Chapter 737: Bai Bing's Gambit
What this mysterious "Qin" did not know was that thanks to Long Hao—the reborn, investment-focused Child of Destiny—Wu Shenyun had fallen under Shen An's control far earlier than fated. She had also already broken through to the world of a Land Immortal.
Had Wu Shenyun still been a Celestial, she would have attended this meeting regardless. On one hand, it was for the pursuit of greater heights in the martial path. On the other, she would not have rashly offended a Land Immortal who had come to pay his respects.
However, it mattered little whether this "Qin" was another Child of Destiny or simply an old monster who had achieved the Land Immortal realm on his own. Shen An would meet him all the same. Even a Land Immortal completely detached from the threads of fate was worth investigating. It was crucial to determine if they were friend or foe.
After all, an existence at the level of a Land Immortal could already influence the grander scheme of the world. In the lexicon of the Immortal Dao, a Land Immortal was equivalent to a cultivator at the peak of Qi Condensation, or perhaps in the early to middle stages of Foundation Establishment. While martial arts and other esoteric practices were but simplified offshoots of the true Immortal Dao—born from a world with insufficient spiritual energy and resources—they were hyper-focused in their single aspect. Though they lacked the complete power of the Immortal Dao, their practitioners were far from weak.
Shen An closed the gilt-edged invitation, his gaze settling on Wu Shenyun's beautifully sculpted oval face. A faint smile touched his lips.
"Yun Nu, I'm worried about you," he said, his voice a low, intimate murmur. "Let's go meet this 'Qin' together."
He preemptively sowed a seed of discord. "This person hides his face and conceals his name. He's shrouded in mystery, claiming he wants to meet you but refusing to even reveal his true identity. It's clear he's not a virtuous character."
Even if this "Qin" was the Child of Destiny tied to Wu Shenyun's fate, Shen An would ensure her first impression of him was a poor one.
"You're… worried about me?" Wu Shenyun's phoenix eyes widened almost imperceptibly. She looked at Shen An, a flicker of genuine surprise in her gaze.
"Of course," Shen An replied, his tone utterly sincere. His peach-blossom eyes seemed to shimmer with affection as he looked past her, his gaze filled with a deep emotion directed at the very air between them. "You are my Yun Slave. If I don't care for you, who else would I care for?"
A faint blush crept up Wu Shenyun's jade-like cheeks. She quickly averted her gaze, her body reacting as if struck by a gentle current of electricity. She let out a soft, almost inaudible hum.
"Hmph. If you want to come, then come. It's not as if I can stop you anyway."
[Ding! Ripples have appeared in the heart of the Destined Heroine, Wu Shenyun. Plundering 6,000 Destiny Value!]
[Ding! Detected that Destined Heroine Wu Shenyun's favorability has increased by +1. Plundering 3,000 Destiny Value!]
The smile in Shen An's eyes deepened.
Wu Shenyun's favorability had long since reached ninety, but that didn't mean she was in love with him. Favorability was a complex metric, encompassing not just romantic love but also kinship, friendship, gratitude, loyalty, and submission. Her previous score of ninety was largely a measure of her submission to his will.
This single point, however, was different. It was a sign of genuine closeness.
Shen An was confident that one day, this proud and unyielding Southern Border Goddess would willingly open her heart, her soul, and her body to him, offering up all of her peerless beauty.
Shortly thereafter, Shen An and Wu Shenyun boarded a private jet from the helipad of the No. 1 Villa at Jinxiu Mountain Villa, ascending into the sky and charting a course toward the Southern Border.
"Heh. The scoundrel master and that woman… they left together?"
Bai Bing's cold gaze followed the aircraft as it vanished into the clouds. The warmth fled her face, leaving behind a mask of glacial frost.
He actually took Wu Shenyun, but not her?
'Still not strong enough… I'm still not strong enough!'
Bai Bing's delicate, jade-like hands clenched into tight fists, her pearly white teeth grinding together.
If she were strong enough, she would beat Wu Shenyun until the woman knelt at her feet in surrender. If she were strong enough, she would turn Shen An into her personal plaything, a prized male concubine. If he ever dared to run, she would hunt him down, bind him in chains, and lock him away so he could never leave her side.
