Standing on stage in the middle of the arena with her willow body, beautiful face, and elegant composure while sporting a pitiful expression, the males in the audience found their lost chivalry of wanting to protect the fairer sex as their hearts ached for the damsel in distress. The loyal fans of Fei Fei who’d chased after her until their dreams were crushed by news of her betrothal to Prince Zhao, immediately sent Baihe looks of reproach as if she were the most inhumane person alive without morals.

Others were torn between who to root for and began to compare the two beautiful women on stage, but those who still had their wits scowled at this new development and creased their brows — Prince Zhao was one of them.

Seeing his reaction, Fei Fei was even more certain of her decision and her blood boiled with determination to end Baihe’s life! The only reason she requested for a life and death agreement was because she had to take her current position as the Crown Princess into consideration. It wouldn’t be virtuous and magnanimous for the future wife of Prince Zhao to kill indiscriminately.

“What’s this? That girl trying to be a Mary Sue character? She can’t even compare to my monkey girl, where did she get the confidence from?” Qian scoffed in disdain; “Innocent and pure like a white lotus flower on the surface, but sinister and corrupted beneath the sweetness. I say, monkey girl, instead of always thinking about plucking my feathers, you should go and peel those petals off her lotus flower facade one by one.” 

His monkey girl might not have much merits, pms and menopause all day long, a bit weird and funky in the head, but at least with her identity as the only woman capable of binding a contract with the glorious and prestigious him, she would still be better than any other two-legged creature.

For once, Baihe didn’t feel so angry hearing the phoenix addressed her as a monkey girl because it almost sounded like he was standing up for her on her behalf. If only she were privy to his thoughts, she would’ve retracted that statement and dragged him by the neck before dumping his body inside a boiling pot.

Something warm grew in a hidden part of Baihe’s heart as she was secretly happy about having someone defend her for the first time, but she’d rather die than ever admit having such silly and cheesy sentiments that went against the very survival code she lived by. Unfortunately for her, Baihe had forgotten that Qian was privy to all of her thoughts and right at this moment, a phoenix could be seen with an extremely smug look on his face.

Baihe flashed Fei Fei a ghost of a smile before nonchalantly agreeing to her terms. From the moment Fei Fei entered the arena, Baihe had already assessed her strength and knew she was one stage above her — Early Dao Stage 3.

However, she was also once an Early Dao Stage 3 practitioner who had even advanced to Mid Dao Stage 2 and would have remained at that level if it weren’t for the stupid bird. Even though Baihe’s current strength was only at Early Dao Stage 2, her ample experience should allow her to deal with Fei Fei on par; although, this match might require more effort due to the difference in strength.

A white parchment was brought forward; in clear black and white letters, the two signed a life and death agreement. The ambience in the arena was heavy and rowdy with great excitement floating in the air.

Immediately, the moment the match started, Fei Fei gathered her spiritual energy and blasted it toward Baihe who nimbly dodged the attack by a hair-breath away. Much to her dismay, a huge, thick log appeared out of nowhere right afterward and struck Baihe’s stomach, sending her flying backward.

What the holy fuck? 

Baihe braced the fall and rolled back up to her feet, ignoring the pain from her abdominal where Fei Fei launched the attack.

“Stupid monkey girl! That girl has a contract with a special armament that allows her to control the earth and wood element. Is your head filled with rocks? Quickly use this grandpa’s power!” Qian yelled; worried that this monkey girl might actually end up dying pathetically right then and there, especially to some Mary Sue bitch. That would be a huge slap to his esteemed self.

Without giving her any time to consider Qian’s words, a flurry of vines extended from Fei Fei’s hand and whipped down fiercely on Baihe. Her robe ripped with horizontal and vertical cuts as blood seeped out from the fabric, soaking the outer layer.

Spurred on by the sight of her wound, glee flashed in Fei Fei’s eyes and her attacks became more relentless. Whip after whip landed on her Baihe’s body; the back of her robe and the sleeves were now torn with multiple open patches. The onlookers could feel the pain for Baihe, but the woman herself had no expression of pain on her face. Not once had she cried out, causing the audience to admire her tenacity.

Hit with a sense of déjà vu, Baihe was momentarily disoriented from the onslaught of memories until Qian’s constant harping brought her back. Her legs and wrists were now bounded tightly by thick vines, preventing her movement as Fei Fei freely whipped her in front of everyone. Anger flashed in her eyes when Baihe remembered the scenes playing in her mind.

No wonder it felt so familiar. Her predecessor had suffered under the siblings’ hands, except it was much worse! The original Huang Baihe was stripped naked by the servants and maids, whipped by the siblings while they both watched happily over her humiliation and dishonor.

In this world and time period, a female having their naked body seen by someone other than her own husband is a huge deal and considered damaged goods in some way, similar to those in brothels. As a modern day woman, she really abhorred this idea of perceiving women as property with their value and worth depended entirely on a man.

Fuck that shit! Let strength speak for itself. By the rules of natural selection, might is right! 

Considering her predecessor was a citizen from this world, brainwashed by their strict customs, Baihe could only imagine the horror and humiliation she’d suffered. What those siblings did were no different from scooping a fish out of the water and having it splash around helplessly as it slowly dies. The original Huang Baihe’s life was ruined under the hands of the Huang’s family — Baihe held each and every one of these fuckers accountable.

With the way how the fight was unfolding, Baihe already figured out Fei Fei’s train of thought. This woman, her supposed half-sister of the same age, only younger by a day, wanted to tear her robe apart with those vines and whip her naked body to death before the public eye.

What lotus flower? What damsel in distress? Are the eyes of everyone here for decoration? 

Although Baihe’s clothes were currently tattered, it still provided ample coverage for her body and she wasn’t going to sit around like a wooden-dummy doing nothing as this crazy bitch tried to humiliate her in public. Remembering Qian’s words, Baihe gathered her spiritual energy, borrowing the power of the phoenix. Soon, she felt something burning hot wrapped around her hands and feet, but it didn’t harm her in any way.

To the world’s astonishment of all those witnessing the spectacular scene, Baihe was completely immune to the blazing fire on her body; however, the same couldn’t be said for Fei Fei’s vines. Sizzling sound of something burning could be heard throughout the stadium.

A gauze of black smoke was seen coming from the wrists and legs where the vines had originally bounded Baihe together. Now, nothing was left behind besides the black smoke.

On Baihe’s body, flames encroached her hands and legs, burning with vigor and vitality — a lady untouched and unharmed by the fire as if she were made from the same element. The destruction of the vines caused Fei Fei to suffer from a back-lash, slightly injuring her.

Completely enraged, Fei Fei tackled her down to the ground, wrapping her hands around Baihe’s neck. Summoning another set of vines, she attempted to wrap them around Baihe, but the moment they came in contact with those flames, the vines immediately withered away. Gnashing her teeth, Fei Fei could only increase the force behind her hands, unleashing the might of her higher cultivation to just strangle the bitch to death instead!