It Turns Out, They Are the Protagonists
Chapter 530: Mu Zhian, Your Title Shall Be ‘Hao’

The Nine Forbidden Lands. To the cultivators of the Nine Provinces, these words were taboo, many hesitant even to speak their names, lest they bring misfortune upon themselves.

After all, the power of the rules within the Forbidden Lands was too bizarre. No one knew if mentioning them would bring some unknown consequence.

Like with Transcendence Realm experts, anyone who disrespected them, cursed them inwardly, or even spoke their names, would be noticed.

No one knew if the ancient beings in the Forbidden Lands possessed such heaven-defying abilities.

In short, the ancient beings within the Forbidden Lands possessed terrifying power and were a constant source of fear for cultivators.

However, they rarely appeared in the world and had remained reclusive for tens of thousands of years, maintaining a fragile peace.

Yet tonight, considerable commotion came from at least three Forbidden Lands.

At this moment, deep within the Forbidden Land of Life in Cloud Province, a petite girl leaned against her throne, her skin pale and sickly. Her long hair cascaded down her ice crystal-like skin. One hand gently tapped the armrest, the other petting the small cat nestled in her lap.

The little girl, her eyes as clear as glass, gazed at the forbidden being kneeling before her.

“Have you determined the origin of the Innate Celestial Furnace?” she asked, her voice as crisp as a silver bell, carrying an innocent, childlike air.

“Yes, it was easy to find out. A cultivator possessing the Innate Celestial Furnace constitution reached Soul Transformation tonight, which is what awakened you from your slumber,” the forbidden being replied respectfully, its head lowered.

The little girl on the throne swung her feet casually and said faintly, “Bring the forbidden object.”

A faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, “We need to invite that big brother over before the other Forbidden Lands act.”

Among the Forbidden Lands, an invisible battle had already begun.

…

Eastern Continent, Forbidden Zone.

As it turned out, Mu Zhian’s initial guess was correct.

He succeeded.

He successfully corrupted the Heavenly Dao’s will, making even this woman interested in the Spiritual Energy of the Innate Celestial Furnace.

This was Mu Zhian’s goal from the very beginning.

If the nine-lifetime tribulation descended, it meant Mu Zhian would have to defeat several great powers simultaneously to successfully reach Soul Transformation.

But this was impossible. Neither Mu Zhian, nor any chosen one throughout history, at the peak of Nascent Soul Realm, could overcome a nine-lifetime tribulation.

Nine Dao Integration Realm experts’ ‘Dao Traces’, manifesting as phantoms, attacking together, even using their techniques, who could withstand that?

Since he couldn’t solve the problem, he could only go upstream and deal with the one who created the problem.

This was the optimal solution Mu Zhian came up with after the third Time Regression.

He wasn’t sure if the Innate Celestial Furnace’s Spiritual Energy could ‘intoxicate’ the Heavenly Dao’s will, but the Heavenly Dao’s will was embodied as a woman, so Mu Zhian decided to try.

And now… he had indeed succeeded.

However, Mu Zhian wasn’t happy at all.

“You’re excited, but also worried. Is it because of those women outside who are close to you?”

Just then, Mu Zhian heard a cold, emotionless voice in his mind, pulling him back to reality.

The embodiment of the Heavenly Dao’s will gazed at Mu Zhian with cold, beautiful eyes, devoid of any emotion. If it weren’t for this ‘Heavenly Dao’s will’ forcefully kissing him, and the soft touch of her lips, Mu Zhian would have thought it was all an illusion.

With such an existence, if one day Mu Zhian cultivated with her in a room, and someone outside heard strange sounds, they would probably just think the Heavenly Dao’s will was cultivating, not anything else.

As the Spiritual Energy from the Innate Celestial Furnace continuously flowed into the Heavenly Dao’s will, Mu Zhian looked up at the goddess before him.

She could truly be called a ‘god’. At least in the cultivation world, her status was indeed no different from a god.

Her alluring and sexy figure was clad in armor forged from immortal gold, a long skirt concealing her long legs, countless special spirit stones seemingly inlaid on the skirt, shimmering brilliantly.

Even though this woman was currently holding the back of Mu Zhian’s head and kissing him, he still couldn’t feel the warmth of her body.

Just like her personality, cold as ice, difficult to approach.

However, he imagined that beneath that immortal gold armor, she also had the warmth of a normal woman.

After all, he could clearly feel the warmth of her lips.

Besides that, there was also an incredibly sacred Spiritual Energy.

Its density was no less than the Spiritual Energy in the Heavenly Court.

This was the Heavenly Dao, the aggregate consciousness of all living beings in this world!

And at this moment, Mu Zhian was actually holding this embodied will in his arms… No, rather than him holding her, it was more like she was clinging tightly to him, not letting go.

“You’re not planning to punish me with the nine-lifetime tribulation anymore?” Mu Zhian tried to calm himself and communicate with the Heavenly Dao’s will.

