Who is that person

"Start over?"

Ye Xuan felt as if he had just heard the most absurd and laughable joke in the world.

The corner of his mouth curled upward bit by bit, forming a chillingly cruel smile.

The next second, like a phantom, he bent down abruptly. He reached out with his right hand and viciously grabbed Bai Ningbing’s delicate, fair chin, forcing her face upward!

"Ah..."

Ye Xuan’s fingers were long and strong, like icy iron clamps.

Driven by the malice in his heart, he applied slight pressure with his fingertips, leaving deep bruises on her soft, flawless skin. His nails even pierced the surface layer.

But what sent chills down the spine was that, in the instant Ye Xuan treated her so brutally, Bai Ningbing did not resist. Instead, a spark of electric, morbid satisfaction flickered in her eyes.

She greedily savored the warmth coming from Ye Xuan’s fingertips, even though that warmth carried a murderous intent.

Ye Xuan leaned his face close to hers. His cold, emotionless eyes stared into her gaze, filled with condescending mockery and undisguised venom: "Look at you—sobbing and wailing, as if you’d rip out your heart, lungs, spleen, and kidneys just to give them to me, you lowly wretch..."

His voice was incredibly soft, yet as venomous as a snake’s hiss: "Could it be that you and I were once extremely familiar? For instance... were you my wife?"

Bai Ningbing’s entire body trembled violently, as if struck by lightning.

Her eyes welled up with endless bitterness, pain, and nostalgia. Finally, she closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face as she choked out a single word:

"Yes... I, Bai Ningbing, was once your formally wedded wife."

"Oh? I see."

Ye Xuan abruptly released his grip, as if he had touched something utterly filthy.

He stood up coldly, pulled a piece of snow-white ice silk handkerchief from his storage ring, and carefully, finger by finger, wiped the hand that had just grabbed her chin.

After finishing, he casually tossed it aside, and the priceless handkerchief was swept into the night by the gale, instantly shredded to dust.

He looked at Bai Ningbing, his cold smile as sharp as a blade, his tone dripping with venom:

"Since you were once my Dao partner, then let me ask you, Fairy Bai—how is it that I, a cultivator who had a partner, became an orphan worse off than a dog?"

"And how is it that I was vivisected, my supreme immortal bones drained dry by the people of the Nine Heavens Sacred Land?"

Ye Xuan suddenly stepped forward, his terrifying demonic might transforming into an invisible giant hand that clamped down tightly on Bai Ningbing’s throat. His eyes burst with fierce, frightening light:

"So, there’s only one truth—you cheated on me, didn’t you?"

"You betrayed me, crawled into the bed of some high-ranking figure in the Nine Heavens Sacred Land, then conspired with your lover to dig out my bones, cripple my cultivation, throw me like a dead dog into the Burial Immortal Lake, and turn me into this pathetic mess—isn’t that right!"

"I did not!"

Ye Xuan’s vicious accusation struck like a red-hot knife, stabbing directly into Bai Ningbing’s most sensitive, most inviolable sore spot!

Her reaction was extremely violent. In an instant, she broke free from Ye Xuan’s oppressive aura.

She screamed hysterically, her voice as piercing as tearing silk!

"I never cheated! I never betrayed you!"

She was frantic, on the verge of madness. Her eyes bloodshot, she scrambled forward, grabbing Ye Xuan’s pristine white robes with both hands, as if she wanted to rip out her heart and show him:

"Ye Xuan! I, Bai Ningbing, dare to swear a blood oath before all gods and Buddhas! My body, my heart—they have only ever belonged to you, Ye Xuan, and you alone!"

"I have never let any other man touch even a single finger of mine! I have never done anything to wrong you!"

"Bang!"

A wave of disgust surged in Ye Xuan’s eyes. He swung his sleeve violently, and a surge of overwhelming black-gold spiritual power sent Bai Ningbing flying backward with tremendous force.

She crashed like a ragdoll against the edge of the deck, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Yet, disregarding her own life, she lifted her head again, staring at Ye Xuan with eyes that seemed to weep endlessly:

"Ye Xuan... you can lose your memory, you can forget me, you can even kill me! But you absolutely cannot use such words to insult my feelings for you! I did not betray you! Absolutely not!"

