Another Great Xia Empress Has Died

The night was as black as ink. The palace walls of the Great Xia harem gleamed with a pale, ghastly luster under the moonlight.

The harem, once filled with the chatter of beauties and the heavy scent of cosmetics, was now as silent as a graveyard.

Ever since Ye Xuan returned to the palace, Wu Lingxiao, in order to show her loyalty and to keep him from being annoyed, had already issued a decree to dismiss her three thousand beauties.

Those male favorites, whether sons of nobles or outstanding talents of various sects, had each taken their severance pay and fled this oppressive prison as if granted a grand amnesty.

For these eight hundred years, they had essentially been in prison.

Only one person stubbornly refused to leave.

Ye Xuan led Ying'er through the long, endless alley.

"Young Master, it looks like there's someone ahead."

Ying'er stopped, pointing forward with a hint of fear.

At the end of the alley, in front of Kunning Palace, which symbolized the status of the master of the harem, stood a slender and lonely figure.

He wore a formal red phoenix robe, a nine-tailed phoenix hairpin on his head, and exquisite makeup on his face. In this desolate night, he looked entirely out of place, even exuding a somewhat eerie, tragic beauty.

It was none other than the Empress of Great Xia, Bai Ran.

He hadn't left.

He was the legitimate son of the Bai family, a mighty cultivator at the Tribulation Crossing stage, and the rightful, official Mother of the Nation of this Great Xia.

His pride did not allow him to take the money and scurry away in disgrace like those lowly concubines.

He was waiting.

Waiting for justice, or waiting for his heart to completely die.

When he saw that man, dressed in clothes whiter than snow, strolling over as if taking a leisurely walk in a courtyard, the eyes of Bai Ran, originally as clear as autumn water, instantly ignited with raging jealousy and resentment.

"Ye Xuan."

Bai Ran's voice was hoarse, as if filled with gravel:

"You are finally willing to show your face."

Ye Xuan stopped in his tracks and looked the once-lofty Empress up and down.

"So it is His Highness, the Empress."

Ye Xuan smiled, his tone frivolous:

"What? Everyone else has left, yet Your Highness is still here? Are you reluctant to part with the wealth and glory of this palace, or are you reluctant to part with that cold phoenix bed?"

"Shut up!"

Bai Ran violently flicked his sleeves. A fraction of his Tribulation Crossing stage aura leaked out, shaking the surrounding fallen leaves into the air:

"Ye Xuan! You despicable, shameless villain!"

"If you truly had any capability, you would stand beside Her Majesty openly and honorably by your own strength! But look at you!"

Bai Ran pressed forward step by step, pointing at Ye Xuan's nose, his fingers trembling:

"You use such underhanded methods! You exploit Her Majesty's guilt toward you, you exploit a past romance that died long ago... You have turned Her Majesty into a madwoman!"

"Look at Her Majesty now! Moody, unpredictable, and drowning in guilt all day long. You are destroying her!!"

"Hypocrite."

Ye Xuan sneered. He reached out and unceremoniously patted Bai Ran's cheek:

"You keep saying it's all for Her Majesty, but in truth, it's just for your own pitiful possessiveness."

"You are jealous of me."

"You are jealous that even though I've been dead for eight hundred years, I still monopolize her heart."

"And what about you?"

Ye Xuan took a step back, looking at him with an extremely pitying, yet exceedingly vicious gaze:

"Bai Ran, you have been the Empress for five hundred years."

"But in these five hundred years, has Wu Lingxiao ever touched even a single one of your fingers?"

These words accurately trampled on Bai Ran's greatest sore spot.

This was a wound in his heart that had been festering for five hundred years. Now, it was ruthlessly torn open by Ye Xuan out in the open, and salt was rubbed into it.

"You... you..."

Bai Ran trembled all over with anger, tears welling up in his eyes. It was out of shame and indignation, but even more out of despair:

"I am her official husband! I was married to her through formal matchmaking and proper rites! On our wedding night, we drank the nuptial wine..."

"In name only."

Ye Xuan coldly interrupted him, his eyes full of disdain:

"In Wu Lingxiao's eyes, you are not even as good as a vase in the imperial study."

"At least a vase can be looked at, but you? You only make her feel that you are an eyesore, that you are disgusting, and that you are a blasphemy against her deep love."

"Don't take yourself so seriously, Bai Ran."

"You've lived as a widow for five hundred years, and the only person you've moved is yourself."

"In my eyes, you are nothing but a joke."

"Ahhh! I'm going to kill you!"

Bai Ran completely broke down.

All his refinement, all his dignity, vanished into thin air at this moment.

He only wanted to tear that mouth to pieces, only wanted to kill this vicious man!

"Go to hell!"

A gleaming Phoenix Bearing Sword appeared in Bai Ran's hand. The terrifying spiritual energy of the Tribulation Crossing stage erupted as he thrust the sword toward Ye Xuan's throat.

This sword strike, thrust out of pure hatred, was powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks.

