After I Failed to Reform the Female Lead of a Tragic Novel - Chapter 24

Inside the illusion, everything was something that had happened before, yet Xie Yu knew nothing of it. She was merely repeating it meaninglessly.

The moment her grandmother died, she “fainted” again, just as she had in the past.

That was right. She had always known that there was another self inside her body. That person was cold-blooded, violent, and vengeful to the smallest grievance, yet possessed power that Xie Yu herself could never hope to reach.

These were fragments Xie Yu had slowly reasoned out and pieced together after waking. She had never seen that other self before, because the two of them never controlled the body in the same time and space.

That person had first appeared on this very day. She had taken control of Xie Yu’s body and fulfilled Xie Yu’s intense desire for revenge. After doing everything, she vanished without a trace. From then on, every time she appeared, it was after Xie Yu had lost control to an extreme degree.

But inside the illusion, when Gong Dongling woke Xie Yu, the two souls within her body actually faced each other for the first time.

As the dream collapsed, the other Xie Yu did not disappear. In Xie Yu’s sea of consciousness, they stood on opposite sides, neither moving.

After a strange silence, Xie Yu asked, “Who are you?”

“I am you.”

That person clearly had the same face as Xie Yu, but her entire presence was cold as frost. Just standing there in confrontation made the atmosphere feel suffocating.

She suddenly moved, flashing over like a phantom. Her five fingers clamped around Xie Yu’s neck and pressed her against the edge of the sea of consciousness. The corner of her mouth even curved into a cold, thin smile. “If I kill you, I can have the body.”

Xie Yu was choked almost to suffocation. She could only flail and weakly grab the other girl’s wrist, trying to pull her hand away.

At the same time, she was still digesting the enormous amount of information in that sentence.

What did “kill” mean… Was she going to take my body?

“A weak soul like you—what right do you have to possess this body? When misfortune strikes, all you know is how to endure alone in a corner, yet you expect me to help you settle everything and bear the dark reality you escape from? From the moment I helped you kill, this body should have belonged to me.”

The woman shook off Xie Yu’s weakly flailing hands in disgust and tightened her fingers, choking her even harder.

Even after brushing past danger countless times, Xie Yu had never felt such intense killing intent. In her despair, hatred and unwillingness exploded in her heart.

No. She could not die like this…

She had not even had time to become strong. She had only just met the first person aside from her grandmother who treated her so well…

Unlike her previous awakenings, this feeling was mixed with intense hatred.

Why me?

Why was it always me?!

All the ugliness she had encountered since childhood flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern. Suddenly, she laughed aloud. Aside from Prince Beiye, who had been killed by “herself” and paid with his life, who else had ever been punished?

Was it only by choosing to fall into hell that she could obtain true salvation?

The answer was yes.

Whether it was deserved retribution or self-inflicted consequence, the other Xie Yu had been born from her intense desires. Then Xie Yu would also be the one to personally destroy her!

In that instant, a force formed in her dantian and flowed through every part of her body.

It was a vast, surging power Xie Yu had never felt before. Perhaps it should not be called spiritual power. It was unlike spiritual power, which was warm and refreshing. Everywhere it flowed, it brought pain like her soul was being burned.

The other party seemed still immersed in rage and did not notice Xie Yu’s power awakening.

Without a teacher, Xie Yu instinctively guided the power into her hanging right hand. Black mist gradually gathered in her palm, forming a pure black short blade. Without the slightest hesitation, Xie Yu used all her strength to stab the blade fiercely into the woman’s heart.

There was no resistance. The sharp blade pierced flesh with a soft, wet sound, and the woman’s hand instantly loosened from Xie Yu’s neck.

Yet there was no shock or despair on that beautiful face. On the contrary, she laughed madly. “You’re finally willing to strike?”

“You are finally willing to accept me.”

Ignoring the wound piercing through her body, she embraced Xie Yu and whispered beside her ear.

Something unexpected happened. The woman’s body gradually turned into a transparent soul form, but it was also merging little by little into Xie Yu’s body.

