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Be The Icy Beauty! A Xianxia/Cultivation Tale

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Simon_Jester said:
Does she think so?

Absolutely.

The question you should be asking is:

Is she right?
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Well, she is already doing it, her cultivation method is basically made around multiplying her system, I imagine that if she does want to remake her meridians from scratch, she can probably do a better job by incorporating the divine knowledge she has.

One problem though, this assume she couldn't have done it until he made the technique, which I am not sure is true, she pointed him in that direction on purpose, I don't think she really needs him for anything, than again, she might have just been busy, and wanted double foundation, and after she ascended she didn't have the free time to shatter her meridians so she can remake them.
 
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Chapter 51: The Final Hunt
  • Threadmarks
    • Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?

    Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?

    Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Chapter 51: The Final Hunt

    ---

    Xi Fu's Heaven Defying Intent exploded out from his spear toward her with incredible ferocity. Time seemed to slow down as Bing Meilu's inspected the art.

    'A manifestation of the domineering nature of the Heaven Trigram. It can erase 'Laws' and return things to a state of emptiness,' She nodded. 'It's not bad for a mortal-level technique, it can be said to be a foundation upon which numerous profundities can be built... But it's time to disabuse him of the illusion he's living under.'

    It was only natural the strong would dislike being enslaved by the weak. Xi Fu had to be reminded that he was far from Bing Meilu's match. Otherwise, the false impression he was living under would build up into resentment and eventually, disloyalty.

    'If he's talented, he might have the opportunity to comprehend something beneficial.'

    Within each of her seventy-two apertures was a fractal meridian system, each aperture had become a Dantian, housing its own Dao-Platform, in the form of an icy moon.

    The number seventy-two was not random at all. There were One Hundred Eight Stars of Destiny that symbolized the world. Thirty-Six burning Heaven-Stars and Seventy-Two earthly Fiend-Stars. As such, Thirty-Six, which was also the number of Heavens was a number tied to Yang, and Seventy-Two was a number tied to Yin. Under the Crystal Providence Divine Tome, each of her apertures became its own Meridian System, a platform from which a Fiend-Star would one day be born, transforming her into a manifestation of the purest earthly Yin.

    Sheer Qi erupted from Bing Meilu as her palm flashed forward, an attack filled with her deep comprehension of Law. Xi Fu might have a deeper understanding of Heavenly Law than most under the Saint Realm, but Bing Meilu had transcended this world to become an Immortal, transcended fate and karma to become Deathless, birthed her own heaven and Earth to become a Celestial and finally awakened the prestige of her Dao to become a Paragon.

    "Heaven-Earth Inverting Palm."

    The domineering Yang of his Spear Intent flipped, becoming the most receptive of Yin. Her Will poured through it, seizing control of the energy. The attack broke apart, like mist at the bottom of a waterfall. It swirled around her, reforming into a circular stream of liquid.

    Bing Meilu looked at Xi Fu silently for a long moment.

    "Yang is the expanding principle, it gives out and affects that around it. Yin is the receptive principle, it receives from that around it. But don't ever think that means Yin cannot defeat Yang."

    "Life-Draining Spear."

    Xi Fu's own Spear Intent, now under the control of Bing Meilu gushed towards him, a river of icy blue water. It did not peirce with hardness but wrapped him in its soft, conforming embrace. His skin turned blue and he desperately tried to escape the waters, clawing and reaching to no avail like a child trapped in an icy riptide.

    The incredible vitality and strength of a Core Formation was unable to break free of the waters. No matter how much he struggled and pushed, the waters bent and deformed and reshaped themselves to him.

    Slowly he began to fall still like a drowned corpse accepting its fate as it silently plunged down to the dark abyssal depths below. Bing Meilu waved her hand once more and the Yin transformed.

    Where before it was like the cold grip of death, endlessly draining everything about it, now it was like the comforting warmth of a mother, allowing her vitality to be seized by the babe growing within her womb.

    Xi Fu gasped, colour returning to his skin. He shivered meeting Bing Meilu's eyes. She stared impassively at him. How much of her attack he could benefit from was up to his own comprehension.

    "I understand, Boss," The young man bowed shakily in her direction.

    "Soon we'll be heading out to find the drake core we need," Bing Meilu said. "You've been focusing on your Qi Cultivation base for a while, but now you're going to study those spear manuals I wrote for you. A strong grasp of numerous forms of Spear Qi will be very beneficial to your combat strength."

    He nodded obediently, leaving her icy palace. Bing Meilu returned to her meditation, her Cultivation base greedily gobbling up the burning Yang Qi of the fiery Ashen mountains.

    ---

    In the back of her icy palace, the fully recovered Ji Hui began to stir. His eyes blinked open and he found himself lying atop a bed of ice. He immediately inspected his Dantian.

    Where the essence of the Corpse Refining Red Wolf once lay, now there was a floating disk depicting yin and yang. From within it, he could sense both the essence of the Thunder Dog and the Red Wolf. The Beast-Man becoming Art rumbled.

