Chapter 442: The Devil's Bargain and a Heroine's Joy
"The price?"
Liu Ruyan was puzzled. What price?
Shen Anyu had already consumed her, so what was there to fear?
She had come tonight fully prepared; it wasn't as if this was the first or second time they had been intimate.
'Hehe, my charm is truly irresistible to Shen Anyu,' Liu Ruyan mused, a flicker of smug satisfaction warming her from the inside. 'Good things like the Hundred-Year Zhu Fruit and the Heavenly Human Breakthrough Pill were promised with just a word. He's so desperately eager for my body, and it's not like I can't give it to him. A small price for such immense rewards. He thinks he's in control, but I'm the one holding the true power here.'
A delightful shiver ran down her spine as she savored her perceived victory. As if afraid Shen Anyu might retract his generous offer, she leaned forward, her voice a husky and impatient whisper.
"Okay, it's a deal."
With that, Liu Ruyan's charming eyes, shimmering with seductive light, fixed on him. She was intensely curious about what trivial "price" Shen Anyu was referring to. It was probably just another one of his games, a way to make himself feel powerful.
"The price isn't urgent." Shen Anyu's lips curved into a faint, unreadable smile. A crimson fruit, the size of a perfect apple, materialized in his hand as if from thin air. "Here's the Hundred-Year Zhu Fruit. It will help you break through to the Grandmaster realm."
The fruit seemed to possess an inner luminescence, glowing with a soft, crimson light that bathed the room in a warm, ethereal hue. It looked like a flawless piece of crystal agate, so beautiful it was almost a shame to eat. The gentle radiance caressed Liu Ruyan's features, making her fair skin appear as smooth and white as freshly fallen snow, her picturesque beauty amplified to an almost celestial level.
"This… this is the Hundred-Year Zhu Fruit?" Liu Ruyan's enchanting eyes went wide, her breath catching in her throat. She stared at it, unblinking, utterly captivated. "Are you really giving it to me?"
Shen Anyu's smile was playful, a predator toying with its quarry. He spoke in a leisurely, deliberate tone that made her heart flutter.
"Of course. My word is my bond."
"Hehe, you better not go back on your word." Her voice was a mix of warning and excitement.
"I won't go back on my word, of course," he replied smoothly, his eyes glinting. "But you can't either."
"Hmph! I will definitely not go back on my word."
How could she possibly renege on a deal so overwhelmingly in her favor? At most, he'd want a few more nights with her, a few more bites of the forbidden fruit. He was her nominal boyfriend, after all, and their previous encounters had been… far from unpleasant. The feeling was actually quite addictive.
With trembling fingers, Liu Ruyan eagerly took the Hundred-Year Zhu Fruit from his hand, her heart swelling with an irrepressible joy.
She had been stagnating at the peak of the Innate Realm for several long years, painstakingly accumulating her foundation. Under normal circumstances, she might have broken through to the Grandmaster realm in another two or three years of arduous cultivation. But with this legendary treasure, everything changed. The Zhu Fruit would cleanse her muscles and marrow, transforming her body from the inside out. Not only would she shatter her bottleneck in a fraction of the time, but her foundation as a Grandmaster would be incomparably more solid.
The Zhu Fruit was a treasure that countless martial artists dreamed of their entire lives, and a hundred-year-old specimen was a myth, a legend whispered in reverent tones.
Liu Ruyan shot a quick glance at Shen Anyu. He was still smiling that calm, confident smile, showing no signs of regret or any intention of taking it back. A wave of relief washed over her. Her lush, red lips parted slightly, revealing a line of pearly white teeth, and she took a delicate bite of the fruit.
The flesh was succulent and sweet, melting on her tongue like a divine nectar. She devoured the rest in a few more bites, not wanting to waste a single drop.
Boom!
In an instant, she felt a torrent of scorching energy erupt within her dantian and surge through her internal organs, flooding every meridian and limb. The sensation wasn't uncomfortable; on the contrary, it was intensely pleasant, like being immersed in a hot spring of pure life force, a cozy warmth that seeped into the very marrow of her bones.
Crack! Pop!
A series of tiger-leopard thunder sounds, like a string of a thousand tiny firecrackers, echoed from within her body as her bones, muscles, and tendons were violently reforged. Her cultivation at the peak of the Innate Realm, a dam that had held her back for years, was shattered by the raging flood of power. She was ascending, moving towards the coveted world of the Grandmaster!
The chasm between an Innate expert and a Grandmaster was vast. A Grandmaster's True Qi permeated every inch of their body, tempering their organs and limbs in a complete metamorphosis that resulted in a monumental leap in strength. While it wasn't the heaven-and-earth watershed of becoming a Heavenly Human, this single step had trapped countless geniuses for their entire lives.
Half an hour later, the torrent subsided. Liu Ruyan felt impossibly light, as if every burden and impurity had been purged from her being. True Qi now flowed effortlessly through her entire body like a gentle river. She casually clenched her delicate hand into a fist.
