Chapter 75 Demon Tribulation Stage Transformation I look ugly like this, please don't dislike me...

When Mingjian woke up the next day, he was not fully conscious. He felt that the furnishings around him were somewhat unfamiliar, yet vaguely familiar. Except for the still glaring red window paper and the brand new brocade quilt covering him.

He was stunned for a while, then his unfocused gaze gradually focused, and he finally realized that this place seemed to be the Never-Sleeping Pavilion.

Shouldn't he be at the Hehuan Sect right now? How come he woke up in the Nevernight Pavilion?

As soon as Mingjian tried to move, a clear soreness surged through his body, engulfing him like a tidal wave.

His back ached because Xiao Bumian had gripped his waist too tightly last night.

My throat hurts because I stayed up too late last night and cried and screamed for too long and too much.

He was only focused on crying at the time. Xiao Bumian's body temperature was abnormal, sometimes cold and sometimes hot, rampaging through his body.

The lingering discomfort deep within his body reminded him of the intense, almost frantic struggle he had endured the previous night.

He was lying on his side, with a hand with distinct knuckles resting on his waist. The hand was extremely beautiful, but upon closer inspection, one could vaguely see a very fine old scar at the base of the thumb. Last night, Xiao Bumian had somehow managed to conceal the scar so well that it was almost invisible.

Mingjian was too lazy to delve into the details. He felt like his whole body had been disassembled and reassembled, and all he wanted to do was lie there.

Recalling how Xiao Bumian had manipulated him into various unspeakable positions last night, he once thought he was really going to die in bed.

"You're awake?" Xiao Bumian's deep voice, still hoarse from just waking up, rang in his ear. His hot breath sprayed onto his sensitive neck, raising a small patch of goosebumps.

Mingjian felt like he was being suffocated by the tight embrace from behind, and protested in a hoarse voice, "Loosen up, you're going to strangle me..."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Bumian seemed to loosen his grip slightly, but only slightly, still holding the person firmly in his arms.

Mingjian: "..."

Forget it, there's no reasoning with this yandere.

Not long after, the sound of even, long breathing came from behind, and Xiao Bumian seemed to have fallen asleep again.

Mingjian wasn't sleepy at all. He opened his eyes, looked at the bed canopy, and couldn't help but think to himself: Serves him right! He stayed up the other night, secretly learning how to draw eyebrows and do makeup. Now he knows how sleepy he is, right? He's been sleeping for so long and he's still not awake.

Just then, the system, which had been missing for almost the entire night, finally came online, albeit slowly.

Mingjian asked, "So, is this plot point complete?"

The system was forcibly disconnected last night by an extremely powerful and strange force. Upon logging back in, it was startled to see this scene of the aftermath of the event in the early morning, causing the data flow to pause for a moment. It quickly performed a self-check to confirm that the core code had not been tampered with.

During the system's self-check, Mingjian was also mentally planning his tasks.

Although the process went terribly wrong, in other people's eyes, the person he married was Yun Hanyi. From this perspective, his mission was more than halfway complete.

Sure enough, not long after, the system said: [Host, according to the test, the substitute bride mission is 90% complete, which is not considered a failure. There is still 10% of the fake death plot to go through. However, it seems that Xiao Bumian set fire to your and Yun Hanyi's bridal chamber last night. So now, in other people's eyes, you and Yun Hanyi perished in the fire on your wedding night and died together.]

[Congratulations, host! The second mission, "The Substitute Bride," has been completed.]

Mingjian breathed a sigh of relief; at least his efforts hadn't been in vain.

The system continued: [The task rewards are as follows. Within the scope of system permissions, the host may make one wish.]

Make a wish? Mingjian seems to really like this reward.

He waited a while longer, but the system didn't respond.

Mingjian: "...?"

"Anything else?"

The system replied in a tone that suggested, "Host, why are you being so corny?": "[Sorry, this mission only offers one special reward: a single wish. Please cherish it.]"

Seeing that Ming remained silent, he was so angry that he laughed.

Does this lousy system even know what he went through last night? He almost heroically "died" in bed! And the reward is this empty platitude?

The system seemed to sense his resentment and quickly defended itself: "Host, please don't underestimate this reward. As long as it's within the system's permissions and capabilities, any wish you make can be granted. This is much more flexible and useful than a fixed number of spirit stones or a few rare treasures."

