"You want me to exploit women?"

"How dare you! How could you do this!"

"ah!!!"

An Zhengzheng roared, and the entire illusion shook from side to side as if an earthquake had struck.

The crowd screamed as An Zhengzheng summoned Gan Jiang and Mo Xie, holding the two short swords in her hands.

The surroundings seemed to be piled with ice, and the Xuan Tian Han Shi Sword was imbued with its master's greatest rage, increasing its power by more than a hundredfold.

An Zhengzheng rushed forward like a madwoman.

She stared intently at the smug team member, and remotely plunged the Ganjiang sword into his chest.

The group member's eyes were filled with terror.

Is this female cultivator in front of me crazy?!

His eyes were bloodshot, like a demon crawling out of a battlefield. Despite wearing a smart white suit, he wasn't afraid of getting his eyes stained with blood.

She stepped forward and sealed his throat with the Moye sword.

Blood splattered on her face, her white suit, and her hair.

“Each of you was born from a woman’s body.”

"Every single one!!!"

"How can you turn the sharp blade of scheming back into a woman, like a scalpel during childbirth, and plunge it into every inch of her skin?"

An Zhengzheng went berserk, vines entangled everyone present, and An Zhengzheng killed them one by one with deadly wounds.

In the end, only the "father" in the illusion remained unkilled.

Seeing An Zhengzheng's actions, he knew that she had become aware of the illusion.

There was no need to imitate An Zhengzheng's biological father, so "Dad" slowly shrank and turned into a dream-eating beast.

It was only half the height of An Zhengzheng, looked like a little boy, and was covered in scales.

Despite being bound by vines, it remained expressionless.

"Why wouldn't you want to? If you do it, you can gain immense wealth and status."

"Even if you don't do it, someone else will. Other women will write novels like this, and plenty of women will advocate this idea. Plenty of women will compete with you for female dominance..."

"They will get in your way, isn't that pathetic? You're determined to do something for women in the world, but among those who are hindering you, there are not only men, but also many women."

"Just like... your grandmother, An Qinghuan, and Zhou Yu'er..."

"Women who use pregnancy to fraudulently obtain maternity leave, women who get pregnant before enrolling in graduate school and block other avenues for women, mothers who favor sons over daughters and are jealous of their daughters, women who are jealous of other women and have an extreme preference for men..."

The dream-eating beast spoke in a low voice, "Aren't you afraid? My magic circle has detected you. You are afraid. No matter how hard you try, there will always be women who betray you."

An Zhengzheng stopped in her tracks. For the first time, the fear that had haunted her for so many years was brought to the forefront.

She remained silent for a long time.

The dream-eating beast is also very patient.

Just when the Dream Eater thought An Zhengzheng had given up, An Zhengzheng spoke.

She asked, "The book says that the Dream Eater uses my memories and inner demons to create illusions, so you should know how China was founded, right?"

"Know."

"Do you think that the Chinese people would give up the war and stop fighting for future generations just because there are traitors betraying them?"

"……Won't."

“That’s it.” An Zhengzheng smiled. “Some of those women who betrayed us can’t be called traitors. They were exploited step by step in a state of insecurity, became numb, and foolishly became accomplices of patriarchy.”

For example, my grandmother, when she was young, didn't she ever cry in the middle of the night and ask how many more sons she needed to have before she would be free?

"I cannot forgive the victims on their behalf, nor can I erase the suffering they caused to other women... But once women become independent and strong, they will not be easily coerced, and there will be fewer and fewer women who betray women."

"And this war has never been just my war, nor is it just for these women who are still unaware."

"...Moreover, it's not a war that can be ended in a few years or decades."

During this trial, she saw the female cultivators who had clamored for male cultivators but ultimately bravely stepped forward and united as one; she saw Zhang Guo'er who knew her mistakes and was able to correct them; and she saw An Yirou, Song Juan, and Su Ying go from trembling and hiding in their cloaks to following her to save people and fight off monsters.

These women are waking up... and in the future, more women will wake up as well.

An Zhengzheng raised her sword.

The sword was like the first ray of light piercing the darkness, and the entire illusion shattered the moment An Zhengzheng raised and swung the sword.

When I looked up again, the surroundings had changed.

She returned to the trial array.

"What did you do in there?" The senior brother maintaining the magic array looked at her incredulously.

The magic circle had been destroyed by her and could no longer be used.

What exactly did this girl do inside the magic circle?

To slay an inner demon, you only need to slay one to be considered successful. Could she have managed to slay all the inner demons inside?

An Zhengzheng held her breath, composed herself, and replied, "...It's nothing."

Looking around, there were seven other people who had emerged from the illusion, including himself, and Zhou Xu was among them.

The two nodded to each other as a greeting, but as for the others... they didn't recognize them.

No one emerged from the golden arrays for a long time. An Zhengzheng wondered if the others had failed to overcome their inner demons.

With the deadline fast approaching, someone finally rushed out of the magic circle, their tear-streaked face resembling a little kitten.

That person was An Yirou, who was crying her heart out while hugging An Zhengzheng and bursting into tears.

"Wow, sister, that illusion is terrifying!"

An Zhengzheng was startled by An Yirou's sudden attack. After regaining her senses, she gently patted An Yirou's back.

Once An Yirou had calmed down a bit, she asked softly, "Is it scary? Do you want to tell me? If you don't want to, then don't. But if you're feeling uncomfortable keeping it to yourself, then tell me."

After all, inner demons are very private matters.

An Yirou nodded, her face contorted with grief, and said, "Sister, we...we've become the head of the family, and the other is preparing to undergo the tribulation of lightning and ascend to immortality..."

"However, many people are attacking us. They say that women who go out to do business and travel are yin occupying yang positions... They say you are an evil cultivator and are spreading heresy."

"They even called us witches, corrupting all women in the world, and said they were acting on behalf of Heaven to punish us... They said they would attack us from outside, and the sect and the An family said they would clean house!"

"They laughed at us, saying we were delusional."

An Zhengzheng frowned slightly, realizing that this was an ancient version of a witch hunt.

Since this is An Yirou's inner demon, it means that An Yirou is afraid, afraid that they will not succeed.

"How did you slay this inner demon?" An Zhengzheng helped her sit down on the ground.

An Yirou is doing much better now that she's with An Zhengzheng.

Having just vanquished her inner demons, she leaned wearily on An Zhengzheng's shoulder, her mind calm and at peace.

“I said to the heavens, even if I fail, I will accept it willingly.”