Demoness's Art of Vengeance

If anyone asked Du Yongxu who he wished to kill the most, his answer would most certainly be Jun Xiaomo of the Heavenly Peak.

He would always remember that incident not long ago, when he led a team of Du Clan disciples out of the sect for their travels and encountered Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen by the Death’s Gorge, particularly how he was subsequently beaten back and forced to retreat in a tragic state.

This was the greatest form of humiliation he had ever experienced in his entire life! Therefore, as soon as he learnt of his father’s plans, he agreed to it without hesitation.

That said, he believed that he might not even need to personally make a move if they wished to dispose of the Heavenly Peak disciples – his martial brothers would suffice.

After all, what could a team of cultivators under the twelfth level of Qi Mastery achieve by their own? They might have some hope against the Du Clan disciples if Ye Xiuwen were still around. But the fact was that Ye Xiuwen had already fallen into the Death’s Gorge, and not even his corpse could be located. The Heavenly Peak disciples were as good as dead if they encountered any other team around.

These were Du Yongxu’s thoughts about the situation. Thus, when he learnt that the Heavenly Peak disciples were still completely fine despite the fact that two days of the competition had passed, he began to make a strange expression on his face.

“Father, are you saying that Jun Xiaomo is quite well-versed in her formation arrays and talismans?” Du Yongxu furrowed his brows as a glint flickered across the depths of his eyes.

He was reminded about the last time that he battled against Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen at the Death’s Gorge. Back then, Jun Xiaomo had indeed used several powerful talismans against the Du Clan disciples. However, he had always thought that Jun Xiaomo was merely using talismans that she had bought. He had never expected Jun Xiaomo to know anything about making talismans.

Most importantly, there were regulations surrounding the strength of talismans used in these competitions. Otherwise, everyone would simply invest heavily in equipping their disciples with powerful talismans, and the competition would be fraught with chaos.

It was for this reason that Du Yongxu knew that Jun Xiaomo could never resort to the talismans she had used back then at the Death’s Gorge. Thus, he had never set her in his sights as an opponent to be beheld.

Yet little did he realize he had underestimated the depths of Jun Xiaomo’s abilities.

“If not for Jun Xiaomo’s existence, the disciples from the Heavenly Peak would never have lasted so long. They might even have been eliminated right from the outset of this competition without the Du Clan having to make a move at all. Who would’ve thought that the Heavenly Peak’s greatest asset would be none other than the one who has the weakest cultivation among them all?” The Du Clan Head Du Ruiguang broke down the situation to his son, “But, Xu-er, you don’t have to worry too much either. That little brat only has some little tricks up her sleeves, but that’s all she has against you. This is definitely insufficient to deal with you. As long as you know where her advantage lies, you will certainly be prepared against her.”

Du Yongxu squinted his eyes and deliberated for a moment before responding, “Father, I’ve got an idea.”

“What kind of idea?”

“From what you’ve explained, the Heavenly Peak disciples seems to be building themselves around Jun Xiaomo as their core. Since that’s the case, why not prioritize getting rid of the core first? Once they lose their leader and the soul of their team, that group of people would be no more than a headless chicken at our complete mercy.”

Du Ruiguang began to laugh heartily, “That’s a great idea! Indeed, you truly live up to your name as my son! Hahahaha…”

A smirk crept up the corner of Du Yongxu’s lips as well.

The transmission from the Ashen Flats Sect’s disciples arrived as soon as Du Yongxu ended his communication with Du Ruiguang.

There was a small talisman hidden in the heart of his palm that enabled him to communicate with Du Ruiguang using his divine sense. This was incredibly discreet, and Du Yongxu simply appeared to be sleeping in the eyes of the audience members.

Then, a blue light glowed, and Du Yongxu opened his eyes to find a transmission in his hands.

He opened the Transmittance Talisman and saw that a single line of words was written on it – We’ve discovered the Heavenly Peak’s whereabouts. They’ve captured us. Requesting assistance.

This was the very transmission that had been sent by the leader of the Ashen Flats Sect’s disciples. He had even left the coordinates of his locations where the transmission had been sent. With that piece of information on hand, it would be extremely easy for Du Yongxu to locate Jun Xiaomo and the others.

“Hmph. These idiots are not completely useless after all.” Du Yongxu chuckled sardonically as he crushed the Transmittance Talisman in his hand and tossed it into the ground.

The “idiots” naturally referred to the Ashen Flats Sect’s disciples. In his eyes, anyone who could be captured so easily by Jun Xiaomo’s faction could only be described as an “idiot”.

“Stop sleeping. Get up.” Du Yongxu nudged the other Du Clan disciples around him, “We’ve located our target.”

“Ugh…We’ve finally located them? Those people were rather useful after all, huh?” One of the Du Clan disciples who had just woken up stretched as he remarked, “I’m beat. It’s so late now; don’t those guys need to sleep at all?”

“Alright, alright. You’ve got plenty of time to sleep once we’ve completed our tasks. Don’t dally any further. We don’t want our target to give us the slip again.” Du Yongxu replied.

“That’s true. It’s not difficult to deal with them. But things might get complicated if we lose track of them again. Let’s go, let’s go…”

The Du Clan disciples began to rouse from their slumber and get up. As soon as they packed up their things, they stepped onto the Teleportation Array that Du Yongxu had prepared beforehand.

Apart from the Du Clan disciples, there were members of other sects that wished to tag along, so Du Yongxu agreed to bring them along as well.

After all, their intelligence told them that the Heavenly Peak disciples were not alone, and there were two or three other sects tagging along with them as well. Since that was the case, Du Yongxu decided to bring the others along to act as cannon fodder for the Du Clan disciples.

