Defeat the system! Kiss my little monster!

Shen Yu stopped at the foot of the mountain, unable to clearly see the person standing at the top of the layers of stone steps. The sunlight was dazzling, making it difficult for Shen Yu to open his eyes. He could only see the person's figure as a blur, leaving only a thin, dark shadow.

The old man seemed to sigh.

"Lanyu, if you want to go, then go."

Shen Yu's eyes were dry for some reason. He stared at the top of the screen, motionless for a long time.

"If you encounter any difficulties, come to me. Your master will be waiting for you here." The old man's voice permeated the surrounding air and slowly reached Shen Yu's ears. "Don't let yourself suffer."

Shen Yu stared at that spot silently for a few seconds, then, as if suddenly emboldened, he turned and walked in another direction.

His master would always protect him.

Shen Yu was accompanied by three or four fellow disciples from the same sect to the Yue Kingdom. They all pledged their loyalty to Xuan Lin. After more than ten years of cultivation on Chengyuan Mountain, they finally had a chance to put their skills to use.

Shen Yu was in a daze in these illusions, the surrounding scenery was constantly changing, and soldiers and horses neighed and killed each other by his side, eventually turning into a large number of chaotic fragments.

Shen Yu didn't know when he emerged from the chaos; he only knew that the final battle had ended and the Sheng Kingdom had sent a letter of sue for peace.

He helped Xuan Lin overcome numerous obstacles and finally enabled him to ascend the throne.

Xuan Lin was physically weak. He had suffered greatly from the war in the past two years, and various old ailments had accumulated. He fell seriously ill shortly after ascending the throne.

Shen Yu had studied medicine under his master since childhood. He stayed by Xuan Lin's side to treat him, and at that time he could see that Xuan Lin's body was filled with death energy and that he would not live much longer.

Shen Yu did not tell Xuan Lin about this. He was a doctor who fought against death, so he would always find a way to save Xuan Lin.

But Xuanlin suddenly changed.

After ascending the throne, his true nature was revealed. He took in many concubines and became bloodthirsty. He spent tens of thousands of resources to create a golden crown for himself, built extravagant wine gardens and meat pools, and spoke crudely. His every move exuded the arrogance of a savage from the mountains.

He was completely different from before.

Shen Yu found it hard to accept that the person he had painstakingly supported for several years was in such a disgraceful state. He spoke frankly to Xuan Lin several times, which ultimately displeased Xuan Lin.

Xuan Lin's gaze towards Shen Yu had already changed. Shen Yu's face was not as heroic as that of an ordinary man; his eyes were long and narrow, with a somewhat feminine quality, and the corners of his eyes were always slightly red when he woke up, making him even more different.

Xuan Lin soon brought Shen Yu into the harem. He seemed to be showing Shen Yu his favor by placing him at the head of the harem and making him the mother of the nation—respectfully addressed as Empress.

Unable to bear the humiliation, Shen Yu disfigured half of his face on his wedding day, intending to assassinate the emperor. Xuan Lin was furious and locked him in Kunning Palace to torture him.

For three years, Shen Yu was fed countless poisonous wild fruits and vegetables in Kunning Palace. Unwilling to sit and wait for death, he used silver needles day and night to pry open his meridians and force out the toxins, thus delaying the onset of the poison.

Xuan Lin seemed to know that Shen Yu would not be poisoned to death no matter what, so day after day, year after year, he refined Shen Yu like a medicine man, until Shen Yu's body changed and he became immune to all poisons.

He wanted to drink Shen Yu's blood.

Xuan Lin's body, which had been depleted before, was filled with death energy. Shen Yu's blood, which was impervious to all poisons, was the best source of nourishment for his body.

Shen Yu didn't know how he had become so useless. In the later stages, he couldn't even get out of bed and walk. After his Achilles tendon was severed, the muscles in his legs also atrophied. The palace servants did not allow him to leave Kunning Palace, so he could only walk back and forth while holding onto the wall.

He secretly planted various medicinal herbs in the weeds of Kunning Palace.

