A worn-out shoe like you can only be called biting the hand that feeds you.

Zi Yao instantly froze in place, even her breathing coming to a halt at this very moment.

Yun Meng...

An image surfaced in her mind uncontrollably.

At the end of the endless Sea of Reincarnation, at the terminus of space and time where all things fell silent.

There was a young girl with snow-white hair and peerless beauty. Just by standing there quietly in a white dress, she suppressed the space and time of all eternity.

She was the true absolute ruler of all ages!

She was a supreme existence transcending all dimensions!

Zi Yao's body began to tremble violently. This time, it was not out of anger, but a fear originating from the deepest depths of her soul, like an ant looking up at a divine dragon.

"She..."

Zi Yao's lips quivered; she couldn't even piece together a complete sentence.

Ye Xuan looked calmly at her terrified state and cruelly delivered the final blow:

"Did you hear that?"

"Even if I tell you that person's name, even if I tell you who the true fated heroine is... you still couldn't deal with her."

"In front of her, you are not even worth a speck of dust."

Zi Yao despaired.

She collapsed to the ground, tears gushing out uncontrollably.

Facing such a lofty and supreme existence, not only could she not oppose her, but she couldn't even muster the courage to hate her.

"Indeed... I can't deal with her." Zi Yao bit her lip, her eyes full of unwillingness and shattered sorrow. "But... since the betrothal bracelet is destined for her, why didn't you just give it to her directly? Why give it to me?!"

"Didn't you accompany her for a whole thousand years? Why didn't you just give it to her then, instead of using this bracelet to torture me for all eternity?"

Ye Xuan raised his head, his gaze seemingly piercing through the endless void, looking toward that distant Sea of Reincarnation. A rare trace of extreme tenderness and loneliness flashed in his eyes.

He shook his head, his voice as light as a sigh:

"Because at that time, she only liked me; she didn't love me."

Zi Yao was stunned.

"An impure affection cannot bear the weight of a Great Luo Immortal Artifact."

Ye Xuan murmured to himself, "So, I was waiting. I waited for her for a thousand years, waiting for her to completely fall in love with me."

Ye Xuan withdrew his gaze and looked at Zi Yao, his tone returning to indifference. "When that time comes, I will naturally put the bracelet on her wrist with my own hands."

"I accompanied her for a thousand years and eventually ascended, but I still couldn't make her completely fall in love with me in that lifetime."

Listening to this deeply affectionate confession that spanned across eternity, Zi Yao's tears flowed silently.

She finally understood.

It turned out that in Ye Xuan's vast, ocean-like memories of reincarnation, she, Zi Yao, had never been a special existence. She was not only a safe box keeping someone else's dowry, but also an absolute joke!

"So..." Zi Yao laughed mockingly at herself, a smile uglier than crying. "So I was just a clown. I was never your fated person at all."

Ye Xuan looked at her quietly, an extremely complex glint flashing in the depths of his eyes. He shook his head, his voice deep:

"You're wrong."

"This betrothal bracelet was supposed to belong to you."

"If you hadn't betrayed me back then... then you would be its true master."

These words were more fatal than any previous humiliation!

It cruelly showed Zi Yao a perfect future that originally belonged to her, but had been destroyed by her own hands.

Zi Yao's heart felt as if it had been ruthlessly gripped, hurting so much she couldn't breathe.

Her eyes widened, tears surging out wildly, and she roared with deep indignation:

"Just because of my one betrayal? Just because of that one time, you completely denied my entire life?"

"Is that not enough?" Ye Xuan slightly tilted his head. His questioning tone held no emotional fluctuation whatsoever, yet it revealed absolute rationality.

Zi Yao opened her mouth, only to find herself unable to refute.

Right... one betrayal had taken the life of the man who loved her deeply.

"Yes... it's enough." Zi Yao dejectedly dropped her arms, tears blurring her stunningly beautiful face. But soon, a twisted, yandere-like hatred occupied her eyes once more. She stared fixedly at Ye Xuan and gritted her teeth:

"So, you mercilessly abandoned me and ascended by yourself?"

Ye Xuan smiled faintly, his eyes as calm as a pool of dead water. He seemed to recall something interesting, his tone even carrying a hint of reminiscence:

"Later, I shattered the void and ascended to the Spirit Realm."

"There, I met another girl. That girl... was very interesting."

"I accompanied her for a period of time, then directly ascended to the Immortal Realm."

Ye Xuan didn't continue the rest of the story.

What he and that girl had experienced, Zi Yao didn't ask, nor did she dare to.

But just these few words were enough to drive Zi Yao nearly mad with jealousy.

Shedding tears, her delicate face twisted with jealousy, she screamed like an abandoned, resentful wife:

"You are so heartless! You keep saying I betrayed you, but what about you? After ascending, you found another woman! And I... all these years, I kept myself pure as jade for you. I even felt disgusted if another man so much as looked at me!!"

Ye Xuan calmly watched her self-indulgent display and mercilessly tore away her fig leaf:

"Keeping oneself pure is a lifetime commitment. It is not a temporary act of washing yourself clean after you have completely rotted away."

"I suppose so."

