The secret realm had been struck by heavenly tribulation, collapsing everywhere into utter chaos.
Jiang Xuezhi, carrying a spear and accompanied by a young man, nimbly maneuvered through the dust and craters.
What kind of battlefield had she not seen before? The bizarre and fantastical battles of the future cosmic wars were no less intense than those in the cultivation world, so this scene hardly fazed her.
Her emotions were running high, every feeling magnified, leaving her unusually exhilarated.
This wasn’t good. Her remaining rationality urged her to find a way to regain control, and she persisted in acting on it.
The young man struggled incessantly in her grasp. She had to ride the wind, restrain him, and deal with his resistance, it was endlessly frustrating.
With an expressionless face, Jiang Xuezhi gripped his throat. After he attempted and failed to pierce her heart with some magical artifact, she slapped him hard, leaving him dazed.
“At this point, I’ve abandoned any habit of not hitting Omegas.”
Jiang Xuezhi tightened her grip on his neck, making it difficult for him to breathe. His face flushed red with suffocation.
Wide-eyed, he stared at her, a mix of indignation and shock at her audacity to treat him so disrespectfully. It was almost laughably endearing.
“Keep struggling, and I’ll kill you. Finding another person in this place wouldn’t be particularly difficult,” Jiang Xuezhi said slowly. “This is your last chance. You’re still young, think carefully before you act.”
The phrase “you’re still young” once again struck a nerve.
He hated nothing more than others using his youth against him.
What did it matter that he was young? Youth didn’t mean low cultivation or foolishness requiring guidance.
He was no worse than any of those old fossils!
As the young man’s pretty face turned red from lack of air, Jiang Xuezhi grew even more irritated at the sight of his flawless, flushed skin.
Her eyes scanned the surroundings until she found a relatively flat area. She descended, dragging the young man with her, and flung him to the ground.
He landed heavily, every bone in his body aching. Coughing violently, he saw stars from the lack of oxygen.
Even as an immortal cultivator, one couldn’t simply forgo breathing.
Without air, one could truly suffocate to death.
Before he could regain his composure, he was once again enveloped in shadow. The young man shuddered, lifting his head abruptly to see the woman in red robes and a golden crown looking down at him from above.
She held a spear radiating killing intent, using it to support herself as she leaned down toward him, inch by inch.
This was Jiang Xuezhi, the Qi Refining cultivator who had killed the head disciple of the Xuantian Sect and was now hunted by the entire cultivation world.
In the memory stones released by the Xuantian Sect, this woman appeared teary-eyed, fragile, and easily bullied.
But reality was the complete opposite.
Who said this woman was weak and easily bullied?
She was clearly brimming with passion and ambition, looking as though she could crush anyone who stood in her way, including him!
The young man began to feel genuinely panicked. He had never faced anything alone before. As the beloved only son of the wealthiest man in the City of Sin, he had inexhaustible riches and countless high-level cultivators willing to sacrifice their lives for him. The only time he had ever faced danger alone was when he secretly took out a demonic beast his father had captured, only for it to turn on him.
The current situation was incomparable to that incident, but the shadow cast by Jiang Xuezhi successfully evoked the same fear he had felt when the demonic beast loomed over him.
A cold hand gripped his chin. Though the young man trembled uncontrollably from fear, a defiant heart still beat within him.
“If you dare lay a hand on me, my parents won’t let you get away with it.”
He panted heavily, trying to intimidate her, but soon realized she paid no heed to his threats.
What parents? She couldn’t care less who he was.
She only cared about what she wanted to do.
“What’s your name?”
She finally spoke to him, her icy fingers tracing down his jawline. The boy’s ragged breath warmed her hand, causing her fingers to twitch slightly.
He comforted himself, thinking she might not be entirely reckless, perhaps she just didn’t know his identity. This was his chance to make it clear.
The boy snarled fiercely, “I am Ling Zhao, son of Ling Xun, the City Lord of Sin City. Every inch of land you stand on belongs to my father. If you dare harm even a hair on my head, my father will make sure you… ugh!”
