Demoness's Art of Vengeance

Hey guys, great news!  Two more top-performing sneak peek Chinese novels licensed from Zongheng have left VIP-only and are available for you to read, each with fifty chapters and a 2/day schedule!  These novels are Yama Rising, translated by Minotauruz (who did the great translation of Demoness' Art of Vengeance) and Star Odyssey, translated by OMA who did Warlock of the Magus World and City of Sin!  Both are veteran and highly capable translators, and I'm excited to bring this to y'all.

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A thick, pungent scent of blood emanated from within the Du Clan’s training grounds. The Du Clan’s Third Elder clutched tightly at his chest as he gasped for breath. Then, with quivering hands, he reached into his Interspatial Ring and pulled out a Transmittance Talisman and used the last ounce of strength remaining in his body to tear apart the Transmittance Talisman.

This Transmittance Talisman was to be used only in emergency situations. Once torn, the Transmittance Talisman would automatically alert the other Du Clan members to the present situation.

The Du Clan’s Third Elder lost consciousness once he expended his last ounce of energy to tear apart the Transmittance Talisman. The menagerie within the Du Clan’s secret grounds was located just behind the Third Elder. As soon as the Third Elder lost consciousness, hundreds upon hundreds of refined spirit beasts suddenly appeared to lose control as they furiously slammed against their cages or enclosures, attempting to break free from captivity.

Each and every single one of these spirit beasts glared at the Third Elder with bloodlust in their eyes and intense killing intent toiling from their bodies, as though their deep and profound hatred could only be appeased when they tore the Third Elder’s body to shreds and devoured him.

As soon as they received the Third Elder’s alert, a Du Clan disciple rushed over in the shortest time possible and were greeted by the sight of spirit beasts furiously clanging and smashing against their cages. They did not know why the spirit beasts would suddenly lose control, but they knew that if these spirit beasts were to break out of their cages and enclosures, the consequences would be extremely dire.

That Du Clan disciple braced himself against the massive oppressive aura weighing against his body and rushed over to the Third Elder’s side. It was only at this moment that he discovered that the Third Elder appeared to be hanging onto life by a thin thread.

“Third Elder!” He panicked. He was unsure whether he ought to help the Third Elder up or to let him continue lying where he was. He was afraid of the Third Elder’s condition worsening if he sat the Third Elder up. Thus, he simply continued to call out to the Third Elder, “Third Elder…”

The Du Clan’s Third Elder had received a massive backlash from his refinement technique and thereby sustained a debilitating wound. In fact, the Third Elder had fainted because he was momentarily unable to withstand the magnitude of this backlash.

That said, the Third Elder did not take too long to come back to his senses. After calling out to the Third Elder for a little while, the Third Elder managed to come back to his senses and regain consciousness.

“Hurry! Inform the other Clan members that…there…there’s been a huge mishap…” The Third Elder panted with a ragged breath as he struggled with much difficulty to string a sentence of words together.

“Ah? Oh, okay! Alright, I’m on it.” Seeing the Third Elder’s present condition, the Du Clan disciples dared not dally any further. He immediately shot to his feet and motioned to inform the rest of his Clan members. However, the Third Elder held him back.

“And…and also, inform the Clan Head…” The Third Elder struggled to complete his sentence.

He did not know the true reason for this backlash. All he knew was that the damage to his body was immense, and he would need at least half a year or a full year in order to recover his strength once more.

“Ah? But…but, the Clan Head is still outside the sect. He’s led the young master and others on a mission, and he won’t be able to return so quickly.”

“What’s more important than the survival of our clan?!” The Third Elder grew anxious and barked, “Do you see the spirit beasts in the menagerie? If I can’t control them anymore, they’ll break out of their cages and enclosures. The Du Clan is strong, but how can we deal with hundreds – close to a thousand – spirit beasts that are seeking vengeance against us with bloodlust in their eyes? If that happens, the Du Clan as we know it is most certainly going to perish!”

The Third Elder knew that the backlash was still ongoing, and the backlash had at the very least lowered his ability to control the spirit beasts in the menagerie.

The spirit beasts behind him had been howling and yowling all this while. They charged and rammed against their cages and enclosures with bloodshot eyes. The impact of being stared at by hundreds upon hundreds of vicious eyes was truly tremendous.

The Du Clan disciple shuddered in fear as he hurriedly nodded his head. Then, he clumsily staggered towards the door as he sprinted out of the room to alert the rest.

