Chapter 133: The Price of Impure Love

“How dare you!!”

“Gu, do you truly dare call that protection?”

From the Abyssal Slaughter Sword, a brilliant crimson light erupted.

“You merely wish to turn her into a dull, lifeless puppet, just like yourself!”

“That’s far better than you, a madwoman, wanting to make her your personal plaything!”

Ling Shuangjue didn’t yield an inch; her sword intent surged skyward.

“You are utterly unworthy of even uttering the word ‘love’!”

“You humans are truly fascinating,” Yuange drawled from the side, though golden demonic feather-blades had already coalesced at her fingertips.

“One of you wants to be her jailer. Have you even bothered to ask our Zhaoqing what she thinks? She is clearly my prey!”

“Silence!”

“You court death!”

Just as the three parties were about to erupt into another chaotic brawl, a fierce underwater battle to mask their mutual guilt and embarrassment, a woman’s voice, tinged with a hint of amusement, echoed from behind them without warning:

“Tsk, tsk. It seems all three of you have failed.”

The trio froze instantly, turning in unison.

Yan Wusheng had appeared behind them at some unknown moment. She hadn’t even bothered to summon a spiritual energy barrier, allowing the icy seawater to soak the hem of her skirt. In her hand, she idly twirled half of a Heavenly Mechanism Plate, a calm smile—the kind that made one want to punch her—gracing her lips.

“You’ve been here the whole time?” Gu Chang’an’s brow furrowed deeply. This woman always appeared at the most crucial moments, like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, observing.

“Why not?” Yan Wusheng chuckled softly, her gaze slowly sweeping over the three faces. “Such an exciting game of truth or dare. Wouldn’t it be a shame to miss it?”

“What exactly do you want?” Ling Shuangjue’s patience had worn thin. If looks could kill, Yan Wusheng would have been flayed a thousand times over.

“I don’t want to do anything,” Yan Wusheng said, spreading her hands with an innocent expression. “I merely came to announce the correct answer.”

She paused, observing their wary expressions, and the smile at the corner of her lips deepened.

“Do you believe that if you fail the trial, you won’t get a piece of the Three Lives Stone?”

The three remained silent, but their taut bodies spoke volumes.

“Who told you the purpose of this trial was to seek pure emotion?” Yan Wusheng’s tone was laced with mockery. “I say, all three of you are cultivators who have lived for hundreds, even thousands of years. Why are you still as naive as those young girls in the mortal world who read storybooks?”

She extended a slender finger and gently wagged it.

“In this world, there is no such thing as so-called pure emotion. Love, from the moment it is born, is inevitably accompanied by possession, jealousy, control, desire… these so-called impurities.”

“The trial left by the Immortal Master is not a screening question at all; it’s a proof.”

Yan Wusheng’s words instantly froze the anger that had just begun to flare within them.

“He isn’t looking for someone who loves most selflessly or nobly. He’s looking for a madman who dares to confront the darkest, most selfish, most unspeakable aspects of their own emotions.”

“What he wants to see is whether, after recognizing your own impurities, you are still willing, still daring enough, to pay the corresponding price for this impure, desire-filled love.”

Yan Wusheng’s gaze finally settled on the ethereal glow of the immortal mansion, which still emitted a soft light.

“Admit it. Your love is selfish; it is full of possessiveness; it wants to claim her for yourselves.”

“There is nothing shameful in that.”

“What is truly shameful is refusing to admit it, or rather… being unable to pay the price.”

She turned, facing the trio once more.

“Now, the premise of the proof has been given to you.”

“So, which of you three… will solve the problem first?”

****

The first to speak was Ling Shuangjue. Her words, like a sharp blade, pierced into the three equally arrogant, equally obstinate hearts.

She slowly straightened her body, her white battle robe, soaked by the seawater, clinging tightly to her slender yet explosive physique. Her frost-white hair, like water, was scattered about.

She raised a hand, using her fingertips to wipe away the last trace of blood from her lips. In her scarlet pupils, all traces of shame and annoyance had vanished, replaced by a pure, utterly chilling madness.

“A fine price indeed,” she laughed, her smile icy and demonic. “You are right. What this Venerable One desires is to possess her entirely. Every inch of her skin, every strand of her hair, every breath she takes, should belong to me.”

She paused, her gaze slowly sweeping over Gu Chang’an and Yuange, the disdain and domineering intent in her eyes more potent than ever before.

“As for you two… you are nothing more than refuse in her long life, to be discarded at any moment.”

Before her words fully faded, she took a step forward. This single step seemed to land on an invisible node, causing the entire space before the Guixu Immortal Mansion to tremble violently.

“Is it not simply a proof?” Ling Shuangjue lifted her chin, her scarlet eyes fixed on the massive immortal mansion’s light cluster. Her voice, though not loud, echoed clearly throughout the seabed. “In this Venerable One’s life, I seek but two things.”

“First, to rule the world with supreme demonic might, turning the Three Realms and Nine Continents into this Venerable One’s private garden.”

As she spoke, a grand and bloody illusion slowly unfolded behind her. It was a towering demonic throne, constructed from white bones and roses. She sat upon it, gazing down at the myriad kneeling beings below. Immortal Dao crumbled, demon tribes prostrated themselves, and the entire world was shrouded beneath the banner of the Myriad Flower Blood Palace.

That was the supreme ambition of Demonic Venerable Ling Shuangjue.

Gu Chang’an and Yuange’s pupils simultaneously constricted. They could clearly feel the terrifying aura and obsession contained within that illusion, potent enough to change the very heavens and earth.

However, Ling Shuangjue’s next sentence caused this illusion, along with her world-conquering aura, to crack.

“—And her…” Her voice dropped, carrying a hint of nearly whispered obsession that even she hadn’t detected. “Is to obtain her.”

“If these two can only be chosen one—”

Ling Shuangjue closed her eyes. When they opened again, her sacred gaze was filled with blood-red resolve.

“Choose one? A joke! Whether it’s the Three Realms and Nine Continents or Shen Zhaoqing, I will have both!”

“But for now, this Venerable One will obtain her!”

Boom—!!!

The magnificent illusion behind her—the mountains of corpses, the seas of blood, the throne of bones—collapsed with a single thought.

Innumerable golden lights of destiny, representing “hegemony,” “conquest,” and “power,” escaped from the shattered illusion. They transformed into a surging torrent, forcibly condensed by Ling Shuangjue’s supreme demonic intent, and then fiercely propelled towards the immortal mansion’s light cluster.

“This Venerable One sacrifices half a lifetime of hegemony!”

“Open for me!”

The torrent, formed from her hegemonic obsession, merged into the light cluster without any obstruction. The entire light cluster was instantly stained with an eerie blood-red hue, beginning to spin wildly at an unprecedented speed. A vast, suffocating suction emanated from it.

Ling Shuangjue’s face visibly paled. The domineering kingly aura she possessed was forcibly drained by half, leaving her appearing somewhat more fragile. Yet, her eyes were brighter and more dangerous than ever before.

This was because all her vital energy, all her obsessions, had condensed from “conquering the world” into the single point of “obtaining that person.”

She had become purer, and even crazier.

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