When the Female Lead Becomes Obsessive – Chapter 86

Volume Four: Those Years When I Was a Master

[Rough and not set in stone: Foundation Establishment → Enlightenment → Integration → Temptation → Golden Core → Nascent Soul → Soul Division → Body Integration → Void Glimpse → Mahayana → Void Shattering → Tribulation Transcendence → Supreme Immortal]

The So-Called Truth

For a Mahayana Realm cultivator, the Nascent Soul has been cultivated into a Primordial Spirit. A Primordial Spirit can be destroyed, but not split.

The moment it is split, it is like being sliced by a thousand knives, severing your meridians, crushing your bones, and twisting your spiritual consciousness.

The pain is worse than death; living is worse than dying.

The system saw the light in Wen Nuan’s originally clear eyes gradually fade. It watched the female lead’s Blackening Value stop at 6.5! and sighed faintly.

The Primordial Spirit was already crippled, and her Spiritual Sense was gradually fading.

The Demonic Soul inheritance ended. The pool of blood instantly dried up, and Wen Nuan’s half-crippled Primordial Spirit shielded Yu Wan Zhao’s Nascent Soul, stabilizing the coexistence of demonic and spiritual power in her Spiritual Sea.

At this moment, Yu Wan Zhao had become a true early-stage Mahayana cultivator.

The blood mist dissipated, and specks of faint light scattered throughout the Cave Abode.

Yu Wan Zhao opened her eyes. Her vision was hazy. She raised her hand, and the faint light landed on her knuckles. Quexie flickered in and out of sight.

Her gaze froze, and her consciousness returned.

She took a deep breath, shot up, and looked around. She saw Wen Nuan sitting dazedly to the side, her eyes vacant.

Yu Wan Zhao remembered what she had done to Wen Nuan when she lost control. Her own clothes were in disarray, and her lips and neck were covered in bite marks. If Wen Nuan hadn’t knocked her out, she feared she would have forced herself on Wen Nuan right then and there.

Yu Wan Zhao pounded her own head and cursed herself, “Beast!”

She looked at Wen Nuan and said cautiously, “Master? Are… are you alright? I was controlled by the Demonic Soul back then, I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t mean it, please believe me… okay?”

Wen Nuan was silent, still staring blankly into the distance, not even blinking.

A sense of loss and confusion filled Yu Wan Zhao’s heart. She moved closer to Wen Nuan but didn’t dare to touch her. “Master, I was really wrong. You can scold me, hit me, or even kill me, just don’t… don’t ignore me like this, okay?”

Wen Nuan’s silence terrified her, especially since those eyes, which should have been clear and bright, were now like a pool of stagnant water—calm, dull, and utterly devoid of light, like a lifeless corpse.

“Master?” Yu Wan Zhao tentatively took her hand and squeezed it gently. Seeing her numb expression and vacant eyes fixed on the distance, she panicked.

Her hands trembling, she shook Wen Nuan’s body and said in a quavering voice, “Master? Yu Wen Nuan? Can you hear me? Please answer me, just once, okay?”

“Yu Wen Nuan?!” Yu Wan Zhao shouted. “Say something to me! Yu Wen Nuan, speak!”

Silence. Still silence.

A dead, deathly silence.

Yu Wan Zhao immediately inspected Wen Nuan’s body. Her pupils constricted, and her eyes widened in disbelief.

Why is her Primordial Spirit shattered?!

Did some kind of demonic beast come here after I passed out?

What kind of demonic beast could possibly destroy Wen Nuan’s Primordial Spirit to this extent!?

Yu Wan Zhao scanned the surroundings but found no signs of a struggle. What on earth had happened after she fainted?

“Master…?” Yu Wan Zhao called out softly, her voice hoarse, afraid of startling Wen Nuan.

She choked back a sob. “Master, it’s Wan Zhao. Do you remember me?”

For a person whose Nascent Soul was destroyed and Primordial Spirit shattered, the mildest outcome was the loss of all seven emotions and six desires, becoming like a walking corpse. The most severe was the complete dissipation of one’s cultivation, withering away to death.

