Hua Qing Zhu stepped through the next gate into a spacious, empty hall, its size modest yet foreboding.
At its center stood a plush, inviting bed, eerily adorned with an ancient black wooden coffin.
"The Extreme Ice Demon Monarch's coffin? Placed on a bed—likely a trap!" Hua Qing Zhu's eyes chilled, her senses sharp. She cloaked herself in ice and earth spiritual energy, advancing cautiously.
The Monarch was no saint; every step demanded vigilance. The hall's calm facade might conceal deadly dangers. Failing here due to carelessness would be unforgivable, especially after Lan An's efforts.
Yet, against her expectations, she encountered no threats, reaching the coffin unhindered.
"Am I overthinking? Has the Monarch's trial ended?" she mused, frowning.
After a tense wait with no disturbances, she refrained from opening the coffin. Instead, she gathered her power, unleashing a relentless assault to destroy it.
The Extreme Ice Demon Monarch earned no reverence from her. Though his tragic past was known, countless cultivators faced worse without turning cruel. Lan An was a shining counterexample.
With no mercy, she struck.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Her mighty force collided, hurling the coffin off the bed. It shattered mid-air, a figure tumbling out, landing meters away.
Hua Qing Zhu's eyes narrowed at the sight.
A desiccated corpse, clad in black, its wrinkled, pale skin betraying advanced age.
The Extreme Ice Demon Monarch's body, now a shriveled husk, emitted a foul stench.
Her gaze locked onto its right hand, where an icy storage ring gleamed—the Monarch's treasure, likely holding his vast wealth and perhaps the Extreme Ice Heavenly Art, a Supreme Spirit-Grade technique.
The hall remained empty save for the ring. Breathing heavily, Hua Qing Zhu confirmed the corpse showed no signs of life. Maintaining her spiritual shield, she reached for the ring, ignoring the grotesque husk.
Cackle, cackle, cackle…
A sudden, sinister laugh, grating and chilling, echoed. The corpse's eyes flared with eerie green light.
It sprang upright, retrieving a pitch-black vial from the ring and lunging at Hua Qing Zhu, aiming to force it into her mouth.
"Get lost!" she roared.
Startled but composed, the Mid Body Unity expert instinctively struck at the corpse's arm.
BOOM!
Their forces clashed, sending the corpse flying dozens of meters. It rose, grinning wickedly at her.
Cackle, cackle!
Sensing danger, Hua Qing Zhu saw the vial shatter from the impact, releasing a torrent of black mist that enveloped her voluptuous form.
"No…" she muttered.
Though unsure of the mist's nature, caution prevailed. Despite her dual-layered spiritual shield, she retreated.
Too late. The mist pierced her defenses, invading every pore—ears, eyes, nose, mouth—seeping into her flawless body.
A strange sensation surged within her.
Cackle, cackle! Heh heh heh!
The corpse stood, its lecherous green eyes roving over Hua Qing Zhu. "Well, well, the chosen one—a stunning beauty! The heavens favor me!" it rasped, licking its lips as it ogled her mature, curvaceous figure.
In life, it had never tasted such an exquisite, noble woman.
Hua Qing Zhu's eyes narrowed, suppressing the odd sensation. "Chosen one? What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.
"The token to enter this tomb was my bait, luring someone to become my slave. You obtained it—aren't you the one chosen by fate?" the corpse gloated, reveling in its scheme.
Her face iced over. She'd found the token during an expedition, its inscriptions guiding her to the tomb. She thought it a treasure, not a trap set by this fiend.
A burning desire spread through her, igniting her body and soul. Her cold demeanor flushed with a hint of red, her lower body aching with emptiness.
Biting her tongue to stay alert, she channeled spiritual energy to suppress the lust, but it was futile. Her legs trembled, barely holding her upright.
"No use resisting," the corpse sneered, pointing at the bed. "My Tribulation Lust Poison, crafted from a hundred lustful beasts, herbs, and insects, can't be undone—not even by Tribulation Realm experts. The bed's ready. Let's consummate!"
It cackled, proud of its vile concoction.
"You filth! Only a lunatic like you would waste time on such a disgusting poison!" Hua Qing Zhu spat, her face pale with rage.