    In one hand, the Yin Corpse-Refining Flame flickered to life, the ghostly un-flame creating a deep chill. In the other, a blazing thunder burst to life. It was Heavenly Tribulation Lightning.

    "I knew you two could get along," Ji Hui smiled in relief.

    In his experience, all dogs could learn to get along eventually, though they might need some impetus from their human friends. It was in their nature as pack animals.

    He strode out of the icy palace, making his way back into the camp. He walked over to its edge. In a small crevice, the Corpse-Refining Red Wolf sat. In its mouth was an ash-covered severed arm. Yin flames poured from its mouth, slowly refining the arm.

    The wolf turned towards him, eyes narrowed. A vicious growl let out. Ji Hui's hand shot out and he began to vigorously rub its head.

    "Whose a goood boy? That's right, you are!"

    The wolf dropped the severed arm in its mouth, as Lieutenant Ji shook it, letting loose a rumble of sheer confusion.

    "I've been thinking of names for a while," Ji Hui continued. "What do you think of Flamey? Red-red? Fetch? Ostrich? Boots?"

    The wolf eyed him uncomprehendingly. Its chest rumbled as he scratched its ears.

    "Ah, Boots it is!" Ji Hui smiled.
    ---

    Xi Fu sat in a cave, reading through the spear manuals Bing Meilu had left for him. Each detailed various forms of Spear-Qi. There were the more basic ones like fire, water and so on, up to more advanced forms like cloud qi, ghost-qi, solar qi and the like.

    He had noticed a clear affinity for the more Yang-aligned elements but after Bing Meilu's demonstration, he had made sure to take some time to gain at least a basic feel for some of the Yin-aligned Spear-Qi's.

    It wasn't like something as simple as Spear Qi could be very relevant to him now, given he was fighting at the Core Formation Realm, but he felt that just by learning them, he was getting a fuller knowledge of many topics.

    'is this what they mean by a firm, broad formation?'

    After hours of practice, the man left his room, going out to stretch his feet. Ji Hui, Jiang Hu and several of the others sat around a fire, slowly roasting a large bull-like creature.

    Xi Fu made his way over, feeling a little uneasy. He hadn't had the chance to see his comrades since breaking through to the rank of Captain. He felt like the difference in power might make it awkward.

    "You look like shit," Mu Gong said, tearing into a leg.

    "Huh?"

    "Like you're constipated or something," Shang Bolin added.

    "It's blue balls," Jiang Hu said, stroking his baby face as if he were a wise old sage with a long white beard. "When men like him go without a good fuck for a long time, they get pent up. If it goes on for too long, he might even go mad and start lusting after men. Be careful with your purity around him boys!"

    Xi Fu scowled, plopping his ass down on a log and ripping off a chunk of belly meat.

    "Stop projecting your fantasies on others, Jiang Hu. My standards are far too high to lust after any of you ugly bastards!"

    "Oh, high standards? Did I not have to save you from sleeping with the legendarily ugly Whale-Fairy Ming Leilei?"

    "I was drunk, doesn't count!" Xi Fu objected vigorously. "At least I wasn't kidnapped by the Sleeve-Cutter of the Hollowed Veins. You can say all you want that you escaped before anything happened, we all know the truth!"

    Sighing, he felt a sense of relief as he settled into the comforting dynamic. It was good to see some things didn't change.

    ---

    Two weeks later, Bing Meilu opened her eyes. She had reached the third stage of Foundation Establishment, two crystal layers of ice wrapped around her moon Dao-Platforms in a tight embrace.

    She strode out of her ice palace to the camp. She could see Li Ji sitting down, inspecting some fiery crystals.

    "Oh, boss!"

    The tall, scholarly, young man scampered over to her, head bowed respectfully.

    "Greetings, congratulations on the advancement of your cultivation boss,"

    On that topic, she noticed Li Ji had made it to the second stage of Foundation Establishment. The speed of his cultivation was not too high, but that was to be expected. It should speed up a lot once she had him managing the flow of vast sums of wealth.

    "Do you have anything to report to me?"

    "Nothing in particular boss?"

    "Good, gather everyone then," she ordered.

    Soon it was so, the whole faction gathering around her. Jiang Hu, Xi Fu, Li Ji, the Elemental Five, Ji Hui, and the nine outer circle members.

    "It's time to go on our next hunt. We need the Peak Third Realm Drake Core for Xi Fu's crimes."

    With that, they left camp. The group strode and climbed higher upon an ash-laden mountainside. The searing heat of the air, more than hot enough to cook the faction alive, was mitigated by the formation of the Elemental Five.

    Crossing a long plateau, they arrived at a broad expanse covered in black basalt and liquid magma flows. Huge bubbles of black gas violently bubbled forth from the lava lakes.

    This was one of Bing Meilu's favourite hunting grounds for third and fourth-realm drakes back in the day, the Flood Basalt Lakes. They stretched for miles, a thin film of cooled black rock atop deep pools of boiling lava, effervescent with erupting gasses that could melt the lungs and poison the blood.

