After the Villainess Awakens

Leng Mushi had sealed her soul within the people, naming it the Law. She had set up a series of absurd storylines, forcing herself to follow them, forcing herself to create this current situation step by step. She used her rebellious heart, her unyielding heart, and even her heart that protected the world to achieve this expected outcome.

It was all to repair the evil consequences of her demonic tribulation tens of thousands of years ago, to kill the strengthened Heavenly Demon, and to restore balance to the world.

How could she be seduced by mere appearance?

Therefore, just as the Heavenly Demon thought that Leng Mushi was bewitched by him and excitedly pressed his lips against hers, trembling with his eyes closed, Leng Mushi pushed him back. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword, Cangsheng. In the next instant, so fast that there was no sound, the Heavenly Demon’s head rolled down the stone steps.

The Heavenly Demon’s body was still lying by the bed, but his head rolled to the ground. He blinked, completely unaware of what had happened.

The Heavenly Demon wouldn't die from being decapitated, but every time he was killed, he would weaken, and Leng Mushi would naturally weaken and suffer as well.

She pressed her neck, rolled on the bed in pain, gritted her teeth, and stood up. She walked to the bedside and kicked away the Heavenly Demon’s body, which was still searching for its head.

“Ruthless… You are so ruthless!” The Heavenly Demon’s head was still on the ground, yelling. Leng Mushi had already picked up his head, and with a wave of her wide sleeve, she cut off the connection between his head and body.

Although the Heavenly Demon wouldn’t die from being decapitated and could even reconnect and recover, his weakening represented the weakening of the Blood Demon army. Although Leng Mushi couldn’t go to the battlefield to help the cultivation world, she could at least weaken the Blood Demon army.

She ignored the Heavenly Demon’s body crawling around on the ground, took a few breaths while pressing her neck, and sat back down on the blood-stained bed.

She wiped the blood from her hand and summoned the Mirror of Cause and Effect. The moment she saw it clearly, she unconsciously leaned back.

In the mirror, a head also fell to the ground, rolling right into Leng Mushi’s line of sight, as if it was about to roll out of the Mirror of Cause and Effect and into her arms.

Leng Mushi recognized it at a glance — it was Xingzhou.

Xingzhou was still kneeling, his body covered in blood, holding his sword. But soon, he was swallowed whole by a demonic beast, leaving only his head staring with wide eyes, his face full of astonishment, as if he hadn’t expected to die so easily.

Xingzhou… in Leng Mushi’s impression, he had always been indifferent to everything. He was a thin and disciplined disciple of Tai Chu Sect, a rigid but not stubborn good senior brother.

Leng Mushi’s eyes flickered for a moment. Just as she was about to turn her gaze to see the others, she heard a heart-wrenching scream—

“Xingzhou!”

Then, a person rushed over and picked up Xingzhou’s head. His usually smiling baby face was now as red as the Blood Demons, with veins bulging on his forehead.

Leng Mushi sighed softly. Yitu turned his head to glare at the huge, high-level demonic beasts and the high-level demon cultivators sitting on them, his voice hoarse as he roared, “I’ll fight you all—”

Yitu’s throat was filled with the taste of blood, the burning sensation making his throat numb. His temples throbbed, making his eyeballs almost pop out of their sockets.

He and Xingzhou had entered the mountain gate together, becoming disciples of the same master. They ate together, lived together, cultivated together, and advanced together. Their cultivation levels were about the same, and they even fell for the same person. But Xingzhou had always yielded to him, and even Junior Sister Tianyin hadn’t fought him for her.

Yitu completely regarded Xingzhou as his older brother. He was his older brother!

But they had received a distress call from the people. A group of disciples rushed down the mountain and met with other sects here. Before they could even enter the town, they were intercepted by these high-level demonic beasts that had appeared out of thin air. Yitu held Xingzhou’s severed head, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

“Ah—” he shouted in frustration. It was just a lapse in concentration, just a moment of distraction, and this small world had become a living hell. His Xingzhou was gone, dead without a whole body!

