Ye Luqing’s hair instantly stood on end. She shot up like a frightened rabbit.
That voice—it was exactly the same as the great terror that had hunted her in her dream!
She followed the sound, her gaze landing on a woman of devastating beauty.
Xiao Qingxuan.
“Urp…”
Crouching by the ice coffin, Ye Luqing gagged, the horrifying memories overwhelming her.
The memories before death overlapped with the nightmare. In Ye Luqing’s eyes, the peerless, aloof Cold Fairy standing nearby was nothing less than a demon who had strangled her to death with bare hands.
“A-Qing!”
Worried, Xiao Qingxuan rushed forward, but froze the instant she saw the sheer terror in Ye Luqing’s eyes.
Her A-Qing… was actually afraid of her?
“A-Qing, don’t be afraid. Your sister is here…”
Xiao Qingxuan softened her steps, inching forward, terrified she’d further scare the girl inside the ice coffin.
“Sis…ter?”
Upon hearing that word, Ye Luqing seemed to calm slightly, though her eyes remained filled with vigilance.
“I… I don’t know you…”
The young girl ducked her head, a soft, mumbling whisper escaping her lips. The sound melted Xiao Qingxuan’s heart completely.
“A-Qing, it’s me! I’m… I’m Xiao Qingxuan!”
Xiao Qingxuan took two steps forward. The Ye Luqing inside the ice coffin seemed almost within reach.
Yet the only answer was the cyan-haired girl, huddled trembling in the corner of the coffin.
Xiao Qingxuan was stunned.
She remembered the first time she’d met Ye Luqing, sent by her Shizun to fetch her. She’d found her in the tall grass of Heavenly Sword Peak, looking exactly like this.
“S-Sorry,” Ye Luqing stammered timidly.
“I don’t remember anything…”
Xiao Qingxuan froze. Her outstretched hand fell limply to her side.
Her A-Qing had come back to life, but had lost her memories.
That damned Soul-Slaughtering Sect…
A flicker of murderous intent, almost imperceptible, flashed deep in her eyes. It made the cyan-haired girl in the coffin shrink even further into the corner.
A strained smile touched Xiao Qingxuan’s lips as she made her voice as gentle as possible.
“A-Qing, you… you be a good girl and wait here. I’ll go get your Shizun.”
“Vice Sect Master Bai is immensely powerful. She can definitely help you recover your memories.”
Though she was at the Half-Step Spirit Transformation stage, she was merely a Sword Cultivator. She knew little of the soul’s Dao.
When it came to the profound mysteries of the soul within the Profound Firmament Upper Sect, no one surpassed Ye Luqing’s Shizun—the Dao Integration Realm Dao Venerable of the Formation Arts Lineage, Peak Lord of Azure Sky Peak, Bai Yuhan.
She reached out and gently ruffled Ye Luqing’s hair. With a thought, a curtain of violet light sealed the cave entrance, protecting Ye Luqing within.
Sparing one last, reluctant glance, Xiao Qingxuan left the cave and sped toward a mist-shrouded mountain peak.
A long while later, Ye Luqing cautiously poked her head out.
Only after she was certain Xiao Qingxuan was truly gone did she let out a sigh of relief. The timid, cowardly expression vanished from her face.
“Scared the hell out of me…”
She lay spread-eagle in the ice coffin, gasping. Her delicate feet, white as fine snow, were still slightly curled from her brush with death.
In her mind, she knew Xiao Qingxuan was just a character in a novel, a target for her Blackening mission.
But the memory of being killed by her was far too real. That fear was practically etched into her bones.
After a long moment, she sat back up, looking somewhat weary.
The System’s prompt flashed before her eyes:
[Destined Female Lead, Xiao Qingxuan: Blackening Value 72%]
[Remaining Lives: 2/3]
“So I just threw away my first life, huh…”
A bitter smile touched her lips.
She’d been far too reckless. Reaching a 400% Blackening rate was never going to be that simple.
All that provoking hadn’t even reached 200%. Even without the interference of the Devilification Value, she was ages away from 400%.
“Looks like I need to take it slow,” Ye Luqing thought to herself.
At that, the corner of her eye twitched. She clicked her tongue.
“You damn System, are you messing with me?”
A special mechanic like the Devilification Value was clearly just as important as the Blackening Value.
Sure, she’d cut off the System’s basic introduction, but shouldn’t something that crucial have been disclosed upfront?
It was like a special status effect in a game—the kind of thing you see immediately when you open your stats panel. How could they hide it in a dialogue box designed to be skipped?
Unless… the game was deliberately designed to torture the player. Or was never meant to be cleared at all.
[Whoops~]
“Whoops my ass!” Ye Luqing’s mouth twitched. She barely suppressed the urge to smash the System’s nonexistent face in. “Playing cute won’t work! You owe me an explanation—and another life as compensation!”
[Fine, fine. It was my oversight; I didn’t expect the host to move so fast…]
[But compensating another life is truly impossible. Reversing karma is far more complicated than you imagine.]
[How about this: normally, rewards earned in the previous life would be wiped upon death. But as an exception, you can carry those rewards over to this life. What do you say?]
“Hand it over first, then we’ll talk.” Ye Luqing snorted. She wasn’t about to be pacified with just any old trinket.
[Confirmed. Loading rewards…]
Ye Luqing didn’t stay idle. She climbed out of the ice coffin and walked to the cave entrance.
Her path was blocked by Xiao Qingxuan’s Restriction Spell. Reaching out to touch the barrier, ripples instantly spread across its shimmering surface. Her finger stopped as if pressing against a solid wall; not a single inch could pass through.
“Thought so.”
Ye Luqing gave up. With her measly Golden Core Stage cultivation, breaking a barrier cast by a Half-Step Spirit Transformation cultivator was impossible.
