Demoness's Art of Vengeance

Jun Xiaomo paused in her steps. She immediately retracted her attack and then increased the distance between herself and Dai Yue.

Ever since Liang Yulong had cautioned her that Dai Yue’s true abilities were at the ninth level of Qi Mastery, she had always remained vigilant against Dai Yue. The competition’s regulations naturally disallowed the use of medicinal pills to suppress and conceal one’s true cultivation level. If anyone was discovered to have flouted this rule, there would be grave and severe consequences.

But if Dai Yue had found a way of bribing the referees, then this would naturally no longer be an issue. After all, being a referee of the competition did not necessarily mean that they would be impartial and insusceptible to corruption. After all, the human heart was naturally avaricious. This was something that Jun Xiaomo would never underestimate, given her previous lifetime of experience.

As expected, as soon as Dai Yue had realized that she was unable to defeat Jun Xiaomo at status quo, she decided to resort to her trump card – that is, to consume the antidote to her cultivation suppressing medication and release the true extent of her cultivation level.

In the eyes of the audience, Dai Yue seemed to be breaking through in the midst of combat. But what Dai Yue had in fact done was much safer than that.

Dai Yue was currently only recovering the full extent of her cultivation level, and there were hardly any risks involved at all. Conversely, the fact that she was no longer bound by the restrictions of the eight level of Qi Mastery meant that she could now display the full extent of her abilities at the ninth level of Qi Mastery. In other words, Jun Xiaomo’s disadvantage in this fight had just become that much more apparent.

At the very least, if Jun Xiaomo decided to maintain her previous approach to this battle, then her chances of coming out on top of this battle were truly slim.

As soon as Jun Xiaomo retreated and attempted to put a safe distance between herself and Dai Yue, Dai Yue’s whip immediately lashed out and snapped at where Jun Xiaomo’s foot was just a moment ago. Sparks flew, and rocks and dirt scattered everywhere.

One could only imagine the consequences had this single whiplash landed squarely on Jun Xiaomo’s body.

Being disfigured was now but a small thing. Given the strength of Dai Yue’s present attacks, having broken bones was a very real possibility.

Jun Xiaomo grimaced, and her pupils constricted with ever-increasing vigilance.

A cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Mastery was far more difficult to deal with than a cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Mastery. Whether explosiveness, offensive abilities or speed, all of these would have increased by several times with the increase in her cultivation level.

When the audience saw that Jun Xiaomo managed to avoid that explosive attack from Dai Yue, everyone managed to heave a sigh of relief.

But it was understandable. The human heart is prone to bias. Both were similarly outstanding female cultivators. One was vicious and cruel, and her eyes were filled with a vile and nefarious intent. Even though the other could not be considered soft and gentle, she was nevertheless measured in her approach and has clear boundaries between good and evil. Furthermore, her petite and beautiful face was not tainted with the stains of schemes and ploys, and there was only a calm, cool, and determined expression on her face. Under such circumstances, even a completely unassociated and unaffiliated audience would find themselves hard pressed not to be biased towards the latter lady in combat.

Dai Yue saw that Jun Xiaomo had managed to successfully avoid her attack, but she was hardly frustrated at all this time. She thought that a measly cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Mastery could never be her opponent at this point in time! After all, she had already recovered her abilities at the ninth level of Qi Mastery.

“Jun Xiaomo! Do you think you can keep avoiding all of my attacks? I’m going to thoroughly etch into your bones the meaning of cultivation level deficiency!!!”

Dai Yue laughed sardonically. Then, she mumbled inaudibly a mnemonic before crying out, “Violent Dance of the Inferno!”

The Violent Dance of the Inferno was a fire spell that could only be released by cultivators at the ninth level of Qi Mastery.

Within moments, innumerable streaks of fireballs congealed in mid-air and began to speed towards Jun Xiaomo. These brightly coloured fireballs flickered brilliantly in the air as they left streaks of blazing trails behind them, just like a beautiful, bloodcurdling dance. This was what earned this fire spell the name ‘Violent Dance of the Inferno’.

This was an incredibly powerful area-of-effect spell. Dealing with Jun Xiaomo with such a spell could be considered an overkill. After all, Jun Xiaomo was all by herself, and there was no way she would be able to avoid such an attack.

