The improved female villains regained their memories.

Ling Tiandu narrowed his eyes, then suddenly felt a jolt in his heart.

She seemed to know who the other person was.

The shrine that displays the names of the main characters of the Guardian Heaven Sect (see Chapter 199 of Volume 4) allows you to read about their lives by touching the nameplates there. Among them is one who, although a member of the main characters, shines brighter than the others, like a star compared to the moon.

She proposed the Human Chess Project and developed the system for its application.

Her name is Zhou Buyi.

Ling Tiandu stared intently at the person in front of him. This former protagonist was widely known among all the protagonists, and his great achievements were enough to place him in the top five of the Guardian Heaven Sect's merit ranking.

With the development of the Human Chess Project and the system, the chosen ones since Zhou Buyi have undoubtedly faced less pressure when facing the villains' attacks.

[It was her... So, where is this place...?]

Ling Tiandu had a vague suspicion in her heart, but dared not say anything.

Firstly, Zhou Buyi is the creator of the system, but the system has not recognized her as the protagonist of this generation, and she is currently suppressing the system. Secondly, Zhou Buyi revealed Ling Tiandu's real name as soon as they met, which means that she knows many things, while Ling Tiandu is currently unable to tell whether the other party is a real person or an image.

"Ling Tianxin, don't be nervous. I've been waiting for you for a long time, so naturally I have no ill intentions towards you." She smiled slightly, her voice gentle.

Unlike Ling Tiandu's gentleness, which stems from weakness and thus evokes a sense of pity, Zhou Buyi's gentleness is pure tenderness, as if she were inherently a gentle person, making her voice sound naturally gentle.

But Ling Tiandu knew that as a chosen one of destiny, no one was simple, let alone the person in front of him, who was the mastermind behind the human chess game, designing the system and scheming against countless villains.

Countless villains suffered because of her, and many became mediocre because of her. Not to mention those from long ago, Wen Shihan, Luo Benmo, Xu Anlu... Her human chess plan kills without shedding blood. It lacks the grandeur and splendor of immortal killing moves, but it is far more ruthless and effective than any killing move.

How could such a person be a simple, gentle person?

Ling Tiandu tensed up and asked, "Senior, why are you waiting for me?"

She wisely refrained from asking where she was or dwelling on why the other person could so easily identify her real name. If Zhou Buyi knew what she had done and was not about to kill her, then going along with what the other person said would undoubtedly be the wise choice.

Of course, this was only on the surface; in reality, Ling Tiandu was constantly urging and refining her killing move.

[This place is strange. If I'm not mistaken, it's very likely the world beyond the door. After each protagonist completes their mission, they merge their consciousness into the world beyond the door. If that's the case, then the Zhou Buyi in front of me is unlikely to be the real person.]

She pondered as she tried to unleash her killing move, only to find that it was unusable and she couldn't even extract spiritual energy.

[I possess magical artifacts to guard against illusions, and I am also the master of the Wuhe Flower. It is difficult for anyone to trap me in an illusion, but I cannot extract spiritual energy from this place. It seems that it really is true.]

Seemingly sensing Ling Tiandu's intentions, Zhou Buyi smiled slightly and raised his hand.

"Don't be nervous, I didn't mean to hurt you."

As she spoke, her fingers moved slightly, and mysterious energy floated at her fingertips.

"You guessed right. This is the world behind the door. My physical body is dead. The one speaking to you now is just a wisp of my consciousness residing in the Heavenly Dao."

As he spoke, Zhou Buyi's expression turned serious.

“Ling Tianxin, no, Ling Tiandu, I came to find you not only to prove that I have no intention of harming you, but also to lend you a helping hand.”

She sighed: "But you have to understand how dire the situation is for the Guardian Sect right now."

Ling Tiandu frowned and asked, "What do you mean by that, senior?"

"Throughout history, protagonists and sages have sacrificed themselves, merging their consciousness into the origin of the Heavenly Dao to strengthen human will and control the Heavenly Dao. Thus, the Heavenly Dao has protected our human race for millions of years. However, the Heavenly Dao was then occupied by human will, and the Heavenly Will, in turn, occupied human will. Thus began the millennia-long struggle between good and evil. Now, this struggle has reached its most critical moment."

