Chapter 757: A Purgatory For Men!
Chapter 757: A Purgatory For Men!
Amid the snowy mist, the first sight to meet their eyes was a palanquin, encircled by snowflakes, pure and pristine.
This scene reminded Yun Xiao of when Moon Fairy encountered Yanfu Tan.
However, the bearers of this palanquin were much fewer. There were no burly mythical beasts but rather young boys with delicate features.
These young bearers walked with their heads bowed, their eyes timid, struggling under the weight of the white palanquin through the storm. Their quick pace made their small bodies labor hard, breaths heavy and gasping.
Fortunately, upon reaching Yun Xiao and the War Princess, they finally stopped, cautiously setting the palanquin down. They knelt beside it, curling into the shape of turtles, burying their heads deep into the snow, leaving only the napes of their necks visible.
This bizarre tableau caused both Yun Xiao and the War Princess to pause in astonishment.
The next moment, the curtains of the palanquin flung open!
Seated inside was a young girl dressed in a goose-yellow tunic, appearing no older than 13 years old. Her clothes were beautifully adorned with various jewels, clearly of no ordinary value.Moreover, behind her head, Yun Xiao indeed saw a halo of the same goose-yellow hue, its glittering light elevating the girl to a divine, untouchable status.
"A devil woman?" The goose-yellow girl\'s eyes fixed on the War Princess, her lips curling slightly.
A thought struck Yun Xiao, "Even Yin Devils are revered in such realms?"
This girl, much like Yanfu Tan, was likely to seize someone as her servant upon their first meeting!
But this time, how could he let the War Princess be taken away?
He was about to inquire about the girl\'s intentions when she directly addressed the War Princess, "Your male servant looks quite fine. I’ll trade these four for him, what do you say?"
Both Yun Xiao and the War Princess were taken aback. The War Princess herself almost chuckled. Male servant? What an absurdity!
Seeing no response from the War Princess, the goose-yellow girl began to boast, "These four male servants of mine are of excellent quality. I spent 300 Supreme Immortal Jades on them, and they are quadruplets, most importantly, very well-behaved. Have a look!"
Yun Xiao and the War Princess turned to see the four youths, faces buried deep in the snow, utterly submissive.
"Well..." The War Princess, transitioning from a maid to a mistress, felt a rush of pride and considered teasing Yun Xiao a bit. However, she saw his gaze quickly chill. Sensing his anger, she quickly addressed the goose-yellow girl, "I\'ve kept this servant for a long time; I\'m not selling him."
"Fine!" The goose-yellow girl\'s interest waned. She glanced at the War Princess with a mix of annoyance and disdain. "Still in the Third Dao Tribulation and thinking of entering the Harmony Divine Palace? Have you even obtained the Ring of Harmony?"
"What\'s it to you?" the War Princess retorted coldly.
Her haughty attitude did its job, and the goose-yellow girl pursed her lips, no longer wishing to engage. Instead, she turned to the trembling boys, "What are you waiting for, carry the palanquin! If you delay us, you won\'t even have one ear left!"
Yun Xiao then noticed that all four boys were already missing their left ears.
"Yes, master." The four did not dare to look up as they hurriedly lifted the palanquin and carried it away, their faces pale.
"Nonsense," the War Princess muttered.
"Indeed." Yun Xiao took her hand and suggested, "Let\'s go, we\'ll find another target to explore."
"Mhmm…"
Just as they were about to leave, a blizzard suddenly whipped up behind them.
The ground shook, trees trembled violently, and heaps of snow cascaded down.
"You despicable slave!"
A shrill voice came from behind.
Yun Xiao turned to see the goose-yellow girl had returned, standing on a tree branch, looking down at them with utter coldness.
Behind her, the four boys carrying the palanquin dropped to the ground, first staring dumbfounded at Yun Xiao holding the War Princess\' hand, then quickly kneeling and burying their faces deep in the snow, leaving only the backs of their heads visible.
"What are you yelling for?" the War Princess, clearly annoyed, asked coldly.
Far from intimidated, the goose-yellow girl sneered back at them, "You filth, holding hands with a male slave, you\'ve defiled the entire Extreme Yin Celestial Realm! You’re in big trouble now!"
With that, she launched three flying talismans from her hand, her expression growing even colder.
"Flying talismans?" the War Princess\' eyebrows furrowed.
"Obviously, to report you and claim a bounty! Just in time for the Grand Assembly of Myriad Sects, the Harmony Divine Palace has increased the reward for the sin of master-slave relationship. You’re about to make me rich!" the goose-yellow girl laughed, clearly feeling lucky.
Her arrogance, combined with the terror of the four boys buried in the snow, vividly illustrated the harsh rules of this world to Yun Xiao.
