The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

A few moments later, Xiao Gui finally came to his senses and cried out fiercely, "Sect Leader!"

Only then did the crowd snap back to reality and look toward the lake. Just then, a figure carrying the charred body of Xiao Pan flashed out from the water's surface. It was Xiao Yu.

"Chen Dong, I'm going to kill you!!!"

A flash of sword light shot toward him, but Chen Dong easily blocked it.

Xiao Yu held the body in one arm and her sword in the other, frantically unleashing waves of sword Qi.

But despite being a powerful cultivator in her own right, the sword Qi she unleashed in her fury couldn't even break through Chen Dong's Protective True Qi.

Xiao Yu knew that she was no match for Chen Dong. She slowly laid Xiao Pan down on the shore and pointed her sword at Chen Dong, tears streaming endlessly down her face.

Memories of her life with Xiao Pan flooded her mind. Although she had grown up without a mother, his love and devotion had ensured she never felt lonely or abandoned. Even during the times she missed her mother, she had still been happy.

As Xiao Yu walked toward Chen Dong, she screamed hoarsely, "I told you not to come! I told you not to come, but you insisted! I knew it... he was just looking for a way to die! What do I do now...? He's really dead! ...What do I do... What do I do...?"

Chen Dong noticed that something was wrong with Xiao Yu's aura; her True Qi was showing signs of reversing its flow. 'Is she trying to take me down with her? How naive!'

Several Silver Needles flew from his hand, and he simultaneously cast several restrictive seals.

Her emotional defenses shattered, Xiao Yu offered no resistance. She was struck by the Silver Needles and crumpled to the ground.

Having dealt with that, Chen Dong glanced over at Cai Feiyu.

He saw Cai Feiyu staring intently at Xiao Pan's body, muttering to herself, "Is he dead? Is he really dead? ...That's wonderful. He's finally dead!"

Then she collapsed to her knees, tears welling up in her hollow eyes. "Mom, the villain who abandoned us is finally dead! Mom..."

Her forehead slammed into the ground. She covered her face with her hands and shrieked in agony, "Mom, I wanted a father too! I really did! Why is it so unfair? Why...?"

Chen Dong sighed softly. 'It seems Cai Feiyu's hatred has been resolved.'

He closed his eyes, feeling the Red Dust Dao Light Pillar in his sea of consciousness surge wildly.

"Chen Dong, the Xuanwu Sect will absolutely not let the matter of you killing our Sect Leader rest!"

Xiao Gui stared coldly at Chen Dong as he spoke.

Chen Dong opened his eyes and chuckled. "What? So he's allowed to kill me, but I'm not allowed to kill him? Besides, do any of you really think you can defeat me right now? Hand over Qin Yun!"

"Hmph! So what if we all die? Keep dreaming if you think you're getting the hostage!"

Chen Dong shook his head. "Sigh. You people... Xiao Pan isn't actually dead."

"Not dead?"

The members of the Xuanwu Sect were stunned.

Cai Feiyu trembled at his words, scrambling to her feet and running toward Xiao Pan's body.

Xiao Gui roared viciously, "What kind of joke is this? I can't sense the Sect Leader's aura at all! He has no pulse, no heartbeat! And you still claim he's not dead?"

Chen Dong didn't answer, instead turning his gaze to Cai Feiyu.

At Xiao Gui's words, Cai Feiyu slowed her pace. Thanks to the mountain of treasures and pills Xiao Pan had lavished on her, she too had reached the Tiangang Realm and could naturally perceive his aura. Xiao Gui wasn't lying—Xiao Pan's aura was completely gone. He was nothing more than a corpse.

"If only... if only... if only you weren't dead," Cai Feiyu mouthed.

She then slowly knelt beside Xiao Pan's body. As she reached out to touch his scorched face, tears began to well up again.

"I... I... I want you to be alive... Father!..."

Chen Dong's eyes narrowed slightly. 'So this is what it means to only regret something after you've lost it.'

'As long as people are alive, there will always be... anger, obsession, and resentment.'

The moment Cai Feiyu spoke those words, the Red Dust Dao in Chen Dong's sea of consciousness grew by another degree. Chen Dong smiled faintly. 'This definitely wasn't a loss.'

He then announced to the crowd, "A Profound Pill Realm expert doesn't die that easily. As long as his Profound Pill is not destroyed, he is not dead! He's just gravely injured, and I've knocked him into a near-death state."

Everyone present, with the exception of Li Zhixuan, was frozen in shock.

Profound Pill Realm experts were simply too rare in the modern world; they had no idea about such things.

"Originally, I was going to save him since I'm the one who injured him. But considering the Xuanwu Sect's attitude... forget it. You can find someone else to save him yourselves."

With his Divine Sense, Chen Dong had known Qin Yun's location the moment he set foot in the Cai Family's ancestral home. Since the Xuanwu Sect and the Cai Family were unwilling to hand her over, he would just have to rescue her himself.

'This trip has yielded a good amount of Red Dust Dao Radiance. Definitely not a loss!'

But who would have expected it? Every member of the Xuanwu Sect knelt before Chen Dong. "Senior, we implore you to save our Sect Leader!"

Chen Dong's eyes narrowed. He didn't like being strong-armed like this. 'Fine,' he thought. 'I was the one who injured him, after all.'

He swiped a hand over his ring, producing a bottle of pills and six Top-Grade Spirit Stones.

Seeing the Spirit Stones, Li Zhixuan immediately protested, "Lao Chen, those are my Spirit Stones! Don't you dare waste them like that!"

Li Zhixuan had already sensed that this world was different from the Wangyou Realm. Here, Spiritual Qi was still in a burgeoning phase, making resources like Spirit Stones exceptionally precious. Moreover, he was currently a Fallen Daoist and didn't even have Top-Grade Spirit Stones for his own cultivation. Seeing them used to save someone else, he was naturally reluctant.

Chen Dong replied, "Feng You dropped these."

"Oh! In that case, never mind. Go ahead!"

The contents of Feng You's ring were far more extensive than Li Zhixuan's own. 'As expected of the son so doted on by Feng Fu,' Chen Dong thought. 'He was a walking treasury.' Of course, that treasury now belonged to him.