The Azure Emperor was stunned by the sudden turn of events.
She had clearly done nothing! She had not used her spiritual power, had not approached Ying’er, and had not even touched a single strand of her hair!
“I didn’t!” The Azure Emperor was so anxious that sweat covered her forehead, and her voice had gone shrill. “Ye Xuan, you have to believe me! I didn’t use any spiritual power just now! She fell in on her own! She’s framing me!”
Yet at that very moment, Ying’er began to speak in a trembling voice.
Her voice was extremely weak, thick with nasal congestion, and pitiful beyond words. “Husband… cough, cough… don’t blame Sister Azure Emperor… It’s all my fault. I was standing too close and made Sister angry… cough, cough… She didn’t do it on purpose…”
On the surface, her words seemed to be defending the Azure Emperor. In reality, every word confirmed the accusation that the Azure Emperor had pushed her into the water.
The Azure Emperor trembled with rage. “Shut up! You hypocritical bitch! I didn’t even touch a single strand of your hair, yet you dare slander me!”
Terrified by her ferocious expression, Ying’er shuddered violently. She shrank into Ye Xuan’s arms and began to sob, her voice quivering. “I-I’m sorry… Sister, I’m sorry… It’s all my fault… sob…”
The scene perfectly recreated what had happened all those years ago at the shores of Bibo Lake, when Lu Yanchen had framed Ye Xuan.
Back then, Lu Yanchen had also jumped into the lake himself before accusing Ye Xuan of pushing him in.
And Qing Xuanyin had likewise believed Lu Yanchen without distinguishing right from wrong, harshly berating Ye Xuan instead.
Now, the roles had been reversed.
The one being falsely accused was the Azure Emperor, while the person receiving protection and favor was Ying’er.
“Madam Lu.”
Ye Xuan’s voice was as cold as the ice of the deepest abyss.
He carried Ying’er ashore, an overwhelming pressure radiating from his body. The lake churned behind him, while the clouds in the sky began to gather.
“All those years ago, you tortured me by holding me beneath Bibo Lake for the sake of that good-for-nothing Lu Yanchen. And today, you actually dare to use the same trick again and harm my woman on my own territory.”
Ye Xuan slowly extended his hand. Once again, the Sword God Token engraved with ancient sword markings appeared in his palm.
Buzz!
The instant the token appeared, the entire sky above Sword God Palace changed color.
Countless terrifying primordial sword auras condensed in the void, forming a world-destroying formation that completely enveloped the rear garden.
At the center of the formation, the Azure Emperor suddenly felt her entire body grow heavy. A terrifying pressure that she could not resist descended upon her.
In that instant, her cultivation was suppressed to the Qi Refining stage.
“Ye Xuan…” The Azure Emperor raised her head, her eyes filled with disbelief.
She was a powerhouse at the peak of the Great Vehicle Realm!
Yet before the protective mountain formation of Sword God Palace, she did not even possess the strength to resist.
This sword formation had been personally arranged by Ye Jiuhuang. It was powerful enough to slay a True Immortal. An insignificant Great Vehicle cultivator was nothing more than an ant before it.
Ye Xuan walked toward the Azure Emperor step by step, his gaze cold as iron and devoid of even the slightest trace of emotion.
He stopped before her and looked down at her from above, just as she had once stood at the shore of Bibo Lake and looked down at Ye Xuan in the water.
“You like holding people beneath the water, don’t you?”
Ye Xuan’s voice was terrifyingly calm.
He reached out, seized the Azure Emperor by the hair, and lifted her entire body off the ground.
The Azure Emperor let out a muffled groan of pain. Her scalp felt as though it were about to be torn away. Dragged along by Ye Xuan’s grip, she stumbled toward the lake.
The icy water instantly swallowed her body. This spirit lake contained frigid energy, and after being tempered by sword qi day and night for ten thousand years, its coldness was hundreds, even thousands, of times greater than that of Bibo Lake.
The chill was like countless steel needles, ruthlessly stabbing into her marrow and causing her entire body to spasm in agony.
“Kneel.”
Ye Xuan’s voice was cold and merciless.
Grabbing her by the hair, he slammed the Azure Emperor’s head into the water!
“Glug!”
The freezing lake water rushed into the Azure Emperor’s nose and mouth. The pain of suffocation swept over her entire body in an instant.
She struggled desperately, beating the surface of the water wildly with both hands as she tried to break free of Ye Xuan’s grip.
But her cultivation had been completely suppressed by the sword formation. At that moment, she was nothing more than a helpless woman without the strength to truss a chicken.
Ye Xuan watched coldly as she struggled beneath the water, his face utterly expressionless.
He remembered Bibo Lake from ten thousand years ago.
Back then, he too had been held beneath the water by Qing Xuanyin.
The icy lake water had poured into his nose and mouth, while his lungs had felt as though they were about to burst from the pain.
He had struggled desperately toward the surface, only to be forced back down again and again by the same jade-like hand that had once gently stroked him.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
In front of the entire Qing family, he had been treated like a slaughtered animal, repeatedly tortured by his own fiancée until he had nearly lost all signs of life.
At that time, Qing Xuanyin had worn the same expression.
