Chapter 2: All troops, heed my command! I will commit suicide and return to heaven!

Splash~!

Torrential rain hammered relentlessly against Li Shixue’s Dao heart.

She studied her junior brother’s face. A rare trace of struggle flickered across her jade countenance.

She was supposed to execute him, yet Li Shixue inexplicably recalled—

Those years when he clumsily learned to comb her snow-white hair that had been severed by sword qi.

He quietly removed every flower and plant she disliked, replacing them with elegant green bamboo.

Countless lonely nights when she practiced her sword alone, a jade lamp that never extinguished always waited quietly at the corner of her corridor…

Every detail from the past carried his cautious gaze, and the disappointed yet stubbornly strong smile he wore after she treated him with indifference.

Li Shixue stood dazed.

Beside her, Chu Yunlan grew visibly impatient.

“What’s wrong, Fairy Li! This devil’s crimes are monstrous and deserve execution by the entire cultivation world! Though you two are from the same sect, righteousness comes first. How can personal feelings be tolerated? If your conscience is clear, you should uphold justice and eliminate your own kin right here!!!”

Li Shixue lowered her head.

“What if I said my conscience is not clear?”

Splash~!

The rain continued to fall.

Yet the entire world seemed to fall deathly silent at that moment.

The victorious smile on Chu Yunlan’s lips froze instantly. He pointed at her in fury.

“Hahaha! Fairy Li, don’t tell me you’ve truly developed feelings for this scoundrel? You are the chief direct disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Extermination Sword Venerable. If she learns of this, who knows how she will punish you?”

After all, they were in the True Emotion Realm, a world that emphasized “entering the Dao through emotion” and pursued the “ultimate extreme of emotion.”

Cultivators had to choose one among the countless emotion paths derived from the seven emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and desire.

Among them, the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Extermination Sword Venerable was a ruthless practitioner of the Heartless Dao.

If she discovered that both her direct disciples had tarnished the sect’s reputation this way, she would undoubtedly take action herself to suppress them.

Chu Yuan grew anxious as well.

Having followed the script for three hundred years to this point, he was already ruined in name and reputation, his soul heavily damaged…

This account was basically destroyed. Washing himself clean now was useless.

Only by finishing the scene and being reborn could Chu Yuan truly maximize his gains.

He absolutely could not let this woman ruin his rebirth plan. He immediately burst into loud laughter.

“Hahaha! Senior Sister, how could you possibly feel remorse? You’re obviously trying to win me over so I’ll reveal the location of our Demonic Alliance’s Black Dragon Emperor! If you hadn’t cultivated the Heartless Dao, I would have almost believed you!”

Chu Yuan refused to believe his senior sister had truly developed feelings for him at this moment.

After all, Li Shixue cultivated the Heartless Dao.

In her eyes, not only Chu Yuan, but everyone else was nothing more than mere grass and dogs!

Moreover, Li Shixue was already a Domain Transformation realm powerhouse. How could her rock-solid Dao heart be moved by emotion?

Listening to her junior brother’s mockery, Li Shixue’s pupils trembled.

Truthfully, she didn’t know why she was acting so out of character either.

But things had already come to this. Li Shixue could only go along with it.

“Since Junior Brother has already guessed it, why not accept Senior Sister’s kind intentions and make amends through meritorious service? Afterwards, I can also plead with Master on your behalf and allow you to live on in this world.”

Her jade face remained calm, yet her gaze was filled with intertwining struggle and pain, eventually solidifying into near-decisive coercion.

“You only have this one chance! Junior Brother, do not fail to appreciate my kindness!”

Feeling the chilling intent condensing on his senior sister’s sword edge, Chu Yuan sneered disdainfully.

“Hah! If you want to kill me, just do it! Why hesitate?”

Rainwater washed the bloodstains from Chu Yuan’s face.

When he smiled, he still somewhat resembled the youth who once held osmanthus cakes, yet his eyes contained only ridicule.

“This doesn’t seem like your usual style, Senior Sister!”

Li Shixue’s brows furrowed tightly.

Her junior brother’s words felt like a blunt knife, sawing repeatedly across the heart that had been frozen by the Heartless Dao for three hundred years.

The once-indestructible Heartless Dao heart quietly developed cracks.

