Truly befitting her title as the number one beauty on the Southern Border Rouge List. She was the loftiest, moon-cold goddess that everyone spoke about in hushed voices.
It was said the male cultivators who adored her could form a line stretching all the way from here to the Eastern Sea. They dreamed of her day and night.
In his past life, Wu Qin had been besieged by so many Children of Fortune. Part of it came from how freely he had slaughtered and made countless enemies. But another part came from several of those Fortuned Ones being completely infatuated with her.
Those few were like madmen. They forever regarded her as their celestial consort, the goddess of their dreams.
They believed that although she had been forced to submit to the demon, she had never truly loved Wu Qin. So in their eyes she remained pure and untainted.
It was a miraculous way of thinking.
Wu Qin tossed aside the yellow springs whip. It was a low-grade magical treasure he had seized from an elder of the Yin Yang Sect.
Every lash from it dealt double critical damage to both body and soul. The spiritual agony felt exactly like falling into the Yellow Springs and struggling in vain.
Its previous owner had flogged more than a dozen Golden Core cultivators to death. Among them were men of iron will.
They all died when their souls tore apart and scattered into nothing.
The whip could make any victim beg for immediate death.
Xiao Qingyue held her breath in pure terror. She lay prostrate on the icy ground. Her delicate body shook violently from head to toe.
She knew exactly what awaited her next.
A slap. Or maybe a kick.
It would hurt badly.
She was afraid down to her bones. Her very soul trembled inside her. Yet she refused to beg this bastard for even a scrap of mercy.
Her once-flawless back was now a bloody mess. The tattered white robes had turned a deep scarlet. Each welt looked like a ghastly sight.
Her long graceful neck and fair arms were mottled with bruises and red prints.
A flicker of reluctance flashed across Wu Qin's eyes. "Lift your head," he said quietly.
On her knees before him, Xiao Qingyue raised her head in dread. She revealed a face that could topple kingdoms.
Though she looked as coldly beautiful as a goddess from Guye, her cheek still bore a fading red handprint.
Wu Qin saw her glass-like irises floating with pale golden lunar halos. As they flickered, silver flecks shimmered like shattered stars. The outer corners of her eyes were naturally touched with faint crimson, as though someone had outlined petals of beach rose with cinnabar dipped in dawn.
Such beautiful eyes.
Wu Qin never tired of looking at them.
Her lashes were long and curled. She dared not meet his gaze as she blinked slowly.
Xiao Qingyue grew even more terrified. This had to be the calm before the storm.
What fresh torment would the demon devise this time?
Wu Qin reached out. He gently caressed her smooth cheek with his fingers. Then suddenly he raised his hand.
She squeezed her eyes shut tight. Her left cheek received the blow.
Yet it lacked the usual force. It was far lighter than before.
It was a mere pat.
Was the bastard storing his strength?
Was he planning to lull her before a savage strike?
She was not guessing wildly. Last time, Old Demon Wu had slapped her flying several meters away. He had nearly knocked out her teeth.
"Does it hurt?" he asked.
Xiao Qingyue froze. What was he playing at now?
"N-no…"
"No pain? Then we will have to whip you again."
Her pupils shrank in fear. "It hurts…"
"Good. Pain helps you remember me." Looking down at her, he stroked her head as if petting a cat or dog. "Your heart can hold only me. Understood?"
She stayed completely motionless. She offered no reply at all.
"Red Plum, come in and apply medicine," Wu Qin called out. "Scars would spoil her looks." Then he walked toward the side hall.
She watched his back disappear. Her eyes brimmed with hatred and fury.
Demon. Did he think this would make her yield?
Dream on.
Kill her if he could. Otherwise one day she would make him repay a thousandfold.
Secretly, Xiao Qingyue sighed inside. Hope was slim.
She was only at early Golden Core now. Even if her Dao injury and other wounds fully healed, she would peak at Golden Core's summit.
The demon was genuine Nascent Soul.
