From cannon fodder villain to superpowered queen

The illusory images played intermittently, like old film reels. In the blurry images, ancient sacrificial rituals could be vaguely seen. People dressed in strange costumes danced around a bonfire, chanting incantations. The low chants, like calls from ancient times, echoed in the cave, carrying a lingering sense of desolation.

The song didn't sound like praise; it sounded more like a lament, filled with an unspeakable sorrow.

Bi Yao and Jiang Ruiyuan held their breath, staring intently at the illusory images.

Light and shadow danced on their faces, highlighting their solemn expressions, as if they were deciphering a profound history book.

They frowned at times, and seemed lost in thought at others, trying to find the hidden truth in the blurry images and ancient songs.

"This looks like... a ritual? Those people are wearing such strange clothes." Jiang Ruiyuan broke the silence first, pointing to the figures in the image wearing unusual clothing.

“No, look at their expressions. It doesn’t look like a ritual, it looks more like… a sacrifice!” Bi Yao shook her head and said with certainty.

Her eyes were sharp as an eagle's, fixed on the sorrowful faces in the images.

“Sacrifice? Impossible, what kind of sacrifice would involve such an expression?” Jiang Ruiyuan disagreed with Bi Yao’s view, believing that his understanding was correct, and the two began to argue.

"I said it's a sacrifice, so it's a sacrifice! Can you please stop arguing with me!" Bi Yao's voice rose unconsciously, and her eyebrows were almost twisted into a knot.

"I'm arguing with you? You're the one being unreasonable! Look at these images, it's clearly a ritual!" Jiang Ruiyuan retorted, his tone tinged with anger.

As the two argued louder, the surrounding illusory images began to become chaotic. The originally clear picture became distorted and blurry, and the ancient ballad turned into noisy din.

The entire cave seemed to tremble with their argument.

"Oh no!" Bi Yao and Jiang Ruiyuan realized at the same time that something was wrong. They hurriedly stopped arguing, looked at each other, and saw regret in each other's eyes.

They understood that now was not the time for infighting; they needed to calm down and work together to solve the problem.

“Perhaps…we can think about it from a different perspective?” Bi Yao tried to ease the tension. Her eyes calmed down, and she looked at the illusory images again, lost in thought.

"Wait, I think I understand now..." Jiang Ruiyuan suddenly said, his expression somewhat solemn.

Bi Yao's eyes flashed, and a confident smile curved her lips: "Is it possible that this is both a ritual and a sacrifice? Look at those people, although they are performing a sacrificial ceremony, their expressions are full of sorrow and despair. This means that they are not doing it voluntarily, but are performing some kind of forced sacrifice." She paused, pointing to an inconspicuous detail in the image, "Look, that pattern, doesn't it look like a seal?"

Jiang Ruiyuan looked in the direction Bi Yao was pointing, and sure enough, there was a complex pattern carved on the stone wall next to the campfire. At first glance, it looked like some kind of decoration, but upon closer inspection, one could discover that it contained some kind of strange power.

"Wow! It really is! Yao Yao, you're so smart!" he couldn't help but exclaim, his eyes filled with admiration as he looked at Bi Yao.

The two looked at each other and smiled, saying nothing.

They refocused their attention on the illusory images, and this time, instead of arguing, they cooperated tacitly to interpret the ancient story together.

Just as they were about to unravel the mystery, a sudden change occurred!

The previously illusory images suddenly solidified, transforming into ferocious monsters that lunged at them.

These monsters come in various shapes and sizes; some resemble giant spiders, some winged lions, and others humanoid skeletons, each radiating a chilling energy fluctuation.

"Holy crap! What's going on?!" Jiang Ruiyuan exclaimed in surprise, and quickly summoned his superpower. A golden light shield appeared in front of him, blocking the oncoming attack.

"Watch out!" Bi Yao reacted quickly. She shouted and formed hand seals, causing ice spikes to appear out of thin air and shoot towards the monsters.

However, these monsters were far more powerful than they had imagined.

When the ice spikes hit the monster, they only sparked a few drops of fire and did not cause any real damage.

Meanwhile, cracks began to appear in Jiang Ruiyuan's light shield, and it looked like it was about to give way.

"This won't do, we have to find a way to break through!" Bi Yao shouted anxiously while fending off the monster's attacks.

Jiang Ruiyuan gritted his teeth, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, feeling his strength rapidly draining away.

"I...I can't hold on any longer!"

