My System, My Wife Feng Aotian [Transmigration] - Chapter 29.2

The Nascent Soul Stage was an entire major realm above hers, and the menacing vines were the same. It seemed that to reach the Celestial Palace, she had to defeat this Shen!

Feng Jue forced a bitter smile and murmured, “Fortunately, these vines don’t seem inclined to join forces with it against me.”

That was the only good news.

03 fell silent for a long time, its bubble rising and falling. It slowly lowered the firestick and said slowly, “Good luck.”

“Host, you must win.”

The light in Feng Jue’s eyes gradually dimmed. She gave 03 a deep look before drawing her Natal Artifact.

The flaming whip fell into the water, sending ripples spreading across the surface.

“Hah.”

A sigh, almost human yet not quite, echoed from all directions. At the platform’s center, the snow-white Shen opened its shell, and a surging white mist billowed upward, coalescing into the ethereal form of a woman.

She reclined on a sumptuous bed piled with spiritual pearls, her otherworldly beauty as fleeting as a dream. She raised her gaze languidly, her faint smile and otherworldly voice resonating once more:

“I know you,” the Shen said. “You’re the one who killed those Golden Core Stage cultivators. You’re quite skilled.”

“But I don’t like the smell of you.” The Shen woman wrinkled her nose, her pearl-white fingers covering her lips. Her lifeless eyes examined the Fire Rock Jiao, her delicate brows furrowing. “Another scent I detest.”

“What a pity.”

“It’s been so long since I’ve fought anyone. If you…”

“If you’re willing to leave this Jiao here for me to devour, I’ll let you ascend the Immortal Ascension Ladder.” The Shen Maiden chuckled softly, pointing to the mountain path leading to Chongshan Celestial Palace, hidden behind a web of vines.

“My ascended Host walked this very path to become an immortal. The Celestial Palace is filled with countless treasures he left behind. Weren’t you here for those?” The Shen Maiden giggled, her voice sweet and coquettish. “They’re all things he discarded anyway. Satisfy me, and I’ll let you pass.”

Feng Jue hooked her finger around the whip, her gaze icy. “And you’re another thing he discarded?”

The Shen Maiden froze, her flower-like face twisting into a ferocious expression. Her crimson lips curled into a snarl, her skin contorted into mist, and her entire body dissolved into vapor, vanishing into the swirling fog.

“I’ll kill you and devour you, piece by piece,” the Shen Maiden’s voice hissed like damp, subterranean air, echoing from all directions. “I’ll start with your arms, gnawing them down to the bone, devouring every morsel. Then I’ll take your face and live here forever!”

Feng Jue’s expression grew colder. “You sound like you haven’t spoken to anyone in ages. Too much babble.”

From her hidden vantage point, the Shen Maiden paused. Then Feng Jue’s mocking laughter rang out: “But there is one person—let’s just call him human—for whom I’ll ask you a question.”

Feng Jue raised her whip and lashed at the Shen Body at the platform’s center.

“Don’t you find these things uncomfortable to sleep on? Have you gone too long without bathing, making your skin so rough and thick?” Feng Jue taunted. The Shen Maiden suddenly burst from the mist, the swirling white vapor like a dress draped over her body. She swished her excessively long sleeves and roared furiously.

“Seeking death!”

The Nascent Soul Stage attack surged forward like a tidal wave. Feng Jue channeled all her spiritual power into a defensive barrier. As the sound wave crashed down, the golden hairpins and jade pendants in her hair, her magic robes, and the ornaments around her neck, arms, and waist lit up, layer upon layer of defenses intercepting the strike.

The Fire Rock Jiao, its claws clutching protective artifacts, soared into the air. Twisting mid-flight, it carried Feng Jue out of the path of the surging white mist. The protective artifacts on its body exploded into fragments, scattering across the water’s surface.

Floating in the mist, 03 gasped at the shattered pendant dangling from Feng Jue’s ear.

Inside the bubble, little 03 broke into a nervous sweat.

So dangerous…

The Host, though at the Great Perfection stage of Golden Core, was still only at the Early-Stage. She could hold her own against a Mid-Stage Golden Core cultivator, but fighting someone a full major realm higher was pushing it!