    "All of you stay here."

    Bing Meilu's cultivation base stirred, and a fog of dense white Qi formed around her. She dived into a pool of lava, swimming downwards, a thin film of brutally cold frost protecting her from the heat of melted rocks.

    Bing Meilu swam deeper and deeper. In the lava, there was no visibility, but she could still feel the Qi of a mid-sized fish rushing toward her. Not bothering with small fry, threads of Yin qi erupted from her, weaving around her into a broad bubble-like net. The fish bumped into the Qi, and mind seized with illusions, ran away.

    Bing Meilu descended deeper, heading towards the edge of the lake. There were always large pockets of lava jutting into the lake walls, where Drakes often nested.

    Arriving at the first cave, she found one in the third tier of Core Formation. She could sense its huge form, laying still in the bubbling magma flow. A spike of cold shot out from her, scraping the Drake's face.

    The magma rumbled as the beast roared, emerging from its nest to chase her through the lava. She swam upwards, leading out onto the solid platforms of rocks above.

    The BMFS engaged the creature. With their own Core Formation, and several elite Foundation Establishment cultivators, they made short work of the creature. Jiang Hu absorbed the blood, pushing his cultivation even further towards Core Formation, and the rest of its body was quickly butchered.

    The cycle continued, Bing Meilu leading drakes out from the depths of the lake, to be killed by her faction. They fought another third, and then a fifth stage. After that, Jiang Hu broke through to Core Formation.

    She continued searching for the Peak Core Formation drake they were looking for. After ten Drakes had been felled, Bing Meilu finally found one.

    She was deep in the lake, near the entrance to a trench, when she first sensed the creature's massive form. It was far larger than any of the Drakes they had killed so far.

    This one, however, would be all hers.
     
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    • I figured Bing would pull that off, though I thought there was some chance the technique might actually surprise her by working on her and then she'd have to come up with some fantastically complicated workaround while rationalizing that she meant to do that.
     
    I figure he can't actually overcome the Inverting Palm unless and until he has a strategy beyond Thrust Forward Vigorously. As long as he's doing that Yin-Yang inversion can handle it
     
    ...there are gonna be some serious double takes when they come back. They have multiple people break into Foundation Establishment and two guys now in Core Formation.

    And they all still recognize Bing Meilu as the boss, lol. I do wonder if Xi Fu's daughter will be taken by her to join the Sect at some point.
     
    Blonddude42 said:
    ...there are gonna be some serious double takes when they come back. They have multiple people break into Foundation Establishment and two guys now in Core Formation.

    And they all still recognize Bing Meilu as the boss, lol.
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    Well, she was the boss when they were split between Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation and she was the latter.

    Now, she's the boss when they are split between Core Formation and Foundation Establishment and she is the latter.

    The more things change, the more things stay the same.
     
    Chapter 52: Leaving the Ashen Mountains
  • Threadmarks
    • Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?

    Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?

    Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Chapter 52: Leaving the Ashen Mountains

    ---

    The Drake let loose a blood-chilling roar. Its Qi flared outward with the force of a fully completed Third Realm being. It swam through the lava forwards her. Bing Meilu shot away like a jet, piercing through the surface of the lake and landing upon a large floating slab of basalt.

    The rock beneath her cracked and split as lava exploded upwards toward the girl. She stepped into the air, carried by a cold wind that caused her white-blue robes to flutter.

    Floating into the air she looked down, lines of spiritual sense seeking her foe. A moment later, lava erupted from the lake as a huge Drake lept from it. The creature was massive, from tail to head nearly covering half of the lava lake. Its body was covered in glistening jagged red scales dripping with molten rock and causing the air to steam. Huge coiled muscles rippled under its scales as great snakes writhed within it.

    Bing Meilu smiled nostalgically. How many times had she gone drake hunting with her sworn sisters and comrades back in the day? She could remember the fond days of carefree hunting, discussing the merits of dragon blood as a skincare product, playing games of wivern-diving and more.

    As if sensing she wasn't afraid, the Drake hissed angrily. Its jaws unhinged, fire leaping outwards, so thick with burning Qi it was more like a river of napalm.

    Utpala Lotus Palm - Third Form - Eighty-Eight Petal Sheild

    Bing Meilu gently shoved forward. A glowing blue lotus blossom upon her palm, growing out into a shield. The molten stream of fire split around her, spraying across the landscape like hellfire dripping from the spit of an angry deity.

    "My turn. Earth-Sealing Ice Pillar!"

    A spike of ice let loose from the sky, ripping down and smashing into Drake's back. A torrential weight descended upon it, as the frozen pillar expanded, ice wrapping around its scales in a deathly grip. Flaming Qi rippled from the Drak'es scales, ice melting and re-freezing around it over and over and over again. Even with the incredible Qi released by its Inner Core, Bing Meilu's pillar held stable, backed by her superimposed seventy-two Dao-Platforms.

