The Pill-Forming Peak was covered with flowering crabapple trees, their delicate fragrance carried by the wind. The courtyard was meticulously landscaped, with artificial mountains and ponds complementing each other, well-trimmed flowers and plants, and pillars inscribed with small engravings, all enveloped in wisps of cool mist.
Under the crabapple tree in the courtyard stood a soft couch, with a box of ice-chilled fruits on the wooden table beside it.
Halfway through their journey, the person in his arms fainted. Gu Jiang bent down to place her on the soft couch, his rigid body swaying slightly. He had consumed too much of Nie Yinzhi's blood, which had seeped into his body and was now consuming his internal organs.
Yet this blood held an irresistible allure for demons.
Gu Jiang popped a few mulberries into his mouth to suppress the sweet metallic taste in his throat, then collapsed onto the couch as if boneless.
Nie Yinzhi had no idea how long she had been unconscious. When she awoke, dawn was breaking, with thin morning mist floating above the courtyard walls. The familiar environment and gentle flower fragrance instinctively put her at ease.
It wasn't until she looked up and saw an unfamiliar man that Nie Yinzhi startled, sitting up from his embrace and hurriedly stepping onto the ground.
As soon as she stood up, she felt dizzy. Nie Yinzhi swayed twice before losing control and falling back, causing the other person to grunt. He caught her with one hand, restraining her like a mischievous kitten, and pressed her beside him as he continued his deep slumber.
Nie Yinzhi struggled to prop herself up, rubbing her brow as she recalled yesterday's events. She turned her head again to look at the person sprawled on the soft couch.
The demon lord's clothes were disheveled, his dark red, almost black robes covered in white crabapple petals. It appeared he had slept here all night.
Nie Yinzhi confirmed the mark on her own wrist, then carefully lifted his sleeve to find the same mark on his wrist. Feeling somewhat reassured, she tried pushing him gently, calling out, "Feng Hanying."
There was no response.
Nie Yinzhi pushed harder twice more. "Feng Hanying!" She began to doubt whether this was really the demon lord who had thrown the cultivation world into chaos ten years ago.
From what she understood, Feng Hanying was known for his violent temper and great ambition, a ruthless individual who killed without batting an eye. Having terrorized the cultivation world before being imprisoned in the Ten Thousand Demons Cave by Sang Wumian and the other immortal sects for so many years, he should have returned to wreak havoc in the cultivation world.
Why was he so lazy?
The person on the couch was awakened by her pushing. He irritably grabbed her hand, his fingertips resting on her throat. "Don't make noise."
Nie Yinzhi's whole body tensed, goosebumps rising all over her skin from the naked killing intent. Although she had many questions, she dared not make a sound for the moment.
Despite having a symbiotic contract, she wasn't sure how much protection it would provide.
"I'm Gu Jiang," the person behind her mumbled before his breathing became regular again.
Nie Yinzhi: "..." Gu Jiang? Who was Gu Jiang?
After the morning mist dispersed, revealing a clear sky, Nie Yinzhi caught sight of floating text in the air.
[I found it! This Gu Jiang! He's Feng Hanying's master, a retired demon lord, only mentioned once in the original story. The real Demon Sovereign hasn't appeared yet.]
[He's actually the strongest character in this work, no wonder Sang was defeated instantly]
[No way, no way, the male lead can't be dead already, right? I don't believe it!]
[With both male leads out of commission, maybe we can look forward to the third male lead taking over? Actually, I never liked how the male lead and second male lead used substitutes anyway. Isn't the devoted third male lead better? He searched far and wide for his wife, and he's both loyal and powerful.]
[Nie Yinzhi is really cruel. Even though she was treated as a substitute, she was well-fed and cared for during her five years at the Cloud Scripture Sect, and the core extraction and eye gouging haven't even happened yet. Now she's found someone powerful to rely on and immediately wants to kill the entire sect]
[So you're saying she should wait until her golden core is extracted and her eyes are gouged out before seeking revenge? What kind of saint are you? Do you excrete relics when you go to the bathroom?]
[While there's bloodshed and crisis outside, they're cuddling and sleeping together???]
[This old demon lord is so handsome! Could the female supporting character be creating her own romance plot?]
[I'm starting to doubt whether the female lead is the true love or the substitute. Did I watch the first few dozen episodes for nothing? The female lead is Xiao Ling, right?]
[This is the most plot-broken AI drama I've ever watched. The official website claims this is a real world and they can't control how it plays out, but that's complete nonsense.]
[I'm so angry, what about our girl!]
Having been trained by these bullet comments for many days, Nie Yinzhi had learned to filter out repetitive or meaningless content from the streaming comments, capturing only the information she needed.
She saw in the comments that Gu Jiang was Feng Hanying's master, who had easily killed Sang Wumian, the Immortal Lord.
How could such a powerful person be easily summoned by Xiang Sijue's sacrifice array and trapped by his symbiotic formation?
Nie Yinzhi couldn't figure out this puzzle, but given the current situation, being bound to this demon lord seemed more beneficial than harmful to her current predicament.
The garden couch had originally been Nie Yinzhi's private spot, but now with the addition of a large man, it suddenly felt very cramped.
The begonia tree beside him was most severely affected by the demonic energy. Its snow-white petals had almost completely fallen, burying him underneath like a small grave of flower petals.
Two more days passed before Gu Jiang finally stirred awake. The flower fragrance made him sneeze, scattering petals everywhere.
Nie Yinzhi sat on a small stool eight zhang away from him, with a fruit plate on her knees and a cherry in her mouth, her dark eyes staring at him unblinkingly.