Mingjian: "What if I say I want the cultivation level of the Mahayana stage?"

The system hesitated for a moment before saying: "Your current physical strength and spiritual root aptitude cannot support such a huge increase in cultivation as leaping from the Golden Core stage to the Mahayana stage in a short period of time. Forcing the infusion will cause your meridians to shatter and your body to explode and die."

[However, it can only reach the Nascent Soul stage. If the host wishes to use this reward to advance their cultivation to the Nascent Soul stage, 051 can do it.]

Mingjian blinked slightly, keenly grasping the key words.

He immediately closed his eyes, focused his mind, and immersed his consciousness into his spiritual realm.

Sure enough, in the center of that misty spiritual energy, a perfectly round golden core was quietly suspended. Moreover, wisps of icy aura swirled around the golden core, emanating pure spiritual energy fluctuations.

Mingjian was stunned. When did he break through to the Golden Core stage? Moreover, his spiritual power attribute seemed to have Xiao Bumian's icy properties.

The system noticed his confusion and explained in a timely manner: "Host, Xiao Bumian is a half-demon with extremely high cultivation. Dual cultivation with him will greatly benefit your cultivation. Breakthroughs in cultivation will be a natural outcome, and it's normal for your spiritual root to absorb his attribute aura."

Upon hearing this, Mingjian immediately felt his backache and throat pain lessen! Such a good thing?!

Since dual cultivation with Xiao Bumian can improve one's cultivation level, why waste a wish? He doesn't need spirit stones anyway; he already has enough.

So Mingjian thought for a moment and then declined, "Forget it, let's keep this wish for now. I haven't decided what I want yet, I'll think about it when I need it later."

Knowing that his mission had not been a failure, Ming felt a great weight lifted from his heart and a sense of relief washed over him.

Weariness washed over him again, so he adjusted to a more comfortable position and soon closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

He had a bizarre and fantastical dream.

In his dream, he was a rabbit.

Winter was approaching, and food was becoming increasingly scarce in the forest. Hungry, he searched everywhere in the misty woods, but to no avail.

As darkness fell, he wanted to go home, but to his horror, he realized he was lost. The forest was vast, and he ran and ran desperately, but he couldn't find the familiar path.

The gray sky began to fall heavily with goose feather-like snowflakes, and the temperature plummeted.

Seeing that he was shivering from the cold, he could only curl up in a small tree hole and wait for death to come in despair.

"Snap—"

A very faint sound, like a branch being snapped underfoot, came from behind.

Mingjian raised his furry little head in fright and looked out through the crack in the tree hole, meeting a pair of eyes that gleamed with an eerie light in the darkness.

It was a wolf that was entirely white.

The white wolf had a graceful physique and fluffy fur that seemed to glow against the snow, but the wildness and coldness in its eyes made Mingjian freeze instantly.

The white wolf lowered its head, grabbed Mingjian by the soft skin on the back of his neck, pulled him out of the tree hole, and then turned and walked into the depths of the forest.

Mingjian wailed inwardly, he was so unlucky! Not only was he starving to death because he couldn't find anything to eat, but now he was going to become the white wolf's dinner!

He was so frightened that he trembled all over and didn't even have the strength to struggle.

However, the expected pain did not come. The white wolf took him back to a dry, warm cave, and instead of eating him, it treated him like a new and interesting toy.

Sometimes it would nuzzle him with its nose, sometimes it would scratch him with its paws. When it got tired of playing, it would wrap Mingjian in its soft, warm belly and warm him with its body heat.

When the weather is particularly cold, the white wolf will even scoop him up and wrap him around its neck to keep warm.

Mingjian was terrified at first, but as time went on, he realized that the white wolf did not seem to have any intention of harming him.

He gradually lowered his guard and even became bolder, daring to gently nibble at the tips of the white wolf's furry ears. The white wolf simply shook its head and didn't get angry.

One day, when the white wolf was playing with him in its mouth as usual, it suddenly stuck out its tongue and licked his back twice.

The wet, sticky sensation was so unfamiliar and intense that Mingjian's entire rabbit bristled instantly, its fur standing on end, which startled him so much that his heart stopped.

Mingjian suddenly woke up from his dream and opened his eyes.

