The Emperor's Domineering Favor, the Evil Consort's Unparalleled Reign

"Ying Li, your master wants you to come in!" Xuan Qi's voice rang out. Ying Li turned around, took the spiritual book, and shot off towards Yunshan Palace!

In the blink of an eye, Ying Li had arrived beside Xuan Ye. Xuan Ye sat up, his face pale. He looked at the spiritual book in Ying Li's hand, his eyes flickered, and he said, "Have you understood the mystery within this book?!"

Ying Li relayed her conversation with the others to Xuan Ye. Xuan Ye's eyes darkened, and a storm began to surge within them. Ying Li knew how important Princess Azao was to Xuan Ye, and at this moment, Xuan Ye's feelings were probably even more shocking than her own.

However, Xuan Ye merely smiled. He looked up at Ying Li, his eyes gentle and serene, "Ying Li, are you ready?! To fight against the Spirit and Ghost Realms, you may only have these people behind you. Before you succeed, these people will only dwindle. Are you prepared to accept the challenge?!"

“Xuan Ye, you know I had no other choice,” Ying Li replied.

Xuan Ye's eyes flickered, and he opened his right hand, revealing a bulging piece of Xuan Brocade in his palm. "This is the most precious spiritual medicine I could find. There is a secret chamber here. You need to go into seclusion to refine them. You only have one month. I can only help you hold off those people for one month. After one month, I will return to the earth and will no longer be able to protect you."

"Xuan Ye!" Ying Li's expression changed drastically; she hadn't expected it to happen so quickly.

“Without the Ghost Spirit Fruit, Lianyi’s blood will only last me a month. Even if she keeps using her blood to prolong my life, my lifespan will remain, but my body will age and decay every day. If I don’t kill her, I will die. It’s a simple truth, and easy to accept. Alright, go now, I’m tired.” Xuan Ye seemed to be saying something unrelated. Ying Li looked into Xuan Ye’s clear eyes and couldn’t help but sigh. Such a person, such eyes—no wonder the rumors always said that even if they gave up everything, they would still be willing to die for him. Now, this person was willing to die for Chu Lianyi.

“Girl, go, don’t let down the Great Sage Jue Ling’s intentions. I never expected that the emperors of the Spirit and Ghost Realms would collude like this. I’ve worked so hard for the Ghost Realm Emperor, only to be nothing more than his pawn.” Yin Lie sighed in the Bone Ring.

Ying Li patted the skeleton ring. "Living a muddled life, being a pawn in the game of life, isn't that how the world is?! The victor is king, the loser is villain, history can be rewritten. If we ordinary people go with the flow, we may live a peaceful life, but if we dare to insist on seeking the truth, we will only face death. Let's go. No matter what, everyone has something to do."

Ying Li entered the secret chamber and concealed his figure. Once he took this step, he could no longer change his fate.

Upon entering the secret chamber, Ying Li saw the moonstone inside. For some reason, her eyes welled up with tears. She wiped them with the back of her hand and saw hot tears.

"What's wrong, girl?! Did something sad happen to you?!" Yin Lie asked with heartache when he saw Ying Li's appearance.

“When I was in the Ying family, I had no spiritual power and my skills were not up to par. My second uncle always locked me in the forbidden room. At that time, I was afraid of the dark. My grandfather would always ask Ying Zhe to give me a moonstone and hide it in my sleeve. When I was scared, I would take it out and shine it on my eyes. I would see light all around me and my fear would be swept away. I was grateful to my grandfather for raising me, but I couldn’t even see him one last time before he died. I felt so ashamed of myself.”

"Don't overthink it. Everyone has their own destiny. Your filial piety towards your grandfather is out of kinship, and your grandfather's genuine affection for you is also out of kinship. But no matter how strong kinship is, it can't outweigh fate. Ying Wuyou and the four great families of Yeling City helped the Chu family obtain the Ghost Spirit Fruit, thus gaining the title of Spirit Master and becoming a powerful family out of nowhere. Having received such favors, they must pay the price. Chu Lianyi never makes mistakes, but she accidentally ate the Ghost Spirit Fruit, an unintentional mistake, and she too has paid the price. Let's go..."

Ying Li took one last look at the moonstone, closed his eyes, and stepped into the secret chamber, thus beginning his long period of seclusion.

