Hua Qing Zhu stepped through the next gate into a spacious, yet not overly vast, hall.
At its center stood a plush, inviting bed, eerily topped with an ancient black wooden coffin.
"The Extreme Ice Demon Monarch's coffin? Placed on a bed? This screams a trap," she muttered, her eyes narrowing.
Cautiously, she enveloped herself in ice and earth spiritual energy, forming a protective shield, and approached slowly.
The Monarch was no saint—every step demanded vigilance. The hall seemed calm, but danger could lurk. Failure due to carelessness would be unforgivable, especially after Lan An's efforts.
To her surprise, no threats emerged as she neared the coffin.
"Am I overthinking? Have the Monarch's trials ended?" Hua Qing Zhu frowned, puzzled.
After a long pause with no activity, she refrained from opening the coffin. Instead, she gathered her spiritual energy into her palms, unleashing a barrage of force to destroy it.
She sought the Monarch's inheritance to boost her strength, but that didn't mean she respected him. In her heart, she despised him. His tragic past was no excuse—countless cultivators faced worse without turning cruel. Lan An, for instance, was a positive example.
Thus, she struck without mercy, aiming to shatter the coffin.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Her powerful strikes sent the coffin flying off the bed, splintering mid-air. An object inside hurtled dozens of meters away.
Hua Qing Zhu's eyes contracted as she saw it—a desiccated corpse in black robes, its pale, wrinkled skin betraying advanced age. The Extreme Ice Demon Monarch's body, now a foul-smelling husk.
Her gaze locked onto its right hand, where a frosty ring gleamed—the Monarch's storage ring.
Her breathing quickened. The empty hall held only this ring, likely containing the Monarch's wealth and the Supreme Spirit-Grade Extreme Ice Heavenly Art.
Sensing no danger and no signs of life from the corpse, Hua Qing Zhu maintained her spiritual shield and reached for the ring, ignoring the grotesque husk.
"Kekeke!"
A sinister cackle, chilling to the bone, echoed. The corpse's eyes flashed with eerie green light.
It sprang upright, pulling a black vial from the ring and lunging at Hua Qing Zhu, aiming to force it into her mouth.
"Get lost!" she roared.
Though startled, her instincts as a Mid Body Unity expert kicked in. She struck at the corpse's vial-holding arm.
Boom!
Their forces collided, sending the corpse flying dozens of meters. It rose, leering at her with a grotesque grin.
"Kekeke!"
Hua Qing Zhu sensed danger. The vial shattered from the impact, releasing a cloud of black poisonous mist that enveloped her voluptuous form.
"Not good…"
Unsure of the mist's nature, she retreated, her spiritual shield active. But the mist pierced her dual-layered defenses, invading every pore—ears, eyes, nose, mouth.
A strange sensation spread through her body.
"Kekeke! Heehee!" The corpse stood, its lascivious green eyes roving over her. "You're the chosen one! A stunning beauty—heaven favors this old man!"
Its gaze lingered on her mature, curvaceous figure, licking its lips. Even in life, the Monarch hadn't tasted such a regal woman.
Hua Qing Zhu's eyes narrowed, suppressing the odd sensation rising within. "Chosen one? What do you mean?"
"The token to enter this tomb was deliberately left by me, waiting for someone to become my slave. You obtained it—aren't you fate's chosen?" the corpse sneered, praising its own scheme.
Hua Qing Zhu's face chilled. She'd found the token during an expedition, its inscriptions guiding her to the tomb. She thought it a treasure, not a trap orchestrated by the Monarch.
A burning heat spread through her, a primal desire igniting her body and soul. Her icy demeanor flushed slightly, her lower body aching with emptiness.
Biting her tongue to stay alert, she tried to suppress the lust with spiritual energy, but it was futile. Her legs trembled, barely holding her up.
"No use resisting," the corpse gloated, pointing to the bed. "This Tribulation Lust Poison was crafted from a hundred lustful beasts, herbs, and insects. Even Tribulation Realm experts can't dispel it. The bed's ready—let's consummate! Kekeke!"
"Filthy lunatic! Only a madman like you would waste time creating such a vile poison," Hua Qing Zhu spat, her face pale with rage.
