A Painful Experience

That night, Ye Xuan made a decision.

He sought out the Grand Elder.

"I want to send her away." Ye Xuan knelt before the Grand Elder, his expression resolute. "Send Ye Qingcheng out of the Joyous Union Sect, back to the mortal realm. Give her a sum of money and let her live an ordinary life."

"Oh?" The Grand Elder looked at him with amusement. "What? Despised by your wife? Can't take it anymore?"

"As long as you send her away, I will obey your every command from now on." Ye Xuan kowtowed heavily, blood dripping from his forehead. "Even if you want me to serve in public, even if you want to turn me into a puppet, I agree to it all."

"I only beg you to let her go."

This was the difference between Ye Xuan and Ye Qingcheng.

Back then, after Ye Qingcheng was cursed as filthy, she chose to imprison Ye Xuan by her side, making him watch her fall, forcing him to accept it all, and dragging him down to hell with her.

But Ye Xuan's choice was to let go!

Since I am already dirty, since I am no longer worthy of you, I will send you to a clean place, out of sight and out of mind.

All the sins, all the filth, I will bear alone.

Outside the Great Void Illusion.

Ye Qingcheng's laughter came to an abrupt halt.

She stared blankly at the man in the screen of light, kneeling on the ground, willing to sacrifice everything just to send his beloved away.

"No... that's not right..."

She muttered to herself, her face turning deathly pale. "Why? You should hate her! You should lock her up and tell her you became like this for her sake! You should make her feel guilty for the rest of her life!"

"Why send her away? Why?!"

She couldn't understand.

Inside the illusion.

The Grand Elder looked at Ye Xuan, a flash of surprise in her eyes before it turned into a deeper cruelty.

"Want to leave?"

The Grand Elder kicked Ye Xuan squarely in the chest, sending him sprawling to the ground, and sneered, "It's not that easy."

"That woman is your biggest weakness. Only with her in our hands will you obediently listen and be a good dog."

"Not only will I not send her away, but I will also keep her in the outer sect, so she can hear of your amorous reputation every day, so she can see with her own eyes how you serve women!"

"This is the rule of the Joyous Union Sect!"

Ye Xuan lay on the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

He looked up at the high and mighty Grand Elder, the last glimmer of light in his eyes completely vanishing.

"Yes."

He slowly climbed to his feet, lowered his head, and like a soulless puppet, let out a submissive voice.

Outside the Great Void Illusion.

Watching her incredibly proud, peerlessly magnificent senior brother become so lowly, so helpless, so filthy for "her" at this moment...

Ye Qingcheng could no longer laugh.

She covered her mouth, slowly squatted on the ground, and let out a heart-wrenching wail.

"This is it... this is exactly how it was..."

"Senior Brother, do you see? This was my situation back then!"

"I wanted to leave but couldn't, I wanted to protect you but couldn't... I could only rot in this quagmire!"

She looked at Ye Xuan's desolate back in the light screen, her eyes filled with both heartache and an extremely twisted sense of satisfaction.

"Wait until you come out... wait until you experience all of this..."

Ye Qingcheng lifted her tear-stained face, a crazy light flickering in her eyes:

"You will never blame me again."

"You will understand my bitter difficulties, you will realize I had no choice."

"And..."

She reached out a finger, caressing Ye Xuan's cheek through the light screen from afar, whispering obsessively:

"You are dirty too, and I am dirty too. We two rats in the gutter should be entangled together life after life, with neither despising the other."

"Ye Xuan, you are mine."

The Great Void Illusion, where time flowed on.

The flow of time within the illusion was unpredictable and mysterious; what was but an instant outside was a lifetime of changes within.

Ever since kneeling before the Grand Elder that day, agreeing to become the sect's public cauldron to protect "Ye Qingcheng," Ye Xuan's life had completely plummeted into the abyss.

He was no longer that youth with unyielding pride, but had become Paramour Ye, available to anyone in the Joyous Union Sect.

In order to gain the power to protect Ye Qingcheng, to have a sliver of a voice before those powerhouses.

He began to constantly change dual cultivation partners. From the initial four core disciples to later protectors, elders, and even female cultivators from other sects who came for marriage alliances.

He refused no one.

His body, known as the Profound Yin Charm Physique, became his only weapon in this man-eating sect, and also his cheapest bargaining chip.

His cultivation base skyrocketed madly.

Foundation Establishment, Golden Core... His advancement speed was staggering; behind every breakthrough lay countless nights of humiliation and submission.

He learned to absorb more spiritual energy beneath female cultivators through charm techniques, and learned to coax more resources with fake sweet words.

He became stronger and stronger, and also dirtier and dirtier.

Every once in a while, he would go to that dilapidated small courtyard in the outer sect to visit the woman he protected with his body.

She was his only light in this endless darkness.

On this day, the rainstorm had just stopped.

Ye Xuan, already at the late Golden Core stage, wore a luxurious purple-gold flowing cloud robe, a top-grade warm jade hanging at his waist, exuding an imposing air of nobility.