    "Watch Xi Fu. This is how you kill a dragon without destroying your harvest. Earth-Sealing Ice Hammer!"

    An enormous block of ice crashed down from above, accelerating far beyond what was natural. Like a rampaging elephant, it crashed down into the pillar, with incredible blunt force smashing down into the dragon's internal organs. The Drake became a rotten tomato squeezed with too much force, expelling its crushed red innards out through its mouth, backside and other orifices in a jet of steaming gore and blood.

    Bing Meilu frowned. To be honest, she was disappointed. Her raw power had far exceeded the Drakes. It had barely been a fight. There was none of the adrenaline-pumping life-and-death combat that pushed her and her enemy to unleash their most dangerous and complex moves.

    "I suppose it's my fault for cultivating the Crystal Providence Divine Tome," she sighed. "At this point, only a Nascent Soul is qualified to be my opponent. That or a Chosen of Heaven."

    Spectral winds carried Bing Meilu down to the corpse of the huge Drake.

    "Five Fingers Span the Cosmos!"

    The Drakes body temnbled and began to tear apoart. Bone was separated from flesh, flesh from scale, blood and veins from the organs. In moments, each component of its body was separated into clean piles. Just like that, the Drake was completely butchered. It was an elegant way for a refined young lady to butcher the corpses of her prey without dirtying her robes with blood. How marvellous!

    In the center was one of the Drake most valuable parts. A large glowing orb of crystal, the center glowing with a fiery inner light. The orb was the size of a man's torso and made from cloudly crystal.

    "There the Core needed to secure your freedom, Captain Xi."

    The young man nodded, putting it in his spatial ring. The rest of the faction followed suit, storing away all the parts of the dragon's body, the rich red gold of flesh, bone and of course the blood, reserved for Jiang Hu's cultivation.

    "We could go hunting further, But I think it's about time we leave the Ashen Mountain," Bing Meilu declared. "We'll make a couple more stops to stock up on some valuables, then we leave."

    After months in a searing, white ash-covered landscape, they would be heading out.

    ---

    The Bing Meilu's Faithful Slaves Faction arrived at the gate of the Ashen Mountains, at the back of Redscale City. The Tang family elder sat there as before, but a small child excitedly nipped at his heels, running in circles and shouting.

    'That's Tang Hongyi who manned the gate when I was young,' Bing Meilu realized, smirking slightly.

    "Do any of you have image recording jades?" Bing Meilu asked.

    "I-uh, I do?" Xi Fu said hesitantly.

    "Give me one,"

    The man pulled a small slip of jade from his spatial ring, tossing it to Bing Meilu. Suddenly his eyes widened.

    "W-wait- Wrong one!"

    Bing Meilu's eyes narrowed as she watched the recorded scene on the jade. It seemed Xi Fu had accidentally given her a used one, and not a blank. Before he could say anything, she erased the filth with a flash of spiritual energy. Xi Fu fell to his knees, an expression of despair on his face.

    "My only one with Xue Xiang!" he cried.

    'That woman he was with looks familiar somehow...' Bing Meilu thought. 'Probably nothing.'

    She activated the recording jade, filming Tang Hongyi acting like a foolish child. She'd use the embarrassing video as blackmail to get into the Ashen Mountains when he took over from his father. They might have been acquaintances, but the gatekeeper had squeezed out more than enough money from Bing Meilu to warrant such treatment.

    After that, Bing Meilu led her faction over to the gate.

    "You're back?" the man asked in surprise. Then his eyes widened.

    The faction members were not doing anything to hide their auras. From a group of mostly First Realms, with a few Seconds, there were now two Core Formation cultivators and multiple high-level Foundation Establishments!

    This was... unfathomable. The only reasonable explanation was that they had been hiding their cultivation levels, pretending to be weaker. There was no way they had advanced so much in such a short period of time.

    He had thought they had returned because they had given up on saving the life of their criminal friend- now it seemed they might have actually had a chance.

    "We happened to stumble onto a few lucky encounters," Bing Meilu smiled. "Here's your cut."

    She dropped out some stuff for the man. She had promised 5% but actually brought out more like 0.5% of what they had gathered. The man's eyes widened at the miraculous amount of resources dropped at his feet.

    Drakes and wyvern parts, rare plants, bottles of spiritual water. It was a harvest!

    "How did you get so much?" his eyes were wide.

    Even some of the Nascent Soul hunters wouldn't bring back such a huge profit.

    "As I said, we had some good luck," Bing Meilu said politely. "It must be the Heavens smiling on the survivors of the Moon Crying Swan Palace. "

    The Tang elder nodded slowly, before smiling.

    "Congratulations then. Did you manage to find a Peak Core Formation Drake?"

    "Indeed. Alongside the Core, I also happened to stumble onto some very interesting information. I think I need to speak to some of your clan's elders."

    The Tang senior raised an eyebrow. While the answer might have been no before when the group had no Core Formation members, it was now a yes. A Captain of the Sky Swallowing Gulper Armada had far more prestige and authority, they had to be respected to a certain degree, especially since they were in Sky Swallowing Prefecture.

