Chapter 3: 3. Nightmare on Xianxia Street

Months passed, with Chen Li going into hunts every 3 days. Just as he suspected, desolate boars disappeared within two weeks. Though no one else was hunting them to Chen Li’s knowledge, these solitary beasts just didn’t populate fast enough. Even a 12-year-old hunter could pose a serious risk to their habitat. Which was why no one else bothered to hunt them!

Under the hidden eye of Su Yan, Chen Li switched and set his targets to a higher throughput game, and more precious herbs. The two would go hand in hand after all. Spiritual beasts were stupid, but even they could understand the importance of cultivation resources!

A year went by in a flash. Su Yan became 9, and Chen Li 13.

Due to the unsustainability of hunting (and a few close calls), Chen Li had started prioritizing herbs. This turned out to be an unexpected boon due to favorable spiritual rains. With a stalk of a rare herb going 10 low-quality spirit stones a pop, Chen Li was able to amass 4000 spirit stones that year.

Coincidentally, the price of the medium-quality narrow cleansing pill was lowered to 4000, also thanks to the favorable spiritual rains!

Hence why, Chen Li was looking at the bottle of the marrow cleansing pill with complex emotions.

‘Yes, once she absorbs this and cleanses her marrows, her evaluation in the eyes of sects should go up. She is only 9, Twilight Thunder Sect’s criteria should be a cakewalk…’

The aforementioned sect had the cleanest reputation of all sects that Chen Li could find. Not only they had a famous women-only peak within, but their other peaks also had good gender ratios, and the sect leader was a woman herself!

Impeccable reputation, fame across the continent, rich history, and deep foundation.

This was the best place Chen Li could think of for the current Su Yan. Wasn’t it better to go to an influential sect with a good reputation, rather than some random cultivator finding her talent?

Of course, he had to mention this to their parents first, and the final choice was up to Su Yan herself. Chen Li felt that it was important for her to have to opportunity to decide, rather than sit inside her room all day and cultivate.

Finally, he grabbed the bottle and went to his sister’s door. Before he could even knock, Su Yan’s voice came from inside. “Come in.”

Chen Li shook his head with a smile before going in. “Still stuck in the 3rd stage?” He asked teasingly. Getting an expressionless stare was the response he was expecting, so he smiled and pointed at the bottle.

“I had… What you could call, a fortuitous encounter.” Chen Li sat down near his sister, not minding her response at the least. “A poor beggar was longingly looking at the steamed buns. My heart started aching, so I bought one and gave him using the last bit of my allowance. Who could’ve known, that beggar was actually a powerful cultivator!” Chen Li opened his eyes in shock. He hadn’t rehearsed this at all, but this made his act much more believable! Or so he thought.

“Anyway, this person gave me a divine marrow cleansing pill...” Chen Li looked righteously at Su Yan. “… because of my pure heart!”

This time, Su Yan blinked. It was so sudden and so subtle, Chen Li doubted his eyes for a second! But there was no mistake! She had blinked!

‘… Well, she does spend most of her time cultivating, and nothing we did to make her meet girls of her age worked… So I guess this should be believable for her at that age… Right?’

Chen Li brought the small bottle to his eye level and exaggeratedly inspected it. “Well,” He said with a sigh. “My talent is poor, and yours is anything but. So I’ll leave this to you.”

Su Yan slightly frowned as she watched Chen Li put the bottle in front of her.

“This senior also told me that the pill’s efficacy will become weaker over time. He also told me that this is a divine pill, and should be taken at once, lest we attract the attention of undesirables!”

As Chen Li stood up, Su Yan finally spoke. “Brother…”

“Eat it immediately after I’m gone, alright? I don’t want to hear no ifs, no buts!” Without saying another word, he hurriedly went back to his room.

The evaluation for the Twilight Thunder Sect was going to be held in two months.

‘If I double my herb collection time, maybe I could buy a few Qi Condensation pills?’

In the past year, Su Yan’s facial features had changed noticeably! And that only served to increase Chen Li’s worries!

The timebomb was ticking fast!

* * *

Inside Su Yan’s room, the 9-year-old girl was looking at the bottle in a daze.

Though she had secretly followed her brother whenever he went outside the city, she never paid attention to his movements otherwise. Protecting him came at a cost of her cultivation time! So she took any chance she could to cultivate, to keep up with the expectations of her master.