“Wan Zhao?” A flicker of light suddenly appeared in Wen Nuan’s vacant eyes, and her lips moved.

She repeated, “Wan Zhao.”

Yu Wan Zhao said excitedly, “Yes, yes, I’m Wan Zhao! Master, do you remember me?”

“Wan Zhao, Wan Zhao…” Wen Nuan just repeated the name unconsciously, her expression still numb, her eyes still glazed over.

Yu Wan Zhao pulled her into an embrace, listening to the whispers by her ear, and sobbed helplessly, “Master, what should I do? What can I do to save you? Master…”

“Qianyuan Upper Palace! Right, Qianyuan Upper Palace can definitely save Master!” Yu Wan Zhao immediately prepared to take Wen Nuan and leave.

She had thought Wen Nuan would be unwilling to go with her, but she took Wen Nuan’s hand with surprising ease, and the two quickly left the Cave Abode.

They were still in the Ancient Battlefield Ruins. The surroundings were still a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, with grim, ancient trees all around.

Just as Yu Wan Zhao was about to take Wen Nuan out of the ruins and head for Qianyuan Upper Palace, she ran into Liu Qingsui at the exit.

Seeing the two of them, Liu Qingsui exclaimed in shock, “You escaped from the Void Barrier?”

“I don’t have time to explain much right now,” Yu Wan Zhao said, her heart filled with urgency. “I need to go to Qianyuan Upper Palace first.”

“Are you crazy? Going to Qianyuan Upper Palace is suicide!” Liu Qingsui quickly grabbed her. “With your current Body Integration Realm cultivation, how dare you… Wait, how did you suddenly advance to the Mahayana Realm? You found the Demonic Soul inheritance?!”

Yu Wan Zhao nodded. “I found the Demonic Soul inheritance, so you don’t have to worry about me walking into my own death at Qianyuan Upper Palace.”

“It seems that Taiyi Qingxu Pill really worked. It actually helped you stabilize the demonic and spiritual energies in your body,” Liu Qingsui marveled.

He looked at Wen Nuan beside Yu Wan Zhao and saw her staring blankly into the distance. “What’s wrong with Elder Yu?”

“I really don’t have time to explain. I’m leaving now.” Yu Wan Zhao pulled Wen Nuan along and flew towards Qianyuan Upper Palace.

Liu Qingsui quickly followed. “I’ll go with you. It’s good to have backup.”

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Qianyuan Upper Palace

Yu Wan Zhao held Wen Nuan’s hand as Liu Qingsui faced the disciples of Qianyuan Upper Palace who had surrounded them.

His eyes narrowed. “If you don’t want to die, get lost.”

“Insolent demonic spawn, how dare you trespass in Qianyuan Upper Palace!” a disciple in blue robes scolded.

He saw Wen Nuan and said with pleasant surprise, “Elder Yu, you’ve returned.”

Yu Wan Zhao couldn’t be bothered with these small fry¹ and shouted directly, “Sect Master Zhong, Wan Zhao has a request. I beg the Sect Master to come out and meet me. If Sect Master Zhong can resolve this matter, Wan Zhao will submit to any punishment from Qianyuan Upper Palace without resistance.”

Liu Qingsui was shocked. “Yu Wan Zhao, are you insane? I told you not to seek your own death, and you’re really f#cking going to do it?”

“Sect Master Zhong, Wan Zhao swears upon the Heavenly Dao that if there is any falsehood in what I have just said, may I be struck by five thunders² and have my body and soul obliterated,” Yu Wan Zhao declared, holding up three fingers, her voice resolute.

Everyone stared at Yu Wan Zhao in horror.

“Yu Wan Zhao!” Liu Qingsui quickly grabbed her hand and pushed it down, saying angrily, “Are you really f#cking crazy?”

Yu Wan Zhao shook off Liu Qingsui and continued to shout, “Sect Master Zhong—”

“Demonic spawn, you dare continue your rampage in Qianyuan Upper Palace? Taste my sword!”

The disciples drew their swords, ready to attack. Liu Qingsui drew the Blood Cloud Sword from his waist, his eyes dark. “I’d like to see who dares to step forward. I’ll send him to meet his ancestors.”

