Chapter 2439: Young Lady, Peach Blossoms, Assassin
Just how vast the Hell Realm truly was, even gods might not be able to say for certain. Cultivators could only gaze from afar among the distant stars, looking upon a yellow, vast star river that spanned the cosmos, ancient and eternal, like a Yellow Spring River.
A river formed by countless stars gathered together.
The Hell Realm naturally had its borders, where tens of thousands of planets were scattered. The power of the Ten Clans and the Destiny Temple grew thin, and the dark forces and various minor clans were the true masters here.
Hundred Clans Royal City was a very famous great city on the edge of the Hell Realm. It was a royal city jointly established by one hundred and thirty-seven minor clans, used to resist the increasingly powerful dark forces, and also to negotiate with the Destiny Temple and the Ten Great Clans, striving for greater benefits.
Only by banding together could they have a voice.
In Hundred Clans Royal City, cultivators of all shapes and forms could be seen everywhere. Their attire differed, their cultures varied, and even their languages were not the same.
The coexistence of many clans created prosperity here, yet it also made governance extremely difficult. For this reason, cultivators from the Heavenly Court Realm could easily enter the city to gather information about the Hell Realm.
Joyful Ghost Forest was built in the eastern part of Hundred Clans Royal City, a dense forest covering ten thousand acres. Ghostly flames floated within the forest, yet laughter and joy never ceased—a place both eerie and thrilling.
Peach Blossom sat beneath a pavilion built from the bones of giant beasts, alone, savoring blood wine brewed by the Immortal Source Clan.
Wine brewed from blood had a unique flavor.
The bone structure was adorned with red silk ribbons and wind chimes.
As the dark wind blew, the wind chimes swayed, and the red ribbons fluttered.
It was extremely pleasant to the ears, and beautiful to the eyes!
But Peach Blossom was even more beautiful.
She appeared to be only twenty years old, youthful and radiant, her skin more delicate than a baby's. Her eyes were bright and large, and between her brows were three pink peach blossom patterns, making her seem full of spiritual energy, as captivating and soul-stirring as a flower fairy.
She sat on a green stone, the blood wine in her cup as crystalline as amber.
In Joyful Ghost Forest, many cultivators gazed at her from afar, their eyes filled with longing. After all, a woman as beautiful as her was not something one could see every day.
Yet, no one dared to approach and drink with her, let alone harbor the evil thought of holding her in their arms or pressing her down.
Because, in the pool before her, seventeen corpses were already floating.
The blood had dyed the pool water as red as the wine in her cup.
Those corpses were once cultivators who had deluded themselves into thinking they could drink with her.
Among them were extremely handsome men, powerful Saint Realm cultivators, and young clan leaders of noble status. Without exception, whether they tried to strike up a conversation or harbored deeper intentions, all were killed and fell into the pool.
Even the master of Joyful Ghost Forest dared not approach her, only hoping this beautiful god of death would leave as soon as possible.
Just then, another man walked toward the pool.
In Joyful Ghost Forest, bursts of excited laughter rang out, as everyone prepared to watch the show.
To see how this man would be killed.
Since ancient times, countless men had died for beauty. Like moths knowingly throwing themselves into a flame, they rushed forward one after another.
From this, it could be seen that they died without injustice.
That man wore a shabby cloth garment, holding a rusted iron sword. He appeared young, with no sacred aura emanating from him.
He was no different from an ordinary human who had just learned swordsmanship.
The cultivators watching from afar were all curious—how had such a lowly, down-and-out human entered Hundred Clans Royal City? And how had he entered Joyful Ghost Forest?
It didn't matter!
He was about to die anyway.
Ten steps, nine steps, eight steps…
Under the astonished, shocked, and curious gazes of everyone, he walked over to the woman with three peach blossom petals between her brows and sat down beside her.
On the same green stone.
He even casually picked up the wine cup on the stone and took a sip.
"I found it! I found it! I've found her identity—she is the number one assassin of the Heavenly Kill Organization, the Assassin Emperor, named Peach Blossom. Legend says that below the God Realm, there is no cultivator she cannot kill. This… how is this possible…"
The dark-skinned cultivator who had just run over stared in shock at the man and woman sitting close by the pool. He lowered his head, looked at the information he had just obtained, and suddenly couldn't be sure if this woman was Peach Blossom!
The information stated that Peach Blossom would not allow any cultivator within three zhang of her.
Even less would she allow a man to sit beside her and drink her wine.
"You say she's Peach Blossom? Then who is that man sitting beside her? Is he a peach blossom tree, or a peach blossom leaf? Haha!"
"I think he's a peach blossom calamity!"
Many cultivators laughed, not believing at all that the famous Assassin Emperor, Peach Blossom, would appear in Hundred Clans Royal City.
Peach Blossom was indeed the number one assassin below the God Realm of the Heavenly Kill Organization. Just as the rumors outside said, she herself believed that below the God Realm, there was no cultivator she could not kill.
In truth, she should have long crossed the Divine Tribulation and stepped into the God Realm.
But she knew that once she crossed the Divine Tribulation, it would be her death, so she had been suppressing her cultivation.
Why?
Because she had killed too many people and had developed a heart knot.
The reason she had a heart knot was that she still harbored kindness. Every time she killed, her heart resisted and felt pain.
Each time she killed, another heart knot formed.
And her inner demon grew stronger.
Yet, after killing for thousands of years, she had grown accustomed to it.
Killing was the most direct and fastest way to solve problems.
She sat here drinking and waiting for someone, and she hated it when people approached, staring at her with eyes that wanted to possess her.
If she didn't kill them, was she supposed to waste time reasoning with them?
She was never one to enjoy reasoning—that would be even more painful than killing.
