Reincarnation of the Female Protagonist

Night fell.

Nighttime in this realm arrived without warning, as if someone had abruptly drawn the curtains across the sky.

Moonlight poured down like water, spilling over the mirror-like surface of the sea. The shimmering waves were breathtakingly beautiful, yet they exuded an indescribable eeriness and loneliness.

Ye Xuan returned to the two women.

He sat cross-legged on a reef, his back to them, gazing at the distant coastline.

Wu Lingxiao and Zi Yao sat not far behind him. Both had red, swollen eyes, clearly having just cried.

Looking at Ye Xuan's back, a strong sense of grievance and resentment surged in their hearts.

But they dared not speak or disturb him. They could only sit in silence, like two children who had made a mistake.

After a long silence.

Wu Lingxiao could no longer suppress the bitter jealousy in her heart. She bit her lip, her voice trembling slightly with grievance as she asked sourly,

"Husband..."

"The night is long, why don't you go... find her?"

"Why not sleep by her side?"

Wu Lingxiao's voice grew quieter and quieter, the last words almost squeezed through her teeth,

"Didn't you say this is your final incarnation?"

"Shouldn't you... shouldn't you two..."

She could not go on.

In her eyes, since their relationship was so intimate and Ye Xuan was so gentle with Yun Meng, they would surely sleep together at night.

Meanwhile, the two of them, his so-called concubines, could only guard the outside like two dogs.

Zi Yao also bit her lip, the flames of jealousy flickering in her eyes.

She remembered the words Yun Meng had said during the day: a thousand years of companionship, countless encounters across reincarnations.

That kind of bond, transcending the cycle of reincarnation, was something she could never hope to achieve.

Hearing this, Ye Xuan sighed softly.

He did not turn around, merely raising a finger to point at the distant beach,

"Look."

The two women looked in the direction he pointed.

Under the silver moonlight, on the snow-white sandy beach.

The young girl who had been happily chatting and laughing with Ye Xuan during the day, smiling with pure innocence, was now barefoot. She was bent over, holding a small basket in her hand.

She was taking out the beautiful, iridescent shells she had collected earlier that day, one by one.

Then, with extreme earnestness and devotion, she threw them back into the sea, one by one.

"Splash."

A shell fell into the water, stirring up a ripple.

"Splash."

Another one.

She threw them very slowly and carefully, every movement exactly the same.

Her face was completely expressionless, her silver nebula-like eyes hollow and vacant. It was as if she were completing some sacred ritual, or repeating some eternal curse.

"What... is she doing?"

Wu Lingxiao's eyes widened, completely unable to comprehend the sight before her.

Picking up shells during the day and throwing them away at night?

What was the point of this?

Wasn't this just a waste of time?

"She is returning the shells to the sea."

Ye Xuan's voice was somewhat ethereal, carrying an inexplicable sense of sorrow and helplessness,

"When night comes, she puts the shells she gathered during the day back into the ocean."

"The next day, she will pick them up again."

"Over and over, without beginning and without end."

Ye Xuan paused, his voice growing deeper,

"She has been doing this for an unknown number of years."

"Maybe ten thousand years, maybe a hundred thousand years, maybe a hundred million years."

"No one knows how long she has been doing it."

"Not even herself."

Wu Lingxiao felt a chill rise from her spine, instantly spreading throughout her entire body.

Looking at that figure mechanically repeating the same motion under the moonlight, she suddenly felt a profound sense of terror.

"Why is she repeating this meaningless task?"

Wu Lingxiao's voice trembled,

"This is too... too terrifying."

"This is simply a form of torture! An eternal loneliness!"

Yes, torture.

A person, trapped in an eternal space, repeating the same action day after day, year after year, endlessly.

This was crueler than any physical punishment.

Ye Xuan gave a bitter smile and shook his head,

"I don't know either."

"Perhaps it is to pass this eternal time, or perhaps... this is the meaning of her existence."

A complex emotion flashed through Ye Xuan's eyes,

"She is the master of the Sea of Reincarnation."

"She has witnessed the birth and death of countless lives, the rise and fall of countless civilizations."

"But she herself is trapped in this eternal cycle, unable to escape."

"She possesses the power to destroy everything, yet she cannot even change her own fate."

Ye Xuan's voice choked up slightly,

"She is too lonely."

"So lonely that she has even lost the concept of time."

Hearing this, the resentment in Zi Yao's eyes still did not fade.

She did not want to sympathize with this woman, nor did she want to understand her.

Because this woman had stolen a thousand years of time with him from her.

"Playing the mystery!"

