Villains: Starting with the Landlady

Page 156

Inside the wooden house where the Holy Maiden lived, Zhao Ling'er was chatting with Jiang Wan'er and Lin Yueru.

Ling Yun had been missing for several days, but Anu kept it a secret, only saying that Ling Yun had gone to a distant place to handle some matters and would return soon.

"Sister Yue Ru, has Brother Ling Yun returned?"

Lin Yueru leaned against the doorway and, upon hearing the girl's question, pursed her lips: "Him? Not yet. I wonder where he's off flirting with pretty girls. He's probably already forgotten all about us."

"I mean, whose jealousy is this big?"

The young man's hearty laughter came from outside the door. Lin Yueru immediately stood up straight. Before she could show a happy smile, she saw the stunningly beautiful woman behind Ling Yun.

The woman possessed an extraordinary aura, with an ethereal and graceful figure. Her eyes seemed to see through the river of time, subconsciously inspiring a sense of closeness, as if she were the embodiment of the earth.

However, in Lin Yueru's eyes, she was just another "prey" of Ling Yun.

Ling Yun came over and tried to hug Yue Ru, but she pushed him away with a cold face. After the man got a little annoyed and forcibly hugged her and kissed her a few times, Yue Ru finally grumbled, "Who is this again?"

Lin Qing'er smiled at Lin Yueru, but did not explain, and stepped into the wooden house first.

“That’s Ling’er’s mother.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Yueru froze, her eyes widening as she whispered, "Really?"

"Of course, how could this be fake?"

Zhao Ling'er, who was happily watching Ling Yun and Yue Ru's interaction in the room, was stunned for a moment when the woman came in.

“You…you…”

Zhao Ling'er's body trembled slightly. She hurriedly tried to get off the bed, but the woman held her down.

“My Ling’er has grown up so much.”

"mother……"

Ling'er gazed at the woman's face, which resembled her mother's in her memory. Although the woman had matured, her appearance remained largely unchanged.

"Ling'er, are you upset that your mother hasn't visited you all these years?"

"No, it won't..."

Ling'er threw herself into Lin Qing'er's arms, her voice choked with sobs: "You are my mother, Ling'er will not blame you!"

The mother and daughter shared their deepest feelings for each other, while Lingyun held Yue Ru in his arms and watched them quietly, his heart filled with joy and warmth.

At noon, the Holy Maiden rushed back from outside. The phoenix egg would hatch in two days. With Lin Qing'er's help, Ling'er's body would be in the best condition.

Lin Qing'er was quite satisfied with Ling Yun as her son-in-law. A man's infidelity wasn't a sin, as long as he could take responsibility, everything was fine.

After lunch, Lingyun and Lin Qing'er discussed matters concerning the Nanzhao Kingdom outside the house.

"The Witch King is most likely dead, and Baiyue will probably break the seal on the phantom. It's time to close the net."

"Is Zhao Ye... dead?"

Lin Qing'er sighed. In her eyes, Zhao Ye, who was like a good older sister, was also a devoted lover. However, he had sacrificed too much for the sake of the Nanzhao Kingdom, which led to a feud with Bai Yue.

Both she and Zhao Ye acted in the interests of their respective races, and neither of them did anything wrong. However, in the eyes of Yang Yi, the leader of the Moon Worship Cult, Zhao Ye betrayed their past relationship.

In fact, Zhao Ye always cared about Yang Yi. Even the fact that Yang Yi was able to carry out his work smoothly in the Nanzhao Kingdom was due to Zhao Ye's tacit approval. Otherwise, as the ruler of a country, how could he tolerate the existence of the Moon Worship Cult?

But due to Yang Yi's personality, he would not and was unwilling to compromise; he only wanted to return to the days of the past... but all of that was impossible now.

"Yes, now is a good opportunity to unify the Black and White Miao tribes. I will be responsible for killing Baiyue, and the rest can be left to you and Aman."

Lin Qing'er nodded, and looking at the undisguised admiration and possessiveness in Ling Yun's eyes, she smiled slightly: "Do you know the self-protection capabilities of us descendants of Nuwa?"

“I know.” Ling Yun took half a step closer to her. “If they are strong, it’s fine. But if they are not strong enough or are on par with the descendants of Nuwa, it will be difficult to even hold their hands.”

"Yes, this is the protection given to us by the goddess Nuwa."

"But what does that have to do with me?"

Ling Yun grabbed her small hand and pulled her in front of him: "Does Miss Qing'er think she can stop me from doing what I want?"

Lin Qing'er chuckled: "I find it strange that Ling'er and I both fell for a fickle man like you?"

"That must be related to your goddess Nuwa."

Just as their lips were getting closer and closer, a soft cough from the side interrupted them.

"Brother Ling, Ling'er wants to see you."