Ye Xuan stood in place, not moving an inch.

He didn't even blink an eye, only the corners of his mouth curled up into a mocking arc.

Just as the tip of the sword was a mere three inches from Ye Xuan.

A golden palm print descended from the sky, carrying the majestic aura of an emperor, and viciously struck Bai Ran.

"Pfft!"

Like a kite with a broken string, Bai Ran was sent flying dozens of feet away, crashing heavily against the vermilion gates of Kunning Palace.

The doors shattered, and dust billowed into the air.

Bai Ran collapsed in the ruins, coughing up blood, and the Phoenix Bearing Sword in his hand broke into two pieces.

"Who gave you the audacity to touch My man?"

An extremely cold voice came from the other end of the alley.

Wu Lingxiao was dressed in a simple black robe, her long hair draped over her shoulders, and her feet bare. It was obvious she had rushed over in extreme panic.

She had just been tormented into spitting blood and fainting by Ye Xuan bringing up the past events of the Elysium Heaven. Upon waking and hearing that Ye Xuan had come to the harem, she was terrified that he might misunderstand something again, so she ran over without even bothering to put on her shoes.

As a result, the moment she arrived, she saw Bai Ran trying to kill Ye Xuan.

In an instant, Wu Lingxiao's killing intent boiled over.

"Your... Your Majesty..."

Bai Ran struggled to crawl up from the ruins. Looking at the woman he yearned for day and night, his eyes were filled with disbelief:

"You... you struck me?"

"For this man... you raised your hand against me?"

Wu Lingxiao didn't even look at him.

She ran straight to Ye Xuan, carefully inspecting him from head to toe, and asked with a trembling voice:

"Husband... are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? Were you frightened?"

Ye Xuan let her inspect him, a faint sneer still hanging on his face:

"I'm fine."

"It's just that, Your Majesty, your harem doesn't seem to welcome me very much."

"His Highness the Empress here said that I have ruined you, that I am a disaster, and that he wanted to carry out justice on behalf of heaven and kill me."

Hearing this, Wu Lingxiao's face instantly darkened to the extreme.

She turned around, and in the gaze she directed at Bai Ran, there was no longer a single trace of past affection, only the icy coldness of looking at a dead person.

"Bai Ran."

"Did I not issue a decree earlier, ordering you to take your spirit stones and get the hell out of the imperial palace?"

"Why did you disobey the decree?"

Bai Ran clutched his chest and staggered forward, tears mixing with the blood flowing down:

"Your Majesty... I am Bai Ran... I am the Bai Ran who has been by your side for five hundred years..."

"Is that slut right? In your heart, am I really not even as good as a vase?"

"Ye Xuan is only using you! He is taking revenge on you! He is playing with your feelings! Can't you see that?"

"Shut up!"

Wu Lingxiao shouted angrily, a flash of tyranny crossing her eyes:

"My husband is right."

"Now that my husband has returned, I no longer need a harem."

"Every person, every brick in this inner palace—as long as it has to do with another man, I find it filthy!"

This single sentence was ten thousand times more vicious than Ye Xuan's previous mockery.

Filthy.

That was her evaluation of the Empress who had accompanied her for five hundred years.

"Bai Ran, for the sake of your Bai family ancestors, I will give you one last chance."

With a wave of Wu Lingxiao's hand, a storage ring filled with supreme-grade spirit stones landed at Bai Ran's feet.

"I hereby strip you of your status as Empress. From this day forward, we have nothing to do with each other."

"Take these spirit stones and roll back to your Bai family."

"Do not let me see you again, or else... do not blame me for disregarding our past ties."

Bai Ran stared blankly at the ring by his feet.

It was severance pay.

It was the price to buy out his five hundred years of youth and five hundred years of waiting.

"Haha... Hahahaha..."

Bai Ran suddenly began to laugh.

He laughed mournfully, laughed madly.

He raised his head, his venomous gaze sweeping back and forth between Wu Lingxiao and Ye Xuan.

"Good... what a pair of star-crossed lovers..."

"What a heartless and ruthless Female Emperor!"

Bai Ran suddenly raised his hand, pointing at Ye Xuan, his voice so shrill it almost cracked:

"It's all because of you!"

"If you hadn't come back! If it weren't for you, this lingering wild ghost! How could Her Majesty treat me like this?"

"You are a disaster! You are a monster!"

"Even if I die today! I will drag you down to hell with me!"

Before his voice faded, the Nascent Soul within Bai Ran's body suddenly erupted with a blinding light.

He was actually going to self-destruct!

The self-destruction of a Tribulation Transcendence realm mighty figure, if fully unleashed, would be enough to level more than half of this imperial palace to the ground!

"I want you both to be buried with me!"

Bai Ran roared, charging recklessly toward Ye Xuan like a burning meteor.

Ye Xuan stood there, watching the charging Bai Ran.

His eyes remained calm, even carrying a trace of anticipation.

He was waiting.

