Chapter 161: At a Sickbed Too Long

Who was the true mastermind?

Lu Ye already had the answer in his heart. It wasn’t Jiang Die—it was a yandere in the Sixth Heaven, named Yin Qingcheng.

Her possessiveness was overwhelming.

She wanted to monopolize Lu Ye completely, drive out all other women, leave him to her alone.

And indeed, she was the strongest among them.

If only Yin Qingcheng had met Lu Ye earlier—then perhaps he really could have had a lifelong, monogamous love.

Perhaps he might never have been betrayed.

But sadly, even in love, there’s a matter of order in who arrives first and who arrives last.

In his previous life, Lu Ye’s Dao was to protect—so of course he couldn’t abandon those he vowed to protect, just because a yandere fell in love with him.

Yin Qingcheng had no choice but to join his harem.

And she swore she would become his main wife.

Naturally, she failed.

It was only to be expected that she’d provoke the other women into attacking Lu Ye.

And that in the end, she’d try to imprison him and raise him in captivity—that was also very likely her idea.

She might have even planned to cripple Lu Ye, and then personally execute the other seven women—so she could have him to herself for all eternity.

But Yin Qingcheng... was probably just a pawn on the surface.

If Lu Ye’s guess was right, the others might have only known as far as Yin Qingcheng.

The thing behind Yin Qingcheng—was something Bai Qiulan and the others could never accept.

Time continued to pass.

The cracks in Yue Hongling’s Dao heart had become visible and real.

Helping Bai Qiulan expel the Chaotic Yin Poison over and over again was simply too painful.

And the frequency—was becoming unbearable.

Originally once every month and a half...

Then once a month...

Then every twenty-five days...

And now, already less than twenty.

Every time she activated the Scripture of Ultimate Yin for Virgin Maidens, she’d be left completely frozen for four to five days.

Then came the agony of thawing, the agony of absorbing the Supreme Yin force, the agony of digesting it.

Before she could even catch her breath, another cycle would begin again.

“Hongling...”

“It came early again?! Master—what the hell is wrong with you? Can’t you hold it in just a bit longer? I’m a person, not some puppet! After suffering so much pain, I need to rest too—this hurts so much!!”

Yue Hongling’s voice rang out with explosive fury.

Bai Qiulan’s body froze in place, her eyes filled with grief and disbelief.

“I... I just wanted to give you some nourishing supplements...”

Yue Hongling blinked.

Had she misunderstood?

No—whatever. She didn’t need any of that damn nourishment!

Yue Hongling’s figure vanished.

Bai Qiulan watched her leave, her face gradually sinking into loneliness.

She remembered:

Back when Lu Ye was the one ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) helping her detox, it had always been him who brought it up.

Always with that radiant smile.

Even when she scolded him, he didn’t mind.

When she refused, he would even force the issue...

When had it ever been like this—where clearly it helped increase strength, and all it cost was pain—and yet Yue Hongling showed such impatience?

Back then, Lu Ye hadn’t just endured pain—he had even suffered a drop in cultivation.

They were both her disciples.

She treated them both with the same care and affection.

Why was the gap between Yue Hongling and Lu Ye so vast?

Fine. Very well.

Since she doesn’t want to continue—

Then Bai Qiulan would rather die of Chaotic Yin Poison than ever ask Yue Hongling to help detoxify her again.

She had apparently forgotten one saying:

“There are no filial children before a long illness.”

If someone was still filial in such circumstances, it was a miracle of Heaven.

Not long after—

Bai Qiulan’s Chaotic Yin Poison flared again.

She had already reached the Seventh Layer of the Tribulation Crossing Realm.

Cold.

Pain.

Too cold.

Too painful.

But this time, she notified no one.

She bore it entirely alone.

No one came.

Not a single soul appeared to help her absorb the Chaotic Yin Poison.

And yet—this time, she managed to endure it by sheer willpower alone.

Only she could know how excruciating it had been.

Bai Qiulan was truly heartbroken.

Yue Hongling hadn’t shown her face once.

Maybe she, too, had grown tired.

Now, all of them... were like one big joke.

When Lu Ye had been around, their shared goal had been him. Conflicts were easily resolved.

But now that Lu Ye had truly disappeared—their conflicts only deepened by the day.

Until in the end, it would all become mutual torment.

Unnoticed, Bai Qiulan’s second flare-up came.

Chaotic Yin Poison could accumulate.

Without someone to assist in its absorption, each episode would become worse than the last.

And still—no one came.

Bai Qiulan couldn’t help but reflect:

How did it come to this?

Was she really... not worth anyone’s effort anymore?

But she didn’t want to die...

So she could only save herself.

Accelerate her cultivation.

Strive. And strive. And strive.

But the purest strands of Chaotic Supreme Yin were already being consumed by the Supreme Yin Marrow Worm.

Even with all her effort, her progress was slow.

Bai Qiulan was helpless.

She was desperate.

But despair and helplessness meant nothing to the Chaotic Yin Poison.

It would not pause its rampage just because she felt miserable.

The third eruption.

This time—Yue Hongling and Chu Ling arrived together.

“This time,” Chu Ling said flatly, “she should finally understand.”

Yue Hongling let out a long sigh.

Her palms pressed once more against Bai Qiulan’s back.

Again, that unbearable, extreme cold flooded into her body.

At first, the raging frost seemed like it would tear her limb from limb—but after only a minute, the force began to mellow.

The Supreme Yin energy turned into a slow trickle, gently flowing into her.

Yue Hongling’s tightly contorted face finally softened somewhat.

It still hurt—but compared to before, it was far, far more bearable.

Chu Ling watched in silence—until she couldn’t help but smirk coldly.

Was it worth it?

Lu Ye, of course, had no idea what the women were doing.

Maybe Shen Xitong did.

At that moment, as a thunderous roar rang out within him—Lu Ye successfully broke through to the Ninth Layer of the Tribulation Crossing Realm.

And he still had resources left—plenty, in fact.

After all, he’d seized the treasures of two top-tier sects, plus his earlier windfall of materials.

Time to keep grinding.

Grinding to the limit.

There wasn’t much else to say about cultivation—it was endless cycles of operating cultivation methods, absorbing heavenly materials, and refining them into boundless true essence.

Day after day.

Year after year.

Heart and soul immersed in it.

Unmoved by outer joys.

Unshaken by inner sorrow.

In the mountains, time is lost.

Four months passed in the blink of an eye.

He had grinded to the limit.

Lu Ye raised his head.

"Esteemed Lord Shen Xitong. We may begin."

“Ding. Roger that~”

Tribulation clouds began to gather.