The gap between them was vast.
Still, demonic arts advanced quickly but left unstable foundations. That was common knowledge in the cultivation world.
Any day he might die from cultivation backlash. Or inner-demons running amok. Or heavenly tribulation striking him dead.
He had many foes. Wuji Palace was newly founded. Its resources were thin and propped up by him alone.
Once his cultivation faltered or he was wounded, fatal enemies would swarm like locusts.
He had once said to her, "Qingyue, I tread this life as if on thin ice. Do you think I will reach the other shore?"
Of course not.
She wished he would die midway.
Heartless bastard. Better dead at once.
She told herself his talent was poor. His current power came only from slaughter and crooked ways.
Breaking through to Void Refining Stage would be almost impossible.
He would likely stop right here. Whereas her own gift was high. Given time to catch up, she would surpass him. She would trample him underfoot and let him taste despair worse than death.
Just imagining it thrilled her deep inside.
Thinking of this, Xiao Qingyue's lips curved slightly. Her pain eased just a little.
"Madam." A woman in red with a crimson plum mark between her brows arrived. She began to dust medicinal powder on the wounds.
It was sixth-grade healing powder. It brought quick recovery and left no scarring.
Combined with top-grade jade-skin cream, it whitened, hydrated, and tightened the skin.
"Madam, let me change your clothes."
"I will do it. Turn around…" Xiao Qingyue was conservative. She always wore thick skirts that revealed nothing.
Even though Red Plum was a woman, she still felt shy.
Red Plum obeyed and murmured softly, "Madam, the Lord truly loves you. He even held a wedding. Just obey him, stop trying to escape, never mention other men, and you will suffer far less."
An occasional beating might be unavoidable. But not so frequent or severe.
"He is simply a madman." She and Wu Qin had never consummated their marriage. In her heart she rejected it completely.
She only dared not say so aloud.
Last time she had nearly been beaten to death.
Red Plum and the others called her Madam. She had to accept it.
Her opinion carried no weight. No one listened unless Wu Qin spoke.
Wu Qin sipped his tea slowly. He opened the system panel in his mind.
Master: Wu Qin.
Stage: mid-Nascent Soul.
Fortune: zero, because he carried the soul of an out-realm heaven demon.
Physique: Primordial God-King Body, but the source was lost, the divine bone seized, and a cursed undying demon bone implanted instead.
Arts: Demon-Prison Reverse-Immortal Art at fifth level, Eight-Extreme True-Demon Art at fourth level, Ancient Nether Soul-Devour Art at great completion, Triple-Slayer Lifeless-Blade Art at great completion, and many more.
Divine Abilities: Heaven-Reversing Palm, Three-Thousand Demon Shadows, Mountain-Splitting Ocean-Parting, and others.
Treasures: heaven and earth chessboard, Abyssal Demon-Sealing Blade, Inverted Demon-Subduing Pagoda, Immortal-Binding Rope, yellow springs whip, and the rest.
Inspection Eye—when activated, it revealed a target's basic info, fortune, physique, and status.
Plunder Hand—place a hand on a Child of Destiny's head for three seconds to steal all his fortune. It would not work if the target died.
Lucky Wheel—completely random. It cost two hundred fortune per spin with no guaranteed prize.
Rage Value: zero out of two hundred.
Current Status: Doom Chains sealing the Purple Mansion. Rage kept eroding the soul. Occasional mental chaos, unbearable agony, and violent madness.
"Rage value?" Wu Qin understood right away. It rose by ten each day. It capped at two hundred within a month. And it had to be vented. Otherwise he would fall into total berserk madness.
The target had to be a Daughter of Fortune. Flogging a Heaven's Chosen girl worked best of all.
Each full vent granted rewards.
Forcing it down would inflict irreversible soul damage. It might even split his personality.
A second persona could arise.
Even a fifth.
"Xiao Yue Liang is a Daughter of Fortune?" he thought. "No wonder I cannot help myself when I see her. So that is why."