I Don't Hate You Anymore

"Senior Sister..."

Ye Xuan leaned against her embrace and said softly,

"Recently, I have been reading through ancient texts and discovered that simply piling up spiritual power is no longer very effective for my physique."

"Oh?" Xia Lengyue asked immediately. "Then what do you need?"

Ye Xuan looked up, a strange light flickering in his eyes.

"Objects of the Five Elements."

"The ultimate source objects of the Five Elements."

"Such as the fire essence of a ten-thousand-year-old volcano, the ice marrow from the extreme north, the Mother of Geng Gold..."

"Only by absorbing these source powers can I truly drive the transformation of my Dao foundation."

Hearing this, Xia Lengyue frowned slightly.

These items were all supreme treasures of heaven and earth. The appearance of any single one would trigger a storm of blood and slaughter, and even Nascent Soul old monsters would intervene to fight for them.

But she only remained silent for a moment.

Then, she smiled.

A wildly arrogant smile, a smile that looked down upon everything in existence.

"Alright."

"The Five Elements sources, right?"

"Wait for me, Husband."

"Give me three years."

"Within three years, I will definitely gather all the Five Elements sources and place them right before you!"

After saying that, she turned and left.

Her retreating figure was resolute, carrying a murderous aura that would slay gods or buddhas if they dared to stand in her way.

Ye Xuan watched her back as she departed, remaining motionless for a long time.

He knew.

For these Five Elements sources, over the next three years, the Qingzhou cultivation world would be swept by a monstrous, towering storm.

Countless people would die because of this, and countless sects would be annihilated.

And the source of all this.

Was simply because the man sitting on Cold Moon Peak, living off a woman, wanted to break through a minor realm.

"So this is the cultivation world..."

Ye Xuan closed his eyes, a self-deprecating sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

"I did not kill Boren, but Boren died because of me."

"However..."

"Better a dead fellow Daoist than a dead me."

"As long as I can form my Golden Core, as long as I can survive..."

"Even if the world is flooded by monstrous waves, what does it have to do with me?"

He sat down cross-legged again and picked up a supreme-grade spirit stone.

His eyes became as cold and ruthless as ice once more.

Endure.

Continue to endure.

Before the Five Elements sources arrived, he had to temper this body to its absolute limits.

For a sliver of a chance at survival.

For his long-delayed freedom.

Time flowed like water, the years passing silently, yet leaving scarlet marks on every inch of Cold Moon Peak.

Another three years passed.

These three years, to the Qingzhou cultivation world, were a long and terrifying nightmare.

The name of the Blood Rakshasa Xia Lengyue had completely become a taboo capable of stopping a child's nighttime crying.

To gather the Five Elements sources Ye Xuan needed, she went mad.

In the extreme northern ice plains, she slew the half-step Nascent Soul demonic beast Frost Chi guarding the ten-thousand-year ice marrow. Her entire body was frozen into an ice sculpture, yet she stubbornly crawled back clutching the ice marrow.

In the Southern Wasteland's fire domain, she charged into an active volcano on the verge of erupting, fighting fire spirits in the magma for seven days and seven nights just to obtain a wisp of Earth Core Fire Essence.

In the Western Desert's gold caves, with a single sword, she overthrew a gold-attribute great demon that had entrenched itself for a thousand years, bringing back the Mother of Geng Gold.

Every time she returned, the injuries on her body were heavier than the last.

Once, half her body was almost torn to shreds by a demonic beast; her white bones were exposed, and her internal organs were clearly visible.

But every time, as long as she saw Ye Xuan refining those items, as long as she saw the aura on Ye Xuan's body grow a fraction stronger, it was as if she could feel no pain, smiling happier than anyone else.

Cold Moon Peak, the secret chamber.

This place was no longer what it used to be.

The floor was paved with supreme-grade spirit stones, the walls were inlaid with spirit-gathering formations, and the spiritual energy in the air was so dense that it was practically liquefying.

Ye Xuan sat cross-legged in the center.

At this moment, he was surrounded by five-colored brilliance. Cyan, red, yellow, white, and black—spiritual power of five colors hovered and danced around him like five roaming dragons, emitting low dragon roars.

His aura was as deep as an abyss, as heavy as a mountain.

Late Foundation Establishment!

Irrigated by a massive amount of heavenly treasures sufficient to nurture a thousand Golden Core cultivators, Ye Xuan finally stood at the pinnacle of the Foundation Establishment stage.

Only one step away.

Only the final layer of window paper left to pierce.

Crossing over would mean achieving the Great Dao of the Golden Core, thereby gaining a lifespan of five hundred years and truly stepping into the ranks of high-level cultivators.

"Phew..."

Ye Xuan slowly withdrew his cultivation technique, and the five-colored brilliance returned into his body.

He opened his eyes, where stars seemed to be born and extinguished, shining with divine light.

Yet he showed no trace of joy.

Instead, his brows were tightly furrowed, his eyes filled with an unresolvable gloom.

"Stuck."

Ye Xuan looked at his hands, a deep sense of powerlessness rising in his heart.

Even with abundant resources, even if the Five Elements Chaos Sutra was incredibly strong, even if his divine sense was already comparable to the mid-Golden Core stage.

But the chasm lying between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core remained like a city wall cast of steel, refusing to budge an inch.

