Shi Xueyan

Chen Yuan was not certain whether the future Chu Hongshang would become the Scarlet Chain Demon Venerable again.

But her starting point this time was far better than in the original storyline.

With the Inner Scenery Deity Visualization Method, she could tap into her body's potential, making the cultivation of any technique afterward twice as effective with half the effort.

After teaching Chu Hongshang how to face Shi Xueyan, Chen Yuan left directly.

However, Chen Yuan did not go far. Instead, he found another inn in North Sea Market and stayed there.

The inn stood in the center of North Sea Market, allowing him to keep watch over Chu Hongshang's movements at all times. He only intended to leave once he was certain that Shi Xueyan had taken her away.

Avenge Chu Hongshang and help her enter the Myriad Demons Sect—this was one of Chen Yuan's experiments.

Before these future powerhouses and great figures rose to prominence, he would help them or befriend them.

Once they rose in the future, would he not be able to swagger through the martial world without restraint?

In the original storyline, Chu Hongshang obeyed only the Martial Arts Alliance Leader, Chen Jiutian. She did not even respect the sect master of the Myriad Demons Sect.

Now that he had helped her avenge the destruction of her family, surely she would remember this kindness in the future?

Of course, that was assuming they could still grow and rise as they had in the original storyline.

But Chen Yuan did not help just anyone, nor did he seek friendship with everyone.

Some future great figures might be powerful, but their character left much to be desired.

If Chen Yuan helped them now, then when their interests clashed in the future, they might very well stab him in the back.

Although Chu Hongshang slaughtered countless people and acted ruthlessly in the original storyline, she was clear about gratitude and grudges.

If someone cursed her once, she could wipe out that person's entire family over it.

Yet anyone in Lone Mountain City who had once spoken a fair word for the Chu Family was richly rewarded by her afterward. She gave them techniques and pills as though they cost nothing.

She treated even those who had merely spoken up for the Chu Family that well. Needless to say, Chen Yuan had done her the great favor of avenging them.

Following Chen Yuan's instructions, Chu Hongshang displayed the heads of the Zhu Family members on the streets of North Sea Market and openly held a memorial for her family, instantly causing another tremendous uproar throughout the market.

Everyone in North Sea Market knew about what had happened to the Chu Family. Later, when Chu Hongshang posted a task at Myriad Connections Tavern seeking someone to avenge the destruction of her family, the martial artists of North Sea Market had found the little girl rather pitiful.

Pitiful as she was, they were all lowly wanderers of the martial world. No one dared uphold justice and accept the task.

Who would have thought that some fool from out of town would actually dare to take it? For the past two days, everyone had been discussing just how Chen Yuan, who had accepted the task, would die.

Yet only a few days later, the heads of the Zhu Family were displayed in North Sea Market.

During the two days Chen Yuan fought the Zhu Family, the people of Lone Mountain City had not dared go outside.

But after the Zhu Family was destroyed, many people came down from the mountain, and the news spread. Only then did everyone learn the details of that battle.

Ruthless—ruthless beyond measure!

That was everyone's assessment of the Zhu Family's destruction.

What Chen Yuan killed was not the Zhu Family itself, but the Zhu Family's courage.

By himself, he had terrified the Zhu Family out of their wits, causing the already unstable retainers of the Zhu Family to flee in all directions and reveal their true colors.

Moreover, Zhu Chengze and Zhu Chengan had killed each other in the end. Anyone with functioning eyes could see that.

Heaven knew what kind of verbal trickery Chen Yuan had used to make the Zhu brothers slaughter each other. Just thinking about it sent chills down one's spine.

However, the Zhu Family had never possessed much of a reputation around North Sea Market. Chen Yuan's ruthless methods instead made many people feel deeply satisfied.

There were even wanderers with grudges against the Zhu Family who openly spat on the heads of Zhu Chaofeng and the others.

Two days later, a fleet returned from overseas. A woman wearing a long white dress and bearing a red mark between her brows strode off the ship.

The woman was beautiful yet cold, with a mature bearing. She looked to be in her thirties, but there was a weathered quality between her brows that suggested she was older.

At that moment, a wanderer on the shore leered at the woman, a vulgar smile appearing at the corner of his lips as his mind had already played through eighteen different ways to toy with her.

Just then, the woman suddenly glanced at him, and her expression instantly darkened.

She extended one hand, and in an instant, a vast force of suction erupted.

The wanderer let out a miserable scream. Cracks spread inch by inch across his body as all the blood in him was forcibly drawn out, forming an enormous sphere of blood in midair!

The next moment, the sphere of blood burst apart. A torrent of blood splashed onto the ground, while the wanderer had become nothing more than a dried corpse.

The wanderers around her hurriedly lowered their heads, unable to stop themselves from trembling.

Those who killed at the slightest disagreement were people of the demonic path.

But someone who did not even say a word before killing? Even among demonic cultivators, such a person counted as a lunatic!

Chen Yuan was staying on the top floor of the inn, where he could also see the shore.

Though he could not make out the woman's appearance clearly, her attack alone was enough for Chen Yuan to confirm that she was Shi Xueyan, the Myriad Demons Sect's Blood-Hand Fairy.

When Shi Xueyan was young, she had been a disciple of a minor demonic sect. Yet she fell in love with the heir of an orthodox sect and even defected from her sect to join the orthodox path for his sake.

But after Shi Xueyan defected from the demonic path, she suffered constant exclusion within the orthodox sect. Worse still, the man she loved intended to marry the legitimate daughter of a noble family of equal standing, causing Shi Xueyan to break down completely.

