“I know you managed to locate the legendary Yao clan. If my guess is correct, they’re in the Soulbeast Forest, are they not?”

Dongfang Ming’s eyes peered chillingly into Bai Yunfei’s own, as if he could see through him. “Are you perhaps thinking that if I am unwilling to save them, then you can kill me and take them to the Yao clan to be cured instead?”

Bai Yunfei didn’t answer him. He stood there, glaring back at Dongfang Ming in defiance. But that had indeed been his thought. Dongfang Ming had seen through him. It was chilling how quick Dongfang Ming had done that, and it only served to make that sinking feeling in his chest even worse.

As if to confirm his thoughts, Dongfang Ming then said, “I advise you to forget about that. I know your Core Stone can teleport people quickly, but it won’t be fast enough! Before you can reach them, the life of our ‘master’ will be no more, and I can tell you that when I die...so will the young brat!!”

Everyone’s face hardened at his words. They had expected something like that, but hearing his words had still been a shock.

“Bastard!!” Huangfu Nan roared, “What do you plan to do with my daughter?!”

“I’m sure you know,” Sneered Dongfang Ming. “That girl has had troubles since birth, that was my doing, of course. I left something in her soul when she was in the womb. It’s been twenty years...the ‘Symbiosis Imprint’. Our souls are linked! If my soul vanishes, then the imprint will collapse and her soul will follow suit!”

“You!!”

A resurgence of anger flooded Bai Yunfei. He never thought Dongfang Ming would be this wicked, or that he would have something like this planned!

A Symbiosis Imprint? Huangfu Rui would die if he died?!

That blew all the plans Bai Yunfei had in his mind to pieces!

He didn’t want to believe his words, but did he have a choice? There was no way Bai Yunfei was willing to risk Huangfu Rui’s life by having Dongfang Ming’s death prove it.

“I have looked into her soul before. While able to sense the aberration, I was unable to pinpoint the cause...” Shen Pojun spoke.

He believed what Dongfang Ming was saying. There were thousands of techniques in this world, many of them were powerful and couldn’t be unraveled through power alone. If this Symbiosis Imprint had been maturing for twenty years as Dongfang Ming said, then not even he would be able to undo it!

Grave-faced, Bai Yunfei strode over to Huangfu Rui in no time at all. Kneeling down, he placed a hand on top of her hand and began to scan her soul.

A moment passed before despair began to fill his eyes as he ruminated over what he found.

“Let me try, Yunfei.” Suddenly, a voice spoke into Bai Yunfei’s mind.

“Sealer!?” He replied with hope, “I forgot, you’re a Regalia specialized in soul attacks...please take a look!”

“Yes...”

A warm sensation flowed from the top of Bai Yunfei’s head where the Soul Sentinel Scarf was. Traveling from the head to his palm, the energy then flowed into Huangfu Rui’s body.

“It’s as Dongfang Ming says. Her soul has a mark on it with Dongfang Ming’s scent on it!”

“You found the seal?!” The hope in Bai Yunfei grew by leaps and bounds. “Can you remove it?”

“I can’t. This mark has already melded into her soul. There’s no external power that could remove it without it destabilizing her soul...”

A chill ran up Bai Yunfei’s body. This sounded extremely similar to the slave seal seen on soulbeast puppets. While he could use the Beast Taming Ring to aid him in its removal, there was no way it’d work here. The Symbiosis Imprint wouldn’t necessarily have the same inner workings of the slave seal, and Bai Yunfei wasn’t confident in himself to try.

Even though the Soul Sentinel Scarf had done what Shen Pojun had done and found the Symbiosis Imprint, it was still unable to resolve the issue. Downtrodden, Bai Yunfei turned to walk back to Dongfang Ming.

“Dongfang Ming, what will it take for you to agree?”

He thundered, but the iron edge of his voice was softened by the tone of compromise.

With how tumultuous his heart was, Bai Yunfei had no idea what to even do anymore. If he killed Dongfang Ming, then Huangfu Rui would die as well. He couldn’t even take the Soul Sealing Mandate back since that was the only thing keeping Dongfang Ming alive! What could he possibly do then?!

He couldn’t save his master nor Huangfu Rui. In fact, the only one being saved right now was the very last person Bai Yunfei wanted to save. Was he going to have to carry the Soul Sealing Mandate as it was now and keep Dongfang Ming imprisoned? In that case, what should he do about his master? And about Huangfu Rui? Would she be stuck in that comatose state then?!

Like a beehive, Bai Yunfei’s mind was filled with these chaotic thoughts.

In contrast, Dongfang Ming looked as though he was absolutely giddy. “What’s wrong, confused? You have, of course, the option to take back the Soul Sealing Mandate and kill me, or, if you can’t, then perhaps I’ll be willing to forgive the little brat if you heal me...”

