“You little girl, your mindset is quite good—neither fixating on gain and loss nor failing to know when to advance or retreat...” Gazing at Shi Yu's vigilant posture, the woman idly toyed with her stained nails, completely indifferent to Shi Yu pulling out magic treasures and preparing to strike. Glancing sideways, her eyes lingered on Shi Yu's face, her smile deepening. “And having such lovely looks... I'm thoroughly satisfied.”
With that, the red-sheathed woman walked over gracefully. With each gentle step, a fragrant breeze drifted forth, every frown and smile radiating a soul-captivating charm.
The owner of the secret vault must have possessed unimaginably profound cultivation during her lifetime, so it was no surprise she could see through Shi Yu's true appearance. Shi Yu knew the woman before her was merely a leftover strand of divine sense; the deceased was long gone, and her strength could not possibly equal what it was in life. Yet even if she was just a remnant strand of divine sense left behind for tens of thousands of years, Shi Yu's cultivation—having only recently entered the Foundation Establishment Realm—was still far from enough before her.
Sweat beaded on the tip of Shi Yu's nose. Without seeing the woman employ any visible technique, Shi Yu found her entire body rendered immobile, forced to watch helplessly as the woman approached step by step.
Lifting Shi Yu's chin with delicate fingers tipped in crimson dye, the woman leaned in gently, rubbing her nose against Shi Yu's skin with deep lingering affection, her expression intoxicated.
Only when their noses touched did the woman's eyes curve into a beautiful arc, smiling smugly. “It's mine now.”
The moment the words left her mouth, a massive crimson fox phantom materialized behind her.
Shi Yu instantly realized. “You're the red fox beside Senior White Bones!”
The woman humped coldly without denying it. The red fox phantom behind her twisted like smoke into a long strand, surging violently into Shi Yu through her breath.
“Ugh!” Shi Yu's eyes widened as a powerful force of divine sense crashed into her sea of consciousness. She tried to resist, but found her own divine sense was like paper, easily shredded by her attacker.
An indescribable agony struck as her soul seemed to ignite and boil. Inside her sea of consciousness, the foreign divine sense rampaged wildly. Shi Yu's vision gradually became covered in a field of fiery red, and her consciousness was continuously eroded, teetering on the brink of scattering.
Shi Yu stared powerlessly at the woman's beautiful face. That face was filled with smug arrogant triumph, utterly consumed by greed and desire to possess her physical body. Vaguely, that gorgeous face seemed to warp, turning scarred, ugly, and hideous; Shi Yu merely assumed her blurred vision was causing hallucinations.
When possessing the Pearl Fragment before, she had already tasted the agony of attempted body seizure. Was it happening again?
However, since she had driven it off once, she could drive it off a second time!
Unwilling to surrender her body to another, Shi Yu bit the tip of her tongue. A surge of blood Qi erupted from her dantian, turning into a bloody ray of light that blocked the invading divine sense.
“Heh, with your meager cultivation, you dare contend with me?” The woman sneered, her divine sense tearing forward even more fiercely. But the next instant, the moment it touched Shi Yu's bloodline origin, she let out a sudden, bloodcurdling shriek, “Ah!”
Deep within her bloodline, the Divine Phoenix opened its eyes. Shi Yu's nearly scattered divine sense coalesced, and her body suddenly shuddered violently. A powerful force exploded from within her, blasting the woman's divine sense back.
“You're actually... you're actually—” The woman clutched her chest and stumbled back several steps, her expression turning dark and uncertain as she stared at Shi Yu.
Shi Yu panted heavily, looking back at her with furrowed brows in silent confrontation.
A trace of apprehension and dread emerged deep within the woman's eyes, yet she still refused to give up. Gritting her teeth, she stepped forward once more. “Since that's the case, I cannot take this body of yours.”
“However, this skin...”
A wave of icy cold enveloped her. Shi Yu felt as though an ice cube had been rolled over the spots touched by the woman. Lowering her eyes, she saw wisps of black energy rising from the woman's crimson-dyed nails.
The next moment, her nails became as sharp as the sword marks on the four surrounding walls. With the slightest pressure, she sliced open a cut on Shi Yu's chin. The black energy instantly pounced on the wound, preventing any blood from dripping out.
“You possess matchless beauty... why would you need my face?” Shi Yu managed to squeeze out these words with difficulty. This was no flattery; the woman before her was truly breathtakingly beautiful.
Yet upon hearing Shi Yu's words, her eyes darkened even further, and she continued her movements in silence.
Shi Yu struggled, but her body felt limp and devoid of strength. She felt no pain, only that her eyelids were heavy and she was overwhelmed with drowsiness.
As the woman sliced open her skin with her nails, she leaned close with cold eyes, yet her expression became remarkably gentle as she hummed a soft tune to soothe her: “Peach blossoms dance like skimming swallows; fair faces bind immortals...”