“Enough!”

A powerful, resonant rebuke echoed through Qianyuan Upper Palace.

Yu Wan Zhao looked up, pulled Wen Nuan along, pushed aside those blocking her way, and flew before Zhong Baixuan, saying in a heavy voice, “Wan Zhao begs Sect Master Zhong to save my Master.”

Zhong Baixuan never expected that Yu Wan Zhao would storm Qianyuan Upper Palace just to ask him to save Yu Wen Nuan.

He looked at Wen Nuan beside Yu Wan Zhao, saw her numb expression and vacant eyes, and, moreover, couldn’t feel a single trace of spiritual power fluctuation from her.

“What is going on?” Zhong Baixuan immediately probed Yu Wen Nuan’s Spiritual Sense, only to discover that her Primordial Spirit was actually shattered.

He roared at Yu Wan Zhao, “Yu Wan Zhao, you dared to lay such a vicious hand on Wen Nuan! How could you commit such a malicious act as destroying someone’s Primordial Spirit!?”

“Destroying her Primordial Spirit?” Liu Qingsui looked at Yu Wen Nuan. Seeing her state, he immediately probed her and found that Yu Wen Nuan’s Primordial Spirit was indeed shattered.

“How could Elder Yu’s Primordial Spirit be shattered?” Liu Qingsui said in disbelief. “Wan Zhao, what in the world happened to you two in the Ancient Battlefield?”

Yu Wan Zhao fell to her knees, her eyes sincere as she pleaded, “Sect Master Zhong, I beg you to save my Master.”

“Save her? How do you expect me to save her?” Zhong Baixuan clenched his fists, wishing he could kill Yu Wan Zhao with a single palm strike. “Her Primordial Spirit is shattered! Even if a Supreme Immortal Venerable were here, it couldn’t be fully repaired. You tell me how to save her?!”

Yu Wan Zhao collapsed weakly to the ground, her heart like dead ashes. “Is there really no way?”

Zhong Baixuan took a deep breath and questioned, “How exactly was Wen Nuan’s Primordial Spirit shattered?”

“I don’t know. She was like this when I woke up. I really don’t know why she became like this,” Yu Wan Zhao cried out, tearing at her hair with a low, pained growl.

Liu Qingsui looked at the puppet-like Yu Wen Nuan. “What exactly happened to you in the Ancient Battlefield Ruins?”

Yu Wan Zhao told Zhong Baixuan and Liu Qingsui everything that had happened before she fainted. The more Zhong Baixuan listened, the more shocked he became.

“You are actually dual-cultivating demonic and spiritual arts?” Zhong Baixuan looked at Yu Wan Zhao, his eyes filled with astonishment. “You absorbed a powerful Demonic Soul inheritance. How did you maintain the balance between demonic and spiritual energies?”

Yu Wan Zhao looked exhausted, her voice hoarse. “…The Taiyi Qingxu Pill.”

When she woke up, she had found the box for the Taiyi Qingxu Pill on the ground. Her Master must have fed it to her after she fainted.

“The Taiyi Qingxu Pill?!” Zhong Baixuan was deeply shaken, but he felt the matter was too simple.

Absorbing a Demonic Soul inheritance was already incredibly dangerous. For Yu Wan Zhao to then immediately consume a Saint-grade pill like the Taiyi Qingxu Pill, the immense spiritual and demonic powers would have surged wildly within her. Her Nascent Soul could not possibly have withstood such a massive increase in power, nor could it have maintained control and balanced the two energies.

Wen Nuan was a mid-stage Mahayana cultivator. Her divine body was pure and approaching perfection.

Her Primordial Spirit could not have been so easily shattered by Yu Wan Zhao. Besides, there were no traces of demonic energy invasion on Wen Nuan’s body.

Unless—

Zhong Baixuan raised his hand and placed it on Yu Wan Zhao’s head.

Liu Qingsui thought Zhong Baixuan was about to attack Yu Wan Zhao and was about to draw his sword and charge, but then he heard Zhong Baixuan’s trembling voice.

