The Strongest Cheat Has Always Been in My Hands

Ye Xuan was completely stunned.

"Is that really the case?"

He quickly snapped out of it, his brows furrowed tightly. "If a mere moment of being moved is enough to permanently fixate someone's feelings for a lifetime, that completely goes against common sense."

"Yes, it is terrifying. The human heart is unpredictable, and the affairs of the world are ever-changing."

Hongfu sneered, "Cultivators have always been emotionally detached, pursuing the Supreme Way of Forgetting Emotions. A single closed-door meditation session lasts for hundreds or even thousands of years. No matter how deep the love, it will be worn away by the river of time. Even the most loyal Dao companion will turn against you due to conflicts of interest. If the other party makes a mistake, the feelings will immediately vanish. This is human nature!"

"But those locked onto by the 'Eternal Conquest' will not!"

"The love in their hearts will never fade. Even after thousands or tens of thousands of years, it will remain exactly the same! It will even twist into a terrifying, pathological obsession and madness because they cannot have you!"

Ye Xuan listened quietly, but his brows furrowed even deeper, and he immediately raised the most crucial counterargument:

"That's not right! If my innate talent is truly this heaven-defying, then why did my Dao companions betray me?"

"Betrayal? Heh..."

Hongfu looked at him, a mocking smile that saw through the hearts of the world appearing on her withered face. "That is because, at the time they betrayed you, their love for you simply wasn't deep enough. Or rather, their love had not yet reached the peak required to be permanently fixated."

"I have already pried into some of your matters through the Mortal Dust Qi."

Ye Xuan's expression suddenly turned ice-cold, his killing intent fully exposed once more. "You're spying on my memories?"

Hongfu looked indifferent, completely disregarding his killing intent. "The Mortal Dust Qi can reflect the human heart. I can only glimpse a superficial fraction of it. But that is enough for me to understand your past."

Suppressing the murderous intent in his heart, Ye Xuan said coldly, "I understand a little now. But I still don't get it. Since I possess such a talent, why was I still betrayed by them back then?"

Hongfu nodded, her voice turning sharp and piercing, ruthlessly dissecting the cruel truth:

"Your past life Dao companions, Xia Lengyue, Wu Lingxiao, Zi Yao, Ye Qingcheng... The reason they betrayed you is exceedingly simple."

"And that is, they are inherently cold-natured, extremely selfish women!"

"For such cold-hearted women, emotions are never their first priority. The Great Dao, cultivation, immortality, and personal gain will always override everything else. The reason they betrayed you is that it is in their very bones to betray anyone!"

"If you weren't their Dao companion, if it were any other man, they would still betray him without hesitation when faced with a choice involving their interests!"

Ye Xuan froze in place.

Although these words were harsh and grating, he had to admit that this was the absolute truth.

Take the Great Xia Empress, Wu Lingxiao, for example. Back then, in her pursuit of supreme imperial power and the ultimate Great Dao, didn't she cruelly betray Empress Zhou Xubai, who was deeply infatuated with her?

These lofty, high-and-mighty women were essentially extreme egoists.

Hongfu stared dead into Ye Xuan's eyes, her voice like a demonic curse from the Nine Netherworlds:

"All this time, haven't you found it strange?"

"Why would these inherently cold-natured women, who clearly betrayed you for their own gain and destroyed you with their own hands, cling to you like mad dogs afterward, refusing to let go?"

"Why would they be in such unbearable agony? Why would they go mad with regret, even willing to give up the Great Dao and imperial power they had painstakingly sought their entire lives, just to win you back?"

"That is because..."

Hongfu took a deep breath, revealing the final answer:

"It was only after betraying you that they were truly and completely permanently fixated by you!"

"For these cold-blooded women, betrayal is as simple as drinking water; it doesn't evoke the slightest bit of guilt. Take Xia Lengyue, for instance. Initially, her love for you was actually very limited. Even if you poured your heart and soul out, you couldn't move her Dao heart, which was as cold as iron."

"But at the very end, the moment you died for her... Even the most iron-hearted woman would experience an extremely intense wave of shock and guilt in that split second, and even a belated, heart-piercing agony."

"It was this instantaneous eruption of emotion! It crossed the critical threshold and was completely locked in by your innate talent!"

Lady Hongfu clenched her withered hands tightly, trembling all over with excitement:

"Therefore, from that moment on, her feelings for you were firmly locked at the absolute peak of undying love! She can never break free again!"

"Ye Xuan, you are truly too terrifying. Haven't you realized it?"

