Chapter 5: A Demonic Bargain and an Unexpected Proposal

Su Qin exhaled a mouthful of stale air. His body and spirit felt somewhat restored, and a sense of clarity pervaded his mind.

“I must change my strategy. For now, I’ll focus on collecting magical treasures.”

While the spiritual liquid of these magical treasures couldn’t fully mend the damaged demonic body, it could, at the very least, delay its complete disintegration.

Furthermore, by circulating his cultivation techniques through his fractured form, he had gained some subtle insights.

This would buy him enough time to seek out materials for rebuilding his physical body.

“Very well, then. Let the ransom be magical treasures.”

After a brief moment of contemplation, the Fang Treasure Chest spat out a small Bagua Plate (TL Note: A divination tool, often depicted as an octagon with trigrams) magical treasure.

Su Qin infused it with a wisp of spiritual energy, and his consciousness drifted into a haze.

Before him, a chat board materialized, emblazoned with dozens of unread messages.

At the other end of the magical treasure, Lingtai Xianzi, sensing that her message had been read by an unfamiliar aura, furrowed her brow. Profound worry etched itself across her elegant face.

“Who are you, esteemed sir?”

A slight curve touched Su Qin’s lips, yet he offered no reply.

‘Lingtai Xianzi, much like the Saintess, was a character he’d adored in his previous life.

While the frigid fairy persona might have been a misconception, it seemed unlikely that Lingtai Xianzi would also turn out to be a complete opposite of her perceived nature.’

‘It didn’t appear so, for now. Ah, well, this was the moment for a veteran player to shine. He would show them how to handle this.’

“Who are you, esteemed sir?”

Su Qin remained silent.

“Very well, I shall not ask again. Do you know of Yue’er’s whereabouts?”

The same question was repeated, yet Su Qin still offered no response.

“My apologies. I will ask no more questions. Please, speak.”

Su Qin merely glanced at it, remaining utterly silent.

A long silence ensued between them, before a new message arrived from the Bagua Mirror.

“Are you still there? Please send a message. Don’t say nothing at all 〒▽〒. Are you there?”

Su Qin secretly exhaled in relief. Lingtai Xianzi’s personality, thankfully, was still consistent with his previous life’s setting.

‘Having suffered greatly in childhood, she often lacked a sense of security, particularly fearing the unknown. She had even remained confined to Lingtai for decades.’

‘To deal with such a recluse, one must play hard to get.’

“Three days from now, at the hour of midnight, in the Immortal Slaughter Valley. Bring thirty high-grade spiritual treasures and an additional one hundred thousand spiritual stones.”

With that, he cast the spiritual mirror back into the treasure chest and circulated his spiritual energy to nourish his divine soul.

Several cultivation cycles passed. As the sun neared twilight, Su Qin noticed the sensation of his body fragmenting had lessened slightly, and he gradually emerged from his deep meditation.

“You’re awake?”

Su Qin’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly looked up, only to find it was the black-haired, black-eyed Sect Master, Bai Zhenye.

‘What is she doing here?’ Su Qin’s pupils contracted.

‘Hadn’t the plot already changed? Shouldn’t she not be holding him accountable now? Had she perhaps seen through something?’

A wave of anxiety washed over Su Qin. Although she wasn’t yet at the Nascent Soul stage, there was no telling what methods she might possess, making him even more cautious.

“Does the Sect Master have business with me?”

Bai Zhenye pouted in displeasure, a hint of anger in her tone.

“Can’t I come looking for you if there’s no business to discuss?”

Su Qin pondered repeatedly. According to the diary’s records, this woman was a true demonic overlord, one who killed without batting an eye and possessed a meticulous mind.

‘Given this, I should treat her with deference.’

‘A suitable degree of politeness would create a distance, thus preventing him from revealing his true intentions by getting too close.’

“Of course, Sect Master. It’s just that my lifespan is nearing its end, and the righteous factions are hot on my heels. I may be quite busy during this period.”

Hearing this, Bai Zhenye’s expression changed.

“Stop spouting such nonsense to me. Are you going to use that act on me too?”

“I wouldn’t dare overstep, Your Excellency.”

“Hmph.” Bai Zhenye scoffed, her phoenix eyes narrowing slightly as a flash of icy blue sword-light glinted from her wrist.

‘This is bad!’

Su Qin was greatly alarmed. Bai Zhenye was a close-combat assassin, her moves precise and vicious, making her the perfect counter to his tanky, lifestealing assassin build!

Though he swiftly dodged, the sword-light still grazed his cheek. A searing pain pierced his heart, jolting Su Qin’s mind.