What should we do?

The silver System flickered anxiously, brightening and dimming.

Seeing Feng Jue being relentlessly pursued, 03…

Feng Jue retreated, her Magic Robe shimmering as she evaded. The Shen Maiden smirked, her lips curling in satisfaction. “Looks like your tongue’s still sharp.”

Boom!

The patterns on Feng Jue’s Magic Robe shattered. She plummeted from the air, caught by the Fire Rock Jiao. Ling Shi, who hadn’t fully digested the Beast Core she’d consumed earlier and was still at the Foundation Establishment stage, coughed up a mouthful of blood and crashed into the water.

03 flew over, anxiously circling Ling Shi, the helpless feeling washing over him again.

“What’s the rush?” Feng Jue asked, kneeling in the water, her Magic Robe drifting around her. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, mirroring the Shen Maiden’s smirk. “Eager to die?”

“Haha!” The Shen Maiden burst into laughter.

The surrounding mist thickened, visibility dropping to zero. A towering wave surged from the white fog, crashing toward Feng Jue.

Feng Jue watched the wave approach with cold eyes. She swiftly swallowed a Spirit Recovery Pill, then tossed an Artifact upward from her Storage Ring.

The Artifact rapidly expanded, transforming into a golden bell that enveloped Feng Jue. The Fire Rock Jiao shrank and coiled around her wrist.

The wave slammed into the golden bell, emitting a deafening hum that shook the very foundations of heaven and earth. The wave dissipated, and the white mist vanished as sunlight poured down. The Shen Maiden let out a pained scream—she had been trapped within her shell all along, never truly leaving.

Countless golden scriptures materialized above the lake surface, their sacred chants echoing through the valley, clearing the mind and dispelling fear.

Inside the bell, Feng Jue smirked as she pulled out several bottles of Spirit Recovery Pills from her Storage Ring. “This is the Fanzhi Bell,” she scoffed, “refined personally by the Abbot of the Heaven and Earth Temple. Engraved with thousands of Buddhist scriptures, it purges demons and monsters. If you attack it with all your might, the bell’s reverberations will echo endlessly, reflecting every ounce of your power back at you.”

The Shen Maiden, her skin deathly pale under the sunlight, glared at Feng Jue with icy, venomous eyes, her body trembling with resentment.

“My Storage Ring is brimming with artifacts like this,” Feng Jue said calmly, her wounded face flushed pink, her eyes bright and clear. “Not to mention countless Spiritual Pills and Miraculous Medicines. Go ahead, throw your best shot.”

“Even if I can’t defeat you, what can you do? We could just stalemate here for centuries!”

The Shen Maiden: “……”

03’s metaphorical heart dropped, and it let out a long sigh of relief. Unable to resist, it drifted over to Feng Jue’s face and patted her cheek.

So the Host has a Shop function too. Phew, that’s a relief.

Feng Jue glanced at 03, her expression unreadable.

A question mark appeared above the System’s head.

The surrounding mist surged forward again as the Shen Maiden launched a series of attacks. Each strike met the Fanzhi Bell, its resonant peals shattering the mist and reflecting every attack back at her. The Shen Maiden screamed and retreated into her seashell, but she didn’t attack again. When the mist thickened and obscured everything once more, she remained hidden.

A cold laugh echoed through the mist. “What do you want?” the Shen Maiden demanded, her voice dripping with hatred.

Feng Jue had been waiting for this moment. “Your master placed you here to select an heir for the Chongshan Celestial Palace’s legacy. He set up these trials. What’s the point of this endless stalemate between us? Why not just let me pass?”

“It’s either an endless stalemate or a Heavenly Dao Covenant. The choice is yours.”

The mist-shrouded Shen Maiden fell silent. After a long pause, the mist thinned, revealing her alluring face. She smiled faintly. “Very well. Let us swear an oath upon the Heavenly Dao! I will let you pass, and you will not harm me, nor I you. Break this vow, and both the Dao and we shall perish!”