"Uniting the Five Elements to condense the Golden Core..."

"Easier said than done."

Ye Xuan smiled bitterly.

These five powers were too strong and repelled each other too intensely. To forcefully fuse them together required not only spiritual power, but also a profoundly mysterious opportunity, or rather, a state of perfection in one's state of mind.

But his heart was flawed.

His heart was filled with calculation, fear, suppression, and hypocrisy.

How could such a heart reach perfection? How could it bear a flawless, immaculate Golden Core?

Clang.

The door to the secret chamber was pushed open.

A heavy scent of blood drifted in before the figure even appeared.

Xia Lengyue walked in.

This time, she was not wearing her signature red dress, but was wrapped in a loose black robe.

Because her original clothes had long been shredded into strips of cloth.

Her face was as pale as paper, devoid of any color. Her left arm hung limply by her side, clearly broken.

On that breathtakingly beautiful face, there was an additional bloody scratch extending from her brow bone down to her chin. It was caused by a sharp claw carrying a corrosive toxin; even after taking pills, the wound was still seeping black blood, looking hideous and terrifying.

But her eyes were frighteningly bright.

"Husband!"

Like presenting a precious treasure, she pulled out a jade box sealed with talismans from her bosom.

"Look... what I found?"

"This is the Heart of Wood Spirit! I stole it from the forbidden grounds of the Divine Tree Sect! I fought that old tree demon for this, hehe... He didn't get off easy either, I burned half his beard."

As she spoke, she staggered toward Ye Xuan, trying to hand him the jade box.

But because she had lost too much blood, her hands kept trembling, unable to hold it steady.

Clatter.

The jade box fell to the ground.

Xia Lengyue panicked and hurriedly tried to pick it up: "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Husband, I didn't hold it steady... I'll pick it up for you right now..."

She bent down, but the large movement aggravated her injuries, and she vomited a large mouthful of black blood.

Ye Xuan watched her quietly.

Watching this female demon who was once so aloof and insufferably arrogant.

Watching this madwoman who had now turned herself into a beggar and a cripple just for him.

For the past three years, every day had been like this.

She was like a tireless worker ant, fighting and plundering outside, then carrying the best things back to the nest to feed him, the queen ant who only knew how to open his mouth.

She did not even dare to cry out in pain in front of him.

Because she was afraid he would worry, afraid that her injuries would affect his state of mind.

Even if Ye Xuan's heart was made of stone, an inevitable crack formed in it at this very moment.

It was not love.

Absolutely not love.

Instead, it was a sense of... heaviness.

A heaviness that threatened to crush his spine.

This unreserved, even life-risking devotion was like a massive mountain, pressing down on him until he could barely breathe.

He suddenly felt very tired.

Pretending was tiring.

Being loved was tiring.

Hating someone... was also tiring.

Ye Xuan reached out and grabbed Xia Lengyue's hand as she tried to pick up the jade box.

That hand was piercingly cold, covered in bloodstains and scars. Flesh and blood—whether her own or her enemies', he couldn't tell—still lingered beneath her fingernails.

"Leave it."

Ye Xuan's voice was very soft, yet in this empty hidden chamber, it rang as clear as a thunderclap.

Xia Lengyue's body stiffened. She looked up at him with a trace of panic:

"Husband... do you not like it? If you don't, I will go find something else for you! I heard there is a ten-thousand-year-old coral in the Eastern Sea..."

"Enough."

Ye Xuan interrupted her.

He looked into her bloodshot eyes, which were still filled with a desperate desire to please him.

He slowly crouched down and took a pristine white silk handkerchief from his spatial ring.

He didn't use a cleansing spell. Instead, like a mortal, he meticulously wiped the blood from her face, bit by bit.

His movements were gentle and focused.

He avoided that hideous wound, gently wiping away the black blood at the corner of her mouth.

Xia Lengyue froze.

She blankly allowed Ye Xuan to wipe her face, even holding her breath, terrified of shattering this dream.

"Senior Sister."

Ye Xuan spoke softly as he wiped:

"These past three years, did it hurt?"

Xia Lengyue subconsciously shook her head, but under Ye Xuan's all-knowing gaze, she eventually nodded like a wronged child:

"It hurt... but whenever I thought about doing it for you, Husband, it didn't hurt anymore."

"Fool."

Ye Xuan sighed softly.

He put away the silk handkerchief and cupped Xia Lengyue's face with both hands—a face that, despite being covered in scars, remained breathtakingly beautiful.

His gaze, at this moment, became unprecedentedly complex.

The usual hypocrisy was gone, as was the deeply hidden coldness.

There was only a calmness born from seeing through the vicissitudes of life, and a... helplessness toward the mockery of fate.

"Xia Lengyue."

It was the first time he had called her by her full name.

"Actually, I know everything."

"I know you are atoning for your sins."

"I know you are afraid I will leave."

"I know you are doing all of this to make up for that dream of our past life."

Xia Lengyue trembled violently, tears instantly welling up and spilling over.

She opened her mouth to explain, but no sound came out.

Ye Xuan looked into her eyes and took a deep breath, as if making a monumental decision, or perhaps shedding a crushing burden.

He slowly spoke, enunciating every word:

"Senior Sister, I don't hate you anymore."