“Changqing, were those innocent disciples, drained of blood and souls, really persecuted by you?” Murong Bing withdrew her killing intent, her gaze returning to Xia Changqing as she asked coldly, her tone distant.
She stared at the handsome youth’s face, which could overturn kingdoms, and could not help but recall the countless betrayals and disgraceful acts this rebellious disciple had once committed against her. Just thinking about it made Murong Bing’s ears flush faintly red.
‘If I say no, would you believe me? Would you even be willing to believe? Murong Bing, you never treated me as your Senior Disciple. These four wretches are your true favorites. Stop pretending with this nauseating fake affection. If you want to kill me or skin me alive, just do it. Assume I killed them. I just want to end this boring farce and go to Blackwater Prison for a nap.’
Xia Changqing’s deep eyes were like blades as he coldly stared at the phoenix eyes of the stunning woman on the Cloud-Bed, mocking her.
Before being ruthlessly trained and humiliated by him, Murong Bing was notoriously stubborn, ruthless, willful, and a domineering empress who brooked no opposition. In his previous life, despite his intense explanations and justified defenses, he was still stripped of his Sage’s Pupils and Immortal-Demonic Dao Bones, left to rot as a pitiful dog.
‘Hmph, you sinister, wicked man. You want to provoke me into crippling you so you can cultivate the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art and plunge completely into the Great Self-Demonic Dao. Xia Changqing, dream on. I will never let you repeat your old path.’
Murong Bing secretly vowed to prevent Xia Changqing from ever cultivating the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art again.
“Sect Master, Xia Changqing has defied his superiors and already admitted his guilt. Please impose the harshest punishment so that the souls of the three thousand innocent Azure Cloud disciples can rest in peace.”
Hearing Xia Changqing’s ‘confession,’ Ye Zheng’s eyes brightened, and he hurriedly demanded Murong Bing deliver judgment.
“You hypocritical old man, isn’t the real murderer standing right behind you?”
Xia Changqing pointed mockingly at Ye Fan standing behind Ye Zheng.
“Senior Brother Xia, I know you’re jealous that the Junior Sisters and Sect Master favor me, but that’s no reason for murder!” Ye Fan said with false sincerity.
“Grand Elder, three thousand Azure Cloud disciples died tragically in the secret realm. I will personally judge my Senior Disciple. Are you pleased?”
Murong Bing’s peerless beauty was tinged with icy arrogance. Her phoenix eyes half-closed as she looked at Ye Zheng like he was a corpse.
“Sect Master, please calm your anger. That’s not what I meant.”
Under the killing intent of Murong Bing, a Peak Saint King Realm powerhouse, Ye Zheng broke into a cold sweat. His robes were soaked, and he trembled uncontrollably.
Murong Bing tolerated no defiance. If she learned that Ye Zheng and Ye Fan plotted to seize Xia Changqing’s Sage’s Pupils and Immortal-Demonic Dao Bones, the Ye family would be finished.
“Sect Master, please calm down. Xia Changqing is a demon who slaughtered innocents. My grandfather only acted in the Holy Land’s best interest.”
Ye Fan knelt on one knee, his handsome face full of loyalty and sincerity. He secretly glanced at Murong Bing’s stunning face, his heart surging with desire. Murong Bing, the most beautiful, elegant, and noble female cultivator among the Four Great Holy Lands, was the goddess admired by countless male cultivators. Ye Fan, as the child of the Heavenly Dao, was no exception.
“Master, Brother Ye Fan is loyal to the Holy Land and to you! He would never lie. Since Xia Changqing has confessed, please punish him.”
Gu Miaojun glared fiercely at Xia Changqing. Xia Changqing had massacred her entire family. She had painstakingly joined Azure Cloud Holy Land and colluded with Ye Fan, all to avenge her loved ones.
“I will not wrong a good person, nor will I let a bad person go unpunished. I sense something strange about this matter. I will summon the Imperial Artifact, Haotian Mirror, to uncover the truth.”
Murong Bing spoke with resolute authority.
“What? You want to summon the Imperial Artifact, Haotian Mirror, to reveal the truth?”
