The ending of Chapter 1 involves a reverse flow, directly or indirectly killing her bastards...
1
Stop cutting! Stop cutting!
Miaojue strained to grip the toes stuck in the ground, channeling the meager moisture and nutrients from the soil to the roots, straightening the mottled spine of the tree, and gritting its teeth.
The setting sun in the sky was like blood, and the world turned to ashes. Is this the final chapter?
The villain had been lying in wait by the male and female protagonists' side for ten years, concealing immense power. Today, he effortlessly turned the entire Tianyan Kingdom into scorched earth, and no one could stop him—this was clearly a cataclysmic disaster, just waiting for the male and female protagonists to save the world.
If the male and female protagonists join forces, resolve the numerous heart-wrenching misunderstandings that can be cleared up with a few words, forget the hundreds of unnecessary and melodramatic tribulations, and work together to defeat the villain, then this fantasy romance story can have a happy ending.
And then don't fucking kill me!
After becoming a love tree used by the male and female protagonists to pledge their love in this tragic world, the magic formula has been cut down by the two of them over ten years of breaking up and getting back together.
At this moment, the male and female protagonists stood silently facing each other in front of the tree with its red ribbons hanging down.
Finally, the man took the initiative, pointing the long knife in his hand at the female protagonist, his eyes bloodshot as he hissed, "Are you... one of that person's accomplices?"
The female lead's eyes widened instantly, but her mouth remained unspoken. She leaped forward and crashed directly into the tip of his knife: "Dongfang Yaotian, you never believed me."
The male protagonist, Dongfang Yaotian, suddenly narrowed his eyes and slashed the tip of his knife away just as he was about to hurt her.
The sharp blade force then crashed into the tree trunk behind him.
A gruesome wound split open on the tree bark, like a deep wound in the heart.
Both of them wore expressions of pain—why? The wound, though only on the tree trunk, felt as if it had been cut into their very hearts, leaving a deep, bone-revealing scar.
The two men staggered back several steps in pain, their clothes hanging to the ground as if they could not support themselves.
The miraculous technique caused him to tremble in a daze from the pain.
No, what are they in pain about? Who gave them permission to be in so much pain?
As the villain's menacing presence draws ever closer, the male and female leads suddenly begin to create a heart-wrenching situation, determined to prove their decade-long devotion. The male lead clutches a knife, attempting to slash himself, while the female lead, unable to bear hurting him, instinctively deflates the knife hilt from her palm.
The knife flew out again. With a soft thud, it sliced through the iron like mud and slid smoothly into the tree trunk behind him.
At this point, the two masters, instead of fighting the villains, started fighting each other. In an instant, they had exchanged over a hundred blows, but not a single strike had actually landed on the other.
The Tree of Secrets for Pure Enjoyment: "……………………"
She felt her consciousness fading, as if being swept by a hurricane, and she began to lose her grip on the ground.
At the blurry end of the road, a figure in white slowly walked towards them, followed by a sky full of blood-red ashes, as if the world itself had been transformed into a crematorium.
"It's almost done cooking," a cool male voice said leisurely.
The pervasive sense of oppression instantly halted the heart-wrenching tug-of-war between the male and female protagonists. They exchanged a glance, their faces turning pale. This time, it didn't seem like they were arguing for no reason, but rather like they were truly outmatched.
So their last cuts were not retracted in time and slammed into the tree trunk.
Miaojue's mind went blank as she realized that her tree crown was tilting. Then she realized that it wasn't the crown that was tilting, but the entire tree trunk.
Finally, with a dull thud as it struck the ground, she realized in the cold emptiness—
She broke it off.
A sharp pain struck, but the fractured cross-section inexplicably burst forth with a burst of light.
Just as the male and female protagonists were finally struggling against the impending doom, Miaojue suddenly saw clearly a series of rings on the tree, and together with the top bud at the very tip of her crown, they looked like the dial and minute hand of a clock.
"Congratulations on finally dying."
A voice entered her mind from underground. Miao Jue was in too much pain to think about why the cheat system had only arrived now.
"You will possess the most unique spiritual bone, with the power to turn back time. Every time you start over, it will be different."
Miaojue mustered some strength and stretched out her fingertips, trying to reach the minute hand-like bud, but suddenly, a gaze pierced through something and precisely seized her.
Just as the male and female protagonists were putting all their cultivation into a final attack, the villain suddenly turned around and strode towards the tree.
That handsome yet imposing silhouette was approaching, and a pair of pale hands reached out to her. Miao Jue's fingertips trembled, and she used her mind to suddenly pluck the top bud.
Click.
Everything actually started to reverse.
The male and female protagonists' all-out attack went out like a toy, the burning ashes that filled the air receded like the tide, and... her tree full of wounds, the pain of being cut off, and a pair of suddenly clear, dark eyes, all began to disappear and be soothed in the huge vortex.