    "Of course. Elder Hong Long Cao-Cao's office is by the town hall. tell him I sent you."

    Bing Meilu bowed in thanks, before heading off.

    The Tang senior watched them leave.

    "Huh, I don't see the criminal collar on any of them?"

    ---

    The roads parted as the faction strode through them, dressed in the white cloud-covered robes of the Armada, with two Core Formation level cultivators.

    They entered the richer inner core of the city, where the Redscale clan members, wealthy merchants and high-ranking officials lived and worked. They passed by the huge marble city hall to arrive at a tall office.

    There was a line of people waiting, but Bing Meilu directly walked past them towards the entrance, ignoring the foul looks sent at her. A guard stood by the door, looking over at her.

    "Elder Tang sent me to speak to your Boss," she said.

    He hesitated for a movement.

    "Move," she ordered, voice cold.

    He pushed open the door, and she strode inside with her faction, ignoring the boos of the riffle-raffle forced to stand in line. Inside the office sat a man in gaudy red dragon robes. This was Elder Cao-Cao of the Redscale clan, who was in charge of adjudicating legal disputes.

    He looked over in surprise at the group.

    "To what do I owe the honour of this visit?" he smiled at Xi Fu and Jiang Hu, who seemed the most important.

    While Cao-Cao was a Nascent Soul, he was just an elder of the Redscale Clan, Xi Fu and Jiang Hu were Captains of the area's Hegemon Sect. He had to show them respect.

    "I have some very interesting information for you," Bing Meilu said, walking to the front of the group. "I am Bing Meilu, head of this faction."

    She withdrew a single Dragonblood Spirit Crystal from her spatial ring, smiling as Cao-Cao's face turned serious. To draconic cultivators like the Redscale clan, a crystal-like that was an invaluable cultivation resource.

    "Where did you get that?"

    "I found a vein of it in the Ashen Mountains," she smiled.

    His eyes boggled. Better than just having a small amount, if there was a minable vein nearby, that would be incredibly valuable to the clan.

    "Why were you in the Ashen Mountains?" he asked, frowning.

    "We were actually hunting for a Drake Core to be used to buy the life of a criminal."

    Bing Meilu waved her hand, her spatial ring depositing said core in the lap of the Elder.

    "For who's crime?"

    "Captain Xi Fu," she pointed at the spear cultivator.

    "He isn't wearing an explosive collar?" the elder said in confusion.

    "I removed it."

    "You what?" his face turned red with anger.

    That was a blatant violation of the law and justice system of Redscale City! Also, how did she remove it? That explosive collar was an advanced formation, no one in Foundation Establishment should be able to remove it.

    "Do you think you can put a death sentence on a Captain of my Armada? I'd like to see you explain that to the port authorities!" Bing Meilu's voice turned arrogant. "I'm sure Commodore Rampage-Sword will be interested to hear you did such a thing to a Core Formation allied with his faction!"

    She smiled as Cao-Cao bit his lip in rage. He was probably far more offended by the fact that a mere second realm was speaking to him that way than anything she had said. Despite the rudeness, he wouldn't do anything to her over this.

    It was always nice to have strong backing!

    Actually, she was in the right as well. As a trusted subordinate, the Redscale clan could feasibly execute a First or Second Realm member of the Armada if they committed a crime, but a Captain had a much higher status. If a crime was committed, the Armada could launch an investigation of its own, but it would never let any subordinate execute one of its Captains.

    "Very well, with this Core, Xi Fu is cleared of wrongdoing for his crime of... four counts of deflowering a virgin noblewoman, seventeen counts of sleeping with a nobleman's property without his permission, and eighty-five counts of banditry and looting....?" the man feel silent as he checked Xi Fu's record, looking up in shock at the sheepish man.

    "How did you even survive this long?" the elder asked Xi Fu in shock and amazement. "Nevermind. Let's get back to the business of this crystal vein. Where is it?"

    "I'll tell you. In return, I want three favours."

    Cao-Cao narrowed his eyes.

    "Now that I know it's there, it's only a matter of time before it's found."

    "Yes, but can you guarantee that it'll be your faction that finds it?" Bing Meilu smiled coldly.

    Like all powers past a certain size, there was infighting in the Redscale clan as well. He wouldn't want someone else to claim the vein and take the glory and resources.

    "What do you want?"

    "As I said, three favours. To be redeemed upon a later date. Sworn before the Dao of Heaven."

    Cao-Cao fell silent for a long moment, weighing the options in his mind. He narrowed his eyes.

    "Your conditions are acceptable."

    "Then we have a deal."
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 53: Collecting is my hobby!
  • Threadmarks
    • Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?

    Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?

    Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Chapter 53: Collecting is my hobby!

    ---

    The oath before the Heavenly Dao was soon sworn and Bing Meilu gave him the information about the location of the Dragonblood Spirit Crystal Vein.

    "Anything else?" Elder Cao-Cao asked.