At first, Xie Yu struggled desperately, her face full of confusion and fear. But as the soul merged into her, the aura that belonged to her own self grew fainter and fainter.

Only now did she truly understand.

As the main soul, because of her intense hatred and desire for revenge, she had split off a soul fragment filled with hatred and handed her body over to it, hoping it could help her avenge her wrongs.

After that, she had never taken that fragment back. Instead, she had treated it as a savior, a harbor where she could hide from the darkness. She endured and endured, until the day she could endure no more, then let her savior come out and destroy everything.

To her, both states were incomplete. The main soul only knew how to endure and escape, while the broken soul fragment was addicted to destruction.

By killing the broken soul fragment, Xie Yu had killed “someone” for the first time. Only then did she truly accept her dark and cruel side, both in body and mind. That was why the broken soul fragment could merge back into her body, returning her to wholeness and truth.

When everything settled, only Xie Yu remained in the sea of consciousness. It was as if she stood at a high place. She opened her eyes and coldly swept her gaze across all things, carrying an arrogance she seemed to have been born with.

The mass of black mist inside her body that had tempted, urged, and provoked her every day also took shape. Unlike its usual mockery, sarcasm, and disdain, it prostrated at Xie Yu’s feet and devoutly called out, “Master.”

Xie Yu did not find anything strange about this. She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t have time today. Continue giving me your power later.”

“As you command.”

Perhaps Gong Dongling would never know that, in the original novel, even if Xie Yu had not been robbed of the Xuanji Grass, she would still have fused with that broken soul fragment because of this illusion and stepped onto the path of blackening from then on.

What Gong Dongling never expected even more was that Xie Yu’s soul fusion had fooled even the system’s detection. As long as she did not fall into a state of losing control again, the system would not be able to detect the subtle changes in her emotions.

…

“A-Yu, A-Yu.”

A voice woke Xie Yu from her daze.

“Senior Sister, what is it?” Xie Yu quickly sorted out her emotions and put on her usual slow, obedient appearance in front of Gong Dongling.

Gong Dongling held the Xuanji Grass out in front of Xie Yu. “Did you forget the Xuanji Grass? I told you I would get it for you.”

“But didn’t I also say that whoever got it first would keep it? I don’t need the Xuanji Grass anymore. Senior Sister should use it to treat your illness.” Xie Yu was not lying. She truly no longer needed this grass. After the fusion, she knew many things. Whether her spiritual root could be rebuilt no longer mattered at all.

Thinking back now, she even wanted to laugh at the childish foolishness of her main soul. Had she really thought she could gain anything through a heart full of sincerity and effort? It was nothing but a fleeting dream.

How could Gong Dongling know that, just as her redemption project was flourishing and the future looked bright, such a change had suddenly occurred? She simply thought Xie Yu was trying to give way to her.

She knew that with Xie Yu’s stubbornness, once she said she did not want it, she absolutely would not accept it.

“The cold energy in my body can still be suppressed by pills, can’t it? Why don’t we wait until I refine the pills and see how things go? I’ll keep the Xuanji Grass with me for now. Who knows? Maybe you’ll need it later.”

Although Xie Yu had not told her that she wanted to use the Xuanji Grass to rebuild her spiritual root, Gong Dongling had read the original novel. Naturally, she knew that aside from this one medicinal herb, there were many other heavenly treasures that needed to be slowly gathered. Her words were a hint: Once you’ve gathered everything else, it won’t be too late to come get the Xuanji Grass.

She wondered whether that wooden head of hers could understand this layer of meaning…

Gong Dongling sighed and once again worried over her silly “daughter.”

The Ruoxu Illusion Realm had no difference between day and night, so there was no visible trace of time passing. Even Gong Dongling did not know how long they had stayed here. But judging from the situation, they should not exceed the training time limit.

In other words, although they had already found the Xuanji Grass, they could still stay in this illusion realm for a while to search for other resources. Whether they kept them for themselves or sold them, it would all be profit.

The treasure-seeking rat was still in their hands. Before returning it, they could borrow its use again. Thinking this, Gong Dongling looked at the treasure-seeking rat that had long since fallen asleep on her shoulder.

