Reborn as a Human Cauldron, But I'm the Top - Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Swapped, Huh?

After the demon was burned to death, one more fruit appeared on the tree at the mountain peak.

The top of the peak was ablaze. The people washing clothes by the river looked at the peak with devout eyes and walked over step by step. Flames ignited on the villagers’ bodies, yet they were completely unaware.

No one cried out in pain; everyone smiled eerily.

The mountain peak was a burning torch, and the sky was the scorching brand iron.

A bizarre whisper came with the sound of the heart beating, “Worship me, believe in me, and I shall grant you everything.”

These sounds slowly seeped into Shen Yirong’s sea of consciousness. Where there was peace, massive waves arose. The small blue sword suspended high in the air hummed softly, and the sea of consciousness returned to calm once more.

When Shen Yirong recovered, the bottom and middle of the mountain were already covered with kneeling people and demons. The fruits on the tree grew more and more numerous, and the ashes below the mountain also increased, until the tree could no longer bear any more fruit, and the scorching finally ceased.

It was a tree covered in hearts. Even though it wasn’t night, Shen Yirong felt a full-body prickle when she looked at it.

The sword spirit woke up again, shouting in her mind: Huh? So many Scarlet Blood Fruits. Who is practicing this wicked dark art again!

Shen Yirong: What is this thing?

The sword spirit’s voice was full of disdain: This is a dark art that uses soul sacrifice to make the demon tree bear fruit, which has a chance of producing a new physical body. Some cultivators whose bodies have perished use this method to reshape a mortal body. Master killed one under Shenruo Peak before.

The sword spirit sighed again: But the fruit produced by this demon tree is only a decent material for refining artifacts. This technique is a lie from beginning to end.

Shen Yirong’s brows furrowed as she listened. She remembered what Senior Sister Mei had said.

You Yuning was rescued by the original owner at the sacrificial altar under Shenruo Peak.

Shen Yirong suddenly realized that no matter where she went, the past related to the original owner always found her.

This feeling made her a little panicked.

Lin Xiao suddenly grasped her hand and then pointed toward the eastern sky.

That area was different from the reddish sky here.

Dark clouds gathered, and mountains and land transformed into giants chasing something. The scene was even more terrifying than this one.

However, Shen Yirong’s expression instantly darkened the next second. The people being chased and battered by the giants had pig ears and tails. Who could they be but the Yun mother and daughter?

Didn’t they say they were mortals? Look at that exquisite sword technique, that elegant posture when evading, and the force with which a single sword stroke severed the arm of the mountain giant.

If they were mortals, what was she, Shen Yirong? A good-for-nothing?

It was snowing heavily in that direction. Shen Yirong would be truly stupid if she still didn’t figure it out!

Shen Yirong gritted her teeth, “Those two big liars.”

Liu Qianfeng was still dealing with the sudden abnormal intensity of the trial. She truly had to unleash some real skill to cope.

She swung her sword again, cutting off the giant’s arm, but no matter how many times she cut, the giant’s damaged parts grew back.

Mei Xin froze it, but the giant violently broke free.

A piece of rubble struck Liu Qianfeng’s right shoulder, instantly paralyzing her right hand. Her long sword fell to the ground and was swallowed by the mud and rocks.

The fox demon’s shallow mocking voice reached her ears, “The Great Peace Sect is full of sword cultivators, yet the Sect Master of the Great Peace Sect can’t even hold a sword. How utterly laughable.”

Mei Xin dodged a palm strike from the mountain. She drew the broken sword from her waist, “Sect Master.”

With the broken sword drawn, the fox demon’s voice was clearly more delighted, “They say the Great Peace Sect is poor, and it seems that’s not an exaggeration. Such a broken sword is treated like a treasure. It truly makes people laugh.”

Mei Xin suddenly looked up at the sky, “It is not a broken sword.”

Seeing Mei Xin’s robes torn to shreds, the fox demon smiled carelessly, “Oh? How so?”

“Hehe.”

A sarcastic laugh suddenly appeared near her ear, freezing the fox demon’s smile. She frantically released her divine sense to search but found nothing.

But a chill slowly crept up her spine, instantly freezing her joy.

The fox demon’s ears stood up in alarm. She angrily shouted, “Who! Trying to be mysterious! I’m not afraid!”

The fox demon prepared thoroughly. Whatever the opponent was, as long as she could see it, she would incinerate it without hesitation.

But the chilling feeling slowly subsided. Only the goat in the room looked at her with confusion.