“Answer only what I ask. No extra words. Understood?”
Ling Zhao’s remaining threats were cut short.
Jiang Xuezhi’s movements were rough and forceful, and his jaw was nearly dislocated from her grip.
Pain and fear brought tears to his eyes. Though his expression remained stubbornly defiant, tears welled up uncontrollably.
Drops of tears pattered onto Jiang Xuezhi’s hand. She paused, her gaze shifting slightly.
Realizing what had happened, Ling Zhao felt a wave of shame, wishing he could slap his own weak eyes.
Refusing to admit he was crying, he gritted his teeth and said, “This damned secret realm you’ve messed up is full of sandstorms! It got in my eyes!”
He bit down hard and spat out, “You traitor of Xuantian Sect, you demoness who killed your own sect members! No matter what dark arts you used to gain your current cultivation, it’s not righteous! It won’t last! Sooner or later, you’ll pay the price!”
“I will never surrender to you!”
Stung by his own cowardice, Ling Zhao, red-eyed, tried to make a desperate move to salvage his pride.
He summoned his lifebound sword and swung it at Jiang Xuezhi, who was standing right in front of him. She effortlessly tilted her head to avoid the strike.
Once again, she seized his wrist and delivered a fierce blow. A sharp pain shot through his arm, and he lost his grip on the sword.
He was no match for her. The warnings from his strategist echoed in his ears, and Ling Zhao regretted not listening.
There was no cure for regret in this world. Since things had come to this, the least he could do was take responsibility for his decisions.
Knowing he was outmatched and unlikely to hold out until reinforcements arrived, Ling Zhao closed his eyes, held his breath, and said, “I’m no match for you. Do what you want kill me or torture me, it’s up to you.”
“But don’t think for a second that I’ll surrender to you!”
All bark and no bite, clinging to pride even with death looming, how foolish.
Jiang Xuezhi observed Ling Zhao’s demeanor and found it utterly childish.
Her cold fingers trailed from his jaw down to his slender, pale neck.
“Stubborn pride like yours will only get you killed.”
She spoke casually, “Only by staying alive do you get a chance to turn the tables. Blind stubbornness brings no benefits.”
“Showing weakness at the right moment is just a strategy, there’s no shame in it. There are many paths to victory. As long as you win in the end, no one cares how you did it.”
Her indifferent words lingered by his ear. Ling Zhao froze, startled, and opened his eyes. Jiang Xuezhi’s cold hand once again tightened around his throat.
Feeling his Adam’s apple pressed and touched, Ling Zhao shuddered inexplicably, his red eyes locked intently on Jiang Xuezhi.
Jiang Xuezhi also looked at this young man. There was a smear of crimson blood on his cheek, and his dazed eyes softened his otherwise cunning appearance.
Not bad, really.
He’d do in a pinch.
If she couldn’t find any inhibitors, and there were no pills to substitute for them anytime soon, then she’d just have to make do.
If Yun Cangming were here, she wouldn’t have to settle. Thinking of the taste of his blood and the scent of his neck, Jiang Xuezhi felt a slight stir.
She had left a temporary mark on him.
The mark was successful, she could vaguely sense how far he was from her now, and whether he was still around.
Unconsciously licking her teeth, Jiang Xuezhi lowered her head and buried her breath against the pulsing vein in the youth’s neck.
Ling Zhao was completely stunned.
He had imagined being killed, being tortured, but he never expected something like this to happen.
Jiang Xuezhi. She looked to be a few years older than him.
She had captured him, brought him to this secluded place. He thought he was done for, but what she was doing seemed entirely different from what he had imagined.
Ling Zhao was utterly bewildered.
His neck was filled with the cold aura that belonged to her. He lay on the ground, with her almost entirely pressing down on him. Her long, powerful legs, a woman’s legs, pinned him down, bringing with them an overwhelming sense of violation.
Wh-what did this mean?
Huh?
Wh-what was she trying to do?
No, this couldn’t be right!
Ling Zhao’s breathing grew even more erratic in an instant. His eyes blinked rapidly as he stared in disbelief at the woman looming over him.
