When the Villain is Bound to the Female Lead System

Chapter 80

Xue Mingyuan's silence made Xue Chenjing very uneasy. He knew to what lengths his brother would go to prevent him from causing chaos in the world.

He could kill him over and over again, weakening his power; he could split his own spiritual fire to contain his evil desires; and during the battle between good and evil at Wangye, he could recklessly seize control of their body and use self-sacrifice to seal away all the demons who followed him.

They were one in chaos, sharing the same body and the same sea of consciousness. Every time Xue Mingyuan suppressed him, every time he killed him, he himself suffered the same injuries equally, yet he never showed any mercy.

He always had various methods, stopping him at all costs. Whatever he wanted to destroy, Xue Mingyuan would insist on saving it.

But now, when he had given Xue Mingyuan another chance to completely suppress him, he actually hesitated. What this meant made Xue Chenjing tremble in fear just thinking about it.

Lying among the intertwined threads, he struggled to lift his head, trying hard not to cry pathetically.

"I promised you, so why won't you make the vow? As soon as you make the vow, I'll immediately destroy all the demons living within me, not leaving a single one. I can do it - isn't this what you've always wanted? Why are you hesitating?"

"Xue Mingyuan, you'd better know that mere mortal willpower can only hold me because they were once my parents, because I still remember them, because I'm still unwilling to let go. They might be able to contain me for a day or two, ten days or half a month, but they can never hold me forever."

"When I regain control of this body, I will once again seal you in the divine temple, letting you suffer the torture of lingchi every day from the people you protect, never to see daylight again in this lifetime."

"Brother, you can even love those executioners who hurt you, so why can't you love me? Why can't you pity me? I have nothing - father and mother don't want me, you only want to kill me, and now you want to take away the only person who might like me?"

Listening to the incessant voice in his sea of consciousness, Xue Mingyuan closed his eyes and massaged his temples while supporting his forehead.

He also wanted to know why he hesitated. After weighing the pros and cons, he thought this deal was worthwhile, but when he tried to make the vow, every word he uttered made him hesitate, his chest feeling like it was being pricked by needles.

A vow broken at the moment of making it would not be recognized by heaven's law.

Xue Mingyuan could only think of one possibility - he and Xue Chenjing were one being, sharing the same beating heart in their chest. If he loved her, then he would also love her.

This was absolutely terrible.

Getting no response, Xue Chenjing became increasingly convinced of his suspicions and threatened in frustration:

"Xue Mingyuan, don't you love this world? All demons in this world will bow to me, I was born to be their lord. I will lead them to trample every inch of land and slaughter every immortal mountain and spiritual ground, just like a thousand years ago. I'm sure you remember that period when righteousness was in chaos and demons ran wild."

"Brother, I will make that day return, and I hope you won't regret it then."

After listening to him, Xue Mingyuan let out a deep breath and finally replied slowly: "I will also use every means to stop you."

Xue Chenjing waited for a long time, only to receive such an unsatisfactory answer. Enraged, he bit at the threads before him and snarled, "Fine, just try!"

In the west wing room, Yu Yi was completely unaware of the dispute next door. She sat cross-legged on the couch, her five vital points facing heaven, circulating her energy and processing the thunder energy overflowing within her body.

She possessed both thunder and fire spirit roots, these two spirit roots were anchored in her dantian, embracing her golden core. The thunder energy flowed from her meridians into the spirit roots, then was refined through the spirit roots into her golden core, transforming into her own power.

Yu Yi inherited the legacy of Qingxuan Daoist Priest and had always practiced her master's fire-attribute sword techniques. With the help of the crane sword spirit, she had spent far more time refining her fire spirit root than her thunder spirit root over these five years. When wielding her sword, her sword energy was primarily fire-based, with thunder serving only as support.

But in fact, the thunder spirit root was her innate spirit root.

Now the thunder spirit root, saturated with thunder energy, was like a coral coated in golden light. From its initially low position, it had grown several inches taller, sprouting new branches that intertwined with the fire spirit root's tendrils, adhering to the surface of the golden core.