What came into his view was not the familiar bed curtains, but a room full of white bone chains that writhed slowly like living things. They seemed to possess a life of their own, intertwining and extending throughout the room, exuding a cold and dangerous aura.

Mingjian wondered if he was still half asleep or if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

However, the person behind him moved even faster. A cool hand swiftly covered his eyes, blocking the chilling sight.

Xiao Bumian's voice rang close to his ear, a voice filled with an almost desperate plea, "Mingjian, don't... don't look."

Xiao Bumian lost control.

This half-demon, who was once declared by Yun Guiyuan, the sect leader of the Yanling Sect, to be 'heartless and loveless, born to be a killing weapon' to Xiao Yun's unborn child, has ushered in his demonic tribulation period.

However, Xiao Bumian's soul fire had been forcibly extracted in his early years, damaging his foundation. Therefore, safely surviving this perilous demonic tribulation period would be a hundred times more difficult than for ordinary demons.

Not to mention, maintaining the dignity of this physical body in front of a loved one.

If someone were to pass by at this moment, they would see this scene.

A blood moon hangs high in the sky.

The full moon, which should have been hanging in the night sky, was a thick, dark red today, as if a wound had been torn open in the sky, revealing a huge blood-red eye that silently and coldly looked down upon all living beings.

Blood-red moonlight silently streamed into the quiet room through the carved wooden window. The light wasn't bright; rather, it seemed as if a veil had been drawn over it.

The usual sweet scent of crabapple blossoms seemed to have become stronger in the air, lingering around the tip of the nose and refusing to dissipate.

Behind the screen, the scene was even more magnificent.

The handsome young man was held tightly in the arms of a man dressed in a bright red undergarment, whose hand was covering the eyes of the man in his arms with undeniable force.

Bathed in the crimson moonlight, beneath the two lay countless stark white, jagged bone chains.

These chains undulated and meandered slowly between their arms and ankles, following a silent rhythm. As they rubbed against each other, they made a soft rustling sound, like a caress, or perhaps a restraint.

Mingjian blinked gently, her thick, long eyelashes trembling slightly in Xiao Bumian's palm, feeling a little itchy.

He vaguely remembered that Xiao Bumian seemed to have shown similar signs of losing control last time.

At that time, he was so dizzy from Xiao Bumian's kisses that he was in a daze. When he caught a glimpse of these wriggling bone chains, he simply assumed it was one of the yandere's secret fetishes and didn't think much of it.

At this moment, Mingjian felt strangely no fear whatsoever.

"Let me see you," he asked softly, his intuition telling him that Xiao Bumian was afraid, afraid of being seen by him in this state.

Xiao Bumian didn't move, but stubbornly pressed his lips to Mingjian's delicate neck skin, leaving behind a series of small, hot kisses, trying to distract him and get away with it.

"Let me see." Mingjian softened his voice, but still insisted.

The person behind him suddenly stopped moving.

After a long while, the hand covering his eyes finally loosened its grip little by little.

Xiao Bumian lowered her eyelashes, her voice losing its usual clarity and trembling slightly as she mumbled, "I'm ugly, so please don't dislike me."

His mind was in turmoil.

The Demon Tribulation period arrived unexpectedly, and even he himself despised this half-demonized form.

Mingjian has always loved all beautiful things.

His original plan was to quietly leave for a while when the Demon Tribulation period was approaching, and then return to find him after he had survived this most difficult stage and returned to his usual, barely presentable appearance.

It's all those people's fault. If they hadn't pressed me so hard, insisting on Mingjian marrying Yun Hanyi, if I weren't a woman... If he were a woman, why would there be so many twists and turns?

His entire plan was shattered, and he even forgot about the imminent arrival of the Demon Tribulation, which allowed Mingjian to witness such an ugly and shameful side of himself.

But he dared not leave.

He feared that if he left, Mingjian would disappear and leave him forever.

Weighing the two options, Xiao Bumian preferred to let Mingjian witness his current inhuman state rather than risk losing him.

Mingjian was unaware of what he was thinking.

He turned his head to look.

All that could be seen was the side of Xiao Bumian's face turned inward, still with that breathtakingly beautiful profile, her long eyelashes drooping, casting a faint shadow under her eyes, as if she were simply trapped in a restless dream.

