"Where do you think you're going?"
Just a stick of incense ago, it was this very greeting that had filled Li Xun with great joy; but now, hearing these same words, a chill surged up from the base of his spine straight to the crown of his head. Every muscle in his body froze.
His foot slipped. With a thud, he crashed headlong into the mountainside.
Branches cracked and shattered all around him. He didn't know how many cuts he had suffered, only that his body was now streaked with pain. His head slammed into a gnarled root, and a spray of stars burst across his vision.
At the same time, the air around him began to sizzle with heat.
"Don't kill me!" he shrieked.
A sticky warmth slid down his forehead—his head had been split open by the crash—but he had no time to care. He scrambled upright and bolted headlong into the forest.
The dappled shadows of the trees became countless fine lashes, whipping against his body like the hem of a mourning shroud, enveloping him in despair.
The temperature continued to rise around him, each degree a warning that death was still right on his heels.
In this moment, no matter how miraculous the Jade Bixie was, it could not calm the storm of panic surging through his mind.
Bang!
Disoriented and fleeing blindly, Li Xun could no longer tell what was real and what was shadow. In a blur, he smashed straight into a tree trunk. Pain from old and new wounds collided in a wave, and the world went black.
That final crash shattered what little resistance he had left.
Blood trickled from the corner of his eye, dripping onto the ground. He forced his eyes open just a crack—and in the haze, a flash of crimson appeared before him.
A blood-red dress.
Its sheer silken hem swayed faintly in the mountain breeze.
"Spare me…"
He whimpered and struggled to turn halfway over, reaching out a trembling hand toward the edge of that dress—this was not a defense, not a counterattack, not even a plea. It was a beggar's last hope, the grasp of a soul at the edge of death, trying to hold onto its final breath.
But the hem of the skirt drifted backward a step, preventing him from touching it.
Still, Li Xun could feel it—that presence, that being who now held his life in the palm of her hand—was watching him.
She was intrigued.
Perhaps she was considering mercy. Or perhaps she was deciding where to carve first.
Fear erupted from the depths of his soul and consumed him whole. A strange, numbing sensation coursed from deep within his body, spreading outward, soaking through his limbs.
What was it?
Why was his body going soft and numb?
His prone form trembled, and at last he rolled over completely—face to the ground, groveling.
"Heavenly Lady, mercy! Please, spare me!"
It was meant to be a scream—but it came out thin and distant, as though it were echoing up from the depths of the underworld, like the droning of a fly.
At last, he knelt. He did what he had wanted to do from the start but had been too ashamed to.
There was one small shred of comfort left in his heart: If I hadn't knelt, fear would've broken me anyway. At least this way… I might live.
Pressed flat to the earth—head, hands, and knees all touching dirt—he felt the barest illusion of safety.
When his wounds met the grimy forest floor, they burned with a sharp, searing pain. But even that couldn't compare to the shame ravaging his soul. And even that shame, when weighed against his life… was utterly meaningless.
There was no one else here.
No peers. No master. No one to save face for.
And with no one to hold him back, nothing to bind his pride, there was no longer any reason to resist the instinct to survive.
"So noisy."
The Demon Phoenix's voice was cold and flat.
Just like that, he cut off his pitiful cries like a severed string.
He pressed his forehead into the dirt, body taut as a drawn bowstring, not daring to twitch.
But that stillness soon gave way to tremors.
The harder he tried to restrain them, the more violently he shook—until his whole body began to rustle the underbrush, making a soft but persistent noise.
It wasn't loud.
But thinking of the Demon Phoenix's earlier rebuke—"So noisy"—that faint rustling now seemed more terrifying than thunder.
He strained to roll his eyes, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of the Demon Phoenix's expression from the corner of his vision. But no matter how hard he tried, all he could see was the skirt hem of her blood-red dress and a bit of the exquisitely crafted shoe surface that flickered in and out of sight.
That blood-red hue was like a ghostly demonic flame, slowly devouring what little hope he had left, drop by drop. It oozed a foul, corrupt fluid into his already shriveled heart.
"Live?"
Her voice gave nothing away, but heaven, it carried an unparalleled thrill.
Li Xun shuddered violently. His limp body squirmed weakly along the ground, inching closer to the Demon Phoenix. Only after dragging himself forward with everything he had left did he finally lift his head. His face was caked with dirt, tears, and snot, completely smearing away the last traces of his once-handsome features. All that remained was disgrace and pitiful desperation.
""I want to live!" he begged, voice cracking, nearly sobbing, "I want to live! Please, Your Excellency! Show mercy, I beg you — have mercy!"
The Demon Phoenix seemed intrigued by the sight of him, even leaned in a little to study his miserable state more closely. "That wild libertine would've spluttered himself into a fit had he witnessed this."
Li Xun had a vague feeling that this "wild libertine" must be referring to Jade Wanderer.
If Jade Wanderer ever saw someone with a face just like his groveling like this — so lowly, so vile— he'd probably split his skull open on the spot—just to spare the world the embarrassment.
