So This Is the Truth

Inside the Regent's Estate.

Ye Xuan's expression was cold and stern. With swift and efficient movements, he swept the last batches of supreme-grade spirit stones, ten-thousand-year-old spirit herbs, and rare magical treasures from the estate's treasury into a few inconspicuous storage rings.

These resources were originally the foundation he had plundered from countless battlefields for the future of the Great Jin Dynasty. Now, however, they had become his travel funds to completely sever ties with the past.

Everything was ready. His mind was set on leaving.

Right at that moment, an urgent whistling sound tore through the air, breaking the tranquility of the estate.

One of Chu Jinghong's personal female officials hurried over, holding a golden scroll. Her tone was respectful, yet carried an imperceptible tremble: Your Highness... Her Majesty has issued a decree. She says she... is willing to sign the divorce papers. She requests Your Highness to enter the palace to settle things once and for all.

Ye Xuan's hand, holding a storage ring, paused slightly. He raised his head and took a deep look in the direction of the imperial palace, a trace of complex emotion flashing through the depths of his eyes.

Was it a trap? Given Chu Jinghong's paranoid and obsessively twisted nature, it was almost a certainty.

But he still went. Even if a mountain of blades and a sea of fire lay ahead, he had to personally put an end to this three-thousand-year relationship.

The Great Jin Imperial Palace, Changle Palace.

The moment Ye Xuan stepped into the grand hall, a sudden change occurred!

Accompanied by a deafening roar, blinding nine-colored divine light erupted from beneath the entire imperial palace. The Nine Heavens Holy Land's guardian formation, the Heaven and Earth Sealing Grand Array, was suddenly activated!

The surrounding spatial laws were completely locked down at this moment, turning into an indestructible iron plate.

Ye Xuan's proud spatial teleportation ability instantly lost all connection. He was trapped, like a cornered beast locked in a cage.

Chu Jinghong!

Ye Xuan narrowed his eyes and abruptly turned his head.

In the very center of the hall, Chu Jinghong, draped in an imperial robe as scarlet as blood, was staring fixedly at him.

Her stunningly beautiful eyes were filled with madness, anger, and a sickly ecstasy.

The terrifying aura of the Mahayana Realm swept over like a tsunami, instantly suppressing Ye Xuan to the point where he could not move.

Ye Xuan tried to resist, but the chasm-like gap in cultivation between the Tribulation Transcendence Realm and the Mahayana Realm meant that, with the space locked down, he was absolutely no match for Chu Jinghong.

Hahaha! Not only is he a madman, but he is also a fool!

From one side of the hall, Lin Jiutian slowly walked out, surrounded by a group of chosen geniuses.

He looked at the completely suppressed Ye Xuan and let out an unbridled, mocking sneer: Your Majesty, this rebellious traitor has not only smeared your name but also repeatedly provoked imperial authority. What are you waiting for? Kill him quickly to eliminate future troubles!

Lin Jiutian's eyes were full of vicious anticipation. As long as Ye Xuan died, the inner palace of the Great Jin Dynasty would belong to them.

However, upon hearing these words, Chu Jinghong violently turned her head. Her eyes erupted with a murderous intent capable of tearing souls apart as she fiercely roared at Lin Jiutian and the others: Get out! All of you, get out!

The Empress's thunderous rage caused Lin Jiutian's expression to change. Not daring to push his luck any further, he could only grit his teeth and lead the others resentfully out of the hall, tightly shutting the heavy, vermilion-lacquered doors behind them.

The massive Changle Palace instantly fell into a deathly silence. Now, only the two of them remained in the grand hall.

Feeling the surrounding space locked down like walls of copper and iron, Ye Xuan knew he could no longer teleport. He did not panic; he merely let out a deep sigh:

I knew it would be like this.

Chu Jinghong walked toward him step by step. With every step she took, her eyes grew a fraction redder.

She looked at the man before her, the man she loved to the bone, yet hated to the bone, her voice trembling:

But you still came back.

Ye Xuan looked at her. His eyes no longer held their former tenderness, leaving only a boundless desolation. He said helplessly:

I wanted to put an end to this relationship.