"Hang in there!" Bi Yao's voice was full of determination. "Believe me, we can do it!"

Just then, Jiang Ruiyuan felt a powerful force surging from within his body...

"Yaoyao, I..."

Jiang Ruiyuan felt a surge of heat coursing through his body, as if it were about to explode!

He roared, his eyes turned bloodshot, and golden light burst forth from his body, like a god descending to earth!

"Holy crap! What's going on?!" He was completely dumbfounded; this power was even more exaggerated than if he had cheated!

He raised his hands high, and a huge golden beam of light burst forth from his palms, blasting towards the hideous entities like a laser cannon.

With a deafening roar, the cave trembled. The entities struck by the beam of light let out shrill screams and vanished into thin air in an instant!

The remaining entities were startled by this sudden turn of events and retreated in disarray, like a receding tide.

"Wow, Lao Jiang, you've... evolved?" Bi Yao was dumbfounded. Was this still the Jiang Ruiyuan she knew?

So cool!

Jiang Ruiyuan himself was also dumbfounded, but now was not the time to hesitate. He pressed his advantage and released another golden beam of light, blasting the remaining entities away as well.

Inside the cave, smoke filled the air and the place was in complete disarray, but the crisis was finally over.

"Phew... It's finally done!" Jiang Ruiyuan breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling completely drained, but his heart was filled with excitement.

"Wait, it's not over yet!" Bi Yao suddenly pointed to the depths of the cave. "Look!"

Where the illusory image had been, a dazzling energy sphere appeared, slowly rotating and emitting powerful energy fluctuations.

Bi Yao felt her body drifting uncontrollably toward the energy ball. Her special physique began to operate wildly, absorbing the energy emitted by the energy ball.

In an instant, she felt filled with power, as if she could control the whole world!

Even more miraculously, the energy she absorbed automatically flowed to Jiang Ruiyuan, replenishing the power he had consumed!

Jiang Ruiyuan felt full of energy again, and his strength was even greater than before!

"This...this is so awesome!" Jiang Ruiyuan couldn't help but exclaim, feeling like he was dreaming.

"Don't be too happy yet, we haven't completely succeeded yet!" Bi Yao's eyes were firm. "Now, together, let's take it down!"

The two exchanged a smile and walked towards the energy ball...

"Wait!" Jiang Ruiyuan suddenly grabbed Bi Yao. "It seems... something is coming..."

"Boom!" The last monster turned to ashes and disappeared into the air.

Bi Yao and Jiang Ruiyuan stood panting in the center of the cave, looked at each other and smiled, their eyes filled with the joy of surviving a disaster.

The energy sphere hovered silently in front of them, emitting a soft light, as if waiting for their arrival.

Bi Yao and Jiang Ruiyuan cautiously approached, reaching out to gently touch the energy ball.

"Om-"

A powerful energy wave instantly spread out, enveloping them.

A dazzling light burst forth from them, illuminating the entire valley.

"Wow! This is way too bright!" Jiang Ruiyuan squinted and couldn't help but complain.

Bi Yao didn't speak. She felt the surging power within her body, and a confident smile appeared on her lips.

She knew that at this moment, they had finally reached the pinnacle of power!

The trees and flowers in the valley appeared even more vibrant under the sunlight.

The once dark and damp cave has become warm and bright.

Jiang Ruiyuan hugged Bi Yao tightly, gazing at her affectionately: "Yao Yao, we finally did it!"

Bi Yao hugged him back, her eyes filled with love for each other and hope for the future: "Yes, together we changed our destiny!"

The air around them seemed to have become sweeter because of their love. Birds sang merrily on the branches, and butterflies danced among the flowers. Everything was so beautiful.

However, just as they were immersed in joy, a strange feeling welled up in their hearts.

"Wait..." Jiang Ruiyuan suddenly released Bi Yao, his brows furrowed. "Do you sense... something's wrong?"

Bi Yao also noticed the abnormality. She closed her eyes and carefully sensed the energy fluctuations around her.

“This power…” Bi Yao suddenly opened her eyes, her expression turning grave, “It’s dark power! And… it’s incredibly powerful!”

Jiang Ruiyuan's expression changed: "Could it be...?"

“We must go out and see right away!” Bi Yao said firmly. “Perhaps… everything has changed.”

They walked hand in hand toward the cave exit.

When they emerged from the valley and saw the scene outside, they were both stunned...

"This..." Jiang Ruiyuan's voice trembled, "How is this possible..."