Over the next few days, Ye Xuan was imprisoned in the bedchamber.
Chu Jinghong came every day, acting like a schizophrenic lunatic.
One moment she would be crying and begging for his understanding, and the next she would try to brainwash him with the grand righteousness of the Great Jin Empire.
By the fifth day, with red eyes and gritted teeth, she even offered an extremely humble compromise: Husband... as long as you promise to stay, as long as you attend the Imperial Consort Ceremony. I... I can allow you to find other women outside. I won't interfere anymore, okay?
This was the greatest concession she could make. For a yandere empress with extremely strong possessiveness to say such words was simply worse than killing her.
However.
Ye Xuan merely looked up and gave her an extremely wicked sneer:
Sure. Then get me ten thousand of them first.
Slap!
Chu Jinghong was trembling with anger at these words. She backhanded him with a crisp slap, turned around in tears, and rushed out of the bedchamber.
The doors were locked tightly once again.
Inside the bedchamber, Ye Xuan, who had lost his magical power, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes became exceptionally bright and determined.
Although he had lost his cultivation base and his storage ring was sealed, he had awakened an extremely rare spatial physique since childhood. His perception of the laws of space had long been etched into his very bones and blood.
Since I have no magical power... then I'll use blood.
Ye Xuan tore off a piece of his inner shirt woven from heavenly silkworm ice silk and bit his fingertip. He took a deep breath and, relying on his ultimate understanding of the laws of space in his mind, began to sketch runes on the torn cloth.
The grand formation locked down spatial fluctuations? The Greater Teleportation Talisman would be intercepted?
Then what if... it was a random teleportation talisman with absolutely no spiritual energy fluctuations, driven solely by pure spatial laws?
Not only that, the moment this talisman was activated, it must be able to reverse-detonate the restriction planted in his body by Chu Jinghong, while simultaneously erasing all divine sense tracking!
Without any magical power to support it, this was an impossible miracle.
But Ye Xuan did it.
When the final stroke of the blood-colored rune fell, that bloodstained piece of cloth suddenly emitted an extremely profound light of the Great Dao!
Even without the slightest bit of spiritual energy, it still triggered the most primal resonance of laws between heaven and earth!
Hahaha... I am a damn genius!
Ye Xuan looked at the nameless talisman in his hand, wild joy erupting in his exhausted eyes. He knew that he had created a brand new type of talisman that would be passed down through the ages!
Without hesitation, he bit his finger again and flamboyantly wrote five bloody characters at the very top of the talisman paper:
Myriad Mile Traceless Talisman.
Just then, the door to the bedchamber was pushed open again. Chu Jinghong walked in carrying spiritual medicine. Her eyes were still red and swollen, but she found that Ye Xuan was in an excellent mood.
Husband, you seem... very happy? She keenly sensed that something was wrong.
The light in Ye Xuan's eyes instantly retracted, the smile on his face vanished without a trace, and he coldly spat out a few words: Get the hell out.
A hint of hurt flashed through Chu Jinghong's eyes, but she forced herself to step forward, her voice carrying an undeniable tremble: Husband... the preparations for the Imperial Consort Ceremony have finished. In three days, the ceremony will officially begin. As my only Imperial Consort, you must attend.
Heh... Ye Xuan sneered, his gaze piercing her sharply. This so-called ceremony of yours, is it going to confer me as the Imperial Consort while simultaneously conferring eight heavenly geniuses as male concubines in front of the whole world?
Chu Jinghong's face instantly turned deathly pale. She guiltily avoided Ye Xuan's gaze: Husband, I have no other choice... The sect is pressing me hard...
What a good excuse of having no choice.
Ye Xuan laughed, his smile desolate and mocking. He stood up, walked over to Chu Jinghong, and looked directly into her dodging eyes:
Since you keep saying that you are acting against your will and that none of this is your fault. Fine, then I will raise a few points that you can decide on.
First, I want half of the resources in the Great Jin treasury as compensation for my thousand years of bloody battles.
