Reincarnation Illusion

The night was deep and still.

The red candles in the Weiyang Palace flickered, creating an incredibly sensual atmosphere.

Light gauze curtains hung low over the spacious phoenix bed.

Wu Lingxiao lay amidst the brocade quilts, her eyes hazy and her face flushed. Her hands tightly gripped the bedsheets beneath her as she let out moans that would make anyone blush and their heart race:

"Husband... so good..."

"Husband... harder... love me..."

"I am yours... forever yours..."

Her expression was fervent and blissful, as if she were experiencing the most ultimate pleasure in the world.

Her body trembled violently, every pore cheering with joy, as if she were truly intertwining body and soul with her beloved.

However.

Outside these layers of gauze curtains.

In the cold air of reality.

Ye Xuan sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed, impeccably dressed in white, his face completely devoid of expression.

He hadn't touched Wu Lingxiao at all.

Not even a single finger.

A brilliant gray light shone from his eyes, and his hands formed a strange and complex hand seal in front of his chest—

[Samsara Illusion].

This was an illusion technique recorded in the Samsara Heavenly Scripture.

It could directly stir up the deepest desires in a person's heart, constructing an incredibly realistic dreamscape on the level of the soul.

In that dream, Wu Lingxiao was being wildly ravaged by Ye Xuan, enjoying the intimacy she had craved for five hundred years.

But in reality.

She was just writhing on the bed alone, begging for pleasure from the empty air.

Ye Xuan watched this scene with cold indifference.

Watching this unbearably arrogant Empress turn into a shameless slut under his illusion.

Watching her call out his name to the void, shedding tears of happiness.

A highly mocking sneer curled at the corner of Ye Xuan's mouth.

"How truly ugly."

He muttered to himself.

"Creak!"

Just then.

The side door of the bedchamber was gently pushed open.

A young girl wearing a cyan silk dress walked in.

It was Ying'er.

Twenty years had passed, and Ying'er had grown up, shedding her immaturity to become a graceful young woman. But the fanatical worship in her eyes for Ye Xuan was even more intense than it had been twenty years ago.

Ying'er carried a basin of hot water, originally intending to wipe Ye Xuan's face.

But when she saw the scene on the bed, she froze completely.

She saw the Empress caught in self-intoxication.

She also saw Ye Xuan sitting at the foot of the bed, his eyes as cold as iron.

"Young... Young Master..."

Ying'er's voice trembled slightly. She subconsciously lightened her footsteps, afraid of waking this mad woman immersed in a beautiful dream.

Ye Xuan turned his head, the gray light in his eyes retracting slightly, and beckoned to Ying'er.

Ying'er obediently walked over, knelt at Ye Xuan's feet, and pressed her face against his knee like a docile kitten.

Listening to the obscene sounds coming from the bed, she finally couldn't hold back and asked softly:

"Master... isn't it too cruel... to treat her like this?"

"After all... she waited for you for so long."

Even as Ye Xuan's die-hard loyalist, Ying'er felt this scene was a bit too absurd and terrifying.

That was the Empress.

To be toyed with to such an extent.

Hearing this, Ye Xuan sighed softly.

He reached out and gently stroked Ying'er's forehead, his fingertips gliding over her eyebrows and eyes. His gaze carried a trace of genuineness that he only ever revealed when facing Ying'er:

"Cruel?"

Ye Xuan asked in return, his voice as light as a feather:

"Ying'er, do you know why I don't want to touch her?"

Ying'er shook her head.

Ye Xuan turned his head, glancing at the woman on the bed who was still lost in lust. The gentleness in his eyes instantly transformed into disgust and revulsion:

"Simply because... she is dirty."

Ye Xuan's tone turned chilling:

After speaking, Ye Xuan withdrew his gaze and looked back down at Ying'er kneeling by his feet.

His eyes became burning hot.

It was a pure, undisguised possessiveness.

"Ying'er."

Ye Xuan tilted her chin up:

"You are different."

"From beginning to end, you are the only one whose heart and eyes have been completely filled with nothing but me."