Cold, arrogant, and self-righteous. As though torturing her own fiancé were simply the natural order of things.
Now, the roles had been reversed.
Ye Xuan grabbed the Azure Emperor by the hair and pulled her out of the water.
The Azure Emperor coughed violently, spitting out lake water streaked with blood. Her entire body was drenched, and her long hair clung messily to her face. She was in a wretched state.
“Cough, cough… H-husband…” she stammered, calling out to him with eyes full of pleading.
But Ye Xuan acted as though he had not heard her.
His hand descended once more.
Once, twice, three times…
He repeated the motion mechanically, forcing the Azure Emperor’s head into the bone-chilling water again and again.
The lake churned, splashing everywhere, mingling with the Azure Emperor’s agonized whimpers and choking coughs.
Once.
Twice.
Three times…
With every additional plunge, the coldness in Ye Xuan’s heart grew deeper.
One hundred times.
Two hundred times.
Three hundred times…
The Azure Emperor’s struggles grew weaker and weaker. Her body began to go limp, and she was almost completely unconscious.
Yet Ye Xuan still did not stop. His eyes were empty and cold, as though he had returned to that afternoon ten thousand years ago—to the Bibo Lake that had stripped him of all dignity.
He forced her beneath the water thousands of times.
Only when the Azure Emperor had become completely dazed, with not even enough strength left to cough, did Ye Xuan finally release her. He flung her onto the stone slabs at the shore as though tossing away a sack of garbage.
Bang!
Her body slammed heavily into the hard stone, splashing water everywhere.
She curled up on the ground, her entire body trembling violently. Her soaked blue robes clung tightly to her figure, outlining her slender and fragile form.
She raised her pale, bloodless face and stared at Ye Xuan with unfocused eyes. Her lips trembled as she tried to say something, but no sound came out.
So this was the pain Ye Xuan had endured back then?
So this was what it felt like to be held beneath the water and repeatedly tortured by the person one loved most?
The icy water.
The agony of suffocation.
The humiliation of being watched by countless people.
The despair of being unable to prove one’s innocence…
This was everything Ye Xuan had experienced back then.
And at that time, she had actually thought that Ye Xuan had brought it upon himself—that he was merely paying the price for his jealousy and pettiness.
But now that the same suffering had fallen upon her, it was so piercing that it reached the depths of her soul.
What kind of beast had she been?
“Kneel.”
Ye Xuan’s cold voice came from above her head.
The Azure Emperor trembled as she raised her head and saw Ye Xuan standing before her, Ying’er in his arms.
Ying’er was soaked from head to toe, huddling in Ye Xuan’s embrace and shivering. Yet a trace of smug satisfaction flickered in the depths of her eyes.
“Apologize to Ying’er.” Ye Xuan’s voice left no room for negotiation. “Otherwise, you will die today!”
The Azure Emperor stared blankly at Ye Xuan as tears silently slid down her cheeks.
She was the Azure Emperor—the peerless prodigy who had suppressed an entire era, an existence looked up to by countless people for ten thousand years.
She had never lowered her head to anyone. She had never bent her knees before anyone.
Yet now, she had to kneel before Ye Xuan and apologize to a maid who had risen to power by pretending to be helpless!
What utter humiliation!
But could she refuse to kneel?
The sword formation in the sky, powerful enough to slay a True Immortal, was still circling overhead.
The token in Ye Xuan’s hand was still flashing with an icy, chilling light.
She knew that if she refused to apologize, Ye Xuan would truly kill her.
She was not afraid of death, but she did not want to die. It had taken her so long to find Ye Xuan, and she had finally glimpsed a chance to atone. She could not die just like this.
Besides… this was what she owed Ye Xuan in the first place.
She had once made Ye Xuan endure so much humiliation. Now, this was merely karma coming full circle—a fitting retribution.
“I’m… sorry…”
The Azure Emperor’s trembling knees slowly bent, inch by inch, until she knelt upon the cold stone floor. She lowered her head deeply, her long hair concealing her pale, paper-white face.
“I… accidentally injured you… Please… forgive me…”
Her voice was hoarse beyond recognition, carrying the sound of the last remnants of an empress’s dignity shattering into dust.
Ying’er poked half her body out from Ye Xuan’s arms, a trace of smugness flashing in her eyes.
She pretended to dab at the corners of her eyes, though there were no tears there, and said in an exceedingly magnanimous tone, “It’s all right. Sister Azure Emperor was simply anxious for a moment. I’m only a lowly maid, so a little injury is nothing. Since you’ve already admitted your mistake, I forgive you.”
Those words again.
The exact same excuse as yesterday.
The Azure Emperor bit down hard on her lip until blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
She trembled with rage, her teeth grinding audibly, yet she dared not lash out. She knew Ye Xuan was watching her. The slightest misstep would bring an even more brutal punishment.
“Get lost.”
Ye Xuan spat out the words coldly. He raised his foot and kicked the Azure Emperor viciously!
Bang!
Her entire body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, sent tumbling dozens of yards before crashing heavily against the wall at the edge of the garden.
She coughed up a large mouthful of blood. Her chest throbbed with excruciating pain, and several of her ribs had snapped.
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】
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