She hated everyone in the world. Perhaps if there were no one left in the world, she could be free, find peace, and think about whether to learn calligraphy or embroidery next.
But that was in the past.
Now, there was one person in her heart she did not hate—the only person in the world she did not hate. Even though this person had been opposing her recently, she felt an almost perverse secret joy, finding it an interesting matter.
That person was the cloth-clad man beside her.
He was also an assassin.
His name was A Le.
Once, Peach Blossom had fought her inner demon to a mutual defeat, floating in the cosmos, unable to move. Her sacred energy continuously leaked out, causing a peach blossom forest to grow around her.
Perhaps she drifted for a year, perhaps ten years…
Too long.
Very long.
She thought she would dissipate her power and die.
That she could finally be free.
It was at that time that A Le entered the peach blossom forest. At its deepest point, he saw her, completely naked, lying there motionless.
Peach Blossom had always been very confident, not only in killing but also in her appearance and figure.
Among those she had killed, over ninety percent were men who coveted her beauty.
She understood men too well. Even if she couldn't move, even if those men knew she was the blood-soaked Assassin Emperor, countless fearless ones would still throw themselves at her.
But this time, she guessed wrong. She thought A Le would violate her, but he didn't. Perhaps he had no interest in her, or perhaps his pursuers were too strong, forcing him to suppress his desires.
The cultivator pursuing A Le was Wu Wang of the Ya Realm, a Hundred Shackles Realm Great Saint.
Wu Wang chased into the peach blossom forest, and A Le hid.
Wu Wang naturally knew A Le was hiding nearby, but he couldn't ignore a woman as beautiful as Peach Blossom. Moreover, with his cultivation, he didn't take A Le, who had just broken through to the Great Saint Realm, seriously at all.
Cultivating evil path techniques, Wu Wang only wanted to harvest Peach Blossom to rapidly advance his cultivation.
At that time, Peach Blossom felt nothing but disgust and wished she could die.
She thought A Le would take the opportunity to escape, but to her utter surprise, he suddenly stood up, right beside her, facing Wu Wang directly.
That scene brought Peach Blossom an immense shock.
A Le's back was the most upright she had ever seen since she began cultivating, and she could never forget it.
Of course, A Le was no match for Wu Wang, but his sword techniques were almost all mutual destruction moves.
In the end, he fought to the brink of death, temporarily scaring Wu Wang away.
A Le took Peach Blossom and immediately fled, hiding and dodging Wu Wang's pursuit across the cosmos for three full months.
In truth, the moment she etched A Le into her heart, Peach Blossom had already suppressed her inner demon. But she didn't immediately kill Wu Wang because she wanted to see if A Le was pretending, if he had ulterior motives.
For this reason, during those three months, she saw the most resilient man in the world. No matter how desperate the situation, no matter how severe his injuries, no matter how dangerous the circumstances, nothing seemed to break him.
He always found a way through, keeping her alive.
And he was also the coldest man in the world, as if he had no interest in her stunning beauty at all.
He saved her only because she was a weak woman without the power to fight back.
If it had been a rabbit or a cat, perhaps he would have done the same.
In the end, Wu Wang died under A Le's sword, and she never had the chance to act.
A Le's cultivation speed was simply too fast.
When they parted, she asked A Le, "Are we considered friends?"
"Friends, I have only one, and it's not you," he said.
When they met again, it was the day she accepted the task to kill Zhang Ruochen from the "Great Saint Bounty Ranking." From that day on, not only could they not be friends, but they became enemies.
A Le had been chasing her for an entire month, from the Heavenly Court all the way to the Hell Realm, just to stop her from killing Zhang Ruochen.
During that time, they had clashed a few times.
Actually, it couldn't be called a clash, because every time, A Le was beaten to the brink of death by her, completely unable to fight back.
She thought A Le would surely back down.
But every time, A Le would catch up again.
Just like this time.
Peach Blossom looked at the wine cup in his hand and said, "You are the first person to dare drink my wine."
"I was just thirsty. After all, to catch up to you, I've been flying nonstop through the cosmos for three days without sleep or rest." After drinking the wine, the cloth-clad man's pale face finally regained some color.
Peach Blossom said, "You're too slow! With speed like that, you think you can stop me from going to the Hell Realm to kill someone?"
"Haven't I caught up now?"
"If I hadn't waited for you, could you have caught up? Besides, even if you did, what then? I could kill you with one sword strike. You can't stop me."
The cloth-clad man shook his head and said, "You can't kill me."
"You're only at the Immortal Realm, and you dare say I can't kill you?"
Peach Blossom grew angry. This time, going to the Hell Realm, she had to kill Zhang Ruochen, not just because she had accepted the task on the "Great Saint Bounty Ranking," but also because it was the will of the Heavenly Kill Organization's leader.
Yet this man before her, relying on the fact that he had once saved her, repeatedly obstructed her.
Although she was deliberately letting him obstruct her, he absolutely should not say that she couldn't kill him.
Did he really think he had an immortal body?
A man who, relying on a woman's affection, acted recklessly and without restraint—this was something no woman could tolerate.
"Puchi."
A flash of sword light on the pool's surface.
Blood splattered.
In Joyful Ghost Forest, cries of surprise and laughter arose.
That cloth-clad man had finally died at the hands of that beautiful god of death, not becoming an exception.
But soon, their laughter stopped.
The cloth-clad man sat motionless on the green stone. Although one arm had been severed, he seemed to feel no pain, saying, "See? I told you, you can't kill me."
"Puchi!"
The sword light flashed again.
His other arm was also severed.
Peach Blossom raised her chin slightly, looking down at him, her whole body trembling.
Blood continuously gushed from the cloth-clad man's shoulders, and he continued, "I think you should stop being an assassin.