Slapping the Sword Emperor in the Face

The Sword Emperor flying vessel slowly descended onto the magnificent square of the Sword God Palace, a square paved entirely with ten-thousand-year-old profound ice.

The cabin doors swung open. Ye Jiuhuang, dressed in white robes as pristine as frost and snow, her tall figure radiating an aloof and proud air like an untouchable goddess from the highest heavens, personally led Ye Xuan off the vessel.

“Welcome back to the Palace, Palace Master! Congratulations on attaining mastery of the Sword Dao!”

On both sides of the square, tens of thousands of Sword God Palace disciples, inner elders, stewards, and managers had already knelt in worship like a surging tide.

Their thunderous cries pierced the clouds, accompanied by frost sword qi swirling through the sky. The spectacle displayed the absolute dominion of the First Sword Emperor of the Heavens over the Three Thousand Dao Provinces.

Listening to the waves of reverent worship around her and feeling the unrivaled destiny of her own territory, a look of immense satisfaction flashed through Ye Jiuhuang’s beautiful eyes.

Her back unconsciously straightened. The dignity and arrogance of a supreme ruler, of a Sword Dao Empress, poured forth like floodwaters bursting through a dam, impossible to restrain.

She turned to look at Ye Xuan. Her tone unknowingly carried a hint of lofty authority, and even a touch of smugness, as she said, “Husband, you will remain here at the Sword God Palace to cultivate from now on. You are already at the Body Integration stage. At this level, sitting in secluded meditation and cultivating bitterly will no longer do you much good. What you need is insight into the Great Dao. The Ten-Thousand-Year Sword Pool and the Ice Rock of Enlightenment in the Sword God Palace will be the perfect places for your seclusion.”

Ye Xuan paused slightly. A cold glint imperceptible to others flashed through his deep eyes.

He said nothing, merely looking quietly at the subtle change taking place in the woman beside him.

Ye Jiuhuang did not notice anything amiss. Immersed in the touching fantasy of “a female emperor protecting her husband,” she continued in a tone that was high-handed and utterly imperious.

“If you wish to venture into other secret realms or leave this Dao Province, remember to report it to me. You may go only with my permission. The outside world is far too dangerous. I wouldn’t feel at ease.”

At that moment, her tone had changed completely.

She was no longer the gentle and respectful wife she had been amid the ruins of the Weiyang Palace. Instead, she had reverted to the First Sword Emperor of the Heavens who gave orders and stood supreme above all others.

Even though she tried to speak casually, the oppressive authority built up over years of standing at the pinnacle still swept toward them like a tidal wave.

Ye Xuan’s brows drew together slightly, and the gloom deep in his eyes grew heavier and heavier.

Suppressing the rage about to boil over in his heart, he asked with a half-smile, “So, from now on, I’ll need to ask for your opinion even when I leave the palace?”

“Of course.”

Ye Jiuhuang nodded without hesitation. Her expression was haughty, as though her words were entirely self-evident.

“Husband, you have offended far too many enemies. You will be absolutely safe only if you remain by my side, under the protection of my Sword Domain.”

Ye Xuan laughed in fury. He clenched his teeth so hard that the muscles in his jaw twitched slightly.

“What a fine ‘remain by your side’… What else?”

Ye Jiuhuang took his reaction as tacit agreement with her arrangements. Feeling even more pleased with herself, she revealed the plan she had been cultivating throughout the journey.

“Bai Qianqiu has entered closed-door cultivation, and I imagine she won’t be coming out anytime soon, so we won’t wait for her. As for the position of primary wife, it naturally belongs to me. I’ve already decided—we’ll hold our Daoist Partners’ ceremony next month.”

Her gaze swept arrogantly over the crowd, and she spoke calmly yet imperiously.

“When the time comes, I will send Sword God Invitations to every major force in the Three Thousand Dao Provinces. I will announce before the entire world that you, Ye Xuan, are my husband and my rightful man. Anyone who dares lay a finger on you will be declaring themselves an enemy of the Sword God Palace!”

