I'll Kill Them for You

The Chat Group's crossing happened in an instant. Before Chu Lu could feel much of anything, the world before him had changed into an entirely different sight.

He was no longer in the residence of the Seven Profound Sect's Sect Leader. Instead, he had arrived in a sunny countryside filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers.

A woman stood before him.

She was petite, with a youthful-looking face and a fluffy, voluminous dress. It might have been a bit excessive to say so, but she really looked like an oversized shuttlecock.

The woman stared at Chu Lu in shock. After hesitating for a while, she cautiously asked, "Are you... Chu Lu?"

"You're Luo Qingdie?" Chu Lu asked as well.

Luo Qingdie was instantly even more shocked. "You really crossed over!?"

At that moment, the Chat Group also exploded.

Hua Honglian: "What does going over mean?"

Xu Liniang: "So it's possible to go there?"

Zhu Shanlin: "What principle is this based on?"

Liu Ruyue: "Explanation required."

Seeing this, Chu Lu explained the situation. Everyone immediately became excited, exclaiming that such a thing was actually possible. They promptly began searching around, hoping to obtain World-Crossing Talismans themselves so they could visit one another.

However, Chu Lu did not join the discussion. He looked at Luo Qingdie and said, "All right, I'm here now. What else do you have to say?"

Luo Qingdie looked troubled. With both hands tucked behind her back, she twisted about awkwardly before finally saying reluctantly, "I understand. I'll take you to our sect. You'll understand once we get there."

Chu Lu had been about to nod, but suddenly realized something.

No, this still sounds far too absurd. At the end of the day, words alone prove nothing. She says she's at the Mahayana Stage, and that makes her Mahayana Stage? Maybe she's just bluffing.

"Wait." He said, "Before that, I want to confirm your cultivation again. Are you really at the Mahayana Stage? Can you show me?"

"Sure." Luo Qingdie agreed without hesitation, even looking a little eager to try. "Watch closely."

With that, she pointed one finger toward the sky.

The heavens were instantly shrouded in endless darkness. Rolling storm clouds churned like thick ink, as though they contained the power to destroy heaven and earth. Bolts of lightning darted through the clouds like silver serpents dancing wildly, bursting from time to time with blinding radiance.

A bone-chilling pressure immediately spread through heaven and earth.

Chu Lu was dumbfounded.

He had seen this scene before. By a pure stroke of chance, he had once witnessed a similar sight from a hundred thousand li away.

This was the lightning tribulation for ascension to immortality!

The next moment, the first bolt of tribulation lightning crashed down. Like an enormous pillar of light connecting heaven and earth, it carried terrifying pressure as it struck straight at Luo Qingdie. Wherever the lightning pillar passed, space itself seemed to twist, while the air was instantly ionized with crackling sounds.

Yet before such a perilous threat, Luo Qingdie merely waved her hand lightly.

In an instant, the sky was bright and clear!

"How was that?" Luo Qingdie asked calmly. "Do you believe me now?"

Chu Lu: "..."

"Well... doesn't passing the lightning tribulation mean you can become immortal?" Chu Lu muttered.

"Chu Lu, don't you know what the Mahayana Stage is?" Luo Qingdie asked, looking confused.

Chu Lu shook his head.

He only knew that the Mahayana Stage was a realm after the Tribulation Stage. He did not know the details, considering he himself was still only at the Late Qi Condensation Stage.

"Being able to easily pass lightning tribulations while resisting the summons of the Immortal Realm and remaining in the mortal world—that is the Mahayana Stage," Luo Qingdie explained.

Chu Lu: "... So you're stronger than immortals?"

"Not quite, not quite. We're about evenly matched. Unless they come down on their own."

Chu Lu: "..."

Holy shit. Chu Lu exclaimed inwardly. She's this strong? No wonder she dared call herself the Number One Cultivator Under Heaven.

There was now an additional trace of reverence in the way he looked at Luo Qingdie, but at the same time, he was even more confused.

How had someone so powerful been screwed over so badly?

"Let's go. I'll take a look at your sect," Chu Lu said.

"Sure. Our sect is beautiful. You'll definitely like it." Luo Qingdie smiled brightly and led the way.

With a Mahayana Stage cultivator leading the way, they naturally arrived in the blink of an eye.

Soon, they reached the mountain gate of the Inquiry Sword Sect.

Seeing the enormous sect gate before him, spanning a million mu, with rising mountain peaks stretching endlessly into the distance and an awe-inspiring presence, Chu Lu was truly stunned.

After all, his own Seven Profound Sect was merely a small mountain manor, with only a dozen or so disciples in the entire sect.

"Yours... yours is way too huge, isn't it?" Chu Lu muttered.

Luo Qingdie puffed out her chest and raised her head, looking immensely proud.

At that moment, a streak of sword light suddenly cut across the horizon, and a tall man appeared before them.

He wore a long robe as white as snow. His face was like finely carved jade, its contours distinct yet not lacking softness. His sword-like brows tilted upward slightly, revealing a barely perceptible coldness.

His eyes were deep and bright like cold stars, yet carried a distant chill that made him difficult to approach, as though they could see through all the falsehoods in the world.

