Absolute loyalty or absolute disloyalty

The moment those words left his mouth, Ye Qingcheng—who had been writhing on the ground, nearly unconscious from the pain—suddenly opened her eyes wide.

In an instant, her face turned paler than death itself. Endless terror surged over her like a tidal wave, swallowing her whole. She screamed in disbelief, her voice so shrill it cracked:

“Husband, you’re going to sell me to the Yin-Yang Demon Venerable?”

She knew exactly what kind of man the Yin-Yang Demon Venerable was.

He was a madman who cultivated a wicked dual-cultivation art. Every woman who fell into his hands would eventually have her primordial yin drained dry, reduced to a shriveled corpse—unable to live, yet unable to die.

Hearing what she called him, Ye Xuan flew into a rage. He raised his leg and delivered another vicious kick.

With a sharp crack, several of Ye Qingcheng’s ribs snapped at once, and blood sprayed from her mouth.

“Who gave you permission to call me your husband?” Ye Xuan roared.

But terror had already driven Ye Qingcheng beyond reason. Ignoring everything else, she desperately crawled forward and clung to Ye Xuan’s leg. Tears and blood smeared across her breathtakingly beautiful face as she wailed frantically:

“Husband! You can hit me, curse me—anything! But how can you sell me off? I’m your woman!”

Ye Xuan looked down at her from above. There was not the slightest trace of pity in his eyes—only bone-deep coldness and mockery. He sneered.

“A cheap woman like you—what use are you besides being traded for resources?”

Those words shattered the last of Ye Qingcheng’s mental defenses.

She broke down completely, collapsing to the ground in utter despair and weeping as though her heart had been torn apart.

Ye Xuan could not be bothered to listen to her disgusting cries. Without mercy, he kicked her away again, as though tossing aside a bag of garbage.

Then he turned to the Yin-Yang Demon Venerable and asked calmly,

“How many spirit stones did you bring?”

The Yin-Yang Demon Venerable grinned so broadly that the shriveled skin on his corpse-like face bunched into folds. Smugly, he patted the storage pouch at his waist.

“Not too many, not too few. Five hundred million top-grade spirit stones.”

Yet Ye Xuan unexpectedly shook his head and said flatly,

“Too little. Her price has gone up.”

The Yin-Yang Demon Venerable froze. “Gone up?”

Pointing at the half-dead Ye Qingcheng on the ground, Ye Xuan laid out his reasoning with complete seriousness.

“Can’t you see that her cultivation has reached the Great Ascension Realm? What’s more, she bears the inheritance of a sect from the Spirit Realm. Her value surpassed that old price long ago.”

Ye Xuan raised three fingers, his tone leaving no room for argument.

“She is worth at least five billion top-grade spirit stones now.”

Following Ye Xuan’s words, the Yin-Yang Demon Venerable carefully sensed the aura emanating from Ye Qingcheng.

Though her cultivation was currently sealed and she was gravely wounded, the fundamental fluctuations unique to a Great Ascension cultivator could not be faked.

A trace of reluctance flashed through his triangular eyes. In the end, he could only let out a long sigh.

“That is true. What a pity. Three billion... this old brother really can’t come up with that much on short notice.”

After a pause, he could not help rubbing his bony hands together. Somewhat anxiously, he asked,

“I heard you’ve got quite a few more faithless women by your side this time?”

Ye Xuan did not shy away from the matter. He nodded directly and rattled off a string of names that would drive male cultivators across the world mad with desire:

“Ye Qingcheng, Xia Lengyue, Zi Yao, Xiao Honglian, Wu Lingxiao.”

Ye Xuan’s expression was utterly indifferent, as though he were discussing several magic treasures put up for sale.

“I can sell you any of them. But only if you can afford the price.”

Upon hearing those names, the Yin-Yang Demon Venerable drew a sharp breath. Greed and shock intertwined in his eyes.

Which one of those women had not once been a peerless prodigy renowned throughout the world, exalted beyond reach? Which one was not a breathtaking beauty capable of toppling kingdoms?

