Lady Baoxiang

Now, Baoxiang was the foremost Heavenly Fox in the Zu Mountain World, known as Lady Baoxiang. She had two or three thousand years of cultivation behind her, had assumed human form long ago, and devoted herself to the arts of harvesting vitality.

She did not, however, drain men dry and kill them. Usually, she sought out sturdy young men in the mortal world who had only just become acquainted with the affairs of the flesh, bewitched them, and brought them into the mountains. After harvesting their vitality for several months, she sent them back down. Throughout their stay, she nourished them with medicinal pastes, pills, and meals. Though she drew away some of their innate vital essence, her medicines replenished their acquired vitality, and most could still live out their natural lifespans.

Today, she had merely been gathering herbs here when she spotted Zhuge Jingwo in the distance. Seeing how tall, handsome, and dashing the young man was, she fell for him at first sight. She also recognized him as a cultivator, full of Essence Qi and with his Divine Sense held inward. He was better than all the men she had harvested over the past thousand years put together. So she descended to strike up a conversation, not daring to bewitch him rashly lest her cleverness backfire.

She intended to win his favor first and dissolve the wariness in Zhuge Jingwo's heart, then cast a Spell, aided by the flower-honey wine she brewed—

On Yellow Mountain, she raised a species of bee, compelling them with a Spell to gather nectar from a hundred flowers and turn it into honey. She had selected all hundred varieties herself, and every one was an extremely potent aphrodisiac.

The strongest among them was called the Drunken Immortal Flower. Its blossoms were as large as washbasins, with a thousand stamens clustered at their centers, and could even change color: red in the morning and purple by night. Even the fiercest woman devoted to chastity would become a wanton harlot after a single sniff; even the most iron-willed straight man would become an unrivaled fiend of lust after inhaling once.

Once the hundred-flower honey was made, she brewed it into wine. Its potency grew stronger still, yet its effects were less violently abrupt: gentle at first, with a tremendous kick afterward. Mortals who caught its fragrance from ten miles away would initially be drawn to it, thinking it the finest wine in the world. Gradually, the flames of desire would consume them, trapping them so deeply that they could not stop even if they wished to. A cultivator who drank a small cup would have his Divine Soul turned upside down, leaving him entirely at the Heavenly Fox's mercy.

Amorous glances rippled through Baoxiang's eyes as she kept stealing looks at Zhuge Jingwo, imagining this handsome man holding her close. Ripples stirred in her heart and refused to subside, gradually swelling into rolling waves.

After what she had said, Zhuge Jingwo could no longer refuse and had to return with her to the island where the Purple River Grass grew.

Shi Feiyang had calculated that Zhuge Jingwo would return with help, but had not expected him to come back so quickly. This time, Zhuge Jingwo had not concealed himself with Sword Qi, but the Sword Qi itself was invisible, leaving no trace to be seen. He seemed to stride through empty air like a Banished Immortal.

A woman accompanied him, riding a colorful cloud at his side. Her speed looked slow but was actually swift, allowing her to keep pace with effortless grace.

"Is this the demonic dragon?" Baoxiang asked, pointing down from above. Once Zhuge Jingwo nodded in confirmation, she raised her hand and launched five streaks of red light, each as thick as a finger and roughly ten feet long. They flew down side by side, straight at their target.

Shi Feiyang spat out his Inner Cores, forming a Taiji Diagram that blocked the needles, and demanded loudly, "Who are you?"

Baoxiang was mildly startled to see that this demonic dragon possessed powerful magic and could speak human words. On the way here, she had devoted all her attention to how she might bed the handsome man beside her and had given no thought to the so-called demonic dragon. She had not expected him to be genuinely formidable. "My Daoist name is Baoxiang. I have always loved eating dragon liver, and today I have come to claim your life, demonic dragon!"

As a nonhuman herself, she was not ordinarily fond of killing. Today, however, she wanted to show off before Zhuge Jingwo, so she first sent out five Red Cloud Needles. She had carried and refined these needles for a thousand years. A single one was more formidable than other people's Flying Sword; launched together, all five swept everything before them.

She wanted to end the fight quickly and reckoned that the Five Cloud Needles alone would not suffice. With her left hand, she took out the treasure that guarded her cave, the Rainbow Silk. A gentle shake transformed it into five-colored crimson radiance, like a length of colorful silk or a rainbow descending from the sky, ready to wrap up Black Dragon.

Shi Feiyang recalled his Inner Cores and sent them circling around him, releasing great numbers of fiery birds, rats, dogs, and other creatures from within them. Together with a barrage of hailstones exploding in every direction, they forcibly held the Rainbow Silk open.

Zhuge Jingwo did not join her in attacking him from both sides. Instead, he landed to inspect the Purple River Grass.

