Lin Wanwan stood amidst the crowd, watching Jiang Xuezhi facing the collective fury alone.
How could she still speak so defiantly in such a dire situation? Was she trying to hasten her own death?
Frowning tightly, Lin Wanwan gripped her sword. If Jiang Xuezhi were to die, it must be by her hand. This was an internal matter of the Xuantian Sect, no outsider could be the one to kill Jiang Xuezhi. Besides, the sect master wasn’t truly willing to part with three spiritual veins.
The Xuantian Sect itself only had five spiritual veins. If three were given away, what would be left for cultivation?
The announcement had been made solely in the hope that others might lend Lin Wanwan some assistance.
Lin Wanwan remained on high alert, fearing someone else might strike first, unaware that not far behind her, a figure in white robes and a bamboo hat was calmly observing both her and Jiang Xuezhi.
Jiang Xuezhi was Lin Wanwan’s substitute.
During the three years Lin Wanwan was “dead,” Jiang Xuezhi had taken her place within the Xuantian Sect, supporting her master, senior brothers, and fellow disciples, helping them persevere.
They must have been strikingly similar for the others to project their longing onto Jiang Xuezhi.
Yet, no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t see the resemblance.
After her aura changed, Jiang Xuezhi’s features no longer even closely resembled Lin Wanwan’s.
Shen Qingxian, concealing his identity, observed the unfolding battle from the shadows, uncertain whether to intervene.
Perhaps only when Jiang Xuezhi teetered on the brink of death would he understand what he truly desired.
Jiang Xuezhi was bound to falter. Despite her bold claim of “killing all of you,” it was nothing but a desperate bluff.
Outnumbered and outmatched in cultivation, she stood no chance.
Shen Qingxian was certain of this.
Yet, inexplicably, some actually believed Jiang Xuezhi’s words. As soon as she finished speaking, they scattered in terror.
“Run! Jiang Xuezhi is coming for us!!!”
It was a group of rogue cultivators, screaming and wailing as they fled in all directions. Their deep-seated fear was so palpable that it unsettled even the cultivators surrounding Jiang Xuezhi.
Wait! why should they, with their numbers, be afraid?
If those rogue cultivators were scared, so be it. But they were disciples of renowned orthodox sects, favored by the heavens, why fear a demonic woman?
Steeling their resolve, the crowd decided to delay no longer.
“Are we going to wait for her to make the first move? She’s all talk! Let’s attack together and see how long she lasts!”
Someone shouted these words, and the eager crowd immediately sprang into action.
In an instant, countless swords were unleashed, and malice descended upon her.
Jiang Xuezhi’s spiritual sense detected boundless ill intent. Rather than righteous immortal cultivators, these people were nothing more than narrow-minded bullies who attacked the weak without justification.
Jiang Xuezhi had no habit of explaining herself to others. When she was young, Ji Jiuchen noticed her twisted temperament and taught her that if she encountered someone who displeased her, she should simply ignore them and walk away. She acquiesced verbally but never agreed in her heart.
Why should she be the one to walk away?
The world was vast, yet the places she wished to stay were few. Why must she yield?
She refused.
If someone displeased her, she would simply kill them. The dead could no longer cause her distress, and the world would be at peace.
Amid the emotional turbulence of her sensitive period, such thoughts completely consumed her mind.
Kill.
Kill them all.
The bone-chilling killing intent radiating from her even frightened Po Jun, who fought by her side.
A vast surge of spiritual power crushed every inch of the land around her, causing the ground to collapse. Faint glimmers of light could be glimpsed beneath the fissures, yet neither Jiang Xuezhi, who was embroiled in the battle, nor the group determined to kill her noticed.
They were locked in combat within this secret realm. Jiang Xuezhi stood alone, surrounded by countless foes, and Ling Zhao quickly lost sight of her figure. She was a tall woman, but against the overwhelming crowd, she appeared isolated and vulnerable, barely visible.
Ling Zhao’s emotions were tangled. He pressed his lips tightly together, his high ponytail disheveled from Jiang Xuezhi’s earlier antics, but he had no mind to fix it. The strategist, along with several high-level cultivators, had formed a protective circle around him, while a few others were dispatched to deal with Jiang Xuezhi.
“Kill that demoness! Don’t let her die easily!” the strategist commanded, his voice dripping with venom. He was seething with rage, wishing Jiang Xuezhi could be executed ten thousand times over.
The high-level cultivators, having received substantial rewards from the City Lord of Sin City, were more than willing to carry out the task. Jiang Xuezhi was a demoness despised by all, dealing with her required no secrecy. Simply following the crowd made the job effortless.
They set off eagerly, expecting to wrap things up quickly, but were halted halfway.
“Stop.”
The order didn’t come from the strategist, it was the Young City Lord.
Ling Zhao frowned deeply, his gaze fixed on the distant crowd obscured by dust. “Why join this frenzy?” he muttered, voice strained. “She’s only defending herself. We provoked her first, and she retaliated.”
