With that, he left the palace.
Ye Xuan'er silently watched his retreating figure, the shine in her eyes slowly fading.
Although, through an incident in their childhood and the depiction in the script, she had known about his cold-hearted, selfish nature...
But, after all, he was a brother she grew up with in the royal mansion.
Even if he was deceitful and flirtatious, this fact would not change.
Thinking about this, the young Northern Territory Queen's eyes reddened.
Just then, a pair of warm arms tenderly embraced her from behind.
"Brother Xiao..."
Grasping his arms lightly, Ye Xuan'er said with a remorseful look, "I'm sorry. Xuan'er knew that Brother Xiao and Ye Chen were at odds, but I still couldn't bear to give up on him... I'm sorry, Xuan'er has disappointed you..."
"Why are you saying sorry?" The tall, handsome man in front of her gently caressed her face. "Even though he's scum, he's your brother; this is a fact that cannot be changed. So, you did nothing wrong. If I have to guess... if Prince Beichuan were still in this world, he would also be pleased by your actions."
Lin Xiao stared deeply at the girl, a tender and loving smile playing on his lips.
"Brother Xiao, you are really..."
"So gentle."
In that instant, the young Northern Territory Queen, no longer holding back, dived into Lin Xiao's wide chest!
As Lin Xiao held the girl tightly in his arms, a hint of barely detectable coldness flashed in his eyes!
Damn it, as expected, Ye Chen, this scumbag, still holds an irreplaceable position in Xuan'er's heart...
No wonder. Ye Chen, this scum, always considered himself superior, grabbing any treasure he saw and flirting with any girl he met. Yet, he had always truly loved Ye Xuan'er. In the original work, he even started fantasizing about this sister of his from a young age...
Now that Ye Chen has joined the Demon Sect, this visit to Xuan'er might also be connected to the Demon Sect's conspiracy!
It looks like from now on, I'll have to completely abandon my identity as a 'Pure Love War God' and transform into a 'Minotaur Chieftain,' intensifying my efforts!
Lin Xiao murmured to himself. At the same time, after carefully recalling the literary works of Sakura Country from his previous life, a thrilling plan suddenly formed in his mind.
The two of them cuddled warmly for a while longer.
Then, they had dinner together in the main hall.
During the meal, they jovially discussed the memorable moments of that year.
From using various schemes to evade Jiang Yuan's pursuit to the humorous incident of stealing Master Hongling's money pouch to buy candied hawthorns while she was drunk, the hall was filled with continuous laughter.
Suddenly, it felt as though they had traveled back fourteen years.
As the conversation livened up, Lin Xiao suddenly remembered something.
"Xuan'er, wait for me."
He patted Ye Xuan'er's bottom, went straight to one side of the hall, unleashed his Divine Soul, and carefully scanned the surroundings.
Behind the last pillar of the main hall, he found a terrifying and secretive blood-red spider web!
Is this... the handiwork of Duke Spider?
Good heavens! The Demon Sect has indeed started to make its moves!
Lin Xiao's heart sank.
According to the original plot, not long after the end of the Sword Tomb instance, the Evil Extreme Sect, one of the Eight Great Demon Sects and serving as the vanguard of the Demon Alliance, had already begun dispatching spies. They secretly infiltrated Beacon City, attempting to control City Lord Situ Hong and open this neutral city connecting the Central Land with other territories, all without losing a single soldier!
And now, Ye Xuan'er had preemptively taken control of this small city with her overwhelming martial strength.
Presumably, the Evil Extreme Sect hadn't anticipated this.
That's why they sent the second-strongest master in their Sect!
Yes, the master of this blood-red spider web—Duke Spider!
Speaking of which, this Evil Extreme Sect was quite the oddball among the Eight Great Demon Sects.
Although the members of the other Seven Great Devil Sects also included ugly and grotesque individuals, they were at least human cultivators.
But the Evil Extreme Sect was full of hairy, horned, aquatic, and oviparous beings!
Except for the Sect Lord Niu Batian, who barely had half-human lineage, making him a Semi-Monster, the rest of the sect members were all descendants of ancient monster beasts that had taken human form!