The song was far too gentle and tender, weaving around her like fine silk, causing Shi Yu to slowly and uncontrollably fall asleep.
If an outsider had been present, they would have seen clearly that the wound on Shi Yu's chin grew larger and larger. Though no blood flowed, the bloody flesh gradually peeled back, a terrifying sight to behold.
Just then, the four sword walls suddenly split apart, and Senior White Bones's voice echoed: “A'Yan, do not commit another mistake.”
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this voice, she flew into a rage, the black energy swirling around her nails thickening violently: “Why does Qingyun Daojun concern himself with the actions of a demoness like me?!”
Qingyun Daojun's figure manifested, leaping forward with his finger forming a sword spell. Seeing that skin-stripping was no longer possible, A'Yan simply twisted her body and reverted to her true form. A fox phantom entwined with black energy bared her teeth savagely, sweeping nine fluffy red fox tails as she engaged Qingyun Daojun in battle.
Though Qingyun Daojun struck, he did not exert his full power, letting out a heavy sigh: “...Your physical body is already destroyed. If you continue to expend your soul origin like this, you will eventually fade completely from heaven and earth.”
A'Yan sneered. “Hypocrite! I have waited tens of thousands of years, hoping only to break free from your shackles. Even if I gain but a single day of freedom before my soul scatters, it is better than wasting away here!”
Qingyun Daojun fell silent for a long moment, then suddenly raised his head and turned to glance sideways, whispering, “Someone has passed my trial.”
A look of gratification crossed his face. Gently touching his natal sword Nine Nether, he smiled. “Go.”
The Nine Nether Sword let out a resonant hum, circling Qingyun Daojun several times before shooting away into the distance, flying off to parts unknown.
After the sword left, Qingyun Daojun's figure—already somewhat translucent—grew even more ethereal, like a shadow.
A'Yan froze, startled by the sight.
“In this life, I failed no one save you and my master. Now that Nine Nether has chosen a new master and my sect's line endures, I have fulfilled my duty to my master.”
“However, I still owe you an accounting.” Qingyun Daojun lowered his eyes with a faint smile. “I originally thought that by trapping you here for thousands upon tens of thousands of years, your demonic energy would eventually dissipate so you could enter reincarnation once more. Yet your hatred for me runs this deep...”
His ethereal figure swayed gently in the light of the sword walls, like a candle flickering in the wind.
Gazing into A'Yan's fiery red eyes, which burned with rage, resentment, and unwillingness, a faint trace of relief emerged from the depths of Qingyun's eyes.
“So be it,” he whispered softly. “Obsession traps you, and it traps me as well.”
Before his words faded, his already dim figure suddenly erupted with a dazzling azure radiance.
The radiance surged toward A'Yan like a tide.
The red fox froze in midair. Her eyes widened in shock as she tried to struggle, but the azure light was too warm, too heavy. Bearing an aura she had once been intimately familiar with—and later hated to her very core—it wrapped irresistibly around her damaged soul.
“Qingyun! What are you doing?!” she shrieked, though her voice held a barely perceptible tremor.
Qingyun Daojun's figure wavered amid the pouring radiance. His final gaze toward A'Yan was complex and inscrutable—filled with apology, regret, and a deeply hidden yearning.
“A'Yan,” he called her name, his voice as soft as a sigh. “I destroyed your physical body and imprisoned your soul. What I owe you... today, I return to you.”
“Who asked you to repay me?! Who cares for a hypocrite's charity?! Stop! Qingyun! I demand you stop!”
The red fox struggled on the spot, attempting to break out of the enveloping azure light, but it was all in vain.
“No! I don't want this!!”
As the radiance seeped into her soul, Qingyun's deepest, most cherished memories flowed in alongside it. She saw tens of thousands of years ago—amid towering green peaks and drifting clouds sweeping over mountain summits—the spirited Daoist sword disciple meeting a sly red fox.
Scenes that should have been long blurred, sealed away by hatred, flashed with striking clarity.
A'Yan's soul was repaired, gradually filling out and outlining the rudimentary form of flesh and blood.
Qingyun Daojun's figure had faded until it was barely visible, leaving only a hazy silhouette of light. His voice was faint, almost imperceptible: “Your newly molded body is free of demonic energy; you may start anew. A'Yan, I... have wronged you.”
With those final words, his figure and divine sense vanished completely from this place, leaving nothing behind.
The last speck of azure light integrated fully into A'Yan's newly remolded body.
The four sword walls fell completely silent. Only in the center did the radiance slowly fade.
A red fox landed on the ground, looking the same as before, but no longer a mere phantom, nor plagued by black energy—it was vibrant, living, and pure.
Deep sorrow filled the red fox's clear eyes as she stared at the spot where Qingyun Daojun had disappeared, her thoughts unknown.
In the end, without casting another glance at the unconscious Shi Yu, she turned and left.
Rate on N.U.