Then the Demon Phoenix spoke again. "Pity my dear Lin wasn't you. Things might've played out very differently…"
Li Xun caught the meaning immediately. She was saying that if Lin Ge had been able to throw away his pride the way Li Xun just did — become this pathetic, this debased — even she might not have been able to tell the difference between them.
Unfortunately, Lin Ge still had a shred of dignity left in him.
Hearing this only made the knot in Li Xun's chest tighten further, but he didn't dare speak. All he could do was keep kowtowing, begging for his life.
The Demon Phoenix clearly had no interest in dealing with him any further. She backed off a little, as if afraid his filth might stain her. "Go pick up your sword," she said to him flatly.
Li Xun collapsed a bit more at those words. He knew he'd just managed to scrape by — still alive.
Azure Jade lay just a few dozen steps away. He half-rolled, half-crawled over to it, grabbed it with shaking hands, and didn't dare let a single thought wander. He obediently dragged himself back and knelt down again without a word.
With a flick of her fingers, the Demon Phoenix summoned the sword into her hand. She gave it a quick once-over and shook her head. "What a waste of a good sword."
She didn't even mean it as an insult. The truth was, someone like Li Xun wasn't worth the effort it would take to humiliate. But that one offhand remark — honest and indifferent — cut deeper than any scorn.
Li Xun's heart had long since gone numb. Whatever she said, he just watched her face carefully, like a lapdog trying to read its master's mood.
"Go see your master one last time." Surprisingly, there was a sliver of compassion in her voice.
Of course, that pity wasn't meant for Li Xun.
It took some time for him to find his way back to the mountain path where everything had started.
But now, the place was unrecognizable. That narrow road had been split clean in two by a devastating force, and the nearby cliffs were riddled with cracks and holes. Stones teetered on broken ledges, crashing down one after another. At a glance, it looked like the entire Tiandu Peak was on the verge of collapse.
Lin Ge lay in a pile of jagged rocks. His limbs were forcibly twisted into deformations by an external force, and who knew how many bones were broken. He just lay there, completely still.
Li Xun's eye corner twitched violently two times, but he didn't dare to make the slightest movement. He glanced at the Demon Phoenix, hoping for some clue, some hint.
But she gave him nothing.
So he froze, feeling like needles were pricking him all over, unbearably tense.
The silence dragged on for what felt like forever before he finally managed to muster the nerve to move. Step by halting step, he approached Lin Ge. The shattered stones crunched underfoot, groaning like they were about to give way at any moment.
When Li Xun was just a few steps away, he realized Lin Ge had already sensed his presence. It looked like he wanted to turn his head, but… he just couldn't.
Seeing him like this made something tighten in Li Xun's chest — for a moment, he almost rushed forward. But in the end, his fear of death still outweighed everything else.
A gust of wind swept past from behind — the Demon Phoenix appeared at his side, leaning in slightly to whisper into his ear, "Right there. If you want to live, your little life depends on him."
Her voice was low and rough, with a strange, seductive power that dug straight into his mind like a hook.
She gave Li Xun a couple of instructions. Then watched his expression shift from confusion to shock. She gave a faint, amused smile — then stepped back, vanishing into the background like she'd never been there.
Li Xun stood there, frozen. His hand suddenly felt cold — Azure Jade had reappeared in it.
Behind him, the Demon Phoenix gave him a small push — silent, but heavy as a death knell.
He flinched, then forced himself to move forward. Step by step, he approached Lin Ge. He could see his master's body twitching slightly — tiny, involuntary spasms in the muscle.
Then, their eyes met.
Lin Ge's bloodshot eyes were already dull and unfocused, but the moment they locked with Li Xun's, something suddenly lit up in them — just for a second — before going dim again.
Li Xun couldn't tell if it was real or just his imagination, but in that fleeting moment… he thought he saw a plea in his master's eyes.
Just kill me.
One strike — one clean stab to the heart — and Li Xun could give him what he wanted. But then… what about himself?
His lips trembled.
From the moment he had dropped to his knees and begged the Demon Phoenix for mercy, there was no going back. He had already thrown away everything — pride, dignity, humanity. If he hesitated now, what would all that groveling have been worth?
He muttered, barely audible, "I'm sorry, Master…"
With that, he flicked his wrist. A flash of sword light swept out — scraps of cloth burst apart and flew in every direction. Lin Ge's lower garments had been sliced clean away, leaving his genitalia fully exposed.
A hoarse, animal-like cry tore from Lin Ge's throat.
His body was shattered — probably half the bones in it crushed — even his neck was broken. Breathing was nearly impossible. Yet even in that state, he still managed to scream… that was how far past the breaking point he'd been pushed.
Li Xun shut his eyes and stepped back — but only half a step before the Demon Phoenix blocked his path.
"Open your eyes." Her voice was sharp and absolute. He had no choice but to obey.
