The Sword Emperor Kneels

The two continued their journey deeper into the secret realm.

The further they went, the more bizarre their surroundings became. The relatively normal vegetation gradually disappeared, replaced by a desolate expanse of scorched earth.

Bai Qianqiu subconsciously covered her nose and mouth, her brows furrowed tightly. She felt an ominous premonition rising in her heart—a cultivator's instinctive perception of danger.

"Husband..."

She spoke softly, a trace of unease in her voice.

"I feel that something is wrong. The spiritual energy here... is too chaotic."

Ye Xuan nodded, his expression turning solemn. He felt it too; the spiritual energy in this area was not only chaotic but also filled with an evil, tyrannical aura, as if it had been corrupted by something.

"Be careful."

Ye Xuan tightened his grip on Bai Qianqiu's hand and rested his other hand on the hilt of his sword.

"We might have entered the core region."

Just as he spoke.

Rumble...

The earth suddenly trembled violently, as if some colossal beast were awakening deep underground.

Bai Qianqiu lost her footing. As she swayed, Ye Xuan quickly reached out and pulled her into his embrace. The two looked around, their faces simultaneously turning pale.

The Tianyuan Secret Realm, the core region.

The once dead and desolate land was now undergoing a hair-raising mutation.

The sky had unknowingly changed color. It was no longer the gloomy gray from before, but took on a sickly grayish-purple hue.

The earth quaked as countless pitch-black fissures spread out like spiderwebs, extending from beneath their feet all the way to the horizon. These bottomless chasms emitted a dense black mist, within which countless twisted human figures could faintly be seen struggling and wailing.

"This... this is..."

Bai Qianqiu's voice trembled. She felt an unprecedented fear welling up from the depths of her heart.

She was the Holy Maiden of the Sword God Palace and had seen countless grand scenes, but facing this eerie sight, she still felt a profound sense of dread.

Accompanied by an ear-shattering roar, a monster as massive as a mountain crawled out from beneath the earth.

It was a terrifying existence that defied description.

Its enormous body blotted out the sun, standing at least a thousand fathoms tall, covered densely in fleshy tumors and tentacles. The tumors writhed ceaselessly as if alive, occasionally bursting open to spew foul-smelling pus. The tentacles were even more horrifying; each was dozens of fathoms long and bore countless pale human faces. These faces wore various expressions—some weeping, some screaming, some grinning hideously—emitting blood-curdling sounds.

What was even more terrifying was that these tentacles exuded a stench foul enough to corrode the protective spiritual light of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. The spiritual energy in the air instantly became filthy and corrupted upon contact with this stench.

"Late-stage Soul Formation... No, this is a Void Training stage fiend!"

Bai Qianqiu's face turned as pale as paper, her voice quivering.

But this was not the worst of it.

In the surrounding void, countless black rifts suddenly appeared. The rifts were like wounds slashed open by a sharp blade, and dense swarms of black shadows poured out from within.

These were Void Yaksas.

A terrifying fiend that only existed in ancient texts. Every single one possessed the strength of the Nascent Soul stage. The most frightening aspect was their sheer number: thousands upon thousands of them surged out like locusts, blotting out the sky!

They had bat-like wings and bodies as gaunt as skeletons, yet their faces bore human features—only twisted, deformed, and brimming with malice. Their mouths were filled with razor-sharp fangs, and their fingernails were as sharp as daggers, gleaming with a dark green light that clearly indicated highly lethal poison.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

The Void Yaksas let out ear-piercing shrieks. The sound waves formed visible ripples in the air, shaking one's mind to the point of dizziness. They circled in the sky, their greedy gazes locking onto the two humans on the ground like starving wolves spotting prey.

This was a disaster.

A disaster capable of annihilating every cultivator who had entered the secret realm.

Bai Qianqiu felt as if her breathing had stopped. Her hand gripped her sword hilt tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead and slid down her cheeks, but she could not spare a moment to wipe it away.

"Is this... has the seal of the Ancient Fiend Abyss been broken?"

Bai Qianqiu's voice was filled with disbelief and deep despair.

The Ancient Fiend Abyss was a forbidden land where the fiend race had been sealed away in ancient times. Legend had it that the human and demon races had joined forces back then, sacrificing the lives of countless experts to seal the fiends deep within the abyss. And the Tianyuan Secret Realm was a trial ground established precisely over the seal of the Fiend Abyss.

But now, the seal was broken.

