The villainous bosses from their past lives have all been reborn.

At dawn, the deepest darkness enveloped the land, and the earth was littered with the corpses of Gu worms.

The Second Elder, panting heavily, lay on the ground, staring at the sickly-looking eunuch from the Eastern Depot who could take her life at any moment. After nearly a night of fierce fighting, he seemed unchanged. Of course, it was also possible that he had always looked like this—a face that looked like he was about to die.

Cao Xiaohu looked at the woman in front of him, his movements slightly slow, as if he were recalling something.

"It's been many years. I remember in my past life, you died at the hands of Yuan Xiu, didn't you?"

The Second Elder smiled slightly, a hint of sarcasm in his voice:

"Lord Cao, you still have that dog-like nose, just like in your past life. I think you should change your name to Little Dog Cao!"

Cao Xiaohu did not get angry, because he had already confirmed his suspicions—

Yuan Xiu is in cahoots with the Demonic Sect!

"Why bother!" Cao Xiaohu sighed. "If I hadn't acted freely in my past life, would you have been able to organize so many people to assassinate Yuan Xiu?"

"What do you mean?"

"We were able to cooperate in our past lives, so why can't we now? I think neither your demonic sect nor we want to see another righteous leader emerge in this world."

The Second Elder's delay was at the behest of Yin Hongyue. Although she knew in her heart that cooperating with Yuan Xiu was extremely dangerous, aside from other concerns, the Second Elder also disliked Yuan Xiu.

Hearing Cao Xiaohu say this now, she wavered a little.

"cooperate?"

"We, the chosen ones, can join forces to build a world that we rule."

Upon hearing this, the Second Elder was surprised. When he looked at Cao Xiaohu again, he saw a morbid madness on Cao's sickly face.

"In this world, we are gods, ruling over everything."

Even though he knew Cao Xiaohu was crazy, the Second Elder's heart still pounded when he heard this. The immense temptation was simply too hard to resist.

Cao Xiaohu wasn't lying; in fact, he was quite sincere. He knew that faced with the temptation of becoming a god, no other benefit mattered.

"Since you're here, you should know our plan. To tell you the truth, the [Fire Pill] has been improved, and it won't be long before it's available to us, the Chosen Ones. Why should you or we choose to fight for mortals?"

As dawn broke over the mountains, sunlight shone on the earth, and Cao Xiaohu's face contorted with extreme pleasure.

"War will only cause those mortals to be constantly depleted. If we join forces, we can keep those mortals captive and allow them to reproduce. This world is already broken, so why should we continue to deplete it? In the end, it will only make the materials for the [Fire Pill] increasingly scarce."

As he spoke, Cao Xiaohu's expression turned serious, and he extended his hand, extending an invitation.

Would you like to be a part of us?

The Second Elder looked at the person before him, and faced with a choice between life and death, he finally reached out his hand.

Cao Xiaohu helped him up, but then he heard the Second Elder say:

"The Demonic Sect's leader's wife, Yin Hongyue, and Yuan Xiu have already descended into the underground cave."

Cao Xiaohu didn't care about this, and simply said:

"They won't get out alive!"

Why?

"Those two grandmasters share a set of profound techniques called the Yin-Yang Jade. If one of them dies, the other will also suffer considerable damage. If both of them die, it will trigger the traps in the cave, and no one will be able to come out alive."

"But wouldn't that destroy the spirit plant too?"

"It's alright, that trap only harms the soul. Even a grandmaster couldn't withstand it."

The Second Elder thought to himself that Cao Xiaohu was really carefree. What if the spirit plant was damaged in the battle?

Cao Xiaohu seemed to have seen through the Second Elder's thoughts, but he was in no hurry. He took out a crystal skull the size of a pebble from his sleeve.

"As long as this thing exists, the spirit plant cannot be destroyed."

"What is this?"

"Yuan Cai!"

The Second Elder was startled upon hearing the name. Cao Xiaohu slowly explained:

"Of those two grandmasters, one is a weapon refiner. I had him refine Yuan Cai into this magical artifact, which houses Yuan Cai's soul. Once I extinguish the flames within this crystal skull, I can activate the [One-Day Tribulation]. At that time, even if the spiritual plant is destroyed, it can be reborn."

As he spoke, Cao Xiaohu said something.

"Come, let's go see what's going on?"

……

Inside the underground cave.

"I told you that the spirit plant couldn't be destroyed!"

Cao Xiaohu's voice echoed into the underground cave, startling a man and a woman inside.

When Cao Xiaohu led the Second Elder into the underground cave, they saw Yuan Xiu, who had just put on his pants, under the spirit plant inside.

"You...you all!"

Yuan Xiu looked disheveled, while Yin Hongyue's cheeks were red and burning.

Fortunately, the cave was dark, so Cao Xiaohu and the Second Elder could not see the two people's specific appearances.

At that moment, the four people looked at each other.

"Madam, what's wrong?"

The Second Elder was somewhat confused by the strange scene before him, but Yin Hongyue took the initiative and raised her voice several decibels higher than the Second Elder's.

"How could you be with Cao Xiaohu? Have you betrayed the Holy Church?!"

The Second Elder was still somewhat ashamed at this moment, and his attention was immediately diverted.

"Madam, I..."

"You have disappointed me greatly."

At this moment, Yuan Xiu advised from the side:

"How infuriating! Isn't betrayal and infighting commonplace?"

With her eyes watering and looking aggrieved, Yin Hongyue nestled into Yuan Xiu's arms, enjoying his comfort.

Cao Xiaohu stared at Yuan Xiu, who was standing alive in front of him, completely bewildered by the situation. He dared not make a rash move, for the fierce battle had severely depleted his inner energy. A hasty attack would leave the outcome uncertain.

But Yuan Xiu, who had comforted Yin Hongyue, said:

"Now that these two grandmasters are dead, there's no point in us fighting to the death. We might as well cooperate."

Cao Xiaohu let out a cold laugh.

"How can we cooperate?"

"We are both chosen ones, and your Fire Pill is quite good. As long as we join forces and control the four regions of Central Continent, we can refine as many Fire Pills as we want."

Cao Xiaohu was startled. How many of them, chosen by destiny, had painstakingly planned and schemed this plan, only to have it so simply revealed by Yuan Xiu?

He had thought about it for a long time, or was he just giving a perfunctory answer?

Cao Xiaohu probed:

"But I slaughtered your entire Yuan family and even turned Yuan Cai into a magical artifact. You still want to cooperate with me?"

"They're just a bunch of mortals, what's there to regret? As for that brat Yuan Cai, I've disliked him for a long time. Keeping him around is only for the [One-Day Tribulation]! You've already mastered the magic weapon, that's even better."

Hearing Yuan Xiu's words, even the notorious Cao Xiaohu was not surprised.

Some people become villains out of necessity. But for him, it was absolutely his birthright.

This child must not be allowed to live!

……