Ye Jiuzhou Has Gone Mad

And at this moment.

Inside the barrier.

In the freezing cave dwelling, there was absolutely no romantic or erotic scene of passionate lovemaking; there was only a bone-piercing chill.

Ye Jiuzhou sat quietly cross-legged on a bed of ten-thousand-year profound ice.

The gray robe on his body was worn neatly, untainted by a single speck of dust. Even the folds at his collar were not messed up in the slightest.

His half-white messy hair was draped over his shoulders. His originally stern face now displayed a deathly, almost transparent gray pallor.

His hands, which rested casually on his knees, were convulsing violently and uncontrollably. Between his fingers and within his meridians, an ominous black aura of death was faintly but madly overflowing.

Below the bed, Liu Ruyan's clothes were half-undone, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin.

Her eyes flickered with a greedy and calculating light. Like a beautiful viper, she tried to cling to this god-like man from behind:

Palace Master... that piece of trash has already left. Did your concubine act well just now?

Since you want to take revenge on him and thoroughly humiliate him, why not turn our fake act into reality with me?

She exhaled breath as fragrant as orchids, the corners of her eyes and brows full of a calculating charm. Where was there even a trace of the pure and holy maiden she had been in front of Ye Xuan?

I possess a Pure Yin Physique and know supreme dual cultivation methods. I can definitely help the Palace Master break through the Mahayana realm bottleneck! When the time comes, the entire cultivation world will be beneath your feet, and I am willing to be your...

Scram.

Ye Jiuzhou did not turn his head. His back was like an iceberg that would not melt for eternity.

His voice was hoarse and low, so cold that it lacked even the slightest trace of human emotion, yet it exuded a pressure that made one's soul tremble.

Liu Ruyan's movements stiffened, and her hand, suspended in mid-air, stopped awkwardly.

A flash of unwillingness passed through her eyes. Biting her lip, she relied on her beauty and actually forced her body to press even closer against him: Palace Master, just now you clearly...

I told you to scram!

An incredibly terrifying gray sword qi erupted from Ye Jiuzhou's body like a long-suppressed volcano suddenly detonating.

This was no flirtatious fluctuation of spiritual energy, but the purest, most tyrannical, and undisguised physical killing intent!

Ah!

Liu Ruyan didn't even have time to let out a complete scream before her entire body was ruthlessly sent flying like a ragged cloth by the overwhelming shockwave, smashing heavily against the hard stone wall.

With a gagging sound, she vomited a large pool of fresh blood. Several of her ribs snapped instantly, and her gorgeous wedding dress was soaked with blood.

Ye Jiuzhou slowly turned around.

He looked down condescendingly at the sluggish woman on the ground as if he were looking at a puddle of stinking mud. In those bottomless eyes, there was not a hint of desire, only undisguised, extreme disgust:

A vain and fickle woman like you, are you even worthy of mentioning his name? Are you worthy of touching me?

If it weren't for the sake of making him completely see your true colors, if it weren't to sever his ties of affection and make him hate me... I would have sliced you into a thousand pieces with a single sword strike just now!

Liu Ruyan slumped limply on the ground, ignoring the intense pain in her chest.

Looking up at the man before her who resembled an Asura descending to the world, she finally felt a trembling and absolute terror from the deepest depths of her soul. She understood now: this man had absolutely no interest in women. He was a complete madman!

From today onward, you will serve as a slave in the dark dungeons of this Sword God Palace, doing the lowliest of chores.

Ye Jiuzhou's eyes narrowed slightly, and monstrous killing intent hung over Liu Ruyan's head like ten thousand swords:

If you dare to take half a step outside, if you dare to see Ye Xuan ever again, if you dare to leak even half a word about today's events...

I will exterminate your nine generations, extract your soul, refine your spirit, and ensure you never reincarnate!

Yes... yes! This servant obeys! This servant will scram right away! Liu Ruyan was frightened out of her wits. Scrambling and crawling, ignoring her exposed skin, she dragged her broken bones and fled the cave dwelling in a panic.

Accompanied by the sound of mechanisms, the heavy stone door slammed shut.

The massive cave dwelling once again fell into a deathly silence, save for the dripping sound of water from the cold pool.

Pfft!

The breath he had been forcing himself to hold suddenly dissipated. Accompanied by the violent spewing of thick black blood mixed with shattered organ fragments, Ye Jiuzhou's back, which had been as straight as a sword, instantly hunched over in agony.

He tightly clutched his chest, which was aching so much it felt like it was going to explode. He stumbled and fell off the profound ice bed, kneeling on the ground and coughing heart-wrenchingly.

