Master is Also Running Away from Marriage Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 7

After traveling about another mile inward, the white marble on the ground turned into eerie black jade, and the air carried a faint hint of a fishy smell. The further she went, the stronger the stench became. Mu Ling found herself standing beneath a massive sacrificial altar.

It was a hollowed-out valley, with terraced steps on all sides. Each level of the black jade steps was adorned with red totems of different patterns. Mu Ling stood at the very bottom of the valley, where the far end was a sheer cliff with several stone chambers carved into it. At the very center of the valley lay an enormous blood pool. It was impossible to tell how many years this pool had existed, but the overwhelming stench was enough to make one’s head throb with pain. The small blood pool Mu Ling had seen in Hong’an City was nothing compared to this one!

At the center of the blood pool was a small mound of earth. Growing from the blackened soil were a few pure white flowers. The very medicinal herbs Bai Junhao and his group had been desperately searching for.

Because this place was where an ancient mighty cultivator had met their end, remnants of their oppressive aura still lingered. The moment Mu Ling stepped into the valley, her cultivation was suppressed, leaving her with only the strength of a Golden Core cultivator.

“Bear with it a little longer.”

Mu Ling had anticipated this scenario. Seeing the child’s increasingly pale face, she quickly handed them a pill to ward off the foul energy and calm the spirit, taking one herself as well.

As the pill dissolved in her throat, a faint fragrance of grass and flowers lingered in her nostrils, dispelling the nauseating stench of blood.

Mu Ling exhaled deeply and cautiously examined the mound at the center of the blood pool.

“Bai Junhao was overjoyed when he saw the herbs and immediately flew on his sword to the center of the blood pool to pluck them, failing to notice the mound beneath. Suddenly, the sea of blood surged with towering waves, and with a furious roar, a colossal flood dragon emerged from the depths. The herbs were actually growing on its head…”

Mu Ling recalled the original novel’s description of this enormous flood dragon. Later, it was Chisu, who transformed into her black serpent form, that fought the flood dragon to the death and barely managed to kill it by biting through its throat. However, Chisu was left with lifelong hidden injuries from that battle.

In the original story, the female characters were all infatuated with Bai Junhao to varying degrees, and Chisu was one of the most devoted. Now that Mu Ling had taken over this body, she had no intention of getting involved in these romantic entanglements. She had no idea what kind of ending Chisu and Bai Junhao would ultimately have.

Unlike Chisu, who had been single-mindedly focused on finding the herbs for Bai Junhao, Mu Ling had no plans to provoke the flood dragon. She only wanted to reach the stone chambers behind it and retrieve the Heavenly Spirit Sword Manual.

“Wait here. I’ll be back soon.”

Remembering that Chisu and Bai Junhao were also in the secret realm, Mu Ling decided to act swiftly. After settling the child in a safe spot, she activated her mermaid silk to conceal her aura and prepared to cross the blood sea.

Mu Ling kept her focus fixed on the blood sea as she moved, ready to retreat at the first sign of trouble. A faint mist of blood hung over the surface, and the flood dragon beneath seemed to be dormant, leaving the sea as still as stagnant water.

Just as she was about to reach the stone chambers, Mu Ling let out a sigh of relief only to slam into an invisible barrier with a loud thud, nearly sending her tumbling from midair!

The impact sent ripples cascading across the blood seas.

Gritting her teeth in frustration, Mu Ling tried several more times, but each attempt ended with her colliding against the same barrier.

What was going on?

In the original novel, the protagonist had been swept into the stone chambers by the flood dragon’s tail with a single strike.

As Mu Ling made her move, the blood pool began to bubble with a gurgling sound. Her eyes narrowed, and without hesitation, she swiftly retreated to the opposite shore. The moment she landed beside the child, a loud splash echoed as a massive head slowly emerged from the water, towering like a pavilion rising from the ground. The colossal serpent coiled menacingly above the blood sea, its shadow blotting out the sky.

The enormous head of the serpent lowered, its misty eyes tinged with a streak of crimson, exuding an aura of savage brutality.

Mu Ling had initially thought she could put up a fight against the serpent, but now she realized how naive that notion had been.

Her water spiritual root was inherently unsuited for combat, and with her cultivation suppressed, facing a naturally ferocious spirit creature like the serpent left her with almost no chance of victory!

Mu Ling’s heart pounded wildly, her palms slick with cold sweat as she pulled the child back a step, instantly abandoning any thought of retrieving the Heavenly Spirit Sword Technique.

The sword technique was precious, but life was far more valuable!

One step, two steps, three steps…

Mu Ling continued to retreat with the child in tow. She knew the serpent was in its weakened state during molting. If she didn’t provoke it, the serpent might not pursue them.

After retreating ten paces, just as she had anticipated, the serpent made no move to chase them. Only then did Mu Ling’s tense body relax slightly.

—Whoosh!

But in that very instant, a sword suddenly shot out from the side, streaking straight toward the serpent’s head!

The serpent had been fixated on Mu Ling and the child, and by the time it noticed the sword, the blade was already upon it. The sword erupted in a dazzling white light, splitting into twelve identical blades. A series of metallic clangs rang out as the twelve swords struck the serpent’s body in rapid succession!

