Chapter 42: Chapter 41: Shi Xueyan
Chen Yuan wasn’t certain if the future Chu Hongshang would still become the Crimson Demon Venerable.
However, her starting position this time was, in any case, better than in the original story.
With the "Inner Vision God Observation Method," she could develop her body’s potential, allowing her to achieve twice the results with half the effort when cultivating any other technique later on.
After instructing Chu Hongshang on how to behave in front of Shi Xueyan, Chen Yuan left without another word.
However, Chen Yuan didn’t go far. Instead, he found another inn in the Beihai Collection and settled in.
This inn was located in the center of the Beihai Collection, allowing him to monitor Chu Hongshang’s movements at all times. Chen Yuan planned to leave only after confirming that Shi Xueyan had taken her away.
Avenging Chu Hongshang and helping her enter the Ten Thousand Demon Sect was an experiment for Chen Yuan.
He was helping these future powerhouses and great figures—or at least befriending them—before their rise to prominence.
’When they rise to power in the future, won’t I be able to do whatever I want in this Jianghu?’
In the original story, Chu Hongshang respected only the Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch, Chen Jiutian. She didn’t even give the Sect Leader of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect a second glance.
’Now that I’ve helped her avenge the annihilation of her clan, she’s bound to remember this favor in the future, right?’
’Of course, that’s all assuming they can still grow and rise to power as they did in the original story.’
However, Chen Yuan wouldn’t help or befriend just anyone.
Some of the future great figures, despite their strength, were not good people.
If Chen Yuan helped them now, they might just stab him in the back later if their interests conflicted.
Although Chu Hongshang killed indiscriminately and acted ruthlessly in the original story, she was clear about her debts and grudges.
If someone cursed her once, she might slaughter their entire family in retaliation.
But by the same token, there were those in Lonely Mountain City who had spoken a word of justice for the Chu Family, and she later rewarded them handsomely, showering them with Cultivation Techniques and Elixirs as if they were free.
If she treated someone who merely spoke a word of justice for her family so well, how much more would she value a great benefactor like Chen Yuan, who had avenged them?
Meanwhile, Chu Hongshang followed Chen Yuan’s instructions, arranging the heads of the Zhu Family on a main street in the Beihai Collection and publicly mourning her family. This immediately caused another huge uproar in the Beihai Collection.
Everyone in the Beihai Collection knew about the Chu Family’s affair. When Chu Hongshang later posted a quest at Wan Tong Restaurant seeking someone to avenge her family’s massacre, the Martial Artists in the collection had felt a little pity for the young girl.
Of course, pity was one thing, but these were all low-level Jianghu People. No one dared to uphold justice and accept the quest.
Who would have thought that some reckless fool from out of town would actually dare to take it? For the past two days, everyone had been gossiping about how exactly Chen Yuan, the man who accepted the quest, would meet his end.
But just a few days later, the heads of the Zhu Family were on display in the Beihai Collection.
During the two days of Chen Yuan’s confrontation with the Zhu Family, the people of Lonely Mountain City had not dared to venture outside.
But with the Zhu Family’s fall, many people came down from the mountain, and news of the battle’s details spread.
Vicious. Supremely vicious!
This was everyone’s assessment of the Zhu Family’s annihilation.
Chen Yuan hadn’t just killed the Zhu Family’s members; he had killed their nerve.
He single-handedly shattered their courage, causing the Zhu Family’s already unstable foundation of Guests to rout, reducing the family to nothing.
Moreover, Zhu Chengze and Zhu Cheng’an had killed each other in the end. Anyone who wasn’t blind could see that.
Heaven only knew what verbal tricks Chen Yuan had used to make blood brothers slaughter each other. The very thought sent a chill down the spine.
However, the Zhu Family’s reputation in the Beihai Collection had never been good, so Chen Yuan’s ruthless methods actually felt quite satisfying to many.
Some Jianghu People who held grudges against the Zhu Family even openly spat on the heads of Zhu Chaofeng and the others.
「Two days later.」
A fleet of ships returned from Overseas. A woman in a long white dress with a red mark on her brow strode off one of the vessels.
The woman was stunningly beautiful but cold, with a mature air about her. She looked to be in her thirties, but a world-weary look in her eyes suggested she was much older.
Just then, a Jianghu Person on the shore eyed the woman lecherously, a sordid grin on his face as his mind ran through eighteen different ways to have his way with her.
At that moment, the woman’s gaze snapped toward him, her expression instantly darkening.
She extended a hand, and in an instant, a massive suction force erupted.
The Jianghu Person let out a wretched scream as his body cracked inch by inch. All the blood was forcibly sucked from his body, forming a huge sphere of blood in mid-air!
The next moment, the sphere of blood burst, showering the ground with gore. The Jianghu Person was now nothing but a shriveled corpse.
The surrounding Jianghu People hurriedly lowered their heads, trembling uncontrollably.
Those from the Demon Dao were known to kill at the slightest disagreement.
But someone like this, who killed without a single word being exchanged, would be considered a madman even among the Demon Dao!
Chen Yuan, residing on the top floor of the inn, could also see the seashore.
Though he couldn’t see the woman’s face clearly, from her actions, Chen Yuan was certain: the newcomer was the Ten Thousand Demon Sect’s "Blood-Handed Fairy," Shi Xueyan.
In her youth, Shi Xueyan was a disciple of a Minor Demon Sect. However, she fell in love with the heir of one of the Righteous Sects and went so far as to betray her own Sect to join the righteous path for him.
But after defecting from the Demon Dao, Shi Xueyan was ostracized by the Righteous Sect. The man she loved was even arranged to marry the daughter of a well-matched Noble Family. This caused Shi Xueyan to break down completely.
