Chapter 5: I Was So Anxious That I Cried

Because of Yu Xiu’s words, Bu Xiwei had stubbornly persisted for another fourteen years, trapped in dire circumstances and surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Unfortunately, it was a dead end.

No matter how hard she struggled, the final outcome couldn’t be changed.

In the end, when her last shred of life slipped away, Bu Xiwei even felt a tinge of regret.

She really should have followed Yu Xiu sooner.

Now that she was once again walking the road to the underworld, how would she ever find her again?

Scenes from the past flashed uncontrollably before Bu Xiwei’s eyes, sharpening her already murderous aura.

And the person who felt this most clearly was Yu Xiu.

At this moment, Yu Xiu was nearly suffocating, her lungs aching under the bone-chilling cold qi radiating from Bu Xiwei.

She now had an even deeper understanding of the insurmountable gap between her—a mere peak Foundation Establishment cultivator—and a Soul Formation powerhouse.

Unable to remain silent any longer, Yu Xiu let out a muffled cough, a thin trickle of bright red blood escaping the corner of her lips.

Of course, this sound couldn’t possibly escape Bu Xiwei’s notice.

Snapped out of her desolate memories, Bu Xiwei immediately locked onto the tree where Yu Xiu was hiding.

In the same breath, her icy spiritual power shot toward the source of the disturbance, forcibly dragging the person hiding there into view.

Her voice was freezing cold, stripped of all warmth: “…Hiding under my nose for so long, even witnessing a good show of mine. Are you proud of yourself? Feeling clever?”

“Come on, let me take a good look at what kind of thing you are—”

But Bu Xiwei never finished that last sentence.

Because the person her spiritual power had just yanked out of hiding—

Was someone wearing a suoh-colored dress.

The moment the icy spiritual power attacked, Yu Xiu had deployed every defensive measure she had.

She channeled all her spiritual power to protect her vital points, activated every talisman and magical artifact hidden in her storage hairpin.

Even so, she lasted barely a single breath against that three-foot-long white silk-like ice spiritual power.

The part of the silk that tried to bind her neck and ankles had already been severed by her natal spiritual sword, but the section coiled around her waist was as solid as an unbreakable bronze wall.

She was helpless to escape.

Even worse, it split into two more strands, tightly binding her arms.

Suspended in the air, completely exposed to Bu Xiwei’s line of sight, Yu Xiu could only sigh.

She never imagined her cultivation journey would end so soon, at the hands of none other than Demon Lord Bu Xiwei.

Her strength was far inferior, so she felt no resentment.

A cultivator’s path was inherently full of cruelty and accidents.

Looking at it optimistically…

At least if she had to die, it was by the hands of her favorite character from Five Elements Immortal Domain.

It was better than dying at the hands of someone she didn’t like.

Her high-grade spiritual artifact mask had long since been stripped away by the silk and lay somewhere on the ground.

Dangling from the white silk, Yu Xiu hung her head slightly.

She made no more futile struggles, still maintaining the quiet elegance in her bones, calmly waiting for Bu Xiwei to make her move.

Waiting for death.

At that moment, Bu Xiwei’s mind went completely blank.

She stared at the tall figure in the suoh-colored dress.

That person’s soft jet-black hair was combed neatly to the right, tied into a simple bun.

The rest of the long strands were placed carefully in front of her chest, cascading to her waist.

From this angle, Bu Xiwei couldn’t see her face clearly.

But every single detail of that figure was painfully familiar.

She knew exactly what the two silver hairpins meant—

One high, one low.

The one without a tassel was her storage hairpin, a spatial artifact in itself.

The one with the dangling silver tassel was merely a decorative ornament.

Bu Xiwei also knew that while every other peak in the Five Elements Sect had standard disciple uniforms, Chiyang Peak was the exception.

Their Peak Master never managed such trivial matters.

So, that person had chosen a suoh-colored dress—a shade of red, but gentle and subdued, just like her temperament.

Bu Xiwei’s lips trembled uncontrollably.

These… these were the things she had yearned for day and night—
Dreamt of in her very soul.
Now… they had appeared before her eyes.

Of course she knew—this was more than a thousand years ago.

Of course Yu Xiu was still alive.

She wasn’t unaware of this.

But to suddenly see her again, so clearly, so vividly— Bu Xiwei simply couldn’t react in time.

Tears welled in her eyes, but she didn’t even dare to cry aloud. She was too scared. Scared that this was just another beautiful dream of her own making. That if she startled it even slightly, the Yu Xiu before her would shatter into nothingness— Just like all the other times she’d woken up from her dreams.

Had she really… seen her again?

Meanwhile, Yu Xiu was extremely confused.
She’d been hanging here for a while, yet nothing had happened.
Why?

