Liu Qingyi lay on the ground, her consciousness slipping away bit by bit.
Her gaze began to lose focus, and memories flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern.
Medicine King Valley, that year.
Blue bricks and white roof tiles, the courtyard filled with the fragrance of medicinal herbs.
Dressed in a plain, clean long dress, she stood beneath the covered walkway, watching that simple, honest man crouch in the herb field and tend the plants.
He looked up and smiled at her, his smile so guileless it seemed almost clumsy.
"Qingyi, look at this purple reishi. It's growing so well this year."
What had she been thinking then? She had felt that life was too bland, as tasteless as plain water.
That man had been too honest, serving her tea and water, afraid she might bump into something or hurt herself. His gentleness had bored her.
Then Li Cang had come.
Brimming with murderous menace, Li Cang had barged into Medicine King Valley and kicked over a bamboo tray of drying herbs.
She had stood beneath the covered walkway and watched, her heart pounding.
When Li Cang's gaze fell on her, she knew she was done for.
That night, Li Cang stayed in her room. In the room next to her husband's, she bit the quilt and made the happiest sounds of her life.
Later, when Li Cang said he wanted ten-thousand-year-old medicinal herbs, she fetched them for him herself.
When her husband discovered it and confronted her, she hid behind Li Cang, watching Li Cang shatter the man's bones, punch by punch. She watched that man stare at her with his eyes wide open even in death, as though asking why.
Later, Li Cang tired of her. With younger women at his side, he drove her out of the Blood Hand Gang and even called her an ugly hag.
She hated Li Cang. She hated how he had pulled up his trousers and turned his back on her, hated how he had thrown her away like garbage...
Liu Qingyi's vision blurred completely.
One final thought slipped through what remained of her consciousness: in her life, she had deceived her husband, cast herself as a victim, and deceived many others.
In the end, she had tried to deceive a girl of fifteen or sixteen, but failed and lost her life instead.
Two months later.
Slaughter City, Hell Slaughter Arena.
In the stands, cheers surged like a tide: "Judgment Empress! Judgment Empress! Judgment Empress!"
Qian Renxue stood in the center of the arena, her aura at its absolute peak.
The murderous aura accumulated over a hundred victories had not affected her mind in the slightest. Instead, her Angel Martial Soul had purified it, forming a faint platinum halo around her.
Purity and icy severity coexisted-a sacred killing intent.
Much had happened over those two months.
The most important event had occurred one day a little over a month earlier.
Qian Renxue woke up and suddenly felt something else inside her body.
It was different from the Soul Power the Evil God had gained by recklessly using her body.
It was a warm power that flowed into her without end.
Yes, it was the power of faith.
Qian Daoliu had begun spreading the angel cultivation technique.
At first, only a few hundred people practiced the Angel Sacred Art. Before cultivating each day, they visualized the sacred image of an angel and prayed devoutly, generating the power of faith.
As the creator of the cultivation technique, Qian Renxue naturally received that power.
And as the number of believers grew, that power increased by the day.
Under Cheng Ran's guidance, Qian Renxue tried pouring the power of faith into the Angel Blade. When she swung it, it carved a path through the air, its might greatly increased.
The power of faith had many wondrous uses. It could strengthen attacks, directly restore her body, and even serve as a means of attack in itself.
She could sense believers thousands of miles away praying, believing in her, and revering her.
With careful observation, faint golden threads could be seen moving around Qian Renxue's body. They were the power of faith.
Cheng Ran's voice rang out in her sea of consciousness. "As the saying goes, time flies like an arrow, and newly grown hair feels a little prickly. Finally, a hundred victories... Next comes the challenge of Hell Road!"
Qian Renxue raised her head and looked into the air.
A blood-colored figure descended from the sky, his scarlet cloak billowing as his crimson eyes swept over the arena.
The King of Slaughter!
"Young Judgment Empress." The King of Slaughter's voice was low and shrill. "You have earned a hundred victories. Under the rules, you are qualified to challenge Hell Road. In a thousand years, only eight people have made it out alive."
His gaze fell on the platinum light surrounding Qian Renxue, and he sensed a warm, substantial positive power.
That aura was utterly incompatible with him. Mere contact with it made him uncomfortable all over.
He swallowed the speech he had prepared to invite Qian Renxue to serve as a guest elder.
He only wanted this blonde girl to leave quickly, without a moment's delay. "No time like the present. I will open Hell Road for you today."
Qian Renxue nodded, golden power of faith circling her.
The King of Slaughter did not dare spare her another glance. He spread his arms, and blood-red ripples radiated outward.
The tens of thousands of fallen people in the stands let out piercing screams. Blood poured from their eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouths, gathering into dark red streams that flowed along the grooves in the stands toward the center of the arena.
Blood spread across the ground, tracing an enormous bat pattern.
Spurred by the sacrifice of tens of thousands of spectators, the eyes of the Blood Bat pattern finally lit up. A scarlet pillar of light shot skyward, engulfing Qian Renxue.
The next instant, Qian Renxue felt the ground vanish beneath her feet and hurriedly activated her Soul Bone Skill to fly.
She found herself above a circular platform. A narrow path half a foot wide extended from it, with abysses on either side. Far below, she could faintly see scalding dark red blood churning.
Cheng Ran said, "This is the first stage, the Blood Bat swarm. Their teeth are poisonous, and they like gnawing on the path, but they're afraid of light."
No sooner had Cheng Ran finished speaking than a dense flurry of wingbeats sounded in the distance, confirming his words.
A blood-red cloud rose from the abyss, and thousands upon thousands of Blood Bats swooped toward her.
"Afraid of light?" With a thought, Qian Renxue released her Angel Soul Power together with the power of faith. Six wings spread behind her, like an angel descending.
Although her Soul Skills were suppressed, she could still release the power of her Martial Soul.
Intertwining gold and white light instantly illuminated the space within a hundred meters.
The Blood Bats at the front touched the Angel Holy Light and immediately began emitting black smoke. Screeching, they lost their balance and plummeted into the abyss.
Those behind them fell into even greater chaos, no longer daring to approach.
Qian Renxue flicked her right hand, pouring the power of faith into the Angel Blade as she flew in midair.
Each flash of the blade claimed a bat.
If experience points had been visible, a dense mass of +10,000 EXP notifications would surely have appeared!
Under the dual suppression, the swarm of bats blundered about like headless flies, unable to mount an effective encirclement.
In less than half an hour, the swarm had lost more than half its numbers, and the survivors scattered and fled.
Cheng Ran said, "Ding! Congratulations to player Qian Renxue for clearing the first stage of the Hell Road dungeon! Reward obtained: Evil God Flying Kiss x1!"
Qian Renxue continued forward.
The temperature around her kept rising. The blood on either side had risen to less than ten meters below the path, and scalding, blood-scented steam billowed into her face.
Fortunately, Qian Renxue's ice and fire immunity constitution left her entirely unaffected by the temperature. But the steam contained a thousand years of resentment and evil energy, constantly trying to erode her mind.
As her Angel Soul Power and power of faith circulated together, all the negative energy was purified and devoured, then fed back to her as pure Soul Power.
A dozen or so minutes later, an enormous creature appeared ahead, hanging upside down over the narrow path.
Its dark gold scales shone with a metallic luster in the red light, and six blood-red eyes stared fixedly at her.
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