Chapter 4

They came to the courtyard, which was thankfully quite large. Additionally, their temporary residence was heavily reinforced – he had no idea why he even knew that.

One concern was that they were situated very high up, though as cultivators that should not be an issue. It would pose a problem once all his bones were broken, but he digressed. No way was that happening, considering this was merely a spar.

They took up positions, a hundred metres away from one another. She locked gaze with him, luxurious crimson gems meeting two chunks of worthless coal. She inclined her entire body backwards, her head facing the lofty heavens, both hands on her luscious hair.

Then, she closed her eyes, and breathed; soft and weak as it seemed, he could still hear it echoing in his mind from afar. The stronger the echoes, the hotter his surroundings became; she was somehow drawing the cold away from the air.

His movements slowed; his eyes inexplicably glued to her figure.

Her eyes opened, her lips met, and with inhuman speed, her hands shot to the front. At that instant, thin strings of silvery white came at him. His eyes perceived them, but his body failed him, his movements having grown too sluggish.

He barely stepped aside in time, narrowly dodging a few measly strings. And even then, these coiled back, clutching his limbs like a mother clutching her child.

He must commend Ruxue for the diversity of her weaponized hair.

Some struck him like a slave master’s whip, leaving wounds that sizzled with white vapour. These solidified as quickly as they appeared, yet the burns did not subside but instead only strengthened. The cold seeped under his skin, roaming around with wild abandon.

Some other strings were like oversized needles, seeking to pierce his body and turn him into premium Swiss cheese. He put most of his attention on avoiding these, as they posed the greatest immediate threat by targeting his vital organs. Here, he found limited success, having his lungs and livers somewhat damaged despite his efforts.

While those presented serious dangers, most strands of silver simply sought to bind his limbs. The moment they caught him, they began to combine together. These formed thick silver pythons that bound him tightly.

With hundreds of silver strands in her hands, Ruxue pulled with all her strength.

He resisted, but his knees began to give out and he began spinning. Absentmindedly, he wondered how this could even work, since her pulling should have either made him fall or loosen those “ropes”.

Zhixing began clearing his mind and collecting his thoughts. As he turned inwards, time slowed down to a crawl. With each pulse of his heart and core, he began directing his Qi.

Somehow, he knew precisely what should be used and how to use it. Controlling Qi was second nature to him, as natural as breathing or shitting. It was as if he had performed these techniques from the day that he had uttered his first innocent words.

Zhixing pushed his Qi to areas that hurt the most, spinning it in rhythm with the pulsing of his core, before stopping everything in his body at once.

Just as he did so, a simple line ran through his mind: [Pain is ephemeral, but more importantly, it is temporary. Suppress.]

A deep numbness pervaded his entire body. The pain was gone, as was most of his mind.

The pain did not go away but instead delayed. In addition, the actual damage would be halved, with the other half stored away in his core – extremely dangerous if done wrong. Once this was over, both the accumulated pain and damage would come at him simultaneously.

However, this issue was for later Zhixing to worry about.

As for the current him, the sluggishness had disappeared, and he could exert the full power of his body. Focusing his Qi on his arms, he ripped out most of the strings.

It was not without cost, with his palms now seared a blinding white. Thankfully, they remained usable, even if the numbness there had strengthened.

With narrowed eyes, Ruxue pulled the remaining strands back to herself – half had dissipated onto the floor, a quarter had been shortened, and the remaining were in a nigh-perfect state. Swiftly, she condensed all of it into two bundles of short needles, one in each arm, before gazing at him with the same lifeless eyes.

Had he not been so numb, he would have been a bit irritated. But he was not. He simply headed straight for her. There was no chance he would just leave her time for preparation. That had never been his strong suit, but it was hers.

A direct attack – beauty in simplicity – had always been preferable.

Seeing this, she started showering his skin with the sharpened, shortened strands. It did not hurt; he barely registered them. Still, he controlled his Qi, this time concentrating right outside his core. He had been doing so since he initiated the ‘delayer’, meaning he did not need time to accumulate the required amount.

