Chapter 111: Good and Evil
[Mr. Yu Le! Please stop harming the protagonist!]
The system’s voice was both shocked and anxious, repeating the message several times.
Normally, it was a low-profile, support system, but at this moment, it was blaring like an air-raid siren.
Yu Le finally spared a little attention to respond dismissively:
“Don’t worry, the protagonist won’t die from losing his demon core.”
When a demon loses their core, they only lose the majority of their power.
“Besides, my eldest brother taught me never to kill recklessly. I won’t kill him.”
The system groaned in distress, [But you’ve crippled the protagonist! The entire storyline is ruined now, and I’ll get complaints… I’m already getting complaints.]
“Sorry, dear system. I’ll be more careful next time.”
One thing could be said for Yu Le—he was incredibly adept at apologizing after causing trouble. His eyes were so genuinely apologetic and sincere that it was hard not to believe him and forgive him. But in his actions, there wasn’t even the slightest sign of regret.
Yu Le pocketed the demon core and pulled the Phoenix Flame spike from Chang Que’s chest.
Blood splattered onto the corner of his eye, but he didn’t blink, instead marveling at the terrifying wound as the flesh wriggled and began to heal on its own. He commented with admiration, “The natural demon’s healing ability is truly impressive.”
Chang Que, hanging from the chains of the demon-binding formation, gasped in pain. Having lost most of his original demon power, his previous weak and pale appearance became real. His chest wound was healing slowly, and blood continued to pour from it.
“Who… are you?” he finally realized that something was off about this low-level cultivator. The boy seemed to know his identity and had come for him deliberately.
“And who are you? A cultivator from Hongdao Palace wouldn’t have a demon core, would they?” Yu Le smiled.
Chang Que probed, his eyes deep with suspicion. “Why pretend to be clueless? You must have known who I am, which is why you prepared such a powerful artifact to deal with me. You’re not a cultivator of the Immortal Dao, are you?”
How could an immortal cultivator want his demon core? Chang Que suspected he was more likely from the demonic path.
He had been sealed here for too long. The demonic path should have descended into chaos by now. If those people knew of his location and intentionally sent someone to steal his demon core, it wouldn’t be impossible.
But he couldn’t even leave this place, so how had this person managed to get in?
“Why don’t you take another guess?” Yu Le smiled kindly, but his hand slashed open Chang Que’s sleeve, searching his arm.
“Senior, you should still have an artifact that hides your demonic aura, right?” Yu Le’s tone was like that of a child asking for a red envelope during the New Year, “Since you’ve already given me your demon core, why not hand over that artifact as well?”
Chang Que nearly spat out blood.
His wariness deepened. This person appeared unfamiliar, yet how could he know him so well, even recognizing his concealed Dingyang Ring?
Just like the Phoenix Flame Cone in Yu Le’s hand, Chang Que’s Dingyang Ring was also an artifact.
Artifacts were different from spiritual tools. Spiritual tools were crafted by immortal cultivators and required their spiritual energy to wield.
But artifacts were different. They didn’t need spiritual power to activate and could be bound to their owner with just a drop of blood. Most originated from ancient times and possessed mysterious powers, making them rare treasures.
Even among artifacts, their abilities and strength varied greatly.
The Pheonix Flame Cone in Yu Rui’s hand only contained a trace of true phoenix fire, which gave it the power to suppress the demon race and certain ghosts, but it wasn’t a highly coveted artifact. Otherwise, Yu Rui wouldn’t have been able to hold onto it.
Chang Que’s Dingyang Ring, however, was different. It could perfectly conceal his aura, to the point that even a Ninth Tribulation cultivator wouldn’t notice anything unusual.
If it weren’t for this treasure that could hide his aura, Yu Le wouldn’t have dared to come and directly steal the protagonist’s demon core.
He was still weak now, and even if he obtained the demon core, it would take time to integrate it into his inner body. During this period, he would need to continue staying low and hiding at the Wuyue Immortal Sect.
