The Female Emperor Collapsed

The flying ship traveled for about two hours. It was now noon, but the land below grew increasingly desolate and eerie.

This was the heartland of the Southern Province, known as the Withered Bone Wasteland. It was a true lawless zone and the only path leading to the City of Sin, a major stronghold of the demonic path.

Suddenly.

The steadily flying Emperor Ship jolted violently, crashing into an invisible wall.

Immediately after, the originally gloomy sky turned as black as ink, and gusts of a nauseating, bloody wind howled past.

"Jie jie jie jie..."

"What a luxurious flying ship! It seems this patriarch is going to make a fortune today!"

A harsh, grating, and bizarre laughter, sounding like the cry of a night owl, echoed from all directions.

In the void surrounding the flying ship, hundreds and thousands of giant blood-red bats had appeared at some unknown time. Standing amidst these bats was an old man with a withered face, wearing a blood-red robe.

The old man was surrounded by a ghastly aura. A white bone banner floated behind him, and the spiritual pressure he exuded had shockingly reached the mid-Nascent Soul stage!

Ying'er looked through the window and saw the old man clearly, her face turning pale with fright: "Master! It's Patriarch Blood Bat! A notorious evil cultivator in the Southern Province who loves to suck the essence blood of cultivators. It is said that he never leaves anyone alive!"

Ye Xuan raised an eyebrow.

Oh? Patriarch Blood Bat?

This was a genuine villain, not some extra hired by Wu Lingxiao.

Ye Xuan immediately stood up in panic, his face turning pale and his voice trembling:

"Na... Nascent Soul stage? We're doomed! I'm only at the Golden Core stage, how can I defeat a great demon of the Nascent Soul stage?"

As he shouted, he instinctively shrank back, hiding directly behind Wu Lingxiao. Grabbing her sleeve, he shivered:

"Sister Ling'er! Ying'er! Quick! Hide quickly!"

Wu Lingxiao, whose sleeve was grabbed by Ye Xuan, stiffened for a moment.

She looked at Ye Xuan, who was standing in front of her, trying to protect her with his not-so-broad shoulders while trembling in fear. A warm current surged in her heart, mixed with endless killing intent.

Where did this ant come from, daring to disturb the private world of We and Consort Xuan?

Courting death.

At this time, Patriarch Blood Bat outside had already grown impatient.

"Listen to me, people inside! The men will leave their storage rings and kill themselves, and the women will strip naked and walk out. This patriarch might just leave you with an intact corpse! Otherwise..."

"Noisy."

Inside the flying ship, Ye Xuan was busy acting and had no time to pay attention to him.

But Wu Lingxiao's patience had reached its limit.

She lowered her head slightly, appearing to be crying in fear, but in reality, two golden lights flashed past her eyes.

From an angle Ye Xuan couldn't see, she gently raised her right hand and flicked her index finger toward the void outside the window.

The movement was gentle, as if flicking dust off the corner of her clothes.

However.

It was just this light flick.

The world outside the flying ship suddenly stilled for a moment.

Immediately after, an indescribable, terrifying power capable of shattering the void descended out of thin air onto the heads of the blood bats and Patriarch Blood Bat.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor were there any dazzling magical lights.

There was only a soft "poof" sound.

Like the sound of a bubble bursting.

The arrogant Nascent Soul stage great demon, Patriarch Blood Bat, along with the sky full of blood-red bats around him, didn't even have time to let out a scream before they were instantly annihilated into nothingness.

Not even a speck of dust was left.

A true evaporation in the physical sense.

The ink-black sky instantly cleared up, and the sunlight spilled down once again.

Inside the flying ship.

Ying'er, who was preparing to activate the defensive array, was stunned.

Ye Xuan, who was preparing to pull out his life-saving magical treasure, was also stunned.

"This..."

Ye Xuan widened his eyes, pointed at the empty sky outside, and stammered:

"Where is he? Where is that old monster?"