Yet after a moment, he could only let out a dejected sigh.

“They are all Great Ascension cultivators. Each one is priceless... I cannot afford even one of them.”

Hearing this, Ye Xuan mercilessly shook his head, his tone ice-cold.

“That is truly a pity. Though none of those women are particularly good people, I, Ye Xuan, have never made a losing deal.”

The Yin-Yang Demon Venerable was filled with disappointment and was about to give up.

But as his gaze wandered, it suddenly fell upon Ying'er, who stood quietly at Ye Xuan’s side without saying a word.

Ying'er possessed a stunningly delicate beauty. Her entire being exuded an untainted purity and lively grace, and the wholehearted devotion she showed toward Ye Xuan made the eyes of an old demon like the Yin-Yang Demon Venerable—one who cultivated wicked arts—turn red with desire.

A vile, lustful glint burst from his triangular eyes. Unable to resist, he licked his lips and blurted out:

“Your maid is quite nice. How many spirit stones for her?”

The instant those words fell—

The surrounding air plunged to freezing point.

Ye Xuan’s previously calm expression changed completely in an instant.

An unprecedented, terrifying killing intent erupted from him, like an ancient peerless beast awakening from its slumber, and locked directly onto the Yin-Yang Demon Venerable!

“You’re courting death!”

Ye Xuan roared, his gaze sharp as blades as he commanded coldly, “Ying'er, kill him!”

Ying'er did not hesitate in the slightest. At the very moment Ye Xuan’s words fell, her fair, slender jade-like finger flicked lightly.

A thumb-sized wisp of golden flame shot forth.

Though it appeared faint, it contained a terrifying heat that seemed to transcend all heavenly laws and Great Daos.

The golden flame streaked through the air, leaving behind a blur, before landing directly upon the Yin-Yang Demon Venerable’s strange Daoist robe.

“Let’s talk this over!”

The Yin-Yang Demon Venerable’s face changed drastically. Yet before he could even form the thought of summoning demonic qi to defend himself, the golden flame swelled violently in the wind, transforming into a towering sea of fire that completely engulfed him!

This flame was simply too tyrannical.

So tyrannical that it did not grant him even the slightest chance to struggle.

The Yin-Yang Demon Venerable’s body, which had allowed him to dominate an entire region, and the protective demonic art in which he took such pride, were as fragile as dry paper before those golden flames.

He did not even have time to let out a scream.

In the span of a single breath—

The renowned Yin-Yang Demon Venerable was reduced completely to ashes within the golden blaze, his body and soul utterly annihilated.

Only a storage ring, not yet fully burned away, remained behind, falling lonely onto the ground.

Ye Xuan walked forward with an unruffled expression and reached down to pick up the storage ring, still faintly warm.

He sent his divine sense into it for a quick look. A satisfied smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and he nodded.

“Five hundred million top-grade spirit stones. I’ll take it as his wedding gift.”

Not far away, Ye Qingcheng had watched every moment of it. She was in such agony that she nearly bit through her own lip.

Blood trickled down her chin.

Her heart sank, little by little, into an abyss without end.

The gulf between them was like a blunt knife used for slow execution, slicing into her soul inch by inch.

Ye Xuan was truly cruel to her. If the price was right, he could sell her to a monster like the Yin-Yang Demon Venerable without batting an eye, leaving her to suffer torments worse than death.

But when the Yin-Yang Demon Venerable had merely glanced at Ying’er and asked her price—

Ye Xuan had turned on him at once, killing him without a word.

Why?

They were both women. They had both once been at his side. So why were they treated so differently?

At last, Ye Qingcheng could no longer contain her despair. She cried out in anguish:

“Master, are you really going to sell me? You truly have the heart to sell me?”

Ye Xuan turned around and casually put away the storage ring. Looking down at her, he spoke with complete indifference, as if it were only natural:

“If someone can pay the price, I’ll sell you.”

Ye Qingcheng shook her head frantically as tears poured down her face. She screamed until her voice gave out:

“But I love you! I’ve been loyal to you! Why are you treating me like this?”

