False King Blood?

"Y-Young Master Ye, do you think our Xie Clan is afraid of yours? Going too far is as bad as not going far enough. Don't push us!

"This Wang-blooded Azure Luan was specifically requested by our Xie Clan's Young Lady Qingying." Hearing Anlan's arrogant words, and having just nearly been ambushed, Xie Yu flew into a rage.

He was a dignified member of the Xie Clan, an immortal clan of Cangxuan, and he had always been proud of his family background. Could he stand by while someone cursed him to his face?

Not even if they were from the Ye Clan!

Xie Yu shouted at once, and the dozen or so Rogue Cultivators beside him also assumed fighting stances.

"Zhao Huayuan, what are you afraid of? They're only two at Foundation Establishment Late Stage and one who hasn't even reached Foundation Establishment, just Qi Refinement!"

"Get them! Beat them! As long as you don't beat them to death, the Xie Clan will take responsibility."

Before his words had faded,

Ye Jinyu nodded, as though he either agreed with or admired Xie Yu.

A hint of delight appeared on Xie Yu's face, and his arrogance seemed to return.

But then Ye Jinyu held out a hand and waved it backward.

Dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators appeared out of thin air without a sound.

They quickly spread out, faintly forming an encirclement around the area, their eyes fixed on Xie Yu and his companions.

Then silence fell. Only the sound of wind knocking leaves down in the forest remained, along with the urgent pounding of hearts.

"Anlan."

Ye Jinyu stretched out a hand, pointed at Xie Yu, then at the scar-faced leader of the Rogue Cultivators, and said calmly,

"They're too noisy."

"Yes."

A cold smile appeared on Ye Anlan's face. His figure flickered, and in the space of an instant-

Too fast!

Zhao Huayuan had no time to react. His vision blurred, and an irresistible force seized the wrist of the hand holding the chain.

Crack-

The crisp snap of his wrist breaking rang out at the same time as his scream. Ye Anlan stood behind the scar-faced man, a wisp of sharp, blue-gray Wind Qi curling around his finger as he pressed it against the man's neck.

"Boss!"

The scar-faced man's Rogue Cultivator subordinates glared in fury and tried to rush forward to save him.

"Don't move!"

"None of you move!"

the scar-faced man roared.

Clang!

Xie Yu froze for a moment, then immediately dropped the chain in his hand!

"You..."

Xie Yu backed away two steps, shocked and furious, his expression shifting.

"Young Master Ye... are you really going to do this?!"

"Actually, we can talk... my young lady is willing to offer some compensation..."

Ye Jinyu ignored him. Closing the folding fan in his hand, he walked slowly toward the Azure Luan girl.

Xie Yu instinctively wanted to stop him, but the icy gazes of the surrounding cultivators had already locked onto him, leaving him feeling as though he had fallen into an ice cave, unable to move.

Unable to advance or retreat, he had been jumping up and down like a clown, and it made him especially uncomfortable.

Ye Jinyu stopped in front of Qing Lingxi, crouched down, and picked up the chain that had fallen to the ground.

Then their eyes met.

Qing Lingxi looked at him. The despair and deathly stillness that had filled her eyes at first slowly gave way to the faintest ripple, so subtle that even she did not notice it.

The man who had suddenly appeared seemed different from every cultivator she had ever met.

Or rather, there was a different sort of familiarity about him, and also...

These past few days, the cultivators she had encountered from beyond the realm had looked at her as prey, or a plaything, with the indifference of those who regarded her as no more than grass or an ant.

But this man's gaze... was complicated. There was scrutiny, curiosity, and a deep calm she could not understand.

Ye Jinyu reached out, his fingertip lightly brushing her pale cheek. A tiny wound on it was seeping blue blood.

His fingertip was slightly cool against her fair, tender skin.

Qing Lingxi felt her whole body tremble. She instinctively tried to turn her head away, but the chain held her back.

A look of humiliation flashed in her eyes. Steeling herself, she suddenly opened her little mouth and bit down hard on the finger Ye Jinyu had extended.

Her sharp teeth pierced the skin of his finger, and blood welled out, filling her mouth with its metallic sweetness.

She thought he would be enraged, fling her away, or even kill her with a palm strike.

But Ye Jinyu did not.

He even smiled.

His smile was slight and faint. At that moment, it held a strange familiarity, an eerie tenderness.

He let her bite him while his other hand came to rest on the cold chain around her neck. His voice was low, his face close, as if he were whispering in her ear.

"Tsk, tsk... were they... the ones who hurt you?"

"Or have you resigned yourself to your fate just like that?"

Qing Lingxi froze, her teeth loosening involuntarily.

And something stirred in Ye Jinyu's heart.

Just as I thought!

How is this merely Wang blood?

It's clearly Heavenly Demon Emperor Blood, even rarer than the Demon Race's Wang blood!

If she grows up, she'll at least be a great demon capable of reaching Purple Mansion Peak, and she might even have a chance for her bloodline to transform and evolve.

She has an innate defect. Something may have happened when she was young.

That's why her Wang-blooded bloodline looks impressive only on the surface, a defective bloodline.

The Azure Luan Clan is shortsighted. They probably never noticed, or... did they notice and, for some reason, treat her as a pawn to be discarded?