Zhou Buyi spoke softly:

"Taixu is another facility of my Guardian Heaven Sect. It houses a large number of protagonist consciousnesses, including the ancient one from the previous protagonist."

"A female villain infiltrated the group and single-handedly suppressed the consciousness of all the main characters."

Ling Tiandu's pupils dilated in shock, and he exclaimed, "What!?"

"This person is incredibly talented, possesses unfathomable abilities, and has developed various forbidden talismans. Now, she has used a certain forbidden talisman, sacrificing herself to trap most of the protagonist's consciousness in the Great Ruins. This has caused the consciousness residing on the Heavenly Dao Origin to gradually decrease."

“Now, I’m all alone,” Zhou Buyi said, a bitter smile on his face.

"And I, too, can't hold on for much longer."

-------------

Meanwhile, in the Fengyun Mountains.

At the Wan Jin Chamber of Commerce headquarters, Li Tianfei, number three, was heading to the underground secret chamber in search of the key treasure within.

This place is protected by array formations and various mechanical contraptions, making it difficult for ordinary thieves to infiltrate. Even earth immortals and celestial immortals would find it difficult to break through these barriers.

After passing through several arrays, at the end of the corridor, behind the stone door, were displayed various magical artifacts made by Shi Guijia.

Li Tianfei entered the correct command and entered. As soon as the stone door opened, the pressure of the ninth-grade magic weapon spread out, making people almost want to kneel down and sink.

boom!

The passageway trembled, and the spiritual energy quivered. This secret chamber contained more than a dozen ninth-grade magic artifacts, and countless eighth-grade and seventh-grade artifacts as well.

The most eye-catching item hanging on the wall was a waist knife, its entire body shimmering with light and gleaming with golden brilliance. It was a ninth-grade magic weapon, [Qi Piercing the Rainbow].

Originally, Li Tianfei wanted Zhang Yijian to use this magic artifact to attract attention and draw all forces to the Fengyun Mountains. However, due to the whims of fate, he lost his ability to monitor the Guardian Sect, so he decided to slightly modify the plan.

"The will of Heaven has changed, and whether we can break this deadlock depends on your magic weapon, Mother." Ignoring the sword's oppressive aura, Li Tianfei withstood it and removed the sword.

Spiritual energy began to gather around him, and the waist knife rang out with a metallic clang. What Li Tianfei was doing at this moment was actually reforging this magical artifact.

Countless materials flew in from the corner, like a meteor shower, lingering around Li Tianfei.

"Rise!" he murmured, and the materials shrank, surrounding the waist knife and gradually enveloping it.

The spiritual energy became scalding hot, and one of the functions of this ninth-grade magic artifact was slowly changing.

An hour later, Li Tianfei walked out of the secret room with the knife, his face pale. The ice crystal on his forehead had almost dimmed, and his fighting strength was less than 30%.

And that waist knife, once the center of attention, became utterly inconspicuous.

"Mother, I'm sorry, I've insulted your work."

He took a deep breath, and although he said this, his eyes shone with a thousand rays of light.

He murmured to himself, "A spirit that soars through the sky, this is the true spirit that soars through the sky!"

-------------

It wasn't until evening that Yang Pingsheng transformed back into an ordinary person.

But the result was delightful. The power of the Dust Light had completely merged with him. At this moment, he possessed two great treasures of heaven and earth. If used properly, he could even scheme against celestial beings.

Unfortunately, neither the Harmony Light nor the Sword Soul Heart can play a supporting role. Although the Sword Soul Heart is the foremost of the four great treasures of heaven and earth, it has no offensive or defensive power. The Harmony Light has mysterious energy, and if one is not careful, it may backfire on oneself.

"The Sword Soul Heart and the Dust Light are somewhat conflicting. If it were someone else, it would be difficult to control them. But my immortal artifact ability seems to be able to encompass even the secret treasures together."

