Xia Lengyue slowly lowered her head, her whole body turning limp as a boneless mollusk, collapsing weakly into the muddy rain-soaked ground.
She said no more.
Not because there was nothing left to say, but because she no longer knew what words could possibly capture the mess of her feelings.
She had thought she was the most tragic victim of all, only to realize she had never been the protagonist of the story at all.
She had believed Ye Xuan had died for her sake, only to discover she was not even worth as much as a mere substitute.
No sorrow in this world ran deeper than that.
After a long moment, Xia Lengyue let out a faint whimper, so soft it was nearly swallowed whole by the howling wind and lashing rain.
Ye Xuan looked at her crumpled form, not a flicker of emotion stirring in his eyes.
He only spared her a casual, indifferent glance before turning on his heel to keep walking.
"Bring her back to the Sword God Palace."
"Understood." Ying'er replied meekly. She stepped forward, looking down at Xia Lengyue slumped in the muck, a sweet smile curling at her lips even as she spoke the cruellest of words, "Sister Xia, let's go now. Don't keep my husband waiting."
Xia Lengyue did not move.
She just lay prone beside the empty coffin, like a puppet stripped of its soul, letting the cold rain wash over her body.
Her mind was completely blank.
All the memories that had once sustained her through every hardship had dissolved into a chaotic void.
She no longer knew who she was.
She no longer understood why she was still breathing.
She only knew that everything was over.
Every single thing she had clung to was a lie.
Just as Xia Lengyue was on the verge of giving in to total, utter despair, Ye Xuan's expression shifted abruptly.
The icy coldness in his eyes faded away, replaced by a facade of sickeningly gentle affection.
He leaned down, brushing the blood-tinged tears from the corners of her eyes with a soft touch, and murmured in a tender voice, "Actually, Yue'er, there is still a way out for you if you truly wish to make amends to me."
Xia Lengyue's dull, lifeless pupils snapped wide open.
Like a drowning person who had finally grabbed hold of a breath of air after being submerged for far too long, she stammered, "What... what devious trick are you planning now?"
"How could you call it a trick?" Ye Xuan chuckled softly, his eyes still feigning warmth, "I'm giving you two choices. The first is that you stay by my side as the lowest-ranked concubine, and spend the rest of your atoning to me little by little. Maybe one day, when I grow tired of seeing your miserable face, I'll take pity on you and forgive you."
"The second choice is that I grant your death wish right now, and let you die here at Broken Soul Cliff to keep those rotting lotus roots company."
Xia Lengyue froze.
A concubine? That meant she would lose every last shred of the dignity she had once held as the Cold Moon Fairy, that she would have to kneel at the feet of the man who had once doted on her more than anything else in the world.
Yet the very mention of the word "forgive" sparked a sick, desperate craving that raged to life in the very depths of her long-parched soul.
"I'll stay... I'm willing to stay!" She blurted out the words almost immediately, as if racing against time to claim the chance. As long as she could stay within his sight, as long as she could make up for all the wrongs she had committed, she would happily accept even the lowest of existences.
Ye Xuan flicked his wrist, and a glowing blue jade slip swirling with primeval water vapor landed neatly in Xia Lengyue's arms.
"This holds the supreme water-attainment cultivation technique, the *Tayi Weak Water Scripture*. Its power is so fearsome that it would let you roam unchallenged across the entire realm. From this day on, you will dedicate yourself entirely to practicing this art."
Xia Lengyue trembled as she took the jade slip. The cool, smooth texture against her skin gave her a sense of steadiness she had never felt before.
When they returned to the Sword God Palace, Ye Xuan did not lock her back in the dungeon. Instead, he personally carved out a secluded cultivation chamber in the side wing of the main hall, a place brimming with such dense spiritual energy it could make even a Great Ascension stage cultivator go mad with envy.
What surprised her even more was that Ye Xuan did not hold back at all, presenting her with a mountain of top-tier medicinal pills and spirit crystals that no cultivator of her standing could ever dream of obtaining.
Of course, all of those resources had been given to him by Ye Jiuhuang.
"I am giving you this one more chance," Ye Xuan said as he stood at the entrance of the cultivation chamber, his back to the sunlight, his tall, slender figure looking impossibly majestic in Xia Lengyue's eyes. "As long as you stay by my side and atone for your faults with all your heart, I will forgive you. There may well come a day... when you can once again stand at my side as my wife."
Xia Lengyue was so overcome with emotion that tears streamed down her face. She thudded her head heavily against the stone floor, bowing deeply, "Rest assured, my husband. Yue'er will never fail you again! I will grow stronger, I will become someone who is useful to you!"
In that instant, the madness in her eyes faded, replaced by a near-obsessive, fanatical drive to cultivate.
She wanted to reclaim her peak power, to use a brand new, powerful, untainted version of herself to earn even the tiniest sliver of Ye Xuan's long-lost affection.
The moment Xia Lengyue's resolute, overjoyed figure vanished deep inside the cultivation chamber, the gentle look on Ye Xuan's face drained away like a receding tide.
He walked out of the secluded cultivation grounds, and Ying'er, who had been waiting for him outside, immediately rushed over to nestle in his arms.
"Husband, do you truly plan to forgive her?" Ying'er pressed against his chest, her tone laced with a hint of confusion and jealousy.
Ye Xuan stroked her head casually, enjoying the smooth feel of her hair between his fingers, as a cruel, excited grin tugged at his lips.
"Forgive her? Ying'er, you've been with me for so long, how could you not understand that by now?" Ye Xuan gazed out at the rolling sea of clouds in the distance, his eyes alight with ruthless excitement. "A pawn as useful as Xia Lengyue is far too valuable to be discarded after only two uses."
Ying'er blinked, "You gave her the *Tayi Weak Water Scripture* and all those precious resources, so that she would..."
Ye Xuan's grin grew even more twisted. "If I don't dangle a glimmer of hope in front of her first, to make her go all out in her cultivation and devour all those resources, how else would her long-dried-out body regain its vitality, so I can exploit her all over again?"
He leaned down and whispered a cold laugh right into Ying'er's ear, "I'll let her regain her strength first. Just when she thinks she's got a real shot at redemption, even that she'll truly become my wife one day, I'll drain every last drop of the Primordial Taiyi Water out of her, along with all her Great Ascension cultivation..."
"The look on her face when she falls from the heights of bliss straight into the depths of hell a second time? That will be the most stunning sight in the world, won't it?"
Ying'er shivered slightly at his words, then broke into a sweet smile. "Xia Lengyue... is truly pitiful. She actually believes you've had a change of heart."
"Pitiable people always have their detestable sides," Ye Xuan snorted coldly, his gaze fixed on the direction of the cultivation chamber, not a flicker of human warmth left in his eyes. "Since she's so desperate to atone, I'll grant her wish. Let her offer every last bit of her flesh and blood, her cultivation, even her very soul, to become the stepping stone that carries me to the peak of the immortal path. That, is the only atonement she deserves."
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