Zi Yao snorted coldly, a trace of hysteria in her voice,

"What mysterious young girl, I think she's just an old hag!"

"Bai Qianqiu being your main wife is probably just a front. She is the true destined woman in your heart, isn't she?!"

Zi Yao pointed at the distant figure, her voice growing sharper and sharper,

"You stayed with her for a thousand years! A thousand years!"

"And what about me? I only had a few decades!"

"Ye Xuan, is your heart made of stone?!"

Ye Xuan turned his head and glanced at her.

He neither denied it nor fully admitted it.

He merely nodded, then shook his head, giving an ambiguous answer,

"Yes, and no."

"However, she is indeed deeply entangled with me. So deeply that even I cannot sever it."

Ye Xuan's gaze became profound, as if recalling some distant past,

"Or rather, I don't want to sever it."

"Because she is my only home in this world."

These words were like a knife, viciously stabbing into the hearts of the two women.

Home.

Not a Dao companion, not a wife, but a home.

Zi Yao's face was filled with pain, and tears streamed down once again,

"I never would have thought... I truly never would have thought..."

"That you actually stayed by her side for a thousand years, while I was completely oblivious."

"Back then, I foolishly thought you were dead..."

Zi Yao's voice grew more and more choked with sobs,

"Ye Xuan, is your heart made of stone?"

"Do you know how long I waited for you?"

"Do you know how many times I cried for you?"

Zi Yao collapsed to the ground, crying out loud,

"But you weren't dead! You were just hiding here, living the life of an immortal couple with this woman!"

"How do you expect me to accept this?!"

"Why would I let you know?"

Ye Xuan glanced at her, his expression disdainful, even carrying a certain justified coldness,

"Not just you."

"Even during the lifetime when I reincarnated as Consort Xuan, I came here as well."

Ye Xuan's voice was very calm, as if he were stating a simple fact,

"At that time, I was driven nearly mad from being imprisoned by Wu Lingxiao."

"So my spirit wandered here in my dreams, and I kept her company for a period of time."

"What?"

This time, it was Wu Lingxiao's turn to blow up.

She stood up abruptly, her phoenix coronet trembling wildly, and the hand pointing at Ye Xuan was shaking:

"Impossible!!"

"My Consort Xuan... I watched you day and night! How could you..."

Wu Lingxiao's voice trembled, her eyes full of disbelief:

"I locked you in the palace and sent countless people to guard you!"

"You couldn't even step out of the palace gates, so how could you be here?"

"Nothing is impossible."

Ye Xuan said lightly, a trace of mockery in his voice:

"The body is in the palace, but the soul is here."

"This is very simple for me."

Ye Xuan looked at Wu Lingxiao, a cold sneer flashing in his eyes:

"Did you think you imprisoned me?"

"Did you think you controlled me?"

"Ridiculous."

"My soul has never been imprisoned by anyone."

These words were like a heavy hammer, smashing ruthlessly against Wu Lingxiao's heart.

She staggered back a few steps, her face deathly pale.

She finally understood just how ridiculous her past actions had been.

She thought she had controlled Ye Xuan, but in reality, Ye Xuan had never been under her control.

At this very moment, the two women finally reached a bizarre consensus.

They looked at each other, both seeing the despair and anger in the other's eyes.

"So speaking of this..."

Wu Lingxiao gritted her teeth, her mouth tasting nothing but bitterness:

"Hasn't this white-haired woman cuckolded all of us?"

"All of your reincarnations... no matter how strictly we guarded you, no matter how much we loved you, in the end... you would always run here to find her?"

Wu Lingxiao's voice trembled, her eyes flickering with a crazed light:

"This is a cuckolding that spans across the eons!"

"All the heroines, all the main wives, have become a joke in front of her!"

Yes, a joke.

A massive joke.

They thought they were the most important people in Ye Xuan's life, thought they had occupied his heart.

And the result?

The result was that Ye Xuan's heart was never with them from the very beginning.

It was with this white-haired girl.

Zi Yao was also trembling all over, her eyes filled with despair:

"We lost..."

"Lost so thoroughly that we don't even have our underwear left..."

Ye Xuan nodded, his expression calm:

"Yes."

"It is just that in this lifetime, I am meeting her for the first time."

He raised his head and looked at Yun Meng under the moonlight, a flash of greed and longing in his eyes:

"Because I am on my final reincarnation."

"Therefore, her maidenhood, preserved for countless eras, should belong to me."

These words exploded like a clap of thunder in the minds of the two women.

Maidenhood?

Countless eras?