With every cough, a bit more black blood spilled from the corners of his mouth.

The cultivation base on his body, originally as vast as the sea, was now plummeting madly. Even his head of half-white messy hair completely lost its luster in the midst of this intense pain, resembling withered grass.

This was the fatal backlash brought about by the Supreme Emotionless Extinction Sword.

The Heavenly Dao is unkind; the supreme being is emotionless. This sword art required its practitioner to sever all emotions and love, and to disown all relatives.

But not only did he not forget, he instead used all his strength to love and protect Ye Xuan.

The more he cared about Ye Xuan, and the more he went against the cultivation method to protect him, the fiercer and more brutal the forbidden art's backlash became, until the practitioner's heart meridians were shattered inch by inch and their soul dispersed.

Cough, cough... Hate me then...

Ye Jiuzhou leaned weakly against the cold stone wall, using his trembling fingertips to slowly wipe away the metallic sweetness from the corners of his mouth.

Through the thick stone wall, his gaze seemed to pierce the void, looking toward the direction where Ye Xuan had stumbled away in the heavy rain.

On his face, as pale as paper, all the coldness and disguise slowly faded away, revealing a smile that was tender to the bone:

It is fine if you hate me.

Ah Xuan, this cultivation world is too cruel. Trusting others easily will cost you your life... Liu Ruyan is absolutely not a good match; she would have killed you sooner or later.

Only the most extreme hatred can make you completely cast aside that naive weakness.

Only hatred can make you survive by any means necessary in this man-eating world... and become stronger...

Ye Jiuzhou's vision began to blur, and his life force was rapidly slipping away.

He slowly closed his eyes and muttered to himself, saying his final farewell in this life to the figure that had already walked far away:

Ah Xuan, forgive your big brother...

This is the last thing... your big brother can do for you in this life.

Over the next five hundred years, Ye Jiuzhou went completely mad.

This was the consensus of everyone in the cultivation world. From the Eastern Sea to the Western Wasteland, from the Southern Borders to the Northern Profound, from the teahouses and taverns of the mortal realm to the immortal abodes above the Nine Heavens, everyone who mentioned this name spoke with a tone of fear and confusion stemming from the depths of their souls.

Fear, because this person's strength had grown to a level that induced despair.

A cultivation base at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence realm, a Sword Dao that had reached the absolute pinnacle, combined with that impossibly bizarre Supreme Emotionless Extinction Sword.

With just himself and a sword, he was invincible in this world.

He once broke into the Myriad Sword Return Pavilion of the Eastern Profound Dao State all by himself, shattering the pavilion's one hundred and forty thousand spiritual swords with a single strike, forcing Qin Wuji, who was hailed as the current Sword God, to kneel and spit blood, never to hold a sword again.

He once flicked a strand of sword qi with a single finger in the Cangwu Dao State, breaking the Heaven and Man as One Sword that Sword Saint Liu Jingxian had painstakingly cultivated for three thousand years, severing one of his arms, and walking away without looking back.

He once single-handedly suppressed the Immortal Slaying Grand Array set up jointly by the Chixiao, Taiqing, and Jiuyou states. Seventy-two Tribulation Transcendence realm experts guarded the array cores, yet after the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the array was broken and the people scattered.

He once ascended the Nine Heavens with his sword, striking down the Great Sun Golden Wheel avatar of Emperor Jinyao of the Sun Glory Heavenly Palace with a single slash. The sunlight of three thousand Dao domains dimmed for three days, and the world called it "One Sword Cleaves the Sun".

He once descended into the North Sea Abyss, splitting open the ancient sword tomb sealed beneath eternal ice with a single strike. The three thousand ancient sword spirits in the tomb sensed his sword intent, bowing in submission and becoming the wandering souls beneath his blade.

In the three thousand Dao domains, all the powerful experts who had once been crowned with titles like Sword God, Sword Saint, Sword Immortal, Sword Emperor, Sword Demon, and Sword Venerable were not worth mentioning before him.

Those titles that once echoed throughout the world became jokes beneath his sword.

Later, no one in the cultivation world dared to bestow themselves an honorable title in the Way of the Sword, because everyone knew—

In the Way of the Sword, there was only one person.

Sword cultivators across the world jointly offered him an unprecedented title from antiquity:

Sword Sovereign.

Meaning, above the Way of the Sword, only he claims the heavens.

However, what was most perplexing was that Sword Sovereign Ye Jiuzhou had absolutely no interest in dominating the world.