“Love me? Loyal to me?”

At those words, Ye Xuan seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world.

He made no effort to hide the disdain and mockery on his face as he stared coldly at her.

“When you trampled on my dignity for the sake of your cultivation, why didn’t you talk about love then?”

Ye Qingcheng froze, unable to utter a word.

Ye Xuan’s gaze was as cold as a blade forged in the frozen wastes. “A woman like you has no right to speak of loyalty. I didn’t sell you only because the price just now wasn’t high enough. Did you really think there was anything else between us?”

Ye Qingcheng broke down completely. She collapsed to the ground, clutching at it with both hands and sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

Ye Xuan stood nearby, watching her miserable state. Not a flicker of emotion stirred in his eyes.

He simply didn’t care.

Just then, Ying’er, standing beside Ye Xuan, glanced at Ye Qingcheng on the ground. A trace of sympathy crossed her eyes. She gently tugged at Ye Xuan’s sleeve and said softly:

“Husband, they were once your women, after all.”

Ye Xuan turned to Ying’er, and his gaze softened a little. But he still shook his head and corrected her coldly:

“You said it yourself. They were ‘once.’”

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze sweeping across the sea of clouds in the distance beyond Sword God Palace. His voice carried the merciless resolve of someone who had seen through everything:

“When these women betrayed me, did they ever stop to think that I was their man? When they cast me aside without a second thought for their own gain, when they ground me beneath their feet, did any of them spare even a thought for what we once had?”

“They don’t care about this relationship. Why should I?”

Ye Xuan reached out and gently stroked Ying’er’s head. Yet the words he spoke were so cold-blooded that Ye Qingcheng, crumpled on the ground, felt as if she had fallen into an abyss. He gave a disdainful sneer.

“To me, they’re nothing but tools. If I can fetch a good price for them, smooth the road of my cultivation, and gain the resources I need to reach the summit, then they’re worth selling.”

Ying’er was obedient, but she still had a soft heart. She bit her lower lip, then couldn’t help speaking in a quiet voice.

“Husband, but… many of them are still untouched.”

Ye Xuan shook his head without hesitation. His gaze was deep and merciless.

“Being untouched doesn’t change the fact that they betrayed me.”

His voice was firm as iron. “I’ve said it a thousand times: a woman’s virginity changes nothing!”

He glanced coldly at Ye Qingcheng on the ground, then gave an utterly brutal example.

“Take Bai Ningbing.”

“She betrayed me for the sake of her family. To protect the Bai clan’s interests, she sold me out without hesitation. She was certainly untouched—pure and chaste, untouched by the mortal world.”

“But what of it?”

A murderous glint flashed in Ye Xuan’s eyes. “When the time came to kill her, I would kill her all the same. When the time came to sell her, I would sell her all the same.”

He bent down and looked into Ye Qingcheng’s eyes, filled with fear and despair. His expression was utterly indifferent as he spoke, one word at a time:

“A betrayal is a betrayal, no matter what form it takes.”

“Even if she didn’t betray me for another man—even if she did it for her family or her sect—it’s still a capital offense!”

His words were like the sharpest sword in the world, severing every last thread of hope and wishful thinking in Ye Qingcheng’s heart.

At last, she understood. The man before her was no longer the fool she had once been able to use, deceive, and trample underfoot, yet still keep devoted to her.

Ye Xuan turned away and didn’t look at Ye Qingcheng again.

He raised his hand once more and stroked Ying’er’s head with exquisite gentleness, his every movement overflowing with affection.

His gaze rested intently on Ying’er as he spoke softly.

“Right now, you’re priceless to me.”

“But if you betray me, you’ll be worth less than nothing.”

His gentle tone concealed the most merciless of principles.

Ye Xuan lifted his head. His dark eyes seemed to reflect the shifting winds and clouds of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. His voice rang like thunder through the palace corridors, echoing without end.

“If your loyalty isn’t absolute, then you’re absolutely disloyal!”

“With me, no sacrifice is too great to bear, and no betrayal too small to forgive!”