Bai Yunfei grew alert at once at that, “Heal you?! Do you even have a way to heal yourself?”

“I do, however, I lack the materials needed...”

“What are they?”

“Several years ago, when you killed Li Fenghai and fought Mo Ni in the Forest Pass Province, do you remember it? Li Fenghai had in his space ring a certain gem. The Heaven’s Bloodtears. Give me and I will heal. Let me leave, and I will return the brat back to normal. I’ll even be willing to disperse the energy in Zi Jin.”

Many of the listeners narrowed their eyes at his demands. Based on his words alone, all of them believed in his willingness to do as he said. They inwardly mocked him for his fear of death, but no one said it aloud. And as much as they were unwilling to let him go, there was too much at stake here. No one here wanted to see either Zi Jin or Huangfu Rui die.

“Several years ago? Mo City then?” Bai Yunfei blinked. He thought hard to what Dongfang Ming said. Certainly, Bai Yunfei remembered the trouble Tang Xinyun’s mother had been in, and how Tang Xinyun herself had been kidnapped outside Mo City. From there, he also remembered killing multiple people and becoming a Soul King before fighting Mo Ni and a Late-stage Soul King.

He gained many things from that battle, such as Soul Ignition and another piece of the map. Among those gained was a strange and mysterious gem.

A/N: Please refer to chapter 872 around.

“The Heaven’s Bloodtears?” Bai Yunfei narrowed his eyes. Taking out a blood-red gem from his space ring, he showed it to Dongfang Ming, “Are you talking about this?”

The body of the gem was see-through, but a strange red light shined from the interior of it. Within the gem had multiple small tears of red that looked almost like blood. As its name stated, this gem did look like it contained the bloody tears of heaven.

Dongfang Ming’s face lit up at once, “That’s it! That is the Heaven’s Bloodtears! Hand it over!!”

He looked excited and looked almost like he was ready to snatch it out from Bai Yunfei’s hands if not for his inability to move.

Never had Bai Yunfei learned what use the stone was for, and he practically forgot it existed until now. He only knew that it seemed important to Dongfang Ming. “This is capable of saving you?”

Still staring at the gem in Bai Yunfei’s hand, Dongfang Ming replied in affirmation, “Correct. The Heaven’s Bloodtears is a precious material for crafting demon armaments. I needed nine of them when I crafted my demonic core, and Li Fenghai was kind enough to find the last one for me. Unfortunately, he lost it when he lost his life in his fight with you...”

Dongfang Ming held back a bitter sigh. He had been down a piece when he crafted his demonic core, meaning it was imperfect. While it could be made up for afterward, having missed out on one meant he wasn’t as strong as he could have been.

“I had no idea that this was the case. What a strange material to craft demon armaments with...”

Bai Yunfei thought to himself, contemplative of the item in his hand.

Seeing the hesitation on Bai Yunfei’s face made Dongfang Ming feel worried, though he tried his best to remain indifferent. He didn’t want to die, after all. That was the reason why he spoke the way he had to Bai Yunfei, knowing full well that Bai Yunfei cared too much for Zi Jin and Huangfu Rui to have him killed.

“......”

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Silence descended upon the hall as everyone waited for Bai Yunfei’s response. It was a choice no one wanted to make, and thus they waited for Bai Yunfei to make the decision for them. They didn’t even dare to think of what they’d personally do. Not even Shen Pojun said a thing, he merely stood there with a quiet stare.

Moments passed as Bai Yunfei looked from Dongfang Ming to Zi Jin. He walked back to Huangfu Rui as if to look at what state she was in again. He spent an especially long amount of time standing in front of her, his eyes shining with doubt the entire time.

The longer he watched Bai Yunfei, the calmer Dongfang Ming became. He was getting confident now that Bai Yunfei would choose to spare him.

“Sigh...”

Then the moment came at last! Dongfang Ming’s eyes lit up with excitement when he heard a sigh escape from his lips!

But then he watched as Bai Yunfei shook his right hand, and then one moment later, everything around him disappeared...

Back in the Core World, Dongfang Ming was now gone from the hall.

Bai Yunfei raised his head to look at everyone. “Yunfei,” Shen Pojun sighed, “what happens next is up to you...”

“No matter the case...” Bai Yunfei nodded, determined. “I won’t let anything happen to master and Huangfu Rui!”

Everyone was equally relieved and sad to hear him say that. It would appear that Bai Yunfei was planning to make a compromise. There was no way for them to not want Huangfu Rui and Zi Jin to be saved, but to let the school’s biggest traitor get away was definitely a blow to their hearts...

Only Li Chengfeng looked at Bai Yunfei with a suspicious look: if Bai Yunfei was planning to compromise with Dongfang Ming, then why didn’t he make the ‘exchange’ right away? The more they waited, the worse Zi Jin became. What point was there bringing Dongfang Ming back to the Core World?

“Don’t tell me...”