The hand holding her sword trembled violently. The cold energy on the blade began to backlash against her.

Li Shixue gritted her teeth.

“So you really want me to kill you? Fine! Then I’ll…”

She raised her sword to strike, but the jade arm she lifted never fell.

Because Li Shixue knew—

Once this sword descended, the junior brother who had accompanied her for many years would truly depart forever.

For the first time in three hundred years, she tasted the feeling of her heart being thrown into chaos.

Thud~!

Just as Li Shixue’s mind was in turmoil—

A deep, muffled sound like war drums boomed from the distant horizon, overpowering the wind and rain.

Boundless demonic qi surged upward like a breached black tide, carrying the scent of sulfur and blood, dyeing the sky a heart-palpitating dark red.

Within the churning clouds and mist, a massive shadow slowly rose.

The thick, coiling dragon body seemed capable of wrapping around entire mountains. Even though only part of it was revealed, the terrifying pressure descended like a tangible tsunami.

Cultivators with lower cultivation in the surroundings immediately groaned, their faces turning deathly pale as they collapsed heavily injured.

Chu Yunlan, under the protection of an elder, hastily fled back over a hundred li to the legion’s camp to temporarily avoid the edge.

The black dragon lowered its massive head. Its gaze finally locked onto Chu Yuan, who was bound by the Immortal Binding Rope.

Its cold vertical pupils suddenly contracted.

“Who gave you permission to harm this Sovereign’s minister?”

The voice was not loud, yet it carried an unquestionable power of laws that shook the souls of everyone present.

With its appearance, the remaining evil cultivators of the Demonic Alliance all gathered in the west.

At the same time, Chu Yuan vanished from his original spot.

When he reappeared, the Immortal Binding Rope on his body had been removed. He was surrounded and supported by evil cultivators, placed at the head position of the Demonic Alliance.

Seeing her junior brother rescued, Li Shixue unconsciously let out a breath of relief.

However, the rescued Chu Yuan showed no joy at all. Warning bells rang wildly in his heart.

Crap!

According to the original script, Feng Aotian should have already killed me. The Black Dragon Emperor would then arrive in a rage and engage in the final battle with her.

This interruption actually let the Black Dragon Emperor save me… Everything’s gone completely off track now!

Chu Yuan thought inwardly:

‘System, speak up! Did you deliberately set a trap to screw me over? Otherwise why is this Feng Aotian’s behavior deviating from the script???’

【Script Ending: Li Shixue leads the Righteous Alliance to exterminate the Black Dragon Emperor.】

【As long as the outcome matches this fact, the Host may act freely and will still receive the final reward.】

Chu Yuan suddenly understood.

Good, good, good!

Looks like I need to add more scenes for myself!!!

With that thought, he turned his gaze toward the black dragon in the sky, cupped his fists and bowed.

“Emperor! This subordinate is incompetent and has caused Your Majesty to break the seal ahead of schedule! However, the righteous path has bullied us too far. Today is the moment for us to prove our loyalty!!!”

He suddenly turned his head. Bloodshot eyes swept across the remaining Demonic Alliance cultivators in the air.

“All troops, hear my command! Activate the Heavenly Demon Sacrifice Grand Technique! Offer our demonic souls to the Emperor to forge supreme demonic might! Exterminate the righteous path in this final moment! Everyone, join me in suicide to return to heaven!!!”

The moment the final word “heaven” roared out, Chu Yuan summoned his long sword and placed it against his own neck, ready to die heroically.

Seeing this, the evil cultivators all wore expressions of shock that seemed to say, “Huh? We have to die too?”

As evil cultivators of the Demonic Alliance, they had only cooperated temporarily for various benefits and had no intention of sacrificing themselves.

Whoosh~!

Yet the instant Chu Yuan slit his own throat, these evil cultivators—who had long been secretly implanted with demonic contracts—suddenly had blood-red eyes.

In the next moment, they were forced to raise their weapons or reverse their cultivation techniques, transforming into streaks of blood-colored light pillars that shot toward the massive black dragon in the sky.

Only Chu Yuan, whose demonic power had been drained dry, remained as a残躯 that fell straight to the ground.

“No—!”

Li Shixue cried out in alarm and rushed forward to catch her junior brother.