Raising her head with some difficulty, she glanced at Bu Xiwei—only to see the Demon Lord looking as if she’d just been frightened out of her wits.

Bu Xiwei’s hands flailed in front of her chest, making a chaotic mess of gestures.

She looked busy.

But it also looked like she had no idea what she was even busy with.

“…?”

Wait—was there a setting like this in Five Elements Immortal Domain? Did Demon Lord Bu Xiwei have some kind of hidden illness?

Bu Xiwei’s panic only grew when she saw the blood at the corner of Yu Xiu’s lips.

Her mind flashed back to the moment of Yu Xiu’s death in her past life.

For a split second, she almost drew her natal spiritual sword, ready to slaughter every person, object, and event in the world that could possibly harm Yu Xiu. But she quickly realized—the only person here capable of harming Yu Xiu was herself.

Finally, with great difficulty, she accepted the fact that—

This was real.

She had really seen Yu Xiu again.

And what’s more, she had accidentally injured her!

In her panic, the demonic path’s undisputed number one figure even forgot how to control her own spiritual power properly.

All she could think about was moving gently—

Absolutely could not let Yu Xiu be hurt again.

As a result, she fumbled so much that for a while, her spiritual power simply refused to listen to her.

Only after she gathered her senses did she carefully lower Yu Xiu to the ground.

Yu Xiu landed softly, her feet touching the earth. Her face was full of bewilderment.

…Was it just her imagination, or was Bu Xiwei treating her like a precious, fragile object?

Even after she landed, Bu Xiwei didn’t fully withdraw her spiritual power.

A portion of it lingered, hovering protectively at Yu Xiu’s side, as if worried she’d collapse at any moment.

“…??”

She stared at Bu Xiwei, who seemed to want to come over but didn’t dare.

Her brows furrowed in hesitation, hovering in place.

Yu Xiu’s mind was full of question marks.

Demon Lord… what’s wrong with you?

Her throat still hurt.

Yu Xiu coughed lightly, then tentatively tried to speak: “Your Excellency—”

But she never finished the sentence.

Because the moment she coughed, Bu Xiwei suddenly burst into tears.

In a flash, Bu Xiwei rushed forward, grabbing Yu Xiu’s right wrist.

Without a second’s hesitation, she poured her own spiritual power into Yu Xiu’s meridians as if it were free.

Yu Xiu tried to dodge, but it was impossible.

Whether righteous or demonic, a cultivator’s pulse gate was a fatal weakness.

A careless mistake there could be disastrous.

Unless you were close to someone beyond all doubt, you’d never let anyone touch it.

But she had no choice.

The difference in their cultivation was like the gap between heaven and earth.

Bu Xiwei’s grip was as madly resolute as it was frantic.

After trying—and failing—to escape, Yu Xiu could only let her do as she pleased.

“You’ll be fine!” Bu Xiwei’s voice trembled. Her words were spoken to Yu Xiu, but also to herself.

“I won’t let anything happen to you!

“…???”

In her two lifetimes, this was the first time Yu Xiu had ever felt so bewildered.

Up to this point, everyone she’d met had behaved exactly as she remembered from the novel.

Except for Demon Lord Bu Xiwei.

According to the setting, she was ruthless and violent on the outside, cold and paranoid on the inside.

A woman who ruled the demon world for hundreds of years with absolute dominance.

And yet—

Here she was, crying like a child because a minor cultivator like Yu Xiu was slightly injured?!

Yu Xiu seriously suspected she was dreaming.

But the pain in her chest and throat told her—

No dream could be this real.

And even if it was a dream, it wouldn’t be this bizarre.

No.

Sometimes, reality is even stranger than dreams.

Bu Xiwei’s spiritual root was a mutated ice-type root.

The bone-chilling silk that had just bound Yu Xiu moments ago now turned into a gentle, soothing coolness.

The Soul Formation level spiritual power flowed through her meridians, nourishing them desperately, more effective than taking a hundred top-grade

Qi Replenishing Pills at once.

If her cultivation could have withstood it, Bu Xiwei probably would have given her everything she had.

Yu Xiu clutched her chest, frowned slightly, and coughed up a large mouthful of dark blood.

This wasn’t like the previous two times. This time, she’d spat out the stagnant blood from all her hidden injuries. It was thanks to Bu Xiwei’s spiritual power.

Bu Xiwei was startled again. Her moist eyes flickered with a shattered, complicated light.

Yes…
At this point in time, Yu Xiu hadn’t gone blind yet.
Her meridians weren’t crippled.
She was still just an elite disciple of the Five Elements Sect…

Not yet the number one figure of the righteous path, burdened by everything.

Bu Xiwei had left the demon world so much earlier this time for one reason:

To find Yu Xiu.

To come to her side.

In this life, she would make sure Yu Xiu lived a safe, smooth life.

No matter what.