"Li Li, do you know your crime!"
A majestic voice, accompanied by thunder from the ninth heaven, crashed down upon the frail figure on the execution platform.
Blood streamed down from her disheveled raven hair.
The lightning, bright as day, illuminated her deathly pale face; even in such a wretched state, her features remained as exquisitely carved as a statue.
Li Li struggled to open her eyes, her pitch-black pupils filled with nothing but resentment and defiance.
She shrieked in her own defense, her voice hoarse, every word dripping with blood: "I said the foul qi was not released by me! I am innocent!"
The disciples watching the punishment from the high platform erupted into laughter.
"A lower-class commoner will always be a lower-class commoner. Even if Brother Lou helped her ascend the path of the immortals, he couldn't change the inferior nature rooted in her bones."
"She truly is incorrigible. She refused to admit to the many filthy things she did before, and now that she's committed such a vile act, she still has the gall to deny it."
"It's a pity she looks so much like Senior Sister Liu. A fake will always be a fake!"
A jade-green sword let out a sharp cry in the air, diving straight down toward her.
With her limbs locked by iron chains, Li Li had no way to dodge; she could only let the blade—the very one she had forged with her own hands—pierce her chest.
"If it wasn't you, then who could it be? At the time, only you and Aqing were in the Forbidden Area. Even now, you still want to frame Aqing?"
Li Li swallowed the metallic tang rising in her throat and looked at the man approaching.
His features were cold and aloof, his stature upright. His white robes fluttered in the wind like a passing breeze, elegant and ethereal. Yet, the eyes that were usually so gentle were now filled with nothing but disgust, as if the person kneeling on the ground wasn't the junior sister he once cherished, but a piece of rotted filth.
Before the "white moonlight" Liu Qing returned, he had been the Fourth Senior Brother who loved Li Li the most, and he was also Li Li’s target for conquest—Lou Fengyin.
Li Li had transmigrated three years ago. At the time, she thought her condition had worsened and she was hallucinating; how could she have gone from a mental hospital to the world of cultivation in the blink of an eye?
Something calling itself the System told her she had transmigrated into a book.
The only condition for survival was to conquer the male lead, Lou Fengyin.
That was why Lou Fengyin was the first person she had seen in this world.
Li Li could not die.
Over the years, she had poured her heart and soul into treating him well. For his sake, she had braved forbidden realms and spent her blood and sweat forging his life-bound sword.
She was the last to join the sect, and everyone had doted on her, loving to call her their "little junior sister."
But when Liu Qing, who had gone missing in a secret realm, returned, everything changed.
Liu Qing was jealous of the affection the senior brothers showered upon her and constantly framed her.
Because of the System’s interference, she was forbidden from finding evidence to clear her name.
The System claimed this was a "tragic novel," saying that once they realized the grievances she had suffered, they would love and compensate her twofold.
All she had to do now was treat Lou Fengyin even better.
"System, what is Lou Fengyin’s favorability rating toward me now?"
A cold, mechanical voice resonated in Li Li’s consciousness:
[Reply to Host: Lou Fengyin’s current favorability toward you is -20%.]
Li Li sighed.
Her gaze swept over Liu Qing, who was surrounded by the First and Second Senior Brothers on the platform, and then to Lou Fengyin, who viewed her as filth.
Suddenly, she felt utterly exhausted. A sense of irritation surged up, crawling like a thousand ants gnawing at her bones, making her restless.
"I accept your deal."
She said these words within her consciousness.
"Finally realized it? Do whatever you want. I will help you hold that fellow off."
A clear, magnetic voice rang out abruptly, then vanished just as quickly.
She had been acting for three years—she had almost managed to fool herself.
She was no one’s object to be bullied at will.
Ignoring Lou Fengyin’s interrogation, Li Li fixed her gleaming black gaze on Liu Qing.
"Sword, come!"
Liu Qing, who had been smugly watching the spectacle, saw her expression change abruptly.
Pale-faced and trembling, she clutched the sleeve of the First Senior Brother, Song Henian.
Song Henian patted her shoulder in reassurance, then turned to glare at Li Li, scolding:
"Stop making a scene, Junior Sister. Aqing’s life-bound sword was broken by you. To prevent the sword spirit from perishing, you have already sacrificed Jitu to nourish her sword spirit."
The corner of Li Li’s mouth curled into a mocking arc, her tone dripping with disdain: "Sacrifice my Jitu to her? She isn't worthy!"
Before anyone could react, a long, pitch-black sword shattered Liu Qing’s restraints.
The black hilt shimmered with iridescent light under the flashes of lightning; one look was enough to tell it was no ordinary object.
Under Li Li’s command, Jitu easily pried the sword Lou Fengyin had embedded in her body out of her chest, then landed steadily in her palm.
A rumble of thunder echoed once more.
Lightning as thick as an arm struck Li Li, the sound of tearing flesh and skin making onlookers wince.
Lou Fengyin, standing closest to her, had a reflex to shield her, but he forcefully restrained himself and pulled his hand back.
Li Li stood unmoved, as if she felt no pain, and in this situation, she actually let out a laugh.
Liu Qing felt a sudden sense of dread and hurriedly shouted at Lou Fengyin below: "Junior Brother, quickly, take Jitu back for me! My sword spirit is still inside it!"
Li Li watched them without blinking, speaking in a nonchalant tone: "Too late."
Patterns began to appear on the surface of the black sword, and with Li Li’s words, it shattered into a pile of dust.
If something belonged to her, even if she destroyed it, she would never let others benefit from it.
"Don't be in such a hurry. Everything you've taken from me, I will make you vomit back tenfold, one by one. None of you will escape."
Kneeling at the center of the lightning, covered in blood like a vengeful ghost, Li Li made her vow.
Everyone was stunned by their little junior sister; not a single person dared to laugh again.
Liu Qing rolled her eyes back and nearly fainted, could only cry out in grievance to their master who was overseeing the punishment above.
Their master was known as Bugui Chen. He was the Peak Lord of the Second Peak of the Dichen Sect, and including Li Li, he had five personal disciples.
Before Li Li arrived, Bugui Chen had only one female disciple, Liu Qing, so he had been exceptionally doting toward her.
Even after Lou Fengyin brought Li Li back to the Dichen Sect, he had treated her with extreme coldness.
When Liu Qing returned, he looked at her as if she were invisible.
This time was no exception.
Bugui Chen didn't even cast a glance at Li Li; he spoke with the gentle warmth of a loving father to soothe Liu Qing.
"It was merely a broken sword that could not recognize its master. I will find you a better life-bound sword another day."
The lightning punishment reached its finale. A purple bolt of lightning as thick as a man’s torso tore through the sky and slammed into Li Li.
A crisp snapping sound echoed within her body.
Li Li’s spiritual veins were shattered.
Bugui Chen and the other elders withdrew their hands. With an unchanging expression, he transmitted his voice to all the disciples:
"Li Li, a personal disciple of the Second Peak, has broken into the Forbidden Area and released foul qi, causing an imbalance in the spiritual energy of the Three Realms. The Law Enforcement Hall sentences her to have her spiritual veins shattered and to be imprisoned in the Black Prison for 300 years. Execute the sentence immediately!"
Bugui Chen looked at his second disciple, Yousong, who had remained silent from beginning to end.
"Yousong, you shall be the one to escort her."
Yousong, supporting Liu Qing, glanced coolly at the blood-stained Li Li on the ground.
He bowed to Bugui Chen: "Master, please rest assured. This disciple will complete the task."
Li Li lay limply on the mossy stone, squinting up at the man standing tall and bowing properly.
Yousong—the person in this world who hated her the most and wished for her death above all else.