Yu Yi could feel her true essence within the golden core surge again, as the dual thunder and fire true essence, one gold and one red, circulated within the golden core.

She opened her eyes from her meditation and summoned the green bamboo sword. As she gripped the hilt, electric arcs crackled across the blade. She immediately withdrew her spiritual power and sheathed the sword. This wasn't a suitable place to test the sword; she'd better try it at the reef beach tomorrow.

Yu Yi refreshingly took a bath, carefully applied fragrant cream, and emerged from behind the screen to sit at her dressing table and comb her hair.

Her hair ends were damaged, and it took quite a while to smooth them out. Still, Yu Yi didn't give up on saving her hair, applying a thick layer of nourishing fragrant balm and carefully wrapping the ends in soft satin. Only then did she relax, stretch lazily, stroke Crane Senior Brother's feathers, and walk into the inner chamber, pull back the covers, and lie down on the bed.

A strand of spiritual energy darted out from behind the bed curtains and extinguished the lamp on the table.

After the lights went out in the east wing, Xue Mingyuan also blew out the candle and lay down on the bed.

In the dark bed curtains, bits of light dust gradually appeared, gathering together to form a dancing silver butterfly.

Xue Chenjing was particularly sensitive to butterfly-like creatures, and he almost immediately sensed the butterfly's presence through Xue Mingyuan, asking fearfully, "What is that?"

Xue Mingyuan gently reassured him, "Don't be afraid, it's not an Eternal Night Butterfly."

The butterfly fluttered its wings, scattering silver scales that had a sleep-inducing effect. Xue Mingyuan's eyelashes slowly closed, his voice growing fainter, "This is just a Dream-guiding Butterfly I got from sister, we'll meet in our dreams."

The butterfly gracefully landed on Xue Mingyuan's brow and sank into his skin.

In the sea of consciousness, the silver butterfly came fluttering, and Xue Chenjing stared at it with wide, terrified eyes, struggling desperately, "Xue Mingyuan! Xue Mingyuan, what are you going to do now? Xue Mingyuan! No, don't let it come near me, brother, I'm sorry, please spare me, brother—"

The silver butterfly elegantly passed through the crisscrossing threads and flew to the face of the struggling person, diving into his brow.

Xue Chenjing's pupils suddenly dilated, his struggles ceased, and he lowered his eyelids, falling into deep sleep.

At the same time, in the bed curtains of the east wing, another silver butterfly landed on the brow of the person in bed. Yu Yi's eyelashes trembled slightly, showing signs of resistance, but finally succumbed to the butterfly's hypnotic effect and fell into deep slumber.

...

"We cultivators are willing to fight to the death against demons, never letting them cross Emperor's Dwelling Mountain!"

"Never let demons cross Emperor's Dwelling Mountain!" "Never let demons cross Emperor's Dwelling Mountain!"

Yu Yi was sleeping soundly when she was suddenly awakened by the thunderous shouts. A silver-white light flashed before her eyes, its shadow like a fluttering butterfly.

She had no time to notice it, her attention drawn away by the deafening shouts. She looked toward the source of the sound in amazement. She saw rolling steps extending downward from before her, stretching all the way to the foot of the mountain, seemingly thousands of feet long at a glance.

Every certain distance along the steps stood a majestic gate tower, counting nine towers from top to bottom. Formation stones appeared to be set up on the towers, each tower representing one barrier. The barriers' light overlapped, creating gorgeous ripples in the sunlight.

Yu Yi glanced at the dense crowds above and below, everyone holding magical tools, ready for battle. The slogan "fight to the death against demons" rolled like continuous thunder from the first gate tower at the mountain's foot up to the summit, reaching Yu Yi's ears.

Her ears buzzing from the noise, Yu Yi was still trying to process what was happening. Wasn't she sleeping in her room? How did she end up here in the blink of an eye? And where was Emperor's Dwelling Mountain?

