Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?
Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?
Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Chapter 53: Collecting is my hobby!
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The oath before the Heavenly Dao was soon sworn and Bing Meilu gave him the information about the location of the Dragonblood Spirit Crystal Vein.
"Anything else?" Elder Cao-Cao asked.
"Yes, actually. I think I'd like to cash in on that favour," Bing Meilu took a sip of tea.
"Already?"
"First, I want a meeting with someone in your clan,"
"Who?"
"Hong Long Xiyi."
That drew the elder's attention. He crossed his arms, eyes narrowed. Behind Bing Meilu, Xi Fu gave her a look of confusion.
"How do you even know about her?" the elder asked, gritting his teeth.
"This is still the territory of the Armada, senior. Nothing goes on here without our knowledge."
This was, of course, a half-truth. While the upper leadership of the Armada were doubtless aware that their subordinate clan had birthed a Chosen of Heaven, random low-level Armada members would not. Bing Meilu knew because of her past knowledge. Based on her hazy memory, Flame Princess Xiyi should be around eight or nine currently.
"That'll cost you two favours," he decided, eyes narrowed. "I'm sure you understand,"
Bing Meilu hummed in consideration. She'd been interested in seeing her old rival again, but it wasn't quite worth that. She hadn't expected the Redscale elder to be so overprotective of the young genius.
"How much for you to deliver something to her?"
"One favour."
Bing Meilu quickly formed ten ice tablets, floating them over to Cao-Cao. He inspected them, body glinting with the rainbow light of a Nascent Soul.
"A curse-protection method? It's quite profound and must be valuable. I won't cost you a favour to give her this, since it's a gift."
Bing Meilu shook her head in refusal. She preferred transactional exchanges, which produced by far the least Karma of any interaction. Wise cultivators avoided sowing too much Karma. Anyone who had forced their way into the Deathless realm knew why.
"Might I ask where you stumbled onto such a profound cure-breaking art?"
"Before I was a member of the Armada, I was a member of the Moon Crying Swan Palace, which naturally has a deeper understanding of Yin than other sects. Tell Miss Hong Long that the gift is in memory of the good friendship between our two powers," Bing Meilu sipped her tea.
Saying that would imply she was giving the gift to sow favour with the young genius to benefit her old sect, a reasonable motive. Her actual reason was completely different.
Of Bing Meilu's generation in the Bird Talon Continent, only a few had the talent and determination to ascend to Immortality. One of them had been Flame Princess Xiyi, though she'd perished during the God-Blood Crisis at only the Ancient Sage Realm. In Bing Meilu's opinion, that was a shame and a waste of talent. A better ability to defend against curses and other malicious energy would be helpful to Xiyi surviving the event.
'This time I'll defeat you personally,' Bing Meilu decided.
She was also doing this for herself. Of all her rivals in the Jade Sparrow World, Bing Meilu had triumphed over them all eventually, before ascending. Only Xiyi had died before Bing Meilu could defeat her. In a sense, it was an unresolved desire from her youth. It hadn't mattered much in her first life, but having come back to the Continent a second time, if the same regret occurred, it could worsen and even become a heart devil, impeding her cultivation.
"Very well," Cao-Cao stored the ice tablets in his spatial ring. "Is that all?"
"Actually, no. I'm going to need your help to arrest a criminal Elder of your Clan."
Cao-Cao reared back in shock, before closing his eyes and breathing deeply. It seemed it wasn't possible for this girl to do anything ordinary. Breaking the clan's criminal collar, discovering a rare sprit-vein, negotiating with him so forcefully, sending their secret genius a valuable gift and now this?
"Who?"
"Hong-Long Fang."
Cao-Cao frowned deeply. Elder Fang was from his faction, a half-step Nascent Soul. He hadn't expected the favour he gave to the child before him to immediately result in such a loss.
'Why couldn't it have been from an enemy elder's faction?!'
It was too late to do anything though. He'd sworn a serious oath before the Heavenly Dao, and breaking it would cause a massive backlash to his own cultivation. Between Elder Fang and Cao-Cao's own cultivation? The second one would always win out in value to the man. Still, he would remember this.
Cao-Cao did not doubt the girl before him could prove that Elder Fang was a criminal. She gave him the impression of being extremely shrewd and deliberate, not the type of person to make an allegation without confidence.
"All I need is a justification to search his spatial ring, and a security guarantee with your power."
Between herself and her faction, Bing Meilu actually had the power to defeat the Nascent Soul Elder Fang. However, she didn't want to stick out too much just yet. In case the Elder tried to stop her, Cao Cao's Nascent Soul cultivation base would make this easy and she wouldn't have to step in herself.
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"Letting you search the Spatial Ring of a Clan Elder is your first favour, defending you should he take offence is the second."
"Acceptable."
Cao-Cao sighed, sipping his own tea. He'd never had such a serious and impactful discussion with someone in the Second Realm of cultivation.