Those sect masters and family patriarchs, living in constant anxiety, waited in trepidation for several years, only to surprisingly discover that this newly minted "Number One Sword in the World" had no covetous desires whatsoever for their territories, resources, power, or status.

He did not issue orders, establish order, divide spheres of influence, or even accept tribute and submission from any sect.

He was like a tireless ghost, constantly hovering over Ye Xuan's head.

No one knew why he did this.

No one understood his almost paranoid, twisted behavioral logic.

People only knew that wherever Ye Xuan went, that gray-robed figure would follow him like a shadow, appearing above his head.

He did not act in the capacity of an elder brother or a master, but with the terrifying stubbornness and patience of a hunter tracking his prey.

He suppressed Ye Xuan.

He humiliated Ye Xuan.

He destroyed everyone and everything around Ye Xuan.

He exhausted all the cruel and despicable methods in the world, turning Ye Xuan's life into an endless, dark nightmare.

In these five hundred years, Ye Xuan lived a life worse than death.

Northern Region, upon the vast snowy plains.

A bonfire crackled, the orange-red firelight dancing on the faces of three people.

Ye Xuan sat by the fire, holding a bowl of cloudy wine.

To his left was Li Wuji, the leader of the Northern Region Vagrant Cultivator Alliance, a middle-aged burly man with a hearty personality whose laughter could collapse half a mountain peak.

To his right was Liu Changfeng, the young master of the Liu Family of the Eastern Sea, a handsome, gentle-natured young man who always spoke with a smile.

These two people were the only friends Ye Xuan had made in the past hundred years who dared to associate with him.

Everyone in the cultivation world knew that Ye Xuan was a thorn in the side of the "Sword Sovereign".

Getting too close to Ye Xuan was purely seeking death.

Only Li Wuji and Liu Changfeng stayed.

Li Wuji stayed because he was born rebellious; the more he was threatened, the more defiant he became.

"I haven't feared anyone in my life! What the hell is that Ye Jiuzhou? Just a useless coward who bullies his own younger brother! If he has the guts, let him come and kill me!" These were his exact words.

Liu Changfeng stayed because of his gentle nature and deep sense of loyalty. He couldn't bear to see Ye Xuan walking alone in the world, always wanting to use his meager strength to do something for this scarred man.

At this moment, the three sat around the bonfire, drinking and chatting happily.

The night sky of the Northern Region was dotted with stars, the Milky Way spanning the heavens, as magnificent as an ink wash painting.

Li Wuji's face was flushed from drinking. Wiping the wine stains from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, he patted Ye Xuan's shoulder and laughed loudly, "Brother! The day I break through to the Mahayana realm, the first thing I'll do is storm the Sword God Palace and vent this anger for you!"

Liu Changfeng smiled and shook his head from the side, "Brother Zhao, finish the bowl of wine in your hand before you talk big."

Looking at these two smiling faces, the corners of Ye Xuan's mouth also unconsciously curled up slightly.

The firelight reflected in those eyes that had been dull for too long, finally bringing a trace of warmth belonging to a living person to them.

That night, the three drank until dawn.

The next day.

The morning sun had just crossed the mountain ridge at the end of the snowy plains, sprinkling its first golden rays on the embers of the bonfire.

Li Wuji was snoring like thunder, Liu Changfeng was curled up in a fur coat, and Ye Xuan leaned against a giant rock, holding his sword in his arms, his brows rarely relaxed.

Then.

The sky darkened.

Ye Xuan was the first to wake up.

He saw Ye Jiuzhou.

Gray robes. White hair. And a cold face that remained unchanged for ten thousand years.

Ye Jiuzhou hovered in the sky a hundred zhang above the three of them, looking down from above, overlooking all living beings. The morning wind blew his gray robes, making them flutter loudly, and his half-white messy hair danced wildly in the wind, covering most of his face.

But those gray eyes revealed through the gaps in his hair, those were cold, dead eyes, devoid of a trace of human emotion.

Ye Xuan's blood froze in this instant.

Not out of fear. But a kind of premonition derived from experience, more terrifying than fear.

He knew Ye Jiuzhou too well. He knew all too clearly what was going to happen next.

"No!"

He suddenly sprang up, waving his hands desperately to wake up the two beside him.

But it was too late.

Ye Jiuzhou drew his sword.

One strike. Merely one strike.

Two gray strands of sword qi, as thin as hairs, shot silently from his fingertips, traversing a hundred zhang of the void, piercing the dantians of Li Wuji and Liu Changfeng with absolute precision.

The entire process took less than a breath's time.

Two muffled explosions erupted almost simultaneously.

