Chapter 2: The Fire in the Ice Mountain and the Snake’s Seduction
The morning mist over Qingyun City had barely scattered when the news of Ye Tian’s outburst at the Su Clan gate reached every major teahouse in the district.
In the bustling market square, cultivators and ordinary townsfolk gathered around wooden tables, whispering excitedly over cheap spirit tea. The fall of the Black Wolf Gang had already elevated Lin Chen’s name from a notorious playboy to an unpredictable power player, but the emotional drama involving the Su Clan’s pearl and the fallen genius Ye Tian added a spicy flavor that everyone loved to discuss.
“Did you hear? Ye Tian went mad in front of Patriarch Su!” a thin cultivator at the Fourth Level of Qi Refining declared, slamming his porcelain cup onto the table. “He screamed that Young Master Lin seduced Su Qingyao! But Miss Su didn’t even give him the time of day. She told him to leave!”
“Tsk, can you blame her?” a middle-aged merchant across from him sneered, shaking his head. “For three years, Ye Tian did nothing while his clan decayed. Meanwhile, Young Master Lin wiped out eighty bandits in a single night and delivered thirty crates of herbs back to the Su Clan without asking for a single copper coin in interest. If I were Miss Su, I’d know who to choose!”
“Hmph, but Ye Tian swore revenge at the City Tournament in three months! They say he found a secret cultivation technique!”
“Words are cheap. Young Master Lin has the entire Lin Clan behind him, and that cold female bodyguard of his… did you see her move? People say she cut down Blood Wolf with a single strike of ice sword-qi!”
Inside the quiet inner sanctuary of the Lin Clan manor, Lin Chen sat cross-legged on a woven rush mat.
The morning air around him vibrated with subtle ripples. His eyes were closed, his breathing deep and rhythmic. With every breath he took, pale golden streams of spiritual energy gathered from the surrounding garden, flowing through his nose and mouth into his limbs before pouring into his lower dantian.
The Innate Heavenly Furnace physique was working at full capacity.
In an ordinary cultivator at the Fifth Level of Qi Refining, spiritual energy entered the meridians full of natural impurities—mineral dust, lingering fire poison, or environmental dampness—which required hours of painstaking filtration through meditation. But inside Lin Chen’s body, the moment raw spiritual energy touched his meridians, it was instantly vaporized by a hidden, golden flame at the core of his origin sea. The impurities were expelled through his pores as faint grey mist, leaving behind only liquid-pure spiritual dew that merged directly into his foundation.
Buzz!
A soft, clear sound echoed within his chest. The Fifth Level Qi barrier cracked and shattered like glass!
The spiritual energy in his dantian expanded outward, expanding his meridians by thirty percent and strengthening his bones.
[Cultivation Breakthrough: Sixth Level of Qi Refining!]
[Innate Physique Effect: Origin Dew Capacity Increased!]
Lin Chen opened his eyes. A faint flash of golden light flickered in his pupils before fading back into deep, calm black. He took a long breath, feeling the surging strength in his arms and legs.
“Three days to break through from the Fifth to the Sixth Level,” Lin Chen murmured to himself, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. “If ordinary cultivators knew this speed, they would spit blood from jealousy. But against the ‘Sons of Heaven’ who stumble into ancient secret realms every time they trip over a rock, it’s still not fast enough.”
He raised his hand and summoned his personal interface:
[Host: Lin Chen]
[Role: Minor Supporting Character / Early-Stage Stepping Stone]
[Cultivation: Sixth Level Qi Refining]
[Fate Value: 2,200]
[Active Titles: Heaven’s Envy, Friend of Villains, Innate Heavenly Furnace]
“2,200 Fate Value,” Lin Chen pondered. “I need to turn this into immediate combat power and resources. Stealing Ye Tian’s key was only the first step. The Dragon-Tiger Secret Realm opens in two weeks near the misty canyon west of the city. If I don’t reach at least the Eighth or Ninth Level of Qi Refining by then, exploring it alongside foundation experts will be dangerous.”
A quiet rustle of cloth broke his concentration.
