"Yinyin! He had no strength left to fight back, and he had already surrendered! Why did you still kill him?" Lan Yue's voice was filled with confusion and disbelief, her gaze fixed on the lifeless body of that man.
Chen Yinyin met her eyes with a knowing look. "Sister, I may seem kind-hearted, but the hearts of men have long been tainted. Look at what's in his hand!"
Lan Yue glanced down, her eyes narrowing as they landed on the small dagger that the man had been clutching, a ten-centimeter blade glistening with a deadly, venomous coating.
A cold shiver ran down Lan Yue's spine as she realized the danger. If Chen Yinyin hadn't acted in time, it would have been her at the receiving end of that attack, not the other way around.
"Thank you, Junior Sister," Lan Yue said quietly, gratitude in her tone, but also a sense of shaken awareness. She had been too focused on the situation to notice the hidden threat.
Chen Yinyin gave a slight smirk, her expression hardening. "Sister, the heavens can be measured, the earth can be gauged, but the human heart is an enigma, one that cannot be trusted. Cultivation doesn't leave room for misplaced compassion. Once someone is your enemy, leaving them alive can lead to disaster. They must be dealt with swiftly, without hesitation."
In her past life as the Demon Sovereign, Chen Yinyin had learned this lesson well. She had made countless hard decisions, and none of them had been without sacrifice. Her ruthlessness had kept her alive when others had perished, and in this life, she carried that same decisiveness.
Lan Yue nodded solemnly, her expression serious as she cupped her hands in respect. "I will remember your words well, Junior Sister."
Chen Yinyin quickly stopped her, reaching out to take her hands.
"No need for such formalities between us, Sister," she said softly, her voice unusually gentle, though her eyes remained sharp.
Before Lan Yue could respond, a sudden, violent fluctuation of spiritual energy broke out around Chen Yinyin. Her aura fluctuated wildly, one moment saturated with pure spiritual energy, the next consumed by a thick, demonic haze.
Chen Yinyin's eyes widened as she recognized the signs. Her heart raced. It was happening, she was about to form her core. Her cultivation was reaching its critical point, and a breakthrough to the Golden Core stage was imminent.
"Sister!" she gasped, clutching Lan Yue's hands tightly. "I am about to form my Core! Hurry and call for Master!"
This was the moment Chen Yinyin had been waiting for. The formation of her Golden Core was an essential step toward greater power.
However, the process was never without danger. It came with a tribulation, a test that could either elevate her to new heights or end in disaster. She needed Xie Ren's assistance to navigate the storm if anything went wrong.
Before Lan Yue could even move to contact him, a figure appeared beside them, Xie Ren, appearing as though from thin air, silent and swift as always.
He had been watching them from the shadows, ready to intervene if anything unexpected occurred during their skirmish with the Mystic Frost Sect.
"I've been here all along," Xie Ren said calmly.
Lan Yue's expression softened with relief as she turned to Xie Ren. "Master, she's about to break through to the Golden Core stage. She needs your help!"
"I'm counting on you, Master!" Chen Yinyin's voice trembled, though she tried to maintain her usual confident demeanor.
Despite her history as the fearsome Demon Sovereign, she felt a strange sense of calmness in Xie Ren's presence. In that moment, his mere existence steadied her.
Xie Ren nodded. "Focus on condensing your Core, Yinyin. Leave everything else to me."
Xie Ren's expression remained one of quiet amusement, though there was a glimmer of intrigue in his eyes.
It was rare to see Chen Yinyin, a former Demon Sovereign, so visibly anxious. Her usual confidence had been replaced with a palpable sense of caution, and he could tell that she was genuinely concerned about the process of her core formation.
"Master, Yinyin's spiritual energy is rapidly depleting! What should we do?" Lan Yue's voice trembled with worry, her gaze flickering between Xie Ren and her struggling junior sister.
Xie Ren remained calm, his sharp eyes studying Chen Yinyin for a moment longer, watching as the waves of demonic energy and spiritual strain battled for dominance within her.
Finally, he spoke, his tone as composed as ever. "Her only path now is to embrace demonic cultivation."
Lan Yue's heart skipped a beat, her worry deepening.
"But… what happens to her if she fully turns into a demon?" she asked, her voice filled with concern.
"I'll have to kill her."
The words hung in the air, heavy with unspoken meaning. Lan Yue's expression faltered, her chest tightening.
The thought of losing her junior sister, especially to the darkness of demonic transformation, was unbearable.
"Is there no other way?" Lan Yue's voice quivered, her eyes pleading for a solution.
There was a brief silence as Xie Ren contemplated the situation. His gaze softened for the briefest of moments. Finally, he spoke again, his voice quieter. "There is a way, but I don't want to use it."
Lan Yue's eyes widened with hope. "What way, Master?"
Xie Ren's expression grew somber. "I can enter Yinyin's subconscious and confront her inner demon directly. I'd need to fight the darkness within her, severing the root of the demonic energy. But… in doing so, I may also come across her private memories, things I'm not meant to see."
Lan Yue's brow furrowed as she took in his words. She understood the gravity of his hesitation. Entering someone's subconscious was no small matter, it was an intrusion into their deepest, most personal thoughts and experiences. It was not something one did lightly.
The truth was, he had never expected to care so deeply for his disciple. When he first took Chen Yinyin on, it was purely a matter of circumstance; she fit the system's requirements, and he needed a capable disciple.
There was no bond beyond that, no deep connection. But now, watching her struggle against the darkness that threatened to consume her, Xie Ren couldn't ignore her.
Despite his aloof and pragmatic nature, Xie Ren was not heartless. He didn't wish to see Lan Yue sad like this. And he certainly didn't want to be the one to end Chen Yinyin.
Xie Ren let out a heavy sigh. He wasn't cold-blooded enough to truly become the villain in her story. Not when she had trusted him as her master.
"Yue," he said, his voice softer now, "If anything goes wrong outside, wake me up."
He gave her one final, lingering look. Then, with a swift motion, he intertwined his fingers with Chen Yinyin's slender hand.
The moment their fingers touched, a surge of energy passed between them, and a Soul Connection was forged. The air around them seemed to tremble as Xie Ren felt the pulse of her demonic energy, wild and untamed, seep into his being. The darkness that had been swirling around her now engulfed him completely.