“Silly woman,” Jiang Huai said indignantly.
“Your self-righteousness is truly idiotic,” Jiang Zhi said, calmly mocking Jiang Huai. Jiang Huai glanced at her with a mournful look, watching the smile at the corner of her mouth. “Must you look so happy?”
“I have a worthless life and no longer wish to live. But if I could drag you down to hell with me, the thought itself is quite pleasing.”
Jiang Huai was at a loss for words and finally sighed, laughing in relief.
Jiang Zhi looked at him. “If you don’t want to die, why not beg me to kneel before him now and plead for your life?”
“I’d rather die,” Jiang Huai shrugged. “If I can truly hold him off for half an incense stick’s time, you might still have time to escape.”
“You don’t understand me at all, you don’t understand what it means to be alive to me… fool.” Jiang Zhi bit her lip, but at this moment, they no longer had time to speak.
Because Zhang Lan, who was standing before them, was walking towards them step by step, with a carefree smile still at the corner of his mouth. “Have you finished your sweet talk?”
“Men’s ugly visages are always so disgusting,” Jiang Zhi said coldly. She showed no panic or fear. Having lived for two thousand years, she had long since seen past it all. Instead, Zhang Lan, standing before her, chuckled instead of getting angry. “I really like this stubborn spirit of yours. My Star Soul Domain’s slave mark is most interesting when carved onto a woman like you.”
Jiang Zhi looked at Jiang Huai. “After seeing his true face, I suddenly realized you look a million times better in my eyes.”
“…” Jiang Huai didn’t know whether to mock Jiang Zhi for still having the leisure to bicker with him, but it seemed they truly had no means of struggling. He still had the ultimate secret technique of the tenth level of the Green Vine Spirit Source, but in the end, it could only delay things for a moment, with no real killing power.
At this moment, he suddenly felt the absurdity and impermanence of things, yet it also made sense. When one becomes accustomed to everything developing and changing according to the rules, sudden incidents make people realize that life is always unpredictable and traceless.
He had died once before. Even knowing he was about to die, even though he had felt fear, his expression was now much calmer. He tightly gripped his sword, searching for any possible weakness in Zhang Lan, and prepared to use his final Water Moon technique.
“Hey, one question: do you really not like me at all?” Jiang Huai suddenly asked.
“Do you think saving me like this will make me eternally grateful and admire you? Don’t be silly.”
“Hey, hey, you’re dying, and your mouth is still so poisonous?”
“Who told you to bully me night after night?” Jiang Zhi snorted, then chuckled. “Are you really asking me? You already know the answers to some questions, asking me is more like asking yourself. I’ve lived for two thousand years, don’t always treat me like a silly woman.”
“Alright, then I’ll reluctantly admit, I do a little…”
Before Jiang Huai could finish his words, a deafening explosion suddenly sounded in their ears.
The explosion came from the sky. Almost instinctively, everyone looked up. In the distant sky, a giant jade Spirit Sword instantly sliced the illusory Red Moon into two halves.
Jiang Huai and Jiang Zhi stood side by side. Jiang Huai gently grabbed her hand. After a moment, he whispered, “I don’t know what happened.”
“I don’t know either,” Jiang Zhi shook her head.
But in the next instant, they sensed that the rules of the world before them began to rapidly collapse, and everyone’s bodies began to twist, even their own. It seemed this Corrupt Secret Realm was suddenly destroyed by this sword, and they were about to be expelled from it.
Zhang Lan, standing before them, was stunned, gazing at the giant sword in the sky. He hadn’t recovered yet and could only murmur softly.
“Why… did she come to the Star Soul Domain?”
***
When Jiang Huai and Jiang Zhi regained consciousness, they found themselves on a plain. The sunlight on the plain was warm, the grass and trees were lush, and the air had become fresh, no longer turbid and bloody like in the Corrupt Secret Realm.
Before them, a group of blue-robed cultivators, all wearing robes similar to Zhang Lan’s, stood with solemn and somewhat anxious expressions.
The suddenness of everything left Jiang Huai confused. He tightly gripped Jiang Zhi’s hand, instinctively wanting to shield her behind him. Zhang Lan also slowly regained his senses. He, along with the cultivators beside him, turned their gazes toward the woman who was now surrounded by the crowd, standing silently.
Jiang Huai followed their gaze and was momentarily stunned.
Because he had seen that woman before, in his Tribulation of Inner Demon secret realm.
If he remembered correctly, that woman’s name was… Ning Yuzhu.
In the illusion, when he had seen her, she was wearing the nightgown Jiang Ning usually liked, yet she was still a peerless beauty capable of toppling cities and nations. Now, she was wearing an藕粉色 (lotus root pink) palace dress, possessing a pure and elegant temperament like a white lotus. Her hair was jet black, and her eyes were pure black. Her figure was tall and slender, with snow-white ankles visible beneath her skirt, and she wore a pair of open-toed apricot-colored lace-up high heels.
Her eyes were clear and aloof, but not as cold as Chu Xianning’s. Instead, they seemed more proud. Standing alone, she exuded a hint of proud aloofness, distancing everyone around her by a thousand miles.
Wait, why are there high heels in the upper realm too?