Zhao Ling stepped smoothly out from the shadow of the tall bamboo grove surrounding the patio. She was wearing her usual black sword-robes, but her complexion was vastly different from two days ago. The sickly, greyish paleness on her skin was completely gone, replaced by a soft, healthy porcelain glow. Her breathing was deep, steady, and resonant.
“Young Master,” Zhao Ling bowed slightly, her voice cool yet carrying a distinct layer of warmth that had been missing before. “Patriarch Su of the Su Clan has sent a heavy carriage to our outer gate. Miss Su Qingyao is inside. She states that the first batch of spirit ice ore from Cold Frost Mountain has been excavated and delivered according to your agreement.”
Lin Chen stood up, dusting off his green silk sleeves. “She moved faster than I expected. Did she come alone?”
“Her father accompanied her to the outer gate to pay his respects to your father,” Zhao Ling replied, her hand resting naturally on the hilt of her sword. “However, Miss Su requested to deliver the spirit ice ore to you personally in the rear courtyard.”
Lin Chen smiled slightly. “Good. Bring her in. And Zhao Ling?”
“Yes, Young Master?”
“Prepare the spirit purification array in the underground quiet room. The ice ore she brings today isn’t just stone—it’s the catalyst we need.”
Zhao Ling’s eyes flickered with a touch of curiosity, but she did not ask unnecessary questions. She simply bowed her head: “Understood.”
Five minutes later, Su Qingyao walked into the private garden of the Lin Clan inner courtyard.
She wore a long, white dress trimmed with silver thread that emphasized her slender, graceful waist. Her long black hair fell like a dark waterfall over her shoulders, held together by a single blue crystal hairpin.
When her eyes landed on Lin Chen, who was sitting at a stone table pouring tea under the shade of a blossoming peach tree, her heart gave a strange, unexpected throb.
Just three days ago, whenever she looked at Lin Chen, she felt an instinctive disgust—he was the greedy, loud-mouthed playboy who looked at her with shameless lust. But today, sitting there in his simple dark-green robes, his eyes clear and serene as he held a porcelain teacup, he possessed an unhurried, noble grace that far surpassed any young master in Qingyun City.
Even Ye Tian, in his prime, had never carried such an effortless, deep composure.
“Young Master Lin,” Su Qingyao bowed gracefully, her voice melodious like silver bells.
Lin Chen raised his eyes, setting down the teapot. “Miss Su, please sit. You worked late last night processing the returned herbs, yet you came here personally so early in the morning. You must be exhausted.”
Su Qingyao sat down across from him, her posture upright and polite. “Compared to the destruction of my family’s business, a little exhaustion is nothing. Young Master Lin, I came today to fulfill my promise.”
She raised her hand, tapping a small blue spatial pouch tied to her waist.
Clatter!
A heavy, ice-blue wooden chest materialized on the stone floor beside the table. The moment the chest appeared, a terrifying wave of freezing cold air blasted outward!
Frost instantly formed on the green grass within ten feet of the chest. The temperature in the warm garden dropped precipitously, turning the moisture in the air into falling white snowflakes.
Inside the chest lay twenty jagged, semi-transparent blue stones, each the size of a fist. They glowed with a faint, eerie blue light, emitting dense clouds of white frost mist.
“This is the spirit ice ore excavated from the deepest cavern of Cold Frost Mountain,” Su Qingyao explained, her pale fingers shivering slightly despite her high Qi Refining cultivation. “My family’s miners almost suffered severe frostbite digging these out. The cold energy inside them is extremely volatile and sharp. Ordinary blacksmiths cannot melt it, and cultivators cannot absorb it without freezing their own meridians.”
She looked at Lin Chen, her eyes filled with genuine confusion. “Young Master Lin… why do you need such dangerous, useless rocks?”
Lin Chen looked at the sparkling blue stones in the chest, his eyes shining with satisfaction.
He didn’t answer her directly. Instead, he stood up, picked up one of the fist-sized spirit ice ores with his bare hand, and closed his fingers around it!
