After the Villain Was Reborn a Hundred Times - Chapter 1

The Demon Palace stood majestically on the top of Mount Qifeng. Its gloomy, pitch-black structure casting a somber shadow over the vibrant crimson maple forests that surrounded it. Through the rustling red leaves, faint yellow candlelight gradually illuminated the palace. Beautiful maids lit candles and covered them with alluring crimson silk lampshades.

Huishuang Hall was particularly brightly lit. The water-red bed canopy fell, obscuring the bed. Suddenly, a pillow flew out with a whoosh and struck the black-robed woman kneeling before the bed.

“This subordinate deserves death!” She lowered her head to the floor, trembling slightly.

After a long silence with no further projectiles, she secretly sighed in relief and forced a calm voice: “This subordinate truly underestimated Ming Shuang’s strength. It was a failure of duty. Next time—next time, I will definitely bring her head!”

“There won’t be a next time. I will handle it personally,” Wang Jinxue said, her voice soft and delicate, with a velvety quality that abruptly snapped like ice striking stone at the end, creating a pleasing melody.

“As for you, Gu Hong, count your failures. Do you still care about your dignity?”

Gu Hong gritted her teeth, fearing the Demon Lord’s next words would be, “Commit suicide and apologize.”

The Demon Lord’s unpredictable temper and ruthless nature were well-known. Previously, when two talented agents failed on a mission, she had executed them on the spot. Having failed multiple times herself, Gu Hong truly feared the Demon Lord would order her to commit suicide.

After stammering for a while, Gu Hong finally managed to say, “This subordinate understands her fault…”

“Forget it. Go to the Cold Abyss Pool and receive your punishment.” Gu Hong had remained loyal to her. In the past ninety-nine times, she had always been the last line of defense before Wang Jinxue. While not particularly skilled, she could be nurtured, and such unwavering loyalty was hard to come by.

Wang Jinxue lifted the bed curtain with a single hand and stepped barefoot onto the floor.

The floor of the Demon Palace was paved with black crystal stone. The deep black accentuated the luminous whiteness of her skin, making it seem like jade, and faint blue veins seemed to slumber beneath the translucent surface.

Relieved as if granted amnesty, Gu Hong immediately expressed her gratitude. “Thank you, Your Excellency.”

Bowing low, Wang Jinxue retreated from Huishuang Hall. No sooner had she stepped out than Gu Hong darted back in, blocking the half-closed door. “My apologies, Your Excellency! I forgot this.” She snatched up the pillow Wang Jinxue had hurled at her moments before and vanished, thoughtfully closing the door behind her.

Wang Jinxue: “……”

What the hell is wrong with her?!

Huishuang Hall blazed with candlelight. Behind the bed, a half-open window framed a red plum blossom that barely peeked inside.

Wang Jinxue’s gaze snapped to the blossom. She strode to the window in long strides, reached out with decisive force, and snapped the branch. A chilling aura erupted from her body.

In an instant, Mount Qifeng was blanketed in falling leaves. The crimson foliage lost its color and wilted to the ground, while flowers and grass withered.

Only the red plum tree in the rear courtyard of Huishuang Hall remained defiant, its blossoms proudly blooming against the wind.

The Demonic Cultivators remaining in the Demon Palace trembled at the terrifying aura. Each feared that their master might take a sudden whim and flatten the mountain, taking their lives in the process.

Their terror lasted only fifteen minutes. By then, Wang Jinxue had regained her composure. Mount Qifeng was once again draped in vibrant red foliage, its beauty stretching for miles. Yet no one dared to appreciate the view.

Wang Jinxue twirled the broken red plum blossom, her expression slightly troubled.

This was her hundredth rebirth, and each time, she found herself at the same pivotal moment: Gu Hong’s confession of guilt. No matter how many times she killed Ming Shuang, the woman always managed to turn the tables and kill her in the end.

Could this be the legendary protagonist’s halo? Wang Jinxue gritted her teeth, vividly recalling her first death. Her soul had scattered to the winds, only to be fortuitously reunited with the book The Chosen Daughter of Heaven. Everything had become clear from that moment on.