Zi Yao suddenly stopped crying. She looked at Ye Xuan with self-deprecation, her eyes filled with the mockery of someone with nothing left to lose. "But what about you now? You have the memories of ten thousand lifetimes in your head. You have Ying'er by your side, you have the Empress of Great Xia, you have so many women! What right do you have now to stand on the moral high ground and say such things to me?"

Ye Xuan paused slightly.

It seemed her words had struck a nerve.

But he quickly revealed an extremely icy sneer, his smile carrying absolute arrogance and ruthlessness:

"I indeed have no right."

"But the problem is, Zi Yao, you are merely a bracelet protector. Now that the bracelet has been given to someone else, your mission is over. You should leave. We are even now."

Ye Xuan took a step forward, glaring down at her condescendingly, his eyes full of disgust. "You are the one shamelessly refusing to leave my place, and yet it's my fault?"

Zi Yao was rendered completely speechless by his words.

All her excuses, all her resentment, appeared so pale and powerless in the face of Ye Xuan's absolute coldness.

She could no longer maintain her pride, and tears surged forth once again. She cried out mournfully, like a drowning person desperately clinging to a floating plank:

"I don't want to leave! I want to rekindle our past romance! Husband, I'm begging you..."

"Rekindle our past romance?" Ye Xuan sighed, his gaze as if he were looking at a pile of hopeless trash:

"Only a pure and flawless woman is worthy of rekindling a past romance."

"For damaged goods like you... it can only be called repaying kindness with enmity!"

"Pu!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zi Yao felt a surge of vitality roiling in her chest. Her throat tasted sweet, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.

She gritted her teeth so hard that her lips bled. Her bloodshot eyes revealed a chilling, sickly stubbornness:

"Fine... fine! Since you refuse to acknowledge me as your wife..."

"No matter what, I will stay by your reincarnation's side! I will die if I leave you! And I absolutely cannot tolerate any other woman being around you!"

Ye Xuan looked at her incurably mad appearance, his eyes devoid of even the slightest hint of warmth.

In the coldest tone imaginable, he delivered his final verdict:

"Then fulfill your duty as a concubine. Serve me well."

"I don't want to be a concubine!" Zi Yao shrieked, her eyes entirely red as if she wanted to devour someone. "I want to be your wife! I am your lawfully wedded wife!!"

"You don't have the right."

Ye Xuan calmly dropped these words, as if pronouncing her death sentence.

Zi Yao flew into a violent rage. The spiritual energy within her surged uncontrollably, and she even felt the desperate urge to rush forward and tear at him.

But facing Ye Xuan's lofty, unshakeable coercion, she was completely powerless. She could only stand there in despair, trembling all over.

However, at this tense, dead-silent moment...

"Ugh..."

Ye Xuan, who had been as cold and majestic as a deity, suddenly let out a muffled groan of pain. The hidden golden rune between his eyebrows abruptly dimmed.

His tall body instantly lost its support and fell straight backward.

"Husband!" Zi Yao turned pale with fright and instinctively tried to rush over.

But before she could touch him, the fallen Ye Xuan slowly opened his eyes.

When those eyes looked at Zi Yao again, the eternal calmness and detachment belonging to the Xuantian Sword Venerable had completely vanished.

Replacing it was the extreme madness of the present-day Ye Xuan—filled with tyranny, gloom, and the desire to trample and wantonly toy with his enemies.

The present-day Ye Xuan slowly stood up. He cracked his neck, the bones making a sickeningly crisp sound.

He looked up and down at the broken Zi Yao with the gaze of a predator eyeing its prey, his lips curling into an extremely wicked and cruel smirk:

"Zi Yao..."

His voice was deep and hoarse, carrying a trace of mockery and malice. "Staying by my side to atone for your sins, to be trampled and ravaged under my feet like a dog, is your only—and last remaining—purpose now."

Hearing this familiar, cruel tone, Zi Yao was not afraid. Instead, a deeply twisted ecstasy erupted in her eyes.

Because this at least proved that she could still stay by his side! As long as she could stay with him, she would gladly endure even hell itself!

"Husband!"

Like a madwoman, Zi Yao threw herself recklessly into Ye Xuan's arms. She hugged his waist tightly, buried her face in his cold chest, and greedily inhaled his scent.

Being lunged at like this, Ye Xuan's body instinctively stiffened, and a flash of disgust passed through the depths of his eyes.

But he did not push her away.

He slowly raised his hand and violently grabbed Zi Yao by her long hair, forcing her to look up at him.

His gaze was so cold it lacked any trace of warmth, yet the smile on his lips was horrifyingly radiant:

"Remember to be good and obedient."

"Otherwise, I will show you what it truly means to beg for life and pray for death."

Zi Yao's scalp went numb from his grip, and tears slid down the corners of her eyes. Yet, facing this vicious threat that would terrify anyone else, a hauntingly beautiful and extremely sickly, crazed smile bloomed on her face.

She obediently pressed her cheek against the back of Ye Xuan's cold hand. Like a scarred, vicious dog that had finally found its master, she submissively closed her eyes:

"Mhm..."

"Zi Yao will definitely be obedient... For all my lives, I will be my husband's dog..."