Su Qingyao gasped, standing up abruptly. “Be careful! The frost poison in that ore will freeze your—”
Bzzt!
Before she could finish her warning, a soft, golden glow flared from Lin Chen’s palm!
The terrifying, jagged frost cold radiating from the blue stone didn’t freeze his hand. Instead, the moment it touched his skin, the sharp frost energy was instantly drawn into his palm like water entering a dry sponge!
The dark, dangerous blue hue of the ore rapidly faded, turning into a clear, flawless crystal, while the dense, destructive cold poison was utterly purified by Lin Chen’s Innate Heavenly Furnace, converting into a pure stream of liquid ice-essence that flowed smoothly down his arm!
Su Qingyao’s jaw dropped slightly. Her bright, beautiful eyes were wide with total disbelief.
“You… you absorbed the frost cold barehanded?!” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Without using any spirit shield?!”
“I told you yesterday, Miss Su,” Lin Chen said, setting the purified crystal stone back into the chest with a light clack. “I am a businessman. I never ask for useless things.”
He looked into her shocked eyes, his tone dropping into a warm, serious cadence.
“Miss Su, do you know why you have suffered from intense chest pains and freezing nightmares every month on the night of the full moon since you turned sixteen?”
Su Qingyao’s body froze completely. Her face turned as pale as fresh snow.
That was her absolute deepest secret!
Since she turned sixteen, every full moon brought an agonizing, bone-chilling pain in her chest that felt as if ten thousand ice needles were stabbing her heart from within! Her father had spent thousands of spirit stones hiring high-level doctors and alchemists from the provincial capital, but every single one of them claimed her meridians were perfectly normal and that it was merely an incurable cold-blood defect!
She had never told anyone outside her immediate family! Not even Ye Tian!
“How… how do you know about that?” Su Qingyao’s voice quavered, her chest rising and falling heavily under her white silk dress.
Lin Chen walked around the stone table, stopping two paces away from her. He looked down into her clear, frightened eyes with a gentle, reassuring expression.
“Because you do not have a cold-blood defect, Qingyao,” Lin Chen said softly, using her name directly for the first time. “You possess one of the rarest, most supreme physiques in the entire Nine Provinces—the Heavenly Nine-Ice Divine Body.”
Boom!
The words hit Su Qingyao’s mind like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky!
“Heavenly… Nine-Ice Divine Body?” she repeated blankly, as if listening to a myth from an ancient tale.
“Yes,” Lin Chen explained patiently. “Your body continuously generates supreme ice energy. But because you lack the proper supreme ice cultivation technique to guide it, that energy accumulates in your chest, blocking your primary heart meridian. Every full moon, when the lunar cold peaks, that blocked energy explodes outward, causing you unimaginable pain.”
Su Qingyao’s eyes filled with sudden, hot tears.
For three years, she had endured that hellish pain in silence every single month, screaming into her pillow so her father wouldn’t worry. People called her a proud, distant ice beauty, but no one knew the terrifying fear she felt every month, wondering if the next full moon would be the night she froze to death in her own bed!
And now, the man standing before her—the man everyone dismissed as a useless, arrogant playboy—had casually unveiled the secret that had haunted her whole youth!
“Can… can it be cured?” Su Qingyao looked up at him, her watery eyes filled with a desperate, vulnerable hope that she had never shown to anyone in her life. “Or am I destined to die when the ice energy becomes too strong?”
Lin Chen reached out his hand, gently brushing away a stray lock of black hair from her cheek. His fingers were warm, steady, and solid.
“It doesn’t need to be cured, because it is not a disease—it is a gift,” Lin Chen said quietly. “If you try to suppress it, it will kill you. But if we awaken it properly, you will become an invincible Empress whose ice sword can freeze oceans.”
He gestured toward the underground quiet room behind the pavilion.
“I have prepared a spirit array below. Today, using these spirit ice ores and my physical body as a furnace, I will clear the blocked ice energy from your heart meridian and unlock the first stage of your divine physique.”
Su Qingyao looked into his clear, honest eyes. There was no trace of hesitation in her heart.
