Five Years Later

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, five years had passed.

During these five years, relying on the tyrannical cultivation method of the Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Scripture and the assistance of Xia Lengyue's heartblood, Ye Xuan's cultivation advanced unstoppably, breaking through the Golden Core and Nascent Soul realms in rapid succession.

If this shocking cultivation speed were to spread, it would be enough to terrify the entire cultivation world.

On this day, a thunderstorm raged.

In the wine cellar of a side hall in the Great Xia Imperial Palace, the long-silent Xia Lengyue suddenly opened her eyes. Her originally pitch-black pupils had now turned a terrifying crimson.

Accompanied by a crisp crack, a fissure suddenly appeared on the indestructible runic chains.

Immediately after, an earth-shattering roar exploded, and the entire side hall was instantly reduced to dust!

A heaven-piercing pillar of blood-red light shot into the sky, churning the clouds and winds, dyeing the sky full of lightning a piercing blood-red.

Mahayana realm! Amidst endless torture and obsession, Xia Lengyue finally took the last step, becoming a Mahayana Demon Venerable!

"Ye Xuan!" A roar filled with monstrous anger and killing intent echoed throughout the Great Xia Imperial Palace.

Xia Lengyue's hair was disheveled, and she was bathed in blood, looking like an empress crawling out of the Asura Hell.

Taking a single step, her figure instantly flashed to the front of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

At this moment, Ye Xuan stood in the square before the hall with his hands behind his back, quietly watching the blood-red figure.

He did not flee, nor did he even activate his protective spiritual light. He had been waiting here for a long time.

"Ye Xuan, I want you dead!" Seeing the man who had tortured her day and night, Xia Lengyue's reason was instantly burned to ashes by her fury.

She abruptly raised her hand, and endless demonic energy condensed into a sky-blotting blood-red demonic claw. Carrying world-destroying might, it smashed fiercely toward Ye Xuan. This palm strike was enough to crush hundreds of Nascent Soul cultivators into meat paste.

"Oh no!"

"Stop!"

Exclamations came from Wu Lingxiao and Zi Yao in the distance. They had sensed the anomaly and were rushing over madly, but it was clearly too late.

Facing the shadow of death, Ye Xuan neither dodged nor avoided it.

He simply stood in the fierce wind, looking at the ferocious Xia Lengyue, a faint smile curving his lips.

Just as the terrifying demonic claw was merely an inch from the top of Ye Xuan's head, it abruptly stopped.

The violent gale blew Ye Xuan's robes until they fluttered loudly and made his hair dance wildly, but he didn't even blink an eye.

Xia Lengyue's hand was trembling violently. Her killing intent was boiling, but the obsession etched deep into her soul firmly pulled her back at the very last moment.

She couldn't bring herself to do it. Even though she had been tortured for five whole years, even though she wished she could eat his flesh and drink his blood, when it truly came to the moment of life and death, she still couldn't bear to let him go.

In the moment of her hesitation, Ye Xuan moved.

He calmly took a step forward, reached out his hands, and gently pulled Xia Lengyue's body, which radiated terrifying killing intent, into his embrace.

"Senior Sister."

Ye Xuan whispered softly in her ear, his tone as gentle as a lover's murmur, "These five years, staying with me... was it comfortable?"

Xia Lengyue's body stiffened, and tears instantly burst from her eyes.

The demonic energy in her palm dissipated with a boom. She stared venomously at the man so close at hand: "You... you beast. Every day you took my heartblood to brew wine, tortured me, humiliated me... and now you actually dare to ask if I was comfortable?!"

"Yes." Ye Xuan smiled, raising his hand to gently wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth. "But in our past lives, didn't Senior Sister do the exact same thing to me? It's just that I have much more of a conscience than Senior Sister."

He leaned in closer, his voice filled with a fatal bewitchment: "Did you think that with your own aptitude, you could break through to the Mahayana realm in just five short years? Did you think those so-called healing medicines were really just ordinary pills?"

