Volume 2, Chapter 98 – A Botched Attempt

“Will Qu Qintang really die?”

Lu Zhuxin watched the two powerhouses fighting in the field.

Unlike ordinary Eighth Realm powerhouses whose battle commotions could destroy heaven and earth, the two Venerable Saints before her, despite engaging in a life-and-death struggle, didn’t leak out even half a sound.

Their cultivation realm had already half-stepped into the Ninth Realm. Only one step remained before they could cross that final boundary.

Their control over power was beyond what ordinary Eighth Realm powerhouses could compare to.

Much less what Lu Zhuxin, this crash-course Eighth Realm cultivator, could touch.

Right now, Qu Qingtang looked extremely miserable.

Her hair was loose, her face deathly pale, crimson blood marks hanging from the corners of her mouth.

Her body was covered in deep wounds exposing bone.

Watching Qu Qingtang’s increasingly miserable appearance, Lu Zhuxin raised her hand to support her chin.

“System, if a heaven-fated female lead dies, what happens?”

“Will the heaven-fated male protagonist’s fortune value be cut off?”

[Host, you’re thinking about something very dangerous!]

[If the heaven-fated female lead dies, the fortune on the female lead will be recovered by the Heavenly Dao, then re-infused into the heaven-fated male protagonist.]

[At that time, this portion of fortune will become difficult to seize back.]

[Therefore, please avoid this situation at all costs, Host. It concerns whether the Host can successfully escape from this small world!]

Lu Zhuxin furrowed her brows. “Really?”

[The System will not deceive the Host.]

Lu Zhuxin continued supporting her chin.

However, her attention was drawn to another piece of information.

[Bzzt… If the heaven-fated female lead dies accidentally… bzzt… fortune will be recovered by the Heavenly Dao…]

[Bzzt… The Heavenly Dao will re-select a woman with the same positioning… to become the new heaven-fated female lead…]

[Please be advised…]

So even if the heaven-fated female lead died, the fortune wouldn’t return to the male protagonist.

However, even if it didn’t return to the male protagonist, it still couldn’t sever the karmic connection with the heaven-fated male protagonist.

“Then…” Lu Zhuxin asked again that question she’d never been certain about.

“Qu Qingtang, is she really a heaven-fated female lead?”

[Of course!]

The System once again gave a definitive answer.

[Bzzt… Qu Qingtang is #&%… Host, please note ￥%#￥…]

Hearing the System’s answer, Lu Zhuxin’s brows knitted together once more.

What was Qu Qingtang? A heaven-fated female lead? A heaven-fated villain? Or something else?

What did this System want her to pay attention to?

“System?” Lu Zhuxin asked.

[Host, you really won’t think of a way to save her?]

[Bzzt… Please… be advised…]

[Bzzt…]

Lu Zhuxin irritably rubbed her forehead.

“System, can’t I actively block the System?”

Rеаԁ οո КаtRеaⅾіոɡСαfe

[Huh?!]

[Bzzt…]

Looked like that wasn’t possible for now.

Hypothetically, if Qu Qingtang was truly a heaven-fated female lead, if she died, the Heavenly Dao would re-select a woman with the same positioning as the new heaven-fated female lead.

What was Qu Qingtang’s positioning in the original text? Plot background board? Power ceiling? The strongest woman beside the male protagonist?

Who could have positioning similar to Qu Qingtang’s?

The first person Lu Zhuxin thought of was the Nether Abyss Demon Venerable currently beating down Qu Qingtang.

The same power ceiling. A half-mad Venerable Saint.

“Damn… please don’t!”

Bang! A tremendous sound came through.

The two people in the battlefield seemed to have finished fighting.

“Qu Qingtang, do you truly seek death?” The Nether Abyss Demon Venerable’s voice came through.

Already finished?!

Lu Zhuxin looked up.

“Fox Monarch?” A blurry figure abruptly appeared before Lu Zhuxin.

It was the Nether Abyss Demon Venerable.

Lu Zhuxin instinctively swallowed.

Being this close to a mad Venerable Saint would startle anyone, right?

“Demon Venerable,” Lu Zhuxin pressed her lips together and spoke. “Qu Qingtang, is she dead?”

