Volume 2, Chapter 95 – You Win, Little Fox.

“Support? What kind of support can you provide?”

Lu Zhuxin frowned.

From the moment she transmigrated until now, this dog System had never provided her with any useful help.

So Lu Zhuxin didn’t believe a word this dog System was saying now.

Moreover, had this dog System really been upgrading all this time?

[Detecting Host is currently in crisis. To assist Host and allow Host’s conquest to proceed smoothly, System now issues an Emergency Quest.]

“An Emergency Quest that can resolve my current crisis?”

[Ding—! Emergency Quest issued!]

[Please have Host forcibly kiss Child of Destiny Qu Qingtang for over three minutes, kissing her until she suffocates. Quest time limit: Fifteen minutes.]

Hearing this, Lu Zhuxin was stunned for a moment.

This dog System truly had no good intentions!

This wasn’t helping her conquer Qu Qingtang at all. This was practically sending her to her death!

“Dog System! If you want me dead, just say so directly! No need to beat around the bush like this!” Lu Zhuxin said angrily.

[Then is Host choosing to abandon the Emergency Quest?]

[If the quest is abandoned, System will automatically determine the quest as failed.]

“What happens if the quest fails?”

[If the Emergency Quest fails, it means Host’s conquest has failed.]

[System will automatically activate Plot Correction Mode for Host, completely correcting the plot to Route 1.]

[That is, Host’s favorite cream puff plotline, oh!]

Lu Zhuxin’s eye twitched. “So I have no choice at all, is that it?!”

[Not at all, oh! System fully respects Host’s wishes, so it’s giving Host the opportunity to actively choose the plot route.]

“Ha!” Lu Zhuxin viciously gave the dog System the middle finger in her heart.

…

Qu Qingtang held the wooden sword behind her back, still wearing a faint smile on her face.

Her pair of beautiful eyes reflected Lu Zhuxin’s panicked appearance.

Like a cat haughtily enjoying the pleasure of driving a mouse into a dead end.

“Qu Qingtang… Qu Qingtang…” Lu Zhuxin looked at the slowly approaching Qu Qingtang.

Even at full strength, Fox Monarch Ming Zhaoxi couldn’t possibly be a match for Qu Qingtang, let alone Lu Zhuxin, this combat weakling who had a whole body of cultivation but not half a bit of practical combat experience.

Was she really going to fall here like this?

Lu Zhuxin didn’t want to accept fate so easily.

Perhaps… the current predicament perhaps had another solution.

[Bzzt bzzt… Detecting… Host… bzzt bzzt… custom quest…]

Lu Zhuxin suddenly heard the familiar chaotic static noise again.

“Custom quest?!”

Lu Zhuxin was puzzled.

The chaotic and disorderly sounds continued.

[Bzzt bzzt… Quest content… kiss Qu Qingtang for thirty seconds…]

[Success will grant Fortune Value #￥%*%# points…]

[Failure will deduct ￥&@￥ value #￥% points…]

[Time limit: thirty minutes.]

“Hah…” Lu Zhuxin exhaled lightly.

Although these chaotic static noises didn’t provide Lu Zhuxin with any substantial help, the interruption did allow her to calm down a bit.

“So this Emergency Quest is like this…”

[Host, what are you saying?]

The System’s questioning voice came.

“Nothing,” Lu Zhuxin said. “I’m just sighing… the content of this Emergency Quest is truly interesting.”

There really wasn’t much truth in the dog System’s mouth.

Custom quest? Emergency Quest?

Lu Zhuxin just wanted to sneer.

Moreover, this dog System didn’t seem to have the authority to forcibly change plot routes like it claimed.

[Then Host, are you ready for how to proceed with the Emergency Quest?]

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Lu Zhuxin didn’t respond to the System. Instead, she looked toward Qu Qingtang, who was slowly approaching.

Looking at the smile on her face, as if she’d already secured victory.

She was like a cat, the ultimate predator, and Lu Zhuxin was that mouse in her eyes.

Lu Zhuxin didn’t want to sit and wait for death. Even as a mouse, she would try to bite off a chunk of flesh from the cat.

She was still thinking, thinking of a way to break the deadlock.

Until the final outcome, she still had opportunities to find a reversal route.

Qu Qingtang shouldn’t appear here.

Even in the original work, as the power ceiling, she could only exist as a background board.

