Chapter 25: Dark Ancient Cave Heaven.

The flying carpet slowly descended, landing at the edge of a desolate, primeval forest.

Towering trees with overlapping branches nearly blocked out the sky, casting only scattered, broken patches of light on the damp ground. The air was thick, carrying an unsettling, primal savagery.

“The so-called hidden realms are small worlds detached from the outside,” Li Tianxing said, folding up the flying carpet, his voice cutting through the eerie silence of the forest.

“The rich ones have long been claimed by great clans and holy lands. For rogue cultivators, what’s left are either worthless scraps or… places like this, teeming with extreme danger.”

“Even high-level cultivators face near-certain death here. As for rogue cultivators, it’s a slaughter—come one, die one.”

Xie Qiyang swallowed hard, her heart pounding with an ominous feeling.

This place was a hundred times more perilous than the forest they’d fled through before. That one was just quiet.

This, however, was different. From afar came roars that shook the ground, and occasionally, massive birds with wingspans of dozens of meters soared overhead, their screeches piercing the air.

A colorful, millstone-sized spider suddenly darted through the nearby ferns, its furry legs and compound eyes making Xie Qiyang scream “Ah!” and cling tightly to the back of Li Tianxing’s robe.

“Scared?” Li Tianxing glanced at her, his tone calm.

Xie Qiyang’s voice trembled, her face pale. She’d always kept her distance from anything insect-like.

That spider… and those monsters flying above…

Good grief, if a twin-tailed sprite—like a cockroach—grew that big… She didn’t dare think about it, gripping his robe even tighter.

And this wretched place was like a maze; every tree looked the same.

If she got separated, she’d probably never find her way out.

After all, she was the kind of supreme directionless idiot who could get lost in a modern city even with GPS.

“Stay close.” Li Tianxing grabbed her wrist, his grip steady.

He moved without hesitation, weaving left and right through the dim forest as if it were his own backyard.

As he walked, Li Tianxing spoke, his voice calm in the oppressive silence. “Our target this time, the Nether Ancient Realm, is where the Nether Ancient Heavenly Venerate was laid to rest.”

He paused, his tone turning cold. “In my previous life, at this exact time, her legacy emerged and fell into that guy’s hands. With the legacy and an imperial weapon, he wreaked havoc, crippling half the human holy lands! It took an alliance of several holy lands to finally grind him to dust, and the legacy was lost.”

“The guy you want to deal with… he’ll come to snatch it too?” Xie Qiyang asked softly.

“Yes.” Li Tianxing stopped, turning to face her, his eyes resolute yet pleading. “He got the legacy. I want you to take it before he does.”

Xie Qiyang felt a pang of unease under his gaze and shrank back. “Me…?”

“Yes. The Nether Ancient Heavenly Venerate died at the hands of a Solar Sacred Body. Think she’d give me a warm welcome? If she doesn’t kill me on sight, I’d call her generous.”

“So, my hopes rest on you.” His grip on her wrist tightened, his eyes burning. “If we don’t cut off his chance this time, he’ll become our greatest enemy—and a scourge to the entire cultivation world.”

“Then… what do I have to do?” Xie Qiyang’s alarm bells were ringing. When he used that tone, it was never good news.

Li Tianxing’s face radiated confidence. “Put on a show.”

“A show?” Xie Qiyang was baffled.

“Yes. A… less-than-innocent show.” He stared into her eyes. “You barely escape from me, only to be caught again, humiliated by me in every way.”

“Why?” Xie Qiyang was even more confused.

“The Nether Ancient Heavenly Venerate, like you, had a Lunar Sacred Body,” Li Tianxing explained. “But she later strayed to the dark path, cultivating the Nether Dao, using countless beings as nourishment. Still, she was relatively merciful to humans. What truly ended her was her partner—the Solar Sacred Body, the ‘Divine Sun Ancient Emperor.’”

“Maybe his lifespan was running out, and he wanted to use her to extend it, or maybe it was something else.

“In the end, the Divine Sun Ancient Emperor teamed up with another emperor to kill her. In that battle, the heavens collapsed, and her natal imperial weapon, the ‘Nether Ancient Tower,’ was shattered, losing six of its layers.”

“You’re also a Lunar Sacred Body, and you’re being ‘forced into a corner’ by a Solar Sacred Body. You share her plight, and your physique perfectly matches her legacy.”

“If she meets someone in the same situation, with a perfectly compatible physique, don’t you think she’d be very likely to pass her legacy to you?”

“I…” Xie Qiyang understood. This was about using the Nether Ancient Heavenly Venerate’s hatred and her own “pitiful state” to gain sympathy.

Her mind was a mess.

Neither spoke for a while, only the sounds of the forest’s wind and beastly roars filling the air. Li Tianxing didn’t rush her, pulling her along as they continued.

After a long moment, Xie Qiyang took a deep breath, as if making up her mind. “…How do we act?”

A flash of approval crossed Li Tianxing’s eyes, then they deepened. “No rush. Do you know how the Nether Ancient Heavenly Venerate and the Divine Sun Ancient Emperor became partners?”

Without waiting for her reply, he continued. “The Nether Ancient Heavenly Venerate came from humble origins. Before awakening her Lunar Sacred Body, she worked for an assassin organization to gather cultivation resources. Her first top-tier mission was to assassinate the then-rising Divine Sun Ancient Emperor…”

“And then?” Xie Qiyang’s curiosity was piqued.

“And then?” Li Tianxing stopped abruptly, turning to face her, his grip on her wrist tightening sharply.

“The Divine Sun Ancient Emperor was no saint. He captured her directly. Instead of killing her, he used every method to… torment and humiliate her, trying to break her pride and make her his tool.”

His grip tightened unconsciously. “But she escaped, barely alive, and that deep-seated hatred made her his mortal enemy. The Divine Sun Ancient Emperor came from a powerful background, with techniques and resources far beyond hers. In countless life-or-death clashes, the Nether Ancient Heavenly Venerate lost repeatedly, even bearing several of his children…”

“In the end, her mind and body succumbed, and they announced their union to the world, setting a date for a grand wedding.”

“Ugh…” Xie Qiyang’s wrist throbbed with pain, and the story left her pale with shock, instantly grasping the subtext.

She yanked her hand back. “No… no way! I… I’m not acting!”

After all that buildup, wasn’t this just him getting tired of playing nice and wanting to go all out?

She thought he’d treat her better, but… but in the end, she’d still be taken advantage of.

“Shuang’er,” Li Tianxing’s voice suddenly softened, carrying a rare weariness and… sincerity?

He released her wrist, his complex gaze fixed on her panicked, delicate face.

“In a moment, I’ll temporarily seal some of my memories. As for you, I’m sure you have ways to block her prying.”

He spoke quickly, leaving no room for doubt.

“You don’t need to act deliberately. Just be yourself. Be the you who’s been captured, coerced, and driven to a dead end by me. Fear what you should fear, hate what you should hate, resist when you should resist.”