Confrontation with the Yandere Empress

Facing this situation that was about to spiral out of control.

Ye Xuan sighed softly and suddenly asked,

"How did you find this place?"

Wu Lingxiao froze for a moment, then revealed a sickly, triumphant smile, pointing at the golden dragon in the sky.

"My beloved consort, under the whole heaven, every spot is the sovereign's ground. Although your Purple Firmament Palace is strong, it has nowhere to hide before the providence of my Great Xia."

"Furthermore..."

She approached step by step, her tone becoming gentle yet eerie.

"I am now a half-step True Immortal, having mastered the Great Dao of Space and Time."

"Consort Xuan, don't even think about killing yourself."

"I will freeze time the instant before you sever your own meridians."

"This time, I will not even give you the right to die."

This was despair.

This was the absolute crushing weight of power.

However, facing this suffocating dead end, Ye Xuan suddenly smiled.

He slowly lowered the Sun-Slaying Sword in his hand.

"You make a good point."

"Space-time Dao arts are indeed formidable. If I were to slit my own throat, I certainly wouldn't be as fast as you."

A flash of wild joy appeared in Wu Lingxiao's eyes. "Have you thought it through? Be good and come back with me..."

Ye Xuan shook his head.

He lifted his head, a calmness more terrifying than madness burning in his pitch-black eyes.

It was the absolute resolve to perish together.

"Your Majesty, I wonder if you have ever heard of a forbidden art that was lost long ago..."

Ye Xuan's voice was very soft, yet it echoed clearly across the entire battlefield.

"Called Love of a Fallen City?"

As soon as these words came out, the hand Wu Lingxiao had reached out to touch Ye Xuan suddenly stiffened in mid-air.

Her pupils abruptly shrank to the size of pinpricks. Her face instantly turned deathly pale, and even her lips lost all color.

"Love of a... Fallen City?"

"That... suicide spell that directly burns the soul origin, which even a True Immortal cannot reverse or stop?"

Wu Lingxiao's voice trembled with a fear originating from the depths of her soul. "No... impossible! This forbidden art has been lost for ages. How could you possibly know it?!"

"Unfortunately for you, I happen to have mastered it."

Before his voice faded.

Ye Xuan slowly raised his left hand.

A cluster of pale, almost transparent flame ignited faintly at his fingertips.

That was not spiritual fire.

That was the sound of a soul burning.

It had no heat, yet it made the souls of everyone present shudder.

Looking at the despair and terror on Wu Lingxiao's face, the corners of Ye Xuan's mouth curled into an extremely cruel smile, filled with the sheer pleasure of revenge.

"Your Majesty."

Ye Xuan's voice was as gentle as if he were telling a bedtime story, but the pale flame at his fingertips dropped the temperature of the entire void to the freezing point.

That was the fire of the soul.

It had no heat, yet its light cast upon Wu Lingxiao's peerlessly beautiful face, making it as pale as paper.

"This spell is called Love of a Fallen City. It is a beautiful name, isn't it?"

Ye Xuan tilted his head slightly, looking at the flame on his fingertip with a hazy and tender gaze.

"Its principle is very simple. It uses my soul origin as fuel to detonate instantly."

"Once activated, it ignores space and time, ignores karma, and ignores cultivation base."

"In a billionth of a split second, my soul will turn into the most absolute nothingness in this world. I will not even have the chance to enter the River of Reincarnation, and even the right to become a ghost cultivator will be stripped away."

Ye Xuan raised his eyelids. Through the pale flame, his pitch-black eyes quietly watched Wu Lingxiao, who had begun to tremble all over.

"In other words..."

"Once this fire burns, from the heavens above to the earth below, through the azure skies and the yellow springs, the person known as Ye Xuan will cease to exist."

"I will disappear from this world completely and cleanly."

These words were ten thousand times heavier than the million-strong army from before, smashing ruthlessly onto Wu Lingxiao's heart.

Her proud calmness, her dignity as a half-step True Immortal, and her overbearing aura as an Empress—at this moment, they rapidly melted and collapsed like snow under a blazing sun.

"No..."

Wu Lingxiao's pupils trembled violently, shrinking to the size of pinpricks.

She stared at that cluster of flame, so fragile that it seemed a single breath could extinguish it, yet capable of taking away her entire world.

Fear.

A chill ten thousand times more terrifying than death frantically crawled up her spine, instantly freezing her blood.

"Didn't you say you mastered space-time Dao arts?"

The corners of Ye Xuan's mouth curled into a cruel arc. He even provocatively moved the finger burning with soul fire an inch closer to his glabella.

"Come, Your Majesty, let's make a bet."

"Let's see if your space-time Dao arts are faster..."

"...or if my soul disintegration is faster."