Pure monster race!
Therefore, to stand out and improve his position within the Demon Sect faction, Sect Lord Niu Batian volunteered to attack Beacon City, to strike the first blow!
Little spider, your grandpa is coming to meet you today!
Lin Xiao's gaze turned cold. With a flick of his finger, a dream-like Purple Green Immortal Sword burst out of the Spirit Sword box within his Purple Mansion, slashing towards the spider web!
His current Sword Dao attainment was only a step away from becoming a Sword Immortal!
This seemingly casual stroke exuded a vast momentum, drawing tens of zhang of Immense Sword Qi through the air, filling the entire hall!
SWISH!
A sword swept across!
The blood-red spider web was instantly swallowed by the powerful, tide-like Immense Sword Qi and turned into dust, as if it had never existed!
Watching this scene, Lin Xiao frowned.
In the original script, this Duke Spider was arrogant and conceited, looking down on all mortals. He wouldn't back down even when encountering opponents stronger than himself.
When the Eight Great Demon Sects formally attacked the mountain, this guy, a confident errand person who mindlessly handed over experience points, was the first to be killed by Ye Chen. Ye Chen then refined his Demon Core, gaining an invulnerable body and setting the stage for future displays of power...
So why... did it just chicken out and run away when facing me?
Unusual.
This was definitely unusual!
"Your Majesty... oh, no, Xuan'er, it seems it's time for us to venture out of the city and probe the Demon Sect's true strength. If..."
"Well, if you're on Brother Xiao's side, that is."
Lin Xiao looked at Ye Xuan'er, who was still mesmerized by his heaven-defying Sword Intent, and shrugged.
「At the same time.」
At the gates of Beacon City, a blood-red ghostly mist, filled with Yin Evil Qi, fled the city at lightning speed!
Such terror! A mere cultivator at the Dharma Appearance realm possesses such overbearing and unparalleled pure Sword Intent! If I had resisted that sword strike head-on earlier, I would have been annihilated, my body and soul extinguished, and turned into an experience boost for someone! First, the Northern Territory Queen usurped this place, and now there's this ridiculously overpowered cultivator at the Dharma Appearance realm! The plot has gone completely off the rails!
Within the blood mist, a face contorted by fear could be seen!
Ultimately, the blood mist slowly descended upon a rocky slope a hundred li away from Beacon City.
When the demonic mist subsided, the entity revealed was...
A giant spider with a human face and eight legs!
No, to be precise, it wasn't a spider. Its true identity was...
"DING!"
"Current Mission: Infiltrate Beacon City. Status: Failed!"
"You will be penalized: Evolution Points -200!"
"Your form remains unchanged. Your realm has slightly decreased by one minor stage! Current: Middle Stage of Dharma Appearance realm!"
[The Exotic Beast Evolution System reserves the final right of interpretation for all rewards and punishments!]
Damn it! I finally managed to accumulate 200 Evolution Points and was just about to evolve into the next form! And you freaking deducted them!? When other transmigrators arrive, they either become handsome, rich, and powerful, or at worst, they're like the protagonist Ye Chen—a supposed good-for-nothing who secretly has an old master! But me!? I freaking transmigrated into a little spider, starting with absolutely nothing, relying solely on devouring to evolve! Do you have any idea how hard that was for me!?
The blood-red spider lay on its back, its eight legs flailing at the sky, as it screamed in anger, its face full of resentment and grievance!
Enough! As Heaven's movement is ever vigorous, so must a gentleman ceaselessly strive for self-improvement! So what if I reincarnated as a spider! As long as I have a dream, one day, I, too, will devour my way, bite by bite, to evolving into a sky-soaring behemoth!
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5,000 words delivered. There will be another 10,000 words today.
Subscriptions are really poor. Actually, updates from Plum are very fast because the outline was written long ago; it's just a matter of filling in the blanks. If everyone would 'stockpile chapters' less, or at least turn on auto-subscribe when they do, who would want to delay their drafts?