Volume 2, Chapter 158 – Using Only Death to Earn the Divine Lord’s Smile

Lu Zhuxin barely opened her eyes.

She felt unusually exhausted.

When she saw the black-clothed little loli before her, a trace of confusion flashed through Lu Zhuxin’s eyes.

The Nether Abyss Demon Venerable wasn’t using demonic power to obscure or blur her appearance at this moment, but rather showing her true face.

Her speech was clear, her gaze lucid, without half a trace of the madness from their first meeting.

The powerful figures Lu Zhuxin had encountered before, Qu Qingtang and Song Shiyuan, were both tall beauties.

Even Lu Zhuxin’s two maidservants by her side, Hu Mei’er and Hu Xian’er, were considerably taller than Lu Zhuxin.

Now suddenly seeing a little loli whose height was much shorter than her own, she even felt somewhat unaccustomed.

This petite loli… probably about 140 centimeters tall?

141.2.

Such a string of numbers inexplicably surfaced in Lu Zhuxin’s mind.

The other party was the Demon Venerable, the apex of the demon race. Yet even that was an understatement to her power.

Lu Zhuxin should marvel at how she could still think about such useful and useless things at a time like this.

She lightly propped her arm against the other’s shoulder, allowing herself to straighten.

“I am deeply grateful for the Demon Lord’s kindness.”

“I’m deeply grateful for Her Majesty the Demon Venerable’s concern.”

“However…”

Lu Zhuxin’s feet went weak. She nearly collapsed to the ground again.

Hu Xian’er stepped forward and supported her from behind.

The petite Nether Abyss Demon Venerable looked up at Hu Xian’er, saying nothing.

Her tone simply returned to its previous coldness.

“Don’t push yourself.”

“The fox clan only produces a nine-tailed fox like you once in a thousand years. Don’t joke with your own life.”

“I don’t want to wake up tomorrow and find that my demon realm’s Four Monarchs have become three.”

Lu Zhuxin moistened her dry lips.

“I… didn’t intend to kill her.”

“She also wasn’t killed by me…”

“Tch…” The Nether Abyss Demon Venerable let out a light snort. “You didn’t personally act, but her death was indeed orchestrated by you.”

“The Heavenly Dao’s karmic laws are profoundly mysterious. You thought you could exploit such a loophole…”

Suddenly, the Nether Abyss Demon Venerable furrowed her brow.

“Strange… Why is the backlash on you so slight?”

“The backlash that even a Venerable Saint wouldn’t dare bear, yet you’ve endured it alone?”

The Demon Venerable extended her small hand and placed it on Lu Zhuxin’s wrist.

“You haven’t been struck by backlash?”

Great surprise was written large on the tiny Demon Venerable’s face.

Her spiritual consciousness swept over Lu Zhuxin and discovered that aside from her body being extremely weak and her divine soul unusually dispirited, there were no other abnormalities.

This wasn’t right!

She could confirm that the backlash from the Venerable Saint’s death had indeed been triggered.

But for some unknown reason, the effect it produced on Lu Zhuxin was negligible.

Qu Qingtang’s aura had completely dissipated. What was now sealed in the ruins was merely a corpse without any vitality.

Venerable Saints were very difficult to kill, unless the one who killed her was herself.

“Could it be… this was also within your calculations, Fox Monarch?” The loli Demon Venerable questioned.

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Lu Zhuxin looked at the petite Demon Venerable before her with incomprehension. “I don’t quite understand…”

“How surprising, Fox Monarch.” The petite Demon Venerable crossed her arms, lowering her head in contemplation.

“Killing a Venerable Saint is something others wouldn’t even dare think about, yet you’ve accomplished it.”

“Truly astonishing.”

“…I was only blessed with good luck.” Lu Zhuxin explained lightly. “Fox demon pheromones have a special effect on sword cultivators. And I just happened to have a demonic medicine that could affect a Venerable Saint of the sword sects, and that medicine just happened to require Eighth Realm fox demon pheromones as its catalyst. That’s the only reason I could accomplish such a thing. If it were any other Venerable Saint, I absolutely couldn’t have done it.”

Using an ordinary Eighth Realm body to scheme a Venerable Saint to death was truly too shocking.

