Tianling flickered in and out of existence around Xiang Yu, examining every part of his body.

“Dragon and phoenix bloodlines, both at pure blood level? How is that even possible?” she wondered aloud.

“Body refining twenty-seventh layer,” she noted.

She pressed her palm against his chest. “Your body is quite sturdy. If I didn’t already want the Heavenly Dao body, I would’ve taken this instead.” Her lips curved into a smile. “Well, technically, I’ll still be taking this too since it’s a Heavenly Dao treasure.”

Holding her chin thoughtfully, she wondered how a Heavenly Dao treasure had ended up in this small mortal world? Even in the celestial realm, she had never encountered an actual Heavenly Dao treasure. Truth be told, she wasn’t entirely certain what type of treasure it was, only that the aura it was emitting surpassed even sage-level artifacts, that’s why she thought it was a Heavenly Dao treasure.

But as she thought about this, it suddenly clicked.

The Heaven’s Chosen was here, so naturally, the Heavenly Dao would spawn this treasure here for its chosen one. She began to chuckle. To think she would claim not only the Heavenly Dao body but also its treasure, her rng this round was really nice.

“Do you know anyone named Li Yao?” Tianling asked.

“Yeah, she’s my wife,” Xiang Yu replied coolly.

He firmly removed her hand from his body. “I would really appreciate it if you kept your hands to yourself. My wife really hates it when people do that.” He said. “Anyway, can you let my friends go now?”

Tianling glanced sideways at Li Mei and Liu Feng before returning her gaze to Xiang Yu. “And why should I do that?”

Her lips curled into a calculating smile. “How about this, you can exchange them for yourself. They don’t matter to me anyway.”

Xiang Yu sighed deeply. “Fine, let them go.”

She looked at him in surprise but still didn’t seem to have any intention of letting them go.

“What? You’re so strong, do you think I’ll run?” he asked mockingly.

She laughed. “Of course not. They’re free to go.” She reached for his hand, her fingers wrapping around his. “Let’s go then.”

“Not so fast,” Xiang Yu interjected.

“We’ll wait here until I confirm that they’re completely safe.”

As he spoke, he secretly transmitted the coordinates of the sect to the two, instructing them to go there immediately. He reasoned that even if she discovered the location, she wouldn’t be able to break in judging by how she had failed to reclaim the tower. Besides, if she did decide to attack the sect, he had an equally powerful Heavenly grade defensive formation waiting.

Tianling observed him carefully. She had secretly intercepted their voice transmission and now knew the sect’s location, but she also realized that the Heavenly grade formation would likely prevent her from reaching anyone inside. She had initially planned to pretend to release them, then capture them later to use as leverage against Xiang Yu who seemed difficult to deal with.

As these calculations ran through her mind, a new thought emerged, now that she knew the coordinates, they had lost any advantage over her. Why should she compromise?

Her expression hardened, playfulness vanishing instantly.

“Screw it, why would I listen to you? All of you are coming with me.” She declared.

…

Xiang Yu sighed, he had somewhat anticipated this turn of events.

Without warning, half of his body exploded into nothingness, flesh, bone, and blood simply ceasing to exist. Just as swiftly, his body regenerated.

Tianling’s jaw dropped in shock. “What are you doing? Are you crazy?” she screamed, rushing toward him. Her hands moved frantically over his body, only relaxing when she confirmed the Heavenly Dao treasure still seemed to be intact within him.

“This is my leverage,” Xiang Yu stated calmly, extending his hand.

A small dark sphere materialized above his palm.

“Void energy?” Tianling was taken aback by this.

“That’s right,” Xiang Yu confirmed. He closed his fist, and the void energy vanished. “I have it distributed throughout my body. If you aren’t willing to let them go, then there is no deal, and I will destroy this body right here and now.”

She gazed at him nervously, wondering if he would really do it.

“So, what now?” he pressed. “My friends will suffer, but your ’treasure’ will be gone too. Forever.”

She smiled nervously. “You’re bluffing.” She thought to herself that he must be, there was no way anyone would willingly destroy themselves, especially someone who had clearly fought so hard to reach this level of cultivation.

“You think so? Try me.” Xiang Yu’s smile matched hers, but his eyes remained cold and determined. “I’ll count down from five. Five…” he began.

Before he could continue, she saw his body disintegrate into nothingness.

Pure panic flashed across Tianling’s face as she frantically waved her hand.

“Stop, stop, stop!” she cried out.

Xiang Yu ceased counting and fixed his gaze on her. “That was quick,” he thought, wondering if she was using future sight to confirm he wasn’t bluffing.

“So, do we have a deal?” he asked.

She gritted her teeth in frustration. This person was hard to deal with, he was genuinely prepared to destroy himself rather than submit. Even if she accepted his terms, what guarantee did she have that he wouldn’t destroy himself anyway, denying her the treasure?

“Dammit,” she thought bitterly. Why would the Heavenly Dao entrust such power to someone so unhinged?

As these thoughts raced through her mind, she suddenly saw Xiang Yu’s body disintegrate once again.

“What are you doing?” she demanded. “Didn’t we have a deal?”

Xiang Yu’s suspicions were confirmed, she could indeed see into the future.

“Ah, it’s just that I have it set to self-destruct every five seconds, just in case you knock me unconscious,” he explained. “If you try anything and I’m not able to manually stop it every five seconds, well…”

Her expression darkened, she then sighed in resignation.

“Fine, I get it. They can leave.”

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