"These cold-natured women are fundamentally incapable of falling in love with any man! Yet they just had to fall in love with you, and it's a madness that cannot be changed for all of eternity!"

"In your eyes, they are unforgivable traitors."

"But in their eyes, this can no longer be called betrayal at all! Because from the moment they were permanently fixated, their entire world, their Great Dao, and their very lives were left with only you!"

Hearing these words, Ye Xuan remained silent for a very, very long time.

Then, he suddenly threw his head back and let out a low, mocking sneer.

"Heh... That is merely their perspective. A betrayal is a betrayal. This self-indulgent, deep affection is cheaper than dirt. No matter how crazy or how much pain they are in now, in my eyes, they are nothing but jumping clowns."

Hongfu looked at his impervious, utterly ruthless demeanor. She did not get angry; instead, she laughed, her eyes filled with fanatical admiration:

"Good! Good! Good! This is your other most terrifying trait, and the one that best aligns with the Great Dao of Lust and Emotion. And that is—heartlessness."

Hongfu slowly extended a withered finger, pointing at Ye Xuan's heart:

"Tell me, who is the person you love the most in this life? Is it Ying'er, the girl trembling in your arms who abandoned everything for you? Or is it Bai Qianqiu, who disregarded her own life for your sake? Or perhaps those past-life Dao companions who are now desperately obsessed with you?"

Ye Xuan paused for a moment.

He lowered his head and glanced at Ying'er, who was gripping the hem of his clothes tightly, her face covered in dust and filled with anxiety.

At this moment, Ying'er also tilted up her delicate little face.

Her hands were nervously wrung together, her knuckles turning white.

Her clear eyes were full of hope and apprehension as she nervously awaited her master's answer.

She had given up wealth and glory, abandoned her status as a female official, and taken only a love token bracelet to wander the world with him.

She thought that, at the very least, she held a place in her master's heart.

However.

The answer Ye Xuan gave made her face turn as pale as a sheet of paper, her entire body running ice-cold.

Ye Xuan's mouth slowly curved up, revealing an extremely wicked and bone-chillingly cruel smile.

"There is only one person I love the most. And that is, myself."

"Hahahahahaha!"

Hearing this answer, Hongfu, sitting on the throne, suddenly burst into a fit of hysterical, maniacal laughter.

She laughed so hard that tears streamed down her face, coughing violently as the entire hall trembled from her laughter:

"I knew it! I knew it!"

"Absolute selfishness! Absolute heartlessness! You are indeed destined to be the supreme ruler who commands the Grand Dao of Desire!"

Ye Xuan ignored the wildly laughing Lady Hongfu, nor did he look down at Ying'er, who was swaying unsteadily behind him with tears swirling in her eyes.

He simply tilted his head up slightly, looked at the churning red mortal dust qi at the dome of the grand hall, and let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

"So that's how it is. I finally understand."

"No wonder..."

"Why these women, despite having destroyed me with their own hands, still act as if they cannot live without me."

"Why, after they regret it, they immediately chase after me all over the world like mad dogs, not hesitating to ruin their own reputations. It turns out it is because their feelings were locked at their absolute peak by my innate talent."

Lady Hongfu stopped her manic laughter, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said with a smile:

"Exactly. In this cruel cultivation world, countless women murder their husbands for resources every day, and countless men abandon their wives and children for profit. But do these people ever regret it? No. They only climb higher, treating past relationships as stepping stones."

"For an almighty Tribulation Transcender like Ye Qingcheng, who stands so high above and severed her mortal desires long ago, to still obsessively love you, her former Foundation Establishment husband, like an ordinary, resentful mortal wife—don't you think that in itself is absurd?"

"This isn't some third-rate storybook! In the realistic cultivation world, a woman who truly strays, changes her heart, and betrays for profit can absolutely never be pulled back!"

"A shattered mirror can never be made whole again!"

"They could absolutely never regret it! Much less try to make amends!"

Lady Hongfu took a deep breath and looked at Ye Xuan as if looking at a god.

"But you alone are the sole exception in the myriad heavens and realms."

Lady Hongfu sneered and extended a finger, tapping the empty air.

The surrounding miasma of mortal dust answered the call, surging madly and condensing in midair into phantoms of stunningly beautiful, enchanting, yet agonizingly struggling women.

"An instant."

"Just one instant."

Lady Hongfu's voice carried a chilling, spine-tingling magic as she whispered in Ye Xuan's ear: "As long as you can make a lofty fairy or empress reach the critical point of undying love for you at any single moment in her life..."