Wu Lingxiao had already retracted her hand, putting on an expression of excessive shock and bewilderment, and said timidly:

"Young... Young Master... It seemed like a bolt of lightning struck down just now, and then... and then they disappeared..."

"Lightning?"

Ye Xuan's mouth twitched.

Who are you trying to fool? Where would lightning come from on a bright sunny day?

Even if there was lightning, could it blast a Nascent Soul stage old monster so thoroughly that not even ashes remained? That would have to be the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning!

This prodigal woman, striking without holding back, not even afraid of scaring the children.

But he still extremely cooperatively revealed an ecstatic expression of "surviving a disaster, it turns out I'm just lucky":

"Hahaha! Divine retribution! It must be divine retribution!"

"This old demon committed too many evil deeds, even the heavens couldn't stand watching it anymore!"

Ye Xuan slapped his thigh and laughed loudly, then turned around and hugged Wu Lingxiao:

"Ling'er! We are not destined to die! Hahaha!"

Suddenly being hugged, Wu Lingxiao completely froze.

Happiness came too suddenly; her brain simply crashed.

Feeling the warmth of Ye Xuan's chest and smelling the faint fragrance on his body, the hostility in her heart instantly dissipated without a trace, replaced by a heart full of sweetness and softness.

He hugged me...

As long as it could make him happy, let alone killing one Patriarch Blood Bat, so what if she slaughtered the entire Southern Province?

Wu Lingxiao cautiously reached out her hands, wanting to hug Ye Xuan back, but Ye Xuan let go at exactly the right moment and turned around to check the flying ship's array.

Her embrace was empty.

A trace of disappointment flashed through Wu Lingxiao's eyes, but then a blazing fighting spirit ignited once more.

It doesn't matter, there are plenty of days ahead.

The flying ship pierced through the night sky, the galaxy hanging upside down.

Compared to the noise of the day, the Emperor Ship at night seemed particularly quiet, but within this quietness, a storm capable of destroying the world was brewing.

After dinner.

Ye Xuan yawned, his lazy gaze sweeping over the two stunning women in front of him.

His gaze lingered for a moment on Wu Lingxiao, who was using the alias "Ling'er," and then carelessly turned away, reaching out to pull Ying'er, who was clearing the dishes, into his arms.

"Ying'er, you will serve in my bedchamber tonight."

This sentence fell like a thunderbolt.

Wu Lingxiao, who was wiping the table, suddenly stiffened. The pitiful rag instantly turned into fine powder, rustling down from between her fingers.

Ying'er's small face turned bright red. She shyly lowered her head, her voice as quiet as a mosquito: "Yes... Master."

With a smile on his lips, Ye Xuan wrapped his arm around Ying'er's slender waist and turned to walk toward the bedroom.

"Wait!"

A sharp, trembling, and even slightly mournful voice suddenly rang out.

Wu Lingxiao suddenly stood up and blocked the bedroom door. Her eyes were bloodshot, her chest heaving violently. She stared fixedly at the hand Ye Xuan used to hold Ying'er, the fire of jealousy in her eyes almost burning away all her rationality.

"Young Master... you cannot!"

Wu Lingxiao's voice was hoarse, every word seemingly squeezed through her teeth:

"You... how can you..."

"How can you let a maidservant serve in your bed? This... this is against propriety!"

What she really wanted to say was: You are mine! You belong to We! Besides We, no one can touch you! Whoever touches you dies!

But she didn't dare to say it.

Facing Wu Lingxiao's obstruction, the smile on Ye Xuan's face instantly vanished.

It was replaced by a layer of frost that could freeze the soul.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, looking down condescendingly at this once-arrogant female emperor, his voice bone-chillingly cold:

"Insolent."

Just two simple words, yet they carried an unquestionable authority.

Ye Xuan took a step forward, glaring into Wu Lingxiao's deathly pale face, and enunciated each word clearly:

"This is my territory."

"I will favor whoever I please. I will have whoever I want attend to me in bed."