Xia Lengyue was stunned. Scenes of the past flashed back in her mind: the bizarre heat surging in her body after every time she drank the medicine, the refreshing feeling of destruction followed by reconstruction after every bloodletting, and the profound Dao aura that Ye Xuan exuded when he deliberately cultivated in front of her...

"I gave you the best resources, and I used the most radical methods."

Ye Xuan pinched her jaw, his eyes revealing a strictness of wishing iron could turn into steel: "If not for this, how could you have broken free from your bonds? You have outstanding talent, and breaking through to the Mahayana realm should have been easy, but because of my death in our past life, you developed a heart demon, causing you to make no progress for years. Since tenderness couldn't wake you up, I could only use hatred."

"I don't believe it! You tortured me so much, yet you have the gall to say it was for my own good!" Xia Lengyue roared angrily, trying to break free.

Ye Xuan, however, sighed softly. His eyes became affectionate and complex as he slowly laid out a perfect sophistry: "Senior Sister, in order to help you break through your realm, in order to give you the ability to protect me in this chaotic world... I played the villain for five years. Do you know how much my heart ached?"

Xia Lengyue was completely dumbfounded. She looked at the man in front of her, reason and emotion warring madly in her mind: So... he did it for me? So he tortured me to help me break my heart demon?

"Wuu wuu wuu..." She suddenly broke down and wailed loudly, hugging Ye Xuan back, crying like a child who had suffered every grievance. "I'm sorry... Junior Brother... I misunderstood you... I thought you really didn't want me anymore..."

Feeling the tears of the Mahayana female demon in his arms, a cold smile of a successful scheme quietly curved the corners of Ye Xuan's mouth.

Done. Another one went crazy.

"Let him go! Demoness, pay with your life!"

Wu Lingxiao and Zi Yao finally arrived.

Seeing Ye Xuan being held hostage by Xia Lengyue, the two half-step True Immortals were instantly burning with anger, their killing moves ready to strike.

"Stop." Ye Xuan raised his head and waved his hand casually: "Don't worry, she won't kill me."

With that, he gently planted a kiss on Xia Lengyue's forehead. "Right? Senior Sister."

Xia Lengyue jerked her head up. Despite her tear-stained face, her eyes were incomparably fierce.

She took a step forward, shielding Ye Xuan firmly behind her. The terrifying pressure belonging to the Mahayana realm erupted with a boom: "Whoever dares to touch my Junior Brother! Step over my dead body first!"

Watching this scene, Wu Lingxiao and Zi Yao looked at each other, their minds completely blank. Just a moment ago they were at each other's throats, how did she turn into a crazed husband-protector in the blink of an eye?

This man... just what kind of bewitching potion did he feed this crazy woman?

Ye Xuan stood safely among the three powerful women. Although he had the lowest cultivation base, he could control everything.

The night grew late.

In the side hall of the Weiyang Palace in the Great Xia Imperial Palace.

The newly advanced Mahayana expert, the Demon Venerable Lengyue who shook the Far West, Xia Lengyue, was now kneeling humbly on the ground.

She had taken off the black-gold robe that symbolized a Demon Venerable's majesty, wearing only a thin white gauze garment, her long hair draped loosely.

On the soft couch in front of her, Ye Xuan was toying with an empty jade cup. His eyes were indifferent, even carrying a hint of undisguised pickiness.

"Senior Sister." Ye Xuan's voice was very soft: "Even though you are now in the Mahayana realm, do you think you are... useful?"

Xia Lengyue trembled all over and looked up in a panic: "J-Junior Brother, I am useful! I can protect you! I can kill for you! Even if it's a True Immortal from the heavens, I dare to bite a piece of meat off them for you!"

"Kill people?" Ye Xuan sneered, leaning forward and hooking her chin with his finger. "Wu Lingxiao can kill, and Zi Yao can do it too. In the future, there will be countless women much stronger than you who would willingly kill for me. In this regard, do you have any irreplaceable value?"

Xia Lengyue felt as if she had plunged into an ice cavern.

It was true. In terms of power, she could not compare to Wu Lingxiao; in terms of scheming, she was inferior to Zi Yao. Aside from her newly advanced cultivation base, she truly had no advantage whatsoever.

