Dual Cultivation: I Summon Villainesses of Mythic Era-Chapter 39: This idiot... she leaves me no choice...

* A few hours before the ambush in the Deserted Lands.*

*Xuan BaiShe’s private office.*

The silence in Xuan BaiShe’s office was broken only by the scratching of a quill on parchment. Then he sealed the envelope with wax.

There was a discreet knock on the door. A guard entered, a Spiritual Core stage cultivator, who bowed so low that his forehead almost brushed the silk carpet.

"Young Master, you summoned me?" began the guard, his voice filled with blind admiration for the one he considered the paragon of family virtue.

BaiShe displayed that gentle smile.

"Indeed," replied BaiShe in a melodious voice. "I have a mission of the utmost importance for you. You must deliver this letter to a hidden emissary at the border of the Deserted Lands. It is a delicate matter concerning the safety of my sister, Ling’er. I trust only a man of your loyalty for this task."

The guard puffed out his chest, touched by this fake mark of trust. "I will not disappoint you, Young Master! My life belongs to the Xuan family."

"I have no doubt," murmured BaiShe while handing him the envelope. "Leave immediately. Do not open it under any pretext. Ling’er’s fate depends on it."

The guard hurried out, unaware that he was carrying his own death warrant. Inside the letter, the instructions were clear:

[First mission: Kill the one carrying this letter without leaving a trace.

Second mission: Capture and kill Xuan Ling as soon as she crosses the border.

Reward: 50,000 high-quality spirit stones.]

BaiShe calmly sat back down, resuming his calligraphy book. He had personally financed the attack against his adoptive sister. By orchestrating this threat through the Shadow Garden organization, he ensured not only that he could intervene as a hero to manipulate Ling’er’s feelings, but also to create a legitimate pretext to exterminate a troublesome organization in his future plans. The sacrifice of a loyal guard and a few dozen assassins was only a minor variable in his equation toward supremacy.

***

*Back to the present.*

*Shadow Garden Hill, assassins’ headquarters.*

The night was no longer dark. It was illuminated by purple flames and bluish lightning that tore through the sky above the hidden fortress of Shadow Garden. What was once an impregnable lair had become a slaughterhouse. The spatial void above the hill cracked repeatedly, letting thousands of Xuan family warships burst forth.

At the head of this armada, Hu Tian, BaiShe’s martial brother and reincarnation of the God of Thunder, floated in the air, surrounded by electric arcs that made the atmosphere vibrate. His face, usually marked by insolent frivolity, was distorted by fury.

"How dare you attack my Martial Brother?" roared Hu Tian, his voice amplified by divine thunder that shook the foundations of the hill.

With a brusque gesture, he projected his hand downward.

< Martial Arts : Heavenly Thunder Judgment >

A massive pillar of lightning crashed down on the main tower, instantly vaporizing the Spiritual Core stage guards who tried to defend the ramparts.

The Shadow Garden assassins, feared masters of the shadows, could do nothing against the brute power of a Medium Nascent Soul stage cultivator possessing a divine lineage.

They tried to flee into the underground galleries, but the elite soldiers of the Xuan family, some at the Overlord stage, had already locked the space around the hill.

"Even in death, you will have no rest!" roared Hu Tian.

He descended toward the ground like a meteor, crushing the Shadow Garden branch leader under his Qi-charged foot. The carnage was total. The Xuan guards’ Qi blades left no chance for the survivors. Blood flowed into the fortress ditches, mixing with the carbonized dust.

That same evening, the Shadow Garden organization was wiped from the map of the Upper Realms. Leaving no one alive... Except the very person BaiShe wanted to eliminate by making a stone of coup...

***

The silence in the meditation chamber was heavy, disturbed only by the muffled crackling of spiritual incense burning in a jade burner.

BaiShe was lying on his resting bed, his usually radiant face displaying a cadaverous pallor. The reckless use of the Draconic Bone Sword had left harmful traces in his meridians. The primordial energy of the sword had circulated with such violence that it had weakened the very foundations of his dantian.

When he finally cracked open his silver eyelids, the first thing he perceived was the familiar silhouette installed at his bedside. Xuan Ling, his adoptive sister, was observing him with an intensity that oscillated between hatred and deep confusion.

Ling’er knew that BaiShe was a born manipulator. She was aware that Lin Feng’s fall and death were part of a macabre staging orchestrated by her brother.

However, one element refused to fit into her logic: BaiShe had risked his own life and the stability of his Dantian to save her,

’This pain he was enduring now made no sense in the plan of a heartless monster I knew...’ she thought.

"You are finally awake," said Ling’er in a cold voice.

BaiShe sketched a painful smile.

"It seems... I am more resilient than expected, my dear Ling’er," he murmured with weariness. " It is nice to see you..."

The young woman crossed her arms, her fingers digging into the fabric of her sleeves.

"Tell me what you really want, BaiShe," she asked abruptly. "Why this circus? Why come to save me at the risk of your cultivation?"

BaiShe sat up with difficulty, ignoring the stabbing pain that ran through his chest. His silver gaze fixed on his sister’s with a poisoned gentleness.

"What I want?" he repeated softly.

"I simply want you to be less naive, Ling’er. The world of cultivation is not a fairy tale, it is a lion’s pit where people like you get devoured."

He paused. "I want you to abandon this heir examination. Leave that position to others and stay under my protection. It is the only way for you to remain safe."

Ling’er felt a wave of anger rise within her. This arrogance, this desire to keep her in the shadows like in her previous life, was unbearable.

"I will not back down, BaiShe! I am no longer that little girl who followed your steps crying!" she exclaimed, her Qilin Qi beginning to vibrate imperceptibly around her.

In a surge of fury, she leaned toward him, her face now only a few centimeters from his.

"Do you think I do not see through your game?" she spat.

"I know your true identity, BaiShe. I know everything you have done. I know that it was you who killed Lin Feng and devoured his essence."

She lowered her voice, her gaze becoming murderous. "So, tell me... are you going to kill me too? Are you going to erase me like you did with him?"

’ This little idiot... she leaves me no choice...’