The scene before him was like an illusion from the past.

Master Zheng knew this well.

But he tensed.

In an instant, Master Zheng’s fists were as hard as rock and steel.

His clenched fists cracked audibly.

"Huuuh..."

Zheng Xiu’s chest heaved once, and he let out a long, slow breath. Then he broke into a full sprint, ascending the stairs as swiftly as a nimble cheetah.

In the blink of an eye, he ran past Second Lady, weaving through the diverse crowd of commoners.

Lines of text, like swarming mosquitoes, twisted before Zheng Xiu’s eyes, coalescing into words.

[You have heard that on Danglang Mountain, a hundred li from here, there is an Immortal Maiden Temple.]

[You have also heard that the Immortal Lady lives in the temple, granting peace, ensuring success in the imperial examinations, blessing officials with promotions, and helping women conceive.]

[You have heard, moreover...]

"Shut up."

The scenery on either side became a fleeting blur as it whipped past him.

The wind roaring in his ears was like a furious howl, but in a daze, it transformed into the weak murmurs of an unconscious Second Lady.

[You have heard, yet again...]

"Shut up."

"Shut up."

"Damn you, KP, shut up!"

Like a great bell, Zheng Xiu’s body crashed through the lines of text, shattering them.

’I don’t give a damn about your win condition.’

’I don’t care if I’m supposed to survive until Dawn or find some hidden trap.’

’I don’t care what Path or Miracle Technique is involved.’

’This time, I call the shots.’

’Tonight, there’s only one way to win.’

Finally.

In the distant sky, four large words rose like a scorching sun.

[KILL THE IMMORTAL LADY!]

[You have sprinted with all your might, heedless of everything. Your Step Technique has been slightly trained.]

[Your Anger has caused you to clench your fists, making them as hard as fine steel and your bones like forged iron. Your Muscle Strength has been trained by an infinitesimal amount.]

[Your Anger has strengthened your Will. You are determined to brave all obstacles and break through this Ghostly Realm to bring light back to the world. Your Will has been trained by an infinitesimal amount.]

When Zheng Xiu reached a flat clearing on the mountainside, the sky shifted. The midday sun instantly became a sun setting in the west.

The abrupt change in the sky was as jarring as a scene change in a play.

At the mountain’s peak, a waterfall cascaded down, shimmering with a golden radiance, like a curtain of golden beads being unfurled.

Where the water crashed against the rocks, spray flew, creating prismatic arches like rainbow bridges over the falls.

At the base of the waterfall was a pool of water so clear you could see the bottom, where white, yellow, and red koi swam leisurely.

Beside the pool stood an ancient temple.

The lacquer on the temple doors was peeling, its beams were worm-eaten, and its tiled eaves were crumbling. It was impossible to tell how many ages it had stood there.

Flanking the temple, two bizarre, eerie trees grew in perfect symmetry. Their trunks curved, leaning forward together, their tips ramrod straight.

At a glance, the two symmetrical, misshapen trees looked like a pair of scythes poised to strike.

A beautiful woman stood gracefully before a large censer, surrounded by hundreds of commoners. She wore a long, snow-white dress and was barefoot, poised on her toes. Her ample bosom was half-exposed, and her long hair was tied back with a red silk ribbon. Her features were gentle, a mixture of provocative allure and innocent purity, a seductive charm hidden within a pristine facade.

The incense in the censer burned brightly. Sticks of all lengths were packed together in a fan shape. The smoke wafted upwards, its trails winding like snakes as they slowly rose into the sky.

The commoners approached the Incense Burner one by one in an orderly line, each planting three lit sticks of fine incense into the ash.

The censer, crammed with well over ten thousand incense sticks, was like a brothel filled to capacity, with not an inch of space to spare. A Scholar came forward to plant his incense and burned the back of his hand on the embers, yet he seemed not to notice, muttering prayers that on this day next year, he would be the top scholar in the examinations, returning home in glory.

Zheng Xiu said nothing. Like a naive youth, he walked toward the half-dressed Immortal Lady.

"You,"

The Immortal Lady’s eyebrows were like painted willow leaves, her lips the color of blood. A broad smile graced her cheeks as she gazed at the young man.

"What have you come to ask for?"

In a flash.

In that instant.

The air seemed to congeal. In a heartbeat, everything fell silent.

The eyes of every commoner turned to the young man.

Their eyes were hollow and lifeless, like puppets possessing only empty shells for bodies.

Among the crowd of commoners, Zheng Erniyag was there as well, a flicker of doubt in her otherwise vacant gaze.

Zheng Xiu touched the spot between his eyebrows, tossed the Dice, and focused his mind.

After one failure and one success, Zheng Xiu managed to activate [Spiritual Vision].

The crowd parted, forming a path that led straight to the Immortal Lady.

The Immortal Lady spread her pale, slender arms, facing Young Master Zheng.

"Come now."

"Come now."

"Come now."

Her calls grew softer and more seductive with each repetition.

[You are about to be corrupted by Filthy Qi.]

[Resistance successful.]

The Dice spun wildly beside Zheng Xiu. After the roll, he successfully resisted the strange corruption.

CLANG!

Feigning a dazed expression, Zheng Xiu walked step by step toward the Incense Burner.

