If he hadn't brought it up, she might have let it go, but the moment it was mentioned, Wen Li flared with rage. Baring her teeth, she slapped her thigh and spoke with impassioned fury.
“Back then, didn't I just take something from Shengyang Kingdom's Crown Emperor? Was it really necessary to dispatch a thousand cultivators to surround and hunt me down? There were even three hundred Nascent Soul old monsters and four Soul Formation cultivators! Later, that bullcrap previous Saint Emperor even issued a kill order, placing a bounty on my head of a hundred thousand spirit crystals, countless spirit pills and immortal herbs, and even the qualification to go to the Central Province!”
In the three imperial kingdoms of the Eastern Province, the supreme ruler was the Saint Emperor, followed by the designated heir, the Crown Emperor.
“That kill order turned me into the enemy of the entire Eastern Province in one fell swoop.”
Even now, Wen Li was still fuming at the thought, itching to slaughter those people all over again.
“That was one of the few times in my life I was hunted into such utter disarray. I fled from Shengyang Kingdom to Houchi Kingdom, and finally to Beiqiong Kingdom, scurrying and hiding everywhere like a street rat with everyone shouting to beat me to death. Every single one of them treated me like a miracle medicine for ascending to immortality, flocking after me like mad. If it weren't for my stubborn vitality, surviving several life-and-death battles and holding on by a thread to escape into an interprovincial teleportation array beneath a lake in Beiqiong Kingdom, I probably would have died in the Eastern Province.”
Many of her survival tricks, such as posing as a beggar, had been picked up during that period.
“Back then, that Huang Feilong fellow was one of the biggest dumbasses hunting me the hardest. I set a trap and gravely injured him in a canyon in Houchi Kingdom, along with three other Nascent Soul cultivators. I killed them all and obliterated their remains. Even if Lou Yan investigates, he'll only find that the man indeed vanished all those years ago.”
“T-Then... is that jar of ashes r-r-really Huang Feilong's?”
Remembering the jar of so-called Huang Feilong ashes Wen Li had handed to Lou Yan, Gu Linshu asked in curious bewilderment.
“I've killed so many people, who could remember whose ashes belonged to whom from two thousand years ago? I have, if not tens of thousands, at least several thousand of those jars in my storage bag. I just grabbed one at random.”
Wen Li rolled her eyes, waving a dismissive hand with complete nonchalance.
She was well-practiced in the clever art of framing others. She had a storage bag filled entirely with either the relics or the remains of her enemies. An upright figure like Lou Yan naturally wouldn't imagine what kind of lunatic cultivator would carry around a mountain of urns.
She refused to believe Lou Yan would have the ability or the inclination to trace whether those ashes actually belonged to Huang Feilong.
“...” What decent person carries thousands of urns of ashes with them?!
Gu Linshu was stunned by Wen Li's methods.
When they first met, she had asked him if he had any hair or belongings from his enemies to frame them with, and he had assumed she was just acting on a whim. Who knew she was actually this unhinged!
Still, lesson learned.
Coughing lightly, Gu Linshu digested his master's ruthless wickedness, silently memorizing it and taking mental notes. In his heart, he suddenly grew curious about how other demonic cultivators and evil cultivators would react if they saw his master.
Would they sigh and admit their inferiority?
Or would they point at her and curse, “You thunder-struck, vile evil cultivator!”
Suddenly, Gu Linshu realized he had overlooked a crucial question and delivered a soul-searching interrogation.
“M-Master, what... what exactly did you take from Hou—Shengyang Kingdom's Crown Emperor back then?”
To think it enraged Shengyang Kingdom's Saint Emperor to such an extent, even offering such lavish terms as a reward for the kill order—one hundred thousand spirit crystals! Not High-Grade Spirit Stones, but spirit crystals!
Converted to High-Grade Spirit Stones, that was a billion!
Gu Linshu thought of his own sect's vaults; they would probably have to empty three of them to scrape together a billion High-Grade Spirit Stones. Then looking at the person before him who, when fleeing previously, hadn't forgotten to take a dagger and pry spirit crystals off his sect's walls, he felt that Wen Li was truly an eccentric paradox of extreme contradictions.
Judging by her words, her cultivation back then couldn't have been overwhelmingly high, or else she wouldn't have fled and would have simply hacked them down face-to-face. Yet she was clearly formidable; otherwise, she wouldn't have escaped with her life while being hunted across the entire Eastern Province.
Thinking this, Gu Linshu looked at Wen Li with eyes virtually sparkling with stars of worship. Did anyone else have a master like this? The kind of master who could be hunted by an entire province and still make it out alive?
You don't, but I do!