“Ah!”

Like Leng Mushi, Yitu took off his outer robe, wrapped the head in it, and tied it to his back. He couldn't let these beasts eat Xingzhou again. He had to take him back to the mountain.

At this moment, a Blood Demon bird swooped down from the sky behind him, casting a huge shadow. They had blood-red fleshy wings, sharp beaks and claws, deformed skulls, and eyes. They looked extremely ugly, but their flesh was as hard as armor, impenetrable by swords and knives.

Xingzhou was caught off guard and killed. Yitu sensed the wind behind him, but it was too late to dodge. The Blood Demon bird was too fast; he couldn't dodge at all. Just like Xingzhou—

At the critical moment, a large saber came slashing from the void. The blade collided with the Blood Demon bird’s claws that were about to grab Yitu, and a piercing sound of metal clashing against metal rang out, sparks flying.

Although this strike didn’t cut off the sneak-attacking claw, it did knock the Blood Demon bird away from its original target.

It was none other than Sun Wufang, the disciple of the Fourth Elder of Tai Chu Sect. No matter how diligent the girl was, wielding such a heavy and domineering saber was ultimately too much for her. She could swing it out, but she couldn't take it back. Seeing that the inertia was causing the blade to point downwards, about to smash Yitu’s head, Sun Wufang cried out in alarm, “Get out of the way!”

Yitu rolled on the spot, and in the next instant, the place where he had just knelt was deeply embedded with the large saber. It even created small cracks in the ground with its blade’s energy.

As Yitu was still in shock, Sun Wufang shouted apologetically, “I’m sorry!”

Then, she kicked the back of the saber with her foot and pulled hard with her arm at the same time. She felt a tearing pain in her arm, but with the combined force of her kick and pull, she finally managed to pull the saber out. She continued to carry the saber on her back and rejoined the chaotic battle.

This saber was almost as tall as Sun Wufang herself. It was made for her by her master, the Fourth Elder, Hongsheng Xianjun, just a few days ago. Sun Wufang had politely expressed that she might not be able to wield it, but her master insisted, “This heavy saber is made according to your innate spiritual root and temperament. It’s the most suitable for you. A life-bound weapon needs to be subdued and honed.”

Thus, Sun Wufang, who couldn’t see how this large saber matched her bean sprout-like physique, carried the saber onto the battlefield today. The only problem was that this thing was so heavy it was going to crush her.

Sun Wufang rushed into a group of Yinxi Demon Birds that were surrounding some disciples. She bent down and quickly swung the large saber on her back, using its weight and the powerful blade energy that she herself could barely withstand. She turned herself into a small spinning top, a meat grinder, shredding the Yinxi Demon Birds that were flying up and down.

Sun Wufang thought, I haven’t given this saber a name yet. Using it like this, apart from the burning sensation on my back, it has avenged me for being pecked into a bloody mess by the Yinxi Demon Birds back in the Demon Realm’s secret realm. Then let’s call it— Slayer of Grudges!

She spun the saber around recklessly. Although it couldn’t compare to the ultimate techniques of high-level cultivators, for a time, even the high-level demonic beasts didn’t dare to stretch out their claws to test whether they would be shredded. Yitu had also gotten up at this moment, haphazardly tied Xingzhou’s head to his back, and charged back into the fray with his sword drawn—

Leng Mushi waved her hand and put away the Mirror of Cause and Effect. She stood up and kicked the Heavenly Demon, who had started to adapt to losing his head and was now fumbling towards the door.

She sent him flying with a kick, crashing him against the stone wall not far away. At the same time, she bent down and pressed her hand against her waist.

She recovered quickly, but the Heavenly Demon couldn't get up.

Leng Mushi, holding the bone sword Cangsheng, went on a killing spree in the Demon Palace. At the same time, she used soul-searching to learn about a series of ambushes and arrangements in the mortal world.

Leng Mushi used paper to create spirit birds and, imitating Leng Tianyin’s voice, sent those arrangements to various sects.

