The Heroine Must Die

To gouge out that damned eye, she had burned through over two thousand talismans of every type she owned. Several defensive artifacts were cracked beyond repair. Her armor had been shredded. And she had come within a hair’s breadth of being blasted into ash.

Tsk.

Whoever designed that setup had gone all in.

If she hadn’t inherited Edmund’s talisman techniques, she wouldn’t have been able to pry the thing off at all.

Still— Worth it.

Now the Boundary Breaking Stone couldn’t wait any longer.

A few days passed. Edmund still hadn’t returned.

Lauren finally made up her mind and went to find Drake.

“Master, I want to go to the South Sea. I’ll meet Edmund first, then we’ll deal with the Boundary Breaking Stone.”

“You’re going alone?” Drake asked.

She nodded. “The less the person retrieving it, the better.”

Drake regarded her for a moment. “Then go and try.”

“Alright. But I need to take Briar with me.” She hesitated. “What about Wayne?”

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Drake said calmly.

Lauren broke into a grin. “Thank you, Master. You’ve worked so hard.”

She didn’t linger and hurried off to find Briar.

Briar couldn’t stray too far from her—his existence was tied too closely to hers. He had to come. But this trip was dangerous.

Wayne had grown taller recently. He couldn’t keep trailing behind Briar like a shadow forever. It was time for him to stay put and cultivate properly.

......

Her journey to the South Sea was far smoother than before.

With her current cultivation level, even controlling the flying boat felt effortless. Spiritual energy flowed steadily through her meridians, responsive and obedient.

Several days later, the vast expanse of the South Sea stretched out beneath her.

She circled once above the invisible barrier. A white bird shot out from within and landed lightly on the deck of her airship.

In a flash of light, it transformed into a girl of fifteen or sixteen. “Sister.”

“White?” Lauren’s eyes lit up. “You’ve grown so much!”

White beamed. “It’s been two years since we parted.”

Two years? Lauren blinked. It felt like only a few months had passed.

How exactly did demonic beasts grow? Did they just skip awkward puberty altogether?

“Is your ancestor here?” Lauren asked.

“Yes. Come in with me.”

With White leading, Lauren passed smoothly through the Boundary Force barrier. The moment she stepped inside, the scenery shifted completely.

She slowed, looking around carefully. This place…

Wait.

Isn’t this the Coral Trench? “White, your clan moved?”

White nodded. “We relocated slightly north.”

“Oh.” Lauren glanced around again. “Where’s your ancestor?”

“Ancestor and Grandpa are digging in the trench. This way.”

White held a water-repelling bead and cast a spell. The seawater parted instantly, opening a clear, sunlit corridor that stretched straight into the coral valley below.

Lauren followed her down. Sure enough, two figures were crouched in the trench, carefully collecting something from the seabed.

“Brother! I brought Sister!” White called happily.

Lauren froze. So this was the legendary old dragon?

She had imagined someone ancient and terrifying—a white-haired schemer with a face full of calculation. Someone like Herbert.

Instead—

The young man who looked up at her appeared barely in his twenties. His eyes were clear and bright. He wore an almost foolishly honest smile, strikingly similar to White’s.

When he noticed her staring, he even flushed faintly. The contrast was absurd. Lauren stood there for a second, unsure how to process it.

She cupped her hands instinctively, about to greet him respectfully—but stalled. What the hell was she supposed to call him?

“Sister, come this way,” That man urged cheerfully. “Careful—don’t step on Ancestor’s scales.”

Lauren nearly choked. Ancestor… and he was calling her sister?

She waved awkwardly. “Uh… Silent Fang. Hello. Nice to meet you.”

Silent Fang smiled shyly.

Meanwhile, Edmund was still squatting on the ground, head lowered, meticulously gathering scales into a jade bottle.

“Edmund?” Lauren blinked. “You can solidify a full human form outside your body now. Congratulations.”

Edmund glanced at her, expression flat. “Perfect timing. Come help.”

Lauren: “…”

“I advanced to Spirit Transformation,” she emphasized. “Did you not notice? Aren’t you even a little happy?”

“Oh.” He nodded absently. “Congratulations. That was fast.”

That’s it? She stared at him. What is this dead-fish reaction?

“We need the Boundary Breaking Stone,” Edmund continued. “Have White and the others dig up the rest of your stored things.”

He sounded exhausted.

The heaviness in his voice reminded her of the day he described witnessing the suppressed dragon bones.

Lauren stepped closer and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“I know how you feel,” she said quietly. “But what’s done is done. Being miserable won’t fix it. We find the Boundary Breaking Stone, open the Heavenly Gate, and once you reclaim your divine status, revenge won’t be out of reach.”

Silent Fang nodded vigorously beside them. “Yes, yes! Ancestor, I’m almost finished digging!”

Edmund exhaled, then finally stood up. He clapped the sand off his hands and passed the jade bottle to Silent Fang.

“Oh, right—there’s something else.”

Lauren suddenly remembered and took out the eye-shaped object, tossing it lightly to Edmund. “Take a look. What the hell is this thing?”

The moment Edmund saw it, his expression shifted. “Where did you get that?”

“Do you remember the eyeball I ran into inside the Gate of Inquiry when I first entered the sect?” she said. “After I broke free from my inner demons this time, I went back to that strange space. The thing was still hanging in the sky. So I flew up… and gouged it out.”

Silent Fang and White immediately abandoned their digging and crowded over.

Silent Fang frowned. “This thing… I’ve seen it before.”

Lauren stared at him. “You’ve seen it too?”

He nodded. “It tried to tempt me. Told me that the higher my cultivation got, the more humans I should eat. Said it would help me complete my dragon transformation.” He snorted. “Does it think I’m an idiot? If I’d actually done that, would I still be alive? I’ve been so damn scared I haven’t dared leave the barrier for over two thousand years.”

Lauren: “…” So that’s why you’ve been hiding in here. She turned to Edmund. “What is it?”

Edmund’s voice was calm. “The Heavenly Eye.”

Lauren’s gaze sharpened. “Can the ones above use it to see what’s happening down here?”

“The barriers between realms can’t be pierced that easily,” he said. “It can only observe a limited number of individuals—those connected to it in some way. For example, people who possess Immortal Roots. Or those who destroy its puppets.”

Lauren went silent. She had both.

Silent Fang pointed at himself. “But I’ve seen it too.”

“You possess the power of merit,” Edmund replied. “Your dragon transformation will be unusually smooth. That makes you worth observing.”

So it was targeted surveillance. Lauren’s expression turned cold.

The upper realm’s research capabilities couldn’t be underestimated. Just look at the World Passing Incense—something that could transmit information across realms. If they could create that, this wasn’t surprising.

She weighed the Heavenly Eye in her palm. “If I’ve ripped it out like this, what happens now?”

“They won’t be able to see you anymore,” Edmund said. “Which means they’ll move sooner. Someone has already descended from above. They’ll contact that person immediately, tell him to find you—and kill you.”

Lauren’s lips curved into a slow smile.

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