Chapter 16 No Escape "Your Choice"
16
That night, the villain appeared to have slightly breached his defenses.
It's strange that Chen Jinshi, after growing up to be incredibly powerful and committing numerous evil deeds, would still care about the ominous divination slip under the marriage tree.
Could it be that even evil, world-destroying villains can have teenage years?
Ever since the cataclysmic event ten years later, when Miaojue recognized him through his birthmark, she has never been able to reconcile him with the gloomy-faced boy from the village entrance back then.
When I was little, the older kids in the village all said he was destined to be a heartless person. Miaojue thought so too.
Every time, he would say things like, "So annoying," "I can't be bothered with you," or "If it weren't for... I wouldn't care whether you live or die." The little guy was so gloomy and fierce back then, a world apart from his current cheerful and smiling demeanor.
Now his temper has improved, but he's become a real dog.
Soon, the bronze bell was once again hung on the altar, which had been cleared of dust.
News came from the palace that the Tianyan Kingdom's ruler, who had escaped the Holy Mother's clutches, would personally participate in the purification ritual to pray for Dongfang Yaotian, who was about to travel to the Chixia Sect to participate in the Ten Thousand Sects Immortal Competition.
The ritual of purification is meant to remove evil and bring peace, and to cleanse oneself of impurities. Therefore, the ritual was set up near the water, with seats separated by golden gauze curtains set up along the inner river of the royal city.
The old emperor sat on a heavily curtained platform upwind, his heavy body obscured by several layers, likely due to injuries sustained on the Lantern Festival. The ministers and even members of the royal family hadn't seen their ruler for many years; he had been secluded in his hermitage seeking immortality, but this time he had been invited out by Chen Jinshi.
There must be something fishy about the villain's actions; we'll be on high alert today.
Along the clear riverbank, where the essence of water and wood flows, music and songs gently flow. The male and female protagonists take their seats one after the other, as if they were strangers, and do not sit together.
Dongfang Yaotian sat down next to Miaojue, clutching his chest, and hissed, "I can't do it. I've tried countless methods, but I can't restore her memory. Do you understand... Qianqian, do you understand this feeling of loss?"
Gong Yuqiu, sitting opposite him, was also pale, and it was unclear what was causing her pain.
Miao Jue ignored Dongfang Yaotian, then turned to Chen Jinshi on the other side and asked, "Brother Jinshi, do you understand this feeling of loss?"
He doesn't know anything.
The voice, as smooth as jade and as gentle as bamboo, paused for a moment, then said with a warm smile, "I understand."
"..." Miao Jue could hardly bear to look at the villain who was acting alongside the male lead; she was pondering the upcoming plot.
Although the female lead has amnesia, she still goes to participate in the Ten Thousand Immortals Competition. This plot is an important part of the main storyline of the male and female leads' battle against the underworld because an escaped bewitching underworld creature appears in the Crimson Cloud Secret Realm.
The format of the Ten Thousand Sects Immortal Competition differs from ordinary sect trials. As this is a grand event involving all eight directions of the continent, the quality of the disciples and contestants is naturally uneven. Therefore, the opening is a very brutal survival challenge in a secret realm. Only those who can escape alive are qualified to engage in a duel between their own level to determine the champion.
Because the male and female protagonists were filled with a deep-seated hatred for each other when they left Tianyan Kingdom, they entered the secret realm while she was running away and he was chasing her. The two of them even creatively covered their faces.
Under the onslaught of that alluring Netherworld creature, the male and female protagonists repeatedly sacrificed themselves to save each other, but they refused to leave their names in order to create various misunderstandings—yet everyone except themselves recognized them.
Miaojue closed her eyes peacefully. Who can understand this sense of redemption?
I can't even imagine how far she'll level up after overcoming all these painful challenges. She's already a ninth-tier human-level wood spirit bone, capable of withstanding terrifyingly long periods of time rewind. What can the villains possibly use to stop her?
"You really want to go to the Ten Thousand Sects Immortal Competition? No way!"