"Wait!" The girl in the goose-yellow tunic stared intensely at Yun Xiao, her gaze dropping below his waist with a look of horror. "That smell is as vile as an animal\'s musk, your man has not been cleansed?!"
"Cleansed?" Yun Xiao glanced at the four young boys; their aura was devoid of vigor, replaced by softness and fear.
"I\'ve struck it rich!" The goose-yellow girl could hardly believe her luck as she gazed at Yun Xiao, her heart pounding with glee.
However, Yun Xiao immediately erupted with killing intent, signaling the War Princess beside him.
"Oh, hell no!"
BOOM! The War Princess summoned the Nightshade Blood Dragon, and suddenly from the ground rose a vine-blood dragon, erupting swiftly to form a prison of bloody tendrils.
Yun Xiao followed up with his Sword Soul and Life Sigil.
Empowered by the Prison Warden Sigil, he unleashed 10,000 thunderbolts which merged with the Nightshade Blood Dragon, creating a maelstrom of blood and lightning.
His Heaven Burial Sword Soul transformed into a Flying Sword, phasing into the void, reappearing poised behind the girl\'s head!
"Trying to silence me? Hmph! You\'re only in the Third Dao Tribulation!"
Infuriated and her halo blazing brilliantly behind her, the goose-yellow girl unleashed an invisible force that halted Yun Xiao\'s Flying Sword.
"Break!"
Her slight frame shook violently, a wild surge of celestial power exploding into a tempest of ice and snow, blasting apart the thunder-clad Nightshade Blood Dragon.
"A dirty man dares to attack me?!" She sneered triumphantly, as if witnessing a joke.
"I\'m still going to kill you." Yun Xiao’s smile was chillingly sly.
"Eh?" The goose-yellow girl suddenly felt a piercing cold envelop her body.
She looked up just in time to see a golden Buddha\'s Treasure Spirit appear above her, its sword plunging down in a storm of black and gold lotuses!
Karmic Spirit Ordinance!
The golden and black lotuses tore through the girl’s celestial defenses in an instant, penetrating her body.
"AGHH...!" Her face twisted in agony, her scream echoing tragically. In the next instant, her eyes dimmed, the blank orbs filled with resentment and fury.
With a thud, her body fell straight to the ground.
"She might be in the Fourth Dao Tribulation, but she\'s nowhere near the Divine Imperial Son." Yun Xiao stepped forward and collected everything from her body, extracting a white ring shaped like a serpent with a woman\'s torso at each end.
"This must be the key to the Harmony Divine Palace," he mused.
Yun Xiao needed the teleportation formation, and the Harmony Divine Palace was evidently the next place to gain understanding. Yet, he harbored many unanswered questions! His instincts screamed that this world was perilously dangerous for him.
The War Princess, expressionless, refined all the blood from the goose-yellow girl.
Meanwhile, Yun Xiao devoured her Buddha\'s Treasure.
"Pity Pale Revenant and the Great Mother aren\'t here, what a waste," Yun Xiao remarked.
"First, let\'s figure out this cleansing they wanted to do on you," the War Princess chuckled.
At this, Yun Xiao could only shake his head. He looked up at the four boys. They had just witnessed Yun Xiao slay the girl as she screamed—a sight that had them trembling and collapsing breathless on the ground.
Yun Xiao approached and crouched beside them, "Brothers, perhaps you can enlighten me?"
"You... you\'re finished. You\'ve stirred up big trouble..."
"We... we won’t say anything, we..."
Clearly terrified out of their wits, they stuttered and tripped over their words.
Seeing this, Yun Xiao drew the Heaven Burial Sword Soul and laid it across their field of vision, his voice icy, "I\'ll ask, you answer. Any delay or mistake, and heads will roll. If you want to live, speak up."
"Yes, yes..." They seemed pitiful, as if they had been frightened their whole lives, and now was no different. Accustomed to fear, they groveled in the snow, faces buried like turtles trembling in the cold.
Yun Xiao\'s heart softened slightly, and he gently probed, "First, let\'s test how well you cooperate. This world we\'re standing on, it’s called the Extreme Yin Celestial Realm, correct?"
"Yes, yes..." they mumbled through the snow, hurriedly confirming.
"The Harmony Divine Palace, is it the strongest force here?" Yun Xiao inquired.
"Yes, yes..." they hurriedly responded.
To be honest, they were so gripped by fear that they never doubted Yun Xiao\'s origins; in their world, fear was all they knew.
"Is the Extreme Yin Celestial Realm a part of the Samsara Galaxy?" Yun Xiao pressed on.
"Yes, it is."
It was only then that they seemed to relax a bit.
"Is it a dominant power, an unknown entity, or a mid-level force?" Yun Xiao reached down, pulling one boy\'s face up from the snow to look him in the eyes.