If it were three days ago, she would have suspected a trap. But after everything Lin Chen had done—wiping out the Black Wolf Gang, returning her family’s goods, protecting her dignity—she trusted him more than anyone else in Qingyun City.
“I… I will trust you, Lin Chen,” Su Qingyao said softly, her pale face flushing with a faint, beautiful pink color.
Ding!
[Affection of Su Qingyao toward Lin Chen increased from +15 to +45!]
[Relationship Level Up: From ‘Grateful Acquaintance’ to ‘Deep Trust’!]
Lin Chen smiled inwardly. Forty-five points. The ice beauty’s heart is melting much faster than I calculated.
The underground quiet room was carved from solid black granite.
In the center of the room, a complex circular array painted with red cinnabar and silver powdered spirit stones glowed with faint light. Twenty spirit ice ores were arranged around the border of the array, continuously emitting icy blue mist that filled the subterranean air.
Zhao Ling stood by the doorway, holding her sword, acting as the ultimate guard. Her cold eyes watched quietly as Lin Chen and Su Qingyao stepped into the center of the array.
“Sit cross-legged facing me,” Lin Chen instructed softly.
Su Qingyao nodded obediently. She smoothed her white dress and sat down on the rush mat, folding her legs. Her heart was beating fast, her delicate hands resting nervously on her knees.
Lin Chen sat directly opposite her, their knees almost touching. The distance between them was so close that Su Qingyao could smell the light, clean scent of cedar wood and spirit tea radiating from his body.
“To clear the blockage in your heart meridian, we must achieve origin resonance,” Lin Chen said calmly, looking straight into her eyes. “I need you to take off your outer silk coat, and press your palms directly against mine.”
Su Qingyao’s face flushed red instantly. She bit her lower lip nervously. Taking off her outer coat in front of a man was an incredibly intimate act in the traditional cultivation world.
She looked at Zhao Ling, who stood by the door with a completely flat, professional expression, and then looked back at Lin Chen’s calm, respectful gaze.
“Okay,” Su Qingyao whispered.
With trembling fingers, she unfastened the silver belt at her waist and slipped off her long outer white coat, revealing a thin, form-fitting silk inner camisole that clearly outlined her graceful curves and pale, flawless shoulders.
Lin Chen did not let his eyes wander. He remained perfectly calm, raising his hands, palms facing forward.
“Press your palms to mine,” Lin Chen said softly. “Focus your mind on your chest. No matter how cold or hot it feels, do not break the connection.”
Su Qingyao took a deep breath, raised her small, fair hands, and pressed her palms firmly against Lin Chen’s palms!
Buzz!
The moment their skin touched, the array on the floor flared with brilliant light!
The twenty spirit ice ores around them exploded into dense streams of blue mist, which surged rapidly into Su Qingyao’s back!
“Ah!” Su Qingyao gasped in sudden pain.
The terrifying ice energy inside her body, stimulated by the external spirit ice ores, went completely wild! The dormant ice poison locked around her heart meridian burst open like a broken dam, rushing straight through her arms toward her hands!
Her skin instantly turned deathly white, and thin layers of blue frost began spreading up her arms toward her throat!
“Lin Chen!” she cried out, her eyes filled with panic as the familiar, agonizing chest pain returned with ten times its usual intensity!
“Don’t let go!” Lin Chen’s voice sounded like a thunderclap in her mind!
BOOM!
Lin Chen’s Innate Heavenly Furnace physique opened completely!
A radiant, golden sun-like aura erupted from his chest, illuminating the entire underground room with brilliant, golden light!
The wild, destructive ice poison that rushed out of Su Qingyao’s hands was instantly drawn into Lin Chen’s palms! The golden furnace inside his body took the violent, jagged frost energy, vaporized the dark cold poison inside it, and refined it into liquid-pure Nine-Ice Origin Essence!
Then, through their joined palms, Lin Chen pushed that refined, golden-blue origin essence straight back into Su Qingyao’s body!
Swish!