However, for now, they did not need the treasure-seeking rat. After all, right before them was a whole large patch of resources.

In the place where the Xuanji Grass grew, aside from the Xuanji Grass that had been nurtured like the moon surrounded by countless stars, there were also many other herbs that had grown strong by borrowing the spiritual energy it emitted. There were so many, and the variety was so complete, that Gong Dongling, as an alchemist, could not help marveling.

This place was simply paradise for an alchemist. If possible, she could set up an alchemy furnace here and refine pills day and night for a year and a half without rest.

Gong Dongling only swept her gaze over it roughly before seeing many familiar herbs, all of which she remembered from casually flipping through that alchemy book.

Following Gong Dongling’s gaze, Xie Yu also understood what she wanted to do. So she walked ahead of Gong Dongling. “Senior Sister, let me do it. Some of the herbs here are poisonous. You may not recognize them.”

In this field, Xie Yu was the expert. Although she had no talent for alchemy, she had read far too many books and never forgot what she saw, making Gong Dongling extremely envious.

The two did not clear out all the herbs here. They left a few young shoots of every kind so the plants could continue to reproduce.

Even so, they quickly filled half the space in the storage ring. Gong Dongling planned to organize and register everything after going back, keeping only the herbs she needed for alchemy and giving the rest to Xie Yu, whether Xie Yu wanted to keep them for herself or sell them at the market.

While Xie Yu was using Xuanling to help her harvest herbs, Gong Dongling kept feeling that her swordsmanship seemed sharper somehow. She did not know if it was only her imagination, but it felt different from what she had seen before.

A message from the Recording Stone suddenly interrupted her thoughts. It was from Qiu Zijian.

“Senior Sister, Qiu Yan has been hanging on the wall for three days and three nights. Should we let him down?”

His tone was extremely cautious. Over the past few days, he had kept trying to contact Gong Dongling but received no reply. He was afraid he had done something wrong again, so he was especially careful and meek.

The two of them had guarded Qiu Yan in the maze for days and did not dare leave. They could only wait endlessly for news from Gong Dongling. Their moods had grown increasingly restless, and privately, they had complained who knew how many times.

Hearing that line, Gong Dongling found it strangely familiar and instinctively replied, “Has Qiu Yan admitted his mistake?”

“What mistake? He seems to have lost the will to live.” Qiu Zijian ran over to poke the lifeless Qiu Yan and came to this conclusion.

“Let him down. Be careful and protect yourselves. Half-dead is fine, but don’t let him actually die. Also, don’t get beaten to death by him. Wait for me at the maze.”

Gong Dongling had already obtained the Xuanji Grass, so there was clearly no longer any need to keep Qiu Yan trapped. Out of kindness, she even thoughtfully reminded them.

“Eldest Senior Brother, we have orders to let you down.” Qiu Zijian piled on a fake smile as he looked at Qiu Yan, who no longer looked human.

Qiu Yan had been hanging on the wall for three days. Even a cultivator’s body could not withstand such torment. He had no strength and could not be bothered to pay attention to those two. Hearing this, he did not even lift his head, wilting like a stray dog that had lost its home.

Three days had already made Qiu Zijian and Qi Tuo forget how Qiu Yan had gotten hung on the wall in the first place.

The instant they raised their swords to cut the branches, their bodies were also swept up onto the wall. Just like Qiu Yan, the three of them were neatly lined up in a row.

Qiu Yan glanced at them, and a mocking sound rolled from his throat. “Heh.”

This time, it was Qiu Zijian and Qi Tuo’s turn to choke speechlessly.

When Gong Dongling and Xie Yu arrived at the maze, they saw from afar three human-shaped “flags” hanging high among the neat tree walls, extremely eye-catching.

When facing the three of them, Xie Yu’s emotions grew slightly out of control. After the return of her broken soul fragment, the dark side in her heart grew wildly. She could no longer calmly face her old enemies. After all, vengeance for every grievance was her true nature.

Especially Qiu Yan, whom she had once confronted but failed to strike down.

