The Truth Comes Out

However, the river of time did not stop its flow, and the cruel truth continued to unfold.

She saw Ye Xuan locked in the side hall of Weiyang Palace.

By day, he was a trapped lone wolf. He attempted escape again and again, only to have his legs broken by golden-armored guards and be beaten black and blue.

When faced with Wu Lingxiao’s favors, he always responded with cold defiance, preferring death to submission, carrying his pride and stubbornness to the extreme.

These actions stirred an intense desire for conquest in Wu Lingxiao at the time, even arousing a morbid kind of pity for him.

But every night, when the silence deepened and Wu Lingxiao had left,

the youth lying in a pool of blood, barely breathing, would sit up expressionlessly.

The humiliation and pain in his eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by an absolute coldness. He would even use a secret technique to instantly mend his broken bones while calmly recording Wu Lingxiao’s emotional shifts.

Until… the day of the betrayal that completely changed both their fates.

The scenes shifted.

Wu Lingxiao had spent the night favoring the Holy Son Yeyou.

In the memory, Ye Xuan witnessed this, his eyes blazing red, his heart overwhelmed with fury, spitting out a mouthful of blood before collapsing to the ground.

From that point on, Wu Lingxiao was consumed by overwhelming guilt. The emotions influenced by the [One Conquest, Eternal Conquest] began to fully backfire, leading her to utterly fall for him.

But now, Wu Lingxiao’s illusory form in the void saw another scene.

When the eunuchs and maids fled in panic and the bedchamber was left empty,

the Ye Xuan, who had just spat blood and fainted in agony, slowly opened his eyes.

His gaze was as calm as stagnant water—no anger, no sorrow, not even the faintest ripple.

Wiping away the blood at the corner of his mouth casually, he turned toward the direction Wu Lingxiao had gone, a chilling smirk curling on his lips as he muttered to himself:

“So, she really did cheat, after all.”

“But it doesn’t matter. No one cares about the virtue of a pawn.”

Wu Lingxiao trembled violently, large tears streaming down her cheeks.

“A pawn…”

She bit her lip so hard it bled.

So, the imperial favor she had been so proud of, the heart-wrenching betrayal she had felt—it was nothing but a meaningless act in that man’s eyes.

What he cared about was never her love, nor her body. What he cared about was only whether this pawn had reached its designated position.

The scenes raced onward, soon reaching the moment of Ye Xuan’s death.

In Weiyang Palace, Ye Xuan, drained of life, died in Wu Lingxiao’s arms.

Wu Lingxiao wept bitterly, even spending the Great Xia’s national fortune in a desperate attempt to hold onto his spirit.

Wu Lingxiao clearly saw that, just before closing his eyes, Ye Xuan let out a joyful, relieved chuckle.

“Finally… I’m free. This pawn is thoroughly ripe.”

He had died on purpose.

His death was meant to seal the absolute submission from the [One Conquest, Eternal Conquest] and the guilt deep within Wu Lingxiao’s soul forever.

He wanted to trap this lofty Empress of Great Xia in an eternal abyss of suffering from losing him, making her a pawn he could summon anytime in the future!

At that moment, Wu Lingxiao shook violently, as if plunged into an icy prison.

Terrified, she realized that the perfect man she had seen, the one who would sacrifice everything for her love, had never existed!

The real Ye Xuan was an emotionless, ice-cold schemer, a devil who toyed with hearts to the core!

The scenes shattered, and the river of time dissipated.

When Wu Lingxiao’s illusory form trembled violently and snapped back to the cold, deathly quiet imperial restricted area,

she was completely stunned.

With a thud, she collapsed onto the cold ground, her eyes hollow and vacant.

“So… from the very beginning, I was his prey?”

Wu Lingxiao muttered to herself, tears mingling with blood as they flowed. Her voice, sharp as a ghost’s wail: “Everything he did was an act… His defiance, his resistance, his spitting blood, his death—all of it was fake!!”

She jerked her head up, her stunning face twisted by overwhelming pain and confusion.

Staring at the Time Dao Ancestor in midair, she let out a heart-rending cry:

“But why would he do this? Why?”

Wu Lingxiao, filled with terror and disbelief: “Since he had such an incredible, all-defying ability like [One Conquest, Eternal Conquest], why didn’t he target those pure, untouched, and devoted powerful immortals? Why not those truly noble, holy maidens of the great traditions?!”

“If he slept with them, he could equally gain the most loyal allies in the world! Why fix his eyes on a slut like me, who keeps a harem?”

Facing Wu Lingxiao’s hysterical questioning, the Time Dao Ancestor, his face shrouded in mist, revealed a smile of extreme coldness and gleeful mockery.

“That’s because you are a fickle-hearted person.”

Wu Lingxiao froze, her eyes filled with confusion: “What… what does that mean? Does being fickle or not affect his law?”

“Of course it does, and fatally so!”

The Time Dao Ancestor waved his long sleeve, saying coldly: “Ever since the previous host of [One Conquest, Eternal Conquest] triggered the cataclysmic Fallen Immortal Calamity in the immortal realm, the Heavenly Dao realized the immense destructive power of this law.”

“The Heavenly Dao couldn’t directly erase the law, but it could impose restrictions!”

The Time Dao Ancestor stared at Wu Lingxiao, enunciating each word: “From then on, [One Conquest, Eternal Conquest] was saddled with a terrifying, inescapable law from Heaven.”

“That is: If the master of [One Conquest, Eternal Conquest] uses this law to deceive, toy with, and ultimately betray a pure, righteous, and flawless good woman—”

“Then the Heavenly Dao will inflict the most horrific backlash on the caster. He will manifest a Heart Scar!”