"I'll take you to the next party I know Elder Fang is attending," Cao-Cao decided. "That's where this will go down. Might I ask what crime my foolish junior has committed?"
"Demonic dual cultivation with members of the Moon Crying Swan Palace."
This was something that had come out during Bing Meilu's first life. A Nascent Soul elder of the Redscale clan had been caught trying to kidnap a Core Formation member of the Moon Crying Swan Palace who'd been in the Ashen Mountains for a hunting trip.
That member was, unfortunately for Elder Fang, actually Bing Meilu. Being a Chosen of Heaven. She'd easily defeated the man and discovered he had many other victims. He'd been using a special artifact he'd discovered to convert the lifeblood of Yin-cultivators into Yang for his own cultivation. As a result, he lacked the demonic aura of most demonic cultivators.
Somehow the man had managed to escape and joined the HeavenR ejecting Conference, becoming a full demonic cultivator. Having sworn vengeance upon Bing Meilu, the cockroach had caused plenty of problems for her, including killing some of her junior sisters, always evading death. It was only when she finally reached Saint Realm that she had killed him.
In this life, she would decisively eliminate him long before he ever became a problem for her. This also doubled as vengeance for the members of her sect who had died under his vile hands.
Elder Cao-Cao blinked in surprise, feeling horrified. If it was any other crime, he could imprison Elder Fang without having to kill a powerful member of his own faction. But not when it came to this.
The Twelve-Headed Bird Sect took demonic cultivation against its own members extremely seriously. The whole Resdscale clan might be punished if Elder Fang's crimes came out. He would need to be killed decisively.
'Elder Fang! It's fine if you want to die, but to dare try and bring us down with you, don't blame me for being ruthless! Why couldn't you have kept to someone unimportant?'
Elder Fang was nearing the end of his longevity. If he didn't break through to Nascent Soul, he would wither and die. In such a situation, killing and other crimes suddenly seemed more reasonable to commit. Between the lives of others and your own, cultivators would take the second. He could understand why Elder Fang did what he did, but there was such a thing as a reasonable limit. Even if one wanted to be a bandit, they did not rob the Emperor.
"Let's do this right now," Cao-Cao decided, narrowing his eyes.
He stood and led the BMFS faction out of his office.
---
Hong Long Fang sat in the sealed room beneath his home, covered in blood and completely furious. He'd never felt more aggrieved in his whole life.
The ritual inscribed into the black orb had seemed very simple. To break through to Nascent Soul, he only needed the lives of five yin cultivators of high purity, one realm lower than him, in Foundation Establishment.
Given the Ashen Mountains were a popular hunting ground for members of the Moon Crying Swan Palace, it had seemed easy enough. Some members naturally died in the dangerous hunting ground, so it wasn't suspect when he kidnapped a few. Over the course of years, he'd managed to slowly acquire four, making sure to only grab one at a time, with no witnesses. He'd only needed one more for the full ritual.
Then someone had destroyed the Moon Crying Swan Palace, and no more arrived at all. He was so close he could taste it, and some bastard had swept the rug out from under him!
"Dammit! Dammit, all!"
His hand flew out, slapping a pale woman in the face. She limply fell backwards, covered in blood. There was no scream, the women here had all lost far too much blood and energy for such effort.
Now he had obvious evidence of demonic cultivation beneath his home, but none of the benefits of breaking through to Nascent Soul. Worse, he couldn't even finally kill the stupid whores and dispose of the evidence, in case he did finally find a fifth member compatible with the ritual.
"What a fucking fate! Are the Heavens trying to stop my survival!" he complained angrily, kicking at the limp girl with a meaty crunch. "Even if it was risky I should have just grabbed more of you back then, dammit!"
He inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to calm himself. While he often vented his rage upon the kidnappees, if he did much more, they might die and that would only be a loss for him.
He pulled the black, blood-splattered orb from his spatial ring. It glowed, absorbing Yin energy from the blood that splattered the chamber. The grey of his hair receded slightly, as vital yang energy filled him.
While he didn't have yet enough for a breakthrough, the constant bloodletting of the yin-cultivators produced enough yang to temporarily slow down his aging. Hopefully long enough for him to find a solution.
'Only five or ten more years, Fang! Who knows how much longevity you have left! You have to find a solution soon! I didn't spend hundreds of years in Core Formation to die of old fucking age!'
He kicked again, biting his lip in anger and drawing blood.
Sometimes he wondered if the bouts of rage and bloodlust he felt were related to the demonic cultivation of extreme Yang he followed, but then he remembered he didn't care. Only Longevity mattered, who cared if some random sacrifices had to deal with his anger along the way?
The dragon-scaled man sighed, sitting down in a lotus position to meditate. It wouldn't be good to waste his remaining life force angrily kicking the half-dead prisoners.