Those fiends, sealed away for countless years, had seen the light of day once more.

Bai Qianqiu's beautiful face was deathly pale, and the hand holding her sword was trembling slightly.

Even though she was the Holy Maiden of the Sword God Palace, even though her talent was peerless and her cultivation had reached the late Nascent Soul stage, and even though she had mastered countless top-tier sword arts—in the face of such absolute numbers and terrifying level suppression, she still felt profound despair.

She might be able to handle one Void Yaksa.

Against ten, she could barely hold her ground.

But now, there were thousands upon thousands!

Not to mention that terrifying Void Training stage behemoth!

This was simply not a power she could contend with!

"Husband, hurry and leave!!"

Bai Qianqiu suddenly turned around and pushed Ye Xuan, her voice filled with anxiety and fear.

"I'll hold them off! Use that escape art and run!"

A resolute light flickered in her eyes. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold them off for long, but even if she could only buy a single breath of time, she had to let Ye Xuan escape.

She couldn't let him die here.

Absolutely not.

However.

Her hand pushed against empty air.

Bai Qianqiu froze. She felt her wrist being grasped by a slender, powerful hand.

Stunned, Bai Qianqiu abruptly turned her head to look back.

She saw Ye Xuan standing in front of her. His white robes fluttered wildly in the wind, yet he didn't look the least bit disheveled. Instead, he exuded an indescribable elegance and composure.

He hadn't run.

In fact, there was not a trace of fear on his face.

On the contrary.

He was laughing wildly.

Ye Xuan gripped the Sun-Slaying Divine Sword tightly in his hand, his gaze coldly fixed on the sky full of fiends.

His eyes were calm—terrifyingly calm.

This calmness was not the fearlessness of the ignorant, but a detachment born from experiencing countless life-and-death struggles and seeing through everything.

"Run?"

Ye Xuan's voice was very soft, yet it transmitted clearly into Bai Qianqiu's ears.

"I have been running my entire life."

"I ran in my past life, and I have been running in this one."

Bai Qianqiu's heart trembled violently. She heard endless vicissitudes and pain in Ye Xuan's words. She suddenly realized that the hardships this man before her had experienced were far more than she could have ever imagined.

Ye Xuan turned his head, his gaze falling upon Bai Qianqiu's panic-stricken, breathtakingly beautiful face.

At this moment, his eyes gradually softened, like ice and snow melting into the warmth of spring flowers blooming.

He raised his hand, his fingers gently tidying the messy strands of hair at her temples. His movements were as gentle as if he were handling the most precious treasure in the world.

"It was so hard to finally..."

Ye Xuan's voice grew even softer, so soft it was as if he were muttering to himself:

"God has finally opened his eyes for once, allowing me to meet a pure, flawless Dao companion."

His fingers slid from Bai Qianqiu's hair down to her cheek, caressing it gently. His eyes were full of cherishing and affection:

"Allowing me to meet a woman who is willing to stand in front of me, rather than stab me in the back."

Bai Qianqiu's eyes instantly moistened. She understood the meaning behind Ye Xuan's words; he had been betrayed before, betrayed by people he trusted, and more than once.

Ye Xuan's eyes were slightly red, but he was still smiling, the corners of his mouth curling into a resolute arc:

"How could I allow... you to die here?"

A tragic and extremely fierce aura erupted from Ye Xuan's body.

That was the precursor to burning one's life force, burning one's very origin!

His hair began to turn white, losing color strand by strand from the roots. Fine wrinkles appeared on his face, the traces of fading life.

"Ye Xuan! Are you crazy?"

Bai Qianqiu screamed, tears instantly welling up and blurring her vision:

"You will die! You are only at the Nascent Soul stage! You can't stop them!"

She wanted to rush forward and stop Ye Xuan, but was blocked by an invisible force. This was a barrier Ye Xuan had set up with his last bit of spiritual energy to protect her inside.

"If I die, so be it."

Ye Xuan looked calm, as if talking about a trivial matter that had nothing to do with him:

"My wife, you go first."

He let go of Bai Qianqiu's hand, turned around, and faced the tide-like army of demonic creatures alone with his sword:

"Leave this place to me."

His back grew taller and taller in Bai Qianqiu's eyes, as if transforming into an insurmountable mountain peak, standing between her and those monsters.

"If I can't survive..."

Ye Xuan's voice drifted over, carrying a sense of relief and free-spiritedness:

"Then I just won't live."

