Phoenix's Requiem

Everyone, welcome to 2021!  2020 has been an absolutely horrid year for many people on many levels, and I think many (most? all?) of us are glad to leave it behind.  With that said, I wanted to give everyone a preview for some of the things that are coming up in the coming few months for Wuxiaworld.

Front-End Site Redesign - This one has been a long time coming!  Historically, we've focused more on incremental changes and feature build-out rather than overhauling the site itself, but for quite a few months now...

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Lin Qingxue tugged on Lin Qingchen’s wrist and said emotionally, “Ruoyan’s finally broken through, she’s a fourth-rank blademaster now!”

“Yes, that’s right.” Lin Qingchen stared at the girl in front of her before saying slowly, excitedly, “Ruoyan’s finally a fourth-rank now.”

Zhuo Yifeng, who’d been standing by the side, slowly released his unclenched fist. Traces of blood fell from his palm as he did so, but he didn’t seem to feel any pain. Instead, his tightly pursed lips traced a parabola upwards.

Yun Ruoyao, Yun Ruoyu, Yi Qianying, and Pei Ziao were all so shocked that their mouths were hanging open.

“Brother Wang!” After quite a while, Jin Fei’er and the rest of the Yue party finally reacted and called out.

“No, that’s impossible!” Jin Fei’er shook her head and yelled out. “How could Brother Wang lose to that ugly wench?!”

But such an impossible feat had truly been accomplished: not only had Yun Ruoyan, as a third-rank blademaster, defeated three cultivators far surpassing her in cultivation, she had even broken through to fourth rank at the very end!

With the spiritual energy of a fourth-rank blademaster and the bracelet’s boost, she was effectively fighting at an early seventh-rank’s capability, enough to decisively turn the match in her favor.

All Wang Kuang could feel was a huge surge of spiritual energy rushing toward him. His spiritual attack splintered against the wave of energy, and his body flew into the distance as a result of the impact.

Yun Ruoyan walked in front of him and prodded him with the spear in her hands. “Do you admit defeat?”

“N-no, I don’t.” Despite his mouth being a fountain of blood, Wang Kuang slowly, arduously gasped, “You, th-there’s something amiss about you.”

“Something amiss?” Yun Ruoyan knelt down, her gaze cold. “What do you mean?”

Wang Kuang didn’t know what exactly was amiss, but there was surely no way she could have overcome his peak sixth-rank spiritual energy with her fourth-rank cultivation!

Even more curiously, that gust of spiritual energy was certainly not something a mere fourth-rank could wield.

It surely wasn’t possible for someone to break through two ranks at once, no, based on that amount of energy, it must have been even more than that!

Unless…

Wang Kuang made an incredulous expression as he pointed at Yun Ruoyan. “You must be a demon!”

“A demon?” Yun Ruoyan hesitated for a moment. There was a mysterious poison ravaging her body, her appearance had been ruined, she had rebirthed into this world holding a strong grudge… if those weren’t characteristics of a demon, then what was?!

“That’s right, I’m a demon,” Yun Ruoyan murmured, almost to herself. Her gaze became distant as she looked into the setting sun.

“Brother Wang!”

“Wang Kuang!”

Jin Fei’er and Pei Ziao ran over as they shouted, but they all stopped in front of the two combatants.

Yun Ruoyan knelt in front of Wang Kuang, thin and slender, as if any strong person would be able to lift her up without any effort, but it was this unassuming body of hers that had released such humongous strength just then.

Meanwhile, the tall and broad Wang Kuang was half-lying on the ground, his expression fearful as he looked toward Yun Ruoyan.

“Demon, demon!” He continued to call out.

Yun Ruoyan ignored him before standing up, his gaze sweeping over the Yue kingdom’s party, before walking toward Lin Qingxue.

Only then did Jin Fei’er dare to approach.

“Brother Wang,” Jin Fei’er cradled Wang Kuang, crying as she fed him a pill.

“Don’t bother. His dantian’s been destroyed, and his aorta cut,” Pei Ziao shook his head as he took Wang Kuang’s pulse.

