Xiang Mantang closed his eyes and meditated. The moment Jian Ruyan burst into his Shadow Ghost Domain, he sensed an intrusion.
"Hmm?"
His eyes abruptly opened, and he saw the intruder was none other than Jian Ruyan.
"This..."
Seeing Jian Ruyan had actually found him, and even rushed into his Shadow Ghost Domain, Xiang Mantang's complexion changed dramatically, and he immediately tried to flee forward!
It wasn't that he was afraid to face Jian Ruyan, but that he couldn't let her stay in his lethal domain for long or she would die!
Xiang Mantang maneuvered the ghostly presence behind him and exerted his God Realm strength. In a flash, he had escaped from the desolate island.
After leaving the island.
Xiang Mantang continued to step through the air, trying to get even further away from Jian Ruyan, but he felt a very unsettling sensation in his heart.
Although Jian Ruyan was quite strong, could she withstand the erosion of his Ghastly Presence?
By the time he detected the intrusion, Jian Ruyan had already been in the Ghastly Presence for nearly ten seconds.
In ten seconds, the city enveloped by his Ghastly Presence would usually have decayed into ruins.
She seemed fine on the surface, but could it be that something had happened to her already?
Xiang Mantang felt extremely irritated. He then paused and thought he would maintain a safe distance and watch Jian Ruyan's condition.
He hoped she wouldn't be in trouble.
At this moment, as Xiang Mantang was retracting the range of the Ghastly Presence and headed back towards the desolate island, he suddenly froze.
He discovered that his Ghastly Presence, which he had managed to shrink to the size of a thousand miles with great effort, was being suppressed by some force at this moment, reducing from a thousand miles to around nine hundred miles.
"What is this...?"
Xiang Mantang felt it was unbelievable. The range of the Ghastly Presence, which he had worked so hard to cultivate and had resigned himself to not being able to shrink, had suddenly contracted by a hundred miles?
"That's not right..."
Suddenly, Xiang Mantang realized that the small part of the Ghastly Presence that was suppressed was showing a tendency to expand back to a thousand miles in size, beyond his control.
"Is it because of Ruyan?"
Xiang Mantang's gaze flickered uncertainly, speculating.
Although he had some guesses, he didn't dare to use Jian Ruyan as a test subject. After all, if he failed, she would perish.
"Let's not worry about that for now. Let's see how Ruyan is doing first."
Xiang Mantang shook off these thoughts and then carefully controlled the range of the Ghastly Presence, returning to the desolate island, and then began to look for Jian Ruyan.
He went straight to the original spot and quickly found Jian Ruyan.
However...
At that moment, Jian Ruyan appeared to have fainted from the shock and surprise of finally finding Xiang Mantang, only for him to disappear again suddenly.
Looking at Jian Ruyan, who had collapsed on the ground and who he couldn't discern the wellbeing of due to the distance, Xiang Mantang's eyes revealed a hint of distress. But with his current condition, he was unable to go and help her.
"Huh?!"
Xiang Mantang suddenly discovered that as he approached Jian Ruyan, although the Ghastly Presence didn't envelop her, the range of the Ghastly Presence seemed to be suppressed again. It no longer attempted to return to a thousand-mile size; instead, the nine hundred-mile range was being forced down to eight hundred miles...
And it continued to decrease slowly but steadily!
"What's going on?"
Xiang Mantang looked at the trembling ghost shadow behind him, his eyes full of surprise and uncertainty.
Then, he continued to gaze at Jian Ruyan and muttered to himself, "Who exactly is Ruyan, and why can she help me suppress this ghost shadow?"
Xiang Mantang thought about how he was able to suppress the ghost shadow because of his bloodline power, which was originally only present when executing the "Blood Phoenix Slaughter Art." It was the prolonged maintenance and opposition of the Cursed Vermilion Phoenix Mark that appeared during the technique, allowing him to press down the vast Ghastly Presence to a mere thousand li...
Could Jian Ruyan also be someone with a certain bloodline?
