Chapter 99: A Hundred Years’ Price

The moment ‘Severing Decay’ pierced her glabella, the entire world seemed to freeze.

Time, light, and even the dust motes suspended in the air succumbed to an eerie, unnatural stillness.

Centered around Shen Zhaoqing, an invisible power of law suddenly radiated outwards, forcefully severing the one-way path that led to death.

Shen Zhaoqing’s vitality had been utterly depleted, and her very being was irreversibly spiraling towards decay and dissolution. Yet, this inexorable ‘momentum’ was violently wrenched back by a force far more domineering and savage, locking her firmly at the precipice of ‘withered silence’.

The oil was gone, yet the flame refused to die.

Life had scattered, but the soul remained intact.

The cost was a shocking, gaping void torn from Bai Zhileng’s lifespan, which had been as boundless as a mighty river.

A hundred years.

For a Soul Transformation Realm cultivator, this was not unbearable, but it was certainly not to be taken lightly.

It was an emptiness originating from the very essence of life, as if a vital component of her body had been gouged out, leaving an eternally unfillable void.

Bai Zhileng lowered her gaze, looking at the body in her arms, so cold it scarcely seemed alive.

That face was still as pale as parchment.

That body was still as light as a handful of ash.

But it was different now.

Completely different.

From this moment on, this person, this body, this life she had forcibly dragged back from the gates of hell—every lingering trace of warmth, every passive beat of her heart—would be sustained by Bai Zhileng’s own lifespan.

She had become Shen Zhaoqing’s life.

“My…”

Bai Zhileng’s voice was hoarse and soft. She reached out a fingertip, gently tracing the peach blossom tear mole beneath Shen Zhaoqing’s eye. The sorrow she had feigned for so long had vanished from her gaze, replaced by an absolute possessiveness and obsession.

‘This is where she truly belongs.’

‘Not as some hero who sacrifices herself for justice, nor as some purifier of demonic energy.’

‘She was born to be perfectly and uniquely preserved in the deepest reaches of Penglai Immortal Palace, a medicinal guide blooming only for me.’

“Hahahahaha… hahahahahahahahahahaha!”

At first, the laughter seemed to echo from distant heavens, but with each falling syllable, it felt as though a foot had stomped, neither too lightly nor too heavily, upon one’s very heart, causing souls to tremble and blood to churn.

The Azure Water Cold Pool, which had become clear and ethereal due to the purification of the Dao Source Body, now saw the air above it rapidly tinged with an ambiguous crimson, as if a concentrated drop of rouge had fallen into it.

An exotic fragrance, a hundred times more potent than the scents emanating from the Joyful Union Sect’s lower-ranking disciples, instantly enveloped the entire area, completely washing away the lingering medicinal aroma that had belonged to Bai Zhileng.

Bai Zhileng abruptly lifted her head, her autumn-water eyes, which had just been steeped in obsessive possessiveness, instantly froze into ice.

Above, a woman clad in a crimson and white fox fur cloak was seen, treading barefoot through the void, approaching step by step.

She walked slowly, her posture as languid as a cat just awakened from slumber. With each step, invisible red lotuses seemed to bloom and wither beneath her feet.

A cascade of silver-white hair flowed casually behind her like moonlight, swaying gently with her movements.

Her face was beautiful beyond mortal comprehension. Her narrow, foxy eyes shimmered, and every curve of her eyes and brows exuded an boundless charm capable of driving men across the world to madness and women to envy.

Most striking were the nine colossal, illusory fox tails behind her, vaguely discernible, formed from demonic energy and the laws of desire. They unfurled and swayed like a peacock’s display, each swing rippling through space and exuding the terrifying, heart-stopping pressure of a peak Void Return Realm expert.

The newcomer was none other than the Sect Master of the Joyful Union Sect, Pure Heart Heavenly Fox.

She had arrived.

At the most unfortunate, yet most ‘opportune,’ moment.

“My dear sister, why be so disheartened?”

Pure Heart Heavenly Fox’s crimson lips parted, her voice soft and sweet, tinged with a hint of reproach, as if chiding an unruly child.

“Why make yourself so tattered and broken, burning away all your vitality? How can you then be my most perfect Cauldron?”