Suffocation.

A deathly suffocation.

At this moment, Wu Lingxiao's mental defenses completely collapsed.

She was the most noble woman in this world, possessing the four seas, her words becoming law.

But right now, facing this madman who used his own life as a bargaining chip, she suffered a crushing defeat.

"Husband!"

An extremely shrill and mournful cry tore through the vast sky.

Under the terrified and shocked gazes of the million-strong army.

The lofty and arrogant Empress Wu Lingxiao went weak in the knees.

"Thud!"

She actually knelt directly in the void!

Her knees smashed heavily against the spatial barrier, producing a dull, teeth-aching thud.

Her twelve-symbol imperial robe, symbolizing supreme imperial power, sprawled out messily at this moment.

Caring nothing for her image or dignity, she gripped the void in front of her tightly with both hands, crying like a child who couldn't find her way home.

"Don't... don't do this..."

"I was wrong... sob... I was wrong!"

"Put out the fire, okay? I beg you... put out the fire..."

Wu Lingxiao cried until her makeup was ruined, tears mixed with bloodstreaks flowing down. In those phoenix eyes that were usually decisive and ruthless, there was now only frantic fear and humble pleading.

"We haven't seen each other in eight hundred years... eight hundred whole years..."

"Why must you treat me like this the moment we meet?"

"Why must you threaten me with your death?"

As she cried and shouted, she tried to crawl forward but didn't dare to get close, terrified of disturbing that cluster of flame.

"I just want to love you! I just want to take you home and make it up to you! What did I do wrong!"

Looking at the Empress kneeling and weeping bitterly before him, the coldness in Ye Xuan's eyes did not recede in the slightest.

On the contrary, the mockery in the depths of his eyes grew deeper.

"Make it up to me?"

Ye Xuan chuckled softly, his laughter filled with cold indifference.

"Then may I ask, in our past life... my esteemed Majesty, what exactly did you do to me?"

Wu Lingxiao's crying abruptly stopped.

She raised her head stiffly, her gaze dodging as her lips trembled, unable to speak a word.

Ye Xuan looked down at her from above, as if examining a sinner.

"I haven't recovered my memories yet, so I don't know."

"But..."

Ye Xuan tilted his head, his tone turning eerie, carrying a spine-chilling certainty.

"I guess it must have been something extremely excessive and disgusting, right?"

"Otherwise, why is it that after my reincarnation, even without my memories, the deepest instinct of my soul... still wants to use death to escape you?"

"Your Majesty, can you tell me?"

Every sentence, every word of his was like a sharp knife, accurately stabbing into Wu Lingxiao's most festering wound and then violently twisting.

Wu Lingxiao's face was deathly pale, cold sweat falling like rain.

She wanted to lie.

She wanted to fabricate a beautiful, touching love story.

But facing Ye Xuan's clear eyes, she found her throat seemed blocked, completely unable to make a sound.

After a long time.

"I... back then I..."

Wu Lingxiao lowered her head, her long nails digging deeply into her palms, blood dripping through her fingers.

Her voice trembled, carrying endless regret and pain:

"Back then I... failed you."

"I promised you... that we would be the only ones for each other for our entire lives..."

"But I... broke my promise."

"To balance the court, to stabilize the imperial power... I took in concubines, and even had him serve in my bed..."

Wu Lingxiao suddenly raised her head, her eyes urgent and frantic:

"But that is all in the past!"

"I swear! That was the last time! For the past eight hundred years, I have kept myself pure for you! This time, I will absolutely not fail you! Absolutely not!!"

Right at this moment.

"Ah!"

Ye Xuan suddenly and without warning let out an extremely mournful scream.

Clang!

The Sun-Slaying Sword slipped from his grasp, falling onto the jade floor of Zixiao Palace.

Ye Xuan desperately clutched his head with both hands, his whole body instantly curling up on the ground. His facial features twisted together in severe pain, his body convulsing violently as large beads of cold sweat soaked his clothes in an instant.

"My head... my head hurts so much!!"

"Ahhh!! Don't come near me! Those images... get away!"

This sudden turn of events terrified everyone silly.

"Husband!"

Wu Lingxiao was frightened out of her wits. All defenses, all vigilance, all imperial majesty were completely thrown to the wind.

Like a madwoman, she charged into the defensive circle of Zixiao Palace, scrambling and stumbling toward Ye Xuan, opening her arms to embrace him:

"What's wrong? Did you remember something?"

"Don't think about it! I beg you, don't think about it!"

"Imperial physician! Summon the imperial physician!! Whoever can cure my beloved consort, I will grant them the title of a King!"

Wu Lingxiao's trembling hands reached toward Ye Xuan, wanting to pull him into her arms to comfort him.