She was also happy for her brother. The money he was saving clearly was for a purpose. At his age, perhaps he was saving for his marriage, perhaps saving for an apprenticeship, or maybe saving to buy some cultivation resources! Though Su Yan refrained from showing her true cultivation, even her facade put tremendous pressure on her brother.

But as she stared at the bottle, she couldn’t believe it.

The pill inside had the crisp mark of the Vermillion Twilight Pavilion. In his hurry to give her the pill, her brother didn’t even check it! If he did, he would’ve been able to concoct a more plausible story…

He hunted small beasts, collected herbs, went out at sunrise and came back at sunset. That was the life of her 12-year-old brother. For a year.

Suddenly, a voice came from the dark. “That pill should cost 4000 low-quality spirit stones.”

Su Yan lowered her head slightly. “Master.”

“Admirable. He seems to understand many things for his age. Though his talent is low, you two are alike when it comes to the mind.”

“Master…”

A sigh came from the dark. “I understand, my dear disciple. But I can’t bend the rules of the sect. I will speak with other peak masters. If any of them are willing, your brother will undergo a test.”

Su Yan lowered her head even more. “Thank you master. A chance is enough.”

The pill bottle disappeared into Su Yan’s storage ring. And she continued her cultivation. But this time, with the conviction of making her brother soar through the heavens.

She was a divine empress in her previous life. If the sect didn’t accept him, then she would do it herself!

One way or another!

* * *

A month later. At night.

Just like always, Chen Li changed into his pajamas, counted his spirit stones, and made rough plans for tomorrow in his head.

‘103 is nowhere enough, if I had time I could’ve invested in an apprenticeship and made the money back in a year…’

It was a normal night just like others.

But this time, he wasn’t alone in his bedroom. A woman, a man, and one small girl had watched him suddenly fall asleep!

The man broke the silence. “Then I will begin. Little Yan, this dharma treasure will try to lead your brother astray from cultivation. Its power is nearly equivalent of a heart demon, but as long as one’s will remains strong, one can overcome the temptations. As long as your brother passes the first test, I will accept him to my peak.”

Su Yan bowed. “Thank you, peak master.”

“Trifle, trifle. What matters is what your brother wants. Well, I shall begin.” The man made eye contact with Su Yan’s master before starting.

The peak master infused the snail shell with his Qi and placed it on Chen Li’s heart. Then he flicked his wrist to make a screen appear. “With this, little Yan can also watch.” He added with a smile.

Su Yan gave a smaller bow this time and concentrated on the screen.

Chen Li seemed to be cultivating inside magnificent chambers. The size, the decorations, and the hazy mist within, caught Su Yan off-guard. Dragon motifs and nonsensical runes were everywhere. Visions of otherworldly vistas flickered inside the floor tiles.

On the walls, warrior reliefs made of gold were fighting in real-time, seemingly reenacting a battle against strange demons. Tentacles were piercing from the sky and crushing the warriors in a never-ending battle.

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And most striking was her brother. Older, and much, much more handsome. Wearing what she could only describe as an emperor’s attire.

“Ho… This little brother’s appetite isn’t small, it looks like.” The man commented while holding his chin.

Was her brother really like that? Could it be a side effect from saving so much money during the past year?

While Su Yan was deeply frowning, a woman entered the chambers, wearing a gorgeous green dress that accentuated her voluptuous body. Her desire-filled eyes were locked on Chen Li.

Su Yan’s frown grew even deeper.

Inside the dream, Chen Li opened his eyes. Only to find himself in a completely alien environment!

‘The f*ck? Am I dreaming?’ He pondered on that thought for a while. The feeling of his body, the way he breathed in, the sensation of soft fabric, they somehow seemed real.

‘Wait, what am I wearing? What’s with the red dress?’ Chen Li frowned as he inspected his attire.

“My. Lord. <3” A playful voice interrupted his thoughts, and he froze upon taking a glance in the voice’s direction.

An incredibly sexy and seriously scantily-clad woman was openly eying him! Chen Li’s mouth dropped as he watched the woman seductively lick her lips.

‘Hold up.’ Chen Li’s cautious side took over after discovering a potentially existential threat. ‘I’m not that good-looking for this seductress to even try!’

He looked away and focused on his surroundings. Then on his body.

‘This is clearly an unknown place and I’m clearly not in a 13-year-old body... Did I transmigrate this time?’

Somehow, the woman with blood-red hair appeared right in front of him. “How does my lord want to taste me?” She came even closer and leaned on Chen Li with her body, then opened her mouth and sensuously exhaled.