‘That madwoman! She just used a killing blow!’

His eyes narrowed slightly, and Su Qin immediately decided to retaliate. His demonic cultivation circulated, emitting a dangerous aura.

However, Bai Zhenye retracted her ice blade. Simultaneously, Su Qin’s ears were assaulted by a series of hissing sounds, and a violent urge to vomit welled up within him.

– Thud

Unbeknownst to him, Su Qin’s entire right arm had fallen off. Sunlight, piercing through the hole created by the sword-light, sliced through his body as effortlessly as a hot knife through butter.

“Damn it!”

Su Qin’s eyes rolled back, and he fainted from the pain. A look of satisfied ecstasy bloomed on Bai Zhenye’s beautiful face.

His consciousness drifted through time and space. It was a long while before he awoke again, opening his eyes to see tall buildings rising from flat ground.

“You’re awake again?”

Bai Zhenye, clad only in her undergarments, had allowed Su Qin to rest his head on her rounded thigh, a blooming smile gracing her face.

“It hurts so much…”

He could feel the emptiness beneath his right shoulder, and his left cheek throbbed with pain.

“Aren’t you capable of healing?”

A hint of confusion appeared on Bai Zhenye’s face, but not a shred of guilt, instantly irritating Su Qin.

‘So, this woman doesn’t think she did anything wrong at all!’

“That also requires the consumption of true essence, my Sect Master. Moreover, wounds caused by sunlight can generally only be healed by fresh blood.”

Bai Zhenye’s delicate brows furrowed slightly, a flicker of worry passing through her eyes.

“My apologies. I was just testing you. Who knew if what you said was true? I feared you might concoct some lie to deceive me, just to clear your name.”

Su Qin’s teeth chattered with fury.

“You madwoman!”

‘That lunatic! What she just did not only rendered a whole day’s worth of crack repairs useless but also advanced the time of his disintegration by ten days!’

Bai Zhenye’s face remained utterly calm.

“Now that’s more like it. Your divine soul is clearly fine, not possessed, so why would you suddenly stop calling me a madwoman?”

Su Qin’s heart trembled, and he instantly broke out in a cold sweat, yet he maintained his composure on the surface.

“When life and death are at stake, how could I possibly jest?”

Bai Zhenye smiled cunningly, tugging at her collar to reveal her smooth, fair neck. Her skin, like congealed fat, gleamed under a sheen of moonlight.

“So, do you want to drink my blood? That should heal you quickly, shouldn’t it?”

Su Qin was momentarily stunned. Gazing at that alluring neck, he truly wanted to climb up and take a sip.

However, he managed to curb his impulse, turning his head away.

“No. I want you to leave.”

“Why?” Bai Zhenye was momentarily taken aback. “You don’t want to drink? Or you don’t want to drink mine?”

Su Qin sighed, the cracks on his face unable to conceal his sorrow.

“What good would drinking it do? It would only buy me time. I’d rather focus on doing something meaningful in the end. These next few days, I need to prepare to rendezvous with the Qingxuan Sect.”

Bai Zhenye’s eyelids visibly drooped, her beautiful eyes shimmering as if deep in thought.

“This time, I… this time I came…”

Su Qin turned his head, seeing her complex expression. He was instantly curious that the Zhenye, known as a killing machine, could display such an emotion.

“This time, I came to do something with you, for the last time.”

“What do you mean by that?” Su Qin’s attention was caught by the keywords.

Bai Zhenye’s usual coldness vanished, replaced by a maidenly shyness on her face, her earlobes tinged red.

“I simply wish to bear a child for you.”

Su Qin’s brain crashed for a second, his skull feeling as if a cement mixer were churning spaghetti inside.

“You-you-you want to bear a child for me—”

Bai Zhenye lowered her head, tilting it slightly as she watched his stunned expression.

“Is that not allowed?”

Su Qin felt his head explode with a buzzing sound.

‘These fairy maidens’ personas had collapsed too drastically. When he played the game, he’d always thought they were ethereal beings, untouched by worldly desires.’

‘Especially Bai Zhenye. She was someone who hadn’t changed her expression from her first appearance to her exit, known as the most unyielding ‘high-mountain flower’ in history.’

(TL Note: A metaphor for someone who is beautiful and unattainable, like a flower blooming on a high, inaccessible mountain)

‘Yet now, she was letting him rest on her thigh, asking him to plant his seed?’

Seeing him frozen, a gentle expression bloomed on Bai Zhenye’s face as she reached a hand towards her Golden Night Serpent Carp cotton waist sash.

“Then, shall I begin?”