The demonic path was not as peaceful as the immortal path. Without great power, one would only be oppressed and bullied there. Once he fully absorbed the demon core and could freely wield its power, then he would make his journey to that place.
Moreover, the Dingyang Ring had another ability—it could suppress the violent bloodlust caused by demonic energy.
In the demon race, the stronger one became, the more bloodthirsty they grew. The most powerful demons often turned into lunatics, wreaking havoc everywhere.
That’s why Yu Le was determined to obtain the Dingyang Ring.
Seeing that Yu Le wasn’t going to answer his question, Chang Que suddenly revealed a mocking smile. “Since you seem to know everything, why don’t you find it yourself?”
The Dingyang Ring had merged into his body after recognizing him as its owner. He didn’t believe this mysterious person would know even that.
“I really don’t know,” Yu Le smirked, “All I know is that the Dingyang Ring is inside your arm. Now, is it in your left arm or your right arm?”
He knew it was in the right arm, but he intentionally aimed the Phoenix Flame Cone at Chang Que’s left arm.
“Why don’t I cut off this arm first and see? If I don’t find it, then I’ll cut off the right one?”
His tone was innocent, but in Chang Que’s ears, it sounded eerie and malicious.
Ordinary spiritual tools wouldn’t be able to sever his limbs, but he had lost his demon core and was now weakened, and the Phoenix Flame Cone happened to counter him perfectly.
Chang Que’s expression shifted. Even if he didn’t hand it over, this person would definitely seize the artifact by force. He might as well endure the humiliation—
“Ugh!” Chang Que let out a muffled groan as the cone pierced his right arm, and the Dingyang Ring, embedded in his flesh, was found with pinpoint accuracy.
Seeing the smiling young man again, how could Chang Que not realize that the other had known where the Dingyang Ring was all along? He had merely been toying with him earlier.
“Are you going to sever the bond willingly, or should I torment you for a while before you do?” Yu Le asked.
“I’m not very good at holding back. If I accidentally end up killing you, I’ll apologize in advance.”
The system grew anxious:
[Mr. Yu Le, didn’t you say you wouldn’t kill him? You mentioned your eldest brother doesn’t allow you to kill.]
Yu Le: [But my eldest brother isn’t here, is he? He doesn’t know. Besides, I don’t want to kill him, but if he prefers to die rather than surrender, then I’ll just have to kill him so the bond with the Dingyang Ring is automatically broken.]
The system had no choice but to reveal a hidden rule: [If you kill the protagonist, this world will start to reject you, ejecting you from it. Not only will you fail the mission, but you’ll also lose your anchor and face complete death!]
Yu Le tilted his head, wiping the blood from his face with his arm: [Don’t be so nervous. I won’t kill him. I’m just scaring him.]
Fortunately, the protagonist wasn’t willing to lose his life over an artifact. Although his face was pale with fury, he still handed over the Dingyang Ring.
Yu Le watched as the protagonist’s blood surfaced from the ancient silver ring. Without hesitation, he bonded with it anew and claimed the ring.
The Dingyang Ring could either rest against the skin like an ordinary piece of jewelry or hide beneath the flesh. Yu Le stashed it away, rose swiftly, and left the place.
Having been used and discarded, the protagonist, Chang Que, lay in a pool of his own blood, unconscious from weakness.
In the original plot, he would deceive the female protagonist into releasing him, and amidst their chase and love-hate dynamic, he would return to the demonic path, ruling over various factions and stirring up another wave of chaos and bloodshed.
But now? He was stuck here. It seemed unlikely he’d have the same stroke of luck to escape this time.
Before leaving, Yu Le thoughtfully sealed the cave.
Cheerfully cleaning off the blood and applying some medicinal powder, he returned to the tunnel outside the cave and carried his still-unconscious senior sister on his back.
“Senior Sister, you should thank me! I helped you cut off a rotten peach blossom.”
The system’s tone was melancholy: [Even in a special world, the male and female protagonists are destined lovers.]