Upon learning that her opponent was the Heavenly Fox Lady Baoxiang, Shi Feiyang knew how formidable this Fox spirit was. She still had powerful Magic Treasures she had not brought out. He would struggle to defeat her alone, and if Zhuge Jingwo joined the attack, his defeat would be certain.

Realizing that he could not beat the two of them, he decided to retreat for now. He brought his two Inner Cores together and made them spin faster, unleashing a furious torrent of water and fire in one direction. With a sharp sound like tearing silk, it smashed a great hole through the five-colored radiance formed by the Rainbow Silk. He flew out through it, baring his fangs and brandishing his claws as he charged toward the distant meeting of sea and sky.

Lady Baoxiang's willow-leaf brows shot upward in fury. "Wretched beast, you damaged my Magic Treasure!" Raising her hand, she unleashed her most powerful treasure, the Myriad Treasures Ruyi Pure Yang Heart-Transferring Lock. This object specialized in locking down Primordial Spirits and was immensely formidable; it could capture all manner of demonic beasts in a single stroke.

Yet she had conceived this treasure on an exceedingly ambitious scale, with intricate, painstaking plans that made its refinement extraordinarily difficult. She had only completed the first third of the process, leaving it nowhere near finished. Capturing other demonic beasts would naturally pose no difficulty, but it lacked the power to lock down Shi Feiyang.

Watching the silver radiance and colorful silk pursue him for more than ten miles, only to find that Black Dragon had already vanished without a trace, Lady Baoxiang angrily recalled her Magic Treasure. If my beloved weren't here today, I would chase you down and slaughter you, demonic dragon, no matter what!

The Rainbow Silk was a treasure she had carried for many years, combining offense and defense, and it had served her very well. Now a huge hole had been smashed through it. Although it could restore itself in an instant without hindering its use, its foundation had been damaged, diminishing its power considerably.

She descended to Zhuge Jingwo and asked, "Fellow Daoist, are you going to gather the herb now?"

Zhuge Jingwo shook his head. "This herb has not yet matured. If I gather it now, its medicinal potency will dissipate, leaving it insufficient for pill refinement. I must wait." He tilted his head to look up. "Until the midnight hour tonight."

Lady Baoxiang was delighted to hear this. She had worried that Zhuge Jingwo would leave as soon as he gathered the herb. Since he had to wait until tomorrow morning, they would have an entire night together—more than enough time to win him over!

She volunteered to wait with Zhuge Jingwo, carving tables and chairs from rock and taking bowls, plates, and cups out of her Heaven-and-Earth Bag. She laid out four plates of pastries, four of candied fruit, four of dried fruit and nuts, and four of fresh fruit. Then she caught some sea fish and shrimp, roasted them herself over a fire, and served them as dishes. She had the flower-honey wine with her and filled their cups, intending to drink with Zhuge Jingwo.

But Zhuge Jingwo firmly refused. "I observe my sect's precepts and ordinarily abstain from food. Even when I occasionally eat, I partake of neither meat nor alcohol. Thank you for your kindness, fellow Daoist, but I cannot accept it. Please help yourself."

Lady Baoxiang invited him again and again, secretly casting a Spell as she did so. A faint, enchanting fragrance drifted from her chest, and she deliberately let her snow-white arms show beneath her sleeves.

Anyone else would have felt every channel in his body boil, abandoned all other concerns, and plunged headfirst into her tender embrace.

Zhuge Jingwo's Divine Sense, however, remained clear throughout. In particular, he sensed that this woman harbored ill intentions, multiplying his wariness several times over. Not only did he refuse to eat and drink with Lady Baoxiang, he even found an excuse to go around to a tree on the other side of the Purple River Grass and sit in meditation.

Seeing that she could not bewitch this young man, Lady Baoxiang felt both angry and humiliated. Secretly, she unleashed her strongest beguiling Spell, while asking petulantly, "I have met countless cultivators under heaven, yet your sect alone has such strict precepts. Tell me, what sect are you a disciple of? Who is your master? Tomorrow, I shall go there and ask him myself what right he has to forbid his disciple from drinking!"

"I am a disciple of the Emei Sect, and my revered master is Xuanzhenzi. My aptitude is dull, and my innate constitution is exceptionally poor. I was never worthy of cultivating immortality, but Heaven blessed me with my master's acceptance and instruction in immortal arts. Only by working ten times harder than others can I hope to ascend the immortal path and live up to his painstaking teachings. I keep this warning constantly in my heart and dare not slacken."

Hearing that he belonged to the Emei Sect and was even Xuanzhenzi's disciple, Lady Baoxiang's burning ardor instantly cooled...

Hundreds of miles away, Shi Feiyang concealed himself among the clouds, staring coldly in their direction and taking in every interaction between the two.