“You have half of Wen Nuan’s crippled Primordial Spirit in your body!” he exclaimed, his face pale with shock. “She actually… personally split her own Primordial Spirit and attached it to your Nascent Soul to stabilize the rampaging demonic and spiritual energies in your body.”

Yu Wan Zhao’s mind went blank. Her eyes widened, and her heart felt as if it were being crushed by a thousand-pound stone, leaving her breathless.

She looked at Zhong Baixuan in a panic, asking in a choked voice, “…What does that mean?”

Zhong Baixuan’s eyes were bloodshot. He gritted his teeth and said, “Wen Nuan, in order to balance the demonic and spiritual energies in your body, split her own Primordial Spirit to protect your Nascent Soul and stabilize the balance.”

“She used her own life, her entire life’s cultivation, to protect you, do you understand?!” he couldn’t help but roar.

Yu Wan Zhao’s face turned deathly pale, her lips trembling. She looked at Wen Nuan beside her, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes.

“Master…” she whimpered, as if in utter confusion. “Master, why? Why… why did you save me?”

I treated you so badly, so why would you still sacrifice your life to save me?

Wen Nuan did not answer her. There was only silence, still silence.

“Why?” Zhong Baixuan let out a sarcastic laugh. “You actually have the face to ask such a question?”

Hearing the sting in Zhong Baixuan’s words, Liu Qingsui retorted, “Sect Master Zhong, repeatedly slandering a junior with vicious words, have you no sense of integrity befitting a righteous sect?”

“Heh, compared to heartless, ungrateful wretches like you, I am a paragon of virtue and righteousness,” Zhong Baixuan sneered.

He looked at Yu Wan Zhao’s devastated state and said through gritted teeth, “Yu Wan Zhao, if you had just stayed in the Demon Realm and never set foot in the mortal world again, I would have tolerated the trouble you brought upon Qianyuan Upper Palace back then. But I never thought you would repay kindness with such cruelty, harming your own benefactor to this extent, and still have the face to come and ask me for help. Don’t you think you’re being far too hypocritical!?”

“You, surnamed Zhong, don’t push your luck!” Liu Qingsui threatened.

“What? Does the Demon Lord intend to slaughter my Qianyuan Upper Palace?” Zhong Baixuan did not back down an inch, meeting Liu Qingsui’s gaze.

“So what if I slaughter your Qianyuan Upper Palace?” Liu Qingsui’s eyes narrowed. “Do you really think I wouldn’t dare?”

“Yes, you are the mighty Lord of the Demon Realm. Of course you would dare to commit such a massacre. Why would I think you wouldn’t?” Zhong Baixuan looked at Yu Wan Zhao, his expression indescribably complex. “I just feel regret for Wen Nuan. If she hadn’t let you go back then, the mortal world wouldn’t have suffered this calamity, and she wouldn’t have been harmed to this degree by an unfilial disciple like you!”

Liu Qingsui’s brow furrowed tightly. “What do you mean by that? What do you mean Elder Yu shouldn’t have let us go? If she hadn’t pierced Wan Zhao’s heart meridian and resealed the rift at Cangshan Blood Sea, how would it have taken us five years to destroy the seal and return to the mortal world?”

“Truly a f#cking ungrateful wolf you’ve raised. As expected, all demonic spawn are crooked in mind, unable to distinguish black from white,” Zhong Baixuan sneered at the two of them. “If you could use your brain for a moment and think, Wen Nuan had already advanced to the early Mahayana Realm back then. In the entire world, she was nearly unrivaled. If she had gone all out, do you really think you could have escaped alive from under the Abyssal Ice Sword?!”

Liu Qingsui was stunned. “…What?”

“Yu Wan Zhao, I ask you, if anyone else were to have their heart meridian pierced by the Abyssal Ice Sword, what would be the outcome?” Zhong Baixuan ignored Liu Qingsui and pressed Yu Wan Zhao directly.

Yu Wan Zhao’s body trembled, her pupils dilating slightly.