The golden-blue essence flowed like a warm, soothing river through her frozen meridians! Wherever it passed, the sharp frost pain vanished instantly! The ice blockage around her heart meridian melted like spring snow under a bright sun, releasing a vast, ancient power that had been buried deep within her bloodline for eighteen years!
CRACK!
A crisp, shattering sound echoed inside Su Qingyao’s soul!
A towering, majestic phantom of a hundred-foot ice phoenix materialized behind Su Qingyao’s back! Its wings spread wide, casting a blinding blue radiance that filled the entire room!
[Target Su Qingyao: Heavenly Nine-Ice Divine Body—First Stage UNLOCKED!]
[Cultivation Breakthrough: Ninth Level Qi Refining -> Peak Ninth Level Qi Refining!]
[Half-Step Foundation Establishment Realized!]
The ice phoenix phantom let out a silent, glorious cry before collapsing into a blinding streak of blue light that dissolved directly into Su Qingyao’s forehead, forming a delicate, glowing snowflake mark between her eyebrows!
Su Qingyao opened her eyes.
Her dark pupils had turned into a stunning, translucent crystal blue! Her whole presence had undergone a complete, earth-shattering transformation—she no longer looked like a fragile daughter of a small merchant clan, but a divine goddess who commanded the winter itself!
Yet, despite her sudden, massive leap in power and status, her hands were still pressed tightly against Lin Chen’s palms. She looked at the young man sitting in front of her, her blue eyes filled with overwhelming emotion, awe, and an undeniable, burning devotion.
“Lin Chen…” she whispered, her voice trembling with intense feeling. “I… I can feel it. The pain is completely gone.”
Lin Chen slowly lowered his hands, letting out a long breath of warm white steam.
“Congratulations, Qingyao,” Lin Chen smiled gently, looking at the glowing snowflake mark on her forehead. “You have officially stepped onto the path of a true cultivator.”
Su Qingyao looked at her own hands, then looked at Lin Chen, whose face was slightly pale from refining such a massive volume of ice poison for her.
Without warning, she leaned forward, wrapping her fair arms around Lin Chen’s neck, burying her face into his chest!
Lin Chen froze for a fraction of a second.
“Thank you…” Su Qingyao sobbed softly against his shoulder, her body trembling with tears of pure relief and happiness. “Thank you for saving me… Lin Chen… if not for you, I would have died alone in pain…”
Behind them, Zhao Ling quietly adjusted her grip on her sword, her eyes narrowing slightly as she watched Su Qingyao clinging tightly to Lin Chen. A subtle, unfamiliar pang of jealousy flickered deep within Zhao Ling’s heart, though her face remained impassive.
Lin Chen raised his hand and gently patted Su Qingyao’s back.
Ding!
[Affection of Su Qingyao toward Lin Chen increased from +45 to +75!]
[Relationship Level Up: From ‘Deep Trust’ to ‘Devoted Affection’!]
[Destiny Thread Completely Rewritten! Su Qingyao’s Fate Bond with Ye Tian has been DESTROYED!]
[Massive Reward: 3,000 Fate Value Points acquired!]
[Host’s Role Progress: ‘Stepping Stone’ status reduced to 50%!]
Lin Chen smiled warmly into the dark. 3,000 Fate Value points! The ROI on this ice beauty is beyond belief!
Two hours later, after dressing and resting in the main pavilion, Su Qingyao left the Lin Clan manor.
Her steps were light, her aura completely renewed. The glowing snowflake mark on her forehead had faded into a subtle, hidden charm beneath her skin, but anyone who looked into her eyes could feel an invisible, chilling majesty that commanded instant respect.
Standing on the balcony of the second-floor pavilion, Lin Chen watched her carriage drive away down the stone street.
“She looks at you differently now, Young Master,” Zhao Ling’s cold voice sounded from beside him. She was holding a tray with a fresh cup of hot spirit tea.
Lin Chen took the cup, taking a slow sip. “Is that a bad thing, Zhao Ling?”
Zhao Ling looked away toward the distant mountains, her voice flat. “She is the daughter of a merchant clan. Now that her physique is awakened, news of her talent will eventually reach the grand sects in the capital. She will attract many enemies… and many suitors.”