The Sword Soul Heart and the Dust-Shattering Light, combined by Yang Pingsheng's immortal artifact, formed a unique secret treasure move. Yang Pingsheng named this move "Fatal Fulfillment of Will". It mainly focuses on deconstruction, control, and attrition. Although it does not have the great destructive power of Luo Benmo's killing move, it is superior in its long-lasting and enduring nature, allowing for prolonged battles and attrition.

"As expected of these treasures of heaven and earth, the Sword Soul Heart makes my mental power infinite and can influence the emotions of others. The Dust-Shaped Light helps me deconstruct the information of others and can even influence their minds. Unlike other treasures, these two treasures of heaven and earth do not increase spiritual energy or the power of killing moves. They affect the most essential things about a person."

Immortals are also human.

Don't underestimate Sword Soul Heart and Dust Light. They don't offer the same obvious help as Ruins Soil and Boundless Flower—for example, Ling Tiandu can use Boundless Flower to cultivate his combat power and open up space, etc. But if used well, even mortals can influence immortals.

Sword Soul Heart helped Yu the Great lead the people to overcome natural disasters, setting the main theme of human triumph over nature.

Tong Chenguang was used by Zhou Buyi, who used its power to create a system, thereby creating the will of various worlds and ensuring the smooth execution of the Human Chess Project.

It can be said that Yang Pingsheng has gained both of these, and his threat level even exceeds that of Luo Benmo. If Ling Tiandu were to re-analyze the situation, she would definitely find that the most difficult person to deal with now is no longer Luo Benmo, but Yang Pingsheng.

With divine intervention, the protagonist dared not act rashly.

Unique magical artifacts can be fused with the spiritual roots of female villains to create different kinds of killing moves.

The emotions between the characters gradually brought the female villains, who were originally fighting independently, together.

Now, with the addition of Sword Soul Heart, Tongcheng Light, and that cheat-like God's perspective, Yang Pingsheng, with the strength of an Earth Immortal, has finally managed to barely get onto this chessboard.

“Now that my sister’s gang of villains has been taken over, and Xiao Rong has also given Tong Chen Guang a clear statement, we don’t need to worry about Xiao Lu. She has always supported me. It doesn’t matter if Xiao Yin has a problem with me, since she listens to her sister anyway. In that case, as long as we communicate with Xiao Lu, her Shadow Empire can also be used as a key trump card.”

The light made Yang Pingsheng's mind exceptionally clear. He raised his head, not looking at Xu Anlu who had been waiting beside him, but instead looking at Song Panning who was standing in the corridor.

She stood there expressionless, but it was clear that she wasn't in a good mood.

It is now evening.

In other words, the time they agreed upon has arrived.

"Now, all that's left is Pan Ning."

He could certainly team up with the current female villain to force Song Panning to submit.

However, Yang Pingsheng did not adopt this method.

Song Panning is not just a smart person; in essence, she also has the arrogance of a female villain. Although she keeps compromising for Yang Pingsheng, she also needs to satisfy her own desire for control.

Song Panning is a person with an extremely strong desire for control.

If Yang Pingsheng chooses to join forces with the villains to coerce her, even if she chooses to comply, it will be a feigned compliance.

Given the chance, this venomous snake will bare its fangs and take back the control she had previously lost.

"Villains shouldn't fight amongst themselves, and besides, what I'm after is peace of mind."

Yang Pingsheng sighed.

"As long as we help her make up for this controlling behavior elsewhere, that will be enough."

See? The answer is simple.

It only requires Yang Pingsheng to pay a small price, nothing more.

"Sis, why did the gentleman look so miserable when he went to see that woman?"

"Ah."

"Something feels off to me."

"Ah."

"Sis, can you please stop saying 'uh-huh' all the time?"

"Oh."

Xu Anlu and Xu Anyin were somewhat confused as they watched Yang Pingsheng and Song Panning enter the room.

How come this seems like a dynamic where they're about to fight but can also coexist peacefully?

As the person and soul were pondering, a formation enveloped Song Panning's room in the next second.

The next second, Wen Shihan, who was hiding in the shadows, was thrown out.