Chapter 857: Leading to Seclusion

Chapter 857: Penetrating the Abyss

With the words laid so bare, Zhao Changhe’s ever-so-slightly suspended heart finally settled. He tentatively reached out to embrace her.

There was no resistance. He held her with ease, and Ye Jiuyou naturally rested her head on his shoulder.

Zhao Changhe even let out a sigh of relief.

Ye Jiuyou heard it clearly and chuckled. “Feeling like everything’s settled? Like you’ve accomplished some great feat?”

Zhao Changhe said, “Isn’t it? Do you even realize what level of existence you are? If this isn’t a feat, what is?”

Ye Jiuyou laughed. “Piaomiao isn’t much lower in rank than me, yet you weren’t like this with her.”

“Because with Yangyang, the body feels different. If I’d met the ancient Piaomiao directly, it probably would’ve been similar… Besides, you’re fiercer…”

“Fierce? When was I ever fierce with you? It’s just because I’m the villain, and Piaomiao is the good one. You dared to make a move on Piaomiao, knowing that even if things went wrong, she wouldn’t do much to you. But with me, it’s different—I’d grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes.”

The words sounded vicious, but now, hearing them, they only felt like a spoiled threat. Zhao Changhe couldn’t help but smile. He held her casually by the window, both of them gazing at the flowering trees outside.

Sitting side by side with a woman in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder as they admired the flowers and chatted—it felt very much like a romance. Zhao Changhe reflected and realized that such scenes were rare for him… Not just this scene, but the entire process of earnestly pursuing a girl had only ever been fully completed with Ye Jiuyou.

How strange. The only complete pursuit of a girl, and the target was the greatest demon lord of this world.

Even now, holding her, he could feel that bone-piercing chill, that very villainous aura… but holding her now felt like embracing a cool, refreshing pillow—fragrant, soft, and comfortable.

Ye Jiuyou was saying, “You know, when I heard you say you had designs on me, the shock in my heart was almost like witnessing the collapse of an era. It felt too absurd. That someone in this world would dare say such a thing to me—truly, your lust knows no bounds… But strangely, at that moment, I really wasn’t angry.”

“Was it because of the novelty?”

“Maybe a little. I wanted to see what you would do.” Ye Jiuyou sighed. “Now I know. Once a woman starts thinking that way, she’s probably not far from falling. Especially when the opponent is someone like you, who’s been through a garden of flowers—you understand women too well.”

“I earned it with sincerity, alright?”

“Alright, alright.” Ye Jiuyou couldn’t help but laugh. “You win.”

“Really won?” Zhao Changhe leaned in and kissed her cheek. Ye Jiuyou didn’t resist, and her cheek was actually a little warm.

Zhao Changhe suddenly felt amused. Ye Jiuyou’s cheek was actually warm! If you saw her blushing like this now and told anyone this was Ye Jiuyou, they probably wouldn’t dare believe it.

So the kiss on the cheek slowly turned into a kiss on the lips. Ye Jiuyou closed her eyes, slightly parting her rosy lips to welcome him, very compliant.

Sweet saliva exchanged secretly, cool and sweet.

His large hand lifted her skirt, once again stroking her bellyband, very pleasant.

Ye Jiuyou no longer felt it was frivolous; instead, she enjoyed his caress, lounging lazily in his arms, her voice almost like a coquettish plea: “Bringing you here today is to announce that we’ve come together. If Li Boping isn’t stupid, he should be starting to write his surrender letter…”

Zhao Changhe hummed in acknowledgment. It was clear that Ye Jiuyou meant this. Actually, it wasn’t strictly necessary, but she was making a statement.

It felt more like a little woman showing off to her lover—the mindset was quite amusing.

Ye Jiuyou continued, “Yesterday, my mind was in a tangle, so I couldn’t discuss things in detail. Actually, what you guessed is richer than what’s on the inscription. The inscription only recorded my origin, but you guessed more of the beginning and end. If your guesses are all correct, what do you plan to do next?”

Zhao Changhe idly played with her body as he spoke casually: “Ideally, I’d need to talk to Ye Wuming…”

Before he could finish, she grabbed his hand. “If you’re thinking of her, don’t touch me.”

“…What’s this about thinking or not thinking? Can this matter even bypass her?” Zhao Changhe was both amused and exasperated. “Fine, fine. Since she won’t show herself, let’s pretend she doesn’t exist. Then the next step is simple: go to the Sword Emperor’s appointment. He has his own plans, and we’ll see if we can get involved.”

