Chapter 3: Stunning Reversal
The silence emanating from the jade bracelet was deafening.
Wuling Laozu might truly be ancient. This girl, seemingly frail, carried within her a ruthlessness that felt… purer than his own demonic legacy.
Her looting complete, Gu Qingxi settled calmly at the table. Outside, footsteps and voices approached.
One voice dripped with unctuous servility—Gu Hongbo, the coldly authoritative patriarch of the Gu family, reduced to groveling. The other belonged to the hypocritical sanctimony of tonight's "groom," Elder Yuan of the Shangyuan Sect.
"Elder Yuan, my daughter awaits within," Gu Hongbo's voice was cloying, unrecognizable from the stern figure in Gu Qingxi's inherited memories.
"You shall not be forgotten. Tomorrow, I shall bestow upon you a Qingyuan Pill to aid your breakthrough," Elder Yuan intoned with practiced magnanimity.
"This unworthy one thanks the Elder profoundly!" Gu Hongbo's delight was palpable, his steps halting. "Then… I shall not intrude upon the Elder's… pleasures."
Elder Yuan gave a dismissive grunt. The moment Gu Hongbo turned his back, the Elder's hand shot out, pushing open the crimson-painted door.
The latch clicked shut behind him. His gaze swept the room, landing on the figure standing silently at its center. A girl of breathtaking, icy beauty, her expression utterly blank as she regarded him, eyes like frozen pools reflecting no light.
"Who are you?" Elder Yuan's brow furrowed. This girl radiated the merest flicker of Qi Refining Layer One. Harvesting her essence would be like sipping dew for a man dying of thirst. Had the Gu family dared to substitute inferior goods? No… the memory of Gu Hongbo's fawning face dismissed the notion. Where was Gu Wenlian?
"Guess." The corners of Gu Qingxi's lips lifted in a silent smile. It was devastatingly beautiful, capable of ensnaring souls, yet the sharpness in her gaze cut like a newly honed divine blade.
Elder Yuan's suspicious eyes darted around the chamber. Nothing seemed amiss… yet a faint, coppery tang hung in the air.
"You killed Gu Wenlian?!" The preposterous thought leapt, unbidden, into his mind.
Gu Wenlian had possessed decent talent, solidly at Qi Refining Layer Three—why else would he have chosen her? How could this Qi Refining Layer One insect possibly have slain her?
But if not… where was Wenlian? Why was this girl here? And that scent of blood…?
Gu Qingxi's smile deepened, twisting into something unnerving.
"Audacious wretch! You dare destroy my Cauldron?!" That smile confirmed his darkest suspicion. Rage, white-hot and primal, surged through Elder Yuan!
Years of festering wounds, the hope of a perfect remedy snatched away before he could even taste it! This girl hadn't just killed his chosen vessel; she'd severed his lifeline, shattered his path to recovery and advancement!
Blind fury propelled his hand upward, palm glowing with lethal intent.
Huummm—!
At that precise instant, the room erupted.
Talismans materialized from the very air, their surfaces igniting with a cold, dark luminescence, bathing the scarlet bridal chamber in an eerie glow!
"A Talisman Master?!" Elder Yuan blinked, momentarily stunned. A Qi Refining Layer One wielding talismans? Unheard of!
"Guess." Gu Qingxi's smile remained, unwavering. The confidence radiating from her was almost palpable, a silent challenge that scraped against his pride.
"Hmph! A mere First-Rank Talisman Master dares posture before this Elder? You think such paltry tricks can hinder me?" Elder Yuan sneered, though the lethal palm strike he'd gathered faltered.
Gu Wenlian was gone. This girl's cultivation was pathetic, true, but mastering talismanic arts indicated some latent talent. She might serve as a… substitute.
More importantly—her beauty was transcendent, eclipsing Gu Wenlian utterly! Even if her essence proved useless for healing, the sheer pleasure of possessing such perfection… it wouldn't be a wasted trip.
