Fairy, you call this repaying a debt of gratitude?

"Ha, that's easy for you to say. In the end, it's all just for your own selfish interests."

Gu Hanfeng turned his head and looked at Xie Lingran, still with a rather unfriendly expression.

After hearing Gu Hanfeng's words, Gu Lengyue didn't feel much better. Her body went limp, and she fell heavily to the ground.

At this moment, she was completely caught in an endless dilemma. On one side was Shen Wei, whom she had only known for a few months; on the other side was her mother, whom she had been obsessed with for years and was determined to fulfill at all costs.

Why? The answer should be quite simple.

It should have been an easy decision.

Gu Lengyue stared blankly at the man's pale face, feeling a piercing pain in her heart.

Ultimately, even if she had chosen him...

Standing before him with all her might, she was utterly exhausted and drained of her spiritual energy, making it impossible for her to contend with Xie Lingran, Gu Hanfeng, and the old man.

It seems... we have no choice but to proceed according to their plan.

She gazed at the unconscious Shen Wei and murmured silently to herself:

You will forgive me, won't you? Forgive my selfishness, forgive my weakness.

You saved me, but I couldn't save you.

Even if you can forgive me, I can't forgive myself...

Just then, the old man spoke up again to offer his advice.

"Her thoughts are not important. Don't waste any more time and energy. Set up the formation quickly. Any further delay could lead to unforeseen changes and endless troubles."

As soon as the words were spoken, the people with opposing stances finally stood on the same side for the time being, all for the same goal.

Xie Lingran remained calm and slowly revealed the key point: "To completely extract the monster Evil Dragon from his body, a prerequisite must be met—the Evil Dragon within him must completely transform into its complete form."

The old man frowned slightly upon hearing this and asked in a deep voice:

"I didn't expect that even with the Dragon-Trapping Array, we still need to wait for it to transform into its complete form. Do you have a specific method?"

"The simplest and most direct method is to let it devour a sufficient amount of human essence and blood."

Xie Lingran spoke calmly and clearly.

"How much is 'sufficient'? Is there a specific limit?"

The old man continued to press for answers.

"The lifeblood of a small town's population is just enough to nourish its complete transformation."

Upon hearing this, the old man immediately shook his head in rejection, his expression grave: "No. This matter is extremely secretive; the slightest disturbance will attract a siege. Besides, we are pressed for time and cannot afford such a massive commotion. Is there any alternative?"

Xie Lingran frowned slightly upon hearing this, rested her chin on her hand, lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment. When she looked up again, she already had her answer:

"Aside from human blood, the Evil Dragon Demon craves the evil thoughts and resentments of people, especially the negative emotions of the host, which nourish its rapid growth."

"This method is simple; that's what I did back then." Gu Hanfeng, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke in a deep voice, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.

He used the lives of everyone in the Gu family as a price, using hatred as bait and resentment as a lure, to arouse Shen Wei's evil thoughts and turn the Evil Dragon into an extremely powerful being.

That was the perfect time.

If the plan had gone smoothly, he wouldn't have ended up like this, nor would he have had to humbly beg for help from this person he despised, relying on his so-called Dragon-Trapping Formation.

But he hadn't anticipated one thing—Gu Lengyue's bloodline possessed a unique power to suppress the evil dragon's aura, completely disrupting his entire plan.

"I once personally killed his birth mother in front of him. If I were to awaken him and use this incident to provoke him, would that be feasible?"

Gu Lengyue was taken aback upon hearing this. Although she knew that Shen Wei and Gu Hanfeng had a grudge, she had never heard Shen Wei mention it on his own initiative...

"This method is indeed feasible, but it carries enormous hidden dangers," Xie Lingran retorted calmly, her gaze sharp. "Have you considered that the fully formed Evil Dragon Fiend, born from extreme hatred, will also be controlled by that hatred? And do you really think the three of us, who have ignited this rage, will be able to control it?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Hanfeng was stunned, because he recalled his previous battle with Shen Wei. At that moment, the violent pressure of the giant sword made him feel cold.

At that moment, he had a strong premonition that he would die in that instant.

If the old man beside him hadn't intervened in time to save him and then ambushed and knocked the exhausted Shen Wei unconscious, it's uncertain whether he would have survived.

Thinking of this, thankfully, he had already made arrangements in advance and faked his death to escape from Shen Wei.

He had been planning this for a long time, waiting for Shen Wei to be completely devoured by the evil dragon and become a mindless monster before taking action to capture him.

The evil dragon without a host is nothing more than a dragon species without reason, making it the easiest to subdue and control, and the old man beside him possesses such a secret technique.

But now, the host of the Evil Dragon Fiend, Shen Wei, is still alive, and he no longer has the same favorable conditions and time as before. Now he can only place his hopes on the Dragon-Binding Formation of the person in front of him.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Gu Hanfeng, still unwilling to give up, asked in a cold voice:

"And what about your Dragon-Trapping Formation? Doesn't it work?"

Xie Lingran remained calm and patiently explained the origin and limitations of the formation: "The Dragon Imprisoning Formation is an ancient secret technique, originally used by cultivators to imprison ancient demonic dragons, seal their spiritual power, and facilitate their capture alive. Although I spent many years improving the formation, it only added one function—forcibly separating the dragon seed evil spirit residing in the human body from the host. As for suppressing and restraining the violent power of the fully formed evil dragon spirit, now that the evil dragon spirit resides in a human body and is fused with the host's soul and blood, this formation has lost its effectiveness on that person."

"So, what we need to do is arouse his desire without making him want to attack?"

"Indeed."

At this point, Xie Lingran looked at Gu Lengyue and asked, "You seem to have a very good relationship with him?"

After all, the girl had asked him that ridiculous question.

She didn't have much affection for her biological father.

He personally killed her mother; regardless of the reason, it was ultimately a blood feud.

Now, he is joining forces with others to destroy one of the few people in the world who once gave her warmth.

From the beginning, she had already made up her mind to fight to the end, even if it meant dying at his hands.

The series of shocking revelations and unexpected events briefly dispelled her extreme obsession, allowing her to calm down somewhat. But even with her emotions restored, she would never give him a kind look:

"Yes, so what?"

"You have Xie Lingran's blood flowing in your veins." Xie Lingran looked down at him, his eyes deep and unfathomable. He was about to continue explaining when he noticed the old man's subtle signal, and ultimately stopped. After a moment's thought, he said the following:

"In short, your bloodline is born with the power to suppress the evil dragon's aura. And I need your power now."

"But didn't you say you wanted the monster inside his chest to transform into its complete form?"

"Regardless of why you, as my father, didn't use your own power, if my bloodline could suppress it, how would you achieve your desired evolution into the complete form?"

Even now, Gu Lengyue still doesn't quite understand what the Evil Dragon Fiend really means. She can only guess from the name and everyone's reaction that Shen Wei slaughtered everyone in the courtyard with bloodshot eyes that day because of this—the Evil Dragon Fiend.

This seems to explain why she felt alienated by Shen Wei's behavior.