Yu Le grinned mischievously, “Destiny? It doesn’t get to decide. If I say it’s a rotten peach blossom, then it’s a rotten peach blossom.”
Realizing it couldn’t stop Yu Le from freely causing chaos, the system fell completely silent.
Yu Le asked, [System, system, did you go off to handle complaints?]
System: [I went to submit an application to the main system.]
Their villain-monitoring system gave contracted hosts a lot of autonomy, and it almost never forced them to behave.
But with the Yu family, especially this one, they easily changed the plot. The system had to suggest adding restrictions to the main system, so future hosts wouldn’t act so recklessly!
[Mr. Yu Le, I’d like to give you one final suggestion—don’t fall in love with the villain.] The system’s tone was weary.
Yu Le was taken aback, then burst into laughter. [With Senior Brother? Hahaha! Though my senior brother is indeed handsome, he’s not my type. I like my fourth brother’s type. Don’t worry, hahaha!]
System: I’m not reassured. Your fourth brother also said he wouldn’t fall in love with his employer.
Yu Le absentmindedly chatted with the system as he searched around with his unconscious senior sister on his back. Sure enough, he found familiar array markings.
He pressed her finger onto the markings, and the array extracted a drop of blood from her fingertip. In an instant, the two of them were transported to another cave.
This was an array world created by one of Bai Feishuang’s blood relatives, and it had drawn her in due to the pull of her bloodline.
Aside from the sealed demon, there was another cave filled with this elder’s array inheritance, left behind for a blood descendant to inherit.
The room was full of books on arrays, which would be treasures for someone interested in them, but to Yu Le, it was like a library he had no desire to visit.
Yu Le wiped away the teleportation markings that led to Chang Que’s sealed cave, then lay down peacefully on the floor, waiting for his senior sister to wake up.
Everything that followed went smoothly. Bai Feishuang woke up and then saved her completely unconscious junior brother.
As she cautiously observed the subtle changes in her surroundings, she discovered the room full of array books and their inheritance.
In the original plot, the male and female protagonists were supposed to stay here, heal, get to know each other, and spark romantic feelings.
But with Yu Le in the mix, he simply yawned and spent several sleepless days accompanying his senior sister while she studied the dull and tedious array analyses.
It was a test. Only by confirming they were of the same bloodline and by deciphering the array placed in the center of the cave within a few days—showing an innate talent for arrays—could they gain the inheritance and leave.
“Senior Sister, you’re amazing! Just looking at these array patterns gives me a headache, but you’ve memorized them so quickly. At this rate, we’ll definitely be out of here soon.”
“Senior Sister, you’re the most talented array master I’ve ever seen. Don’t worry, I’ve got several fasting pills. We’ll definitely make it out before I starve to death.”
Under the constant praise and admiration of her junior brother, Bai Feishuang felt immense pressure. Especially when she thought about how, if she didn’t try hard enough, her junior brother might starve to death here. That thought made her even more anxious.
Under such pressure, she managed to solve the test array several days earlier than in the original plot.
The two of them left the inheritance site and returned to the Meishou Mountain secret realm.
“Senior Sister Bai!”
“Junior Brother!”
“Thank goodness, you’re back safely!”
During the days they had been missing, the disciples left behind had almost turned the surroundings upside down.
“Senior Brother has been breaking arrays for days, but sadly, he couldn’t succeed. If you two hadn’t shown up, we were about to send a signal to the masters for help.”
Bai Feishuang briefly comforted the excited junior brothers and sisters, looking exhausted as she went to explain the situation to Senior Brother.
As for the unlucky Yu Le, he of course rested on the side, thoroughly uninvolved.
After they emerged, the array markings on the large stone vanished, and the once dry ground became moist. In just one night, it turned into a lake, covering all traces.
“I suppose since I obtained the inheritance, that place has disappeared,” Bai Feishuang said.
As they left, Yu Le glanced back at the shimmering lake, a bright smile on his face.
“Yurui, hurry up! Don’t fall behind,” his senior sister called from up ahead.
“Coming,” he replied.
