Chapter 756: Enslave the Eighth-Rank Grand Master!

"You want to kill me?"

Shi Tianyi sneered, "The Kyoto headquarters has already detected anomalies. If I die too,

it won't just be an eighth-rank Grand Master coming—Ninth-rank Director-General will come in person!"

"I don't know what relationship you have with Sakura Rin, but this situation surely isn't what you want, is it?"

"Try it and see if I dare kill you," Xu Jingming said, expressionless.

"Huh?" Shi Tianyi froze.

He never expected this scenario.

In his view, the only reason Xu Jingming was here was to protect Sakura Rin.

But this situation suggested Xu Jingming wasn't afraid of exposure at all.

It left him utterly speechless.

Shi Tianyi's expression shifted rapidly; after a long pause, he finally murmured:

"I choose to submit."

As long as the green mountains remain, there's no need to worry about firewood.

Just from Xu Jingming's earlier lightning strike, defiance meant certain death.

If so, better pretend to submit now and find an opportunity later to inform the Director-General of this situation.

"Wise choice."

Xu Jingming nodded slightly and murmured:

"Words mean nothing. Open your mental energy—I'll imprint a mark on your soul."

"This is mental manipulation?" Shi Tianyi secretly rejoiced.

He was an eighth-rank Grand Master of the mental discipline; Xu Jingming was merely a lightning-affinity adept!

In mental manipulation, Xu Jingming was still a novice!

He had hundreds of ways to easily evade such mental control!

Though secretly delighted, Shi Tianyi feigned great reluctance.

After a long pause, he gritted his teeth and agreed: "Fine. Do it."

Whoosh—

Except for the mental energy sustaining the simulated heart, all other mental energy retracted, appearing completely defenseless.

"The target is now a human adept. Will this finally work?"

Xu Jingming's eyes held faint anticipation as his mental energy began flowing along a specific path.

Within mere seconds, a complex mark, visible to the naked eye and about the size of a ping-pong ball, condensed before him.

The mark vaguely resembled a complex version of the character " Nu."

"Go!"

Shhh—

The Slave Heart Mark passed through Shi Tianyi's forehead without resistance, entering his consciousness sea.

"Here it comes!"

Shi Tianyi's mind stirred; his entire mental sea surged like an ocean, enveloping the Slave Heart Mark.

There were many ways to break mental manipulation, but the least detectable was to avoid destroying the mark.

Use part of your mental energy to confine the mark within a limited range, creating the illusion of control.

This was precisely the method Shi Tianyi intended to use.

He expected Xu Jingming's mental manipulation, as a lightning-affinity adept, to be easily broken.

Yet, even his prior mental energy proved utterly ineffective.

The Slave Heart Mark rapidly expanded within his consciousness and took root!

"No! How could this happen?!"

Shi Tianyi's face turned pale; his eyes instantly glazed over.

After a long moment, his clarity returned, and he bowed respectfully to Xu Jingming:

"Master."

"Huh?"

Beside him, Sakura Rin's eyes widened in shock.

Why are you calling him Master too?

"I performed mental manipulation on him," Xu Jingming explained.

He had learned the Slave Heart Mark for nearly two days—this was his first real sense of accomplishment.

"M... ental manipulation?"

Sakura Rin tilted her head, her face filled with confusion.

Isn't Master a Lightning-affinity SS-rank adept? When did he learn mental discipline techniques?

Though unaware of the reason, Sakura Rin cautiously warned:

"Master, Shi Tianyi is an eighth-rank mental Grand Master. Be careful—he might be faking submission to deceive you."

"That's true."

Xu Jingming nodded.

Since implanting the Slave Heart Mark, he could now fully sense Shi Tianyi's complete subjugation.

Still, for safety, he ordered:

"Shi Tianyi, cut off your right arm."

Shhh—

A flash of cold light; Shi Tianyi instantly severed his own right arm with a dagger, without hesitation.

Blood spurted wildly, yet he showed no expression, as if he'd cut off someone else's limb.

"Cut off your head," Xu Jingming ordered again.

Before Sakura Rin's stunned gaze, Shi Tianyi reversed his grip on the dagger and slashed toward his own neck.

Clang—

Just before the blade reached his neck, Xu Jingming blocked it with a lightning barrier.

He was merely testing the Slave Heart Mark's effect—not truly intending to kill Shi Tianyi.

"Good, good. Very obedient."

Xu Jingming curiously asked Shi Tianyi: "Are you not afraid of death? Why don't you resist my command?"

"Afraid."

Shi Tianyi nodded respectfully. "But I must obey my Master's orders—even if afraid, I must do it."

"This?!" Sakura Rin was stunned.

Mental manipulation was said to fully control a person,

but in practice, it still had limits—often triggering resistance from the victim.

For example, self-destruction would cause violent mental fluctuations.

One misstep could even cause the mental manipulation to collapse entirely!

Yet Xu Jingming's method showed no such risk.

"Master seems more monstrous than ever," Sakura Rin silently marveled.

A lightning-affinity adept mastering mental techniques to this degree was simply unbelievable!

"Honestly, when Master tried to manipulate me mentally just now, I was dismissive—I thought I could resist.

But I never imagined Master was this powerful—he controlled me instantly."

Shi Tianyi smiled, speaking as if describing someone else.

And this was the monstrous nature of the Slave Heart Mark.

Though the victim knew he was controlled, he felt no resistance—only genuine reverence for his Master.

"Excellent! Excellent! This is the Slave Heart Mark's power—truly formidable!"

Xu Jingming was ecstatic.

With the Slave Heart Mark, he now had another option when facing powerful foes.

He no longer needed to kill them—just enslave them.

Of course,

the Slave Heart Mark wouldn't always succeed.

This time, Shi Tianyi's overconfidence led him to drop his mental defenses entirely.

Under normal circumstances, enslaving a mental Grand Master would be far more difficult.

"By the way, how are your injuries?"

Xu Jingming glanced at Shi Tianyi, whose right arm still bled and whose heart was sustained only by simulated mental energy, and asked.

PS: Sorry, guys—company had an emergency today, I worked overtime until 9 p. .

Tomorrow I'll do three more updates! (Tears welling up...)