This place was akin to a purgatory, while the spirit beasts were like creatures that had just clambered out of the gates of hell looking for revenge.

On the other side, as soon as Jun Xiaomo succeeded in applying the talisman onto the Scarlet Heavenly Wolf’s paw, she immediately took out a few more talismans and applied them onto the Scarlet Heavenly Wolf’s body.

To the Scarlet Heavenly Wolf, the application of these talismans felt like a cool, refreshing gust of wind that had just swept through a stifling, hot furnace. The cool sensation swept across its skin gently, suffusing through its meridians and Dantian, and bringing clarity to its mind once again.

It had been an incredibly long time since it last saw the world with such clarity.

The Scarlet Heavenly Wolf had been captured by the Du Clan since young and tossed straight into the menagerie where it was put through three instances of the Du Clan’s refinement attempts.

The torturous series of events confuzzled its mind and brought layers upon layers of haze enshrouding its cognitive abilities. The Scarlet Heavenly Wolf belonged to a proud species of spirit beasts that was favored by the gods and were destined to rule over large territories as a revered monarch-grade spirit beast. It was blessed with spiritual awareness ever since it was born, and it thus possessed the abilities for logical thinking and cognitive functions. Yet these ambitious members of the Du Clan had captured and attempted to refine it to turn it into nothing more than a tool for their purposes.

Now that Jun Xiaomo had broken a part of the curse on its body, it had naturally also regained a good part of its rationality.

It lowered its head and swept its gaze across the tiny humans around him and noticed that one of these tiny human beings was dressed in striking-red as she stared at it vigilantly. It knew that it was none other than this human being that had dragged it out of the mires and given clarity to its mind once more.

Awoo--… The Scarlet Heavenly Wolf tossed its head up to the sky and howled in gratitude. However, the disciples from the Heavenly Peak faction misunderstood its gesture as one of aggression, and they immediately rushed over to Jun Xiaomo’s side once more.

Within moments, the disciples from the Heavenly Peak faction took up a defensive formation.

“It’s alright. The Scarlet Heavenly Wolf probably won’t be attacking us anymore.” Jun Xiaomo patted Wei Gaolang’s shoulders as she remarked.

“Martial sister, how do you know that?” There was still a lingering fear for this awesome creature weighing on Wei Gaolang’s heart.

“The bloodlust in its eyes have already dissipated, and the heat from its fur is far less intense right now. That is proof that the Scarlet Heavenly Wolf possesses no ill intentions towards us.”

“No…no ill intentions?! That’s can’t be right! Why would it have attacked us earlier, then?” Wei Gaolang found it difficult to accept Jun Xiaomo’s explanation.

“Because it had been refined by someone. Furthermore, the refinement process was not too successful. Otherwise, these few pieces of talismans that I’d used would never have allowed it to regain its consciousness and spiritual awareness. At best, I would only have been able to temporarily relieve it from the control of its master.”

“So that’s how it is…martial sister, you’re amazing!” Wei Gaolang gave Jun Xiaomo two thumbs up.

Jun Xiaomo smiled genially back at him.

Truth be told, there was no way she could create these talismans with her present abilities. The talismans she had just used were in fact been the ones left behind by senior Jiang Yutong. Every piece she used meant that she would have one less for the future. Little did she know that these group battles would require her to use up to ten pieces all at once.

Jun Xiaomo’s heart ached at the fact that she had used so many pieces of these invaluable talismans. Fortunately, the usage of these talismans bore fruit, and the imminent danger had finally been dispelled.

Du Yongxu was located just a short distance away from Jun Xiaomo, and he heard her entire explanation. Furious emotions roiled in his heart – I’d heard that Jun Xiaomo’s abilities with formation arrays were formidable, but I’d never expect her to be equally proficient with her talismans as well!

Most importantly, he had never expected Jun Xiaomo to break the Du Clan Third Elder’s refinement technique with just a few pieces of talismans. Just who in the world is Jun Xiaomo? Could all of her knowledge in this regard be taught by Jun Linxuan?!

If that’s the case, Jun Linxuan would be far too formidable. He would practically be like a crouching tiger or a hidden dragon.

That said, if Jun Linxuan truly possessed such incredible abilities, why does he still remain at the Dawn Sect? Why would he choose to hang around a bunch of people who were constantly scheming against him?

Several complex thoughts and considerations surfaced in Du Yongxu’s heart. He suddenly realized that Jun Xiaomo might well possess far more secrets than he had initially expected.

