Chapter 75: Daughter of Destiny, Yu Suzhen!
Chapter 75: The Chosen Maiden, Yu Suzhen!
"Hiss!"
With a violent shudder, Yu Suzhen let out a sigh before rising from the drained youth who had already lost all signs of life beneath her.
"Hehe... finally succeeded!"
Feeling the true qi circulating within her body, Yu Suzhen nearly burst into tears. After enduring countless hardships in the Pleasure Hall, she had finally broken through to the first layer of Qi Refining today.
After a brief moment of emotional turmoil, Yu Suzhen regained her composure. Her brows relaxed, and her originally seductive face suddenly turned cold and aloof. A determined light shone in her beautiful eyes—they say youth fades easily and beauty withers quickly, but she refused to ever see herself grow old.
"I want to cultivate immortality! I want eternal life!"
At this moment, Yu Suzhen's desire for immortality burned stronger than ever before. She would climb step by step to the very top within this Primordial Saint Sect!
What she didn't notice was that there was a second person in the cave dwelling.
Beside the youth she had just drained, an ethereal figure invisible to mortal eyes stood with hands clasped behind his back, watching her with keen interest.
"The first step of Stealing Heavenly Secrets is complete."
"Senior Sister Yu is quite remarkable. She already harbored aspirations for immortality in her heart—there was no need for me to deliberately guide her. Everything came from her own genuine desires."
This was ideal.
After all, Lü Yang hadn't reached Foundation Establishment yet. He was far from achieving the seamless perfection of a True Person at that stage. Any deliberate attempt to influence others' thoughts would be too easily detected as artificial.
Next, Lü Yang turned his attention to himself. His physical body had already died, entering the "Death Before Transformation" state of the 《Corpse Dissolution True Method》. Meanwhile, his soul had been preserved using the 《Yin Spirit Ghost Immortal Method》 he deduced in his previous life, transforming into a Yin Spirit to maintain his vitality.
"So this is what 'Death Before Transformation' means..."
Lü Yang pondered.
At this moment, his physical body had become like a pill furnace, while the three superior divine abilities he mastered in life had become the medicinal ingredients within that furnace.
The body as the furnace, divine abilities as the medicine, fortune as the craftsman.
The result would be the refinement of these three superior divine abilities into the status of a 【Corpse Dissolution Immortal】. Only then would the 《Corpse Dissolution True Method》 be considered complete.
"This process will likely be very lengthy."
"And it's not something that can be achieved just by waiting. The body is the furnace, but the fire used to refine the pill comes from burning my accumulated merit and fortune."
Burning merit and fortune to fuel the pill fire within his body—this was truly a path of rebirth through death. If the 【Corpse Dissolution Immortal】 status wasn't achieved before the fuel was exhausted, it would mean true death. Worse, with both fortune and merit depleted, he wouldn't even be reborn as a human in the next life, but would instead fall into the animal realm.
"No wonder I've never heard of anyone else in the Saint Sect cultivating this grand divine ability."
The rewards simply didn't justify the costs.
One could imagine the absolute determination of the cultivator who originally created this grand divine ability—staking everything on a single lifetime, leaving themselves no retreat whatsoever.
This was the path of immortal cultivation.
The Great Dao is walked alone—there is only advancement, no retreat. Even after exhausting all resources, one can only gamble on a single chance. Winning the gamble is one thing, but how despairing must it be to lose?
Thinking this, Lü Yang felt deeply moved, tears streaming down his face.
It wasn't until he saw the panel of the Book of a Hundred Lifetimes beside him that he snapped back to reality, slapping his forehead: "Almost forgot—I can restart. Never mind then."
"Without the protection of a physical body, the soul struggles to maintain clarity. Emotions easily overwhelm..."
Lü Yang quickly gathered his thoughts and turned his attention back to Yu Suzhen.
Though Yu Suzhen appeared unchanged on the surface, her inner self had long ceased to be her own—it had been dyed with Lü Yang's colors.