An end? Do not even think about it! Chu Jinghong reacted as if her sore spot had been trampled on. Tears instantly welled up as she let out a shrill, cold laugh. How cruel you are, Ye Xuan! You sought out so many lowly women outside, and what about me? As the First Emperor, I kept myself pure for you in this deep palace, making excuses for you every single day! What gives you the right to say those light words about an end to me?!

Hearing these aggrieved words that blatantly shifted the blame, Ye Xuan felt it was incredibly ridiculous.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and suppressed the surging disgust in his heart. When he opened his eyes again, nothing remained but a chilling coldness:

I will say this one last time, Chu Jinghong. Do not treat me like a fool.

Chu Jinghong trembled all over, as if a hidden wound had been poked. Her eyes instantly became incredibly bitter and guilty. Yes... you are the Regent of the Great Jin Dynasty. How could you be so easily deceived by me.

A mocking curve formed at the corner of Ye Xuan's mouth, yet his expression was one of extreme pain: What the sects behind those geniuses are after, you and I both know perfectly well. Since you were going to cuckold me sooner or later, and I have no fetish for being cuckolded by others, I could only strike first. Do not blame me.

I do not blame you... but I truly had no choice! Chu Jinghong suddenly shouted in a breakdown, her tears bursting like a broken dam.

Bearing children for other men is called having no choice? Ye Xuan suddenly roared in a furious outburst.

This sentence echoed for a long time in the empty hall, shocking Chu Jinghong so much that her face instantly turned as pale as paper.

She trembled violently all over, and under Ye Xuan's icy glare, she finally broke down.

Her eyes were filled with deep helplessness and sorrow as she despairingly spat out one word:

Yes.

At this moment, drained of all her strength, Chu Jinghong slumped onto the cold white jade steps, completely ripping open the dirtiest and cruelest secret hidden behind the Great Jin Dynasty's empire right in front of Ye Xuan.

It turned out that this was never a marriage in name only!

At the beginning of the Great Jin Dynasty's founding, in order to consolidate imperial power, the Chu family had gone behind Ye Xuan's back and reached an extremely filthy secret agreement with the eight top sects of the Central State.

The peerless geniuses of the eight great sects would enter the inner palace and become male consorts.

As a condition of exchange, Chu Jinghong had to use the pure bloodline of the First Emperor to bear a child for each of these eight male consorts!

The eight great sects were not fools running a charity. They could not possibly provide massive resources to support the Great Jin Dynasty for no reason, nor could they let the geniuses they had poured their blood and sweat into cultivating go to the Great Jin's inner palace just to be decorative vases that could only be looked at but not touched.

What they wanted was the future of the Great Jin Dynasty!

Once these children, possessing both the bloodline of top sects and the bloodline of the First Emperor, were born, they would inevitably vie for the throne with the all-out support of the major sects.

After the First Emperor ascended or died, the second emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty would undoubtedly be born from among these eight children!

When that time came, the entire Great Jin Dynasty would inevitably be controlled by one of the sects.

All of this was something Ye Xuan had secretly known.

And it was exactly from that moment that Ye Xuan had made up his mind to leave.

Looking at the woman before him, crying so hard that she looked like a pear blossom bathed in rain, he only felt the world spinning as waves of intense nausea rose in his stomach.

"And so..." Ye Xuan's voice trembled, his eyes revealing endless disgust and desolation. "Let us divorce. If you still have even the slightest shred of love for me in your heart, do not make me endure this humiliation that is worse than a dog's, alright?"

"But you have already made me endure this humiliation! You went to a brothel and sought out hundreds of women!" Chu Jinghong retorted hysterically.

"You brought that upon yourself!" Ye Xuan's gaze was as cold as a blade, piercing through her without mercy. "I would rather die, rather have my soul entirely extinguished, than allow my own wife to breed with eight different men!"

He took a deep breath, his tone resolute. "Since you have made your decision, parting ways is the best option for us. Rest assured, once I leave this place and achieve success in my cultivation... I will personally slaughter the Eight Great Sects and wipe out the people of the Chu family, to pay tribute to our dead romance."

Chu Jinghong stared at him blankly, a despairing emptiness in her eyes. "You will slaughter them... then what about me?"

"From the moment you decided to take concubines, decided to bear their children, we were completely finished." Ye Xuan's eyes were incredibly desolate.

