The Arbiter

"What are you doing?" Luo Xiaolei hissed when she realized that something indescribable was pulling her forward to her own doom.

"You should have thought about it when you decided to transfer your fate over to me." Mu Shen was heartless that he didn't see the girl's pale face, begging to be spared, begging to be free. 

If karma swallowed her, she would cease to exist and that is not what she wanted.

"Don't do this! Please," she pleaded, realizing that the pull was getting much stronger. But he paid no heed to her. It was then she decided. 

"I'll do anything. I'll be your slave please spare me. Let me serve you instead." 

Mu Shen froze. And suddenly karma vanished completely and whatever pull that tried to drag her to hell stopped. 

It was at that moment that Mu Shen saw her frightened face drenched in sweat. Mu Shen however felt no sympathy towards her. 

If there was sympathy in the cultivation world, then no one would be able to survive for so long. Human beings have dark sides that make them who they are, examples of such are human selfishness, human greed and human desires of wealth, protection, etc. If one decides to show mercy, that same person can be killed eventually. It doesn't really matter whether he was kind or not, no one would care at all.

"You will be my slave? Are you serious?" Mu Shen asked with a cold gaze and Luo Xiaolei bowed.

"I'll do anything to keep myself alive. I'm already at your mercy my lord." 

Mu Shen's eyes twitched but he did not say anything about being called "my Lord" instead he went for the more important issues on ground. He said:

"I could have simply freed you from the being keeping you in captivity by sending you off to hell, why refuse? You can't be my slave unless you're free from the bondage of that— monster." 

Luo Xiaolei was quiet and did not answer. 

Mu Shen sighed.

"What happened to my Mu family?"

Luo Xiaolei bowed. "I'm sorry my lord, it is useless to ask this from me. A lot of us that witnessed the Mu family's exile were placed under the Sealed Cage Technique and we cannot say anything at all about it."

Mu Shen's brows furrowed. 

"The Sealed Cage Technique?" 

She bowed: "Yes my lord." 

Mu Shen shook his head. "Do not call me your lord yet until you're free from that bozos grip."

Luo Xiaolei did not reply. 

Mu Shen quickly took this opportunity. "What do you know about the Immortal radish flower?" 

Luo Xiaolei's eyes widened and a flower suddenly manifested on her face. Mu Shen had seen that flower on her face earlier when she had wanted to transfer her Fate to him and now, it's this same flower again.

She was suddenly so desperate. 

"You're looking for the Immortal radish flower? That bo— that bo… that— that— Ah, I can't curse him. I'm under his control." Luo Xiaolei cursed and Mu Shen completed the sentence for her.

"Are you trying to say, that bozo?" 

She nodded: "Yes, he has the Immortal radish flower." 

Mu Shen's eyes lit up. 

'So I won't be staying here for too long anyways?' 

"What will happen if I get the Immortal radish flower?" Mu Shen asked although he had an idea of what would happen, he just wanted to hear it directly from the horse's mouth.

"You'd be able to control me." 

Mu Shen's face was scrunched up in displeasure. How on earth is Luo Xiaolei and the Immortal radish flower related? Why was there a similar flower on her face when the main flower was with her so-called Master? 

"What happened to you exactly?" Mu Shen tried to pry, and Luo Xiaolei did not mind telling him how she got entangled in all of these things.

"A rift opened, leading into the Tianyuan cosmos and I was sucked in. For 15 years I've been escaping danger and experiencing near-death situations until I found this same cave. I met him here and he promised to give me safety. I believed him not knowing what a monster that he is. When I slept and woke up, the flower image was on my face almost like a visualization. He immediately told me that the flower is the beginning of my misfortune and it can also be the end of my misfortune. He could take the flower out of my face at will only returning back when he is in a good mood. This flower on my face can only be transferred and not erased which is why I tried to transfer it to you. I'm sorry." 

Mu Shen was starting to think that something was wrong somewhere and that it would become much more difficult to find the Immortal radish flower. 

'It was a 'him' meaning that whoever trapped her here is a male.' A human just like Mu Shen.

Mu Shen exhales. 

"Where is he?" 

Luo Xiaolei sighed and said: "He is one of the Ten Arbiters in Wushuang Universe. The true immortal radish flower is not in the Tianyuan cosmos." 