Li Wuji and Liu Changfeng were simultaneously sent flying by that force. They tumbled more than ten times in the air, like two dead leaves swept up by a gale, finally crashing heavily onto the snowy ground dozens of zhang away.

Blood spurted from their mouths and noses, blooming into two shocking blood flowers on the pristine white snow.

Their dantians were shattered.

Their meridians were severed.

Their cultivation was reduced to nothing under a single sword strike.

Li Wuji lay in a pool of blood, blood bubbles gurgling in his mouth, struggling to lift his head.

Liu Changfeng fell not far away, his face as pale as paper, his chest heaving violently. His lips moved, as if wanting to say something, but the blood welling up in his throat choked his voice, only able to emit a series of slurred whimpers.

"The weak do not deserve to associate with you."

Ye Jiuzhou slowly descended.

When his feet stepped on the snowy ground, the snow within a radius of several zhang evaporated instantly under this invisible oppressive might, revealing the black permafrost that had been frozen for ten thousand years below.

He raised his head and looked at Ye Xuan.

His voice carried the arrogance of looking down upon the world, the unquestionable dominance, and an almost paranoid, chilling possessiveness:

"Ye Xuan, your friend can only be me. If it is not me, then it can be no one."

Ye Xuan stood in place.

His fists were clenched so tightly that they cracked, his nails piercing his palms. Blood seeped from between his fingers, falling drop by drop onto the black permafrost where the snow had been evaporated.

His eyes were crimson.

His lips trembled violently.

But he did not make a move.

It was not that he did not want to.

It was that he could not.

He knew the gap between himself and Ye Jiuzhou all too well. It was not a gap that hard work could bridge; it was an insurmountable chasm.

If he charged forward right now, the only outcome would be throwing his life away for nothing.

And he could not afford to die just yet.

He still had revenge to take.

He still had people to kill.

Ye Xuan gritted his teeth so hard they nearly shattered. Blood seeped through his teeth, mixing with the metallic sweetness constantly welling up in his throat, and he swallowed it all down fiercely.

Without a single word, he crouched down and silently hoisted Li Wuji and Liu Changfeng onto his back. Turning around, he walked into the distance, stepping heavily across the blood-stained snow.

He did not look back.

Not even for a single step.

Ye Jiuzhou watched his retreating figure. A flash of pain crossed his eyes, but it vanished in an instant.

However, the most egregious thing of all was Ye Jiuzhou's insane interference in Ye Xuan's romantic life.

His methods could no longer be described as merely cruel. It was an almost psychopathic obsession.

It was a twisted manifestation of control and possessiveness pushed to the absolute extreme.

Whenever Ye Xuan tried to open his heart to accept a new woman, whenever he tried to build a new family to warm his freezing heart, Ye Jiuzhou would always appear right on time.

Not a moment too early, not a moment too late.

It was always at the most vulnerable moment, right when Ye Xuan had just lowered his guard and begun to believe that maybe this time would be different.

The first time, Ye Xuan tried to accept a gentle and kind female apothecary. She healed his wounds, brewed his medicine, and used the softest voice and warmest smile to try and melt the iceberg that had been frozen in his heart for so long.

Ye Jiuzhou came.

He did not kill her.

He merely stood before her and released a tenth of his spiritual pressure.

Only a tenth.

The woman immediately frothed at the mouth and passed out, her body convulsing.

When she woke up, her mind was completely shattered.

She went mad. She never dared to look at anyone wearing gray clothes ever again.

The second time, Ye Xuan met a female sword cultivator who bore a blood feud just like him.

Sharing the same plight, they fought side by side in a secret realm for three months. He thought he had finally found someone who could share his hardships.

Ye Jiuzhou came.

If you dare marry Ye Xuan, your entire clan will be buried with you!

The female sword cultivator said nothing, ultimately choosing to leave.

She did not even look back at Ye Xuan when she left. It was not because she did not love him, but because she knew that the moment she looked back, her weakness would get everyone killed.

The third time. The fourth time. The fifth time.

Every time had the same ending. Every time used the exact same methods.

Ye Jiuzhou used the most straightforward and brutal method to tell the entire cultivation world that any woman who got close to Ye Xuan would not meet a good end.

Gradually, no one dared to get close to Ye Xuan anymore.

Ye Jiuzhou looked at Ye Xuan and announced a chilling rule in the absolute coldest voice:

If you marry one, I will snatch her away.

If I cannot snatch her, I will kill her.

Ye Xuan, you are destined never to find happiness. Because in this world, other than me, no one is worthy of you.