Chapter 4: Ouch! It hurts so much!

Li Shixue knelt beside Chu Yuan.

The dark clouds had completely dispersed, and sunlight poured down, bathing the ground that was as full of cracks as her own Dao heart.

Her trembling jade hand gently stroked her junior brother’s increasingly cold body. Her voice was hoarse.

“Junior Brother… why… were you so foolish???”

Meanwhile, Chu Yuan had already heard the system prompt.

Ding~!

【Congratulations, Host, for completing all plotlines. You may now rebirth to the past with your highest cultivation and treasures.】

Wuhu~!

I can finally stop being a simp!!!

Chu Yuan could hardly conceal his smile.

On the verge of death, he glanced at his senior sister beside him and struggled to part his pale lips.

“Senior Sister… let me tell you a secret…”

Li Shixue held her breath and leaned in to listen.

Chu Yuan used every last ounce of his strength.

“Actually… I never liked you. Everything before was just an act.”

With those light words, scenes from the past flashed across Li Shixue’s eyes.

She froze completely, refusing to believe her junior brother’s “insincere words.”

She feared he was lying on his deathbed so as not to burden her Dao heart.

Splash~!!!

Yet it was precisely this final “kindness” that became the sharpest sword, delivering the last blow to her already shattered Dao heart.

The foundation of the Great Dao, built over three hundred years of bitter cultivation by abandoning emotions and freezing the self, collapsed with a thunderous crash.

The emotions that had been sealed in ice for three hundred years erupted like a volcano from the fissures—

All the suppressed thoughts from three hundred years transformed into an unprecedented torrent of power, sweeping through Li Shixue’s entire being.

Only when she was drowning in it did she realize that what she owed her junior brother was far more than mere guilt.

The affection that had taken root so deeply without her knowing;

The gratitude for his silent protection over three hundred years;

The heart-wrenching pain of realizing everything only “now, when it was too late.”

Pain!

It hurt too much!!!

The overwhelming guilt in her heart turned into scalding tears that, after hundreds of years, finally burst from her eyes.

Li Shixue’s white hair fell into disarray as she wept silently, completely unaware—

That behind her, a sword glowing with eerie purple demonic light had already reached her pale neck.

“Fairy Li, you’ve worked hard!”

Hearing this, Li Shixue slowly turned her head and saw Chu Yunlan with a cold, sinister expression.

Shock appeared first on her tear-streaked face, followed by anger.

“Holy Lord, what is the meaning of this?”

Chu Yunlan declared loudly.

“Hah! You still ask what I mean? Everyone here saw it clearly! You and the devil Chu Yuan had improper relations. Your Dao heart shattered because of him—this is a clear sign of falling into the demonic path!!!”

“Now that the Black Dragon Emperor has been slain, according to demonic path rules, you who have fallen into devilry are most qualified to succeed him! For the sake of justice in the world, this seat must act on behalf of Heaven!!!”

Even as he spoke, anxiety burned in his heart.

Recalling the bet with the Immortal Dynasty’s Female Emperor Ji Xuanyuan:

He had to personally slay the Black Dragon Emperor to marry her.

Chu Yunlan had wanted to steal the kill earlier, but Li Shixue’s strike had directly obliterated the Black Dragon.

To fulfill the bet, he could only frame this Dao foundation-shattered Li Shixue as a demon and kill her on the spot, twisting the facts to claim the merit.

“Hah! Your Majesty has truly gone to great lengths.”

Li Shixue’s tone was eerily calm.

“You want to marry the Xuanyuan Female Emperor so badly, and use the Immortal Dynasty’s power to secure your position as Holy Lord?”

Chu Yunlan’s brows furrowed slightly.

“Oh? Fairy Li, how do you… know about the bet???”

Li Shixue gave a tragic smile, as beautiful and desolate as the evening glow.

In the next moment, her disheveled snow-white hair gradually dyed back into a shocking, soul-stirring crimson.

Her dimmed skin regained its jade-like luster and golden glow. The cold, rigid features melted away, revealing her true breathtakingly beautiful face with heroic, painting-like brows and eyes.

Staring at this peerless countenance that carried an imperial aura, Chu Yunlan’s sword-holding hand trembled violently.