Watching as the Ghastly Presence was suppressed to around seven hundred li and then stabilized, Xiang Mantang knew it was because he had moved further away from Jian Ruyan, so the Ghastly Presence felt safe again and stopped compressing further.
Thus, Xiang Mantang flew forward another three hundred li or so, stopping just as the Ghastly Presence nearly touched Jian Ruyan. The Ghastly Presence seemed to be scared again, forcibly suppressed from seven hundred li down to five hundred li, and then four hundred li...
Once the Ghastly Presence stabilized again, Xiang Mantang flew forward, and finally, he was able to suppress it to a realm of a hundred li!
Within this range, Xiang Mantang saw clearly for the first time that Jian Ruyan, who lay unconscious on the ground, had several ice-blue patterns on her forehead, intertwining to form an Ice Phoenix pattern that was very similar to the Cursed Vermilion Phoenix Mark on his body, only differing in size.
Xiang Mantang's body shuddered as he felt that connection of the same bloodline, murmuring to himself in disbelief, "How can this be?"
He suddenly had an epiphany.
Thinking about how Jian Ruyan treated everyone with the same cold demeanor, except that she was especially good to him, even offering him various elixirs. Although she didn't act coy, he assumed that was just a part of her personality.
Previously, Xiang Mantang had thought she behaved this way because she liked him, but now it seemed she indeed liked him, but not in the way he had imagined.
It was the affection of a sister for her brother!
But why had Jian Ruyan changed so much since her childhood, was it true that women change eighteen times between childhood and womanhood?
"So the Ah-Xiu that I've been looking for, has been by my side all along, but why didn't she tell me? Why is she still hiding it?"
Xiang Mantang was somewhat baffled!
"Is it because of those people who took her away that year?"
Xiang Mantang thought of the elixirs that Jian Ruyan often produced, and her sudden appearance in the Dragon King Hall with a past he couldn't investigate. He surmised that the reason Jian Ruyan dared not acknowledge their sibling relationship was because of the enemies who had killed their parents forcing her to do so!
A surge of resentment swiftly rose in Xiang Mantang's heart, making him wish he could find them now and torture them to death with the Ghastly Presence behind him, crushing their bones and scattering their ashes!
"Huff..."
Xiang Mantang took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Then, he realized that after the Ghastly Presence was suppressed to a realm of a hundred li, even when Jian Ruyan lay just at the edge of it, the Ghastly Presence showed no sign of being further suppressed.
It was as if a dead pig was not afraid of boiling water; once it had been reduced to a realm of a hundred li, there was no way to make it compress back on its own!
"How can I take care of Ah-Xiu like this!"
Xiang Mantang was somewhat anxious.
He thought since his Cursed Vermilion Phoenix Mark could suppress the ghost shadow, then Jian Ruyan should be able to as well, right? It might be worth taking a risk and letting Jian Ruyan be enveloped by the Ghastly Presence.
After all, she had just rushed in recklessly and was fine, wasn't she?
But if it were anyone else, Xiang Mantang might have tried it by now, but Jian Ruyan was his sister who he had finally found, and the one he had mistakenly thought he had killed. Now that she had reappeared, how could he dare take such a risk?
Even if it meant hurting a single hair on Jian Ruyan's head, Xiang Mantang felt he would be unbearably heartbroken!
"Eh?! What's happening to Ruyan...?"
Xiang Mantang was still struggling with what to do when he suddenly noticed Jian Ruyan lying on the ground in a faint, her body twitching slightly, her complexion growing even paler, while the ground beneath her froze over with frost, continuously spreading outwards...
Xiang Mantang instantly recognized that this was the bloodline power within Jian Ruyan that she had yet to completely control. Due to her frequent use of bloodline power, it was about to become unbalanced.
Just as when Xiang Mantang was at the Peak Energy Transformation stage, executing the "Blood Phoenix Slaughter Art" and forcibly mobilizing his bloodline power, he would often encounter the danger of being overwhelmed by the killing intent.
However, the imbalance of Jian Ruyan's bloodline power seemed as if it was going to freeze her alive!