Reunion After Twenty Years

A full twenty years had passed since the world-shocking incident of Consort Xuan fleeing his wedding.

For these twenty years, the Great Xia Immortal Dynasty was shrouded in a bloody haze.

Empress Wu Lingxiao had completely become a madwoman.

Weiyang Palace was no longer the solemn and majestic imperial palace of the past, but a gloomy cage.

The servants in the palace were replaced batch after batch, because slightly mentioning the words Ye, Xuan, or Consort would result in being killed on the spot by the furious Empress.

"Still haven't found him... why haven't we found him yet!"

From deep within the palace came the Empress's heart-rending roar.

Wu Lingxiao, with her hair disheveled, stepped barefoot on the memorials scattered all over the floor.

Her phoenix eyes, which once looked down upon the world with disdain, were now bloodshot and sunken, making her look like a vengeful ghost.

Over these twenty years, she had gone mad searching.

The three thousand sects of the Eastern Continent had been turned upside down by her;

The hundred thousand demon mountains of the Western Continent were personally flattened by her;

She even ventured alone into the forbidden dead zones of the Southern Sea, suffering heavy injuries just to find that touch of red clothing.

However, Ye Xuan seemed to have evaporated from the world.

No aura, no karma, no trace.

"Your Majesty..."

The Pavilion Master of the Shadow Pavilion knelt on the ground, trembling all over, holding a freshly expedited recording stone in both hands: "We found... found him."

Wu Lingxiao's figure instantly appeared in front of him. She grabbed his collar tightly, her nails digging into his flesh: "Where? Where is he?"

The Pavilion Master swallowed hard, his voice filled with fear:

"The reason we couldn't find him for twenty years... is because Consort Xuan was not in the Three Thousand Dao States at all, nor did he go to those hidden forbidden zones."

"He is in the fiefdom of the Ninth Lord—Youzhou."

"Youzhou?"

Wu Lingxiao froze for a moment.

That was the most remote and barren place in Great Xia.

It was also the fiefdom of her own younger sister, Wu Lingfeng—the one who had failed in the fight for the throne back then, had her foundation crippled by her, and was exiled to the border.

Because of her contempt, because she felt that this sister was a piece of trash, her divine sense had swept over all things in the world over the past twenty years, yet she had solely missed this private plot of land.

"Are you saying... he is with Wu Lingfeng?"

Wu Lingxiao's hands began to tremble, and an extremely absurd and terrifying intuition welled up in her heart.

"Yes... this is the footage our spies risked their lives to send back. Please take a look, Your Majesty."

Wu Lingxiao snatched the recording stone and injected her spiritual energy into it.

The image unfolded.

It was an isolated paradise.

Under a peach blossom tree, a man dressed in coarse hemp clothes, which could not hide his peerless elegance, was watering the flowers.

Twenty years of wind and frost had not ruined his looks; instead, they made him appear even more gentle and refined. The corners of his eyes and brows revealed a sense of peace that he had never possessed while in the imperial palace.

Immediately after.

A woman wearing a purple python robe walked over.

That was the Ninth Lord, Wu Lingfeng.

She walked over extremely naturally, hugged Ye Xuan's waist from behind, and buried her head in the crook of his neck to act coquettishly.

And Ye Xuan did not dodge. Instead, he turned around, dotingly scraped her nose, and the two smiled at each other.

This smile.

A smile full of love, dependence, and tenderness.

It once belonged only to Wu Lingxiao.

Now, it was given unreservedly to another person.

Crack.

The recording stone turned to dust in Wu Lingxiao's hand.

"Ha... hahahaha..."

Wu Lingxiao lowered her head, her shoulders shaking violently as she let out a blood-curdling laugh.

"My good ninth sister..."

"Wu Lingfeng!"

"Back then, I spared your miserable dog life, letting you go to Youzhou to linger on your last breath..."

"And you actually... dared to steal my man?"

Boom!

The dome of Weiyang Palace instantly shattered.

A terrifying bloody streak of light, carrying an apocalyptic killing intent, shot straight toward Youzhou!

Youzhou, Carefree Valley.

This was the worldly paradise Wu Lingfeng had built for Ye Xuan.

There was no scheming, no oppressive aura of the Empress.

These twenty years were the days Ye Xuan lived most like a human being in his entire life.

At this moment, the sun was setting in the west.

On the wilderness, a fine horse was slowly pacing.

Wu Lingfeng was dressed in military attire, looking heroic and valiant.

She did not let Ye Xuan follow behind her as she used to. Instead, she let Ye Xuan sit in front of her, wrapping her arms around him from behind as they rode the same horse.

"Husband, look at the cloud over there. Does it look like the rabbit you drew last night?" Wu Lingfeng chuckled softly in his ear.

"It doesn't." Ye Xuan smiled and shook his head, his eyes as clear as water: "It rather looks like how you used to cry when you were little."

"How annoying! I never cried!"

Wu Lingfeng feigned anger and gently pinched his waist.

The two laughed together.

Ye Xuan gazed into the distance, a faint smile hanging on the corners of his mouth.

The look in his eyes when he watched Wu Lingfeng was sincere and gentle.

Over these twenty years, Wu Lingfeng had used her life to heal his heavily scarred heart.