Whenever the palace servants were fast asleep, he would get up in the dark and work alone with the medicinal herbs. There were at least several hundred kinds of these herbs. Shen Yu cut open his own flesh and tried to combine them one by one according to the rules. It took him more than two years to barely come up with an effective prescription.

The first step for him to leave Kunning Palace was to learn how to walk.

The blood collection schedule changed from once every two weeks to three times a week, and then back to once a week.

Shen Yu lost control several times during the blood collection process. He bit the eunuchs who came to collect his blood like a wild beast, and was eventually tied tightly to the bedpost with ropes.

From then on, he neither ate nor drank, and his cheeks became sunken, making him look like a skeleton covered in human skin.

Xuan Lin finally came to see Shen Yu. He didn't say anything extra, but simply threw a severed finger in front of Shen Yu. The tattered cloth wrapped around the finger was embroidered with auspicious cloud patterns, the style of those on Chengyuan Mountain.

Shen Yu stood frozen in place, stiffly raising his head to look at Xuan Lin. Xuan Lin stood in front of him, his back to the light, his entire body a dark mass.

"Lanyu, guess whose this is? Is it your Senior Brother Chang Hao's? Or your Senior Sister Lingyun's?"

Shen Yu's lips were pale and cracked. He looked at Xuan Lin, his throat so swollen and painful that he could barely speak: "...Let them go."

“Lanyu, they are like this because of you.” Xuan Lin’s tone was calm. He looked down at Shen Yu and said slowly, “You can die, it doesn’t matter. But you must understand that I know where your master is, where Chengyuan Mountain is, and where all your senior brothers and sisters are.”

"They will all die with you."

Shen Yu could barely see what was in front of him; Xuan Lin's words lingered in his ears, unable to dissipate for a long time.

The spacious inner hall was filled with things that didn't suit him: cosmetics, perfume, gauze, silver hairpins... Shen Yu slowly turned his eyes and saw himself in the mirror.

His appearance was gaunt and emaciated, with layers of scars piled up on one side of his face, making him look as ugly as a demon who had lost his way home. Shen Yu covered his right cheek with one hand, staring motionlessly at the mirror, and realized that he was only in his early twenties, yet he already had half of his hair turned white.

"I want to live...I want to live..."

Shen Yu gripped the dagger in his hand tightly, lowered his head, and muttered to himself.

Seven years into the Kunning Palace era, the name of Empress Shen Yu became widely known throughout both countries. Xuan Lin elevated him to an extremely high position, using countless honors to cover up all the unsavory aspects beneath.

Over these days, Shen Yu gradually became somewhat delirious. He was often plagued by nightmares, and his behavior became increasingly erratic.

"It's all your fault...it's all your fault..."

Shen Yu clutched his hair, his face in the mirror was ugly, and he kept cursing everything he had done.

If he hadn't misjudged people back then, how could Cheng Yuanshan have ended up in such a state with him?

It's all his fault.

Shen Yu shed tears of blood, his eyes were bloodshot, and he suddenly grabbed the dagger next to him and stabbed it into his eyes.

Finally... it's out of sight.

Seven years of oppressive rule led to the rapid decline of the Yue Kingdom. Xuan Lin was utterly incompetent as a ruler; during his few years on the throne, he suffered a series of defeats, ultimately forcing him to cede a million taels of land to sue for peace.

Shengguo pressed its advantage, quickly conquering hundreds of cities surrounding Yueguo and gradually encroaching on Yueguo's territory. Shen Yu could occasionally hear the conversations of the palace maids outside. Although he was not outside Kunning Palace, he could still grasp some of the situation outside from their words.

He is waiting.

Wait for an opportunity.

Nearly a year later, Shen Yu finally received the news—the army of Sheng Kingdom had stormed the imperial city, and the capital of Yue Kingdom had fallen.

The palace maids and eunuchs in Kunning Palace scattered in all directions, and the secret guards all left for the main hall. No one kept a close watch on Shen Yu's every move anymore.