"If you set such a plan, why create those deadly trials? Weren't you afraid your 'chosen' would die?" she pressed, stalling for a solution.
"Hmph, if they can't pass such trials, they're unworthy to be my slave," the corpse retorted, exuding the arrogance of a Peak Tribulation Realm master.
Hua Qing Zhu kept probing. "I sensed you're long dead, without a trace of vitality. Why do this?"
The corpse circled her, leering. "Though I died, I refined my body into a puppet, embedding a lustful soul fragment to persist."
"Kekeke! In life, I craved lust; in death, I still do. You'll be my slave!"
Hua Qing Zhu shivered. A genius, albeit perverse, to achieve such a feat. No wonder his pride.
"If a man had entered with the token, then what?" she asked coldly.
"Haha, I've bedded plenty of men in life. Male or female, it's all the same!" the corpse cackled, its plan foolproof.
"Disgusting pervert!" Hua Qing Zhu's vocabulary failed her. Ancient records omitted the Monarch's bisexuality.
No time for that now. Suppressing the surging lust, she sneered, "Your plan's flawless, but your current strength is pathetic. I could crush you easily. Hand over the antidote, and you might live."
The corpse's strength didn't even reach Void Refinement Realm. She could kill it effortlessly, despite the poison.
Unfazed, it grinned lewdly. "Little beauty, I know you could. But the Tribulation Lust Poison grows stronger, doesn't it? Without a man to relieve it within half an hour, you'll burn to ash—soul and all, never to reincarnate."
Hua Qing Zhu's face darkened. She felt the poison's truth. Without relief, she'd die.
Lan An's image flashed in her mind, her heart racing. Murderous intent flared—she'd kill this wretch first.
The corpse, confident in its plan, boasted, "I've planned ahead. If I relieve your poison, you'll kill me, right?"
Her expression shifted. What more did this fiend scheme?
Seeing her doubt, it cackled, "The first to relieve your poison will leave a mark on you, binding you as their slave. Even if it's a dog, you'll obey. If they die, you die; if you die, they live. Hahaha!"
"Vile!" Hua Qing Zhu's face twisted. The Monarch's depravity was unmatched, crafting such a trap to indulge his desires even in death.
Disgusted, she suppressed the poison and lunged, her Mid Body Unity power forming a spiritual hand that seized the corpse's throat.
Too weak to resist, fear flickered in its eyes, but it threatened, "Madwoman, kill me, and no one will save you. This tomb's far from the outside—you won't reach a man in time!"
Her expression remained cold. Panic grew in the corpse. "You'd die with me? Dying with a beauty like you isn't a loss! Kekeke!"
Hua Qing Zhu's lips curved smugly. "I forgot to mention, I don't need to leave. There's a man in the tomb."
"I'm the only man here!" the corpse snarled, unease creeping in.
"Fool. He's younger, richer, more talented, and far handsomer than you—perfect in every way. Ready to die?" Hua Qing Zhu's voice, laced with the poison's allure, turned seductive.
Her heart fluttered, thinking of Lan An.
"Impossible! I set a trap in this hall. If two enter, one dies in an explosion!" the corpse roared, terror mounting.
"You had such a trick?" Hua Qing Zhu started, glad she hadn't summoned Lan An with the jade. The Monarch's calculations were meticulous.
She mocked, "Man plans, but heaven decides. That man's outside, cultivating on your Extreme Ice! Hahaha!"
"How?!" The corpse raged, as if it would spit blood if alive.
Its Extreme Ice, meant to trap, had ruined its plan. Without it, Lan An would've entered, triggering the explosion, leaving the survivor as its slave.
"Victory by Extreme Ice, defeat by Extreme Ice! I'm not reconciled!" the corpse wailed.
Boom!
Hua Qing Zhu's force crushed it into fragments.
"You talk too much," she sneered, licking her lips and claiming the storage ring.
Her strength drained, she nearly collapsed. The Tribulation Lust Poison had fully infiltrated, her eyes misty with desire, her lower body damp, her rationality fading.
Taking a deep breath, she mustered her remaining strength and staggered out.
Only Lan An's roguish figure filled her mind.
"Little An, I must become your slave!"