    "Yes, actually. I think I'd like to cash in on that favour," Bing Meilu took a sip of tea.

    "Already?"

    "First, I want a meeting with someone in your clan,"

    "Who?"

    "Hong Long Xiyi."

    That drew the elder's attention. He crossed his arms, eyes narrowed. Behind Bing Meilu, Xi Fu gave her a look of confusion.

    "How do you even know about her?" the elder asked, gritting his teeth.

    "This is still the territory of the Armada, senior. Nothing goes on here without our knowledge."

    This was, of course, a half-truth. While the upper leadership of the Armada were doubtless aware that their subordinate clan had birthed a Chosen of Heaven, random low-level Armada members would not. Bing Meilu knew because of her past knowledge. Based on her hazy memory, Flame Princess Xiyi should be around eight or nine currently.

    "That'll cost you two favours," he decided, eyes narrowed. "I'm sure you understand,"

    Bing Meilu hummed in consideration. She'd been interested in seeing her old rival again, but it wasn't quite worth that. She hadn't expected the Redscale elder to be so overprotective of the young genius.

    "How much for you to deliver something to her?"

    "One favour."

    Bing Meilu quickly formed ten ice tablets, floating them over to Cao-Cao. He inspected them, body glinting with the rainbow light of a Nascent Soul.

    "A curse-protection method? It's quite profound and must be valuable. I won't cost you a favour to give her this, since it's a gift."

    Bing Meilu shook her head in refusal. She preferred transactional exchanges, which produced by far the least Karma of any interaction. Wise cultivators avoided sowing too much Karma. Anyone who had forced their way into the Deathless realm knew why.

    "Might I ask where you stumbled onto such a profound cure-breaking art?"

    "Before I was a member of the Armada, I was a member of the Moon Crying Swan Palace, which naturally has a deeper understanding of Yin than other sects. Tell Miss Hong Long that the gift is in memory of the good friendship between our two powers," Bing Meilu sipped her tea.

    Saying that would imply she was giving the gift to sow favour with the young genius to benefit her old sect, a reasonable motive. Her actual reason was completely different.

    Of Bing Meilu's generation in the Bird Talon Continent, only a few had the talent and determination to ascend to Immortality. One of them had been Flame Princess Xiyi, though she'd perished during the God-Blood Crisis at only the Ancient Sage Realm. In Bing Meilu's opinion, that was a shame and a waste of talent. A better ability to defend against curses and other malicious energy would be helpful to Xiyi surviving the event.

    'This time I'll defeat you personally,' Bing Meilu decided.

    She was also doing this for herself. Of all her rivals in the Jade Sparrow World, Bing Meilu had triumphed over them all eventually, before ascending. Only Xiyi had died before Bing Meilu could defeat her. In a sense, it was an unresolved desire from her youth. It hadn't mattered much in her first life, but having come back to the Continent a second time, if the same regret occurred, it could worsen and even become a heart devil, impeding her cultivation.

    "Very well," Cao-Cao stored the ice tablets in his spatial ring. "Is that all?"

    "Actually, no. I'm going to need your help to arrest a criminal Elder of your Clan."

    Cao-Cao reared back in shock, before closing his eyes and breathing deeply. It seemed it wasn't possible for this girl to do anything ordinary. Breaking the clan's criminal collar, discovering a rare sprit-vein, negotiating with him so forcefully, sending their secret genius a valuable gift and now this?

    "Who?"

    "Hong-Long Fang."

    Cao-Cao frowned deeply. Elder Fang was from his faction, a half-step Nascent Soul. He hadn't expected the favour he gave to the child before him to immediately result in such a loss.

    'Why couldn't it have been from an enemy elder's faction?!'

    It was too late to do anything though. He'd sworn a serious oath before the Heavenly Dao, and breaking it would cause a massive backlash to his own cultivation. Between Elder Fang and Cao-Cao's own cultivation? The second one would always win out in value to the man. Still, he would remember this.

    Cao-Cao did not doubt the girl before him could prove that Elder Fang was a criminal. She gave him the impression of being extremely shrewd and deliberate, not the type of person to make an allegation without confidence.

    "All I need is a justification to search his spatial ring, and a security guarantee with your power."

    Between herself and her faction, Bing Meilu actually had the power to defeat the Nascent Soul Elder Fang. However, she didn't want to stick out too much just yet. In case the Elder tried to stop her, Cao Cao's Nascent Soul cultivation base would make this easy and she wouldn't have to step in herself.

    "Letting you search the Spatial Ring of a Clan Elder is your first favour, defending you should he take offence is the second."

    "Acceptable."

    Cao-Cao sighed, sipping his own tea. He'd never had such a serious and impactful discussion with someone in the Second Realm of cultivation.

    "I'll take you to the next party I know Elder Fang is attending," Cao-Cao decided. "That's where this will go down. Might I ask what crime my foolish junior has committed?"

    "Demonic dual cultivation with members of the Moon Crying Swan Palace."