The crowd in the Hall of Justice widened their eyes in shock.
Though the Mystic Sky Continent had not seen a great cultivator ascend to the Immortal Realm in the past hundred thousand years, the rich legacy left behind ten Imperial Artifacts. Each of the Four Great Holy Lands—Azure Cloud, Jade Pool, Golden Crow, and Penglai—guarded one Imperial Artifact to stabilize their sect’s fortune. The founding ancestor of Azure Cloud Holy Land was a great emperor. Before ascending, he left behind his life-bound Dao artifact to ensure the sect’s supremacy.
Each use of an Imperial Artifact cost an unimaginable amount of resources, so the Haotian Mirror was only summoned in times of existential crisis.
‘What the hell? Murong Bing, that selfish, arrogant woman, is actually willing to use the Haotian Mirror to clear my name? Has her brain gone bad from over-cultivation? The origin energy of the Imperial Artifact isn’t free!’
Xia Changqing found it hard to believe.
If not for the fact that after detonating himself and dragging the Heavenly Dao down, his last sliver of divine soul witnessed his wife safely entering the Immortal Realm with their two children, he would have suspected that Murong Bing had also returned three thousand years to the past.
His successful revenge and the fall of Azure Cloud Holy Land, leading to the establishment of the Landborne Demonic Nation, had relied on ambushing Murong Bing when she entered the weak nirvana period after breaking through to the Quasi-Emperor Realm. He had used ancient forbidden sealing arts to suppress her power, turning her into his dual cultivation vessel and thoroughly humiliating her.
‘Xia Changqing, you despicable dog of a man, still cursing me as stupid. I’m not doing this for you, but for the Azure Cloud Dao lineage and all beings under heaven. Returning to Azure Cloud, this disgraceful bond must end. I, Murong Bing, will not repeat the past and let you abuse me again. I will become a Dao Emperor and crush you underfoot like trash.’
Murong Bing clenched her red lips tightly and cursed silently as she eavesdropped on Xia Changqing’s thoughts through the Primordial Chaos Jade Pendant.
Her feelings toward Xia Changqing were extremely complicated. Due to her cultivation of the Nine Heavens Emperor Scripture, which required a nirvana stage, Xia Changqing had attacked her when she was weak after reaching the Quasi-Emperor Realm. Using lost ancient secret arts, he sealed her power, imprisoned her in the Hall of Justice, and turned her into a dual cultivation furnace, humiliating and abusing her at will.
During those dark and helpless days, Murong Bing had wished to cut Xia Changqing into pieces, eat his flesh, drink his blood, and make him suffer for eternity. Yet, over nearly a thousand years of daily interaction, along with Xia Changqing’s domineering presence in bed and his sweet words, she had unknowingly fallen for him and even bore him two adorable children.
“Sect Master, you must not! The Haotian Mirror is the artifact that guards Azure Cloud Holy Land’s fortune. Using it would consume immense resources and its origin energy. Using it for someone like Xia Changqing is not worth the cost!”
Ye Zheng snapped back to reality, dropped to his knees, and pleaded loudly.
If the Haotian Mirror revealed that Ye Fan colluded with the Heavenly Demonic Sect’s Saintess to slaughter thousands of Azure Cloud disciples and frame Xia Changqing, they would all be doomed.
[BOOM!]
The terrifying pressure of a Peak Saint King Realm expert suddenly descended upon the Hall of Justice, freezing everyone in place. Murong Bing then struck with a palm.
[RUMBLE!]
“Please spare me, Sect Master, I know I was wrong!”
Ye Zheng, at the Great Saint Realm, was blasted into the ground, coughing up blood and begging for mercy.
“My disciple is not for you to judge, and I, Murong Bing, am not someone you have the right to instruct.”
The stunning Sect Master sat elegantly on the Cloud-Bed, her flawless features radiating icy coldness and killing intent, like a peerless empress of iron and blood, domineering and ruthless.
For Ye Zheng, who secretly colluded with the Heavenly Demonic Sect to plot rebellion and seize power, Murong Bing showed no mercy and suppressed him brutally.