“You… I… You…”
He tried to speak, but his words were incoherent, and he soon couldn’t form a complete sentence.
His neck hurt a little, as if pierced by teeth, yet he didn’t feel any life-threatening danger.
He only felt the atmosphere around him suddenly become unbearably ambiguous.
In all his life, he had never experienced anything like this and had no idea how to react.
If she wanted to beat or kill him, he would never yield, but if she was going to do this, then he had no clue what to do.
She was a woman!
How could she be so forward with a man. Even if she was a few years older, he was still a man!
Ling Zhao was completely dumbfounded, utterly at a loss for what to do. He could only weakly repeat, “Don’t… Let go… Stop…”
Jiang Xuezhi couldn’t be bothered to listen to what he was saying.
It was the scent of an Omega.
She could feel her body calming down slightly.
But just as she was about to place the temporary mark, someone came to disturb her.
If she wanted to continue, she certainly could, but she didn’t seem to have any deeper intentions.
How to put it?
Having just tasted delicacies from land and sea, she suddenly found these plain dishes rather bland.
The first time she saw Yun Cangming, she thought he was her kind.
Even when her estrus period arrived and her body reacted, that belief never wavered.
But instinct ultimately gave her the definitive answer.
Yun Cangming was not her kind.
He was an Omega too.
The moment her teeth broke his skin, an icy chill seeped into her body, a resonance of souls, a compatibility that no one else could match.
“Save the young city lord! This madwoman dares to humiliate the young city lord like this!”
Reinforcements from the City of Sin had finally arrived, bringing along a bunch of small fry.
Jiang Xuezhi glanced back indifferently, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and slowly straightened up.
Ling Zhao stared up at her from below, as if truly witnessing a powerful, bewitching demon.
Yet he was well aware that Jiang Xuezhi was indeed shrouded in suspicion, but her spiritual energy was pure, without a trace of demonic or malevolent aura.
His blood surged restlessly, his breathing grew erratic, and his heart pounded like thunder.
Jiang Xuezhi hadn’t killed him, nor had she even seriously injured him. She had only done a series of strange things.
His neck still tingled. Ling Zhao couldn’t help but touch the wound on his neck, his face flushed and his eyes reddened.
Could it be that this woman had fallen in love with him at first sight? Had she brought him all this way just to do this?
Lost in wild thoughts, Ling Zhao saw the reinforcements about to confront Jiang Xuezhi and couldn’t help but struggle to his feet, wanting to say something. But he had no chance to speak.
Jiang Xuezhi was in an extremely foul mood.
So annoyed, so angry, so desperate to vent.
The comfort she had received during her sensitive period was barely enough, and now, having forced herself to make do, she was interrupted again. She was on the verge of exploding.
Among the reinforcements from the City of Sin were many cultivators from other sects. After the lightning tribulation dissipated, those in the secret realm had regained their strength and gathered here.
Some had never seen Jiang Xuezhi in person and wanted to see what was happening.
Those who had seen her before and suffered at her hands stayed on the outskirts, while those who had never faced her wrath but only knew the Jiang Xuezhi of the past stood at the front.
The Profound Heaven Sect had promised three spiritual veins to anyone who could eliminate her on their behalf.
Resources in the Upper Three Realms were already scarce, mostly controlled by the Immortal Alliance and powerful families. With the Profound Heaven Sect willing to part with three spiritual veins, who wouldn’t be tempted?
Even Ling Zhao was tempted, let alone the others.
Now, with their overwhelming numbers, they had nothing to fear, no matter what variables Jiang Xuezhi might bring. It was only a matter of who would emerge victorious.
The crowd surged forward, surrounding Jiang Xuezhi completely.
Jiang Xuezhi’s foul mood reached its peak.
She tightened her grip on her spear. Faced with the encirclement, she didn’t evade or retreat but instead charged straight at them.
Swinging her weapon, Pojun, with an imposing and terrifying aura, she declared, “Perfect timing.”
Her gaze was icy, her voice low and hoarse as she said, “I’ll kill every last one of you.”