Ying'er's face instantly flushed completely red, her heart beating like a drum.

She understood the meaning in her Young Master's eyes.

"Young... Young Master..."

She glanced at the Empress still moaning nearby, trembling all over with shame:

"Right... right here?"

"She... she is right beside us..."

"Yes."

Ye Xuan smiled.

He smiled wickedly, smiled arrogantly.

"Right here."

"Right in front of her."

Ye Xuan pulled Ying'er into his embrace.

His movements were rough and passionate, as if he wanted to vent all the hostility that had built up over the past twenty years.

Ying'er did not resist.

She tightly hugged Ye Xuan's neck, and in this most noble bedchamber of Great Xia, right beside the Empress's pillow, she offered herself completely and utterly to her Master.

This night.

Was absurd to the extreme.

And cruel to the extreme.

The next morning, the Great Xia Imperial Palace seemed to be enveloped in a strange pink halo.

The main doors of the Weiyang Palace slowly opened, and Wu Lingxiao stepped out.

At this moment, she was like a completely different person from the anxious and highly-strung woman she was yesterday.

Her skin was as white as snow, tinged with a faint blush. The resentment and hostility that had accumulated in her features for five hundred years were completely gone, replaced by the delicate beauty and languor of a woman thoroughly nourished by rain and dew.

Even the way she walked had changed.

Even wearing a heavy dragon robe could not conceal the charm radiating from her very bones. It was a confidence that only a woman who had truly received the physical and emotional nourishment of her beloved could possess.

"Go, pass down my decree."

Wu Lingxiao's voice was no longer cold; instead, it carried a bit of lighthearted laughter:

"Summon Zi Yao and Xia Lengyue to the Imperial Garden to admire the flowers."

"I am in a good mood today, and I wish to have a nice... family chat with these two sisters."

The Imperial Garden, Pavilion of a Hundred Flowers.

The atmosphere here was so oppressive it was suffocating.

Xia Lengyue still had a pale face, thick bandages wrapped around her wrist, and she stared gloomily at the cup of blood wine in front of her.

Zi Yao appeared somewhat distracted, constantly looking in the direction of the Weiyang Palace, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes.

The commotion in the Weiyang Palace last night, although isolated by formations, still faintly emitted the aura fluctuations of a peak Soul Formation stage cultivator blending with a Mahayana stage cultivator.

"That is... the aura of dual cultivation."

Xia Lengyue suddenly spoke, her voice hoarse, as if she had swallowed glass shards:

"Last night, he and she... were together."

Zi Yao trembled all over, biting her lip, her eyes instantly turning red:

"How is that possible... Husband clearly said he despised her for being dirty. How could Husband touch her?"

Just as the two women were burning with jealousy and on the verge of going mad.

A burst of hearty laughter rang out.

"My two sisters, you've waited long."

Wu Lingxiao, surrounded by a group of palace maids, walked over like a proud peacock.

She didn't take the main seat, but casually leaned against the railing, one hand gently stroking her neck: there, lay a dark red hickey.

"Oh my, I'm truly sorry."

Wu Lingxiao looked at her two ashen-faced rivals in love, the sense of superiority in her eyes practically overflowing:

"I woke up late today. It couldn't be helped, Husband last night... was simply too exhausting."

"What... what did you say?"

Xia Lengyue stood up abruptly, knocking over the blood wine in front of her, the red liquid spilling all over the ground:

"He touched you? That is impossible!"

"What is so impossible about it?"

Wu Lingxiao covered her mouth and chuckled softly, the corners of her eyes and brows overflowing with smug, amorous delight.

"I am his wife, the Empress of the Great Xia. It is only natural and right for us to be a loving husband and wife."

"Besides..."

Wu Lingxiao deliberately pulled her collar down a bit to reveal a hickey, her tone becoming incredibly ambiguous.

"My husband said he loves the way I look in bed the most."

"He said I am the most fascinating woman in the world to him. He said... his previous coldness was only to test my true heart."

"Last night, he made up for everything he owed me over the past twenty years all at once... My waist is still sore."

