"Crck crck crck... aaarrrrrggghhh!"
The sound of screams and bones cracking filled the shrine. Xiang Ning's body was twisted at an unnatural angle, her bones cracking and snapping each second. Her naked body, which usually looked pure and seductive, was now dry; her flesh had shriveled and looked sickly.
"Senior, please stop!" she screamed, waving her hands and trying to break the technique that controlled the talisman, but she couldn't. All her Qi was being controlled by Lei Xinyi.
"Why would I??" Lei Xinyi looked at Xiang Ning with a calm expression.
Xiang Ning's eyes burned with hope seeing Lei Xinyi's expression. "Senior, I... I'm the one who set you free. I am a suitable soul-binding body for you, and I'm willing to be your disciple!"
Lei Xinyi nodded, placing her old, wrinkled hands on her chin. "Hmm, hmmm, you're right. And I really like your countenance and appeara..."
"Then please free me, Demon Saint Lei Xinyi! I promise to serve you and be loyal to you forever!" Xiang Ning cut Lei Xinyi's sentence short, forcing her already weak and strained body to bow.
"Well, I can't, my dear. I really do like you, but something unexpected has come up, and I have to sacrifice you." Lei Xinyi's eyes turned soft but were filled with determination. She actually liked Xiang Ning's ruthless nature and the way she presented herself, but she had to change her plans because of a new factor that had appeared unexpectedly.
Xiang Ning's foundation and mental sea were fully drained by the red threads, and she looked pitiful. She sobbed. "Arrg arggg smms arrg..." not with pain from her current situation, but because she wouldn't get to become a heavenly talent after all the hard work she'd put into this plan. She gazed at Lei Xinyi with darkened eyes filled with a dark light. "Why? Why!!!!?" she screamed.
Lei Xinyi sighed. She pointed a finger toward Long Xiaoqi. "She's the reason why."
Long Xiaoqi's talent had also been fully extracted and was floating with Xiang Ning's; Wei Zhang and Xiang Yi's talents were held by the red threads in the air.
Long Xiaoqi looked up at Lei Xinyi, her eyes wandering as she tried to form a coherent thought.
"Her??" Xiang Ning's eyes became dull and teary. "She's the reason?"
"Yes, she's my descendant," Lei Xinyi replied.
Xiang Ning cried out. "Arrrrragghh arrgghh eiggh mmmm mmm!" The sound was guttural and filled with different emotions sadness, hopelessness, disappointment, and tiredness. She sobbed and sobbed. "Why her? Why her, mmm mmm? Why always her?" She screamed and pulled her hair as a memory flashed through her eyes.
She was in a gathering of young, soon-to-be cultivators, but one person stood out: a little girl of about seven years old. She had pure green eyes and curly brown hair, standing a separate distance from the rest of the disciples. The little girl was smiling, and all gazes were on her. A pair of eyes watched this girl from the crowd, the eyes blending in and attracting no attention at all. Slowly but surely, the eyes darkened with determination.
Xiang Ning looked at Long Xiaoqi with pure hatred on her face. "Why always you, mmh mmm? You have so much talent and background, and now you're taking the only thing I have!"
Long Xiaoqi just watched Xiang Ning with a cold expression. "I'm not that talented compared to the geniuses of my sect. I only use my background and beauty to hide my sorrow, too."
Xiang Ning laughed. "Hahahaha, you're a joke, and now you're refusing to admit you've had it better." She spit on the floor and gazed at Long Xiaoqi with disgust.
"She's right, though," Lei Xinyi said, avoiding gazing at Xiang Ning. She sighed. "Xiang Ning, you have the Violet Void Soul Vein that only awakens when one turns eighteen. You're a great talent."
What? What?!!!
"What do you mean,Senior?" Xiang Ning asked, tears flooding her eyes. She had been talented all along? No, no... how could this be?? All her efforts?? She bit her lips and squeezed her hands with rage.
Lei Xinyi continued. "Your talent, the Violet Void Soul Vein, doesn't show any signs of its presence till its owner reaches maturity. It's part of the top hundred talents one could have in this Dao Realm." She sighed again. "You're truly pitiful."
She waved her hands, and the threads floated back to Long Xiaoqi. They settled in front of her and started to wrap around her until they formed a cocoon with her inside.
Xiang Yi sighed. He had recovered and had watched this entire scene quietly. "I knew this was going to happen."
Xiang Ning's eyes became still. "How did you control the extraction talisman?" Her eyes bore holes into Lei Xinyi.
"Well, it was crafted by me, and I kept a hidden mechanism in case of any situation. And I was right to do so."
Xiang Ning nodded and took a look at the cocoon one last time before her eyes dulled. She leaned backward, as her hair shine became lull her yes roamed around the cave for a while before the closed them never to open them again.