The Powerlessness of the Alluring Night

The night was deep and still.

Inside the grand and spacious cultivation chamber of the Sword God Palace, spiritual energy was so dense that it had nearly solidified into mist. Wisps of white fog coiled through the air.

At the center of the hall, Ye Xuan sat cross-legged atop a Spirit Gathering Formation.

He wore white robes that gleamed like fresh snow. His eyes were closed, and not the slightest trace of power leaked from his body. Yet he faintly radiated a terrifying pressure that resonated with the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, enough to make one’s heart tremble.

It was the unique aura of a mighty cultivator at the Tribulation Transcendence stage—restrained, yet unfathomably deep.

At that very moment, the heavy jade door of the chamber was pushed open without a sound.

A graceful figure, beautiful beyond compare, slowly entered beneath the watery moonlight.

The newcomer wore an extravagant dark-purple gauze dress, its hem trailing sinuously across the white jade floor with every light step.

She possessed a peerless beauty capable of turning the entire world upside down. Her skin was fairer than snow, and a vermilion-like demonic mark between her brows accentuated her already breathtakingly seductive and dangerous aura.

This woman was none other than the Peerless Demoness who had once struck terror into the hearts of countless prodigies from both the righteous and demonic paths—Ye Qingcheng.

Yet at this moment, this woman of unparalleled beauty and lofty status, a mighty cultivator at the Mahayana stage, moved with extreme caution.

Her alluring eyes, normally filled with calculation and control, now held unease, anxiety, and even a trace of barely perceptible humility.

Ye Qingcheng stopped three zhang away from Ye Xuan and stared wistfully at the handsome, peerless man in the center of the formation.

Her slender, fair fingers twisted the handkerchief in her grasp so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her red lips parted, and the form of address that had circled endlessly through her heart was almost spoken aloud.

“Hus—”

However, the instant she opened her mouth, Ye Xuan slowly opened his eyes.

They were filled with coldness.

Under Ye Xuan’s icy stare, Ye Qingcheng felt as though all the blood in her body had frozen.

She swallowed the bitterness in her throat and forcibly suppressed the trembling in her heart, but she stubbornly continued, her voice carrying a faint quiver:

“Husband, I heard that you had a conflict with the Azure Emperor?”

Ye Xuan raised his eyes slightly. His gaze swept across her face like an icy blade.

“What does that have to do with you?” His voice was calm, without the slightest ripple, and even carried a hint of impatience. “Don’t come here just to make conversation.”

Ye Qingcheng’s body stiffened abruptly.

Her eyes instantly reddened. She bit down harder on her lower lip, nearly drawing blood.

Her hands clenched the hem of her skirt, and the force was enough to make her knuckles crack.

“Husband…”

Her voice trembled even more, carrying a grievance she could no longer suppress. “I was only worried about you…”

“Worried?”

Ye Xuan let out a cold laugh, the corner of his mouth lifting in mocking disdain.

“When did you ever learn to care about anyone? When you locked me in that coffin back then, why didn’t you show any concern for me?”

Ye Qingcheng’s face went deathly pale.

Her body swayed as though she had just been struck viciously across the face. Tears welled in her eyes, yet she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

“At the time, you were trying to kill me. I was angry…”

Her voice was weak and feeble. Even she felt that the explanation was laughably pale.

“I only wanted to protect you.”

“Enough.”

Ye Xuan cut her off, his tone filled with impatience. He slowly closed his eyes and said indifferently, “I don’t want to bring up what happened in the past. Why did you come looking for me? Just say it.”

Ye Qingcheng bit her lip and fell silent for a moment.

Her hands twisted together, her knuckles turning white, her nails almost digging into her flesh. Her chest rose and fell violently, and her breathing became rapid and disordered.

At last, she drew a deep breath as if she had finally made up her mind. Then she lifted her head and met Ye Xuan’s gaze directly.

“Husband, must you really marry Ye Jiuhuang?”

Her voice carried a trace of pleading, a trace of unwillingness, and a trace of hope.

Ye Xuan opened his eyes again and glanced at her, his gaze filled with contempt.

“What meaning does it have to bring this up now?” His voice was terrifyingly calm, as though he were discussing something completely unrelated to himself.

Ye Qingcheng’s tears finally spilled over.

She did not wipe them away, allowing them to trail down her cheeks and fall onto the purple hem of her dress, where they bloomed into dark patches.

“It has meaning…”

Her voice was hoarse and choked with tears.

“It has meaning to me…”

Ye Xuan watched her cry without the slightest hint of emotion appearing on his face.

He slowly rose to his feet and looked down at Ye Qingcheng. He was a head taller than her, and now he lowered his gaze slightly, his expression cold and detached.

“Look at my current cultivation realm.”

Ye Xuan spread his arms. Spiritual light flashed around him, and the terrifying pressure of the Tribulation Transcendence stage instantly filled the chamber. The entire room trembled faintly.

“I am now a mighty cultivator at the Tribulation Transcendence stage. I am only one major realm above you.”

He withdrew his arms and stood with them behind his back, a mocking smile curling at the corners of his lips.

“Do you really think I’m still the same weak Ye Xuan I was back then?”

Ye Qingcheng raised her head and gazed at the man before her, who now shone with dazzling brilliance. Her heart was filled with conflicting emotions.

“That’s right.” Ye Qingcheng gave a bitter laugh, her voice full of sorrow. “You’re no longer the ant you were back then, when you were only at the Core Formation stage.”

She paused, then looked up at Ye Xuan with a complicated expression, her eyes filled with struggle.

