Killing the Body, Destroying the Soul

Xia Lengyue clutched her chest and wiped the blood from the corner of her lips. Her sapphire-blue eyes were filled with unwillingness and despair. “Wu Lingxiao, give our husband back to us!”

“My husband is mine! He even promised to forgive me!” Zi Yao screamed wildly, her hair in disarray.

“You old hag, you stole our husband! May you die a miserable death!” Ye Qingcheng clawed her way out of the ruins, her exquisite makeup now covered in dust.

Faced with the three women’s furious curses, Wu Lingxiao did not become angry. Instead, a sickly, delighted smile spread across her face.

She loved this feeling. She loved seeing these women—usually so lofty and untouchable—crying bitterly before her, fighting over Ye Xuan in utter helplessness and despair.

It proved that she was the final victor.

Just as Wu Lingxiao was about to strike and eliminate these three threats once and for all...

“Clap... clap... clap...”

A crisp, slow, yet strangely penetrating round of applause suddenly rose from below.

The applause was not loud, yet it somehow drowned out the roar of spells filling the sky, reaching the ears of everyone present with perfect clarity.

The four women, all consumed by bloodlust, shuddered at once and whipped their heads toward the ground below.

There, on the shattered white-jade steps, Ye Xuan emerged slowly, clad in an immaculate black-and-gold robe.

His cultivation had completely stabilized at the early stage of the Integration Realm. His ash-gray eyes held not the slightest ripple of emotion—only a trace of chilling mockery.

As he walked, he clapped lazily.

“Wonderful. Absolutely magnificent.”

Ye Xuan came to a stop and raised his head. His gaze swept across the four peerlessly beautiful women in the sky before settling on Wu Lingxiao. An exceptionally vicious sneer curled his lips.

“As expected of a peak Great Ascension time dao body. One worn-out shoe like you can take on three other worn-out shoes. Wu Lingxiao, those thousands of years of cultivation certainly weren’t wasted.”

The instant those words left his mouth, the entire world fell into deathly silence.

“Three... worn-out shoes?”

In midair, Xia Lengyue, Zi Yao, and Ye Qingcheng—who had just been burning with rage and fighting desperately to claim Ye Xuan—were struck as if by lightning.

Their faces turned pale as paper in an instant. Even the spiritual power swirling around them began to fluctuate violently.

They had crossed countless billions of miles. The moment they sensed his aura, they had torn through space and rushed here without a second thought.

They had risked their lives against the Empress of Great Xia, who wielded a time dao body, refusing to retreat even after being gravely wounded and coughing blood.

They had come filled with joy, believing that they were here to save their husband.

Yet what awaited them was his cold, bone-piercing applause—and that most humiliating of insults: “worn-out shoes.”

“Husband...”

Xia Lengyue’s usually cool and ethereal face was filled with anguish. Tears instantly welled up in her sapphire-blue eyes.

Her lips trembling, she descended from the air and staggered toward Ye Xuan as though she could barely stand. “You... what did you call me?”

“Was I wrong?”

The sneer vanished from Ye Xuan’s lips. He suddenly thrust out a finger, pointing viciously at Xia Lengyue, his voice exploding like thunder:

“Xia Lengyue, do you think there’s any point in putting on that act of being an icy, pure, otherworldly goddess?!”

“After everything I did for you back then, how did you repay me? You thought my cultivation was worthless and cast me aside like trash! Then you turned around and clung to the powerful and prestigious. For the sake of resources and influence, you even shamelessly slept with the heirs of several immortal sects and aristocratic families, cheating on me with one man after another!”

“What? You’ve put on a coat of icy-blue skin and pretended to be devoted for a few days, and now you really think you’ve washed yourself clean? In my eyes, you’re nothing but a materialistic, fickle slut!”

Xia Lengyue took the words like a devastating blow. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed into the ruins.

Clutching her chest with both hands, she struggled to breathe through the pain. “No… That isn’t true… I was wrong back then. I truly was…”

Ye Xuan paid no attention to her sobs. His finger suddenly swung toward Zi Yao in midair, and his gaze grew even more ruthless.

“And you, Zi Yao! You’re the Demon Venerable of the Heavenly Demon Sect. What are you pretending to be so devoted for?”

“Back then, I risked my life for you. But what did you do? You coveted wealth and status. The moment the Old Sect Master of the Heavenly Demon Sect promised you unparalleled demonic arts, you turned around and climbed into bed with his son—the useless Young Sect Master! While you were moaning beneath him, did you ever think of me, fighting for my life in a pool of blood for your sake?”

The strange violet light in Zi Yao’s eyes completely collapsed. The Soul-Devouring Bell slipped from her hand and clattered to the ground.

Covering her face, she shook her head in agony. “Stop… Husband, please, stop! I was blind back then. I was vain and greedy… But now I’ve made the entire Heavenly Demon Sect your dowry. I’m risking my life for you!”

“Risking your life for me? You’re only trying to satisfy your disgusting possessiveness!” Ye Xuan tore through her pretense without mercy.

At last, Ye Xuan’s gaze—sharp as a tangible blade—turned viciously toward Ye Qingcheng, clad in red.

“And then there’s you, Ye Qingcheng.”

Ye Xuan did not even bother to show anger anymore. His eyes held nothing but utter contempt. “You’re the Demoness of the Hehuan Sect, and you cultivate through the art of bedchamber replenishment. Back then, you swore eternal love to me and said I was your one and only. But what happened? You turned around and made yourself available to every man in your chamber of pleasure!”

“After hundreds of men have had their way with you, you come crawling back to tell me that your husband’s primal yang can belong only to you?”

Ye Xuan let out a cold laugh, his eyes filled with disgust. “The reek of your pink fox stench is so strong I’d want to vomit even from ten miles away! How dare you call me your husband?”

Ye Qingcheng seemed to have been drained of all her strength. The colossal phantom of her nine fox tails collapsed in an instant.

The allure and beauty she had once been so proud of were crushed into the filthiest mud by Ye Xuan’s words, each one more cutting than the last.

The three peerless demonesses who had once stood above all others and commanded fear throughout the world now had every shred of dignity stripped from them before Ye Xuan. They were like three stray dogs with broken spines.

“Husband!”

Xia Lengyue had completely lost her mind. Without caring about anything else, she crawled toward Ye Xuan, her fingers gripping the shattered stones on the ground until they bled.

“I’ve done so much for you! How can you call me a worn-out whore? How can you be so cruel?”

“Husband, I was wrong back then…”

Zi Yao knelt in midair, sobbing so hard she could barely speak. The aura of the lofty Demon Venerable had vanished without a trace.

“But now, for your sake, I’m even willing to give up my life! Look at me—just look at me!”

Ye Qingcheng was even more distraught. Tears streamed down her exquisite face as she cried out, “Husband, I’ve already killed every man in the Acacia Sect! I’ve changed! Why are you still unwilling to forgive me? Why?”

Their cries and pleas were utterly pitiful. If outsiders were to witness this scene, their hearts would surely break.

Yet Ye Xuan merely watched these women sobbing bitterly before him.

He looked at their repulsive faces, at the self-righteous conviction that “as long as I’m willing to risk my life for you now, you have to forgive me.”

The violent rage that had been suppressed in Ye Xuan’s heart through countless reincarnations finally erupted like a volcano!

At this moment, he drove the spiritual power of the early Body Integration Realm to its absolute limit. His hair whipped wildly behind him as he suddenly stepped forward, eyes wide with fury, and unleashed a furious roar that shook the heavens and earth:

“You bunch of used-up whores—shut up!”