In the trial space, Liu Qianfeng flew to Mei Xin’s side. Her right hand hung limply, so she used her left hand to push the drawn broken sword back into its sheath. She shook her head, “No need.”

In her peripheral vision, Liu Qianfeng saw Shen Yirong and Lin Xiao rushing toward them, looking like they were coming to help.

But the anger in Shen Yirong’s eyes was too obvious. Even from this distance, it looked like she wanted to burn them to death. Liu Qianfeng could only smile bitterly.

Song Yin didn’t seem surprised, so the other party probably already knew the Fox King would cause trouble and used this to prompt the Fox King to attack them.

Knowing she couldn’t hide it any longer, Liu Qianfeng sighed.

Since things had come to this, she couldn’t lose face in front of an old acquaintance.

While she was thinking, the giant slammed another palm down. Liu Qianfeng’s eyes narrowed.

She dodged the attack, lightly leaped onto the giant’s head, and then stomped down. The giant’s legs instantly collapsed, sending earth and rocks flying.

The giant roared and regenerated its legs, but Liu Qianfeng held it firmly underfoot. It used all its strength but couldn’t budge at all, forced to kneel like that.

Mei Xin condensed an ice chain to tightly bind the giant’s hands. The situation instantly reversed.

This turn of events made the fox demon’s face change. A premonition of ill omen rose in her heart.

Shen Yirong looked at the scene with equal horror. In her eyes, Liu Qianfeng wasn’t even as big as one of the giant’s eyes, yet she could completely suppress the giant.

Song Yin was also a little surprised, but only a little.

How could anyone from the Great Peace Sect be lacking?

A crackling sound came from her right shoulder. Liu Qianfeng raised her right hand and clenched it. Then, she tore off her left sleeve and shredded it into cloth strips. Wrapping the strips around her hand, Liu Qianfeng smiled and spoke to the fox demon outside the space, “Little fox, how old are you?”

The words sounded gentle, but the demon’s intuition was always accurate. Her intuition told her to run immediately.

But the goat was watching her. The fox demon needed to maintain the dignity of a king, so she couldn’t run. So, she forced a smile, “Six hundred years old. Why do you ask, Sect Master? Have you perhaps taken a fancy to me and want to be my concubine?”

“It’s a shame the Sect Master is too old. I’m not interested.”

Shen Yirong also heard the fox’s voice. Her mouth twitched. This fox demon was actually flirting with the Sect Master. She figured a firework display was about to happen.

Sure enough, she heard Liu Qianfeng sneer, “This Sect Master doesn’t like small ones either. Little fox, wait up. Auntie is coming to spank your butt.”

Shen Yirong saw Liu Qianfeng crush the jade token hanging at her waist. Then, she threw the shattered jade pieces into the sky. The shattered jade turned into shooting stars, instantly piercing the sky.

The firmament collapsed, slowly splitting open. Shen Yirong looked up and saw the gate she entered through. The fractured area was the slit of the great door.

At this moment, the door was only slightly ajar, not enough for a person to pass through.

Liu Qianfeng shouted, “Mei Xin!”

Mei Xin waved her hand, and one of the chains binding the giant split off and connected to the great door in the sky. The other end of the ice chain wrapped around Liu Qianfeng’s right hand.

Liu Qianfeng grasped one end and tested it. Seeing the chain was secure, she pulled with a fierce grin. The chain instantly tensed. The great door let out a reluctant creak and was slowly pulled open.

But this seemed insufficient. Liu Qianfeng increased her force, and the great door was directly ripped off.

Looking at the door violently torn from the sky, and the Sect Master grinning wildly, Shen Yirong was dumbfounded, “Huh?”

The space began to shatter as if it couldn’t bear the strain. The Scarlet Blood Fruit was also buried underground as the mountain moved. The awakened demons began to flee.

It was too risky to go back and pick the Scarlet Blood Fruit. Shen Yirong was also worried about Mei Xin and Liu Qianfeng. She glanced back and saw Lin Xiao trembling slightly. She softly said, “Hold on tight to me.”

The next second, her waist tightened.

Shen Yirong was stunned. She wanted to tell the person to let go, but feeling the other party tremble, she swallowed her words.

She flew out the door on her sword. Seeing the formation intact under the tree, she sighed. Her trial ended too quickly.

Demons constantly rushed out of the door behind her, gasping for breath. After a brief moment of disorientation, they began to celebrate their narrow escape.

A series of screams erupted from the treehouse in the distance. Many diners were driven out. Shen Yirong heard Liu Qianfeng’s laughter.