In order to persuade “Leng Tianyin” to marry the Demon Emperor, the major sects had promised to fulfill her requests. Now it was up to them to keep their word.

The Heavenly Demon had awakened, and ten thousand demons had been revived. Leng Mushi piled the corpses inside and outside the Demon Palace into a mountain. The ground was covered in deep and shallow cracks and ravines, with thick blood flowing through them.

But this number was just a drop in the bucket compared to the number of demons that had truly awakened.

In the previous three time regressions, not only had the cultivation world been massacred, but the mortal world had also been turned into a river of blood. The best estimation this time was that they would be able to protect the mortal world.

Leng Mushi held Cangsheng, which was refined from the spine of the earth. Beneath her feet flowed a river of blood, the corpses and limbs of demons piled up in a gruesome mess. Yet, her body wasn’t stained with a single drop of blood. Her wedding dress had transformed into a pure white robe, flowing ethereally around her.

She stood atop the mountain of corpses, her eyes slightly weary as she looked towards the mortal world beyond the Demon Abyss.

She could even see across thousands of miles, seeing the smoke rising from the chimneys of human homes as they lived their ordinary lives, unaware and at ease.

If she still couldn’t seal the Heavenly Demon as she had planned this time, Leng Mushi would have only one option left…

Thinking of that option, she sighed softly.

But she soon looked away. She jumped down from the mountain of corpses and burned the Blood Demons with spiritual fire. Some had already fled in all directions when she made her move, but she didn’t chase after them. Because the most urgent task at hand wasn’t that.

The Heavenly Demon’s true target wasn't the hard-to-crack cultivators of the cultivation world, but the defenseless humans. They were the ones with the most abundant emotions, and their fear and despair were the best nourishment for the Heavenly Demon.

Leng Mushi had already sent out the message, but the cultivation world was ultimately limited in manpower. It was probably not enough to intercept the demons who were invading the human world.

She held the sword and chanted an ancient language silently. Then, Cangsheng emitted a faint blue light. She swung the sword and slashed through the air. A gust of gloomy wind and death Qi suddenly rushed towards her face, forming a vortex in front of her. Within the vortex, black clouds of ghostly Qi churned. Someone, unaware of the situation, shouted angrily, “Who dares to peek into the Yellow Springs!”

Leng Mushi exerted more force on her hand, and the gap instantly tore open wider. When it was wide enough for one person to pass through, Leng Mushi stepped inside. In an instant, the surrounding Yin Qi transformed into chains, trying to bind her.

“How dare you trespass into the Yellow Springs, seize… Slap!”

“Shut up!”

The Ghost King, who had been sitting on the platform in Purgatory for almost thousands of years without moving an inch, immediately tumbled down from the platform. The ghostly Qi around him dissipated as he coughed and flew towards Leng Mushi. He slapped away the ghost official who had dared to speak rudely to Leng Mushi.

“Heavenly Monarch, your presence…” He was about to kneel when Leng Mushi kicked him in the knee, forcing him to stand straight.

He bowed, coughing like an old man on the verge of death. His breath was so weak that it seemed like he could kick the bucket at any moment. However, he hurriedly waved his hand, removing the Yin Soul Chains that were trying to bind Leng Mushi but couldn't even get close. Then, he didn’t dare to speak anymore and waited for Leng Mushi to speak, bowing respectfully.

You know, during the first time regression… he had dared to speak out of turn because the cycle of reincarnation in the Yellow Springs had been disrupted. As a result, he was kicked into his current half-dead state by this person in front of him, hanging onto his last breath.

After that, he didn’t dare to be negligent in the slightest. Even though the Heavenly Monarch had repeatedly regressed time in the mortal world and the Book of Life and Death in the Yellow Springs hadn’t added a single stroke in all these years, with no life and no death, he didn’t dare to even fart.

“The Heavenly Demon has awakened, and humanity is in danger. I need to borrow your Yin soldiers to help the cultivation world fight. Do you have any objections?”