"Anyway, I've had enough of this filthy world long ago."

Bai Qianqiu's heart felt as if it had been ruthlessly gripped by a large hand, aching so much she couldn't breathe.

Her tears fell continuously like beads from a broken string. She wanted to shout, wanted to call him back, but her throat felt blocked, unable to make a sound.

She looked at this man who was calmly marching toward death for her sake.

At this moment, whether he was a freeloader or a playboy, none of it mattered anymore.

She only knew that he was her husband, the only person in this world willing to die for her.

"No... I can't let this happen!"

Bai Qianqiu fiercely bit the tip of her tongue, spitting out a mouthful of lifeblood. The intense pain brought her some clarity, and with trembling hands, she pulled out a golden talisman radiating an ancient and weathered aura from her robes.

The talisman was carved with complex runes, each one shimmering with a faint golden light and exuding a terrifying pressure.

This was the life-saving trump card her master had specially left for her when she departed the palace.

Her master had said that this talisman sealed a wisp of her divine sense; as long as it was activated, she could descend across the endless void. But at the same time, her master had warned her never to use it unless absolutely necessary.

Because once used, it meant alarming that existence who was currently in death-seclusion.

Her master was striving for a higher realm, and any interruption could cause her to suffer qi deviation, lose all her progress, and even perish, her Dao vanishing.

But right now, she couldn't care less!

A trace of determination flashed through Bai Qianqiu's eyes. She would rather her master blame her, rather bear any punishment, than watch helplessly as Ye Xuan died here.

"Master! Save my husband!"

Bai Qianqiu let out a mournful roar, her voice filled with despair and pleading. She frantically poured her spiritual energy into the talisman, even going so far as to burn her own lifeblood to accelerate its activation.

In an instant.

Time stood still.

The void yakshas lunging from all directions, that roaring mountain-like giant monster, and even the violent astral winds in the mystic realm all froze in this split second.

The entire world turned into a static painting.

An indescribable, terrifying pressure erupted from the burning talisman.

This pressure surpassed the Nascent Soul stage, surpassed the Soul Formation stage, and even surpassed the Tribulation Transcendence stage!

This was power that belonged to the pinnacle of this world!

This was the power of an existence standing at the apex of the cultivation world, looking down upon all living beings!

Bai Qianqiu felt her soul trembling under this pressure. She couldn't even stand steady; her legs gave way, and she knelt on the ground.

Those originally ferocious void yakshas all stopped their movements at this moment, their bodies hovering stiffly in the air, the fierce light in their eyes replaced by fear.

That Void Refinement stage mountain-like giant beast even let out a terrified roar, its massive body beginning to tremble. Countless tentacles frantically tried to burrow back underground, wanting to escape this horrifying pressure.

"Who... dares to hurt my disciple?"

A cold, indifferent female voice, yet containing supreme majesty, came from above the nine heavens, echoing throughout the Tianyuan Mystic Realm.

Immediately after.

The sky of the mystic realm cracked open.

It wasn't torn apart by demonic energy, but was forcefully split in half by a sword light that was pure to the extreme!

That sword light was dazzlingly brilliant, as if condensed from the purest light in heaven and earth. It slashed down from the void, dividing the grayish-purple sky in two and revealing the azure vault of heaven behind it.

Within that rift, the sky surged with golden lotuses, and the laws of the Great Dao rumbled.

Countless golden lotuses bloomed from the void, each radiating a holy radiance that dispelled the surrounding demonic energy. The lotuses spun and drifted down through the air, forming a golden pathway.

A figure of peerless elegance slowly descended from that golden pathway.

She was dressed in white clothes whiter than snow, her sleeves fluttering as if she were a Moon Palace fairy detached from the mortal world. The white robes were embroidered with complex sword patterns, each pattern seemingly containing world-destroying sword intent that made one afraid to look directly at them.

Her long black hair fell like a waterfall, each strand shimmering with crystal-clear sword radiance and containing the power to sever stars. As a gentle breeze blew, her hair fluttered lightly, carving sharp trails in the air that even cut fine fissures into the void.

Her appearance could no longer be described with words.

It was a gift from the Creator, the most perfect masterpiece in heaven and earth.

Her eyebrows were like distant mountains painted in ink, her eyes like autumn waters rippling. Her nose was elegantly straight like jade, and her red lips were like fire and blood. Her skin surpassed snow and was so delicate it could break at a breath, looking as though it were carved from the finest mutton-fat white jade.

