Ye Ling saw the ice cone approaching and knew he had been exposed. He stopped pretending and immediately reverted to his original form, condensing a shield with runes in front of him to block the ice cone's attack.
Ji Ning's eyes flickered slightly when she saw Ye Ling could block her attack. She then snorted at Ye Ling, "I didn't expect there to be a bug hidden within that old thief's formation!"
Ye Ling was slightly relieved that Ji Ning didn't recognize him. He then said to Ji Ning, "Senior, this is all a misunderstanding! I was also captured here by that old thief Qing Yue, and I almost died in this formation."
"I hate that old thief Qing Yue to the bone. It's truly satisfying that you killed him, Senior!"
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Ji Ning temporarily stopped her attack, but she still didn't let down her guard against Ye Ling. She coldly asked, "What is your name?"
Ye Ling quickly replied, "This junior's name is Wang Li Ren."
"Good! Wang Li Ren, you can conceal your aura right under my nose, so you must have some ability. My Dao Sect is currently short-handed. If you are willing to join my Dao Sect and serve us, I can spare your life!"
"This junior has long admired the great name of the Dao Sect. Joining the Dao Sect is more than I could ask for!" Ye Ling said without hesitation.
Although he had never heard of this "Dao Sect," it didn't stop him from flattering it.
"Very good!"
Ji Ning nodded slightly, spread her hand, and a purple pill floated in her palm. She pushed it towards Ye Ling.
"Eat this."
Ye Ling looked at the purple pill in front of him, pursed his lips, and asked, "May I ask, Senior, what is this?"
Ji Ning coldly said, "Stop talking nonsense. If you want to join the Dao Sect, eat this pill!"
"I'll eat it, no need to be so fierce!" Ye Ling replied, grabbing the purple pill and preparing to put it in his mouth.
Xiao Mao Mao saw this and quickly patted Ye Ling, saying, "You can't eat it!"
Ji Ning glared coldly at Xiao Mao Mao, scaring him into a shudder. He dared not speak again.
As Ye Ling brought the pill to his mouth, he observed his surroundings with his peripheral vision, contemplating an escape route.
Even though he didn't know what the pill Ji Ning gave him was, it clearly wasn't anything good. Anyone who ate it would be an idiot!
At the moment the pill was about to enter his mouth, Ye Ling made a decisive move and threw the pill at Qing Zhu as a projectile!
"How dare you!"
Ji Ning's pupils contracted sharply when she saw Ye Ling sneak attack Qing Zhu. She immediately flung an ice cone, piercing the pill Ye Ling had thrown at Qing Zhu!
Ye Ling, seizing this opportunity, used runes to accelerate himself and, with Xiao Mao Mao, fled towards the outside of the formation!
"Where do you think you're going?"
Seeing Ye Ling trying to escape, Ji Ning became enraged. She instantly froze the land for thousands of miles, even freezing the sky into ice!
If one were to look from high above, ten thousand miles away, they would see that the land below, centered on Ji Ning, was frozen into a massive ice shell spanning thousands of miles!
The World-Destroying Spirit Fire saw the sky frozen into an ice wall and exclaimed, "Kid, quickly create a teleportation channel and get out of here!"
"No! Even space and time have been frozen!"
Ye Ling looked at the frozen runes around him, then back at Ji Ning, who was rapidly approaching him. His eyes narrowed, "It seems I have no choice but to fight!"
The World-Destroying Spirit Fire exclaimed, "Kid, your Seed of Origin is shattered, and Tian Xing is still seriously injured and unconscious. How are you going to fight a supreme expert?"
"Kid, you've completely angered me!!!"
At this moment, Ji Ning, her face full of fury, wielding an ice spear, charged at Ye Ling at an extremely high speed!
As Ye Ling watched Ji Ning attack him, he immediately placed his hand on his wrist and pulled out the World-Destroying Spirit Fire, holding it in front of him as a shield!
"Senior, wait! This item can break the life-bound contract on your body!"
The World-Destroying Spirit Fire: "Huh???"
Ji Ning's ice spear stopped abruptly in front of the World-Destroying Spirit Fire, and the oppressive cold air froze more than half of it!
Ji Ning retracted her ice spear and asked Ye Ling coldly, "What did you just say?"