"You are nothing but an embroiderer I picked up along the way. Remember your place."

"If you dare spout nonsense again, get the hell out!"

This barrage of words was like a series of sharp blades, stabbing ruthlessly into Wu Lingxiao's heart and hacking her dignity to pieces.

Wu Lingxiao trembled all over, tears swirling in her eyes.

She was the supreme ruler, the Empress who governed billions of living beings!

Who in this world would dare tell her to get the hell out?

But the person standing before her was Ye Xuan.

The true love she had owed for eight hundred years, the man she could never bring herself to hurt, no matter what.

Under Ye Xuan's cold and resolute gaze, Wu Lingxiao's straight spine finally bent.

She bit her lip until it broke, tasting the metallic tang of blood, yet she could only tremble and step aside, making way.

"Yes... this servant knows her mistake."

Ye Xuan scoffed coldly, too lazy to even spare her another glance. Embracing the shy and somewhat frightened Ying'er, he walked into the bedroom.

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

Shutting Wu Lingxiao's heart out in a cold hell.

This night, to Wu Lingxiao, felt longer than eight hundred years of solitude.

She did not return to her own room. Like a statue, she knelt outside Ye Xuan's bedroom door.

She pressed her ear against the door. Even though the flying ship's soundproofing arrays were excellent, with her terrifying cultivation as a Half-Step True Immortal, every slightest sound inside was infinitely magnified and transmitted clearly into her ears.

"Mmm... Master..."

"Gently..."

The faint sounds of playful teasing coming from the room automatically formed the most unbearable and devastating images in Wu Lingxiao's mind.

"Kill..."

"Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!"

Wu Lingxiao's ten fingers dug fiercely into the hard agarwood floorboards. Her nails broke, dripping with blood, yet she felt nothing.

Her originally delicate, disguised face was now twisted like a vengeful spirit crawling out of the abyss.

Deep in her eyes, black demonic energy surged madly, almost impossible to suppress.

That slut... that cheap woman!

How dare she! How dare she touch my Consort Xuan!

He is mine! He is mine alone!

I will kill her... no, killing her is too easy.

I will flay her skin and tear apart her bones, pull out her divine soul and roast it over the Nine Netherworld Flames for ten thousand years! I will make her bleed out her last drop of blood, make her regret ever coming into this world!

At this moment, terrifying killing intent permeated the corridor.

If an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator were standing here, their heart meridians would be directly shattered by this pure killing intent.

Wu Lingxiao's hand had already risen, a destructive beam capable of piercing the void condensing at her fingertips.

With just a light point of her finger.

That maidservant inside named Ying'er would instantly turn to ash.

Even with Ye Xuan protecting her, it would be useless. She had ten thousand ways to make Ying'er die without anyone noticing.

But.

Just at the moment her finger was about to strike, Wu Lingxiao's movements halted.

In her mind, the heavy rain from eight hundred years ago suddenly surfaced.

The blood-stained youth looked at her with the most resolute eyes, and then, without hesitation, plunged a sword into himself.

"Truly disgusting."

These words had become her lingering nightmare for eight hundred years.

Wu Lingxiao's raised hand trembled violently, ultimately dropping down powerlessly.

She didn't dare.

She truly didn't dare.

If she killed Ying'er, Ye Xuan would definitely hate her, and might even... truly kill himself again.

Even though her cultivation was boundless now, and she could resurrect him once or twice, she could not bear the agony of watching him die in front of her once more.

"Sob..."

This Empress who intimidated the Three Thousand Dao Realms curled up at the bedroom door, weeping silently like a child abandoned by the whole world.

She buried her head in her knees, her nails digging deeply into her flesh.

Even if she was driven mad with jealousy in her heart, even if she wished she could destroy the heavens and the earth, she could only endure it.

Listening to the noises inside, every second felt like a death by a thousand cuts.

She suffered through an entire night in this extreme agony, jealousy, remorse, and fear.