—It’s over!

Watching as the crimson streak in the serpent’s lantern-like eyes spread across its entire gaze, Mu Ling’s hair stood on end. She grabbed the child and fled for her life!

With a pained roar, a massive tail lashed out from the blood sea, slamming into the ground before Mu Ling with a thunderous crack. The black jade tiles shattered into dust, sending debris flying!

Mu Ling had no choice but to halt and sprint back the way she came.

“Over here!”

The instigator, Bai Fengqing, shouted from atop his hovering sword.

Mu Ling’s gaze flickered to the group of demons approaching from behind Bai Fengqing, and she nearly spat blood in frustration. Regret gnawed at her for having foolishly saved Bai Fengqing earlier. Gritting her teeth, she tightened her grip on the child and veered off in another direction!

Bai Fengqing frowned and was about to give chase when a whip suddenly lashed out from behind. His expression darkened as he turned to engage in a fierce duel with Chisu!

Both Chisu and Bai Fengqing specialized in offensive techniques. Even though their cultivation was suppressed within the altar, their combat experience remained formidable. Bai Junhao, too, was no slouch in battle after years of wandering. In contrast, Mu Ling, who had spent her years focused solely on cultivation with little practical combat experience, was practically useless in a fight compared to these seasoned warriors!

Fully aware of her shortcomings, Mu Ling had no intention of lingering. Burning through her spiritual energy, she fled with the child, not daring to stop for even a second.

The serpent, now blood-maddened, saw everyone present as its assailants. Its powerful tail lashed out indiscriminately, attacking everyone in its vicinity!

Those present only saw Mu Ling holding the child and running swiftly, but none noticed how the child in her arms kept staring in the direction of the giant serpent. Whenever the serpent attempted to attack Mu Ling, it would hesitate for an imperceptible moment. Though fleeting, in a battle between experts, such a split-second delay was enough for Mu Ling to escape!

Bai Junhao and Chisu finally spotted the medicinal herb on the serpent’s head. Exchanging a glance, Bai Junhao turned to confront Bai Fengqing while Chisu transformed into his true form and soared into the sky, engaging the serpent in a fierce battle.

In an instant, towering waves surged, a sea of blood churned, and the entire secret realm seemed to tremble!

The giant serpent was originally covered in impenetrable scales, but as it was shedding its skin, the new scales had yet to harden. Knowing he was no match for the serpent, Chisu resorted to ruthless tactics, relentlessly tearing at the patches where the serpent’s scales hadn’t fully grown.

In a desperate fight, courage prevails. Despite being outmatched in cultivation, Chisu fought as if his life depended on it because it did. He disregarded his own safety, and before long, not an inch of his body was left unharmed. Yet, the serpent too bore numerous bloody wounds, large and small.

As Mu Ling fled, she collided once more with the invisible barrier.

The child in her arms suddenly let out a soft “Ah.”

Mu Ling looked down and noticed the child’s finger had been nicked somewhere, a drop of blood welling at the tip. Seeing her gaze, the child awkwardly hid the finger behind his back. “It’s nothing.”

The wound was minor, so Mu Ling simply patted the child’s head. Just as the serpent’s tail swept toward them again, a sudden realization flashed through her mind.

Blood!

She understood now why she couldn’t breach the barrier.

The giant serpent had been raised by the ancient master in a pool of ten thousand souls’ blood, making it a spiritual beast. And in the cultivation world, spiritual beasts were often used as guardians.

Unaware of the flicker in the child’s eyes, Mu Ling gritted her teeth and stopped in her tracks. As the serpent’s tail lashed out, she smeared some of the blood from its wounds onto its tail, then pretended to be struck, tumbling backward with the child in her arms.

The barrier shattered silently, and Mu Ling fell into a stone chamber.

She had gambled right!

Against all odds, she had made it inside.

Compared to the opulence of the previous path, the chamber was startlingly austere. Just a simple table, chairs, and a stone bed. Despite millennia of neglect, it was immaculate, as if untouched by dust.

Mu Ling’s eyes landed on the corner of the chamber.

There stood a plain stone table with two bronze lotus pedestals. One was empty, while the other held a tattered, half-intact manual.

The Heavenly Spirit Sword Technique!

Overjoyed, Mu Ling sat up and reached for it. Only for the child in her arms to stand and slowly walk to the table, picking up the manual himself.

This chamber must have been the ancient master’s dwelling. Only upon entering did Mu Ling realize her cultivation had been completely suppressed. Mid-fall, fearing she might crush the child, she had twisted her body to take the brunt of the impact, bearing the full weight as they hit the ground.

Fortunately, Mu Ling had reached the Nascent Soul stage, her body tempered by heavenly lightning. When she hit the ground holding the child, the pain was fleeting, and she wasn’t injured.

Still, the pain was intense enough that she lay there for a moment, recovering just long enough for the child to snatch the manual first.

“Here!” The child held it out to her.