******

Ming Shuang, the female protagonist of The Chosen Daughter of Heaven, truly lived up to her name. From a young age, her exceptional talent allowed her to surpass the “darlings of heaven” by leaps and bounds, even without effort. And she worked tirelessly.

She reached Qi Condensation at fifteen, Foundation Establishment at twenty-three, and Early-Stage Golden Core at thirty-five. Now, at just over a hundred years old, she had already reached Early-Stage Nascent Soul.

The cultivation world often whispered that Ming Shuang was just a step away from Spirit Transformation, with some even claiming she would surely reach Spirit Transformation and Transcendence before reaching three hundred years of age. Initially, Wang Jinxue dismissed these claims, but after personal experience, she had no choice but to believe them.

Wang Jinxue, a Demon Lord, died for the first time during Ming Shuang’s Spirit Transformation Transcendence. Consumed by resentment, she randomly obtained a copy of The Chosen Daughter of Heaven and realized she was the novel’s primary antagonist.

Only by killing Wang Jinxue could Ming Shuang successfully transcend and ascend to immortality. Refusing to accept this, Wang Jinxue was reborn fueled by her resentment and struck first, killing Ming Shuang. But Ming Shuang, being the “Chosen Daughter of Heaven,” wasn’t so easily defeated. In the end, Wang Jinxue died again.

After scheming and battling Ming Shuang—killing her, being killed by her, ninety-nine times—Wang Jinxue finally concluded that the protagonist’s halo was incredibly formidable. Head-on attacks simply wouldn’t work.

This time, heh—Wang Jinxue smiled coldly, tightening her grip on the red plum blossom. She would finally teach Ming Shuang what it meant for a woman’s heart to be venomous.

Having lived for hundreds of years longer than that little brat, she owed it to her position as Demon Lord to thoroughly outwit her. With a slight squeeze, Wang Jinxue crushed the red plum blossom in her palm.

Just as this red plum blossom bloomed only when commanded, so too would Ming Shuang’s fate be dictated by Wang Jinxue’s will. If Wang Jinxue wanted Ming Shuang to suffer, trapped between life and death, then Ming Shuang would never find peace.

“Attend me.” In an instant, Wang Jinxue had devised a brilliant scheme.

A maid waiting outside Huishuang Hall entered and bowed. “Your Excellency.”

“Announce that this venerable one will enter seclusion. Also, summon Zhaoying.”

With a flick of her wrist, Wang Jinxue vanished into the Demon Palace’s main hall, her voice lingering in the maid’s ears.

Gu Hong Zhaoying was her trusted right-hand, a perfect complement to her own capabilities, one scholarly and one martial. With Wang Jinxue leaving to deal with that little brat Ming Shuang, she had to entrust the temporary management of the Demon Palace to Zhaoying.

After giving a few simple instructions and having Zhaoying widely announce her seclusion, Wang Jinxue finally felt at ease. She leisurely descended the mountain.

At the foot of Mount Qifeng, a faint red light gathered in Wang Jinxue’s palm. In the next instant, a yellowed, parchment-like book appeared in her hand.

Its title: The Chosen Daughter of Heaven. Wang Jinxue flipped through the pages until she found the time of her rebirth, then continued reading until she discovered Ming Shuang’s current location.

Yunwu Mountain.

Cultivators could traverse hundreds of miles in a day on their swords. As a Demon Lord, Wang Jinxue rarely used a sword, preferring to harness the wind. Yunwu Mountain lay far to the south of the Southern Sea, while Mount Qifeng stood north of the Northern Summit. A journey by sword would have taken at least a day, but Wang Jinxue reached her destination in less than half the time it takes to finish a cup of tea using her wind manipulation.

The book revealed that Ming Shuang had been sent by her master to Yunwu Mountain to retrieve Mist Fragrance Grass for the Sect Master’s only daughter. Along the way, she had formed an “earth-shaking, heaven-moving sisterhood” with a fellow traveler, their shared interests and willingness to risk death for each other making their bond legendary.

Wang Jinxue’s goal wasn’t merely to toy with Ming Shuang, but to disrupt this close relationship. With a flick of her wrist, her luxurious robes transformed into a tattered, aquamarine dress that exposed large expanses of pale skin. Unsatisfied, she inflicted minor wounds upon her exposed flesh before smiling in satisfaction.

