Yu Yi raised her other hand to push away his face, and Xue Chenjing instinctively flinched. Yu Yi's hand paused, and she immediately wanted to withdraw it.
For some reason, every time she touched him, he looked as if he was in pain.
Xue Chenjing instead gripped her hand tightly, tilting his head to press his cheek into her soft palm, nuzzling it ingratiatingly. His wet eyelashes pressed against her fingertips, and warm tears flowed along her fingers into the crevices, moistening her palm.
His eyes, red from crying, were full of pleading, like a dog trying its utmost to please its master.
"My wife, I won't hurt you. I'll make you porridge, cook the dishes you like, make you desserts, watch the sunrise with you, listen to the rain with you, dry your clothes for you, and even mend them if they tear."
"Can you like me?"
All these things Xue Chenjing mentioned were what he had done for her in the past few days—temporary tasks issued by the system.
If Yu Yi couldn't hear the system's voice, she would have been certain that she was being deceived by his appearance, truly believing that he loved her to the point of madness, to the point of no return.
Even though Yu Yi was very clear in her mind, Xue Chenjing's tearful pleading was still hard to resist.
She heard a ding, like the sound effect of completing a game level.
[System: Ding—The favorability peak of the target character has broken through 10%, congratulations to the host for completing the first stage of the main quest: Initial Encounter with the Lord. The host's loving and tender care has successfully left a deep impression on the target character, leaving an indelible mark in her heart, warming that cold, broken heart.]
Yu Yi: "???" No, he just suddenly cried in a somewhat attractive way, that's all.
[Main quest completed, side quest "Sword-Sealing Stone of Mount Li" has been unlocked.]
The person lying on top of her immediately got up, released her hand, quickly retracted the fawning and pleading expression on his face, and exhaled deeply, saying: "Finally!"
Tears still hung from Xue Chenjing's eyelashes as he laughed out loud in wild joy, not even glancing at Yu Yi as he turned and walked away without a second thought.
The writhing tentacles quickly withdrew from behind Yu Yi, picking up the scattered clothes on the ground and putting them back on him.
Yu Yi fell from midair to the ground, blinking her eyes, unable to react.
—This scoundrel, did he have to change his face so quickly?!
Xue Chenjing rolled up his sleeves, his fingers forming claws, forcefully scratching his own arm. While wincing in pain, he dipped his fingers in the flowing fresh blood and drew a blood-red magic array on the open ground.
Every line of the array he traced was stained with the crimson of fresh blood, and the smell of blood quickly spread, making one want to cover their nose and hold their breath.
But as the last line fell and the array took shape, the blood aura in the array suddenly converged. The entire array became clear and transparent in an instant, like a mountain spring, even exuding a hint of pure and flawless fragrance.
Xue Chenjing stepped forward, walking into the magic array.
His footsteps rippled in the array, like water droplets falling into a lake. From beneath those ripples, Yu Yi suddenly glimpsed a huge black shadow.
The shadow flashed by, until Xue Chenjing took another step, and the ripples spread from under his feet again.
This time, Yu Yi saw countless writhing tentacles in the black shadow beneath the array. Besides the tentacles, she seemed to see something else.
Some roaring beast shadows, intertwining pythons, flapping large birds, and even human faces distorted beyond recognition. There were many things she couldn't identify at all, tangled into a jumbled mass of shadows.
Xue Chenjing finally stood still at the center of the array, the shadow under his feet seeping into the array, seeming to coexist with the jumbled black shadow hidden at the bottom of the array.
When Yu Yi thought about how the tentacles that had just bound her and once entered her mouth might have come from there, she felt acid rising in her stomach and wanted to vomit.
Xue Chenjing had completely forgotten her existence by now. He spread his hands to take out the Sword-Sealing Stone, covered it with his own blood, and threw it into the air.
The originally calm magic array suddenly boiled up, countless shadows rushed out from under the array, like fish leaping out of water, crashing towards the Sword-Sealing Stone floating in midair.
The barrier on the Sword-Sealing Stone was triggered, bursting out a layer of golden screen enveloping the stone. As the black shadows collided with the screen, a series of shrill beast howls suddenly echoed through the valley.