Ye Caifeng was in a good mood today because she felt that her wish on the marriage tree had come true. As a result, Dongfang Qian became more and more unrestrained in her speech, with obvious sarcasm.
"You don't really think that breaking a deadly formation once is enough to qualify for an invitation, do you? Qianqian, do you know what kind of people go to the Myriad Sects Immortal Competition? I'm only saying this for your own good."
"You're not going?" Miaojue opened her eyes peacefully. "Is it because you don't want to?"
Ye Caifeng's breath hitched, and her face flushed red.
Last time in front of the Heavenly Origin Mirror, those cultivators who didn't know the inside story assumed that she was the third party who interfered in Yaotian's relationship, which caused her not to be invited to this Ten Thousand Sects Immortal Competition. Otherwise, how could her ninth-level Earth-grade spiritual bone aptitude be inferior to Dongfang Qian?
How could she be a third party? She and Yaotian just grew up together and have a very good relationship!
Miao Jue couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, looking at the white-clad youth reciting the sacrificial text amidst the dust and mist of the bathing water.
She and this person grew up together for many years, so how did their relationship turn out like this?
Ye Caifeng could only glare at her fiercely before sitting down next to Dongfang Yaotian, clearly having taken Gong Yuqiu's place.
Gong Yuqiu's face turned pale; she was in great pain. Her heart-wrenching essay was being generated, but Miaojue heard the system click as it scored the results.
She asked, bewildered, "Where's the angst? I haven't figured it out yet."
The system said, "There was originally a tragic moment in this purification ritual, but the female lead has lost her memory, so this tragic moment has been automatically resolved."
"You can do that?"
If she had known there was such a good thing that would solve everything once and for all, she would have done it sooner.
But after only two seconds of relief, she suddenly realized something was wrong; something was wrong with her body.
Miao Jue lowered her eyes and looked inward, and was surprised to find that the spiritual bone above her dantian, which had started as a bud, had silently transformed into a complete sapling. Greenish spiritual energy emanated from its roots and was transported to the larger meridian tree throughout her body.
Human, Earth, Heaven, Mystery—her spiritual bone aptitude has broken through to the Earth level.
On this fantastical continent, countless people lack spiritual awakening, and human-grade spiritual bones are everywhere. However, once one reaches the aptitude of earth-grade spiritual bone, one is generally qualified to participate in the selection process of major sects and aristocratic families and become their disciple.
Because although people and land seem to be on the same level, the cultivation methods are worlds apart.
Miaojue looked at the sapling in her inner palace with great care, and clearly felt that her five senses were becoming clearer and more acute, her hands and feet were light, and the natural spiritual energy of all plants, trees, fish and insects in the world was surging towards her, just like a tree being watered by spring rain and basking in the sun.
That feels so good.
But right after the breakthrough in spiritual bone, Miao Jue began to feel a gaze.
The heavy, oppressive heat stared at her like an all-pervasive reptile, sending a chill down her spine.
"Earth-grade spirit bones can bear much greater power. Also, having gone through the period of mediocre protection of human-grade spirit bones, your spirit bone aptitude is now easily seen through by higher-level beings," the system reminded you.
Miao Jue first looked at Chen Jinshi, who was currently focused on the sacrificial ceremony, his eyes closed.
That gaze wasn't his.
She looked at Dongfang Yaotian again, who was kissing the female lead in mid-air with his eyes, which made her want to die. She quickly turned her head away.
The people around her didn't pay much attention to her, since those who could sit here were basically high-level Earth-rank talents, and her spiritual bone aura wouldn't attract much attention.
Miaojue felt a sense of unease, her heart pounding, as if her subconscious was fearing something.
But by the end of the ritual, the villains hadn't used any evil tricks, and the male and female leads hadn't suffered any mishaps.
Miao Jue breathed a sigh of relief, turned and left the banquet. She walked through the golden gauze curtains that were fluttering in the wind, lifting and lowering them with her arms, passing through more than a dozen curtains before finally stopping.
We can't get out.
That heavy, humid gaze followed her relentlessly, tracing the spiritual bones that rose from her dantian upwards, caressing her with its affectionate gaze.