Ye Ling shook off the ice shards from the World-Destroying Spirit Fire and held it up to Ji Ning, saying, "This item is called the Origin Spirit Fire, one of the five great spirit fires born from the Seed of Origin!"
"Origin Spirit Fire?" Ji Ning frowned. "I've never heard of such a thing in this world. Are you just making up a treasure to trick me?"
Ye Ling coughed and said to Ji Ning with a serious expression, "Senior, this Origin Continent is vast and boundless, with countless rare treasures. Do you truly know all things in the world?"
"Well... I naturally wouldn't claim to know everything, but any divine object born from the Seed of Origin must have a great name. I couldn't possibly not know it!"
Ji Ning still didn't believe Ye Ling and looked at him with suspicion.
"Not so!" Ye Ling wagged his finger. "The reason Senior doesn't know about the Origin Spirit Fire is that my Wang clan has guarded the spirit fire for generations. There are no more than ten supreme experts in the world who know of the Origin Spirit Fire!"
"Once, another guardian of my clan perished in the lower realm. The two brothers, the Lord of the Upper Realm and the Shadow of the Upper Realm, fought fiercely over that Origin Fire. In the end, the Shadow of the Upper Realm died in the lower realm, filled with hatred."
"It was precisely because I was guarding this Origin Spirit Fire that I was ambushed by that old thief Qing Yue and trapped in the formation!"
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Ji Ning said with a solemn expression, "I have indeed heard that two individuals from the Upper Clarity Palace turned against each other while conquering the Origin Lower Realm. I thought it was because of the Seed of Origin in the lower realm, but I didn't expect it to be for this Origin Fire."
"Could the formation of that old thief Qing Yue be so powerful because of this Origin Fire?"
Ye Ling continued to boast, "Naturally. The Origin Fire contains the aura of the Seed of Origin. Although it's not as potent as the Seed of Origin, it is still a supreme treasure of heaven and earth. There are only five Origin Fires in the entire Origin Continent."
Ji Ning glanced at the World-Destroying Spirit Fire in Ye Ling's hand again and questioned, "The aura of this fire in your hand is too weak. How could it have been born from the Seed of Origin?"
"Senior, you may not know, but this spirit fire has had too much energy taken from it by Qing Yue, and it is severely injured. I need to nourish it with my essence blood to keep it from being extinguished. If Senior Origin doesn't believe me, you can examine it carefully!"
As Ye Ling spoke, he directly threw the World-Destroying Spirit Fire to Ji Ning.
Although the World-Destroying Spirit Fire was cursing Ye Ling in its heart, it dared not reveal any flaws when held by Ji Ning. It could only hold its breath and pretend to be weak.
Ji Ning looked at the World-Destroying Spirit Fire, which seemed like it could extinguish at any moment in her palm, and said, "Indeed... this fire carries the aura of the Seed of Origin. It seems it is truly a supreme treasure derived from the Seed of Origin."
Hearing Ji Ning's words, Ye Ling secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He hadn't expected that after the Seed of Origin within him shattered, the World-Destroying Spirit Fire would accidentally carry the aura of the Seed of Origin, which turned out to be useful at this moment!
After Ji Ning believed the World-Destroying Spirit Fire to be a treasure, she began to nourish it with her spiritual power, and said to Ye Ling, "Wang Li Ren, you said this Origin Spirit Fire can break the life-bound..."
"Senior, it's the life-bound contract," Ye Ling replied with a bow.
"That's right, the life-bound contract... How do I break it?" Ji Ning asked.
Ye Ling glanced at the World-Destroying Spirit Fire in Ji Ning's hand and then said to Ji Ning, "To answer Senior, the Origin Spirit Fire can burn through all contracts in the world. It's just a pity that the Origin Spirit Fire is currently extremely weak and cannot break it at the moment."
"Of course!"
As he said this, Ye Ling, fearing that Ji Ning might make a move, quickly added, "As long as the Origin Spirit Fire absorbs enough energy, it can easily sever the contract between Senior and Qing Zhu!"
"Fine, I'll believe you for now! I'll keep the Origin Spirit Fire with me for now, and I'll return it to you after the contract is broken!"
With that, Ji Ning sealed the World-Destroying Spirit Fire on her wrist and gave Ye Ling another purple pill.
"Eat it."
Ye Ling looked at the purple pill floating in front of him, and his mouth twitched.
"Yes..."