If someone like this acted freely, then the trials and opportunities Lu Zhuxin had designed for Song Shixuan would all lose meaning.

Even the original story line would become distorted.

That’s why Lu Zhuxin had added the setting “never participates in sect affairs, never appears, never acts” to her.

She seemed not to care even about the life and death of her personal disciples.

That’s how Lu Zhuxin wrote it in the original text.

Anyway, Qu Qingtang was just a background board. Lu Zhuxin didn’t need to explain Qu Qingtang’s reasons in detail.

That’s right! Lu Zhuxin had merely written this setting but hadn’t explained the reason behind it.

Now, Lu Zhuxin recalled something the dog System had said before.

“Are the things you wrote really exactly as you wrote them?”

“Do things you didn’t write really not exist?”

Previously, Lu Zhuxin hadn’t taken these words to heart.

But now, thinking back, Lu Zhuxin realized the dog System’s words clearly had deeper meaning.

If it were the original novel, some unimportant character settings perhaps didn’t need detailed explanations.

But now, after Lu Zhuxin had transmigrated into this novel.

This novel was no longer just a few paragraphs of text under her pen, but a real world.

The parts she hadn’t written back then would certainly be filled with things she didn’t know about in the real world.

The words of a novel were dead. The people in this world were alive.

And living people, when making certain decisions or choices, would have their own reasons.

“Hehe… perhaps I should thank Ming Zhaoxi. She gave me a very good hint.”

At this moment, Lu Zhuxin had found her direction.

Lu Zhuxin raised her head, her finger lightly touching her own lips, the corner of her mouth revealing a smile of certain victory.

“Stop pretending, Qu Qingtang.”

“I’ve already seen through it. You’ve been bluffing from the beginning.”

The breaking point lay in the setting that Qu Qingtang never acted!

Lu Zhuxin’s gaze swept over the natal sword in Qu Qingtang’s hand.

Ordinary Lingxiao disciples’ swords were made of metal and iron, incomparably sharp.

But before her, Qu Qingtang’s sword was different from other Lingxiao Sword Sect cultivators.

That was a wooden sword carved from peach wood!

It had the form of a sword but no edge or blade.

“Qu Qingtang! Right now, you can’t casually kill, can you?” Lu Zhuxin stated her speculation in an extremely certain tone.

For this speculation, Lu Zhuxin had no complete confidence, nor sufficient intelligence information to support it.

But at times like this, the more certain one had to be.

Any hesitation would let the opponent know Lu Zhuxin lacked confidence, and the momentum would weaken.

If momentum weakened, before the battle even started, she’d lose first.

Only by abandoning reason was there true gambling.

At this moment, the expression on Qu Qingtang’s face finally changed.

She smiled charmingly, raising her natal sword horizontally and gently stroking the edgeless blade with her hand.

“Little fox, why do you think a sword cultivator focused on killing would be unable to kill? What gave you this misconception?”

It was Hu Mei’er and Hu Xian’er.

Lu Zhuxin thought of the scene from earlier.

The two loyal fox demon maidservants had immediately rushed forward the moment Lu Zhuxin was in danger.

They clearly knew they couldn’t possibly be a match for this woman, yet they still rushed forward without hesitation.

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A six-tailed fox demon and a seven-tailed fox demon were completely inadequate before a contemporary sword immortal.

But Qu Qingtang hadn’t chosen to strike ruthlessly. Instead, she carefully made them lose combat ability.

Especially at the end, when Qu Qingtang deliberately turned the sword blade and attacked with the pommel instead, Lu Zhuxin had seen it very clearly.

Why would a sword cultivator who slays demons deliberately make such a move when facing two small fox demons?

These trivial matters that ordinary people wouldn’t notice were enough to trigger Lu Zhuxin’s speculation.

At this moment, Lu Zhuxin’s expression remained unchanged, her attitude calm. She said, “What do you think, Qu Qingtang?”

“You have no evidence. This is all your wild speculation.” Qu Qingtang spoke softly. “Little fox, treating imagination as fact is a bad habit.”

“You think I have no evidence, that I’m wildly speculating?” Lu Zhuxin laughed out loud.

“Qu Qingtang, I’m indeed no match for you, but right now,” Lu Zhuxin moved her lotus steps lightly, putting her hands behind her back as she advanced toward Qu Qingtang instead of retreating.