Just like that, these fireballs that shot towards Jun Xiaomo began to explode around her, and a remarkable display of spectacular fireworks ensued. Yet not a single person in the audience found themselves able to marvel at the beauty of such a display.

As the brilliance of the fire spells subsided, the arena was left in a complete mess, while Jun Xiaomo stood in the heart of it all. She was finally injured – the explosions lad left several wounds and lacerations all over her body.

“See? Do you finally appreciate the vast chasm between our cultivation levels right now? Hmph. I want to show everyone that you, Jun Xiaomo, are an idiot who’s overestimating her own abilities!” Dai Yue cried out in wicked delight. Her gaze hardened once more, and she began to cast several other area of effect spells again.

Dai Yue knew that she would not be able to hurt Jun Xiaomo if she did not resort to such area of effect spells, because Jun Xiaomo was simply too quick on her feet.

Thus, Dai Yue had decided to resort to her area of effect spells to ravage Jun Xiaomo and whittle down her ability to be able to defend herself. Then, when Jun Xiaomo was finally reduced to her final breaths, Dai Yue would slowly torment her by lashing at Jun Xiaomo with her whip until Jun Xiaomo died.

When it came to torture, Dai Yue’s personal preference was to use the whip because it enabled her to thoroughly enjoy herself while protracting the process of torment.

Dai Yue continued to launch several other area of effect spells at Jun Xiaomo. The injuries on Jun Xiaomo’s body naturally mounted, and wafts of burnt blood stench filled the air. All of this was undoubtedly from Jun Xiaomo’s wounds.

As time wore on, Jun Xiaomo’s speed and ability to avoid attacks grew slower and slower…

Then, as soon as Dai Yue decided it was about time, she stopped using her area of effect spells entirely, and she turned her focus back to the whip that was in her hands.

Pak! Dai Yue’s whip struck Jun Xiaomo’s body squarely for the first time. Jun Xiaomo was unable to avoid this attack, and the vicious strike tore a deep wound on her skin. Fresh blood began to seep out of her wound and soak through her clothes, dyeing her red garments with an even more striking garnet colour of blood.

“Ungh…” Jun Xiaomo groaned as she clenched her fists and remained standing.

She stared back at Dai Yue with eyes filled with a frigid intent.

“Pfft! What are you looking at me like that for? Are you hoping that the daggers in your eyes will be able to kill me?” Dai Yue mocked contemptuously, but her hand holding the whip was unrelenting – it immediately lashed out with yet another attack!

This next lash was even more vicious than the last. If not for the fact that Jun Xiaomo managed to tilt her body slightly at the very last moment, the bones and nerves in her arm might very well have been completely shattered and severed by Dai Yue’s attack.

These two strikes with the whip whetted Dai Yue’s appetite to torment Jun Xiaomo even further, and a macabre killing intent filled Dai Yue’s eyes.

She was going to thrash up Jun Xiaomo’s face until it was a bloody pulp, before breaking every single inch of her bones and severing every single one of her nerves!

Pak! Pak! Pak! …

One lash, two lashes, three lashes…

Dai Yue’s whip had been imbued with her fire-based spiritual energy, and each lash was like an attack using a hot branding iron, resulting in excruciating, splitting pain.

Jun Xiaomo managed to avoid some attacks, but not all – it was not that her combat intuition had weakened. Rather, it was simply the result of her cultivation level deficiency coupled with the serious injuries to her body that caused her speed to be unable to match up to that of Dai Yue’s right now.

She knew where Dai Yue’s attacks were coming from and where they were going to land, but she simply had no way of avoiding her attacks.

Dai Yue’s eyes reddened with bloodlust, and she was reminded about an incident that occurred when she was six years-old.

Back then, an incident occurred within the Eternal Summit Sect that was neither trivial nor grave. It was not grave because these matters were not uncommon in the cultivation world, and practically every sect would witness at least one or two such incidents within their numbers.

But the reason why it was hardly trivial was because this matter was blown way out of proportion within the Eternal Summit Sect. In the end, the Sect Elders and Peakmasters had to caution their disciples time and again and even order them not to speak of this to outsiders so that outsiders would not have a chance to mock them or make them a laughingstock.

This incident was none other than how a female disciple had climbed into bed with Dai Yanfeng and shared secret, intimate rendezvouses with him for an entire year until Qiu Laifeng discovered it.

