“I refuse!”
“I barely have enough time for myself—how the hell would I have time to teach so-called divine techniques? If I don’t focus on cultivating now, by the time Lu Ye ascends, what will the Jiang Clan have to stop him with? Who could stop him?!”
Jiang Die raised her voice, her tone growing increasingly agitated.
“Jiang Die, this isn’t a request—it’s an order from the Clan Head. You’re a member of the Jiang Clan. You should understand our rules: the Clan Head holds the highest authority. No matter how strong or talented you are, if the Clan Head gives you a command, you are bound to obey.”
“You’re only being asked to teach one divine technique every thirty days. Even if it’s a slight delay, how much time could it possibly take from you?”
“I hope you won’t make things difficult for me.”
Jiang Die’s temper flared.
“Well I’m not doing it. I don’t have the time! The Jiang Clan’s greatest threat is rapidly growing stronger, and you want me to waste my time on this bullshit? What a joke!”
“Jiang Die, if you’re not contributing anything to the Jiang Clan, the clan has no reason to keep handing you massive amounts of cultivation resources for free. You want resources? Then you need to show your worth. That applies to everyone in the clan!”
“I’m not like the rest of you,” Jiang Die snapped, irritated.
She was a reborn Emperor. In her past life, she’d walked every path to its end. In this life, she only needed to retrace and tweak them—she could level up at terrifying speed.
She’d barely been in the Third Heaven for long, and she was already at the third layer of the Heaven’s Mandate Realm. Didn’t that prove anything?
The smile vanished from Jiang Yuan’s face in an instant.
“By order of the Clan Head—since Jiang Die refuses, the interval is now reduced to one technique every twenty days.”
“I’ll ask you again. Are you still unwilling?” Jiang Yuan’s eyes were already beginning to turn cold.
Jiang Die paused.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
If she refused again, it would be one technique every ten days?
Truthfully, she had plenty of “material.” She’d stolen all kinds of divine techniques and spells from Lu Ye—she could just repackage them. Even if she lectured on them for ten or twenty years straight, she wouldn’t run out.
But what she couldn’t accept was being forced like this.
She was an Emperor!
In her past life, no one had ever dared force her. At most, Lu Ye had bullied her into stacking blocks with other people. Other than Lu Ye—who would dare force her?
In her past life, it had been her who begged to protect the Jiang Clan. That was the only reason it hadn’t been wiped out.
“I refuse,” Jiang Die said clearly, each word cut from ice.
“One technique every ten days—do you accept that?” Jiang Yuan’s tone grew colder still.
“I don’t.”
Jiang Yuan nodded.
“Fine, fine, fine. Jiang Die refuses the Clan Head’s command and violates clan law. She shall be punished immediately. Take her to the Discipline Hall. If she resists, double the punishment!”
Jiang Yuan suddenly struck.
Jiang Die’s expression shifted. “You dare?!”
Her aura surged, but Jiang Yuan was a seventh-layer cultivator of the Realm of Causality. If she still had Lu Ye’s Dao, maybe she wouldn’t have feared him.
But now? She didn’t.
Just as her aura flared, Jiang Yu’s hand slammed down on her shoulder and pressed hard.
Her rapidly climbing energy was forcibly crushed by a horrifying power.
“Pu!”
Jiang Die spat a mouthful of blood, her aura collapsing in an instant.
“Stubborn fool. And you even dared resist? The Discipline Hall will make you understand reality.”
Jiang Yu grabbed Jiang Die and dragged her toward the Discipline Hall.
The moment they arrived, the ferocious cultivators of the Discipline Hall listened to Jiang Yu describe her crime.
“Defying the Clan Head’s order—sixty lashes of the Soul Whip and two hundred strikes of the Body Rod!”
“Resisted capture—punishment doubled!”
“Total: ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) sixty soul lashes, two hundred body strikes!”
“If she still shows no remorse after the punishment, her cultivation will be sealed, and she’ll be thrown into the Cave of Ten Thousand Insects. She won’t be released until she repents!”
“Begin punishment!”
Jiang Die was instantly bound.
Her face still showed defiance and resentment. She shouted out:
“You people have no idea how terrifying Lu Ye truly is! If you delay my cultivation like this, when Lu Ye ascends, it’ll be the Jiang Clan that’s destroyed! You’ll all regret this!”
“PAH!”
“Aaaagh!!”
The Soul Whip cracked viciously against Jiang Die’s body.
She let out a sharp scream.
Her very soul was struck by the whip. The sheer pain made her cry out—but she clenched her teeth and held on.
She was an Emperor!
What could some pathetic soul whip do to her?
“PAH!”
The pain was excruciating. Sweat poured from Jiang Die’s forehead like rain.
On the thirtieth lash—
Jiang Die finally couldn’t hold back a scream.
The Soul Whip worked directly on the spirit. It was said that thirty lashes could shatter the dreams of invincibility even in a reincarnated Emperor—and that seemed accurate.
Her soul was torn and bloodied by the lashes.
The intense, unending pain in her spirit made Jiang Die scream over and over. In her past life, she had never suffered pain like this.
No—she wouldn’t give in.
She would cultivate madly. She would—
Jiang Die passed out from the agony—only to be jolted awake again by the pain.
The Soul Whip didn’t cause permanent soul damage, but the pain... was hellish.
A searing, fire-like hell.
At last, she endured the Soul Whip.
Next came the Body Rod.
When they brought out the iron rod coated in red medicinal paste—
Jiang Die felt a deep, sickening sense of dread.
“THUD!”
A rod slammed into her back.
Her whole body shook violently.
And that was just the beginning. When her flesh split open and the medicine seeped into the wounds—
That was when she truly understood the meaning of “a fate worse than death.”
One strike after another rained down.
The red medicinal paste soaked into her bloodstained robes.
“AAAHHHHH!!!”
Jiang Die screamed in agony once more. The pain wasn’t as unbearable as the Primordial Dawn Mist, but it was still excruciating.
Ironically, the red paste was actually a healing medicine. But the medicinal properties were so strong they caused a fierce, burning sensation.
Suddenly, Jiang Die understood.
If she didn’t agree to the command, the Jiang Clan would never let her off.
And the more she endured, the less she’d be able to cultivate.
She would only accept... in order to cultivate better.
It was absolutely not because the pain broke her.
“Even if you agree, the punishment still continues.”
That was the cold reply from the enforcers of the Discipline Hall—one that left Jiang Die in despair.
After two hundred lashes from the rod, she was on the verge of fainting again from pain.
She felt like she was developing a phobia of pain.
It hurt.
It hurt too damn much.
Jiang Yu let out a gentle sigh, and once again wore that warm, kind smile.
“Oh, you silly thing... Was this really necessary? We only asked you to teach divine techniques for the sake of the clan’s future. As for Lu Ye’s strength—is that really your concern? You’re no longer the Clan Head. You should understand your current role.”
“Remember—one divine technique every three days. Don’t be stupid again. If you are, it’ll become one technique every single day, and then you really won’t have time to cultivate.”
“Do you understand?”
Jiang Die was filled with despair.
“Why... why is it three days per lecture now...?”
“Because you refused me three times, silly. If you’d just agreed from the start, this wouldn’t have happened. Let this be a lesson for you. Next time will be better!”
“Got it?”