"It only takes an instant."

"She will be branded with an eternal mark by the Heavenly Dao, forever conquered by you, and reduced to a plaything and slave to your affections for all her lifetimes!"

"This is... One Conquest, Eternal Conquest!"

"You only need to conquer her for an instant, and you will have conquered her for a lifetime."

Ye Xuan listened quietly, a dark, indiscernible light flickering deep within his eyes.

"Ye Xuan."

Lady Hongfu's voice suddenly grew serious. "Logically speaking, women with such inherently cold and fickle natures are one in a hundred. Although the cultivation world is cruel, female cultivators who can truly betray their Dao companions for profit without the slightest guilt are still an extreme minority."

She paused, her gaze turning as sharp as a blade. "Yet in every cycle of your reincarnation, the women you encounter are exactly this type. Xia Lengyue, Wu Lingxiao, Zi Yao... One or two might be a coincidence, but for it to happen life after life, generation after generation, that is absolutely no coincidence."

"Could it be..." Lady Hongfu's voice carried a trace of disbelief, "that someone has tampered with your reincarnations?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the temperature within the entire grand hall plummeted.

Ye Xuan's eyes, profound as the abyss, narrowed slightly, a flash of bone-chilling killing intent passing through their depths.

He did not answer immediately, but slowly raised his right hand. Within his palm, a wisp of gray qi faintly appeared and disappeared, flowing with the reincarnation power capable of destroying all things.

"Old hag, your eyes are quite sharp." The corners of Ye Xuan's mouth curled into a mocking arc. "It is indeed so. In the unseen world, there is a force manipulating everything."

Lady Hongfu shuddered all over, a light of incredible disbelief bursting from her eyes. "Someone actually dares to manipulate reincarnation? This... this is simply defying the heavens! Even an Immortal Emperor wouldn't dare to lightly touch the Laws of Reincarnation!"

"Wouldn't dare?"

Ye Xuan sneered coldly, a trace of bone-deep hatred flashing in his eyes. "In this world, what is there that those high and mighty existences wouldn't dare to do? To achieve their goals, let alone manipulating reincarnation, even if it meant destroying the Three Thousand Dao States, they wouldn't blink an eye."

"In every life, I would meet those inherently cold and fickle women. They were either empresses, holy maidens, or proud daughters of heaven. They approached me, became my Dao companions, and then betrayed me at the critical moment, destroying everything I had."

Ye Xuan's voice sounded as if it came from the depths of hell, carrying a deep-seated hatred. "Once or twice, I thought I had misjudged them. Three or four times, I thought it was my fate. But after experiencing countless cycles of reincarnation, with every life following the exact same script, I finally understood. All of this is being manipulated by someone behind the scenes!"

Lady Hongfu gasped. Her heart, which had lived for an unknown tens of thousands of years, couldn't help but beat violently at this moment.

"Who is it? Just who has such immense capability to manipulate your reincarnations multiple times?" Lady Hongfu's voice trembled slightly. "And what is their purpose in doing so?"

"Purpose?" Ye Xuan muttered to himself, his gaze becoming incomparably profound. "Perhaps it is to make me completely heartless. Perhaps it is to force me onto a specific path. Or perhaps..."

He paused, a trace of complex emotion flashing through his eyes that even he himself couldn't fully comprehend. "It is to make me become some kind of... tool."

Lady Hongfu fell silent.

She could feel the bottomless hatred and helplessness hidden within Ye Xuan's words.

The terror of an existence capable of manipulating a person's reincarnations multiple times was completely beyond her imagination.

"However." Lady Hongfu suddenly changed the subject, light reigniting in her eyes. "No matter what purpose that existence manipulating your reincarnations has, there is one thing I can guarantee you."

She spoke word by word, her voice sonorous and forceful. "Even if these women have betrayed you in the past, I can guarantee that they will absolutely never betray you again from now on. The power of 'One Conquest, Eternal Conquest' stands above all things."

Ye Xuan's eyes shifted slightly as he looked at Lady Hongfu.

Lady Hongfu continued, "You must understand that this innate talent, 'One Conquest, Eternal Conquest,' is no longer just simple charm or attraction. It is a law, a fundamental law that surpasses time, space, life, and death—the Law of Emotion!"

"Once the Law of Emotion takes effect, even an Immortal Emperor cannot undo it. Those women whose feelings you have solidified have had an eternal brand carved into the very depths of their souls. No matter who it is, or what methods they use, they cannot change their feelings for you."