Afterward, Shi Xueyan, at some unknown cost, re-entered the Demon Dao and joined the top-tier Major Sect, the Ten Thousand Demon Sect.
Over a decade later, Shi Xueyan’s Cultivation reached Great Success, and her personality became twisted and deranged. She personally slaughtered that entire Righteous Sect.
Because the Secret Technique she cultivated preserved her youth and her methods were savage and cruel, the people of the Jianghu gave her the moniker "Blood-Handed Fairy."
’Of course, in Chen Yuan’s eyes, the woman was nothing but a lovesick fool.’
As Shi Xueyan passed through the center of the Beihai Collection, her eyes naturally fell upon Chu Hongshang.
The hatred in Chu Hongshang’s eyes made her pause in surprise. ’Where did such a young girl get such profound hatred?’
Shi Xueyan casually grabbed a Jianghu Person and asked, "What’s the story with this young girl?"
The man didn’t even dare to lift his head, stammering out the whole story as he trembled.
After hearing it, a look of great interest appeared in Shi Xueyan’s eyes.
She walked up to Chu Hongshang and asked, "Your enemies are all dead now. Why are you still so full of hatred?"
"I hate myself for being powerless, for being unable to personally avenge the slaughter of my clan!"
Chu Hongshang looked up, remembering Chen Yuan’s words, and did her utmost to display the hatred in her heart for Shi Xueyan to see.
"There’s still one person from the Zhu Family left alive! He’s a disciple of the Blazing Sect, a top Major Sect in Yong Province! I can’t kill him, and no one can help me kill him. I only hate my own incompetence!"
"The Wang Family of South Mountain City, who you were engaged to, threw you out. Do you hate them?"
With red-rimmed eyes, Chu Hongshang nodded venomously. "I hate them! I wish I could eat their flesh and drink their blood! If I had the power, I would annihilate the Wang Family all the same!"
Although the Wang Family’s actions had been excessive, Chu Hongshang didn’t actually harbor that much hatred for them.
The world was a cold and fickle place. The Wang Family was weaker than the Zhu Family, so naturally, they were unwilling to offend the Zhu Family over a woman.
The decision the Wang Family made was the very strategy by which such minor families survived.
But her benefactor had told her to say this, and she didn’t ask why. She simply did as he said.
’Of course, that was just what she thought now. In the original story, the Wang Family’s end had been just as miserable.’
Shi Xueyan nodded in satisfaction.
She was a paranoid and insane person, and her worldview was just like that—she never cared for reason, only her personal likes and dislikes.
She was very satisfied with Chu Hongshang’s current worldview, feeling it was a perfect match for her own.
Furthermore, the hatred Chu Hongshang displayed made Shi Xueyan feel that this was promising material.
When she was young, she had joined the Ten Thousand Demon Sect harboring an extreme hatred. It was precisely because of this hatred that she had been able to distinguish herself and become the Blood-Handed Fairy she was today.
’Though in Chen Yuan’s opinion, that stuff was useless.’
Aside from turning oneself into a psychopath, it offered almost no benefit to one’s Cultivation.
But Shi Xueyan stubbornly believed that only with extreme hatred could one have the ultimate motivation to cultivate and squeeze out every last drop of their potential.
In addition, Shi Xueyan possessed a Secret Technique that allowed her to see at a glance that Chu Hongshang’s own innate talent was quite good.
All these conditions combined were enough to make Shi Xueyan decide to take her.
"I am Shi Xueyan of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect. Are you willing to take me as your master and return with me to the Ten Thousand Demon Sect?"
Chu Hongshang looked up at Shi Xueyan. "Can you help me kill Zhu Chengzong of the Blazing Sect and destroy the Wang Family?"
Shi Xueyan chuckled disdainfully. "Just a young disciple of the Blazing Sect. Even if I killed him, those old fossils wouldn’t dare make a peep.
As for that Wang Family, they are no better than pigs or dogs. I could wipe them out with a wave of my hand."
Her tone shifted. "However, they are your enemies. I will not help you get revenge.
Remember them. Remember your hatred for them. Only with this hatred can you go further on the path of cultivation!
When you have achieved great success in your cultivation and distinguished yourself from the countless Demon Children of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect, only then will you be qualified to take revenge and unleash the hatred in your heart!"
In the original story, Shi Xueyan had deliberately left the Zhu Family alive to let that hatred fester in Chu Hongshang’s heart.
Now, Chen Yuan had destroyed the Zhu Family, but he had Chu Hongshang put up Zhu Chengzong and the Wang Family as new targets, fabricating a great feud that gave Shi Xueyan’s twisted logic room to work.
Thus, the situation was not much different from how it unfolded in the original story.
Chu Hongshang decisively dropped to her knees and kowtowed three times to Shi Xueyan.
"Disciple pays her respects to Master!"
Shi Xueyan nodded in satisfaction, pulling Chu Hongshang to her feet and leading her away.
Her personality was so paranoid and unhinged that many in the Ten Thousand Demon Sect couldn’t stand her, which was why she had never taken a disciple.
She hadn’t expected that a trip to the North Sea to clear her head would lead her to stumble upon such a promising seedling on her way back.
Chu Hongshang followed behind Shi Xueyan, but she kept looking back in the direction of the Beihai Collection.
Shi Xueyan thought she was still unable to let go of the hatred in her heart.
In reality, Chu Hongshang was looking for Chen Yuan.
She knew he hadn’t left, that he was watching her from the shadows.
’I am weak now. Following my benefactor would only make me a burden, unable to help in any way.’
’But in the future, I will definitely distinguish myself in the Ten Thousand Demon Sect and repay my benefactor!’
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