novelraw Chapter 250 - 248: The Old Fox and the Little Fox
Chapter 250 - 248: The Old Fox and the Little Fox
Qing Yueqiu didn't fully believe Ji Shenyun's grievances. More than the bitter complaints of this "old woman," she wanted to know how Ji Shenyun planned to help her.
[I have told you, I possess the ability to peer into the secrets of heaven. Since you are unwilling to use force on that man and insist on playing house to nurture your affections, then I need only guide you, ensuring that out of innumerable future timelines, you walk the one that leads to you being with him. This is no difficult task.]
Hearing this, Qing Yueqiu couldn't help but doubt if Ji Shenyun truly possessed the power she claimed.
She wasn't one to beat around the bush, so she asked Ji Shenyun bluntly:
"Senior, if your skills are as god-like as you say, and you can see through all the variables of the future, then why are you still sealed here?"
Qing Yueqiu's question left the Ji Shenyun in the mirror silent for a moment.
[Such a sharp-tongued little girl.] Ji Shenyun chuckled. [Since you've asked, I might as well tell you.]
Imperceptibly, the Chaos Qi seeping from the cracks in the Ancient Mirror—half-buried in the ley lines of the earth—grew denser. Ji Shenyun's voice became distant, as if echoing across a millennium.
In a trance, Qing Yueqiu saw the dome crack open to reveal a river of stars thousands of zhang wide. Within the starlight, innumerable phantoms of Divine Demons kowtowed in worship.
[At the height of my power, I was confident I could suppress everyone in that age.]
[The Nine Heavens Divine Phoenix pulled my chariot, the Eight Desolates Demon Lord carried my palanquin, and even the Ancient Divine Corpse buried in the depths of the Sea of Chaos had to crawl out to offer me congratulations!]
As she recounted her former glory, the voice of the Asura Emperor Monarch, Ji Shenyun—imprisoned for countless eons, her pride worn down by time—could not help but swell, as if she had reclaimed a sliver of her past arrogance.
Qing Yueqiu held her breath, her body trembling just from listening to Ji Shenyun's tale.
'To suppress an entire era? And the golden age of Cultivator civilization, at that! If she was truly that terrifying, then Ji Shenyun was likely the single greatest figure, past or present, since the extinction of the Divine Spirits.'
'No, maybe it was just as her name implied—that even the Innate Divine Spirits were lacking in divine grace compared to her.'
Qing Yueqiu tightened her grip on her sword hilt. 'This is all a bit too exaggerated,' she thought.
'Am I really going to make a deal with a being like this?'
But Ji Shenyun's voice continued.
[Back then, I stood at the pinnacle of the Saint Realm. With just one more step, I could have ascended from this world entirely.]
[However... it was all the fault of those decrepit old fools from the Human Race! They only cared about their own petty little territories! If they hadn't struck so ruthlessly when I was at my weakest...]
[This world could have transcended along with me!]
As Ji Shenyun's voice grew shrill, the wails of hundreds of millions of creatures suddenly echoed throughout the world. In her trance, Qing Yueqiu saw it raining blood.
No, it *was* raining blood!
It was the mist formed from the Chaos Qi. It condensed into blood-red droplets in the air, falling upon Qing Yueqiu, staining her white robes and silver hair crimson.
At the same time, Qing Yueqiu felt the Cultivation within her body swell like a tidal wave: Mid-stage Nascent Soul, Nascent Soul Peak, Divinity Transformation, Void Refining...
The sound of shackles shattering, one after another, echoed in her ears. A sea of blood roiled within her crimson eyes. She felt a power unlike any she had ever known, as if the very heavens and earth were hers to command.
[Junior, I have now sent all the power I can to the outside world and given it to you! Hurry and help me pull out the Four-direction Divine Nail!]
[Now that it has come to this, after I've shown you so much, do you still not trust me?
He's merely one man. Are your horizons truly so narrow? Do you think that I, who once nearly conquered the world, cannot help you conquer a single man?!]
[If you fear I will break my promise, you can pull out three of the long nails first.]
[I will sign a contract to be your slave, your handmaiden, a pig, a dog, a plaything for all eternity. A contract that allows you to give me to the vilest, most foul-smelling Little Demon to be defiled in any way you please. *Then* you can release my seal completely. How does that sound?]