“Let them come,” Lin Chen said calmly. “The more ‘blessed prodigies’ that come, the more resources they bring to my door.”
He opened his system store, his eyes gleaming as he viewed his updated total of 5,200 Fate Value points.
“System,” Lin Chen ordered mentally. “Show me the high-grade cultivation arts and physical refining techniques available for 5,000 Fate Points.”
Ding!
[Store Selection for Host:]
- [Nine-Turn Celestial Furnace Art (Engine Upgrade): Cost 4,000 Fate Points]
- Upgrades the Innate Heavenly Furnace physique to Stage Two.
- Increases energy absorption speed to 10x.
- Allows Host to store refined Origin Dew inside the dantian to share with companions at will.
- [Void Phantom Step (Movement Skill): Cost 1,000 Fate Points]
- Earth-Rank High-Grade movement technique. Allows short-range teleportation-like blinks in combat.
“Buy both!” Lin Chen declared without hesitation.
Ding!
[Purchased! 5,000 Fate Value deducted. 200 Fate Value remaining.]
[Upgrading Innate Heavenly Furnace to Stage Two…]
BOOM!
A terrifying heat erupted from the center of Lin Chen’s chest!
Unlike the previous gentle warm streams, this was a roaring, golden internal storm! His dantians, meridians, and bones were continuously melted and reshaped by divine golden flames! The raw spiritual energy in his body compressed rapidly, turning from gas into liquid, and from liquid into dense, golden droplets of Celestial Origin Dew!
Buzz!
[Cultivation Breakthrough: Seventh Level Qi Refining!]
[Cultivation Breakthrough: Eighth Level Qi Refining!]
In less than ten breaths, Lin Chen’s cultivation surged through two full sub-levels, stabilizing solidly at the Eighth Level of Qi Refining! His physical skin now carried a faint, bronze-golden sheen beneath the surface, tough enough to repel ordinary iron weapons without using any defensive spirit shields!
Zhao Ling, standing beside him, felt the sudden, terrifying shift in Lin Chen’s aura! Her eyes widened in genuine shock!
“Eighth Level Qi Refining?!” she gasped, taking an involuntary step back. “You… you broke through two levels in a single breath without taking any pills?!”
Lin Chen turned to look at her, a confident, charming smile playing on his lips. He raised his hand and extended his index finger toward her forehead.
“Zhao Ling, open your meridians,” Lin Chen said softly.
Zhao Ling hesitated for a split second, then closed her eyes, completely dropping her defensive spiritual aura.
Lin Chen tapped his finger lightly between her eyebrows.
A stream of gold-and-blue Celestial Origin Dew—far denser and purer than anything he had provided before—poured directly into her forehead!
Swish!
The divine energy surged into her shattered golden core like a tidal wave of living gold!
The cracks on her core healed at a speed visible to the naked eye! Forty percent… fifty percent… sixty percent!
BOOM!
Zhao Ling’s suppressed cultivation erupted violently!
The air around the pavilion twisted as her hidden power unlocked!
[Target Zhao Ling: Golden Core Repair Progress -> 60%!]
[Temporary Cultivation Unlocked: Late-Stage Foundation Establishment!]
Zhao Ling opened her eyes. A brilliant, terrifying dark-blue light burst from her pupils, shattering the stone tiles beneath her boots into fine dust! She looked at her own hands, feeling the long-lost, vast power flowing through her veins once more!
“My core…” Zhao Ling whispered, her voice shaking with intense emotion. “Sixty percent repaired… I can use late-stage Foundation Establishment power again!”
She looked at Lin Chen, her cold, proud eyes filled with a complex mix of reverence, shock, and a deep, burning emotion she could no longer suppress.
Without a single word, Zhao Ling dropped to both knees, lowering her head until her forehead almost touched his boots.
“Zhao Ling’s life… belongs entirely to the Young Master,” she declared, her voice resolute and unshakeable. “Whoever opposes the Young Master shall be erased by my blade.”
Ding!
[Affection of Zhao Ling toward Lin Chen increased from +60 to +80!]