He had heard this four times already. What objections could he possibly have?

Speaking of which, he was really unlucky. If he wasn’t a half-god, he might have been able to recover through the time regressions. However, although he was now half-paralyzed because of his half-god body, he was still somewhat connected to the divine. He wasn’t affected by the power of time regression.

“This subordinate has already prepared the Yin soldiers and ghost generals. They are currently waiting in the River of Forgetfulness. The Yellow Springs will definitely use the full force of the ghost race to help Heavenly Monarch fight against the demons!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the water in the River of Forgetfulness surged. Leng Mushi narrowed her eyes and saw all sorts of weapons and blades emerging from the river. The Yin soldiers and ghost generals holding these weapons also emerged from the water, each wearing skeletal armor, densely packed, almost covering the entire River of Forgetfulness as far as the eye could see.

“Yansu, come here.” Leng Mushi quickly looked away, unmoved by his pledge of allegiance. She raised her hand and summoned him closer.

The Ghost King had been the ruler of the underworld for hundreds of thousands of years, and only this person in front of him dared to call him by his name. And only this person in front of him knew his name.

However, he himself had become unfamiliar with his own name. When his name was called, he was stunned for a moment before hurriedly walking towards Leng Mushi.

He was clearly tall and had long legs, much taller than Leng Mushi. However, because he didn’t dare to stand up straight in front of her, he appeared rather servile. When he reached her, he wished he could bury his head in his pants. This was because he knew all too well what lay beneath the human skin of the person in front of him, and he also knew that the only one in this world who could kill him without a second thought was this person.

Knowing fear was a very good quality. Yansu didn’t understand this in the past, which was why he ended up in this half-dead state. But this time, he didn’t provoke this living Heavenly Monarch. She wouldn’t lay a finger on him, right…?

Then, she really did lay a finger on him. Yansu was so scared that he immediately knelt down with a thud. The sound was so crisp that if it were a kneecap, it would have shattered into eight pieces.

Leng Mushi was startled by him and frowned slightly. However, she didn’t remove the hand that was placed on his head. A steady stream of life force surged into Yansu’s body, healing all the wounds that had been tormenting him for years.

Originally, it was very difficult for a half-god to be injured. Even if they were injured, they would recover very quickly.

However, if the person who injured him was the Heavenly Monarch, then no one but the Heavenly Monarch herself could heal his injuries, and they wouldn’t heal on their own. There were two sayings in the mortal world that were very apt in this situation. One was, “The emperor wants his subject dead,” and the other was, “Thunder, rain, and dew are all blessings from the emperor.”

Yansu had thought that he would have to endure this painful torment day and night for millions of years, but he didn’t expect that the Heavenly Monarch would actually heal him?!

This really startled him, so much so that he even raised his head in disbelief and glanced at the Heavenly Monarch. He couldn’t see her true appearance clearly…

But that hint of her chin, framed by the spiritual light, made Yansu feel a sense of familiarity after several moments of fear.

Could it be that there were too many time regressions, too many lifetimes as a human, that she had also been tainted with human emotions?

But how was that possible…?

Leng Mushi quickly withdrew her hand. Yansu couldn't see himself and didn’t know that his sickly appearance had completely recovered. After Leng Mushi left, he slowly stood up, tall and straight, with a dazzling demeanor, looking every bit the proud and aloof emperor.

The little ghosts and the soul-reaping officials in the Yellow Springs, who were all afraid of the pressure emanating from Leng Mushi, all poked their heads out and surrounded Yansu, who was still in a daze, chattering non-stop.

Because Yansu wasn’t usually very strict, and because the system of the Yellow Springs had been completely messed up by the time regressions in the mortal world, there was no real work to be done. He usually turned a blind eye to the soul-reaping officials. Moreover, because of his injuries, he basically didn’t speak loudly and didn’t get angry, so the ghosts were very close to him.