“Besides, she hasn’t done anything irreparable. I’m perfectly fine, aren’t I?”
The strategist stared at him in disbelief, pointing at the red handprint on Ling Zhao’s cheek. “She struck your face, Young City Lord! And she bit you!”
How could the famously vengeful Young City Lord tolerate such humiliation? And now he was speaking up for Jiang Xuezhi? Unbelievable.
Meeting the strategist’s incredulous gaze, Ling Zhao threw caution to the wind. “So, what if she hit me? This woman dares to strike my face, is there anything she wouldn’t do? I’m convinced keeping her alive will lead to some interesting developments!”
The strategist’s expression shifted unpredictably, but in the end, he didn’t dare defy the Young City Lord. Still, he insisted, “Young City Lord, even if we don’t act, she won’t survive.”
“With so many people after her, she’s like meat on a chopping block. It’d be a miracle if she isn’t torn to pieces and sent to the Profound Heaven Sect for rewards. Whether we take part or not, she’s doomed.”
Ling Zhao knew the strategist was right.
That wretched woman Jiang Xuezhi had a talent for making enemies. Everyone loathed her, and instead of fleeing, she had thrown herself into the lion’s den. What was that if not seeking death?
Agitated, he charged forward. “I don’t care! Think of something!”
The strategist sighed inwardly. He used to think women were fickle, their moods as changeable as flipping a page. Now he realized their Young City Lord was no different.
What could he do? His master was his to indulge.
“Fine, I’ll think of something. But what options are there? We can’t just rescue her in front of all these people, can we? That would mean making enemies of the entire cultivation world. The strategist felt the situation was extremely tricky. “Young City Lord, Sin City is already a gray area. We can barely manage our own affairs without getting involved in the cultivation world’s disputes. If we earn their enmity, your chance to study at the First Immortal Academy might be ruined.”
“The people from Tianyong Immortal Manor are nearby. If they see us opposing the cultivators, they might think we’re in cahoots with that demoness. No matter how hard you try or how much money the city lord spends, they won’t accept you then.”
“It’s not worth the loss, Young Lord!”
The strategist spoke with bitter urgency, his words earnest and heartfelt. Ling Zhao’s mind was in turmoil, his thoughts tangled like hemp.
“In my humble opinion, even if you’re willing to take the risk to help her, Jiang Xuezhi has no chance of surviving.”
“Given the current situation, there are only two possibilities for her to survive.” The strategist gestured with his fingers. “Either she suddenly ascends to the Deity Transformation stage and fights ten thousand alone, or a mighty expert at the Deity Transformation stage emerges from seclusion to protect her.”
“There are very few Deity Transformation experts in the world, just a handful at most. None of them would come out to protect her. As for her ascending to Deity Transformation herself, that’s absolutely impossible, she’s only just reached Foundation Establishment.”
So the conclusion was clear: don’t bother, it’s hopeless. At most, they could collect her corpse.
And even collecting her corpse might not yield a complete body, Jiang Xuezhi would surely be torn to pieces.
Ah, it sounded rather tragic. The strategist found himself less resentful toward her for injuring his young lord.
He sighed deeply and turned to look at the crowd shrouded in smoke, with spiritual lights flickering incessantly. Suddenly, he felt something was amiss.
Wait, shouldn’t Jiang Xuezhi have been subdued by now, in the time they’d been talking?
The battle should have ended long ago.
A whole group against one person, and among them were many high-level elders from various immortal sects. How could Jiang Xuezhi possibly hold out for so long?
A sense of unease washed over the strategist, and he instinctively reached out to pull Ling Zhao back.
But Ling Zhao, nimble as a cat, slipped past him.
“Young Lord! Stop! Don’t go!”
The strategist shouted, the strategist yelled, Ling Zhao ran, Ling Zhao was gone!
“Young Lord!”
“What are you shouting for? Stop yelling as if I’m already dead!”
Ling Zhao snapped at him impatiently.
The strategist’s face twisted in frustration, feeling that his young lord was far from dead.
Now, it might not be Jiang Xuezhi who was about to die, but the others.
Something had gone wrong.
His earlier two assumptions no longer seemed like mere hypotheses.
Yes, that unbelievable thing had truly, undeniably happened.
Though no one knew how she managed it, the woman carrying a long spear on her back had single-handedly cut through the crowd of cultivators.
Cold, silvery spear flashes repeatedly streaked across people’s eyes. The strategist, standing far away, felt his eyes nearly blinded by the glare, let alone those closer to the action.
Screams of agony filled the air as many were thrown out from within, covered in blood, the scene utterly gruesome.
The strategist covered his eyes, sighing in disbelief, but didn’t dare delay and hurried after Ling Zhao.
The people from the City of Sin exchanged glances and then ventured inward to see what was happening.
As they drew closer, they realized the situation was completely opposite to what they had expected.