In his hand, he carried a heavy storage bag; it contained top-grade pills and spirit stones he had painstakingly coaxed last night after serving a Supreme Elder who had just come out of seclusion.

He pushed open that familiar wooden door.

"Qingcheng."

Ye Xuan walked into the room, his face bearing that usual smile tinged with a bit of fawning and exhaustion. "I've come to see you. Look, this is a Marrow Cleansing Pill, and fifty thousand top-grade spirit stones, enough for you to..."

Smack!

A crisp sound interrupted his words.

The storage bag was ruthlessly slapped to the ground by a pale hand, rolling into a muddy corner.

The Ye Qingcheng in the illusion wore faded, coarse linen clothes. Although she wore no makeup, it could not hide her natural beauty. At this moment, her eyes, which once brimmed with love, were glaring fixedly at Ye Xuan, filled with undisguised disgust and hatred.

"Take it away."

Her voice was bone-chillingly cold. "I've told you many times, don't use your dirty things to disgust me."

Ye Xuan's hand froze in mid-air, his smile gradually stiffening.

He took a deep breath and bent down, ignoring the muddy water staining his priceless dharma robe, trying to pick up the storage bag. "Qingcheng, stop acting up. In this sect, you can't move an inch without resources. I did this for you..."

"For me?"

Ye Qingcheng sneered and took a step back, as if he were some sort of plague-ridden venomous creature. "Ye Xuan, stop flattering yourself. You did it for yourself! You covet wealth and glory, you covet shortcuts in cultivation! You like the feeling of being surrounded by women like the moon among the stars!"

"I don't..." Ye Xuan's voice was hoarse. "You know my situation. If I don't do this, we'll both die."

"Then go die!"

Ye Qingcheng screamed, pointing right at his nose. The Ye Xuan of the past might have been poor, but he had a backbone! What about you now? Reeking of cheap powder, how many women's scents are on you? You moan so happily in other people's beds every night, and now you come here pretending to be deeply in love?

Every spirit stone, every pill you have, was bought by selling your body! They are covered in other people's bodily fluids. It's disgusting! So incredibly dirty!

Every word was like a blunt knife, mercilessly sawing at Ye Xuan's heart.

Ye Xuan half-knelt on the ground, his fingers tightly gripping the mud-stained storage bag.

Dirty.

That word again.

He raised his head, looking at the woman before him whom he had exhausted everything to protect.

He wanted to explain. He wanted to say, I feel sick every night. He wanted to say, I was almost drained of my essence blood just for this bag of spirit stones.

But looking at the disgust in Ye Qingcheng's eyes, he knew that explaining was useless.

In her eyes, his nature was already set.

A slut.

Shameless.

Ye Xuan slowly stood up, placing the storage bag on the corner of the table. His expression gradually turned indifferent, a numbness born from a dead heart.

Whether you think it's dirty or not, keep these resources. In this world, surviving is the most important thing.

With that, he turned and left.

His retreating back was desolate, exuding a heartbreaking loneliness.

Outside the Taixu Illusion.

The real Ye Qingcheng stared fixedly at this scene on the light screen.

She saw the look in Ye Xuan's eyes when he was humiliated—that kind of endurance, grievance, yet helpless despair with nowhere to vent.

Haha... hahahaha!

She laughed so hard her entire body trembled. Tears flowed madly down her cheeks as her nails dug deeply into her flesh.

Ye Xuan, do you see? Do you see it?!

This is exactly how I felt back then! This is how I felt every time I faced you over these past few centuries!

For you, I suffered endless humiliation beneath those filthy men. I brought the resources I traded for and offered them to you, and you looked at me just like this! You threw them away like trash, just like this!

A crazy, twisted light flickered in Ye Qingcheng's eyes. It was as if she had found some kind of resonance, a thrill of revenge.

Does it hurt? Is it unbearable?

It's okay, Senior Brother... you'll get used to it. Just like I did.

When you are completely in despair, when you realize that in this world I am the only dirty person just like you... you will come back. You will crawl back to my side like a dog, begging for my warmth.

Everything I did, I had no choice! Now, you are finally going to understand!

Within the illusion, time flew by. Another five years passed.

In these five years, Ye Xuan completely depraved himself.

Relying on his extremely high emotional intelligence and top-tier charm arts, he navigated among the major factions of the Joyous Union Sect. He even successfully formed his Nascent Soul, becoming the youngest Nascent Soul elder of the Joyous Union Sect.

His power was monstrous, his romantic reputation widespread.

Countless female cultivators did not hesitate to bankrupt themselves just to beg for a night of intimacy with him.

But he still felt cold.

On this day, the first snow fell.

Ye Xuan draped himself in the crane cloak that symbolized the honor of a Nascent Soul elder and went to the outer sect alone.

He thought, it's been five years.

Perhaps she could be a bit more understanding now? Perhaps she could see his difficulties?

Even if it was just giving him a smile, even if it was just no longer saying that word dirty, he would feel that the suffering of these five years was not in vain.

However, when he pushed open the door of that small courtyard, the sight before him struck him like lightning.