Sensing the danger, Chen Li’s body acted on its own and stood up! His voice came a second later “Whoa whoa. Stop! What the hell are you doing?!”

“M-My lord?” The woman seemed shocked; her eyes became moist.

Chen Li looked around once again and tried to remember. “I’m… The emperor? The f*ck?” His face immediately contorted with disbelief.

“You’re… the leader? Of a sect?” Chen Li asked in disbelief. When the woman tried to speak, he waved his hand. “Shush it! There’s no way I’m the emperor, are you out of your mind?!”

Bit by bit, his memory seemed to return. He was just going to bed, counting his money. Then, he was here!

Chen Li gasped, and his head snapped back on the woman! “Are you some sort of dream demon?!”

The woman and Chen Li stared at each other incredulously. The latter took the lack of response as a positive answer and laughed. “Oi, you little sh*t! Get me out of here! Your Jedi mind tricks don’t work on me!”

“J-Jedi?”

“I live an ordinary life motherf*cker. You think you can devour me with these paltry dreams? Hah!”

Though Chen Li didn’t know whether this woman was a dream demon, or whether a dream demon could devour a person, he wasn’t going to stand around and find out!

“M-My lord, I-I-I…”

Seeing the woman speechless, Chen Li sneered. “Since you don’t seem to be cooperative, I’ll just have to make you be cooperative!”

Was challenging a dream demon the best idea? Or even a good idea? Chen Li was too panicked to think clearly at that moment! If he could fight, he would fight!

With all of her might, he directly threw a punch at the gorgeous woman’s face. The sheer force from his fist created a deafening whoosh, followed by an impact on her chin which threw her across the room and created a hole on the wall made of gold.

“… What the f*ck?” Chen Li looked at his fist in disbelief. Was this the power of a dream? If so, why was he so strong? Could it be that his reincarnator/transmigrator nature was finally showing himself as this advantage?

Since the dream wasn’t ending, Chen Li guessed that the dream demon was still alive. If she was still alive, then she was still devouring his unsuspecting body!

Probably!

Chen Li immediately took off at a speed he did not think was possible. Outside, rows and rows of buildings were smashed. Chen Li leaped over them in one step, and found the woman, trying to crawl away in tears.

A doubt appeared in Chen Li’s mind. What if this wasn’t a dream demon?

Terrified sobbing, along with noise coming from her nails as she desperately tried to crawl, made Chen Li’s expression darken.

‘F*ck, this demon is ruthless!’

“Demon, are you sure you want to play it this way?” He raised his chin. “A long time ago, I heard a guy talk about gender differences. He claimed that he was an advocate of true gender equality, and that he would not hesitate to dropkick a woman!”

The red-haired woman stopped with a gasp. The response was so real, Chen Li’s hatred of the demon rose to a whole new level. He threw another punch and sent the demon flying away just like before.

But a moment later, a faint sound of laughter came from the demon’s direction.

“Hahahahahahaha…”

The blood-curdling laughter froze Chen Li completely. In an instant the demon reappeared, and its body started to transform. Ox horns replaced the red hair, pure jade white skin turned into sickly brown and yellow. The demon’s eyes disappeared, and the lips became covered with puss. The voluptuous body was no more, replaced with random protrusions and dozens of deformed limbs.

The sight, as eerie as it was, made Chen Li breathed a sigh of relief inside.

Then, the panic came once more. ‘F*ck, f*ck, f*ck! This is a f*cking demon I f*cking knew it f*ck.’

“Hahahahaha…”

While the demon was laughing, Chen Li’s mind was working nonstop!

‘Think! Think! If I have a transmigrator advantage, how could I utilize it? This dream body is super strong, it should have some cultivation, right?’

Unfortunately, he didn’t even know a single spiritual technique in real (Xianxia) life!

‘F*ck it! I’ll just rip its head off!’

Time was of the essence! He needed to finish the demon, and he needed to do it now! He directly grabbed the demon’s neck and used every fiber of his being! Everything that he was at this moment, everything, was to destroy the demonic existence in front of him!

Chen Li groaned in pain, then started screaming with all his might! Amidst the demon’s laughter, he finally ripped its head off!

The head flew away and hit a wall, then harmlessly stopped. Though the body of the demon was still emanating a nauseating stench, it wasn’t moving.

Chen Li took a deep breath and tried to stabilize himself. Was it over?

Without warning, the demon’s body disappeared along with the stench, leaving Chen Li alone in the foreign courtyard.

Silence. Overwhelming silence descended upon the dream city.

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