“I think you already have the answer in your heart,” Zhong Baixuan closed his eyes. “The Abyssal Ice Sword, an ancient immortal artifact. If it pierces another’s heart meridian, there is absolutely no chance of survival.”

“Back then, you were only at the mid-stage Nascent Soul Realm. On what grounds were you able to survive the Abyssal Ice Sword?”

“Why was the seal at Cangshan Blood Sea forcibly repaired by Wen Nuan? Can’t you figure out the reason?”

Zhong Baixuan looked at Liu Qingsui’s bewildered and shocked expression. “If the seal wasn’t repaired, in your weakened state at the time, could you have withstood the desperate pursuit of dozens of mortal world cultivators?”

“By repairing the seal, she completely isolated the mortal world from the Demon Realm, preventing the numerous cultivators from forcibly breaking the seal to hunt you down in the Demon Realm.”

“You thought she was cutting off your escape route, but in reality, she was protecting you!”

Zhong Baixuan looked at the tear-streaked Yu Wan Zhao. “She let you go and single-handedly bore the wrath of the entire world. To avoid implicating Qianyuan Upper Palace, she relinquished her title as the Peak Master of Qinggu Peak and requested to be exiled from Qianyuan Upper Palace.”

“To appease the public’s anger, to prevent the seal at Cangshan Blood Sea from being broken again, and to clean up the mess for a good disciple like you,” Zhong Baixuan’s eyes looked ready to split, and he gritted his teeth. “The punishments that should have been inflicted on you back then—the forty-nine Law Whips³ and the Bone-Piercing Nails⁴—were all borne by Wen Nuan alone.”

Yu Wan Zhao was drained of all color. She pressed a fist to her lips, biting down until she drew blood, and stared at Wen Nuan, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

“But the world was still not satisfied. They felt that since Wen Nuan was already at the early Mahayana Realm with outstanding strength, a mere forty-nine Law Whips and Bone-Piercing Nails were nothing to her.”

“So…” Zhong Baixuan’s throat tightened, his voice raspy and choked, as if squeezed from the depths of his being. “She volunteered to enter the Pagoda of Futu⁵ to suffer the torment of the Nine Levels of Purgatory⁶. Regardless of whether she lived or died, she only hoped the world would no longer hold you accountable for the mistakes you made.”

The moment Yu Wan Zhao and Liu Qingsui heard “Pagoda of Futu,” they both shuddered.

The Nine-Turned Pagoda of Futu, ferrying the souls of the dead for generations.

Anyone who entered the Pagoda of Futu—be they human, demon, or immortal—almost never came out alive.

Zhong Baixuan would never forget what Wen Nuan looked like when she walked out of the Pagoda of Futu, a bloody, mangled mess, barely recognizable as human.

After that, she forced herself into seclusion, cutting off all contact with the world, her life or death unknown. Because Wen Nuan had sealed herself away, no one could break that sealing barrier.

“Yu Wan Zhao, however much I liked you, praised you, and admired you back then, is how much I hate you, detest you, and want to kill you now.”

“Looking at Wen Nuan like this, like a walking corpse, how can you expect me not to hate you, not to resent you, not to want to kill you?!” Zhong Baixuan condemned her loudly. “Your Master protected you with her life, and what did she get in return? Your betrayal, your ingratitude, your turning against her.”

“Where did she ever wrong you? What did she ever do wrong? Why should she have to suffer these baseless accusations, to endure these punishments that she never should have borne?”

Zhong Baixuan glared at Yu Wan Zhao, every word laced with blood and tears, and said fiercely, “You tell me, just why?!”

Yu Wan Zhao was already sobbing uncontrollably. She knelt at Wen Nuan’s feet, her trembling hands not daring to touch Wen Nuan’s body.

She could only clutch a corner of Wen Nuan’s robe, choking out soft sobs, begging, “Master, your disciple… was truly wrong… I beg you, please wake up, okay?”

Even if you kill me, it would be fine.

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The author has something to say:

Author: Alright, the double update is here.

(I’ve seen all the comments. I’ve been busy with… rehabilitation recently, so I can only maintain… daily updates. I’ll do my best for double updates… Lastly, thank you for your landmines, love you all, muah.)

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