Even if the Demon Venerable before her appeared completely unconcerned, Lu Zhuxin still had to consider whether the other might harbor strange thoughts about this.

The Demon Venerable, hearing these words, waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t be modest. Opportunity is also part of one’s strength.”

“However, I find it very strange. Normally, if you schemed a Venerable Saint to death, the death backlash from the Venerable Saint would be enough to cause you the Five Declines of Heaven and Man, complete dissolution of form and spirit…”

“But you’re still standing here perfectly fine.”

“I can only imagine two explanations.”

“Either the Qu Qingtang you killed wasn’t a Venerable Saint… or she’s not dead.”

The tiny Demon Venerable stroked her chin, contemplating.

Lu Zhuxin also fell silent along with her.

The dead Qu Qingtang wasn’t the real Qu Qingtang, but rather an outsider.

She, like Lu Zhuxin, had replaced the original Qu Qingtang.

Although Lu Zhuxin had inherited Ming Zhaoxi’s cultivation, she didn’t possess any of an Eighth Realm fox demon’s abilities.

Qu Qingtang probably wasn’t much better off than Lu Zhuxin.

Even if she possessed Venerable Saint-level cultivation, she wasn’t a true Venerable Saint. She didn’t have a Venerable Saint-level state of mind.

Since she wasn’t a true Venerable Saint, it made sense that Lu Zhuxin hadn’t received death backlash from her.

However, right now, Lu Zhuxin couldn’t explain this matter to the Demon Venerable before her, and could only remain silent.

The only thing was that the Nether Abyss Demon Venerable’s words awakened Lu Zhuxin’s vigilance.

Had “Qu Qingtang” truly died?

“Qu Qingtang” was a transmigrator and also an Awakener with a system. Might she have some golden cicada shedding its shell death-escape method?

Thinking of this, Lu Zhuxin spoke up, “Your Majesty the Demon Venerable… is there any possibility that woman isn’t dead?”

“Death escape to survive? Not possible.” The small Demon Venerable turned her head, pointing a finger at the sky.

“Do you see that blood-red cloud?”

“Do you see the flowers and grass on the ground withering?”

“That is the Heavenly Dao and all the spirits in the world weeping for the departed Venerable Saint.”

She pointed at the ground again.

“When a Venerable Saint falls, heaven and earth grieve together.”

“Soon, the entire world will know that a Venerable Saint has fallen within demon realm territory.”

The Demon Venerable’s expression became somewhat solemn.

“I don’t understand how exactly you accomplished this, but just now, here, a Venerable Saint truly did fall.”

“This celestial phenomenon cannot be faked.”

Lu Zhuxin raised her head to glance at that magnificent and desolate celestial phenomenon. It truly couldn’t be faked. So Qu Qingtang had really died?

Just like that… died at Lu Zhuxin’s hands?

Lu Zhuxin still didn’t feel it was real.

She only felt somewhat bewildered.

“Perhaps… dying is for the best.” She thought silently.

The Demon Venerable continued speaking.

“There’s another point I need to remind you again. The people of the sword sects know Qu Qingtang’s whereabouts. Her death cannot be concealed.”

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“Unless the Seven Sword Sects deliberately hide it, otherwise before long, the entire world will know that a sword sect Immortal Venerable died in fox clan territory.”

“Fox Monarch, I think you should start considering how to deal with the upcoming troubles.”

“Even if the Seven Sword Sects don’t dare announce the sword sect Immortal Venerable’s death, the sword sects’ disciples won’t let you off.”

“Their retaliation may be even more fierce than everything before combined.”

Hearing this, Lu Zhuxin immediately felt a headache, her face becoming even paler.

The loli Demon Venerable noticed her abnormal state and thought this little fox was worried about the Seven Sword Sects’ retaliation.

“However, you needn’t worry too much.”

“The demon realm still has me. Without a Venerable Saint, the Seven Sword Sects shouldn’t dare be too presumptuous on demon realm territory.”

“The entire demon realm will be your backing.”

“If worst comes to worst…” The Demon Venerable’s words paused, then she spoke softly, “You can also move to my place. In Nether Abyss City, I can guarantee not even a single sword sect fly will get in.”

