Chapter 288-289: Jing's Payback.

"Everything's coming along perfectly babe. The Commercial Chamber is sniffing us out along with some of the other groups in Cloud Dragon City but they're just curious. Everyone knows how dogs act towards something it isn't sure about. It either barks and growls threateningly or comes closer to sniff its asshole. But don't worry, I'll let them take a nice long whiff of our ass before clamping down on their throats!" Hu Tao messaged Jing.

"Send multiple small groups to the neighboring cities. If something goes wrong with Cloud Dragon City, it would be good to have something to fall back on." Jing replied back, ignoring his crude flowery speech.

"Anything specific or it doesn't matter?"

"Restaurant, forge, and dojo."

"Got it. Talk to you later babe. Love you."

  Jing didn't bother replying back. Hu Tao's love was cute and would be tempting but Jing wasn't the type of woman to betray someone's trust without sufficient benefits. At such an early stage in their relationship, Jing couldn't see herself leaving Shang for Hu Tao. Both were quite cute and amusing in their own ways but Jing's sadist side felt she'd have a lot of fun teasing Shang even after several hundred years have passed. Hu Tao on the other hand would be a more spontaneous blaze of passion and lust. Imagining herself and Hu Tao with children only brought up little uncontrollable devils who sought nothing but to spread chaos and mayhem throughout the world. Adorable and definitely fun but even Jing needs some cooldown from chaos every now and then. But with Shang, their children could actually be quite normal in some sense.

  Speaking of children... during Jing's refinement, she didn't specify a majority of the changes that happened to her. It was possible that her womb was also changed in some inhuman way. She didn't even know if it was possible for her to conceive nor if raising a child in her body would fundamentally change them in some way. Calling herself a human by this point was frankly a stretch. Giving birth in this body would also produce something monstrous, right?

  Jing shook her head, she just didn't know. In her previous lives, she was human through and through. The system didn't follow her in those lives and her body wasn't changed as significantly as it is now. Looks like she'll just have to wait and see.

  Jing smiled as she thought about this. 'Knowing Shang, that'll probably be in a few decades, no?' The cute little shy young master he was. However, Jing wasn't planning on waiting that long to turn Shang into a man. She was a young woman with needs. If need be, she'll devour him herself regardless of how ready he was.

"Why're you smiling like that, mom?" Li Li asked, perched on her shoulder with his head twisted at a 90-degree angle.

"I was just thinking about something fun." Jing replied. "How are the others doing?" She followed up.

"They're getting ready to begin the quarter-finals, Ying just said." Li Li answered after reading the message on the talisman.

"I might be cutting it close. It'll be a little embarrassing if I lose because I was late." Jing chuckled.

"Why are we at the Emerald Grass Slaying Sect instead of our sect?" Li Li asked.

"Mom has an old debt to settle with someone here. Since I had the time, I figured I should pay it back before he croaked on his own."

"Croaked? Is he going to die?"

"In one sense." Jing reached into her infinite space storage ring and pulled out an old familiar mask.

  A wooden mask painted white. It looked aged as it was painted centuries ago. When worn, the only aspect of the wearer's face was their eyes. There was no opening in the mask for the nose or mouth, just the eyes. Jing placed the mask over her face and couldn't help but giggle as she saw Li Li pull out an identical smaller mask for himself. She didn't forget that she made one for him too but it has been a while since the Treasured Plains.

'I wonder how she's doing nowadays.' Jing thought to herself.

  The mother and son duo casually walked through the Emerald Grass Slaying Sect's front entrance. Not a soul could take in their presence. Geniuses, prodigies, elders, hall masters, none could even hear the sound of Jing's ruffling clothes. They made their way straight to the bedridden sect leader of the Emerald Grass Slaying Sect.

  Upon first sight of him, Jing was taken aback. This decrepit old husk was the one to nearly kill her? Whatever technique or spirit tool that allowed him to look like a handsome young man that thousands of women would kill to even look at certainly did him favors. Jing couldn't even relate this grandpa to the man that almost killed her that time.

  However, Jing would show him no mercy despite how helpless and pathetic he looked. An Earthly Immortal was dangerous even on their deathbed. The feeble slow ebbing of his life was going to come to an end soon. A painful and miserable end for someone that deserved it in Jing's eyes. Even after she gave him what he wanted, he still attempted to kill her.

