The Collapsed Night City

"Go!!"

Ye Xuan roared, the longsword in his hand turning into a dazzling rainbow ten thousand feet long as he took the initiative to charge at the Great Elder.

"Since you court death, I will grant your wish!" the Great Elder snorted coldly. "Form the array! Execute the traitor!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The great battle erupted.

It was a battle destined to be tragic and heroic.

Although Ye Xuan was at the Soul Formation realm, he was facing the entire foundation of the Joyous Sect.

Countless magical artifacts and divine abilities smashed into him like a storm of rain.

"Pfft!"

In just a single exchange, Ye Xuan was struck by two Soul Formation Guardians, leaving his back a bloody, mangled mess.

Yet, he did not take a single step back.

Like a nail, he firmly pinned himself in front of the mountain gate.

"Kill!!"

Ye Xuan's eyes were bloodshot; his fighting style showed a complete disregard for his own life.

He burned his essence blood, his Nascent Soul, and even his very soul.

With one sword strike, he beheaded three Nascent Soul elders!

With one punch, he shattered the Disciplinary Hall's grand array!

Blood dyed his azure robes red, turning him into a man of blood.

But he still fiercely guarded the small path behind him that led down the mountain.

"Hurry and go... please, just go..."

He screamed in his heart.

Ye Qingcheng and her family of three ran frantically through the chaos.

Wang Teng was scared to tears, crying out loudly, "Godfather! Godfather!"

Ye Qingcheng wept as she covered the child's mouth, running desperately. She did not dare to look back; she feared that if she did, her legs would no longer be able to move.

Finally, they broke out of the range of the mountain gate's protective array.

Ahead was the territory of the mortal realm.

"Damn it! Stop them!" the Great Elder grew anxious. "We absolutely cannot let them escape! They are Ye Xuan's inner demons!"

Several streaks of light bypassed Ye Xuan, attempting to hunt down Ye Qingcheng.

"Let's see who dares!!"

Ye Xuan let out a mournful, agonizing roar.

He actually directly detonated his own life-bound artifact!

"Rumble!"

The massive shockwave blasted those pursuers into dust.

And Ye Xuan himself, due to the backlash, bled from his seven orifices, his meridians completely shattered.

He dropped to one knee, using his sword to support his body so he wouldn't fall.

He raised his head, and through his blurred vision, he saw the backs of Ye Qingcheng and her family safely disappearing at the foot of the mountain.

They were safe.

They were finally safe.

A satisfied, liberated smile curled at the corners of Ye Xuan's mouth.

"Qingcheng... you must be happy..."

"Don't end up like me..."

"Clatter."

The longsword snapped.

His strength exhausted, Ye Xuan collapsed into a pool of his own blood.

Surrounding him were the awed and terrified gazes of countless Joyous Sect disciples.

One man, one sword.

Under the siege of an entire sect, he had forcibly carved out a path of blood to send away his former wife.

What profound devotion this was, and what utter desolation.

Outside the Great Void Illusion Realm.

"No!"

Ye Qingcheng knelt on the ground, her hands desperately gripping the light screen, letting out a heart-wrenching, agonizing scream.

Looking at Ye Xuan lying in the pool of blood, her heart ached so much she could not breathe.

"Why... why did you have to be so foolish!"

"It was clearly you who saved her! It was clearly you who gave everything! Why did you let her hate you!"

"You should have told her! You should have told her how much you loved her!"

Ye Qingcheng cried until her whole body convulsed.

She finally saw the difference between herself and Ye Xuan clearly.

Back then, she dragged Ye Xuan down into depravity with her.

But Ye Xuan, in order to save her, would rather bear all the infamy himself just to push her toward the light.

The illusion realm did not end.

Ye Xuan did not die.

To the Joyous Sect, a living Soul Formation stage Holy Son was far more valuable than a dead one.

He was brought back to the sect.

As punishment, and to "temper" his state of mind.

The Patriarch ordered Ye Xuan to be suppressed in the deepest part of the "Ten Thousand Demon Cave" to suffer the punishment of "Ten Thousand Blades Piercing the Heart."

Inside the dark and damp cave.

Ye Xuan was suspended in mid-air, four thick chains piercing through his collarbones.

Every day at noon, countless sharp blades condensed from demonic energy would pierce into his heart one by one, and then be pulled out.

This kind of pain was no less than death by a thousand cuts.

And it was day after day, without end.

"Ugh... ah..."

Ye Xuan spasmed in pain, cold sweat mixing with blood as it dripped down.

But he did not beg for mercy, nor did he scream wretchedly.

He only clenched his teeth tightly, his empty eyes staring at the pitch-black rock wall above him.

Sometimes, the disciples responsible for carrying out the execution couldn't help but ask him:

"Holy Son, is it worth it? To suffer like this for a woman who ran off with someone else?"

Ye Xuan would give a weak smile.

Although it hurt, his heart was at peace.

Because he knew that in the distant mortal realm.

There was a small mountain village.

There was no slaughter there, no dual cultivation, no filthy transactions.

Ye Qingcheng would be there, supporting her husband and raising her child; she would watch Wang Teng grow up day by day, and live out the kind of life he had always dreamed of—a clean, pure life.

"As long as she is clean... even if I rot here... it's worth it."

Ye Xuan murmured to himself, closing his eyes and allowing the ten thousand blades to pierce his heart.

Outside the illusion realm.

Ye Qingcheng watched the tortured Ye Xuan, watched how even in hell he still prayed for the "betrayer."

Her psychological defenses completely collapsed.

All her pride, all her schemes, all her madness turned to ashes in this moment.

"How could it be like this?"

Ye Qingcheng held her head in agony, her nails digging into and scratching her scalp.