“It was just... well...”
Wen Li, who had just been full of righteous indignation and gnashing her teeth in hatred, abruptly went quiet upon hearing Gu Linshu's question.
Right, what had she snatched back then anyway?
Wen Li blinked in thought. Meeting Gu Linshu's shining eyes brimming with little stars of adoration, she suddenly slapped her thigh in realization.
“Oh! I snatched the previous Crown Emperor of Shengyang Kingdom's pair of eyes!”
“...” What?!
Eyes? The ones on a person's head, not from some spirit beast, pet, or magical artifact?!
The worship in Gu Linshu's eyes screeched to a halt, replaced by dumbfounded, pupil-quaking shock.
“M-Master, h-his eyes? You... you gouged them out?!”
Master wasn't just interested in ashes and spiritual roots; she was into eyeballs too.
The boy was so shocked his stutter worsened on the spot.
“You don't understand. These three imperial dynasties really do have some tricks up their sleeves, possessing the inherited power of some immortal ancestors. Back when I first arrived in the Eastern Province, I formed a feud with Shengyang Kingdom's previous Crown Emperor, Lou Jingqing. During a clash over a demon beast's inner core, he insisted on leveraging his status to rally others against me. I barely managed to escape.” Wen Li coughed lightly and waved her hand with casual frankness.
“Later, I set a trap hoping to kill him, but didn't succeed. I'll admit he was somewhat capable, so I had to settle for second best and gouge out his eyes to refine a Dharma treasure.”
At this point, Wen Li's tone turned emotional and slightly excited, her eyes filled with marvel.
“Do you have any idea how gorgeous his eyes were? Golden, like the radiance of the sun god. Back then, Lou Jingqing possessed the highest bloodline purity in Shengyang Kingdom. Once the Saint Emperor died, he would have been the next Saint Emperor. And that pair of golden pupils was a treasure of utmost purity and yang rarely seen even in a thousand years. They could be cultivated to annihilate all evil and yin in the world, specifically countering wraiths and yin souls.”
Pausing, Wen Li shrugged lazily. “After I harvested his eyes, Lou Jingqing's cultivation plummeted from Late-Stage Nascent Soul to Mid-Stage Golden Core, and his bloodline power dispersed with it. His position as Crown Emperor was naturally stripped, which was how it passed to Lou Yan's father, Lou Yuchi. Come to think of it, Lou Yan ought to thank me. Otherwise, he wouldn't even have a shot at contending for Crown Emperor.”
Hearing this, Gu Linshu finally understood why Shengyang Kingdom's Saint Emperor had been so enraged. For the heir to the esteemed position of Saint Emperor to have his eyes gouged out and plummet from grace like that... Especially in an imperial kingdom that placed such immense stock in bloodline purity and inheritance, this wasn't just a slap in the face—it was severing their very foundation.
It could truly be called vicious in the extreme.
No wonder Master had been besieged by the entire Eastern Province.
It was entirely deserved.
Gu Linshu coughed lightly, but also felt that since Lou Jingqing had provoked Wen Li first, he hadn't been wronged either.
“M-Master, d-did you... did you refine that pair of golden pupils into a Dharma treasure?”
At that, Wen Li paused and shook her head.
“I didn't succeed. It's still missing something.”
She waved her hand, rising from the ground and gazing out at the sunset in the sky, speaking no more of the matter.
“Let's go, time to head back. If Huangyue doesn't see us, she'll probably be scared out of her wits.”
After all, she was currently the girl's sole lifeline. If Huangyue couldn't find her, she would be searching for her in terrified panic.
For now, Wen Li had no interest in playing with the abandoned cat effect.
Gu Linshu followed. Seeing that Wen Li didn't elaborate on the golden pupils, he knew it wasn't something he was meant to know yet. He didn't bring it up again, merely digesting this secret in silence.
For Master to share such an earth-shattering secret with him showed her immense trust. Otherwise, with Master's current Foundation Establishment cultivation, if Shengyang Kingdom ever learned of her existence, they wouldn't even need a Soul Formation expert—a single Nascent Soul cultivator could crush her like an ant.
Master was so genuine with him; he certainly could not let her down.
【Ding! +15, Villain Redemption progress bar: 25%】
Hearing the system's voice in her mind, Wen Li's expression remained unchanged, though a flicker of light crossed her eyes as she flew on her sword with him across the mountains and rivers beneath the setting sun.
Yao Dai prioritized vengeance, Xie Tinglan prioritized freedom, Gu Linshu prioritized sentiment, and Zongzheng Huangyue prioritized power and survival. As for her remaining two dear disciples, what would their weaknesses be?
...
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