Not only was Jiang Xuezhi alive, but she was thriving.
Dressed in red and covered in blood, her mental state seemed exceptionally exhilarated.
The blood on her was definitely not her own, her excited expression made it clear she was perfectly fine.
At her feet lay numerous pits and craters, left behind by magical artifacts and spells. So far, no one had died by her hand, but without exception, all were severely wounded.
To have reached this point, she was already terrifying.
“Monster!”
Someone in the crowd uttered the title.
Ling Zhao arrived just in time to clearly see Jiang Xuezhi curl her lips into a smile at the name.
She was delighted.
They regarded her as a monster, and she reveled in it, boundless in her delight.
Ling Zhao’s emotions grew even more complicated.
“Demoness! You harmed the disciples of our sect, I’ll take your life!”
If some had held back at first, now all pretense was cast aside.
This was no longer merely a matter for the Profound Heaven Sect alone, it had become a conflict between the entire righteous cultivation world and Jiang Xuezhi, this bloodthirsty and cruel monster.
They both hated and questioned how she had grown so powerful in such a short time. Despite having just formed her foundation, she could face numerous high-level cultivators alone. They had to capture her completely to uncover the truth.
Capturing her was an opportunity, a chance to break through bottlenecks and change the future.
There must be some profound secret about her that they were unaware of.
This thought took root in everyone’s mind, including Shen Qingxian, the white-clothed, bamboo-hatted figure.
For all impossibilities to converge in Jiang Xuezhi could only mean one thing:
She had encountered a unique opportunity or inherited some heaven-defying legacy.
Either possibility was enough to captivate them.
Shen Qingxian lowered his head, gazing at the flickering light deep within the fissure in the ground.
Frowning slightly, he discreetly formed hand seals, using array patterns to conceal everything within the crevice.
At the same time, disciples of the Tian Yong Immortal Manor arrived.
With such a commotion happening, how could the foremost immortal manor remain uninvolved?
They had rushed to the scene, intending to lend their aid to the cultivators.
Jiang Xuezhi fit the role of a major antagonist too perfectly, one person opposing so many. Surely, it couldn’t be that everyone else was wrong and she alone was right?
Her smile was even more sinister than that of a demon, more malevolent than evil itself. Anyone who could see a shred of righteousness in her expression of “utter delight” must be seeing ghosts.
The disciples of Tian Yong were in a league of their own compared to other sects. If they took action, Jiang Xuezhi would truly be hard-pressed to cope.
Ling Zhao grew increasingly anxious, ignoring his strategist’s advice to rush to her aid.
After all, she was a woman with whom he had shared intimacy, he couldn’t just let her die without a proper burial.
Unfortunately, Jiang Xuezhi herself seemed entirely unconcerned about her impending doom.
A look of pleasure remained on her face. Crowned in gold and robed in red, her black hair billowing in the wind, the spear in her hand seemed like an indestructible divine weapon, none could hope to triumph against it.
The Tian Yong disciples gathered at the forefront of the cultivators, their uniforms elegant and their demeanor composed, a clear cut above the rest.
Jiang Xuezhi lifted her eyes slightly and said indifferently, “If you had given me time to build a mech, these people would have been dead long before you arrived.”
“But since you’re here, it makes no difference.”
“Whether it’s ten people or ten thousand, I will not stop. You’d better not cease either.”
Once again, she spoke arrogantly, showing no regard even for the Tian Yong disciples, thoroughly provoking public outrage.
Lin Wanwan, standing among the crowd, felt both speechless and frustrated. Shen Qingxian also felt a headache coming on.
He pressed his fingers to his temples, sighed deeply, and was about to take action when he realized the opportunity had slipped away.
Before the Tian Yong disciples and Jiang Xuezhi could formally become enemies, another unexpected turn of events occurred.
The strategist of the Sin City’s young master had once said that for Jiang Xuezhi to escape her predicament, she would either have to ascend to godhood instantly or have a godhood-level expert protect her.
Now, the first possibility had nearly manifested.
And the second possibility followed closely behind.
Unbelievable.
Truly unbelievable.
Godhood-level experts were few and far between in the cultivation world, rare beyond compare.
Yet, as a wave of icy, snow-like coldness descended, it carried an aura even more terrifying and powerful than that of a godhood expert.
The overwhelming pressure instantly shattered all will to fight, forcing everyone to kneel in uncontrollable reverence.
Even the disciples of Tian Yong lowered their heads, not daring to move recklessly.
Amid the swirling snowflakes filling the secret realm, a figure appeared behind Jiang Xue Zhi. She seemed unsurprised, but as she tried to turn her head, a sudden pain shot through her neck.
Her heightened state had drained too much of her energy; with that single strike, she immediately collapsed weakly to one side.
A strong arm caught her and pulled her into an embrace. No one clearly saw who took Jiang Xue Zhi away.
But everyone knew, this person was peerless, unparalleled in all of history.