[Relationship Level Up: From ‘Trusted Companion’ to ‘Unshakeable Loyalty / Soul Bound’!]
Lin Chen reached down, taking her slender hands and gently lifting her back to her feet.
“Stand up, Zhao Ling,” Lin Chen said warmly, looking into her eyes. “You are my sword, not my slave. We have many more peaks to climb together.”
Zhao Ling felt her cheeks warm up slightly as he held her hands. She did not pull back, simply nodding quietly: “Yes, Young Master.”
While Lin Chen was solidifying his gains in the Lin Clan manor, an entirely different scene was unfolding at the Treasure Moon Pavilion—the largest auction house and black market trade centre in Azure Cloud City.
The Treasure Moon Pavilion was a grand, three-story wooden pagoda located in the bustling central district. Wealthy merchants, rogue cultivators, and clan elders gathered here daily to buy rare pills, weapons, and mysterious artifacts salvaged from ancient ruins.
In a secluded, second-floor private tea room, a young woman sat on a velvet sofa, leaning back lazily.
She was dressed in an extremely revealing, flame-red silk dress that parted deeply at the front, exposing her porcelain-white cleavage and long, shapely legs. Her hair was dyed a deep, mesmerizing crimson, pinned up with gold dragon ornaments. Her eyes were long, narrow, and possessed an intoxicating, cat-like charm that could steal a man’s soul with a single glance.
Her face was dangerously beautiful, carrying a wicked, sultry smile that hid a lethal poison.
This was Huang Yanyan—the daughter of the Treasure Moon Pavilion’s master on the surface, but in reality, a master schemer who had secretly been possessed by the soul of an ancient Demon Realm Empress four years ago!
Floating invisibly beside her shoulder was a dark, purple ghostly flame that only she could see—the remnant soul of the Blood Demon Empress, Lady Nightshade.
‘Yanyan,’ the ghostly voice echoed inside Huang Yanyan’s mind, sounding dry and raspy. ‘The boy named Ye Tian has arrived below. He is looking for the rusty dragon-key in the outer black market stalls. But according to my spiritual sense… the key is no longer there!’
Huang Yanyan took a slow sip of red spirit wine from a silver goblet, her red lips curving into a dangerous, amused smile.
“Oh? The key is gone?” Huang Yanyan’s voice was smooth, seductive, and dripping with venomous charm. “That key was the primary trigger for the Dragon-Tiger Secret Realm. I set that trap specifically so Ye Tian would find it, enter the realm, and break the seal on my physical demon core.”
‘Someone took it ahead of time,’ the old demon voice hissed. ‘I scanned the city last night. The Black Wolf Gang was wiped out by a young man from the Lin Clan named Lin Chen. The key was in Iron Wolf’s secret vault… which means Lin Chen has it now!’
Huang Yanyan raised an eyebrow, her crimson eyes gleaming with sudden interest.
“Lin Chen? That famous, useless playboy from the Lin Clan?” Huang Yanyan giggled softly, a sound that made the air in the room vibrate with dark charm. “How fascinating. A worthless young master wipes out a gang of eighty bandits, steals my key, and suddenly cures Su Qingyao’s cold defect?”
She stood up from the velvet sofa, her long red dress swaying with every step as she walked to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the main courtyard of the auction house.
“It seems our little playboy is hiding a very big secret,” Huang Yanyan purred, swirling the red wine in her goblet. “I love men with secrets. They taste so much sweeter when you tear their hearts out.”
‘Be careful, Yanyan,’ the Demon Empress’s soul warned inside her head. ‘My spiritual sense caught a brief flare of golden origin energy from the Lin Clan manor two hours ago. It felt like… an ancient, divine physique! If he possesses a divine physique, your Seduction Demon Art might not work on him!’
“A divine physique?” Huang Yanyan’s smile grew even wider, revealing sharp, pristine white teeth. “Even better! A man with a divine physique is the ultimate vessel for my reincarnation! If I absorb his origin energy during dual cultivation, my demon core will recover fifty percent instantly!”
She set down her silver goblet, turning toward the wooden door of her private room.
