EHRPS CH201

This voice addressing Jin Liuyi as ‘Host’ was very peculiar—its tone was flat and devoid of fluctuation, hollow to the extreme, like a living corpse that had its soul extracted.

Jin Liuyi, however, was already accustomed to it.

She smiled and replied, “System, it’s all thanks to you. Otherwise, how could I have glimpsed heaven’s secrets and defied my fate to change my destiny…”

Suddenly, she thought of something. The charming smile on her lips vanished abruptly, a flash of ruthlessness crossing her eyes.

“Hmph, what a pity I failed three years ago. That little brat surnamed Fu is still alive and well. I couldn’t damage the foundation of the Wondrous Immortal Sect and make that old geezer Xu Que taste the agony of losing his beloved ahead of time!”

“Patriarch Wuxiang and the others are truly useless, failing yet again!”

As soon as she finished speaking, that hollow, inorganic voice echoed in her ear once more.

“Host, it is recommended that you temporarily set aside your past life’s grudges and plant seeds of inner demons in more righteous cultivators to complete the main quest as quickly as possible—”

“Namely: Initiate the new Immortal-Demon War and emerge victorious.”

“According to the system’s judgment, the most efficient method is to destroy Demon Lord Tu Tianba’s personal consciousness, completely liberating the ancient demonic qi sealed within him. Only then can we defeat the Child of Destiny, Nie Wuhui, and achieve ultimate victory.”

“Only in this way can the Host alter her fate.”

Hearing the system repeatedly remind her of her death, Jin Liuyi’s gaze grew increasingly vicious. “System, rest assured. I will absolutely not let myself die by Xu Que’s Demon-Slaying Array a second time!”

“…”

It had been three years since the day Jin Liuyi was bound by this so-called ‘Villainous Cannon Fodder Counterattack System’.

Three years ago, thunderclouds gathered above the Heaven Slaughtering Sect.

This heavenly lightning tribulation arrived with unnatural ferocity, yet not a single demonic cultivator dared to approach the Blood Bone Cave where the Demon Lord resided. The heavenly tribulation was only part of the reason; more so, it was because Demon Lord Tu Tianba possessed a bloodthirsty nature and would not show mercy even to his own sect members.

Had it not been for Tu Tianba’s emanating demonic breath aiding demonic cultivators in their practice, yielding twice the result with half the effort, there would not be so many demonic cultivators gathered here, calling him Eminent and acknowledging him as their master.

Privately, all the demonic cultivators secretly referred to him as the Star of Slaughter.

If he wasn’t the Star of Slaughter, how could he suddenly appear before a demonic cultivator without warning, clutching his head and roaring with a ferocious face, “How did you get so stinky, the smell is giving me a headache!”

Followed by a slap that immediately snuffed out the demonic cultivator’s life.

The other demonic cultivators present were terrified out of their wits, thinking they were about to lose their lives as well. Unexpectedly, the Demon Lord merely wiped away the blood spattered on his chin and left expressionlessly, without saying another word.

No one could guess his thoughts, but everyone deeply feared this moody, capricious Star of Slaughter.

Jin Liuyi was one of them.

However, that day was particularly special.

Gazing at the oppressive, darkened sky from afar, she vaguely felt a hazy temptation continuously calling her closer.

Jin Liuyi wrestled with herself for a long time but couldn’t suppress this bewitchment that pierced deep into her soul. Ultimately, she concealed her presence and fearfully approached the center of the thunderclouds.

Not daring to get too close, she hid on the outskirts of the Blood Bone Cave, just in time to see a white-robed figure fly into mid-air, wielding a sword to resist the heavenly lightning.

Boom— Boom—

Each bolt of heavenly lightning was fiercer than the last.

Faintly sensing the oppressive might of the heavenly lightning, Jin Liuyi couldn’t help but half-squint her eyes, suddenly catching a glimpse of another figure beneath the lightning.

She couldn’t see his face clearly, but immediately recognized his identity.

It was none other than Demon Lord Tu Tianba.

In truth, no one in the entire Heaven Slaughtering Sect knew Tu Tianba’s true appearance, solely because his figure, and his face, were shrouded in demonic qi at all times.

When people looked at him, they could only feel a profound fear, as if encountering a natural predator on a narrow path, sending an involuntary chill down their spines.

Recalling it afterward, they actually couldn’t remember his facial features.

Jin Liuyi hid carefully, terrified of being discovered.