However.

Just as this warmth was about to continue.

The sky collapsed.

A Tribulation Transcendence realm aura, terrifying enough to make souls tremble, descended without warning.

The space within a hundred miles instantly froze.

The sky turned blood red, and a giant bloody eye stared fixedly at the two people on horseback.

"Hehehe..."

"What a display of mutual affection... what a pair of immortal lovers..."

Space tore apart.

Wu Lingxiao, wearing a blood-stained red robe and an imperial crown, walked out of the void step by step.

With every step she took, heaven and earth trembled.

She stared fixedly at Ye Xuan.

Staring at his waist being hugged by Wu Lingfeng, staring at the smile on his face that he hadn't had time to withdraw.

That was hers!

Ye Xuan's smile was hers!

That person was hers!

The tenderness was also hers!

All of it had been stolen by this bitch!

"My good ninth sister."

Wu Lingxiao's voice was hoarse, carrying a thick scent of blood, and her eyes were terrifyingly twisted:

"You truly... gave your imperial sister a massive surprise."

The horse neighed in fright and fell to its knees.

Wu Lingfeng's expression changed drastically, but she did not retreat. She immediately used her spiritual energy to protect Ye Xuan in her arms. She looked up, her eyes calm and cold:

"Imperial Sister."

"Long time no see."

Looking at Wu Lingfeng's calm face, the hatred in Wu Lingxiao's heart erupted like magma.

It was this former defeated opponent!

This piece of trash whose bones she had shattered all over before throwing to the border!

She had actually been secretly doing this, monopolizing the supreme treasure she had spent twenty years searching for!

"Wu Lingfeng... you deserve to die!"

Wu Lingxiao roared, but her gaze quickly shifted away from Wu Lingfeng and stuck fixedly to Ye Xuan.

Twenty years.

A full twenty years.

The person she longed for day and night was right in front of her eyes.

Wu Lingxiao trembled all over, tears welling up uncontrollably.

She reached out a hand, wanting to touch that figure, her voice trembling so much it changed pitch:

"Husband... is it really you?"

"I have finally found you... I have searched for you so bitterly..."

"Come here quickly... come to my side... I will take you home..."

She walked toward Ye Xuan, her eyes filled with a sickly ecstasy and longing.

She thought Ye Xuan was being coerced.

She thought that upon seeing her, Ye Xuan would aggrievedly throw himself into her arms like before.

However.

The next second.

Ye Xuan's actions made Wu Lingxiao's footsteps freeze abruptly in place.

Clang!

A crisp sword ring echoed across the wilderness.

Ye Xuan moved.

But he didn't rush over to embrace her.

Instead, he broke free from Wu Lingfeng's embrace, dismounted from the horse, and stood protectively in front of Wu Lingfeng.

Then.

He drew his sword.

The tip of the sword was icy cold, gleaming with a chilling light beneath the setting sun.

It pointed directly at the center of Wu Lingxiao's brow.

Wu Lingxiao was stunned.

Her pupils contracted violently, and her entire body felt as if a basin of ice water had been poured over her from head to toe.

"You draw your sword... against me?"

Wu Lingxiao looked at him in disbelief, her voice sharp and broken:

"I am Wu Lingxiao! I am your wife!"

"To protect this bitch... you want to kill me?"

Ye Xuan's hand was extremely steady.

Over these twenty years, with Wu Lingfeng's help, he had re-cultivated his Sword Dao. He was no longer the weak Golden Core cultivator of the past.

Instead, he was a dignified and formidable Nascent Soul expert.

He looked at the woman before him, whom he had once loved more than his own life. In his eyes, there was no longer any love, no hatred, and not even fear.

There was only the vigilance reserved for an intruder.

"Husband... say something! Don't scare me!"

Wu Lingxiao took a step forward in a breakdown, wanting to reach out and grab the sword. "You were deceived by her, weren't you? Did she drug you?!"

Watching her frantic state, Ye Xuan finally spoke.

He did not call her Your Majesty, nor did he call her Lingxiao.

He took a deep breath. Before the heavens and the earth, and in front of Wu Lingfeng, he slowly uttered an address that drove Wu Lingxiao completely mad:

"Imperial Sister."

These two words instantly made Wu Lingxiao lose all reason.

Imperial... Sister?

Wu Lingxiao froze in place, her face instantly turning as pale as paper. Her lips trembled, and for a long time, she could not speak a single word.

"What... what did you call me?"

Ye Xuan continued to hold his sword up, his gaze firm as he protected Wu Lingfeng behind him. He calmly repeated:

"Imperial Sister."

"Feng'er is your younger sister, and I am Feng'er's husband."

"In terms of seniority, it is only proper that I respectfully address you as Imperial Sister."

Pfft!

Wu Lingxiao violently sprayed out a mouthful of blood.

This address of Imperial Sister had cut her too deeply.

What did this signify?

It meant that in his heart, he had completely accepted the identity of Wu Lingfeng's husband.

It meant that the ten years of marital affection between him and Wu Lingxiao had been personally buried by his own hands, leaving absolutely nothing behind.

He had even placed himself in the position of her brother-in-law in order to draw a clear line between them!