But the most striking feature was her eyes.

Those eyes were as cold as frost and indifferent as water, as if all things in the world were nothing but fleeting clouds in her sight. It was a gaze that had seen through life and death and transcended the mortal realm, noble, holy, and inviolable.

She was barefoot, stepping on the void. With every step she took, a dazzling sword lotus bloomed beneath her feet.

With her appearance, the entire mystic realm was trembling.

The Master of the Sword God Palace.

Her sword suppressed the Three Thousand Dao Continents.

The number one sword in the world, the Sword Sovereign, Ye Jiuhuang!

That giant monster, which had just been arrogant and overwhelmingly ferocious, actually let out whimpers of fear at this moment. Its massive body sprawled on the ground, its countless tentacles shivering, and all the human faces upon them revealed expressions of terror.

The Void Yakshas were frightened out of their wits. They scrambled to flee back into the void rifts, only to find that the surrounding space had been completely sealed off. They had nowhere to run.

Ye Jiuhuang cast an indifferent glance at the tide of demonic creatures below.

There was not the slightest ripple of emotion in her eyes.

"Noisy."

She gently raised her jade-like hand. It was fair and slender, her fingers like carved scallion roots, beautiful as a work of art. She casually pointed her index finger with an elegant and unhurried grace, as if merely brushing a speck of dust from her sleeve.

Clang!

There were no earth-shattering explosions, nor any dazzling displays of light.

There was only a single streak of sword qi.

An ordinary-looking sword qi, yet fast to the absolute extreme.

Bursting forth from her fingertip, this sword qi was as thin as a strand of hair, yet it contained world-destroying power. It silently sliced through the void, moving so fast that not even light could catch up to it.

In an instant, the world turned black and white.

All colors vanished, and all sounds faded away. Only the trajectory of that sword qi carving through heaven and earth remained.

When color returned to the world...

The sky full of Void Yakshas, that terrifying mountain-like behemoth, and even the barren land, rocks, and air within a radius of a thousand miles...

Everything was reduced to fine dust.

Annihilation.

Complete and utter annihilation.

There was no flying blood and flesh, nor any agonized wails. The demonic creatures simply vanished, as if they had never existed in the first place.

The originally grim and terrifying core region had now become a flat expanse of empty land. The ground was as smooth as a mirror, without a single crack or trace of demonic aura to be seen. Only pure spiritual qi drifted in the air.

This was the true weight of the world's number one sword.

Annihilating ten thousand demons with a single finger.

"Master!"

Witnessing this scene, Bai Qianqiu wept tears of joy. Her legs gave way, and she fell to her knees:

"Master... you're finally here!"

Her voice was filled with the relief and excitement of surviving a disaster. She thought she was dead for sure, and that Ye Xuan would die here too. But her master had arrived, and everything was saved.

Ye Jiuhuang slowly retracted her finger, the divine light around her body dimming slightly.

She turned around, her gaze falling upon her only disciple, a flash of doting affection mixed with reproach in her eyes:

"Qianqiu, you are too reckless."

Her voice remained aloof and cold, yet carried a hint of helplessness and heartache:

"A mere Nascent Soul secret realm actually forced you to summon my dharma body..."

However.

Before she could finish her sentence.

Ye Jiuhuang's voice suddenly caught in her throat, as if someone were strangling her.

Because from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the man standing not far beside Bai Qianqiu.

The man dressed in white, holding a sword in his hand, looking at her with a face full of indifference.

Ye Jiuhuang's sword heart, cultivated for ten thousand years, long since placid as an ancient well, having seen through life and death, trembled at this very moment.

Her pupils violently contracted, and her body froze stiffly in midair.

Her originally lofty, god-like, and indifferent face was instantly covered in shock, bewilderment, ecstasy, guilt, and fear...

Countless incredibly complex emotions intertwined on that breathtakingly beautiful face, twisting her expression into one of agony.

"Ye..."

Ye Jiuhuang's lips trembled. She wanted to call out that name, but found her throat completely blocked, unable to produce a single sound.

It was him.

It was really him.

That face was etched deep into her soul; she would recognize it even if it were reduced to ashes!

The nemesis who had haunted her dreams and filled her with remorse for eight thousand years!

Ye Jiuhuang felt her entire world collapsing in this instant.