She noticed Tu Tianba’s actions were exceptionally manic; one moment he was slapping himself, the next he was smashing his head into the ground, as if in extreme agony.

The heavenly lightning continued to strike.

After an unknown amount of time, the sword in the white-robed man’s hand suddenly snapped under a thunderous boom. Yet the momentum of the lightning tribulation did not decrease in the slightest; instead, it grew even more violent.

The lightning was blinding, and the distance was far. Jin Liuyi couldn’t discern who the man was, only marveling secretly at his profound cultivation to still be able to resist…

After a long while.

Jin Liuyi suddenly heard a furious roar,

“I don’t need you to block it for me, scram!”

Squinting, she saw Tu Tianba charge head-on into the lightning, striking the white-robed man away with a single palm strike. The man flew straight out of the thundercloud’s range, falling to who knows where.

Jin Liuyi’s heart pounded like a drum.

As the bolts of heavenly lightning struck Tu Tianba one after another, the temptation she could sense grew increasingly heavy, throwing her soul into a daze until she no longer even feared death.

Right at this moment.

Jin Liuyi suddenly glimpsed a hole tear open in the sky, and something barged in.

But when she blinked, the sky canopy remained as before. It seemed it had just been her illusion.

Precisely because of this, she didn’t see two specks of light rapidly drill into Tu Tianba’s head, nor did she see Tu Tianba’s body pause as a wisp of black qi took the opportunity to escape from him…

Jin Liuyi only heard a ding.

An unfamiliar, inorganic voice echoed faintly,

“A bindable host has been detected. Would you like to bind with the ‘Villainous Cannon Fodder Counterattack System’ to change your tragic fate?”

Before Jin Liuyi could react, the voice spoke again:

“Currently instilling memories of your past life. Host, please choose whether to bind the system after reviewing them.”

Immediately after, incomplete pages of a book appeared before Jin Liuyi’s eyes, her name glaringly written upon them!

The length of the pages wasn’t long.

Through disjointed narrative segments, Jin Liuyi learned a portion of future events, including the fact that she would actually die by the hands of a cultivator named Xu Que!

Right then, the Villainous Cannon Fodder Counterattack System spoke again:

“Destiny has never favored you, but this system can help you change your fate!”

And so, Jin Liuyi bound the system.

As long as she completed the main quests issued by the system and utilized the ancient demonic qi within Demon Lord Tu Tianba to make the wicked path crush the righteous path during the Immortal-Demon War fifty years later, the system would grant her the quest reward—

Unifying the demonic path and becoming the Lord of the Demonic Path!

After binding the system, a sliver of doubt also arose in Jin Liuyi: opposing Tu Tianba meant that even if she didn’t die by Xu Que’s hand, she might die under his slap.

Knowing the future, simply avoiding the death tribulation would be enough…

Sensing her thoughts, the system’s tone remained as stagnant as dead water. “This system is the Cannon Fodder Counterattack System. If Host Jin Liuyi does not complete the quests, the system will automatically unbind, and there will be a penalty for mission failure.”

“Host Jin Liuyi, please actively complete the quests and destroy Demon Lord Tu Tianba’s personal will as soon as possible. This is the only chance for demonic cultivators to achieve victory!”

“…”

Since then, with the system’s help, Jin Liuyi had plotted in secret for three years. Only now was the curtain officially drawn.

The first step was to borrow Tu Tianba’s name to create more enemies, making him the target of the righteous path’s siege and weakening his strength.

The second step was to retrieve the ancient magical artifact, the ‘Nine Nether Memories of Malice Mirror’, sealed at the bottom of the Black Sea.

The system had said that Tu Tianba was no ordinary cultivator. Ordinary magical artifacts acting upon the soul wouldn’t work on him at all; only an ancient demonic weapon would be effective.

As long as she took advantage of Tu Tianba being severely injured to step forward and profess her loyalty, and used the ‘Nine Nether Memories of Malice Mirror’ to reflect the deepest memories of his soul, the magical artifact could force Tu Tianba to relive his most tragic past, causing his collapse.

Thinking of this, Jin Liuyi looked at the sky.

At this moment, she was standing on the floating island above the Black Sea.

The sky was oppressively dark, densely packed with thick clouds.

Beneath the island, the seawater was as thick as ink, its surface faintly glowing with an eerie, dark red halo, as if formed from the settled essence blood of countless immortals and demons.

Mist shrouded the sea’s surface.

Within the mist, phantom images of ruined walls could be faintly seen, and the echoing sounds of war drums and roars seemed to resound.

