True Heir of Chaos: From Villainess to Empress

For the past twenty years, Du Yanran had been living like she was walking on thin ice, never having felt so suffocated in her life.

After being captured in a cultivation city by a Golden Core-level cultivator from the Yin-Yang Sect, she had to think fast. She fabricated an identity for herself: the unloved daughter of a secluded clan leader.

According to her story, she had been persecuted and forced to flee. While on the run, she was hunted down and fell into the mortal realm, losing both her identity jade token and storage pouch. Fearing further assassination attempts from her clan, she claimed to have disguised herself as a mortal to avoid pursuit.

Her tale was met with skepticism, but Du Yanran was skilled in deception. Nine parts truth, one part lie. There had indeed been a female cultivator with the surname Du who fit that backstory. She truly had been unloved, driven out, and gravely injured. The only falsehood was that Du Yanran was not her. That Du cultivator had already died from her wounds.

The woman had died full of resentment and sealed all her personal details into an inconspicuous sachet. That sachet eventually made its way into Du Yanran's hands when she first entered the cultivation world in her past life. She had kept it from Jian Dan, intending to use the identity to sneak into the cultivation world. But the plan fell apart due to a lack of cooperation, and she ultimately abandoned it.

Based on the timeline, the real Du woman would have already been expelled from her clan by now, making Du Yanran's cover completely plausible.

The Yin-Yang Sect's male cultivator wasn't any better. Tempted by Du Yanran's beauty, and intrigued by her claim to be a secluded clan leader's daughter, he thought he might gain something. Even if she was unloved, she was still the clan leader's bloodline. If he acted now, he might reap benefits in the future.

Sensing this, Du Yanran immediately capitalized on his interest. She revealed that she had been exiled due to possessing a treasure map detailing her maternal clan's lost inheritance.

The moment she saw the greed and fleeting killing intent in his eyes, she relaxed. As long as he wanted something from her, she had leverage. That meant she had a path to survival, even a way to turn the tables.

Naturally, cultivators were cautious. Besides the details Du Yanran offered, the man cross-referenced her story through other sources. Since secluded clans rarely revealed themselves, any rumors came only from those who ventured out. He even spent spirit stones to buy information from Thousand Questions Pavilion.

The intel aligned with her claims, save for minor inconsistencies, which Du Yanran brushed off with, "family scandals are better kept private." Given that it was an internal power struggle, this explanation seemed reasonable.

Eventually, the Yin-Yang Sect's Golden Core cultivator believed her, at least halfway.

To further gain his trust, Du Yanran recreated the treasure map in front of him. She claimed the treasure could only be accessed by bloodline descendants, and that it was guarded by a strand of her ancestor's divine soul. If anyone else tried to take it, the treasure would self-destruct, killing the intruder.

In other words, she was the living key. Without her, he had nothing.

She swore a Heavenly Dao oath in front of him, promising to accompany him to retrieve the treasure and offering him half of it, as long as he protected her. He didn't hesitate. He kept her under control and went to investigate the map. He had to be sure there was a real treasure before keeping her around.

A month later, Feng Cheng Zhēnrén returned, badly injured but visibly thrilled. Despite being wounded, he did not blame Du Yanran. The treasure map was real. The place was filled with mechanisms and puppet guardians. He couldn't even get past the outer perimeter before suffering serious injuries. He would need to regroup.

Du Yanran, seeing him return wounded but alive, finally relaxed. The treasure map was indeed authentic. In her past life, she and Jian Dan had explored it together in the late Nascent Soul stage. Even then, the journey was life-threatening. For someone at Golden Core stage, even reaching the outskirts was an accomplishment.

She dangled this "carrot" to keep him in line, securing her safety.

Feng Cheng wanted full control over her, but Du Yanran simply wanted to heal and recover enough to break free from him. Each had their own motives.

Eventually, Feng Cheng brought her into the Yin-Yang Sect as an outer disciple, where she cultivated the dual cultivation technique "Yin-Yang Method." With her water-wood spiritual roots and low offensive strength, the technique suited her well. After taking meridian-cleansing pills and benefiting from the cultivation world's denser spiritual energy, she spent twenty years to finally form her Core.

Du Yanran then proposed they explore the treasure again. Feng Cheng, pleased with her attitude, agreed. They ventured to the Sands of Flowing Time. There, Du Yanran used her foreknowledge to lead him into a trap. Feng Cheng died inside the formation, and she used a forbidden dual cultivation technique to absorb his entire cultivation, breaking through to mid-Golden Core in one stroke.

With Feng Cheng gone, Du Yanran seized his assets and wandered the cultivation world. However, after growing used to the speed of progress through dual cultivation, she couldn't bear the slow, harsh life of a Loose Cultivator.

In her past life, she had Jian Dan to deliver opportunities. She had dual fire-wood roots and alchemy skills, which earned her a place in the Pill Sect and a powerful backer. Cultivation had been smooth. But this life was different. Every former advantage had turned into a stumbling block.

After much thought, Du Yanran returned to the Yin-Yang Sect. This time, she presented the treasure map to a Divine Transformation-level cultivator, hoping for protection.

This Bao Zhēnjūn wasn't easily fooled. He took the treasure first, then gave Du Yanran the status of a concubine, repaying the karma. Du Yanran bit her lip till it bled. She had aimed for the position of disciple, yet all she received was a title that could be cast aside at any time. How could she not feel hatred?

It was simply a case of the higher realm outplaying her. A Divine Transformation cultivator was already refined to the point of instinctively seeing through manipulation. He wanted the treasure, but also didn't trust her, especially since Feng Cheng had mysteriously vanished within the Yin-Yang Sect.

Du Yanran understood that in the cultivation world, only strength mattered. The events she remembered hadn't all come to pass yet. Some had already diverged entirely. If she clung to the past, she'd be abandoned by the very world she sought to survive in.

After coming to terms with her situation, she fully embraced her role as a concubine, gentle and cunning, using every trick in the book to secure her footing. Then she quietly absorbed any resources that slipped through the Divine Transformation cultivator's fingers to advance her cultivation.

She had convinced Bao Zhēnjūn to come this time because of the strange stirrings in Devil Abyss. She knew her former life's natal artifact, the Solarfire Crimson Silk, would reappear, and she intended to claim it.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans. When the auction house attendant uttered the name "Jian Dan," her composure nearly shattered.

Everything seemed unexpected, yet somehow inevitable.