“Brother Wang, how can this be, how can this be!” Jin Fei’er began to cry out loud. It really shouldn’t have been like this. They’d always been the stronger party, the one bullying everyone else; they’d always been the killers, never the killed!

On his deathbed, Wang Kuang suddenly reached out and grabbed Jin Fei’er’s hand, his small eyes widening all of a sudden. He pointed at Yun Ruoyan’s back and said hoarsely, “Get revenge, get my brother to avenge me!”

And then he spat out another mouthful of blood and stopped breathing entirely.

Compared to the despondent Yue kingdom party, Yun Ruoyan’s group was in far happier straits. “Sister Ruoyan, you’re amazing!” Lin Qingxue pulled on Yun Ruoyan’s hand as she jumped up and down in excitement.

Her dismal, poignant thoughts were dashed to bits by her cousin’s exuberance.

“I didn’t let you guys down, did I?” Yun Ruoyan smiled.

“No, you didn’t!” Lin Qingxue nodded fervently. “You’ll never let us down, sister!”

“Ruoyan, your face…” Lin Qingchen was happy, but also a little worried. The wound on Yun Ruoyan’s birthmark had widened after the battle, and the pus that leaked out was sticking to her face. Some of it had flowed down her cheek and her neck, and there were bits of dirt, hair, and grime stuck to it, making her look horribly disfigured.

Yun Ruoyan gingerly touched the wound, but found that the affected area was numb and not particularly painful.

“It’s disgusting, isn’t it?” She frowned.

“A little.”

Yun Ruoyan’s forehead creased further. There wasn’t a girl who didn’t want to be beautiful—or, if not beautiful, at least not disgusting.

Lin Qingchen glanced at Yun Ruoyan. “Don’t worry, you just have to clean it a little.” Saying this, she took out some gauze and bandages.

“Just clean up the pus, but don’t bandage the wound. Grandfather’s hypothesis was right: removing this buildup of pus will help expunge the poison from my body.”

“Sister Ruoyan, if all the poison in your body’s purged, are you going to be even stronger than you are now?” Lin Qingxue asked.

Yun Ruoyan smiled cooly without replying.

“Ruoyan, are you aware that you’ve made a grave mistake?” Yun Ruoyao’s voice came from behind.

“What do you mean?” Lin Qingxue turned around.

Yun Ruoyu stepped forward, a smile plastered on her face. “Do you know who the person Yun Ruoyan just killed was? Wang Kuang’s the second son of the most prosperous family in the Yue kingdom, the Wang family! Now that he’s been killed like that, you’ll suffer the wrath of the Wangs, alright!”

“The second son of the Wang family.” Yun Ruoyan suddenly recalled the close relationship between the Peis and the Wangs from the Yue kingdom in the past.

At that time, Yun Ruoyan had just married into the Peis, and Pei Ziao was still treating her nicely. When the Peis hosted a banquet, she had been in attendance. 

The reason for the banquet was because the eldest son of the Wang family, Wang Meng, had just become a pillmaster-in-training at Kongming Academy.

At the time, she was so timid that she didn’t dare to raise her head for the entire duration of the banquet, so she didn’t know what he looked like. All she could remember was that the man wore a long green robe.

During the banquet, Pei Yingxiong effusively praised this young man for having begun his pillmaster training at such a young age, and that his future would be limitless. Moreover, he even gifted him with the Pei family’s prized possession, the high-grade furnace that was now with her. 

Three years hence, this eldest son of the Wang family initiated a challenge against Yun Ruoyan’s grandfather, Lin Zainan. During the competition, Lin Zainan’s constitution was greatly affected. He passed away not long afterwards, leaving behind two granddaughters who could barely fend for themselves and putting an end to a legacy of pillmasters that had lasted for centuries.

By that time, she had already broken off relations with the Lins. Because the Peis and Lins didn’t get along at all, she never had a chance to attend to her grandfather despite how upset she was. This series of events had left her with lifelong regret.