She raised her stunningly beautiful face, her eyes gleaming with fervent possessiveness. She was about to continue describing the “perfect life” she had planned for Ye Xuan.

“Are you finished?”

Ye Xuan’s voice suddenly turned calm.

“Husband, I still have more to say…” Ye Jiuhuang opened her mouth with an air of lofty authority, just about to continue outlining the grand future she had envisioned.

“Smack!”

A crisp, deafening slap exploded across the empty, silent profound-ice square like heavenly thunder!

Ye Xuan had used no spell or technique. He had relied solely on the pure strength of his physical body to viciously strike Ye Jiuhuang across her icy, peerlessly beautiful, arrogantly proud face!

With Ye Jiuhuang’s terrifying cultivation as a True Immortal, even if a star came crashing toward her, she should have been able to dodge instantly or shatter it with her protective astral qi.

But she had never imagined that Ye Xuan would suddenly attack, much less thought to defend herself.

Ye Jiuhuang was struck as though by lightning. The forceful slap sent her feet flying off the ground, and she shot backward like a kite whose string had been severed.

She spun through the air more than a dozen times before crashing awkwardly onto the hard profound-ice ground, smashing out a web of cracks shaped like blooming ice flowers.

Silence.

The tens of thousands of disciples, elders, and stewards across the Sword God Palace square all stood frozen as if struck by a petrification spell, staring in stunned disbelief.

What had they just witnessed?

The Sword Sovereign in their hearts—the supreme and immaculate woman whose every glance could make the Three Thousand Dao Provinces tremble—had actually been slapped hard across the face by a young man at the Body Integration stage, right in front of the entire palace?

“Husband… what do you mean by this?”

Ye Jiuhuang pressed a hand to the rapidly swelling half of her face, a trace of blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

She pushed herself halfway up from the ground, her face filled with disbelief as she stared at Ye Xuan ahead of her.

There was no anger in her eyes, only incomprehension, grievance, and bewilderment.

Yet Ye Xuan had no intention of wasting even half a sentence explaining himself to her.

His face was so dark it seemed capable of dripping water, and savage fury burned in his eyes.

He strode forward. Under the horrified gazes of the elders, who sucked in sharp breaths, he grabbed Ye Jiuhuang by her long, waterfall-smooth hair and yanked her violently toward him.

“Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!”

His hands moved left and right like crashing thunder!

Gripping the hair of the First Sword Emperor of the Heavens, Ye Xuan viciously slapped her peerlessly beautiful face several more times, each blow ringing through the square.

“Hiss!”

The onlookers were so terrified that their hearts nearly stopped. Several inner elders even went weak in the knees and collapsed directly onto the ground.

This was a true public humiliation!

With countless eyes watching, the lofty Sword Dao Empress had been pinned to the ground and slapped repeatedly. The sight shattered the worldview of everyone in the Sword God Palace.

“Husband… why?”

Ye Jiuhuang’s hair was disheveled, blood streamed from the corner of her mouth, and tears of grievance covered her normally proud face.

She raised her head and cried out in sorrow, “Everything I did was for you! For your safety, for your rightful status! What, exactly, did I do wrong?!”

“Heh…”

Ye Xuan stopped and looked down at her from above. His gaze was that of someone looking at an incurable fool.

“Why? You still haven’t realized your mistake? Oh… So you’re saying that I’m the one who’s wrong?”

Ye Jiuhuang looked into Ye Xuan’s murderous eyes and felt the oppression that seemed to come straight from the depths of her soul. Though she was deeply unwilling to submit, she still couldn’t help but tremble.

She lowered her proud head, bit her red lips, and murmured in deep grievance, “Jiuhuang… wouldn’t dare.”

“Wouldn’t dare?” Ye Xuan released her hair and let out a cold laugh. He shook his hand as though he had just touched a piece of trash. “You dare do anything. You even dared to climb onto my head and throw your weight around!”