Now it was time to wait like a predator in ambush.

After about two hours, Wang Jinxue heard the faintest footsteps.

Having known Ming Shuang for ninety-nine lifetimes, Wang Jinxue recognized immediately that these weren’t Ming Shuang’s footsteps. Ming Shuang’s gait was light and graceful; her cultivation had long surpassed the stage where walking would produce any sound.

If it wasn’t Ming Shuang, then it must be her newfound companion. Wang Jinxue’s lips curled into a smirk. Truly effortless.

Wang Jinxue promptly and dutifully “fainted,” secretly counting down the seconds until she was discovered.

Three.

Two.

One.

Time’s up!

“Ming Shuang, come here! There’s someone here!” Molan immediately rushed toward the collapsed figure.

With her eyes closed, Wang Jinxue’s other senses sharpened. She could tell that the person lifting her wasn’t Ming Shuang.

“She’s still breathing, but she looks severely injured. What should we do, Ming Shuang?”

Ming Shuang’s clear, ethereal voice replied, “The place we’re heading is dangerous, and she’s too badly injured to travel. Beyond these mountains lies a town—it would be safer to leave her there.”

Ming Shuang lowered her gaze to glance at Wang Jinxue, her eyes lingering briefly on the woman before casually turning away.

Hearing this, Wang Jinxue panicked at the thought of being abandoned. She subtly curled her fingers behind her back.

In that instant, the earth trembled, and heavy footsteps shook the ground as they approached.

Almost simultaneously, Ming Shuang reacted. The Bixiao Sword leapt from its sheath, its formidable sword aura blocking the charging mass with lightning speed.

The wind stilled—

The massive form crashed to the ground, and the Bixiao Sword returned to its sheath.

Molan stared intently, then gasped, “What… what is that thing?!”

The fallen creature staggered to its feet—a humanoid figure with a beast’s face, towering in size. Its body was covered in stiff, brown fur, and it sported horns on its head and a tail trailing behind. It was neither human, beast, nor spirit creature—a truly rare sight.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Ming Shuang said, her brow furrowing as she tightened her grip on the Bixiao Sword.

Never seen anything like this?

Wang Jinxue thought to herself, This doesn’t make sense. She had summoned only a common High-Grade Demonic Beast. Given Ming Shuang’s vast experience, she should have encountered something like this before. What had gone wrong?

Over there, Ming Shuang and the heavy object had already clashed. Molan stood nearby, tending to the injured and unconscious Wang Jinxue.

The clash of weapons was so intense that it piqued Wang Jinxue’s curiosity. She slowly opened her eyes, let out a soft whimper, and murmured, “Where… where am I?”

Excellent. The Demon Lord has perfectly captured the essence of a delicate, innocent little flower.

Molan exclaimed with delight, “You’re awake!”

Hearing this, Ming Shuang’s attention faltered, and the Bixiao Sword in her hand clattered to the ground from the impact, the shock sending a tingling numbness through her fingers and forcing her back two steps.

In that split second, the massive hand, now infused with spiritual energy, seized the opportunity to leap forward and strike down with brutal force!

Just a moment before, Molan had roared in horror, “Ming Shuang—!” Now she only uttered a confused, “Huh…”

Molan watched as the injured green-clothed woman threw herself protectively in front of Ming Shuang, braving the full force of the strike.

Now we’ll see if you’ll abandon me again, Wang Jinxue thought with a cold smirk, collapsing into Ming Shuang’s arms with the most delicate, vulnerable pose she could muster. She feigned weakness, stammering, “M-m-miss… a-are you… alright?” and even spat out a mouthful of blood for effect.

“I’m fine,” Ming Shuang replied, her supporting hand trembling slightly. For an instant, her pupils dilated when Wang Jinxue collapsed, but they quickly resumed their usual calm detachment. Yet the arm cradling Wang Jinxue unconsciously tightened.

Hmph, Ming Shuang. I won’t let you off this time.

I’ll seduce you, possess you, discard you, shatter your resolve, and leave you begging for both life and death!

*****

Note: 

This story takes place in a small, half-baked cultivation world where logic and coherence are optional.

The narrative employs flashbacks, so expect a lot of reminiscing.

Support After the Villain Was Reborn a Hundred Times