Legend had it that tens of thousands of years ago, this boundless sea was the ancient Immortal-Demon battlefield. The two sides slaughtered each other for decades before the war finally ended.

Later, a mighty figure used a sea-shifting technique to seal the battlefield at the bottom of the ocean, laying down numerous barriers and trapping arrays, eliminating any possibility of cultivators trespassing.

Had it not been for the system’s assistance, Jin Liuyi could never have intruded without suffering a scratch.

The tide surged silently, its perils difficult to hide.

Jin Liuyi cast a sidelong glance at the sea’s surface, unable to resist pressing a question. “System, didn’t you say the sea surface is laid with restrictions that, once triggered, will awaken slumbering puppet guards that even Mahayana stage cultivators cannot withstand? I won’t lose my life here, will I?”

The system replied, “Host, rest assured.”

“The system has already redeemed an advanced concealment skill for the Host. Please retrieve the ‘Nine Nether Memories of Malice Mirror’. This is a crucial item for the Host to defy heaven and change fate!”

“…”

On the other side.

Inside the flying boat.

Tu Tianba honestly confessed the information he knew. Staring at the man’s face, which had fallen deep into thought, he suddenly spoke up,

“…What did you just call me earlier?”

Nie Wuhui looked back, his thin lips parting slightly: “Can I not call you by your full name?”

Tu Tianba looked at his own hands, confirming he had no urge to slap anyone, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. “Not really, it’s just a bit dangerous.”

Too dangerous.

My face almost got swollen!

He thought for a moment and asked again, “Wait, that’s not right. When did I tell you my full name? Could it be… you saw it in my memories?!”

Tu Tianba looked absolutely devastated.

In his memories, instances where he was called by his full name usually involved his dad pulling down his pants and spanking him fiercely.

Dammit, so embarrassing!

“I asked you after our first dual cultivation, and you told me in your sleep…” After answering, Nie Wuhui saw his expression shifting constantly and couldn’t help feeling somewhat curious. “What’s wrong?”

Tu Tianba let out a huge breath and shook his head repeatedly.

“Nothing!”

Immediately after, Tu Tianba felt a bit of lingering fear and complained softly, “Dammit, I knew it… Once a person falls asleep, their willpower halves. I am never sleeping again!”

Hearing this, Nie Wuhui felt a faint ache in his heart.

He raised a hand to smooth Tu Tianba’s wind-tousled bangs, saying softly, “In three years, you’ve only slept three times, and each time you woke up on your own in less than a quarter of an hour…”

The next instant.

Tu Tianba heard him say,

“Xiao Xiu, you’ve worked hard.”

Tu Tianba’s head spun, and he replied airily,

“It’s fine. I am a man, after all.”

Nie Wuhui smiled slightly and asked again, “Then can you tell me why you were unwilling to reveal your true name? Why did you insist on giving yourself a fake name?”

Tu Tianba hesitated for a moment, confessing frankly, “I have many inner demons. They constantly find new ways to provoke me, trying to make me unhappy. They also love to change their voices into those of my family and my playmates, calling my name and demanding my life…”

“Over time, I just couldn’t bear to hear it anymore.”

Only then did Nie Wuhui deeply realize that during their very first meeting, he had consecutively done two of the things Tu Tianba hated the most.

“…No wonder you loathed me so much back then.”

Seeing him lower his eyelids, Tu Tianba hurriedly pulled him into an embrace. “Oh my, I didn’t! I was just like that back then, I’d even bully a passing dog! It wasn’t because I hated you!”

After speaking, he cleared his throat and called out in a very small voice,

“…Wuhui.”

Nie Wuhui looked steadily at the youth. Seeing the unconcealable nervousness written on his face, his gaze darting about, he couldn’t help leaning forward, resting his forehead against the youth’s.

“In a little while, come back to the Guiqing Sect with me. I will report to the Sect Master and the other sects that you are not the instigator behind the annihilation of the Xuanxu Sect. Then, we will go find the true mastermind behind the scenes…”

“Once everything is settled, I will accompany you back to the river valley.”

“Is that alright?”

Feeling the warmth on his forehead, how could Tu Tianba say the word ‘no’?

He closed his eyes, feeling that the inner demon was wrong.

This damn, wretched heaven didn’t mistreat him in absolutely everything.

—At the very least, he met Nie Wuhui.

What a truly joyous, wonderful thing.

__

Author’s Note:

Here I am!

It’s been three years; Xiaoming is going to accompany A-Hui back to his maiden home (not).