiao Yu clenched his fist. If that’s the case, why was he still sitting here like an idiot? Time to run.

“…………”

As if sensing Xiao Yu’s thoughts, the system’s mechanical voice rang out again:

“Reminder: if the host chooses to flee without removing the love蛊 from Li Yunshang’s body, given her intense feelings for you, she will stop at nothing to chase you down.”

“…………”

So there was no avoiding it. But—”Must it be a kiss? Isn’t there another way?”

The system paused, scanning Li Yunshang from head to toe, then calmly replied:

“Because the Gu worm is inside Li Yunshang’s body, extraction and refinement require direct contact. If the host refuses to use the mouth, the alternative entrance below is also viable…”

“Fine. I’ll use my mouth.”

Xiao Yu cut the system off, making his decision with firm determination.

“…………”

Whatever makes you happy.

The next moment—swish—the slow-motion effect around them snapped back to normal speed, as if time itself had been rewound.

The flow of time returned to its natural pace.

“Come, Senior Brother Yu, put this on. Become my dog, mine alone.”

Li Yunshang held up the collar, continuing her approach. Her expression remained unnervingly twisted, just as before.

Huuu…

Xiao Yu took a deep breath, then lifted his head. The firmness in his eyes sent a shock through Li Yunshang.

She asked, confused: “Senior Brother Yu?”

“I refuse.”

“Eh?”

“I refuse to become your dog. I’d rather die than wear this collar.”

“Why? Am I not pretty enough? Tell me what you want, I can change. You just need to stay with me every day. For food, clothes, spirit stones—how many you want, I’ll give you.”

“Uhh…”

Honestly, Xiao Yu was actually a bit tempted. Unlimited spirit stones. No need to worry about money. Just move his waist a little each day. Might be a bit tiring, though…

Wait. Wasn’t this exactly Sun Qian’s life?

As if reading his mind, Li Yunshang waved her hand. A sack glowing with spiritual light landed in front of Xiao Yu. Her lips parted slightly, her voice laced with temptation:

“Come on. Put it on. All of this will be yours.”

“Well… it’s really good. Uh, may I ask—can I bring a woman with me? She’s my disciple. She’s suffered a lot following me. When we rise, we rise together.”

The moment the words left his mouth—

Whoosh!

A spiked mace flew past Xiao Yu’s head and slammed into the wall behind him.

The wall exploded with a loud crash. Spiderweb cracks spread across the stone, and the mace was embedded deep inside.

Holy sh*t…

A few strands of hair floated down from his ear. Cold sweat poured down Xiao Yu’s forehead.

“Are you joking with me? I already said—don’t mention other women when you’re with me. You never learn, do you? So you’re not the only one. You really do have another woman.

It doesn’t matter. Once you wear this, you’ll belong to me completely. You can’t escape from here anyway.”

Li Yunshang’s eyes were dull, appearing deeply hurt. Though she’d suspected it, hearing it confirmed still stung. Muttering to herself, she stepped closer to Xiao Yu. Her delicate hand reached up, gently touching his cheek. The collar was inches from his neck.

“Well, you’re going to be disappointed. Honestly, I didn’t want it to come to this. It’d ruin my reputation.”

Suddenly, Xiao Yu sighed.

“What?” Li Yunshang paused. A bad feeling rose in her chest. He was bound. What could possibly happen?

“Golden Body, Child of Invincibility!!!”

Xiao Yu unleashed his martial energy. A force far greater than his training at Divine Mechanism Peak erupted from his body.

Next—

Bang!

Every rope binding him snapped apart. A shockwave burst outward. Li Yunshang was forced back several steps.

“Tsk tsk.”

Xiao Yu casually rolled his wrists, looking utterly dominant. Indeed, martial arts were addictive. No wonder Brother Fan and the others were so obsessed.

This feeling—relying on nothing but your own breath, your own strength—was simply amazing.

He didn’t actually know the Golden Body, Child of Invincibility technique. He just shouted it for dramatic effect, hoping to subconsciously channel the power of Brother Fan and the others.

Clearly, Brother Fan had made him train with Liu Shicheng for a reason. If Xiao Yu hadn’t been a martial artist, he might not have broken free under these circumstances.