Another scream came from Lin Ge — weaker this time, raspier.
One look was enough. Li Xun instantly understood the crux of the matter. His face turned a mess of red and white, and only after a long pause did he remember to look away.
Lin Ge's body gave a final, pitiful twitch — then he passed out.
"Wake up, Lin Lang," the Demon Phoenix said softly. Her voice was like spring water, gentle to the point of cruelty. With a wave of her sleeve, she brushed his face — and he woke.
He groaned twice, weak and broken. But to Li Xun, the sounds sounded like words — "Kill me… please…"
This proud man, finally brought so low, was begging for death — from his own disciple, no less.
He just wanted it all to end.
But the Demon Phoenix wouldn't even give him that.
She sat down beside him — not like a victor, but like a tender wife beside her beloved. She gently lifted Lin Ge's upper body, letting him rest against her, moving with the grace and care of someone cradling a lover.
Li Xun watched, and it felt like something inside him froze solid.
He stared in silence as her slender fingers traced slowly down Lin Ge's face… then slid over his chest, across his belly, and finally stopped at his...penis.
What should've been an intoxicatingly erotic scene — sultry, decadent — felt suffocatingly grotesque in Li Xun's eyes.
Because Lin Ge's penis… that symbol of dignity and masculinity… was almost gone. What was left of it looked like a underdeveloped broad bean, shriveled, and even trembling faintly.
There was no doubt this wasn't some natural atrophy. It had been done to him.
A sharp, high-pitched scream tore through the air like a needle flung into the sky — thin, trembling, almost invisible. But in Li Xun's ears, it pierced straight through his bones.
The demon phoenix chuckled lowly. Her fingers were fiddling with it, like she was toying with a favorite little trinket. Lin Ge's screams broke into ragged gasps, then faded altogether into a rasping silence.
Li Xun tried to look away. Cold sweat soaked through every inch of his clothes, his ears ringing.
Through the haze, he vaguely heard the Demon Phoenix murmur: "Just as he..."
Her voice was soft, tender even — but carried a bitter, bone-deep chill.
"If he had been the one to suffer defeat," she said, "he would've buried himself in cultivation. He'd endure, refine, and sharpen himself until his cultivation soared beyond his enemies — then return it all a hundredfold. But you… you're different. You're too impatient. You couldn't even wait a hundred years to get your revenge."
Her tone grew colder. "You burned away your yang energy, forced a mutation in your true breath… all to push your cultivation through the roof. And in the process, you turned yourself into this thing — neither man nor woman. My dear Lin… do you even deserve to call yourself a man anymore?"
"You venomous witch!"
It was probably the last coherent sound Lin Ge would ever make — squeezed out from a shattered throat, soaked in pain and hatred so raw even Li Xun felt his skin crawl.
The Demon Phoenix just smiled.
And just like that, whatever traces of past love remained between this once-married pair… vanished. All pretense was gone. They'd torn the last veil away and laid bare their darkest, most vicious selves.
Li Xun suddenly realized he didn't even know how to breathe anymore.
In the end, Lin Ge was discarded on a pile of rubble like so much discarded trash. Maybe the Demon Phoenix had lost interest in keeping up her mock show of tenderness. She rose to her feet, took out a clean, fragrant handkerchief, wiped her fingers delicately, then burned it to ash with a flick of flame.
Lin Ge's chest rose one last time and then ceased. The unrelenting vitality of a high-level cultivator, however, kept his life barely tethered — just enough for that final humiliation to sink into every last corner of his broken body.
"You. Come here." Her voice rang out.
That smile of hers… it felt like a gust of winter wind stabbing straight into Li Xun's soul.
He hesitated, but in the end, he still walked forward — stopping one step short of her. She stood a little taller than him to begin with, but with the way he hunched in fear, the difference felt vast.
She lowered her head slightly and locked eyes with him. He couldn't hold her gaze — instantly dropped his head like a scolded dog.
Then, her pale, elegant hand pressed gently onto his chest. He could feel it — the searing power underneath, enough to reduce him to ashes in a heartbeat.
He looked up in terror and screamed, "Don't kill me!"
She smiled. "Who said I was going to kill you?"
The words had barely left her mouth when a burst of crushing force exploded from her palm, slamming into his chest.
A stifling pressure filled his chest, and he was sent flying backward uncontrollably—truly as if riding clouds and mist.
And just as he was airborne, a heavy slap cracked across his face.
"If you ever dare come within ten li of me again — I'll make you wish for death, and keep you from it."
Blood sprayed from his mouth as he tumbled and plummeted down Tiandu Peak, clutching his face. That one slap didn't just split the skin and flesh on his face — it swelled his whole head a size larger.
In the haze of pain and blood and wind, one ridiculous thought flickered through his mind:
That cheek… the one just slapped… was the same one that had been pressed against hers not long ago.
Then everything went black.
And whether he fell to the point of his bones and flesh turning to mud — well, there was nothing he could do about it now!