The improved female villains regained their memories.

"I absolutely do not believe what you say. Even if what you say is true, even if I really am a personified treasure, even if Master has mistaken me for someone else, but..."

"But he will never leave me!"

Xiao Qitian chuckled softly.

He had known Yang Pingsheng for longer than Li Chumo.

The master who was admired by others was nothing more than an empty monster in Xiao Qitian's eyes. He followed the rules of the Kongling Sect like a robot, and even his care and love for his disciples seemed like he was just completing some kind of task.

Yang Pingsheng has no heart; that was the judgment Xiao Qitian made at the time.

Li Chumo is a human form created from a secret treasure. After being transformed into a human, he can barely be considered human. However, Yang Pingsheng can no longer be considered human.

That's a hollow monster in human skin.

"Would you like to witness this with me?" Xiao Qitian asked with a smile. "I have a way of spying on them."

Li Chumo looked at him with a cold smile: "You? Senior Brother, I remember that you haven't been able to forge your immortal artifact all these years, have you? You're at most a half-step Earth Immortal now, and you want to peek at the Celestial Immortal?"

Xiao Qitian retorted, "Who said I'm a half-step Earth Immortal?"

"what?"

An overwhelming pressure descended, pinning Li Chumo to the ground.

She looked up in shock, and in the sunlight, Xiao Qitian's shadow spread out.

This guy!!

"When there is a time to conceal one's sharpness, there will naturally be a day to draw one's sword."

For the first time in Li Chumo's eyes, Xiao Qitian's smile was so unfathomable.

"I saw this sentence in a book."

"I'm giving it to you now."

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

Everything went according to plan.

Whether it was Li Yaoyang's appearance at the conference or Yang Pingsheng's observation of Li Chumo's suppressed shock, it was exactly what Yang Pingsheng had expected.

The only thing that surprised him was that Li Yaoyang would lose his composure so much afterwards that he wanted to kill him.

The forbidden area behind the Kongling Sect's mountain, a place only the sect leader could enter and exit, was where endless lightning struck down, heavily hitting Yang Pingsheng.

Near the abyss, the pressure of the Thunder Spirit Root poured down from the stone altar. Yang Pingsheng was bound by stone locks and could only bear the pressure head-on. The domineering power repeatedly destroyed his body, like an endless purgatory, turning him into a bloody man.

"Yang Pingsheng, you are my most trusted disciple. I entrusted you with such an important task, and you actually messed it up!"

Li Yaoyang spoke expressionlessly, but the bulging veins on his forehead betrayed his thoughts. He stretched out his hand, and the overwhelming pressure of thunder intensified, causing Yang Pingsheng's skin to be torn open.

Pain mixed with blood blurred his vision. The stone lock seemed to have the effect of suppressing spiritual energy. Yang Pingsheng trembled and tried his best to straighten his body. In the dense lightning, he seemed to be able to see the sky.

He did miscalculate, and the miscalculation was that Li Yaoyang was such a sore loser.

Sure enough, he never gets away with anything good when he carries out the Heavenly Dao's plans.

Terrifying lightning raged across every part of Yang Pingsheng's body, wreaking havoc on his meridians. Large swathes of blood covered the ground, making him appear as if he were immersed in blood.

His head almost hit the ground as he said, "I have failed you, Master."

Lei Lingqi's domineering aura masked many things. The pain nearly made him faint, but he still wanted to know if that key person was watching.

The system seemed to understand his thoughts and spoke in his mind: "As planned, Xiao Qitian and the villains have arrived, and they are hiding not far away."

Really? That's good then...

Then his suffering wouldn't have been in vain.

The pain clouded his thoughts, and for a moment, many things came to mind: Shi Guijia, Song Panning, Su Murong...

My memories go back to the earliest time, and I think of his students.

He seemed to hear himself ask, "Is that illness very painful?"

Tick.

Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth and fell to the ground.

The murmured words lingered for a while before finally fading away.

Li Yaoyang looked at the fallen Yang Pingsheng, said nothing, waved his sleeve, and flew back to his cave with him.

Only after the two left did the light and shadows distort, and Xiao Qitian and Li Chumo walked out from inside.

"Master..."

It was daytime, and the weather was fine, but it felt like being in an abyss. My consciousness was hazy, and the feeling of suffocation surged like a tide. My fingers touched the ground, which was sticky and then solidified into bright red blood, bursting in my pupils and slowly seeping into the depths.

Blood was like snow, like that winter. I watched, I listened, and finally waited until that person left, never to return.