    This was something that had come out during Bing Meilu's first life. A Nascent Soul elder of the Redscale clan had been caught trying to kidnap a Core Formation member of the Moon Crying Swan Palace who'd been in the Ashen Mountains for a hunting trip.

    That member was, unfortunately for Elder Fang, actually Bing Meilu. Being a Chosen of Heaven. She'd easily defeated the man and discovered he had many other victims. He'd been using a special artifact he'd discovered to convert the lifeblood of Yin-cultivators into Yang for his own cultivation. As a result, he lacked the demonic aura of most demonic cultivators.

    Somehow the man had managed to escape and joined the HeavenR ejecting Conference, becoming a full demonic cultivator. Having sworn vengeance upon Bing Meilu, the cockroach had caused plenty of problems for her, including killing some of her junior sisters, always evading death. It was only when she finally reached Saint Realm that she had killed him.

    In this life, she would decisively eliminate him long before he ever became a problem for her. This also doubled as vengeance for the members of her sect who had died under his vile hands.

    Elder Cao-Cao blinked in surprise, feeling horrified. If it was any other crime, he could imprison Elder Fang without having to kill a powerful member of his own faction. But not when it came to this.

    The Twelve-Headed Bird Sect took demonic cultivation against its own members extremely seriously. The whole Resdscale clan might be punished if Elder Fang's crimes came out. He would need to be killed decisively.

    'Elder Fang! It's fine if you want to die, but to dare try and bring us down with you, don't blame me for being ruthless! Why couldn't you have kept to someone unimportant?'

    Elder Fang was nearing the end of his longevity. If he didn't break through to Nascent Soul, he would wither and die. In such a situation, killing and other crimes suddenly seemed more reasonable to commit. Between the lives of others and your own, cultivators would take the second. He could understand why Elder Fang did what he did, but there was such a thing as a reasonable limit. Even if one wanted to be a bandit, they did not rob the Emperor.

    "Let's do this right now," Cao-Cao decided, narrowing his eyes.

    He stood and led the BMFS faction out of his office.

    ---

    Hong Long Fang sat in the sealed room beneath his home, covered in blood and completely furious. He'd never felt more aggrieved in his whole life.

    The ritual inscribed into the black orb had seemed very simple. To break through to Nascent Soul, he only needed the lives of five yin cultivators of high purity, one realm lower than him, in Foundation Establishment.

    Given the Ashen Mountains were a popular hunting ground for members of the Moon Crying Swan Palace, it had seemed easy enough. Some members naturally died in the dangerous hunting ground, so it wasn't suspect when he kidnapped a few. Over the course of years, he'd managed to slowly acquire four, making sure to only grab one at a time, with no witnesses. He'd only needed one more for the full ritual.

    Then someone had destroyed the Moon Crying Swan Palace, and no more arrived at all. He was so close he could taste it, and some bastard had swept the rug out from under him!

    "Dammit! Dammit, all!"

    His hand flew out, slapping a pale woman in the face. She limply fell backwards, covered in blood. There was no scream, the women here had all lost far too much blood and energy for such effort.

    Now he had obvious evidence of demonic cultivation beneath his home, but none of the benefits of breaking through to Nascent Soul. Worse, he couldn't even finally kill the stupid whores and dispose of the evidence, in case he did finally find a fifth member compatible with the ritual.

    "What a fucking fate! Are the Heavens trying to stop my survival!" he complained angrily, kicking at the limp girl with a meaty crunch. "Even if it was risky I should have just grabbed more of you back then, dammit!"

    He inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to calm himself. While he often vented his rage upon the kidnappees, if he did much more, they might die and that would only be a loss for him.

    He pulled the black, blood-splattered orb from his spatial ring. It glowed, absorbing Yin energy from the blood that splattered the chamber. The grey of his hair receded slightly, as vital yang energy filled him.

    While he didn't have yet enough for a breakthrough, the constant bloodletting of the yin-cultivators produced enough yang to temporarily slow down his aging. Hopefully long enough for him to find a solution.

    'Only five or ten more years, Fang! Who knows how much longevity you have left! You have to find a solution soon! I didn't spend hundreds of years in Core Formation to die of old fucking age!'

    He kicked again, biting his lip in anger and drawing blood.

    Sometimes he wondered if the bouts of rage and bloodlust he felt were related to the demonic cultivation of extreme Yang he followed, but then he remembered he didn't care. Only Longevity mattered, who cared if some random sacrifices had to deal with his anger along the way?

    The dragon-scaled man sighed, sitting down in a lotus position to meditate. It wouldn't be good to waste his remaining life force angrily kicking the half-dead prisoners.

    ---

    Elder Cao-Cao and the others arrived at Hong Long Fang's home, a tall, unassuming grotto with a mesmerizing garden. Servants, beautiful women all, tended to the garden, pruning leaves, sweeping dust and more, dressed in fancy and elegant dresses. The whole place seemed picturesque and wonderful, but there was evil right beneath the surface.