  Jing sat on the foot of the dying man's bed and crossed her legs as she pulled out several objects from her. Ink, brush, and several blank talismans. Li Li stayed silent as his mother carefully and slowly began to draw. Her wrist was as slow as a tortoise but firm and steady like an adult tiger. Each stroke, each line, all of it was done with precise and powerful movement.

  It took a few seconds but then Li Li understood why his mom wasn't finishing these talismans in an instant. These spells weren't your average spells... He didn't recognize them but he could feel the qi radiating off of them even in their incomplete state. Around them, the qi from heaven and the earth flowed into his mom's talismans. Something that Li Li wasn't capable of doing yet.

  Harnessing the energy of the world itself in your creation is said to be a feat possible only for those that have reached the peak. Li Li wasn't surprised to see that his mom has reached such a state, he was just surprised that it happened without his knowledge! He's with her basically every moment of the day and didn't know she was capable of this! Could it be that his mom was even more amazing than he thought? He had a lot more training to do if he didn't want to disgrace their family.

  The spells took multiple hours to complete. Jing smiled in satisfaction as her deep qi reserves were mostly drained. Normally an array of this level takes months till completion but because of the abnormality with her body and the knowledge gained over 10,000 lives, it only took several hours. If others tried something like this it would take the sacrifice of over 100,000 men along with numerous invaluable treasures.

"So you're still alive..." A voice that barely amounted to a whisper flowed into the ears of the mother-son pair.

"I told you, you would regret your decision." Jing placed her refined whip on the chest of the ailing man.

"To think..." He wheezed. "All these years just to be killed by some pup favored by the heavens..." Blood slowly trickled down his mouth. "The heavens are truly unfair sometimes..."

"Don't go blaming the heavens for your decision old man. The heavens didn't tell you to kill me. You made that choice on your own. Take responsibility for the young life you nearly ended, old monster. All of this pain and suffering of yours is solely because of your decision to end my life that day." Jing activated the heaven-ranked trapping array, Soul-Tearing Path of Nirvana.

  The sect leader of the Emerald Grass Slaying Sect was brought into a deep peaceful sleep despite how desperately he resisted. A frightening arrow-shaped qi shot out of the barely raised finger of the old man. Jing only smirked at his final attempts to resist. She didn't flinch at the loud bang from the impact of his attack. Li Li, on the other hand, braced heavily after sensing the terrifying amount of qi leftover from his attack. Earthly Immortals were still definitely out of his league for now!

"Have a good rest, Patriarch Cao." Jing playfully waved at him. "Well, as good a rest you can get in an eternal nightmare." This was the last thing Patriarch Cao heard as everything went black and he could feel no more.

  As the leader of the Emerald Grass Slaying Sect whisked off into dreamland, Jing collected the bacterial agents that were responsible for sucking the life force of the old man. If they were allowed to stay inside his body, he truly would die. Jing's purpose here wasn't to kill this guy but to use him to master her cultivation technique, Empress of Pain's Tome. The suffering of someone at such a high cultivation stage should allow her to reach the advanced realm. At the advanced realm, Jing Causing others pain physical or mental can now increase the soul energy of the user and cause their Qi to have a commanding presence. If the user's soul energy is stronger, they can force the opponent under their will. If not, simply pressure their opponent.

"Is it time to go now?" Li Li asked.

"Yes, we can return now. Hopefully, we're not too late." Jing reached into her storage ring and pulled out a puffy white cloud grown from a cloud seed.

  Jing leaped from the window and landed on the cloud before flying back to the sect. As they were flying away, the cloud changed colors to a transparent blue.

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Chapter 289

  Hyou was an orphan but he had the dream of becoming a Heavenly General. He lived in a tiny village that didn't even have a name but swung his wooden sword every day in hopes of getting stronger. It wasn't an actual wooden sword but more of a sturdy tree branch but a child's imagination was endless. One couldn't enter the military until one turned 15. Hyou was only eight years old yet his sword skills surpassed even the strongest man in his village.

  He had no teachers, no one to take care of him beside Granny Rei. Sure, the villagers pitied the orphan but living was already hard enough taking care of their families. No one had the money or compassion to feed an extra mouth except Granny Rei. Whose only child recently died in the war.

"Don't worry Granny! When I join the military, I'll wrack up hundreds and thousands of merits to bring back and improve the village. I'll also avenge Big Brother Ten for you!" Hyou continued to swing his sword without rest.