"You!"

The Empress was going mad with jealousy.

As a Half-Step True Immortal, she had an instinctive sensitivity to such matters.

She stood up abruptly, pointing at Ye Xuan, her voice shrill:

"According to what you said, she has lived for at least hundreds of thousands of years!"

"So many of your reincarnations accompanied her, there was even one that stayed by her side for a thousand years!"

"She should have lost her virginity long ago! How could it possibly be your turn?"

Wu Lingxiao's eyes flickered with a crazed light:

"Who are you trying to fool!"

Ye Xuan shook his head, a mysterious smile playing at the corners of his mouth:

"You do not understand."

"Even I do not fully know Yun Meng's identity."

"But her lifespan seems to be eternal."

Ye Xuan looked at the figure in the distance, mechanically tossing seashells under the moonlight, his voice becoming somewhat ethereal:

"In this small pocket dimension, she collects seashells during the day and puts them back at night."

"She might have been repeating this action for a hundred million years, or even longer."

"Only I accidentally stumbled into this place, which is why I was able to meet her in every lifetime."

A trace of reminiscence flashed in Ye Xuan's eyes:

"Even before my death in many of my past lives, I would come here to pass away in meditation."

"Because only here can I feel at peace."

"Only here can I feel... that I am still alive."

Speaking up to this point, Ye Xuan sighed, seemingly lamenting how difficult she was to conquer:

"But precisely because she has this eternal lifespan, her emotions are extremely apathetic."

"Her concept of time is also very blurry."

"Therefore, trying to cultivate a relationship with her is simply too difficult."

Ye Xuan's voice became somewhat helpless:

"I remember a few lifetimes ago, it took me a full two hundred years just to get her to remember my name."

"Only later did we slowly become familiar with each other."

"I would often come to see her once every century."

"To me, it was a lifetime of changes, but every time, she would think it had only been a moment, as if I had just gone out to buy groceries."

Ye Xuan looked toward Zi Yao and explained:

"In that lifetime, I accompanied her for a thousand years. That was the longest out of all my reincarnations."

"But even a thousand years, to her, was nothing more than a snap of the fingers."

"It was as if she had taken a nap, and waking up to find me still there made her very happy."

Zi Yao felt her scalp tingle as she listened, but she still caught the main point and snorted coldly:

"Over a thousand years and she didn't lose her virginity? Left it for you?"

"What makes you so special?"

Ye Xuan smiled faintly, a confidence of having everything under control in his smile:

"Do you think she is like you, giving away her chastity so easily?"

"Do you think I would force her to do anything?"

Ye Xuan's voice turned serious:

"Although those reincarnations were strong, they were ultimately not perfect."

"And this lifetime of mine is the endpoint of the Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Scripture."

"Only I can truly unite with her."

"Only I can withstand her origin source."

Ye Xuan stood up and spread his arms, as if to embrace the world:

"I don't know how many years it has been now."

"The water of our emotions has finally come to a boil."

"The melon is ripe and ready to drop from the vine."

"It is finally time for me to pluck it."

These words completely crushed the psychological defenses of the two women.

They panicked.

Even though they were mighty figures, at this moment they were like resentful wives about to lose their husband.

"Don't go..."

Wu Lingxiao grabbed Ye Xuan's sleeve, her voice trembling, her eyes filled with fear:

"Don't go provoke her..."

"If Bai Qianqiu was already like that... the one in front of us is a monster that not even a True Immortal can fight against!"

Wu Lingxiao's voice grew more and more urgent:

"You will die... you will never be able to come back..."

"You will be trapped here by her, forever and ever unable to leave..."

They were afraid.

Afraid that once Ye Xuan truly plucked Yun Meng, he would permanently remain in this eternal space, picking up seashells for the rest of his life with this white-haired witch.

Then what about them?

They wouldn't even have the qualifications to be concubines!

Zi Yao also grabbed Ye Xuan's other hand, tears constantly flowing down:

"Husband, I beg you..."

"Do not stay here..."

"Take us back..."

Looking at the jealous, panicked, and helpless appearances of the two women.

Ye Xuan sneered in his heart.

But on the surface, he still maintained a calm helplessness.

He shook his head and pushed away Wu Lingxiao's hand:

"Rest assured, I will not do so for the time being."

"I am too weak right now; this mortal body simply cannot withstand her constitution."

Ye Xuan's voice became somewhat regretful:

"If I were to forcibly dual cultivate, I would be assimilated into a grain of sand by her origin source."

"When that happens, I truly will be stuck here forever."