Ye Xuan looked at the confusion in her eyes and leaned back against the soft couch, his interest seemingly waning. "Senior Sister, you must understand that my goal is the end of the Sea of Reincarnation. If you cannot keep up with my pace, you are nothing but a burden..."

His gaze instantly dropped to the freezing point. "Then I can only abandon you. After all, you do not want to become my stumbling block, do you?"

The word abandon completely shattered Xia Lengyue's final shred of dignity.

In this life, her greatest fear was being abandoned by Ye Xuan. Separated by death in their previous life and reunited in this one, if she were to be thrown away like garbage by him again, she would truly go mad.

"No! Please don't!" Xia Lengyue scrambled to Ye Xuan's feet on all fours, desperately clinging to his calf and crying heart-wrenchingly. "Don't leave me behind... I beg you! I don't want to be a Demon Venerable anymore, and I don't want my dignity! As long as I can stay by your side, you can raise me like a dog or treat me like a slave!"

A hint of satisfaction flashed in Ye Xuan's eyes.

"I really don't know what to do with you," he said, reaching out to stroke her long hair as if comforting a pet. "Since you want to stay so badly, then do something unique for me."

"Something unique?" Xia Lengyue looked up with her tear-stained face, as if she had just grasped a lifeline.

Ye Xuan pointed to his own lips, a demonic red light flashing in his eyes. "Your blood tastes quite good. Moreover, it contains extreme Yin demonic essence, which is of great benefit to my cultivation of the Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Scripture. From today onward, you don't need to kill anyone, nor do you need to manage the demonic palace. You only need to do one thing..."

He leaned down, whispering like a demon. "Be my nourishment. Be my portable blood bank. This is your sole value of existence. Do you understand?"

In the past, hearing such humiliating words would have definitely caused Xia Lengyue to erupt in a murderous rage.

But after experiencing years of imprisonment and brainwashing, her values had long been completely twisted. Not only was she not angry, but she instead revealed a relieved, ecstatic joy.

So she was actually this important to him! Becoming a part of his body, was this not the most intimate relationship in the world?

"I understand!" Xia Lengyue nodded frantically in a sickly manner. "As long as Junior Brother likes it... my blood is all yours! You can drink as much as you want, even draining me dry is fine!"

"Good girl," Ye Xuan smiled. He pulled her forcefully into his embrace. With no foreplay and no pity, his pale white teeth aimed at the side of her slender, fair neck and bit down mercilessly.

A piercing sound echoed.

Fresh blood splattered.

Xia Lengyue let out a muffled groan. As the intense pain struck, she fiercely hugged Ye Xuan's back. She tilted her head back, her face filled with an intoxicating blend of agony and extreme bliss.

With the loss of her blood, she could clearly feel Ye Xuan's aura rising. This sensation made her feel as if she were melting bit by bit into his very soul.

"Is it delicious... Junior Brother?" she asked weakly, her voice full of a sick anticipation.

Ye Xuan released his bite and licked the bloodstains from the corners of his mouth.

"Delicious," he said softly. "Senior Sister, you are the most delicious in this world."

Just this single sentence made Xia Lengyue feel that all the torture she had suffered before had turned into a supreme medal of honor.

In the following days, Ye Xuan and Xia Lengyue were practically glued together.

Wu Lingxiao and Zi Yao discovered that they could not insert themselves between the two at all. Ye Xuan spent most of the day with Xia Lengyue, but they were not sharing tender romance; rather, he was feeding.

Xia Lengyue had completely been reduced to an object.

When Ye Xuan was in a bad mood, he would pull her over for a bite; when encountering a cultivation bottleneck, he would have her bleed two bowls of blood; even when he was thirsty in the middle of the night, he would kick awake the woman sleeping on his footstool and demand a hot drink.

The most terrifying part was that Xia Lengyue not only endured it gladly but became even more fanatical.

"Junior Brother, how is the taste of the blood today?" she asked with expectation early one morning.

"A bit bitter. I have too much internal heat lately," Ye Xuan frowned.