No…

Gong Dongling was still beside her. If her methods were too obvious, Senior Sister would become suspicious. The instant she thought of this, she became a little clearer and pressed her lips together.

In front of Senior Sister, Xie Yu instinctively did not want to expose her dark side. After all, she and Senior Sister were people from two different worlds. From the moment she accepted that broken soul fragment, this had become even more impossible.

“Senior Sister, don’t attack these branches and vines, or you’ll also be swept inside…” Before Qiu Zijian could finish, he heard Xie Yu let out a mocking laugh.

“If I don’t cut the vines, should I cut off your hands and feet instead?”

She looked at the three impatiently. Using Xuanling, she picked up a fallen leaf and guided it toward them with the sword. The sword itself never left her hand, but the leaf perfectly copied the sword technique, carrying cold sword energy. It brushed past the arteries on their wrists and cut through the vines binding their hands and feet.

Because the weapon was a leaf, the tree wall did not classify this as an attack. Even though many of its vines were cut off, it only blankly shook its branches and leaves, then filled in the exposed gaps again.

Perhaps simply to vent, Xie Yu still lifted a thin layer of flesh from the three men’s wrists, revealing clean, even cuts.

If Senior Sister were not beside her, what she lifted would not have been so little.

Xie Yu looked heavily toward the three, who were clutching their wrists and wailing.

Lifeless Qiu Yan had been injured by Xie Yu, but as if realizing something, he suddenly lifted his head and met Xie Yu’s gaze.

He felt as if he had seen the portrait come alive.

His fanatical pursuit of unlocking the seal made Qiu Yan excited again in an instant. He could not wait to study Xie Yu properly once more!

Gong Dongling saw the wounds on the three men’s hands, and it was hard for her not to suspect Xie Yu had done it on purpose. She was just about to say something when, in the next second, she saw Xie Yu also clutch her own palm with a frown.

“What happened?” She rushed over and checked Xie Yu’s palm. There seemed to be a cut on it from accidentally injuring herself while pulling the leaf back.

“It seems I haven’t fully mastered the spell for controlling other objects with sword intent. It’s not much that I got hurt, but mainly their wounds…” Xie Yu looked guilty. Her eyes were like those of a startled deer, aggrieved with a hint of caution.

Gong Dongling felt she had wrongly suspected Xie Yu. Guilt rose in her heart, and her tone grew even softer as she comforted her. “Those people brought it on themselves. It’s good for them to suffer a little and learn a lesson. What’s wrong is that they dragged you into getting hurt. I’ll help you treat the wound.”

“Senior Sister… I… I still want you to blow on it like last time.” Xie Yu hesitated for a long time, as if finding it hard to say, but in the end, she still spoke.

In the past, Xie Yu had not gotten close to people entirely because, when she was a little beggar, she had been rejected as dirty and smelly. After cultivating, she had indeed been reborn, but the inferiority in her bones could not be changed. That was also because she had been missing that broken soul fragment.

Now, she had truly been reborn. That lowly nature had long since ceased to exist.

Qiu Zijian and Qi Tuo nearly spat blood. Could that bloodstain that would vanish if one waited a little longer compare to the clean cuts on their wrists?! Yet Gong Dongling just had to feel terribly distressed, blowing on it and bandaging it, bustling about with concern.

But Qiu Yan was even more miserable than them. It seemed as if something had gone wrong with his mind. He ignored the blood flowing from his wrist like a river and only stared darkly at Gong Dongling and Xie Yu, no one knew what he was planning in his heart.

Just then, the sleeping treasure-seeking rat on Gong Dongling woke up right on schedule. Seeing Qiu Yan’s familiar and detestable face, it thought it had transmigrated and bared its teeth at him hatefully.

“Since you’ve already obtained the Xuanji Grass, return the treasure-seeking rat to me.” Qiu Yan finally spoke, saying his first sentence.

Before Gong Dongling could speak, the treasure-seeking rat was the first to start cursing. “Squeak squeak squeak!” Don’t even think about it!

As it cursed, it shrank into Gong Dongling’s collar, determined not to stay with Qiu Yan.