The endless black shadows were repeatedly blocked by the barrier of the Sword-Sealing Stone, falling back into the array below, only to rush out of the array again and again, continuing to crash into the Sword-Sealing Stone, as if in a frenzy.
Even the bone demon couldn't resist the temptation of fresh blood, leaping up from the ground, its bone blades opening from its body, slashing towards the barrier of the Sword-Sealing Stone.
Xue Chenjing stood in the magic array, submerged by the constantly surging black shadows around him. Only in the intervals between the overlapping shadows could one see the figure of his fluttering clothes. The bright golden hair tie intertwined with the flying black hair strands was particularly eye-catching.
He gazed intently at the Sword-Sealing Stone above his head, his face showing unrestrained ecstasy and joy, no longer bearing any resemblance to the dog-like appearance of earlier when he was crying and begging for her affection. He now exuded a very villainous aura.
The barrier of the Sword-Sealing Stone was constantly shaken by the impacts, emitting a bell-like ringing sound.
Yu Yi coldly observed for a while. Her altered perception had now returned to normal, and remembering everything that had happened before, she had no desire to be Xue Chenjing's tool for unlocking plot points. She only wanted to stay away from the villain and be beautiful on her own.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, she retreated into the forest with Crane Senior Brother, planning to escape.
A black shadow crashed into the golden barrier, falling from midair, and suddenly landed in front of Yu Yi.
The black shadow abruptly expanded, turning into a three-headed evil dog, pinning her under its paw, baring its teeth at her and barking madly.
The foul-smelling saliva splattered on the ground, immediately turning into spreading black mist. The surrounding vegetation withered over a large area in an instant.
Demonic aura?
Yu Yi was shocked. She grabbed the green bamboo sword, channeling the remaining spiritual energy in her meridians into the blade, and violently stabbed it into the blood-filled mouth of the center head that was lunging at her.
The three-headed dog let out a miserable "awooo" howl, twisting its other head to bite her arm.
The green bamboo sword was stuck in the evil dog's throat. Yu Yi couldn't pull it out and had to let go and retreat. She rolled back twice, avoiding the gnawing of the three-headed dog, and hurriedly formed a sword seal to summon her spirit sword.
The spirit sword hummed in the evil dog's throat, its green flames causing the three-headed dog to roll and howl in agony.
Xue Chenjing frowned and stroked his own throat, finally noticing its commotion. Two tentacles shot out from the magic array, wrapping around the snarling three-headed dog, suddenly dragging it back into the array.
"Stupid thing! I told you to break the Sword-Sealing Stone, what are you biting?" Xue Chenjing scolded, stepping on the middle dog head, stomping the whimpering three-headed dog back into the black shadows at the bottom of the array.
In less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Yu Yi had fallen from "dear wife" to "what thing," but she had no time to be angry. Her hands moved in a blur as she once again formed the sword seal to recall the green bamboo sword.
However, as the three-headed dog was stomped into the bottom of the array, Yu Yi's connection with the green bamboo sword was instantly severed. She formed the recall sword seal several times in succession, but the spirit sword showed no response.
The crane paced anxiously beside her. Seeing that she couldn't recall the spirit sword, it spread its wings without a second thought and turned its head to charge towards the magic array under Xue Chenjing's feet.
"Crane Senior Brother!" Yu Yi called out, lowering her body and nimbly jumping up, landing on the crane's back, charging into the magic array together with Crane Senior Brother.
At the same time, the ringing of the Sword-Sealing Stone stopped, and the wind in the valley suddenly ceased, the shadows dissipating. The golden barrier of the Sword-Sealing Stone cracked, like breaking ice, quickly spreading to the surroundings. In the blink of an eye, the barrier shattered completely.
The Sword-Sealing Stone turned into a beam of golden light, shooting into the sky. Then came a thunderous boom as the sky was split open, and a massive black mountain suddenly appeared in the clouds.
A rumbling sound like thunder rolled continuously from the sky into the earth below, causing Cloud Mountain to tremble incessantly.
With the Sword-Sealing Stone opened, Xue Chenjing was overjoyed. His attention was completely occupied by the great mountain in the sky, and he didn't even hear the system shouting in his ear, "The female protagonist has run into your magic array!"
