You Can Be Small

"Regret?"

"Hahaha! The word 'regret' does not exist in my dictionary!"

"What? Are you trying to threaten me?"

Wu Lingxiao leaned in close to Ye Xuan on her own accord, her eyes filled with extreme provocation:

"Are you going to use suicide to threaten me again?"

"Just like on the Imperial Boat?"

"What a pity, my beloved consort."

Wu Lingxiao reached out a finger adorned with a long nail guard, and with a touch of flirtatious malice, gently poked Ye Xuan right over his heart:

"You no longer dare to die."

"Because you know that if you die, Bai Qianqiu will die an even more miserable death. You will keep this life of yours, waiting to save her."

The corners of her mouth curled up into a smug arc, as if she had seen through everything:

"Am I right?"

Ye Xuan fell silent.

Indeed, he didn't dare to die. If he died in this bottomless, utterly insane world, Bai Qianqiu falling into the hands of a yandere empress like Wu Lingxiao would result in an end a hundred times more tragic than what she had just described.

However.

Not daring to die absolutely did not mean he had no other means to deal with a lunatic.

Ye Xuan slowly raised his head.

Looking at Wu Lingxiao so close at hand, the anger and anxiety on his face suddenly vanished without a trace, like a receding tide.

Replacing them was an extreme calmness, colder than the abyss and absolutely bone-chilling.

"You are right."

"I don't dare to die."

"The reason I don't dare to die is that I have seen the hope for happiness. Because I know that in this world, there is still a woman named Bai Qianqiu waiting for me."

As soon as his voice fell, Ye Xuan's eyes turned ruthless. He suddenly reached out like lightning and grabbed a tight handful of Wu Lingxiao's messy, long hair.

This time, he showed not the slightest bit of tenderness toward the fairer sex!

He yanked fiercely. The force was so great that Wu Lingxiao's scalp tightened sharply, forcing her to lower her head along with his pull. Her face crashed heavily toward his, bringing their faces inches apart.

"Ugh!"

Wu Lingxiao let out a muffled groan of pain. But this intense pain, rather than making her resist, made her whole body tremble as an unnatural flush rose to her cheeks.

Surprisingly, her eyes turned hazy with a trace of sickly enjoyment, gazing obsessively at Ye Xuan, who was committing this violence against her at such close range.

Ye Xuan pulled her lower until the tips of their noses almost touched, both able to feel each other's scorching breath.

He stared dead into Wu Lingxiao's eyes. Within his own originally clear and profound pupils, a world-destroying madness was already surging.

"But, Wu Lingxiao, listen to me very clearly."

Ye Xuan's voice was low and hoarse, carrying a piercing chill:

"If I cannot see even a sliver of hope..."

"If you truly ruin her, if you really let that kind of thing happen..."

"Then, I am capable of doing absolutely anything."

"I will stay alive."

"But I will become a complete and utter madman. I will think of every possible way to grow stronger. I will sacrifice myself to the Heavenly Dao, I will cultivate the most evil demonic arts, and I will sell my soul to the devil."

The murderous aura in Ye Xuan's eyes felt almost tangible as he tightly gripped Wu Lingxiao's hair:

"When that time comes, I will personally turn this Great Xia Imperial Palace into purgatory. I will drag you, Zi Yao, and everyone in this world into a sea of blood to be buried alongside her."

"I will make you endure the most terrifying torture in this world, for ten thousand years! Twenty thousand years!"

"You know I have the ability to do so."

Ye Xuan's gaze at this moment was truly terrifying.

This was absolutely not a bluffing threat.

It was the statement of an impending fact.

Looking at this emotionless Ye Xuan, looking into those eyes that wanted to drag the whole world down into the grave, a long-lost, uncontrollable shudder suddenly welled up from the bottom of Wu Lingxiao's heart.

She was a lunatic; she wasn't afraid of death, much less afraid of Ye Xuan torturing her.

But she feared this kind of absolute resolve from Ye Xuan, a readiness to completely annihilate even his soul and perish together.

Because this meant that once something happened to Bai Qianqiu, not only would she never obtain Ye Xuan's heart, but even the man himself would turn into an emotionless walking corpse that only knew slaughter, leaving her completely forever!

"You..."

Wu Lingxiao clenched her jaw tightly. This feeling of having her fatal weakness firmly grasped by another made the flames of jealousy in her heart burn even more fiercely:

"For her... you can actually go mad to such an extent?"

She violently broke free from Ye Xuan's hand, clutching her aching scalp, and roared in anger and unwillingness:

"Fine! Even if I don't let anyone touch her!"

