Stranger Danger

Chapter 746: The Number One Celestial of Wulin

“Blood Rakshasa, Cui Qiuyuan, Qu Langhuan[1]...”

Ye Qing raised a curious eyebrow. The world was a small place when you have enemies. Not only did he recognize all of the Grandmasters present, two out of three of them held a grudge against him.

The woman in red dress was Blood Rakshasa, the handsome middle-aged man was the Mortician Cui Qiuyuan, and the woman in long palace dress was Qu Langhuan, one of the six Mistresses of the Li Hentian Palace. He had met her first at the Ghost Tower, and more recently at the Death Sea.

Blood Rakshasa was looking frail despite her best attempts to disguise her weakness. It was because he screwed her over back at the basin, of course. Her main cultivation art, the “Blood Soul Divine Light” was rooted on fresh blood. Naturally, the best way for her to recover her strength was to consume massive amounts of blood. Moreover, the stronger her victim, the greater the vigor and vitality contained within the blood, the greater the rejuvenation and strengthening effects.

Right now, everyone gathered inside the hall was either a young genius or a Grandmaster. In other words, they were all champions. It was one of the reasons why she chose to intercept the streams of blood. Not only would it prevent the strange woman from growing stronger, the blood could heal her injuries and even advance her cultivation further.

Cui Qiuyuan, the “Mortician” had lost his physical body to yours truly earlier, though it looked like he had created a new body using a secret art or something. It was clear that his mind was a little unstable though. It was probably because his mind was somewhat incompatible with his new body.

His objective was as clear as day. He wanted the woman on the throne.

Judging from how strong the woman was even in her current state, she had to be a Sage in the past. Moreover, her physical body was intact, and even her consciousness seemed to be fairly well preserved. She was the perfect material to create a Corpse Spirit.

If he could obtain her, he would surely grow much, much stronger than before.

The reason Qu Langhuan wanted the peachwood nail was obvious: it was a Strange Artifact that had suppressed a Sage for over eight hundred years. To say that it was priceless would be an understatement.

Finally, all three of them chose to reveal themselves now because they thought that the situation was well under control. In fact, they were so comfortable that they had already decided on how to share the loot in a matter of sentences.

Suddenly, the woman on the throne looked at Qu Langhuan and asked softly, “Who is Yan Qingyan, that menial, to you, girl?”

Qu Langhuan stared at the woman with shock and fury. “How dare you! You will not address her Holy Consort of my Li Hentian Palace as a menial!”

Yan Qingyan was one of the thirteen Dark Consorts of the Dark Overlord, Li Hentian. She was also the founder of the Li Hentian Palace, and she addressed herself as his Holy Consort.

“Li Hentian Palace? Holy Consort?”

A faint smile appeared on the woman’s face. It was attractive, beautiful, and full of scorn. “Are you telling me that that menial dared to misuse the Dark Overlord’s name and even styled herself as his Holy Consort? Who does she think she is?”

“Hmph! Why not? Her Holy Consort is one of the Dark Overlord’s Thirteen Dark Consorts!” Qu Langhuan retorted.

“... His Thirteen Dark Consorts? Hahahahaha…”

The woman giggled when she heard this. It was so melodious, so charming, that even Blood Rakshasa and Qu Langhuan—both of them women—lost themselves in her giggle for a moment, much less the men.

Several breaths later, Qu Langhuan finally recovered her wits and burned with embarrassment and anger. “Why are you laughing?”

“Why else? I am simply incredulous that a servant girl who is barely qualified to give me a massage and warm the Dark Overlord’s bed would be so deluded as to call herself his consort, of course!”

The woman smiled at Qu Langhuan. “Wouldn’t you think the same if you were in my position?”

“You dare! You will regret your transgression!” Enraged, Qu Langhuan launched a palm strike with two of her fingers curled inward, and the other three stretched out. A cold wind blew, and a bitter rain fell when she executed the palm technique.

A sudden death, an eternal separation. Its name was the “Divine Palm of Hateful Separation (Li Hen)”.

The woman on the throne looked positively scornful when she saw the palm technique, however. Her lips parted, and she blew away the cold wind and bitter rain with a single breath, leaving behind only fragrant air that reminded one of spring.

“You…” Qu Langhuan was stunned. She wasn’t expecting her “Divine Palm of Hateful Separation” to be dismantled so easily.