The Nether Abyss Demon Venerable before her seemed wrapped in an invisible force, distorting her features.

However, Lu Zhuxin could tell the girl before her was slightly shorter than herself.

And at this moment, this Demon Venerable who was slightly shorter than her was looking at her with a puzzled gaze.

“You are this generation’s Fox Monarch?”

The corners of Lu Zhuxin’s eyes twitched slightly.

The current Demon Venerable spoke clearly, her manner lucid, as if she had recovered from madness to normal.

However, according to the setting, the original body had campaigned alongside the Demon Venerable a thousand years ago.

This Demon Venerable now completely didn’t remember?

The Nether Abyss Demon Venerable looked Lu Zhuxin up and down. After quite a while, she said uncertainly, “You are Fox Monarch… Lu Zhuxin?”

“…Is that the name?”

Lu Zhuxin carefully nodded. “It’s me.”

Although the Nether Abyss Demon Venerable seemed to have recovered her sanity, she appeared to have incomplete memories.

The way the Demon Venerable had just brutally beaten Qu Qingtang was too vicious.

Lu Zhuxin was a bit worried that this Demon Venerable before her might forget she was the Fox Monarch, then treat her as Qu Qingtang’s accomplice and beat her up too.

“Qu Qingtang didn’t die,” the Nether Abyss Demon Venerable said. “This woman went mad. Fighting me without using her natal sword or Lingxiao secret techniques, simply asking for a beating.”

“I disdain to continue beating a mad woman who’s given up her will to fight.”

A person who was lucid half the time and out of control half the time was actually calling someone else a mad woman.

Lu Zhuxin felt this was somewhat subtle.

Moreover… Qu Qingtang’s natal sword seemed to be in Lu Zhuxin’s possession.

Reαԁ οn КatReaⅾіոgСafе

“Then Demon Venerable… how do you plan to deal with Qu Qingtang?” Lu Zhuxin probed.

“Beat her up, throw her out of the Demon Realm.”

“You won’t kill her?” Lu Zhuxin asked again.

The Nether Abyss Demon Venerable looked at Lu Zhuxin. “You really want to kill her?”

“No…” Lu Zhuxin hastily waved her hands.

If Qu Qingtang truly was a heaven-fated female lead, if she died, perhaps an even more troublesome figure would replace her.

Heaven-fated female leads couldn’t be casually killed. Otherwise, Lu Zhuxin could completely rely on her Eighth Realm cultivation to kill her way around.

After all, at this stage of the plot, those heaven-fated beauties hadn’t grown up yet.

So there were no shortcuts to take in conquering heaven-fated female leads.

The Nether Abyss Demon Venerable looked at Lu Zhuxin and said, “Don’t think about killing a Venerable Saint. It’s not a good thing.”

“I sense Qu Qingtang’s aura on you.”

“Qu Qingtang’s natal sword is with you, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Lu Zhuxin didn’t hide it.

The Nether Abyss Demon Venerable nodded. “You have her natal sword. You control half her life’s cultivation.”

“However, don’t think you can truly kill her with just that.”

The Nether Abyss Demon Venerable looked at Lu Zhuxin with a grave gaze. “Whenever great wars occur in the world, quite a few Eighth Realm powerhouses fall.”

“But do you know why no Venerable Saint has ever fallen?”

“Venerable Saints are the existences closest to the Heavenly Dao, bearing part of the Heavenly Dao’s fortune. The karmic consequences of killing a Venerable Saint are something even other Venerable Saints don’t want to bear.”

Lu Zhuxin felt this sounded somewhat familiar. Why did it sound a bit like the heaven-fated male protagonist’s Heavenly Dao protection?

“As for you…” The Nether Abyss Demon Venerable narrowed her eyes slightly.

She seemed to be sensing the aura on Lu Zhuxin.

Lu Zhuxin had a feeling her entire being was being seen through.

“Young one, having ideas is good,” the Nether Abyss Demon Venerable said.

“However, holding her natal sword, you are indeed the most suitable person to restrain her.”

Lu Zhuxin’s mouth opened slightly. “Demon Venerable, then this sword…”

Lu Zhuxin took out Qu Qingtang’s natal sword.

