The doors to her private chambers sealed shut behind her, the intricate demonic wards humming to life and casting the room into a silence so profound it felt like a physical presence. The moment she was alone, the imposing posture of the Demon Empress slumped. Xue Lian leaned back against the cool, carved obsidian of the door and let out a long, weary breath that was more her old self than the ruler of the Netherworld.
"Okay, Lian," she muttered to herself, the modern nickname a comforting anchor in the storm of absurdity. "You've kidnapped the pretty saint. Step one of the 'Don't Get Murdered' plan is complete. Now for the hard part: the multi layered political, romantic, and reproductive chess game. No pressure."
She pushed off from the door and strode towards a vast desk of polished bloodwood, its surface inlaid with mother of pearl depicting coiling foxes. This was her sanctum, the one place where the mask could fully drop. She collapsed into the high backed chair, its plush cushions a small mercy, and pulled a sheaf of dark, velvety paper and a stylus made from a single, sharpened claw towards her.
Time for some good, old fashioned villainous plotting. Or, as I used to call it, 'project management.'
She began to jot down notes, her modern mind organizing the chaos into bullet points.
SUBJECT: OPERATION: GET GIRL, GET HEIR, GET EVEN
Asset: Lan Yue. Secured in Gilded Cage Suite 1.
Status: Hostile. Righteously pissed. Incredibly hot.
Primary Obstacle: Her deeply ingrained sect dogma. Also, the whole "I kidnapped her" thing.
Secondary Obstacle: My court (Looking at you, Archduke Jin). Demanding a traditional Alpha heir solution.
Tertiary Obstacle: The entire righteous cultivation world. Probably already sharpening their swords.
She tapped the stylus against the paper, her thoughts drifting back to the source of all her intel. The novel. Moon Descending the Sun. A memory, fresh and annoyingly vivid, surfaced.
Her cramped apartment, the blue light of her laptop the only illumination in the dark. An empty cup of instant noodles sat beside her. Her best friend, Mei, had spammed her chat.
"OMG U HAVE TO READ THIS!!"
"IT'S THIS NEW OMEGAVERSE CULTIVATION NOVEL!!"
"SO HOT. THE MALE LEAD IS SO POSSESSIVE. IT'LL TURN U STRAIGHT, I SWEAR!!"
She'd rolled her eyes so hard she gave herself a headache. She typed back, her fingers flying.
"Mei. Babe. Love you. But what isn't clicking? The word 'OMEGAVERSE' was literally invented by women on the internet so women could write about other women having babies. It's a gay thing. Why do straight people keep colonizing our spaces? Srsly."
Mei had just sent a laughing emoji. "Just read it! The female lead is your type, I promise! Broody and powerful!"
Curiosity, and a deep, enduring love for her wonderfully problematic friend, made her click the link. She started reading out of spite, ready to hate it.
And she did. Mostly.
It was, as she'd suspected, a generic straight romance with extra steps. The "twist" was that the flawless, ethereal female lead, Lan Yue, was pretending to be a rare, powerful Omega to explain her insane cultivation speed. But the real truth, revealed only in the last few chapters, was far more mind blowing. She wasn't an Omega. She wasn't even a Beta.
She was an Enigma.
A being so rare most considered them myth. A designation that sat outside and above the entire Alpha/Beta/Omega hierarchy. In the crude, biological calculus of this world, an Enigma was the ultimate paradox: a being who could, regardless of their own form or the form of their chosen partner, impregnate and be impregnated. Their very essence could rewrite the rules of nature itself. They were the ultimate power, the ultimate prize, and the ultimate threat.
*The male lead, some generically handsome Alpha sect leader named Luo Yang, spent 400 chapters trying to woo her, his "Alpha instincts" driving him to protect and claim what he thought was a rare Omega, completely oblivious to the celestial level power hiding in plain sight.*
The original plot for Xue Lian, the Demon Empress, was even more pathetic. She was a one note villainess, a "defective Omega" who saw the male lead, fell into insta lust/love because "Alpha pheromones," and kidnapped him in a pathetic attempt to make him her consort. This, of course, prompted the actual female lead, Lan Yue, to storm the demon realm, rescue her man, and eradicate the place in a blaze of righteous fury. Happy ever after. The end.
"Some cringe straight shit," she had mumbled to her screen, scrolling through the predictable climax. Yet, she kept reading. Not for the plot. Not for the male lead.
For Lan Yue.
The author, perhaps accidentally, had written a fascinating character trapped in a terrible story. Lan Yue wasn't just broody; she was ancient, a soul carrying a profound, silent sorrow. Her actions weren't driven by a desire to be wooed, but by a deep, inexplicable sense of duty and a search for something she herself couldn't name. She was composure and grace, but with a core of divine steel. She was, as Mei had promised, exactly her type.
And the reveal of her being an Enigma… that was the key. It wasn't just a cool power up. It was a beacon.
An idea, audacious and terrifying and brilliant, had exploded in her mind. What if…?
Back in the present, Xue Lian's lips curled into a sharp, predatory smile. She looked down at her notes, her stylus scratching against the demon paper with renewed, furious purpose.
KEY INTEL REVISED: Lan Yue is NOT Beta. She is an ENIGMA. A celestial level designation. Canon ability: Can bypass all biological/reproductive limitations of themself or their partner. Can essentially will a conception into existence, creating a new life that is a fusion of the parents' utmost potential. (Ref: Novel Ch. 498, "The Divine Revelation").
Revised Hypothesis: My "defect" is a biological dead end. Her nature is a biological master key. She is the only being in existence capable of ensuring the White Fox bloodline continues. With her, an heir isn't just possible; it would be… legendary.
Plan:
Kidnap the Divine Master Key (✔️ COMPLETE).
Deconstruct Righteous Dogma (IN PROGRESS). Use library, debates, exposure to demon society.
Build Genuine Connection. Find the lonely goddess inside the saint. Relate to it with my own lonely, transmigrated soul.
Propose the Real Deal. Not as a demand from a tyrant. But as a proposal from one equal to another. A union to create something entirely new. An heir born not of instinct, but of choice, power, and will.
???
Profit. (And hopefully, get a wish and a wife).
She leaned back, staring at the list. It was insane. It was the most unhinged plan ever conceived. It involved convincing a righteous celestial Enigma to use her reality bending reproductive abilities to help a demon empress found a dynasty.
But it was her plan. Not the novel's straight washed, pathetic plot. She wasn't some lust crazed villainess after a boring Alpha male. She was a lesbian with a spreadsheet, a working knowledge of the future, and a type.
And her type was the most powerful and rare being in the entire cultivation world, currently residing in a suite down the hall, probably meditating on the best way to behead her.
Xue Lian's smile turned genuine and fierce. The sheer scale of the challenge was exhilarating.
"Sorry, Luo Yang," she whispered to the empty room, a thrill of pure, subversive joy running through her. "The male lead role has been cut from this production. It's a two woman show now. And the finale is going to be spectacular."
She folded the velvety paper, tucking her world altering plans away into a hidden drawer. The next move was crucial. It was time to begin Phase Two: Deconstruction.
She stood up, the mantle of the Empress settling back onto her shoulders. She had a library to visit, and a carefully curated selection of historical texts on the "so called righteous purges of the Vermillion Bird Clan" to have delivered to a certain celestial guest's room.
The game was indeed on. And she was playing for the ultimate prize.