“Senior Sister already got the Xuanji Grass?!” Qiu Zijian’s focus, however, was on the Xuanji Grass. He said this in surprise. Thinking about it, Senior Sister had disappeared for three days, so wasn’t she searching for that thing? It made sense that she had found it.

But after hearing this news, he felt especially unbalanced…

After all, he and Qi Tuo had done work for Gong Dongling. It was one thing that they had gained no benefits at all, but they had even been injured by Xie Yu. Their wounds still throbbed with pain.

At this moment, he completely threw to the back of his mind the fact that Xie Yu had saved their lives twice. The evil thought in his heart, which had never truly gone out, once again burned fiercely.

“It’s not that I don’t want to return it. You saw it too. If it follows you, it’ll still secretly run away. When the time comes, how will Senior Brother explain things to Zhenren? Why not leave it with me? Once we return, I’ll give it to Zhenren. Isn’t that the same?” Gong Dongling only smiled and leisurely looked at Qiu Yan.

Qiu Yan had already lost his fighting spirit and said indifferently, “Then you lead it.”

He could not take even this much? Then he was far too easy to break. Compared to everything he had done to Xie Yu back then, this was far from enough, Gong Dongling thought maliciously. Did Qiu Yan know that he was about to fall into the same position as Xie Yu once had?

“Junior Sister, do you know that you are currently raising a tiger that will one day bring disaster?”

Just before they left, Qiu Yan suddenly lifted his head and looked at Gong Dongling. His expression was strange, mixed with a little excitement and schadenfreude.

Xie Yu’s footsteps suddenly stopped. She turned back and looked coldly at Qiu Yan, anger and warning in her eyes.

Qiu Yan was not afraid. Instead, he met her gaze.

Gong Dongling was baffled. Knowing that Qiu Yan was referring to the matter of the seal, she only found it funny. Even now, he was still trying to drive a wedge between them.

She returned without any politeness, “I know what the people by my side are like far better than you do. You should speak less and worry more about your own affairs!”

Xie Yu had been raised by her into a proper, upright, new-era good youth. Now her confidence had also been brought up. Gong Dongling could not be more satisfied. Since when was it the turn of a monster like him to run his mouth?

After the two of them walked far away, Qiu Zijian and Qi Tuo finally began bandaging each other’s wounds.

Qi Tuo cried out in pain and gritted his teeth as he recalled, “Xie Yu definitely did that on purpose! Are we still working for Gong Dongling?”

“We didn’t get any benefits at all, so of course not. But we have to join hands with Qiu Yan first. After all, Gong Dongling still has leverage over us.”

“Qiu Yan? After we harmed him so badly, it’ll already be good if he doesn’t retaliate against us. How are we supposed to join hands?” Qi Tuo shook his head at once, thinking it inappropriate.

Qiu Zijian hated iron for not becoming steel and fiercely knocked him on the head. “Didn’t you see Qiu Yan’s gaze just now? He obviously has his eye on something. I’m guessing he’s also aiming for the Xuanji Grass. Our goal is also the Xuanji Grass, so doesn’t that mean we can cooperate?”

“But there’s only one Xuanji Grass. How do we split it?” Qi Tuo froze.

“None of us need that thing. We can just sell it, can’t we? The three of us split the money evenly. If Qiu Yan needs it, selling it to him works too.”

Although the Xuanji Grass was rare and expensive on the market, its uses and effects were limited. Ordinary cultivators had no use for it. The best choice was to sell it. There would always be someone who needed it and would come buy it.

When the two of them finally mustered up the courage and stepped forward to ask Qiu Yan, whose entire body screamed “strangers stay away,” Qiu Yan actually sneered. “We can cooperate. I don’t need the Xuanji Grass. You can take it. Someone will naturally come to buy it later. But my condition is that you help me deal with Xie Yu. Ideally, the three of us work together to knock her unconscious.”

Hearing this, both of them froze.

So he had been staring at Xie Yu darkly just now?

They could not help guessing inwardly. Could Qiu Yan have some unspeakable thoughts about Xie Yu?

