Chapter 281.2: Temptation

Edited by: Juicetin

Proofreader: Arya

『 This soul has a few small fragments left, I’ll just give it to you as a reward 』the black-clothed girl said.

The two Tianma were first surprised, then delighted.

They couldn’t believe that they were rewarded with something as valuable as a Projection realm cultivator’s soul fragment, and they’re delighted because it’ll quickly increase their own strength.

With the Tianma, more strength means a higher rank.

———–master must be feeling extremely pleased right now.

『 We thank master’s generosity! 』

They very respectfully said and quickly turned into two puffs of black mist and went into each of the cultivator’s ears.

The black-clothed girl turned around, walked to the doorsteps and looked outside.

The entire camp was silent and peaceful.

All the cultivators stood still as if they were wooden totems.

Their eyes were rolled upwards, a few of them were even showing eerie smiles.

There were also a few who were lying on the ground, already dead.

They had stabbed their weapons into each other’s body with expressions of malice and killing intent.

Until the moment of their deaths, they were still being controlled by their emotions.

The black-clothed girl nodded lightly and whispered: 『 Such a world is truly worth conquering 』

A few moments later, the 12 Tianma all landed in front of her, lined up and knelt down.

『 I’m in a good mood today, the rest of you can eat 』the black-clothed girl waved her hand and spoke.

『『『 Thank you, master! 』』』 the 12 Tianma replied in unison.

They turned into 12 puffs of black smoke and flew all around the camp.

As soon as the black smoke enveloped them, each and every cultivator in the camp instantly fell down one after another, no longer breathing.

Although they’re dead, their expressions weren’t that of fear, only a stiff dumb look on their face, as if they knew nothing of what just transpired.

The black-clothed girl was heading towards a certain tent.

According to the Projection realm cultivator’s memory, the formation plate for warping between the two realms were in the hands of their resident formation user.

As long as I get that formation plate ———

But then the black-clothed girl’s thoughts were cut off.

There were only two corpses soaked in blood in the tent.

Their heads were severed; their headless bodies had collapsed on the ground.

There were no signs of battle in this room.

『 They haven’t been dead for too long… 』

The black-clothed girl was speechless for a bit, then waved her hand backwards.

A faint figure appeared from the formation user’s body, flying in front of her.

『 Show 』the black-clothed girl commanded silently.

The figure then began to screech in agony before turning into a translucent mist of light.

Inside the mist of light, one cultivator walked into the tent, then he was suddenly beheaded. As the scene changed, a sword appeared in the mist of light.

Then it stopped there.

『 Such a good assassination, how interesting. But just then, they were protected by formations, how were they killed so easily? 』

The black-clothed girl muttered.

She raised her palm, causing the translucent mist to gather into a small black sphere that fell into her hand.

The black-clothed girl stayed silent for a little bit before glancing at the corpses.

The formation user’s gem ornament flew up and into her hand.

She opened the gem ornament.

Not here.

The formation for warping between the two worlds isn’t here.

The black-clothed girl tossed the gem ornament down.

She then smiled.

『 So that’s it, this is what you mean by business huh? What an interesting human 』

After about a minute later, the group of Tianma has returned from the mountain top.

The black-clothed girl lightly licked her lips and told Gu Qing Shan: 『 I know you’ve used us, but a Projection realm’s soul was so delectable that I’m willing to let it go 』

“Are there any left alive?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

『 Take a guess 』 the black-clothed girl flashed an alluring smile.

Gu Qing Shan looked back at the mountain top.

It was completely silent up there.

The black-clothed girl stared straight at him and said: 『 How unfortunate, we weren’t able to find the two-world warp formation plate 』

Gu Qing Shan asked: “And so?”

『 Just knowing that such a world exists is meaningless 』 the black-clothed girl appeared regretful, 『 as long as we haven’t been to that world ourselves, we won’t be able to locate and accurately find it among the countless worlds 』

Gu Qing Shan spoke: “That’s right, and this is where our business meeting becomes a negotiation”

He then took out the small two-world warp formation, holding it in hand.

The black-clothed girl’s eyes shone, stepping closer to the formation plate, not wanting to miss even a single pattern or detail on there.

『 That’s right, this is it 』

She was almost unable to resist taking it by force.

“Hm? I’ll have you know this thing here is quite fragile, if you do unnecessary things, I’ll just destroy it” Gu Qing Shan took the formation back and said.

He was holding the Tianma’s vase and the formation openly on each hand, as if he wasn’t the least bit worried about them being stolen from him.

If the Tianma truly gets violent, he’ll put both of them back into his Inventory Bag, then destroy it.

The sub-space inside the Inventory Bags are also fragile, once the catalyst, the bag, is destroyed, everything inside will be scattered to the space vortex, impossible for anyone to find.

The black-clothed girl retracted her hand, but seemed much more intrigued than before.

She asked: 『 Interesting, how very interesting. So what do you want from this deal of ours? 』

“I want that Virtualized realm cultivator dead” Gu Qing Shan answered.

『 Countless of our Tianma brethren will die on his hands 』 the black-clothed girl shook her head.

“To a Tianma King, I believe sacrificing a few subordinates doesn’t mean anything” Gu Qing Shan pressed on.

『 If master wanted to kill a Virtualized realm cultivator, even in the Tianma world, she would have to use up a great deal of Divine power 』the black-clothed girl replied.

Divine power?

At such a crucial point of negotiation, Gu Qing Shan didn’t ask further about it and only said: “It’s fair to pay a price for such a thing, isn’t it?”