“Your technique looks sorrowful, but there is no substance in it. It is clear you have never experienced separation. Is this how Yan Qingyan teaches the ‘Divine Art of Hateful Separation’?”

The woman looked at Qu Langhuan with calm eyes. “Separation is bitter, hate is sorrowful. Such is the cold wind and bitter rain that the soul may break. Only by experiencing the bitterest parting and the most sorrowful hatred humanity has to offer could one grasp the essence of ‘hateful separation’ and the meaning of misery. Only then could you truly claim to have grasped the ‘Divine Art of Hateful Separation’.”

“What, has Yan Qingyan never taught you about this? Or has she forgotten about it?”

Qu Langhuan blanched. “How did you know about the core of the ‘Divine Art of Hateful Separation’?”

The Divine Palm of Hateful Separation was a palm technique in the Divine Art of Hateful Separation, and the ‘Divine Art of Hateful Separation’ was the Li Hentian Palace’s ultimate art and the very foundation of their sect. Naturally, few outsiders were privy to it. However, not only did the woman know about it, she seemed to know it intimately. Of course Qu Langhuan was shocked by this.

“Why? Because I am the one who created the ‘Divine Art of Hateful Separation’. That menial only knew it because I taught her.”

The woman stared at Qu Langhuan’s slack-jawed face and continued, “Hmm. It seems that that menial has expropriated the ‘Divine Art of Hateful Separation’ for herself. I am not surprised. She has always been a selfish, contemptible menial.”

“You may not know this, but the ‘Divine Art of Hateful Separation’ I taught her is incomplete. Does your body feel hot as if you were submerged in a pool of lava every yin day of a yin month of a yin year, and cold as if you were exposed to the coldest winter every yang day of a yang month of a yang year? Moreover, the greater your power, the worse your suffering becomes?”

“Im… Impossible! How could you know this? Who are you?”

All the blood drained away from Qu Langhuan’s face. If she was skeptical of the woman’s claims before, now she was starting to believe her. It was because everything she claimed up until this point was the absolute truth, and for obvious reasons, the flaws of the “Divine Art of Hateful Separation” were strictly kept as a secret. No one except the sect head and the Mistresses were made aware of it.

“Since the menial dared to expropriate the ‘Divine Art of Hateful Separation’, I am sure she wouldn’t tell you my name.”

The woman fell silent for a moment as if absorbed in an old memory before continuing, “I am Murong Xianxian.”

“Murong Xianxian?”

Cui Qiuyuan, Blood Rakshasa and Qu Langhuan blurted out instinctively. Then, their eyes slowly grew wider and wider.

Murong Xianxian was not a nobody’s name. On the contrary, it was such a famous name that there was almost no one in the world who hadn’t heard about it.

“Morong Xianxian? You are Murong Xianxian, the most beautiful woman of the wulin eight hundred years ago?” Cui Qiuyuan exclaimed in shock.

“I did not think I would still be remembered eight hundred years later,” the woman admitted.

“No wonder. Now I understand why you are so perfect. They called you the number one celestial of the wulin and the crowning jewel of humanity. They say that anyone who met you the first time would willingly surrender a city to win your favor, and later a nation to earn a second meeting. The legends are true after all!” Cui Qiuyuan exclaimed with bright eyes.

“You’re Murong Xianxian… but shouldn’t you be dead? Why are you here?” Qu Langhuan looked confused.

Murong Xianxian was the only daughter of the patriarch of the Murong Clan, a powerful wulin clan from eight hundred years. Her looks were so stunning that Rouge[2] described her as the greatest beauty of the wulin, the number one celestial of the wulin, the crowning jewel of humanity, and more. It was said that her beauty was such that anyone would surrender a city to her on their first meeting, and later a nation to earn a second meeting.

In fact, that was the case. Back then, it was said that a frown from Murong Xianxian could mobilize the entire jianghu into action, and a smile could appease the entire wulin. Countless jianghu warriors and wulin geniuses had rushed to become her humble servants. Even old masters and famous warriors desperately wanted to curry favor with her.

1. Mistress Qu. For some reason this is the first time her full name is revealed. Trust me I checked. ☜

2. a ranking list for beauties I'm guessing, it wasn’t really stated clearly. ☜