Apologize or Die

Feeling the deathly aura in the sky that was enough to tear her apart, the Azure Emperor closed her eyes in agony.

She was not afraid of death.

She even longed to die by Ye Xuan's hand.

But she could not die.

She had waited so long for Ye Xuan, and if she died now, Ye Xuan would truly belong to this woman named Ying'er forever.

She could not bear to let that happen. Even if she had to linger on in a wretched state, she would stay by his side to atone for her sins.

A single tear of blood slid down from the corner of the Azure Emperor's eye.

The Azure Emperor's spine, weighed down by the mountain of regret and the unsparing cruelty of the person before her, finally bent completely.

Slowly, little by little, she lowered her noble head towards the yellow-clad maid who was cowering behind Ye Xuan.

"I'm sorry..."

The Azure Emperor's voice was hoarse, every word accompanied by the agony of her soul being torn apart: "I... accidentally hurt you. Please... forgive me."

Hearing this utterly humiliating apology, Ying'er poked half her body out from behind Ye Xuan.

She hypocritically wiped the corners of her eyes, and said with a magnanimous air, "It's alright, Sister Azure Emperor was just flustered for a moment. Ying'er's life is cheap, so a little injury is nothing. Since Sister has already admitted her mistake, then I will forgive you."

Forgive you.

These three words, spoken by a maid who had climbed to her position through underhanded schemes, were like a dagger coated in thick poison, stabbing viciously into the very tip of the Azure Emperor's heart, then twisting hard.

The Azure Emperor bit down hard on her own lips until they broke, and the coppery taste of blood flooded her mouth, yet she did not notice it at all.

She was trembling all over with rage, her teeth grinding loudly.

But when she lifted her head and saw Ye Xuan gently stroking Ying'er's hair, she was so furious that she nearly fainted on the spot.

Ye Xuan looked down at the once lofty, unrivaled Supreme Goddess before him.

There was not a trace of the thrill of revenge in his eyes, only the same old indifference as always.

"Madam Lu, since you have already apologized, can you tell me what brings you here today?"

Ye Xuan held Ying'er's hand, his tone laced with undisguised mockery and detachment: "Madam Lu has graced my Sword God Palace with her presence. Have you come to congratulate me on my wedding? If that is the case, my Sword God Palace will naturally welcome you, and will surely arrange a fine seat for you."

That address "Madam Lu" was like a rusty blunt knife, sawing back and forth across the Azure Emperor's already riddled, tattered heart.

The Azure Emperor slowly lifted her head. Her once peerlessly beautiful face was now streaked with tears, utterly desolate. Her eyes were filled with unfathomable despair and supplication.

"Husband... why..."

The Azure Emperor's voice trembled so violently that it seemed on the verge of shattering. She gave a bitter, wan smile, and tears fell again: "Since you remember everything, since you still hold all the memories of our past in your mind, why treat me like this? We once loved each other so deeply, we once swore oaths of eternal life after life in that peach grove!"

"Our past?"

Ye Xuan laughed coldly as if he had heard the most absurd joke imaginable, the curve of his mouth brimming with endless sarcasm: "Madam Lu, what exactly is this 'past' you speak of?"

He stepped down from the dais, and with every step he took, the coldness emanating from his body grew heavier. "Is it referring to the time you dug out my kidney alive for the sake of a hypocrite? The time you watched half my body get shattered by a tribulation-stage evil cultivator, only to turn around and save someone else?"

"Or is it referring to... the time you locked me up in a dungeon like a dog, where I was subjected to brutal torture day and night, while you donned a bright red wedding gown and presented yourself to the entire world as someone else's bride?"

"Is that the 'past' you are talking about? If that is what you mean, then I do remember every bit of it clearly."

The Azure Emperor was struck as if by lightning. Her body swayed violently, her eyes filled with the anguish of one who would rather die than go on.

"No... it wasn't like that..." She shook her head frantically, stretching out her gaunt, trembling hand to try to grab the hem of Ye Xuan's robe: "Husband, whether you believe me or not, in this life, I have only ever loved you. You are the only man in my heart!"

"Love?"

The mockery in Ye Xuan's eyes deepened. He sneered and stepped back, evading the Azure Emperor's hand. "First of all, you need to recognize your own identity. You are not my wife. You are Lu Yanchen's woman! The entire cultivation world knows that ten thousand years ago, you and Lu Yanchen were joined in matrimony."

"And second, as for this 'love' you speak of..."

Ye Xuan's gaze was as if he was looking at something disgusting, like refuse. "If endless harm, betrayal, suspicion, and using me as your stepping stone to dispel your inner demons is what your 'love' is..."