"You are just holding on stubbornly right now!"

"Ye Xuan, wait until you've endured it a bit longer... wait until you are completely numb, and you will become just like me!"

"Once you experience all the despair I have experienced, you will understand me."

"I am just a weak woman... what could I do? Everything I did, I had no choice!"

She screamed hysterically at the water mirror, trying to use her voice to drown out that increasingly clear, increasingly terrifying voice at the bottom of her heart—

Admit it, Ye Qingcheng.

Even in the exact same circumstances, he is ten thousand times cleaner than you.

Although the flow of time in the Great Void Illusion Realm was fake, the pain and torment within it were absolutely real.

Inside the Ten Thousand Demon Cave, there was no sun or moon, no winter or summer.

There was only the day-after-day piercing of the heart by ten thousand blades, and the endless infusion of demonic energy into his body.

Suspended in mid-air by chains, Ye Xuan looked like a piece of air-dried cured meat. His body had been ravaged beyond human recognition, every inch of his skin covered in wounds that had healed and torn open again.

"Holy Son, beg for mercy. As long as you say 'I was wrong,' as long as you go and kill that mortal woman, the Patriarch will let you out."

The guarding demonic cultivator sighed and advised him.

Ye Xuan hung his head, disheveled hair hiding his face.

Hearing these words, he slowly raised his head. Those eyes, which had adapted to the darkness for a hundred years, shone so brightly it made one's heart palpitate.

"What... wrong have I done?"

His voice was hoarse, sounding as if it were ground out by two rough whetstones rubbing together.

"What's wrong is this sect. What's wrong is this damned Heavenly Dao."

"What's wrong is that you all think... as long as you possess power, you can trample on the dignity of others at will."

"If that is the case..."

A chilling smile curled at the corners of Ye Xuan's mouth.

The Nascent Soul within his body, under that endless torture and the erosion of demonic energy, actually underwent a bizarre metamorphosis. The originally golden Nascent Soul had now transformed into a demonic soul as black as ink, yet at the center of its brow burned a speck of sacred, inviolable platinum fire.

That was his obsession.

It was the last bit of purity he desperately guarded in this filthy quagmire.

Then I will kill you all. I will slaughter every wrong in this world.

A terrifying aura, capable of destroying heaven and earth, erupted from the deepest depths of the Ten Thousand Fiends Cave, instantly shattering layers of restrictions and piercing straight into the clouds!

A century of torment, a single moment of enlightenment.

Entering the Dao through the demonic path, breaking before rebuilding.

Ye Xuan had transcended his tribulation.

On that day, the sky over the Joyous Union Sect was red.

Not from the sunset, but from blood.

Ye Xuan broke free from his chains and walked barefoot out of the Ten Thousand Fiends Cave.

With every step he took, a blood-red lotus bloomed beneath his feet.

The Holy Son has gone mad! The Holy Son has fallen to the demonic path!

Countless disciples screamed in terror.

The Great Elder, the Protectors, the Supreme Elders... those experts who were once high and mighty, who had oppressed him, humiliated him, and treated him as a plaything, were now trembling like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

Ye Xuan! What are you doing?! You are a member of the Joyous Union Sect! All of your cultivation was given to you by the sect!

The Great Elder roared, fierce in appearance but cowardly at heart.

Ye Xuan stood in the void. Despite wearing a tattered prison uniform, he exuded the aura of a sovereign ruling over the world.

He looked at the Great Elder, his eyes as calm as a pool of stagnant water.

Yes, you gave me this filthy cultivation.

In return, I will send you on your way.

There was no unnecessary talk.

Ye Xuan raised his hand and pressed down lightly.

Bang!

The Great Elder's body instantly exploded into a mist of blood; even his Nascent Soul did not have time to escape.

The slaughter began.

That night, Ye Xuan transformed into a true Asura.

He did not kill the innocent low-level disciples. He only killed those who had once oppressed him.

The female cultivators who had vented their lust upon him.

The male cultivators who had mocked him for being a public cauldron.

The elders who had tried to lay their hands on Ye Qingcheng and her child.

Not a single one was spared.

All were exterminated.

Blood dyed the ninety-nine peaks of the Joyous Union Sect red, converging into a river that flowed down the stone steps.

When the first ray of dawn illuminated the earth, Ye Xuan stood atop a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

He was bathed in blood, yet he felt an unprecedented sense of relief.

It was as if the filth, the stench of cheap perfume, and the humiliation that had clung to him for centuries had all been washed away by the blood of these people.

He turned around, walked toward the throne that symbolized the sect master's absolute power, and slowly sat down.

From then on, the Joyous Union Sect had a new master.

There was no longer a Holy Son Ye Xuan in this world, only the Blood Demon Sect Master.

Outside the Great Void Illusion.

The real Ye Qingcheng watched this scene, her whole body trembling as her eyes flickered with a light of excitement.

Good kill! What a magnificent slaughter!

Senior Brother! You finally understand! As long as we kill them all, no one will know about our past! We will be clean!

Quick! Quick, go and snatch back the me inside the illusion!

You are now a mighty expert at the Tribulation Transcendence realm, you are number one in the world! That Wang Luo is just an ant! Go kill Wang Luo, snatch that ungrateful woman back! Torture her ruthlessly, let her know the price of leaving you!

Ye Qingcheng desperately gripped the screen of light, eagerly anticipating Ye Xuan's next move.

She felt that Ye Xuan had already turned to the dark side, that he was now the same kind of person as her.

The following plot would definitely be one of forceful taking and plundering, forcing that falsely aloof Ye Qingcheng to submit to his despotic power!

However.

The scene on the screen of light caused the smile to freeze on her face.