The Heavenly Dao’s will’s beautiful eyes were incredibly calm, her voice as cold and mechanical as a machine echoing in Mu Zhian’s mind, “The Spiritual Energy within your body is different from the Nine Provinces. If you die in the Heavenly Tribulation, your Spiritual Energy will affect the order and laws of the Nine Provinces.”

There’s such a thing?

Mu Zhian was stunned.

He had possessed the Innate Celestial Furnace for so long, yet this was the first time he heard that if he died, the Spiritual Energy within it would automatically dissipate into the Nine Provinces, even affecting its rules.

“According to the Heavenly Dao’s arrangements, maintaining the order of heaven and earth is the top priority,” the Heavenly Dao’s will continued explaining calmly.

So that was why she said ‘eliminate the anomaly’?

Mu Zhian understood. The anomaly the Heavenly Dao’s will referred to wasn’t him, but the Innate Celestial Furnace.

If Mu Zhian died in the Heavenly Tribulation, the Spiritual Energy within the Innate Celestial Furnace would naturally dissipate, even causing turmoil in the Nine Provinces’ rules.

And the Heavenly Dao’s will itself could be considered the ‘executor’ of the Heavenly Dao in the mortal world.

The executor had only one task: to eliminate anything that disrupted the order of heaven and earth.

And Mu Zhian, or rather, the Innate Celestial Furnace, was that disruption.

So the way to eliminate the anomaly is to completely ‘clean up’ the Spiritual Energy of the Innate Celestial Furnace?

What the hell… Mu Zhian couldn’t help but complain inwardly.

Although the Heavenly Dao’s logic and thinking weren’t wrong, even if Mu Zhian’s Innate Celestial Furnace’s Spiritual Energy was completely drained now, it would still recover in two or three days.

Of course, Mu Zhian couldn’t possibly say this now, it would only cause him more trouble.

After all, even now… he already had enough trouble.

Bai Ruoxi, watching from afar, finally couldn’t stand it anymore and was about to intervene.

Rumble…

Just then, a lightning bolt suddenly struck from the heavy clouds.

Yao Meng narrowed her eyes, staring at the mechanical and indifferent woman within the sea of lightning, “The Heavenly Dao doesn’t want anyone else to approach.”

If anyone approached Mu Zhian now, the Heavenly Tribulation, sensing a second person, would increase in difficulty again.

This would cause Mu Zhian a lot of trouble.

“Then what should we do? Just stand here and watch Brother Mu and her…?” Although Ye Lingxuan’s expression remained calm, her hand subconsciously gripping her skirt revealed her anxiety.

“…Let’s wait and see. It seems the Heavenly Dao’s will doesn’t intend to harm him,” Yao Meng said faintly.

Transcendence Realm Human Emperors might not care about the Heavenly Tribulation, but… Mu Zhian did.

If they approached Mu Zhian, and the lightning strikes all targeted him… he would probably be crying.

However, what exactly did the Heavenly Dao’s will intend to do…?

Yao Meng gazed at the young man in the center of the sea of lightning, her usually calm green eyes now holding a deepness.

Or could it be… that even the Heavenly Dao’s will couldn’t resist the allure of a Transcendence Realm Innate Celestial Furnace?

“Look, Brother Mu seems to have pushed her away,” Ye Lingxuan suddenly said, the light returning to her previously dim eyes.

“Mu Lang actually rejected her… But is that really okay?” After her initial surprise, Bai Ruoxi’s eyes quickly filled with worry.

Mu Zhian was still in the midst of his Heavenly Tribulation. Rejecting the Heavenly Dao’s will like this… if she was angered, it would be troublesome.

Yao Meng remained silent, a strange feeling in her heart.

He shouldn’t be that irrational, there’s no need to offend the Heavenly Dao at this time…

Just as Yao Meng suspected, after being pushed away by Mu Zhian, the Heavenly Dao’s will seemed to hesitate, then said, “If I don’t eliminate the anomaly, your very existence will disrupt the order of the rules of heaven and earth.”

Mu Zhian nodded slightly, “You might be right… But even if there’s a problem with the order of heaven and earth, what does it have to do with me?”

“Correcting the order of the rules of heaven and earth, isn’t that something you, as the will of the Heavenly Dao, should do?”

Heavenly Dao’s will: “I’m doing it right now.”

She looked up, gazing into Mu Zhian’s eyes, and said, “You’re attracted to this body, aren’t you? Then why reject me?”

“Have you forgotten how you used the Heavenly Tribulation to strike me earlier?” Mu Zhian said, speechless.

“That was to maintain the order of heaven and earth,” the woman said calmly, as if stating a fact.

However, her beautiful eyes remained fixed on Mu Zhian, and a lovely blush now colored her previously cold and flawless face.

To the Heavenly Dao’s will, there was nothing in this world she couldn’t analyze.

However, she couldn’t analyze Mu Zhian’s Spiritual Energy.

But she could continuously absorb it into her body.