At that time, a frenzied and furious Qiu Laifeng pulled the female disciple out of Dai Yanfeng’s bed and slammed her to the ground. Then, in front of several people within the Sect, she struck at the female disciple with lash after lash of her whip. As Qiu Laifeng whipped her, she decried, “You slut! You dare to seduce my husband? I’m going to kill you today!”

Dai Yanfeng was initially going to rush over to protect that female disciple of his. But then his thoughts turned towards the preservation of his own reputation and pride. Given how everyone was watching the commotion then, he hardened his heart and decided not to intervene at all.

Thus, that female disciple ended up being beaten to death by Qiu Laifeng. Even in her death, that female disciple stared with widened eyes at Dai Yanfeng. She had died with a remaining grievance.

At that time, Dai Yue was still unaware of what that pretty-looking martial sister had done wrong. She only remembered that pool of fresh blood on the floor, and the bloody, pulpy mess that her martial sister had been reduced to.

Qiu Laifeng grabbed hold of Dai Yue’s shoulders then and pointed to the macabre remains of the female disciple on the floor as she gnashed her teeth and barked madly, “Yue-Yue, do you see that? If anyone dares to steal your man from you next time, then you must beat them to death like that. Don’t ever give them any room for escape!”

Thus, Dai Yue firmly etched the sight of that macabre corpse in her mind, and she securely treasured Qiu Laifeng’s teachings in her heart.

Time wore on, yet this indelible mark in her mind hardly grew any fainter. In fact, it even deepened in intensity.

At this moment, Jun Xiaomo’s tragic state sent Dai Yue back in time to when her mother had torn that female disciple off the bed.

In Dai Yue’s eyes, she had become none other than Qiu Laifeng, while Jun Xiaomo had become none other than the female disciple who had slept with her father.

Kill her! Dai Yue’s heart cried out – She deserves to die! How dare she snatch your beloved man away from you?!

Dai Yue’s lashes with the whip grew more vicious, while Jun Xiaomo increasingly gave the audience the impression that she was about to fall at any moment.

Not enough! It’s still not enough! Dai Yue’s gaze intensified – Why isn’t this woman begging for mercy like the female disciple who had slept with father? Things have already come to a head, so why is that woman still wearing that damned calm and composed expression on her face?! Why isn’t she crying and begging me for mercy?!

She wanted to tear off this woman’s pretenses. She wanted to tear off her pride and trample it on the ground! She wanted her dear brother Rong to see for himself just what kind of person it was that he had fallen for!

Pak! Another lash flew out, and Jun Xiaomo felt a dull impact on her shoulder. She could no longer stabilize herself, and she collapsed to the ground.

“Xiaomo!” “Mo-Mo!” “Martial sister!”

Several cries rang out at the same time from where the Heavenly Peak’s seats were located. They watched on as the horrendous sight unfolded on stage, and their hearts swelled with the urge to rush forward to the stage to rescue Jun Xiaomo from that mad woman.

But they knew that they could not do this because it would flout the competition rules.

Dai Yue looked on in delight as Jun Xiaomo lay face down on the floor, completely motionless. A wicked smile crept up the side of her face.

Naturally, her smile was plastered over an expression that was still filled with a fierce killing intent. No matter how one looked at it, she looked vile, nefarious and incredibly vicious.

Yet the competition would go on as long as neither contestants admitted defeat on the arena. This was why every iteration of this competition would witness the death of several disciples as well. These incidents would invariably occur when one disciple would be beaten up so harshly that he would no longer have the ability to fight, and then his opponent would deliver a vicious fatal blow to him.

This was Dai Yue’s plan as well. She felt that the fruit of her labour was soon ripe for her harvest.

Just then, Jun Xiaomo’s hands quivered, and she slowly clenched her fists.

At the same time, she retrieved a medicinal pill from her Interspatial Ring and held it firmly in her palm.

This medicinal pill was none other than the medicinal pill that Wei Gaolang had given to her – the fifth-grade recovery pill that had “extra ingredients” to it.

The faint aroma of the Bedeviled Grass wafted into Jun Xiaomo’s nose.

Jun Xiaomo grimaced, and then she forcibly swallowed the recovery pill.