Subconsciously, Yun Ruoyao caressed the bracelet on her wrist, which housed the high-grade furnace she had received from the Peis. Only then did the tension in her heart abate a little.

“It seems like I truly killed the right person today,” Yun Ruoyan muttered to herself. “Just as I’ll bear the anger of the Wang family, so too will they bear my anger.”

“What did you say?” Yun Ruoyu frowned. Yun Ruoyan’s tone was so soft that she couldn’t hear it clearly.

Yun Ruoyan turned around and looked at the Yun siblings. “What I said was—”

She was interrupted by a beast howling atop a nearby cliff.

“Carnivorous beasts are approaching!” Pei Ziao loudly called out in alarm.

It had gotten dark all of a sudden, and the beasts that prowled on these carcasses were nocturnal creatures.

Their howls reverberated through the valley.

“Look, the beasts are here!” Liu Sheng pointed at the valley entrance and everyone looked over, seeing three or four pairs of lantern-like blue eyes. 

Those blue-eyed beasts moved frighteningly quickly, and they were in the middle of the valley after mere moments.

“A high-tier beast, the mystic-eyed lion!” Qiuqiu pronounced from Yun Ruoyan’s mind. “Just like the saber-toothed tiger, these lions move rapidly and are skilled at stealth despite their large vodies.”

“Quick, run!” Someone screamed, and the crowd scattered as one.

“Save me!” A girl’s voice called for help from behind. Yun Ruoyan turned around and saw that a gigantic python had emerged from who-knew-where.

Using its big tail, it flung the young girl from the Yue kingdom, right by Jin Fei’er’s side, up in the air, before opening its maw wide and swallowing the girl whole.

Yun Ruoyan turned back toward the front and ran as if her life depended on it.

She ran straight for the interior of the valley, where the crowd was gathered. Only when they found that none of the beasts were chasing them did they relax to take a break.

“We’re safe,” Pei Ziao huffed. “We should be fine now. Those beasts were likely attracted to the beast carcasses in the valley; there’s no reason for them to chase us now.”

“Is that true? What if they really do come chasing us?” Liu Sheng’s body was curved like a bow as he panted.

“No, they won’t.” Pei Ziao shook his hands. “We’re all skin and bones, so those beasts’ carcasses are naturally far more appealing.”

“Ahhhh…” Hearing this, Liu Sheng sighed and plopped to the ground.

“Brother Wang, Brother Wang’s body’s still in the valley!” Jin Fei’er suddenly called out. “What do we do?!”

Liu Sheng sat on the ground, burying his head between his knees, not volunteering any information.

“Liu Sheng,” Jin Fei’er pushed him and thundered, “I told you to carry his corpse, so why did you run off without it!”

Liu Sheng raised his head slightly and grumbled, “Didn’t you see the python that rushed down from the cliffside? If I hadn’t reacted so quickly, I’d have been swallowed alive, just like our poor junior!”

“So you threw Brother Wang’s corpse aside?”

“What else could I do? I didn’t want to die!”

“If you don’t want to die, then you’d better wait for the Wangs to behead your entire family!” Jin Fei’er yelled maliciously at Liu Sheng before pointing a finger at Yun Ruoyan.

“The first is you, and then your companions.” Lin Qingxue was about to head over and bicker with her, but Lin Qingchen pulled her back.

“You won’t be able to escape, either.” Jin Fei’er swiveled and pointed toward Pei Ziao. “If not for your enticing Brother Wang, he wouldn’t have brought us here to this damned thousand-beast valley.”

Pei Ziao’s eyes narrowed. “Wang Kuang told you that I was the one who brought you here?”

“That’s right.” Jin Fei’er smiled. “Aren’t you scared? I know all your secrets; Brother Wang told me everything. Now, you’d better go back to the valley and bring back his corpse, or I’ll tell the Li imperial family everything I know—”

Before Jin Fei’er could finish speaking, a dagger was thrust into her heart. The man holding the dagger was none other than Pei Ziao.

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