Her voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

The words “Cauldron” struck like a thunderclap, turning the faces of the Qingyun Sect disciples ashen, while Bai Zhileng’s eyes instantly darkened to the point of dripping ice.

“What are you doing here?”

Bai Zhileng slowly stood upright, cradling Shen Zhaoqing. Her voice had regained its usual coolness, but beneath it lay a chilling, murderous intent, like ten-thousand-year-old profound ice.

She did not recognize this woman, but the other party’s undisguised demonic aura, clearly from the same source as Ling Shuangjue yet distinctly different, combined with that brazen declaration of “Cauldron,” instantly categorized her as a mortal enemy.

One Ling Shuangjue, one Yuange, were already enough to give her a headache.

“Me?” Pure Heart Heavenly Fox covered her lips with a smile, her foxy eyes seductively appraising Bai Zhileng up and down. “Little sister, look at this clean, ascetic scent of medicine, and this Soul Transformation Realm cultivation. A solid foundation, truly a good seedling. What a pity, though, you’ve cultivated the wrong path.”

She shook her head, a look of regret on her face.

“Such an unparalleled Dao Source Body, falling into the hands of medical cultivators like you, who only know how to refine elixirs from herbs, is simply a waste of heavenly treasures. Only by dual cultivating with my ‘Heavenly Demonic Bliss Scripture,’ using desire as fire and the divine soul as a guide, can truly unleash the most fundamental Dao韵 within her, helping me break through the final step and shatter the void.”

She spoke with an air of absolute certainty, as if Shen Zhaoqing’s fate had already been entirely orchestrated by her.

“Hah?”

“Dual cultivation? Shatter the void?”

Bai Zhileng scoffed.

“It was agreed then: you would have the Qingyun Sect, and she would be mine.”

“It seems you are a step too late, Palace Lord.”

She lifted her eyes, meeting Pure Heart Heavenly Fox’s captivating gaze directly, and enunciated each word: “This person, her life, is mine now.”

“Yours?”

Pure Heart Heavenly Fox seemed to have heard the greatest joke, laughing so hard that her body trembled, and the nine illusory fox tails behind her swayed violently, causing the surrounding space to become unstable.

“Hahahahaha… Sister, you truly are amusing. Look at her—her vitality severed, her divine soul dormant. How is she different from a corpse? If not for this Dao Source Body’s resistance to decay and emptiness, she would likely be utterly cold by now. You’re holding a corpse and telling me she’s *yours*?”

Her smile vanished, her eyes suddenly sharpening.

“Anything I desire, even if it’s dead, still belongs to me.”

Before her words fully faded, an even more terrifying pressure descended with a crash!

This was no longer mere realm suppression, but a spiritual impact infused with the laws of desire and the allure of inner demons.

Bai Zhileng remained standing quietly in place.

Before her, the ‘Glazed Medicinal Umbrella’ she had left on the ground automatically flew up, unfurling a translucent light barrier. Countless intricate ancient runes flowed across the barrier, steadfastly blocking the seductive pressure that could cause even Void Return Realm experts to lose their composure.

Within the light barrier, she held Shen Zhaoqing, her expression completely unchanged.

Her alchemical heart, long purified and detached by cultivating the ‘Supreme Elixir Scripture,’ had not only avoided cracking after the recent intense ‘life-and-death race,’ but had instead formed a wondrous resonance with the Dao Source aura locked by the ‘Severing Decay’ needle in Shen Zhaoqing, due to the sacrifice of a hundred years of her lifespan.

At this moment, Pure Heart Heavenly Fox’s proud ‘Heavenly Demonic Bliss Scripture’ was nothing more than bothersome noise to her.

“Oh?”

A flicker of surprise crossed Pure Heart Heavenly Fox’s eyes.

She had not expected a mere Soul Transformation Realm medical cultivator to be able to withstand seventy percent of her pressure head-on.

Interesting.

“It seems I underestimated you,” Pure Heart Heavenly Fox licked her vibrant red lips, the amusement in her eyes growing more intense. “You are the first to snatch food from my grasp. Very well, consider it clearing away annoying weeds before plucking the fruit.”

She seemed to have lost her patience.

“Since you refuse to let go, I shall take her myself.”

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