"Huh?"
Yang Ming raised an eyebrow, he found the woman from earlier staring in his direction absentmindedly.
At first, he pretended to ignore it, it was not like he was a saint, but her cultivation was at the sage realm, she must be a member of a high-ranking sect, he was wise enough to not make a whole sect his enemy for a woman.
"Yang Ming!"
Suddenly, one of his underlings called him out.
"Hm?"
Yang Ming turned around to look find his underling staring at her with lecherous eyes, he sighed.
'This bastard will put our whole clan in danger.'
The Yang clan was just a third-rated clan, it has power in small towns but still lacked compared to the clans in large territories.
With a helpless look, he walked toward Li Nan.
The person behind him sighed.
He hasn't acted yet, since the woman was staring toward Yang Ming and not at him.
In an unlikely case, if Yang Ming did not want this woman, he could have her to himself.
"Tsk, why did all good women fall in his hands."
He snorted and withdrew his gaze.
All the other cultivators behind him shook their heard.
Just what made this idiot believe, he can suppress that woman?
Did he forget the cultivation difference between them?
But since all were men, they got over this fact quickly enough.
He was thinking with his dick and not his brain, almost all of them had experienced this once in their life.
On the other hand, Yang Ming momentarily blanked out noticing Li Nan from up close.
His eyes produced ripples, he had seen this woman helping people earlier but this was the first time he was seeing her this close.
He instantly calmed down his chaotic breathing, and once again affirmed his decision.
There was no way, this female cultivator belonged to this small territory.
"Ahem, miss do you need something?"
He tried to utter in a polite tone, but the excitement still got the better of him.
"Huh?"
Li Nan's eyes shook violently, as she realized that once again she was daydreaming.
She found the man from earlier standing in from of her.
'Damn, Xia Tian it's all your fault.'
She felt embarrassed, as a cultivator she should be always alert.
But now someone was able to walk up to her without even getting aware of it, she could have been in danger.
"Mm, Are you fine?"
Yang Ming asked again.
He felt quite tense.
If something happened to this woman, his clan would suffer.
"Yes," Li Nan said briefly, before walking off from there.
Of course, she was yet again forced to rethink that will that man's [Yang Ming] tone be the same as right now if she was dressed as Lin Huan.
[A/N: Lin Huan was the name Li Nan uses when she is disguised as a male.]
Would he still approach her and be concerned about her?
The answer was straight no, which once again made the woman sigh at herself.
Yang Ming frowned and narrowed his eyes.
Her behavior was too cold, but since the problem was gone, he decided to go back and resume his work from earlier.
Handling a spoiled rich young master isn't his expertise.
Meanwhile, Li Nan got near the center of the explosion again.
The whole place was burnt, and in some places, the fire hasn't been extinguished till now.
She can only wait, till the fire is extinguished by itself.
Suddenly, her eyes narrowed on a particular spot.
"Dark energy?"
Her eyes widened for a moment.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtShe recognized the traces of dark energy left.
It was similar, to the one used by members of the Dark soul sect.
Just as she was about to step in, multiple small vortexes opened around her.
"What?"
Before she can react, thick chains glowing with the brilliance of gold poured out of them and started restraining her in her place.
Li Nan's face turned serious.
She instantly shot her aura to the maximum and tried to move away from there.
"It is useless, stop struggling lady."
A man walked out from the shadow, his whole body emitting immense dark energy.
Li Nan's eyes narrowed, and a small frown developed on her face.
She felt the man had boundless energy inside of him, his strong pressure was enough to bend her to her knees.
"Argh!"
She fell to the ground on her knees, she gritted her teeth trying to resist the immense aura, but before long her whole body was exhausted as she has utilized all her reserves.
"W-Who are you?"
Finally, with a scared look, she asked the man in front of him.
She was unable to see the cultivation of the next person, she felt threatened.
His face was covered by veins, while the man himself was skinny and was wearing a black robe with an emblem of the Dark soul sect imprinted on the robe.
The man only shook his head with pity. "You shouldn't have come here. Now, I have no choice but to kill you."
On the other hand, Li Nan was getting more and more scared over time. 'Who is he, why I can't see his cultivation? The dark energy around him is so dense, why is he making me feel so scared...'
The answer arrived soon enough when she felt the energy in her body being sucked by the chain binding her.