Feng Jue’s eyes lit up. “Agreed!”

The woman and the Shen Maiden raised their hands, facing each other across the platform, and swore their oath to the Heavenly Dao.

Soon, golden light descended, sealing the vow. Feng Jue and 03 both breathed sighs of relief.

“Relieved?” Feng Jue asked 03 through a telepathic message, her lips curving into a smirk.

03 nodded, unable to resist saying, “Host, you’re truly brilliant.”

“Ahem, enough with the flattery. Let’s move on,” Feng Jue replied, swallowing another Spirit Core and putting away Fanzhi.

The Shen Maiden glared at Feng Jue with icy eyes, but as expected, she made no move. Feng Jue, for her part, kept her composure and walked calmly forward. But as she passed the Shen Maiden’s massive true form, she heard a low, derisive chuckle.

Feng Jue’s eyes narrowed, her gaze snapping to the Shen Maiden.

The Shen Maiden reclined in her shell, her long black hair cascading into the water. She stirred the lake surface with her fingers, her dark eyes fixed on Feng Jue, her voice as damp as her aura, yet icy cold.

“Many years ago, another came here and swore a Heavenly Dao Oath to me. He promised that if I helped him claim his inheritance, he would release me from this cage.” The Shen Maiden’s pale fingers curled around her hair, her slender arm reaching out to Feng Jue’s waist, where she playfully toyed with the jade pendant at her waist.

“Host, be careful,” 03 drifted down, positioning itself before the Shen Maiden’s fingers.

Feng Jue silently acknowledged 03’s kindness, her face impassive as she waited for the Shen Maiden to continue.

“What a pity…” The Shen Maiden covered her face with her hand, a dazed smile spreading across her face, her expression tinged with madness. “My ascended master enlightened me to guard this place and grant special treatment to the first person to escape the Illusion Labyrinth. Originally, I was supposed to fight you at your level, and each subsequent challenger would face opponents one minor realm higher. What a pity.”

She repeated the word “pity,” her gaze turning venomous.

“My new master dislikes such soft methods.”

Feng Jue’s eyes turned colder. “You have a new master?”

Lost in her own thoughts, the Shen Maiden neither confirmed nor denied this, continuing to smile. She tilted her head back, her inhuman eyes slowly curving into crescents, her voice dripping with resentment.

“I’ve truly had enough of humans.”

As she finished speaking, her fingers clenched, and white mist surged around her. Two figures were brutally dragged up from the well outside the platform, falling into the water.

“Ah! What’s this?! Help!”

“Miss Qiu!”

The familiar voice made Feng Jue’s head snap up. Xue Bufan and Qiu Shuangshuang had been dragged onto the platform and plunged into the water.

03 suddenly realized, “If the protagonist was the first to arrive here, even though his spiritual root has just been restored and he’s only at the Qi Condensation Stage, he was once a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator on the verge of reaching the Golden Core Stage. His mindset and experience far surpass those of an ordinary Qi Condensation cultivator. Even if Shen were to elevate herself to the Foundation Establishment Stage to confront him, her strength still wouldn’t match his pre-shattered spiritual root cultivation level!”

Not to mention he had an “Old Master” assisting him.

This must be the normal plot! It’s also the most logical way for the protagonist to successfully obtain this opportunity.

Feng Jue frowned, observing the Shen Maiden, whose cultivation level hadn’t diminished at all. With 03’s help, she had arrived here a step ahead of Xue Bufan, disrupting the original plot. But what was the Shen Maiden planning now?

The Shen Maiden burst into laughter, white mist swirling around Qiu Shuangshuang’s neck as it dragged her forward. Facing Qiu Shuangshuang, her eyes shifted to Feng Jue. Beside them, Xue Bufan, bound by white mist, shouted desperately, “Release her!” but no one paid him any heed.

Feng Jue realized something, letting out a cold laugh.

“You created the illusion in the Dungeon too, didn’t you?” she asked.

The Shen Maiden smiled, her long fingers caressing Qiu Shuangshuang’s pale, soft face. The girl, her throat constricted, flushed crimson, tears welling in her eyes as she desperately clawed at the Shen Maiden’s hand. “Let… let go of me! Agh!”