Hearing this, the two women finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

But Ye Xuan's next words brought their hearts right back up to their throats.

Ye Xuan turned around and looked at them. His gaze suddenly became incomparably sharp, like two blades piercing straight through their hearts.

"However, you must be clear about one thing."

Ye Xuan's voice grew deep and powerful:

"The reason I revealed this secret, the reason I brought you here..."

"Is not to show off to you, nor is it to make you jealous."

Ye Xuan advanced on them. With his every step forward, the two women took a step back:

"I want to tell you this."

"From the very beginning, I was never your puppet, nor was I your exclusive possession."

"I am independent."

"I have my trump cards, and I have my way out."

He pointed at the silver-haired young woman in the distance, who was bending over to put down seashells under the moonlight:

"If you follow me, stop harboring thoughts of monopolizing me and locking me up."

"You don't have the right."

Ye Xuan's voice turned even colder:

"Although I don't know her true identity and origins either, they are absolutely terrifying."

"I am bold enough to tell you this because I know you cannot deal with her."

"Ye Jiuhuang cannot, you cannot, and in all the heavens and myriad worlds..."

Ye Xuan paused, his voice carrying absolute confidence:

"No one can deal with her."

"As long as she is here, I will always have a way out."

"As long as she is here, you can forget about ever controlling me."

Ye Xuan's words made Wu Lingxiao and Zi Yao's expressions turn incredibly ugly.

At this moment.

All their arrogance, all their desire for control, vanished into thin air in the face of absolute power and a despairing gap in strength.

They finally realized that this man was no longer someone they could casually manipulate.

The Sea of Reincarnation, the silver beach.

Ye Xuan straightened his robes. He looked at the familiar ocean before him with a complex expression, a wave of melancholy over his impending departure welling up in his heart.

Once he left this time, it would be very difficult to come back.

"Ah Xuan, are you leaving?"

Yun Meng stood quietly behind him barefoot, carrying the small basket filled with seashells in her hand.

The sea breeze blew her long silver hair, and a few strands brushed against Ye Xuan's cheek, bringing a trace of a cold touch.

Ye Xuan turned around and looked at this young woman who had accompanied him through countless reincarnations and witnessed his countless deaths and rebirths.

"Yes, it's time to go."

Ye Xuan nodded. He reached out his hand, habitually wanting to rub her head.

However, as if forming some sort of muscle memory, Yun Meng very naturally closed those nebula-like eyes, tilted her head up slightly, and presented her smooth, jade-like forehead to Ye Xuan's lips.

This was an unwritten rule between them for the past thousands of years.

It was also a ritual that had to be completed before Ye Xuan left in every lifetime.

A light, feather-like kiss on the forehead.

It meant "I am leaving," and it also meant "I will return."

Looking at the young woman's defenseless appearance, as pure as a blank sheet of paper, Ye Xuan's hand froze in midair.

In the distance, Wu Lingxiao and Zi Yao stared fixedly at this scene, their hearts in their throats.

That kiss...

That exclusive mark belonging only to the Ye Xuan of every lifetime.

Even if it was just on the forehead, it was enough to make them go mad with jealousy.

However.

This time.

Ye Xuan did not give her a fleeting kiss on the forehead like he usually did.

He looked at Yun Meng, and the emotions accumulated over eons deep in his eyes, the suppressed desires of countless reincarnations, erupted like a volcano at this moment.

"Yun Meng,"

Ye Xuan called out softly, his voice carrying an unprecedented gentleness and firmness.

Yun Meng opened her eyes in slight confusion: "Hmm?"

The next moment.

The world spun.

Ye Xuan abruptly reached out with both hands and cupped the young woman's cold, delicate cheeks, which felt like the most perfect jade.

He had no hesitation, no delay.

He lowered his head.

Fiercely, domineeringly, yet with endless cherishing, he kissed those two cold and soft lips.

"Mmph?"

Yun Meng's eyes widened abruptly.

In those eyes that were originally as calm as stagnant water, with only nebulas flowing within, a violent fluctuation appeared for the first time.

It was astonishment, shock, and even more so, an unprecedented... electric-like tremor.

This kiss was no longer a parting courtesy.

It was plunder.

It was possession.

It was a declaration of war against this long, boring, and eternal time!

Wu Lingxiao and Zi Yao were completely petrified.

Their mouths were wide open, their eyes staring round as they watched the two kissing each other.

Under the silver moonlight, Ye Xuan, with a mortal body, was kissing an indescribable deity.

This scene was breathtakingly beautiful, yet also so cruel that it broke their hearts.