“You want to break it?” The Nether Abyss Demon Venerable looked at Lu Zhuxin. “A natal sword condenses a Lingxiao sword cultivator’s lifetime of cultivation and comprehension.”

“If it were an ordinary Eighth Realm sword cultivator, breaking it wouldn’t be difficult.”

“Wanting to break a Venerable Saint’s natal sword isn’t much simpler than killing a Venerable Saint.”

The corners of Lu Zhuxin’s mouth twitched.

Can’t kill, can’t break.

No wonder Qu Qingtang could so easily place her natal sword in Lu Zhuxin’s hands.

Qu Qingtang had known all along that even if Lu Zhuxin obtained her natal sword, Lu Zhuxin couldn’t do anything to her, right?

Venerable Saints were existences with half a foot in the Ninth Realm.

Lu Zhuxin smiled bitterly. “Demon Venerable, since I can’t kill her or break her natal sword, how can I restrain her?”

The Nether Abyss Demon Venerable said, “You merely need to not return the natal sword to her. That is the greatest restriction on her.”

“Without her natal sword, Qu Qingtang’s combat power is no different from an ordinary Eighth Realm powerhouse.”

“As Fox Monarch, you can’t possibly be unable to beat even an ordinary Eighth Realm sword cultivator, right?”

About that… it really was hard to say.

Reaԁ οո KatRеαdіnɡСafе

If it were before, before seeing the battle between Qu Qingtang and the Nether Abyss Demon Venerable, Lu Zhuxin would have had some confidence in herself.

But now after watching, Lu Zhuxin felt her previous thoughts seemed somewhat too naive.

Never mind that Qu Qingtang’s cultivation was now only ordinary Eighth Realm. Even if she were suppressed to Seventh Realm, her comprehension of techniques and understanding of power weren’t comparable to ordinary Seventh or Eighth Realm cultivators.

“I cannot leave Nether Abyss City for too long,” the Nether Abyss Demon Venerable waved her hand. “In any case, I’ll leave the remaining matters for you to handle, Fox Monarch.”

After saying this, the Nether Abyss Demon Venerable directly disappeared from before Lu Zhuxin.

Lu Zhuxin’s expression was somewhat stiff.

Earlier she had thought this Qu Qingtang was somewhat troublesome. Now after hearing the Nether Abyss Demon Venerable’s words, she felt this woman might be even more troublesome than she’d previously imagined.

“Qu Qingtang…” Lu Zhuxin looked toward the figure trembling as she walked over.

“Little Fox Monarch.” A bitter smile rose slightly on Qu Qingtang’s pale face. “Letting you see such an unseemly side of me.”

Lu Zhuxin kept a straight face. “The Immortal Venerable is joking again. What I just saw wasn’t the Immortal Venerable’s unseemly side, but rather the side the Immortal Venerable deliberately wanted me to see, right?”

This woman had known Lu Zhuxin had come long ago.

She deliberately let Lu Zhuxin watch the Nether Abyss Demon Venerable beat her.

Qu Qingtang was showing weakness to Lu Zhuxin.

She was using a self-harm stratagem to lower Lu Zhuxin’s guard against her.

If Lu Zhuxin didn’t now know that Venerable Saints weren’t easily killed, she really would have believed her lies.

Lu Zhuxin even couldn’t help but think exaggeratedly…

Could those earlier Jiang Hongliang and Liu Funing also have been bait Qu Qingtang deliberately threw out?

Deceiving those two sword sect masters into Lu Zhuxin’s hands, all to find a reason to stay by Lu Zhuxin’s side.

If it truly was as Lu Zhuxin guessed…

Why did Qu Qingtang want to get close to her so badly?

And that System.

Lu Zhuxin felt like she was surrounded by a fog, unable to distinguish whether what was hidden in this fog was swords or honey.

Lu Zhuxin took a deep breath. She looked at Qu Qingtang with an indifferent gaze. “Since the Immortal Venerable is fine, then please do as you wish.”

After saying this, Lu Zhuxin turned and left directly.

Qu Qingtang watched Lu Zhuxin’s departing back, her eyes dimming slightly.