"Therefore, no matter how powerful that existence manipulating your reincarnations is, he cannot make those women who have already been solidified betray you again. Because it is simply impossible for them to betray you anymore."

Upon hearing this, a mocking smile curled at the corner of Ye Xuan's mouth. "Won't betray? So what? They have already betrayed me once, and that is enough."

"I do not need their loyalty, nor do I need their deep affection."

Ye Xuan's voice was so cold it lacked even a trace of warmth. "In my eyes, they are nothing more than a group of pathetic prisoners, caged by their own emotions, never to be freed for all eternity."

Lady Hongfu looked deeply at Ye Xuan, a trace of complex emotion flashing through her eyes.

She suddenly laughed, the sound somewhat desolate. "You are truly... terrifying. You clearly possess the ability to drive every woman in the world mad for you, yet you stubbornly choose to be utterly heartless."

"Since I possess such a talent, why would I bother cultivating some Grand Dao of Desire?" Ye Xuan's expression was indifferent, his tone carrying an unconcealed hint of disdain.

To him, power was the root of everything.

As for lust or manipulating the hearts of men, in the face of his absolute violence, they were nothing more than parlor tricks to ice the cake.

Seeing that Ye Xuan was not only unmoved but also showing disdain, Lady Hongfu couldn't help but grow a bit anxious.

"Foolish! It is exactly because you have such a heaven-defying talent that, if combined with my Grand Dao of Desire to stir their lust, it would become an unstoppable, supreme power!"

Lady Hongfu spread her withered arms, a mad glint flickering in her eyes. "All things in this world possess the seven emotions and six desires; no one is exempt! Even those ancient beings who practice the Dao of Supreme Forgetfulness, as long as they are living creatures, they have flaws!"

"Although your Eternal Conquest is overbearing, its prerequisite is that you must make the other party feel a moment of undying devotion. My Grand Dao of Desire can help you infinitely amplify the desires in their hearts, and even forcibly mature those feelings!"

"As long as the two are combined, whether it is the most sacred fairy above the Nine Heavens or the most fiercely loyal lovers in the mortal realm, they will be worth nothing before you! You wouldn't even need to draw your sword; with just a single glance, you could make the top experts of the Three Thousand Dao Realms slaughter each other for you, and turn empresses into slaves upon your bed! Is this not a hundred times stronger and ten thousand times more satisfying than hacking and slashing your way through with a sword?"

However, the great hall descended into a deathly silence.

Ye Xuan did not speak.

He stood there, his black hair like a waterfall and his white clothes like snow. There was not a single ripple of spiritual energy around him, yet he stood like an insurmountable immemorial divine mountain. No matter how wild Lady Hongfu's bewitching words were, they could not shake him in the slightest.

Time ticked away second by second. The atmosphere in the blood-colored hall became extremely oppressive.

Ying'er, standing behind Ye Xuan, did not even dare to breathe too loudly. She could feel that although the two people before her had not made a move, their invisible clash of Dao hearts was infinitely more perilous than any bombardment of spells.

After a long time.

Ye Xuan finally spoke slowly.

His voice was very calm, yet it revealed an aloofness and arrogance that looked down upon all living beings. "The Dao of Desire is but a minor path. I disdain to practice it."

These words were like a resounding slap, viciously striking Lady Hongfu across the face.

This former Great Firmament Golden Immortal, an old monster who had suffered for tens of thousands of years just to find an heir, now had an extremely stiff expression on her face.

But Lady Hongfu was, after all, an existence who had lived for countless years. She did not fly into a rage; instead, she narrowed her eyes, staring fixedly at Ye Xuan's handsome and cold face.

Suddenly, she thought of something, and a bizarre smile curled the corners of her mouth once more.

"Do you disdain to practice it, or... have you already mastered it completely?"

Hearing Lady Hongfu's question, Ye Xuan neither refuted nor admitted it. He merely smiled slightly. The smile was very faint, yet it revealed a bone-chilling wickedness.

He did not say much more.

There was no use in saying more. One cannot speak of ice to a summer insect.

How could a failure who had been cast down to the lower realms to linger on her last breath understand his, Ye Xuan's, supreme ambition to devour the heavens and sever reincarnation?

After another long pause.

Ye Xuan withdrew his smile, his eyes restoring their coldness.

He turned around and took the hand of Ying'er, whose legs had long since gone soft.

"If there is nothing else, Senior, we will take our leave."

Ye Xuan's tone was flat, lacking the slightest reverence a junior should have for a senior, nor the joy of having obtained a great opportunity.

