Chapter Sixty-Five: The Gathering of Heretical Heroes

“You’ll get her killed.” Lin Xia snapped at Ye Xiaoling, who had just cast a message talisman. A flash of white light disappeared. In a fit of rage, Lin Xia shouted, “Ye Xiaoling, who are you informing?”

“My sister is a registered disciple of the Ninth Elder, did you forget?” Ye Xiaoling replied smugly, a far cry from the fearful girl she’d been in front of Yu Youwei moments before.

“What are you trying to do?” Lin Xia asked in alarm, turning to flee, but Ye Xiaoling’s sword pierced straight through her chest.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you—it was my sister who told the Ninth Elder about my younger sister’s Profound Yin Severed Veins. The Ninth Elder promised that after the ritual, he’d take my sister as his personal disciple. Once I reach Foundation Establishment, I can enter the inner sect too. Now that I’ve rendered another service today, who knows, maybe the Ninth Elder will take me as a personal disciple as well, or at the very least reward me with a Foundation Pill.” Ye Xiaoling spoke with unabashed pride.

“Despicable!” Lin Xia spat, furious.

“I’m only doing this to survive, Sister Lin. I’m sorry. You conspired with the Venomous Lady to sabotage the ritual—come with us to the Hall of Enforcement. Sisters, this credit belongs to all of us. Don’t let this traitor Lin Xia escape.” As Ye Xiaoling finished, she yanked her sword from Lin Xia’s chest, and with a swift motion, slit her throat.

Blood spurted in a dazzling arc. Through that bright scarlet, Lin Xia gazed at the mountain blocking Yu Youwei from view, and silently mouthed: “Venomous Lady, run!”

Year after year, gray-black mist drifted from the bottom of the valley. From the sky, Jade Serpent Valley looked like a sinuous serpent slithering through the land. Pavilions and towers lined the valley in the shape of a great Eight Trigrams array, at the center of which lay a pool brimming with blood. Coiled in the pool was a giant azure-scaled serpent with a stone stele upon its back, and atop the stele, naked and covered in blood, was a bound woman.

Encircling the blood pool were tens of thousands of disciples from the Xuancha Palace, all draped in green gauze, dancing an eerie, ritualistic choreography.

Nearly a thousand men and women in multicolored robes gathered on a corridor in the northwest. Though called a corridor, it was actually a secure passageway—without special tokens, even an ancient monster at the Integration Stage would perish upon crossing its boundaries.

At the spot where the corridor faced the serpent’s head, a group of a dozen or so extraordinary young men stood out. One could tell at a glance that these were arrogant, domineering sorts, utterly unmoved by the burning gazes from the surrounding women. They formed a closed circle, speaking only among themselves.

Among them, Lord Wu of the Ye Clan and the Demonic Blade Ye Qianzhong were the nucleus. The former was the Palace Master of the Thousand Venoms Palace’s direct disciple—rumor had it he was the Palace Lord’s illegitimate son. The latter was the biological son of the Evil Lord Ye Shengtian. Together with Hong Tao, the absent Young Master of the Assassins’ Alliance, they were the leading figures of the younger generation in the demonic path—rivals, yet friends.

The Snow Ridge Twin Fiends from Soul Fortress, the Demon Blade Lu Haofeng from Falling Star Hall, and the Ice Prince Li Bing from the Palace of Ice and Snow were only slightly less distinguished than Ye and Wu, but not by much. The remaining five—Li Yang and others from the Four Sects—were a step below in both status and strength, but still managed to keep up.

This inner circle of eleven, along with a few not present such as Hong Tao, all stood a fair chance of inheriting the power of their respective factions. Especially since Ye Qianzhong’s father had all but retired, leaving Evil Cloud Fortress in his son’s care. It could be said this group formed the very core of demonic power among the East Continent’s new generation.