“Ji… Xuanyuan? You are actually the Female Emperor of the Immortal Dynasty?”

After the initial shock,狂喜 spread through his heart like poisonous vines.

Chu Yunlan laughed out loud.

“Ahaha~! Heaven truly helps me! Since Your Majesty’s Dao foundation is completely destroyed, from now on you can obediently serve your husband in bed. Your Immortal Dynasty, this husband will steer it well for you! Hahaha!!!”

With such heavenly assistance, he could ruthlessly suppress the Supreme Protector faction in his clan and make that thousand-year-old dead fox submit.

The more Chu Yunlan thought about it, the more pleased he became, as if the world was already in his grasp.

“Chi~!”

At that moment, a cyan sword qi flashed past. Chu Yunlan’s right arm holding the sword was severed cleanly at the wrist.

Blood sprayed. The demonic sword clattered to the ground.

At the same time, an aged, thunderous roar filled with boundless sword intent echoed across the heavens.

“Who dares to bully this Venerable’s beloved disciple?!!!”

Chu Yunlan looked up. High in the sky, the heavily armored Xuanyuan Immortal Army descended like divine soldiers, instantly surrounding him.

Leading them was an old woman in gray robes leaning on a bamboo staff—the Extermination Sword Venerable herself.

Her gaze was sharp as a sword, coldly locking onto Chu Yunlan.

Chu Yunlan’s face turned deathly pale. Fear gripped his throat.

The Sword Venerable lightly tapped her bamboo staff.

Screaming miserably, he and his confidants fled like stray dogs, not daring to look back.

The clamor faded, leaving only desolation.

The Extermination Sword Venerable walked to Li Shixue—or rather, Ji Xuanyuan’s side.

Seeing the decaying aura emanating from her beloved disciple, the Sword Venerable’s eyes filled with heartache.

“Everything that happened here, your master has seen. I never expected your junior brother to enter the game with his own body and even deceive me. Even less did I expect that you would…”

She did not continue, instead raising her head and letting out a long sigh.

“Sigh~! Your master originally wanted to use this unprecedented merit to recommend you to take charge of the Heavenly Sword Sect, with the Immortal Dynasty and Sword Sect supporting each other for limitless future prospects. Yet in one fell swoop, two beloved disciples were lost. Truly, fate is unpredictable~!!!”

After this battle, a new legend spread across the True Emotion Realm:

The two true disciples under the Extermination Sword Venerable worked from within and without, infiltrating through careful design. In the end, they paid with their lives to jointly slay the Black Dragon Emperor and perished together on the path, composing a tragic and heroic tale.

At the same time, Female Emperor Ji Xuanyuan regained full control of the Immortal Dynasty. With thunderous methods, she rectified order and balanced the various powers.

She issued the “Equal Spirit Decree,” directing resources toward humble origins;

She promoted the “Abyssal Suppression Pact,” joining forces with the Heavenly Sword Sect to firmly seal the demonic abyss rifts;

By winning the bet, she seized nearly half of the Grand Void Holy Domain’s resources. As a result, Chu Yunlan was stripped of his Holy Lord position by the Supreme Protectors and executed by lingchi.

However, after the Demonic Alliance war, the Female Emperor often fell into a daze.

It was as if her soul had remained forever on that rainy day.

She would frequently stroke the cracked warm sun jade pendant, reminiscing about the past.

If back then, she had taken even one bite of the osmanthus cake that her junior brother had carefully protected in his arms, or even nodded slightly;

If back then, when her junior brother nervously offered her the clumsily made warm sun jade, she had thanked him and accepted it;

If back then, she had not treated every clumsy act of care from her junior brother as an annoyance…

Would the ending have been different?

Would that junior brother who was loyal to the righteous path not have entered the trap with his own body… and ultimately perished, his Dao extinguished?

In memory of him, a plate of osmanthus cake always sat on Ji Xuanyuan’s desk, but it was never made by the immortal chefs.

Once, a newly appointed palace maid unknowingly tried to replace the pastries and was sternly scolded by her—an extremely rare occurrence.

From then on, no one dared touch that plate of long-dried osmanthus cake.

And when her lifespan was nearing its end, she made a bold decision.