“Ying should go into seclusion now. Let’s do what we can. This barrier can only last for a month at most. Xuanhuo, Lianyi, you guys go to the place closest to the barrier to investigate its strength. Xiyue, you have a spiritual body, use your spiritual body to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to replenish the barrier’s power. Nangong Lin, you go protect Xiyue. Brother Fucheng, you come with me to guard Xuanye.” After Jiang Huai finished speaking, everyone nodded and hurried to do their own duties.

The back-and-forth attacks from the Spirit and Ghost Realms caused the entire Cloud Mountain to tremble, but no matter how rampant these people were, they could not break the incomparably powerful barrier.

Li Xiyue gathered the spirit of the clouds and mountains in her hands and spread the spiritual energy around the barrier, making the barrier even more stable. Half a day had passed by the time she finished doing this. Looking back at Nangong Lin's indifferent eyes fixed on her, Li Xiyue smiled and said, "Bingyin, why are you looking at me like that?! Is there a flower on my face?!" After saying that, she touched her face with her hand.

Nangong Lin looked at Li Xiyue, smiled apologetically, and said, "Xiyue, I don't know how to tell you this. What happened between us before may have hurt you, but I really didn't mean to."

After listening, Li Xiyue walked over and looked at Bingyin earnestly, saying, "Bingyin, you always say your name is Bingyin, and you hardly ever use Nangong Lin's name. You say you're as cold as ice, but when I was in my darkest and most painful time, you were the one who pulled me out of the cold. I will always remember this kindness. I'm a woman who has been married once, and I married the wrong person, the wrong love. I've made up my mind not to look for a second love, not to blindly seek a second love. Even if I were to, I wouldn't force anyone. What you want is the most important thing, and I will do my best to help you achieve it. As for these apologies, you've been asking the wrong person all along. You should have gone to talk to Lianyi. You should have told her from the very beginning. Even I know that you've been too late in speaking out."

Bingyin's expression changed drastically, his face turning completely pale. Looking into Li Xiyue's sincere eyes, and recalling how Chu Lianyi had been injured, a chill ran through him. He took a step, then another, retreating backward.

Even Xuan Ye was more sincere than him. Xuan Ye would rather die than force Chu Lianyi in the slightest. And what did Bing Yin do?! He let Chu Lianyi leave because of Madam Chu, cutting off her path of cultivation. He let Chu Lianyi be forced to marry someone else. Even when Chu Lianyi took the initiative to come to him, he remained cold and indifferent!

What exactly did Nangong Lin do?!

"Xuanhuo, regardless of our past entanglements, and regardless of Xuan Ye and my relationship, our most important task right now is to guard Yunshan and wait for Ying Li to return from seclusion. Furthermore, whether Xuan Ye accepts me as his disciple or not, I will definitely help him until the next Ghost Spirit Fruit ripens; I will not shirk my responsibility! So, please put aside your prejudices against me, and let's fight the external enemy together, shall we?!"

Chu Lianyi said, and the Xuanhuo glanced at her, angrily retorting, "You make it sound so nice, but if Master really needs you, would you really risk your life for him?!"

"It definitely will, don't worry about that. Otherwise, why would I have given Xuan Ye my blood just now?!"

"That's good. Remember what you said today, otherwise, if your master makes even the slightest mistake, I'll take your life! Hmph, those people dare to harm your master?! The name of the Great Sage Jue Ling isn't for nothing. I'll show them the power of Yunshan Palace!" After Xuan Huo finished speaking, he gathered all his spiritual power and shot down the mountain!

Chu Lianyi breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and looked back at Yunshan Palace, her heart filled with worry. Nangong Lin walked up behind Chu Lianyi, saw her worried expression, felt hurt, but still forced himself to speak: "Lianyi, how are you?!"

Chu Lianyi turned around and saw Nangong Lin. She asked in surprise, "Why aren't you protecting Miss Li? What are you doing here?! Although Miss Li has a powerful spiritual body, she doesn't know martial arts. If someone runs into her, it could ruin everything."

"Ripples! The past... the past..."

Chu Lianyi's eyes darkened, a sharp pain shooting through her heart. She smiled and asked Nangong Lin, "Before?! What happened before?! I seem to have forgotten, I'm sorry..."