Chapter 354: Benefactor!?

Previously, Su Mei had been quite confident when facing Chen Yuan. She was certain she could avenge her past defeat this time.

But who would have thought that only after they truly clashed did she discover the Chen Jiutian of today was even more terrifying than he had been in the Blood Killing Realm!

He had almost no weaknesses. His physical body was formidable, his Inner Strength profound, and even his Spiritual Power was incredibly resilient. On top of all that, he possessed a Spiritual Secret Technique.

Even though Su Mei’s physical strength was not weak this time, and she was even augmented by the Red Lotus Saint Mother’s Red Lotus Willpower, she couldn’t gain the slightest advantage against Chen Yuan.

At this moment, the Mulan Continuous Jail-Piercing Arrow had already shot forth. Its immense, unstoppable power, capable of piercing the Nine Prisons, had instantly locked onto her. In that instant, Su Mei truly felt she could die again at any moment.

After the Blood Killing Realm, Su Mei’s Primordial Spirit had been blessed and fortified by the Red Lotus Saint Mother. Even if she died again, as long as her True Spirit was not extinguished, she could be resurrected within the Red Lotus Sect and have her Vitality restored.

The problem was, the cost of restoring her Vitality and creating a new body was enormous. Furthermore, her Primordial Spirit would be torn apart with each death, causing damage.

Her previous injuries had been offset by the Red Lotus Saint Mother’s blessing, but if she died too many times and proved too useless, that blessing would be revoked. Then, she would truly die for good!

Su Mei shrieked. The Qi Blood and Red Lotus Willpower around her burned frantically as the divine silhouette of a two-faced, four-armed Red Lotus Saint Mother appeared behind her. All four arms simultaneously pointed a finger at the Mulan Continuous Jail-Piercing Arrow.

Descent Lotus Finger!

In an instant, a Holy Fire Lotus descended upon the world, scorching all things and purging all filth!

The immense power that could pierce the Nine Prisons collided with the fiercely surging Descent Lotus. One black, one red—the two forces erupted in a heart-stopping explosion.

After this strike, however, Su Mei’s entire body abruptly transformed into a streak of red light. As fast as lightning, she shot straight for the valley’s exit.

Not only did she abandon the Divine Tree, but she also left the other Red Lotus Sect Martial Artists behind to fend for themselves.

To Su Mei, the Endless Divine Tree was something that little Monk wanted, not her.

And while these Red Lotus Sect Martial Artists were her own people, to the Red Lotus Sect, Martial Artists of this level could be mass-produced as long as there were enough resources. Their deaths were no great loss.

Although she could be resurrected if she died, the damage to her Primordial Spirit was irreversible.

Therefore, for Su Mei, it was naturally best to preserve herself if at all possible.

“Weren’t you trying to kill me just now? Why are you running away?”

Chen Yuan sneered and gave chase immediately.

The new body Su Mei had acquired was not weak in its foundations. In fact, it could even compare to top-ten experts on the Hidden Dragon Rankings like Shangguan Moyuan.

Outside the Heaven-Reaching Tower, Chen Yuan might have actually had to expend some effort to deal with her.

But since entering the Heaven-Reaching Tower, Chen Yuan had chanced upon several opportunities, shoring up his weaknesses and causing his power to skyrocket.

As a result, dealing with this woman was now like snapping dry twigs; he crushed her with ease.

Su Mei shot Chen Yuan a hateful glare but had no time to spout threats. Burning her Qi Blood and Red Lotus Willpower at a furious pace, she pushed her speed to its limit and fled toward the edge of Senluo Hall.

Chen Yuan followed close behind. He didn’t have any speed-enhancing Secret Techniques, but his raw power was so immense that when he unleashed his full speed, he was still fast enough to stay right on her tail.

Moreover, whenever Chen Yuan closed the distance, he would immediately fire off a Mulan Continuous Jail-Piercing Arrow, forcing Su Mei into a desperate defense.

Upon reaching the edge of a spatial passage, Su Mei leaped into it without hesitation.

The scene within this spatial passage was a massive Black Stone Valley, equally devoid of Vitality. From its appearance, it seemed to have once been a place for raising some enormous creature.

It was impossible to know if the creature had died after ten thousand years, or if the thing inside had been taken by the Endless Immortal Palace for refinement long ago.

But when Su Mei saw the terrain here, her expression suddenly changed.

The area was far too open. She couldn’t find a place to shake off this Chen Jiutian.

Su Mei whipped her head around, a vicious glint in her eyes.

‘If worse comes to worst, I’ll just self-destruct! I’ll risk damaging my Primordial Spirit to severely injure this Chen Jiutian. He won’t have an easy time in this Heaven-Reaching Tower either, not with grave injuries!’

Just as Su Mei was about to risk it all and self-destruct, she spotted a woman exploring at the far end of the valley.

When Su Mei saw the woman’s face, a look of delight flashed in her eyes. She knew who that was!

To be precise, Su Mei recognized every young prodigy on the Hidden Dragon Rankings.

The Red Lotus Sect operated in the shadows of the Jianghu. To avoid trouble, she had to memorize not only the prodigies on the Hidden Dragon Rankings but also the top experts from major powers listed on the Jianghu Wind and Cloud Rankings.

The woman wore blood-red clothes, her beautiful face cold and sharp. An icy aura radiated from her. It was Chu Hongshang.

In Su Mei’s memory, although Chu Hongshang was ranked fifteenth on the Hidden Dragon Rankings, her true strength was greater than that of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect’s Xu Tianhong.

Xu Tianhong had made his name relying entirely on the power of the Demon-Drinking Saber, but Chu Hongshang had genuinely slain a long-famous Primordial Pill Realm Grandmaster.