Lu Zhuxin gently exhaled a breath of turbid air.

“Thank you for Her Majesty the Demon Venerable’s kind intentions, but Zhuxin still has very important matters…”

“I need to go to the human realm…”

Lu Zhuxin’s speaking voice gradually grew quieter, ultimately becoming inaudible.

“Fox Monarch?” The Demon Venerable furrowed her brow. She looked at Lu Zhuxin, who had closed her eyes and whose breathing was gradually becoming steady.

“She fell asleep?!”

“My apologies, Your Majesty the Demon Venerable.” Hu Xian’er beside her explained on Lu Zhuxin’s behalf. “In order to completely deceive a Venerable Saint, Her Majesty served as the foundation maintaining a linked dream for ten days.”

“In the dream, at hundreds of times the speed, ten years passed.”

“This consumed far too much of Her Majesty’s mental energy.”

The loli Demon Venerable’s face was full of shock. “You had her alone maintain a linked dream connecting a hundred thousand people for ten years, which even included a Venerable Saint.”

“Are you fox demons all insane?”

“A normal Eighth Realm cultivator’s upper limit for bearing a linked dream is several thousand people. Even a Venerable Saint can at most bear ten thousand people…”

The Demon Venerable looked at the unconscious Lu Zhuxin as if looking at a monster.

Hu Xian’er weakly defended, “This number was what Her Majesty requested… If we didn’t do it to the extreme, we couldn’t construct a sufficiently realistic dream, and it would be difficult to deceive a Venerable Saint.”

“Of course, Her Majesty also didn’t require them all to join at once, but rather to test slowly bit by bit.”

“Insane… truly insane.” The loli Demon Venerable shook her head repeatedly. “That her spiritual consciousness wasn’t burst on the spot is her good fortune.”

“She’s insane, but are you insane too, Hu Xian’er?”

Hu Xian’er lowered her head in shame.

Seeing her like this, the Demon Venerable didn’t say anything more.

Hu Xian’er was the Fox Monarch’s subordinate, not the Demon Venerable’s.

The Demon Venerable never interfered with other clans’ internal affairs.

However…

The loli Demon Venerable’s gaze toward Lu Zhuxin became increasingly complex.

Fox Monarch Lu Zhuxin, what exactly has happened to you?

Why is it that just staying near this fox demon can suppress the spiritual consciousness disorder on her body?

Earlier, after she had finished teaching that woman Qu Qingtang a lesson, she had prepared to return to Nether Abyss City.

But when she returned to Nether Abyss City, she suddenly discovered that her regaining clear consciousness in Fox Palace might not have been coincidental.

As she walked farther away, the sense of clarity in her mind was also slowly fading.

Something on Fox Monarch Lu Zhuxin’s body might be able to suppress her loss of control. As long as she stayed by this fox demon’s side, she could maintain lucidity for extended periods.

And this conjecture was partially verified when close enough to this Fox Monarch.

Inviting the Fox Monarch to Nether Abyss City, aside from wanting to protect her, also had the intention to continue verifying this matter.

However, she was refused by the Fox Monarch before her.

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The Demon Venerable wasn’t seeing Lu Zhuxin for the first time, but such a situation had never occurred before.

And now, this Fox Monarch before her made her feel a sense of incongruity.

Clearly her appearance and aura were identical to those in her memory, yet the feeling she gave her was as if she had completely become a different person.

“Fox Monarch Lu Zhuxin… are you truly just a fox demon?”

The loli Demon Venerable mused to herself.

…

At the border between the human realm and demon territory.

A carriage pulled by two Fourth Realm spirit horses, escorted by a group of yellow-robed sword cultivators, slowly crossed the ancient human-demon battlefield from mid-air.

In the carriage, Huang Shangshang looked with a complex expression at Song Shiyuan, who was still sweetly sleeping.

She never imagined that in the end, it would still be her taking care of this young woman.

At this moment, Huang Shangshang saw Song Shiyuan’s eyelashes flutter.

She was waking?

Huang Shangshang immediately put on a smiling expression.

“Ah! You’re awake! Junior martial sister.”