But now… now she could defeat neither Shen An nor Wu Shenyun.
This realization filled Bai Bing—the assassin queen Ice Phoenix, who had dominated the Dark World and effortlessly crushed Zhang Zhiyun, the Young Sect Leader of the Tianshi Sect—with a bitter sense of powerlessness.
But she refused to admit defeat. She would never be convinced she was inferior.
"One year… no, it won't even take a year. I will become a Land Immortal!"
Bai Bing lifted her chin, her expression a mask of defiant pride. She had already cultivated the Martial God Art to the fifth layer, the same as Wu Shenyun., the Dual Cultivation Condensing Yuan Art that Shen An had given her had already reached the stage of minor accomplishment. This prodigious talent was the bedrock of her confidence.
'But it's still not enough,' she thought, her lips pressing into a thin, solemn line. 'Because that scoundrel master and that woman are also getting stronger!'
Wu Shenyun's rate of improvement was not much slower than her own, and Shen An… Shen An's power was simply monstrous.
'Only that game will allow me to find a shortcut and surpass them. And there is only one month left until the second closed beta begins.'
The Main God Reincarnation Game, a source of terror and dread for countless people, was a place of great anticipation for Bai Bing. In the first beta, she had seized opportunities that had massively boosted her strength. This time, she was already a Celestial—and no ordinary one at that. She was certain she would acquire even greater opportunities and rewards.
That bloody, merciless game, where participants were raised like venomous insects in a jar, was, in Bai Bing's eyes, the perfect crucible for tempering her power.
[Main God Reincarnation Game Newbie Guidance Task. Reincarnator 0721, do you accept? Countdown: 10… 9… 8…]
'A Newbie Guidance Task?'
A hint of surprise flashed in Bai Bing's phoenix eyes. Did such a thing even exist? When she first entered the game, there had been no veteran to guide her. Perhaps she had been part of the very first batch of beta testers, before any veterans existed?
'Newbies certainly get treated well, having a veteran to guide them,' she mused, her eyes narrowing into icy slits. Her gaze turned deep and cold, her demeanor momentarily mirroring Shen An's. 'How unfortunate for them that I am to be their guide.'
She cared nothing for the rewards of a guidance mission. She was far more interested in unearthing the hidden opportunities within the mission world—opportunities that could make her stronger. As for whether the newbies she was meant to guide would be slaughtered by powerful enemies or unforeseen variables… that was of no concern to her.
The assassin queen Ice Phoenix, the woman who had single-handedly annihilated the Bai Family and butchered her own blood relatives, was not a kind person.
Aside from a certain scoundrel, the lives of others meant nothing to her.
Not even her own.
'If I die in the mission world… would he be sad?' A flicker of uncertainty crossed her features. 'Or would he just think of it as a failed investment?'
Bai Bing's eyes wavered for a moment before she turned and walked to the table. With sharp, decisive strokes, she left a note.
—I am leaving on business. If I do not return, assume I am dead. There is no need to look for me.
"Heh…" Bai Bing stared at the note, a bitter, self-deprecating smile touching her lips. "That scoundrel master, that philanderer… he definitely won't miss me."
As the countdown from the Main God Reincarnation Game echoed in the final seconds of her mind, she made her choice.
'Accept.'
Her figure flickered and vanished into the void.
...
Aboard the luxurious private jet, ten thousand meters in the sky.
Shen An's expression suddenly shifted.
'Bai Bing disappeared? The Super-Nanometer Monitoring Robot can't detect where she went?'
Through the robot's final visual feed, Shen An had seen Bai Bing vanish into thin air. A thoughtful look settled between his brows.
'Could it be… she entered the Main God Reincarnation Game? That is the most likely possibility.'
Shen An wasn't overly worried about her safety, but it wasn't because he didn't care. He had long since considered Bai Bing his woman and had invested a great deal of resources into her. How could he not care?
The primary reason for his calm was that Bai Bing was exceptionally strong.
also, she was a villainess-type character within the Main God Reincarnation Game, practically half a Destined Heroine in her own right. She possessed immense fortune and would not fall so easily.
…
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