Su Nü

Before long. Su Nü was startled awake. Whirling around in high alert, she barked, "Who is it?!" "Junior Sister, don't worry, it's me." A figure flashed into view—the handsome youth from earlier. "Senior Brother..." Su Nü's expression relaxed, the wariness leaving her eyes as though she trusted him completely. Letting out a long breath, a brilliant, overjoyed smile lit up her face. In a sweet voice, she asked, "To think you would be the first to arrive, Senior Brother! Where are the others?" Seeing her dazzling smile, the youth stared blankly for a moment. What he failed to notice was the flicker of complexity hidden deep within her eyes as she spoke. "They should be here soon as well. I didn't expect the first trial to be a puppet battle, or we could have regrouped during the previous stage..." The handsome youth stepped forward, only then noticing the blood on the ice and Su Nü's condition. Panicking at once, he asked repeatedly, "Junior Sister, are you injured?" Su Nü nodded, her voice tinged with weakness and sorrow. "I was accidentally injured during the first stage and forced it down. But just now, I was besieged by ice lizards, which agitated my old injury, so I could only stop here to heal." "With your cultivation, Junior Sister, passing the puppet battle shouldn't have been difficult! Ah, I know... Master and the elders have protected you too well! The puppet beasts in the final stage of the puppet battle are indeed troublesome. You focus too much on cultivation—though your advancement has been astonishingly rapid and peerless, you lack harsh tempering and have had far too few opportunities for real combat. Faced with a powerful foe, you don't know how to respond and end up flustered..." The handsome youth clapped his hands together, convinced he had pinpointed the crux of the problem. "Once we leave the Hall of Seven Kills, Junior Sister, ask Master and the elders to let you go out for tempering. I will accompany you and ensure your safety." "Thank you, Senior Brother." Su Nü curtsied respectfully and put away her prayer mat. "With Senior Brother by my side, I can rest easy. We should set off quickly so no one takes the Soul-Washing Liquid before us. The other senior brothers should gradually catch up and join us." "All right!" Suspecting nothing, the youth darted over to Su Nü's side. To his shock, the moment he drew near, the smile on Su Nü's face vanished instantly. Staring coldly at him, she abruptly struck out with a vicious palm strike. A black palm print of demonic energy shot straight toward his vitals. "Junior Sister, you—!" The youth was horrified. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that this innocent, sheltered girl in his eyes would suddenly lash out with murderous intent—and against him, no less. They were too close. Taken entirely off guard, the youth only had time to dodge sideways. Yet the moment he shifted, an ominous sensation struck him, and his heart sank. Beneath the ice, jade bracelets suddenly revealed themselves. From their arrangement, they formed an array—and his step had landed right in its midst. *Boom!* The ice layer detonated completely, sending countless shards of ice flying in all directions. *Ding-a-ling...* The jade bracelets vibrated like chimes, producing a crisp, ringing sound. Yet to the youth's ears, this sound was a demonic toll heralding his doom. In a frantic hurry, he summoned his life magic treasure: a silver chain. He had named it the Immortal-Binding Chain. However, no sooner had the chain materialized than a fierce gust of wind bore down on him. Out of the corner of his eye, the youth caught only a glimpse of a black streak. Then, to his terror, he found that a barrier seemed to have sprung up between him and his life magic treasure, suddenly making their connection sluggish. Atop the silver chain clung a small black serpent formed of demonic energy. The serpent's tail was held in Su Nü's left hand. With her other hand swiftly forming an incantation seal, she parted her vermilion lips and softly whispered, "Detonate!" The jade bracelets vibrated even more violently, suddenly lunging at the youth in unison and blowing apart with tremendous force before his horrified eyes. *Rumble!* The array self-destructed, tearing everything nearby to shreds. Su Nü flitted backward to evade the shockwave. Casting a cautious glance into the distance to confirm no one else was around, she flashed back to the center of the blast. Silence reigned within; the youth seemed to have been blown to bits. "Save the act. I know you're not dead," Su Nü said with disdain. Demonic energy surged in her palm, condensing into a demonic blade that slashed out swiftly. *Bang!* The blade met resistance. The youth revealed himself, disheveled and in utter disarray, a far cry from his former self. He held only a broken fragment of his life magic treasure, his aura severely weakened. Glaring fiercely at Su Nü's pretty face, deep-seated hatred burning in his eyes, he snarled, "Vicious woman! You and I have no enmity between us—why did you set a trap to murder me?!" "Vicious woman? No enmity?" Su Nü sneered without answering and struck again. Heavily wounded, the youth was naturally no match for Su Nü, and in the end, she captured him alive. Tossing him onto the ice, Su Nü looked down at him with conflicted eyes. "Senior Brother, out of consideration for the decades we've spent together day and night, if you answer one question truthfully, I will grant you a quick death and spare you the agony of soul searching." The youth said not a word, merely glaring at her with venomous eyes. Su Nü ignored his glare and asked of her own accord, "You were sent to watch over me by the Alliance Master and your master, Old Ghost Xun, weren't you? What is their true purpose in taking me in?" Hearing this, the youth's expression changed, shock flashing through his eyes. "Just as I thought!" Su Nü sighed softly. "Are you wondering how I figured it out? Immortal Aunt Yue staged a scheme, pretending I was accidentally discovered by the Alliance Master and taken in as a disciple because of my outstanding talent. But in truth, she offered me up to the Alliance Master as a gift! She thought I had lost all my memories, but I remember everything!" At this point, profound, bone-deep hatred suddenly surfaced on Su Nü's face. "She treated dozens of us sisters as sacrificial offerings, using an evil art to refine the so-called Five Yin Exquisite Body. In the end, only I was fortunate enough to survive! Immortal Aunt Yue succeeded, and after presenting me to the alliance, she must have gotten what she wanted, right? For decades, I acted naive and ignorant, letting you all manipulate me. But I grew more and more terrified! Even with the Five Yin Exquisite Body, my cultivation speed shouldn't have been so absurdly fast. What do you intend to do to me that made you spare no expense to groom me? You claim to have come to regroup with me, but in truth, you're here to watch me, aren't you? There must be Business Alliance members guarding the entrance to the Inner Hall as well, right?!" Su Nü stared fixedly into the youth's eyes, her voice shrill as she hurled her accusations. "Junior Sister, you're overthinking things. The Alliance Master values you solely because of your extraordinary talent. Over these decades, Master and the Alliance Master have constantly guided your cultivation. When have they ever mistreated you?" The youth sighed and slowly closed his eyes. Seeing that the youth was stubborn and unyielding, Su Nü hesitated no longer. She pressed her palm against his glabella. Moments later... The youth breathed his last. "So he really approached me deliberately on that old ghost's orders. A pity he knows so little. Did you all think I would let myself be at your mercy forever?" Su Nü snorted coldly. Looking down at the youth's corpse, she hesitated for a moment before unleashing a burst of flame, incinerating it to ashes. She retrieved a token and waved her hand, attempting to destroy it. Yet the token was extraordinarily hard, and bound to her bloodline, it could not be discarded.