"Stop It!"
Li Nan instantly screamed, with her face confronted in pain.
For the first time, a look of pure horror reflected in her eyes.
He was not just sucking her energy, but also her life force.
She knew who he was, he was the elder of the dark soul sect.
But among the elders, he was most infamous for his method of killing, he would suck people dry of their life force before killing them.
"Oh, you know me?" Ma Tao pretended to be surprised.
How can she not know him?
There was only one person who can suck other cultivators' life force in the dark soul sect.
It was him, the Soul Devourer.
Thanks to their sect master, he has gained this unique ability to utilize people's life force without getting affected by any backlashes of it.
On the thought of the sect master, his face showed a frantic look of worship, before meeting their sect master they were just useless cultivators not able to advance anymore.
But the sect master changed everything for them...
On the other hand, Li Nan's body was turning pale. 'Why is it happening to me? First I lost my virginity and now this? Why? Am I supposed to die like this...?'
Her eyes teared up, as she started breaking down.
Right at that moment, a large vortex opened behind Ma Tao.
"Stop," a woman faintly said as she stepped out of the void.
"Sect master!"
Ma Tao's whole body tensed, no matter how strong he gets, in front of this woman he always felt like an ant.
The aura of the sect master arouses a pure sense of worship and respect from him.
He instantly cupped his fist toward her and the chain stopped glowing.
At the same time, Li Nan also looked at the newly arrived person.
The latter has a veil covering her face, but the remaining face and her attire was enough to recognize her.
Not to mention, the woman had just left a deep impression on her mind a few days ago.
*Gulp*
Li Nan gulped in fear.
All the cells in her body screamed at once to run away, but the chain was still binding her, thus she was unable to take a single step from her place.
Noticing the scared face of Li Nan, a small smile appeared on the Princess of destruction's face.
Her face was covered with a veil, but Ma Tao was still forced to look downward else he would never be able to wake up from this beautiful dream.
Li Nan felt chills all over her body, she slowly stood up.
'Why is she here?'
Her face can't help but turn ugly.
A very intrusive thought entered her mind which made her face even uglier.
'Did Xia Tian send her behind me to take revenge?'
She felt Xia Tian was angry as she left from the flying ship.
The very thought of this made her soul freeze.
Each and every step of the princess, make her feel closer to her death.
Meanwhile, Ma Tao stood in his place, with his eyes facing the ground.
He was scared of seeing her sect master.
Not just him, no member of the dark soul sect, dared to directly face her.
There were rumors that once you look at her, you would be unable to control your desire.
Even her veil was unable to hide her beauty and glamorous body.
With elegant steps, she arrived in front of Li Nan.
The latter was not left unharmed by the former charms, even she had her eyes glued on her face.
Princess of destruction raised an eyebrow and giggled.
"What a cute girl..."
!!
Li Nan went flustered by her voice.
She instantly broke eye contact, trying not to pry into the ocean-like eyes of hers.
At the same time, the princess lifted Li Nan's chin by her hand and observed her carefully.
The latter felt her skin for the first time, she can't help but feel something deep resonating within her soul.
She was unable to let out a single word, and can only mindlessly surrender herself like a soulless doll.
'His toys are interesting as always... Hehe. We need to meet soon Master...'
On the thought of Xia Tian, the Princess can't help but show a childish smile.
She removed her hand from Li Nan's chin and turned around.
Afterward, she walked back into the portal.
During this whole time, Li Nan kept staring at her back.
Only when she was gone, the woman finally got back her consciousness.
Her whole body went limp, and she slumped to the ground.
"What just happened right now...?"
She muttered in a state of shock, her eyelashes trembling heavily.
Ma Tao was similarly surprised as her.
He sighed deeply.
Since the sect master left without any orders, he was free to do as he pleased with this woman.
Yet, he dared not, he felt Li Nan and the princess had a connection with each other, and it was better to trust his guts and just leave from here.
"The luck is on your side today, lady. Pray to our sect master's generosity for leaving you alive."
Saying this he vanished from his spot.
Li Nan did not care about his frantic words, she felt as if she saw something really mysterious right now, yet she can't remember anything.
All she can remember is, the princess's dark green eyes staring at her, after that her mind blanked out.