"If you planned this, why set such brutal trials? Weren't you afraid your 'chosen one' would die?" she pressed, buying time.
"Hmph, if they couldn't pass mere trials, they're unfit to be my slave," the corpse retorted, exuding the arrogance of a Peak Tribulation Realm master.
Hua Qing Zhu probed further, "I sensed you're dead, without a trace of vitality. Why go to such lengths?"
Circling her, the corpse leered. "Though I died, I refined my body into a puppet, embedding a lustful soul fragment to persist."
"Cackle, in life, I craved lust. In death, I crave it still. You'll be my slave!" it declared.
A twisted genius, its pride was warranted.
Hua Qing Zhu shuddered. "If a man had entered with the token?"
"Haha, I've bedded plenty of men in life. Male or female, all are fair game!" it laughed maniacally, its plan foolproof.
"Perverted scum!" she cursed, horrified. Ancient records omitted this depravity.
No time for shock. Suppressing the surging lust, she sneered, "Old monster, your plan's perfect, but your strength's pathetic. I could crush you easily. Hand over the antidote, and you might live!"
The corpse's current power didn't even reach Void Refinement Realm. She could destroy it while fighting the poison.
Unafraid, it leered. "Little beauty, I know you could kill me. But the lust in you grows, doesn't it? Without a man to relieve it within half an hour, you'll burn to ash—soul and all, never to reincarnate."
Her face twisted. She felt her body's dire state; the monster spoke truth. Without a partner, death awaited.
Lan An's image flashed in her mind, her heart racing. Killing intent flared—she'd deal with this fiend first.
The corpse, smug in its scheme, boasted, "I'm one step ahead. If I relieve your poison, you'll kill me after, right?"
Her expression shifted. What else had it planned?
Sensing her doubt, it cackled, "The first to relieve your Tribulation Lust Poison will leave a Tribulation Lust Mark. Through it, you'll be their slave, obeying even a dog. If they die, you die. If you die, they live. Hahaha!"
"You bastard! How can this be?" Hua Qing Zhu's face darkened, revolted by the Monarch's depravity.
A fiend who terrorized the continent, even in death, he wove traps to indulge his lust.
Disgusted, she suppressed the poison, her Mid Body Unity power forming a spiritual hand to seize the corpse's throat.
Too weak to resist, its eyes flashed with fear but quickly turned to threats. "Madwoman, kill me, and no one saves you! This tomb's far from the outside—you won't reach a man in time!"
Her face remained cold.
Panic crept into the corpse. "You'd die with me? Dying with a beauty like you isn't a loss, cackle!"
Hua Qing Zhu smirked triumphantly. "I forgot to mention—I don't need to leave. There's a man in the tomb, haha!"
"I'm the only man here!" the corpse snarled, unease stirring.
"Fool. That man's younger, richer, more talented, and far more handsome than you—perfect in every way. Ready to die?" Her voice, laced with the poison's allure, turned seductive.
Her heart fluttered, thinking of Lan An.
"Impossible! My trap in this hall kills one of two entrants!" the corpse roared, terror rising.
"Clever trick," Hua Qing Zhu admitted, relieved she hadn't summoned Lan An with the jade. The monster's calculations were meticulous.
She mocked, "Man plans, but heaven decides. That man's outside, cultivating on your Extreme Ice, hahaha!"
"How?!" The corpse's rage could've burst a living body. Its Extreme Ice, meant to guard the tomb, ruined its plan. Without it, Lan An would've entered, triggering the trap to kill one, leaving the survivor its slave.
"Success by Extreme Ice, failure by Extreme Ice! I'm not reconciled…" the corpse wailed.
BOOM!
Hua Qing Zhu's force crushed it into fragments before it finished.
"You talk too much," she sneered, licking her lips and claiming the Monarch's storage ring.
Exhausted, she nearly collapsed, the Tribulation Lust Poison fully infiltrating. Her eyes, misty with desire, betrayed her waning reason. Her body burned, her lower half dampening.
Drawing a deep breath, she mustered her strength and rushed out.
Only Lan An's image filled her mind.
"Little An, I'll be your slave!"