She had cultivated for ten thousand years, experienced countless life-and-death struggles, witnessed the rise and fall of countless dynasties, and watched countless geniuses fall and powerhouses turn to dust. She thought her heart was already as firm as a boulder, never to be swayed by anything again.

But now, she realized she was wrong.

The moment she saw that familiar face, all her cultivation, all her focus, and all her composure completely crumbled.

Her heart pounded violently, beating so fast it felt like it would leap out of her chest. Her hands were shaking, her body was shaking, and even her very soul was trembling.

Eight thousand years.

A full eight thousand years.

She had searched for him for eight thousand years, from the Eastern Sea to the Western Desert, from the Northern Frontiers to the Southern Wastelands. She had scoured every inch of the Three Thousand Dao Realms, questioned every expert in the world, and even mobilized the entire strength of the Sword God Palace to launch countless massive search operations.

Yet she had found nothing.

He seemed to have evaporated from the face of the earth, disappearing without a trace.

And now, here he stood before her.

Alive, real, right in front of her eyes.

Ye Jiuhuang felt her eye sockets burning as something welled up within them. She had not shed a tear in eight thousand years, but now, she felt she could hardly control herself.

She wanted to rush over, to embrace him, to tell him how much she had missed him, to tell him how she had survived these past eight thousand years.

But she dared not.

Because she saw the look in Ye Xuan's eyes.

It was a gaze that chilled her to the bone.

Indifferent, disgusted, and even carrying a trace of revulsion.

As if he were looking at some nauseating, filthy thing.

That look was like a blade, ruthlessly stabbing into her heart.

Ye Xuan stood firmly in place.

He did not kneel in worship like the others, nor was he excited like Bai Qianqiu.

He merely stared coldly at Ye Jiuhuang floating in midair. His eyes held not a shred of warmth for their long-awaited reunion, only a chilling indifference and disgust.

His body trembled slightly, not out of fear, but out of fury.

A fury that seeped deep into his bones.

An anger that had been suppressed for countless years and was finally on the verge of erupting.

Kneeling on the ground, Bai Qianqiu felt an unprecedented sense of oppression.

She looked up, her gaze shifting back and forth between her master and Ye Xuan, her heart filled with confusion and bewilderment.

The way Master was looking at Ye Xuan was so strange...

Bai Qianqiu had never seen her master show such an expression before.

Shock, ecstasy, guilt, fear, and a profound sense of humility.

This humility was like that of a child who had done something wrong, waiting for her parents' punishment.

This wasn't right.

This was completely wrong.

Just who was her master?

She was the Sword Sovereign who suppressed the Three Thousand Dao Realms with her blade, an existence that struck terror into the hearts of countless powerhouses. How could she show such an expression toward a mere Nascent Soul stage cultivator?

Bai Qianqiu felt her entire worldview collapsing.

It felt as if a long time had passed, yet also as if only a fleeting moment had gone by.

Finally, Ye Xuan spoke.

"Have you stared enough?"

Ye Xuan's voice was not loud, yet it carried a suffocating chill.

His tone was incredibly calm, terrifyingly calm, like the dead silence before a raging storm.

"If you've stared enough, then get the hell down here."

"If you have something to say, get on your knees before you speak!"

The moment these words were spoken.

Kneeling on the ground, Bai Qianqiu was scared out of her wits.

She snapped her head up and stared at Ye Xuan in sheer disbelief, her voice trembling:

"Husband, you're crazy!"

Her voice was laced with terror and incredulity:

"She is the Sword Sovereign! The number one sword in the world! She is my master!!"

She screamed with almost all her might, desperately trying to snap Ye Xuan back to his senses.

"How dare you... how dare you speak to her like that?"

In this world, who would dare tell the Sword Sovereign to get the hell down here?

This was simply courting death! A grave crime warranting the execution of nine generations!

When the Sword Sovereign was enraged, blood would flow for ten thousand miles!

Once, a mighty expert at the Tribulation Transcendence realm had merely gossiped about the Sword Sovereign behind her back, only to be slain by a single strike of her sword, not even his primordial spirit managing to escape.

And Ye Xuan actually told the Sword Sovereign to get the hell down right to her face?

This was no longer arrogance; this was madness! This was courting death!

Bai Qianqiu felt as if her heart was about to stop beating. She looked at Ye Xuan in despair, tears falling ceaselessly.

It is over... it is all over...

Master will definitely be furious, she will definitely tear Ye Xuan into ten thousand pieces...