They weren’t gods, so naturally, they had been repeatedly reset during these time regressions. Therefore, they had never seen him look so radiant and vigorous. Now that they had, they couldn’t wait to pry open his eyelids and see if the pupils underneath were real.

Yansu shuddered and shook off the little ghosts crawling all over him. He frowned and said to the soul-reaping officials who were eager to get closer, “Sisters, haven’t you always wanted to go out together? The restrictions on opening the gates to the mortal world are too many, it’s not very interesting. Pack up, lock up all the evil ghosts that are still being judged, and reinforce the eighteen levels of hell. Tonight at midnight, I’ll take you all out to play.”

Originally, the ghosts were a little apprehensive about the sudden change in the Ghost King’s appearance. But as soon as he spoke, they immediately cheered.

After Leng Mushi made arrangements for the underworld, she once again used Cangsheng to split open the gate between the world of the living and the underworld. However, she didn’t return to the Demon Realm. Instead, she followed the information she had obtained from soul-searching in the Demon Realm and began to destroy the demon race’s ambushes one by one.

However, after walking around the mortal world, Leng Mushi also became weak. Killing the Blood Demons controlled by the Heavenly Demon was like injuring the Heavenly Demon itself. To her, it was also self-harm.

She didn’t choose to meet up with the cultivators from the various sects who had rushed over after receiving her message. After all, she couldn’t fight alongside them.

Moreover, she was currently still assuming Leng Tianyin’s identity in the Demon Realm. Leng Tianyin was locked up by her in the Jasper Cave. As long as her Water Shade power didn’t awaken, the four generals of the Heavenly Demon wouldn’t be complete. With one less general, the pressure on the cultivation world would be lessened.

Leng Mushi returned to the Demon Palace, which she had bathed in blood. It was empty. The Heavenly Demon’s body had already left the palace, seemingly searching for his subordinates. He had already wandered to the edge of the Demon Abyss.

Leng Mushi took out the Heavenly Demon’s head and stuffed it into his hand. Then, standing at the edge of the Demon Abyss, she summoned the Mirror of Cause and Effect to check on the demons and cultivators who were already engaged in battle.

The ghost race hadn’t arrived yet. They had to wait until midnight, when the Yin Qi was at its strongest, before they could leave the Yellow Springs.

Apart from the ones she had eliminated in advance, there were still many Blood Demons waiting in the wings at the border of the human world. And as long as the Heavenly Demon didn’t die, these Blood Demon subordinates would continue to regenerate.

Leng Mushi watched as cultivators from various sects guarded the border of the human world in batches. This time, they were prepared for the battle. Each batch had sent out powerful cultivators from their sects, fully capable of defeating the demons, even though the demons were numerous.

As long as they could hold out until midnight, when the gates of hell opened, they wouldn’t lose this battle.

Leng Mushi saw Xuanzhu, You Zishu, and the others. Her hand, which was about to put away the Mirror of Cause and Effect, paused slightly. At this moment, someone leaned against her back, their hands resting on her shoulders, and looked at the Mirror of Cause and Effect together with her.

“Why bother? You care so much about these people?” The Heavenly Demon reattached his head and approached Leng Mushi without any hindrance despite being decapitated. “You know, as long as you fall into slumber with me, they can all live.”

He chuckled eerily. “At that time, the demon race will also vanish, and the human race will no longer be harassed. How wonderful…”

However, if the Heavenly Dao fell into slumber, it would be as if the source of life had been cut off. Everything in this world would become stagnant, like a lake that had lost its spring. It would eventually be exhausted and turn foul. Fish wouldn’t be able to survive, and eventually, the world would return to its original state of lifelessness.

Good and evil, yin and yang, cause and effect, reincarnation — they were all interdependent. Without demons, without vitality, how could there be humans?

However, compared to other methods, this method was the slowest way for the living beings in this world to perish.

Leng Mushi didn’t turn around. She put away the Mirror of Cause and Effect and didn’t try to hurt the Heavenly Demon anymore. Instead, she took a few steps forward and walked to the edge of the Demon Abyss.