"Shut up!"

Zi Yao screamed. She covered her ears, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Liar! You are lying! Husband said you were dirty! How could he possibly love you?"

"That was in the past."

Wu Lingxiao looked at Zi Yao with pity, as if looking at a pathetic abandoned wife.

"Zi Yao, you need to understand. Men may say no with their mouths, but their bodies are very honest."

"Moreover, my husband specifically praised my skin, saying I maintain it well, unlike some people..."

She cast a pointed glance at Xia Lengyue, whose skin was withered from year-round bloodletting, and then at Zi Yao, whose face was haggard from being plagued by inner demons.

"Enough!"

Xia Lengyue went completely mad.

The demonic aura within her body erupted with a bang, her eyes turning as red as blood.

"I will kill you! Wu Lingxiao! You bitch! He is mine!!"

"Why? Why do you get to have him? I threw away my very dignity for him!" Zi Yao also broke down crying and summoned her natal magical treasure.

Facing the rampage of her two romantic rivals.

Wu Lingxiao was not afraid in the slightest; instead, she grew even more excited.

At this moment, she felt like a true victor.

"What? You want to fight?"

Wu Lingxiao sneered. The Emperor's Sword instantly appeared in her hand, and the oppressive aura of the Mahayana realm crushed down mercilessly.

"Perfect. I am full of energy right now and was just looking for someone to spar with!"

Three women who had once stood at the pinnacle of the cultivation world.

Now, for the sake of a man, they were acting like vulgar street shrews, swords drawn and acting disgracefully in the imperial garden.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the imperial garden.

Atop a hidden rockery.

Ye Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, quietly watching this farce.

Beside him, Ying'er had just peeled a crystal-clear grape and was carefully feeding it to his lips.

"Young Master..."

Ying'er looked at the high-spirited Empress below, who was frantically showing off her fake happiness, and could not help but whisper.

"She really thinks... last night was real."

"She looks... so happy."

"Indeed."

Ye Xuan ate the grape, his fingertips gently tapping the railing, the gray vortexes in his eyes slowly spinning.

"This is the charm of illusion arts."

"As long as she believes it, the fake becomes real."

"Look at how confident and beautiful she is now. Is she not much more pleasing to the eye than that paranoid madwoman from before?"

"But..."

Ying'er glanced at Xia Lengyue and Zi Yao, who were on the verge of going berserk.

"The other two look like... they are about to die of anger."

"If they are not pacified, I am afraid this imperial palace will really be torn down."

"Mhm, you are right."

Ye Xuan wiped the corner of his mouth, an extremely wicked, demon-like smile appearing on his face.

"Since it is a harem, naturally, the rain and dew must be shared equally."

"As the head of the household, how can I show favoritism?"

"Let us go, Ying'er."

Ye Xuan wrapped his arm around Ying'er's waist, his figure flashing as he disappeared from the spot.

"Let us go deliver some warmth... to these two pitiful wives."

Inside the Cold Moon Palace, a chilling air permeated the surroundings.

On the walls carved from ten-thousand-year profound ice, the reflection of a woman with disheveled hair, looking like a mad demon, could be seen.

Xia Lengyue lay on the cold jade bed. With the enhancement of her Mahayana realm spiritual energy, her nails forcibly scratched ten shocking bloody marks into the indestructible profound ice.

"Wuwuwu... Ye Xuan... you liar..."

"You said I was special... you said my blood was the sweetest..."

"Why... why did you touch that bitch... why did you leave those kinds of marks on her..."

Jealousy was like ten thousand poisonous ants gnawing at her heart.

She wished she could rush out and kill Wu Lingxiao, but she was even more afraid, afraid that if she caused a scene, Ye Xuan would look at her like trash again.

Just as she was about to be swallowed by her inner demons.

"Senior Sister, this profound ice is so cold, why do you not know to cover yourself with a quilt?"

A voice, gentle as jade yet carrying a strange magnetism, suddenly sounded behind her.

Xia Lengyue's entire body trembled violently, and she abruptly turned her head.