Hearing this term, Wu Lingxiao’s pupils sharply contracted. As the Empress of Great Xia, she had read widely but had never heard of a Heart Scar.

“A Heart Scar is a soul imprint far more terrible and harder to heal than a Dao Wound,”

the Time Dao Ancestor said gravely. “Once a Heart Scar forms on the soul, the host will not only suffer periodic pain worse than a thousand cuts, but the speed of absorbing spiritual energy and comprehending the laws of the Dao will plummet like a cliff.”

“If too many Heart Scars accumulate, the host will instantly fall into demonic possession, their physical form will decay, and their spirit will dissipate utterly!”

The Time Dao Ancestor sneered, his eyes full of contempt and hatred for Ye Xuan: “So, do you understand now?”

“Ye Xuan, that hypocrite, that demon who stops at nothing to pursue the highest realm—he feared the Heavenly Dao’s retribution. He dared not provoke, dared not betray those truly pure, noble, good women!”

Because he knew that everything he did was manipulation. Once he finished using someone, he would inevitably cast them aside. And to abandon a flawless, innocent woman would leave a scar on his heart, ruining his path to the Great Dao.

"So..." Time Dao Ancestor suddenly pointed at Wu Lingxiao, his finger trembling, his tone laced with pity and endless mockery. "That is why he set his sights on women like you!"

"Women like you—fickle and faithless, treating emotions as mere playthings, steeped in karma and sin, nowhere near pure or chaste!"

"He used you, treated you as a cauldron and a stepping stone. He betrayed you, tormented you, and even killed you to sever karmic ties... and heaven would never punish him. He would not accumulate even a trace of heart-scar!"

"Because heaven sees women like you—capricious and wanton—as deserving of such fate. It is karma. Retribution for your sins!"

"So he placed his calculating gaze upon you, Wu Lingxiao!"

Time Dao Ancestor’s words shattered the last shred of hope and dignity in Wu Lingxiao’s heart.

She froze.

In her mind, scenes from the past years flashed before her eyes like a lantern.

She had believed Ye Xuan was a priceless treasure sent by the heavens. Instead, she was merely a piece of trash Ye Xuan had carefully selected—one not even worthy of heaven’s protection.

Because she was rotten. Because she was corrupt. Because she didn’t deserve true love. That was why Ye Xuan dared to use the cruelest methods on her without any hesitation—devouring her completely, then kicking her away without facing any consequences!

"Ha... haha... hahahaha!"

Wu Lingxiao started laughing softly at first. Then the laughter grew louder, louder, until it became a hysterical cackle.

"How fitting! How fitting—'fickle and faithless'! 'Karma and retribution'!"

As she laughed, Wu Lingxiao tore wildly at her own hair. The once lofty Empress of Great Xia now looked like a complete madwoman.

"So I was destined to be betrayed by Ye Xuan! Because I was never anything good! I wasn’t worthy of his sincerity—I didn’t even have the right to make him bear a single heart-scar!"

Time Dao Ancestor watched the spiraling Wu Lingxiao coldly, his voice utterly devoid of emotion. "Exactly. To him, you were merely a convenient chess piece."

"Haven’t you realized it yet? Ever since that white-robed youth named Ye Xuan appeared in the world, how many of the Great Xia imperial court’s top resources did you grant him to win his favor? What price did you pay to protect him?"

"All of that—was a script he wrote a thousand years ago!"

"He began plotting this—a thousand years ago!"

Wu Lingxiao’s laughter stopped abruptly.

She went silent.

She collapsed onto the ground like a limp heap of mud. The once unyielding fire in her eyes was now nothing but cold ash.

No pride remained. No fury. Not even the heart-wrenching love she once felt—it had all been frozen into an unyielding block of ice by this brutal truth.

Dead silence.

The hall fell into an absolute stillness, broken only by the faint, ethereal sound of the River of Time flowing.

After an unknown length of time, Time Dao Ancestor slowly descended from midair and landed before Wu Lingxiao.

He loomed over the once-proud Empress and delivered his final ultimatum:

"I have shown you the truth."

His voice had shed all traces of emotion, cold as a divine judgment. "Wu Lingxiao—make your final choice."

"Will you let me use the Law of Time to wash away the filth from your soul, break the shackles of the Eternal Conquest, restore you to the cold, unfeeling Empress of Great Xia—so we can tear Ye Xuan limb from limb and wash away this shame together..."

Time Dao Ancestor paused, his gaze turning dangerously sharp. "Or will you keep this humiliating mark? If you choose to keep it, your fate will be to continue as his obedient dog. And once his plans are complete in other realms, once he no longer needs this chess piece, he will devour you whole—bones and all—before crushing you like an ant."

"Wake up, Wu Lingxiao. Ye Xuan never loved you. He only saw you as prey—a despicable sacrifice, chosen precisely because you were tainted."

As his words faded, the imperial sanctuary sank once more into a deep, oppressive silence.

Finally, slowly and painfully, Wu Lingxiao dragged herself to her feet.

Her purple-gold dragon robe hung in tatters. Her hair was disheveled. Her face was haggard, as if she had aged thousands of years in moments.

She did not look at Time Dao Ancestor. Instead, she turned toward the massive stone wall engraved with the image of the primordial dragon. Upon that wall, the River of Time gleamed with a cold, merciless silver light.

Break the law? Kill him?

Or sink deeper? Remain his most pathetic pawn?

Wu Lingxiao stood there, her body trembling. Slowly, she closed her eyes.

A single tear—mixed with despair and madness—rolled down her cheek and fell onto the icy edge of the River of Time, splashing into a sorrowful, crimson flower.

And behind her tightly shut eyes, deep within her heart, she finally made a decision—one that would make all the realms tremble...