This isn't the gaze of a villain. The evil of Chen Jinshi is very clear, even possessing a kind of animalistic innocence. He wouldn't have such a nauseating look in his eyes.
But she suspected that all these anomalies were also related to Chen Jinshi.
Miao Jue simply stopped struggling and focused on the crown bud in her sea of consciousness. She discovered that the widest golden curtain in the farthest distance had been lifted, revealing complete darkness inside, through which the gaze pierced through.
Who exactly is behind this?
After breaking through to the Earth level with her magic technique, the time she could recall using her spiritual bone had reached a quarter of an hour, enough for her to jump back to the table she had just been sitting in.
She approached the dark, gloomy curtain, and the gaze followed her intently, even beginning to hear strange murmurs through his keen hearing.
The instant she stepped out of the shadows, Chen Jinshi's leisurely yet wicked voice rang out behind her: "Are you really going in?"
For some reason, Miaojue felt a little more relaxed facing his blunt and rude behavior.
Before she could respond, the darkness within the golden gauze curtain surged over her head like a tide, as if she were surrounded by that intense gaze. She was being watched by endless covetous eyes, while wood and metal fires began to rise beneath her feet.
“You and her seem to…” His gaze even became infatuated.
Miaojue couldn't see the shape in the darkness, so she closed her eyes and used her divine sense to gradually outline a figure, and then she had a better idea of what it was.
“You’ve grown spiritual bones…she’ll be so happy…”
He is the ruler of Tianyan Kingdom.
Her nominal father, the emperor.
Miao Jue knew from the beginning that Dongfang Qian was not Dongfang Yaotian's biological sister, but the daughter of the old emperor's beloved.
But the original plot never mentioned who this white moonlight was. Now that the heroine's mother's revenge has revealed his original identity as a disciple of the Jade Void Sect, then his white moonlight, Dongfang Qian's real birth mother... is a member of the Jade Void Sect?
However, it should be noted that the spiritual bone qualities on this continent have a very strong genetic component.
In layman's terms, if the mother has a high-level spiritual bone, the offspring may not necessarily be of a higher level, but they will certainly have a spiritual bone.
Conversely, if the offspring do not produce a spiritual bone, then the mother certainly did not.
Dongfang Qian's birth mother was a useless person without spiritual bones. How did she survive in the Jade Void Sect, where there were many experts?
Something suddenly flashed through Miao Jue's mind: after the Great Battle of the Underworld a hundred years ago, the Jade Void Sect's aptitude was completely refreshed, with multiple Heavenly Spirit Bones emerging, as if the entire sect had evolved...
The wood and metal fire beneath her feet burned her throat until it was parched. She swallowed the magic incantation slightly, and a cool, refreshing scent of grass and trees wafted to her nose.
"Have I ever told you," Chen Jinshi smiled charmingly and warmly, "that you look a lot like Gong Yuqiu's master?"
Suddenly, a buzzing sound filled Miaojue's mind.
The female protagonist's master is Immortal Queyang, the head of the Jade Void Sect...
Dongfang Qian's real birth mother is actually Gong Yuqiu's master...? There's actually this connection between them.
If Immortal Queyang was a useless person without spiritual bones, how did he become the master of the number one sect in the world?
Yes, the answer is almost self-evident.
Seeing her understanding, Chen Jinshi nodded approvingly, "That's right, she used an entire set of Nether Bones to create Spirit Bones."
Landing there is already at the Xuan level.
Miao Jue was startled. She watched as her father's figure approached with lustful intent in the darkness. He coveted her face, which was younger than she remembered, and also coveted her own spiritual bones that had grown from her own body.
As Chen Jinshi once said, eating the flesh and blood of the Netherworld Clan is as addictive as poison, which means that this species with innate divine power must have strong side effects on the human body.
The Immortal Queyang used the skeleton of the Underworld Clan to build her own spiritual bones. Will her body be able to accept them, or will it reject them?