The formation disc controlling the arrays was gripped behind her back.

“So what if I get even closer to you?”

“Jiang Hongliang and Liu Funing both came for my life.”

“And I’m standing right before you now.”

“So then, can you actually kill me?”

Lu Zhuxin raised her head slightly, looking at Qu Qingtang’s devastatingly beautiful face.

If Qu Qingtang truly wanted to kill Lu Zhuxin, then Lu Zhuxin had no ability to resist at all.

If Qu Qingtang could truly kill Lu Zhuxin, she had countless opportunities to kill her before Lu Zhuxin could react.

The expression on Qu Qingtang’s face froze slightly for an instant.

The position where Lu Zhuxin now stood was still at some distance for ordinary people. But for sword cultivators like Qu Qingtang, this distance was no different from standing directly in front of her.

As long as she wanted, she could thrust her sword at any time and pierce Lu Zhuxin’s heart meridians.

“I never imagined the World-Ending Fox Monarch would be such a mad person,” Qu Qingtang said. “You can disregard your own life and death. But have you thought about what it means for the fox clan if you, as the fox clan’s only Eighth Realm powerhouse, perish?”

Hearing this, the smile on Lu Zhuxin’s face became even more triumphant.

“So Immortal Venerable Qu truly cannot kill me!”

Qu Qingtang’s words suddenly caught.

Her brows furrowed slightly. “Even if I don’t kill you, what of it? I can simply bring you back to Lingxiao Sword Sect and imprison you beneath the Lingxiao Sword Sect’s snow peaks.”

“From the result’s perspective, there’s no difference from killing you.”

“Is that so?” Lu Zhuxin chuckled softly. “Is the Immortal Venerable so confident she can accomplish this?”

Qu Qingtang looked at Lu Zhuxin puzzled, not knowing what she meant.

Capturing a fox demon about to enter heat period and unable to display her combat power wasn’t difficult for her.

Lu Zhuxin smiled without speaking. She released her grip on the disc and used spiritual power to break open her fingertip.

Drop by drop of vital blood fell into Lu Zhuxin’s formation disc.

Lu Zhuxin’s face still wore a smile.

“Using nine-tailed crimson spirit as catalyst, I perform a blood sacrifice on this formation disc!”

Lu Zhuxin looked at Qu Qingtang. The formation disc in her hand burst forth with intense blood light.

“If the Immortal Venerable wants to capture me, I truly cannot resist.”

“But what if the price of the Immortal Venerable capturing me is the lives of the seventeen Lingxiao Sword Sect disciples in the Fox Palace behind us, plus Sect Master Jiang Hongliang?!”

“Oh, right. Lingxiao Sword Sect may not question the Immortal Venerable’s decisions.”

“But the Immortal Venerable shouldn’t forget that the Fox Palace also holds Blue Mist Sword Sect’s Sect Master Liu Funing and Lingxu Sword Sect’s Sect Master’s daughter Huang Shangshang.”

“Does the Immortal Venerable have the authority to decide their lives and deaths? How would Lingxu Sword Sect and Blue Mist Sword Sect view the Immortal Venerable’s decision?”

Qu Qingtang’s delicate brows knitted tightly. Her expression finally darkened.

She said, “I could find you because I’m also proficient in formations. Although the Fox Palace’s new formation is ingenious, if I wanted to break it, it wouldn’t be difficult.”

“Is that so?” Lu Zhuxin’s lips curved into an arc. “Since the Immortal Venerable is also proficient in formations, then the Immortal Venerable should be able to see I’ve already used nine-tailed blood to completely ignite the formation disc.”

“To break the formation, the Immortal Venerable must personally slay me!”

“Otherwise…” Lu Zhuxin’s face showed a conspiratorial smile. “I’m very curious whether the Immortal Venerable’s speed at breaking formations, or my speed at igniting the Fox Palace is faster.”

As Lu Zhuxin’s words fell, blazing flames suddenly rose from the Fox Palace behind her.

Firelight filled the sky, illuminating the dark night as bright as day.

Even standing ten miles outside the Fox Palace, Qu Qingtang could feel waves of heat radiating from within.

She could even faintly hear the terrified shouts of Lingxiao Sword Sect disciples from inside the Fox Palace.

She knew the fox demon before her had deliberately created this.

