As soon as those foul, stinking fluids were dumped into the secluded chamber, the underground silence shattered—Celia Xiao suddenly screamed, her voice so raw and agonized it sounded like her soul was being ripped apart.
Obviously, this stuff was absolutely lethal for her!
This wasn’t just any liquid—it was Earth Immortal-grade witch corpse fluid. For a normal person, maybe it wouldn’t matter, but for Celia Xiao, who was right in the middle of breaking through to the Earth Immortal Realm, it was straight-up deadly poison!
In no time, Celia Xiao’s whole face twisted—she started aging like crazy, her features warping into something almost unrecognizable. Her cultivation collapsed, her body began rotting away at an insane speed, like she was right on death’s doorstep!
“No, no…” Celia Xiao screamed in despair, sounding like she was losing her mind. Her beauty meant everything to her—she’d rather die than let Ryan Ling see her like this!
“Ha! Worse than death, you little bitch! I’ll show you what real suffering means!” Shawn Xiao, standing right above the chamber, was totally crazed. He’d always been weaker than Celia Xiao, and he’d dreamed of stomping her down his whole life. Now that it was finally happening, he couldn’t be more thrilled.
Down below, Celia Xiao’s screams grew even more hysterical, like she was about to die for real!
Above, Shawn Xiao’s voice kept rising, his excitement practically bursting out.
Suddenly, the cocoon around Celia Xiao started to contract, wrapping her up tight. The Primeval Heavenwood’s roots, which had been feeding her, slowly withdrew—as if Celia herself was rejecting their help!
The moment Celia Xiao made that move, Ryan Ling instantly sensed something was off!
"Celia!" At this moment, Ryan Ling had blasted his way into the Human Immortal Realm—his power skyrocketed, and after devouring the essence of ten peak Void Immortals plus one True Immortal, his control over Primeval Heavenwood hit a whole new level. He could now stretch Heavenwood’s roots anywhere he wanted, and he could fully communicate with Celia Xiao to check her situation. But just as he tried, Celia actually rejected him. That caught him off guard.
But just as Ryan Ling called out to Celia Xiao, a hysterical scream exploded from her end—clearly, something major was happening to her.
"Celia!" Ryan Ling called again, his voice full of worry.
But what answered him was Celia Xiao’s frantic shout: "Hubby, don’t come for me! Just go—run!"
The moment she finished, Celia Xiao’s voice vanished. She clearly didn’t want to drag Ryan Ling down with her, and she was terrified he’d see her in this state.
"Crap!" Cold sweat poured down Ryan Ling’s forehead—something huge was about to go down, and he was determined to save her no matter what!
"Ryan, what are you trying to do?" Joanna Long happened to walk in, catching Ryan Ling in a panic.
"Celia’s in serious trouble—I have to find a way to save her!" Ryan Ling blurted out.
"You’re just rushing to your death! The Xiao Family’s guarded by top True Immortals, even Earth Immortals. Do you really think you’re strong enough?" Joanna Long snapped, her voice tinged with jealousy.
"Then what do you suggest? Celia could die any minute now! If it weren’t for her, I never would’ve made it to Human Immortal—even if we weren’t officially married, I owe her everything!" Ryan Ling shot back, desperate.
"I know Celia’s in huge danger, but if you rush in now, you’ll just make things worse—do you get that?" Joanna Long said, then added, "I’ve already investigated everything. Celia’s trapped in the Xiao Family’s closed-door retreat—their most secret place, riddled with hidden passages and defenses. There are tons of experts guarding the area. A frontal assault is suicide. But I also know Celia probably can’t hold out much longer, so there’s only one way to save her!"
"What way?" Ryan Ling’s eyes widened. Right now, no matter the price, he’d do anything to save Celia Xiao!
"We have to unleash ten thousand Drilling Dragons and tunnel out the entire foundation under the Xiao Family estate—then we’ll pull Celia out from below!" Joanna Long gritted her teeth as she spoke.
"Ten thousand dragons?" Ryan Ling gulped. That sounded totally insane, even to him.
"That’s right. But to unleash that many Drilling Dragons, we have to raise them first—our whole Dragon Ranch doesn’t even have that many yet. We’ll need at least several nights to breed enough!" Joanna Long continued, "You need to contact Celia again, help her hold on. I just hope she can survive these next few nights!"
"Alright, I’ll give it a shot!" Ryan Ling didn’t hesitate. If it could save Celia Xiao, he was willing to try anything.
With that, Joanna Long vanished in a flash, off to start breeding Drilling Dragons. Ryan Ling was curious to see how the dragon-raising worked, so he immediately reached out to the Divine Dragon back on Earth, urging it to hurry over to the Immortal Domain. He had a hunch that the dragon would play a key role in the rescue!
After sending the message, Ryan Ling wasted no time. He reached out to Celia Xiao through Primeval Heavenwood.
But Celia Xiao refused to see anyone—she kept hiding from Ryan Ling, no matter what.
This was a life-or-death moment; Ryan Ling wasn’t about to waste time arguing. He shouted, "Celia, cut the crap! No matter what you look like, you’re my wife—I’ll never give up on you!"
"Really?" Celia Xiao was stunned for a second, but then she turned away again, still refusing to face Ryan Ling.
Ryan Ling wasn’t having it. He snorted, unleashed a surge of power, and forcefully sent a stream of immortal energy straight to Celia Xiao.
"Celia Xiao—alive, you’re my woman; dead, you’re my ghost! Get this straight: you’ll never escape me, not in this lifetime!" Ryan Ling didn’t hesitate, wrapping Celia in his aura so tightly she had nowhere to run. Finally, he saw her true state!
Right now, Celia Xiao looked incredibly aged—like some kind of white-haired witch!
"Let go of me, let go!" Celia Xiao panicked and tried to escape, but Ryan Ling heard her desperate screams—the corpse fluid was devouring her blood and essence!
"Celia, no matter what you look like, you’re still my wife! How could you just give up on yourself?" Seeing how stubborn she was, Ryan Ling yelled even louder.
Hearing that, Celia Xiao froze for a moment—and in that instant, Primeval Heavenwood’s energy started flowing into her again!
As the energy surged, Celia Xiao’s aging seemed to slow down; even in the midst of decay, a faint hint of new vitality appeared—like she was about to break out of her shell!
"See? You’ve gotta have faith in yourself. I believe your beauty and strength will come back—you’ll recover, just wait!" Ryan Ling said encouragingly.
"Mm!" Hearing Ryan Ling’s words, Celia Xiao’s mood picked up—she looked much calmer now.
She sat down cross-legged and started to meditate, gathering her energy. A faint barrier shimmered around her—it was clear Celia Xiao was finally fighting back. As long as she kept that mindset, there was hope!
...
While Celia Xiao was making her comeback, Ryan Ling raced to the Long Family’s Dragon Ranch. Sure enough, the place was crawling with dragon shadows, and Joanna Long’s team was working around the clock to breed baby Drilling Dragons.
Getting ten thousand Drilling Dragons together was way harder than it sounded.
"Ryan, I totally underestimated how tough it is to produce that many Drilling Dragons. It’ll take at least seven days!" Joanna Long said when she saw him.
"Seven days? No way, that’s too long!" Ryan Ling knew Celia Xiao’s body wouldn’t last that long under the poison.
"Ryan!" Right then, the Divine Dragon from Earth arrived, visibly excited by everything going on.
"Perfect timing. This ranch is a great environment for you to grow—go ahead and blend in!" Ryan Ling said.
"I think I can help you speed up the Drilling Dragon production!" the Divine Dragon suddenly announced.