Yue Ru rolled her eyes. She had come to terms with it. From now on, she wouldn't need to guess the relationship between Ling Yun and the women he brought back. No matter how pure their relationship was before, it would eventually turn out this way. She was used to it.

"Wait me a moment!"

Ling Yun did not release Lin Qing'er's hand as Yue Ru had expected. Instead, he went a step further, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her.

This moment felt like an eternity. Ling Yun felt surging spiritual energy continuously pouring into his body, causing his vast but turbid internal energy to surge and ripple.

Just as Ling Yun was about to forcibly separate them, the internal energy quickly evolved under Lin Qing'er's sacred spiritual energy, taking its essence and discarding its dross, until it turned into a bright golden spiritual energy!

[Congratulations, Master! With the help of Sister Nuwa, you have evolved "All Rivers Run into the Sea" from "Mortal" to "Celestial"! Your combat power has increased to SSS. Currently, apart from a few extremely powerful beings, you are invincible!]

It was upgraded from SS to SSS, but its essence underwent an extremely terrifying change!

It's like humanity fast-forwarded from ordinary bombs to atomic bombs; the change and power were earth-shattering.

This was once the highest level of combat power among the "great immortals" of the main world. Countless cultivators have struggled to break through this level, but over the years, only a very few have reached it.

But an immortal will always be an immortal, never a god, and will eventually die due to the exhaustion of their lifespan. Only true transcendence can lead to immortality.

However, this is a cultivation method developed by the "immortals" themselves. As for whether gods exist or not, no one has been able to give an accurate answer from ancient times to the present.

Ling Yun released Lin Qing'er and closed his eyes under Lin Yueru's almost fiery gaze.

Inside the house were the Holy Maiden, Wan'er, and Ling'er; outside were the birds… Ling Yun’s divine sense continued to expand until he could perceive the cicadas chirping dozens of kilometers away, at which point he opened his eyes.

With a thought, he vanished through the doorway.

The woman inside the room was so frightened by Ling Yun's sudden appearance that she almost screamed. The Holy Maiden was even more astonished, and after a long while, she asked softly, "Ling Yun, have you already taken that step?"

"Well, strictly speaking, there shouldn't be any beings in this human realm that can threaten me."

He now vaguely sensed a terrifying change in his strength, but he couldn't describe the specifics.

In short, if he wanted to, killing the Water Demon Beast wouldn't be difficult even without the Fire Spirit Orb.

Chapter 360 Pacifying Nanzhao

A few days later, the little phoenix hatched. With the help of Anu and Lin Qing'er, the eggshell and the unicorn horn were crushed into powder and added to the Holy Maiden's tonic, which was then fed to Ling'er.

Ling'er's health improved, and her strength also increased by leaps and bounds. Finally, a week later, she successfully broke through to S-.

After learning about this, Lin Yueru was spurred on. She was known as the pride of Suzhou, yet she had been pursued by a girl younger than herself. So she dragged Ling Yun to practice martial arts every day in order to improve her skills.

One day, Ling Yun was invited to the council hall by the King of the Southern Barbarians.

Seeing Ling Yun sitting on equal footing with the Southern Barbarian King, the subordinates initially had some objections, but they all backed down after Ling Yun revealed a hint of his imposing presence.

"...Ling Yun will deal with the Moon Worship Cult Leader and the Water Demon Beast of the Nanzhao Kingdom. As for the Witch King, according to reliable sources, he has been dead for many years. The current Witch King is just a tree spirit in disguise arranged by the Moon Worship Cult Leader."

These words caused an uproar. Gai Luojiao glanced at the handsome Ling Yun, pursed her lips, and asked, "Clan leader, is this news really credible?"

"That's what I said."

Ling Yun answered her question, sitting upright and smiling faintly, "Even if it wasn't, it was just something I did on the spur of the moment."

Will the Queen of Witches agree?

"She ceased to be the witch queen more than a decade ago; she became the high priestess of the Bai Miao tribe. I hope General Gai Luojiao will not address her incorrectly to avoid any misunderstanding."

Gai Luo Jiao fell silent. She recalled how she had tricked Ling Yun into losing consciousness at the foot of Toad Mountain. She never imagined that after only a short time, Ling Yun's strength had become so terrifying, far beyond her reach.

"Alright, the decisive battle will be the day after tomorrow. As soon as we see the sword energy soaring into the sky within the Nanzhao Kingdom, we will lead our troops to attack. Do you understand?"

"Yes!"

After the meeting, Ling Yun did not leave, but took the Southern Barbarian King back to her room. After a long while, she finally came out reluctantly.

"Ling Yun."

The voice of Gai Luojiao came from behind. Ling Yun blatantly sized up her figure until Gai Luojiao became somewhat annoyed, then the young man laughed and said, "What's wrong? What do you want?"

"I made a mistake before, please don't mind."

"Oh, you mean the time you tried to drug me?"

"Yes." Gai Luojiao nodded, somewhat embarrassed, "That was something we had no choice but to do in order to bring back Princess Ling'er."