"But Bai Qianqiu wants to be the legal wife? Wants to inherit the position of the Heaven-mandated female lead? Dream on!"

"I am the one who has accompanied you the longest! I am the one who met you first! On what grounds is she the legal wife? Then what about me? What do I count as?"

Facing Wu Lingxiao's tearful roars and questioning.

Ye Xuan released his grip on her hair in disgust, and even naturally reached out to smooth out the collar he had just messed up.

He looked down condescendingly at this imperious Empress who controlled the life and death of billions, and said indifferently:

"If you really want it so much..."

"You can be a concubine."

"What?"

Wu Lingxiao's crying came to an abrupt halt. Her entire body froze on the spot as if struck by lightning.

"I become... a concubine?"

"That's right." Ye Xuan's expression was indifferent, speaking in a matter-of-fact, irrefutable tone:

"She is the legal wife, and you are the concubine."

"If you perform well, if you don't go and hurt her, I can consider leaving a place for you in the inner chambers. For example... a bed-warming maid? Or I can promise you that I'll go sleep in your room once a month?"

"This is the absolute bottom line I can give you."

Silence.

Deathly silence.

Immediately following that.

A spiritual energy storm ten times more terrifying than before shot straight up into the sky!

The indestructible gilded roof of the Imperial Study, after letting out an overwhelmed wail, was completely blown away beyond the highest heavens by the violent spiritual energy!

The terrifying spiritual energy storm swept across the entire imperial palace like an angry dragon. Countless maids and eunuchs were forced to prostrate on the ground by this oppressive aura, shivering in fear.

Wu Lingxiao looked up at the sky and let out a heart-wrenching, mournful shriek, like a cuckoo weeping blood.

"I become a concubine?"

"I am the Empress of Great Xia! I am the co-lord of the world! I am a Half-Step True Immortal!"

"And you actually want me to be a concubine?"

"And it depends on my performance? You want me to be a bed-warming maid?"

Wu Lingxiao went completely insane with rage.

Her pride, her self-esteem, her supreme authority painstakingly built over the past eight hundred years, were all mercilessly trampled underfoot by Ye Xuan in this moment.

"Ye Xuan! You push people too far!"

Wu Lingxiao's hair was disheveled, and her eyes were so bloodshot they seemed to drip blood. She looked like a faceless malicious ghost crawling out of the Nine Nether Abyss.

"Good! What a 'concubine'!"

"Since I cannot obtain the position of the legal wife, since you trample on my dignity like this..."

"Then no one will get it!"

"I will personally lead the imperial army! I will slaughter my way into the Sword God Palace!"

"What bullshit legal wife, what Heaven-mandated female lead!"

Wu Lingxiao had completely lost the demeanor of an Empress. She flailed her hands in the air like a shrew, her facial features distorted to the extreme:

"I will find a hundred, a thousand men to ravage Bai Qianqiu day and night! In front of the whole world, I will turn her into the most lowly whore!"

"I will completely shatter your dream of being the official wife! I will make you kneel on the ground and beg me to be the first wife!"

"Men! Relay my decree! Muster the troops!"

"Dispatch the army to the extreme north immediately! Flatten the Sword God Palace!!"

Wu Lingxiao's long hair danced wildly in the violent astral winds of spiritual energy. Her imperial robes, a symbol of supreme power, billowed and snapped violently under the surge of her magical power, making her look incredibly disheveled. Yet, the killing intent in her eyes was bone-chilling.

She roared madly into the void, hysterically issuing the bloody decree to slaughter the Sword God Palace to the imperial guards outside the hall, who were already frightened out of their wits.

"I want that bitch dead! I will flatten the Sword God Palace! No one can stop me!!"

However, facing the madwoman in front of him, Ye Xuan merely let out a cold sneer.

Slap!

An incredibly crisp, yet dull-echoing sound of a slap suddenly exploded amidst the ruins!

Ye Xuan swung his arm in a full arc and viciously slapped Wu Lingxiao across the face.

This slap did not use any spiritual energy; it was purely the strength of his physical body. But precisely because of this, the crisp sound of flesh colliding sounded exceptionally harsh and exceptionally insulting!

Wu Lingxiao's head jerked violently to the side from the blow.

In disbelief, she covered her rapidly reddening and swelling cheek, turning her head back bit by bit, extremely slowly. A trace of bright red blood oozing from the corner of her mouth made her face, already pale with anger, look as pale as paper.

"You..."

Slap!