"Then that kind of love is something I, Ye Xuan, have no fortune to accept. You can keep it for your Lu Yanchen."

"I had no choice but to do it!"

The Azure Emperor shook violently all over, and she clung to that last straw of hope, explaining hysterically: "Back then, my older sister died right in front of my eyes! An indelible demonic barrier took root in my Dao heart! Everything I did was to dispel that inner demon, so that I could walk further along the path of cultivation, and protect you!"

To prove her sincerity, the Azure Emperor smacked her storage bag hard.

"Weng!"

An extremely cold, venomous aura instantly spread across the area in front of the great hall.

In the Azure Emperor's hand, a special dark artifact appeared, its entire body pitch black and burning with Nine Nether Demon Fire.

"Husband, look at this!"

The Azure Emperor held the demonic artifact in both palms, her eyes filled with a sickly stubbornness and madness: "This is Lu Yanchen's soul! Ten thousand years ago, after... after you left, I killed him with my own two hands! I tore out his spirit and sealed it inside this artifact!"

"I have used demonic fire to torture him day and night for tens of thousands of years! He has suffered a pain thousands upon thousands of times worse than what you endured back then!"

The Azure Emperor looked at Ye Xuan through her tear-streaked face, like a child who had done wrong and was desperately trying to earn praise: "I did all of this to avenge you, to atone for my sins towards you!"

Hearing these words, Ye Xuan's expression did not soften in the slightest. He merely raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone utterly calm: "Oh, really?"

He casually took the demonic artifact and looked down at it.

Inside the artifact, the Nine Nether Demon Fire blazed fiercely. At the center of the flames, a tattered, nearly transparent wisp of soul was letting out the most blood-curdling, shrill screams.

After ten thousand years of non-stop burning and torture, Lu Yanchen's soul was already on the verge of vanishing into ashes, in unimaginable agony.

As if sensing the aura of the outside world, the remnant soul inside the artifact struggled to open its eyes with great difficulty.

When Lu Yanchen's soul saw that the person holding the artifact was Ye Xuan, the remnant soul fluctuated wildly.

"Ye Xuan... it's you... Hahaha, it's you!"

Lu Yanchen's voice roared like a vengeful ghost, mixed with endless pain and utter madness: "Kill me! Kill me quickly! I can't take it anymore!"

"Ye Xuan, you won! You utter lunatic! You won completely!"

Lu Yanchen thrashed and wailed in the demonic flames, "You traded one life to condemn her to ten thousand years of living worse than death! You schemed against everyone!"

Watching Lu Yanchen beg for mercy in the demonic artifact, there was not a flicker of emotion in Ye Xuan's eyes.

He shook his head faintly, his voice terrifyingly calm, "Of course I am the ultimate winner. But this kind of victory is something I no longer care about, nor do I want it anymore."

Standing to the side, the Azure Emperor watched Ye Xuan anxiously, her hands twisted together, her eyes full of hope and supplication, "Husband, did you see that? He has received the punishment he deserves! I truly love only you, and he has never had a place in my heart!"

Ye Xuan did not even glance at the Azure Emperor.

He only slowly stretched out his slender palm, and a wisp of extremely pure, terrifying sword dao spiritual energy burst forth thunderously in his palm.

"Crack!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Ye Xuan clenched his hand hard.

That unbreakable Nine Nether Demonic Artifact, along with Lu Yanchen's remnant soul that had been tormented for tens of thousands of years inside it, was instantly crushed into a skyful of fine dust by that raging spiritual energy.

"No!"

Before he perished, Lu Yanchen let out a sharp, utterly despairing wail.

Before his voice faded, it turned into the most vicious curse, echoing across the entire plaza:

"Ye Xuan... you are a heartless devil! Azure Emperor... you foolish woman... you have been tricked by him... you have been tricked by him!"

His voice cut off abruptly, and everything returned to nothingness.

Lu Yanchen, the chief culprit who had stirred up countless storms between the two of them, was completely erased from the world.

After crushing the soul, Ye Xuan casually dusted off his hands, as if he had just crushed a trivial ant with no effort.

He turned to look at the Azure Emperor, whose face was full of hopeful expectation, his expression still as cold as ice.

"Madam Lu, the play is over, and I have seen your sincerity. But I still have to say..."

Ye Xuan's tone was icy and resolute, "All that has passed belongs to a past life. The Ye Xuan of that life already self-detonated in that dark dungeon, his bones and ashes scattered to nothing."

"And the me of today belongs to the Sword God Palace, and I am soon to become Ye Jiuhuang's husband."