After they stared at each other for a moment, Gu Jiang rolled over, looking like he was about to fall asleep again. Nie Yinzhi was almost impressed – was he a demon pig or something?
"You've been sleeping for five days," Nie Yinzhi said.
After a while, Gu Jiang shakily sat up. Hearing the dissatisfaction in her voice, he brushed aside his loose hair, placed one foot on the couch, and massaged his brow while supporting his forehead. "Your blood is too poisonous. Ordinary demon cultivators would never wake up after tasting it."
When it came to herself, Nie Yinzhi immediately became alert. "There's something wrong with my blood?" Damn that Sang Wumian, what had he done to her in secret again?
Gu Jiang raised his phoenix-like eyes, giving her a lazy glance. "According to folk legends, whenever demons run rampant and people suffer, a divine maiden will descend to earth, feeding demons with her body, converting all demons, and returning peace to the world."
What kind of backwater legend was this? Even storytellers nowadays wouldn't use such outdated plot devices.
Nie Yinzhi looked at him speechlessly, deeply feeling that he was a bit crazy. He truly was an ancient relic.
[Damn, damn, damn, isn't this my baby girl's setting? Her blood is like a drug to demon cultivators, driving them crazy]
[The female lead will use her blood to control Feng Hanying later, right? How could they let the female supporting character steal such an important plot point?]
[This was supposed to be the big climax before the ending, where the female lead jumps into the Ten Thousand Demons Cave without hesitation, sacrificing herself to feed the demons and save the world. How did it end up with the supporting character again?]
[Are they sick? Are all the staff members fans of the supporting character? What's with this AI character setting? How many more of the female lead's traits are they going to steal? Why not just make the supporting character the lead then?]
[Haha, the male lead is already dead anyway, what more can you ask for? I want to see just how messy this drama can get]
[I watched Nie Yinzhi's character arc, everything started going wrong when she went into seclusion and lost control of her cultivation. It's clearly a bug]
[To be fair, ten years ago during the great battle between good and evil, the female lead's blood had no effect on demon cultivators, otherwise she would have been devoured by demons back then]
[In the original novel, when Sang Wumian cut out the supporting character's golden core, it absorbed all her blood and vital essence before being given to the female lead to nourish her meridians. That's when her blood gained this property]
[So it turns out the female lead is the real thief, stealing eyes, golden cores, and character settings. The female lead's fans are cursing without even understanding their idol's background, how amusing]
[LOL, you've got the cause and effect wrong. It's precisely because the author gave the female lead the "sacrifice to demons, save the world" plot that your supporting character temporarily got this setting. Simply put, everything in this world serves the main couple]
Nie Yinzhi watched the arguments in the bullet comments from the corner of her eye, feeling completely numb.
What a desperate setting this was. Was being eaten by demon cultivators such a desirable thing that people would fight over it?
Fortunately, all demon cultivators were now sealed in the Ten Thousand Demons Cave, otherwise she would be in terrible trouble. She couldn't possibly sacrifice herself to feed demons and save the world. And draining her blood and giving her golden core to Xiao Ling? That was absolutely impossible.
Nie Yinzhi was extremely annoyed, emanating an aura of violent irritation.
"So, the sacrificial array didn't work?" Nie Yinzhi asked. "Senior was only drawn here by my blood."
When she summoned the demon lord, she had been prepared to die rather than submit, intending to perish together with Sang Wumian and the others. The conditions of the sacrifice were to kill Sang Wumian, kill Meng Jin, and kill all those who had casually decided her fate that day in the hall.
Gu Jiang made a sound of agreement, but just hearing the words "my blood" made him lick his lips longingly, his Adam's apple bobbing.
Aliali: 67467efbc4f3f33ac45e4cd7
Nie Yinzhi reflexively picked up her small stool and retreated several steps, asking politely, "So what are Senior's plans now?"
During Gu Jiang's unconsciousness, Nie Yinzhi had carefully considered her situation. She had summoned a demon lord in front of all the Cloud Scripture Sect elders, and now she was bound to him. Without doubt, she would be branded as an evil heretic.
She couldn't return to the Nie family, nor could she bring the demon lord there. The Nie family were all ordinary people; if a conflict between righteous and evil forces occurred there, they could easily become collateral damage.
For now, staying away from the Nie family was the best protection she could offer them. Firstly, ordinary people were beneath the notice of immortal cultivators, and secondly, cultivators believed in karma – no matter how they calculated it, the blame couldn't fall on her parents, and killing innocents would damage one's dao heart.
Nie Yinzhi wanted to know the great demon lord's plans so she could figure out what to do next.
Gu Jiang found her behavior amusing. "You offered your soul and body in sacrifice. I thought you weren't afraid of death?"
"I am afraid of death," Nie Yinzhi raised her face, her eyes showing pride. Despite her bright appearance, her words were anything but sunny. "But dying in frustration and dying with satisfaction are different. If I must die, I want to drag those I hate down with me."
"So, whoever wants to save the world can go ahead and do it, I won't." Since Xiao Ling could use blood to control Feng Hanying, she could use blood to control demon cultivators too. Nie Yinzhi rubbed the mark on her wrist, casting a glance at Gu Jiang, brazenly coveting the person before her.
Gu Jiang's lips curved almost imperceptibly, feeling like he'd been targeted by a kitten who didn't know its own limits. He lifted his chin, gesturing at the small plate in her hands, "How can you eat all by yourself?"
Nie Yinzhi popped another cherry into her mouth and stood up to bring the plate to him.