“I know a bit about the Sword Emperor’s plans,” Ye Jiuyou said leisurely. “But this matter, Ye Wu—”

She stopped mid-sentence.

Zhao Changhe laughed out loud. She wouldn’t let others mention her, but could she herself bypass that name?

Named Wuming, yet what major event in this world could bypass that name?

Ye Jiuyou paused for a moment, then said grudgingly, “Ye Wuming warned me not to get involved in this matter, saying it wasn’t something I was qualified to touch at that time. How could she be that much stronger than me? If I’m not qualified, is she?”

Zhao Changhe thought for a moment. “Your current realm should be beyond what it was before.”

Ye Jiuyou nodded. Zhao Changhe wasn’t referring to the weakness from her recent transformation a few days ago, but that she had surpassed her previous peak. Because she had seen through the truth, she had broken through the barrier. However, she hadn’t yet fully broken through to the next realm. If there is a realm beyond the third level of the Imperial Realm—let’s call it the Heavenly Dao Realm for now—then she could at best be called half-step Heavenly Dao.

Ye Wuming was probably at that level too, just more polished and with greater mastery. She couldn’t be at the next realm; otherwise, she wouldn’t need to go through all this trouble. Her previous confrontations with Ye Jiuyou didn’t show that Ye Wuming’s realm could overwhelm her.

So if Ye Wuming was qualified to touch this matter, Ye Jiuyou must be qualified now too… though it might be more dangerous.

For Zhao Changhe’s now formidable team of female war goddesses, this so-called danger was something they could truly confront. On the flip side, the weak link was himself. Others at the second level of the Imperial Realm could form the Four Symbols Formation, but what about him?

Ye Jiuyou thought of this too and laughed. “After all this, the most useless one is you, little brother.”

Zhao Changhe twitched the corner of his mouth. The number one on this world’s Heavenly Ranking, the representative figure who had participated most in the ancient demon-god wars, had become the biggest weakness of the team.

In fact, there was a most direct solution right in front of them, and both knew it well.

That was to dual-cultivate with Ye Jiuyou. Her first time was no trivial matter. He hadn’t wanted to be so utilitarian before, didn’t want to turn chasing a girl into a means to an end. But now that they were mutually in love, there was no need to be pretentious.

Sensing that his caressing had become a bit more intense, Ye Jiuyou pretended not to notice and deliberately changed the subject: “Actually, you’ve encountered this matter before—it’s the Spirit Race’s land. We both know that the Spirit Race’s territory doesn’t belong to this realm. It’s a special, independent world, transformed from a very powerful body. You know I once tried to awaken that thing and turn it into a corpse puppet. If I had succeeded, I could have swept the world.”

“Villain.” Zhao Changhe pinched her.

Ye Jiuyou reached out and pinched him somewhere else. “You opposed me in this matter, and I haven’t even settled accounts with you yet, and you dare pinch me? All for that fox spirit of the Spirit Race?”

The two pinched each other for a while, both arching their bodies.

Zhao Changhe surrendered first and loosened his grip slightly. “You should be glad we stopped you back then. Otherwise, with your strength at that time, you probably couldn’t have controlled that existence. Ye Wuming’s warning was probably for the same reason. The question now is, what does the Sword Emperor want to do?”

Ye Jiuyou also released him. “Now, based on the inscription and your guesses, we can roughly infer that this is likely a foreign powerful being, sealed within the Heavenly Book by the original Heavenly Dao. Such an existence wouldn’t be completely destroyed. It should have a normal resurrection mode, triggered by meeting certain conditions. What the Sword Emperor and the others want to do is probably to awaken it normally. As for what they intend after awakening—whether to seek further advancement from it or to cooperate with it to break out of this cage—that likely differs for each person.”

Zhao Changhe blurted out, “The Vermilion Bird and the White Tiger converge in the southwestern wilds.”

Ye Jiuyou was startled. “What is that?”

“It’s a prophecy from within the Spirit Race, found in their ancient texts. Logically, the Spirit Race has no concept of the Vermilion Bird or the White Tiger. This phrase should be related to resurrection, but I don’t know if the Vermilion Bird and White Tiger refer to directions, times, or celestial imagery… or people.”

“Time and direction have already matched. As for the rest, once we get there and I see it, I’ll know. Since both the Vermilion Bird and White Tiger are present, it won’t be hard to experiment.” Ye Jiuyou said solemnly, “The question now is, do you want it to resurrect?”