Waiting for Wu Lingxiao's choice.

"Courting death!"

A trace of ruthlessness flashed through Wu Lingxiao's eyes.

Without any hesitation.

Without any delay.

Without even the slightest... reluctance.

"Clang!"

A clear and resonant sword cry rang out.

A golden longsword radiating a terrifying imperial aura instantly appeared in Wu Lingxiao's hand.

This was the Great Xia's nation-suppressing divine artifact—the Emperor Sword.

"Slash!"

Wu Lingxiao raised her hand and the sword fell.

A golden sword light, like slicing through tofu, instantly cleaved through Bai Ran's body.

Bai Ran's forward-charging body suddenly stiffened.

The berserk spiritual energy within his body was instantly shredded to nothingness under that indestructible sword intent.

"Uh..."

Bai Ran's eyes widened as he looked at Wu Lingxiao, who was so close at hand.

Looking at this woman he had loved for five hundred years, respected for five hundred years, and resented for five hundred years.

Her gaze was so cold, so absolute.

When she killed him, her hand didn't even tremble.

"Pfft."

A line of blood extended from the center of Bai Ran's brow all the way down to his abdomen.

His body slowly split into two halves.

Blood rained down, dyeing the white jade steps before the Kunning Palace red, and also dyeing the hem of Wu Lingxiao's black robes.

"Thud."

The mutilated corpse fell to the ground.

Bai Ran didn't die completely right away.

The vitality of the Tribulation Transcendence realm allowed him to linger on with his last breath.

Lying in a pool of blood, he struggled to reach out a blood-stained hand, trembling, wanting to grab Wu Lingxiao's ankle.

"Your... Your Majesty..."

"Look... look at me..."

"Even if it's... for the last time..."

His voice was as weak as a gossamer thread, carrying endless pleading.

His entire life, he had been begging her to look at him just once.

Now that he was dying, he only wanted to see even the slightest hint of sorrow or guilt in her eyes.

However.

Wu Lingxiao didn't even lower her head.

She even stepped back in disgust, avoiding Bai Ran's filthy hand.

Her gaze remained dead-locked on Ye Xuan, filled with nervousness and a desire to please:

"Husband... did I frighten you?"

"I have killed him."

"I truly have nothing to do with him... He wanted to kill you, so I killed him."

"You see, in my heart, there is only you... truly only you..."

Bai Ran's hand froze in mid-air.

His pupils gradually dilated, and the light in his eyes extinguished bit by bit.

Even until death, he never managed to wait for her to look back.

"Heh..."

A final, faint sigh dissipated in the wind.

The Empress of Great Xia, Bai Ran, had fallen.

Dying with his eyes wide open.

Ye Xuan stood to the side, witnessing this entire scene from start to finish.

Looking at the corpse on the ground, looking at those eyes that carried resentment and longing even in death.

And looking at the Female Emperor before him, who had personally slain her husband to please him without a shred of remorse.

"Haha..."

Ye Xuan suddenly let out a low chuckle.

The laughter grew louder and louder. In this blood-scented night, it sounded exceptionally grating and mad.

"Good! Good! Excellent!"

Ye Xuan clapped his hands, the gray vortexes in his eyes spinning madly.

"What a wonderful play."

"Is this the so-called love of an Emperor?"

"Is this the so-called eternal vow of love?"

He stepped forward, not sparing a single glance at the corpse on the ground, but instead opened his arms and pulled the slightly trembling Wu Lingxiao into his embrace.

"Husband..."

As if finding her sole pillar of support, Wu Lingxiao went limp in his arms, burying her face in his chest and greedily breathing in his scent.

She had killed someone, killed the person who had accompanied her for five hundred years.

Her heart was also trembling, but she didn't dare show it. She could only use this method to confirm that Ye Xuan was still here.

"Well done, Your Majesty."

Ye Xuan lowered his head, resting his chin on the top of Wu Lingxiao's head. Looking at the glaring pool of blood on the ground, a demonic smile curled at the corners of his lips.

"Since you have cleared the obstacle for me and proven your loyalty."

Ye Xuan's fingers gently trailed across the back of Wu Lingxiao's neck. His voice was intoxicatingly gentle, yet so vicious it was chilling:

"Then tonight..."

"I shall reluctantly make a trip to your Hall of Mental Cultivation."

"After all, as you are now, besides me, you truly have... nothing left at all."

Wu Lingxiao suddenly raised her head, a light of wild ecstasy bursting from her eyes:

"Really? Husband!"

"That's wonderful... that's wonderful..."

She hugged Ye Xuan tightly, as if embracing the entire world.

The wind blew past.

Swirling up the stench of blood from the ground.

With his arm around the Female Emperor of Great Xia, Ye Xuan stepped through the dark red blood, walking step by step into the depths of the supreme imperial palace.

Behind them.

Bai Ran's corpse gradually grew cold.

In this empty inner palace, there was no longer anyone to weep for him.

Ye Xuan had finally become an absolute devil.