Under the dim palace lantern, Ye Xuan stood quietly. Today, he was not wearing his usual snow-white Daoist robe that kept people a thousand miles away. Instead, he had changed into a dark red wide-sleeved long robe, his collar slightly open, revealing a patch of cold white skin below his exquisite collarbones.

Illuminated by the flickering candlelight, his entire being exuded a demonic and depraved beauty.

"Ye... Ye Xuan?"

Xia Lengyue froze for a moment, and then the grievance in her eyes instantly turned into monstrous anger.

"What are you doing here? Get out!"

"Werent you in the Weiyang Palace accompanying your Empress? Didnt you say she fascinated you?! Then what are you doing looking for a blood slave like me!"

Ye Xuan's figure flashed, closing in on her like a phantom.

He did not explain. Instead, he simply leaned down and gently pressed his slender index finger against Xia Lengyue's trembling, bloodstained lips.

Within his pupils, the originally black-and-white world instantly collapsed, and two profound, boundless gray vortexes slowly rotated, as if connecting to the netherworld.

[Samsara Illusion]

An invisible gray ripple, with Ye Xuan at the center, instantly enveloped the entire bedchamber.

This was no ordinary soundproofing barrier, but an absolute domain containing the power of samsara and karma.

Within this domain, karma was severed, and heavenly secrets were obscured. Even if a mighty figure at the Tribulation Transcendence realm stood outside the door, they would only see dead silence and be unable to pry into the slightest truth.

All the clamor of the outside world was completely isolated.

"Senior Sister, you are so silly."

Ye Xuan's voice became filled with heartache, his eyes full of restrained deep affection.

"I was just acting."

"Wu Lingxiao is now the Empress of Great Xia, holding countless resources in her hands. If I do not coax her into a good mood, how would she willingly open the national treasury to supply my cultivation?"

"Towards her, I only have exploitation."

"But towards you..."

Ye Xuan took Xia Lengyue's bloody hand, stuck out the tip of his tongue, and gently licked the wound on her fingertip, a trace of sickly infatuation appearing in his eyes.

"Senior Sister, only your blood can excite me."

"Only you are the treasure I hide at the bottom of my heart, afraid to show anyone else."

"As soon as I coaxed that stupid woman to sleep, I could not wait to come find you... I pretended so hard, Senior Sister, I missed you."

This combo of moves was simply a devastating, dimensional strike to the extremely love-starved and paranoid Xia Lengyue.

"R-really?" The hostility in Xia Lengyue's eyes dissipated, replaced by a wild joy of regaining what was lost, along with guilt. "Did I... misunderstand Junior Brother?"

"Of course."

Ye Xuan smiled faintly. Reaching out, he pushed her down onto the ice bed, his voice as low and deep as a demonic incantation:

"Close your eyes, Senior Sister."

"Tonight, I will compensate you for everything I owe you... a thousand times over."

A gray light flourished.

The clarity in Xia Lengyue's eyes completely vanished as she fell into the most perfect erotic dream woven by Ye Xuan.

In her perception, Ye Xuan was frantically tearing at her clothes, claiming her in the most domineering way possible. The intense pleasure of their souls and bodies intertwining made her instantly melt into a puddle of mud.

"Mmm... Junior Brother... gently... I am yours..."

Xia Lengyue kept her eyes closed, her hands clawing desperately at the empty air. A blush that would make anyone's heart race surfaced on her face as she let out intermittent, delicate moans.

But in reality.

Ye Xuan stood by the bed, watching this scene with an expressionless face.

He even took his time to slowly straighten out his slightly rumpled cuffs, his gaze as cold as if he were watching a vulgar shadow puppet show.

"Ying'er."

Ye Xuan called out softly toward the shadows deep within the bedchamber.

From the darkness, a petite figure walked out.

Wearing the green silk dress of a palace maid, Ying'er's face was as red as a ripe apple. Her eyes held both fear and a certain excitement ignited by the taboo nature of the situation.