Have you come to terms with the truth?

Beside them, Xiao Qitian's voice came, like the whisper of a devil.

“Master is also a human being. As a human being, he has his own joys and sorrows. He is too strict with those rules, to the point that he has become like a puppet. His emotions and expressions are all to fulfill some kind of expectation.”

“I never intended to lie to you, Li Chumo. Your existence is unique. You are a product that does not belong to heaven and earth. Your true form could have been free from the control of fate.”

"But look at yourself now—your mind is disturbed, you're no longer yourself. Why are you indulging in these emotions? They will only hinder your growth. If you don't cut them off, you will never grow."

...Sever?

After cutting him off, you just watch him leave, right?

She clutched her chest abruptly, kneeling on the ground as if sensing something utterly terrifying. She gasped for breath, and only after the fear slowly subsided did she slowly prop herself up, look at Xiao Qitian, and grit her teeth, say:

"Even if what you said is true, even if I am a personified treasure, even if Master wasn't looking for me in the first place..."

"But we've been together for ten years. Our feelings for each other are real. No matter what you say, you can't deny these feelings!" Li Chumo roared.

"I see. You described it as 'emotion.' It seems your relationship has evolved from that of master and disciple to the kind of emotion you're describing." Xiao Qitian smiled slightly. "Then, let's make a bet on the emotion you speak of."

“If you win, I will do everything in my power to help you and support your so-called feelings. Even if the entire sect opposes it, I will stand by your side,” Xiao Qitian said. “But if you lose, then you will have to join me and create [Reality] with me.”

"can!"

Li Chumo agreed without hesitation.

However, a chill still rose in her bones.

It's a sunny day, so why am I so cold?

Yes, is it winter already?

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

"It hurts much more than I imagined."

As Yang Pingsheng left the cave and hurried toward his residence, he said to the system, "You should have told me sooner that this Li Yaoyang is a madman."

The system was unusually silent; it felt embarrassed because it was indeed its fault—it had forgotten to tell Yang Pingsheng about Li Yaoyang's personality analysis.

"But no matter what, the plan is finally on the right track." Yang Pingsheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Yaoyang beat him up, then cured him, and asked him to bring back his real daughter. This time, to avoid a misunderstanding, he told the truth and repeatedly confirmed with Yang Pingsheng that his daughter was a fox, not a wolf.

Li Yaoyang assumed the malfunction of the magical artifact was due to a problem with the artifact itself and had no doubts about Yang Pingsheng. He healed Yang Pingsheng and listened to Yang Pingsheng's repeated assurances that this time everything would be absolutely foolproof before releasing him.

"Next, all we need to do is distance ourselves from the villains and find the real Li Chumo." The system took the opportunity to change the subject.

"Yes, the sadness is over, now all we have to do is..."

Yang Pingsheng stopped talking.

Before he knew it, he had arrived at the mansion. Li Chumo was standing at the gate of the small courtyard in the distance.

"Master!"

As usual, she excitedly ran over and threw herself into Yang Pingsheng's arms.

"Where did you go after the conference? I looked for you for ages, so I came back first. Master, I have something to tell you... today..."

Yang Pingsheng gently pushed her away.

"Master?"

She was stunned for a moment, looking at Yang Pingsheng with disbelief.

However, Yang Pingsheng said nothing and turned to walk into the courtyard.

Is the sadness over?

No, the sadness has only just begun.

This push left Li Chumo standing there dumbfounded, watching the figure calmly walk away. In just one glance, ten thousand years had passed.

strangeness.

She felt a strong sense of alienation.

She hurriedly followed him inside, and seeing that her master showed no sign of lingering and was heading towards the room, she quickly caught up and said, "Master, what's wrong? Are you in a bad mood? Did I do something wrong to upset you? I..."

Yang Pingsheng stopped and turned to look at her.

"Li Chumo".

"Master?"

“I have never taken you as my disciple. From now on, you don’t need to call me Master.”

Despite it being a sunny day, in Li Chumo's eyes, frost and snow were spreading across the ground, and a strong wind was blowing, scattering the clarity before her eyes. Her pupils suddenly contracted, and her heart almost stopped beating.

what?

What is Master saying?

"Master, did I do something wrong? I... I can..."

“You did nothing wrong. I’m just stating the facts. I’ve never taken you as my apprentice, so you don’t need to call me master.”

Yes.

Li Chumo remembered that Yang Pingsheng had indeed not taken her as his apprentice.

She actually had nothing.