"I'll be waiting, Hyou." Granny Rei smiled lovingly at the innocent child.

  A child that barely knew anything of the world at all. So, kind and pure. Secretly, Rei hated the fact that the boy was skilled with the blade. A boy like this with his entire life ahead of him could only think about going to war, becoming a hero, and killing other men. War hasn't done anything for Rei besides killing all the men she ever loved. Her husband was forced to conscript, her only son who died without marrying or leaving a child, and soon this bright young man as well.

  Rei wanted nothing more than to argue, fight, and dissuade this boy from joining the military but she knew it would be a futile effort. His big bright blue eyes as he talked about his dream of becoming a Heavenly General. Nothing would stop him on his path. Even if she sacrificed her remaining life span in going against him to stop him from joining, he would still find some way to be a part of the military. She knew because Ten had the same look in his eyes growing up and when he left their village.

"Mom! I'm going off to become a Heavenly General. I don't know when I'll be back but when I do, I'll finally find a wife and be sure to leave a child before heading back to the battlefield." Rei remembered his words.

"Can you not go...?" Rei knew how selfish her words sounded but as a mother, she couldn't help herself. He was her only son.

"I promise I'll be back." Ten hugged her and that would be the last time Rei saw him. His corpse was mutilated and used as an art piece for the enemy general to use against our nation. Rei never received her son's body.

"Hyou! Come play with me!" A high-pitched loud voice shouted as they arrived at Rei's front yard.

"Ughhh it's Kou..." Hyou groaned. "Tell her I'm not here!" Hyou whispered as he went off to hide somewhere.

  Rei smiled as she grabbed her cane and got up to answer the door. A little cute tigress looked up at Rei and peered behind her in search of a stinky boy. Seeing that he wasn't behind her, Kou looked back up at Rei and smiled.

"Good morning, Granny Rei. Is Hyou at home?" Kou kindly asked.

"I think we both know the answer to that sweetie." Rei softly rubbed her cute little head.

  If it was up to Rei, she'd force Hyou to stay in the village until he was 15 to get married to this beautiful young girl and do nothing but make beautiful children until their as old as she is. All this nonsense about glory for one's country, being a hero, and killing other men. What more is there to life than living with the people you love for as long as possible? At this point, Rei didn't know if it was the world that was wrong or she was. She couldn't find anyone else that thought like her, so, her feeling was leaning on the latter.

  After receiving permission to enter inside, Kou found the hidden Hyou in a matter of seconds. It turns out the boy had no sense for hiding and had half of his body sticking out from his hiding place. Kou dragged him by his legs with Hyou kicking and screaming. When she decided she wanted to play, it was time to play. That little tigress was the descendent of a Giant. A race of humans known for their great strength and size. Hyou may have been talented in the ways of the sword but that meant nothing when he was without his stick to defend himself. Kou on the other hand needed nothing but her bare hands. The more Hyou tried to flee, the more determined and cleverer Kou got in order to get her way.

  Rei wanted to explain how a girl like Kou is what you should want in a woman but she knew that stubborn stinky boy would only reject a girl like Kou further. She could only hope when he grows up he'll understand just how lucky he is to be liked by someone with such dedication. Things like this couldn't be forced. Love isn't something that can be controlled by humans but decided by fate.

  Years passed peacefully in the little town. Hyou continued his sword training every day till the age of 15. Kou continued to pester and bother him every day. Granny Rei continued to take care of Hyou for all those years until the day she was dreading came. Although Hyou and Ten looked nothing alike, the look in their eyes and the straightness of their backs were completely identical. Looking at the raggedy-dressed boy about to leave, Rei couldn't help but compare the two boys. It was just like seeing her little Ten off once again...

  Unknowingly, tears slowly slid down her face. Rei thought she was all dried up after all the crying she did after Ten died but it looked like she still had some left in her...

"Don't cry Granny... I'll be back as soon as possible! After I score a few general heads, I'll run back home as soon as possible! If you're ever lonely, just call Kou over. She never has anything to do." Hyou wiped the tears from Granny Rei's face and gave her a bright smile.

"Hmph! Who has nothing to do!?" Kou rapped Hyou on the head and knocked him to the ground with her monstrous strength.

"Heheheh... I thought you weren't feeling well this morning... What're you doing here, Kou...?" Hyou painfully grimaced as he rubbed his sore head.