In the courtyard, that familiar figure was not alone.

Ye Qingcheng was sitting on a stone stool, holding a needle and thread, mending a man's coarse robe.

And beside her, a man wearing a handyman's uniform was squatting on the ground, chopping wood.

The man's appearance was ordinary, and his cultivation was pitifully low, only at the third level of Qi Condensation. But his wood-chopping motions were agile, and from time to time he would look up and give Ye Qingcheng a simple, honest smile.

Ye Qingcheng would then stop her work, take out a handkerchief, and gently wipe the sweat from his forehead.

That look in her eyes.

That gentle, defenseless look, filled entirely with him.

Ye Xuan hadn't seen it for many, many years.

That was a look that once belonged only to him.

Boom!

Ye Xuan's mind went blank. The top-grade warm jade in his hand dropped onto the snow with a clatter.

Who is he?

Ye Xuan's voice was hoarse, carrying an uncontrollable tremble and killing intent.

The two in the courtyard were startled.

Ye Qingcheng looked up. The moment she saw Ye Xuan, the gentleness in her eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a touch of coldness and guardedness.

The handyman was also startled. He quickly stood up, looking somewhat fearfully at this terrifyingly oppressive, aristocratic big shot.

His name is Wang Luo.

Ye Qingcheng put down her needle and thread, stood up, and actually subconsciously blocked the handyman behind her, like a mother hen protecting her chick.

He is the handyman disciple in charge of this area, and also... my Dao Companion.

Dao Companion?

Ye Xuan laughed in extreme anger, his laughter sounding exceptionally mournful in the snow. What did you say? Dao Companion? You would rather find a trash handyman at the Qi Condensation stage than spare me a single glance?

Ye Xuan, please have some self-respect.

Ye Qingcheng looked at him coldly, a mocking curve playing at the corners of her mouth. What's so strange about this? You have so many Dao Companions, from Supreme Elders down to Inner Sect prodigies. You have a harem of three thousand beauties, so am I not allowed to have one?

You do it for power, for lust. I just want to find someone who cares for me to live my life with. What's wrong with that?

Ye Xuan was left speechless.

This boomerang struck him, leaving him dripping with blood.

But... but I did it all for you! Ye Xuan roared. Everything I did was to protect you! What can this trash give you? Can he protect you? The Grand Elder could crush him with a single finger!

He can give me cleanliness.

Ye Qingcheng interrupted him mercilessly, her eyes like knives. Even though his cultivation is low, he only has me. His body is clean, and his heart is clean. Unlike you, so dirty it makes me sick.

You...

Ye Xuan trembled with rage. The Nascent Soul spiritual energy within his body went completely berserk, instantly vaporizing the surrounding snow into white mist.

He violently turned his head, staring fixedly at the handyman named Wang Luo.

In an instant, the terrifying pressure of the Nascent Soul stage crushed down on Wang Luo like Mount Tai!

Do you want to die? You ant!

Ye Xuan's eyes were bloodshot, like an evil spirit. You dare touch my woman? Believe it or not, I will extract your soul and refine your spirit, making sure you never reincarnate!

Crushed by the pressure, Wang Luo fell to his knees with a thud. Bleeding from his seven orifices, the bones all over his body cracked.

But he did not beg for mercy.

This lowly handyman struggled to raise his head. In those murky eyes, there was actually a firmness that Ye Xuan found glaring.

Elder... Elder Ye...

Wang Luo coughed up blood, speaking brokenly: I am not... like you. Although I am lowly... I only have Qingcheng as my Dao Companion. I will love her for the rest of my life... and never betray her.

"I am not like you... climbing the ladder... leaving your own woman behind here... while you live it up out there..."

"Shut up!!"

Ye Xuan was furious. He raised his hand, demonic energy surging within his palm.

If he just struck down with this palm, this ant named Wang Luo would instantly be reduced to dust.

Just kill him.

Kill him, and Qingcheng will be mine.

This thought grew madly in Ye Xuan's mind.

But.

When he saw Ye Qingcheng's eyes—filled with despair, hatred, and even the readiness to die alongside Wang Luo.

Ye Xuan's hand froze in midair.

Looking at Wang Luo's fearless face as he faced death, he suddenly saw in this love rival a reflection of his past self—the clean, uncorrupted version of himself.

He used to be just like that. No cultivation base, no power, only a heart that loved her.

Yet now, having gained everything, he had become the very person he once hated the most.

"Haha... Hahahaha..."

Ye Xuan withdrew his hand and let out a desolate laugh.

He did not strike.

He couldn't bring himself to do it. Killing Wang Luo would be like killing his past, innocent self.

"Good, very good."

Ye Xuan looked down at the two of them. His expression returned to a cold indifference, the ashen pallor of a dead heart.

"Wang Luo, remember the words you said today."

"If you dare to fail Ye Qingcheng, if you dare to let her suffer even the slightest grievance..."

Ye Xuan turned around and strode away, his voice echoing through the wind and snow:

"Even if I have to search the highest heavens or the deepest underworld, I will kill you."