"No! You are mine! In this life and all lives to come, you are mine!"

Chu Jinghong completely lost her mind. She lunged forward and hugged Ye Xuan tightly, like a drowning person clutching at the last straw.

Urgently and incoherently, she threw out the plan she believed to be perfect:

"Ah Xuan, listen to me! I have made an agreement with them! The first child, I promise the first child will definitely be yours! Whether a boy or a girl, I will immediately crown them as the Crown Prince of the Great Jin Dynasty!"

"As for the children of the other sects... although they will also be imperial princes, it is absolutely impossible for them to inherit the Great Jin! We will join hands, and when our child grows up, we will pour everything we have into nurturing them! And then..."

A highly morbid cruelty and madness suddenly erupted in Chu Jinghong's eyes:

"Then, we will find an opportunity to kill all the other eight princes! As long as the other heirs are all dead, our child will be the sole new Emperor! When that time comes, our Great Jin will be at the peak of its national power, and we will eradicate the Eight Great Sects in one fell swoop! Isn't that good?"

Dead silence.

The grand hall was as silent as death, save for Chu Jinghong's rapid and crazed panting.

Ye Xuan looked at her quietly, looking at this face he had been familiar with for three thousand years, which now looked as hideous as an evil spirit.

"You are truly ruthless..." Ye Xuan suddenly began to laugh miserably, laughing until tears almost fell. "For the sake of one child, you are going to give birth to eight innocent lives, and then personally murder eight of your own flesh and blood who share half of your bloodline..."

"The throne of emperors throughout history has always been accompanied by rivers of blood! What is wrong with this?" Chu Jinghong shouted with self-righteous conviction.

Ye Xuan looked at her, the last glimmer of light in his eyes completely extinguishing, leaving only endless disappointment.

"You have been completely blinded by power. The Chu Jinghong I knew has long since died."

"I have no other choice!" Chu Jinghong was still arguing hoarsely.

"If even the founding Emperor who swept across the Central State and established an immortal dynasty claims she has no other choice, then this world is far too absurd." Ye Xuan had completely lost the strength to argue with her. "I do not wish to waste any more words. Either sign the divorce papers and let me go, or kill me right now."

He spread his arms and closed his eyes. "Of course, you can also torture me, imprison me. Do as you please."

Chu Jinghong looked at his despairing, death-seeking appearance, her heart twisting like a knife.

"How could I possibly kill you... and I could never torture you!" She shed tears as the law power of the Mahayana stage instantly surged into Ye Xuan's body, mercilessly sealing his Dantian, spiritual sense, and his Eight Extraordinary Meridians.

In the blink of an eye, the world-renowned Almighty Regent of the Tribulation Crossing stage was reduced to a defenseless mortal.

"Husband, I beg you to consider the greater good." Chu Jinghong wept, carrying him onto the spacious dragon bed. "As long as you can endure all of this, you will still be my only Imperial Consort. Those eight will forever only be concubines kneeling at your feet!"

Having said that, she morbidly tore open her imperial robes, wanting to force herself upon Ye Xuan.

Her mind was filled with only one thought: as long as she had Ye Xuan's child, as long as the first child was his, he would change his mind.

However, even though he was stripped of his cultivation, Ye Xuan's eyes remained as cold as ice.

He allowed Chu Jinghong to do as she pleased, offering neither resistance nor the slightest compliance, like a soulless puppet.

"I know what you are thinking. You want to force me, and then quickly bear my first child to use as a bargaining chip?" Ye Xuan looked down condescendingly at the Empress pinning him down, his mouth full of mockery. "Do not be ridiculous. A child cannot bind anything."

"If my child is destined to be born into such an imperial dynasty filled with betrayal and filth, if from the moment they are born, they must bear the blood debt of murdering eight half-siblings..."

Ye Xuan pronounced the death sentence, pausing after every word:

"Then there is absolutely no need for them to be born!"

These words were like a rusty, blunt knife, ruthlessly shredding Chu Jinghong's heart.

She broke down completely, stopping her movements. She slumped back onto the bed, covering her face and wailing hysterically, accusing Ye Xuan of being heartless.

Meanwhile, Ye Xuan merely sat coldly to the side, not saying a single word.