"It’s a dominant power, quite renowned!" the boy answered.
"Are you the oldest among the four of you?" Yun Xiao asked.
"Yes, I am," the boy said. After speaking, he glanced at the War Princess and then quickly looked down again, his fear of her still greater than his fear of Yun Xiao.
"Can one travel from here to the Heavenly Deity Stellar River to attend the Grand Assembly of Myriad Sects?" Yun Xiao asked.
The boy hesitated, then said, "This place is part of the Heavenly Deity Stellar River, and the Harmony Divine Palace holds slots for the conference, but you have to make the selection..."
"Does the selection at the Harmony Divine Palace have gender requirements?" Yun Xiao queried.
"Big brother..." the boy nearly cried, "please, just ask your questions directly! I\'ll answer what I know."
Clearly, because Yun Xiao\'s questions seemed too straightforward, they thought it was part of a test.
"Just answer my questions, nothing else," Yun Xiao commanded.
"Yes, yes..." the boy resignedly nodded, “In the Extreme Yin Celestial Realm, there’s only one gender."
"Are there no men?" Yun Xiao asked, perplexed.
"Only cleansed male servants; we are slaves, meant to serve our masters, lowly slaves..." the boy said, tears falling.
"Only women and eunuchs?" Yun Xiao exclaimed in shock.
Such a system might be understandable in a palace, but this was a massive world, 1,000 times larger than the Great Dao Celestial Realm!
"Yes..."
The word eunuch seemed less painful to the boy than male slave, yet his gaze remained somber.
"Then, how do the people here propagate?" Yun Xiao asked, stunned.
Hearing this, the other three boys began to calm down a bit, all lifting their heads.
The second boy looked at Yun Xiao, feeling a hint of kinship, and said, "Big brother, the women here just drink from the Divine Spring and they conceive, bearing daughters to continue their lineage. Men have no place in this world; this realm of yin celestial energy suits women better..."
"A land of women?" Yun Xiao was astounded, his worldview expanding.
"And how did you come to be here?" the War Princess couldn\'t help but ask.
"We..." the third boy said with deep sorrow, "we were captured to be lowly slaves. The first step upon arrival is cleansing, and some are sold here. The top celestial maidens here don\'t do physical labor; they are busy cultivating, so they need many slaves..."
"Are all the men here cleansed?" Yun Xiao asked, dazed.
The idea of so many innocents suffering such a fate weighed heavily on him.
"Brother, they\'ve even shaved the eggs smooth!" The fourth boy cried out in grief, his tears flowing freely.
Yun Xiao was at a loss for words. The pain of men! All he could offer was his deepest sympathy, multiplied 10,000 times.
"Sadly, the Extreme Yin Celestial Realm is known as the purgatory for men. It\'s said that even a Heavenly Monarch must leave his cock and eggs at the border of the realm. How did you manage to remain uncleaned?" The first boy\'s look of envy was palpable.
"So, you mean to say, in the Extreme Yin Celestial Realm, the Harmony Divine Palace is the only gateway out?" Yun Xiao clarified.
"Yes!" all four boys said in unison.
"Can\'t one travel through space? Or by celestial boat?" Yun Xiao probed.
"The Extreme Yin Celestial Realm is on the fringe of the Heavenly Deity Stellar River, too far from any other Celestial Sourcecore for even a celestial ark to make the journey. Moreover, the protective celestial formation of the Extreme Yin Celestial Realm is vast; there\'s no way to sneak through," the first boy explained.
Yun Xiao now understood. He must have been directly transported inside this protective celestial formation.
With this, he gained a clear understanding of the Extreme Yin Celestial Realm, the Harmony Divine Palace, and the operational rules of this world.
"Even a Heavenly Monarch has to leave their cock and eggs behind?" Yun Xiao looked down at himself, a chill running down his spine.
Just how fearsome were the women of this place? He had just witnessed it firsthand from a young girl barely in her teens.
"Bluey, did you deliberately trap me here?" Yun Xiao accused half-jokingly.
"I didn\'t know!" Blue Star retreated up into his abdomen.
"Then who set me up?" Yun Xiao was exasperated.
What a cursed place! Holding hands with a male servant was a major offense, with substantial rewards!
What would happen if they discovered he was uncleaned? Would it become a scandal of the entire Extreme Yin Celestial Realm?
"Haha..." The War Princess suddenly burst into laughter beside him, teasingly looking at Yun Xiao, "You\'re doomed. Your once-mighty reputation is about to be ruined. We\'ll be sisters soon."
Yun Xiao, unable to tolerate it any longer, glared at the War Princess, "I was already under enough pressure, and now it\'s even worse. Don\'t push me."