She had been hiding in the dark the entire time, witnessing with her own eyes how her young master had used just a few words to turn a crazed Mahayana Realm Demon Venerable into a female cat in heat.

"Young... Young Master..."

"Come here."

Ye Xuan sat on the edge of the ice bed.

Right behind him was Xia Lengyue, writhing against the empty air, completely lost in her lust.

Ye Xuan patted his thigh, signaling for Ying'er to sit on it.

"Look how happy she is."

Ye Xuan pointed at Xia Lengyue behind him, speaking to Ying'er with a playful tone:

"She has me in her dreams, while you have me in reality."

"Ying'er, tell me... who is happier?"

Trembling, Ying'er walked over and obediently sat in Ye Xuan's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

She could clearly hear Xia Lengyue's increasingly loud moans behind them. This sense of immorality happening so close made her entire body tremble.

"Ying'er... Ying'er feels... that she is happier."

Ying'er pressed her burning face against Ye Xuan's cold chest, whispering softly.

"Good girl."

Ye Xuan smiled.

Within this absolute barrier created by the Samsara Heavenly Scripture, right upon this Demon Venerable's fragrant bed.

While listening to Xia Lengyue's confessions of love within the illusion, Ye Xuan undid the sash of the little maid in his arms.

"Mmph!"

Ying'er bit her lip tightly, not daring to make a single sound.

She knew that if she made even the slightest noise, the Demon Venerable behind them might wake up. If that happened, she would be torn into ten thousand pieces.

This thrill of dancing on the edge of a blade pushed her attachment to Ye Xuan to its absolute peak.

Half an hour later.

Ye Xuan gently patted Ying'er's back.

Ying'er's body was limp, drenched in fragrant sweat, unable to lift even a single finger.

Yet the light in her eyes was startlingly bright.

"Go back."

Ye Xuan helped her straighten her messy clothes and planted a kiss on her forehead:

"Go stand guard outside. Don't let anyone approach."

"Yes... Master."

Ying'er reluctantly pulled away from Ye Xuan's embrace. She cast a glance at the still-unconscious Xia Lengyue and, carrying the posture of a victor, silently retreated from the room.

After Ying'er left.

Ye Xuan waved his hand, dispersing the suffocatingly ambiguous atmosphere, and used a Cleansing Spell to remove the traces from his body.

He reached out, dispelled the Samsara Illusion, and gently nudged Xia Lengyue, who was still savoring the afterglow.

"Senior Sister... wake up."

Ye Xuan's voice carried a hint of hoarseness and lethargy.

Xia Lengyue slowly opened her eyes.

Her gaze was unfocused, her body drenched in sweat, and her demonic essence was surging, as if she truly had just experienced a session of dual cultivation.

Seeing Ye Xuan sitting by the bed, looking at her gently while wiping the sweat from her forehead, a massive wave of sweetness welled up in Xia Lengyue's heart.

"Junior Brother..."

She wrapped around him like an octopus, burying her face in his chest:

"Just now... that was truly amazing."

"I have never felt so happy before... Junior Brother, you are so good to me."

Ye Xuan let her hold him. A trace of imperceptible mockery flashed through his eyes, but his tone became serious:

"Senior Sister, although we had a wonderful time, there is one thing you must promise me."

"What is it? As long as Junior Brother asks, I will agree to anything!" Xia Lengyue was now completely blinded by love.

Ye Xuan sighed, helped her sit up straight, cupped her face in his hands, and said with extreme solemnity:

"What happened tonight must never be known by a third person."

"Especially Wu Lingxiao."

"Why?" Xia Lengyue was somewhat puzzled and even a bit indignant. "I want to tell that bitch! I want her to know that the person you truly love is me! I want to see her jealous face!"

"Foolish!"

Ye Xuan frowned, his tone growing a bit stern:

"Senior Sister, how can you still not understand my painstaking intentions?"

He stood up, placed his hands behind his back, and paced around the cold palace chamber, his tone deep and profound:

"That woman Wu Lingxiao is so crazy she would even kill her own husband. The only reason she is so obedient to me right now is because she thinks she has me all to herself."