Watching her solemn vows, her grief-stricken, desperate manner as if bearing a great injustice, Ye Xuan’s heart remained utterly unmoved.

On the contrary, the murderous intent within him only grew stronger.

The women of this world were best at using deep affection to disguise their venom.

The Tushan Honghong he had just devoured alive with his demonic art was the same, as was that once-haughty Empress of Great Xia.

What difference was there in this woman, who stood before him full of lies, from the Nine Heavens Sacred Land?

"No betrayal?"

Ye Xuan lifted his head and let out a spine-chilling, cold laugh. The laughter was filled with endless iciness, mockery, and killing intent:

"Even if your body never strayed, let me ask you this..."

He lowered his head abruptly, his eyes stabbing into hers like daggers: "When my immortal bones were being drained from me inch by inch, where were you?"

"When my limbs were crippled, my tendons severed, and I was thrown into the Burial Immortal Lake that can even melt true immortals—where were you then?"

"I..." Bai Ningbing’s pupils trembled violently, her breath catching in her throat, her face deathly pale.

"Speechless?"

Ye Xuan slowly raised his hands, fully activating the Devouring Demon Art. In an instant, heaven and earth changed color!

Terrifying black-gold demonic energy surged from his body, forming a towering, dozens-zhang-tall ferocious demonic shadow that loomed behind him, greedily devouring the surrounding light.

"Since you refuse to tell me the truth of what happened back then, it can only mean you have a guilty conscience! Your so-called lack of betrayal is nothing but a hypocritical lie you self-righteous women tell yourselves to feel better!"

Upon hearing these words that cut to the bone, Bai Ningbing felt as if struck by a thunderbolt.

She opened her mouth, a desperate, choking sound escaping her throat, but found she could not utter a single word in rebuttal.

Endless regret, pain, and self-blame turned into thousands of poisonous insects, madly gnawing at her heart.

Yes, what right did she have to beg for his forgiveness?

But just as she fell into utter despair, she suddenly remembered her true purpose in risking her soul to flee the war vessel tonight!

Even if misunderstood, even if hated, she had to stop him!

"Ye Xuan!"

Bai Ningbing erupted with a surprising burst of strength. She lunged forward and fell—"Thump"—heavily onto the hard deck on her knees, the impact drawing blood.

She clung desperately to Ye Xuan’s calf, pressing her face against his boot, her voice filled with extreme terror and desperate pleading:

"What happened back then was my fault! I was useless! But I did not come here today to beg for your forgiveness!"

"Tell me—this time... the direction your flying ship is heading—is it toward the Burial Divine Abyss?"

Ye Xuan raised an eyebrow slightly, letting her cling to his leg as he replied coldly: "Yes. So what?"

"Don’t go! I beg you, don’t go!"

Bai Ningbing seemed to hear the most terrifying death knell; her entire body trembled violently.

She lifted her tear-streaked, stunningly beautiful face, her voice piercing to the extreme:

"That place is a dead end! A trap! There’s someone… someone else heading for the Burial Abyss!"

"If you go, and he discovers you…"

"If he learns that you not only survived but also recovered your cultivation, he will never let you off!"

"He will grind your bones to dust, scatter your soul to the winds, and leave you no chance even to enter reincarnation! Please, husband, let’s go back, don’t go to your death!"

Ye Xuan lowered his gaze, looking down at this peerless fairy who groveled like a dog in desperate supplication.

That face, which should have sat high above the clouds, receiving the worship of tens of thousands, was now stained with dust, tears, and blood—all to stop him from moving forward.

"Who is he?"

Ye Xuan’s voice was terrifyingly calm. But beneath that calm facade, the [Supreme Primordial Sword Qi] in his dantian began to emit a dragon-like, frenzied howl, its murderous rage freezing the surrounding air into black ice crystals.

"I…"

Bai Ningbing bit down hard on her lower lip, tearing off a piece of flesh; blood dripped down her chin onto Ye Xuan’s boot.

She shook her head in terror, her eyes filled with deep reverence for some fearsome being: "I can’t say… I was forced to swear a Heavenly Blood Oath. The moment I speak that name, my soul will be annihilated, and I’ll no longer be able to protect you!"

"In short, that person’s strength has reached an unfathomable level—far beyond what you can contend with now! I beg you, you must not go to the Burial Abyss!"