She climbed back into the ice coffin. For some reason, the cold, hard ice gave her an odd sense of security.
[Reward loading complete. Please check.]
A blue panel appeared before Ye Luqing’s eyes.
“Since I can’t leave, might as well see what I got…” she murmured.
Meanwhile.
Xiao Qingxuan channeled all her True Qi, hurtling toward the summit of Azure Sky Peak.
As one of the three main peaks of the Profound Firmament Upper Sect, flight via Qi was forbidden on Azure Sky Peak while a Dao Integration Realm Dao Venerable was in residence.
But Xiao Qingxuan’s cultivation was at the Half-Step Spirit Transformation stage, giving her power on par with an Elder of the sect.
And she was the Sect Master’s Direct Disciple to boot. No one dared enforce the rules on her.
Suddenly, a sky-obscuring Formation Array descended from above.
Xiao Qingxuan’s gaze sharpened. Her Lifebound Spirit Sword shot out from her Heart Aperture, cleaving the suppressing array in two.
But the instant the Formation shattered, several streams of incredibly pure Metal Qi burst forth from the wreckage, locking onto Xiao Qingxuan from all directions.
Xiao Qingxuan’s form stuttered mid-air, her heart clenching.
Had she had A-Qing’s array to assist her, that single sword strike would have shredded both the Formation and the Metal Qi completely.
“Charging up the mountain with such fanfare, Junior Sister Xiao—are you declaring that our Azure Sky Peak has no capable disciples?” A voice, laced with authority, drifted down from above.
Hearing it, Xiao Qingxuan, who’d been preparing to break through, stopped in her tracks.
Judging that she couldn’t defeat this Spirit Transformation Heavenly Lord in a short time, Xiao Qingxuan recalled her Spirit Sword into her Heart Aperture and offered an empty-handed salute toward the voice.
“Senior Sister Bai, I have urgent business with Vice Sect Master Bai. I implore you to show leniency.”
The one attacking her was none other than the Senior Sister of Azure Sky Peak, the daughter of the Dao Integration Realm Peak Lord—Bai He.
“Leniency?”
Bai He’s elegant brows arched. Ever since her Junior Sister Ye’s body had been brought back, she’d harbored a deep resentment toward Xiao Qingxuan.
According to the reports, Xiao Qingxuan had indeed completed the mission brilliantly, even slaying a cultivator of the Devil Race at the Spirit Transformation Stage. But to leave a True Qi-depleted Array Cultivator behind as a rearguard alone? That sort of act was worthy of the Head Disciple of Heavenly Sword Peak.
Even if Qingxuan cultivated the Emotionless Sword Dao, Bai He couldn’t accept her sacrificing Junior Sister Ye so readily.
What was worse, Ye Luqing was the one person closest to Xiao Qingxuan.
“Please return, Junior Sister Xiao. My Shizun is not receiving guests today.”
With a flick of Bai He’s will, the Metal Qi surrounding Xiao Qingxuan let out a piercing, resonant hum. It felt like an unspoken, aggressive dismissal, as if they’d shoot toward her at any moment.
Xiao Qingxuan bit her lip softly. “A-Qing… Junior Sister Ye, she’s woken up. But the Devil cultivators of the Soul-Slaughtering Sect left some aftereffects… Her memory has been affected.”
“What!”
Bai He jolted, her expression full of shock and doubt as she scrutinized Xiao Qingxuan’s face, judging the truth of her words.
After a pause, she waved her hand. The Metal Qi surrounding Xiao Qingxuan vanished instantly.
“Follow me.”
Bai He flew toward the peak, Xiao Qingxuan right behind her.
Moments later, the two landed softly on the summit of Azure Sky Peak.
Inside the pavilion at the peak sat a beautiful, voluptuous woman. A light gauze draped her form, her long hair flowing loosely. Even from afar, she possessed a chilling, solitary elegance.
“Vice…”
Xiao Qingxuan knelt on one knee, but before she could finish her sentence, a profound force lifted her back up.
She instinctively looked up. Vice Sect Master Bai Yuhan had somehow already appeared before her.
“I am aware of the situation.”
As a Dao Integration Realm Dao Venerable, the entirety of Azure Sky Peak lay within her perception.
Bai Yuhan rose and walked slowly toward the peak’s edge.
“Come.”
Xiao Qingxuan and Bai He quickly followed, neither noticing the chill that flickered in Bai Yuhan’s eyes.
“The techniques of the Soul-Slaughtering Sect can indeed destroy one’s soul… but…” Bai Yuhan mused inwardly. “They are also adept at possession.”
Three days ago, when Ye Luqing’s corpse was brought back to the Profound Firmament Upper Sect, Bai Yuhan had seen it with her own eyes, even attempted to heal it.
At that time, the body had utterly lost its vitality. Even an Immortal Venerable at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage likely couldn’t have revived it.
Thus, the only option was to preserve her body in the Mysterious Ice Immortal Coffin, ensuring the flesh wouldn’t decay.
That she had now suddenly awoken… there had to be more to it.
If Ye Luqing had been possessed by a devil from the Soul-Slaughtering Sect, as her Shizun, Bai Yuhan would never let the culprit go—even if the Soul-Slaughtering Sect possessed the power of an Immortal Sect.
Hearing this, Xiao Qingxuan’s body trembled uncontrollably. Her breathing grew ragged.
“No… that can’t be.”
“Whether it is or isn’t, I will know upon inspection.” Bai Yuhan sighed softly.
Xiao Qingxuan’s face hardened with sheer, unyielding resolve. She would absolutely never allow such a thing to happen. If Ye Luqing had been possessed by another, she would not forgive the wretch who stole her Dao Companion’s body.