Qiu Yan’s expression darkened. “It isn’t what you’re thinking. I need to verify something.”

They were still somewhat wary of Qiu Yan’s cultivation and did not dare gossip any further. They only gathered together to discuss how to carry out their plan inside the illusion realm.

Qiu Zijian carefully chose his words and asked what was on his mind. “Senior Brother, with your cultivation, how could you still be afraid of Xie Yu? Didn’t Xie Yu only just reach Foundation Establishment?”

“That’s exactly what I need to verify. If it’s true, then I probably can’t beat her. We need numbers.” He frowned, recalling how Xie Yu had used sword energy to control the withered leaf earlier, precisely injuring all three of them with that sword technique.

Qiu Yan was certain that if she had wanted to, she could have picked out their tendons. That should not be an ability possessed by a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

All three realized this, and for a moment, they fell silent.

“Tonight, the illusion realm will enter a yin hour lasting about one shichen. It is the day of its renewal and transition. All light sources will extinguish. That will also be our chance. Follow me, and we should be able to get the Xuanji Grass.”

Qiu Yan had originally arranged a plan for the yin hour. But now, because of the change in Xie Yu, he could only adjust it.

“Then how do we find them? Xie Yu just left, and by now they’re already gone.”

“You think only they can locate me, and I can’t locate them?” Qiu Yan said disdainfully. His previous defeats had been entirely because he had been careless and anxious. He had wanted too badly to know the truth of that matter and had unconsciously been led around by the nose.

If he had stuck to his original plan, nothing would have gone wrong. Qiu Yan also felt a wave of regret.

But perhaps this was a blessing in disguise. Letting them obtain the Xuanji Grass had actually led to the result of unlocking the seal. That was truly an unexpected delight.

On the other side, Xie Yu looked at the suddenly darkening sky and also abruptly remembered this matter. She turned to Gong Dongling beside her. “Tonight, the illusion realm will have a yin hour of about one shichen. At that time, heaven and earth will be pitch-black. Senior Sister should prepare.”

She remembered that Senior Sister seemed to have trouble seeing clearly at night.

“Yin hour?!” Gong Dongling was not afraid of the darkness. It was just that she had also seen this term in the book, and it was even an important plot point!

That alone would not be a problem. The key was that this part of the plot should not have happened here in the Ruoxu Illusion Realm. It was supposed to happen more than a hundred chapters later, when Xie Yu encountered a yin-hour change during a training mission. She was ambushed in the darkness, but because she had blackened and grown stronger, she slaughtered everyone.

Hearing that description, one might think it was a satisfying counterattack scene. That would be completely wrong, because this was an angst novel. How could it possibly let the female lead switch to a feel-good route?

Just as Xie Yu dealt with the enemies attacking her, her own master suddenly appeared, exposed the fact that she had already fallen into demonic cultivation, and, without distinguishing right from wrong, threw Xie Yu—who had acted in self-defense—into the dungeon on the charge of harming righteous cultivators.

It turned out everything had been a conspiracy. The Demon Realm had already discovered Xie Yu and wanted her to completely break with Buzhou Mountain. That way, she would have no choice but to serve the Demon Clan.

Leaving aside all those twists and turns, why would tonight be yin hour? Would the attack from that plot still appear?

The original novel had never mentioned a yin hour in the Ruoxu Illusion Realm. Then there should not be any crucial plot point here, right…

“Senior Sister, what’s wrong? Are you afraid of the dark?” Xie Yu’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“The darkness itself is nothing. When the time comes, we can light a lamp and avoid running around. I’m only worried that encountering such a change inside the illusion realm might cause some accident. For example, we might run into spirit beasts similar to the giant python… or even an attack from people.”

Gong Dongling tried to pass her information to Xie Yu without showing it too obviously, hoping she would raise her guard.

“With me here, everything will be fine.”

Ever since her soul fusion, Xie Yu had inherited the broken soul fragment’s power. But she herself was not clear how strong this power truly was. She actually hoped for a chance to test it.

But before that, she needed to conceal that black mist. That was the mark of demonic energy.