Before her shocked words could leave her mouth, Ye Xuan's eyes turned extremely cold, and with a backhand, he delivered another heavy slap, viciously striking her other cheek!

"This slap is for Bai Qianqiu."

Slap!

The third slap followed closely, showing no mercy!

"This slap is for your sheer ignorance and spewing absolute filth."

Slap!

The fourth slap!

Ye Xuan's hand strength was immense. This slap directly knocked the twelve-tasseled imperial crown, the symbol of supreme imperial power, right off Wu Lingxiao's head.

With a clatter, it fell to the ground. The precious beaded curtain shattered, and pearls and jade stones rolled everywhere.

Wu Lingxiao's hair was disheveled, both of her cheeks were swollen high, and blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. She looked utterly wretched.

It should be known that with her terrifying physical body of a Half-Step True Immortal, comparable to a divine weapon, and her protective astral qi, even a mountain forged of steel crashing into her face would instantly shatter.

If she did not control it, Ye Xuan's mortal hand with no cultivation base would absolutely shatter and fracture on the spot upon striking her.

Yet, facing Ye Xuan's spiritual-energy-less slaps, this crazy empress who just a moment ago wanted to slaughter the world, now seemed like a soulless puppet.

She did not dodge or evade. Even in the split second before the slap landed, she instinctively and frantically withdrew her protective astral qi—which was enough to shock a Mahayana cultivator to death—for fear of injuring even a single one of Ye Xuan's fingers!

She just stared blankly at Ye Xuan. The fury and killing intent in her eyes receded like the tide, replaced by a heartbreaking desolation and disbelief, as if her faith had collapsed.

"Husband..."

Her voice trembled violently, carrying a thick tone of weeping, sounding even more aggrieved than when she was scolded as a concubine earlier.

Her trembling fingers gently stroked her burning cheek as she looked at him with a miserable gaze:

"For her... you dare hit me?"

"I hit you to wake you up."

Ye Xuan shook his somewhat numb hand from exerting too much force. His expression was as cold as if he were looking at a hopeless stranger, and his voice held no warmth:

"Wu Lingxiao, do you think you are very strong now? Do you think that by allying with Zi Yao and leading the iron cavalry of Great Xia and the demon army of the Demon Race, you can flatten the Sword God Palace?"

He sneered without concealment, his laughter filled with condescending mockery:

"Stop dreaming."

"The reason I entrusted Bai Qianqiu to Ye Jiuhuang is because I know that with just you two lunatics, you won't be able to fight your way in at all."

Wu Lingxiao suddenly raised her head. The desolation in her eyes instantly transformed into extreme unwillingness and the fury of being looked down upon when she heard that someone else was stronger than her.

"I don't believe it!"

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she roared hysterically, her voice shrill and piercing:

"Ye Jiuhuang? That woman known as the 'Number One Sword in the World'?"

"I admit her swordsmanship is divine, and she indeed once suppressed the Three Thousand Dao Realms so much that they couldn't raise their heads. But so what?"

Wu Lingxiao took a step forward, refusing to concede. Terrifying coercion vaguely seeped out again, causing the already ruined white marble ground beneath her feet to crack inch by inch and turn into powder:

"It has been eight hundred years! For the past eight hundred years, I have devoured the destiny of the nation and refined the dragon veins. My cultivation has long stepped into the realm of a Half-Step True Immortal! In this lower realm, I am the Heavens! I am the Law!"

"And what about that Ye Jiuhuang? I heard she went into death seclusion eight thousand years ago and hasn't come out since! The outside world rumors that she suffered qi deviation, and even if she isn't dead, she is heavily injured!"

"Just relying on a cripple in death seclusion, she thinks she can stop my army? She thinks she can protect that little bitch?"

"As long as I wish it, I can crush the entire Sword God Palace with a single finger!"

Looking at Wu Lingxiao in front of him—who seemed mad, blinded by arrogance and jealousy, and bursting with self-confidence—Ye Xuan sighed softly.

"A frog in a well."

Ye Xuan slowly shook his head. His gaze passed over Wu Lingxiao, looking toward the distant void of the extreme north.

"You don't understand her at all."

"You think she's in death seclusion? You think she's healing her injuries?"

Ye Xuan turned his head, his gaze piercing straight into the depths of Wu Lingxiao's bewildered and uncertain pupils. Using a tone like pronouncing a death sentence, he spat out, word by word, a terrifying truth sufficient to shake the entire cultivation world:

"Ye Jiuhuang has long since become a True Immortal."