The Stealing Heavenly Secrets technique had directly transformed her into a human-shaped cauldron.
From this point onward, no matter how far Yu Suzhen progressed in her cultivation, Lü Yang could drain all her cultivation and fortune with a single thought, then absorb it for himself.
"But there's no rush."
"Next, I'll find a way to reasonably pass the Stealing Heavenly Secrets technique to her. Then she can harvest others—I'll let her grow fat before slaughtering her."
With this in mind, Lü Yang's gaze shifted to Liu Xin, who was waiting outside the cave dwelling.
............
Primordial Saint Sect, Pleasure Hall.
Yu Suzhen followed behind Liu Xin with graceful steps, her curvaceous figure swaying seductively while her face maintained an icy aloofness that kept others at arm's length.
This stark contrast, combined with Yu Suzhen's exquisite beauty, immediately drew the gazes of many disciples. Even Liu Xin couldn't help stealing glances at her, a dark flame burning in the depths of his eyes—though he quickly suppressed it.
Business came first.
"Junior Sister Yu, this is our Saint Sect's official disciple technique—the 《Innate Dao Book》. Take it back and study it carefully. Don't neglect your cultivation."
"Thank you, Senior Brother."
Yu Suzhen bowed slightly, giving Liu Xin a perfect vantage point to admire the snowy expanse of her cleavage. A faint, alluring fragrance teased his nostrils.
Liu Xin swallowed hard, suddenly reaching out to pull her into his arms. The icy beauty's face showed just the right amount of panic as she let out a crisp, melodious cry: "Ah~! Senior Brother, what are you doing? Let go... I've already decided not to engage in dual cultivation anymore..."
As she spoke, Yu Suzhen pushed weakly against Liu Xin's chest.
But her jade-like hands pressed against him with less force than a gentle massage.
Seeing this, Liu Xin's dark flame burned even hotter. He couldn't help but let out a sinister chuckle:
"Junior Sister misunderstands. This isn't dual cultivation—just a discussion of the Dao..."
With that, Liu Xin ignored Yu Suzhen's 'resistance' and carried her into the cave dwelling, intending to enjoy himself before attending to official business.
...........
One day later.
The languor following their activities had completely dulled Liu Xin's vigilance, leaving him defenseless.
When he finally regained his senses, he found his body sprawled weakly on the bed, unable to muster even a shred of true qi!
Then he watched as Yu Suzhen leisurely rose to her feet.
Only now did Liu Xin notice that his spear had turned black, emitting a rotten stench. His face paled dramatically as he glared at Yu Suzhen with shock and fury:
"You poisoned me!?"
"Obviously." Yu Suzhen's face was expressionless—all traces of her earlier allure gone as if they'd never existed. "You intended to harm me. Did you think I wouldn't fight back?"
"How could... you bitch! How did you find out!?"
Liu Xin gritted his teeth, desperately trying to circulate his true qi to suppress the poison, but to no avail. He could only watch helplessly as his body grew weaker by the moment.
Yu Suzhen sneered coldly: "At first, of course I didn't know. I just found it suspicious—after all, I advanced from the Pleasure Hall. Logically, you should have passed me a dual cultivation technique. Yet you gave me this inexplicable 《Innate Dao Book》. Clearly, you had ill intentions."
Liu Xin looked incredulous: "Based on that, you decided to kill me?"
"Why not?" Yu Suzhen flashed him a smile. "A woman's intuition is quite sharp. Besides, even if I was wrong, what would I have lost?"
Liu Xin was livid: "You—"
"Don't worry, I won't kill you so quickly." Yu Suzhen continued: "You're at mid-stage Qi Refining—you must know many powerful divine abilities and techniques."
"These are valuable resources that shouldn't go to waste."
"After I learn some real techniques, I'll drain you completely. That way, your life's work won't be in vain when you die."
"...Pfft!"
Before she could finish, Liu Xin—already enraged beyond endurance—coughed up a mouthful of blood, then blacked out completely.