Chapter 889 - 290: The Ruse of Self-Sacrifice

"Master, save me!"

It must be said that Zhang Zeduan is quite ruthless.

His head was injured by the Golden Light of the Immortal Mansion, making him look extremely miserable.

On his way here, he even found a Purple Mansion Perfection Realm sea demon beast in the ocean and coerced it to injure him.

Now, he is covered in blood, his magical robe is tattered, half of his head is missing, and his aura is unusually chaotic, clearly appearing to be gravely wounded.

"Master..."

After emerging from the void, Zhang Zeduan screamed miserably twice, then uncontrollably fell from the void into the small river below.

Xu Xiu frowned at him, his eyes flashing with a hint of suspicion.

But in the end, he still waved his hand to cast a ray of Spirit Light, fishing him out of the river.

Looking closely at the miserable-looking Zhang Zeduan, Xu Xiu asked in a deep voice, "Zeduan, what happened to you?"

"How did you get so seriously injured?"

With his keen eye, he could naturally see that apart from the other injuries, Zhang Zeduan’s half-shattered head was extremely severe.

At the wound, there was clearly a terrifying power of laws attached, preventing him from using the self-healing ability of the Nascent Soul True Monarch to restore the wound.

Even he felt a bit of dread towards this power.

Zhang Zeduan struggled to stand up and kowtowed on the ground, his voice sorrowful and choking, "I dare not hide from Master. Thanks to Master’s trust back then, the Immortal Mansion was entrusted to me."

"Over the years, I have always observed the Immortal Mansion’s Dao Rhythms whenever I had time, constantly gaining insights. This time, driven by greed, I originally intended to wait two more years, elevating my cultivation to the Nascent Soul Perfection Realm, before returning the Immortal Mansion to Master."

"At that time, I would neither delay Master’s important affairs nor could I, with the strength of the Nascent Soul Perfection, assist Master more."

"Who would have thought..."

He sneakily glanced at Xu Xiu, displaying a bit of fear, annoyance, and guilt.

As the disciple, he understood Xu Xiu’s temperament well, making his acting flawless.

"Speak."

Xu Xiu spoke calmly.

Zhang Zeduan kowtowed respectfully on the ground and continued, "Who would have thought that the place where I was in seclusion would be discovered!"

"That person suddenly attacked while I was realizing the Divine Power, using a peculiar Magical Treasure to send out a Golden Light!"

"When I tried to dodge, it was already too late."

Pointing to his missing portion of the head sadly, he said, "Master, look."

"That thief was incredibly powerful, attacking and injuring me without giving a chance for retaliation, directly charging in to kill me."

"Thanks to the Magical Robe Master awarded me back then, I narrowly escaped death, but the thief took away the Storage Bag and the Immortal Mansion..."

Xu Xiu listened to his words, his gaze deep, sinking into silence.

The kneeling Zhang Zeduan beneath was extremely uneasy inside.

He did not know how long he could stall this way.

Nor did he know how much Xu Xiu would believe his words.

Just walking one step at a time now.

As long as Shen Yuan within the grand hall of the Immortal Mansion could timely remove Xu Xiu’s methods left in the Immortal Mansion, he would have a way to escape from Xu Xiu, then disappear with the Immortal Mansion.

"Stand up first."

"Let me see your injuries."

After a long silence, Xu Xiu gently spoke, his words devoid of any emotion.

Zhang Zeduan struggled to stand, shakily moving in front of Xu Xiu.

Despite daring bold moves behind the scenes, harboring a desire to covet the Immortal Mansion, facing Xu Xiu directly would instinctively evoke some fear.

Standing with his arms lowered, Xu Xiu looked at the horrific wound on Zhang Zeduan’s head, contemplating for a few moments before slowly raising his hand to touch the wound’s edge.

Buzz!

As his fingers touched the wound’s edge, a scorching Golden Light suddenly flashed!

That Golden Light directly reduced a section of Xu Xiu’s finger to ashen dust, slowly drifting downward.

"Such domineering power..."

Xu Xiu muttered gravely, no longer maintaining the Water Mirror probing for the Immortal Mansion’s trace, channeling all his spiritual power to extinguish the domineering power at his fingertip.

The flesh at the wound’s edge frantically grew, rapidly scorched to ash by the domineering power.

After a long period of pulling and tugging, that domineering power eventually succumbed.

The flesh quickly wriggled, and Xu Xiu’s finger swiftly recovered.

"This power is not beyond dispelling. Just focus on healing; I’ll handle the rest."

Zhang Zeduan hesitated slightly, then cupped his hands as he proceeded toward the distant small courtyard.

Watching his back, Xu Xiu slightly narrowed his eyes.

Naturally paranoid, skilled in scheming, he did not believe a word of Zhang Zeduan’s explanation.

The reason he hadn’t torn it all apart on the spot driven by anger was because the Immortal Mansion currently indeed wasn’t with Zhang Zeduan.

This situation immediately revealed Zhang Zeduan had found help.

His helper not only found a way into the Immortal Mansion but also discovered the means left by him within.

The two were now clearly working together, with one playing the victim to stall him, while the other raced against time to destroy his means.

Logically, he should locate the Immortal Mansion before the opponent destroys his means within.

But the domineering power attached to Zhang Zeduan’s head wounds caused him caution.

He’s worried now that this rebellious disciple wants more than just the Immortal Mansion.

If the opponent can cultivate such power, they’re clearly not an ordinary Nascent Soul Perfection Realm cultivator.

In terms of mastery over laws alone, they could already be not weaker than himself.

Killing Zhang Zeduan, if the opponent manages to destroy his means left within the Immortal Mansion, getting back the Immortal Mansion would be difficult.