“Don’t be so reckless next time!” Mu Ling carefully tucked the manual into her robes, her eyes darting warily around as she admonished the child with lingering fear. “You’re new to the cultivation world, so you don’t know the safer a place looks, the more dangerous it usually is. You were lucky this time, but there could’ve been venomous snakes or beasts lying in wait…”

In the original story, the protagonist had entered this very room and been attacked by a giant centipede, barely escaping with her life. For some reason, though, the centipede hadn’t appeared this time.

The child lowered her eyes obediently, but her gaze flickered to a spot on the ceiling where a single centipede leg had yet to fully retract.

“Get lost!” the child snarled silently in her mind.

The leg twitched once before slowly withdrawing.

The child looked away, her eyes settling on Mu Ling as the woman began searching for an exit.

The woman before her was more disheveled than ever. Her robes stained with blood and grime, her face pale, her grip on the mermaid silk stiff.

“I saved you once. We’re even.” The child pressed her lips together, the words unspoken.

The sickening thud of Mu Ling’s arm hitting the ground still echoed in the child’s ears.

She didn’t know what had come over her.

By the time she realized what she was doing, she had already driven off the hidden centipede and reached out to help the woman retrieve the manual.

Since arriving here, the child had noticed her abilities growing stronger. She could not only sense the emotions of creatures that hadn’t yet taken human form but also communicate with them, commanding them to do her bidding.

While fleeing the giant serpent, a sudden vision had flashed through her mind: the serpent docilely carrying her battered self into a stone chamber, where two manuals rested on a lotus pedestal. One dark and heavy, the other Heavenly Spirit Sword Art.

“Which will you choose?” The centipede had coiled beside her, whispering. “The sword art may take twenty or thirty years to master, but it’s the righteous path the world approves of. The other will plunge you into darkness, turning your life into a solitary, treacherous road. No companions, no trust, only relentless forward motion…”

The rest of the memory was lost to her.

But seeing the remaining half of Heavenly Spirit Sword Art on the pedestal, the child knew what choice she or someone had made.

Yet…

Were those really her memories?

The child stared at her small hands, lips pressed tight. She couldn’t be more than ten years old. Many of the experiences in those visions were beyond her years.

She thought of the other inside her.

That other had only appeared on full-moon nights before, but after the self-inflicted suffering, she seemed gravely injured likely gone for a long time. That other was cunning, ruthless, and far older than she appeared.

In the past, powerless to resist, I could only obey “her” every word, barely surviving by playing along. But the techniques of the cultivation world were unfathomable, with rumors even of soul possession.

With a loud boom, a massive crack suddenly split open the ceiling, and the ground began to tremble violently. The child froze for a moment before Mu Ling grabbed their hand…

“Not good! The secret realm is collapsing.”

As a huge boulder crashed down from the ceiling, Mu Ling instinctively hunched over to shield the child. The secret realm began to shatter, and the oppressive aura left by the mighty cultivator weakened. At the critical moment, a trace of spiritual energy suddenly surged in Mu Ling’s dantian. Hastily summoning the mermaid silk to take flight, Mu Ling barely rose into the air when the stone chamber beneath their feet collapsed with a thunderous roar, sinking into the churning sea of blood.

A great fissure tore open at the center of the blood sea, emitting a tremendous pulling force. The bloodwater cascaded downward as the colossal serpent was swallowed by the rift. Its head, once hard as metal, was instantly reduced to a bloody mess, bones protruding, while the latter half of its body thrashed violently. Its tail struck Bai Junhao mid-air.

Bai Junhao’s body plummeted like a kite with its string cut!

Without hesitation, Bai Fengqing chased after him on his flying sword. Just as he managed to steady Bai Junhao in the air, Bai Junhao’s gaze flickered before he suddenly stabbed a dagger into Bai Fengqing’s heart…

Staring at the blood gushing from his chest and Bai Junhao’s evasive eyes, Bai Fengqing widened his eyes in disbelief.

“Idiot!”

Furious, Mu Ling steered the mermaid silk to catch the unlucky Bai Fengqing, only for Chisu’s attack to follow immediately.

The mermaid silk was caught in the gale whipped up by Chisu’s tail, the sharp wind slicing through the straps of the bundle on Mu Ling’s back. The child beside them was abruptly flung off.

On one side was the priceless bundle containing the Qiankun Bag, and on the other was a child picked up on a whim.

The choice was obvious.

I shouldn’t have helped her in the stone chamber after all…

The child curled their lips in a mocking smile and closed their eyes.

Who would have thought they’d end up with not even bones left.

What felt like both an instant and an eternity later, the sensation of falling suddenly vanished as the child landed in a familiar embrace.

…?!

“Child?”

The child opened their eyes in disbelief, meeting the woman’s worried gaze. No matter the circumstances, her eyes always remained clear and bright, like the first light of dawn.

Behind Mu Ling, with a loud thud, the bundle filled with countless treasures plunged into the abyss. The treasures collided and shattered, their colorful spiritual energies rising from the depths like a dazzling display of fireworks blooming all at once.

An unfamiliar emotion surged within the child’s heart, their eyes burning with an almost painful intensity.

This is what she deserves.

The child told themselves, biting their lower lip. Yet their eyes stung unbearably from the brilliance, as if on the verge of tears.