The Shen Maiden tightened her grip, and Qiu Shuangshuang’s eyes rolled back. Behind her, Xue Bufan, who had moved to save her, was sent flying by a burst of mist and crashed into the water with a splash.

“I heard everything you said in the dungeon. You have the same agreement as her to safely escort her back to her family. But now, what will you do?” The Shen Maiden tilted her head, chuckling softly. Her gaze, fixed on Feng Jue, held a sinister glint. “I want to kill her, and you want to protect her, but you can’t attack me.”

“And here, including everyone in the dungeon, you’re the only one with even a sliver of power to oppose me.”

She emphasized the words “even a sliver” with deliberate meaning.

Feng Jue’s face turned icy. The Shen Maiden’s smile widened as she extended her palm. White mist surged from beneath her, sweeping out in all directions to blot out the sky.

“You can’t, you know. If you attack me, you’ll be defying the Heavenly Dao.”

But not saving Qiu Shuangshuang would go against her own principles!

Feng Jue’s chest heaved, and the phantom image of a phoenix slowly materialized around her.

The Shen Maiden, her lips curled in a mocking smile, froze. Then she gasped, “Phoenix… you are—”

Her grip on Qiu Shuangshuang’s throat loosened, and she watched coldly as the girl fell into the water. The Shen Maiden spread her hands and burst into wild laughter.

“Never mind, never mind.”

“I’ve committed a grave sin and have no face to meet the Immortal Venerable. I’ll die with you all!” The Shen Maiden laughed wildly, her expression frenzied. Mist swirled violently around her as the pressure of a Nascent Soul Stage self-detonation radiated outward, carrying the Feng Jue’s power with it.

The earth trembled, and cracks spiderwebbed across the platform. The Shen Maiden intended to kill everyone here—including herself, who had broken the Heavenly Dao Oath by launching the first attack with the Feng Jue.

“Host!”

03 shouted in panic. “Quick, use Fanzhi!”

Feng Jue spat blood and hurled the Fanzhi, but not at 03. Instead, she threw it toward Qiu Shuangshuang. Qiu Shuangshuang, freed from the Fanzhi’s confinement, crawled back from King Yama’s Palace, collapsing into sobs as she cried out, “Palace Mistress Feng!”

“Host!”

The woman addressed as “Host” calmly turned to face 03, blood seeping from her eyes.

03’s Data Orb flickered erratically, as if under viral assault. The System, never having faced the death of its Host before, went blank, its vision blanketed by the desolate light of the moon.

The Host stood beneath the moon, her black hair cascading like a waterfall, as if about to ascend to the Celestial Palace. She asked, “03, if there ever comes a day when you can no longer see me, wouldn’t you feel sad?”

Amidst the vast sea of stars in the universe, a golden Data Orb drifted closer and whispered, “03, 02 has left us.”

“We’ll never see it again.”

Moonlight, cosmos.

[Host, Main System, and 02, who was never forgotten, were born together with them.]

The scene before 03’s eyes distorted, shifting through shades of darkened color as the human body slowly crumpled to the ground.

“I don’t want this,” 03 murmured.

I don’t want my host to die. I don’t want my host to leave.

This shouldn’t be happening.

Why is this happening?

Drip.

Scarlet blood dripped from the human body into the lake, spreading outward in slow-motion ripples of crimson.

In the frozen moment, the silver System interface opened the Shop.

Qiu Shuangshuang, wailing uncontrollably, slapped at the Fanyin sound, crying out “Father! Mother! Palace Mistress Feng!” over and over. Suddenly, a silver light flashed in her tear-filled eyes.

Something pierced the Shen Maiden’s body.

Bang!

A sound like shattering glass echoed through the air. The Shen Maiden let out a piercing scream—the final cry of her life.

The mist exploded outward, dispersing in an instant.

03 sheathed its sword in its backpack and dove into the water.

It swam toward its host, extending its slender arms through the reddened water to grasp her fingers.

Grab. Grip tight.

“Feng Jue!”

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