Shen Yirong couldn’t help but rub her forehead. She pulled Lin Xiao and flew in through the window, seeing a black-haired, pink-eyed fox demon with nine tails pinned over the Sect Master’s knee. The fox demon’s hands were tightly bound with ice chains, and Mei Xin stood nearby, sword in hand and eyes closed.

“Slap!”

Shen Yirong saw the fox demon’s eyes instantly redden, sparkling with what looked like tears.

“Let me go! Liu Qianfeng! I will definitely kill you!”

“Still talking tough! Speak! How do you know about Shenruo Peak! What is your purpose!”

“Get lost! You old fossil! A scholar can be killed but not disgraced! If you have the guts, kill me!”

The scene was too beautiful for Shen Yirong to watch, so she quietly pulled out her recording stone.

The fox demon’s expression instantly changed. She finally seemed to break and shouted, “I’ll talk! Don’t record!”

The fox demon was tightly bound. A group of people surrounded her, who was sitting in the corner. Perhaps because she was too sad, the flames on her nine tails were extinguished.

Shen Yirong looked at the fox demon with two wide streaks of tears on her face and asked Lin Xiao uncertainly, “Is this really the new Fox King? That tyrant?”

The fox demon, without her pretense, was quite cute, especially with her ears and tails drooping now.

Seeing Shen Yirong staring intently, Lin Xiao’s eyes darkened, and she didn’t answer.

The fox demon sobbed and looked at Shen Yirong, who was in the room, “The matter of Shenruo Peak was told to me by the Sword Venerable. I just wanted to see if the Sword Venerable had truly returned.”

Lin Xiao glanced at her, “She’s not lying.”

Liu Qianfeng sneered, “And incidentally, kill Mei Xin and me, right?”

The fox demon shook her head desperately, “I just wanted to trap you.”

Lin Xiao smiled, “That’s a lie. Your acting is very poor, not as good as anyone else here.”

The fox demon froze. She looked up at Lin Xiao, who slowly crouched in front of her, smiling especially kindly.

“Tell me, how did you meet the Sword Venerable?”

Looking at those deep, unfathomable eyes, the fox demon felt her thoughts becoming sluggish. She stammered, “The Sword Venerable saved me from the white foxes before.”

The fox demon realized that after she spoke, the unknown cultivator’s eyes became even deeper.

Lin Xiao chuckled, “Ah, as expected.”

Shen Yirong quietly hugged herself and shivered, then looked at the fox demon in the corner, “Since the Sword Venerable saved you, why would you attack her respected Senior Sister and Sect Master?”

The fox demon suddenly stopped crying. She looked at Liu Qianfeng and Mei Xin, her rose-pink eyes swirling with malice, revealing her demon nature, “They didn’t protect the Sword Venerable, so they deserve to die! That Demon Venerable also deserves to die! These disrespectful demons in the Demon Realm also deserve to die! Sooner or later, I will kill all these dogs!”

Shen Yirong wiped the sweat from her forehead.

It turns out she’s a toxic loyal fan of the original owner. So scary.

With the matter sorted out, Mei Xin found it too noisy. She simply froze the fox.

With the outside matters handled, Shen Yirong felt it was time to settle other scores. She looked at the Senior Sister and Sect Master gradually returning to their original appearances and suddenly laughed, “Mother and daughter?”

A flush crossed Liu Qianfeng’s face. She patted Shen Yirong’s shoulder, “The Demon Realm is too dangerous. I just wanted to protect you secretly.”

Shen Yirong naturally knew, but she couldn’t be happy. Now, she wasn’t anyone’s cultivation vessel, but she still felt like a bird trapped in a cage.

She took a step back, wanting to make things clear, but seeing a few strands of white hair on the Sect Master’s head, she couldn’t bring herself to speak.

In her memory, the Sect Master was a very low-key person. Displaying her strength so blatantly, like just now, was perhaps to prove to her that some worries were unnecessary.

But she was terrified.

It seemed everyone hoped she was the Sword Venerable. The eyes of those people were clearly looking at someone else.

Liu Qianfeng felt the spiritual energy on Shen Yirong start to become restless, clearly a sign of an impending inner demon. She panicked and reached out to grab Shen Yirong’s shoulder.

Song Yin was one step ahead of her. Just like when she helped Shen Yirong break through, she embraced her, sending a strand of soul and divine sense into her sea of consciousness.

Liu Qianfeng shouted in surprise, “Are you crazy!”

Even partners who have experienced life and death together wouldn’t dare to do this rashly. Doing so could easily lead to a backlash from the other party.