The moment Luo Qingdie saw him, she shrank into herself and said softly, "Senior Brother Xiao."

Chu Lu blinked and quietly asked, "This is that senior brother at the Spirit Transformation Early Stage?"

Luo Qingdie nodded lightly.

Xiao Yichen landed before Luo Qingdie just as Chu Lu was wondering what he intended to do.

Xiao Yichen raised his hand and viciously slapped Luo Qingdie across the face.

Chu Lu's eyes widened abruptly. His face drained of color as he cried out in horror, "Hey, hey, hey, hey!"

What did I just see? A Spirit Transformation cultivator slapped a Mahayana cultivator? Fuck! A Spirit Transformation cultivator slapped a Mahayana cultivator!?

But then, an even more shocking scene unfolded.

Xiao Yichen said coldly, "Where did you go?"

"I... I went out to clear my head."

"Clear your head? Just when we were discussing how to solve Junior Sister Liu's aptitude problem?" Xiao Yichen looked utterly disdainful. "And we clearly notified you. I think you deliberately made up an excuse not to attend! And what was that lightning tribulation just now? You caused it, didn't you? Trying to intimidate us?"

Xiao Yichen sneered coldly, "Luo Qingdie, don't think you're so impressive just because you're at the Mahayana Stage. Don't think we're afraid of you!"

Luo Qingdie hurriedly defended herself. "It wasn't me, I didn't do anything."

Xiao Yichen snorted coldly, clearly not believing her.

As for Chu Lu...

He pinched his own cheek.

All right, I'm not dreaming.

Watching the scene before him, he thought again, But it would be better if I were dreaming. I can't understand this, I really can't understand it! Why can a mere Spirit Transformation cultivator scold a Mahayana cultivator like she's his grandson?

"Slap him back!" Chu Lu could not hold it in any longer. "He's only a Spirit Transformation cultivator, a piece of trash you could crush to death with one finger. What gives him the right to be so arrogant in front of you? Deal with him! Teach him a lesson!"

Xiao Yichen immediately turned his head and stared coldly at Chu Lu. "Who are you? Who allowed you to come here?"

Luo Qingdie hurriedly explained, "He's my friend. I brought him to visit the sect."

"Friend? Since when did you suddenly have a friend? And at a time like this? Hah." Xiao Yichen sneered again. "Don't think I don't know what you're planning. It's useless. Give up already. You're the Sect Leader of this sect, after all. You represent its face. Stop doing such shameful things!"

With that, Xiao Yichen flicked his sleeve and left.

Xiao Yichen's words had been strange, as though there was something hidden beneath them. However, Chu Lu had no time to think about that, because he had caught a keyword that shocked him.

"Sect Leader?" He stared wide-eyed at Luo Qingdie. "You're also the Sect Leader?"

Luo Qingdie nodded.

Chu Lu slowly raised his head to look at the sky, trying to accept this reality.

Thinking about it carefully, it was not strange. Since Luo Qingdie was the strongest, it was only reasonable for her to become Sect Leader. But...

I can't accept this, I can't accept it! How can there be such a pathetic Sect Leader in this world?

"You really are the Sect Leader?" Chu Lu asked again unwillingly.

"Absolutely true, genuine without the slightest falsehood," Luo Qingdie said.

Chu Lu's expression was complicated. "... My Seven Profound Sect is just a small sect, and the previous Sect Leader was only at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage. But he was imposing and majestic. Forget slapping him—even daring to talk back once would get your whole family killed."

Pretending not to hear him, Luo Qingdie said, "All right, let's not stand around here. I'll take you to my Cave Abode first."

Soon afterward, they arrived at an utterly ordinary Cave Abode.

A maid named Yu'er came out from the Cave Abode to greet them.

Luo Qingdie told Yu'er to wait outside, then sat with Chu Lu in the reception hall.

She asked cautiously, "Well, now that you've taken a look around the sect, do you understand why your method won't work?"

Chu Lu stared at Luo Qingdie in shock, completely unable to understand how she could even say that.

Then he shook his head firmly and answered just as firmly, "No, I don't understand at all!"

"Why? Didn't you see Senior Brother slap me?"

"You still have the nerve to say that! It's precisely because I saw it that I can't understand! Why didn't you hit back?"

"Because of the rules!" Luo Qingdie said with a serious expression. "Chu Lu, the biggest difference between this world and yours is that we have to follow the rules. We can't act recklessly just because of our cultivation. Although Senior Brother's cultivation is lower than mine, his seniority is higher, so he is my elder and has the right to discipline me."

"And because I failed to make it to the meeting in time, I made a mistake, so I had to take that slap. The Son of Heaven is guilty of the same crime as the common people. That is sect law! Even if I'm the Sect Leader, it's the same. So your method won't work. No matter how much I hate them, I can only honestly gather evidence to deal with Liu Yan'er."

Chu Lu: "..."

"What if you violate sect law?" he asked.

"The sect will punish me."

"But you're at the Mahayana Stage. Who can punish you?"

"Then I'll punish myself. Sect law cannot be broken, after all."