“You were severely injured in Fox Palace. We barely escaped from Fox Palace.”

“We’re now on our way back to Lingxu Sword Sect.”

Song Shiyuan’s eyelashes trembled. Looking at the unfamiliar woman before her, her face showed confusion.

“Junior martial sister? Are you referring to me?” Song Shiyuan pointed at herself.

“That’s right.” The smile on Huang Shangshang’s face remained sweet. “Master said you injured your head and might not remember who you are.”

“But it’s fine.”

“You’re my junior martial sister, the second disciple of Lingxu Sword Sect’s sect master.”

“Your name is… Chi Wanxin.”

After saying this, Huang Shangshang still felt some trepidation.

Although Hu Xian’er said she could give Song Shiyuan a different name, this name was chosen by her mother.

It was somewhat daring.

“Chi Wanxin…”

Song Shiyuan repeated this name in her mouth, her eyes still full of confusion.

She felt like she had lost something very important.

But she couldn’t remember it at all.

…

At Lingxiao Sword Sect, atop an endless snowy mountain peak, there was an unfrozen cold pond.

This snowy mountain was Qingzhi Sword Venerable’s dwelling and also Lingxiao Sword Sect’s forbidden ground.

Ordinary disciples were forbidden from approaching. Even Lingxiao Sword Sect’s sect master and elders couldn’t enter without permission.

At this moment, in the snowy mountain’s cold pond, bubbles suddenly gurgled up.

A naked graceful figure suddenly rose from the water pond.

Three thousand strands of blue-black hair spread through the pond water. Fair skin, immersed in the clear stream, was as tender as an infant’s.

Most eye-catching were a pair of large bunnies bobbing and rising on the water.

The woman forcefully clutched her chest, gasping for breath in large gulps.

On her chest, the pain of being pierced through by a sharp sword seemed to still linger.

‘Ding—’

‘Soul Return technique successfully executed. One-third of the Host’s Heavenly Fortune value has been deducted.’

‘The Host has now been transported back to the initial anchor point.’

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Hearing the voice transmitted in her mind, the woman could no longer control her expression.

Bean-sized teardrops uncontrollably fell from the corners of her eyes.

“Wu… it hurts so much…”

“Wuwu… why did it turn out like this… I clearly worked so hard… where did I not do well enough… wuwuwu…”

‘Host, the System reminded you.’

‘Conquering a Divine Lord is no easy matter.’

“Wuwuwu… but I…”

“I didn’t deceive her… I truly did fall for her…”

“Even if those ten years were just a dream… I truly treated her as my wife…”

“She said I was hypocritical, said I abandoned her and the children…”

“But that wasn’t my intention… there really was no other way…”

“If I didn’t do it that way, I couldn’t meet the real…”

‘Host, your conquest efforts were not in vain.’

‘After system detection, after the target confirmed your death, her affection increased by two points.’

Hearing this, the woman cried even more sorrowfully.

“Only when I’m dead will she like me…”

“Does this mean to conquer her, I have to die for her twice first?”

‘Host, combining your previous conquest performance, the System feels this might be a suggestion worth attempting.’

‘Logic: Using death to earn the Divine Lord’s smile.’

‘After calculation, the success rate for a single attempt is approximately 0.6%.’

‘Of course, if you could be more serious and try several more times, perhaps you could raise the conquest success rate to 1.6%.’

“I… you…”

She wanted to curse but couldn’t get it out.

“Wuwuwu…”

‘Host, do you wish to give up?’

‘Give up this opportunity you wagered everything on and waited a thousand years for?’

“Wu…”

Her crying paused for an instant.

Her eyes, red from crying, opened. She forcefully rubbed her eyes.

“No… I don’t want to give up…”

“And I can’t give up…”

If she truly gave up here, then all her everything would be wasted.

She had no way back, no other choice.

”Host, “Qu Qingtang” has fallen. You can no longer continue using this identity. Please quickly select a new identity.’

“Mm…”

She pressed her lips together, her pink fists clenching.

A trace of determination surged again in her eyes.

‘Host, the System reminds you once more.’

‘Every Awakener is an extremely precious asset to the System.’

‘Please… proceed with your conquest more cautiously and prudently.’

…