Before those cold, pale hands touched her tattered tree trunk, Miaojue caught one last glance at the villain's fingertip and saw a familiar red birthmark. Suddenly, her eyes widened.
God, you really are playing a trick on me—
…
Miaojue suddenly opened his eyes.
Everything in front of me was both very familiar and somewhat unfamiliar.
It moved its feet, no longer rooted to the ground. It looked up, its gaze lowered. Looking down, it saw hands, feet, a nose, and eyes—Miaojue, after ten years as a tree, had become a person again.
This place is still within the Tianyan Kingdom's palace where the male protagonist resides. Not far away, a tall wooden platform blocks the view, and on the platform, two familiar bastards are gazing at each other affectionately.
A sweet atmosphere filled the air, and a sacred and pure aura emanated from it. A perfectly round, eight-sided, yin-yang symbol with its tails touching faintly floated in the air, beginning to take shape.
"Yes, you have returned to ten years ago when the male and female protagonists pledged their love with a tree and made a vow of destiny."
Ten years later, that system-like voice followed again: "Dongfang Yaotian and Gong Yuqiu are the chosen ones from the Langhuan Immortal Court who descended to the mortal realm to undergo a tribulation of love. The male protagonist is now the young prince of Tianyan Kingdom, and your soul has been incarnated as his princess sister Dongfang Qian, whose life is about to end. You are extremely dependent on and infatuated with him..."
"Wait a minute," Miaojue said, having grasped the most crucial point from a multitude of questions, "Why are they already engaged?"
If we can turn back time, can't we go back to the time before this perfect couple pledged their love in front of the tree?
The Heavenly Bond is the highest-level oath, and their bond's core is the Mystic Marriage Tree, meaning the tree is their legal marriage registry. Cutting down the tree once is equivalent to a divorce, with legal effect... which is why they were able to make those hundreds of cuts.
System: "Because you are the Tree of Marriage, originating from marriage, you can only go back to the time when they fell in love, otherwise you would not exist. But now you have the power to go back in time. Every time you help the male and female protagonists avoid a tragic moment, your special spiritual bone will grow by one level."
Miaojue's emotions went through many ups and downs, but she eventually calmed down.
After being nerfed for ten years, who wouldn't want to become stronger?
She closed her eyes and looked at the tiny "minute hand" in her mind's eye, which represented the duration of the regression. The angle it could deflect was now imperceptible to the naked eye, lasting at most two or three seconds, but this tiny bit was a new life.
The system didn't give her much time to ponder the rest—"Pay attention, the first heart-wrenching moment is coming."
Miao Jue opened her eyes and met Dongfang Yaotian's melancholy and doting gaze.
"..." His fist hardened instantly.
Objectively speaking, Dongfang Yaotian does indeed look like a male protagonist. His eyebrows and eyes are sharp and handsome, as if carved by a knife. He has an arrogant temperament, as if the world would be in darkness if he hadn't been born. He looks at his sister with deep affection and sorrow.
Yes, at the moment when he and the female lead became lovers, the arrogant male lead, worried that his sister would not accept his relationship with the female lead, kept gazing at her and giving her the tenderness that still belonged to her.
The female lead's gaze also fell on Miaojue. Although no woman would want her beloved to gaze at someone else at the moment they pledged their love, Gong Yuqiu still smiled generously, thinking that this was Yaotian's younger sister whom she had grown up with since childhood.
Another voice, tinged with schadenfreude, came from beside Miaojue.
"Princess, don't be sad. Although you have been by the Prince's side for so many years, it is still not as good as the Jade Void Sect fairy who came for a month. But the Prince still cares about you."
"However, the deep affection between the young prince and Miss Gongyu is truly something that anyone would envy!"
Miaojue suddenly smiled.
envious?
Are you envious of them falling in love in the morning and breaking up in the evening?
She remembered without the system reminding her that on the day they pledged their love, the couple made the first cut on her tree.
What was the reason for this heart-wrenching moment?
She frowned, pondering. It wasn't surprising she couldn't recall it immediately; firstly, it was from a long time ago, and secondly, the reasons for this seemingly perfect couple's breakup were incredibly varied and bizarre. What ridiculous, ridiculous thing had actually caused them to break up on the day they got together...?
The people talking nearby were all watching the show, waiting for the princess to throw a tantrum.
After all, it is common knowledge that this useless princess without spiritual bones regards Dongfang Yaotian as her life and clings to him every day. Now that the prince has fallen in love with another woman, how can she bear it?
After talking for a while, the other party didn't say anything. The person turned to look at Dongfang Qian in surprise, but was inexplicably stunned.
