11 Snake and Rabbit 10 (1/2)

”Wait, wait, wait, wait. I'm sorry, could you repeat that again?” Yin Mei said, stopping in her tracks. She felt she must have misheard the system.

”Due to the death of the female lead-”

”Yeah, no, you can stop now.” She didn't mishear. That meant the female lead had died. Oh my god! What she feared came true! The female lead was dead by the time they had come out! ”Goddamn jinxing myself...!!”

Ignoring that, Yin Mei was very worried. This mission was probably actually even harder than killing off the male lead. First of all, there was the difference in cultivation between Yin Mei and the demon king. At this rate, the demon king would probably ascend in the next few years. On the other hand, Yin Mei was two large stages away from the Demigod stage, and it would probably take another several hundred years for her to ascend, even if she swallowed up all of the female lead's remaining treasures. And then there was...

”System, can I get the information on the plot of the upper realm?” Yin Mei asked. Yes, this was the second issue. The story plot had gotten cut off once the male and female leads had ascended, so Yin Mei had very little information on the upper realm.

”Once ascending to the upper realm, the system will provide host with the new plot.” System 097 obediently answered.

The new plot? Yin Mei was confused. What was that supposed to mean?

But no matter how much she pondered on it, she couldn't figure it out. Whatever. Since the system would provide her with information, a good portion of her worries were alleviated. The only problem that needed to be solved now was ascending. Thinking of how those xianxia main characters ascended so quickly, it was always due to swallowing a bunch of treasures or having some fortuitous encounters. But, even then, it would take them a hundred years or more (most of it skipped in a single line). The only story that Yin Mei recalled was slightly different was one main character who would die and reincarnate into a body with higher cultivation.

Yin Mei didn't think that would be an option for her, but just in case, she checked with the system. ”System, can I transfer my soul to someone in the upper realm when I die?” She wasn't sure if her intentions got through.

”Transferring souls is possible. Calculating probability of success: 40%.” She was shocked. It was actually possible? She didn't even know how that was supposed to work. But it wasn't completely guaranteed, with a success probability of 40%. Yin Mei wasn't sure how to feel.

”What happens if the soul transfer fails?” She asked again.

”Host will have failed the mission and will be transferred to the punishment world.” The system replied.

Yin Mei thought that this was a big gamble. The odds weren't terrible, but they weren't good either. If it succeeded, then okay, but she would still need to complete the mission to help the demon king obtain the dragon throne (become the king of dragons?). And if it failed, well, that was the end of it.

She thought and thought, then finally decided it was better not to gamble and instead go the normal route. After all, Yin Mei could only claim to have mediocre luck, and if she really did end up failing just like that and end up in an even worse world... She would definitely cry tears of blood, but be unable to blame anyone except herself.

”God! Isn't there anything that'll immediately let me ascend right now!?” Yin Mei shouted out as she fell onto her bed, face buried into the blanket.

It seemed that god had heard her prayers, because several weeks later, after the group had returned to the demon world and the demon king went into true secluded cultivation, Yin Mei found something that would allow her to immediately ascend.

It was Jade Rabbit blood, the mystical demon beast that Bai Yu was descended from. These beasts originated in the upper realm and were known as the messengers, or servants of god. They specifically served the Jade Emperor, who ruled the upper realm.

By consuming the blood, Yin Mei could awaken the latent bloodline in Bai Yu's body, and immediately ascend after going through the heavenly tribulation. The only problem with this was that the chance of this succeeding was even lower than the soul transfer, at a pitiful 5%. And that was just for awakening the bloodline, not mentioning whether or not she could succeed at passing the heavenly tribulation. The good thing was that it didn't matter if she failed the bloodline awakening, as nothing would happen, but if she failed the heavenly tribulation, then she would die. The other good thing was that this small percentage could be increased with the proper methods and preparations.

”Either way, it's a gamble? Will I have to go the traditional route?” Yin Mei murmured. But she was worried. Who knows what could happen in the several hundred plus years that it would take for Yin Mei to ascend? What if the demon king died? Or was sealed away? Or fatally injured? Or maybe he would forget about her...

Yin Mei was very stressed out.

She didn't want to fall into temptation, but right now, the option of soul transfer seemed very tempting. Not only that, if she could go to the upper realm in advance, she might be able to prepare various good things to help out the demon king.

”I have to decide... Decide... This is too hard.” Yin Mei murmured, her head hurting. She decided that for now... she'll just gather the female lead's treasures. As for the matter of transferring souls or consuming the Jade Rabbit blood, she'll leave that for later.

But, it wasn't long after that Yin Mei had to make her decision.