Zanxing (Retranslated)

Chapter 53 - Xiao Shuang (1)

“Wow, they encountered a Two-Headed Asura,” Cui Yufu on the competition stage gloated, “that kid’s luck wasn’t that great.”

The Two-Headed Asura, a particularly troublesome type of demonic cultivator. As the name suggests, this demon cultivator had two faces, one beautiful and one ghastly. When encountering humans, this demonic cultivator would hide its ghastly face and use its beautiful face to lure victims, then take advantage of their guard being down to devour them whole. After devouring them, only the beautiful skin remained, which it used as its next lure.

During the ancient war between humans and demons, many were buried by the Two-Headed Asura in the human realm. In the entire map of the Mustard Seed, there was only one Two-Headed Asura, and yet this young disciple encountered it. It seemed that this young disciple was about to meet his end in this assessment.

In the jungle, Zanxing stood still, unable to bear watching any longer.

The scene before her was too intense, akin to watching a horror movie in full holographic display for Zanxing, who was afraid of ghosts.

Only the male disciple carrying the ‘young lady’ seemed undeterred, still shyly complimenting, “Xiao Shuang? Your name sounds really nice.”

“Is that so?” The upper part of the Two-Headed Asura’s neck had completely rotated, with the beautiful face now at the back and the ghastly face at the front. She chuckled softly, “So, which face do you like better?”

The young disciple lifted his head, only to be met with a face full of grimacing teeth. With the sky darkening, and carrying this creature on his back, the impact was too much. A moment later, a tragic scream echoed through the forest. He didn’t even have time to take out the Departure Talisman and crush it before the ghastly face bit him on the neck, like a chicken caught by a weasel, struggling for a moment before being forced to depart the exam arena.

The figure in the gauze robes watched regretfully as the cultivator turned into smoke and left the scene. Although it was known to be fake, standing up in the dim twilight, this creature in the jungle still looked particularly creepy.

While the Two-Headed Asura depicted with qi wasn’t as terrifying as its real form, it was still equivalent to a late Nascent Soul cultivator. Before Zanxing could figure out how to retreat, she saw that the figure who turned around had raised its head at some point, pushed away its black hair, and revealed a handsome man’s face, like a rigid, perfectly carved mask. It looked at Zanxing and raised the corners of its mouth slightly, showing a strange and disgusting smile.

Zanxing’s heart skipped a beat. She had forgotten that this thing also had a face on the back of its head, and it would change according to its prey.

But just witnessing such a bloody scene a moment ago, even if the Two-Headed Asura now had the face of a breathtakingly handsome man, there was no stirring in Zanxing’s heart. If anything, there was a hint of fear.

It was likely that the gray gauze robe this creature wore had been stripped from some unlucky disciple.

Now that the Two-Headed Asura had noticed her, there was no escaping. It even flashed Zanxing a gentle smile, taking a few steps forward, saying, “Miss, I…”

Zanxing swiftly drew the iron staff from her waist with a whoosh, cutting it off, “Stop talking. Let’s just fight.”

In an instant, the tip of the staff burst open into cascading layers of flower-like patterns.

Outside the Clear Heart Mirror, Li Danshu and the others couldn’t help but gather around. After all, Yang Zanxing was the one who had obtained the Qing’e Flower-Picking Staff. In this inner disciple assessment, where Xuan Lingzi was selecting his personal disciple, Zanxing was also among the candidates. The unexpected appearance of the Torch Eye Talisman earlier had caught everyone off guard, but no one had anticipated that she would encounter the Two-Headed Asura so early on.

Encountering a high-level demonic cultivator prematurely also meant leaving the assessment site prematurely, unable to advance in the rankings. For the candidates themselves, this was very disadvantageous.

“The Two-Headed Asura is equivalent to the late stage of Nascent Soul,” Yue Qin frowned. “Yang Zanxing is only at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, and her cultivation is no match.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Li Danshu smiled. “Didn’t she defeat Duan Xiangrao, who was higher in cultivation level, during the previous sect assessment?”

“Practitioners and demon cultivators are different,” Zhao Mayi pondered for a moment before speaking. “Demon cultivators are accustomed to cruel methods, and besides, it seems that her cultivation technique… hasn’t even reached the second level, right?”

Gu Baiying frowned, his gaze closely following the figure in the Clear Heart Mirror.

“If she insists on a direct confrontation, she will definitely be defeated,” Daoist Yueguang shook his head. “But I always feel that she might have some other surprises.”

In the dense forest, Zanxing’s iron staff was grabbed by the demonic cultivator, and she couldn’t make any progress.

The Two-Headed Asura was more fierce and cunning than the demonic beasts she had fought before. Lower-level demon cultivators had no thoughts, much like newly cultivated monsters, attacking only by instinct. Middle-level demon cultivators had gained intelligence, making them even harder to deal with. The Two-Headed Asura, being a high-level cultivator, could think and set traps, making it even more challenging to deal with. Similarly, during the battle, it would avoid injuries and choose more ruthless methods.

As the ripples of the Mirror Flower and Water Moon spread out in the air, a dark green claw viciously tore it apart. The Two-Headed Asura tore through the flower waterfall in front of her, its sharp claws reaching straight towards Zanxing’s chest.

With a loud crash, Zanxing’s outer robe was torn apart, and she staggered back two steps, feeling a chill in her chest.

Too fast, the demonic cultivator’s speed was too fast, and she was no match for it at all. The Mirror Flower and Water Moon was effective against humans, but seemed somewhat ineffective against demon cultivators without weaknesses.

Zanxing was at her wit’s end, and the Xiao Yuan Pearl in her chest still hadn’t moved. She gritted her teeth, about to raise her staff to strike again, when she suddenly noticed the Two-Headed Asura picking up a flower from the ground.

Its movements were so quick that one could barely perceive them. The flower looked intact and exceptionally beautiful. As it tucked the flower into its chest, Zanxing suddenly felt a stir in her heart, recalling an old memory.

Several months ago, in order to catch up on the knowledge of this world, Zanxing had visited the library and read many miscellaneous books. Thanks to her habit of reading light novels from street stalls in the past, her reading speed was decent, and she enjoyed reading some gossip that wasn’t particularly useful. The biggest event in the cultivation world in the past hundred years was probably the war between humans and demons twenty years ago.

So Zanxing finished reading “Remembering History: Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Victory of the Human and Demon War”. Although the cover looked quite serious, the content was more like a bizarre novel. It detailed some of the most important demon cultivators during the war, including their origins, physical characteristics, weaknesses, and illustrations.

The Two-Headed Asura was also documented among them.

Legend has it that many years ago, there was a cultivator with high cultivation, good aptitude, handsome appearance, and outstanding background. He could be considered a winner in life at a young age.

However, this cultivator had a peculiar habit – he liked to wear women’s clothes and secretly disguised himself as a woman. At first, nobody knew about it, but later, someone caught him in the act. The way people looked at him immediately changed, and this winner in life suddenly tasted the bitterness of the world.