The girl's brows furrowed slightly, her figure standing in the breeze as elegant as a pine tree. Her fair profile was tinged with morning mist, like a touch of early spring greenery lingering in her hair and eyes. Despite being a good-for-nothing, she possessed a cool and serene beauty, like a pearl that had been sculpted and stripped of its embellishments. Her appearance remained the same, but she was now ten times more stunning.
Just as the trick was about to be discovered, a clear and cool voice fell like rain.
Congratulations!
The voice was clear and captivating, with a hint of playfulness. A snow-white hem brushed past the eaves, the only color on the plain clothes being the green of sparse grass and faint ink marks. The figure was elegant and graceful, with a slight curve at the corner of the lips.
The moment this person appeared, all eyes were drawn to him.
In the Kingdom of Tianyan, there lived a man who set up a Taoist altar in the palace, higher than the emperor's residence and palace. He ensured favorable weather and abundant harvests for the land year after year, earning the reverence of all the people. His actions were unpredictable and shrouded in mystery, yet he possessed the heart of a bodhisattva and the face of a Buddha. He…
Miaojue looked at the newcomer with a complicated expression.
Sang Biao... no, the villain.
Just now—no, just now, that great villain who will destroy the world ten years from now.
“You two will surely receive all the blessings in the world, won’t you, Princess—” His gaze, full of interest, turned over and lingered on Miaojue.
Upon meeting those long, narrow black eyes, before she could even marvel at his stunning good looks now that he had grown up, Miao Jue's mind went blank for a moment, and she finally remembered why Dongfang Yaotian and Gong Yuqiu had broken up today.
When love is pledged, it is a time of destiny, a moment when the heart is most turbulent and unstable.
Just then, the villain simply smiled and casually uttered a very simple sentence, which permanently pierced the heroine's sensitive and fragile heart, laying a solid foundation for ten years of melodramatic plot twists—
"But actually, the princess is not Yaotian's biological sister."
Before this, the female lead could comfort herself with the idea that "after all, they are blood relatives and grew up together" regarding the male lead's various acts of tenderness and affection towards his younger sister, and the original owner's various acts of arrogance and pride.
Then, at the most turbulent moment, she suddenly learned that the person she had fallen in love with had been vaguely deceiving her all along. The relationship between them, brother and sister, was clearly not familial, but rather a deep love that had lasted for more than ten years.
separate!
What's even more outrageous is that after the male and female protagonists form a destiny pact with the tree, they can teleport to the tree at any time. No one can surpass this speed. The entire process of leaping, drawing the sword, and chopping down the tree only takes one second.
So, does she go back to this second?
With the arrow already on the bowstring, Miaojue nervously watched the minute hand in her mind's eye.
No way, you can only stop them three times at most, and after that they'll still cut them down without hesitation, won't they?
The system gives a beginner's tip: "To avoid the heartbreaking parts, you can send them sweet and comforting blessings as soon as possible."
“You’re right,” Miaojue thought seriously. “If we could smash the male and female leads’ ears, they wouldn’t be able to hear.”
System: "??" I didn't say that.
Unfortunately, Miao Jue's body doesn't even have any spiritual bones right now, so he can't possibly fight two top-tier protagonists, let alone tear apart villains with unpredictable strength.
A chilling wind, carrying the scent of grass and trees, blew gently from the villains. The two scoundrels stood on the high platform that the male protagonist had personally built for love, looking expectantly at their future partner, whom they now viewed with great apprehension.
Miao Jue's mind raced, only regretting that her power of time reversal was a non-aggressive cheat, and that these bastards who directly or indirectly attacked her were all so strong.
…Wait, what if she has it?
Even a massive decade can pass in the blink of an eye, which shows that time is a toy that can be molded and reshaped. If we can't go back to an earlier time, then... what about going back to the time of a single thing?
Miao Jue closed her eyes and concentrated her mind, slowly conjuring a clock made of tree rings and terminal buds in her sea of consciousness. When the clock fell into the air, it represented the retrograde force of the entire space-time, which was indeed only three seconds; but when she slowly fixed it in a certain place, she found that time had really become longer.
Tracing back a single unit of time is infinitely easier than tracing back the entire span of time!
As the villain leisurely walked out from under the corridor, Miaojue froze the dial of the clock on the right wooden base of the platform—it was the corpse of a birch tree, which had just died three days ago, and she could sense it.
The villain's thin lips parted, "Actually, the princess is not..."
Click.
The secret lies in a sudden, sharp flick of the top bud.
The broken birch base sprang back up, restoring itself to its original state as a single, intact piece.
The sturdy wooden stake rammed into the male and female protagonists.
Without any warning, the entire platform collapsed and tilted to the left, and the sweet couple suddenly flew out hand in hand, crashing into the smiling villain as fate had ordained.
And he could no longer escape it.
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