With arms crossed, the Demonic Blade Ye Qianzhong leaned against a pillar, his hawk-like eyes narrowed in thought. “Xuancha Palace is serious about allying with the Sword Sect this time. To cement the pact, they’ve opened the Serpent Pool ahead of schedule and allocated training slots to our palace, the two fortresses, two halls, and four sects. Quite the grand gesture.”

With a flourish of his folding fan, a waft of intoxicating fragrance drifted out as Lu Haofeng, the demon blade with a hint of effeminacy, smiled slyly. “You’re behind the times. The upper echelons of Sword Sect want to let bygones be bygones. Yu Shiyu was dragged back by his elders last night and confined.”

The Snow Ridge brothers asked in unison, “Who is Yu Shiyu?”

Li Yang replied, “Yan Qing’s junior disciple, I think. That crazy woman apparently dotes on him.”

Lu Haofeng elbowed the silent Lord Wu. “Wu, care to make a wager?”

Clad in purple robe and jade belt, a jade sword at his waist, Lord Wu’s pale complexion gave him the look of a frivolous playboy. At Lu Haofeng’s words, he shot a cold, sidelong glance and tossed out, “Not interested.”

“You haven’t even heard what I want to bet on.”

“You can’t enter the Serpent Pool to train, so you won’t make a breakthrough. Beating you means nothing.”

“You think the Palace Mistress of Xuancha is just playing us? Since when is Lord Wu so easygoing, happy to play the fool?”

“Don’t bother with reverse psychology. It’s useless. Just wait and see.” At this, a hint of anticipation flickered in Lord Wu’s cold, predatory eyes.

Ye Qianzhong complained, “Wu, that’s not right. You’ve got inside info and won’t share it—isn’t that what brothers are for?”

With a flourish of his beauty-printed fan, Lu Haofeng’s eyes sparkled with mischief as he laughed, “For a brother, he’d take a knife to the ribs; for the Venomous Lady, he’d stab his brothers twice! Blade, you don’t get it—whenever Lord Wu shows symptoms of lovesickness, it means that elusive Venomous Lady is about to appear.”

Li Bing and Ye Qianzhong both stared at Wu in disbelief, while Li Yang and the others instinctively took a few steps back. Given Lord Wu’s notorious mood swings and tendency to kill on a whim, none of them wished to become collateral damage.

Surprisingly, Lord Wu showed no reaction, his composure almost unsettling.

“Looks like he still hasn’t gotten his hands on her,” Ye Qianzhong remarked crudely, tinged with surprise. “So there’s actually a woman that Wu can’t win over? Seems I’ve been in seclusion too long, missing out on such entertainment. Demon Blade, tell me—what’s so special about this Venomous Lady?”

“Ruthless and merciless.”

“That’s it?” Ye Qianzhong sounded thoroughly disappointed. “In the demonic path, man or woman, young or old, you can’t survive without a ruthless heart and a merciless hand. What’s so special about that?”

With a soft chuckle, Lu Haofeng said, “Apart from Lord Wu, no one’s seen the Venomous Lady’s true face. If you want to know what sets her apart, you’ve got two options: either Lord Wu opens up, or you try seducing her yourself.”

Li Yang jumped at the chance to stir the pot. “Makes sense.”

“Fine, I’ll sacrifice my good looks just this once,” Ye Qianzhong declared, laughing boisterously.

Even the taciturn Li Bing suggested, “The Venomous Lady is a master of poison. Before you even get close, you’ll be knocked down by her toxins. Sacrificing your looks will be in vain.”

Lu Haofeng clapped his hands and laughed. “To be fair, Wu, you’ll need to hand out antidote pills first.”

Li Yang suppressed a laugh, “You’re planning to sacrifice your looks too?”

The Snow Ridge twins chimed in unison, “It’s only fair! Whoever can win over the Venomous Lady gets to overshadow Lord Wu for once—just thinking about it feels great!” Not a word out of sync—their twin minds were truly astonishing.