The black-clothed girl angrily snapped: 『 It’s us who has to do the sacrificing, of course you wouldn’t feel like it’s a loss 』

Gu Qing Shan didn’t back down a single bit: “But you will get a Virtualized realm cultivator’s soul for it”

“Furthermore, there’s a whole other world similar to him that’ll belong to you entirely”

He pressed on a bit more: “Just think about it carefully. You’ve already seen how their Projection realm cultivator was, the Virtualized realm cultivator is the from the same world, and there are many, many more of these cultivators in the other world”

“All those cultivators, all the delectable souls, as long as you cooperate with me, will all become yours”

The black-clothed girl held her breath.

But the 12 Tianma behind her couldn’t control themselves that well and started breathing a bit heavily.

You really can’t blame them.

They’ve seen with their own eyes how a Projection realm cultivator didn’t even know to resist them.

He didn’t have a single speck of experience dealing with Tianma.

They practically spent no effort at all to fully devour the entire camp full of powerful souls, they easily gathered a great amount of Divine power just like that.

This was unprecedented in all of their lives.

If they can keep eating such wonderful meals, they’ll very quickly become stronger.

The black-clothed girl exhaled slightly, unable to fully hide her excitement and stared at Gu Qing Shan.

She only stared at Gu Qing Shan, not saying a word.

“What is it?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

The black-clothed girl was still staring at him and slowly spoke: 『 Ever since a long time ago, it’s always been the Tianma that tempts humans. Who would’ve thought there would be a day where a human is tempting us Tianma instead 』

“If it’s a winning deal for both sides, I doubt anyone would be willing to object” Gu Qing Shan commented.

『 I understand what you mean 』the black-clothed girl spoke, 『 I’ll need to return to ask the master’s opinion first 』

Gu Qing Shan clasped his fist: “Then I’ll be waiting for the good news”

The black-clothed girl repeated his gesture and also clasped her fist.

She then observed Gu Qing Shan from top to bottom and suddenly smiled: 『 After you die, Dao seeker, would you be willing to reincarnate into the Tianma world? 』

“What is that supposed to mean?”

『 Using your soul as food is too wasteful, if you reincarnate as a Tianma, I’d be more than willing to nominate you to master, where you will definitely be valued highly』

“Don’t humans enter the Six Paths of Reincarnation when they die?” Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but ask.

The black-clothed girl looked at him with interest, then pursed her lips and said nothing.

She suddenly threw something towards him.

After catching it, Gu Qing Shan found that it was a rattle bracelet, threaded with 5 bells.

The rattle bracelet was unexpectedly heavy, carrying a chilling presence that even spirit energy couldn’t fully isolate.

『 This is my Tianma Rattle, it contains my power and presence』the black-clothed girl explained.

“Why give it to me?”

『 When you ring the bells, no matter which world I’m in, I’ll be able to recognize your location to come find you 』

『 I can feel a great change happening in this world, if anything happens, simply use this Rattle to call for me and I’ll relay it to master 』the black-clothed girl explained.

『 This is to assure that our cooperation won’t go awry 』

“If there’s a need to, I will definitely use it” Gu Qing Shan carefully put the rattle bracelet away and solemnly answered.

All that needed to be said has been said, it’s time for them to go.

The black-clothed girl looked at the Tianma vase in utter nostalgia.

Then she suddenly asked: 『 Such an artifact, of course would have its own spirit, do you perhaps understand what it is singing? 』

The Tianma vase was still in Gu Qing Shan’s hands, occasionally letting out some female singing.

Gu Qing Shan wasn’t expecting to hear that so he asked dumbfounded: “What is it singing?”

The black-clothed girl curtsied, then started to fly backwards into the air.

Suddenly, she chanted with a clear ringing golden voice

『 Jiǎojiǎo bái jū, zài bǐ kōnggǔ. Shēng chú yī shù, qí rén rú yù. 』(1)

As the black-clothed girl sang softly, the 12 alluring Tianma all floated into the air following her.

Before the Tianma left, they all turned back, smiling temptingly at Gu Qing Shan.

They all sang harmoniously: 『 Jiǎojiǎo bái jū, zài bǐ kōnggǔ. Shēng chú yī shù, qí rén rú yù. 』

Their voice was harmonized, echoing, leaving a lingering feeling of not wanting to let go.

As the 13 Tianma finished singing, they slowly spun, disappearing into the void of space.

As Gu Qing Shan watched them leave, he sighed: “Thinking of me? What a truly opportunistic bunch”

It was now that he wore the rattle.

Everything went smoothly as expected.

Now, he can go ahead with the next part of the plan.

He placed his hand on top of the vase.

A few lines of glowing text appeared from the War God UI.

[The Tianma’s Pond of Vitality, Holy Artifact of the 6th Tianma world of Lust. Gives birth to Yinma, Hunma, Sima, Zuima, Chenma, Yema, Xinma, the origin of all demons] (2)

[Skills that this artifact has used]

[First, Demon World Transportation]

[Second, Summon Demon Horde]

[Third, Mo Luo Wan Divine Descent]

[Fourth, Demon Reincarnation]

[Since user is a human, you can only learn the first skill: Demon World Transportation]

[Comprehending Demon World Transportation Soul Points cost: 500]

[Would you like to comprehend it?]

[Attention, this Skill can only be performed using the Tianma’s Pond of Vitality]

Gu Qing Shan spoke: “I want to comprehend it”

[User has spent 500 Soul Points, Demon World Transportation learnt]

A flow of warmth came from the vase into Gu Qing Shan’s hand, following it up until it reached his Thought Sea.

In a few moments, he has instantly learnt the way that the Tianma uses the vase to return to their world.

…

Note:

(1): This is actually a poem, but since I don’t understand Chinese well enough to translate it, I’m leaving it as is. The meaning of the poem is basically: “There are many beautiful things in our world, but it doesn’t have you”

(2): these are all names of demons and other obstruction on the path of cultivation. Basically, this vase is claimed to be the origin for all of them.