Boom!
The air within her grasp imploded, creating a miniature vacuum that let out a muffled clap of thunder. The shockwave tingled against her palm.
"I originally thought it would take me several more years to break into the Grandmaster realm," she whispered in awe, her voice trembling with excitement. "I never imagined a single Hundred-Year Zhu Fruit would allow me to succeed in one night."
"And…"
A flicker of wonder lit up her charming eyes. A light red True Qi, dense and vibrant, surged from her slender, jade-like fingers. After being tempered by the Zhu Fruit, her True Qi had also undergone a qualitative change. It was far more condensed, its purity and power improved by at least thirty percent.
"Shen Anyu, thank you!" Liu Ruyan turned to him, her eyes shining with heartfelt gratitude, overwhelming joy, and a burgeoning desire. She closed the distance in a single, fluid motion and proactively pressed her soft, newly energized lips against his in a sweet, lingering kiss.
[Ding! Detected destined heroine Liu Ruyan's favorability +6! Plundering 18,000 Destiny Points!]
[Ding! Detected destined heroine Liu Ruyan's total favorability has reached 85! Extra plunder of 30,000 Destiny Points!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Ye Linyuan's emotional line has been broken! Plundering 600,000 Destiny Points!]
…
Meanwhile, across the city, in the opulent Jiangjing Manor's Villa No. 2, the architect of Liu Ruyan's joy was suffering.
Ye Linyuan was buried under a mountain of homework. Shen Anyu had forbidden him from going out until he finished it, and his goddess Senior Sisters, instead of defending him, had all agreed it was for his own good.
He could only write with tears welling in his eyes, cursing Shen Anyu a thousand times over in his heart.
'Damn you, Shen Anyu! Just you wait! The moment this curse is lifted and I regain my power, I will cultivate day and night until I'm stronger than you ever dreamed of being! Then we'll see how I get my revenge!'
His childish face twisted into a grimace. 'At that time, I'll lock you in a steel room and force-feed you elementary school textbooks! I'll arrange a few tanks to surround you, their cannons pointed right at your head, supervising every single character you write! If you don't finish… hehehe!'
Thinking of these vengeful scenes, Ye Linyuan couldn't help but let out a small, maniacal laugh.
"Hiss…"
Just then, the laugh died in his throat. He gasped, his small hands clutching his chest as a spike of pure, unadulterated agony shot through him. It felt as if an icy hand had reached into his chest and was methodically crushing his heart into pulp. Cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead, drenching his hair.
But just as quickly as it came, the feeling vanished.
"What's going on? It's happening again?"
Ye Linyuan was surprised and uncertain, his mind a whirlwind of confusion and fear.
This had been happening frequently lately. He remembered the last time it had been this bad—the night his Fifth Senior Sister, Zhong Lingyin, held her concert in Sakura Country. The pain had been so terrible he almost blacked out.
'Do I have… heart disease? No, that can't be right.'
Before this wretched curse had stripped him of his power, he was a martial arts genius at the peak of the Innate Realm. How could someone like him get a mundane illness like heart disease? This wasn't some comic book where powerhouses who could shatter planets still died from a simple virus.
A Grandmaster's True Qi permeated the entire body, tempering the internal organs and limbs. His heart should have been as strong as tempered steel. Heart disease was absolutely impossible.
"Is it… because of the curse?"
Recalling the cursed talisman that had robbed him of his strength and regressed him into a child, Ye Linyuan's expression instantly became extremely ugly, his face ashen with dread.
"No, I have to find Third Senior Sister as soon as possible and ask her to treat me. Even if she can't break this curse, she has to at least find out what's wrong with my body. If I just die like this, it would be too damn frustrating!"
His fists clenched, his knuckles white.
"I haven't even managed to win over a single one of my seven goddess Senior Sisters yet. If I die now, my spirit in heaven will never be at peace!"
While Ye Linyuan tossed and turned all night, troubled and unable to sleep, Shen Anyu was in an excellent mood.
In the early morning, the first rays of dawn painted streaks of gold across the penthouse suite. Liu Ruyan sat on the edge of the bed, her back to him. Slowly, deliberately, she rolled a stocking of the finest black silk up her long, flawless leg. The whisper of the fabric against her skin was the only sound in the quiet room. Noticing Shen Anyu's intense gaze in the reflection of the window, she turned, her charming eyes glistening like water, a hint of teasing in her voice.
"Shen Anyu, are you especially interested in black silk? Are you obsessed?"
She stood, her new Grandmaster-level body moving with a newfound grace and power.
"Too bad. The reward is over. I won't be playing around with you anymore."
Just as Liu Ruyan was about to leave, feeling powerful and in control, Shen Anyu's leisurely voice suddenly rang out from behind her.
"Yan'er, my word is my bond. Don't forget the price."
"The price?"
Liu Ruyan turned her gaze, a playful smirk on her lips. But as she listened to Shen Anyu's next words, her pupils contracted.
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]