But then, with a sudden SHIING, Zheng Xiu struck. The bright gleam of his blade drew two long, thin arcs of light in the air.

Coiling Dragon Eighteen Slashes!

Double Dragon Water-taking!

His blade moved like twin dragons, aimed straight for her heart.

"Where did this whelp come from, courting death!"

The Immortal Lady’s face twisted into a ferocious snarl. The wind whistled through the trees, and something hidden within them shot out. In an instant, a dozen black threads, sharp as arrows, pierced Zheng Xiu’s limbs, chest, and neck.

"Good! GURGLE GURGLE—"

Blood gushed from Zheng Xiu’s mouth, but he let out a loud laugh and swiped his own throat.

The Double Dragon Water-taking had only been a feint. He had already memorized sixty percent of the attack paths of those hair-like threads.

[DEATH.]

As the word floated up, Zheng Xiu felt a strange sense of familiarity. The pain faded, and he was once again standing at the sun-drenched foot of the mountain.

Round two.

Zheng Xiu ascended the mountain and arrived before the censer once more.

Time rewound. Sixteen strands of hair shot out, and Zheng Xiu died again, completing a quick run-through.

Round three.

Round four.

Until round six.

The scenery before him was the same, but Zheng Xiu sensed a subtle difference. The pounding in his chest was more violent now; the Caged Sparrow within felt as if it were about to burst free.

Having been possessed by the Caged Sparrow back in Baili Village, Zheng Xiu knew this wasn’t a bad thing.

He wielded an ordinary blade, but he executed a Sword Skill that the former Imperial Guard Commander had never taught. As Zheng Xiu arrived before the Immortal Maiden Temple again, the image of the Treasure King’s gratified smile seemed to float before his eyes.

He had practiced the Coiling Dragon Eighteen Slashes with Wang Cangyun thousands of times.

Before, Zheng Xiu had only used rote memorization, rigidly committing Wang Cangyun’s sequences to memory in order to block them.

But now, with his mind clear of distractions, he recalled the way Wang Cangyun moved his blade, and something seemed to click.

He advanced step by step. Under his Spiritual Vision, he saw the wishes of the commoners converging on the Incense Burner.

But these beautiful wishes were condensing into a hideous black shadow that coiled behind the Immortal Maiden Temple. Combined with the two strangely shaped trees, it looked like a gigantic praying mantis squatting over the temple.

The Immortal Lady frowned, but her expression quickly smoothed into a smile. "Young man, what have you come to ask for?"

"I’ve come to ask you,"

The young man’s face broke into a brilliant smile, as innocent as a child’s.

"To go die."

He took a step.

The black threads stabbed down from the tree canopy, silent and traceless as ghosts.

"TING TING TING TING—"

A shower of sparks erupted before the young man. Zheng Xiu unleashed ten slashes in a single step, then six in the next, executing three moves from the Coiling Dragon Eighteen Slashes in an instant.

Amidst the web of black hair, Zheng Xiu’s shadow seemed to merely spin a few times. Before the sparks from his blade striking the hair could even fade, all sixteen strands had been struck at the exact same point by his three moves, causing them to twist and braid together.

Up in the canopy, fleshy tumors grew on the heads of the commoners. Ten-foot-long strands of hair sprouted from the tumors, and the weight of it dragged them down, sending them plummeting to the ground one after another.

In the blink of an eye, as if teleporting, Zheng Xiu appeared before the stunned Immortal Lady and lopped her head off with a single slash.

Usually, she would have had time for one more line: "Come now, come now, come now, where did this whelp come from, courting death!"

[Through this trial of life and death, you have begun to grasp the profound interchange of offense and defense within the Coiling Dragon Eighteen Slashes. Your Coiling Dragon Eighteen Slashes has been greatly trained.]

[Coiling Dragon Eighteen Slashes has leveled up, reaching the Masterful realm!]

"AHHH—"

The Immortal Lady’s head hit the ground, but not a single drop of blood flowed from the stump of her neck. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Her graceful body suddenly swelled like a balloon. A twisted black shadow shot out from her neck, let out a piercing shriek, and fled toward the temple in the blink of an eye.

"Get back here!"

His equally Masterful [Taunt] proved its worth. The black shadow had just darted through the temple doors when it froze in place.

Only then did Zheng Xiu get a clear look at the shadow’s true form—the Immortal Lady’s true face.

It was a naked woman. Her left side was voluptuous and alluring, with an exposed breast. Her right side, however, was covered in insectoid limbs, and her right hand had long lost its fingers, instead ending in a small hooked scythe. The half-human, half-insect creature’s abdomen was grotesquely swollen, as if she were 380 months pregnant. Her unnaturally distended belly shimmered with a watery light, and from within, several human faces suddenly pressed against the thin abdominal wall.

Most bizarre of all was her face: one side was exquisitely beautiful, while the other sported insectoid mouthparts and a compound eye.

[You have witnessed an abomination. You are being corrupted.]

The Dice spun.

[Resistance failed.]

[Will -1.]

Zheng Xiu suddenly felt as if his brain were being pried apart, and he nearly threw up.

The sensation felt all too real, and his body’s reaction was proof.

Master Zheng immediately used 120 percent of his strength to hurl his blade like a spear, stabbing it toward the motionless "Immortal Lady."