Just as the description of the yin hour said, sure enough, as time passed, the final thread of light in the illusion realm slowly extinguished. Everything seemed to fall into sleep together. This was the illusion realm adjusting itself.

Because the illusion realm was filled with abundant spiritual energy, it was suitable for the survival of all spirit herbs, flowers, and trees. But allowing them to grow unchecked would also bring disaster. Thus, the “strangling” of the yin hour existed.

Not all living things could survive this period of darkness.

Xie Yu found a cave and covered the entrance with dead branches and weeds. From outside, one could no longer see what was inside.

The entrance to the cave was very narrow, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, but the interior was spacious and dry. Most importantly, if they lit a lamp inside, the light source would be perfectly covered and would not leak outside the cave.

This should have been a foolproof plan. The problem was that Qiu Yan followed them here, discovered the place, and used the cave’s weakness of poor ventilation to release a sleeping drug into the air.

By the time Xie Yu noticed, Gong Dongling had already been knocked out, collapsing straight onto the ground and sleeping as if the sky had fallen.

Xie Yu quickly sealed off the senses in her mouth and nose to avoid inhaling the drug. Holding Xuanling in her hand, she walked gloomily out of the cave. She truly had not expected that someone would actually dare come attack them at night.

In the long, silent darkness, there was not a single figure to be seen.

“Still not coming out?” Xie Yu sneered.

As she spoke, she knelt on one knee and touched the ground with her hand. In the darkness, no one could see the black mist rapidly spreading outward from Xie Yu’s palm, rushing beneath the cover of the vegetation like wandering dragons. Everywhere it passed, violent explosions rang out.

Everything on the surface of the ground abruptly burst apart because of the black mist.

It was an especially crude way to search for people.

Before long, two screams came from the left side a little farther away. They belonged to Qiu Zijian and Qi Tuo. Their cultivation was low, and they failed to dodge the hidden dragons’ ambush. A force violently blasted them into the air before they fell heavily back down, falling silent.

There was still one fish that had slipped through the net.

Xie Yu closed her fingers, stopping the black mist, and stood up.

The moment she turned, demonic energy instantly gathered before her brow into a shield.

Zzzzz—

With an ear-piercing sound of metal clashing, that thin layer of shield had actually forcibly blocked a full-power strike from Qiu Yan, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator.

At this moment, Xie Yu was surrounded by black mist, wrapped in layers of demonic barriers. Because of the disguise of darkness, she was even more unrestrained.

Qiu Yan tried to use his perception to investigate Xie Yu’s current state. But even with his sea of consciousness, he could only see a vast expanse of black. The black mist controlled by Xie Yu seemed able to easily cover his perception.

But he was a member of the Demon Clan to begin with, and he was all too familiar with this demonic energy. Qiu Yan was certain that Xie Yu had already awakened and was using that power.

“You have finally awakened…” Qiu Yan was filled with excitement and longing. Just as he was about to speak, a sharp pain shot through his knee.

He looked down and saw Xuanling forcefully scraping away his kneecap. The severe pain and sudden loss of strength made Qiu Yan instantly kneel on the ground. He looked at Xie Yu in confusion.

“Do I need to teach you how to kneel?” Xie Yu stood high above him, looking at Qiu Yan as if he were an ant. Suddenly, she felt an urge to toy with him.

“I was the one who awakened you!” Qiu Yan tried to defend himself, but he looked like a clown putting on a show.

Self-righteous cleverness was often the reason fools destroyed themselves, and Qiu Yan was the worst of them. He thought himself smart, believing that by scheming with those tricks, he could break the seal inside Xie Yu. Little did he know that the deepest hatred of the demon he had awakened came from him.

Xie Yu said coldly, “So? Are you hoping to receive my gift?”

Beyond saving, Qiu Yan nodded. He did not realize the slightest danger was approaching. He had made breaking the seal and awakening the Demon God his mission, declaring himself her most loyal believer. Qiu Yan simply could not understand that the Demon God would punish him.

With a long sigh, Xie Yu’s voice became bewitching. “You want a gift? Then first kill your two accomplices and show me your loyalty.”