But now, the ingenious technique has allowed this body to grow truly natural spiritual bones. If she were refined, the spiritual bone elixir, of the same lineage and origin as her biological daughter, might be able to smooth over all the side effects of her acquired bone formation…
Then the events of that year become clearer.
This child cannot remain by the side of the Immortal Queyang, because Dongfang Qian's mortal form would expose the truth that she lacks spiritual bones. Therefore, she placed her next to her most trusted sycophant, even going so far as to kill Gong Yuqiu's mother to force him to hide in anonymity.
"Qianqian, Qianqian, you've never seen her before... Come to me, let me hug you..."
Miao Jue felt a chill and didn't move, but the King of Tianyan had already opened his arms and pounced on her.
This old man had been cultivating in seclusion in his hermitage for many years and had actually reached a very high level of cultivation. In almost an instant, his foul breath was right in front of him.
"Help me, pick up everything, help me..."
In the darkness, the villain chuckled softly: "Alright."
Miao Jue thought to himself, "This is bad. Even if I pick up all the dust, he'll still eat the Netherworld Clan. They're all birds of a feather."
It was definitely Chen Jinshi who had seen the growth of her spiritual bones long ago, but he never revealed it. When she grew to a certain extent, he deliberately lured out the King of Tianyan so that he could see it.
She nimbly rolled over to dodge, but was firmly held down by a pair of cold, pale hands—
Damn it, Sang Biao, I'm going to kill you!
Miao Jue swiftly condensed the tip of her tongue in her mind, grasped it, and was about to flick it back, but the next second, fine, cold ash condensed into a mist sword, grazing her cheek, and then suddenly there was a soft "poof" sound in the darkness.
The sword of ash gently and softly pierced the chest of the King of Tianyan. The ash exploded everywhere in his chest like fireworks, blasting the flesh and blood that had been enhanced by the Netherworld Clan into fragments, and then disappeared completely.
The King of Tianyan collapsed to the ground with a thud, leaving only a hole in his body from a sword.
A small jade pendant rolled out from under his wide, luxurious sleeve.
The mark above is that of Yu Xu Que Yang.
Miao Jue suddenly realized, "No, wait a minute."
Did you do all this just to frame the female lead and create a sadomasochistic relationship?
When Dongfang Yaotian saw that his father was dead and there was a jade seal related to the female lead nearby, would he be able to guess that his father had any connection with the Jade Void Sect? Of course not!
He would only believe that Gong Yuqiu, who already had a blood feud with his mother, killed his father.
Chen Jinshi disappeared with a warm expression: "Either you killed her, or she killed her. It's your choice."
Before the magic could react, a grand funeral bell tolled over the royal city, shattering the illusion within the golden curtain.
The next second, Dongfang Yaotian appeared on his knees, shouting, "Father!!!"
In the distance, Gong Yuqiu put together the Mo Yao jade ring and jade core that someone had left for her. Her face went blank for a moment, and then suddenly she remembered everything.
The secret: "…………"
System: "A series of heart-wrenching moments are about to unfold! The male and female leads have accumulated deep-seated hatred for each other, with the male lead mistakenly believing the female lead killed his father. The female lead, misunderstood, chooses to leave without saying goodbye. Faced with the villain's depravity, neither of them can escape—"
Miao Jue stared expressionlessly at the villain who had disappeared into the horizon.
The dog even went to the marriage tree to make a vow, sweetly offering incense: "It seems that only the first two divinations were accurate, and the last one was false."
Miaojue began to seriously consider the possibility of retrospectively diagnosing him with polio, after all, only she knew how old he was this year... no, wait.
How did he know he cast three hexagrams?
In the sea of consciousness, the bud on the hour hand of the clock face is slightly turning backward, as if some force is chasing after it.
Chen Jinshi rolled up ashes and lit incense in front of the marriage tree, counted the progressing tribulations of fate, and stood up. Suddenly, some fragments flashed before his eyes... things that had not yet happened.
His eyes held a smug wickedness, waiting for his future self to marvel at his masterpiece.
Then he heard his own voice chasing after him:
"You're finished."
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