Chapter 2 The Bet

This idea had barely surfaced when Zhang Xuan immediately shook his head.

"Mo Mansion is as secure as iron, and to leave, one must obtain an identity and walk out openly; if escaping were easy, I would have done so already, not waited until now."

"No, why was I able to kill it?"

After the frustration, a trace of doubt also surfaced in his mind.

I've been bullied by this horse for several days straight; the more fiercely I resisted, the harder I was beaten. Why the sudden reversal today?

He reran the event just now in his mind and couldn't help but look towards the new world again.

This was a place created by absorbing Origin qi, with a structure identical to the Empyrean: lands, mountain ranges, oceans, flora and fauna... it had everything.

He saw an area within the new world where a vast ocean, sprawling tens of thousands of miles, had now completely evaporated, turning into wisps of light blue light. The force that killed the horse had originated from there.

I thought I killed the Suxiang Horse because the suppressed strength was released, but it turns out, I burned the new world...

To kill a single horse, it consumed an ocean spanning tens of thousands of miles. With such battles, if experienced a few more times, the universe that was so hard to open up might completely collapse and turn into nothingness.

His soul was long bound to this place; if this were to happen, he himself would definitely suffer great damage!

Hm, this method is good, better not use it again...

Pushing these thoughts aside, he once again looked at the Suxiang in front of him.

The previously arrogant steed was now arrogantly dead.

Unmoving, slowly becoming stiff.

"This is Mo Yanxue's sixteen-year-old birthday gift, regarded as a precious treasure. What to do now?"

Zhang Xuan felt somewhat troubled.

Just tying it up had led to punishment; if this situation became known, the consequences were clear without thinking. With his current strength, even if he escaped Mo Mansion, he would surely be captured and chopped into mush in public.

Enter this world was his preparedness for sacrifice, but to die over a horse was just absurd...

No, I must think of a way to save myself!

"Or... could you get up and kick once?"

He grabbed Suxiang's front hoof, mumbled a word, and as he was thinking of how to use the Library of Heaven's Path in this world, he heard Wu Xiang's voice outside the horse stable.

"Zhang Xuan, this is the fan Missy uses for Suxiang. This horse has thick skin and can't handle the heat well. You must attend to it carefully and make sure there are no mistakes..."

The door creaked open, Wu Xiang's words stopped abruptly, and he rubbed his eyes vigorously, then his face registered fear, "You, you killed it?"

Not expecting the man to appear so suddenly, without even time to hide the corpse, Zhang Xuan was silent for a moment, then explained, "Can I say... it was an accident?"

Wu Xiang went mad, "Is this a matter of it being an accident or not? You know how important this horse is to Miss; your death is insignificant, just don't drag me down! No, I can't be punished with you... Right, I'll inform on you; maybe I can escape trouble!"

He stepped back twice, turned, and charged out. In the blink of an eye, he was gone without a trace.

"..."

Zhang Xuan hadn't expected him to run off so quickly, failing even to prevent him from leaving, and he felt a wave of helplessness.

Had he not been discovered, there would still have been a chance to deal with the body. Even if he couldn't escape, at least he would have had a few more hours to think of a plan. Now, he had no options left.

Was he to just sit and wait for death?

Or perhaps... igniting the Burning New World, acquiring a certain strength for a short time in order to break free from Mo Mansion?

Setting aside whether the New World could significantly help his strength, or whether he could fight against some masters, just the thought of burning it to exhaustion meant that all the living spirits within would die!

If that were the case, venturing here wasn't about resolving a crisis, but a fancy way to court death...

"What should I do?"

"Right, a Suxiang Horse becomes an object upon death, and as long as it's an object, it can be awakened..."

At his wit's end, an idea suddenly came to him.

Spirit Awakener, the most adept skill of spirit awakeners on the Master Teacher Continent, as the name implies, could awaken any object, bestowing Spirit Creation upon dead things, allowing them to obey one's commands, like a Taoist driving zombies, or a cultivator wielding a sword.

In the past, Wang Ying had even awakened the entire Master Teacher Pavilion's building, and battled with it.

However, Origin qi had sealed his strength; to awaken might still require continued burning...

Knowing this would result in the least damage, Zhang Xuan no longer hesitated and once again approached the Suxiang Horse, lifting his hand to point at the steed's brow, and pressed down.

Boom!

A mountain range of over a hundred thousand li within the New World instantly crumbled to pieces, turning into streaks of cyan light.

"Housekeeper Feng, as soon as I entered, I saw Zhang Xuan hitting Suxiang, and then Suxiang fell to the ground, lifeless..."

Just as Zhang Xuan placed his finger on Suxiang's brow, Wu Xiang's explanation sounded in the courtyard, quickly followed by the sound of urgent footsteps.

Creak!

The gate was violently pushed open, and Feng Jin was the first to charge in, his face revealing a look of anxiety, clearly agitated by Wu Xiang's message.

The sight inside the stable immediately caught his eye; Zhang Xuan squatted on the ground, petting the head of the horse, which lay motionless, apparently dead.

Housekeeper Feng's heavy body trembled uncontrollably, "Zhang Xuan, you actually dared to kill Suxiang, you're courting death..."

"Kill?"

Before the remark could fall, it was interrupted by Zhang Xuan, "Housekeeper Feng, you must be mistaken, how could I dare do such a thing? I'm just... scratching Suxiang to relieve its itching!"

His eyelids twitched uncontrollably, Housekeeper Feng wanted to kill someone, "Do you think I am blind? Scratching to relieve itching could stiffen a whole horse like a rock?"

At that moment, Suxiang's entire body had stiffened; rigid as a dried-up sock—it was clearly dead. And you're telling me... this is scratching to relieve itching? Are you joking?

"You don't believe me, Housekeeper Feng?"

With an innocent face, Zhang Xuan offered, "How about this... let's make a bet? If Suxiang is truly dead, I'll accept my punishment without complaint, but if it's not, I'd like to accompany Miss tomorrow to Baiyan Academy to see how she does in the Source Pool evaluation!"

For a young lady like Mo Yanxue, leaving the house would inevitably involve several attendants, and who gets selected and who doesn't, you, sir, still hold quite the power.

"You, a mere subordinate, what status do you have to wager with me?" Feng Jin retorted sharply.

"It doesn't matter whether I'm worthy or not. What's important is..."

Zhang Xuan scratched his head, his dark eyes filled with simplicity, "If Suxiang really is dead, even if you beat me to death, you can't escape your responsibility, given that you were the one who caught me and brought me to Mo Mansion. And if Suxiang is alive, it's a win-win; the young lady is happy, you can rest easy, and you might even receive a reward. Housekeeper Feng, I'm just a subordinate and don't understand much, but am I right?"

"You..."

Taken aback, Housekeeper Feng looked at the young man before him again, his eyes narrowing involuntarily.