Xue Chenjing waved his sleeve to retract the magic array under his feet. A fierce wind howled through the forest, sweeping away the mist covering Cloud Mountain. The scattered black shadows, the bone demon, and the earth impurities from the bottom of the hot spring lake all entered the magic array together.
The array lines converged into Xue Chenjing's body. He lightly tapped his toes, leaving only a giant roc shadow to spread its wings and carry him, flying into the cloud-shrouded mountain and disappearing into the pitch-black mountain ranges.
As Xue Chenjing departed, the miasma dissipated, and the verdant beauty of Cloud Mountain reappeared. The cultivators trapped in the mist finally saw their surroundings clearly, only to realize that despite all their trekking, they had been circling the outskirts of Cloud Mountain all along.
A massive, pitch-black mountain loomed in the clouds, blocking out the sunlight and leaving the forests below in darkness.
"What is that?" a cultivator shouted. "Is it a mountain?"
"How can there be another mountain above the clouds? Is it another illusion? Or a secret realm?"
"This place lacks spiritual energy. How could it produce such a large secret realm?"
The three members of the Ten Thousand Joys Sect were in a dense forest, still searching for their lost junior brother. When the mountain appeared in the clouds, the luminous stones in their hands burst with blinding light.
The Sword-Sealing Stone was Mount Li's greatest treasure. Only the most talented inner disciples of the Lishan Sword Sect had the privilege to enter it and seek their destined swords. Ordinary cultivators had never seen its true form, only hearing rumors about it.
Everyone looked up at the sky until they saw the faint red character for "seal" at the center of the cloud-shrouded mountain. Someone finally realized, "It's the Sword-Sealing Stone! Mount Li's Sword-Sealing Stone has opened!"
Pei Jingchao's group had navigated through several illusory mountains and seas, finally reaching this valley bottom. When the mist disappeared, they were less than ten miles from the hot spring lake.
The resonating sound of the Sword-Sealing Stone's barrier being struck also reached Pei Jingchao and his companions. They rushed towards the sound into the valley, but they were still a step too late.
As the Sword-Sealing Stone's barrier broke, Pei Jingchao gazed at the towering mountain in the clouds, barely believing his eyes. "How is this possible?"
"It's impossible. No one except my father can open the Sword-Sealing Stone's seal," Yao Yuxiu cried out, wiping her eyes and using her spirit sight to look at the mountain in the sky.
When Lishan Sword Sect disciples entered the Sword-Sealing Stone to seek their swords, they used an entry token to open a mountain gate. She had only seen the Sword-Sealing Stone enshrined on the altar in the back mountain, never witnessing what it looked like after its seal was broken.
"This is indeed the Sword-Sealing Stone," Pei Jingchao said. He also knew that the barrier around the Sword-Sealing Stone was an ancient seal left from the time of the Ji Clan of Immortals, which no one could break.
Even the entry token only opened a small entrance. No one could break the ancient seal on the Sword-Sealing Stone, not even Juechen Zi, the leader of the Lishan Sword Sect.
This was why the Lishan Sword Sect wasn't afraid to announce its theft and ask cultivators worldwide to help search for it.
Now, someone had torn open this ancient seal by brute force, which shocked Pei Jingchao.
However, now wasn't the time to wonder who had the ability to open the Sword-Sealing Stone. Countless cultivators were already flying out of Cloud Mountain and entering the Sword-Sealing Stone above. They couldn't afford to fall behind.
The majestic mountain covered the sky for hundreds of miles around. Not only did cultivators near Cloud Mountain see it, but those in other regions also noticed this mountain suddenly appearing in the sky. In an instant, countless streaks of light rushed towards this celestial mountain.
...
Yu Yi was completely unaware of what was happening outside. She and Crane Senior Brother plunged into the formation and immediately found themselves in a boundless void of darkness. The light above quickly faded, leaving only infinite blackness.
She held tightly onto Crane Senior Brother as they continued to sink in the darkness.
Thump, thump.
A rhythmic sound, like a heartbeat, echoed in Yu Yi's ears. At first, she thought it was her own heartbeat or Crane Senior Brother's, but later realized it wasn't.
Something was gathering around them. She thought it might be the strange black shadows she had seen outside the formation.
Had they fallen into the interior of those odd, indescribable black shadows? How could this thing have a heartbeat?
