The exposure of Xuan Nu Palace’s crimes remained one of the most hotly discussed topics in the Jianghu, even months after the fact.
What happened to Bing Qing Fairy, in particular, set countless tongues wagging.
Her pure and untainted image shattered, replaced by the infamous titles of "lewd demoness" and "hypocritical shrew," which spread throughout the Jianghu and even across the entire Fallen Dragon Land.
After suffering one devastating blow after another, and with several Elders defecting after being bewitched by Xia Wuyang, Xuan Nu Palace collapsed, its members scattering like rats from a sinking ship.
Its disciples were either killed or fled. The once-majestic palace was put to the torch by enraged members of the Martial World and the sect’s old enemies, its thousand-year legacy reduced to ashes and ceasing to exist.
As the Palace Master, Bing Qing Fairy herself was hunted by numerous parties. Heavily injured, she fled like a stray dog through the barren wilderness, stripped of her former lofty, superior air.
Perhaps it was her extreme resentment and bitterness that unlocked her potential, or perhaps she rose from the ashes of her desperation. While on the run, Bing Qing Fairy unexpectedly acquired a Top Level Mortal Treasure and, against all odds, perilously broke through one bottleneck after another to reach the Realm of Super Grade Perfection.
This surge in power brought her no joy, only a more bone-deep hatred and humiliation. She pinned the blame for everything on two people, hating them to the very marrow of her bones.
The mysterious expert who had destroyed her life—the same one she suspected was Elder Qing Yin—and Yun Liyue, the root of all her troubles.
From the very beginning, it was she and Xuan Nu Palace who had coveted Yun Liyue’s Sword Control Skill and targeted her. Yun Liyue had no power to resist; it was only Xia Wuyang who had stepped in to mete out justice. Despite this, Bing Qing Fairy hated her to the extreme.
As for the mysterious expert she suspected was Elder Qing Yin, her fear ran even deeper than her hatred.
The power and cunning this person had displayed made her realize that a direct confrontation would be suicide. Even now that she had reached Super Grade Perfection, she was likely no match for them.
She was like a rat in the gutter, carefully hiding her tracks, not daring to even reveal her desire for revenge. She would wait until she reached an even higher realm.
But her hatred for Yun Liyue was a venomous fire, searing her insides day and night until even breathing became difficult.
’If that bitch hadn’t stubbornly refused to hand over the Sword Control Skill, if she hadn’t attracted that mysterious expert I suspect is Elder Qing Yin... I wouldn’t be in this state, and Xuan Nu Palace would never have been reduced to ashes!’ This thought tumbled over and over in her mind, gradually twisting into a sinister plot.
She didn’t dare move directly against Yun Liyue, who was likely under the mysterious expert’s protection. But through covert observation, she discovered that Yun Liyue seemed to retain a lingering, unbreakable affection for the elder Crown Prince, Xia Wuyang—a man long since crippled, now just senile and waiting for death—and was still taking care of him.
The complex emotions that flashed in the woman’s eyes whenever she glanced toward Wenhua Hall did not escape Bing Qing Fairy’s prying gaze. That, along with palace gossip she had gathered, further confirmed her suspicions.
Beneath her veil, Bing Qing Fairy’s lips twisted into a cold, venomous smile that warped her once-beautiful features. ’Yun Liyue, you made me lose everything. Now, I’ll make you taste what it’s like to have something you cherish destroyed before your very eyes! Killing that old waste will cause you immense pain, won’t it? So much pain, yet you won’t know who to take revenge on, because his killer will just be some madwoman with a grudge against your Xuan Nu Palace. That feeling of being unable to find the culprit... I’m sure it will be delightful. Hehehe...’
She saw this operation as an exquisite act of revenge: one that would break Yun Liyue’s heart while keeping herself completely out of the picture, avoiding the attention of that terrifying mysterious expert. She had no desire to die just yet.
To this end, she lurked patiently, observing the patrol patterns of the Imperial Palace guards and mapping out the visible and hidden sentries near Wenhua Hall, waiting for the perfect moment.
On this rainy night at the end of the seventh month, the air was damp and the darkness was thick. It was the perfect time to infiltrate—and the perfect time for revenge.
「11:45 PM」
All was silent. A figure, cloaked in a pale shade that nearly melted into the night, flitted like a phantom over the palace walls. With a light tap of her toes on the slick, glazed tiles, she shot forward, utterly silent.
Bing Qing Fairy had traded her signature plain white robes for a tight, grayish-white outfit better suited for nocturnal movement. Concealed by the darkness, her face remained veiled, revealing only a pair of eyes that burned with venom and malicious glee.
She suppressed the aura of her Super Grade Perfection Cultivation to its absolute limit, not letting the slightest trace escape. Her form, as ephemeral as smoke, easily evaded several squads of the patrolling Imperial Guard as she sped toward the Eastern Palace Wenhua Hall.
The closer she drew to Wenhua Hall, the more fiercely the contempt and killing intent in her heart blazed, becoming almost uncontrollable.
The faint sound of decadent music and women’s coy laughter drifted through the air, confirming the rumors of the elder Crown Prince’s debauched and hedonistic lifestyle. Of course, it was nothing compared to her own past exploits.
’A piece of trash like this is worthy of that bitch Liyue’s concern? How laughable,’ she sneered inwardly. ’Today, I’ll send you on your way. Consider it me taking out the trash for this filthy Imperial Palace. Yun Liyue should thank me for it.’
The guards around Wenhua Hall were more lax than she had imagined. After all, their charge was just a dying elder Crown Prince.
The eunuch on night duty was dozing against a pillar, while the patrolling Palace Maids hurried on their rounds, seeming eager to return to the warmth and dryness indoors rather than remain on duty outside.
Bing Qing Fairy easily found a blind spot. Her figure drifted like a wisp of smoke to the upturned eaves on the side of the hall, where she hid in the shadows and observed carefully.
The main hall was brightly lit, filled with moving silhouettes and the constant sound of laughter and merriment. Clearly, the elder Crown Prince was seizing his final days for pleasure, determined to live it up before his death.
Her objective was clear. She wasn’t assassinating some important figure, just a dying old waste. There was no need to wait for him to be alone, no need to wait at all.
All she needed was a single opportunity—a chance to slip in unnoticed, kill him with one blow, and escape far away.
Her gaze locked onto a seemingly secluded corridor to one side of the main hall. A window there was half-open. The light inside was dim, suggesting it led to a Sleeping Palace or a study. The position was perfect. ’That’s the spot.’
Without hesitation, she drifted down from the corner of the eaves like a falling leaf, landing precisely in the shadows of the corridor. Her landing was silent, her movements impossibly light.
Her Super Grade Perfection Cultivation gave her a degree of bodily control that was at the pinnacle of perfection, far beyond what an ordinary person could imagine.
She held her breath, listening intently for a moment. After confirming no one was nearby, she moved like a gray shadow, slipping through the half-open window and into the room.
It was, indeed, a small study. The furnishings were luxurious but messy, with wine jugs and fruit pits scattered across a table. A mixture of perfume and alcohol hung in the air, along with another strange, indescribable odor that was utterly nauseating.
The disgust in Bing Qing Fairy’s eyes deepened. As someone who often dallied with her own concubines, of course she knew what that strange smell was.

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