The Heavenly Demon had been on guard against her making a move. He knew that angering her wouldn’t do him any good. But he felt it was unfair, and he refused to admit defeat.

His growth came from her, so why did she despise him?!

However, Leng Mushi didn’t draw Cangsheng from her waist to attack him as he had expected. Instead, she closed her eyes at the edge of the Demon Abyss. After a while, she curled her lips into a smile and dispersed the spiritual light that had been covering her face, revealing her true appearance in this human body.

She squinted and turned her head, her eyes filled with tears. She looked extremely hurt. At the same time, she mobilized her soul, sensing the soul threads that were still sewn into the Heavenly Demon’s body. Then, she looked at the Heavenly Demon with a sad smile.

“Brother Xiao, don’t you want me anymore?”

Leng Mushi ignored the Heavenly Demon’s stunned expression and blinked, tears streaming down her cheeks. At this moment, she didn’t look like a god at all. She was completely a helpless and heartbroken little girl.

She said, “Brother Xiao, you and I already have a Dao companion vow, and I have also performed dual cultivation with you. But you want to marry my sister.”

“Brother Xiao, if you marry her, I will jump from here!”

As she spoke, she looked at the Heavenly Demon with tears streaming down her face. Her robes, blown by the demonic Qi of the abyss, outlined her thin and frail figure.

“Did you actually become an actress in the mortal world?” The Heavenly Demon, with Xiao Mian’s face, looked at Leng Mushi, who had half a foot stepping outside the abyss, crying crazily at him.

“What kind of play are you putting on?” He scoffed. “I think you’ve become possessed by your human emotions. You want to summon that human’s consciousness? You’re delusional. Humans are so fragile and unbearable. I’ve already completely absorbed his soul. You…”

He was still talking when he saw Leng Mushi suddenly jump down from the abyss.

The Heavenly Demon hurriedly rushed to the edge of the abyss and looked down. He naturally knew how capable the Heavenly Monarch was. Not to mention that the demons below the abyss had already been transformed into Blood Demons by him and sent to the human world to create fear and despair, even if there was truly hellfire and lava beneath this abyss, it wouldn’t be able to hurt her in the slightest.

He was just about to mock her when he suddenly felt something struggling within his body, trying to break free. The Heavenly Demon was stunned for a moment, and in the next instant, he uncontrollably followed Leng Mushi and jumped down the cliff—

The crimson in his left eye slowly faded, but it quickly returned. However, the moment he reached out and tightly embraced Leng Mushi in his arms, the blood-red color in his left eye completely dissipated.

Leng Mushi looked at the person holding her and their eyes met. In the next instant, she grabbed Cangsheng and slashed towards the void. They immediately returned to the top of the abyss.

Leng Mushi put away Cangsheng and cupped the face of the person in her arms. Seeing the gentleness and deep affection in his eyes that hadn’t changed for several lifetimes, she burst into laughter.

“Brother…” Her smile at this moment was genuine. He really didn’t disappoint her. His consciousness remained!

“Brother, listen to me.” She pushed Xiao Mian away slightly and looked into his eyes. “Right now, feel the place in his body where the demonic Qi is the strongest!”

She picked up the bone sword and transformed it into the size of a dagger, handing it to Xiao Mian. “That’s his demon core. Dig out his demon core for me. I can’t take it by force. Only if he’s willing can I seal him. Brother, you have to hurry!”

Leng Mushi urged Xiao Mian, but Xiao Mian didn’t take the dagger. Instead, he looked at her in a daze, still holding her in his arms.

There was another voice in his head, whispering in his ear as if trying to bewitch him, just like when he was on the verge of death as a child.

“Don’t listen to her. She doesn’t love you at all. She’s lying to you. You see, since your consciousness exists in my body, you must already know. She’s the Heavenly Dao… Everything is part of her plan, including you!”

“You exist because of my demon core. If you dig out my demon core and give it to her, you will die.”

The Heavenly Demon’s voice was cold and evil, “She wants you dead!”

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