“But I still want to ask.” Her voice trembled, yet carried a hint of stubbornness. “Why must you marry Ye Jiuhuang? Why can’t you marry me?”

Ye Xuan looked at her and remained silent for a moment.

Then he slowly spoke, his voice as calm as though he were merely stating a fact.

“If you were me, would you marry a True Immortal, or a cultivator at the Mahayana stage?”

Ye Qingcheng froze.

She opened her mouth, wanting to refute him, but found that his words were impossible to argue with.

That was right.

Ye Jiuhuang was a True Immortal, while she was only at the Mahayana stage.

In the cultivation world, strength was everything. The strong were revered, and the weak were preyed upon by the strong. This was an eternal and unchanging truth.

The benefits a True Immortal companion could bring Ye Xuan were something a cultivator at the Mahayana stage could never compare with.

True Immortal-grade pills, cultivation techniques, magic treasures, resources…

Only True Immortals could obtain such things. A cultivator at the Mahayana stage did not even possess the qualifications to look up to them.

Moreover, Ye Jiuhuang was the Number One Sword Under Heaven, the Master of the Sword God Palace, and an unparalleled prodigy who had suppressed an entire era. Her power, connections, and influence were all far beyond anything Ye Qingcheng could hope to match.

“What’s more…” Ye Xuan continued, his voice carrying a trace of mockery. “Ye Jiuhuang is still a virgin. As for you…”

He did not finish the sentence, but his meaning was already perfectly clear.

Ye Qingcheng’s face instantly flushed crimson, then turned deathly pale.

She bit her lip so hard that blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, yet she remained completely unaware of it.

“Why must you humiliate me, Husband?”

Her voice was so hoarse that it was almost unrecognizable. Tears rolled down her cheeks like beads from a broken string.

“I’ve only ever had one man. I’m still pure.”

That was the truth.

Back then, although she had been the Grand Elder of the Hehuan Sect, she had never shared physical intimacy with any man.

She had given every one of her firsts to Ye Xuan.

Yet on this matter, Ye Xuan compared her to Ye Jiuhuang.

Ye Jiuhuang was still a virgin, and so was she. But the tone in which Ye Xuan said it made it sound as though she were no longer pure.

“Pure?” Ye Xuan let out a cold laugh, his eyes filled with disdain. “Your mind is too complicated. You’ve schemed against too many people—and I’m one of them.”

Ye Qingcheng’s body suddenly went rigid.

She raised her head, and the tears in her eyes instantly froze. In their place was a trace of panic.

“I—I didn’t…” Her voice was weak and powerless, so unconvincing that even she herself did not believe it.

“Didn’t?” Ye Xuan tilted his head slightly, the mockery at the corner of his lips deepening. “When you accepted the inheritance of the Heaven Desire Sect back then, what were you thinking? You knew full well that the inheritance would bring me humiliation, yet you accepted it anyway. Because you valued your cultivation more than you valued me.”

“I…” Ye Qingcheng had just begun to explain.

“You what?”

Ye Xuan cut her off, his tone icy. “Are you going to say you didn’t know? Or that you were forced into it? Ye Qingcheng, we’re both adults. Don’t try to fool me with such childish excuses.”

Ye Qingcheng opened her mouth, but in the end, she could not say a word.

She lowered her head, her long hair falling forward to hide her pale face.

Tears fell one drop at a time, splashing onto the ground and spreading across the cold stone floor.

As Ye Xuan looked at her, the mockery on his face gradually faded, replaced by a bone-chilling coldness.

“There’s nothing left for us to say to each other.” His voice was calm, devoid of even the slightest emotion. “You’re only at the Mahayana realm now. Your strength is nothing special.”

“Whether you’ve gone mad or become obsessed, none of it can change anything.”

Ye Qingcheng stood where she was, utterly motionless, like a stone statue.

Her hands hung limply at her sides, her fingertips trembling faintly. Her chest rose and fell violently, her breathing rapid and disordered. Every breath seemed to carry immense pain.

She knew that Ye Xuan was telling the truth.

Ye Jiuhuang was a True Immortal.

The gap between the True Immortal realm and the Mahayana realm was even greater than the gap between the Mahayana realm and the Foundation Establishment realm.

If she dared to attack, Ye Jiuhuang truly would not need even a second to kill her.

That realization filled Ye Qingcheng with a profound sense of powerlessness.

She had once believed that she was strong enough—strong enough to protect Ye Xuan, strong enough to have him for herself.

But reality had slapped her hard across the face.

She was not strong enough.

She could do nothing.

All she could do was watch helplessly as Ye Xuan married another woman, watch helplessly as he embraced another woman, and watch helplessly as he treated her with a coldness like ice.

Overwhelmed by agony and regret, Ye Qingcheng’s tears flowed even more fiercely.

She raised a hand to wipe them away, only to discover that it was trembling so badly she could not control it.

“Husband…” Her voice trembled so violently that it was almost inaudible, carrying the last remnant of hope. “Even if I’m only a concubine, I’ll still have the chance to attend your bed…”

Ye Xuan cast her a glance, a flash of coldness passing through his eyes.

“You don’t have that qualification right now.” His voice was as cold as the ice of the Netherworld. “Just wait.”

Ye Qingcheng abruptly raised her head, her eyes filled with disbelief.

“No qualification?” Her voice suddenly rose, overflowing with suppressed anger and grievance. “I’m your woman! How can you say I have no qualification?!”

Ye Xuan stared at her coldly without saying a word.

But his gaze had already made everything clear.

You are not worthy.