And after doing so, she could clearly feel that the energy within her body seemed more abundant than ever before.

And after absorbing Mu Zhian’s Spiritual Energy, for some reason, she felt that this young man seemed special. Sometimes, just a simple conversation with him made her involuntarily feel drawn to him.

There was nothing in this world that she found difficult to do…

Except resisting the temptation of the Innate Celestial Furnace… it was incredibly difficult.

This feeling, for a god who didn’t understand emotions, was something she had never experienced before.

Mu Zhian gazed at the lofty deity and suddenly smiled, “Heavenly Dao, let’s make a deal.”

The woman looked up at Mu Zhian.

“I’ll help you maintain the order of the rules of heaven and earth, whatever it takes. But in return, if I ask you for a favor in the future, you can’t refuse.”

Mu Zhian gazed into the woman’s eyes and smiled brightly, “Of course, I won’t force you to do anything that disrupts the order of heaven and earth.”

The woman’s cold eyes flickered slightly, and she asked, “So after accepting this condition, I can (censored – likely have sex with) you?”

She had already realized that just kissing wasn’t enough to completely absorb the Spiritual Energy of the Innate Celestial Furnace; she had to go further.

However, the three Daos of Heaven, Earth, and Human had established a rule together: not to forcibly interfere with the living beings of the Nine Provinces, unless they violated the rules of heaven and earth.

But if it was consensual… then there was no problem.

Mu Zhian’s eyelids twitched, the smile on his face almost faltering.

Although he knew this goddess was asking sincerely, it still sounded jarring to his ears.

Although his role was indeed the ‘female protagonist’, being asked this so directly by a woman still made Mu Zhian feel a bit strange.

“Yes,” Mu Zhian finally said.

However, after he spoke, he noticed a look of disdain in the icy woman’s eyes, “Making secret agreements with other women behind your Dao Companion’s back, the beings of the Nine Provinces usually call such people scumbags, right?”

Mu Zhian wasn’t angry at all, but instead stared at the Heavenly Dao’s will suspiciously, “Do you know my XP (fetishes)?”

“I can read the personality and experiences of any being in the Nine Provinces at any time, if I wish,” the Heavenly Dao’s will said calmly. “If you like, when it’s just the two of us, I don’t mind being your maid, I can even address you as Master.”

Mu Zhian fell silent.

“Whether you like being insulted by me, having me submit at your feet, or me having you submit at my feet, it’s all fine. I know you still resent me for sending down the nine-lifetime tribulation earlier.”

The Heavenly Dao’s will paused slightly, her slender finger gently touching her chest. Even in the night, her armor, forged from immortal gold, shimmered with a captivating light.

Her rosy lips pursed slightly, and a faint smile suddenly appeared, “Without the beings of the Nine Provinces knowing, I can accept any punishment from you… You can vent all your dissatisfaction and resentment on me.”

Mu Zhian: “…”

If it weren’t for being outside right now, with countless eyes watching, Mu Zhian would probably have already become a ‘Hao’ warrior (internet slang referring to someone who enjoys being dominated, especially by women).

“Alright… deal,” Mu Zhian finally accepted this generous offer.

The Heavenly Dao’s will gazed at him calmly and said, “Your current mental state isn’t strong enough for us to fulfill this agreement. I’ll find a suitable time to come find you in the next two days.”

After saying that, she raised her fingertip slightly, and the vast sea of lightning silently vanished.

Night returned.

Watching the goddess quietly disappear from sight, Mu Zhian finally sighed with relief.

Even he hadn’t expected that his Spiritual Energy could actually corrupt even the Heavenly Dao’s will…

“Brother Mu, how are you feeling?”

The moment the Heavenly Tribulation vanished, several figures approached Mu Zhian. Ye Lingxuan immediately rushed forward, supporting the seemingly exhausted young man, and asked with concern.

Mu Zhian gently shook his head, “I’m fine… The Heavenly Dao’s will ultimately judged that I didn’t disrupt the order of the rules of heaven and earth, so the Heavenly Tribulation has ended.”

Hearing this, everyone finally relaxed.

Just then, Bai Ruoxi suddenly asked, “Why did she suddenly become intimate with you at the end?”

Everyone’s gaze immediately turned to Mu Zhian.

Just as Mu Zhian was thinking about how to answer, Yao Meng, as if sensing something, suddenly raised her hand and reached into the void.

The void rippled, as if shrouded in a mysterious black mist.

Ye Lingxuan’s beautiful purple eyes narrowed slightly, “A forbidden object.”

She was from the Forbidden Zone and naturally recognized this technique as belonging to the Forbidden Zone.

Yao Meng pulled out a letter from the void.

The letter had a pink heart pattern on it, a deep purple color.

“What’s this…?” Mu Zhian asked subconsciously.

“An invitation from the Forbidden Land,” Ye Lingxuan replied.

She took the strange letter from Yao Meng and said softly, “This invitation is probably for you.”