Second, aren't you going to take eight male concubines? Fine, I want to take eighty female concubines.
Third, aren't you going to bear one child for each of those eight men? Then I will also leave my seed in each of these eighty female concubines! That means eighty children!
Ye Xuan smiled at the trembling Chu Jinghong and clapped his hands: See, isn't this fair? We each play our own games without interfering with one another, and we can even spread our branches and leaves. Why not do it?
Ye Xuan!
Chu Jinghong was like an utterly enraged leopardess, her eyes bloodshot and her fists clenched until they cracked. She was on the verge of madness, jealousy and anger nearly burning away her sanity.
Aside from the first condition about the treasury compensation, the rest... I will absolutely never agree to!
You can't agree? Ye Xuan crossed his arms over his chest and leisurely asked back, But can you stop me? Just like if I went to visit a brothel, what could you do to me? Are you going to chain me to this bed like a dog forever? Then you might as well never let me out to see anyone for the rest of my life!
Chu Jinghong fell silent.
She gritted her teeth tightly, tears sliding down her cheeks, her eyes revealing a desperate sorrow.
Husband... with our thousands of years of affection, do you really have to torture each other like this...
Affection? Ye Xuan mocked mercilessly. You took these thousands of years of affection and ran off to breed with eight wild men, and then you turn around and demand that I remember our old feelings and keep myself chaste for you?
He pointed at Chu Jinghong's nose, every word piercing her heart:
You take eight concubines, and you say you have no choice, that it's the pressure from your family and sect making you do it. Then if I find eighty concubines, is there some sect holding a knife to your neck forcing you to stop me?
No! In the end, it's just because of your utterly disgusting selfishness and double standards! You can find eight men yourself and have eight children, yet you want me to guard my chastity for you like a virtuous widow? Hahaha, Chu Jinghong, you are simply a massive joke!
This merciless tearing shredded the last fig leaf in Chu Jinghong's heart to pieces.
She trembled all over. Under her extreme emotional fluctuations, her Mahayana realm cultivation leaked out uncontrollably, shattering the surrounding jade ornaments into fine powder.
After a long, long time.
She looked at Ye Xuan's resolute and mocking eyes and finally understood that if she did not take a step back, Ye Xuan would truly rather die on this bed than attend the ceremony.
Alright...
Chu Jinghong's voice was so hoarse it didn't sound human, as if every word was coughed up with blood from her throat.
She slumped her shoulders dejectedly and humiliatingly compromised:
I will allow you to take concubines... but not eighty! Only eight! And children... you can only have eight children as well!
Looking at her face twisted in agony, Ye Xuan felt no pity in his heart whatsoever; instead, a surge of vindictive pleasure welled up within him.
He smiled slightly, revealing his stark white teeth:
Sure. Then we'll start with eight. As for the rest, we'll see how I feel.
These words became the final straw that broke Chu Jinghong.
She trembled violently all over, her eyes red, looking at the man in front of her with incomparable sorrow. "That Ye Xuan... who swore under the starry sky to love only me for his entire life... where did he go?"
Ye Xuan put away his smile and asked expressionlessly in return, "Didn't that Chu Jinghong, who blushed and promised to be with me as a couple for a lifetime, also get lost long ago on the throne of power?"
Chu Jinghong was left speechless.
She felt a piercing pain even just breathing.
She stumbled as she turned around, as if she had aged a thousand years in an instant. Even her luxurious dark gold dragon robe seemed so heavy.
When she reached the door of the hall, she supported herself against the doorframe. Without looking back, she left behind a desperately weak sentence:
"Alright... it's a deal. The Imperial Husband Ceremony will be held in three days... You, prepare yourself well."
As the heavy doors closed once again, the bedchamber fell into a deathly silence.
Ye Xuan stood in place, looking down at the Myriad Mile Traceless Talisman at his fingertips, which faintly emitted a blood-red glow. The corners of his mouth curled into an extremely cold arc.
"In three days? Good..."
"For this ceremony, I will give you... an unforgettable grand gift."