Her raven hair cascaded like ink, a stark contrast against skin like flawless jade. Beneath finely arched brows, eyes held a clarity sharp enough to cut, radiating an ineffable allure. A delicate nose, lips like cherry blossoms, a chin of perfect proportion, a slender neck of alabaster… every line was faultless. Breathtaking. Hypnotic.
Substitute? Had he known such a jewel existed, he would have chosen her from the start! A predatory gleam ignited in his eyes.
He was, however, catastrophically mistaken.
Before his sneer could fully fade, the talismans erupted anew!
Deep, obsidian light pulsed from each glyph! They seemed to writhe with life, swirling and connecting in the air. In the space of a single breath, a formation of pure, annihilative intent solidified!
An icy, soul-numbing aura flooded the chamber. Crushing pressure descended like a mountain!
"De-Devil Path Cultivator?!" Elder Yuan's composure finally cracked. His sword hissed from its scabbard!
Sword light shimmered, its cold edge promising death.
"Foundation Establishment Layer Three! He's Layer Three!" Wuling Laozu's voice screamed into Gu Qingxi's consciousness, raw panic stripping away any remnant of his former grandeur. "FLEE! I'll buy you a heartbeat with my fading essence! RUN!"
Qi Refining Layer One against Foundation Establishment Layer Three? The chasm was insurmountable! Forget Gu Qingxi—even he, the once Supreme Sovereign of the Devil Path, facing such odds, would face near-certain annihilation… no, absolute annihilation!
"Stupid. Venomous. And blind." Gu Qingxi's mental retort was a blade of pure scorn. She dismissed both the Elder's accusation and the Laozu's desperate plea. Her calm was absolute, her contempt palpable. Flight was not an option.
"Doomed! We are doomed! I shackled myself to a lunatic!" Wuling Laozu wailed within the confines of her mind. Wait, he was already dead! Was he… destined to die again?!
"No… not Devil Path." Elder Yuan scrutinized Gu Qingxi, forcing down the sliver of unease. If she were truly Devil Path, the Gu family would know. That face… that impossibly beautiful, aloof face… the predatory gleam in his eyes intensified.
A mere Qi Refining Layer One girl had spooked him? Elder Yuan mentally scoffed at his own momentary weakness.
"You are about to die." Gu Qingxi's smile remained devastatingly beautiful, but the words she spoke were shards of glacial ice, delivered with the finality of a tombstone sealing shut.
"Insolent fool!" Elder Yuan's temper finally snapped. This brat clearly hadn't yet tasted the true brutality of the Cultivation world.
He would educate her. Immediately.
His assumptions, however, weren't just wrong; they were catastrophically, fatally flawed.
At the heart of the swirling talismanic formation, a tiny vortex of absolute darkness manifested!
It spun with insane velocity, radiating a pull that threatened to suck the very soul from one's body. To gaze upon it was to risk losing oneself.
Elder Yuan's entire being convulsed!
An irresistible, terrifying force clamped onto his primordial spirit! Twisting! Rending! Soul-rending agony exploded through his consciousness! His Foundation Establishment Qi, vast and potent moments before, solidified within his meridians like frozen mercury—utterly unresponsive!
Impossible!
How was this possible?!
A Qi Refining Layer One insect… harming the spirit core of a Foundation Establishment Layer Three expert?!
"NO—!" There was no time for thought, only primal terror as his spirit was violently torn!
Ptui!
A torrent of steaming, vital heart's blood erupted from his mouth!
A scream of pure, unadulterated horror ripped from his throat. He ignited his lifeblood in a desperate, suicidal burst, hurling himself backward towards the door—any escape from this hellish chamber!
THUD!
His body slammed against the wooden door.
The flimsy barrier, which should have splintered like kindling, stood immovable, as if forged from divine iron!
He crumpled to the floor, a broken puppet. Utter darkness swallowed his vision. His shredded spirit plummeted into an endless void.
"Guh… guh… guh… guh…" From the bracelet, Wuling Laozu emitted a series of strangled, high-pitched gasps, utterly robbed of coherent speech.
What… happened?
Where… was he?
Who… was he?
A Qi Refining Layer One… waste… had annihilated a Foundation Establishment Layer Three expert?
Had he… not woken up yet?