"Don't worry, I'm not that magnanimous."

"That would be even better... eh?"

Gai Luojiao was stunned. She pondered Ling Yun's words carefully, feeling that something he said seemed off.

"I hold a grudge."

The man walked towards her with a cold smile, his tall figure blocking out the sunlight. He gripped Gailo's chin, scrutinizing her somewhat panicked face, and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"So, after you've pacified Nanzhao, just wait and see."

After speaking, Ling Yun took two steps forward, and his figure vanished into nothingness before the woman's eyes.

Gai Luojiao's heart pounded wildly, and it took her a while to calm down. She carefully pondered what the man had said, patted her heart with her hand, muttered a few words, and returned to her room.

On this day, just as Yang Yi, the leader of the Moon Worship Cult, was only one material away from completing the great formation to break the seal, the roof was suddenly blown off by sharp sword energy.

"Who?"

Yang Yi roared to the sky, but what greeted him was an incomparably dazzling light.

Tens of thousands of sword energies, each a hundred feet long, descended from the sky, and in an instant, the entire royal palace of the Nanzhao Kingdom was razed to the ground.

Ling Yun did not stop there. After all tens of thousands of sword energies landed and the kingdom turned into a bottomless pit, he inspected the area again to make sure nothing was missed before flying back to the border.

The White Miao soldiers had already begun their charge, and even from this distance, the Black Miao soldiers could see the terrifying sword energy.

What's the point of continuing the attack when your own palace has already been raided?

So they decisively dropped their weapons and surrendered.

Within a few days, the Bai Miao people had successfully incorporated the crumbling Nanzhao Kingdom, renamed it the Dali Kingdom, and the Nanman King became the first king of the Dali Kingdom.

On the night of her coronation, Ling Yun went to celebrate with her and also brought Gai Luojiao to her palace.

The next morning, Ling Yun glanced at Gai Luojiao, who was still pretending to be asleep, smiled faintly, changed his clothes, and flew back to the wooden house where the Holy Maiden lived.

Jiang Wan'er stayed in the Dali royal palace, where she was responsible for teaching the people of the capital some swordsmanship and martial arts. Lin Yueru was appointed as the Right General because of her outstanding performance in this one-sided war. This made the girl very happy, and her strength even broke through unconsciously, surpassing Zhao Ling'er once again.

Once everything settled down, Ling Yun got busy, traveling back and forth every day to ensure fairness. He also brought Su Yao and the others over and settled them in the "National Preceptor's Residence" in Dali Kingdom.

The Miao people have lived alongside magical beasts and Gu worms for generations, so they don't treat the demon race differently. This means that Su Yao and her companions no longer have to worry about being killed by some passing Taoist priests.

Lingyun's mission was essentially complete, with only the final step remaining: the birth of his daughter.

The Azure Dragon Blood Jade was quite effective, and Ling'er liked it very much. She would tell everyone that it was made for her by Ling Yun after he killed the Azure Dragon, which made Ling Yun a little embarrassed.

The Pure Yang Sword was naturally given to Lin Yueru, which made the spoiled young lady extremely happy, and she pestered him all night.

Lin Qing'er was responsible for protecting Zhao Ling'er 24 hours a day. As Ling'er's belly grew bigger day by day, Ling Yun's heart was also moved.

One day, when the girl group was chatting together, they mentioned the name of the baby in Ling'er's womb.

"Well, it's up to Brother Lingyun. I'm fine with anything." Ling'er touched her belly happily. She didn't care about anything else, she just hoped that her daughter would be born safely.

"I'm not good at naming, but the child will definitely have the surname Ling." Lin Yueru looked at Ling'er's belly with envy. For so long, she hadn't had any signs of pregnancy. It's really frustrating to compare yourself to others.

Not only her, but the other women felt the same way. If Ling'er hadn't been about to give birth, they would have even suspected that Ling Yun had done something wrong.

Actually, this is also related to Ling Yun.

After all, the higher the level of life, the harder it is to have offspring; this is a natural regulatory function. Otherwise, given Ling Yun's current strength, living for thousands of years wouldn't be a problem. How many descendants could he leave behind? And if those descendants were all long-lived, how many children would he have?

It is estimated that after thousands of years, his descendants would have filled the world and would be unable to survive.

So the unknown power of the rules intervened, and since Ling Yun was able to control it to some extent, this led to the current situation.

"Sister Yue Ru, I...I actually have an idea."

"Hmm?" Lin Yueru looked at Ling'er curiously. "Ling'er, what do you say?"

"Actually, I really miss the days when the three of us walked together, so I thought... I thought I'd borrow a character from your name, is that okay?"

Lin Yueru was overwhelmed with emotion upon hearing this. She stepped forward and hugged Ling'er, saying affectionately, "Of course, you can even name your daughter Yueru!"