Instead, he forced the Qi to rupture his vessels, pouring them outside the common boundaries and surrounding his core. Even with the pain delayed, the shock still stopped his brain for a second.

For the said second, the accumulated damage threatened to pour out in its entirety. Yet, miraculously, he managed to prevent the floodgates from opening.

Instead, his mind was greeted with the lines, spoken in Li Zhixing’s ever-indifferent voice: [To be ruthless to others, one must first be ruthless to oneself.]

Not too creative a line, but its function was much more relevant. Its effects were fairly simple: it negated 80% of external damage at the cost of doubling the pain. Fairly useful when combined with the other stuff.

He was not overly worried about the side effects. More likely than not, he would just pass out in the first few seconds. Therefore, the main issue was not so much the pain, but rather the loss of consciousness. It was a high-risk style that did not even come with high rewards.

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Compared to other available powers, Li Zhixing’s were pretty horrible. However, the guy was a human commoner all the way through, unlike most important characters.

Though, the increased pain was not without its consequences. It scarred the mind, but more importantly, the soul.

What did that mean?

The fragility would become a serious weakness the longer he cultivated, most severely in times of advancement. It also presented an avenue for enemies to target, especially those with high achievements in certain fields.

Perhaps most damningly, it made him lose his lifespan – pretty counter-intuitive for those who purportedly pursued immortality.

However, once again, this would be a problem for later. Passingly, he wondered why he was taking this so seriously. He finally understood what dead men meant by "the thrill of battle".

Zhixing pressed forward. He found himself sweating profusely, yet all the sweat crystalized immediately after contact with the air. Would he simply shatter to pieces if all this continued? Could he be restored should that happen?

Zhixing burst through the hail of icy hell, shooting right at Bai Ruxue. She was holding her arms in front of her, making a form of prayer. Her eyes began flashing red and her veins began shining through. Layers of white, smooth strings began shooting from her pores, covering every inch of her body. Even before she finished, he could perceive that a cocoon was being created.

However, just as he closed in, she stopped. Without a single change in expression, she let her defences disintegrate and simply stared at him.

He stopped abruptly, his fist barely grazing her abdomen.

“Why?”

She merely shrugged. She plucked out a strand of hair, black as night. She gestured at him.

“Me?”

With a nod, Ruxue turned the hair into ice, before snapping it in half. The pieces fell to the floor, rapidly melting due to the heat.

“Ah. You still would have suffered serious injuries though.”

“I survive, for a few seconds. You die. Neither of us wants that. Not when my life is linked to yours, at least.”

He almost forgot that this was supposed to be a spar. It was not as serious as it should have been. To be fair, it was clear from the start.

From his understanding, Bai Ruxue’s strength had always been her defence. Just by attacking first, she had already been put at a disadvantage. It was also for this reason that she had survived the attacks when they ambushed her.

As for the link, that was par for the course. When Li Zhixing had captured her, the traitor had immediately tied her life to his. Part of it was to guarantee his safety when confronting Long Tian, though unknown to him, the MC had made sufficient preparations.

Preparations that the new Zhixing needed to dismantle.

Then, a rampage of pain took over. Zhixing just stood still, his body shell-shocked. And yet, surprisingly, he found it very endurable. Sure, every part of him screamed; however, these screams were nothing but background music, barely noticeable.

Instead, the main thing his body desired was simple: relief. At that, he gazed at the beauty in front of him. His mouth opened subconsciously, “So you yield, have you not?”

“Do what you will. Take what you want. Steal what you desire.”

It should have been easy and simple. Taking her right now would have brought him relief, like applying ice to a bruise.

There was also the fact that taking her would physically and spiritually heal him, one of Li Zhixing’s many insidious techniques. It was his main tool for curing himself after using any pain-related skills. In fact, if it was not too inconvenient, Zhixing would just bring female cultivators with him. Most often, they were for one-time use, not the least because he needed discretion.