Three days later. The Great Jin Imperial Palace, Taihe Square in front of the Heaven Reception Terrace.
Ethereal immortal music played in waves, and spiritual birds danced in the air. Almost all the top-tier factions of prestige from the three thousand Dao Provinces of the Central State had gathered here.
This was not only the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty's ceremony to confer the title of Imperial Husband, but also a feast of power where the First Empress announced her marriage alliance with the Eight Great Sects to the world.
Inside the bedchamber, Ye Xuan stood expressionlessly in front of a massive bronze mirror. He wore the dark gold Imperial Husband ceremonial robe, a garment of extreme complexity and luxury that symbolized a status below only one person and above tens of thousands.
The robe weighed over a thousand catties, every thread woven from ten-thousand-year-old heavenly silkworm silk. Yet, in Ye Xuan's eyes, it was nothing more than a magnificent prison uniform.
Creak!
The hall doors were pushed open, and Chu Jinghong, dressed in a majestic and stunningly beautiful imperial robe, hurried in. Deep exhaustion and a trace of imperceptible panic lingered in the depths of her eyes.
She walked up to Ye Xuan and, with trembling hands, stuffed a spatial ring flowing with nine-colored divine light into his hand.
"Ah Xuan..." Chu Jinghong's voice carried an almost humble plea, her eyes slightly red. "Inside here is exactly half of the Great Jin's treasury foundation. It's all for you. I... although I sealed your cultivation for the sake of the bigger picture, I didn't seal your voice. You can still speak."
She gripped Ye Xuan's arm tightly, her nails almost embedding into the luxurious fabric. Looking up, her breathtakingly beautiful face was filled with sorrow and pleading. "I beg you... too many top sects have come today. Please don't make things difficult for me at the ceremony, alright?"
"Ye Xuan, you have to believe me. These past few days, I haven't had any physical contact with those men. I don't even want to spare them a second glance! I swear I won't betray you. My heart will forever belong only to you!"
Seeing her deeply affectionate yet self-deceiving appearance, Ye Xuan only felt a wave of nausea in his heart.
He nodded coldly and forcefully pulled his arm out of her grasp. His deep eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of ice that would not melt for ten thousand years.
"Have you prepared the eight female concubines I asked you to find for me?" Ye Xuan's voice lacked any fluctuation. "I want you to announce them at the ceremony, in front of the people of the world, alongside your eight male concubines."
Chu Jinghong shuddered violently, as if struck by lightning.
She bit her pale lower lip tightly, tears of humiliation swirling in her eyes. But under Ye Xuan's icy gaze, she could ultimately only nod in despair:
"Alright... I promise you."
The auspicious hour had arrived.
In Taihe Square, the sect masters and elders of the Eight Great Top Sects, including the Nine Heavens Holy Land and the Limitless Holy Land, sat high in the clouds. Below, millions of cultivators bowed in worship.
Amidst deafening cheers and immortal music, Chu Jinghong and Ye Xuan walked side by side onto the white jade high platform that symbolized supreme imperial power. On the other side of the platform, Lin Jiutian and seven other peerless geniuses were dressed in luxurious male concubine attire, wearing arrogant, determined smiles on their lips.
Chu Jinghong took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the panic in her heart. She circulated her majestic Mahayana realm spiritual energy, and her dignified voice instantly echoed throughout the entire Great Jin capital:
"Today is My ceremony to confer the title of Imperial Husband! Regent Ye Xuan has accompanied Me in battle for a thousand years, rendering great and arduous service. Today, he is specially conferred as the sole Imperial Husband of My Great Jin! At the same time..."
She paused, her voice carrying a faintly imperceptible tremble, preparing to announce the taking of her eight male concubines, as well as Ye Xuan's absurd eight female concubines.
However, at this very moment.
"Wait a minute!"
A hoarse yet resonant low shout, like a sudden clap of thunder exploding over flat ground, forcefully interrupted the Empress's declaration!

pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"

ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"

ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!

transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”