Zhou Shuxian’s beautiful eyes widened as two streams of scalding tears slid down her delicate face.
Impossible. Xu Ning must be lying to me. Brother Lingtian would never betray me!
Yet the thought refused to fade. If Long Lingtian hadn’t said it himself, how could Xu Ning possibly know all this?
Her mind raced. Could it have been Yuwen Shuang who leaked it? No… that made no sense. The Yuwen Family had been destroyed by Xu Ning—she and Xu Ning shared a hatred that could not coexist. Moreover, she liked Long Lingtian as well. No matter how she looked at it, there was no way she would side with Xu Ning.
Even if she truly had defected, she couldn’t possibly know about the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul-Nurturing Wood.
Her thoughts tangled into chaos. Her slender shoulders trembled faintly as a bitter chill flooded her heart. Every piece of evidence pointed toward a single, cruel truth.
The man she loved most… had sold her out.
“You… you!” Zhou Yan shot to his feet in fury, his finger trembling as he pointed at her.
He simply couldn’t accept it. His daughter—always obedient, always sensible—had actually committed such a treasonous act for an insignificant rogue cultivator like Long Lingtian!
The consequences of offending Xu Ning… he didn’t even dare imagine them.
At that moment, Empress Xiao Yi let out a cry, unable to bear the shock, and fainted on the spot.
“Mother!”
“Someone, summon the royal physicians!”
The two princesses hurried to support Xiao Yi, yet their gazes toward their elder sister were filled with undisguised hatred.
Zhou Shuxian looked around at the chaos unfolding before her, and her heart nearly shattered.
Betrayed by the man she loved, her heart broke completely. That alone would have been enough, yet now she had also implicated her father, her mother… even the entire Great Zhou Empire’s royal family. The crushing guilt made her wish she could end her life right then and there.
[Zhou Shuxian has severed ties with the child of destiny, causing adverse impact. One strand of Primordial Purple Qi has been plundered. 200 fortune points obtained.]
She slowly stood up, then walked to the center of the grand hall. With a dull thud, she dropped to her knees before Xu Ning.
“This concubine concealed the truth from Your Highness and deceived the ruler. My crime deserves death. I ask Your Highness to punish me.”
She paused briefly before continuing, her voice trembling, “This matter was entirely my doing. It has nothing to do with the Great Zhou Empire’s royal family. I beg Your Highness to spare my father and mother.”
As her words fell, everyone’s gaze turned toward Xu Ning.
Yao Ling’er and Yuwen Rou watched with curiosity, wondering how he would handle Zhou Shuxian. Meanwhile, the royal family members were filled with anxiety, barely daring to breathe, afraid he might implicate them.
Xu Ning rested his chin on one hand, seated high upon the main seat with one leg crossed over the other, looking down at Zhou Shuxian from above. A faint, amused smile curled at the corner of his lips.
His move against Zhou Shuxian had never been complicated. He merely wanted to sow discord and squeeze out the last bit of fortune points from Long Lingtian.
At the same time, although Zhou Shuxian’s methods were far inferior to his, she was far from an ordinary woman. Coupled with her identity as the eldest princess of the Great Zhou Empire, if he could subdue her and support her to ascend as Empress, the benefits would be immense.
After all, his current status, though dazzling on the surface, was as precarious as walking on thin ice. Everything depended on the favor of the Mystic Saint Empress.
If one day the Mystic Saint Empress turned against him, the consequences would be disastrous.
Thus, he needed to prepare an escape route in advance. The Great Zhou Empire bordered the Northern Region—naturally, it was the best choice.
“This prince is not fond of killing. Don’t speak of life and death so lightly,” Xu Ning said calmly. “Come to my chambers tonight. I will punish you with three hundred strokes of the rod. Consider it your sentence.”
Why would the punishment be carried out in his chambers?
She bit down on her teeth, tears of humiliation spilling from her eyes. She had once planned to give her virgin body to the man she loved.
But now everything had changed. The man she loved had betrayed her, yet she was forced to submit to Xu Ning, offering up her purity in exchange for survival.
The cruel reality was unbearable… yet she had no choice but to accept it.
“This concubine… thanks Your Highness,” she said word by word, her voice thick with grief and resentment.
Zhou Yan, witnessing this scene, was overjoyed.
He had thought disaster was about to befall his family. Instead, relief came so suddenly—so this was Xu Ning’s intention all along. He had taken a liking to his daughter!
Otherwise, how could he have spared her so lightly?
After such an incident, no one had the mood to continue drinking or watching performances. One by one, they took their leave.
As Xu Ning departed, taking advantage of a moment when no one was paying attention, he transmitted his voice to Yuwen Shuang and revealed his plan.