Song Yin ignored her, just calling out to the other party as she did last time. This time, she was already very skilled. She quickly found Shen Yirong’s consciousness.

The restless spiritual energy was calmed, but Shen Yirong hadn’t woken up yet. Song Yin looked coldly at Liu Qianfeng, “The farce should be over.”

“You!”

Being accused like this, Liu Qianfeng was indeed angry. She wanted to say Song Yin had no right, but it seemed the one without the right was her.

She slumped onto the stool. Song Yin tightly held Shen Yirong in front of her, which was different from the interaction she had imagined.

Even with her extraordinary abilities, Liu Qianfeng only felt powerless at this moment. She irritably grabbed her hair.

Mei Xin watched from the side for a while. She suddenly said, “Sect Master, let’s go.”

Liu Qianfeng slowly calmed down. She knew what Shen Yirong was thinking now, but letting go was also very difficult. After all, the last time she indulged Shen Yirong, the person turned into a cold corpse.

But the situation now might be worse than letting go.

Time passed minute by minute.

Liu Qianfeng slowly sat up straight. She looked at Shen Yirong in Song Yin’s arms and finally sighed, “Is Your Excellency planning to continue the disguise and stay with her?”

Song Yin sneered, “This Venerable’s actions do not seem to require reporting to you.”

As the words fell, Shen Yirong’s fingers twitched slightly. Song Yin’s gaze immediately dropped to Shen Yirong’s face, completely ignoring the two threats in front of her.

Liu Qianfeng paused, then stood up and returned the arrow Shen Yirong had given earlier. She glanced at Shen Yirong, walked past the two, and stood at the treehouse entrance.

Liu Qianfeng called out tiredly, “Mei Xin, let’s go.”

Mei Xin glanced at the frozen fox demon. After unfreezing her, she followed Liu Qianfeng and flew away from the area.

Seeing the two leave so easily, Song Yin was somewhat surprised. She then looked up at the trembling fox demon in the corner, a smirk playing on her lips.

The fox demon felt a chill run through her body. She viciously held a grudge, swearing eternal enmity with Liu Qianfeng.

She rubbed her butt and tiptoed, preparing to sneak away, but saw a corner of a red garment. She slowly looked up, and her pupils slowly contracted.

From the conversation of the group just now, Qing Li had already guessed who this person was. Although she verbally threatened to kill, she was more accustomed to taking advantage of others’ distress.

Without a second thought, she spat out a mouthful of flame as cover and prepared to escape through the window with a push-off. Seeing half her body out the window, the fox grinned.

But a hand reached out from the flames and grabbed her tail, making her crash against the wall with a thud.

She screamed in fear and tried to bite Song Yin, but Song Yin, quick as lightning, clamped her mouth shut.

Qing Li kicked her four legs wildly, but to no avail.

Song Yin dragged the fox back into the room.

Looking at her useless state, she couldn’t help but feel delighted, “Heh, tyrant? You can’t even beat Liu Qianfeng, and you want to kill me?”

Fortunately, the demons here were either unconscious or had fled, otherwise, the tyrant’s reputation would be ruined.

Qing Li also hadn’t expected Liu Qianfeng and Mei Xin to be so strong. When she had tested them on the road before, the pressure from Liu Qianfeng hadn’t been so intense.

So, her confidence had exploded.

Qing Li thought miserably: Now my life is about to explode.

But the Sword Venerable had said, where there’s life, there’s hope.

Qing Li’s eyes were teary. She wagged her remaining eight tails and acted cute, “Your Excellency, everything I said just now was nonsense. I am very respectful of you.”

Song Yin remained silent, only staring at Qing Li’s tails, seemingly contemplating which one would be better to chop off.

Qing Li broke out in a cold sweat. She cursed inwardly, but her fox face was all flattery, “My cultivation is not enough. My fox tails are not worthy of you, but I kept many fox tails from the White Fox Clan when I took over. Those are worthy of you.”

Song Yin looked at her own red robes, then at the fox’s red fur, and mused, “I think they match quite well.”

Qing Li was almost scared into screaming. She snapped and fainted.

Song Yin was startled, looking at the suddenly limp fox in her hand. She hadn’t expected the other party to be so easily scared.

“Heh, coward.”

The other party’s fox bones indeed couldn’t be used to repair the Myriad Manifestations Mirror. It wasn’t because the cultivation wasn’t high enough, but because the attributes clashed.

Song Yin threw her back into the corner and cast a spell to confine the fox, then continued to watch over the unconscious Shen Yirong.

The other party was lying on the table, muttering something.

