After My Paranoid Act to Woo My Cold Master Failed - Chapter 8

“Host, he is in the middle stage of the Golden Core realm. The probability of us winning is very small,” the System’s worried voice rang in her mind.

Shen Shuheng’s robes snapped loudly in the wind, but her back remained as straight as a sharp blade, invincible and unbreakable. Her clear eyes sparkled with a sharp light.

“As long as there is a sliver of a chance to win, I will fight,” she thought. Her sword would never retreat.

“Are you afraid? If you don’t dare, hand over everything in your hands right now. A piece of trash shouldn’t waste resources!” Qi Shen goaded her. If she didn’t accept the challenge, he would have no proper excuse to kill her to avenge Xiaoxiao.

Shen Shuheng glanced at them coldly. “I accept the Life-and-Death battle. We go to the Sect Trial Platform now. If I win, not only will everything you own be mine, but the Sect Contribution Points of everyone here will also belong to me. I’m afraid you’ll go back on your word, so you must swear an oath first.”

Qi Shen gave a contemptuous smile. “Swear the oath then.” He was ten percent certain he would win this bout. At the thought of personally slicing off her head and feeling warm blood splatter across his face, Qi Shen couldn’t help but extend his tongue to lick the corner of his lips.

A golden light flared as they swore the oath. The other disciples figured it was just a formality; Senior Brother Qi would kill the trash with his own hands anyway.

The Sect Trial Platform was surrounded by disciples who had come to watch. Shen Shuheng stood tall, gripping her long sword. The cold glint of the blade reflected in her eyes, driving away their usual gentleness.

“Shen Shuheng is only at the Foundation Building stage, yet how does she look so imposing? If I didn’t know her cultivation level, I’d actually think she might win.”

“Her brain is broken, that’s why. Senior Brother Qi, kill her quickly. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen fresh blood,” some disciples below the stage jeered, their eyes flashing with a predatory light.

Shen Shuheng’s gaze swept calmly over the crowd. Even knowing the odds were against her, she felt no fear. She raised her sword; the frost-chilled blade suppressed the warmth of the pleasant sunlight.

In the blink of an eye, Shen Shuheng lunged at Qi Shen with her sword, but she only struck a phantom image. She turned back warily, only to find to her surprise that dark purple array patterns had lit up on the platform. No Array Master should be able to set a formation this quickly.

Qi Shen vanished from the platform. Suddenly, the phantom of a massive purple python appeared in the center, its two eyes like yellow lanterns hanging on its colossal head. The giant snake hissed, opening its bloody maw and flickering its dark red tongue. Even from a distance, Shen Shuheng could smell a thick, nauseating stench.

The giant snake roared and lunged at her.

Shen Shuheng moved with her bizarre footwork, her speed increasing until only azure-blue afterimages could be seen. The giant snake tried to strike her with its long tail, lashing out frantically, but she managed to evade it easily every time. The stone platform cracked under the heavy impact of the tail.

Beads of sweat formed on Shen Shuheng’s forehead; if that tail hit her, her bones would surely shatter.

Now!

Seizing a moment of the snake’s inattention, she leapt onto its back. With a flash of sword-light, her blade sank into its skull. Suddenly, a horned black leopard materialized from the array, lunging and biting into Shen Shuheng’s left shoulder.

A piercing pain from torn flesh shot through her shoulder. It went numb instantly. Fresh red blood flowed out, splashing onto the dark purple array and being absorbed by it.

Shen Shuheng’s eyes widened. Her sword was buried in the python’s head, yet there was no blood; the beast seemed completely unaffected. She realized things were grim; under the coordinated assault of the python and the leopard, her situation grew increasingly dire.

She retreated to a distance… and unleashed a tide of sword-light, enveloping the two giant beasts.

Shen Shuheng’s originally smooth left shoulder was now a mess of mangled red flesh. Blood continued to seep out, dripping onto the ground and seemingly being swallowed by the formation. Suddenly, twenty pythons and leopards appeared within the array, surrounding Shen Shuheng with excited roars.

A leopard lunged at her viciously. Shen Shuheng swept her sword across its neck—still no blood. While she blocked the leopard, other beasts swarmed her incessantly. Her azure-blue robes were gradually stained red; there wasn’t a single spot on her body left uninjured.

Yet, Shen Shuheng’s sword did not weaken; instead, it grew stronger. As more monsters appeared in the array, she attacked based on pure instinct. Her sword moves became simpler—only thrusts, stabs, and slashes—but it was the “killing sword” she had realized amidst the endless tide of beasts. Stripping away all flashy movements, she retained only a single strike—one that could take a life.

Shen Shuheng realized these were not real monsters but illusory images that could still inflict physical harm. If this continued, she would be ground down to death.

Hidden within the array, Qi Shen laughed as he watched her. He relished watching her be tortured to death bit by bit, unable to resist. She would die in despair, her flesh and blood eventually absorbed by the beast souls within the formation.

Shen Shuheng calmed her mind, sensing the movements within the array. While slaying the beasts that lunged at her, she searched for a way to break the formation. To break an array, one must find the “Array Eye”—the point where the energy fluctuation is strongest.

Found it.

Shen Shuheng leapt like a white crane and landed in the southeast corner. This was the point of the strongest spiritual fluctuation; her affinity for the world’s elements was exceptionally high. She swung her sword like a thunderclap, sending ripples through the surrounding spiritual energy.

CRACK!