Few knew about his “talents”, not even his former friend Long Tian.

And no, this was not exactly dual cultivation. Dual cultivation, at least in its orthodox form, was said to be mutually beneficial. Zhixing’s methods were more focused on the medical side of things and also aimed at extracting the most value out of any potential “product”.

The man was so great at this that he knew how to extract a constitution out of another person through such despicable actions. A good constitution was seen as vital for any cultivator to become great, especially the so-called Earthly and Heavenly Constitutions.

It was something that Zhixing dearly lacked, a source of constant frustration. The fundamental issue was similar to his humble birth, something the man detested.

However, unlike his birth, Zhixing discovered one way to collect a constitution for himself. A modified form of “dual cultivation”.

This process was much harder than simple healing and required a very personalized design. Thus, Bai Ruxue was the perfect target. Zhixing had observed her long enough, while her True Ice Constitution would be a great addition to his repertoire. One particular idea that appealed to Li Zhixing had been the ability to freeze himself, which should combine nicely with his ‘pain’ skillset.

Readers speculated that this had been the main reason he turned; possibly the main reason he even made contact with the protagonist in the first place. The second part was unlikely, considering Bai Ruxue had not been tied to Long Tian then. However, the first part should be quite true.

In fact, when Long Tian faced Li Zhixing for the first time after the betrayal, the latter had already taken Ruxue’s constitution for himself. He used it to great effect, though for the most part it just became another catalyst for the protagonist’s wrath, adding fuel to fire.

Regardless of future happenings, Zhixing should take her right here, right now. It made a whole lot of sense; she would not even resist. Not to mention, the process would be subtle enough that she would not notice until it was too late.

In exchange, he would have to perform it multiple times.

His gaze lingered on her jade-like face. After all, why not? It was not like she would show any negative reactions. He could even blindfold himself, not needing to face the direct consequences of his actions. If he wanted to prosper, he needed every advantage he could get. And this was the sort of big opportunity only incompetent fools would pass over.

Really… why worry so much about a character, and a lifeless one at that?

NO.

Li Zhixing could not bring himself to do it. If he was charitable with himself, he would call it a good sense of morality. If he was being harsh, it was simply weakness, cowardice, and most importantly, the unwillingness to do what was necessary.

Every bone in his body broke, his organs collapsed, and his blood vessels ruptured. He opened his mouth, only for blood and guts to come flooding out. His vision turned blurry, yet even so, he could still see the world around him turning to dust and ash.

Gasping, he opened his eyes, his arms checking every part of his body. His wounds had all but disappeared, while his surroundings – the insides of a building - looked completely undamaged.

Yet, he could not feel more lethargic and tired, as if all his energy had been forcefully sapped away. His legs gave out, and he was once again, on the floor, kneeling.

Within his spirit, the magnificent silver core was covered with cracks. With each pulse, these cracks spitted out white flames, burning down the outsides of his core. This fire formed the essence of a person’s core, a sign of acknowledgement and a gift from the lofty heavens. And now, as the world itself recognized his impotence, this gift turned against him, taking away what it had benevolently given him.

Steadily, his core unravelled itself, shedding its resplendent silver sheen for an unassuming bronze. And the size: half of what it originally was.

“What happened?”

He could not respond, his consciousness already slipping. Bai Ruxue seemed to have sensed the changes in his cultivation, in the altar of his existence.

She said with a hint of disbelief, her eyes widening in realization. “Did you seriously succumb to a cultivation demon? After all that… you fail now? Are you fucking with me?!”

As his vision finally faded into darkness, the last thing Zhixing saw was her gaze of utter disgust. She had sensed weakness and consequently could not feel more disdainful.

Yet, he could not help but smirk. She might have kept an unchanging expression throughout the battle. However, he had the last laugh, finally bringing out some emotions within her cold gaze and her detached voice.

Such reactions were priceless, the sort of thing Li Zhixing had always lived for.