At that thought, Ye Jinyu brought his bitten, bloodstained fingertip to Qing Lingxi's lips.

"Lick it clean," he said softly.

Qing Lingxi's pupils contracted.

Humiliation surged over her again like a tide, even stronger than when she had heard the Rogue Cultivators' words.

But as if compelled by some strange force, perhaps drawn by some peculiar presence in the blood,

or perhaps because her mind was too close to collapse to think, she actually extended the tip of her tongue and gently licked the blood from his fingertip.

A warm yet cool sensation slid down her throat, making the nearly exhausted Demon Power in her body tremble slightly. It gave her the illusion of sweet rain after a long drought.

The chain around her neck was forced open by Bifeng and shattered!

Could this person be a good man?

Ye Jinyu smiled.

There was something sick and complicated in that smile.

"Very good."

Ye Jinyu withdrew his finger, glistening saliva still clinging to it.

Then, pretending to take it from his storage ring, though actually taking it from the Heavenly Cauldron of Fate, he produced the Dao Seed of Fate, its colors a blend of blue-white and dark red.

"Swallow it," Ye Jinyu ordered.

"From now on, your life is mine."

Qing Lingxi looked at the Dao Seed of Fate before her, then at Ye Jinyu's face.

Behind them, Xie Yu's face was ashen. He wanted to speak, but in the presence of the Ye Clan's many cultivators, he held back.

Qing Lingxi suddenly smiled too.

Her smile was tragic and beautiful, tinged with the madness of someone who had decided to let a broken pot shatter. It was as though Ye Jinyu's earlier words had touched her heart. Some things...

Her eyes held determination and resolve.

"All right."

She immediately swallowed the Fate Seed.

In an instant, a profound connection formed between her and Ye Jinyu.

She could feel that her life and death rested on a single thought from him.

But strangely... she felt no fear.

Instead, she felt a sense of release.

"Now." Ye Jinyu rose to his feet.

"It's time to settle accounts."

"Kill the rest. Leave the one surnamed Xie."

"Yes."

As soon as the words fell, Ye Anlan's blue-gray line of wind flashed across the scar-faced man's neck.

"This is bad!"

The remaining men had just begun to summon their Law Artifacts when lines of blood appeared on their necks.

They had no time to react. Who would have expected that they would still be talking one moment and start killing the next?

Dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators struck at once. Countless invisible blades of wind howled through the dense forest.

They tore the dozen or so Rogue Cultivators to pieces. Wisps of spiritual mist rose between heaven and earth, and blood sprayed out, staining the dense forest red.

By then, Xie Yu's water-blue immortal robe was damaged, its spiritual glow dim.

His legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.

Forcing himself to look calm, he said, "Young Master Ye! Our Xie Clan has no feud with your Ye Clan. If you want this Azure Luan, you can have her! Would you let me go...?"

Ye Jinyu tilted his head, as though he were enjoying himself, or perhaps thinking.

"Let you go?"

"All right."

Xie Yu had just breathed a sigh of relief when-

"However," Ye Jinyu continued,

"I'm in a good mood today. Offending me would normally be a capital crime..."

Cold sweat immediately poured down Xie Yu's face.

Ye Jinyu chuckled, then changed his tune.

"But I'm kindhearted, so I'll punish you by making you kneel here. For three full months."

"What?!" Xie Yu's face flushed red. "You're humiliating the Xie Clan?!"

"Humiliating?" Ye Jinyu said indifferently.

"So what if I am?"

"You? Can you represent the Xie Clan? Bring Xie Qingying here, and that would be more like it."

The jade fan in his hand opened, and Wind Qi began gathering between heaven and earth.

"Either kneel now, or die now."

"Choose."

Xie Yu gritted his teeth, but looked at Ye Jinyu and the dozens of cultivators behind him.

There are too many of them. Even if I fight with my life, it won't do much good.

This isn't a failure in battle. The young lady probably won't blame me. The river flows east for thirty years; as long as the green mountains remain...

It's only three months. A true man must endure what ordinary people cannot.

At that thought, he slowly knelt.

His knees struck the ground with a dull thud.

He lowered his head and said nothing.

"Very good." Ye Jinyu nodded in satisfaction. Behind him, some of the Ye Clan members could barely suppress their laughter.

"Cousin Jinming, put Calamity Wind Soul-Locking Talismans on him. They can be removed after he has knelt for three months. If he gets up before then, or someone from the Xie Clan comes to save him..."

Ye Jinyu paused, then made an exploding gesture at Xie Yu.

His smile was gentle, kind, and amiable.

"Then, bang."

"His soul will be utterly destroyed."

Xie Yu's face went pale, and he tried to speak, but Ye Jinming was already walking over with a smile, holding dozens of talismans that flickered with gray light.

He stuck them all over Xie Yu.

"Reflect on your actions. If there are any Demon Beasts in this deep forest, they can give you a little tempering too. If you really last the full three months, I'm afraid the Xie Clan will have to thank me for tempering one of their clansmen."

Xie Yu's eyes went wide. Terrified to the extreme, he could not even scream; he could only gasp for breath.

Ye Jinyu's expression was indifferent, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Let's go."