“Prepare my carriage,” Huang Yanyan ordered the black-robed guard standing by the door, her red lips curling into a wicked, predatory smile. “I am going to pay a visit to Young Master Lin Chen. Let’s see if this little playboy can survive the temptation of a demon.”
Late afternoon.
The sun was setting behind the western mountains, painting the sky over Qingyun City in shades of brilliant orange and deep purple.
Lin Chen was walking through the eastern market district, accompanied by Zhao Ling. He was looking for high-grade alchemy cauldrons and raw spiritual herbs to prepare for his upcoming trip to the secret realm.
As they passed a quiet, tree-lined avenue near the city lake, a luxurious, crimson carriage drawn by two Third-Order Spirit Horses slowed to a stop right beside them.
The silk curtains of the carriage were pulled back, revealing the breathtaking, dangerously seductive figure of Huang Yanyan.
She leaned out the window, her deep cleavage fully visible under the crimson silk dress, her long red hair blowing gently in the evening breeze. She held a black lace fan in her hand, her narrow, feline eyes locked onto Lin Chen with an intoxicating, bedroom gaze.
“Young Master Lin~” Huang Yanyan’s voice called out, smooth as honey, dripping with a charm that made several passing pedestrians stumble into the gutter. “What a coincidence to meet you here. This humble maiden has been searching for you all afternoon.”
Lin Chen stopped in his tracks, looking at the breathtaking red-dressed beauty in front of him.
Instantly, a bright red system panel flashed in his vision:
[Target Identification: Huang Yanyan]
[Heavenly Fate Role: Primary Antagonist / Future Demon Empress of the Nether Realm]
[Current Status: Possessed by Remnant Soul of Blood Demon Empress (Stage One)]
[Current Intent: Seduction / Intent to Drain Host’s Origin Energy!]
[Current Affection toward Lin Chen: 0/100 (Predatory Interest)]
[Special Physique: Heavenly Seduction Demon Body (Active)]
Lin Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly, a subtle, highly amused smirk forming at the corner of his lips.
The Demon Empress herself? And she wants to drain my origin energy using seduction?
Lin Chen looked at her dangerous curves, her intoxicating smile, and her fiery red eyes, feeling no fear at all. In fact, his Innate Heavenly Furnace physique began humming with excitement inside his chest.
“Miss Huang of the Treasure Moon Pavilion,” Lin Chen said smoothly, stepping closer to the carriage with an unhurried, confident smile. “To be sought after by the number one enchantress of Qingyun City… I must be the luckiest man in the Nine Provinces today.”
Behind him, Zhao Ling’s hand immediately gripped the hilt of her sword, her cold eyes staring at Huang Yanyan with intense, instinctual hostility!
Huang Yanyan giggled softly behind her black lace fan, her crimson eyes flashing with a wicked, dangerous light.
“Young Master Lin is so sweet with his words,” Huang Yanyan purred, extending a fair, soft hand with long red-painted fingernails out of the carriage window toward him. “I have a rare, ancient copper artifact in my private pavilion that I cannot identify. I heard Young Master Lin has acquired great wisdom recently… would you be brave enough to step into my carriage and examine it with me?”
The trap was laid out in broad daylight.
Zhao Ling took a step forward, leaning near Lin Chen’s ear, whispering in a tense voice: “Young Master, do not go. She carries a dangerous, unnatural demonic charm. It is a trap.”
Lin Chen reached out, gently patting Zhao Ling’s arm to reassure her.
Then, looking directly into Huang Yanyan’s seductive, predatory red eyes, Lin Chen took her soft, perfumed hand in his!
“A beautiful woman invites, and a rare artifact awaits,” Lin Chen smiled warmly, his eyes glowing with an absolute, terrifying composure that made Huang Yanyan’s heart jump unexpectedly. “Why wouldn’t I be brave enough?”
He stepped onto the carriage, pulling the silk curtain shut behind him, leaving Zhao Ling guarding outside and the entire market district in absolute shock!
The game between the fake playboy and the real demon Empress had officially begun!