How long will we need to take care of those disciples from Heavenly Peak? Three incense sticks of time? Two incense sticks of time? Or perhaps not even one incense stick of time…

On the other side, Jun Xiaomo waited expectantly for the arrival of the next wave of assailants.

“Martial sister, the Ashen Flats Sect’s disciples had earlier mentioned that there would be others coming to take care of us. Do you think this is true, or do you think they’ve only said that to scare us?” Wei Gaolang furrowed his brows as he quipped.

Just a few moments ago, Jun Xiaomo’s faction had joined hands to give their sneak attack assailants from the Ashen Flat Sect a vicious beating, before snatching the identity token from their wrists and sending them straight back out of the competition.

These Ashen Flat Sect’s disciples were going to be bedridden for at least a year, if not more, because Jun Xiaomo and the rest had without hesitation damaged their Dantian and internal organs.

Don’t blame Jun Xiaomo and the rest for being vicious with these people – given how these people had harboured such evil intentions towards the Heavenly Peak, Jun Xiaomo was already being merciful to them by leaving them with their lives intact.

In fact, the only reason why Jun Xiaomo had extended such mercy to them was because she was reticent to scare her young, innocent and pure martial brother Wei. Otherwise, Jun Xiaomo would not have hesitated a single moment to cripple their cultivation entirely.

She patted her martial brother Wei’s shoulder as she spoke earnestly, “It’s better to be safe than sorry. Let’s err on the side of caution.”

“But…but if that’s the case, why aren’t we thinking of a way to leave this place?” Wei Gaolang asked in distress, “Are we going to just sit here and wait for others to come knocking on our doors?”

Jun Xiaomo raised an eyebrow quizzically, “Leave this place? Little Lang, do you believe that we will be able to elude those pursuing us by hastily running away from this place? They’re well prepared, and I’m afraid they must already be on their way over right now.”

“So that’s how it is…” Wei Gaolang scratched his head, “Martial sister’s definitely thought things through more than I have.”

Jun Xiaomo chuckled, “This is a result of experiences that had been foisted on me.”

And this was an experience filled with bitterness and tears that nobody would ever be able to understand.

Chen Feiyu thought for a bit before querying, “Martial sister Xiaomo, what do you intend to do? I also believe that the Ashen Flats Sect’s disciples weren’t lying when they said that others were after our lives.”

After all, the fact that He Zhang and his old fogeys had swapped out the list of participants and enlisted all of the Heavenly Peak disciples reeked of a ploy against them. But two full days had passed without a hitch. It would hardly make any sense if the Heavenly Peak disciples were able to get through the third day safely as well.

Having thought about these things, Chen Feiyu believed that it was about time that the schemers would be moving against them.

A mischievous smile crept up the corner of Jun Xiaomo’s lips as she responded with a cold gleam in her eyes, “Since they’re after our lives, why shouldn’t we let them have a taste of their own medicine? They probably expect us to make a run for it right now, so we’ll intentionally remain where we are!”

“We’re going to…lure them into the lion’s den.”

Jun Xiaomo slowed down towards the end of her spiel and emphasized her final few words, causing Chen Feiyu and Meng Huanqiu to be taken aback slightly. Moments later, Meng Huanqiu’s eyes gleamed brightly and began to clap and laugh heartily, “Hahahaha…as expected of sister Xiaomo – your suggestions are still the best! Hahahahaha…”

Jun Xiaomo smiled faintly.

Wei Gaolang couldn’t understand what Jun Xiaomo’s cryptic expressions meant. When it came to matters of schemes and ploys, he was a complete greenhorn. Thus, he remained confuzzled as he scratched his head in dismay.

“Alright, don’t scratch your hair anymore. If they really do come after us, you’ll only need to watch, and you’ll understand what exactly we meant earlier.” Jun Xiaomo patted Wei Gaolang’s head as he looked back at her and chuckled sheepishly.

“Good thing martial sister’s around.” Wei Gaolang smiled radiantly, “With martial sister around, I don’t have to worry about so many things anymore.”

“I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be worrying even if I weren’t here either.” Jun Xiaomo rapped his head with some measure of helplessness.

Wei Gaolang reminded herself of how she used to be in her previous life – he had been far too sheltered, so much so that he had continued to maintain a pristine, clear view of the world where the sky was always blue, the grass was always green, and the world was simply a bed of roses. There was nothing to concern himself about – no nuances and no considerations.

Yet in the end, it was only when she stumbled and irretrievably fell into the ploys of others that she learnt the folly of her ways.

But at the same time, she sincerely hoped that Wei Gaolang could always maintain some measure of this naivete and innocence of his. This was perhaps her gateway to the innocence that she had lost since her previous life.

When Du Yongxu led the rest of the Du Clan and the other small sects that had committed themselves to following them to where Jun Xiaomo and the rest were, he noticed that everyone seemed to be…asleep?

No, not all were asleep. Some were meditating, while others were standing guard around their campsite. Nevertheless, there was a small portion of their disciples that were too tired and had drifted off to sleep as well.

“Hah, these people don’t know the concept of vigilance at all. How can they be so soundly asleep?” One of the Du Clan disciples mocked contemptuously.

“Perhaps they might have expended too much energy in their earlier battle? But then again, to think that they’d expended so much energy with just a measly team of disciples from the Ashen Flats Sect. They’re truly incapable.” Another Du Clan disciple chimed in disdainfully.

“Alright.” Du Yongxu cut them off, “Do you all still remember what I’ve instructed earlier?”

“Yes.” The Du Clan disciples responded in unison.

None of them dared to disobey Du Yongxu. This had to do with both his abilities, as well as his identity and stature.

“Very good. Remember, ignore everyone else for now. Leave them to those from the other sects. Our very first objective is to…kill Jun Xiaomo!” As Du Yongxu spoke, his eyes flickered coldly with a macabre intent.