Ji Shenyun's mournful cry echoed in her ears. Qing Yueqiu's crimson eyes flickered, and she finally nodded.
She thought of Pei Yuhang's cool, aloof expression, of the way his robes fluttered when he held his sword, of how his long, slender fingers would grasp her wrist to correct her stance as he instructed her. Every subtle touch made her heart pound like a war drum, a frantic, fluttering feeling.
She wanted her Master so desperately. She wanted his gentle gaze to fall on her and her alone, his cool voice to call only her name. The thought grew rampantly within her, wrapping around her heart like a thorny vine.
For the sake of that beautiful, distant future with her Master, she would not hesitate, even if it meant making a deal with a devil!
Qing Yueqiu walked to the Cyan Dragon Nail in the east. The nail was as tall as a man, and when the coiling cyan dragon upon it saw her approach, its eyes flared with pale, cyan flames.
[Use your heart's Essence Blood to douse the Cyan Dragon Fire!]
A ruthless glint flashed in Qing Yueqiu's eyes. She condensed a drop of Essence Blood from her heart and forced it out through her fingertip. Her face paled instantly.
A scene suddenly flashed through her mind: her Master teaching her Swordsmanship. She had accidentally cut her finger, and he had immediately taken her hand to bandage it carefully. His palm had been so warm and dry that she couldn't bear to pull her hand away.
As the heart's Essence Blood dripped onto the dragon's eye, the Cyan Dragon let out a piteous cry, and the nail fell to the ground.
When Qing Yueqiu reached the second nail to the south, the Vermilion Bird Nail, it released the raging True Flame of the Vermilion Bird.
Drawing on her soaring Cultivation, Qing Yueqiu endured the searing pain and placed her hands on the surface of the blistering-hot bronze nail.
The Vermilion Bird's fire burned her delicate hands until they were a bloody mess. The blood that flowed from them, infused with Ji Shenyun's power, weakened the Vermilion Bird Divine Nail.
Qing Yueqiu gritted her teeth and pulled the nail out. Her mind was filled with the image of her Master's gentle expression as he once wiped the sweat from her brow.
'Master... Master... I... want you...'
[Yes, for your Master's sake, pull out the third Divine Nail...~]
Ji Shenyun suppressed a burgeoning joy, her voice filled with anticipation.
However—
VMMMM!!
A pillar of Moonlight Sword Qi erupted from the Luminous Shadow Sword, soaring into the sky. The crimson in Qing Yueqiu's eyes was partly washed away by the brilliant Moonlight. Snapping back to her senses, she glared at the Ancient Mirror, her voice laced with absolute killing intent.
"Ji Shenyun! You dare use an Illusion Technique on me, exploiting my precious memories with my Master to trick me into pulling out the Divine Nails!"
[Ahem~ That... was just to help you concentrate on pulling out the Divine Nails, Junior. It's nothing to make a fuss about.]
[If you are truly angry, once you've let me out, you can punish me as you see fit. I don't mind if you treat me like the most wretched slave, so long as it calms your anger~]
Ji Shenyun's voice held a trace of awkwardness. She apparently hadn't expected that the Spirit Sword in Qing Yueqiu's hand was no Mortal Grade weapon. Even after absorbing the True Essence she had funneled to the outside world, it could still burst with power to protect its master.
However, Qing Yueqiu did not head toward the third Divine Nail. Instead, she turned and silently began to walk away.
[Junior! Junior! I already apologized! You're not going to get angry and stop now, are you? Don't you want to be with that man anymore?]
[Without my help, you will never have him in this lifetime!]
Qing Yueqiu merely scoffed at her words and said softly, "Ji Shenyun, it's gone on long enough. Stop trying to fool me."
"Before I arrived, someone else had already tried to break your seal, hadn't they? Though that person did not succeed, your seal was already weakened.
You've been misleading me this whole time, encouraging me to pull out three long nails before we sign a contract. But a being like you, one who once stood at the very pinnacle of the world—how could you truly be willing to become a slave, no better than a pig or a dog?
Perhaps you don't need all four Divine Nails removed. Perhaps pulling out just three is enough for you to escape your predicament to a certain degree. Am I wrong?"