Bai Qianqiu closed her eyes in despair, not daring to watch the bloody scene that was to follow.

She had even prepared herself to use her own body to shield Ye Xuan the moment her master struck.

Even if she had to die, she wanted to die together with Ye Xuan.

However.

One second passed.

Two seconds passed.

Three seconds passed.

The anticipated devastating blow did not descend.

Instead, there was a soft rustle of clothing, followed by the sound of a heavy object landing on the ground.

Thump.

The sound was light, but it clearly entered Bai Qianqiu's ears.

Bai Qianqiu abruptly opened her eyes.

The next moment.

Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets, her jaw dropped to the floor, and her entire being was left dumbstruck.

She saw her master, Ye Jiuhuang, who stood high above all, whose sword suppressed the Three Thousand Dao Continents, and who was regarded as a god by the world.

At this moment, she had actually descended from the sky.

Furthermore...

She was actually kneeling in front of Ye Xuan!

Ye Jiuhuang lowered her noble head, her myriad strands of black hair falling into the dirt, stained by the dust on the ground.

Her shoulders trembled violently. Her originally aloof eyes were now brimming with tears. The tears slid down her flawless cheeks and dripped onto the ground, making faint sounds.

Her hands pressed against the ground, her fingertips digging deeply into the soil. Her body arched slightly, as if she were enduring immense pain.

Ah Xuan...

Ye Jiuhuang's voice was hoarse, carrying endless humility and pleading:

I... I have kneeled.

She raised her head, looking at Ye Xuan through tear-blurred eyes, her gaze full of entreaty:

Please... don't be angry, okay?

Silence.

A deathly silence.

The entire secret realm fell quiet; even the wind stopped blowing.

Bai Qianqiu felt her worldview completely collapse at this moment.

She looked at her master kneeling on the ground, and then at Ye Xuan, who stood in the distance with a cold expression.

Her mind went completely blank, entirely unable to comprehend everything happening before her eyes.

Was... was this an illusion?

This must be a heart demon tribulation, right?!

It must be because she was too terrified just now that she was hallucinating!

Yes, that must be it!

How could Master possibly kneel?

But no matter how much Bai Qianqiu rubbed her eyes or pinched herself, the scene before her did not change.

Her master was still kneeling there, still looking at Ye Xuan with a humble gaze.

This was real.

This was not an illusion.

Bai Qianqiu felt her entire perception of the world completely overturned at this moment.

Heh.

Ye Xuan looked at Ye Jiuhuang kneeling at his feet and let out a disdainful sneer.

He slowly walked forward, each step heavy, producing muffled thuds.

He reached out a hand, extremely rudely and roughly pinching Ye Jiuhuang's smooth, jade-like chin, forcing her to look up.

Ye Jiuhuang did not resist, allowing Ye Xuan to manipulate her as he pleased.

Her devastatingly beautiful face was now covered in tear stains, looking incredibly pitiful. Where was even the slightest trace of the majesty of the world's number one sword?

Her eyes were red, and crystal-clear teardrops still hung on her eyelashes. Her lips trembled slightly as if she wanted to say something, but she did not dare to speak.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Ye Xuan looked down at her from above, as if inspecting a cheap piece of merchandise:

What number one sword in the world?

His voice was filled with sarcasm:

What suppressing the Three Thousand Continents with a sword?

His fingers gently caressed Ye Jiuhuang's cheek, feeling the delicate touch, yet his eyes grew increasingly icy:

Nothing more than this.

Ye Jiuhuang's body trembled, but she did not dodge. Instead, she turned her face slightly, letting Ye Xuan's palm fit more closely against her cheek.

She closed her eyes, tears streaming down ceaselessly.

She had not felt his touch for eight thousand years.

Even if this touch was full of humiliation and disgust, she still felt happy.

At least, he was still willing to touch her.

At least, he was still alive.

Bai Qianqiu, did you see that?

Ye Xuan said to Bai Qianqiu behind him without even turning his head:

I told you long ago.

His voice was calm, but it carried a chill that seeped into the bones:

The thing that hurts people the most in this world has never been the sword in your master's hands.

He paused, his voice growing even colder:

Only the word love hurts the deepest and kills without form.

I also said.

Ye Xuan let go of his hand and wiped it on his clothes in disgust, as if he had touched something dirty:

With just five sentences, I can make her kneel.

He turned his head and looked at Bai Qianqiu, a trace of complex emotion flashing through his eyes:

Now, do you believe it?