Zhao Changhe fell silent.

If such an existence, comparable to the Heavenly Dao, truly resurrected, the consequences would be unpredictable.

First, the environment that the Spirit Race depended on for survival would be directly destroyed. Fortunately, everyone had been prepared for this. Sisi had been gradually relocating the Spirit Race people to the Miao borderlands, and it should be mostly done by now.

Second, could such an existence be negotiated with or cooperated with? If it raised its blade, what harm would it cause? If it became an enemy instead, how would Sisi and the others react?

And what was Lie doing? Was he already working on this?

The Sword Emperor and Wubing should both know about this. What were their plans in this matter?

What was Ye Wuming thinking?

“No matter what, we have to go and see. Only after seeing the situation can we draw conclusions.” Zhao Changhe’s mood grew heavy. He stared at the blue sky and white clouds outside the window, mentally simulating various scenarios, and remained silent for a long time.

Ye Jiuyou leaned in his arms, watching the scenery with him. Seeing him lost in thought for so long, she suddenly smiled. “You should be grateful for one thing.”

“Huh?”

“Ye Jiuyou is now your woman, standing on your side. Otherwise, hmph, your headache would be three times worse.”

Zhao Changhe laughed. Indeed, if there were a villainous boss like Ye Jiuyou lurking in this matter, scheming to turn that thing into a corpse puppet, things would be even more chaotic and troublesome. She had already schemed a lot in this matter before and probably still had some preparations hidden away. If she were unscrupulous, the trouble she could cause would make one’s head swell three or four sizes.

But now, the most troublesome boss had become an ally. His hand was still holding her most delightful spot, and he had forgotten to move while thinking.

Ye Jiuyou gazed absently at the blue sky outside the window and said softly, “Originally, I wanted to control that corpse puppet to slaughter all living beings and annihilate heaven and earth. No excuses—I truly thought that way… Do you think I’m evil?”

Zhao Changhe said, “That was your setting, after it was modified. According to the original setting, the world was derived from you. You have no reason to annihilate all living beings.”

“I do.” Ye Jiuyou said calmly, “As early as the last era, I felt that nothing had any value in existing, not even my own existence. Even after awakening, even after seeing the truth, if you weren’t by my side, I would only feel that I was trapped in a cage, that heaven and earth were like a furnace, refining us into whatever shape they wanted. I would be more extreme than Ye Wuming or the White Tiger. Ye Wuming might still be willing to protect the mortal world, but I would destroy it all.”

I know not the height of the azure sky, the thickness of the yellow earth... I only see the moon cold and sun warm, coming to sear away men's lives.

Zhao Changhe’s mind suddenly conjured up this line, and he inexplicably felt it suited Jiuyou quite well.

Jiuyou was indeed the most typical, but in truth, who wasn’t?

Ye Wuming as well, Piaomiao as well. Piaomiao’s chest was full of hatred, and Ye Wuming, though appearing calm as a placid lake, had turbulent undercurrents buried in his heart.

The periphery of the Sword Emperor’s tomb was filled with baleful aura; was the Sword Emperor’s hatred before his death any lighter than others’?

The demon gods were manipulated by the Heavenly Dao, and mortals—did they fare any better? The chaotic age in the mortal world had lasted for so many years; in the end, it was all just the moon cold and sun warm, coming to sear away men’s lives.

“So…” Zhao Changhe said in a low voice, “In the end, it’s nothing more than this heaven being without the Way, and I shall act on my own.”

This heaven without the Way, I shall act on my own.

Heaven without sun or moon, I shall act on my own.

From the ambition of his fledgling days, to the martial imagery on his cultivation path, and now to today—it was still the same phrase. Only then, the Heavenly Dao was a vague reference; later, the sun and moon were symbols; now, the Heavenly Dao was a living entity that truly existed.

No matter the essence, it was all the same.

What was so great about the Heavenly Dao?

Ye Jiuyou’s beautiful eyes fixed on his face, gazing for a long while, then suddenly she smiled radiantly: “So that’s why you said earlier that you and I have a complete basis for cooperation. You and I are essentially the same kind of people—lawless and defiant at our core, only we walk different paths.”

Zhao Changhe snapped back to reality and laughed: “Then what about your current path?”

Ye Jiuyou said in a coquettish voice: “I don’t know what my path is like; I’ve never explored it… This path is secluded and winding, never trodden by anyone. Will you walk it?”

“?” Zhao Changhe didn’t react for a moment—how could your path of slaughter be secluded and winding… uh, no.