However, on the other side, under the hazy, dark red moonlight, several sharp, pale bone spurs suddenly protruded from beneath the skin of that half-face, grotesquely disrupting the original harmony of the face.

On his back, one could vaguely see the outline of half of a wing that was not fully extended, gleaming with a cold light.

Those bone chains seemed to be tirelessly building some kind of nest. Except for the wooden window that let in the blood moonlight, which was still intact, the rest of the room was almost completely occupied and entangled by them, trying to tightly wrap up this Never-Sleeping Pavilion and the people inside.

It's not ugly.

On the contrary, within this eerie and bewitching crimson, there is a broken yet breathtaking beauty.

Mingjian could hear his own heartbeat was unusually fast, pounding against his eardrums like a drumbeat.

My blood was flowing backwards, boiling with a scorching temperature.

He didn't speak for a long time.

Xiao Bumian took his silence as a silent expression of disgust.

Those eyes, which had been filled with expectation and fear, gradually turned cold and froze.

As expected, it was obvious that he didn't like it.

But what does it matter whether he likes it or not? Mingjian is ultimately his.

He will stay with him for the rest of his life.

He will stay with Mingjian forever.

Xiao Bumian forced a smile and uttered a dry sentence: "You don't like me, but I like you too. You promised you'd always be with me."

Mingjian blinked.

He doesn't seem to have said anything yet, does he?

What was Xiao Bumian thinking about again, adding some kind of melodramatic drama to his life?

He now understood that when this yandere acted up, she wouldn't listen to anything. He couldn't be lazy and try to appease her just because she didn't show any displeasure on the surface; otherwise, she could keep holding it in until she completely exploded, and then Mingjian's back would suffer terribly.

Thinking of this, Mingjian leaned closer and gently placed a kiss on Xiao Bumian's slightly cool lips.

His kiss was warm, full of vibrant life.

When the demon touched Xiao Bumian's lips, he suddenly stopped, still thinking about how to spout nonsense.

The half-exposed bony wing fluttered slightly unconsciously, revealing a secret pleasure.

“I like it very much,” Ming said clearly.

Xiao Bumian was stunned.

Before he could react, Mingjian continued to soothe him, saying each word clearly, "Xiao Bumian, I love you."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the bone spurs and the tangled chains, and added, "You look... very beautiful."

He's truly impossible to dislike.

It's probably because he's also a pervert.

Or perhaps it's simply because of Xiao Bumian.

These words greatly pleased Xiao Bumian.

He was stunned at first, then a slight, uncontrollable smile crept onto his lips. As if granted permission, several slender bone chains carefully wrapped around Mingjian's wrists and ankles.

Like a puppy seeking confirmation, he rubbed his lips against Mingjian's, murmuring over and over again, "Really? Am I really not ugly?"

At first, Mingjian was patient enough to coax him repeatedly.

Later, she simply let him do as he pleased, allowing Xiao Bumian to do as he pleased.

For the first time, he was grateful that he had the body of a cultivator; otherwise, with Xiao Bumian's seemingly inexhaustible energy, he would probably have died on this bed.

In the following days, Xiao Bumian's condition worsened, and his rationality, like a candle flickering in the wind, gradually faded away.

So just as Xiao Bumian's rationality was faltering and he wanted to drag Mingjian to do it again, Mingjian decisively refused.

"No, that won't do." Seeing the firmness in his tone, he looked at Xiao Bumian's reddened eyes. "Don't move."

Xiao Bumian stopped what he was doing, tilted his head, and pure confusion showed in his scarlet eyes.

Mingjian was furious. He propped himself up, his body aching, and took the initiative, pinning Xiao Bumian down under the brocade quilt. Xiao Bumian thought Mingjian wanted to change positions, and even relaxed her body in cooperation.

He also really liked this pose and didn't mind it.

"Do you want this?" he asked in a hoarse voice, with a hint of expectation.

Mingjian: "..."

Mingjian bent down, gently pressed his forehead against Xiao Bumian's burning forehead, closed his eyes, and whispered, "Sleep."

At the same time, deep within his consciousness, he said to the system, "I want to use the third memory fragment."

The moment the command was given, a familiar sense of detachment washed over him, and he let his consciousness sink into darkness.