Chu Lu: "??"

"Then let me ask you something else." Chu Lu said, "Where did sect law come from?"

"Of course, everyone established it together."

"You're the Sect Leader. Do you have the right to establish sect law?"

"Of course."

"Then why don't you establish a rule saying the Sect Leader can kill however she pleases?"

"Huh?" Luo Qingdie froze, then muttered to herself, "That's right. Then I wouldn't be violating sect law, would I? No, no, that's not right. What would be the point of sect law then? Wouldn't it become completely useless against me?"

Chu Lu said, "Congratulations, you got the answer right!"

"No, no, no! You're exploiting a loophole. And no one would accept that kind of sect law. Can a rule nobody accepts still count as sect law?" Luo Qingdie said.

"Then just kill everyone who refuses to accept it."

Luo Qingdie: "Huh? Right, then the sect law would be effective. But the process of killing people would still violate sect law."

"But afterward, it would become reasonable. Think of it as getting on the train before buying a ticket."

Luo Qingdie said, "..."

"Huh, no? Wait. So I can change sect law however I want? Then why do I need to obey sect law? But I have to obey sect law. Yet sect law can be changed however I want. Huh, I... huh..."

Luo Qingdie's face went blank. Her skin rapidly heated up, steam rose from her ears, and she looked like she had overheated and crashed.

"Hey, hey, are you all right?" Chu Lu waved a hand before her.

Luo Qingdie suddenly snapped awake.

"Do you understand now?" Chu Lu asked.

"... I understand." Luo Qingdie pondered for a while before answering.

"That's great." Chu Lu was just about to let out a long breath.

Then he heard Luo Qingdie say, "Chu Lu, you know demonic arts and can beguile people with evil words!"

Chu Lu: "??"

"Rules are rules. How can they be broken? I don't know how you bewitched me, Chu Lu, but I won't fall for it again!" Luo Qingdie declared righteously.

"Wait, listen to me—"

Luo Qingdie immediately covered her ears and shouted, "La la la la la, I can't hear you, I can't hear you!"

Chu Lu: "?"

That's how you're resisting it?

Chu Lu folded his arms and watched Luo Qingdie enter turtle mode, feeling both irritated and amused.

The instant he entered this world, he had already been somewhat mentally prepared.

After all, the mission had mentioned the term "World Seven Female Fiction," so this place was very likely a female-oriented Novel World. Considering the latter's notorious reputation, a few bizarre elements were hardly surprising.

But he had not expected it to be this bizarre.

Then he recalled the earlier conversation in the Chat Group.

That bunch of idiots had insisted on pairing him with his master. Their reason had also been that deceiving the master and destroying the ancestors was against the rules, so he could only sacrifice himself to earn his master's guilt.

Chu Lu could not help mocking inwardly, What is wrong with these female-fiction characters? Have they all been branded with a Mental Imprint?

Strictly speaking, there was nothing wrong with following rules.

If everyone followed the rules, problems could actually be solved more easily.

But that was not the issue here.

Xiao Yichen stole her Spiritual Treasure. Was that following the rules?

Her master stole her Spiritual Plants. Was that following the rules?

Those three joined forces to trap her with an array and stripped every valuable item from her. Was that following the rules?

Later, they even personally came to kill her and cut the grass at its roots. Which sect rule allowed that?

Liu Yan'er had plotted so much behind the scenes. What kind of rules was she following?

In the end, she alone was foolishly clinging to the rules.

How could a fool who followed rules possibly deal with a bunch of bastards who did not?

In Chu Lu's view, even if Luo Qingdie lived another life, there was an eighty or ninety percent chance that she would still walk toward the same ending.

Out of fellow feeling, Chu Lu truly wanted to give her a hand. But the difference in strength was right there. He could not possibly rush over and kill all those enemies himself.

So if Luo Qingdie refused to cooperate, there was nothing he could do.

"Do whatever you want." Chu Lu sighed and turned to leave.

He went to a corner of the Cave Abode, sat down alone, opened the Chat Group, and brought up the item page, preparing to activate the World-Crossing Talisman and return.

Just then, he saw the Beginner's Gift Pack beside the World-Crossing Talisman.

Chu Lu blinked and opened the Beginner's Gift Pack.

Congratulations, Group Leader, you have obtained one Soul Seizing Talisman.

Soul Seizing Talisman: Can only be used once in the same world. Its duration is unlimited, unless actively canceled or you leave this world.

Chu Lu's eyes slowly widened.

The next moment, he returned to Luo Qingdie's side.

"Huh, Chu Lu, why are you back again?"

"I came to confirm something. You must hate your master and senior brothers to the bone, right?"

"Of course. There used to be some affection between us, but now it's all been wiped away completely."

"So as long as I can help you take revenge and guarantee there won't be any side effects, while your reputation remains intact, then no matter what I do, you definitely won't mind, right?"

"Of course!"

"Very good. Then I have no more reservations."

Delight appeared on Luo Qingdie's face. "Chu Lu, are you going to stay and help me gather evidence?"

"No, I'm going to help you kill people." Chu Lu smiled faintly and activated the Soul Seizing Talisman.