This seemed like a dirty joke?

Ye Jiuyou’s eyes were hazy: “You’ve been rubbing for so long, and you only know how to rub one place? If you’re not tired of it, I am.”

Zhao Changhe: “…”

It had been a while since he’d experienced Ye Jiuyou’s chaotic nature, and now he got an unexpected taste of it. The topic jumped too fast—just a moment ago they were talking about such serious matters, his mood hadn’t even returned, and suddenly she was making dirty jokes and even begging for pleasure.

It could only be said that her arousal trigger was different from common understanding.

Unlike last night when it felt inappropriate, today it was truly permissible. As long as Ye Jiuyou was willing, even indulging in lust right here was nothing. If Li Boping found out, it might make him feel deeply humiliated, perhaps comparable to Cao Cao toying with Zhang Xiu’s aunt—but so what? The gap in their strength was not trivial.

But then Ye Jiuyou said: “Do you really think I brought you here today just to show an attitude?”

“No, isn’t it?”

“Yesterday you suppressed your desire, and wasn’t I the same? I also wanted it, I also held back.” Ye Jiuyou gently kissed his cheek, then moved all the way to his lips, speaking in a seductive whisper: “Today there’s no need to hold back… I brought you here to proclaim your conquest to the world.”

Zhao Changhe: (middle finger)

“Just for an attitude, why come to the bedchamber? The implication was already obvious.” Ye Jiuyou laughed softly: “I thought you would understand—you should have thrown me onto the bed as soon as you entered… but instead you held me under the moon and flowers, and I was momentarily greedy for that, so I didn’t say anything.”

Zhao Changhe: “…”

“But as we talked, we ended up on heavy topics again… Perhaps people like us are destined never to have a moonlit romance free from heaviness.” Ye Jiuyou gently untied his belt, speaking in a low voice: “So… let’s not talk about those things. Just pamper me well, let me forget those things that weigh on my heart…”

Zhao Changhe could no longer restrain himself; he turned over and pressed her beneath him, tearing open her sash with one hand.

Ye Jiuyou did not try to take the lead as she had yesterday, letting him occupy the dominant position. Her long skirt parted lightly, a snow-white bellyband covering the mountain peaks, like the snowy mountain where she had long sat in cultivation beyond the abyss. The sapphire on her necklace adorned it, like the crystalline ten-thousand-year ice frozen on the snow mountain, beautiful and mysterious.

Perhaps white was not necessarily unsuitable for her; at least at this moment, the sight made one’s desire swell beyond measure. In broad daylight, so clear, it was even more blood-stirring than the strained vision in the darkness of last night.

Zhao Changhe quickly bent down.

Ye Jiuyou tilted her neck, feeling his movements, and suddenly found it amusing: “Don’t you men find it strange? On one hand, you insist on coaxing someone into wearing a bellyband, and on the other, you want to take it off.”

Zhao Changhe also thought this was a real philosophical question: “Then keep it on.”

“Hehe…”

Whether the bellyband was removed or not made no difference for defense; the snow-white peaks were still shaped by the creator’s hands, and the immensely powerful dark goddess lay obediently on the soft fragrant curtains, allowing herself to be toyed with. Her body stretched out within the pink curtains, like a white lotus root extending from a lotus pond.

A trace of blood quietly seeped from the lotus pond, like a lotus blooming silently.

Zhao Changhe paused his movements slightly. Even though he had long known that this would come to pass, that this day was inevitable, he still felt an unparalleled sense of achievement in his heart. When he first learned of Ye Jiuyou’s existence, how could he have imagined that one day he would be able to treat her like this?

Ye Jiuyou embraced him, speaking softly: “Indeed… pain can make one feel existence.”

Zhao Changhe bent down to kiss her gently, replying: “There are other things too.”

“Zhao Changhe…”

“Hmm?”

“I have lived for millions of years, and never thought I would willingly please a man… If you dare to betray me, you will die very, very ugly.”

Zhao Changhe did not answer; he proved it with action, and soon Ye Jiuyou could no longer speak a complete sentence.

As she wished… wild passion could make one feel existence, and also make one forget all the oppressive things. But Ye Jiuyou had not anticipated that there could be such a pleasurable thing in the world.

No wonder people said it was poison, that indulgence only hindered cultivation.

Yet for them, this kind of thing was always a tonic for cultivation. Endless dark chill seeped into Zhao Changhe’s limbs and bones, from spirit to flesh, nearly lifting him off the ground.