It was as if he had just come here for a stroll, and now that he had finished admiring the scenery, he was heading home.

Lady Hongfu watched Ye Xuan's back, her withered hands tightly gripping the armrests of the throne, her nails digging deeply into the hard white bone.

Ten thousand voices roared in her heart, telling her to keep this perfect heir, even if she had to use her origin power to forcibly trap him.

But in the end, she only slowly nodded her head.

Even though the person before her was the perfect disciple she had waited tens of thousands of years for and dreamed of, she did not stop him.

Because she knew very well that a monster like Ye Xuan, who possessed the taboo talent of Eternal Conquest and had a heart of iron, could absolutely never be controlled by anyone.

If she forcefully made a move, the only one who would end up turned to ash would be her, this broken outcast of the Immortal Realm.

Just at the moment Ye Xuan was about to step out the hall doors, Lady Hongfu's hoarse voice came from behind, carrying a trace of unwillingness and complex probing, breaking the silence.

"Wait."

Ye Xuan paused his steps, but did not turn his head.

Lady Hongfu looked at his aloof back, took a deep breath, and used the last trace of her strength to say, "You who possess Eternal Conquest, even if these women betray you, the moment the laws take effect, they will completely become playthings in the palm of your hand. You will always be the ultimate winner."

Ye Xuan slowly turned half his body, the dim blood-red light of the hall illuminating those eyes of his that held no warmth.

"Naturally, I am the ultimate winner."

A cruel and icy curve hooked the corners of Ye Xuan's mouth, like a high and mighty Asura. "However, it is only right that I make them pay the price for betraying me!"

Lady Hongfu stared at him fixedly, her turbid eyes churning with extreme incomprehension and shock.

Her withered lips parted slightly as she questioned, "You know clearly that they will stray, that they will betray you, so why do you not stop them?"

Ye Xuan's smile lacked any warmth. He turned around, looking down condescendingly at Lady Hongfu slumped on the throne of white bones, and countered at a leisurely pace, "Why should I stop them? They made their choices willingly, and so they must bear the consequences. I, Ye Xuan, only filter; I do not nurture."

"Only filter... do not nurture..."

Lady Hongfu shuddered all over, repeatedly chewing over these words.

Within these casually spoken words lay an extreme cold-bloodedness that viewed worldly emotions as mere weeds.

She stared fixedly at the youth before her, whose clothes were white as snow. She took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the piercing chill in her chest.

A trace of extremely complex emotion flashed through the depths of Lady Hongfu's turbid eyes. She looked steadily at Ye Xuan, her voice carrying a tremor that even she herself did not notice:

"Do you hate these women who betray you?"

Ye Xuan tilted his head slightly. He looked calmly at Lady Hongfu and shook his head without the slightest hesitation:

"I do not."

Lady Hongfu froze for a moment, her taut nerves relaxing ever so slightly at this moment.

She gave a bitter, self-deprecating smile and murmured, "You are right... the prerequisite for hate is love. Since you never truly had feelings for them, and you don't love them, where would the hatred come from? It seems that your ten thousand cycles of reincarnation have ultimately allowed you to cultivate the Supreme Emotionlessness that even I cannot reach..."

However, before her voice could completely fade away, Ye Xuan suddenly chuckled.

Ye Xuan took a step forward, looking down from above at Hongfu, who was slumped on the throne, and smiled.

"My hatred can put me in an invincible position. To soothe my hatred, they will pay a massive price. Supreme spirit stones, spirit veins, everything one could wish for."

"I must keep this hatred, because this hatred is very valuable."

Hongfu shuddered violently, looking at Ye Xuan in disbelief.

Ye Xuan turned his head, and a gentle smile miraculously appeared on his originally bone-chilling face.

This smile was like a spring breeze and rain, enough to make countless women in the world swoon, but in the eyes of Hongfu, a master of the Great Dao of Lust who had lived for an untold number of years, it was far more terrifying than an evil spirit crawling out of the Nine Nether Hells.

He smiled and said, "Senior, have you ever heard the saying: the most elite hunters often appear as prey."

Pausing slightly, the curve of Ye Xuan's mouth became even more wicked.

"Please don't fall in love with me."

Lady Hongfu trembled all over, cold sweat instantly soaking her ruined clothes.

"Let's go, Ying'er."

Ye Xuan didn't spare her another glance. He took the hand of Ying'er beside him, whose legs had long gone soft from fright, and turned to walk out of the grand hall.