Most importantly, the Primordial Pill Realm Grandmaster she killed was none other than Chen Jiutian’s direct superior, Feng Wushang, the Hall Master of the White Tiger Hall.

Meanwhile, the Ten Thousand Demon Sect’s Xu Tianhong had also died at Chen Jiutian’s hands, and the Demon-Drinking Saber had been taken by him.

‘Both sides harbor a deep-seated hatred for the other. Isn’t this a heaven-sent ally?’

Su Mei’s Qi Blood instantly erupted, and she landed before Chu Hongshang at incredible speed.

“Are you Miss Chu of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect? Chen Jiutian of the Zhenwu Hall is right behind me in hot pursuit! This is a perfect chance for us to join forces and kill him!”

Chu Hongshang looked at Su Mei indifferently. “Who are you?”

Su Mei glanced at Chen Yuan, who was rapidly approaching from behind, and spoke quickly, “Miss Chu, it doesn’t matter who I am. You only need to know that we have a common enemy!

“Chen Jiutian killed your Ten Thousand Demon Sect’s prodigy, Xu Tianhong, and stole your sect’s Top Grade Celestial Soldier, the Demon-Drinking Saber. If you kill him now, not only will you get revenge, but you can also reclaim the Demon-Drinking Saber. That would be a great contribution!

“Also, you killed Chen Jiutian’s superior, Feng Wushang—a man to whom he owed a great debt of gratitude for recognizing his talent. With such deep hatred between you two, can this possibly end peacefully? Here in the Heaven-Reaching Tower’s Endless Immortal Palace is the perfect time to settle this grudge!”

Chu Hongshang, still expressionless, nodded. “What you say seems to make a lot of sense.”

Su Mei had mostly dealt with men in her life; she had never really encountered a woman with a personality like Chu Hongshang’s. She simply assumed the other woman was naturally cold.

The moment Chen Yuan saw Chu Hongshang, however, a smile touched his lips.

Su Mei gave a cold laugh and was about to say something, but in the next instant, a Crimson Training Rainbow Rope—like a sword, yet not a sword; like a whip, yet not a whip—struck at the center of her back!

The Crimson Training Demon Qi surged forward. Su Mei didn’t even have time to react before the Red Lotus Willpower protecting her was pierced in an instant.

At the critical moment, Su Mei jerked to the side, causing the Crimson Training Rainbow Rope to miss her heart but pierce straight through her shoulder blade.

Enraged, Su Mei spun around and threw a palm strike. But Chu Hongshang had already formed a Seal Technique. The Crimson Training Demon Qi condensed, and a mix of scarlet Blood Qi and Demonic Qi crashed down, sending the hastily attacking Su Mei flying with a single seal.

Crimson Blood Demon Seal!

“Why?!”

Su Mei spat out a mouthful of blood and roared at Chu Hongshang in disbelief.

For so many years, she had always been the one playing tricks on others, just as she had with the Wu father and son from the Heaven Returning Pavilion, and with Han Chang.

But this was the first time she had been played, and by a woman at that.

‘The prettier the woman, the better she lies.’ For the first time in all her years, Su Mei could say she truly understood the meaning of that phrase.

Chu Hongshang, however, paid Su Mei no mind. Instead, she looked at Chen Yuan, her lips curving into a brilliant smile. She was like a completely different person from the cold figure she had been when alone.

“Benefactor.”

Chen Yuan nodded and pointed at Su Mei. “Let’s deal with this demoness first. These demonesses from the Red Lotus Sect are cunning. Be prepared for her to get desperate and self-destruct.”

“Benefactor?!”

Su Mei stared at Chu Hongshang and Chen Yuan in utter disbelief.

‘How could this Chen Jiutian possibly be Chu Hongshang’s benefactor?’

‘It would make more sense if they were mortal enemies! Where did this ‘Benefactor’ business come from?’

Su Mei couldn’t figure it out, and of course, neither Chen Yuan nor Chu Hongshang would explain. They immediately attacked, flanking her from both sides in a furious assault.

Su Mei had already been no match for Chen Yuan alone and could only flee in disgrace.

Now, having been hoisted by her own petard, she faced a siege with the addition of Chu Hongshang. In a flash, Su Mei was in imminent danger.

“You damned couple! Go to hell together!”

Su Mei roared in fury. A golden light shone from her Primordial Spirit, and the Red Lotus Seal on her brow glowed a brilliant, incandescent red.

“Watch out! She’s going to destroy her body and self-destruct!”

Su Mei had used this tactic before in the Blood Killing Realm, but Chen Yuan had stopped her.

This time, Su Mei’s physical body was even stronger, so Chen Yuan had to be on guard against this move.

Just as Su Mei raised two fingers to touch the Red Lotus Seal on her forehead, Chu Hongshang suddenly formed a Seal Technique. Her eyes instantly turned crimson, and two beams of red, ethereal light shot out like arrows, piercing into Su Mei’s mind.

A Secret Technique of the Ten Thousand Demon Sect, the Crimson Soul-Catching Arrow!

In that instant, Su Mei grunted, her Divine Soul was stunned, and the power flowing through her body came to a halt.

Just as Chen Yuan was about to make his move, he suddenly felt a stir from the Human Skin Evil Book inside him.

Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow. ‘What has this thing discovered now?’

Considering how the Human Skin Evil Book had helped him obtain the Purple Sky Demon Slaying Sword before, Chen Yuan chose to trust it this time. He didn’t deliver a killing blow. Instead, he shattered Su Mei’s Dantian with a palm strike, then infused her body with Nether Blood Fiend Power to completely seal her Meridians.

Su Mei grunted, and a large amount of blood spurted from her mouth. She glared viciously at Chen Yuan.

“Chen Jiutian! If you have the guts, then kill me! Otherwise, my Holy Sect will one day tear you to pieces and make you wish for a death that will never come!”