A kiss on the lips!

That was the true etiquette of a husband and wife! That was the blending of soul and flesh!

They had lost... lost so thoroughly that they had absolutely nothing left!

A long time passed.

Their lips parted.

Ye Xuan looked at Yun Meng.

The young woman, whose face was originally as pale as paper, as if lacking any color of blood, now had two extremely obvious blushes appearing on her jade-like cheeks.

It was a color full of vitality and shyness.

It was as if a bright peach blossom had suddenly bloomed in this dead, silver world.

Yun Meng touched her lips blankly, her fingertips still trembling.

She looked at Ye Xuan, and the eternal frost and indifference in her eyes were melting at a visible speed.

Replacing them was an ignorant, passionate, human emotion.

"Ah Xuan... this..."

Yun Meng's voice stuttered slightly, no longer possessing her previous ethereality and indifference.

Her fingers gently touched her lips, where Ye Xuan's warmth still lingered.

"Is this... a kiss?"

Yun Meng murmured to herself, the nebulas in her eyes beginning to spin violently.

Her cheeks grew redder and redder. The blush spread from her cheeks to the roots of her ears, and even her snow-white neck was dyed with a faint layer of pink.

Ye Xuan looked at her, a gentle smile curving the corners of his mouth.

This was his first time seeing Yun Meng reveal such a humanized expression.

In the past, although Yun Meng would smile and speak, her smiles and words carried a mechanical feel.

But it was different now.

Now, Yun Meng had light in her eyes and color in her face. Her entire being had become vibrant and alive.

"Yes, this is our first kiss,"

Ye Xuan said softly, reaching out to gently stroke Yun Meng's cheek:

"This is my promise to you."

"I will come back. I will take you away from here, and I will let you see the real world."

Hearing these words, the nebulas in Yun Meng's eyes suddenly stopped spinning.

She raised her head and looked earnestly at Ye Xuan, her voice carrying a trace of unprecedented nervousness:

"Really?"

"Will you really come back?"

"You won't be like before, saying you'll come back, only to end up dying out there?"

Yun Meng's voice grew softer and softer, tears welling up in her eyes:

"I don't want to wait anymore..."

"I really don't want to wait anymore..."

"Every time you say you'll come back, it always ends with your corpse washing up here by the sea."

"Every time, I have to watch you die, watch you turn into a pile of dry bones, and watch your soul re-enter the cycle of reincarnation."

Yun Meng's tears finally fell, and they were silver tears:

"I am so tired, Ah Xuan."

"I am truly exhausted."

"I don't want to watch you die anymore."

Hearing Yun Meng's words, a strong surge of guilt and heartache welled up in Ye Xuan's chest.

He reached out and pulled Yun Meng tightly into his embrace.

"I'm sorry, Yun Meng."

Ye Xuan's voice was slightly choked:

"For making you wait so long."

"For making you witness my death so many times."

"But this time, it really is the last."

Ye Xuan released Yun Meng, cupped her face in his hands, and looked earnestly into her eyes:

"I swear, I will not die this time."

"I will break the cycle of reincarnation, I will transcend everything, and I will stand at the very pinnacle of this world."

"And then, I will come back for you."

"I will take you away from this eternal prison and show you the true, vibrant world out there."

"I will let you see the flowers of spring, the rain of summer, the leaves of autumn, and the snow of winter."

"I will let you taste the world's delicacies, hear its music, and feel its warmth."

"I will let you know that living is not merely repeating the same actions, but embracing countless possibilities."

As Yun Meng listened to Ye Xuan, the tears in her eyes flowed even more freely.

Yet, a radiant smile blossomed on her face.

This smile was so pure, so beautiful, like a glacier frozen for hundreds of millions of years finally melting beneath the spring sun.

"Mhm! I believe you!"

Yun Meng nodded vigorously, her voice carrying an unprecedented sense of anticipation:

"I will wait for you!"

"No matter how long it takes, I will wait for you!"

"I have already waited this long anyway, so waiting a little longer doesn't matter!"

Hearing these words, a warm current flowed through Ye Xuan's heart.

The vortex passage slowly closed.

Ye Xuan was gone.

On the silver beach, Yun Meng was left all alone.

The sea breeze continued to blow, carrying its eternal salty scent. It lifted her long silver hair, sending the strands fluttering in the air like silver silk dancing in the wind.

The giant eyeball-like celestial body opened once more, casting down a cold silver glow. The light was soft yet eerie, illuminating Yun Meng's fair skin and enveloping her entire figure in a dreamlike halo.

Everything had returned to the starting point.