Afterward, no one knew what price Shi Xueyan paid to return to the demonic path and join the Myriad Demons Sect, one of its foremost great sects.

More than ten years later, Shi Xueyan's cultivation had reached great success, and her temperament had become crazed and vicious. She directly slaughtered that orthodox sect.

Because the secret art she cultivated preserved her appearance, and because her methods were cruel and ruthless, the martial world gave her the nickname Blood-Hand Fairy.

Of course, in Chen Yuan's view, this woman was simply a hopeless romantic.

As Shi Xueyan passed through the center of North Sea Market, she naturally noticed Chu Hongshang.

The hatred in Chu Hongshang's eyes surprised her slightly. How could such a young girl possess such deep-seated hatred?

Shi Xueyan casually seized a wanderer and asked, "What is going on with this little girl?"

The wanderer did not even dare raise his head and shakily recounted the entire course of events.

After hearing him out, Shi Xueyan revealed an interested expression.

She walked up to Chu Hongshang and asked, "Your enemies are all dead now. Why are you still filled with hatred?"

"I hate myself for not having the strength to personally avenge the destruction of my family!"

Chu Hongshang raised her head, remembering Chen Yuan's words as she displayed every bit of hatred in her heart before Shi Xueyan.

"One member of the Zhu Family is still alive. He is a disciple of the Radiant Extreme Sect, Yongzhou's top great sect. I cannot kill him, and no one can help me kill him. I only hate my own incompetence!"

"The Wang Family of South Mountain City, who had arranged a marriage with you, drove you out. Do you hate them?"

Her eyes reddening, Chu Hongshang nodded bitterly. "I do! I hate them so much that I want to eat their flesh and drink their blood! If I had the strength, I would wipe out the Wang Family as well!"

Although the Wang Family had indeed gone too far, Chu Hongshang did not truly hate them all that much.

The world was cold and fickle. The Wang Family was weaker than the Zhu Family, so naturally they were unwilling to offend the Zhu Family for the sake of a woman.

The Wang Family's decision was precisely the way a small family like theirs survived.

But her benefactor had told her to say this, and she did not ask why. She merely did as he instructed.

Of course, that was only what she thought now. In the original storyline, the Wang Family had ultimately died terribly as well.

Shi Xueyan nodded in satisfaction.

She was a stubborn and insane person. That was simply how she viewed the world—she never cared about reason, only her likes and dislikes.

She was very satisfied with Chu Hongshang's values, feeling that they suited her own perfectly.

Furthermore, the hatred Chu Hongshang displayed made Shi Xueyan feel that she was promising material.

When Shi Xueyan had been young, she had joined the Myriad Demons Sect with an extreme hatred in her heart. It was precisely by relying on that hatred that she had stood out and become the Blood-Hand Fairy she was today.

Though in Chen Yuan's view, that stuff was useless.

Other than turning oneself into a psychological wreck, it had almost no beneficial effect on cultivation.

But Shi Xueyan stubbornly believed that only those who carried extreme hatred could possess the ultimate motivation to cultivate and push their own potential to the limit.

Moreover, Shi Xueyan possessed a secret method that let her see at a glance that Chu Hongshang had exceptional talent.

With all these conditions combined, Shi Xueyan had more than enough reason to choose to take her away.

"I am Shi Xueyan of the Myriad Demons Sect. Are you willing to take me as your master and return with me to the Myriad Demons Sect?"

Chu Hongshang raised her head and looked at Shi Xueyan. "Can you help me kill Zhu Chengzong of the Radiant Extreme Sect and destroy the Wang Family?"

Shi Xueyan gave a soft laugh and said disdainfully, "He is merely a young disciple of the Radiant Extreme Sect. Even if I kill him, those old fossils would not dare utter a word.

"As for that so-called Wang Family, they are nothing more than pigs and dogs. They can be destroyed with a wave of my hand."

Changing the subject, Shi Xueyan said, "But these are your enemies. I will not help you avenge yourself.

"Remember them. Remember your hatred for them. Only with that hatred can you walk farther on the path of cultivation!

"When you have achieved success and stood out from the countless demon sons and demon maidens of the Myriad Demons Sect, only then will you be qualified to take revenge and release the hatred in your heart!"

In the original storyline, Shi Xueyan had deliberately left the Zhu Family alive so that this hatred would remain in Chu Hongshang's heart.

Now Chen Yuan had destroyed the Zhu Family, but he had made Chu Hongshang use Zhu Chengzong and the Wang Family as targets instead, fabricating a great enmity and giving Shi Xueyan room to expound her twisted logic.

That way, the development would not differ much from the original storyline.

Chu Hongshang decisively knelt and kowtowed three times to Shi Xueyan.

"This disciple greets Master!"

Shi Xueyan nodded with satisfaction, pulled Chu Hongshang to her feet, and left.

Her personality was stubborn and crazed—so crazed that even many people within the Myriad Demons Sect could not stand her. As a result, she had never taken a disciple.

She had not expected that after going to the North Sea to clear her mind, she would encounter such a promising seedling upon her return.

Chu Hongshang followed behind Shi Xueyan, but she kept turning back to look toward North Sea Market.

Shi Xueyan thought that she still could not let go of the hatred in her heart.

In truth, Chu Hongshang was looking for Chen Yuan.

She knew that Chen Yuan had not left and had been watching over her in secret.

Her strength was still weak. If she stayed with her benefactor, she would only be a burden and could not help him in any way.

But in the future, she would certainly stand out within the Myriad Demons Sect and repay her benefactor!