"Alright, thank you. I owe you one for this."
Celeste Grant thought for a moment before adding, "Nerida, if things go south, don't worry about snatching it for me. Strike first and form the contract yourselves. Don't let it fall into someone else's hands."
'After all, that's an opportunity meant for the heroine. Something unexpected is bound to happen. Even if we manage to grab it, it might just find its own way into the heroine's hands.'
'It would be best if I could get it myself, but even if I can't, I won't let the heroine have it for free.'
After spending these past few days together, she felt that Nerida and the others treated her very well. Even if it was only because of the child in her belly, they were her people now.
Although Nerida doubted there would be any Divine Beast here, she still nodded.
"Madam, what kind of Magic Treasure are you carrying? This servant can't sense your aura at all."
Celeste Grant replied, "It's a Spirit Fire Pearl. I came across it by chance a while ago."
"No wonder. So that's why." As she spoke, she took a Jade Pendant from her Storage Ring and handed it over. "Madam, you don't have any Cultivation. Wearing this will let you turn invisible. It also has a Defense Array that can block one strike from a Golden Core Stage cultivator. It can be used twice. It's not much use to me, but it's perfect for you."
The ability to block two attacks from a Golden Core Stage cultivator was a life-saving treasure, incredibly precious to her.
She really did need it.
Ever since she came to this world and transmigrated into the villainess, everyone she met had been on the heroine's side. This was the first time she felt like someone was standing with her.
She reached out, took it, and tied it to her waist.
"Thank you, Nerida. I really do need this. In the future, when I have something else of value, I'll give it to you in exchange."
She was serious when she said this.
Nerida waved her hand dismissively.
"Madam, how can you think that? You're flattering this servant too much. You belong to The Exalted One, so all of us disciples of the Bloodfiend Den belong to you. What's ours is yours."
'Demon Cultivators… are they really this easy to talk to?'
'The pressure is immense.'
Celeste Grant said, "Let's not talk anymore. We need to hide first."
The time was drawing near.
According to the plot, the Divine Beast, the Vermilion Bird, was due to be born sometime after midnight tonight.
The Vermilion Bird Fire turned ordinary people to ash wherever it passed. Even low-level Cultivators would be caught in its wake, suffering death or injury. But now that all of Breezewind Town had been evacuated, it wouldn't be a problem even if a fire started.
Celeste Grant was an ordinary person too, but she knew in advance that the Spirit Fire Pearl could protect her from the Vermilion Bird Fire.
She reached out and touched the Spirit Fire Pearl nestled against her chest. This pearl was a treasure that could ward off fire and conceal one's aura. It was originally an opportunity meant for the heroine, but Celeste had unexpectedly obtained it.
It was then that she learned the heroine's opportunities could be stolen and her good fortune could be worn away.
When she first transmigrated into this world, she had simply wanted to stay far away from the heroine and her companions, as long as they didn't bring disaster upon her.
But obviously, her plan was unworkable.
Once bitten, twice shy. From now on, the heroine was her enemy.
She wouldn't just sit back and take a beating.
She chose to strike first.
This abandoned courtyard was the core of an Array. Deep beneath the ground in the backyard, near the well, lay a Vermilion Bird Egg.
According to the book, the heroine and another one of her lovers would end up here after a chase. They would happen to trigger some kind of Forbidden Spell, causing the Vermilion to be born and become the heroine's Spirit Companion.
Time slowly passed.
Celeste Grant rubbed her belly.
'It's not easy being a villainess. I have to stir up trouble even while pregnant.'
'But why isn't Jocelyn Grant here yet?' Just as she was thinking this, the heroine's shriek echoed from the sky above the courtyard.
"AHH…"
'She's here!'
Then she saw a woman in white robes falling from high above, spinning a few times in the air under the moonlight.
'Only an author could come up with an entrance like that. A normal person could never pull it off.'
Of course, she hadn't just fallen from the sky. She had been riding a Spirit Boat when it was struck by a passing Demonic Beast, knocking her off.
Just as the woman was about to hit the ground, a figure appeared in a flash, catching her in an instant. Then came the cliché spinning. The two of them twirled twice in the air before landing gracefully on the ground.
As the heroine, she was saved from her fall by the male lead. But she still had to be dramatic, so she slapped him right across the face.
SLAP—
"Let go of me, you lecher! If you hadn't kissed me, we wouldn't have run into that Demonic Beast and fallen!"
"You stole my things and thought you could just run off? I was saving that for my future wife!"
"How was I supposed to know it was yours? You're just holding a grudge because I accidentally saw you naked! I already told you I don't like you, how long are you going to keep following me?"
The masked man grabbed her by the waist, teleported in a flash, and pinned Jocelyn Grant against a nearby wall, kissing her while holding her by the neck.
After the kiss, the heroine acted all coy.
"You… you're not allowed to touch me! I already have someone I like."
"So what? There's no one I want that I can't have."
Hiding in the shadows, Nerida and her subordinates' faces darkened.
'Where did these idiots come from?' They could feel goosebumps breaking out all over.
The heroine and her paramour were probably too absorbed in their drama to notice anyone else was there.
"Jocelyn, I want you to remember that you're mine. If you don't listen, don't blame me for locking you up."
And then came the Cultivation World's version of "The Overbearing CEO Fell in Love with Me"—a live performance of forced love…
Then the heroine's clothes were pushed down to her wrists.
The two began to do the indescribable.
'My ears are sullied.'
'I need to wash my eyes.'
The disciples of the Bloodfiend Den in the shadows: "…"
'Is this something we're allowed to see?'
Nerida clenched her fists.
'Where did these morons come from, deliberately trying to defile our Madam's eyes? I have to hold back. I'm afraid I'll rush over there and chop their heads off.'
"Mmm… we can't do this. I can't betray Brother Young. He's the one I love. I already have a child."
"If you can have a child for him, then have one for me, too. I don't want to hear you refuse me, Jocelyn. You're the one who provoked me. You can't be so cruel to me."
Not far from them, in a corner by the wall, Celeste Grant felt like her eyes were going to go blind.
The cringe was making her skin crawl. 'Did I come too early? Do I really have to stand here and listen to all these ancient, cliché lines?'
Finally, the heroine over there took out a knife and held it to her own neck. "I would rather die than betray Brother Young!"
The masked man looked deeply hurt. "You love him that much? I'm clearly the one who met you first. Fine, I won't touch you. Just don't hurt yourself."
'That's enough.'
Celeste Grant now felt like going up there and smacking them a few times with a shovel.
'Are they trying to act out every cliché drama line in one go?'
Just then, the heroine's finger accidentally grazed the blade, and a drop of blood fell to the ground.
'Now!' Celeste Grant sensed an unusual fluctuation of aura.
The ground beneath them was starting to shake!