Though… he might have overdone the shirt burst. He felt a cold breeze down there.

Just as this thought crossed his mind—

“Ahh!” A startled cry came from the other side. Li Yunshang’s fair face flushed deep red. Her half-open eyes, filled with surprise, instinctively looked downward—then she covered them with her hands, overwhelmed by maidenly embarrassment.

But she forgot she was still holding the special collar. True to its high-end craftsmanship—crafted for ten thousand spirit stones—the collar detected a neck as it passed and automatically locked into place. A sharp click echoed.

The black ribbon-like collar now encircled the girl’s slender, snow-white neck.

“This…?”

Xiao Yu’s eyes widened. Li Yunshang looked just as shocked, instinctively tugging at the collar around her neck.

Zzzt!

A weak electric current surged through it.

“Uh…”

She let out a moan full of suggestive undertones, then her body went limp, collapsing to the ground.

To prevent forced removal, the collar had special safeguards. Only a specific voice saying a specific phrase could unlock it.

“Damn… can’t open it… Senior Brother Yu, you can’t escape…”

Li Yunshang realized she’d messed up. She looked at Xiao Yu with pitiful, pleading eyes, her beautiful gaze misty with tears, radiating heartbreaking allure.

But behind her back, her hand quietly pressed something.

Click. Instantly, the prison door locked shut. Across the sect, alarms blared—the kind only sounded when a major prisoner attempted escape.

Escape? Impossible. She’d finally caught him. There was no way she was letting him go.

She never expected that Xiao Yu, already a powerful soul-bound sword cultivator at Mud Embryo境, was also a martial artist.

As everyone knew, a cultivator’s spiritual energy and a martial artist’s true qi could not coexist.

Cultivators relied on resonance with the world’s spiritual energy. The denser the surrounding energy, the smoother their cultivation. In battle, they could even absorb ambient energy to replenish losses.

Martial artists, however, treated their body as a microcosm—a furnace. They borrowed nothing from heaven or earth. Their strength came solely from inner true qi. Their hands and feet were weapons. Pure martial artists even expelled all spiritual energy from their bodies, refusing to “beg from the heavens.”

Thus, dual cultivation of both paths was fine early on, but later, the energies would clash, turning against each other inside the body, causing chaos and risking explosion. Only self-cultivation destruction could save one’s life.

Several geniuses who attempted dual cultivation had already proven—by destroying their own foundations to survive—that it was impossible.

Therefore, most people never trained both paths simultaneously.

But Xiao Yu seemed different. His body showed no major issues. Was it because he was a Heavenly Devil?

Most likely. After all, he was a body transmigrator, not a soul transmigrator.

So Li Yunshang never anticipated that Xiao Yu, already one of the strongest cultivators as a soul-bound sword master, would also train in the martial path—a path that normally hindered cultivation.

Otherwise, she’d have added iron shackles forged from Qianjun Stone.

But now the prison door was locked. Once she stood up, it would just be catching a turtle in a jar. He couldn’t escape.

That was her thought. But Xiao Yu’s next move shocked her completely, wiping all plans from her mind.

“You look like you can’t move, right?”

“Eh?”

“In that case, excuse me.”

Instead of fleeing, Xiao Yu walked toward her, straight into Li Yunshang’s wide, stunned eyes.

“Uhh…”

A soft sensation touched his lips. Unlike the deliberate punch he’d received in the secret realm, this was a real kiss—a true kiss.

At the same time, the system’s voice rang in Xiao Yu’s mind:
“Refining in progress. Host, remain still. 1%… 2%…”

Isn’t this progress bar moving way too slow?

Xiao Yu had thought one kiss would do it. But luckily—somehow—Li Yunshang wasn’t moving, seemingly frozen in shyness, her mind not yet reacting.

Good. As long as he held on, it would be fine.

But the sound of the mace throw had been too loud. The neighboring cell heard it.

Creak.

The iron door opened.

“Miss, what happened?”

Two burly guards, worried for Li Yunshang’s safety, rushed in.

At that moment, Xiao Yu’s system progress had only reached 8%.

They were doomed.