She murmured softly, “It seems… I was too clever by half.”

‘Target Affection -5.’

“Lu Xuanyi… you became lucid at a really inconvenient time.” Qu Qingtang spoke to herself.

If Lu Xuanyi hadn’t become lucid so early, Qu Qingtang could have acted a bit longer.

Lu Zhuxin wouldn’t have been told the truth by Lu Xuanyi either.

Of course, Qu Qingtang hadn’t expected Lu Zhuxin to actually step forward to stop the Nether Abyss Demon Venerable.

How could that lofty, coldly heartless deity possibly soften for a woman she’d only met once?

What Qu Qingtang wanted was merely to let her know how weak and pitiful Qu Qingtang was without her natal sword, that she wouldn’t pose any threat.

However, unfortunately, Qu Qingtang’s plan to play pitiful had no effect on Lu Zhuxin.

Instead, it pushed her further away.

Too clever by half.

“Our deity’s preferences are truly difficult to fathom.”

“Being forceful and proactive, she doesn’t like…”

Reαԁ οn КatRеαԁіոgСαfе

“Being pitiful and weak, she also doesn’t like…”

“What does she actually like?”

“Wanting to get close to her really isn’t easy.”

‘Conquering a deity was never going to be easy.’

‘Qu Qingtang, you still have two more chances to issue custom quests.’

‘Will you continue consuming your own fortune value to issue custom quests?’

Qu Qingtang raised her hand to lightly tap her lower lip, falling into contemplation.

…

On the other side.

“Hu Mei’er, Hu Xian’er, are you two alright?”

Lu Zhuxin looked at the two foxes beside her.

“Your Majesty, we’re fine,” the two fox demon maidservants said. “When that Immortal Venerable fought us earlier, she didn’t use her full strength.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Mei’er is too weak,” Hu Mei’er said with her head slightly lowered, her tone dejected. “Unable to protect Your Majesty is Mei’er’s dereliction of duty.”

“Qu Qingtang is a sword sect Immortal Venerable. You’ve already done very well,” Lu Zhuxin comforted them.

“In the future, this isn’t necessary.”

Lu Zhuxin knew their loyalty.

Though both their realms weren’t high, when facing an enemy of unknown strength, they had still decisively charged forward.

Lu Zhuxin was moved by their loyalty, but also didn’t want them to come to harm.

“What’s the situation at Fox Palace?” Lu Zhuxin asked again.

Hu Xian’er answered, “Using the formations, the sword sect disciples in Fox Palace have all been recaptured.”

“Those two sword sect masters have also been detained with Princess Hu Po’s help.”

Hu Po actually didn’t run? Lu Zhuxin had thought that battle-deserting trash tiger had already fled back to the tiger clan.

Lu Zhuxin chuckled softly and asked again, “What about Song Shiyuan? How is she?”

“Song Shiyuan is still unconscious. Young Sect Master Huang is caring for her. With the pills Your Majesty bestowed, her body won’t have any problems,” Hu Xian’er answered.

“Good that she’s fine.” Lu Zhuxin said softly.

After seeing the other heaven-fated female leads, Lu Zhuxin felt all the more how adorable little Shiyuan was.

“However…”

At this point, Hu Xian’er suddenly knelt before Lu Zhuxin and said, “Xian’er failed in her duties. She didn’t capture that Lingxiao Sword Sect disciple called Song Shixuan. Please punish me, Your Majesty.”

Song Shixuan escaped?

Lu Zhuxin wasn’t surprised by this.

The heaven-fated male protagonist’s fortune was sometimes just this inexplicable.

“This doesn’t blame you, Xian’er,” Lu Zhuxin said. “That Song Shixuan… he can’t stir up any trouble now either.”

“Let him run if he wants.”

His severe injuries would take at least a year or two to recover from.

Lu Zhuxin wasn’t worried about him casually using Bliss secret techniques either.

Only then did Hu Xian’er’s complexion improve somewhat. She paused, then asked again, “Then Your Majesty, that…”

“That Immortal Venerable who’s been waiting outside Fox Palace…”

“What does Your Majesty plan to do about her?”