She tried to stand up, then heard the rustling of leaves and was horrified to discover that her body had become a tree. This tree was incredibly tall, its trunk as thick as a wide wall, probably requiring more than ten people joining hands to encircle it.

The crown of the tree was also as massive as a small hill, with crimson leaves.

Yu Yi tried moving her limbs, and the tree crown immediately rustled in response to her consciousness.

Was she dreaming? How did she suddenly become a tree?

This tree where she had become grew at the highest point of the nine-tiered gate tower, wedged between two towering cliffs that formed a "V" shape around her. A thousand steps before her stretched an endless desolate desert, while behind her lay the Ten Thousand Immortal Mountains shrouded in spiritual mist.

Yu Yi pondered, Emperor's Dwelling Mountain? She seemed to have read this name in a book before.

Before she could make sense of it, a rumbling vibration came from underground, and suddenly the boundless desert ahead erupted in clouds of yellow sand, sweeping rapidly toward them.

A young servant standing beneath the tree timidly said, "They're coming, the demon army is attacking."

Another young servant comforted him, "Don't be afraid. The Emperor's Dwelling Mountain has layers of barriers, and cultivators from all sects are guarding the gate towers. They won't be able to break through. Besides, we have the Divine Tree of the Emperor's Dwelling that can ward off evil. We have nothing to fear!"

Yu Yi noticed that as the young servant spoke, he looked up at her, his dark pupils reflecting the Divine Tree's crimson crown, his eyes full of trust in the sacred tree.

The Divine Tree of the Emperor's Dwelling.

Then she remembered.

Wasn't this the divine tree that was brutally uprooted by the Demon Lord during the great battle between good and evil, its branches stripped, roots severed, and split into countless pieces, ultimately made into the carriage of the Demon Lord?

What was happening? Had she transmigrated again? And into a tree no less—a tree that was about to be uprooted and torn to pieces.

The yellow sand from the desert drew closer, but upon careful observation, it wasn't sand at all, but a vast fog. The Earth Impurity spread its extensive mist, carrying the demon army, crossing Wangye in mere blinks of an eye, charging toward the foot of the Emperor's Dwelling Mountain.

Xue Chenjing was awakened by the jolting beneath him, and as he opened his eyes, he instinctively reached for his brow. When he touched his face, he paused, looking at his hand in surprise.

The threads that had bound him were gone—he was free?

Xue Chenjing sat up and surveyed his surroundings, immediately noticing something was wrong. Under the mist of Earth Impurity, countless demons and evil cultivators followed behind him, their battle cries shaking the heavens.

He lifted the bamboo curtain of his carriage and looked at the demon beast pulling it, gazing past its needle-covered head toward the narrow celestial gate ahead.

Atop the majestic tower, a crimson divine tree burned like a fierce flame between the mountains.

"The Divine Tree of the Emperor's Dwelling," Xue Chenjing murmured, remembering when this was. He held his forehead and laughed, "A dream? Is this the dream you wanted me to enter? Brother, you still remember, don't you? How a thousand years ago, I gathered all demons, crossed the Emperor's Dwelling Mountain, and crushed the world of immortal cultivation."

"Could it be that you feared I'd forget, so you're making me relive it once more, to do it all again?"

Xue Mingyuan spoke within his heart: "Yu Yi is also in this dream."

Xue Chenjing's laughter ceased abruptly, his face instantly becoming savage as he spat hatefully, "What did you say?!"

"The Dream-guiding Butterfly will bring her into this dream as well, so she will witness firsthand how the Demon Lord tramples every inch of land and slaughters every immortal mountain and sacred ground."

Xue Chenjing's pupils trembled, his eyes revealing uncontrollable panic as Xue Mingyuan's voice continued like a nightmare in his heart:

"A thousand years ago, she didn't exist, so the Dream-guiding Butterfly will only guide her to attach to other people or things in the dream. She might be a flower, a tree, a mountain, or one of the demons following at your side, or perhaps even one of the righteous cultivators you're about to slaughter."

"Chenjing, what will you do if the person you kill turns out to be her?"