“I wonder who was so vicious to have used a refinement technique on this majestic creature.” Chen Feiyu furrowed his brows as he coldly remarked, “I’ve heard that refining a spirit beast is incredibly harmful to the beast itself. There are many spirit beasts that have awakened their spiritual awareness who become no more than a living corpse under the effects of the refinement process. I’ve even heard that this process is irreversible…”

“That’s horrendous?!” Wei Gaolang’s eyes widened.

“Indeed. This is why refinement techniques are conventionally classified as restricted or forbidden magic.” Jun Xiaomo nodded her head.

“Then these fellows who had refined it are just far too vicious! They need to have a taste of their own medicine!” Wei Gaolang decried their actions with righteous indignation as he ventilated the frustrations on behalf of the Scarlet Heavenly Wolf. It was as though Wei Gaolang had completely put behind him the fact that the Scarlet Heavenly Wolf had still been attacking them just moments ago.

“If I’m not mistaken, this incident should be closely linked with these Eternal Summit Sect disciples, am I right, fellow cultivator?” Jun Xiaomo smirked as she glanced over at Du Yongxu as he lay completely motionless on the ground.

Du Yongxu was infuriated by Jun Xiaomo. He never expected Jun Xiaomo to be so sharp to have guessed as much.

But he knew that he could not admit it. If he did so, they would no longer have the rights to continue participating in these competitions.

“Hah, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jun Xiaomo. Don’t slander or malign others if you don’t have any evidence to show for it. You’ll only appear to lack magnanimity and make yourself a laughingstock to others.” Du Yongxu mocked.

Jun Xiaomo raised her eyebrow quizzically, “I’m a woman – why would I need to appear magnanimous to begin with?”

Du Yongxu was taken aback by Jun Xiaomo’s response, and he momentarily found himself at a loss for words.

“Besides, it’s not difficult to determine who it was who had been controlling the Scarlet Heavenly Wolf, isn’t it? I’ve already dispersed a portion of the refinement technique in the Scarlet Heavenly Wolf’s body, and it should have sufficient access to rationality to recognize who its enemies are. I think I’ll just hand the right to decide over to the Scarlet Heavenly Wolf – what do you think?”

Jun Xiaomo slowly explicated, yet each and every word enunciated landed on the Du Clan disciples as though they were heavy stones that made their hearts sink.

Let this spirit beast decide?! We’re lying on the floor right now, and we’ve got no way of resisting at all! One breath of flame from this spirit beast is enough to burn us all to a crisp!

Roar! The Scarlet Heavenly Wolf immediately responded as though it understood Jun Xiaomo’s words. The Scarlet Heavenly Wolf did not scrutinize all of the human beings present, and it had not realized the distinction between the human beings standing and the one lying on the ground.

Thus, at the start, it had thought that these people were all not its enemies, and it had already intended to leave this place in a few moments’ time.

However, as soon as Jun Xiaomo made her suggestion, the Scarlet Heavenly Wolf lowered its head and took a closer look. Immediately, it discovered that the person lying closest to it was none other than one of the clan members of the dastardly people who had attempted to refine it! In fact, this person had been around when it was first put through the torturous process of refinement!

The Scarlet Heavenly Wolf howled madly once more, and the wisps of flame on his back reignited with a fiery blaze.

The stronger the flames, the whiter the flames. Jun Xiaomo instantly recognized its intentions and hurriedly cautioned the disciples of the Heavenly Peak faction, “Let’s leave this place!”

As soon as she spoke, everyone began to retreat a distance away, leaving the Du Clan disciples completely defenseless where they were.

The Du Clan disciples stared back at the Scarlet Heavenly Wolf with dread mounting in their hearts. There was only one thought in their minds at this moment – We’re doomed!

How the tides have turned! They had initially intended to use the Scarlet Heavenly Wolf as a tool to kill Jun Xiaomo and the others; yet who would have thought that they would be at the receiving end of their gnarly schemes right now?

Outside the marshlands, everyone was completely taken by surprise at the drastic turn of events.

Everyone in the audience had heard Jun Xiaomo’s explanations. As much as they were surprised that the Eternal Summit Sect would resort to such forbidden magic to refine spirit beasts, they also admired Jun Xiaomo’s ability to turn such a disadvantageous situation around and gain the upper hand.

Given how things had panned out, would the Eternal Summit Sect still be able to worm their way out of such a terrifying predicament?

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