Mu Shen's face instantly darkened and he pulled Luo Xiaolei by the neck and threatened her while karmic transfer boiled deep within me.

"Do not lie to me girl, that flower is here and the bozo is not someone from the human world." 

Luo Xiaolei coughed loudly as she felt suffocated. "Please spare me, karma is pulling at me please." 

Mu Shen immediately let her go. Then, he was chilled to the bones. 

"You mean— he's not here and the flower is not here either?" 

She nodded, rubbing her neck due to Mu Shen's previous attack. It now had finger marks on it.

This person is in the world somewhere, causing havoc, who knows and with the way Luo Xiaolei talked about him, he was not a good person.

Suddenly the surrounding void froze and the atmosphere immediately darkened.

Luo Xiaolei stilled. She quickly turned towards Mu Shen and whispered; "he's coming, he's coming. Hide somewhere please." 

Mu Shen quickly hid, concealing his presence while using the Sixth Sense Technique to blot out his physical appearance, transforming it into inanimate shadows. 

"Little flower! Where are you?" 

Luo Xiaolei tried to act normal and the man appeared before her. He had a very arrogant aura around him. 

Then in fury, he shouted: "Who touched you?" 

The finger marks on her neck was just too obvious.

The sky suddenly shattered and reality twisted and broke. 

Mu Shen's pupils shrank as his inanimate shadows began to fade.

Luo Xiaolei decided to calm the raging storm. "No, no, no… it's not something to worry about. I had to test my battle techniques and I encountered a very strong creature… the Winter Beast." 

The man suddenly shouted. "I warned you, unless you've discovered an exchange walk right into this cave, do not step out but you don't listen. I'll give you ten more years to serve as your punishment." 

Luo Xiaolei's pupils shrank rapidly. 

"No, please… I—" 

"Halt! That's for disobedience. And as for Qiu he's going to be coming here for holiday as his own punishment. Just get me a simple Legendary Technique, he couldn't. He failed me." 

Where Mu Shen hid, his eyes widened. 

"So this is exactly how it is?"

It was no wonder Qiu Puyu was so insistent and hell-bent on killing him. 

Then, Mu Shen saw the flower on Luo Xiaolei's face snatched away and he left. 

When Mu Shen stepped out, Luo Xiaolei said: "It's gone. I had a chance to escape but it's gone." 

Mu Shen sighed. 

"You're coming with me." 

Luo Xiaolei shook her head. "I can't go or I'll die." 

Mu Shen smiled. "You won't die, besides you have to listen to me because you literally tried to transfer your fate to me. You should be under my mercy." 

"You won't understand, I want to go to hell, I'm ready to face death." 

Mu Shen was surprised. 

Earlier before, she had begged him and now she wanted to die. 

"Can you please kill me? Just don't make it too painful." 

Mu Shen immediately used the Heavenly Dao of Seven Rivers Technique to interchange space. 

Space immediately returned back to where it had previously been and that's exactly where Mu Shen had fought with the winter beast. 

Luo Xiaolei was shocked. 

"Where are we? Take me back. He knows when I leave the cave and comes almost immediately. He'd definitely torture me to death."

Mu Shen did not listen. He had just one gamble and if it didn't work out, she would have to die. Not that Mu Shen cared whether she lives or dies, but keeping her alive would greatly benefit him.

The Winter beast was still there, exactly where Mu Shen had left it, infuriated and unwilling. 

"You came back?" It smiled, its fangs peeking through the mouth.

Mu Shen smiled chillingly. 

"I hope you enjoy the fate of misfortune." 

The Sixth Sense Technique activated, instantly moving Luo Xiaolei towards the Winter Beast and she touched it upon Mu Shen's command. 

Karmic Transfer activated while Mu Shen silently prayed that it would work if not, Luo Xiaolei would die and he would have to face the terrifying human all alone. In truth, Mu Shen needed her alive because she knows all his weakness and Mu Shen wanted to exploit them all. 

However if she died, he would be facing the arbiter alone because he still needed to retrieve the Immortal radish flower.

What the Winter beast realized next is that—

It was unable to move and Luo Xiaolei could also not move.