    With her spiritual sense, Bing Meilu could see nasty bruises hidden just beneath the clothing of the women. While the proof of his demonic cultivation might be well hidden, things like this were out in the public for all to see. She remembered the man had had an anger problem, likely as a result of the path of Extreme Yang he followed.

    Cleary most had simply decided it was better to let some mortals
    suffer than offend a Peak third realm elder. But it was precisely warning signs like this that showed there were dark things at play that needed to be nipped in the bud. In her own Sect, Bing Meilu had mandated extremely strict law enforcement. She'd even had to come out and enforce it herself several times when certain higher rank members became corrupt.

    Given the timescales involved in the Immortal and Deathless realms, it was easy for the managers of a sect to be hundreds of generations removed from the last time the sect's higher-ups had been active. In some cases, they may even forget who had founded their Sect and think of themselves as the sole masters.

    "The Redscale clan needs to clean itself up," Bing Meilu said, giving Cao-Cao a disdainful look.

    He frowned silently as they stepped past the gate into the Elder's garden. Soon a youthful-looking man emerged from within the house, smiling broadly. He looked young and vigorous, and only the slight greying of his hair exposed his old age.

    'He's not in Nascent Soul yet- That must be a result of the Swan Palace's destruction,' Bing Meilu thought, curling her lip in disgust at the sight of Hong Long Fang.

    Based on her understanding, he should have been in the Fourth realm, but it seemed this time around he had not managed to find enough victims to advance yet. The man caught sight of her, and his eyes widened. A slightly hungry look escaped his well-crafted mask.

    'A fifth! A fifth! A fifth! A ffithafithafiththgrh-' Elder Fang screamed with joy internally, nearly losing it.

    "Good to see you, Brother Cao-Ca-"

    The Nascent Soul frowned in rage, his rainbow soul light expanding from within himself and shooting out to wrap around Elder Fang, utterly restraining him.

    "H-hey! Just what do you think you're Brother Cao-Cao?" Elder Fang asked in shock.

    "Hand over your Spatial Ring," Cao-Cao said, face dark with anger.

    "Br-brother, how can you ask me that? Inspecting a Spatial Ring is completely taboo, we all have our own secrets. Besides, how can I help your uncle compete for his promotion if I'm tied up by dealing with such things!"

    Essentially 'Don't expose me, or I won't be helping your faction!'

    "We're far beyond that now, Fang!"

    Cao-Cao's soul light shivered, forcefully pulling out a small red ring from Elder Fang's hand. Even the finger that it was on came along for the ride. Even though Cao-Cao wished to inspect it himself, he had to follow the specifics of the favour.

    Bing Meilu grabbed the ring, smiling politely. Within she could sense countless various resources. She waved the ring. Chains, all designed to restrain second ream cultivators fell out, alongside pills that could charitably be called 'sleeping aids'. That was suspicious but not incriminating.

    However, Bing Meilu retrieved a large black orb, covered in dried blood and inscribed with a demonic formation. She recognized the orb, having taken it from Elder Fang's corpse in her last life. Alongside being a tool of cultivation, it was also a life-saving treasure he'd used to survive many times in their fights.

    "W-wait I can explain! It's all-"

    Rainbow soul light covered his mouth, muting him completely. Then, a horrific searing filled the air as the soul energy began to burn with heat. The air waved and within moments Elder Fang was utterly reduced to ash. Cao-Cao's soul energy began to return to him.

    "He's still alive!" Bing Meilu quickly said.

    "What?" Cao-Cao shot her a confused look.

    "Inspect the ashes- They're still filled with his vitality!"

    This was one of the main reasons she called Elder Fang a cockroach. His incredible yang vitality could allow him to survive almost any wound, even his whole body could be regenerated from ash. That, alongside his propensity for life-saving treasures and skill with escape arts, made him a constant thorn in her side back in the day.

    Cao-Cao's soul flashed outwards once more, running over the ash carefully, after a moment he narrowed his eyes.

    "What a bizarre constitution- There's still lifeforce hidden even in this ash?"

    This time a far more dangerous attack erupted from Cao-Cao, one completely invisible to Bing Meilu's senses. She could only see the result, the life force within the ash shattering and evaporating. Even Elder Fang couldn't survive the destruction of his soul while only in Core Formation.

    "One problem down," Bing Meilu sighed.

    From now on, she'd make it a habit to snuff out the lives of future 'problems' whenever she happened to be nearby. It was a cathartic feeling, like a collector finding an item he needed to complete his collection.

    'My last life I collected rare yin-flowers. This life, I'll make sure to 'collect' all your heads,' she smiled to herself.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Artemis_Fowl_2nd said:
    So, I think theres still the 4 Moon Crying Swan Palace girls alive? This is big, I think.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    >kidnapped by some talentless bastard who wants to turn you into a pill to fuel their cultivation
    >saved by an incredibly suspicious 9 year old girl who you've never seen before but claims to be part of your sect
    >also your sect was completely wiped out while you were locked up
     
    Last edited:
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