After leaving the haunted house, Yun Jin didn't mind spending a few more simplification chances on Gu Jinghong.
First, Gu Jinghong's life and death were entirely in her hands.
Second, while inside the haunted house, Gu Jinghong had provided her with a steady stream of Emotional Value.
Just the Emotional Value Gu Jinghong generated on his own was more than enough to reinvest into him.
"Master, thank you for your kindness." Gu Jinghong clutched the porcelain bottle tightly, tears faintly glimmering in his eyes.
A pill that enhanced one's insight into formations.
He had never even heard of such a thing in his entire life.
And now, Master had handed it to him so casually.
What kind of trust was this?
What kind of favor?
Gu Jinghong swore with deep sincerity, "I will give it my all! I will not let you down!"
"That's enough. When you return to your room, take the first pill, then follow the method I taught you for the rest." Yun Jin waved him off. "You may leave now."
Gu Jinghong bowed and respectfully withdrew.
After he entered the room, Yun Jin used a few simplification chances on him to enhance his formation comprehension. This system was starting to feel like a cultivation sim she was playing.
Right now, she was cultivating Gun Gun, Huan Huan, Gu Jinghong, and Ye Cheng.
Gun Gun and Gu Jinghong were more or less self-sustaining and could even earn her Emotional Value on the side.
Huan Huan and Ye Cheng, however, were pure investments—for now.
Eventually, she'd have to figure out a way to get them to generate their own Emotional Value, too. After applying the simplifications to Gu Jinghong, Yun Jin observed his current state of cultivation.
Seeing his formation proficiency steadily increase, she lost interest.
Gu Jinghong was clearly talented to have come this far on his own. With the system's support, he'd become a formation genius in no time. By the time she returned from her upcoming trip down the mountain, he should have made significant progress.
Though Yun Jin had already decided to descend the mountain, she had only mentioned it to Gu Jinghong so far. Before telling anyone else, she went to check in on Ye Danxia and Yang Yun.
"This way, this way." The disciple on duty enthusiastically led her over.
From a distance, Yun Jin saw two hunched figures—one large, one small—working on a barren patch of land.
Ye Danxia and Yang Yun were using their meager spiritual power to push a plow, overturning the soil again and again.
"You're too slow! Hurry up!" a supervising disciple barked sharply nearby.
Any slight delay earned them a lash of the whip, the scene pitiful to behold.
Yun Jin stood at the side and watched for a while.
Ye Danxia was the first to notice her.
The numbness on Ye Danxia's face was instantly replaced by a searing hatred. She shouted, "Yun Jin! You! You still dare to show your face!"
"Who gave you permission to speak like that?" The supervisor didn't hesitate to bring the whip down on her again.
Ye Danxia gritted her teeth, glaring at Yun Jin in fury, but dared not say another word.
Yun Jin ignored Ye Danxia and turned to look at Yang Yun.
The heroine's Luck had dropped significantly.
But what caught Yun Jin's attention was this: Yang Yun's Luck had stopped falling after hitting 90.
This meant…
His current predicament wasn't enough to truly affect him yet.
Yun Jin thought it over and quickly understood.
Yang Yun's Luck hadn't dropped further likely because of the Nirvana technique he possessed. As long as he got the opportunity, he could cultivate his strength back.
Moreover, according to the novel's plot, after regaining his cultivation, Yang Yun deliberately leaked intel to his enemies in the Demon Realm and contacted his old subordinates.
Then came the demonic assault on Tianxing Sect—a massacre.
Yang Yun, however, used the chaos to eliminate his rivals in the Demon Realm, regroup with his forces, and swiftly return to reclaim his title as Demon Sovereign. Rather than weakening his position, the purge solidified it even further.
But…
That sequence wouldn't happen until Yang Yun had fully recovered his strength.
Right now, Yang Yun…
Was still stuck in the Qi Refining stage, thanks to repeated setbacks. In the Demon Realm, power was everything. In his current state, even with ten times the courage, Yang Yun wouldn't dare summon his forces.
Yun Jin narrowed her eyes slightly.
Yang Yun wouldn't dare.
But what about her?
In her past life, the Demon race slaughtered the Tianxing Sect.
In this life, she would make sure they paid in full.
Not yet.
She had to grow stronger first.
Yun Jin masked her inner emotions and smiled faintly. "You two seem to be doing quite well."
Doing well?
This was doing well?
Ye Danxia stared at Yun Jin in disbelief.
Yun Jin strolled forward.
Although Ye Danxia had shouted boldly just now, when Yun Jin actually approached, she immediately flinched in fear.
Yun Jin, however, simply stopped in front of Yang Yun.
Yang Yun raised his eyes, looking at her without emotion.
Compared to Ye Danxia, who was clearly on the verge of collapse, Yang Yun's dark eyes betrayed nothing.
That expression, on such a child's face, was unsettling to behold.
Yun Jin bent down slightly, smiling as she firmly pressed a hand onto Yang Yun's shoulder.
"What do you want?" Yang Yun glared at her, startled and furious.
Yun Jin separated a fragment of her spiritual sense and planted it into Yang Yun's sea of consciousness.
As long as Yang Yun's cultivation didn't surpass hers, this spiritual imprint would torture him relentlessly, making it impossible for him to cultivate. If anyone tried to forcibly cleanse it, Yun Jin would sense it immediately.
"Yang Yun," Yun Jin said quietly, "your current level of cultivation is just fine. No matter who you once were, from now on, you're nothing more than a Qi Refining laborer of Tianxing Sect."
So what if he had a Nirvana technique?
It didn't matter.
When the time came…
She would kill him once, twice, three times—until he could no longer be reborn.
But that Nirvana technique forcibly removed him from the scene each time he revived. Killing him now would only mean losing track of him. For the time being, Yun Jin wouldn't make a move. At least not before squeezing every bit of value from him.
"Yun Jin, how could you be so cruel to a child? You're not even human!" Ye Danxia's face twisted in horror as she shrieked.
She looked utterly shattered.
But Yun Jin understood.
It wasn't Yang Yun she cared about—it was herself.
Ye Danxia knew Yang Yun's identity and was placing all her hopes on him making a grand comeback to take revenge.
But if Yang Yun's strength never recovered…
What revenge could there be?
With this one move, Yun Jin had shattered not only Yang Yun's future, but also Ye Danxia's last thread of hope.
"Insolence!" Before Yun Jin even responded, the supervisor had already struck Ye Danxia again.
Yun Jin chuckled softly. "Danxia, be sure to stay alive. I'll come visit you again."
Without sparing them another glance, she turned and left.
Yun Jin left cleanly and decisively.
That night, when Ye Danxia had finally finished her exhausting work, she could no longer suppress the bitterness in her heart.
She couldn't help but say to Yang Yun, "You're supposed to be so powerful. Are you really going to let Yun Jin keep stepping on us like this? If we keep going like this, we'll both be ruined! Can't you think of a way out?"
In the novel, Yang Yun was resourceful and all-powerful, giving Ye Danxia an unmatched sense of safety.
But now?
He seemed to lack all the qualities she had once loved.
"What's the rush?" Yang Yun looked at her coldly. "You're just a dog. Best remember your place."
There was none of the gentle affection from their past lives in his tone. This pair of star-crossed lovers from the previous life… had become nothing more than bitter enemies in this one.