Song Yin could hear it, but she had never heard these words before.

But Shen Yirong continued to mumble, “Ice cream, hehe.”

Looking at Shen Yirong’s upward curving lips, Song Yin couldn’t help but feel disdain.

“Just now, you were on the verge of developing inner demons. Now you’re smiling so happily. Do you have any common sense at all?”

Perhaps sensing she was being scolded, Shen Yirong frowned, looking very displeased.

Song Yin couldn’t help but smooth her brow, but when she smoothed it, the frown returned. After repeating this several times, she finally lost patience, “Don’t frown!”

Shen Yirong relaxed her brow, but her lips were tightly pursed.

Song Yin watched for a while, then looked away, but soon she turned her face back, “I won’t scold you anymore.”

The person in deep sleep seemed to smile.

Song Yin was momentarily stunned at the sight. She turned her head away again.

If Shen Yirong lacked common sense, then she must be a disappointment.

“Ice cream.”

This word appeared too frequently. Song Yin couldn’t help but wonder, “What is that?”

Shen Yirong was actually awake, but she groggily felt she wasn’t, “Something cold and sweet.”

Song Yin’s first reaction was Mei Xin, but then she remembered Mei Xin couldn’t eat it.

Shen Yirong suddenly cleared her head. She looked around and didn’t see Song Yin. Mei and Liu weren’t there either.

She asked suspiciously, “Where are they?”

Song Yin replied, “They went back.”

“Oh.”

Shen Yirong seemed somewhat melancholic. She sat blankly for a long time, staring aimlessly at the wall.

Song Yin endured and endured, but finally couldn’t help it, “Immortal Master, what was wrong just now? Are you alright?”

Shen Yirong’s vision gradually focused. Song Yin thought she would be dejected and had prepared many words of comfort.

But to her surprise, the person in front of her just smiled, “I couldn’t figure things out just now, but now I have.”

Shen Yirong’s smile was too dazzling. Song Yin lowered her gaze to avoid it.

“Figured out what?”

“I don’t care how others see me. I am me. I am Shen Yi… ugh, Shen Baiyi, just like you are Lin Xiao.”

“Sometimes, the cage is self-imposed. I was just a little lost earlier. It’s nothing.”

In Song Yin’s sight, Shen Yirong’s smile remained bright. She suddenly realized that even without her help, this person could find her own way out.

A subtle feeling of unwillingness arose in her heart, but she also felt that it was better for the other party to be like this.

Shen Yirong, feeling refreshed after figuring things out, was startled when she saw the unconscious fox.

Sect Master Liu could defeat her, but Shen Yirong couldn’t. Lin Xiao was even less helpful.

“Why is she still here? It won’t be good when she wakes up. Let’s go.”

Shen Yirong pulled Lin Xiao, ready to slip away, but the fox’s nine tails began to whip around.

The next second, the fox demon opened her eyes. There was blood on her lips. She immediately broke through the confinement and rushed toward Shen Yirong and Lin Xiao with extreme speed.

Shen Yirong drew her sword to fight but didn’t expect the other party to merely brush past them.

Song Yin intended to strike, but her face suddenly turned pale.

She forcibly suppressed the surging inner demon. When she looked again, the fox had turned into a fiery red stream of light and disappeared. A strand of demonic energy wrapped around her neck.

Shen Yirong also felt this demonic energy. At this moment, she felt light all over, as if her soul had left her body. She said with great confusion, “Why is she running?”

Song Yin’s body was currently weak. She wanted to disperse the demonic energy around her neck but found it was already too late.

Taking advantage of the remaining control she had, Song Yin smiled helplessly, “Immortal Master, don’t be surprised by anything that happens next.”

Shen Yirong didn’t understand what she meant. She wanted to speak, but her mouth wouldn’t open.

Then, she was briefly blinded. When she could see the world clearly again, she saw her own face.

Disbelieving, she rubbed her eyes, but the face in front of her was still the one she had disguised herself with.

Could it be that she failed to suppress the inner demon?

She reached out to touch the face in front of her, but then realized something was wrong. Her sleeve was red.

She tried to reach for a mirror, but felt nothing. She wanted to mobilize her spiritual energy, but the spiritual energy in her body was so vast it made her gasp.

“What’s going on?”

She opened her mouth to ask, and Song Yin’s voice came out, startling Shen Yirong.

She tentatively said, “Ah.”

Song Yin’s voice…

Shen Yirong watched the person with her own appearance calmly watching her vocal performance.

She belatedly realized what had happened, her eyes wide in shock.

It seems she and Song Yin have swapped.