"Ah? I'm sorry!" In a panic, Xia Lengyue immediately took out a large handful of Ice Soul Spirit Grass radiating extreme cold and swallowed it raw. "I'll eat this! After eating this, my blood will be ice-chilled! Junior Brother, please don't be angry!"

To cater to Ye Xuan's tastes, the dignified Mahayana Realm Demon Venerable consumed all sorts of bizarre things every day.

On this day, Wu Lingxiao and Zi Yao finally could bear it no longer.

They smashed open the doors of the bedchamber, only to see Ye Xuan lazily leaning on the couch reading a book, while Xia Lengyue was kneeling to the side, slitting her wrist and carefully dripping fresh blood into a jade cup, occasionally asking ingratiatingly, "Junior Brother, is this flow rate okay?"

"Ye Xuan! Aren't you going too far!" Wu Lingxiao trembled with anger. "She is a Mahayana Realm Demon Venerable after all! You aren't treating her like a Dao Companion; you're clearly treating her like livestock!"

Zi Yao also felt a deep sense of sorrow for her kind. "If you want blood, we can give it to you too! Why must you humiliate her like this!"

However, before Ye Xuan could speak, Xia Lengyue, who was currently bleeding herself, grew anxious first.

"Shut up!" She abruptly turned her head, her eyes as fierce as a mother wolf protecting her food. "What do you know?! This is Junior Brother's love for me! You want to offer your blood? Bah! Is your blood as delicious as mine? Have you put as much effort into adjusting its flavor as I have? You are purely jealous!"

Wu Lingxiao and Zi Yao were completely speechless. Looking at the fanatical Xia Lengyue who took pride in this, they only felt their scalps tingle.

This woman was completely beyond saving.

Ye Xuan put down his book, picked up the blood cup, and took a sip, revealing a lazy smile. "See? This is the difference in enlightenment."

He walked up to Xia Lengyue and incredibly naturally wrapped his arm around her slender waist.

Xia Lengyue immediately snuggled happily into his embrace. The fresh blood from her wrist dyed his white robes red, a sight both shocking and abnormally bewitching.

"Senior Sister knows what I need, and she is willing to change for me." Ye Xuan lowered his head and kissed her pale cheek. "Today it has a faint scent of mint. I like it very much. You've worked hard."

Hearing the praise, Xia Lengyue trembled with excitement. "Really? As long as Junior Brother likes it, I would even dig my heart out to serve as your appetizer!"

Watching this scene, Wu Lingxiao and Zi Yao felt a suffocating sense of powerlessness.

"What? Do you want to try too?" Ye Xuan looked at the two by the door with a half-smile. "If you can be as useful as Senior Sister, I wouldn't mind giving you a little more love."

The two women subconsciously took a step back.

They wanted to curse him out for being a pervert, but looking at Xia Lengyue, who was infinitely doted on by Ye Xuan, an uncontrollable envy swelled up from the depths of their hearts, an envy that made even themselves sick.

If they did not become like that, would they never obtain this kind of exclusive favoritism from him? Would they sooner or later be thrown away by him?

"I..."

Wu Lingxiao opened her mouth, her dignity as the Empress of Great Xia crumbling at this very moment.

"Alright, you may step down," Ye Xuan waved his hand dismissively as if shooing away a fly. "Do not disturb our meal. Senior Sister still needs to prepare my special drink for dinner. Tonight, I want something with a rose fragrance."

"Yes! I will go eat some roses right now!" Xia Lengyue ran off, her face brimming with absolute joy.

The heavy doors of the grand hall slowly closed, completely isolating the two worlds from one another.

Outside the doors, Wu Lingxiao and Zi Yao exchanged a glance, both seeing the extreme terror lurking deep within each other's eyes.

"Zi Yao..." Wu Lingxiao's voice trembled. "Do you think... one day, we might end up like that too?"

Zi Yao remained silent for a long time before letting out a bitter smile that looked even more agonizing than crying.

"Ending up like that might actually be a blessing... What I am truly afraid of is that we will not even have the qualifications to become like that. After all... he only keeps those who are useful to him."