The dark purple array split open at that spot. Within a breath, cracks covered the entire formation. Shen Shuheng saw Qi Shen’s figure revealed in his hiding spot. She unleashed several beams of sword-light to block his path, repaying the debt of the beasts’ mauling.

Qi Shen’s eyes widened in horror, looking at Shen Shuheng in disbelief. “How is this possible? Fine, then—I won’t let you die easily.”

“I’ll kill you and make your soul the nourishment for my array!” Qi Shen smiled hideously, throwing a bone fan at Shen Shuheng. The fan flew as if it had a mind of its own, repeatedly slicing at her.

Shen Shuheng channeled spiritual energy into her legs; her footwork was so swift that even the fan couldn’t track her. A cold light flashed—Qi Shen’s head hit the ground and bounced several times. Warm, viscous blood sprayed out like a rain of gore.

Shen Shuheng felt a spray of foul liquid hit her face. She wiped it away with her sleeve in disgust. Qi Shen’s head rolled to her feet, his eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe he had died by her hand.

She kicked the head off the platform in loathing. Her clothes were no longer recognizable as azure; they were completely soaked through with blood, turning into a “blood robe.” She stood on the platform, black hair against snowy skin, the wind making her hair fly alongside her bloodied robes.

The disciples below stared with mouths agape, all frozen in shock.

“She killed Senior Brother Qi!” one disciple finally reacted.

“AH!” a male disciple screamed, trembling and backing away as Qi Shen’s head rolled to his feet.

Covered in blood, Shen Shuheng looked like the most beautiful tulip blooming in hell, nourished by gore. One couldn’t bear to look at her beauty, only to fear her danger.

Shen Shuheng used her sword to hook Qi Shen’s storage bag into her hand and opened it to check the contents. She also took the bone fan he had used. She walked down the steps one by one, approaching the disciples who had conspired with Qi Shen.

“Qi Shen lost. You all should fulfill your oath,” her tone held no emotion.

The previously arrogant disciples were so terrified they couldn’t even speak. Each one trembled, their faces pale as they looked at her.

“You killed Senior Brother! You should pay with your life!” one slightly bolder disciple stood out and pointed at her.

“He was the one who challenged me to a Life-and-Death battle. If I hadn’t killed him, he would have killed me. You all swore an oath earlier. According to the sect rules, a Life-and-Death battle does not require a life for a life.”

“Or perhaps you want to challenge me to avenge him? You can also sign a Life-and-Death warrant with me,” Shen Shuheng said, smiling at them.

They began to shake even harder, fumbling with their storage bags to hand over spirit stones and the jade plates for Sect Contribution Points. With a wave of her hand, the stones and plates flew toward her. She satisfiedly opened her storage bag and let everything drop inside.

Having finished, she prepared to leave.

In a corner of the Yuheng Sect, a Life-Tablet inscribed with Qi Shen’s name shattered with a bang. Green jade fragments scattered across the floor. An old man with crane-white hair looked at the fragments, his face clouding over like a gathering storm.

The shattered fragments projected the image of Qi Shen’s death: a flash of sword-light, followed by his head falling.

The old man let out a low, guttural roar: “MY SON!”

“Father will avenge you right now!” He locked onto the aura of the person who killed his son.

Shen Shuheng’s bag was full of today’s spoils. Now that the danger had passed, her body—covered in wounds—finally felt the bone-eroding pain. The sensation of blades cutting through her flesh flooded her every nerve like a heavy tide.

She took out a pill and popped it into her mouth. A warm current flowed from her dantian into her four limbs and hundred bones. She sat down to meditate, slowly stabilizing her body; otherwise, she feared she wouldn’t even have the strength to fly her sword back.

Suddenly, she coughed up a mouthful of blood. A massive pressure from nowhere slammed into her like a giant mountain. Her already battered body couldn’t withstand it. The blood remaining on her lips trickled down to her chin. The warm blood flowing from within gradually turned cold, forming a stain on her jade-white jaw.

“Who killed my son?!” The white-haired old man appeared in mid-air, standing with his sword drawn.

One disciple pointed at Shen Shuheng. “She killed Senior Brother!” The powerful pressure from the old man made it hard for them to breathe. The disciples who had incited Qi Shen to kill her felt a surge of fear; if the old man knew the truth, they might be implicated. They had to shift all the blame onto Shen Shuheng.

The old man flew down to her side. “Kill my son, and you shall pay with your life!”

“I have never heard of a Life-and-Death battle requiring a life for a life. He wanted to kill me; was I supposed to just let him?”

“I killed him, so you want to kill me. If I hadn’t killed him, he would have killed me—was I supposed to just die then?” Facing imminent doom, Shen Shuheng felt no fear. They established the rules yet trampled upon them, simply because they were the so-called “strong.”

She possessed a spine of pride; she would never bow.

“So what? You are weak, therefore you deserve to die!” the old man’s voice boomed like a giant bell.

Hearing this, a sense of injustice surged in Shen Shuheng’s heart, churning like a violent wave. Why should the weak deserve to be killed? The “strong” are blessed by Heaven and Earth, yet they use their cultivation to bully the weak. Why should such people deserve Heaven’s favor?

The Heavens are unjust!

Shen Shuheng stood up from the ground and raised her sword. One day, she would cleave the sky itself and ask why it was so unfair.

Seeing that Shen Shuheng still dared to raise her sword against him, the old man sneered, “How can a mere mayfly… how dare a mayfly shake a tree!”

He flicked his sword lightly. A grey sword-light, carrying the power to move mountains and fill seas, slashed toward Shen Shuheng.

He intended to annihilate her soul entirely!