"Apparently just in time to see you making Granny Rei cry." Kou replied.

"Hey, I didn't!" Hyou felt wronged! "Did I?" He looked over at Granny Rei.

"No, dear. I was just thinking of old memories... Just promise me you'll do anything you can to survive, alright? Even if you have to do something despicable or horrible..."Granny Rei asked.

'Old memories?' Hyou suddenly realized what she was talking about. "I won't let anyone kill me before I become a Heavenly General. I promise."

"That's not what she asked you to promise, idiot..." Kou crossed her arms.

"Huh? Then what did you ask, granny?"

"Nothing. Go out there and be the hero you wanted to be. Just make sure you don't forget your old granny back home."

"You're lucky they don't allow women to join the army in our country." Kou told him.

"Thank the heavens for that..." Hyou muttered to himself. "GUHK!" Before getting kicked in the ribs by Kou who heard him.

"Tch, like I wanted to spend more time with an idiot like you either!" Kou stormed off as Granny Rei just laughed.

"What'd I do wrong...?" Hyou felt like his ribs were cracked.

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  Hyou survived his first campaign and was returning home until the next war or battle started. He managed to take the heads of several captains and was awarded the position of 100-man commander in his first battle along with a good amount of monetary rewards. As he walked down the path to the village, the surroundings began to get more and more unfamiliar. The luscious grass leading up to the village, the homely smell of agriculture and hard work, and the sound of the people from the village talking. An unknown feeling seized Hyou's heart as he unconsciously picked up speed.

"No... No, no, no. No! No! No!"

  Hyou rushed forward to the destroyed remains of his only home. There were no signs of corpses, blood, or any battle taking place here but Hyou could smell the dried blood in the air. Some buildings were burned to a crisp while others were destroyed with brute force. Where was Granny?! Where was Kou?! Where was Uncle Sei!?

"They're all dead, Hyou..." Boku, the village drunk, answered him posted up against a wooden barrel. "I was the only one to survive the bandit attack.

"Tell me what happened!" Hyou grabbed Boku by the collar and stared deep into his eyes with unrelenting killing intent.

"I wanted to help... I really did but I couldn't... I wasn't man enough. I was afraid..." Tears flowed from his eyes, he reeked of alcohol.

"Answer me or I'll kill you myself!" Hyou reached for his sword.

"Little Kou tried to protect Granny Rei... even with her being a Giant, what can one little girl do against dozens of grown men with swords? They... humiliated her before killing her and Granny Rei. It wasn't right... It wasn't an ending fit for humans... A little babe like her shouldn't have had to go through something like that..."

"AND YOU DID NOTHING BUT WATCH!?" Hyou's rage and sorrow peaked.

"I didn't want to die... I'm sorry, Hyou... I really am... I'm a coward..." He bawled like a child.

  Hyou released the drunk. He had a feeling that killing Boku right now wouldn't solve anything. It wouldn't abet his fury in the slightest. Killing him might actually be considered mercy if anything. Right now, he had to find out the identity and hiding place of those bandits. His heart wouldn't forgive him if he let things go like this. No, he couldn't continue living if he let Granny Rei and Kou perish so unjustly without avenging them.

"Tell me everything you found out about them." Hyou turned around to face Boku only to suddenly feel a sharp pain in his chest.

"I really tried my best, Hyou... Why couldn't you just be proud of me for surviving...?" Boku's knife stuck into Hyou's heart. "I already had nothing left to live for after seeing my wife and daughter get passed around and tortured by those fiends... I really didn't need you looking at me like I was the same as those beasts..." Boku soon sliced his own throat afterward.

  The two collapsed on top of each other with Hyou violently and furiously cursing at the heavens. As everything went black, Hyou continued to swear and threaten the heavens for deciding this as his fate. Until he could no longer think. His body went still and everything was nothing no more.

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"Hey, idiot! I want to play, get up already!" Kou's annoying voice shouted in his ear.

"Huh...?" Hyou struggled to open his eyes. "OOF!" A hard impact landed on his stomach and swiftly woke him up from his delirium. "What the hell!?" He angrily cursed as his eyes met with someone who should be dead.

"Oh, you've grown some balls to be cursing at me to my face, Hyou." Kou grinned as she audibly cracked her knuckles.

"I'm alive...?"

"Not for long, you idiot!"