Evil Thoughts and Inner Demons: The Collapse of the Jialan Empress.

Due to the nature of her Taiyin Immortal Physique, a heart demon had unknowingly been born at some point!

Gu Wantang had always been troubled by this heart demon. As the imbalance of Yin and Yang within her body grew increasingly severe, she had begun to find it somewhat difficult to suppress the heart demon. She was even frequently possessed by it, losing her mental clarity, resulting in a situation of one body housing two souls.

[Hehe, I'm only trying to help you. Don't tell me you have no thoughts about this Haotian Immortal Physile?]

A ghostly, seductive voice abruptly sounded by Gu Wantang's ear, chattering incessantly.

[If you truly had no thoughts about it, why didn't you just refuse this marriage arrangement?]

"The marriage arrangement was set by my parents. A promise made by Immortals cannot be broken," Gu Wantang replied with a calm expression.

As the young mistress of the Taiyin Ice Palace, she naturally had her own pride. She had initially planned to refuse the marriage. However, the Jiang Family's marriage proposal delegation consisted of a full five Immortals, including one who had survived three Heavenly Tribulations. Even though both her parents were powerful Immortals in their prime, it was enough to make their scalps tingle!

[Back then, there really was no choice. But now, that Jiang Che possesses four Immortal Physiques! And he has the Haotian Immortal Physique, which can perfectly balance the Yin and Yang energies within your body. Don't even try to say you can manage it on your own... you simply can't. If you could, you would have undergone your Heavenly Tribulation long ago!]

These words rendered Gu Wantang silent.

[Although I am your heart demon, everything I do is for your sake,] the heart demon's voice lingered by the woman's ear, a demonic whisper that seemed to coil around her.

[This Jiang Che is quite a handsome young man too. It's not like we're at a disadvantage, right? Only an Immortal Physique is worthy of us!]

"It's you! Not us!"

[Is there a difference? I am your heart demon, the darkest other side of your heart, the evil thoughts formed from centuries of repressed, sinister desires within your Taiyin Immortal Physique, the filthy garbage beneath your mysterious and aloof facade. No one understands you better than I do.]

"Get lost!!!"

Gu Wantang shouted in anger!

Just at that moment, an ice butterfly flew in and transformed into a young maiden. Judging by her attire, she was clearly a maid serving the Taiyin Mystic Maiden. Even a mere maid by the Mystic Maiden's side possessed flawless beauty.

"Young Mistress, this is the elixir sent by the Palace Master," the Ice Butterfly maid said with a slight bow, presenting a box crafted from mysterious ice. Upon opening it, a pill glowing fiery red lay inside.

The surface of the pill seemed to flow like molten lava, with nine pill patterns shining as brilliantly as scorching suns.

What the heart demon had said to Jiang Che earlier was indeed correct. This pill was refined using the pure essence blood of a Yang-type Holy Physique, supplemented with divine herbs.

It required extracting essence from nine different Yang-type Holy Physiques, such as the Great Sun Holy Physique, Pure Yang Holy Physique, Nine Yangs Holy Physique... nine in total.

Furthermore, the so-called extraction of essence blood here wasn't a sustainable blood donation. It involved directly using magical power to drain the Holy Physique's Dao marrow, completely exhausting the Holy Physique's origin... and then supplementing it with divine herbs to refine the pill. As for the original Holy Physique geniuses?

No one cared about their life or death. The Taiyin Ice Palace didn't even bother to exterminate them completely, out of sheer disdain!

Even if you were lucky enough to bind a Heavenly Dao-level system, hid away for several thousand or even tens of thousands of years to knock on the gate of Immortality, so what?

Could you take revenge?

After enduring humiliation for ten thousand years and relying on your system to survive the Immortal Tribulation, ready for revenge, you would face... several peak-condition Immortals and dozens of ancient Immortals sealed within Immortal Sources, who could also call for reinforcements at any time...

...

Gu Wantang swallowed the Immortal Pill, not knowing which nine unfortunate souls had provided the materials.

The Pure Yang Immortal Pill merged into her body, quickly suppressing the vigorous Mysterious Yin energy within her.

"Young Mistress, the Palace Master said... the Pure Yang Immortal Pill is not a long-term solution. She urges you to complete the marriage with the Jiang Family's Imperial Son as soon as possible to resolve the drawbacks of your Mysterious Yin Immortal Physique..." the Ice Butterfly maid spoke.

But this only made Gu Wantang's headache worse. Even before Jiang Che revealed his Haotian Immortal Physique, she had little choice. Now, with the Haotian Immortal Physique appearing... her parents and likely all the ancestors of the Taiyin Ice Palace would unanimously agree to this marriage arrangement.

[Tangtang, why don't you just give in to him? After all, if others don't understand you, I certainly do. Deep down, you don't really want to refuse him either, do you?]

[Given your standards, Jiang Che is the only man who has ever caught your eye.]

The heart demon, the Taiyin Mystic Maiden, continued to provoke incessantly, making Gu Wantang increasingly agitated.

Because what she said was true. Only the heart demon understood her best.

And the reason the heart demon existed was precisely because of the dark, lustful desires she had harbored.

......

"I'm starting to feel a bit impatient. My fiancée... is a bit too alluring!" Jiang Che felt his kidneys might be in danger.

"System, is there any way for me to enter the Nine Heavens immediately?"

To be honest, Jiang Che was getting a bit antsy.

After all, Gu Wantang was indeed dreamily beautiful. What man wouldn't be tempted?

[...]

Even the system was speechless and chose to remain silent.

"Just kidding! I'm not going to the Nine Heavens now. I need to farm more points before going in! Otherwise, I won't feel safe at all!"

Jiang Che laughed. A beauty is precious, but life is worth even more.

After exposing his four Immortal Physiques, many people would certainly have designs on him. If not for the current severance between heaven and earth and the protection of the Jiang Family, Immortals would probably have made a move already.

Furthermore, from his earlier chat with Gu Wantang, he had already guessed the specifics of her situation.

Influenced by the Taiyin Immortal Physique, she was bound to have some contrast to some extent, but she definitely wouldn't normally be this... alluring?

Either this was a scheme targeting him, or Gu Wantang herself had some problem.

But either way, he wasn't afraid. This fiancée... he had decided to claim her.

......

The Jialan Empress herself was feeling quite unsettled.

She felt a sense of betrayal.

She had just been preparing to contact the Jiang Family to arrange a marriage alliance, securing a position for Ling'er, only to be beaten to it by the Taiyin Ice Palace?

She had personally seen the Taiyin Ice Palace's young mistress before. She was absolutely a peerless beauty, one rarely seen in ten thousand years, someone even she felt somewhat inferior to.

Possessing an Immortal Physique, a super genius ranked second on the Heavenly Rankings, the Taiyin Ice Palace belonged to the T0 tier of forces in the Nine Heavens, just like the Jiang Family, with Immortals protecting the clan.

Meanwhile, their Jialan Clan was merely a declining first-rate power, not even that... as there were no longer any Immortals within the clan.

Ling'er wouldn't have the slightest advantage over that woman.

And what puzzled her most was... why would those two families suddenly form a marriage alliance???