Hearing it, Yuwen Shuang’s eyes widened, her scalp tingling with dread.
No matter how unwilling she felt, under the restraint of the Dao Heart Divine Seal, she could only nod.
“I understand, Master.”
…
Inside the cold, dark dungeon, Long Lingtian leaned against the wall, his eyes dull, his face ashen.
His greatest trump card, Wei Qingyi, had already fallen into Xu Ning’s hands. That alone had driven him into despair.
Now, he had completely lost the confidence to oppose Xu Ning. All his hopes were pinned on the Demon Lord’s Heavenly Tomb. He could only wait for Zhou Shuxian to rescue him in three days.
Footsteps echoed in the distance.
He turned his head. A slender figure was approaching.
“Shuang’er!” he exclaimed. “Why are you here?”
Yuwen Shuang’s expression was complicated. Watching the man she loved step deeper and deeper into ruin while she remained powerless… it felt like knives carving into her heart.
“Lingtian, I’m here to save you.”
As she spoke, she took out a key from her robe. First, she opened the cell door, then unlocked the shackles binding his limbs.
As the burning pain in his wrists faded, Long Lingtian let out a long breath and stretched his body. “Where’s Shuxian?” he asked.
In his mind, the key must have come from Zhou Shuxian.
Yuwen Shuang lowered her gaze, her voice filled with sorrow. “I stole the key. As for Zhou Shuxian… she’s probably with Xu Ning right now.”
Long Lingtian froze. Shock flooded his face as his pupils contracted violently. He staggered back involuntarily.
His eyes gradually turned bloodshot. He stepped forward, grabbing Yuwen Shuang’s shoulders and shaking her violently as he roared, “What did you say?!”
Startled by his roughness, her eyes reddened. “I only found out yesterday… Zhou Shuxian… she has long since become Xu Ning’s woman.”
Everything suddenly made sense.
He had always wondered why Xu Ning had appeared so coincidentally before—like he had been waiting there all along.
So it had all been a trap.
Zhou Shuxian had played the role of the good cop, using the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul-Nurturing Wood as bait to trick him into handing over the ring that nurtured Wei Qingyi’s remnant soul from his Bloodline Space.
Then, the moment she left, Xu Ning—who had been hiding in the shadows—seized the opportunity and snatched Wei Qingyi’s remnant soul away.
The fury of betrayal, mixed with the humiliation of being toyed with, nearly drove Long Lingtian insane.
So all along… he had been nothing more than a clown dancing for others’ amusement.
“Why did she betray me…” Long Lingtian clenched his fists, muttering unwillingly.
Lingtian… you actually believed Xu Ning’s lies? Did you never truly trust Sister Shuxian…? A chill passed through Yuwen Shuang’s heart, yet she still followed Xu Ning’s instructions.
“Sister Shuxian told me Xu Ning is extraordinary—powerful and influential—while you’re just a rogue cultivator. Following you would only bring humiliation… she even urged me to serve Xu Ning together with her…”
“Enough!”
Before she could finish, Long Lingtian slammed his fist into the wall.
Boom!
The solid prison wall was dented with a deep imprint.
Blood streamed down his fist, yet he seemed unaware, continuing to strike the wall again and again.
“Lingtian, don’t give up like this!” Yuwen Shuang hurriedly grabbed him, her eyes filled with worry and pain.
Tears of humiliation and unwillingness poured out. His eyes were bloodshot, his entire being on the verge of madness.
“Yao Ling’er, Zhou Shuxian… those two wretched women both look down on me! Both betrayed me!”
“Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—the tides turn! Don’t bully a poor youth!”
“Xu Ning, I’ll carve you into a thousand pieces and tear you apart!”
Seeing his twisted, ferocious expression, Yuwen Shuang felt as if she no longer recognized him.
Her face turned pale as she tightly grasped his hand. “Lingtian, calm down! Xu Ning doesn’t know about the Demon Lord’s Heavenly Tomb. This is your only chance to turn the tables!”
Although she knew about the tomb, Xu Ning had never asked her about it, allowing her to keep this secret.
Even the wisest could make mistakes. No matter how calculating Xu Ning was, he still had blind spots.
That gave her a faint hope that Long Lingtian still had a chance.
What she didn’t know… was that Xu Ning had been aware of everything from the very beginning.
“Shuang’er, you’re right. I was too impatient.”
Long Lingtian took a deep breath, his voice turning cold. “We can’t delay any longer. The longer we wait, the more things may change. We leave tonight.”
His face twisted with vicious anticipation, as if he could already see himself inheriting the Demon Lord’s legacy… and brutally slaughtering Xu Ning and Zhou Shuxian.