Jiang Huai’s expression grew strange for a moment, but the current situation didn’t allow him to dwell on such trivial matters. He looked around and saw some cultivators not wearing blue robes, also staring at the scene in confusion, not knowing what had happened.
“Yuzhu Fairy… I wonder what offense our Star Soul Domain has committed that you would suddenly travel to our Star Soul Domain and shatter the Corrupt Secret Realm that we have maintained for a thousand years?”
The speaker was an old man in blue robes. Although his tone carried suppressed anger, his expression was one of extreme respect, as if he feared offending her in the slightest.
Ning Yuzhu swept her gaze across the crowd, and in an instant, she spotted Jiang Huai and Jiang Zhi. She met Jiang Zhi’s gaze for a moment before looking away, calmly stating, “I have two matters to attend to in the Star Soul Domain.”
“Please tell us, Yuzhu Fairy,” the Star Soul Elder said slowly.
“First, to bring two cultivators who have come from the lower realm to my Ancestral Dao Origin Realm for cultivation.” Ning Yuzhu said indifferently, then pointed at Jiang Huai and Jiang Zhi. “You two, come to my side.”
Jiang Huai and Jiang Zhi exchanged glances, their eyes filled with confusion, but they quickly moved to stand not far from her. Jiang Huai quietly transmitted a message to Jiang Zhi, “Is this your Master?”
“No, but she might know my Master,” Jiang Zhi replied truthfully.
Jiang Huai let out a sigh of relief, the panic in his heart disappearing.
“Since Yuzhu Fairy wants people, you can take them after this Corrupt Secret Realm ends. Why did you have to destroy the Corrupt Secret Realm that our Star Soul race has maintained for a thousand years?”
Ning Yuzhu merely glanced at him indifferently and didn’t answer his question. Instead, she calmly said, “The second matter is that the seventh young master of the Star Soul Domain, Zhang Lan, has angered the Divine Emperor and is sentenced to the Corrupt Thorn Extreme Punishment. Execute immediately.”
Upon hearing this, everyone’s eyes widened for a moment. Zhang Lan trembled all over, his face turning pale, and his voice became shrill. “Me? When did I anger the Divine Emperor? I have revered the Divine Emperor since I was young and have never harbored any ill intentions. How could I anger the Divine Emperor? Senior Yuzhu, please see clearly, do not…”
Ning Yuzhu continued to say coldly, “The Divine Emperor’s decree is to be executed immediately. I do not wish to say it a second time, nor do I wish to explain anything further.”
The scene suddenly fell into a deathly silence.
Even the third elder of the Star Soul Domain, who had been speaking with Yuzhu Fairy earlier, looked at Zhang Lan with fear. He knew that this young master of the Star Soul Domain was usually just lustful and fond of collecting beautiful women from all over the world, and occasionally bullied ordinary cultivators for amusement. But even if he were given a hundred times the courage, he would never dare to disrespect the Divine Emperor in the slightest. What had he done now to provoke the Divine Emperor to personally send Ning Yuzhu to execute him?
“Zhang Lan! Kneel!”
As the Star Soul Elder spoke, Zhang Lan immediately fell to his knees, begging for mercy. He was trembling all over with fear, his face pale, his lips quivering. The Star Soul Elder quickly said, “What disrespect have you shown the Divine Emperor? Tell us everything now! Do not conceal anything!”
But Zhang Lan’s mind was blank. His lips couldn’t stop trembling. “I, I have never done anything disrespectful to the Divine Emperor…”
His voice was now choked with tears, but even racking his brain, he couldn’t come up with any reason. The Star Soul Elder glared at him, but he couldn’t utter a single word. Only when the Star Soul Elder turned his gaze back to Ning Yuzhu, with a hint of reverence, did he speak, “What exactly did Zhang Lan do… please tell us, Yuzhu Fairy. If he truly disrespected the Divine Emperor, our Star Soul race will have him atone with his death.”
But Ning Yuzhu just stood there indifferently, a faint cold arrogance still in her brows. “The Divine Emperor’s decree is to be executed immediately.”
“But this…”
“Why should the Divine Emperor’s command need to be explained to you?” Ning Yuzhu looked at him with disdain. Even though the Star Soul Elder’s eyes held much reverence and flattery, her own gaze remained cold and dismissive.
The Star Soul Elder hesitated, then finally shifted his gaze to the kneeling Zhang Lan. After gazing at him deeply for a few moments, he finally sighed and turned to the Star Soul clansmen beside him, turning his face away. “Proceed with the execution!”
“Elder… Yuzhu Fairy… No… I never disrespected the Divine Emperor… Never… I am willing to swear a dao oath and become a slave to the Ancestral Dao Origin Realm for eternity… Don’t… Don’t… I really, really didn’t…”
Jiang Huai, standing beside Ning Yuzhu, looked somewhat strange. Zhang Lan, who had been so nonchalant and arrogant before him, was now prostrate on the ground, tears streaming down his face, trembling with fear.
The contrast was so rapid that he felt a sense of shock and gained a deeper understanding of the rules of the upper realms.
The Divine Emperor alone controlled a domain, and could kill the seventh young master of another domain without even needing a reason. This was truly… terrifying.