---
Elder Cao-Cao and the others arrived at Hong Long Fang's home, a tall, unassuming grotto with a mesmerizing garden. Servants, beautiful women all, tended to the garden, pruning leaves, sweeping dust and more, dressed in fancy and elegant dresses. The whole place seemed picturesque and wonderful, but there was evil right beneath the surface.
With her spiritual sense, Bing Meilu could see nasty bruises hidden just beneath the clothing of the women. While the proof of his demonic cultivation might be well hidden, things like this were out in the public for all to see. She remembered the man had had an anger problem, likely as a result of the path of Extreme Yang he followed.
Cleary most had simply decided it was better to let some mortals
suffer than offend a Peak third realm elder. But it was precisely warning signs like this that showed there were dark things at play that needed to be nipped in the bud. In her own Sect, Bing Meilu had mandated extremely strict law enforcement. She'd even had to come out and enforce it herself several times when certain higher rank members became corrupt.
Given the timescales involved in the Immortal and Deathless realms, it was easy for the managers of a sect to be hundreds of generations removed from the last time the sect's higher-ups had been active. In some cases, they may even forget who had founded their Sect and think of themselves as the sole masters.
"The Redscale clan needs to clean itself up," Bing Meilu said, giving Cao-Cao a disdainful look.
He frowned silently as they stepped past the gate into the Elder's garden. Soon a youthful-looking man emerged from within the house, smiling broadly. He looked young and vigorous, and only the slight greying of his hair exposed his old age.
'He's not in Nascent Soul yet- That must be a result of the Swan Palace's destruction,' Bing Meilu thought, curling her lip in disgust at the sight of Hong Long Fang.
Based on her understanding, he should have been in the Fourth realm, but it seemed this time around he had not managed to find enough victims to advance yet. The man caught sight of her, and his eyes widened. A slightly hungry look escaped his well-crafted mask.
'A fifth! A fifth! A fifth! A ffithafithafiththgrh-' Elder Fang screamed with joy internally, nearly losing it.
"Good to see you, Brother Cao-Ca-"
The Nascent Soul frowned in rage, his rainbow soul light expanding from within himself and shooting out to wrap around Elder Fang, utterly restraining him.
"H-hey! Just what do you think you're Brother Cao-Cao?" Elder Fang asked in shock.
"Hand over your Spatial Ring," Cao-Cao said, face dark with anger.
"Br-brother, how can you ask me that? Inspecting a Spatial Ring is completely taboo, we all have our own secrets. Besides, how can I help your uncle compete for his promotion if I'm tied up by dealing with such things!"
Essentially 'Don't expose me, or I won't be helping your faction!'
"We're far beyond that now, Fang!"
Cao-Cao's soul light shivered, forcefully pulling out a small red ring from Elder Fang's hand. Even the finger that it was on came along for the ride. Even though Cao-Cao wished to inspect it himself, he had to follow the specifics of the favour.
Bing Meilu grabbed the ring, smiling politely. Within she could sense countless various resources. She waved the ring. Chains, all designed to restrain second ream cultivators fell out, alongside pills that could charitably be called 'sleeping aids'. That was suspicious but not incriminating.
However, Bing Meilu retrieved a large black orb, covered in dried blood and inscribed with a demonic formation. She recognized the orb, having taken it from Elder Fang's corpse in her last life. Alongside being a tool of cultivation, it was also a life-saving treasure he'd used to survive many times in their fights.
"W-wait I can explain! It's all-"
Rainbow soul light covered his mouth, muting him completely. Then, a horrific searing filled the air as the soul energy began to burn with heat. The air waved and within moments Elder Fang was utterly reduced to ash. Cao-Cao's soul energy began to return to him.
"He's still alive!" Bing Meilu quickly said.
"What?" Cao-Cao shot her a confused look.
"Inspect the ashes- They're still filled with his vitality!"
This was one of the main reasons she called Elder Fang a cockroach. His incredible yang vitality could allow him to survive almost any wound, even his whole body could be regenerated from ash. That, alongside his propensity for life-saving treasures and skill with escape arts, made him a constant thorn in her side back in the day.
Cao-Cao's soul flashed outwards once more, running over the ash carefully, after a moment he narrowed his eyes.
"What a bizarre constitution- There's still lifeforce hidden even in this ash?"
This time a far more dangerous attack erupted from Cao-Cao, one completely invisible to Bing Meilu's senses. She could only see the result, the life force within the ash shattering and evaporating. Even Elder Fang couldn't survive the destruction of his soul while only in Core Formation.
"One problem down," Bing Meilu sighed.
From now on, she'd make it a habit to snuff out the lives of future 'problems' whenever she happened to be nearby. It was a cathartic feeling, like a collector finding an item he needed to complete his collection.
'My last life I collected rare yin-flowers. This life, I'll make sure to 'collect' all your heads,' she smiled to herself.