Soon after that, she touched her face and was astonished again.
Her whole face was sweating heavily, not just her face her whole body was covered in sweat.
"Why am I sweating? My whole face is so wet and sticky..."
Li Nan's whole mind was chaotic, she was unable to understand a single thing happening to her.
She felt as if a cold bucket of water was poured on her whole body making her dripping with water.
Only after a while, she restored her calm.
"It's all his fault..."
She whispered and with staggering steps walked away.
She felt everything was connected to him.
Whatever was happening in her life was Xia Tian's fault.
It can be said, her thinking wasn't wrong.
But who was actually responsible for her current state?
Xia Tian or her?
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmWas it Xia Tian's fault for being strong enough to dictate his wish?
Or was it her fault to be weak enough to get dictated to?
She might claim, it's Xia Tian's fault for misusing his power...
But that answers the question in itself...
It's Xia Tian's power... So who is she to dictate how he uses it?
I mean, It was Xia Tian who got through all the trials and earned it for himself...
So he paid the price... To be strong...
What about her?
She did not pay the same price as him?
Thus, she isn't as strong as him...
She got, what she paid for...
Did she want the same as him, without paying the same price?
Does she want to break the principle of balance?
She isn't alone...
Many of us want the same thing as others without paying the same prices...
We all want to break the balance...
But who succeeds?
So whose fault is it now?
No one.
Both are responsible for their current state right now...
No one is responsible for anyone else...
[A/N: Wait for the rich vs poor part, before you say what about the people who are born into a rich and powerful family.]
After Li Nan walked away, one more shadow walked out from the nearby alley.
It was of Evelynn.
Taking care of Xia Tian was her responsibility, which included his things as well, which in turn included his toys.
She was watching over Li Nan, yet the princess's appearance caught her off-guard.
Finally, she decided against revealing herself until the opposite party acted first.
Even Evelynn was feeling tensed by her appearance, despite knowing from Nyx about her already, she can't help but feel threatened.
Inside the princess's body, she can only see a bottomless pit, a neverending supply of energy that was the purest form of qi she had ever seen.
Only after the princess disappeared, her heartbeat went back to normal.
'Why are all monsters appearing now?'
Evelynn felt quite worried.
She felt with her sisters around she did not need to care about Xia Tian's safety anymore.
But as the days are passing, she is feeling more and more worried, to the point, she was even unable to trust Selene anymore.
During her whole life, she had him around pushing her forward, but suddenly she started feeling solitary.
She felt scared ...
She always felt, they are went past the point where they needed his help anymore but once again she can't help but want to rush to him for advice.
Yet, knowing that he is in a fragile state right now, she felt she would be only increasing his burden.
The women felt anger.
Even in all these years of staying near him, she still doesn't know how to handle this situation.
Who was her friend and who was her foe ...?
Everything felt confusing to her...
With a muddled head, she disappeared and the whole place fell into silence.
............................
A/N: Chapter over!
What are your views on men vs women now?
Most of the readers are men but feel free to write.
I mean, if most victims of ra*e are women then they are also the ones who get the advantage of their beautiful looks as well, most men will speak to them in a very polite tone, etc, an advantage is offset by the disadvantage.
If being beautiful gives women an easy ticket when it comes to life, then it comes with an equal disadvantage as well...
The same goes for men like if you are dressed as best, and shining among the crowd, it will give you the most attention but it will also make other men want to pull you down due to various reasons.
[Telling from a recent experience, of course, it didn't end well for them, haha.]
[Just a tip, if you want to shine among the crowd, always dress one level above the others. It gives natural charisma to you. Don't care about others' looks, the event organizer's eyes would be on you, and that is all which matters. Of course, you could always play with a concept in reverse, like if you want to blend in a crowd, wear similar dresses.
When I say, one level up it doesn't mean wearing something funky, in simple words, if others are dressed in formal office attire, you should pack yourself a business suit for the event to shine among the rest. Use common sense. It comes with a disadvantage as well, that is other men will start isolating you, but well, every advantage is offset by a disadvantage, they just feel inferior standing next to you.
Don't appear desperate to mix up with them and have a mysterious aura, before long they follow you naturally and deem you a leader. Your words will carry more weight than others.]
Learning more and more about the principle of balance makes my day better and gives me yet another reason to live...