"If she finds out that I came to see you behind her back, and even gave my best to you..."

"With her extreme personality, she will definitely go mad."

"She would cut off my cultivation resources and might even recklessly fight you to the death, even if it means destroying the Great Xia Dynasty."

Ye Xuan turned around and looked deeply into Xia Lengyue's eyes:

"Senior Sister, you are a Demon Venerable; you are not afraid of her. But I am."

"I am afraid that you will get hurt, and I am afraid that our plans will fall short at the final step."

"Moreover..."

Ye Xuan walked back to the bed, pulled her back into his arms, leaned close to her ear, and whispered in an intimate tone reserved only for lovers:

"Doesn't Senior Sister think... this sneaky feeling is much more thrilling?"

"We are having an affair right under her nose, while she shows off outside like a fool, and we get to enjoy true bliss right here."

"Isn't that the greatest revenge and humiliation against her?"

"I understand now, Junior Brother!"

Xia Lengyue's eyes lit up astonishingly, and a somewhat cunning and malicious smile appeared on her face:

"You want to play her for a fool!"

"Alright! I promise you!"

"I absolutely won't tell anyone! This is our little secret."

Ye Xuan smiled in satisfaction.

He reached out a finger and tapped the tip of Xia Lengyue's nose:

"Good girl."

"Remember, when you see her tomorrow, no matter how much she shows off, you must hold back."

"You can even... pretend to be very jealous and very angry."

"The more convincing your act, the more smug she will be, and the safer we will be."

"Don't worry!"

Xia Lengyue patted her chest with absolute confidence:

"I am a Demon Venerable, who doesn't know how to act?"

"I will make her think she has won big time, and then behind her back, we will... hehehe..."

Looking at Xia Lengyue, who had completely brainwashed herself and was even starting to look forward to this game of adultery.

The smile in Ye Xuan's eyes deepened.

However, if that smile were left undisguised, it would send shivers down anyone's spine.

"Then it is settled."

Ye Xuan stood up and straightened his robes.

"It is almost dawn. I should head back."

"If she wakes up and finds me gone, she will grow suspicious again."

"Are you leaving already..." Xia Lengyue pulled at his sleeve, reluctant to let him go.

"If love between two hearts is meant to last forever, why must they stay together day and night?"

Leaving behind this timeless verse, Ye Xuan leaned down and planted a kiss as light as a dragonfly skimming the water upon her forehead.

"Wait for me. I will come again when I have the chance."

With that said, Ye Xuan lingered no longer.

With a wave of his large sleeve, he dispelled the barrier of the Samsara Heavenly Scripture.

His dark red figure vanished into the pre-dawn darkness like a spectral night owl.

Inside the Cold Moon Palace.

Xia Lengyue still sat upon the ice bed, cupping her burning cheeks with both hands, savoring the nonexistent passionate encounter they had just shared.

Looking at the empty palace, she suddenly let out a bizarre string of giggles.

"Wu Lingxiao, oh Wu Lingxiao..."

"You are truly pitiful."

"You are just a tool, while I... am his true love."

"Hehehe... hahahaha..."

Meanwhile, outside the palace.

Ye Xuan walked down the cold, desolate eternal alley.

Where was the slightest trace of deep affection on his face? There was only a look of absolute indifference and mockery.

Ying'er caught up with him silently, her small hand gently tugging at the corner of his robes.

"Is it done?" Ying'er asked softly.

"It is done."

Ye Xuan looked up at the pale white horizon and stretched.

"Not only is it done, but I also made her feel like she took great advantage of the situation."

"Now, even if Wu Lingxiao pierces a hole in the heavens, she will cover for me, because she thinks she is my secret lover."

"Master is truly..." Ying'er thought for a long while before squeezing out a phrase, "infallible in your calculations."

"Let us go."

Ye Xuan gave Ying'er's palm a light squeeze.

"There is still Zi Yao left."

"Since we started this tonight, we must play out the act to perfection."

"Otherwise... how lonely would that little Demon Venerable be."