Qu Qingtang’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Little fox, aren’t you afraid I’ll disregard their lives and take you away anyway?”

Lu Zhuxin smiled. “I’m afraid. I treasure my life very much.”

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“Then why…” Qu Qingtang looked at her deeply.

“I’m merely showing the Immortal Venerable my trump cards,” Lu Zhuxin said. “After all, during negotiations, one must place enough chips on the table to have the qualifications to negotiate.”

“And to convince the Immortal Venerable, I naturally have other methods.”

As Lu Zhuxin spoke, her palm tapped lightly on the formation disc.

“The Immortal Venerable can completely conceal her aura and infiltrate the Demon Realm without anyone noticing. This is all because the Immortal Venerable’s ability to suppress aura is formidable, allowing her to prevent any aura from leaking.”

“But what if the balance of aura within the Immortal Venerable’s body is now disrupted?”

Qu Qingtang suddenly felt an ominous feeling rise.

Lu Zhuxin smiled as she lightly swept across the formation disc.

“Amplify!!”

Qu Qingtang suddenly felt an irresistible formation force wrapping around her.

This formation force wasn’t attack or restriction, but amplification of her own power and aura.

Therefore, she couldn’t resist this formation force.

She suddenly understood Lu Zhuxin’s plan.

After her own aura was amplified, the perfect balance of aura suppression within her body was broken.

With the aura suppression unbalanced, Qu Qingtang would no longer be able to suppress her overwhelmingly powerful aura.

Her position would be exposed in the Demon Realm like a bright lamp, exposed before a certain terrifying mad demon.

Qu Qingtang had never imagined someone could use this method to break through her aura concealment.

And the result of doing this was.

“Sword!!”

“Cultivator!!!”

From somewhere unknown, far from the Fox Palace.

An overwhelmingly powerful aura no weaker than Qu Qingtang’s suddenly burst forth.

Following it came a roar that seemed capable of piercing the heavens.

“Nether Abyss Demon Venerable…” Qu Qingtang muttered to herself, finally showing a grave expression between her brows.

Lu Zhuxin continued smiling. “So now, please answer me, Immortal Venerable.”

“Is the Immortal Venerable’s speed at forcibly taking me faster, or that mad Demon Venerable’s speed at arriving faster?”

“Or perhaps, is the speed at which the sword sect disciples in the Fox Palace burn to death in calamity fire faster?”

Qu Qingtang’s slender fingers gently stroked her natal sword, her unusual gaze lingering on Lu Zhuxin’s body.

Lu Zhuxin showed no fear. “Immortal Venerable, the time for you to answer my question isn’t much.”

Qu Qingtang kept staring at Lu Zhuxin’s face.

Lu Zhuxin’s expression remained unchanged, as if everything was unrelated to her.

Finally, Qu Qingtang chuckled softly.

“I’ve lost.”

“You win, little fox.”

“Now disperse the formation’s power.”

“Without my aura as guidance, she’ll quickly return due to losing her target.”

“I imagine you don’t want a mad Venerable appearing in your fox clan’s territory either, right?”

Qu Qingtang actually yielded.

Lu Zhuxin’s eyes showed surprise.

“Empty words have no proof, Immortal Venerable,” Lu Zhuxin said. “Who knows whether you’re deceiving me to disperse the formation force first, then taking advantage to attack me?”

“Moreover, it was clearly your Lingxiao Sword Sect’s people who first intended to kill me. Now you want to gloss over everything with a light admission of defeat?”

Qu Qingtang looked at Lu Zhuxin, her eyes flickering repeatedly. Finally, she said, “In this matter, it’s indeed Lingxiao Sword Sect that wronged Fox Monarch first.”

“Afterward, Lingxiao Sword Sect will naturally present treasures as apology.”

“Please, Fox Monarch, spare those sect disciples and the two sect masters.”

Lu Zhuxin’s lips curved into a cold smile. “The Immortal Venerable speaks such perfunctory words even more smoothly than the most deceitful fox demons.”

“As I said, empty words have no proof. If the Immortal Venerable goes back on her word, this little fox can’t do anything about…”

A swoosh interrupted Lu Zhuxin’s words.

It was Qu Qingtang throwing the peach wood sword in her hand before Lu Zhuxin.

She said, “Let this serve as proof.”