However.

In the exact moment her fingers were about to touch the corner of Ye Xuan's clothes.

"Get away!"

Ye Xuan fiercely raised his head, using all his strength to shove her away hard.

This push, in fact, didn't have much force. It was impossible to actually push her away.

Yet to the completely defenseless Wu Lingxiao, whose whole heart and mind were focused on worrying about him, it felt like a heavy hammer smashing ruthlessly against her heart.

Thump, thump, thump...

Wu Lingxiao staggered back several steps from the push, nearly falling over.

She stood there blankly, her hands frozen in mid-air, looking at Ye Xuan in disbelief.

Ye Xuan at this moment.

His face was as pale as a ghost, covered in cold sweat, with messy strands of hair clinging to his cheeks.

But the look in his eyes as he stared at Wu Lingxiao... had changed.

It was no longer the previous unfamiliarity and alienation.

Instead, it was a monstrous hatred.

It was a disgust so intense it could not be dissolved, a revulsion deep into the bones.

This kind of gaze was ten thousand times more hurtful than killing intent.

"Your Majesty..."

Ye Xuan panted heavily, the corners of his mouth curling into a hideous and sarcastic cold smile, his voice frightfully hoarse:

"I remember now..."

Wu Lingxiao's heart skipped a beat.

An extremely ominous premonition enveloped her. She looked at Ye Xuan's eyes full of hatred, her voice trembling like a leaf in the wind:

"Be... beloved consort, what... what have you remembered?"

Ye Xuan leaned against a pillar of Zixiao Palace, unsteadily getting to his feet.

Step by step, he closed in on Wu Lingxiao.

Every step he took felt like it was stepping right on the tip of Wu Lingxiao's heart, causing her agony worse than death.

"Did Your Majesty once promise me... that in this life, you would only love me alone?"

"Yes..." Wu Lingxiao bit her lower lip, tears bursting forth like a broken dam: "I promised... that was our wedding night..."

"Hahahahahaha."

Ye Xuan let out a shrill, miserable laugh, laughing until tears came to his eyes.

He violently snatched up the Sun-Slaying Sword from the ground, the tip of the blade pointing straight at Wu Lingxiao's nose, his wrist trembling violently from anger:

"You dare mention our wedding night?"

"According to my memories..."

"The first time, under the flowers and the moonlight, you solemnly swore to the heavens, saying I was your only one. And the result? You turned right around and favored the Empress, Zhou Xubai!"

Ye Xuan's eyes were bloodshot, looking as if they would shoot fire:

"You said you were momentarily confused, you said you only had me in your heart."

"Fine, I believed it! Like an idiot, I believed it!"

"And the result?"

"Not even ten years later, because you wanted to win over the Holy Land, you brought that bullshit Holy Son Yeyou into the palace!"

"When you were having a joyful time with him in Elysium, did you ever think of me, who was suffering in torment!"

Ye Xuan grew more and more agitated as he spoke, his whole person like an erupting volcano, venting out the resentment that had built up over eight hundred years all at once:

"And now, you want me to forgive you again?"

With the sword in his hand, Ye Xuan pointed at the warships filling the sky, pointed at the million-strong army kneeling on the ground, and finally pointed at Wu Lingxiao's nose, roaring:

"Wu Lingxiao!"

"Do you think I'm just here to be cuckolded over and over?"

"Your promises are nothing but bullshit! Your vows are worse than dog shit on the side of the road!"

"Time and time again! Time and time again! What do you take me for? A plaything you can beckon and dismiss at will, one who even has to smile while watching you sleep with other men?"

Dead silence.

Absolute dead silence.

This series of accusations had every word piercing the heart, every sentence weeping blood.

Not just Wu Lingxiao, even the hundreds of thousands of troops in the rear were dumbfounded hearing this.

This... this was the truth of what happened back then?

Her Majesty the Empress was actually... an ultimate scumbag?

Wu Lingxiao was completely stunned.

She opened her mouth, wanting to retort, wanting to explain.

But... she couldn't say the words.

Because, although there might be discrepancies in the details, the core facts... were true.

"No... that's not it... Consort Xuan, listen to my explanation..."

Wu Lingxiao waved her hands in a panic, her eyes desperate as she tried to pull on Ye Xuan's sleeve:

"Don't touch me!"

As if electrocuted, Ye Xuan violently swung his sword to knock her hand away.

Slash!

The sharp sword aura cut through Wu Lingxiao's dragon robe, leaving a bloody trail on the back of her pale hand.

"You are filthy!"

Ye Xuan retreated in disgust, his gaze piercingly cold, as if looking at some kind of filth:

"Just the thought of these hands of yours touching other men makes me so sick I want to vomit!"