“If Fox Monarch releases the sect disciples and the two masters.”

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“Qingtang is willing to present the sect’s treasure and personally attend Fox Monarch for one year as apology.”

Ah, this…

Lu Zhuxin looked at the natal sword Qu Qingtang had thrown to the ground. Her eyes showed some surprise.

How important was the natal sword to Lingxiao Sword Sect? It was equivalent to half the life of a Lingxiao sword cultivator.

This point held true even for Qu Qingtang.

Yet now, Qu Qingtang had placed her natal sword in Lu Zhuxin’s hands.

This was equivalent to Qu Qingtang truly placing half her life in Lu Zhuxin’s hands.

And not only that, Qu Qingtang was the sect’s Immortal Venerable.

The sword sect and fox demons had been enemies for a thousand years on the surface. Yet now, the sect’s Immortal Venerable said she would stay by the Fox Monarch’s side to attend her for a year.

Wasn’t this equivalent to throwing the sword sect’s face at Lu Zhuxin’s feet for her to trample?

Qu Qingtang was an Immortal Venerable!

She could actually make such a promise?

Lu Zhuxin’s mouth twitched. “Immortal Venerable, are you planning to become this Monarch’s consort?”

Hearing this, Qu Qingtang looked Lu Zhuxin up and down once and smiled without speaking.

Lu Zhuxin felt inexplicably offended.

She sneered coldly. “For the sake of merely two sect masters and a dozen sect disciples, is it really worth the Immortal Venerable paying such a great price?”

Qu Qingtang looked at her and said, “Fox Monarch isn’t a sword cultivator, so how would you understand sword cultivators’ righteousness?”

Tch! So great! So dazzling! So self-sacrificing!

Lu Zhuxin didn’t know Qu Qingtang had this kind of character.

Having Song Shiyuan say such words would be more reasonable.

Lu Zhuxin began considering the feasibility of Qu Qingtang’s proposal.

In fact, Lu Zhuxin didn’t expect to gain much benefit from Qu Qingtang.

For such a troublesome character, being able to have her swear a Heavenly Dao oath not to attack the fox clan again would be good enough.

But she hadn’t expected Qu Qingtang would be willing to pay such a great price for those few people.

Being able to bring the sword sect’s Immortal Venerable under control was indeed far more worthwhile than two mediocre sect masters.

As for the so-called attending for one year.

Whether Lu Zhuxin would return the natal sword after one year was another matter.

Lu Zhuxin promised to let Qu Qingtang attend for one year, but she never promised to return her natal sword after a year!

Without her natal sword, Qu Qingtang’s combat power probably wouldn’t even match Seventh Realm Liu Funing, right?

Wouldn’t she be at Lu Zhuxin’s mercy then?

Thinking this, Lu Zhuxin happily accepted Qu Qingtang’s natal sword.

“I’ll accept the Immortal Venerable’s sincerity in saving lives,” Lu Zhuxin smiled. “Those two sect masters, I can spare their lives.”

Of course, when she’d let them return was up to Lu Zhuxin’s mood.

“But the Immortal Venerable saying she’ll attend by this Monarch’s side, this Monarch dares not confirm the Immortal Venerable’s true intentions.”

“After all, in this world, there are few who dare casually order around an Immortal Venerable.”

“If the Immortal Venerable is just speaking casually and will obey in appearance but oppose in reality, wouldn’t this Monarch be inviting a great buddha to worship?”

Qu Qingtang chuckled softly. “How does Little Fox Monarch want Qingtang to prove these words’ sincerity?”

Lu Zhuxin walked before Qu Qingtang. She looked up at her.

Lu Zhuxin frowned slightly.

This woman was too tall, even taller than ordinary men.

In modern times, she’d definitely have supermodel height.

Lu Zhuxin standing before her had to crane her neck to clearly see her face.

Lu Zhuxin raised her hand and grabbed Qu Qingtang’s collar.

“Then let’s see how obedient the Immortal Venerable is to this Monarch.”

Lu Zhuxin curved her lips, pulling Qu Qingtang’s collar and forcing her to lean down.

[Ding—! Quest action in progress.]

[Now beginning countdown.]

[If interrupted, countdown must restart, oh. Please maintain this position, Host.]

Lu Zhuxin raised an eyebrow.

Damn! This dog System was truly doglike!